Saturday, 29 November 2014
Production log - Week 8
We started to research for our films and analysis different film openings and other student work. This helped me a lot as I was able to see what the students did well and what they needed to improve. This allowed me to notice the different aspects and be aware of them when making our production so that we didn't make any mistakes. Our teacher also gave us examples of the way to write out our analysis.
Thursday, 27 November 2014
Week 5: Daniel
Week 5: For Story and Narrative, I basically outlined likely plots in a thriller movie, what things would be included (props) and make-up used. Every genre has a certain Mise-En-Scene, therefore we decided what usual props there are, and what typical plots are found. Similarly, Iconographies and Conventions were alike. There was not much different, only outlining the story of OUR film. How comparing our film to a real-life film would not have much difference.
Psychological Thriller Pitch - Raj
Psychological Thriller Pitch - Raj
First pitch - A couple and a friend finds themselves in an abandoned warehouse looking for a missing talisman which has been lost for several years, but they walk into something much bigger than they imagined. They were held captive and trained to assassin business men in cold blood for the mayor.
Second pitch - In the darkest corner of the city, a school called 'Regina's high school' had many types of supernatural creatures. There are werewolves, vampires, shape shifters etc. all disguised as ordinary humans which are all professional killers.
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Genre/Sub Genre Analysis
For Genre/Sub-Genres, I had chosen examples of real-life movies that we had chosen for our 2nd choice, either Thriller, or Comedy (Romantic). We had written down pros and cons for both, but we opted for a thriller, seeing as it'd be more easier for the audience to determine what genre the film was, instead of making a lackluster script, intending to be funny, but we were not that creative to make a script of such kind.
Pitch Analysis
The pitches were simply synopses of our films. We had taken a bit of time to become creative in terms of thinking of an interesting plot which would fit under our chosen genre. We ultimately chose my 2nd choice, the man waking up from a coma...., since it would be easy to do. Only one character was needed, location was the only one we needed to find. But other than that, I had the responsibility of choosing shots, making certain decisions, and choosing shots carefully in order to make the audience feel something towards the protagonist.
Genre and Sub-Genres
- Thriller
Pros: Less time needed to make witty scripts, or funny blocking (positioning of characters) to create laughter from the audience.
Simple locations can be used, while adding a filter to change the atmosphere without extensive props or special effects.
Music is easier, because it can be sped up to enhance tension
Cons: Ideas may be unoriginal, since so many thriller films have been made, therefore creativity may be limited.
Lighting may probably have to be low-key, so extra lights may be needed to get a sufficient quality shot.
Many shots may be needed to establish more suspense, but may be difficult for actors to 'freeze' while change of shot is taking place.
- Rom-Com
Pros: Possibly easier than a thriller, since no thought is needed on how to scare, or raise tension in a scene.
Can be filmed in any room, as long as there is high-key lightning to fit the mood
Cons: Ideas will be hard to come across.
Script may be hard to write, to invoke laughter.
Person has to fit with the character (to suit him/her) and this can help the audience relate with the characters. (It might be hard to find a good person to suit)
Pitches
Psychological Thriller- Pitch by Daniel
Pitch One-
A ragged man, in a gown, shoeless knocks on the door of an abandoned street. Chased by alien-behaving humans, he barges into the door and barricades it. He finds a pair of deceased people on the floor, the rooms filled with a foul stench. He allocates in the house, and finally rests from the unknown creatures who chased him. Days pass and a mysterious knock on the door is present...
Pitch Two -
A man, dirty and bearded, wakes up from a coma. Still dazed from the light he has not seen in months, he frantically walks around the house to find out where his parents are. His discovery as he goes outside the house to find them overwhelms him.
Pitch One-
A ragged man, in a gown, shoeless knocks on the door of an abandoned street. Chased by alien-behaving humans, he barges into the door and barricades it. He finds a pair of deceased people on the floor, the rooms filled with a foul stench. He allocates in the house, and finally rests from the unknown creatures who chased him. Days pass and a mysterious knock on the door is present...
Pitch Two -
A man, dirty and bearded, wakes up from a coma. Still dazed from the light he has not seen in months, he frantically walks around the house to find out where his parents are. His discovery as he goes outside the house to find them overwhelms him.
Production Log (Week 4)
Week 4: I had done 3 different tasks in a week; opening film analysis, pitches, and genres/sub-genres. The opening analysis for 2 different films was difficult. The editing of the slides can be very time-consuming, but Prezi also seemed very monotonous. It was not a very hard task, only analyzing certain important scenes which fit under MECS (Mise-En-Scene, Editing, Camera, Sound). I particularly enjoyed these films, therefore I found it easier to analyse. These also fit under the genres that we would base our film on, consequently bolstering our knowledge on these types of films.
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
Monday, 24 November 2014
Production log - Week 7
We planned where we will be filming and what kind of shots we will be needing as James created a storyboard and we have been thinking over this throughout the start of the year so we know what everyone in my are doing.
Production Log Week Five
Week Five:
As a group we decided that I would be doing the editing alongside acting. We also discussed a location and I input that if someone has had a coma they are most likely going to be at home in a bed with a bandage and pyjamas. I also said that to show that he has been in a coma for almost a month, during the beginning of the opening scene we will take a close up shot of a calendar of the same year but off a month before with all the days crossed off apart from the last one so it shows he has been in a coma for month. I also said that to show that the person was in a coma we could get
“get well soon” cards and have a close up of it and what’s written inside to show the date of which the card was wrote, this is also to show that he has been in a coma for a month.
Production Log: Week 3
Week Three:
This week we had started filming. As a group we decided that Daniel did not want to be recorded so I would be acting, alongside Raj and James. Raj was only used for the beginning as the camera was lifted over the back of someone’s head. I was doing the role of Tommy from Snatch. It was pretty easy as there was no talking it was simply actions however the difficult part was synchronising it with the video.
After it was all recorded I had done all the editing by myself because I’ve edited and made videos for YouTube before so I knew the editing techniques. On the school mac I chose to edit on iMovie as this is what I had previously used for my YouTube videos. During the editing I had to pick all the useful clips because some shots were taken many times and delete the useless clips. This was so that I know which ones to use. After that I had to put a number on each video so I know in what order to upload the videos so that when I combine them all they all flow. After adding all the videos on their order I had to put transitions after the end of each clip so that the person watching does not realise that there was an animation to the next scene. It all flows. After then combining the videos and adding the transitions I exported the video so it’s all one video. Then once I had a full video I put that into iMovie and started to add sounds and filters. This was to make it seem really realistic. After watching the finished version over a few times I did find a few faults in the editing sector. These were that there were too many of the same transactions used so it gets really boring. However by this time it was too late as it was uploaded to our YouTube channel.
Another fault I found was when I was using the “less shaky” editing feature on iMovie it did not really make the video less shaky. In fact it made it worse because in some scenes you can see that the background is moving and the actual actor is not moving. So it was a bit confusing I do not know whether it was a fault on my side or if it’s a fault with iMovie. I think this because the iMacs had all been updated to the latest firmware therefore there could be a few bugs on the software and maybe the less shaky feature was one of the issues.
This week we had started filming. As a group we decided that Daniel did not want to be recorded so I would be acting, alongside Raj and James. Raj was only used for the beginning as the camera was lifted over the back of someone’s head. I was doing the role of Tommy from Snatch. It was pretty easy as there was no talking it was simply actions however the difficult part was synchronising it with the video.
After it was all recorded I had done all the editing by myself because I’ve edited and made videos for YouTube before so I knew the editing techniques. On the school mac I chose to edit on iMovie as this is what I had previously used for my YouTube videos. During the editing I had to pick all the useful clips because some shots were taken many times and delete the useless clips. This was so that I know which ones to use. After that I had to put a number on each video so I know in what order to upload the videos so that when I combine them all they all flow. After adding all the videos on their order I had to put transitions after the end of each clip so that the person watching does not realise that there was an animation to the next scene. It all flows. After then combining the videos and adding the transitions I exported the video so it’s all one video. Then once I had a full video I put that into iMovie and started to add sounds and filters. This was to make it seem really realistic. After watching the finished version over a few times I did find a few faults in the editing sector. These were that there were too many of the same transactions used so it gets really boring. However by this time it was too late as it was uploaded to our YouTube channel.
Another fault I found was when I was using the “less shaky” editing feature on iMovie it did not really make the video less shaky. In fact it made it worse because in some scenes you can see that the background is moving and the actual actor is not moving. So it was a bit confusing I do not know whether it was a fault on my side or if it’s a fault with iMovie. I think this because the iMacs had all been updated to the latest firmware therefore there could be a few bugs on the software and maybe the less shaky feature was one of the issues.
Sunday, 23 November 2014
Thriller Director Research
One of the most popular directors of my groups genre is Alfred Hitchcock. He has directed many successful thrillers during his time of directing movies. These include Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window and North By Northwest.
Psycho got a rating of 8.6 out of ten. They had a budget of $800k and they smashed box office by earning $32 million on box office.The film was so successful that it was reissued to theatres in 1965. A year later, CBS purchased the television rights for $450,000. It won awards for Best Motion Picture, Best Actor and also Best Supporting Actress.
Vertigo got a rating of 8.4 out of ten. They had a budget of $2.4 million and in box office sales earned $14 million. It is the first film to utilize the dolly zoom, an in-camera effect that distorts perspective to create disorientation. It won awards for Best Picture and Best Director.
Rear Window got a rating of 8.6 out of ten. They had a budget of one million dollars and ended up get $36.7 million sales on box office which was a huge success. In 1997, Rear Window was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congressas being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It won an award for Best Picture.
North By Northwest got a rating of 8.5 out of ten. They had a budget of $4.3 million and on box office sales, sold $9.8 million. According to MGM records the film earned $5,740,000 in the US and Canada and $4.1 million elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $837,000. The movie won an award for Best Motion Picture, Best Actor and Top Action Drama.
Alfred Hitchcock movies did have something in common and this was his themes and plot devices. He uses a lot of suspense in most of his movies. Many of his movies involved placing a normal human in some of the most extra ordinary situations. For example in the movie The Man Who Knew Too Much an ordinary man goes on a vacation and during the vacation his son is kidnapped. In The Wrong Man is when a ordinary man gets arrested for a crime he does not commit. Mistaken identity is also a common plot device for example in North By Northwest where Roger Thornhill playing Cary Grant is mistaken for a non-existence CIA agent. Finally staircases were often a main role in Hitchcock's movies for example in Shadow of a Doubt, Uncle Charlie attempts to murder his niece by rigging a staircase to collapse and in Dial M for Murder, a key kept under the stair carpet plays a pivotal role in catching the murderer.
Psycho got a rating of 8.6 out of ten. They had a budget of $800k and they smashed box office by earning $32 million on box office.The film was so successful that it was reissued to theatres in 1965. A year later, CBS purchased the television rights for $450,000. It won awards for Best Motion Picture, Best Actor and also Best Supporting Actress.
Vertigo got a rating of 8.4 out of ten. They had a budget of $2.4 million and in box office sales earned $14 million. It is the first film to utilize the dolly zoom, an in-camera effect that distorts perspective to create disorientation. It won awards for Best Picture and Best Director.
Rear Window got a rating of 8.6 out of ten. They had a budget of one million dollars and ended up get $36.7 million sales on box office which was a huge success. In 1997, Rear Window was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congressas being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It won an award for Best Picture.
North By Northwest got a rating of 8.5 out of ten. They had a budget of $4.3 million and on box office sales, sold $9.8 million. According to MGM records the film earned $5,740,000 in the US and Canada and $4.1 million elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $837,000. The movie won an award for Best Motion Picture, Best Actor and Top Action Drama.
Alfred Hitchcock movies did have something in common and this was his themes and plot devices. He uses a lot of suspense in most of his movies. Many of his movies involved placing a normal human in some of the most extra ordinary situations. For example in the movie The Man Who Knew Too Much an ordinary man goes on a vacation and during the vacation his son is kidnapped. In The Wrong Man is when a ordinary man gets arrested for a crime he does not commit. Mistaken identity is also a common plot device for example in North By Northwest where Roger Thornhill playing Cary Grant is mistaken for a non-existence CIA agent. Finally staircases were often a main role in Hitchcock's movies for example in Shadow of a Doubt, Uncle Charlie attempts to murder his niece by rigging a staircase to collapse and in Dial M for Murder, a key kept under the stair carpet plays a pivotal role in catching the murderer.
Remake Analysis
We remade the opening scene from snatch as to be honest it was pretty easy to do. There was only a few shots included and only 2 main characters involved.
What went well in the group?
We were good at communicating with each other and actually telling each other what they could do better. This way we could have a really precise remake of the opening scene. After every shot we took the whole group would look at the scene together and judge whether it should be shot again or not. If there was something wrong with it we would just give our opinion to the camera man and he would take it into consideration. Due to this communication our remake was filmed and edited in one day.
What skills i gained?
Firstly communication skills were important to gain and so by talking to my group repeatedly I gained this skill. Secondly I gained acting skills, I've never done acting before and in the remake I learnt how to act by watching and imitating a professional actor. I also learned how to film because when we would find the negatives in the shot recorded by the camera man i would tell him how to do it and it would work most of the time. Finally i learnt how to manage my time because we had one day to do this remake and we had to manage our time so we could film and finish editing by the end of the day. We done this by simply just sticking to the task and not manipulating our freedom.
What we need to work on before filming out own opening ?
We need to first choose a genre so that we know how to manipulate the use of MECS. So for example for editing we could use ambient sounds as its a thriller and generally just incorporate thriller like features into the editing and filming part. Then we need crete a script so we know what each character needs to say. We need to create a story board so we know what kind of action the character needs to do. Finally we need to watch a few thriller openings to get a general idea on how to do ours, so we have ideas to combine together from all different ascots of the thriller genre.
What went well in the group?
We were good at communicating with each other and actually telling each other what they could do better. This way we could have a really precise remake of the opening scene. After every shot we took the whole group would look at the scene together and judge whether it should be shot again or not. If there was something wrong with it we would just give our opinion to the camera man and he would take it into consideration. Due to this communication our remake was filmed and edited in one day.
What skills i gained?
Firstly communication skills were important to gain and so by talking to my group repeatedly I gained this skill. Secondly I gained acting skills, I've never done acting before and in the remake I learnt how to act by watching and imitating a professional actor. I also learned how to film because when we would find the negatives in the shot recorded by the camera man i would tell him how to do it and it would work most of the time. Finally i learnt how to manage my time because we had one day to do this remake and we had to manage our time so we could film and finish editing by the end of the day. We done this by simply just sticking to the task and not manipulating our freedom.
What we need to work on before filming out own opening ?
We need to first choose a genre so that we know how to manipulate the use of MECS. So for example for editing we could use ambient sounds as its a thriller and generally just incorporate thriller like features into the editing and filming part. Then we need crete a script so we know what each character needs to say. We need to create a story board so we know what kind of action the character needs to do. Finally we need to watch a few thriller openings to get a general idea on how to do ours, so we have ideas to combine together from all different ascots of the thriller genre.
Monday, 17 November 2014
Friday, 14 November 2014
Production log - Week 6
I had to look at billing order so what would be conventional credits in most thriller opening scenes. I found that certain credits have more screen time than other credits, for example, the film's name would appear longer than most of the other credits. Some credits are different to others to make them stand out to show importance. These type of credits would help us construct our final thriller opening scene as credits are vital for every film.
Wednesday, 12 November 2014
Friday, 7 November 2014
Production log - Week 5
We had to outline common plots in thriller movie for story and narrative. We made a list of the props we need, make-up used and what costume the protagonist will wear. After researching into psychological thriller genres, we decided to keep the typical plots and similar iconographies and conventions so it wouldn't be must difference between most thriller films.
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