What needs to go in my Continuity task Evaluation?

This is a list of topics that I will need to cover when I write my continuity task evaluation

Continuity Task Final Cut

This is the final version of our continuity task film. Since the first draft, there are a number of different changes that we have made to the film. Firstly, we added in a whole new scene at the beginning. The reason we decided to add this part in was so that it made our story make a bit more sense. It allowed the audience to have some prior knowledge as to what the character was doing. We also included some sound effects on the doors, making the piece sound more realistic. We decided to keep the music the same as we felt it really made the piece have an ominous and mysterious tone to it.

Hotel Babylon Essay

How is Ethnicity Presented in the Hotel Babylon Extract?


The first to be introduced are to two black men. One of which is a hotel employee, the other being a guest at the hotel. There is an immediate difference in the presentation  between the two men through their dress — one man is seen in a full suit and the other in Bermuda shorts and braided hair. The black male seen in the suit is clearly proud of his position and of his job. This creates an atypical representation of the black male. A long shot establishes this, as we see him proudly walking and brushing off his suit almost with a sense of smugness. His posh, clean image is then juxtaposed by the introduction of a second black male. However, this person represents the typical stereotype of what Jamaican people are said to be like. Through the diegetic sound (dialogue) we hear that he has a traditional accent and speaks in colloquial language which also connotes his lower status, compared to the first males formal dialect. He also speaks of ‘partying’ ‘smoking the ganja’ which is something Jamaican people are typically known to do. In the scene, there are a number of over the shoulder shots which further contrasts the two men as it emphasises the difference of clothing. This also allows for both of the mens facial expressions to be viewed - showing their reactions to one another. However, the editing connotes that there is no social difference between the two men. They are both given equal screen time and are shot at an eye line match which further emphasises the director is not implying that one is better than the other.
The next characters to be introduced two Eastern European maids. As they are introduced the music turns into a fast paced ‘techno’ beat which connotes that the mades are sleazy and they are about to commit a sordid act. This ties in to the idea that the Eastern European’s are stereotyped to be in menial jobs and end up committing acts of prostitution to earn extra money. However, in this extract one of the maids goes against the typical stereotype. She becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the situation. As this happens, the editing begins to increase in pace, with multiple close up shots being shown of the maid, where it is clear by her facial expressions that she does not want to commit to the act. The older maid, fits the stereotype. She is shown from a long shot looking very confident in her self through the way she is stood and her eagerness to begin stripping for the business man.
      The next character in the extract is an elderly Chinese business man. He is continually shot at a much lower angle than anybody else we see in the extract - connoting that he may be lower down than everyone else; something which may relate to his morals. To also emphasise this, he is not given any dialogue which also connotes that he is not as important as the other characters in the extract. He is being stereotyped due to the fact that he is paying for sex. As the scene moves on, loud, brash music is put on, which begins to build the anticipation, questioning if the business man is going to go ahead with his actions. The music runs parallel with the scene as it increases the intensity of the scene and the riskiness of the whole situation. The camera cuts back to an extreme close up of his face on a number of occasions which highly intensifies the situation and the position that the business man is in - almost degrading him even more.  
In the clip, a small cut of an oriental worker is shown. She has a very posh and formal tone to her voice, which is expected. Also in her scene, she is seen sneaking around the hotel, something which is the Asians are stereotyped of being. Her good morals and expectations are visibly clear.  A number of shot-reverse-shots are used to show her disgust and confusion towards the maid. The parallel music also emphasises her sneakiness as the high tone and fast pace creates a sense of ambiguity about her actions.
The next couple introduced are two British managers. Immediately they are shown to be of a high status, an establishing long shot draws the eye to the fact that they are both dressed in a full suit and are centralised within the frame, which highlights their importance to the scene. Their accents, much like the Oriental worker, are very posh and they speak to one another in formal English, again, connoting that they are of high status. Both of the British workers fit the typical stereotype of a British worker. However, the music is contrapuntal to the scene. The deep, low music radiates the feeling that all is not well, which contrasts the bold and confident image that the two workers display.
The last characters that are in the extract are two chefs. One British and one Eastern European. There is an immediate physical size difference between the two chefs which an establishing long shot visualises. Unlike most of the other characters in this extract, the British chef is given more screen time than the Eastern European chef, connoting that the director is saying that one is better than the other in this situation. During the scene, there is a build up to a potential fight. Yet, the continuing idea that the British chef holds a certain status above the Eastern European chef is further emphasised by the a close up of the Eastern European chef picking up a knife in order to defend himself - whereas the British chef merely stands there and does not promote any forms of physical violence. Emphasising the British stereotype.


    By Reece Garside.

Continuity Task First Draft

This is the first draft of our continuity task. Now that we have got a rough draft together, as a group we can discuss the areas that we feel need improving. We will look at the way it has been edited together and if there are any other transitions we can use to make it smoother. We will also ensure that the whole piece makes sense, and that this is all displayed through the way that we have filmed the piece.

Sophie Lowden

In our lesson, we had a guest speaker in called Sophie Lowden. Sophie is a professional story boarder, and came in to pass on her knowledge and a few tips and ideas for our group when it comes to producing our final storyboard for our coursework piece.
After talking with Sophie, it is clear that a story boarder and a director must work in sync in order to make a successful sequence. They would sit down together and discuss the different type of shots that they could possibly use, then the story boarder would draw it up and the director could make a decision on which shot looks best. She stated that in a 3 minute clip, there would be over 100 different camera angles that would have to be drawn; each serving their own purpose.

Sophie also spoke to us about animatics. She showed us some of her own work and then we looked in more detail at the Gravity Falls introduction scene. We looked at the animatic compared to the final creation. From looking at this storyboard, it became clear to me just how important and relevant the storyboard is. The way that the final piece mirrored that of the animatic was incredibly close. However, as this was an animation, it would have been easier to stick to the storyboard as you are creating the scenes with a pen and wont face such issues that you might when filming on location.
Another vital element of this storyboard was the frame counter in the top right hand corner. It was counting each individual frame, and in animation there is 24 frames in one second. In the title sequence of Gravity Falls, there were 1440 frames, which made one minute of film.

Sophie also told us about how arrows work to show movement in storyboards - If you want the camera to move, you place the arrow outside of the box. If you want the character to move, you place the arrow inside the box.

Lastly, I learnt a few vital tips for storyboarding:

- Must understand what you are doing before you start – have a clear idea of what you want to do – descriptive bullet points

- Don't have to draw in order. As the idea comes to you, get it down. You can always rearrange it

- Think about the rule of thirds.

Continuity Task Storyboard

For our continuity task, our group came up with the idea of a cleaner conducting a robbery inside the school. We thought that on his approach to the room we would be able to show off our camera skills and shoot the robber from different angles. 

The only problem about a robbery is that it would be done with no other people around, meaning no dialogue would take place. So to make sure that we could include dialogue, we decided to place a teacher in one of the rooms and as she leaves she says goodnight to the 'innocent' cleaner. 

6

Continuity Task Filming Locations

For our continuity task, we decided to have a quick look around the school for an appropriate filming location. The criteria for our location was that it had to wide enough for our long shot and feature multiple doors in one corridor. 

This is the location that we have decided to use - it is wide enough for us to fit a whole person in and features multiple doors which is perfect for what we need. 

This location will not be used due to the fact that the rooms are not in the correct order and the room is very large and open which will make it hard for us not to break the 180 degree rule. 

This location had all of the right elements to it apart from the fact that it was very narrow, meaning that we would not be able to film from the side, limiting the amount of shots we would be able to use. 

Continuity Task Outline

In our coursework groups, we have been set small task of creating a short sequence that can show off our camera skills and abilities. The mini project will need to show a variety of different camera, editing, mise-en-scene and sound skills.

The rules for this task were:
• You must not break the 180 Degree Rule
• You must include a shot-reverse-shot
• You must include a variety of appropriate camera angles
• You must edit so that continuity is apparent and the meaning is clear
• You must include more than one location
• You must include some interaction between characters
• You must include some non-diegetic sound

This means that our group will have to come up with a short story that will enable us to include all of these rules into our work.

Storyboarding Task

In groups we were set the task to create a chase scene to the title 'Terror in the Night'. We had to include a variety of shots and had to write the type of shot and any diegetic and non-diegetic sound that would be in the shot.

I think that this storyboard hits most of the criteria needed to make a strong, successful storyboard. We have spoke about the music that will be needed and the facial expressions of the characters. To improve this storyboard, we need to add in character movement arrows and camera movement arrows. This will make it even clearer for the cameraman to understand - if someone were to go out and turn this into a real chase sequence.

Premier Pro Editing Task

Today we started looking into how to physically make a title sequence. We were set the task of recreating a previous media groups title sequence - so we would have to piece together all the individual elements i.e. placing the original footage in the correct order and cutting them down to match the original. Placing the titles in the correct place and then applying the correct effects to them. Applying and cutting the music and sound effects to the sequence.
I myself, have used Adobe Premier Pro many times before, so I had an advanced understanding compared to some of the other people in the class. For the task, we were in pairs, and my partner had never used Premier before, which meant that I offloaded the bulk of the work to her, ensuring that she gained a solid understanding of Premier and the tools inside it.
I started by showing my partner how to drag and drop the clips onto the timeline and then cut them down once we had decided on whether or not it matched the original. The next step, which was not shown in the demonstration, was how to unlink the audio from a clip. The reason I showed my partner this was because in the original sequence, there was no diegetic sound in the clips - just the soundtrack.
Next, we added the titles over the top of the footage. This was relatively easy, until it came to finding the same effects that they used. They had applied some sort of blur and wipe to the text. Whether or not I am being stupid and don't know the name of the effect, or they had applied two different effects. In our piece we used a simple gaussian blur and set the blur to 100% then set a keyframe a few seconds after and placed the blur to 0% which gave it that fast out and in focus effect.
Lastly we added the music and sound effects which was all about timing which we applied with no major problems.

From this task, I have familiarised myself with Premier and the basics and worked in more detail on precision editing. I feel as though I have helped my partner as well with her understanding of Premier - which is an extra bonus as she is in my coursework group, and we all need to partake in the editing process of our final sequence.

Trial for the Suicide Tape

My group decided that it would be a good idea to test out how long it would take for our suicide tape section. This would allow for us to have an understanding of how much of the 2 minutes the tape will take up - leaving us a rough figure of how much time we will have to work with for the rest of the opening.

In these tester films, we are purely looking for the time and the size of the cards - we are not looking at the mise-en-scene of the shot.



This is our first trial and straight away, I feel as though the cards are too small and they are being moved along too quickly. I don't think that people would be able to see the cards and be able to read them in the time given.




For our second attempt, we decided to change the lighting of the scene, just to make it aesthetically look slightly similar to how we envisage the final shot. Again, after trying the small cards, it has become 100% clear that we need to make the cards bigger and maybe even prolong them by putting less writing on each card.




In this test, we have made the cards a lot bigger and spaced the writing out more. Immediately, just by looking at the length of the videos, you can see that this one is a lot longer than the others.
From this video we can definitely confirm that we will be using large cards and having less writing on each - this makes the whole sequence seem more eerie and adds an element of suspense and sadness to the piece.

As a group we came up with multiple ideas that we could include in our opening. We have explored the different possibilities for each of the key elements of our idea.

First Idea

After discussions with our group we have decided on an idea that fits in with the psychological thriller genre, that we think we will be able to take further and progress it into our final film idea.
The outline for our film is -
• Start with a suicide tape, that leads people to believe person is dead.
    - the tape will be made to look like a webcam has filmed it
    - We want to include some form of notes with messages/ victims story that will form the basis of the suicide tape.
    - We will try and make it so that we show what is believed to be a body hanging.

• The big plot in our film, is that the person in the suicide is not actually dead, and she then goes on a killing spree leaving clues behind - however, because the police think she is dead, they do not suspect her.

• For the title sequence we will link it into the whole notes idea and have an animated title sequence where you see notes enter the screen and then the titles (our names etc.) get written on.

• After the title sequence we will have a small section of live action film that shows a crime scene with one of the murdered bodies, and a crowd of people. In the crowd will be the supposed suicide victim. The camera will then cut to a close up of their face, revealing to the audience that she is still alive.

Trying to fit all of this in the two minute time limit will be very hard to do, yet I think once we have started to discuss the shot list and narrowed down exactly what we want to include, it will be easier to visualise the opening and make it fit in the time limit.

Discuss the way social status is represented in this extract from Merlin.

The extract starts with an establishing shot of Merlin inside of a castle, which tells us that he is going to be the male protagonist as he is the first character introduced. The castle idea is conveyed through the bright, large stained glass windows. Immediately, through Merlin’s dull clothes, it is clear that he does not belong in the castle and that he is not of the same status as the people that would have lived there. As the scene continues the editing of the clip increases, with much faster paced cuts between shots. This empahsises the fact that he should not be where he is, making Merlin appear to be worried. This is also empahsised through the use of the eerie non-diegetic music that is played throughout the scene.

    Whilst Merlin is in the room, the camera cuts back to the long shot of the corridor, where we see a female figure dressed in a long, purple dress. This connotes that she is of wealth and a high status. We see her walk towards the room, which Merlin had just entered, and she begins to confront Merlin. In this scene, the two characters are shot at an eye-line match – suggesting that they are in fact, of equal status, and that Merlin’s place in society may be higher than first expected.

    The change of scene, takes us to a working class market, where a medium shot establishes Merlin among his peers. The high-key lighting of the scene contrasts the low-key lighting of the previous scene, connoting that Merlin is not in as much danger as he was in before. We are then introduced to Arthur and his ‘gang’. Arthur is immediately made to look important due to the fact that he is positioned in the middle of the screen and is wearing armor – items worn by trained fighters, people of high status. Arthur beings to bully Merlin, yet the camera angle does not change, and we see an in focus Merlin walk towards the camera, defying the fact he is being put down, and is then shot at with an eye-line match to Arthur, again, connoting that he is of the same status as Arthur. As the scene draws to an end, Arthur begins to speak down to Merlin, and says ‘You can’t talk to me like that’. The dialogue that Arthur uses, suggests that he believes he is of a higher status, however, Merlin then brings it back down. The camera cuts to a close up of his face, and we see his facial expression change into a smirk connoting that he finds the situation humorous and is not affected by anything Arthur does. The scene then prepares us for the conflict that is about to come by the diegetic sound of the weapons.

    To commence the fight, the music becomes fast paced and adds to the intensity of the fight. The pace of the editing increases rapidly, with various jump shots being used to intensify the fight. For the first half of the fight Arthur is more dominant and is given more screen time. The ferocity that Arthur fights with is conveyed when a quick shot is shown of Merlin crushing and exploding a cabbage.

    During the fight, the control is handed over to Merlin when he starts to use his magic. An extreme close up of his eye changing colour is a symbolic sign that the magic has begun. From this point onwards, Merlin is given much more screen time, connoting that he is now the more important character in the fight scene.

   As the fight ends – with Merlin still in control – The camera cuts to a close up of Merlin’s teacher, who’s facial expressions show how disappointed he is in Merlin, which then puts Merlin in his pace, distracting Merlin and allowing Arthur to knock him down with a broom – the broom is emphasised as being a much more ferocious weapon than it is by the use of Foley sounds. Merlin is then shot from a high angle showing how weak he is on the ground. Arthur then sweeps the broom in Merlin’s face, as if to be brushing Merlin away, switching the status to be in Arthurs favor.  Yet at the end of the fight, both men are shot at an eye-line match, connoting a level of respect that the men have for each other., and how they are both in fact of equal status.

    In the last scene of the extract, Merlin and his teacher are placed in a parallel scene to the first. They are in a low-key lighted room and shot at eye level. However, in this scene, Merlin and his teacher both have similar dull clothing on, connoting that they are of the same status; all be it not a very high one.

    The scene is also shown to be serious through the use of no non-diegetic sound, jus the dialogue empahsies that the two men are shouting. Merlin’s frustration is present in his dialogue “I’m just a nobody and always will be”. How Merlin feels about himself contrast the ideas of the director, as throughout the extract, Merlin has been portrayed as being the same level of importance as all of the other characters.           

                                                                                                By Reece Garside

Brainstorms.

To progress our project, we need to start thinking about the different genre's of Thriller films and which one we as a group want to make for our final opening.

To start the decision making progress, we brainstormed a few of the genres all of us liked and put down the key elements - key plots, costume, features, characters. We have made 3 brainstorms so far, and are getting a clear idea that we will probably want our opening to be a psychological thriller. However, if we are to make this a successful opening, and ensure that we don't stray into the horror genre, we must avoid using clichés. 

What Comes Next in my Blogging?

This sheet explains what I am going to have to do up until Christmas.

Evaluation - My Progress so far as an A-level Media Student

When I started the Media A-Level course, unlike some students, I had not studied the subject before at GCSE level.

Yet, since starting, I feel that I have learnt a great deal about how to analyse the technical elements of media texts. I can now confidently summarise a text into •Camera •Editing •Mise-en-Scene •Sound and talk about how each of these elements can help portray a certain theme within the text, for example I can talk about how Mise-en-Scene can portray the difference in class or the sounds used can portray masculinity.
Since starting media, I have learnt a vast amount of new technical vocabulary, which i can apply in my work. I now know the exact terms to use when describing different elements in my essay writing. Within each of the different categories i think i have made the most progress in the sound category. Mainly due to the fact that we have spent a number of lessons looking into the category in detail and breaking it apart - learning the key words like 'parallel sound' and 'contrapuntal sound' - and then learning how these factors contribute and effect the situation at hand; for example, how does sound present the sexuality of characters?
The category that i know is my weakest is editing. In our class we have not yet looked into it in much detail and most of what i have learnt about it has come from the yale film studies guide, in which i looked at the editing section and added keywords to my glossary. I think that once i have learnt this in more depth it will not only increase my understanding of the course on a whole, but it will also give me a massive boost when writing my essays, as i will be able to confidently describe how editing plays its part - something that i have been marked down on for not including in my essays.
I also think that I will need to look over and revise all of the semiotics work and the iconography work. Once i am able to grasp the ideas involved i think that my understanding of media as a subject will become a lot easier than it may be now.
I also now have a greater understanding of title sequences. I did have some knowledge of them before as i had done previous work on them. However, i now know about what specifically makes a good thriller title sequence - so since joining media, i have a more niche understanding of the title sequence.

My targets for areas of improvement are:

- Look more into how editing can represent different themes in a media text.

- Revise Semiotics

- Continue to add key words into my glossary and refer back to it when writing essays. 

50's & 60's Thrillers

The thriller genre goes way back to the 1697 story of little red hiding hood - a story that can be argued to be a psycho-stalker tale.
Yet the first 'modern thriller' film is said to be the 1903 hit 'Heart of Darkness' which is a first person account of a man on his travels whilst searching for something. The film then delves into the ideas of civilisation. By todays standards, this film would be considered a psychological thriller.

As the years went on, there were noticeable figures in the uprising of the thriller genre. The 1931, German film 'M' directed by Fritz Lang which murders and crimes made 'normal criminals' help to find and capture the killers as soon as possible - due to the pure fear that was created in this movie. Also in the 30's Sir Alfred Hitchcock started to become an ever more increasingly important figure in the thriller film with his 1934 film 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' - which is seen as a very important suspense thriller and also one of the most successful and critically acclaimed films of Hitchcock's British period. However, this film was then remade for the American audience in 1956 - of which there are obvious differences in the tone, setting and plot of the story.

The 1950's saw one of the greatest advancements to the thriller genre. Once again, down to Hitchcock. This time, he added technicolor (colour motion picture) to the thriller genre. With films like 'Strangers on a Plane' and 'Vertigo' it is said that he reached the zenith of his career.
Although Hitchcock was a very important figure in the expansion of the thriller genre, there were other important figures. John Frankenheimer directed films such as 'The Manchurian Candidate' and 'Seconds'. 'The Manchurian Candidate' had a lot of press due to the fact the story line featured a political assassination and then a year later J.F Kennedy was assassinated, meaning that it was taken out of distribution. Yet in 1988 it was reissued and claimed that the decision to take it out of distribution was unrelated to the assassination of Kennedy.

Also the sixties saw the birth and rise of the 'Spy-Thriller'. And the birth of the James Bond franchise. Between 1960 and 1970, 6 Bond films were released. 'Dr. No' received a huge reception in the UK, but only got the American boost when JF Kennedy spoke about his love for the Bond films.
The Bond films influenced the spy thriller genre in such a way that it is still going on today and you can see elements of the original Bond films in modern spy thrillers such as 'Bourne Identity' & 'Mission Impossible'.

Saul Bass

Saul Bass - Famous for his enormous contribution to the title sequence evolution. He made his name in the title sequence scene by designing the titles for the 1955 film 'The Man with the Golden Arm' of which he created a title sequence that fitted in with the film, yet also caused quite a sensation.

The films subject was a jazz musician that suffered from a heroin addiction. The main image of the title sequence is the long, extended arm, which is a strong image relating to drug addiction. The sequence is all animated using black and white paper - something which our group could use for our title sequence if we do not want to use either live footage or animate something on After Effects or Premier. 

Bass worked alongside Alfred Hitchcock on a number of films; providing a number of effective and memorable title sequences. In his time working with Hitchcock, Bass created a new type of 'Kinetic Typography' (moving text) The first example of kinetic typography can be seen in the 1959 film 'North by Northwest'. In this animated title sequence the words flew in from off of the screen and then gradually faded into the live action film. 

 This title sequence features two kinds of disciplines - pure animation and a integration between live film and animation. When making our title sequence we will need to choose which form of title sequence we choose. Another element that will help us choose, will be what is normally used in the Thriller genre. 

Again, in the thriller film 'Psycho' Bass produced a similar title sequence with kinetic typography. However, as this was a thriller film, the sequence is much more jagged and edgy. The lines are fast moving and very sharp. This, alongside the music, makes the titles create a lot of suspense before the film has even started. A vital feature that our sequence will need to include. 

Half Term Research Jobs

Editing and Representation

By looking into editing and the different types of cuts that are available to us, it has allowed for me to think about what types of cuts would be useful to use when making our thriller opening. The different types of editing that you can use, can add suspense and tension to the piece. It also allows us to show which character is the protagonist and the most important.

A Look into the Media Archive - Art of the Title

As we are making the title sequence for a thriller opening, I delved into the Media Archive and looked at the website - Art of the Title

On this website there are hundreds of title sequences that have been analysed thoroughly - even having interviews with the films directors and producers, asking them why they chose to make the sequences as they did, and what ideas and themes were going through their head when they were planning and making the titles. 

A very interesting article on this website was a look into the meaning and creation of the titles for a film called crave. This article features a break down of the titles sequence and hosts an interview with the director Charles de Lauzirika and main title designer Raleigh Stewart. 

In the interview, you gain an insight into how the titles came about and why they are as they are. The director states that: 

"I knew it would need to be something that made an impact no matter how big or small it ended up. I went with main-on-ends because I just wanted the audience to be immediately immersed in the film."

When making our film, we need to consider the amount of time that our title sequence lasts in our opening. Do we want to have a prolonged sequence that slowly builds suspense? Or a short, punchy sequence that introduces the audience to the harsh reality that is our film?

The interview also explains the process that the two men went through when designing the titles. They both knew that the basis of the titles would heavily featured around a nightmarish dream world.
The director had one idea proposed, but the title designer had found inspiration else where.
For our title sequence, it is going to be a group decision as to how they look; showing the overall importance of team work and group discussion.

When making our title sequence, we will have to produce an animatic of what we envisage them to look like. The animatic can either be hand drawn, or produce with a simple piece of animation. The animatic will help us as it will give us guidelines as to shot changes and the types of edits that will go in our final sequence.
The animatic is quite clear for Crave and you can see as to how they have followed the animatic when making the finial sequence.

The title sequence of Crave is purely all animation - it has a 'Limbo' feel about it, with the dark colours and silhouette figurines. Our title won't be as well furnished as this purely because we do not have the software to create fully textured models.
This again will need to be decided as a group - the form of the sequence. Will it be purely animation? Or placed over live footage?



3d Models for different font ideas








Crave (2012) — Art of the Title - Crave's final title sequence.

Evaluation of Beth's Research

• Beth has gone into clear detail about each specific element that makes up the thriller genre.

• She has a clear understanding of what makes up a thriller film.

• Could be more reflective as to how this will help us in our film making - Talking about how our understanding of the thriller genre will be able to help us when planning our film.

• Could have looked into the types of camera angles that are used in the thriller genre - how they add suspense and drama to a piece.

• Beth has made it clear to the group what the expectations are for a thriller film. It is down to us to ensure that we follow all of the codes and conventions.

Evaluation of Charlotte's Research

• Charlotte has showed  clear understanding of the differences between the 15 and 18 certification.

• Needs a reflection of some sort - how will our group use this information when planning our film.

• Could have gone into more detail about the 18 certification.

•Made it clear for the group what the expectations of a certificate 15 film is.

• I did not know before that there were no restrictions on nudity for the certificate 15 films; I always thought it was limited.

Overall Learning from Analysing of Thriller Openings

After looking at multiple film openings and title sequences, there are a number of clear traits that follow through.

Camera: After looking at the types of camera angles that are used in thrillers, it is clear that to set the scene a long shot is best and then when (if) dialogue occurs, close ups and extreme close ups are used to show the expression (normally fear or angst). This is important in the thriller genre because it is able to capture the pure emotion on the actors face, meaning that the audience can really feel what they are and experience the same level of fear. The angle that the character is shot at is also very important, to make a certain character look dominant and scary, they are shot from a low angle which will make them appear bigger than they actually are. If a character is shot from a low angle it makes them appear weak and feeble. This is relevant for our film because we will need to use the camera effectively to create tension and suspense in the opening.

Editing: Most of the films that we all analysed either had a very fast pace or very slow pace for their editing. The fast paced films created an immediate reaction from the audience - making them feel the tension and suspense straight away. Also by having fast paced editing, it allowed the audience to relate to the film and ensure that they knew it was going to be a thriller/horror film. The films that featured a slower pace editing still had an element of tension too them but it was less prominent and scary. It was as though the director was slowly building tension through the gradual scene changes.
Through the use of screen time, we were able to tell which characters were going to be important in thr story. This was important because when making our film we need to decide if our protagonist and antagonist are going to be obvious from the begging, we will need to think about the amount of screen time they are given in our opening.

Music/Sound: All of the films that we analysed featured some sort of fast paced dramatic music. It is now very clear most thriller openings will feature a high pitched, fast paced piece of music. Although we would have found this out when looking at the codes and conventions, when watching the films it has supplied us with evidence that it is a common feature.
The types of music that is played in thriller openings helps to make them jumpy and build tension. It is clear that by adding darker, twisted music, it can make a scene much scarier than it would be with no music.
In most of the openings there was some sort of non diegetic sound. This is important to us because in our film we will need to put non diegetic sounds in to make the film more realistic. However, we need to find the median so that it does not give the film a low level of verisimilitude.

Mise-en-Scene: From most of the thrillers we looked at, it is clear that they have very low-key lighting to enhance the mood and too add to the overall feeling and suspense of the film. The scene of the thriller is based purely on the story of the film. However most of the film openings were in some sort of dark room or based around a city. Lastly, most of the characters are dressed in dark, dirty clothing, signifying that they are dangerous or shady characters, something that is an important convention in thriller films.

Title Sequences: Most of the title sequences in thriller films are highly important to the film. Not only for the story but also for adding and emphasising moods and feelings. The use of text is very important. Having the right style of font in the right colour plays a very important part. You do not want the colours to not be visible, yet you do not want them to stand out. Also, the placement of the text is very important, after looking at most of the openings, it is clear that most of the words are placed in the bottom corners of the screen. They are placed here so that they are not that obvious but are still noticeable. The music that is played when the titles are rolling is normally slow demure music that flows with the pace of the film. When making the titles for our film, we need to consider the speed of the titles - we do not want the titles to be too short, meaning people do not get to read them. Yet, we do not want them too last too long so people loose interest.

Charlotte's Film Openings Analysis Evaluation.

After looking at Charlottes analysis, it is clear that she needs to talk more about each section individually and specifically. However, from her analysis, you can clearly see that she has picked out the effect that music has on the openings of films. In two of her films, the music has been the first element that was introduced - before any picture and any text. This is completely from the films I watched and we can seriously consider using it an as alternative way to open our film.
I also think that Charlotte needs to talk more about the editing of the openings - how has the director used the pace of changing scene or camera angle to create suspense and tension.
Another good element of her work is how she describes the font that is used in the openings. However, I think that to improve this section even more, she should talk about the effect that it has on the opening and how it can add to the overall mood and feel of the opening. The way charlotte has approached it, it is as though the font is just there to introduce peoples names. When really it plays a huge part in adding to the feel of the opening.

Harry's Film Openings Analysis Evaluation.

Harry has straight away spoken about how effective the title sequence is, and how the use of font and colour adds in to creating tension. He has spoken about how the simple titles add to the mood of the opening. However, I think this part could have been more detailed. I think he should have spoken about the colours used and how they make the opening darker - or happier. With this detailed analysis it would allow us to think about what colours we could possibly use in our opening.
Harry has spoken in detail about how the music that is played in very typical of a thriller - it is high pitched and fast. Harry has also noted how whenever a dark situation arises the music will start to fade in - the music acts like a signifier for when a dark moment is going to happen.
Harry has briefly spoken about the pace of the editing, but I think he could have gone into more detail about the speed of the cuts. This would have allowed him to talk more about the type of tension that is being created and how the director achieves it. Also, in this section Harry has used very good terminology and shows a strong understanding about the different types of shots and editing skills. I think that to improve this section Harry shouldn't have described as much of what is happening, but spoken more about the types of shots that are used.
For the Mise-en-Scene section, I think that Harry needs to talk more about the costume that the actors are dressed in. This will link into the codes and conventions of a thriller and would help in our research. However, Harry has described the setting and the props in great detail, showing his understanding of the opening

Beth's Film Openings Analysis Evaluation.

• Spoken about the camera angle and the effect it will have on the audience  also spoke about how the colour adds in the mysterious effect.
•Very good analysis of the title sequence, she has gone into very deep detail about the diegetic and non diegetic sound.
•For the titles, I think beth should have spoken more about the font and colours used in the opening and how that creates suspense and tension.






•Beth has gone into great detail in this post about the opening of Black Swan.
•She has spoken about the kinds of fonts that are used and how they help create tension.
•Spoken about how the different types of light used create different moods and atmospheres within the text.
•Good use of how different shots effect how the camera is used from different angles and lengths.
•Speaks about how the colours in the Mise-en-Scene are mainly black and white which create tension and drama.


Opening Analysis of Se7en:
• Talks about how the fonts merge in with the film and appear to be handwritten. Adding in to the tension of the film.
• Need to talk more about the editing and the pace
of it, how if the editing is slow and prolonged it
adds to the overall tension and mood of the opening.
•Talk more about the different types camera angles that are used, and how they affect the mood of the opening.

Pilot Survey

As part of our research, we needed to conduct a survey that would inform us what our target audience thought about the thriller genre. The reason we have submitted a pilot is so we can see if we are getting the correct information that we will need for our research. It will also allow us to see if any of the questions we have are weak and will give us time to make any improvements that we need.

This is a copy of the pilot survey. We got 10 people to fill the survey in so that we could get a brief idea about how the survey is working. The first questions about peoples age is important as it will allow us to see what type of thriller our audience like. It will also allow us to distinguish if people aged below 18 prefer the aged 18 certificate.  We also asked people why they chose this certificate. This may influence us to produce a film that is less scary that features less blood and gory etc.

Another question that will be kept in our survey is 'what do you like to see in thriller openings?' this question will help us in our research because it will give us a clear idea of what our target audience actually want to see in a thriller. Most of the answers that we received said that they wanted to see elements of horror and drama in the opening. Other people asked for dark and intense lighting, however this may be too cliche for an opening and it could end up looking too similar and not very original.

One question that should be improved in our survey is 'Do you pay attention to thriller openings?' This question is very open and the answers that we received gave us very limited information and people were not explaining their answers. To make the question more specific we could ask people 'what is the most important element of a thriller opening?' or 'Which part of thriller openings catch your eye the most?'

By using a pilot survey, we have gained valuable information that we can put into our final survey. Even though this is not our final survey, we have still got quite a clear idea at what our target audience are expecting to see from our thriller opening. 

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy Titles

Titles: The titles for this film are put over a montage of what appears to be peoples everyday life over a few months - we get clear signs of different seasons. The text is very thick, yet very elegant and appears very slowly in different places in the screen. There is little movement in the text and the movement that is there is very subtle and just noticeable. The font is white which adds to the elegant and pure feel to the opening sequence. The music also emphasises the elegance of the opening, playing a slow demure track, it makes the scene seem more calm and not very 'thriller' like. This is a good way to start the film as it makes people wonder what is going to happen and where the twist will be. 

   In my own opinion, I do not think that the length of this title sequence is very suitable. It spans for almost 13 minutes, and I think that by the end of it, most people wont be paying any attention to the words that are displayed. Then again, for this film I do not think that the titles are the main element that they want to focus on. 

Pulp Fiction Opening.

Camera/Editing: In the opening of Pulp Fiction there is an extended shot that shows both the characters to the waste down. This is an easy way of showing dialogue between n multiple characters, It also sets the scene very easily. By only showing two characters in the opening, it shows us how important they are to the film. Yet, through the opening scene, you do not get a great sense of who the people are, why they are robbing a bank, and hat relevance it is going to have to the film. In effect, it creates an element of suspense and tension to the film. Making people ask questions as to why this one scene is important enough to be placed at the beginning.
The editing of the beginning only has two paces. Slow and fast. When the dialogue is taking place at the beginning, the time between shot changes is very slow and prolonged. This shows the calmness between the robbers and how their situation does not phase them. Then when they decide to 'rob the joint' the editing picks up in pace showing that they are slowly loosing control and becoming nervous. This then relates to the end of the film as it turns out they loose complete control.

Sound: In the beginning of the film, there is barely anything with sound. Other than the diegetic sound of the actors speaking, there is only a few background noises of other customers speaking and cars going past.

Mise-en-Scene: The setting for the opening is in a small diner. This has been set here because it is the last place you would expect to find two robbers planning their next job. So from the very beginning you do not expect them to rob the place. This element of surprise is very effective as it sets the theme for thee rest of the film.

Titles: The titles for this film are very effective. They are not put up against footage, but placed against a plain black background. The writing is in a very bold orange colour which stands out against the black. None of the words have any movement until the film title 'Pulp Fiction' rolls onto the screen from below. Next, when the main actors names are shown, they are white and played over the top of the 'Pulp Fiction' in the background. Then, the lesser known actors names go back to orange. As for the music, a very fast piece called Miserlou is being played, giving the title sequence a very fast and edgy feel. As the titles go on, the music changes to a slower, jazzier piece which then turns into a non diegetic piece being played through a car stereo - telling us the titles have ended.