In our thriller scene there only need to be 2 actors in it. Mike has agreed to act as the man who kidnaps the boy and we are trying to consider other people for the boy. If we are unsuccessful in finding someone else then Luke will be the boy. Hopefully during the filming both mike and I will agree on camera shots/angles, then depending if I’m starring in it or not then either I or mike will film. I hope we can acquire a tripod to ensure the shots are still not wobbly and look professional. Both mike and I will edit the film together to our liking. We will use Sony Vegas 9.0, Adobe After Effects. This is because we believe they are the best to edit and we both have these software’s. The soundtrack will not be needed as the film will mostly be silent however there are some moments in the film when sound effects are needed. Luke already has a lot of sound affects with a range wide of sounds needed. Together we will decide what goes best and which sounds best. The story line so far is; A boy is twisting and turning in his bed, he turns one final time and we have a close up of the boy’s eye and it shows it dilating. We then have a point of view shot showing a man standing in front of him. The boy rubs his eyes and the man vanishes. Then we have a point of view shot from where the man was standing and we can see the man behind the boy in the bed. The boy turns slowly and as has facing upwards he sits up to the sound of his alarm clock. The boy gets up and out of bed, as the boy walks down the hallway we can see a crack in a door frame of his mum and dad’s bedroom. The boy calls “mum, dad”, with no response. The camera then enters the parent’s bedroom to show they have both been killed with black bags over their heads. The shot then cuts to the boy walking down the stairs. The shot then follows the boy into the kitchen. The camera is placed in front of the window and the boy gets a glass of water, the boy steps away and where the boys head was there is a man in the garden. We then cut to a quick edit of the boy getting dressed, we will show the boy putting on his; shirt, pulling up his trousers, cuffing his buttons, his socks, his tie, and putting his feet into shoes. Then the boy picks up his blazer and goes downstairs. We have the same shot of him going downstairs as before. He goes back to the kitchen for breakfast. He gets out the toaster and puts bread into it, he then goes to the fridge to get butter, as he closes the fridge door the man is around 3 meters away from him in full sprint, and is running at the boy. The man tackles the boy with a black bag in his hand and the shot fades. The sound of a heart beat tells us when the shot comes and goes. At one heartbeat the shot of their legs struggling are seen then it fades, we then have a shot of the boy being thrown into the van/car for the second heartbeat. Another heartbeat shows the boy in the van. The penultimate heartbeat happens when a light swings over the head of the boy. The final heartbeat shows the title ‘Taken’.

We decided to have this storyline and we can both see this story having an impact at certain point. We believe it will defiantly bring a few jumpy moments. We also believe that this is back to basics, we haven’t thought of a beautiful storyline were every shot must show something and it doesn’t contain art type work just a plain and simple thriller. The film ‘paranormal Activity’ was a basic film made with a general hi-tech video camera and with very little yet simple Effective illusions and has been dubbed one of the scariest movies of its time.

During discussion we have decided to modify a few things in this story. We will add one more scene showing the cracked doorframe again to reassert the parents are dead and he is still oblivious. We will also consider moving the scene where to man runs at him to the front door as we know that there isn’t sufficient space.

The setting will plainly be a house. This is to make it seem realistic. The whole thriller is based in one setting. We need a house with a window in front of the sink and a easy to work with layout. We have decided not to go to a dungeon with candles etc as we feel that is unrealistic, and not needed to make a thriller. We will use a house with a reasonable drive and reasonable space to shoot the parts we need easy and hassle free.

Thriller Preliminary Powerpoint Research in these two videos:

The powerpoint

Questions and Answers

The target of the primary research into thriller films was to find out several things; what people enjoy about thriller, our target audience, people favourite type of thriller, and overall WHAT MAKES A GOOD THRILLER. This is our obvious intention when making our thriller as we plan to give the audience what they want as a thriller. This is what we did to gain this kind of information. We created an online survey, a blog poll on my blog (this one), and some camera illusion that we filmed and edited ourselves. We also made online research using the website IMDb.com to find out statistics about types of thrillers and the most popular. We used this information to conclude the best thrillers, and linked this with our favourite thriller.

From the research we made we found out our target age group is going to be around the same age as us. This is because the majority of our feedback is from teenagers, also as teenagers ourselves we figured we would know pretty well what people our age what or would not enjoy in a thriller. This has a big effect on our final film and we now know the specific audience we are aiming at. Also this research shows us exactly what people want in a thriller. For example crime and psychological thrillers are extremely popular among teenagers. This also brings us to another factor of research that has influenced the direction we are going in, in terms of thriller subgenre. From the online research we made on IMDb we found that CRIME thrillers and MYTERY thrillers are among the top thriller sub-genres voted for on IMDb. This also helps us define which thrillers are typically popular. We can also go deeper and use the typical conventions of a crime thriller and mystery thriller and add them with some conventions of our own to give our own personal touch. Also we noticed when getting the top ten films for both crime and mystery thrillers, that quite alot of the films in the list do not consist of expensive CG or special effects shots. For example The Shawshank Redemption is the top crime thriller on the IMDb polls (and also our favourite thriller) was made in 1995 and had no special effects. This is encouraging to us as we do not have the extensive resources needed for this, and want to use simple but effective camera tricks. These will however be used for more typical thriller shots. Overall the research we made here has influenced our final product greatly and we now know what direction we are going in.

Planning process

When we started to plan the soap opera we thought of the main theme to completely rotate and revolve completely around representation. We thought of a vary of characters who could star in it. We thought of a Homosexual character, a Chav group, a pair of lovers and a narcoleptic. After creating the characters we considered what their representations could be. For the homosexual we thought of a drug dealer, then for the chav, we had it so that the chav was clever and taught the geeks and actually preferred the geeks. The narcoleptic was just a simple plot for everything to revolve around. After a confrontation and a decision we decided that the story wasn’t good enough. The first story was:

Opening:

Daniel and Joanne are presented as being lovers

Samuel sells drugs in order to woo Daniel.

Complications:

Sam is so far in the closet.

Sam is popular with the lasses

Sam won’t admit to himself he is homosexual but feels compelled to entice Daniel against his better judgement,

Crisis;

Sam fights Daniel, Joanne misinterprets the situation believing that they are both lovers, Sam tells Joanne that they are, and she doesn’t believe Daniel and gives him a right slap.

Climax:

Sam admits to Joanne that its lies, he has accepted that Daniel will never be in love with him.

Resolution

Pedro finds Sam.

Chav Story

Opening;

Chav dresses smart when leaving house in the morning, changes when gets to school.

Complication:

Geek gets tutored by Chav but no one knows.

 Chav secretly gets on better with the geek than her other friends.

Crisis:

Chav is scared to admit to other chavs that she is clever.

Friends over hear chav organising meeting with the Geek.

Climax:

Friends find highly marked exam papers in chav’s bags and bully.

Resolution:

Geek defends the chav, and given the choice of friends with chav group or geek.

Story #3 – Drug Addict

Opening:

Boy is drug addict, steals students possessions to pay for bad habit. Sells stolen items to make money to buy drugs. Audience does not know what the money is for, creating an enigma.

Complication:

Ends up stealing an iPod from his friends blazer, did not know it was his friends, but won’t own up to having it and he already sold it on.

Crisis:

Audience finds out he is stealing to get drug money and buying from Sam

Climax:       

Crack head meets Sam the gay to buy some crazy party pills. Smack fiend then decides not to pop the pills after thinking, goes and finds his friend and admits to stealing his iPod for drug money, addict then offers to buy him a new iPod, they kiss and make up. Joanne and Daniel meet up to find Sam to make up. Chav arrive to confront chav and geek being friends.

-          chav’s have fight

-          sam tries to stop the fight

-          gets himself jooked

-          Luke has attack (AMBULANCE CALLED)

Narcoleptic sipping antiseptic

Dancing in the club looking all electric

Alternative ending:

Science lesson, gas is left on by sam

No one notices

Lesson ends as walking out sam lights a ciggie

BOOM!

After deciding it wasn’t good enough we decided to set it out as a homemade recording of everyone’s different side, e.g. the Mr. Cool character secretly liked being smart and reading intellectual things. We filmed a student saying hello to everyone and filmed someone secretly filming the different sides. The characters were represented in this way as we showed everyone is equal and nothing is wrong with being different. We all got picked for roles of producing, like producer, assistant producer, editor, camera man. I was the camera man and I did whatever the producer told me to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filming

The filming process was generally quite poor we only had one shot at it and there was no script, basically we had to make it up one the spot. We filmed in all different locations. We filmed in the boiler room, a music room, a lobby, and a hallway. The group all decided how to film and what was best. We only got half of the filming finished and the story had no ending yet. We didn’t have the time and weren’t allowed to do the filming we needed, e.g. no fake blood in the swimming pool.

 

Editing

One person is still currently editing it and the final video will be on YouTube…hopefully.

 

Post production

We have not done this yet. As we have had great difficulties with computer errors and time. We also had to move on to the next subject.

In this trailer we see the main protagonist, Neo, getting caught into a battle of good and evil in the ‘real world’. The Plot of this Narrative is Neo getting brought into the ‘real world’, a world that covers up the one we are in now, e.g. a burned down house has been painted to make it look real and new. Story writers have made this film slightly physiological and this makes us consider if this world is real.

The mis en scene in the film is started with a representation or long shot showing a nice day in America. This makes us feel normal and as if there is nothing wrong. Then suddenly when Neo goes to the ‘real world’ the lighting effect and CGI graphics and effects turn dark and gloomy. This immediatley shows contrast between the two scenes the real and the fake which grips us even more into the film.

The representation of the mirrored ‘Agents’ is, they are all powerful. They are white male characters who stop at nothing for victory. The repetition of the agents signifies the agents are everywhere, they see and control everything in the ‘real’ world. These ‘Agents’ are the main antagonists along with squid like robots.

This is a great film and I highly recommend watching it to see what happens to the protagonist.

Continuity

A detailed script used in making a film in order to avoid discontinuities from shot to shot

Eye line Match

An eye line match is a popular editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that the audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing. The eye line match begins with a character looking at something off-screen; there will then be a cut to the object or person at which he is looking. For example, a man is looking off-screen to his left, and then the film cuts to a television that he is watching.

Matched cut

a match cut is any cut that emphasizes spatio-temporal continuity and thus, contrasting the conspicuous and abrupt discontinuity of a “jump cut,” forms the basis for continuity (‘invisible’) editing, such as the ubiquitous use of “match on action.”

Shot reverse shot

A shot from both points of view in a conversation, it could show characters reactions.

Cutaways

Cutaway is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else. It is usually, although not always, followed by a cutback to the first shot.

Parallel editing

Inter-cutting between two simultaneous stories or scenes.

Montage editing

“Montage” editing – editing in which many shots from many different points of view – and sometimes from very different times and places – are cut together.  A montage sometimes indicates the passage of a long period of time.  Some montages – especially in Peckinpah’s work – are used to disrupt time, to make time speed up or slow down, or to indicate the relationship between something happening now with images that may be assumed to be in the heads of the characters.

Jump cuts 

A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly.

Fade

The clips fade in or out.

Slow-mo

Slowed down speed to add effect of sympathy, action.

Long takes

A shot from long range

Visual effects

Effect added into a video to emphasize action and make it almost realistic.

Sound bridge

At the beginning of one scene, the sound from the previous scene carries over briefly before the sound from the new scene begins

No over voice as my mic died and the one still hasnt arrived.

Prison Break In prison break we follow the story of Michael Schofield and his brother in and out of prison. Mostly everyone in prison break is male, with the exception of a few women. All the men wear the same prison uniform; however some customize it depending on their personality, e.g. T-Bag wears his clothes quite loose and different. This could be because of his sexuality, he is a homosexual. Most homosexuals in prison break wear clothes loosely and different from others. Family in prison break is very big, it’s represented as the thing that holds the character together in prison and it’s what they are fighting for. Social class is also a key theme, as Michael Schofield comes form a good background and we see he is smart and thinks everything through. However other people who have had bad backgrounds are meant to be in prison as they have wronged badly.

The Shawshank Redemption

Shawshank redemption comes under Crime thriller because the amount of crime surrounding the protagonist and antagonists. They are in a prison which emphasises this. Its an action thriller as it has a bit of action in it. e.g. the escape, etc.

Shawshank Redemption opening 5 minutes uses a lot of different editing.

A complex narrative structure, with false paths, clues and resolutions

• Andy might not be a killer, we aren’t sure if he’s been framed.

Themes of mirroring

• Repetition of Andy in the car drinking and with the gun.
• Mirroring of the headshot of him looking at the house.

Extraordinary events

• His past and job being able to do high skilled work comparing to other convicts.

Themes of identity

• We aren’t sure who he is he is clean and an average guy in the court room. We are not completely sure who he is.

Editing

Non diegetic turns into dietegic music, from the credits to the radio. It pans and goes to Andy in the car. Starts with a long shot to establish the mis en scene. Point of view shot looking down his arm, to see what is in, and what he is getting from the glove box. High angle shot from the shoulder makes it a close up of the gun wrapped in cloth to create slight suspense. Then it shows the gun being slowly un-wrapped. Match cut from the chest area of the bottle to his face, the action spot changes. An l-cut from the car, to hearing the lawyer talking, and being in the court room. A change of person, from Andy drinking in the car to him being a smart looking person in court. Reaction shot and a mid shot/long shot. The long shot establishes the mis en scene, showing the rest of court.

Deep Blue Sea

Deep blue sea comes under Action thriller, Disaster thriller, Eco-Thriller and Medical thriller.

Its and action thriller because the whole film contains action with sharks. The sharks are trying to kill everyone  and everyone must escape a flooding underwater science lab. Its a Disaster thriller because the whole film is a disaster as they successfully realize they can save many lives then the shark escapes everything gets flooded and everything goes wrong. Its an Eco-thriller because it contains giant sharks and they are medically made. Its definitely a medical thriller as it contains science and genetic engineering.

Pulp Fiction

The sub genres used in this thriller are: Action Thriller and Crime thriller. Its an action thriller due to the amount of action in the film. Gun fights, chase scenes, fights, suspense all make this a great Action thriller. This is also backed up by Crime thriller, as the whole film contains crime and payback.

Whilst watching Life on Mars we saw a great show. However we didn’t only see a great show, we heard great things too. The sound in Life on Mars plays an important role in the TV drama. At the start of the first episode we can hear lots of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. We can hear things like mobile phones, modern ringing, sirens, basically lots of modern day technology. When the protagonist, Sam Tyler, is driving he has a break down and gets out of his jeep. Suddenly he is rammed by an oncoming car at high speed. Immediately after this we can hear lots of different sounds. We can hear a heart beat, an ambulance, a heart monitor, a girl whispering. Also the diegetic sound of the car radio switches to non-diegetic then back. Sam wakes up in the 1970′s, then we hear clunking of old shoes and hear an old sounding song. Later Sam goes into a police office and we once again  hear old sounds, like old telephones, old carpets scraping on old shoes. Soon after we hear modern times sounds, which indicates he could get back. The episode ends a little later when we know Sam is stuck in the 1970′s.