Thursday, 30 April 2009
Thank You and Goodbye
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and watch my thriller, i hope you enjoyed it as much as i did.
Constructing Our Product
Production Process:
We started by having regular weekly meetings to discuss any ideas we had, anything interesting we had seen on a film or television (to do with thrillers of course) and to discuss how we would film it. After a series of meetings, we decided to stop talking and start the action. We had a relatively good idea on what to film and how to film it. we did some shots a few times to get used to the camera etc. After this we were ready to roll the film for good. After filming what we thought was the perfect thriller, we realised that it wasn't so perfect after all. For some reason, the camera seemed to cut chunks out at the beginning and the end or each scene. So we decided to re-film the whole project again the next day.
The next days filming went a lot smoother as we knew what we were doing. we had to do a few scenes twice due to inconsiderate teachers, who looked at us, then the camera, then decided to walk past before asking "Are you filming?" Even with the outtakes, we filmed it in pretty good time. We decided that we had enough time that evening to start on some editing. As a group, we were extremely pleased with our continuity.
We tried downloading music from Moby Gratis, however they let us down, so I decided to search FreePlayMusic.com were after a good hour of searching, i found the perfect piece. After playing around with transitions and other effects, we decided it was time to add the finishing touch and call it a wrap. The music was on, the filming was done, the editing finished and finally, the dreaded thriller which we conveniently named "The Watched" was completed.
Decisions Made:
We decided that our thriller would be:
During the day (while it was light)
At our school
Consist of two characters, the stalker and the victim
Would have no props
Would have no extras
We would use a variety of shots, angles, sounds and transitions in order to add affect
Changes to original storyboard:
We did not really make that many changes. We did however make a few at the ending of our thriller. we decided to change the ending from the stalker following the victim then killing her, to the stalker following her so far, then getting to the victims destination to leave a spooky message. We did this because we felt that it gave more suspense because it is what we call a cliffhanger. Other than that, we did not make any changes to our storyboard. To show these changes, I made another storyboard with the new ending which I will also post on this blog.
Discussion of technical competencies:
Holding a steady shot:
This was relatively easy due to the fact we used a tripod. The only time we did not use a tripod was when we wanted to use a Point Of View shot, and in these cases, we didn't want the camera to be too steady otherwise it looses its purpose and effect.
Framing the shot:
This again was pretty easy because we had spent so much time looking at different ways to film shots. We had it all set up in our minds which, thank goodness, were along the same lines. Due to this reason, it was easy for us to frame the shots.
Using different shot distances:
This was the part of the thriller that me and Katie found slightly harder, we were not too sure what distance would make the shot more effective. To avoid loosing the effect, we filmed all our shots at different distances in order to catch the best one, then we chose the best one while we were editing. so overall we used the best distances depending on the shot/scene.
Shooting appropriate material:
Before planning, we both went away and watched classic thrillers such as Psycho and Dial M for murder by Alfred Hitchcock. This is where we decided to use our shots to an advantage, we feel that we filmed our thriller different to other groups due to the amount of research we did. Also from our survey, we realised that in order for a thriller to be successful, you must add the following things:
A murderer
Police
Night/Dark
Damsel in distress
Scary villain
Guns (weapons)
Confrontation between villain and hero
Mystery
The unexpected
Suspense.
However, me and Katie decided to go another route and miss out most of the things listed about to try and make a thriller that was different and people would not find boring to watch. We also tried to get shots of both characters in order to show tension. This was made because the audience could see the stalker was there, but the poor innocent victim couldn't.
Editing:
During our thriller, we mainly used straight cuts. This is because as the shots change, we wanted to use fast editing which was created using the straight cut. we used some transitions in order to either cover up a filming mistake (only once) or to add effect when we felt it was appropriate. We wanted the audience to feel anxious and we wanted them to. In order to achieve this, we used a series of transitions towards the effect to jump between shots, which has a disturbing effect. We was at one point going to try changing the camera to black and white, however we thought that by going black and white, it would look more like flashbacks rather than what is happening in the present time. We also tried to use as many different shots and angles as possible in order to keep the audience interested. I feel that this was successful.
Mise-en-scene:
We started our mise-en-scene meeting by discussing what we think the characters should be wearing. We decided that the victim would wear white, and the stalker would wear black. This is because they are opposite in colours and we wanted to portray the opposite characteristics that they possess. We also tried using the position of the camera, rather than what was on the screen. For example, putting the camera in a position to watch the victim being followed by the stalker behind a bush, rather than a simple shot down the alley. This showed that nobody else could see them and that the victim had no way to escape. We thought that our mise-en-scene was good.
Sound:
The only sound that we use in our thriller is music that we downloaded from www.freeplaymusic.com. The name of the piece we used was Only Human. We decided at the beginning not to use dialogue because we wanted music all the way through, and if the characters look like their talking but no words come out, then it looks rather fake and tacky.
Graphic Matches:
We did not use any graphic matches in our thriller.
We started by having regular weekly meetings to discuss any ideas we had, anything interesting we had seen on a film or television (to do with thrillers of course) and to discuss how we would film it. After a series of meetings, we decided to stop talking and start the action. We had a relatively good idea on what to film and how to film it. we did some shots a few times to get used to the camera etc. After this we were ready to roll the film for good. After filming what we thought was the perfect thriller, we realised that it wasn't so perfect after all. For some reason, the camera seemed to cut chunks out at the beginning and the end or each scene. So we decided to re-film the whole project again the next day.
The next days filming went a lot smoother as we knew what we were doing. we had to do a few scenes twice due to inconsiderate teachers, who looked at us, then the camera, then decided to walk past before asking "Are you filming?" Even with the outtakes, we filmed it in pretty good time. We decided that we had enough time that evening to start on some editing. As a group, we were extremely pleased with our continuity.
We tried downloading music from Moby Gratis, however they let us down, so I decided to search FreePlayMusic.com were after a good hour of searching, i found the perfect piece. After playing around with transitions and other effects, we decided it was time to add the finishing touch and call it a wrap. The music was on, the filming was done, the editing finished and finally, the dreaded thriller which we conveniently named "The Watched" was completed.
Decisions Made:
We decided that our thriller would be:
During the day (while it was light)
At our school
Consist of two characters, the stalker and the victim
Would have no props
Would have no extras
We would use a variety of shots, angles, sounds and transitions in order to add affect
Changes to original storyboard:
We did not really make that many changes. We did however make a few at the ending of our thriller. we decided to change the ending from the stalker following the victim then killing her, to the stalker following her so far, then getting to the victims destination to leave a spooky message. We did this because we felt that it gave more suspense because it is what we call a cliffhanger. Other than that, we did not make any changes to our storyboard. To show these changes, I made another storyboard with the new ending which I will also post on this blog.
Discussion of technical competencies:
Holding a steady shot:
This was relatively easy due to the fact we used a tripod. The only time we did not use a tripod was when we wanted to use a Point Of View shot, and in these cases, we didn't want the camera to be too steady otherwise it looses its purpose and effect.
Framing the shot:
This again was pretty easy because we had spent so much time looking at different ways to film shots. We had it all set up in our minds which, thank goodness, were along the same lines. Due to this reason, it was easy for us to frame the shots.
Using different shot distances:
This was the part of the thriller that me and Katie found slightly harder, we were not too sure what distance would make the shot more effective. To avoid loosing the effect, we filmed all our shots at different distances in order to catch the best one, then we chose the best one while we were editing. so overall we used the best distances depending on the shot/scene.
Shooting appropriate material:
Before planning, we both went away and watched classic thrillers such as Psycho and Dial M for murder by Alfred Hitchcock. This is where we decided to use our shots to an advantage, we feel that we filmed our thriller different to other groups due to the amount of research we did. Also from our survey, we realised that in order for a thriller to be successful, you must add the following things:
A murderer
Police
Night/Dark
Damsel in distress
Scary villain
Guns (weapons)
Confrontation between villain and hero
Mystery
The unexpected
Suspense.
However, me and Katie decided to go another route and miss out most of the things listed about to try and make a thriller that was different and people would not find boring to watch. We also tried to get shots of both characters in order to show tension. This was made because the audience could see the stalker was there, but the poor innocent victim couldn't.
Editing:
During our thriller, we mainly used straight cuts. This is because as the shots change, we wanted to use fast editing which was created using the straight cut. we used some transitions in order to either cover up a filming mistake (only once) or to add effect when we felt it was appropriate. We wanted the audience to feel anxious and we wanted them to. In order to achieve this, we used a series of transitions towards the effect to jump between shots, which has a disturbing effect. We was at one point going to try changing the camera to black and white, however we thought that by going black and white, it would look more like flashbacks rather than what is happening in the present time. We also tried to use as many different shots and angles as possible in order to keep the audience interested. I feel that this was successful.
Mise-en-scene:
We started our mise-en-scene meeting by discussing what we think the characters should be wearing. We decided that the victim would wear white, and the stalker would wear black. This is because they are opposite in colours and we wanted to portray the opposite characteristics that they possess. We also tried using the position of the camera, rather than what was on the screen. For example, putting the camera in a position to watch the victim being followed by the stalker behind a bush, rather than a simple shot down the alley. This showed that nobody else could see them and that the victim had no way to escape. We thought that our mise-en-scene was good.
Sound:
The only sound that we use in our thriller is music that we downloaded from www.freeplaymusic.com. The name of the piece we used was Only Human. We decided at the beginning not to use dialogue because we wanted music all the way through, and if the characters look like their talking but no words come out, then it looks rather fake and tacky.
Graphic Matches:
We did not use any graphic matches in our thriller.
Evaluation
In what ways does your product use, develop, or challenge conventions of a thriller:
Earlier, I wrote in conventions of a thriller that extra-ordinary events happen to ordinary people. Well, the victim is the ordinary person, but being stalked is an extra-ordinary event. This shows conventions of a thriller.
We did not challenge the conventions of a thriller because if we did, then it wouldn't be a thriller. Also, it made it slightly easier to make in general.
How does your media product represent particular social groups:
Our thriller is targeted to teenagers. This is because both me and Katie are in this group and know what would and wouldn't interest us.
Also, because there was only two of us, we could not represent any other social groups such as religions and other generations of people.
What kind of institution might distribute your media production and why:
Studying AS media studies, we have studied some groups of distributors such as Film4 and BBC (British Broadcasting Company). Both of these specialise in real issues and i feel that mine and Katie's work would class as a real issue.
I would also like to put it onto a website such as YouTube. This is because i used other peoples work from previous years to try and help me with ideas, and i would like/hope that people will look at my work in the future and get ideas from it.
Who would be the audience for your media product:
Our target audience was 15 and above. This is because any younger then that and we feel it would be slightly disturbing for them to watch. However, i feel anybody over the age of 30 would not like the issues that our thriller is about because they may feel that they cannot relate to it, whereas teenagers/young adults can.
How did you attract/address your audience:
We attracted our audience by using modern actors/actresses and the storyline we used was relatively modern.
The music we used was Good because it was jumpy. It continuously told the audience that something was going to happen. We felt this was good as it may keep the audience watching.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product:
Technology such as the iMacs were slightly difficult to get used to, but were good when used often.Editing was one of the harder parts of the thriller. We put a lot more transitions, titles and editing effects in than our preliminary exercise which made it harder. The only technological problem we encountered was when we were using the iMacs to edit. We filmed two scenes again in order to make it perfect, when we went to edit them, they would not letterbox like the other scenes we had recorded. After some time we both got rather stressed and decided to leave it for the day before we damaged the computer! We came back the next day and it worked straight away. We were frustrated but at the same time, incredibly relieved.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the product:
I feel me and Katie have improved rapidly since our preliminary exercise. From the acting down to the editing everything was tonnes better.We also focused on the task set and got on with it, but we did enjoy it at the same time. I am extremely proud at my partner and myself for getting through it on time, and doing a good job as well.
I feel that the thriller came natural to us, the editing was slightly harder, but overall, this project has been a success.
Earlier, I wrote in conventions of a thriller that extra-ordinary events happen to ordinary people. Well, the victim is the ordinary person, but being stalked is an extra-ordinary event. This shows conventions of a thriller.
We did not challenge the conventions of a thriller because if we did, then it wouldn't be a thriller. Also, it made it slightly easier to make in general.
How does your media product represent particular social groups:
Our thriller is targeted to teenagers. This is because both me and Katie are in this group and know what would and wouldn't interest us.
Also, because there was only two of us, we could not represent any other social groups such as religions and other generations of people.
What kind of institution might distribute your media production and why:
Studying AS media studies, we have studied some groups of distributors such as Film4 and BBC (British Broadcasting Company). Both of these specialise in real issues and i feel that mine and Katie's work would class as a real issue.
I would also like to put it onto a website such as YouTube. This is because i used other peoples work from previous years to try and help me with ideas, and i would like/hope that people will look at my work in the future and get ideas from it.
Who would be the audience for your media product:
Our target audience was 15 and above. This is because any younger then that and we feel it would be slightly disturbing for them to watch. However, i feel anybody over the age of 30 would not like the issues that our thriller is about because they may feel that they cannot relate to it, whereas teenagers/young adults can.
How did you attract/address your audience:
We attracted our audience by using modern actors/actresses and the storyline we used was relatively modern.
The music we used was Good because it was jumpy. It continuously told the audience that something was going to happen. We felt this was good as it may keep the audience watching.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product:
Technology such as the iMacs were slightly difficult to get used to, but were good when used often.Editing was one of the harder parts of the thriller. We put a lot more transitions, titles and editing effects in than our preliminary exercise which made it harder. The only technological problem we encountered was when we were using the iMacs to edit. We filmed two scenes again in order to make it perfect, when we went to edit them, they would not letterbox like the other scenes we had recorded. After some time we both got rather stressed and decided to leave it for the day before we damaged the computer! We came back the next day and it worked straight away. We were frustrated but at the same time, incredibly relieved.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the product:
I feel me and Katie have improved rapidly since our preliminary exercise. From the acting down to the editing everything was tonnes better.We also focused on the task set and got on with it, but we did enjoy it at the same time. I am extremely proud at my partner and myself for getting through it on time, and doing a good job as well.
I feel that the thriller came natural to us, the editing was slightly harder, but overall, this project has been a success.
Title Time.
We decided to call our thriller "The Watched" because it reflects what the thriller is about, and it also creates tension early on.
Finished
We have finally finished. Our filming, editing and music is complete. Both me and katie are pleased with our final product and now appreciate the amount of work, time and effort people put in to make real thrillers.
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
So close yet so far
Today we filmed the last few scenes for our thriller. We had them filmed within a few minutes, however when we came to editing them, the camera had put them into a different mode and we were unable to edit them. After hours of editing, modern technology had beaten us and we had to leave it for a day.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Monday, 27 April 2009
Nearly there!!
We are nearly done, we stuck all the filming we have done so far and have produced a masterpiece. All we need to do, is add music, tidy up some continuity mistakes and voi la!! we will do this tomorrow.
Friday, 24 April 2009
This doesn't work ... Oh let's change it.
We tried to follow our story board, but realised that some of the shots we recorded either do not fit into the sequence, or do not look correct in general. Therefore, we decided to make any changes necessary in order to make our thriller work. Due to this, we decided to make another storyboard.
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
You must be joking !!
We though we had finished our triller when we realised that our camera wasnt recording when we wanted it to. For example, i filmed Katie walking from the lockers to a door around 10 metres away, however, the camera starts recording when Katie is half way down the coridoor!! We decided to re-ilm all of our thriller in an attempt to succeed.
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Lights Camera ... Oh Is It On ???
I tried some very simple opening while my partner was working on trying to find someone to act as our cameraman/women. I felt rather pleased about myself as I thought the shots and positions i used were effective, only to find I hadn't pushed record! But this taught me a valuable lesson not to try and go ahead without my partner.
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Filming !
We started our filming earlier. Now i appreciate why films take so long. We filmed the whole of our thriller and it took the best part of 3 hours ... FOR 2 MINUTES !! The amount of out takes are unreal. People walking past, people asking if the cameras on, people in general. But i admit a few of the mistakes were my own doing, like tripping over half way through scenes, and talking while the cameras rolling. Even though it took 2 hours longer than it should have, it was enjoyable. now when wee get back to the editing room, we can finish it off with music and some final additions.
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Reasons for new storyboard.
We decided to create a new story board because we wanted to show that we had mad some mistakes and that we were willing to make changes if necessary. We didn't really mind as it only took a matter of minutes to draw it and publish the photos onto the computer. We did not really need to do this, but we decided to, in order to help us with the production of our thriller.
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Saturday, 4 April 2009
Old Storyboard Notes.
After looking at our story board, we decided on locations, time and equiptment. This process actually took longer than we anticipated due to the fact that certain props were illegal, certain locations were out of bounds and that with it getting darker later, we would probably havbe to film during daylight, otherwise we could land up filming during late hours of the night. We finally came to the conclusion that we will not use any other people. this was because we wanted to be 100% sure that we had everybody, and it may be hard to forget only two people. We also decided that we could film during day (light hours) as this shouldn't really cause to much difficulty. Finally, we decided to film in our school. This was for the simple reason that we wanted to have a school setting, and why go to anywhere else but our school.
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Our Ideas (Post 2)
After looking at the sahots that we earlier recorded, we decided that we had some very good endings ... but we didnt know which one to choose. after some long discussion, we decided to worry about the ending at the end!
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Our Ideas
We recorded som ideas on camera and will upload them onto YouTube then publish them on outr blog. We also started a story board to try and estimate how long some of out shots will be. We are also talking to some staff members about staying in school for a few hours after school to record our real production. This is becaused at these times, we will not be interupted by pupils walking around, and also, it will give a scarier effect for our thriller.
Friday, 20 March 2009
Some Ideas Caught On Camera
Me and katie decided that we will record some of our ideas next lesson, in order to make sure that our ideas will look good when we record them.
Monday, 16 March 2009
Alfred Hitchcock
To help me with the understanding of thrillers, i decided to do some research on Alfred Hitchcock, one of the worlds best filmmakers.
Alfred Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was a British filmmaker who specialised in thrillers. His work is known worldwide and his work was amazing. The famous "Shower Scene" from his 1960 production, Psycho is one that everybody knows, whether its the motion of the arm stabbing their victim, or the screaching music in the background.
Some of his works includeded The Birds in 1963, North By Northwest in 1959, and Notorious. He aslso claimed that his favourite film (of his own) was Shadow Of A Doubt in 1943.
Hitchcock died at the age of 81
Alfred Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was a British filmmaker who specialised in thrillers. His work is known worldwide and his work was amazing. The famous "Shower Scene" from his 1960 production, Psycho is one that everybody knows, whether its the motion of the arm stabbing their victim, or the screaching music in the background.
Some of his works includeded The Birds in 1963, North By Northwest in 1959, and Notorious. He aslso claimed that his favourite film (of his own) was Shadow Of A Doubt in 1943.
Hitchcock died at the age of 81
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Preliminary Exercise COMPLETED !!!!!
We finally finished our preliminary exercise. After a few technical glips, we managed to edit our video and publish it on YouTube. Both me and Katie are very pleased with our filming, editing and most of all, our acting.
Monday, 9 March 2009
Preliminary Exercise (post 2)
This is the plan for our exercise :
Teacher marks work
Teacher calls other teacher to ask student to see them
Student arrives
Coversation
Arguement between teacher and student
Student leaves room agressively and slams door.
Teacher marks work
Teacher calls other teacher to ask student to see them
Student arrives
Coversation
Arguement between teacher and student
Student leaves room agressively and slams door.
Preliminary Exercise
For our preliminary exercise, me and Katie decided to do a school scene where Katie was the teacher, and I was an under achieving student. However, after a few scenes of filming, we decided to switch roles. We had a few ideas, however we did not have any time to film them, so we wrote our ideas down, and decided to film them the next day.
Sunday, 8 March 2009
Time and Equiptment
We have decided that our opening to the triller will be around two minutes. we intend on spending around an hour filming, and around an hour editing. We luckily do not need any more people in our thriller and all the props we decided to use, we already have.
Friday, 6 March 2009
Slight problems.
Before creating anything, we decided to have a meeting about the breif we have made. There are some small problems. For example, we would like to set it in a school at night, however, school is shut at night, so we may have to film during the day. unfortunatly i feel this will take away some of the affect, however there is nothing we can do about this. Also, only being in a two person group will pay a price, we are unable to have any extras in the thrilelr, and we do not have a camerman/women. Even though we have some problems, they will not hold us back from making a blockbuster movie !!
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Continuity
This is making sure that if scenes are filmed with a cut or break in it, that the characters and scene are exactly the same when filming starts again. For example, if a character walks out of a room wearing a red shirt, and comes in with a green shirt, this is a continuity mistake.
Friday, 27 February 2009
Match On Action
This is making sure that after the shots are edited, the scene fits and there are no jumps or breaks in the scene.
Saturday, 21 February 2009
Shot/Reverse Shot
Shot reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique wherein one character is shown looking (often off-screen) at another character, and then the other character is shown looking "back" at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_reverse_shot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_reverse_shot
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
The 180 Degree Rule
The 180° rule is a basic film editing guideline that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180_degree_rule
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180_degree_rule
Sunday, 15 February 2009
Sub Genres of Thrillers
There are different sub-genres. I researched on the internet on wikipedia and got a list of the sub-genres and what they mean. here they are:-
Action thriller - In which the work often features a race against the clock, contains lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist. These films usually contain large amounts of guns, explosions, and large elaborate set pieces for the action to take place.
Conspiracy thriller - In which the hero/heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent only he/she recognizes.
Crime thriller - This particular genre is a hybrid type and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects.
Disaster thriller - In which the main conflict is due to some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc., or nuclear disasters as an artificial disaster.
Eco-thriller - In which the protagonist must avert or rectify an environmental or biological calamity - often in addition to dealing with the usual types of enemies or obstacles present in other thriller genres. This environmental component often forms a central message or theme of the story.
Erotic thriller - In which it consists of erotica and thriller. It has become popular since the 1980s and the rise of VCR market penetration.
Horror thriller - In which conflict between the main characters are mental, emotional, and physical.
Legal thriller - In which the lawyer-heroes/heroines confront enemies outside, as well as inside, the courtroom and are in danger of losing not only their cases but their lives.
Medical thriller - In which the hero/heroine are doctors or medical personnel's working to solve an expanding medical problem.
Political - In which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him.
Psycological thriller - In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical.
Spy thriller (also a sub genre of spy fiction) - In which the hero is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists.
Supernatural thriller - In which the conflict is between main characters, usually one of which has supernatural powers. Carrie by Stephen King and Unbreakable by M. Night Shyamalan and Torchwood are notable examples of this genre.
Techno thriller - A work that usually focuses upon military action, in which technology (usually military technology) is described in detail and made essential to the reader's/viewer's understanding of the plot.
Action thriller - In which the work often features a race against the clock, contains lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist. These films usually contain large amounts of guns, explosions, and large elaborate set pieces for the action to take place.
Conspiracy thriller - In which the hero/heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent only he/she recognizes.
Crime thriller - This particular genre is a hybrid type and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects.
Disaster thriller - In which the main conflict is due to some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc., or nuclear disasters as an artificial disaster.
Eco-thriller - In which the protagonist must avert or rectify an environmental or biological calamity - often in addition to dealing with the usual types of enemies or obstacles present in other thriller genres. This environmental component often forms a central message or theme of the story.
Erotic thriller - In which it consists of erotica and thriller. It has become popular since the 1980s and the rise of VCR market penetration.
Horror thriller - In which conflict between the main characters are mental, emotional, and physical.
Legal thriller - In which the lawyer-heroes/heroines confront enemies outside, as well as inside, the courtroom and are in danger of losing not only their cases but their lives.
Medical thriller - In which the hero/heroine are doctors or medical personnel's working to solve an expanding medical problem.
Political - In which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him.
Psycological thriller - In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical.
Spy thriller (also a sub genre of spy fiction) - In which the hero is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists.
Supernatural thriller - In which the conflict is between main characters, usually one of which has supernatural powers. Carrie by Stephen King and Unbreakable by M. Night Shyamalan and Torchwood are notable examples of this genre.
Techno thriller - A work that usually focuses upon military action, in which technology (usually military technology) is described in detail and made essential to the reader's/viewer's understanding of the plot.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Top 100 Thrillers
This is a list of the top 100 thrillers according to "http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/06/13/entertainment/main296270.shtml" :-
1. "Psycho," 1960
2. "Jaws," 1975
3. "The Exorcist," 1973
4. "North by Northwest," 1959
5. "The Silence of the Lambs," 1991
6. "Alien," 1979
7. "The Birds," 1963
8. "The French Connection," 1971
9. "Rosemary's Baby," 1968
10. "Raiders of the Lost Ark," 1981
11. "The Godfather," 1972
12. "King Kong," 1933
13. "Bonnie and Clyde," 1967
14. "Rear Window," 1954
15. "Deliverance," 1972
16. "Chinatown," 1974
17. "The Manchurian Candidate," 1962
18. "Vertigo," 1958
19. "The Great Escape," 1963
20. "High Noon," 1952
21. "A Clockwork Orange," 1971
22. "Taxi Driver," 1976
23. "Lawrence of Arabia," 1962
24. "Double Indemnity," 1944
25. "Titanic," 1997
26. "The Maltese Falcon," 1941
27. "Star Wars," 1977
28. "Fatal Attraction," 1987
29. "The Shining," 1980
30. "The Deer Hunter," 1978
31. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," 1977
32. "Strangers on a Train," 1951
33. "The Fugitive," 1993
34. "The Night of the Hunter," 1955
35. "Jurassic Park," 1993
36. "Bullitt," 1968
37. "Casablanca," 1942
38. "Notorious," 1946
39. "Die Hard," 1988
40. "2001: A Space Odyssey," 1968
41. "Dirty Harry," 1971
42. "The Terminator," 1984
43. "The Wizard of Oz," 1939
44. "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, 1982
45. "Saving Private Ryan," 1998
46. "Carrie," 1976
47. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," 1956
48. "Dial M for Murder," 1954
49. "Ben-Hur," 1959
50. "Marathon Man," 1976
51. "Raging Bull," 1980
52. "Rocky," 1976
53. "Pulp Fiction," 1994
54. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 1969
55. "Wait Until Dark," 1967
56. "Frankenstein," 1931
57. "All the President's Men," 1976
58. "The Bridge on the River Kwai," 1957
59. "Planet of the Apes," 1968
60. "The Sixth Sense," 1999
61. "Cape Fear," 1962
62. "Spartacus," 1960
63. "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", 1962
64. "Touch of Evil," 1958
65. "The Dirty Dozen," 1967
66. "The Matrix," 1999
67. "The Treasure f the Sierra Madre," 1948
68. "Halloween," 1978
69. "The Wild Bunch," 1969
70. "Dog Day Afternoon," 1975
71. "Goldfinger," 1964
72. "Platoon," 1986
73. "Laura," 1944
74. "Blade Runner," 1982
75. "The Third Man," 1949
76. "Thelma & Louise," 1991
77. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," 1991
78. "Gaslight," 1944
79. "The Magnificent Seven," 1960
80. "Rebecca," 1940
81. "The Omen," 1976
82. "The Day the Earth Stood Still," 1951
83. "The Phantom of the Opera," 1925
84. "Poltergeist," 1982
85. "Dracula," 1931
86. "The Picture of Dorian Gray," 1945
87. "The Thing from Another World," 1951
88. "12 Angry Men," 1957
89. "The Guns of Navarone," 1961
90. "The Poseidon Adventure," 1972
91. "Braveheart," 1995
92. "Body Heat," 1981
93. "Night of the Living Dead," 1968
94. "The China Syndrome," 1979
95. "Full Metal Jacket," 1987
96. "Blue Velvet," 1986
97. "Safety Last," 1923
98. "Blood Simple," 1984
99. "Speed," 1994
100. "The Adventures of Robin Hood," 1938
1. "Psycho," 1960
2. "Jaws," 1975
3. "The Exorcist," 1973
4. "North by Northwest," 1959
5. "The Silence of the Lambs," 1991
6. "Alien," 1979
7. "The Birds," 1963
8. "The French Connection," 1971
9. "Rosemary's Baby," 1968
10. "Raiders of the Lost Ark," 1981
11. "The Godfather," 1972
12. "King Kong," 1933
13. "Bonnie and Clyde," 1967
14. "Rear Window," 1954
15. "Deliverance," 1972
16. "Chinatown," 1974
17. "The Manchurian Candidate," 1962
18. "Vertigo," 1958
19. "The Great Escape," 1963
20. "High Noon," 1952
21. "A Clockwork Orange," 1971
22. "Taxi Driver," 1976
23. "Lawrence of Arabia," 1962
24. "Double Indemnity," 1944
25. "Titanic," 1997
26. "The Maltese Falcon," 1941
27. "Star Wars," 1977
28. "Fatal Attraction," 1987
29. "The Shining," 1980
30. "The Deer Hunter," 1978
31. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," 1977
32. "Strangers on a Train," 1951
33. "The Fugitive," 1993
34. "The Night of the Hunter," 1955
35. "Jurassic Park," 1993
36. "Bullitt," 1968
37. "Casablanca," 1942
38. "Notorious," 1946
39. "Die Hard," 1988
40. "2001: A Space Odyssey," 1968
41. "Dirty Harry," 1971
42. "The Terminator," 1984
43. "The Wizard of Oz," 1939
44. "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, 1982
45. "Saving Private Ryan," 1998
46. "Carrie," 1976
47. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," 1956
48. "Dial M for Murder," 1954
49. "Ben-Hur," 1959
50. "Marathon Man," 1976
51. "Raging Bull," 1980
52. "Rocky," 1976
53. "Pulp Fiction," 1994
54. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 1969
55. "Wait Until Dark," 1967
56. "Frankenstein," 1931
57. "All the President's Men," 1976
58. "The Bridge on the River Kwai," 1957
59. "Planet of the Apes," 1968
60. "The Sixth Sense," 1999
61. "Cape Fear," 1962
62. "Spartacus," 1960
63. "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", 1962
64. "Touch of Evil," 1958
65. "The Dirty Dozen," 1967
66. "The Matrix," 1999
67. "The Treasure f the Sierra Madre," 1948
68. "Halloween," 1978
69. "The Wild Bunch," 1969
70. "Dog Day Afternoon," 1975
71. "Goldfinger," 1964
72. "Platoon," 1986
73. "Laura," 1944
74. "Blade Runner," 1982
75. "The Third Man," 1949
76. "Thelma & Louise," 1991
77. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," 1991
78. "Gaslight," 1944
79. "The Magnificent Seven," 1960
80. "Rebecca," 1940
81. "The Omen," 1976
82. "The Day the Earth Stood Still," 1951
83. "The Phantom of the Opera," 1925
84. "Poltergeist," 1982
85. "Dracula," 1931
86. "The Picture of Dorian Gray," 1945
87. "The Thing from Another World," 1951
88. "12 Angry Men," 1957
89. "The Guns of Navarone," 1961
90. "The Poseidon Adventure," 1972
91. "Braveheart," 1995
92. "Body Heat," 1981
93. "Night of the Living Dead," 1968
94. "The China Syndrome," 1979
95. "Full Metal Jacket," 1987
96. "Blue Velvet," 1986
97. "Safety Last," 1923
98. "Blood Simple," 1984
99. "Speed," 1994
100. "The Adventures of Robin Hood," 1938
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
SE7EN
We watched the opening sequence to the film se7en. It shows a very phsycological approach to the antagonist. For example, we see the antagonist cutting hid fingerprints off, and also, we see him sticking some sort of book together. However, through the whole sequence, we do not see the persons identity as this adds to tension. Tension is also built by the style of music, and also, the way the writing ( opening credits ) flicker on and off of the screen. Overall it is very disturbing and unsettling.
Saturday, 7 February 2009
Ask The Audience !!
I decided to ask around 25 people for what they think makes a good thriller. here are my 10 top answers :
A murderer
Police
Night/Dark
Damsel in distress
Scary villain
Guns (weapons)
Confrontation between viallain and hero
Mystery
The unexpected
Suspense.
A murderer
Police
Night/Dark
Damsel in distress
Scary villain
Guns (weapons)
Confrontation between viallain and hero
Mystery
The unexpected
Suspense.
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Conventions of a Thriller
A crime at the core of the narrative, often a murder, but not always.
Themes of identity.
Themes of mirroring.
Themes of voyeurism.
Extraordinary events, happening in ordinary situation.
There is often a scene near the end of the film in which the protagonist in peril.
Protagonist with a ‘flaw’ which is exploited by the antagonist.
A complex narrative structured, with false paths, clues and resolutions.
There are also some simple techniques to lighting and camerawork that also give and edge.
For example :
Low Lighting gives an extra effect, fast editing will give and uneasy effect. There could also be some sort of music or sounds that give effect.
Themes of identity.
Themes of mirroring.
Themes of voyeurism.
Extraordinary events, happening in ordinary situation.
There is often a scene near the end of the film in which the protagonist in peril.
Protagonist with a ‘flaw’ which is exploited by the antagonist.
A complex narrative structured, with false paths, clues and resolutions.
There are also some simple techniques to lighting and camerawork that also give and edge.
For example :
Low Lighting gives an extra effect, fast editing will give and uneasy effect. There could also be some sort of music or sounds that give effect.
Friday, 30 January 2009
Some more ideas
During our first meeting, our group (me and Katie) decided not to show the murderer at all as we feel this will dampen the tension. We also decided that we will have a scene where we will have a person walking a dog (a friend will walk Katie's dog) and the person walking the dog will become the serial killers next victim.
We also started considering an ending. We will have a point of view shot from the last victim. They will turn to an opening door which the SK is walking through. There will only be a silhouette of the SK. the very final shot will be of the SK killing the last victim...
We also started considering an ending. We will have a point of view shot from the last victim. They will turn to an opening door which the SK is walking through. There will only be a silhouette of the SK. the very final shot will be of the SK killing the last victim...
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
initial Ideas
We have had some initial ideas.
For example :
· Women are the main victims.
· Set in OUR school.
· Serial killer (SK) on the loose in a school.
· FIRST shot, dead people.
· Then straight to the SK walking into the school.
We are hoping that by showing the image of the dead people, that it will give out a negative signal linking to the SK.
For example :
· Women are the main victims.
· Set in OUR school.
· Serial killer (SK) on the loose in a school.
· FIRST shot, dead people.
· Then straight to the SK walking into the school.
We are hoping that by showing the image of the dead people, that it will give out a negative signal linking to the SK.
Monday, 26 January 2009
Age Certificate !!
Between us, we decided to make our thriller a 15 or 18 certificate, although we do not intend of using any foul language, or rude and crude behaviour.
Friday, 23 January 2009
Our Team.
Me and Katie have decided to work together as we get along and we both inspire eachother to work. We decided that in order for our coursework to be well produced, we will have often meetings to discuss the work that we have done, and also, the work that needs doing. We also decided to plan our thriller rather early, so that we have time to make any changes that we might want to make.
Welcome
Welcome to my blog. We have been set the assignment of creating the opening sequence of a thriller and to also describe the process, creation and research on this blog.
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