Evaluation - Technologies

Jade Smith

Brief

Our thriller opening sets up the story for the rest of the film. The opening starts with the shot of two detectives pulling up to what seems like an empty, run down building on a murky grey day. The scene follows them walking up to the building with a point of view shot from behind bushes to create suspense and intrigue for the audience. As the detectives enter and look around the building, flashbacks are included depicting the events of why the detectives seem to be at the building. As the detectives enter what seems to be a shower room, they discover pieces of evidence, including a kinfe covered in blood. As the opening builds to a conclusion, the flashbacks show the antagonist pouring petrol around a female portagnoist tied to a chair, before setting alight to a note. Here the opening cuts to the main title sequence, with the fate of the portagnist seemingly concluded.


Laurence Ruthven

Institutions

We researched different film institutions to see which would suit our thriller the best. We did this by looking at the films they had previously released and evaluating whether ours would suit the institution.

New Line Cinema

We researched New Line Cinema as they are a very successful film institution, founded in 1967. Though it initially began as an independent film studio, it became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996, and Warner Bros. in 2008. They operated several divisions including theatrical distribution, marketing and home video.

Films released by New Line Cinema of a thriller genre:
-Final Destination
-Friday 13th
-Se7en
-A Man Apart
However, through research we discover that these were some of few and that the majority of New Line Cinema's films are of a comedy or horror genre.



Universal Pictures

Universal Studios is a subsidiary of NBC Universal and is one of the six major American Movie studios. Its main motion picture production/distribution arm is called Universal Pictures.

Films released by Universal Studios of a thriller genre:
-Jaws
-Psycho
-Cape Fear
-Jurassic Park
-Hannibal
-The Watcher

We felt that Universal Studios would be a valid institution to produce our thriller as, although they make many comedies and science fiction films, they have a large repertoire which our thriller could fit into.

Paramount Pictures

Paramount is a American film production and distribution company, and the oldest existing one in America, constantly being ranked as one of the wealthiest institutions.

Films released by Paramount Pictures of a thriller genre:
-Bloodline
-Fatal Attractions
-Twisted
-Shutter Island

Although Paramount Pictures have made a broad range of films and have a lot of money to put into them, they have not made a huge amount of famous thriller films. However, their newest release 'Shutter Island' has been a success which could be a new turn for Paramount Pictures and our thriller could follow in it's footsteps.

Dreamworks

Dreamworks are an American production and distribution company, founded by the famous director Steven Spielberg. They have made more than ten films with box-office grosses totalling at more than $100 million each, making them a very successful institution.

Films released by Dreamworks of a thriller genre:

-Disturbia

-Sweeney Todd

-What Lies Beneath

After research, it could be seen that a lot of Dreamworks' successful films were animated and that there were few actual thrillers in contrast with the sub genres of thriller-horrors and science fiction-thrillers, but the majority of their films were also comedies. Therefore our thriller could possibly be produced by this institution but not as much as some others.

In conclusion after evaluating four main film institutions, we feel that our thriller would best suit being produced by Universal Studios due to their experience with the thriller genre and successful reputation.

Jade Smith

Poster for our Film

After coming up with a title for our film, we decided to produce a poster for our film. We decided to use basic colours, and decided on using white and red. Red is a colour that has strong connotations of danger and violence, elements that are in our film. We also had to come up with a tag line for our film, and used the title of our film Desolo, to help produce the tagline 'One Womans struggle to be found'. We decided to make the poster a teaser poster, so it only inlcuded the title, tagline and 'coming soon'.

Laurence Ruthven Jade Smith Matthew Simmons Elliott Joyner

Poster Analysis - The Strangers

Throughout the process of planning our thriller, we decided to research film posters to get a detailed idea of what a thriller should be like. We decided to research into the strangers because of how our thriller idea is very similar. In the poster we see three masked figures towering over the two main characters. This immediately tells us that the the film is going to be a horror/thriller because of how it creates a sense of danger and demonstrates the typical stereotypes of the antagonists. The poster also has a range of colour. The clolours consist of dark reds and browns which insinuate very normal surroundings. This is used to create a sense of irony because of how the clothes are the complete opposite to the type of thriller it is.

By Elliott Joyner

Poster Analysis - Se7en

To create a successful thriller, you have to research other thriller films to learn about what settings and what characters are best for a thriller. I have decided to take a look at a poster of the crime/thriller Seven. The poster shows us the main characters on either side with very serious and determined faces. This immediately tells the viewer that they are going to be very serious about catching the killer. It also tells the viewer that the film is going to be a crime thriller and gives the viewer an idea of what to expect. The poster also shows us the seven deadly sins. This is a powerful symbol to use on a poster because of how it creates suspense and danger, and also creates a sense of mystery because of how it links in with religion and the unknown. The background of the poster is seen to be on fire. This indicates back to danger and also symbolises hell which links in with the seven deadly sins. The poster also consists of a range of colours. The colours that are shown are black and a dark shade of yellow. These colours are very dark and often associated with evil.

By Elliott Joyner

Editing Diary

2nd April 2010

We uploaded the footage of the originals day shooting in the editing suite at school. This included the footage of Matt and Charlotte, as well as the detectives inside the building. Once the footage was uploaded we used the Pinnacle Studio software to edit with the footage that we could, including the scenes with the blood in the sink. Once we had edited these scenes, we decided to take a closer at the music. We decided to use the music Black Widow and Things to come from the website http://www.freeplaymusic.com/ and added this onto the footage. We included stings from the track Black Widow to help create tension and suspense in the film.


5th April 2010

We uploaded the final pieces of footage from the second day of filming which included all the detective scenes outside of the building. Once this had been uploaded we finalised all the pieces of the film to create an opening that was 1 minute 47 seconds. We then showed the film to our media teachers, and gained a positive response from them. Once this has been completed, we burned the footage onto a disk to create a hard copy and then transferred the film onto our blog.


Laurence Ruthven

Title Sequences Research

Title sequences are an important element of any successful film, and are going to be included in our opening for our thriller, so we decided to undertake some research and explore some title sequences to previous films.

We drew alot of inspiration for our thriller from the film 'Se7en'.


In this particular title sequences, there are shots of a person shaving off their fingernails, close ups of maps, images of people and book pages that all create enigmas for the audience, and are iconogrpahy closley associated with the murder/thriller genre. The typography also matches this iconography. The music matches the physchological thriller that the film is with its eerie and stringy soundtrack.In terms of these title sequences, we drew inspiration to relpicate a similar iconography in our thiller opening.


The following title sequences are from the comedy-drama film Catch me if you Can


In these title sequences, moving images are incorporated with the typography and create a smooth and flowing title sequences that suit the pace of the film, and its comedy/drama style genre. Colours and music again add to the pace of the titles, and suit the genre of the film well.


The following titles are from the James Bond film 'Goldeneye'


The title sequence is an important and symoblic element of any James Bond film, and in these particular title sequences are significant because it contains images which reflected the politics of the world at the time, a theme that is present throughout the film. The title sequences also contain many images of women,and violence, two themes that are the make up of any James Bond film and reflect the action genre of the film.

After editing the final piece, we decided that we would include details such as the actors and directors names but as were ending our opening on a cliffhanger, the film would then go into a full main title sequence such as the ones shown above.


Laurence Ruthven

Title for our Thriller – Desolo

After completing and finalising the idea of our opening to our thriller, we decided to discuss the title of our thriller. We analysed the concept of our film, and decided that the title should reflect the narrative of our film, which involved a hostage situation, murder and psychological antagonist. We also decided that the setting of our film, which is an abandoned, derelict house, could also be used for inspiration in our title. After some discussion we decided that we should name our thriller Desolo, which is Latin for Abandoned.

This title has strong connotations for a thriller film, evoking themes of fear, crime and murder. It also relates well to the setting for much of our film, a setting that will feature prominently throughout the film. The title also evokes images of a protagonist, in a perilous situation that he/she has to overcome, setting a possible narrative for the audiences who are about to watch the film.

Laurence Ruthven

Sound Research

In order to research the most effective ways that sound is used in thrillers, we felt that the best way would be to look at successful existing ones, to draw inspiration from.

Final Destination 1

(2000) Directed by James Wong.


The incidental music used in 'Final Destination 1' is effective because:
-The use of the loud strike of thunder immediately puts the audience on edge by shocking them
-The soundtrack consists of overlapping low toned, slow paced melodic sounds and very high pitched ones. This ties in with the rest of the film in the sense that the events seem normal and calm, however very dramatic and lethal things are actually under way
-There is use of pleonastic sound of a sword or knife when titles appear on screen, these may be used because the sound of a weapon has connotations of blood and violence which foreshadows the gruesome events that take place throughout the film
-One of these pleonastic sounds are also used when the shot of a fan is shown with high volumed diegetic murmuring sound of wind and the blades which is coming from it. This is effective because it could be seen as resembling the engine of the plane which is the main event of the entire film
-All of these sounds fade out when dialogue begins to start the storyline.

The incidental music in this film is used to create an eerie atmosphere, however it can be seen that it also effectively sets certain audience expectations that the film will consist of gore, drama and death.

Cape Fear
(1991) Directed by Martin Scorsese.

The incidental music used in Cape Fear is effective because;

-The sound of running water is used in the title sequence in order to make a link between the name 'Cape Fear' and the fact that it is the river which is a key aspect of the film

-The soundtrack initiates with a sting which automatically sets a dramatic, tense atmosphere for the audience

-This then continues into calm, melodic tones until an image of an eagle appears (which has threatening, violent connotations) when the soundtrack dramatically increases in volume and drops in pitch.

-Intensity is portrayed when the sound builds both in pitch and pace, turning into what sounds like a drum roll and then striking, high volumed chords are played with the image of someone under the water. This draws great attention and sets the audience expectations that the river will be linked with danger in the film.

-The image of an eye shutting is accompanied by very quiet, soft music for a few seconds which may aim to signify death of the person under water

-The soundtrack fades out and is replaced with dialogue, making the speech seem very important

-Strong notes are played, varying in pitch leading up to a strong, striking sting when a man comes into the shot. This immeatiately sets an impression that this character is, like the music, strong and powerful and the audience are invited to know that he is a key character in the film.

-The loud, diegetic sound of the iron gates shutting behind this character draw great attention to the setting of a prison, creating the enigma of why he is in prison and was he linked to the person under water featured in the title sequence.

We felt that the soundtrack used includes a vast variety of quicky changing, fast paced notes which successfully create tension and suspense for the audience. The vast amount of stings also effectively draw attention to certain images and the character.

Jade Smith

Shots and Camera Angles

In the production of the story board for our thriller we were able to concentrate on both the size and angle of each planned shot, which we felt was very beneficial as it gave us a clearer idea of how effective we can make the opening sequence, in the way we present each shot. We decided to consider what kinds of feelings we wanted to provoke in the audience (fear, nervousness) and the subconsious implications that we wanted to give them (the character's feelings/danger), and how the angle and size of each shot would effect these things...

• We decided to use a wide shot in order to establish the setting because this size would allow us to show the entire house and perhaps some of it's surroundings of trees and overgrown bushes. We also felt that this is the most efficient way of immediately creating an enigma as the shot will be of a house which appears to be damaged and abandonned, by choosing to shoot this as a wide shot we hope to make the audience intregued as to what has happened here or what will happen in the following sequence.


• We have included many close ups in order to place attention on certain objects/characters' actions. The things that we will shoot as close ups include a car wheel pulling up (to make the audience intregued about who is in the car and why are they there), a suitcase of objects (to provoke interest as to who it belongs to and what the objects inside are for), a trail of blood on the floor (to create a fearful, concerned atmosphere about who's blood it is and who caused it to be there), the victims face (to portray her own fear which would ideally cause the audience to fear for her) and a match (to create suspense and an enigma in the sense that the audience do not know what the outcome of lighting the match will be at the end of the sequence.
  
  
• We have included the use of a low angle shot in order to portray the powerful, confident characters of the detectives when they are in society and civilization which comes from their sterotypical gender and occupation. This will be shot as they exit the car and the person filming will kneel on the floor to achieve a low level position successfully.
  
• As the detectives step onto the property by walking up to the house, a high angle shot will be used in order to set the impression that they have now become vulnerable and to foreshadow danger (this is because the following sequence will portray the tragedy of what had happened in the past inside this house). In order to achieve this shot, the person filming will position themselves in one of the upstairs rooms and will film through one of the windows.
  
• After researching the aims and expectations of a thriller, we have decided that it is extemely important to continue creating suspense throughout. Therefore we have incorporated the use of a point of view shot to create the illusion that someone is watching the detectives and ultimately setting the impression that something dangerous is connected with the house and that the detectives are putting themselves in a vulnerable position by entering it. To achieve this shot, we will deliberately make the camera unstable and slightly shakey through a handheld movement, however we have recognized that we should be careful not to let this shot appear like a mistake and that we simply have a poor filming technique. We will also attempt to find a position where the shot can be filmed from behind a bush (to give the illusion that someone is hiding) but also so that the detectives can clearly be seen.
  
• We have also decided to use an extreme close up in order to portray the victim's intense feelings of terror and helplessness. We will do this by inluding mainly her eyes in the shot which will hopefully display deep emotion so that the audience will sympathize and fear for her as her life is at risk in the storyline- we feel that this is really important because causing the audience to have feelings or emotions due to the action on screen will ultimately make our thriller successful. An example of an extreme close up which has influenced our decision to include one is the one featured in 'Cape Fear' as pictured.

Jade Smith