Institutional Research

 A thriller provides the sudden rush of excitement and exhilaration. It keeps the audience on the edge of their seats as the plot builds towards a climax. Always in Thrillers it will include factors such as plot twists and cliffhangers. A Thriller is usually a villian driven plot where there are obstacles put in place for the protagonist to overcome. Thrillers are placed 5th on the list for the most popular movie genres. The top 3 most successful Thriller movies of all time are "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012), "Jurassic Park" (1993) and "American Sniper" (2014). 

 Looking at the table the total gross for Thriller/Suspense it is of 12 billion dollars. This obviously means that it is a successful genre but if you compare it to comedy which is at first there is a difference of 28 billion dollars in total gross, which is much higher.

Advanced analysis: film title

Shutter Island 

Teddy Daniels is a U.S. marshal and is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient in Ashecliffe Hospital. Teddy starts to think that he was brought there as part of a twisted plot by hospital doctors which range from illegal to sinsiter treatments. In the end it is revealed that Teddy is actually a delusional mental patient in the hospital. He murdered his crazy wife Dolores after she drowned their three children. He had been a pation for two years at the hospital, the doctors had tried an expirement on him by allowing him to live the fanatsy he believes. The last sentense he say is "which would be worse to live as a monster or die a good man". In my opinion Teddy at the end really did undertsand what happened and would prefer to be lobotomized and forget everything then live the rest of his life feeling guilty.

Shutter Island conforms to the codes and conventions of the Thriller genre. Throughout the film the use of quick shots makes the feeling of suspense and tension more noticeable and creates disorientation of time and space. Alslo, it conforms to the codes and conventions with the use of non-diegetic sound which creates tension. This tension in the music is generally in Thriller films and it adds to the suspense as it gradually gets faster and louder until the climax where there is a loud sound and then the sudden stop which makes you think that something is going to happen. An example is when Teddy goes to Ward C because there was an outbreak from the patients, the music starts to get faster and louder, then a patient jumps out of no where. Another point is that all the scenes are filmed in a dark manner. The use of low key lighting creates a sense of fear which gets the audience more involved and also sets the mood of how the film is.

In this film there are so many twists and mis-directions. An example of mis-direction is at first we think that Teddy is only at  Ashecliff to solve the mystery of Rachel Solando, but then as the story evolves we think that this place is evil and that the doctors are doing experiments on the patients. An example of the twists are when Teddy really realises that he is a patient and the doctors were just allowing him to live his fantasy as part of their experiment. This is a major twist that i did not expect and I don't think many other viewers would either.

Reclaim production schedule final

Editing

Editing is one of the most important factors of in a film or T.V show because it creates meaning for the viewers. Editing is used by the producers to make it hard for the audiences to notice it.

The two main main editing styles are:
-Continuity
-Montage

Continuity

Continuity editing is used for the viewers not to notice any change so invisible editing.  This allows the suspension of disbelief to occur.

There are always two rules applied to continuity editing:

-The 180 degree rule

-The 30 degree rule

180 degree rule

The 180 degree rule is used to keep the viewer focused and to avoid the viewer getting. This enables to show continuity. The camera has to be positioned on the same side as the imaginary line for the rule to work and it should be drawn perpendicular to the camera's shot.

This is a video that shows an example of the 180 degree rule. The use from this clip shows the conversation and makes it easier for the viewers to understand and stay focused with what is happening.

Breaking the rule

When breaking the rule the rule this will cause confusion to the viewers, less concentration on important parts and misunderstanding of what is going on. This is why Producers should never decide to break the rule.

 30 degree rule

The 30 degree rule is used in order to create continuity between different shots. For this to work it can be moved to a minimum of 30 degrees and to a maximum of 180 degrees and this will avoid jump cuts from occurring .

Motivated cuts

There are four types of cuts that are motivated by on screen action:

-Shot Reverse Shot 

-Eyeline Match

-Macth On Action

-Graphic Match

Shot Reverse Shot

Shot Reverse Shot is used generally when a conversation occurs. The shot would be either when a character is talking or being talked to, reverse would be also either when a character is talking or being talked to and the shot would be when it cuts back to the original shot.

Semiotics Explained

 Semiotics

The theory of signs from the greek semeiotikos wich means an "an interpreter of signs". Signing is vital to the human existance because it underlines all forms of communication. Within semiotics, anything that is used for human communication is defined as a sign gestures facial expressions etc...

 

This sign is a representation of a skull on a cross. It suggests a few meanings:
-Death
-Pirates
-Toxicisty
-Danger

Denotation 

What an image actually shows and is immediately apparent, as opposed to the assumptions an individual reader may make about it.

 Conotation

The meaning of a sign that is arrived at through cultural experiences a reader brings to it.

Examples of denotations and conotations of glasses

The signifier

The object itself.

The signified

The meaning conveyed by the signifier.

Example of the signifier and the signified

The signifier is the printed image and the signified is the meaning of the image.

Codes 

A common theme within the genre of a film.

Todorov's and Propp's theory applied to a film that hasen't come out yet

  



From this trailer of Tomorrowland we can already clearly see Todorov's and Propp's theory applied. Todorov's theory applied to this film would be first the equilibrium, this is where it is the start of the story and everything is normal. The second part would be the disruption, this would occur when the protaganist finds the pin which takes her to another world. The third part would be the realisation, this would be when she realises that the other world was created by people to save the world. The fourth part would be where the order is restored, we can guess this is where she defeats the bad guys and saves the world. The final part would be the new equilibrium, where the protagonist has solved the problem and goes back to her normal life. Propp's character types would be that the protagonist will be the hero, meaning that she will have to get past obstacles in order to save the world. The villian will be the character that opose's the hero's quest, meaning that he will try and stop the protagonist from saving the world. The helper, will be the character to aide the protagonist, meaning that he will help save the world and defeat the bad guys.

Genre Explained

Genre

 Media products can be put into categories or genre. They appear in things such as film and television. A genre has a common set of distinguishing features which are codes and conventions. These features will be found in for example lighting or music. Audiences will always recognise these features in films and it helps them to understand more what is happening.  Genre is also usfel for Produces because they can use it to target a specific audience for example. It is also useful for audiences because it will enable them to know what movies they want to see. However genre changes all the time and this will result in hybrids and the changing of codes and conventions, this could confuse the viewers because it is not what they expected for example in film.

Conventions

Conventions are the widley recognised way of doing something. They are in any type of media, for example the use of good critic reviews on a movie poster. 

Codes

 Codes are signs which create meaning.  

They can be seperated into two categories:

- Technical

- Symbolic 

Technical codes are the ways in which equipment is used to tell a story, for example the lighting in a film.

Symbolic codes show what is under the surface of what we see, for example the non diegetic sound will show you how the character is feeling. Some codes can fit in both categories: music for example is both technical and symbolic.

Sub-Genre 

Sub-Genre are overall groups of media that share similar conventions. An example The sub-genre of animation would be hand drawn or computer generated animation.

 Hybrids 

 Hybrids are the putting together of different genres. Horror movies are predominantly the main genre which people of general ages enjoy the most. An example is Twilight which is a mixture of horror and romance.

Iconography 

Iconography is the interpretation of images. For example in the genre film of horror there will always be the repetition of ghosts and dark lighting.  

Elements of mise en scene using stills from films

Composition Balanced

From this still of the film spiderman we can see that is balanced. We can see the character who is positioned in the centre and is wearing a mask with a spider on his top. There are bright lights behind him and it seems from the still that he is standing higher and looking down, this makes him seem powerful and strong.

Imbalanced

 

From this still from the film Timecrimes we can see it is imbalanced. We can see that there is a character wuth a type of cotton mask over him and then next to him we can see a character with a pair of scissors to his face. This is used to make the viewers intrigued and to know what has happened and who is the character with scissors.

Framing Include

This is a still taken from the film 12 years a slave. we can see a character being hanged and women behind him who are not doing anything about it. This shows the cruelty of slavery.

Exclude

This is a still taken from the film It Rains On Our Love. From this we can see a character looking down at something which us viewers cannot see. This is used to make us intringued to know what it is. Setting This is the most distinctive point in mise en scene. The location in which the characters are situated and located makes the viewers have a more abstract understanding of the situation they are in. When filming a film the location manager has the choice between shooting a film in a sound studio or on location shooting. Location shooting would be more verisimilitude (appear more real. On the other hand it could make it more expensive on certain locations and could make it harder to film. In a sound studio, shooting would be much easier because the filmmakers would be able to be in control of what they need to do, for example lighting and recreation of locations. Always sets where ever it may be will always change in the way it is presented in order to pass on the meaning. This can represent: -Period: eg the 90s -Genre : eg comedy/horror -Information of character: eg lifestyle/social class/ -Information of a locatio: eg house/city/country

Lighting

High key lighting:

This is a still from the film Blade Runner, the whole still is evenly lit and there are no shadows shown. This makes the still more clear,which enables the viewers to have a better point of view of the character and his surrounding.

Low key lighting:

This is a still from the film Star Wars, the use of low key lighting makes it seem darker and scarier to the viewers and from this it can convey mixed feelings and emotions.

Naturalistic

This is a still from the film A Serious Man, the use of naturalistic lighting makes it seem like light it is coming from natural sources and increases the verisimilitude of the still.

Props

This is a still from the film Hot Fuzz, the use of all the props shown can signify information about the character. From this still we can see a character with many DVDs, this indicates that he is most likely a film fanatic, without even knowing anything about the  character this already tells a lot.

Costumes 

This is a still from the film Life of Pi

Reclaimed production schedule final

www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/44343426

Reclaimed Animatics

Rough cut

In my opinion the good points of the rough cut is firstly the part where the thief is walking towards the person who's computer is going to be taken because it looks realistic and it gives the perspcetive of what the thief is seeing. Secondly, the part where the thief is running with the laptop and is getting chased by the ower looks very realistic. On the other hand, the bad points are firstly that the running should be for longer to show when the thief and the computer owner lose eachother. Secondly, in the last shot we can see reflections of the other people that are not supposed to be in the shot.

Preliminary Poster Analysis

Black Swan

 

Skyfall

Evaluation

Evaluation question 1-6

Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it, to the full product?

Our preliminary task post and our final production piece differ very much from one another. 

The preliminary task post was made in late january when we were still learning about the processes of how a media product is made and was our first time actually producing a short video. In my opinion, even though we had no experience and we were still in the learning process, my group and I managed to create a good video demonstrating clearly a match on action, a shot/reverse shot and the use of the 180 degree rule.

In contrast to our preliminary task, our opening sequence to our thriller was much more complex and looked like a more experienced production. We were still worried about how our short film would turn out because of our months of preparation and research enabled us to create a more professional type of media product. 

A great amount of planning and effort had to be done in order to create our film, compared to our preliminary task where we were given instructions as how to proceed with it. However, after seeing the final production, we can say that a change in concepts was a good idea.

In my opinion the hardest part of our media product was the planning for everything. The good thing that the group worked together well and and we all came up with different ideas for the  storyline . 

The day of the shooting for "Reclaimed" was very enjoyable as we were seeing our media product come to life and that all the hard work on the planning and hard work was for a reason.

During the editing process there were only two special sound effects that were used both being recorded soundtracks. We thought that the soundtracks were usful because it gave feeling and mode to the short film. Many people said that without these soundtracks they would not have been more captivated and it shows that the film is of a Thriller genre.

Editing was very new to me and the group members, but whenever we didn't know how to do something our teacher would explain to us. This helped a lot  and we also realised how much work editing involves.

Editing the preliminary was quite simple and easy to do, even with no experience. This only took about an hour to edit because of the few takes we had. The only hard bit was atching the different shots together at the right moments.

We realised from our preliminary that mise-en-scene is key to represent the images of people from different social classes. We filmed in Bermondsey at house. When we see the contrast between the thiefs room which is very basic and the house of the character that buys the computer, we can understand the difference in wealth.

I have to say that I am so pleased of our final production after months of hard work and planning. This being our first time creating a production, made me feel very happy watching the final result. Also, with with the audience feedback it was overall a great response and useful criticism.

Genre Type Casting

 Genre Type Casting is when a actor or actress is always seen in one genre and over a period of time the audience will start to identify these people with that genre. This will be useful for the audiences because when they see for example a trailer in which these actors are in they will instantly know what kind of genre the film is.

Examples of Genre Type Casting

Hugh Grant:

 Hugh Grant is often found in the genre of Romantic-Comedies and he generally plays the romantic English gentleman. His biggest films being "Four Weddings And A Funeral" and "Notting Hill".

 

Damiel Craig: 

Daniel Craig is often found in the genre of Action-Thriller. The audience would not respond well if they where to see Daniel Craig starring in a romantic comedy or any of the other similar types of genre. His biggest films being "Casino Royale" and "Road To Predition".

Final Cut

Production Schedule

www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/43578630

Story and Plot

Story     

  

The story is the the order in which sequences of a film are placed for the audiences to understand fully. An example is the king dies and then the queen dies.

Plot    

The plot is when the order of a film can change, for example in a thriller the film could start with the murder scene and then througout the movie we discover who the killer was. An example is the king dies and then the queen dies of greef.

Example in a film 

In the film Sling Blade the story would be for example, a man bonds with a boy, becoming the father figure thath the boy never had. In contrast, the plot would be for example Karl Childers is aman that has just been released form the psychiatric hospital because he had murdered his mother and her lover. He goes back to his hometown and befriends a young boy named Frank. Karl becomes a kind of father figure for Frank and move in with him and his mother Linda and meets her abusive boyfriend Doyle. He realized that Doyle's abusive behavior will bring misery for Frank, Karl kills Doyle and turns himself in. He goes back to the psychiatric hospital form which he was released at the beginning of the movie.

Tecnical Equipement

The camera we used to shoot the film was the Nikon D3300. The camera is in full HD quality (1080p) so the shots will be sharp and clear, also the recordings of the film are fast moving and smooth. The camera's memory card can store up to 64GB which is very good for the size it is. It is very easy to use and it is simple to access everything done with the camera. Post production is done after evrything is finished and with the use of this camera it is easy to access to verything and then can be put on a coputer to be edited. This camera is relatively cheap compared to other camera's of the same kind of callibor, it has everything you need for a cheaper good quality camera. The sound used in the film was the Zoom H1 Digital Field Recorder. It is tthe worlds smallest recorder and you can fit in your pocket. The price is around the 100 pound mark,this is affordable for the quality recording it does. Also, it is very easy to and quick to exchange your recordings to your computer. The battery life can last upto 10 hours, this recorder is suitable for everyone.

production schedule draft

Preliminary Task

Possible fonts