Examples
These are just a few of the many thrillers that have been released in the past couple of years.
The Dark Knight
Smokin’ Aces
No Country for Old Men
Hitman
The Bourne Trilogy
Snakes on a Plane
Casino Royale
Assault on Precinct 13
Law Abiding Citizen
(Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_thriller_films:_2000s)
Typically, a thriller provides “excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension”.
Usually, the plot involves “characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces”. A lot of thrillers are hybrids, mixing 2 genres together. Examples of these are suspense-thrillers, action or adventure thrillers, sci-fi thrillers and more.
(Source - http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html)
Some of the best thrillers ever created were by Alfred Hitchcock. He started in the 1920s and created films well into the 1960s. His films have set the bar for all thrillers and show how they should be done to maximize the enjoyment of the audience.
15 February 2010
13 February 2010
- Lesson 2 11/02/10 -
- Lesson 2 11/02/10 -
During this lesson, Ashley and I carried on our work with the storyboard. We completed 9 shots for it including descriptions of what the shot will be as well as transitions and camera angles.
We also completed a risk assessment to work out what could be dangers when we are filming the final piece.
We finished the questionnaire for homework and using the results have slightly changed our plans for the film. People asked, didn't want there to be much speech and most of them wanted to see the antagonist in the video. They also wanted it to be set during the afternoon or during night, but unfortunately we will not be able to film at night due to the lighting requirements.
Over the holidays Ashley and I will go to the places we plan on filming and take photos, and we will finish the storyboard. I will also research further into thriller films, such as genre conventions and what makes a good thriller.
During this lesson, Ashley and I carried on our work with the storyboard. We completed 9 shots for it including descriptions of what the shot will be as well as transitions and camera angles.
We also completed a risk assessment to work out what could be dangers when we are filming the final piece.
We finished the questionnaire for homework and using the results have slightly changed our plans for the film. People asked, didn't want there to be much speech and most of them wanted to see the antagonist in the video. They also wanted it to be set during the afternoon or during night, but unfortunately we will not be able to film at night due to the lighting requirements.
Over the holidays Ashley and I will go to the places we plan on filming and take photos, and we will finish the storyboard. I will also research further into thriller films, such as genre conventions and what makes a good thriller.
11 February 2010
Thriller Openings Research
I researched two thriller openings to find out what they are like and what is usually included in them so that I have some ideas to use in my video. The thrillers I watched were Smokin’ Aces and The Dark Knight.
Smokin’ Aces
Mise en Scene:
The scene starts outside in a street at night and it is dark with little visible lighting. There are a few cars and a large van parked in the street with buildings lining the pavement.
The scene starts outside in a street at night and it is dark with little visible lighting. There are a few cars and a large van parked in the street with buildings lining the pavement.
Next we see inside of what is assumed to be the van, with one character sat facing towards the camera and another just off screen. In the background are computers and screens that seem complicated and suggest that the characters are spying or watching someone, and are members of law enforcement. There are food wrappers and drink containers scattered around the place which makes it seem messy, yet more realistic as it shows that the characters have been eating.
Next is a shot from outside the van looking through trees into a house. This adds to the impression that someone is being watched. The house is large, perhaps a mansion and is full of chandeliers and protected by wrought iron gates. This insinuates that the place is owned by someone rich.
Sound:
During the opening sequence, there is a lot of talking between the two characters. They insult each other jokingly and talk about seemingly random things, but once the man in the house uses a phone they go silent, as well as telling anyone who is on their walkie-talkie frequency to be quite. We then hear a phone conversation from the man in the house.
During the opening sequence, there is a lot of talking between the two characters. They insult each other jokingly and talk about seemingly random things, but once the man in the house uses a phone they go silent, as well as telling anyone who is on their walkie-talkie frequency to be quite. We then hear a phone conversation from the man in the house.
During the sequence, there is some diegetic sound like the crunching of wrappers and the sounds of machines and movement when the camera is in the van.
The final piece of sound is a small conversation between the two characters in the van who realise that a man is being targeted by bounty hunters. As they realise this a small amount of background music starts to fade in which adds to the tension and drama.
Editing:
The editing starts off slowly, with extremely long takes before a cut. As the sequence goes on, more and more cuts are used. This makes the beginning look boring as though nothing is happening, but it gradually changes into something exciting as the characters realise what is happening. Straight cuts are used to make it simple and to the point.
The editing starts off slowly, with extremely long takes before a cut. As the sequence goes on, more and more cuts are used. This makes the beginning look boring as though nothing is happening, but it gradually changes into something exciting as the characters realise what is happening. Straight cuts are used to make it simple and to the point.
The beginning of the sequence starts with a black screen with small white writing at the bottom, giving a rough overview of what the film will be about.
Camera:
The scene starts with a tracking shot of the road, with the camera moving from right to left slowly. This makes the scene seem quite spooky and is as though something is happening that needs to be kept quiet. There are then a mixture of zooms and close ups used to add some drama to the scene once the characters realise what is happening.
The scene starts with a tracking shot of the road, with the camera moving from right to left slowly. This makes the scene seem quite spooky and is as though something is happening that needs to be kept quiet. There are then a mixture of zooms and close ups used to add some drama to the scene once the characters realise what is happening.
The Dark Knight
Mise en Scene:
The opening sequence starts by showing a huge city with lots of sky scrapers. We then see a window blown out of one of the skyscrapers and a zip line goes across to a lower down roof of another skyscraper. In the next shot we see the city at ground level with cars going past on the roads and people walking past. The final location is inside a bank, which contains some citizens and computers in a huge room, with a vault at the back that contains lots of money. This arouses the audience suspicions as they wonder why the bank is being attacked by a bunch of clowns, and makes them want to watch to find out more.
The opening sequence starts by showing a huge city with lots of sky scrapers. We then see a window blown out of one of the skyscrapers and a zip line goes across to a lower down roof of another skyscraper. In the next shot we see the city at ground level with cars going past on the roads and people walking past. The final location is inside a bank, which contains some citizens and computers in a huge room, with a vault at the back that contains lots of money. This arouses the audience suspicions as they wonder why the bank is being attacked by a bunch of clowns, and makes them want to watch to find out more.
Sound:
The sound used is all diegetic, and includes gun shots and footsteps that echo when the characters are in the bank. The voices of the clowns are slightly muffled, as would be expected as they are wearing masks, while the voices of the people in the bank are panicked and clear. This creates a contrast between the two and makes the audience wonder who the clowns are.
The sound used is all diegetic, and includes gun shots and footsteps that echo when the characters are in the bank. The voices of the clowns are slightly muffled, as would be expected as they are wearing masks, while the voices of the people in the bank are panicked and clear. This creates a contrast between the two and makes the audience wonder who the clowns are.
Editing:
The editing used is all straight cuts between each shot, with gunshot flashes added in to add effects. This makes the action seem faster and creates more drama and adds to the audience wanting to keep watching.
The editing used is all straight cuts between each shot, with gunshot flashes added in to add effects. This makes the action seem faster and creates more drama and adds to the audience wanting to keep watching.
Camera:
The camera techniques used vary in the sequences. It starts with a high angle shot showing the huge city and they goes into a tracking shot that follows the two clowns go along the zip line. We then see a close up when on the streets and then once in the bank a variety of zooms, pans and close ups are used to show what the characters are doing.
The camera techniques used vary in the sequences. It starts with a high angle shot showing the huge city and they goes into a tracking shot that follows the two clowns go along the zip line. We then see a close up when on the streets and then once in the bank a variety of zooms, pans and close ups are used to show what the characters are doing.
09 February 2010
Starting the Thriller - Lesson 1 09/02/10 -
- Lesson 1 09/02/10 -
In this lesson we started working on our ideas for our main task: creating the opening sequence for a thriller.
To start off with, our teacher showed us some examples of previous students work, showing us what was good and what was bad so that we could take ideas on what and what not to do in our own pieces.
We then got into groups and Ashley Grantham and I decided to go as a pair as it would allow us to keep core ideas of ours as their would only be two of us making the decisions, whereas had we chose a bigger group then our personal ideas may have been diluted by the amount of opinions present.
Our first task for creating our thriller began by creating a mind map of our ideas that we could use to create our storyboard. We mapped out our ideas on what we wanted, with characters, setting, time of day and props, as well as what we roughly wanted to show. Unfortunately we didn't have time to finish the storyboard and so we shall carry on making it next lesson. For homework we will create a questionnaire and get 7 people to answer it and use the results to further develop our ideas on what to make as our final piece. For personal research I will look at 2 thriller film openings and analyse them on Mise en Scene, Camera work, Sound and Editing.
In this lesson we started working on our ideas for our main task: creating the opening sequence for a thriller.
To start off with, our teacher showed us some examples of previous students work, showing us what was good and what was bad so that we could take ideas on what and what not to do in our own pieces.
We then got into groups and Ashley Grantham and I decided to go as a pair as it would allow us to keep core ideas of ours as their would only be two of us making the decisions, whereas had we chose a bigger group then our personal ideas may have been diluted by the amount of opinions present.
Our first task for creating our thriller began by creating a mind map of our ideas that we could use to create our storyboard. We mapped out our ideas on what we wanted, with characters, setting, time of day and props, as well as what we roughly wanted to show. Unfortunately we didn't have time to finish the storyboard and so we shall carry on making it next lesson. For homework we will create a questionnaire and get 7 people to answer it and use the results to further develop our ideas on what to make as our final piece. For personal research I will look at 2 thriller film openings and analyse them on Mise en Scene, Camera work, Sound and Editing.
02 February 2010
Finishing Touches
- Lesson 5 02/02/10 -
In this lesson, my group and I finished the editing that was still needed. We then realised that some of the sounds were out of place on the video and so Henna and I went into the corridor while Robert finished adding transitions to the clips. We recorded the sound of her stamping to put over the clip of Robert walking, and took it back to the computer but it hadn't recorded properly and so we had to go out and redo it. This time it worked and we then added the sounds to the video. Finally we created a title section and added our names so that the exam board would know who were in the video and then we exported it into a format that could be used on DVDs and a format that could be uploaded to YouTube. The video was then uploaded onto YouTube so that we would be able to get the embed code that would allow us to use it on our blog, as seen below.
For the end of the lesson I started looking at thriller film openings to get a feel for what they were like.
For the end of the lesson I started looking at thriller film openings to get a feel for what they were like.
The above video is our finished Preliminary Task piece. I think that it came out well, apart from the bad lighting in the shots taken over my shoulder. I like the use of camera angles that we used and I think the cuts were in the right places, but I think we used too many transitions (fade, wipe) that makes the video look worse than if we had used straight cuts. We know how to rectify our mistakes for the main task so that it will look as good as possible.
28 January 2010
Editing
- Lesson 4 28/01/10 -
In this lesson, my group and I started editing our film to make it look better. We took all of the pieces off the video tape and captured it using Adobe Premier Pro so that we could then edit it. We cut the clips where we needed them so that bad parts aren't on the final film and so that the transitions can be made easily. We spent some time looking at the effects that we could add and we now know what we want to do with the final parts of editing we need to do. We used a variety of cuts to create a tense atmosphere in out piece, using fades and wipes to good effect as Robert and I spoke, and as he walked.
One problem that we encountered was that two of the clips have drastically different lighting compared to the rest of the clips and so looks out of place when the video is played. We tried using different lighting on each clip using effects from Adobe Premier Pro, but in the end they made it look more out of place and so we stuck with a simple spotlight to add a bit of detail to previously blank silhouettes.
Next lesson we shall finish editing and then record some ambient sound and footsteps to make the silent clips busier. We may also re-film the parts with bad lighting.
In this lesson, my group and I started editing our film to make it look better. We took all of the pieces off the video tape and captured it using Adobe Premier Pro so that we could then edit it. We cut the clips where we needed them so that bad parts aren't on the final film and so that the transitions can be made easily. We spent some time looking at the effects that we could add and we now know what we want to do with the final parts of editing we need to do. We used a variety of cuts to create a tense atmosphere in out piece, using fades and wipes to good effect as Robert and I spoke, and as he walked.
One problem that we encountered was that two of the clips have drastically different lighting compared to the rest of the clips and so looks out of place when the video is played. We tried using different lighting on each clip using effects from Adobe Premier Pro, but in the end they made it look more out of place and so we stuck with a simple spotlight to add a bit of detail to previously blank silhouettes.
Next lesson we shall finish editing and then record some ambient sound and footsteps to make the silent clips busier. We may also re-film the parts with bad lighting.
26 January 2010
Filming
- Lesson 3 26/01/10 -
During this lesson, my group and I filmed all of our preliminary task work. We started out by collecting a camera, tripod and tape and then set it up in the L shape corridor outside of the class room so that we could video Robert walk down the corridor. The camera was set up in the door way that was in the corner of the L so that we could see Robert walk towards us and then pan with him as he walked around the corner. After the initial problem of getting the pan smooth, we moved onto the next shot. We then filmed Robert opening a door which went smoothly and then filmed the rest of our video in a dark class room. We used an artificial light source to cast shadows across the characters faces, but we encountered some problems due to it. In some clips the characters in the room are well lit, yet in others they are almost entirely silhouettes. This was because of the location of the artificial light source and so we know where we went wrong with the positioning of it as it didn't cast light on anything facing away from it.
We used the following camera techniques in the video: pan, close-up, two shot, shot reverse shot and over the shoulder shot.
Next lesson we shall start our editing and possibly re-film any bad parts from the video.
Next lesson we shall start our editing and possibly re-film any bad parts from the video.
21 January 2010
Storyboard and Camera Use
- Lesson 2 21/01/10 -
During this lesson, my group and I created our storyboard so that we knew what we wanted to film, and decided on what camera angles we want to use for each part of our video. On the storyboard we drew a picture of what the shot would look like, and wrote what would happen in each shot. We also decided how many shots there would be and we finalised the dialogue that would be said at the end of the video. We then took photos of the storyboard we had made and uploaded them onto the computer.
Part way through the lesson we got a camera to learn how to use it properly. We discovered how to remove the tapes, insert tapes and how to use each of the buttons to zoom in and out and to view what had been recorded.
Next lesson we shall start our recording as we now know what we want to film.
Next lesson we shall start our recording as we now know what we want to film.
These are photos of our storyboard, showing the diagram of what will happen in each shot with a description stating the camera angles that will be used.
19 January 2010
Storyboard and Preliminary Task
- Lesson 1 19/01/10 -
The very start of the lesson was made up by the creation of this blog as a way to track and record what I and my group are doing over the course of this task.
In this lesson we were introduced into the course, and started with our preliminary task. We were informed on how to correctly use the video camera, and told techniques like panning, rule of thirds and the 180 degree rule. We were also told how to change the lighting for indoors and outdoors to make sure that the colours and darkness are ok. We then started by getting into groups, with me were Henna and Robert. We created a spider diagram of our ideas, showing what we wanted to do with our video. We noted down the speech that would be done between the characters, and ideas for a location, props and costume. We also wrote down a couple of camera angles that we wanted to use, and wrote down the 180 degree rule to make sure we didn't make mistakes. We were happy with our rough ideas and started to work on our storyboard, but didn't have time to make any progress and instead finished the lesson with a blank sheet.
This is our spider diagram, which shows all of our ideas for the task. When we made the diagram, we were considering the location, costume, props, camera shots, characters and what would be said in the piece.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
