We presented our initials ideas and development we have done so far to the class and received some feedback which in shown in the photos below. We explained that we want make a psychological/crime thriller and create an abstract opening credit scene.
Juxtaposition of themes: Relaxation/Thriller Initial ideas: We decided to make a thriller around the idea of a serial killer and a victim using the tropes of a crime thriller and also some of our own ideas to create originality.
we made some notes and brainstormed our ideas/ drew out some potential frame shots
we want to base our thriller at a spa/sauna, somewhere which represents relaxation and peacefulness which will contrast with the death and the killer's motive. A spa has many elements that we can play with and incorporate into the thriller such as: steam/lockers.
We also made an aesthetic board which shows the type of mood/tone and lighting we want to portray in the thriller. This includes some pictures of the sauna and images from a video that is filmed underwater where the camera is angled towards the light. We want to represent quite an abstract series of short clips and is open up for audience interpretation. For example, the underwater image is quite blurred and shaky so we don't know which way the light is coming from but could also mean that the victim is literally going into the light.
Representation of characters is shown through the micro elements in the opening scene where we know that Theo is the protagonist as he barges through the crowd into the center of the shot. The camerawork used here also suggests how is a significant character as the camera tracks him out of the shop.The expression on his face portrays a feeling of depression and when he puts alcohol in his coffee it implies how he may have issues - could be a trope of this movie. The editing in this opening scene is interesting as the majority of the scene is one take (only one cut) and so the duration is very long where the camera tracks the protagonists and occasionally pans across to give a view of the city which gives a sense of the real time in the world of "children of the men" and continuity. The sound in this scene are all diegetic and again, allows the audience to be more of a part of the scene and makes it seems like they are actually witnessing the events. The mise en scene in this scene contributes a lot into portraying the setting and location. When Theo leaves the shop the we see the city in 2027 where the streets are busy and there are piles of rubbish on the side of the path. This shows how the people are careless and how the world in the film is different from the real one The opening scene is set in London, we can determine this from the mis en scene where we see the typical english buildings, streets and the red buses. The streets are polluted, looks quite run down which gives us a sense of misery and suggests how the world of "children of men" is not the ideal world someone would want to live in .
enigmas
- why can't the people can't have babies anymore
- why does the protagonist not care
- who is this man
- why was the coffee shop bombed
- what is going on in the world of "
There are many Thriller sub genres in the media and as a class we explored the main ones where my group did audience research on Political Thriller. Below are some films that fits underneath the political thriller genre, we used yougov profiler as a base to see what type of person would watch the following films.
Below are how class is categorised in the UK. We matched up certain professions to the different segments to show how they can be differently represented.
THRILLER This is a slide including 5 of the Thriller sub genres that we studied : Psychological, Political, Crime, Spy and Film Noir.
To demonstrate our understanding we created a short Crime/Action thriller scene using our knowledge of filming, editing and the micro elements.
50 second clip which brings together some of elements and conventions of crime and action thriller.
Analysis- We used a variety of camera angles and different types of shots in this short film. The opening scene includes a track shot across the table from the front view and also a view from the back. The next cut is a close up shot of the hacker's hand typing on the keyboard. We also included many continuation shots where the actions are filmed from different angles and put together to allow the audience to see it from a different perspective. The last scene in particular, we used a low close up where the camera is placed on the ground. This adds to the striking ending where the attention is drawn away from the actors as the faces are not revealed and focuses on the action of the laptop being taken away. Throughout the whole clip, a background music is used to build/maintain suspense and it also fits in with the sub genre. The volume is increased at certain parts eg. the climax and the speed of the music also changes when tension is increased. A number of diegetic sounds are used as well to support the actions in the clip for example, keyboard sound, running, punch. We also played around with the editing where in the hacking scene, this is when we created a double layer of two clips to show to the reflection from the screen of the computer. The duration of each scene also varies according to the actions. The mis en scene is created through the lighting and the props where in the opening the setting is darker/dimmer contrasting with the light from the hacker's laptop therefore focusing on the actions. The laptop is also always in the frame throughout to the end which highlights its importance to this crime thriller.
Denotation(what we see literally) : Getting ready for the day, grooming, cooking breakfast Association (the association we make) : Gore, blood/flesh, weird feeling
Camera Work – extreme close ups which exaggerates the
violence and highlights the small details
Editing – Jump cuts, unsure/fragmented. Chronological order
of scenes in a daily routine
Sound – diegetic sounds amplified, cutting/tearing sound. Background
music fits in with the actions
Mis en scene – everyday routine but adds other elements
eg. Blood to make it more sinister.
Thriller- A broad genre of literature, film and television. Thrillers stimulate the viewer's moods giving them a high levels ofsuspense, excitement, anticipationand terror.Successful examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock which we studied earlier eg. Rear Window. Thrillers generally keep the audience on the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards aclimax.
Thriller conventions The antagonist ensures the protagonists in an increasingly complex web, until the protagonist feels isolated and helpless. The narrative centres upon a crime eg. theft, murder. The protagonist is fallible and has an Achilles heel that is exploited.
Theme of identity are common. mistaken identity, amnesia and dopplegangers Other themes that reoccur in thriller films -Theme of seeing, reflection and mirroring - manipulation of perspective -A series of enigmas are set up - only to be solved at the end -The audience is placed in the ambiguous position of "voyeur" -protagonist will be in danger - the narrative presents extra-ordinary things in ordinary situations/settings - the micro elements are used to build suspense and tension throughout the film
Some examples of Thriller films are : *Gone girl, Shutter Island, The town, Black swan, Nightcrawler, The purge, Source code, Only god forgives, Drive, Side effects.
*We are analysing the first minute of the opening of the film Rear Window.
Camerawork: Pan and Tilt
- Setting : residence, neighbourhood, apartments, city/urban, average district, compacted and crowded.
- Perspiring/thermometer suggests how it is hot
- We see a man shaving with the radio on in the background, suggests how it is in the morning. The man seems to be quite old and mature
- Camera is from a male gaze
- A man broken his leg
- Camera also smashed suggests how he is a photographer
- Jeff is seen a a risk taker where he takes photos of sports, explosion, bomb testing, simple photography, negative print, fashion - suggests how he is a diverse photographer.
*Dead dog - cynical, seems like neighbourhood doesn't care, everyone comes out to witness the dead dog except for the killer.
Tension Rear Window 1954 - David Hitchcock Jimmy Stewart - Jeff Grace kelly - Lisa Raymon Burr - Lars Thorwald Ethel Ritter - Stella
Creating tension *Jeff's point of view (subjective camera), puts the viewer throughs jeff's position so we feel like what he feels 1) When the killer is returning Jeff knows, we know Lisa doesn't 2) We know and Jeff knows but he is helpless - creating a sense of guilt 3) Call the police - we know the police are coming. Do they get there on time? 4) We don't know what they are saying/slightly concealed in the killer's flat. We also don't know how Lisa is handling it. How far is the killer going to go? - build up of more suspense and tension 5) The killer realise he's being watched, what is he going to do next? adding to the suspense.
The media uses real fears and repackages them as entertainment and sells them back to us, these can be in forms of Movies, TV shows, Music or even through Video Games. Here is a mind map including some of the fears people may experience and examples of films thats uses them as a base or the theme.
Theories for scary films
Aristotle - believe in Catharsis where we watch violent/negative images to purge supressed emotions
Zolf Zillman - Excitation theory, by experiencing negative and scary imagery we intensify the positive, we enjoy seeing the negative images being vanquished
Glen D Walters - what makes a film scary - tension/suspense,created using narrative and filming techniques. Relevance, the fears explored are relevant to the audience they 'believe'.
Unrealism, we know we are safe therefore we can experiment and explore with these fears.
*This is a mind map showing some of the reasons why we watch scary movies
Saturday, 31 October 2015
Se7en Char Analysis of Mills as a person through 2 scenes;
- The photographer scene, where he uses strong abusive and profane language to convey his anger
- John Doe's apartment, where he is being irrational, anger shown through him knocking down the door of the apartment.
Mills
-Angry
-Unaware (or refuses to reflect upon) his own faults
-Is lead by his emotions
-A man of action
-Believes the world can be a better place with his actions
Somerset
-enjoys research
-cynical
-judges others
-jaded
-thinks the world is a terrible place
-hates apathy
-patient, intelligent
-methodical and pays attention to details
However both believe that crime should be punished and in justice.
Friday, 30 October 2015
Se7en - LOCATION AND SETTING
location: Geographical
Setting: How it is portrayed, atmosphere, time period
SCENE 1 : Exterior scene
*In this scene the location is set outside an apartment in a city (we know this through lots of diegetic noises of the busy streets, cars, people walking) and the time period is relevant to when the film was made which was 1995
What sort of world is Se7en?
polluted - building looks contaminated, run down, musty
high crime rates - many sounds of sirens (diegetic), the micro elements (mis en scene) suggests how crime is very normal in this city where dead bodies are wheeled out and people react without surprise.
realistic world - (verisimilitude) it is believable, not a fantasy. It is not a perfect world where crimes are committed frequently.
aggressive place - Mills get bumped into and no one flinches/reacts/apologies suggesting how they are used to living in a rough area and being less civilised
SCENE 2: Somerset's flat
*This scene is set at Somerset's flat where we hear many diegetic sounds of the neighbours raised voices (aggression) sirens and traffic. We see that he lives alone with no family. The objects in his flat includes things that are seen as threatening eg. a pocketknife which suggests how he lives in a dangerous place and may need it for protection. This brings links in to one of the main motifs of the film - crime.
SCENE 3: Conversation between Somerset and Tracey
*In this scene Somerset and Tracey are having a conversation where abortion is brought into consideration. Somerset suggest that bringing in a new life is a reason to worry because the world is such a "terrible" place. Instead he encourages her to get an abortion, this implies how destroying a new life is seen as better thing to do. Somerset saying this associates him with another main motif of this film which is death and also highlights his constant pessimistic perception of the world.
What sort of world is Se7en?
Rain - This element of rain creates a miserable tone for many scenes where it could be seen a pathetic fallacy which is when the weather reflects on what the characters' feelings. We could also see the rain as the world of Se7en weeping for when another life is lost which is happening through out the film. The rain maybe interpreted as water washing away the sins committed which reminds us how in the world of Se7en not everything is clean but is rather sickly.
Sound is a really important micro element as it is used to aid the actions or convey a message eg. through dialogue. The two types of sounds that are present in media are diegetic and non-diegetic
DIEGETIC SOUNDS - Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film: eg .voices of characters , sounds made by objects in the story. Diegetic sound can also be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame.
NON-DIEGETIC SOUNDS - Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action: eg narrator's commentary,sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect or background music Non-diegetic soundis represented as coming from the a source outside story space.
Using a short clip from the movie "point break", I added in sound effects or diegetic sounds to accompany the actions eg. running, police cars siren. All the sound editing is done in Adobe Premiere where i can adjust the length/frequency of each sound or control the volume to emphasise the actions eg. running footsteps becomes louder as the character is closer to the camera. Below is the result of experimenting with editing.
Since this is was our first project, I personally found it
quite challenging to piece together a short film in one minute. This is because
of the new apparatus we used such as the tripod, functions on the camera or
even the editing program (adobe premiere) but soon we familiarised ourselves
with it and adopted many filming techniques along the process.
wide shot-similar to batman/joker's interrogation scene
Creative process
Idea: we decided to work under the
title of“interrogation” which to me, I
thought was difficult, as we had to create a script from scratch. However many
ideas were suggested, mostly inspired or similar to movies I watched that
included interrogation scenes eg CSI. Most of our ideas were based on stereotypical
interrogation scenes where there are two people sitting in a room, one usually
in authority and the other less superior acting a the person being interrogated
which this case is the criminal. Initially we wanted it to have a twist to the
ending where we find out the criminal did not actually commit the crime but due
time limit of the film we thought it would not be effective. However we decided
to build up the tension throughout each scene but make the ending more
mysterious by not fully revealing what crime/victim was involved – leaving it
to the imagination of the viewers to decide. Our ideas were added throughout
filming and editing and so did not turn out the exact way we originally
thought.
Filming: I found this very
interesting as we had to decide on the types of shots that will be used that
are created through the different angles and camera work. Before we started
filming we planned out the types of shots used for each scenes so that it will
be easier for us to shoot, these includes (long shots, close up, panning etc).
We wanted to use a variety of shots to satisfy all the microelements and so
builds up the tension towards the climax. I believe that we had quite a strong
teamwork as everyone contributed fully and all ideas/suggestions were taken
into account. Tanya and I did most of the acting whereas Smart filmed the shots
and edited the movie and we delegated the tasks reasonably well.
Technical process
These two shots are obeying the 180 degree rule
Camera: in the beginning we found
setting up the camera to the right position with the tripod quite difficult as
there are many adjustments such as the functions on the camera (zooming/focus)
and also the angle in which the camera is set up in order to create different
shots (bird eyes view shot would require the camera to be filming from directly
above the actions). Half of the film is the dialogue between the interrogator
and the suspect which is filmed through the basic technique that we see in a
normal conversation scene – obeying the 180 degree rule. This is when the
camera is placed behind one actor where the body/head of that actor is still
shown in the shot (usually a third or less of the frame) but the camera focuses
on the other actor who is speaking. This is to show that the dialogue is still
between these two where the eye contact is kept between the actors so the
camera is from the audience points of view. We filmed the whole dialogue twice,
one where the camera is placed behind the interrogator and another from the
suspect’s side. We also filmed many close ups of actions which in this case
only the actions being done are shown, not the face of the person doing it to
create suspense and tension. Again this is shot from many point of view so that
we can play around with it during editing.
Editing:Editing is very significant in this film as
it is the main tool in building up suspense and tension. This is done through
adding sound effects, adjusting the colours/tone of the scene or putting
together different shots. One scene in particular which showed how editing is
effective is the match on action of the gun being slid across the table. This
scene is put together using two shots (one overhead looking down on the gun and
the other from a wider angle showing the full action).Another way in which editing is used in the
film is through changing some of the scenes to black and white for the actions
of the criminal. This is to suggest that these actions happened in the past or
in other words is a flashback of the event and is not occurring simultaneously
to the interrogation scene. We decided to do short inserts of these scene
between the interrogation to build a sense mystery and also allows the audience
make sense of what kind of crime was committed as it was not mentioned in the
dialogue. Lastly the sound effects added such as the constant sound of clock
ticking and heartbeat also added an element of suspense where it was louder
closer to the climax of the film
Audio: We did not use any external
audio equipment therefore all of the audio was recorded through the camera
while filming. This caused some problems as it also absorbed some background
noises and so disrupted the dialogue. We did not realize this until the footage
was put into the editing program however we tried to minimize and stabilize the
noises as much as possible and due to time limit we could not re film those
parts that were affected.
Final product
What we did well: One of the
things that I think we did particularly well on was filming and including the
different types of shots (eg wide shot, close up or panning) as it shows a
variety which makes the film more interesting. Another thing that links in with
this is the editing and how we were able to put together the shots to complete
a scene, which gives a sense of continuity and. I also think how we delegated
the tasks and split up the work was done quite efficiently which made it easier
for all of us to contribute to the final piece and so this represents our
strong teamwork and communication skills. Lastly I believe that we included
each of the micro-elements for example (gunshot sound effects, the gun itself
creating a complete mis-en-scene, different camera angle and the editing),
sufficiently in each scene and so over all executed this task reasonably well.
What we can improve on and what
can be done differently: One of the main things that we can improve is the
sound as it seems to be the major problem in the film where some dialogue
cannot be heard and so might “kill” the tension being built up. In the future using
an eternal audio equipment to record the dialogue or inserting a voice over so
that we can eliminate the background noises can fix this. Another thing is the lighting
as it is not the same throughout the whole film and so prevents it from running
smoothly. This is because we filmed it on different days therefore can be
simply fixed by finishing filming the same scene all on the same day to ensure
same lighting.
we want to base our thriller at a spa/sauna, somewhere which represents relaxation and peacefulness which will contrast with the death and the killer's motive. A spa has many elements that we can play with and incorporate into the thriller such as: steam/lockers.
