In thrillers location and set design are a crucial part of the film as it can add or take away from the naturalism of the thriller.
In our piece we are going to try and use location and set design that will enhance our piece and make it more real and entertaining to watch.
When filming Rebecca being followed we will have walking in a dark light street which is quite deserted, the alley way she then turns down is long and thin and very dark light, this will help build the atmosphere and suspension of the piece.
When filming Ollie eating chinese, we want the house to be quite cosy and ordinary so the audience will be able to relate to him, we want him to be eating chinese and watching tv just so the audience can see that this and be able to empathize with it, making it more naturalistic and real when will then make our thriller more chilling
Our target audience is quite varied and our film could appeal to different audiences, such as teenagers and adults because our plot consists of someone who is in their early 20s so it could appeal to the older generation and the younger generation. it is quite complex so i would say some one in their early teens would find it too complicated. However someone 15 and above would be the right target audience.
Our film has the right amount of complexity and fun that it is sure to grip any audience
This is our Production Schedule, where we specify, where we film, when when we film, what we film & who is included in the filming.
1. The first day of filming Date: friday the 4th december Time:3pm-7:00pm the latest Location: samsons house we will be filming the scene in samson's house of the man at home eating chinease food and stalker watching from the window we will then film the scene in the alley way with the stalker following the woman. we will also film the scrap book scene at samsons house.
The props we will be using on this date is, - answering machine
- romote control - chinease
- scrap book and a picture of percy and rebecca
- rebecca to where some formal clothes
-gloves
-mobile phone
-black hoody
2. The second day of filming
Date: saturday 5th of december 2009 Time: ? Location: samsons house this day might not happen if we finish our shooting on friday however if not we will finish it all on saturday.
The props we will be using on this date is, - answering machine
- romote control - chinease
- scrap book and a picture of percy and rebecca
- rebecca to where some formal clothes
-gloves
-mobile phone
-black hoody
After doing all of this we will then see if there are any parts that we want to be re filmed or re done or if we changed some certain shots or wanted to add extra things.
In our piece there are 3 main characters in the opening scene who play a significant part in the entire film if we where to film it all :
Rebecca : Female early 20s business woman has had a hard past a bit paranoid of her surroundings has something to hide and constantly feels like she is being watched however she acts ( normal ) on the outside concealing her real emotions. She lives alone because she is sooo focused on her career and the reason the stalker follows her is because some point in her life she has done something that has hurt him physically or emotionally. She went out with the stalkers best friend and the stalker used to like her.
Ollie : Male early 20s as well, is quite a cocky person and thinks he is very good looking. He is in a relationship with Rebecca and has quite an easy past. He used to be best friends with the killer but he betrayed him and went out with some one that the killer thought he could end up marrying (Rebecca) .
Timmy : The killer ( stalker ) HE STALKS AND COLLECTS A SCRAP BOOK OF ANY ONE WHO HAS EVER DONE WRONG TO HIM. HIS FIRST VICTIMS ARE HIS BEST FRIEND AND EX FIANCEE AND THE SCRAP BOOK SHOWS THE ORDERS OF HIS NEXT VICTIMS
Detective Sean Johnson :He is following the case as it happens and tries to uncover who is the next victim. He is not seen in the opening scene only his voice is heard through the answering machine .
3. CU (Close up) - Of a photo (with titles in front)
4. MCU ( Medium close up) - Scrapbook turning pages
5. CU (Close up) - Of a photo (with titles in front)
6.MCU (Medium close up) - Scrapbook turning pages
Zoom..
7.CU (Close up) - Photo
Fades out into..
8.POV (Point of view) of Stalker - Following Rebecca
9.Two shot- Of Rebecca and stalker behind her walking on phone.
10.Long shot - From behind the stalker following Rebecca (non digetic, phone call of Rebecca saying, "shes being followed" , it muffles then it goes silent)
11.POV (Point of view) of antagonist running behind protagonist moving forward past her.
12.MCU (Medium close up) - Scrapbook turning page
Zoom..
13.CU (Close up) - Photo of Rebecca and Ollie in scrap book. (non digetic, voice mail message of detective saying " Ollie should be careful and should phone the detective back")
Fades out into....
14.POV (Point of view) of Stalker- Voyeuristic shot of Ollie eating chinese through window
15.MCU (Medium close up) -Of Ollie eating and just general relaxation
16.OTS (Over the shoulder shot) - Of Ollie eating and watching tv
17.CU (Close up) Answering machine bleeping.
18. EC ( Extreme close up) Of red light on answering machine.
Warner Bro's is an American producer of film, and television entertainment. It was founded by Jewish 1918 it is the third-oldest American movie studio in continuous operation. It is the maker of films such as : Looney tunes Harry Potter Batman Begins Ocean's Eleven.
I feel that the thriller target audience is probably 15-35its for people into intrigue and mystery with a tint of a twist. Its for people who like to try and work things out for themselves but sometimes never quite gets there .A person who never gives up trying and will always give it a shot on working out what in happening, yet still loves the element of surprise. But it also depends on the sub genre of the Thriller, action thrillers for example are mainly for young people where as political thrillers are maybe set for an older audience.
From watching past students examples and analysing Thrillers I have established regular patterns that occur. The music tends to be very quiet during opening credits and seems to get louder as it goes on. Thriller music tends to be very atmospheric and orchaestral and always supports the theme and sub genre of the thriller. The music is key to the success of the Thriller and how it can make the audience feel, it is used to heighten the mood and the effect the thriller is meant to have. It builds tension and makes the audience uncomfortable and brings the anxiety.
I have included the music to insomnia to highlight how music has a key effect on a thriller.
He was born 21 december 1948, He usually played bad guys and drug addicts before doing 'The long kiss goodnight'. His performance in Pulp Fiction gave him an oscar. He has starred in such thrillers such as Pulp Fiction(1994), Snakes on a plane (2007) Kill bill(2004)
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an American film and stage actor and director, he grew up in East Harlem and won the academy award for best male actor. He has starred in such thrillers such as Insomia (2002), Scarecrow (1973).
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon (born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, writer and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good will Hunting, from a screenplay he wrote with friend Ben Affleck. He has starred in thrillers such as The Departed (2006), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), Confessions of Dangerous Mind (2002)
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, screenwritter, producer and actor. He has been named as the 5th best thriller director following Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spiel-berg and James Cameron. Some of his best films include 'My Best Friends Birthday'(1987), 'Reservoir Dogs' (1992), 'Pulp Fiction' (1994), 'Jackie Brown' (1997) 'Kill Bill (Vol 1:2003, Vol 2: 2004), 'Death Proof' (2007) and 'Inglorious Basterds' (2009) His films have earned him Academy, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Palme d'Or Awards and he has been nominated for Emmy and Grammy Awards. In 2007, 'Total films' named him the 12th greatest director of all-time.
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producerr. In a career of over four decades, Spielberg's films have touched on many themes and genres. Spielberg's early sci-fi and adventure films, sometimes centering on children, were seen as an archetype of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years his films began addressing such issues as The Holocaust, slavery, war and terrorism. Some of his best films include: Jaws (1975), Jurassic Park(1993).
Philip Noyce
Noyce was born in Griffith, New South Wales, attended Barker College, Sydney, and began making short films at the age of 18, starting with Better to Reign in Hell, using his friends as the cast. He joined the Australian Film & Television School in 1973, and released his first professional film in 1977. After his debut feature, the medium-length Backroads (1977), Noyce achieved commercial and critical success with Newsfront (1978), which won Australian Film Institute (AFI) awards for Best Film, Director, and Screenplay. Some of his best films include: Heatwave(1982) The saint (1997)
This diagram shows the axis between two characters and the 180° arc on which cameras may be positioned (green). When cutting from the green arc to the red arc, the characters switch places on the screen. This enforces the 180° degree rule so that whilst filming actors alway remain on the same side of the camera every time.
A thriller film is a film that suspends and thrills the audience and has many overlapping genres. Thrillers are very fast paced, with frequent action , with resourceful protagonist who must destroy the plans of and even more powerful antoganist. There are many many sub genres of a thriller: Action, Crime, disaster, drama, Medical, Political, Psychological, Spy, Horror, Science fiction, religious.
Thrillers often take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or high seas. The heroes in most thrillers are frequently "hard men" accustomed to danger: law enforcement officers, spies, soldiers, seamen or aviators. However, they may also be ordinary citizens drawn into danger by accident.
For our preliminary task we had to create a video which had continuity (for example if we had a shot of someone knocking on a door, the next shoot couldn't then just be them in the room, it'd have to be them opening the door) and that also included
- match on match action
- shot-reverse-shot
- the 180 degree rule.
We went through a range of ideas but decided on a video about an "obese" man who finds out that he is actually pregnant. To make sure our piece was still interesting and not a total joke we made sure that we included shots that would add to the intensity of this situation.
*Low angle shot from the floor (Jake steps over the camera, wobble affect)
*Long shot from side-on (show him walking towards the door)
*Ped, to slowly reveal Jake (ending in a close up of him eating)*Point-of-view shot (him knocking on the door)
*Medium shot (Samson turning, 'come in')
*Close up (of Jake opening the door, hand on handle)
*Over-the-shoulder shot (from Samson, looking at door opening and Jake entering)
*Two shot of the desk (Samson is in shot, Jake walks into frame and sits down)
*Switch between over-the-shoulder shots of both characters (dialogue)
*Close up (Jake's reaction the the news)*Extreme Close up (Jake's darting eyes)
We had some trouble getting the setting right of our prelim task, for example making our setting look like a doctors office and not a computer room in the Brit school, and editing our piece also seemed to have problems.
Valentine is a thriller, which I found had particularly effective way to engage the audience. I particularly enjoyed the storyline and the symbolic qualities the film possessed.
The opening to the thriller is very effective, setting that sweet quiet scene allows the audience to become comfortable and are then shocked by the blackness that swifts across the screen. This transistion to the valentine's dance works very well and the fading in and out during this flash back allows us to know this is maybe a flash back and in the past.
On Valentine's Day, best friends Kate, Paige, Dorothy and Lily are terrified when they begin receiving violent anonymous threats. They soon learn that the stalker is Jeremy Melton -- a nerdy boy they mercilessly tormented years ago in junior high. Since then Jeremy has really come into his own. Now that he's a hunk with magnetic sex appeal, he devises a deadly and bloody plot for revenge against his teenage tormentors. Also Known As: Mortelle Saint-Valentin Valentine's Day Production Status: Released Logline: Ten years after a nerd is humiliated by several women in college he seeks dark revenge. Genres: Comedy, Romance, Suspense/Horror, Thriller and Adaptation Running Time: 1 hr. 36 min. Release Date: February 2, 2001 Nationwide MPAA Rating: R for strong horror violence, some sexuality and language. Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution Production Co.: NPV Entertainment Village Roadshow Pictures Entertainment Studios: (USA): Warner Bros. Pictures U.S. Box Office: $20,384,136 Filming Locations: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Produced in: United States
Next lesson we analyzed Memento directed by Guy Pearce and again talked about it and what we found effective.
Titles:They were presented firstly with the credits against a black background with suspenseful music, the black background fades into the first scene . It also begins with a close up of a Polaroid picture which close ups then fades out, again this adds intensity and maked reference to maybe a loss of memory or knowledge. Shots:Medium close up shots of a bullet, gun and wall, this again creates that intense atmosphere. Voyeristic shot makes u feel like you are invading the privacy of this character and that you shouldn't be there, which makes the audience uncomfortable. The narrative was disordered to allow us to go back where we the story began, and from this the audience can infer that the story is not going to be in chronological order and maybe reflect on what the characters mind is like. Mise-en-scene:Just a hand and a photo in the shot creates intensity. Black and white shot shows he's confused and disorientated.
In class we then watched the opening to the thriller Seven, directed by David Fincher and analyzed and talked about what we found effective and how it made us as an audience feel. The main actors in the film are Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyenth Paltrow.
Title: They we presented with a mans hand turning pages , and doing disturbing things like shaving off his finger tips and sewing pages together which show behavior quite similar to somebody who may have Ocd, this again makes the audience quite uncomfortable and gives us a look into what this character maybe like, and again keeps us interested as we questions why he is doing this. The actors names are shown on a black background as if they had been scratched on a wall with screams in the background, this already thrills the audience who are watching something quite psychotic and highly edited with quick flashing shots which keep them engaged.
Shots: The unfocused shot of the camera when on the person writing and sewing again reveals to the audience how the character himself may be confused and unsure of himself or what he's doing, or can show how psychotic he actually is. Close up: This adds intensity to the atmosphere the opening has set, and just shows us the character getting ready. Low angle shot: This indicates the power Morgan freeman has and foreshadows what his status maybe throughout the film.
Movement: Panning slowly reveals the identity of the character, this can display to the audience of maybe revealed as the plot moves on in the film , which keeps us engaged and thrilled.
Generic themes: Characters such as Morgan Freeman show us that he is the type of character who is prepared as he is ready for the rain as he has an umbrella whereas Brad Pitt doesn't, Brad Pitt is also bumped and stumbly and unsure showing the difference in their characters and status. Earlier on in the opening Morgan Freeman doesn't respond to the rudeness of the police officer, showing his dis attachment to people and how he is a lone figure showing that this maybe a theme that may grow throughout the film.
Mise-en-scene: Rain reflects the theme of the film, the rain always coming down to show the police are constantly trying to clean out the city.
The opening to this film is very interesting again they use very effective music which sets the scene and mise-en-scene of the rain again really foreshadows what may happen .
The next lesson we looked at past thrillers to help us establish common themes and things that come up in thrillers. We always looked at effective shot angles and sounds and mise-en-scene and ones which werent so effective. We also talked about the fact that a thriller is a wide genre with different sub genres which can overlap. Action, Horror, Crime, Medical, Physcological, spy. Thrillers are known to thrill and suspend the audience and often have people who are: Spies Lone figures aganist the systema ssasination conspiracy etc
I thought this opening to a thriller was very effective, the music immeadiately helped created the chilling atmosphere and suspended us to believe something was building up to happen. I also found the quick shots very effectively, they changed from different shots always keep your attention and focus on what was going on.
In our first lesson we looked at the different shot types and camera angles used to empower us to use them when we make our thrillers and also to be able to recognise them when analysing thrillers. Extreme long shot = ELS Long shot =LS Medium long shot =MLS Medium shot =MS Medium close up =MCU Close up =CU LOW ANGLE HIGH ANGLE WORMS EYE BIRDS EYE CANTED EYE LEVEL TWO SHOT OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT POINT OF VIEW
MOVEMENTS PAN= Panning is the horizontal movement or rotation of a video camera or the scanning horizontally on a display device. CRAB =left to right or right to left and lens stays where it is as if staying passed it TRACKING =when you follow something (a physical track is laid down where the camera person follows using the track i. e. used in car chases ZOOMING =lens zoom in and the camera stays the same PED =where the whole camera moves up or down however it stays at eye level Difference between hand held and steady cam Steady cam is when a camera is on a harness Hand held is literally of the tripod and filmed in your hand
Hi I'm Samson and I'm studying Media and Musical Theatre. I'm studying media because I enjoy analysing different movies and films, and knew that it would benefit me in just making movies but so the analytical side which is a bonus in my desired career path. Lastly I knew that it would be a fun enjoyable experience
