Shanice Evaluation

Thriller Directors and Actors

Alfred Hitchcock is said to be the master of the Thriller. Hitchcock was born in 1899 in Leytonstone. He was known for his fusions of suspense and humour and virtually invented the thriller genre. Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades. Director of such works as Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds and The 39 steps, Hitchcock told his stories through intelligent plots witty dialogue and a spoonful of mystery and murder. In doing so, he inspired a new generation of filmmakers and revolutionized the thriller genre, making him a legend around the world. Other popular thriller directors are Michael Mann, Wolfgang Peterson, Stephen Hopkins and Martin Scorsese. Scorsese was born in November 1942 and is an award winning director. Scorsese's work addresses themes such as Italian American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption,[1] machismo, and violence. Scorsese is widely considered to be one of the most significant and influential American filmmakers of his era. Some of his most famous works were Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas. Thrillers also have a set type of actor that is always used. Popular thriller actors include:
• Al pacino
• Matt Damon
• Morgan Freeman
• Barbara Stanwyck
• Denzel Washington
• Jodie Foster

Shanice x

Editing Stages

Once we had reviewed all the footage it was time to edit and put it all together. We knew that we all had to edit at least one section of the opening and tried to do this effectively. I was able to take part in a lot of the editing myself and overlooked most of the editing process. I found that most of my group also did this which was a good way of working as we were able to give opinions on all the different shots so that we were all happy with the finished product. However, some members of the group did not do as much or chip in as much with the editing as others. The editing process on the whole took quite a while. This was because we had filmed a lot of footage for example different angles and shot types. Therefore we had to sort through them all and decide which ones to use and how to use them. This takes time to make sure it is all fluid. We also needed time sort out our match on action shots as they take quite a lot of time to get completely right. I found the most difficult part was keeping continuity between shots. Also making sure that the story was portrayed clearly and effectively. The match on action was also very hard to get correct however, once done it really complemented the piece. Something that we did during the editing stages was the soundtrack for the opening. Me and Ashley focused on this as we have experience working with sequencing programs and making music on the computer. We wanted the music to create a mood of mystery and unease. We also wanted something that we could fade in and out of the piece so that you could hear the dialogue clearly. We feel that the soundtrack created does this well and it added an extra touch that realy made it feel like a thriller. Overall the editing process went very smoothly and we feel that we were able to produce an effective thriller.

Shanice x

Uploading and Reviewing Footage

Once we had finished filming it was time to upload our footage onto the computer and begin the editing stages, however before you edit you footage you must review it all, name each shot and discuss which ones are god and could be used and which ones can be deleted. We uploaded our footage off our tape onto final cut pro and started reviewing. As we went through each shot we named them to make it more practical when it came to the editing stage. We also colour coded them for the beginnng of our piece, middle section and ending. As we were looking through the shots I found that we had little continuity issues, something that it was very important we addressed and made sure we did not include them in the final piece. I began to take notes of small things like this that I noticed to make sure that we remembered to rectify issues similar to this. Also our fears were confirmed when we watched the shots from the bedroom as some were just to dark and were not able to be used in the piece at all. This was a real disappointment, however gave us something to think about for next time. Once we had watched all the footage and organized it accordingly it was time to start the editing stage.

Shanice x

Diary of Filming Day

We all arrived at our location on the day of filming. We had previously decided that we were going to try and film everything on one day so had created a schedule to follow. This schedule stated in what order we were going to film our shots which would give us some stability and help us with our time management. The first thing we did was split into two groups to get things done more quickly and efficiently. Two people were in charge or organizing the set and preparing the pros and two people were in charge of setting up the camera and talking to out actors about what they would have to do in each scene. This really helped us as a group and I feel was a time when we shoed good teamwork. If I were to do this project again I would definitely use this method again. Once we had fully set up we started filming our first shots of the outside scenes. Unfortunately our male actor had to leave by a certain time so we were unable to shoot the outside scenes later on in the day when it was dark, however we pulled through and filmed some good shots from different angles. We then moved onto the inside shots and the dialogue between the father and daughter. This was filmed in the dining room to make it look like she had been doing her homework before he walked in. After these were complete we started to work on the door slam scene. This caused us some difficulties as we found it hard to get the timing perfect. We ended up having to keep doing shot after shot to keep it continuous. Once we had mastered that we started to focus on the upstairs scenes. This is when we encountered our biggest problem, the lighting. We found that in our main bedroom where the most important scenes were going to be filmed, the light was incredibly dim. We tried every avenue we could think of to try and generate some more light in the shots. After lots of effort and little change, we decided we going to have to just film the shots and hopefully change the lighting during the editing stages. Another problem we faced was filming the close up of the pictures. This was because we were either zooming in too fast too quickly or not zooming in enough. We found a way to sort this out was to do a couple of practice shots until we got a feel for the camera and how fast and far we wanted to zoom in. This really helped us and in the end we were able to get some good shots. Finally we moved onto our last shot in the computer room where the daughter is typing the name into google. I decided to add an extra touch by putting the chosen picture next to the screen and we felt like this really added to the shot.

When decided who did what shot we decided to play to each others strengths and make sure it was even so that one person was not doing all the filming and the others were just standing around. I also came up with the idea that if u were not filming a shot you would go set up and think about the next shot to save time and make sure we were working efficiently. This worked very well as we ended up finishing on time and we could move from shot to shot fluidly. Overall the filming day went very well and I feel that we worked well as a team. However, if I did the project again I would check the location for vital factors like lighting to make sure that we come prepared for all problems that we could face.

Shanice x

Production Schedule

Production Schedule

12:oopm- Arrive at location and begin setting up the set and camera

12:30pm-Have group discussion and finalize what different shots we want to include in our piece.

12:45pm- Start by filming the outside shots of car pulling in drive and father getting out of car. Also do shots of father coming into the front door. Take all these shots from various angles and views to create variety.

1:15pm-Start the dialogue shots between father and daughter in dining area. Take from different angles around the room and test different lighting. Once finished male actor can leave.

1:45pm-Do solo shots of daughter doing her homework to use as filler between shots.

2:00pm-Door slam shots from different angles

2:40pm-Do stair shots of daughter walking up the stairs

3:00pm- Bedroom scene of daughter looking through the wardrobe. Take from different angles. High and low shots. Close ups on pictures as she finds them.

4:00pm- Closing scenes of daughter in the computer room on google. One close-up shot of her typing the name and one ambient shot to add diversity and contrast.

4:30pm- Pack up equipment and leave location.

Shanice x

Actors and Costume

Actors

When choosing our actors we considered 4 main things:

Do they suit the story/ brief?
Could they pass for father and daughter?
Do they act?
Will they be willing to give up their time?

All of these were very important factors in getting the correct actors for out thriller. After watching and researching Thrillers I noticed the the actors play a big part in how the film makes you feel and react. IT a part is cast badly you tend to focus on that and not on the film and story itself, a mistake we did not want to make with out Thriller. The brief was an older man, preferably between 35-50years old who looked and came across like a typical, respectable father in suburbier. We also wanted a 14-16year old girl who looks like your average teenager. One of our friends steped in to play the daughter and fit the brief perfectly and now we were faced with the challenge of finding a suitable man to play her father. Luckily on of out group members actual fathers agreed to play the part for us.

Costume

Father- The father should be dressed in a suit with smart shoes and preferably have a suitcase or briefcase. He should look like he has just arrived home from work.

Daughter- The daughter can either be wearing her school uniform or comfortable house clothing like tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt so that it looks like she has been at school that day.

Shanice x

Location and Props

Location:

When looking for a location I had a very specific image in mind. I pictured a big house with a large drive and lots of different rooms to film in. The house also had to look like it was in a respectable area and preferably has lots of space so we could film from different angles and get a wide variety of shots. The perfect house I knew of that fit this brief perfectly was my uncle’s house. He agreed to let us use his house, which was one major battle over with. We discussed what days we preferred to film on and then discussed it further with my uncle until we found a day that worked well for us as a whole team.

Props:

After looking into our idea and finding our location it was time to decide what props we would use in our thriller. Although we did not need any big props we did need lots of smaller ones that added extra touches and pieced the story together these included:
1. Homework books and a pencil case for when the daughter is doing her homework in the opening shots.
2. A small box for the pictures at the back of the wardrobe.
3. The actual Polaroid pictures of the girls, at least 7 different girls.
4. Computer for her to use google in the closing shots.
5. Dining room tables and chairs
6. Car for the father to pull up outside the house in the opening shot
Most of these props were easy to come across and I was able to make sure they were at the location before filming day. However, the Polaroid pictures caused a problem, as we could not get hold of a Polaroid camera. We discussed just using a digital camera however felt like the use of this particular type of picture would add something to the piece and did not want to leave it out. Finally I was able to track down an old Polaroid camera from a family member and we could go ahead with the idea. After i had found the camera i went out with ashley and we took pictures of the girls for the project. This was the only time I felt like we did not necessarily work well together as a team as I felt like it was put on me to get a camera and pay for the film. This is something I would reconsider if I were to do this project again.


Shanice x

Idea Development

After many long discussions we were able to come up with 3 main ideas for our thriller. These were:

• Stalker and psychological themed thriller where a young girl is sifting through her fathers things and comes across pictures of girls with their names and addresses on the back. She then types the names into google and is shown missing person reports connected with these women. 
  

• Horror and Mystery Thriller where a daughter of a middle class family is home alone and puts on her old family videos, however during one of the videos it cuts out and shows a horrific murder involving a family member.
  
• Drama and Action Thriller where an ex cop wakes up in a strange building that has been trashed, but all the windows and doors are locked. He has cuts and bruises all over him and he seems to be alone.
  

We considered the pros and cons of each idea and found that some routes we would want to take were just impossible in the time frame and budget we were working with. Also we considered what location we could use for our thriller as that was a main factor that affected which idea we chose. For example, for the third idea we needed full reign on an empty building our house to film in. This building would have to be completely trashed for it to be realistic and unfortunately this wasn’t viable. We also wanted to do something that had not necessarily been done many times before and felt that this was the case for the second Horror and Mystery idea. Therefore we decided to go for the first idea. We thought this was a very good idea as it has not been done too many times before and we thought we could really put our own spin on it. We also were able to think of possible props, actors and locations very quickly. We thought that this idea could be very interesting both for us to film and most importantly for the audience. Psychological Thrillers can be very gripping and full of mystery and suspense so we had to think of a way to incorporate these vital elements. As this was my idea I tried to think of different avenues we could take in order to make it believable and still include those thriller elements that were very important to the genre. We decided to set in a middle class family with a nice house, nice car possibly a dog to set the scene of a normal ‘happy’ family. We had to think of possible transitions to tell the story correctly and came up with the idea that the daughter is doing her homework when her father returns from work. We wanted there to be a very distinct divide between the authority of the parent and the respect given by the daughter because of this. We then came up with the idea that she needs to take her birth certificate into school the next day but before she knows it her father has popped out again. She decided to have a look around her parent’s room and whilst shuffling above the wardrobes a box falls down and out falls all the pictures of the girls. She then types one of the names into google to figure out what is going on. Once we were happy with this idea, we started thinking about props and possible locations and actors. We decided to give each other set roles and things to think about before filming day began. I focused on props and the location.

shanice x

Things to remember when editing

When logging onto the computer you need to remember to save all work in the appropriate area and not on the desktop, otherwise it will get deleted. The area you need to save all work to is 'SANmp Client'. Once you have created a folder in 'SANmp client' you can save all work in there.

To begin video editing you place your video tape in the tape deck so that it can be transferred onto the computer. To edit, we use 'Final Cut Pro'. Once in 'Final Cut Pro' you have to upload your scenes so that they can be edited.

Your footage is divided up into how many times you have stopped and started the camera. You then need to cut the length of the scenes to your desired length by using 'Mark IN' (ctrl + i) and 'Mark OUT' (ctrl + o). 

Once they have been cut you need to drag each scene onto the timeline so that the video is in chronological order. If they still need to be cut once on the timeline you can use the razor blade tool to cut the length down (ctrl + b). You need to be careful when cutting your footage to ensure the audio and visual length are the same size to keep the continuity. 

Once you have put all your edited scenes on the timeline you need to add the opening and ending credits. To do this you need to type what you want the credits to say and choose an effect (how the credits will scroll). Once you have completed the credits you need to add them to the beginning and end of you timeline.

We found the editing process challenging yet valuable as our final product is very effective. It allowed us to gain knowledge of editing that we can develop and build upon when making our Thriller opening. We were able to learn all the basics to make an effective piece of work. If we did the process again i think we would try and each edit one thing so that each of us had a chance to try out our new skills. However it was hard to do this and it gives us something to consider for the future. 

Shanice and Bradley

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Target Audiences

What is a Target Audience?

The specific group of people towards whom the film is directed.

Niche Audience- The separation of the film audience into segments each of which have different tastes and concerns.

When creating our opening it is very important that we can identify our target audience and gear our opening towards them and their interests. By researching into our target audience we will be able to learn what sort of things they like in Thriller films and what things they do not like as much. It is important to understand you’re your target audience are, what they like and why they like it in order for your film to communicate to them. If we can successfully do this it will allow us to create something that has all the elements of a successful Thriller opening that the audience will enjoy. I looked into the typical audience for thrillers and found that they are usually popular with under 30’s. Target audiences are usually defined by gender and age, however sometimes socioeconomic status, race and interests are also used to define them. Typical age ranges are:
5-11
11-15
16-18
18-25
25-54
54+
Age range is important to understand as it is unlikely that a film that entertains a 50year old will also entertain an 8year old. Another thing to think about is why your target audience will enjoy the film and why others don’t. What elements do Thrillers have that these people enjoy. These could be the excitement, suspense, tension, mystery, thrill, anticipation, action, all oh which are associated to the Thriller genre. Also from my research I learnt that Thrillers are less popular with females. I think a reason for this could be that most lead roles in thrillers tend to be males and most of the time the women can just be used as the beauty or the scene filler.


THRILLERS DO NOT USUALLY APPEAL TO:

• 
  Elderly
• 
  Children
• 
  People who do not like violence in films
• 
  People who have phobias of certain situations ie being tied up or drowning

Other ways to research more into our target audience is to outgo demographic research. This includes segmenting initial groups into sub groups ie professional status, geographical location. Also another way is to use psychographics which is a system for measuring the audience’s beliefs, opinions and interests in deeper context. Both of these give more insight into the audience all of which helping you come up with something that will really appeal.

Shanice
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Checklist of Considerations whilst preparing to film our opening!

Location – Does the Location suit the script? Does it portray the right message? Does it allow us to shoot everything we want effectively?

Props- What props do we need to compliment the story? How can we make the props more authentic and realistic? Do we want the props to be realistic? Are the props needs within reach or are they unattainable?

Costume- How are the actors going to be dressed? Will the way the costumes are presented affect the opening in any way? What costumes will suit the script? How do we want the costumes to look and what do we want them to portray ie will they say something about the characters or will they show what has just happened (blood on them etc)?

Transitions between shots- Do we want the transitions to be fluid to create suspence or jumpy to add tension?

Time of day- At what time of day do we want to film? Will the time of day affect the piece? At what times will the location chosen be busy therefore hindering us from filming effectively?

Shanice

Our Preliminary Excercise

By doing the preliminary excercise we were able to gain valuable experiance in filming which will help us when filming and preparing for our Thriller opening. We decided as a group that it was important that we all had a chance to film and edit something from the exercise. Therefore each of us would be given the chance to gain our own individual experience and knowledge.

Overall filming went very well and according to plan. We found a good space for filming that suited our story and what we were trying to portray. The filming process was fluid and we worked well together as a group, making decisions and working together as a team. We decided to film the shots in the same sequence as they would be in the finished product and each member in the group filmed and directed one shot. We stuck to our original plan of what shots we were going to use and how we were going to film certain things ie angles. However, during filming we came up with other ideas to incorporate in the exercise, this included the shot of the hourglass running out which was not in our original storyboard. We thought that touches like this add something extra to a basic piece of film. One other thing that we changed during filming was some of the angles we had hoped to use for certain shots. This was because the space we were filming in did not allow us to do certain things. This gave us something to consider when choosing our own location for our Thriller opening.

If we were to do the exercise again we would probably try to think about everything we wanted to include and put it in our storyboard rather that adding things as we went along. I feel if we had done this it would have been more professional. I also would try to think about finding the right location before the day of filming. After watching the finished product I think that we could have made the transitions between some of the shots more fluid. I learnt a lot from doing this exercise what things we have to consider whilst planning our thriller opening. I also learnt how to use the cameras and all the other equipment including the editing suite. In addition to this it gave me a chance to try out and build upon my new knowledge of camera shots, angles and rules of filming and editing including match on action, continuity editing and 180degree Rule.

Shanice
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Preliminary Excercise

What is a Thriller Film and what are Thriller Sub-genres?

What is a Thriller Film and what are Thriller Sub-genres?

A thriller is a widely expressed genre that is very popular within film, television and literature. Typically a thriller includes certain characteristics that make it identifiable as thriller film. These are:
• The pace of the film is usually quick
• There is a lot of action
• Build up of suspense and the plot is never set in stone
• The audience should be on the edge of their seat wondering what will happen to the characters. Will the good guy beat the bad guy etc?
• The main characters or heroes are usually men however in modern thrillers women are presented as protagonists to a limited extent.
However within the genre of ‘Thrillers’ there are many sub-genres that overlap.

Action Thrillers- An action thriller is a mix of action and thriller content. It generally includes a hero figure and the plot revolves around the characters growth and realization of the enormity of his task. It frequently plays into the audience’s fears but can sometimes be a little far fetched. They can contain a lot of violence and a ‘race against the clock’ mentality. Some of these are:

Crime Thrillers- Crime thrillers are very popular in the film making industry. Crime thrillers are usually full of suspense and generally include a police officer or detective trying to uncover a murder or horrendous crime of some sort. They can include aspects of action thrillers and psychological thrillers.

Conspiracy Thrillers- Conspiracy thrillers can sometimes tie in with political thrillers. It can usually revolve around a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. Conspiracy thrillers often involve corrupt governments or framed characters trying to clear their name.

Horror Thrillers- these thrillers often conjure up intense feelings of fear and anxiety within the audience and the characters. They often portray the characters as victims facing death and trying to run from it. These thrillers often can include some psychological elements.

Disaster Thrillers- The plot or conflict is caused because of a natural disaster that could not be prevented. It can cause rifts between characters or new relationships to form. In these sorts of thrillers the audience often becomes close to the characters. A lot of the time it uses the illusion that it is a matter of life and death.

Techno Thrillers- A movie in which the excitement of the plot depends in large part on the descriptions of computers, weapons, harmful software, military vehicles and other sorts of machines.

These are just some examples of thrillers, others are
-Drama thrillers
-Eco Thrillers
-Erotic Thrillers
-Leagal Thrillers
-Political Thrillers
-Medical Thrillers
-Psycological Thrillers
-Spy Thrillers
-Supernatural Thrillers

Shanice
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The importance of Suspense

One of the earliest Thriller Writers was Edward Morgan Forster. He was a english novelist and was known for his well written plots that focused on class difference and hypocrisy in 20th Century Britain. Two of Forsters best known works were 'Passage to india' and 'Howards End'. Forster associated suspense with curiosity and often used this concept in his work. However, we feel there is a difference between curiosity, which is ultimately satisfied and suspense, which is ultimately relieved by the end of the story. In most thrillers, especially whodunits the audience member wants to discover who is the murderer. They do not want to wait with the kind of anxiety associated with suspense. However directors continue to use the concept as it adds extra tension to the piece. It is said that movies that are considered suspenseful seem to retain their quality and can be watched numerous times and still conjure up new or the same feeling to the audience. Suspense relates not to the question of what will happen next but to the expectation that a specific action might take place. Therefore suspense is very important in thriller films and we will bee taking that into consideration when making our thriller opening.

Shanice and Ashley

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What is our Preliminary Exercise Task?

We were asked to create a short clip that included these elements:

• A character opening a door
• A character crossing a room and sitting down on a chair opposite another character
• Both characters exchanging a couple of lines of dialogue

The task also had to include and demonstrate different shot types.

Group 2

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180 degree Rule

Taken from:

http://www.screensite.org/courses/Jbutler/T340/ClassicismIllustrations01.htm (02/10/08)

This diagram explains the importance of the 180 degree rule when filming. The 180 degree rule is a filming technique which is always used in film-making. It prevents the film maker from crossing a radius of 180 degrees. This is one way the film maker can uphold continuity within their work. If the film maker were to cross the 180 degree line, for example if the shot was of two people having a conversation, their positions would be reversed and this would give the audience the impression that the two people have swapped places, however they have not actually moved.

Group 2

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Introduction to our Group

Our group consists of Bradley Gregory, Ashley Henry, Josh Hinds and Shanice Steele. On this blog we will be taking you through the run up to our two minute thriller opening. We will be including research and a diary of our film making progress and also an evaluation.

Sit back and enjoy!

Group 2

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