Evaluation

We showed our films to other members of our media class and were given feedback on what they liked about our preliminary task and what could have been improved upon.

The things that they liked were;

• The CU's of the mouths as this added to the mystery behind the characters.
• The variety of camera shots and camera angles used.
• The establishment of the scene in which our Thriller had been set, particularly the opening shot which sets the scene of the Thriller.
• The costumes and props that established the importance of the characters helping them fit the typical conventions of the Thriller genre.
• The way in which the package was followed as it was passed from one character to the next enhancing the importance of the package and it's passing from one character to the next.
• The smooth flowing edits.
• The generic conventions that were followed such as the setting, actors and dialogue.
• The setting of the sequence as it had been filmed outside of school and research had gone into finding the appropriate location.
• The narrative that fitted the Thriller genre and engaged the audience.

The audience did not like:

• The varying subtitle sizes
• The sound and lack of tones and music to enhance the drama of the scene.

To rectify this, I changed the subtitles and made sure that they were of constant size and font. We could not however change the sound as we had found no tones and had too little time to reshoot our film.

If I were to do this task again, I would check the equipment thoroughly before starting the filming; I would definitely make a thorough storyboard and script as this made the filming much easier on the day; I would check the sound of the location making sure that it's volume did not exceed that of our actors; I would make sure that we had plenty of time to film without the daylight hours affecting our continuity; and finally I would make sure that what we wanted to be the final outcome was achievable with the sounds and equipment that we had.

In general, I think that the outcome of our preliminary has proved to be effective in conforming to the typical conventions of a Thriller genre and to the task given to us.

Preliminary Task - Second try

After the poor quality of our first try, we decided to be more organised and check the equipment before the shoot.

Narrative

As we thought that our narrative was already both simple to film and conventional to the Thriller genre, we decided to stay with our first idea.

Location

For our second try at the preliminary task, we decided to film in a less specific location as it didn't need to be by a river to fit the conventions of a Thriller.On deciding this, we set about finding Cafes and restaurants in the high street near our college. Calum and I searched on the internet and found the number for Coffee Republic. I made a phone call to the manager and asked for permission to film at his Cafe, unfortunately he declined but Calum and I kept looking. We decided to again write a letter that we could print off and show to managers and owners in person by walking through the high street and seeing appropriate locations. Calum and I walked into the high street and saw Prezzo an Italian restaurant, unfortunately the owner again apologised but declined our request. Our next try was Cafe One, a small family owned cafe. A member of staff spoke to us and took a copy of the letter, he told us that he would let his manager know of our request and asked for a contact number. I gave him my mobile number as I always have it on and with me. When the manager called me back, he agreed to let us film and told me that we could come in anytime. This was great as it meant we were more flexible however I did ask whether there were any times when the Cafe was less busy, I was told that the quietest time was around 5 o'clock. I relayed this information to the rest of the group and we all agreed on a time to film which was convenient for all members of the group.

Actors

Once we had agreed on a time and location, we asked our actors Alex and Lucy if they would film for us again. Unfortunately Lucy could not make it however Alex could. I asked other people who fitted our criteria, if they would be able to help us. In the end our friend Michael Scorer agreed. He looks very mature for his age and has clear diction that was perfect for our sequence. I briefed Michael on what he would be doing and the time and place we would be filming. Fortunately, Michael was able to make these dates and times.

Script

Once we had our actors, we were able to make a script. This would be the same idea as before however Lucy's character would of course be changed into a man. This meant only slight changes to what Michael would say and how he would act. Amir and I sat down together and wrote this script which can be seen in the 'Evidence' section. We discussed which lines would best enhance the intensity of the scene and the mystery behind the package and the actors, this made our end result conventional to the Thriller genre. Our last line; 'You don't' enhanced not only Alex's importance but also the mystery surrounding his next actions, increasing the suspense of our Thriller sequence. Once we had written the scripts I wrote them up and printed them making them look more professional, I then gave them to the actors and even went through the script with Alex to make sure he knew how we expected the lines to be delivered.

Camera Angles and Shots

This time, Calum and I wrote down all of the shots that we wanted to use. This meant that on the day of the shoot, we didn't spend too long talking about which shots we wanted, instead we spent more time achieving these shots effectively. As we had more time to discuss the shots, we also made them more conventional to the Thriller genre.

Roles

Again, we all decided to take part in every aspect of filming. Each of us directed, giving our ideas and all of us tried doing different camera shots and angles. This also meant that we could pick which shots were best as they were done by different people. We found that this was the best way to film as we all got experience in all of the areas of filming and no ones ideas were forced upon anyone else. This time we did not film us shooting our sequence however Lauren did take pictures on a Calum's camera throughout. These can be seen in the 'Evidence' section.

Costume, Make up and Props

Again, Alex wore his suit and white shirt as we had already agreed that this was the most conventional to the Thriller genre and our criteria. I instructed Michael to also wear a suit and Calum bought a white shirt for him to wear underneath it. Again, I bought the package and we put a purse in it to bulk it out. I did not bring grape juice this time as the location was now a Cafe and I felt that wine would not suit Michael (being a boy) quite as much as Lucy's character.

Equipment

This time Calum came with me to get the equipment and the teacher made sure that it was working properly and that the tripod was not missing any pieces. We charged the camera throughout the day at college to make sure that we would have plenty of time to film during our shoot. This time everything worked perfectly enabling us to do smooth shots and ECUs that were conventional to the Thriller genre.

Changes on the Day

On the day of the filming we decided to have a stalker in the narrative to enhance the script when Alex mentions that he thinks he has been followed. Luckily our friend agreed to help us at the last minute. His name is Sam Crump and can be seen in the sequence stepping out from behind a wall as Alex walks past. He then steps back behind the wall before Alex turns to look over his shoulder. We decided to add Sam to our sequence as we felt that this added intensity and suspense to the film making it conventional to the Thriller genre. We gave Sam a leather jacket which Michael had been wearing previous to the shoot, and asked him to put his hood up adding to the suspense and mystery surrounding him.

Editing

After the filming, I took the footage home to upload and edit as I was the only person in the group with equipment to edit on, everything flowed smoothly however, as we were filming outside in the winter, the light changed drastically within an hour of filming. This meant that shots taken at the beginning of the sequence could not be used with shots taken at the end as this would ruin the continuity and make the film less effective. I didn't change any of the footage as I knew that my group members wanted to help with it so instead I took it into college the next day to edit it with my group members. We found the editing ok as both Calum and myself had already had experience with imovie. We decided to change the type of video effect to 'hard lighting' as this made our Thriller look more professional and therefore more effective. We also decided on simple edits without effects, these were done quite quickly as it increased the sense of urgency in the conversation as Alex says 'Let's do this quickly, I think I was followed'. We faded to white at the end of the scene as it flowed smoothly with the head lights of the car which was turning a corner outside. This was lucky and not planned however it was our initiative that turned this into an effective part of the sequence, helping it to flow smoothly and therefore look more professional.

The biggest problem that we came across whilst editing our sequence was the sound. We had not checked sound levels and made sure that we could hear what Alex and Michael were saying on the day of filming, this meant that when we came to edit some lines were almost inaudible. As we didn't have time to film the sequence for a third time, or teacher suggested that we add subtitles to the film. I did this and improved upon them when it was clear that the sizing of the subtitles were not all the same. The second problem with our sound was the lack of music or tones. We tried to find music that fitted the sequence in garageband however we could not find any low tones that we could add onto the shots of Alex walking into the Cafe. This meant that we had to keep this silent which we did not feel was as effective. Furthermore, with the right music, our sequence could have been made to be more intense and important had we found dramatic, upbeat music.

Apart from the sound, we felt that our Thriller sequence had come out well and were happy with the narrative, location and camera shots used as we felt they were effective in completing the task and displaying the conventions of a Thriller Genre.

Preliminary Task - First try

For our preliminary, we had to come up with 5 ideas that fitted the conventions of the Thriller genre. To do this all of the members of our group started to discuss our ideas. We then made storyboards as a group; we all met up at Lauren's house at the weekend and made up story boards for our favourite ideas. After making these ideas, we needed to consider;

• The location
• The actors
• The costumes and make up
• The props we would need to use
• The equipment that would be used
• The script
• The camera angles and shots that we would use (the storyboard)

We not only had to see which locations and narrative we would need, but also check that they were achievable. Unfortunately our first story boards were not achievable; our location and narrative were both very difficult to make with no budget and in the tight time constraints. They were also very difficult to film effectively. Because of this, we had to change our idea;

Narrative

Calum and I both came together during a lesson in which Amir and Lauren were absent, and came up with a simple idea that would be both effective and easy to shoot. In the ended we settled with my idea of a man walking by the river and into a pub or restaurant location. He would then walk across to a table where another person, either a man or woman, would sit. They would exchange dialogue and then the previously seated character would pass a package to the man. The man would then put this package into his suit pocket and leave the pub or restaurant, ending the scene. I also thought that it would be even more conventional to the Thriller genre if the actor's faces were only half seen, for example only their lips could be seen whilst they were talking and we avoided seeing their full faces in shots walking up to the Cafe. This would add to the mystery and suspense behind the characters and the narrative. Calum, Lauren and Amir all agreed with this idea also.

Location

Calum and I set about finding the location and actors as soon as the idea had been confirmed and our teacher had agreed that the idea was both achievable and conventional to the Thriller genre. As there is a river very close to our college, the river location was easy to come across however we needed a section of river that led to a pub or restaurant that was conventional to the Thriller genre and would also allow us to film there. We agreed on the location of the Swan Pub in Walton. Calum and I sent an email to the owners of the Pub asking for permission to film at their Pub.

Unfortunately, they did not reply to our email, luckily Calum, Amir, Lauren and myself had already arranged to do a visual check on the location to make sure that it could be incorporated into the Thriller genre and to take pictures of it. We printed off a copy of the email to hand to the owner or manager in person; this worked well as we were able to talk face to face with the manager who agreed that we could film on Monday at 11 o'clock. We asked them to send an email confirming these dates and times.

On receiving this email, we were told that we were not allowed to come out of lessons or college time to film our sequence. This meant that we would have to email the location again to ask if there were any other times in which we could film our preliminary task. I set about writing and sending this email requesting that we could film after school. The manager agreed to this and we arranged a day and time. These emails can be seen in the 'Evidence' section.

Actors

Calum and I also used our lesson times to check any drama schools or clubs in the area who wouldn't mind acting for us in our Thriller. Unfortunately, the sequence we had chosen meant that we should have actors who were roughly in their twenties; this would make them look more important than college or school students, and would also reflect maturity and professionalism. These points were crucial when implementing our task as they helped to make our sequence more conventional to the Thriller genre. As most of the drama schools in the area such as stage coach were schools for younger children, we decided to use our own friends who looked both mature and sophisticated. Our first choices were Jordan Palmer and Lana Astin who agreed to help us with our preliminary task. As we only needed the bottom half of their faces it was this part of them that had to look slightly mature. They are both good looking; Jordan has a square jaw which is typical of protagonists and heroes in films across all genres; and Lana is very pretty with naturally long wavy hair which we felt added to the sophisticated look we were hoping to achieve.

As both Jordan and Lana were under the age of 18, Calum and I produced a letter for them to give to their parents. This can be seen in the 'Evidence' section. Unfortunately this was never used as both Jordan and Lana could not make the dates once they had been changed by the manager of the location. This meant that we now had to find two new actors; we decided on Lucy Hawkes and Alex Hammond. Again, we based this decision in their looks which fitted the Thriller genre as Jordan and Lana's had before, however we also based this decision on their diction; Lucy especially has very good pronounciation making her seem sophisticated and upper class, this fitted both the genre and the location perfectly. I called both actors and confirmed the dates and times given to us. They agreed with these times and dates enabling us to finally start filming. Before this I briefed both actors on the clothes and make up that they should wear and any props that they should bring.

Costume, Make up and Props

I told both actors which clothes they should wear; I told Lucy to curl her hair and come in a red or black formal dress. This would make her look more professional, mature and important and, as she has long dark hair, Lucy also looked sophisticated. I also instructed Lucy to bring a black bag however she did not have one. This meant that on the day of the shoot we borrowed a bag from a friend - the black bag added to the suspicion surrounding the package and made Lucy look professional and sophisticated. I told Alex to wear a suit with an open neck shirt. I helped him decide between a black and white shirt, deciding on the white shirt as it made him look more business like which is what we wanted for our Thriller. The shirt and suit made Alex look sophisticated and important which made our Thriller more conventional and therefore more effective. I bought the package and we put a purse in it on the day of the shoot to bulk it out slightly. As mentioned before, we borrowed a bag on the day of the shoot for Lucy to take the package out of. Finally, I bought red grape juice to the location which we poured into a wine glass lent to us by the Swan Pub. This made both characters look more mature as the audience would guess that Lucy was drinking wine.

The Equipment

On the day of the shoot, I asked my parents to sign a letter saying that our group would accept responsibility for the equipment, I then went to collect this equipment including the camera and tripod. Amir, Calum, Lauren and myself all bought cameras and camcorders to the location to film us making the sequence. In the end Amir used his camera and the footage can be seen in the 'Evidence' section. Unfortunately, on arriving at the location, we realised that the tripod was missing a piece. This meant that all of our camera work was wobbly and unprofessional especially as we had planned to do CUs of the actor's mouths. We still tried our best however were unhappy with the results. This meant that we had to reshoot the whole sequence thinking of a new location as we felt it was rude to email the Swan pub for a 3rd time.

Roles

Amir, Lauren, Calum and myself all took turns to do take part in different roles during our filming. Lauren and Amir did a lot of filming of the shoot taking place and Calum and I did a lot of filming of the sequence itself. All of us participated in the directing and we all had a go at doing different things, swapping our roles frequently.

Script

Unfortunately we hadn't made a script either so, although we had an idea of what we wanted the actors to say and do, it was not written anywhere for them to look at. This made our filming very disorganised.

James Bond - Stages of Production

Seeing as we would eventually be filming our own Thriller extract, we needed an insight into the stages of production that are needed to produce a simple yet effective sequence. To study this, we watched the bonus features of a James Bond DVD in which the stages of production of a car chase scene are filmed in detail. The director, Marc Forster, is also present in this part of the DVD to tell the audience the important factors to consider when making a movie.

These stages of production are as follows...

PRE-PRODUCTION

• Evaluation of health and safety issues that may occur in the shoot


• Initial research of a location


• Casting specific characters to the genre


• Writing a script for the scene


• Storyboarding the shots, time and sound in the scene


• Any research into timing, weather

All of these parts of pre-production must be specific to the chosen genre.

PRODUCTION

• Filming the shoot


• Stunts (if appropriate)


• Dialogue from the script made previously


• Costumes and make up


• Props


• Special effects and CGI (if appropriate)

All of these stages of production again must be done with the genre of the filming kept in mind.

POST-PRODUCTION

• Editing everything that was filmed during production


• Adding music and sound effects to any shots, if appropriate


• Marketing and promoting the film

I must consider all of these stages of production when making my Thriller movie and make sure that all stages are specific to the Thriller genre.

Thriller Analysis

To improve our understanding of what a Thriller is and how different atmospheres typical of the genre are created, we watched some extracts from successful Thrillers from Directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, David Fincher and Michael Mann. The analysis' of these Thrillers can be found below;

Alfred Hitchcock - The Birds

Camera Angles - Shots taken from the side help the audience feel involved in the scene, like they themselves are next to the protagonist. Low and high angle shots help to make characters look vulnerable or superior.

Camera Shots - Tracking shots are used to help the audience feel involved, as if they are following the action. Panning shots help to set the scene and cause an eerie atmosphere when put with incidental music or silence. Extreme Long Shots (ELS's) are used to make a character seem vulnerable and alone again adding to the eerie atmosphere of a Thriller. Close ups (CUs) are used to see facial expression enhancing a protagonists reaction to the plot. Hand held cameras are used to increase a sense of panic and confusion. Shot reverse shots are used between the woman sitting on a bench and the crows gathering in the park behind her as this builds tension.

Sound - The sound of children singing is juxtaposed helps to create an eerie atmosphere and build tension; the innocence of the children is juxtaposed to the hostility of the birds. Incidental music is used and music increases in volume, pitch and pace when action begins to enhance the panic and confusion of the birds attacking the children.

CGI - Although 'The Birds' was made in 1963, CGI is still used as the birds are seen attacking the children. This swarm of birds is digitally placed into the scene and at some points it is clear that the children are wrestling with props not real crows.

Editing - There is a slow pace at the beginning of the sequence which contrasts to that of the panic at the end of the scene creating tension. There are simple edits, no transitions are used however the pace of the edits speeds up as the action increases enhancing the panic and confusion.

David Fincher - Panic Room

Title Sequence - Special Effects (SFX) are used within the opening sequence to blend the titles into the location in which the film is set. This could depict how the protagonists blend into their location yet are different from their surroundings.

Characters - Relationships between the characters are shown through dialogue. At the beginning of this sequence the audience is given an insight into these relationships and therefore possible story lines through the lack of control the protagonist implements on her teenage daughter.

Mise-en-scene - The way in which characters are dressed also shows the audience their characteristics; the protagonist wheres plain black clothing with hair tucked behind her ears and glasses. This shows her as an intelligent but uninteresting character. The woman with her however wears much more extravagant clothing depicting her as a more outrageous and promiscuous character. This is reflected in the way n which she addresses the teenage daughter 'no scooter kid'. The panic room its self is a dark room juxtaposed to the large light rooms from the rest of the house that the audience view; this gives the room its own negative atmosphere and gives the audience another insight into the storyline.

Sound - Music continues throughout the scene until the door of the panic room is shut building tension. Through the title sequence a tone can be heard like the beating of a heart increasing showing a building tension and suspense.

Michael Mann - Collateral

Sound - Diegetic sounds of the airport and planes landing are used to set the location. The music is a repetitive beat which makes the seen intense and more dramatic. In the cab there is silence reflective of the importance of the cab within the narrative. The music from the cab's radio is used as the music for the film again reiterating the fact that the cab is of importance to the narrative.

Mise-en-scene - Tom Cruise wears sun glasses and holds a briefcase. The way in which his eyes are hidden shows him as a mysterious character and the audience is left to question what is in the briefcase. The cab driver is seen doing a crossword portraying him as an intelligent character; this is enhanced as the cab driver wears glasses, a symbol of intelligence to the audience.

Camera Angles - After the body has fallen onto the cab, the dialogue which is held between Jamie Fox and Tom Cruise is centred around the cab. This shows that the cab is central to the story line; all camera angles show the cab at the centre of the action.

Semiotics and Representation

Before we could start filming we had to do some research!

This research involved looking at camera angles, watching and analysing other thriller's (from the 1960s onwards) and watching the production of a James Bond film. This research can be seen below.

• Here are some semiotics we looked it to portray the signs and signified meanings present in thrillers: if a man were wearing a black outfit, the audience would assume that they are a 'bad guy' or villian. These images help to outline how some people don't automatically register certain things and make assumptions based on imagery, similar to when they watch thrillers and make assumptions on characters based on dress, diction and physical appearances.

What do you read into these?

Preliminary Task

Before we start filming our Thriller, we have to do a practise sequence as part of our coursework. We were given a brief for this coursework outlining what the examiner wants to view in our short sequence.

This short first task has been called the 'Preliminary Task' the outline for which can be found below;

• Brief -
  A continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom he/she then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.
• The brief asks that I should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180° rule.
• This task should last at least 30 seconds, but no longer than 2 minutes.

To recieve a level 4 in this task (equivalent to an A) I must show excellence in:

• Holding a shot steady where appropriate
• Framing a shot including and excluding things as appropriate
• Using a variety of shots as appropriate
• Shooting material appropriate to the task set
• Selecting mise-en-scene including setting, colour, figure, lighting and objects
• Editing so meaning is apparent to the viewer
• Using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively
• Using sound with editing and images appropriately

We will have to take all of these factors into account when filming for our main sequence also.