Possible Filming Locations

 

Location one: Inside a dark, quiet house at night. I think this place could potentially be a good place to film our piece as it would connote a sense of danger. This is because the house would be empty and unsafe for somebody to be in, creating a dark, mysterious atmosphere. As well as this, and maybe not so importantly, as the hosue is empty, we would have no disturbances or intereferences whilst filming, and we would not have to get permission to film at a certain location as we could do this in one of our houses.

 

 

Location two: on the street at night. I also think that this could be a good idea to film our piece, or some of it anyway, as again there is a sense of danger, and if we were to film on a quiet road, there would be again an atmopshere of loneliness and isolation. Again, this makes it seem as if the child in our film is unsafe.

 

 

Location three: in a park at night (in the dark). My third and final idea of a location to film our opening sequence in is in a park at night, or just in the dark. Much liek the other two locations, the place would be empty and therefore would seem like a dangerous place to be considering it would be dark and the main character (child) would be alone. This would create a sense of danegr and vulnerability to the child.



Plot synopsis

Tommy is a normal, 10 year old boy. He likes to chill out by riding his bike in the local park. However, one night he goes missing...

Tommy's mum, Claire, organises a search for Tommy. After days of searching, they find him unconcious by the side of the river, close to death. He is instantly rushed to hospital.

The police know that their only hope of finding the suspect is through Tommy, however he is still in a comatose state. They know that there may not be much time before the suspect strikes again.

However, after revisiting the place where they found Tommy, they find a crucial bit of information which could significantly help in their search for the suspect. The police then set about trying to track the suspect down with their new found information.

A few days later, and with the police still trying to track the suspect down, Tommy regains conciousness and recalls everything he can about the person who abducted him. The police track him down quickly and arrest him as he is about to take another child. However, as he is taken to prison, the last thing that can be heard from the criminal is 'There's more than just me...'

For the opening scene, we have decided to only show the actual abduction of the child, without showing why the suspect is doing it. Also, we have decided not to reveal the significance of the 'key piece of information' that is left at the crime scene.

 



Questionnaire

 

Are you male or female?           Male        Female

 

 

How old are you?                         0-10    11-15      16-21       22-40       41+         

 

 

Do you watch thriller films?     Yes          No

 

 

How often do you watch thriller films?           

 

   Less than once a month              Once/twice a month                             

 

   Once a week              More than once a week

 

 

What do you expect to see in the title sequence of a thriller?

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What kind of setting do you think a thriller should be set in?

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What sort of characters should be in a thriller film?

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What sounds/music would you expect to hear?

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What information do you think should be revealed in the opening sequence? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

How do you expect to feel when watching a thriller?

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This is Post 16 of the foundation porfolio, which was analysing the results from the questionnaire. I chose to present this in the form of a screencast.

 

Bridget Jones' Diary

The Extract from Bridget Jones' diary creates a feeling of sympathy and empathy for the character of Bridget Jones. It does this through the use of Mise en scene, camerawork, editing and sound. 

Firstly , the Mise en Scene involves a large portion of the extract showing Bridget Jones on her own in her flat, drinking and smoking by herself. As well as this, the room that she's in is very untidy, with  clothes and other items all over the place. The state of the room actually relates to her as it has been completely forgotten about and possibly even neglected. This makes us feel quite empathetic towards Bridget Jones, as it a quite realistic and not uncommon situation. 

Also, her loneliness is highlighted by the use of editing. There is a cross-dissolve of shots in her front room, showing her doing different things whilst on her own. This cross-dissolve shows the passing of time, and that she is alone the whole time. The fact that she is on her own for a long period of time and yet no-one even tries to contact her shows that no-one really cares about her, meaning that she is probably going to stay lonely for a lot longer. 

The sound used in the piece further adds to her loneliness and neglection. For example, the song that plays throughout the piece is called 'All by myself'. This provides a very clear link between the song and her. Also, the song starts off as non-diegetic, meaning that instead of her hearing the song, we are just linking it to her life. However, partway through the song, she starts singing along to it, showing that it must be diegetic. The way she sings the song indicates that she is summing her own life up through singing it. 

However, not all of the extract involves her in her room, or even her at all. For a brief moment, a close-up of  a crumpled up party hat on a pole can be seen. Even though this is not actually her, it still relates quite conveniently to her life, as it has simply been left there, but more importantly, its been forgotten about. 

Wallander- Firewall, 2008

Mise en scene is used to create a very sinister atmosphere in the opening sequence of Wallander. The Mise en scene involves two girls, who seem innocent ordinary at first. However, as the piece progresses, more and more clues are revealed throughout, revealing to the audience that the two girls are in fact not at all innocent or ordinary. For example, the costume for one of the girls indicates that she has a slightly rebellious side. She is wearing a leather jacket, with a red streak in her hair and dog tag for a necklace. This shows that she is not a stereotypical girly girl, and the leather jacket has connotations of a punkish nature. Furthermore, we can tell that the girls are not innocent as it is revealed later on that one of them is holding a knife, plus they are all covered in blood. This is clearly quite suspicious and therefore makes it obvious that they have done something wrong.

The editing also reveals that the girls are not innocent at all. Throughout the extract, the camera cuts from a shot of the girls walking to a very weak and almost lifeless man, covered in blood, inside a taxi. The continuous cuts back and forth throughout the piece strongly suggest that some form of fight or struggle has occurred between the girls and the taxi driver. As the two girls seem to be unharmed, whereas the taxi driver is almost dead, we are left to assume that he is the victim of the scene.

 

The sound of the piece creates a a very sinister theme. For example, the music playing is diegetic and coming from the taxi. The music playing is quite happy which juxtaposes the dark nature of the piece. The fact that the radio is still playing even given the circumstances suggests that maybe the attack on the taxi driver was unexpected. This again emphasises how guilty the girls are of attacking the man.  

 The final shot is a close up of one of the girls holding a knife covered in blood in her hands. She then proceeds to drop the knife on the floor, in the middle of an open expanse of ground. The fact that she is not even attempting to conceal the knife indicates to the audience that she has not been involved in a serious crime like this before and does not know what to do, or she is in too much of a state of rage or panic that she can not think clearly. This therefore suggests that maybe she is not actually at fault for the crime after all; perhaps it was self defence. 

Brick- Johnson, 2005, U.S.  

The opening sequence of Brick creates a mysterious atmosphere through the use of Mise en Scene. For example, the piece involves a man just squatting for a long period of time, several feet away from a seemingly dead body by the side of a river or lake. The fact that this is the first proper shot we see means that it instantly throws the audience into the piece, and creates a very sinister yet mysterious atmosphere. Also, as the man squatting is not helping her at all,  this suggests that maybe he was the one who killed her, or he knew that this was going to happen. These clues persuade the audience to want to watch the rest of the film.



Also, at the start, an extreme close-up of the man's face can be seen. This has been done so that the audience can see his facial expression. His facial expression is of guilt and disbelief, which makes the audience wonder why he seems so guilty and even what he's guilty of doing. Because we have not seen the dead body at this point, we do not know what has happened, therefore the audience may even feel sorry for him.





Also, sound is used in the piece to create a melancholy atmosphere. The music played throughout the piece is non-diegetic. The tone of the music is very downbeat and almost depressing, suggesting that the something bad has just happened. it connotes a theme of death and mourning.

The opening sequence of 'The Sixth Sense' by Shyamalan instantly engages the audience and creates a sense of mystery. The titles consist of a white-font against a black background. The white and black contrast with each other and connotes a strong theme of good vs. evil, or light vs. dark which could be a main theme in the storyline. Also, the black background indicates that the film is going to be scary, and connotes a strong theme of fear of the unknown.

when the title 'The Sixth Sense' comes on to the screen there is the classic horror film orchestral shrill. this keeps the audience alert and intrigued with the film as they want to know what will happen in the film.

For cinematography, a camera is placed behind the wine rack in the cellar. This gives the impression that the woman who has come down in the cellar to look at wine is being watched from behind the wine rack.  Then she hears something and the camera starts to track in towards her face to emphasise her facial expressions and fear of the unknown. This makes the audience feel a sense of uncertainty what will or could happen to the woman. also, the editing is of a very slow pace. This has been done to unnerve the audience as  the slow build up along with the camera angle gives a strong sense of someone watching the woman.

The sound used in the opening sequence creates a supernatural feel to the piece. For example, the sound of a light bulb flickering slowly on can be heard very clearly, above everything else. This means that it is a hyperbolic sound. the fact that this sound can be heard above everythign in else is slightly abnormal, which could possibly be foreshadowing the supernatural nature of the film.

The opening sequence of Memento reveals a very limited amount of information about the film. It does not give much away, therefore encouraging the audience to be inquisitive and persuading them to watch the rest of the film. The opening sequence shows a developed photograph in a man's hand. The photo is of a dead body. The man then shakes the photo several times in his hand, causing the photo to become more and more undeveloped. Next, we see the photo ejecting into a camera, which is the opposite of what usually happens. Next, we see the man take the photo and then we we see a shot of blood flowing backwards. At this point, it becomes clear that the entire opening sequence is in reverse order. After, there is a close up of a bullet and then a pair of glasses, the bullet then flies into the gun in the man's hand. Then it goes to a shot of a dead person on the floor, coming back to life (reverse order) and the bullet flying back into the gun.

The music in the opening sequence is non-diegetic. it has a slow, melancholy tone to it, which connotes the idea of emotional and physical pain. This music is continuously played until it cuts away to the shot of the man in the dark setting. At this point, the music cuts out and a new sound, still non-diegetic, comes in. This sound is a lot more dark and tense, creating suspense and a mysteriously dark atmosphere.

This opening sequence has a good use of cinematography. At the beginning, a long close up showing the photograph is used, to show the content of the photo. Also, as it is there for a long time, it clearly shows the photo un-developing. Also, the editing is effective as the whole clip is shot in reverse. This is quite an untraditional way of shooting an opening sequence. The way it reveals different pieces of information at different times in the clip leaves the audience asking questions such as who actually is the main character? Who is the man that he killed? Why did he even shoot him?  

Difference Between a Title Sequence and a Trailer

Trailer: an overview of the story or the plot that grabs the audience's attention. A  trailer shows the main/good bits  of the action going on and often there is a voice-over to match with the action or plot.. A movie trailer has montage and fast paced editing as well as being able to persuade the viewer to go and watch the movie by making the film seem exciting. It also normally shows the main stars of the film as well, but without revealing their character in the film.

Opening/Title Sequence: An opening sequence is slow paced and leads you into the story line. It does not use montage editing like a trailer. The slow pace  creates an atmosphere, a mood and a tone. An opening sequence must make the viewer feel curious and engaged as if they have questions that they want answered. The soundtrack to an opening sequence helps to create and tone and an atmosphere. 

The Main Task: 

Create the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of 2 minutes (excluding titles) 

All video and audio material must be original, with the exception of music and video from a copyright-free source.

Donnie Darko recreating a scene piece- with annotations

What went well: Our continuity editing piece included all of the continuity editing rules- it included a master shot, it followed the 180 degree rule, we included eyeline matches in our shots, we used a shot reverse shot in the conversation, and we also used match on action. Even better if: The piece could have a bit more detail or story to it, and the acting could have been slightly more convincing and interesting.

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