Introcution To Soundtrack Pro

We were introduced to soundtrack pro at this stage seeing as we will soon be needing it for our opening sequence.

We were shown the very basics of the software  to use in our prelim so we get a slight idea of how to run the software and the ways in which we should use it.

Soundtrack pro is a very useful software because it allows us to access sounds that we might not be able to make ourselves and due to these vast amount of sounds its good because it could really help us with our production of our sequence. Also it was very helpful and I'm looking forward to using it in my opening sequence.

This diagram shows us the basics of the programme and lets us know the most important keys.

The 180 Degree Rule Of Fim Making

In the Past week my group was introduced to the 180 degree rule whist we where going to set off to create out prelim, the 180 degree rule is a very vital aspect of film making and many other productions such as sports matches and so on.

If this 180 degree rule is broken the whole of the production may fall apart and make your film a disaster, 180 degree rule means that the camera must stay at one side of the area being recorded otherwise the viewers may be mislead. For example if a football match was being shown from one side of the football pitch and Red team was going towards one direction  lets say (right) and blue team was going the opposite (left), if the camera was moved to the other side of the pitch it will make the view think that team red are going left and team blue are going right. So the 180 degree rule is very important when making a production and this is why we shall take very extra care when making our film opening very soon.

First Idea For Our Opening Sequence

I have thought of many ideas to include into my groups opening, Ive thought of many locations and outfits to use. We have some great ideas to use for our narrative and we shall soon put this up on the blog with a video and a picture of our magnificent plans.

Intertexuality

Interxtextualility is when a film immitates another film by refering to important aspects of the clip, the is is done through many areas such as camera work, mise-en-scene and editing to show us the refrence made by one filmand how it relates to another.

 Family Guy Spoof Of Star Wars Compared With The Original

This is Screen Grabs of Chris Griffin battleing Stewy from family guy, this is a clear example of how family guy has used refrences from star wars to make their own remake. This is clear use of intertexualilty.

Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can include an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another.

Making Of Prelim Video

This is when we inserted the clips into Final cut pro.

We arranged all the clips into final cut pro and editied it to make the clips match and we cut all the ireelevent bits.

We then finalised all our work by adding the sound into our clip and making it fit into the right place, also we finished out prelim and it was good.

Arlington road Project Video

This is the video that we put together from small pieces of footage, into the whole video, and we also practised adding titles into it. We followed the timeline for the titles, so it looks professional. We used different position of the text, and size of font to show who is more important and who gets more credit in the film. We learnt on this part of the project how to add titles into the film effectively, and it will be useful for our film opening. 

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is a term to describe the visual referencing between films. Literally, films 'borrow' from each other, and the audience may recognise certain camera angles, aspects of mise en scene, sound or methods of editing in some films that you have seen in other.



First example of intertextuality, is in film called What Lies Beneath. The aspect that they borrowed in this movie, is from 1960 movie called 'Psycho'. In the scene, a man carries a woman which seems injured, puts her into the shower, with running water, and leave her there to die. The aspects that you could recognise, is the dying in the shower, and also the hand holding the bath. This is quite significant, because in movie Psycho, the director really focused on the hand holding the bath, by the camera work, and they did the same thing. The also borrowed running water theme.



Another example of intertextuality is shown in the movie called The Stepfather. In this film the also borrowed few aspects of Psycho. In the scene, a man is chasing a woman with a knife, and follow her into the bathroom. However, the mirror breaks, and woman kills a man with glass. The aspects that they borrowed from Psycho is music, which is very significant as it is very dramatic and builds up the tension among the audience, and also ripped off curtain as the man drops dead.

Intertextuality is used in some cases just to improve someones idea used in a film, but in some cases just to use it exactly the same as it is. We were thinking in our group how could intertextuality affect our film, and we thought that we could use some aspects, like Jigsaw theme, Indiana Jones move with a hat and a whip, or a scarface aspect with a very known theme: "say hello, to my little friend". 

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is when a film makes a reference about another film. These consist of; camera angling, editing, sound and mise-en-scene. Films that use intertextuality tend to make a reference about something that is related to to genre of the movie.

 For example the Simpson's psycho Spoof movie, in the clip Maggie is wielding a hammer and as she goes to strike homer the violin music from Psycho is used. Then Homer tries to grab onto something leading to him ripping the curtain also obtained from Psycho. Then the blood Poures into the plughole also from Psycho then the plughole transforms to homers eye(pupil) exactly the same as the scene from psycho. Below is screengrabs form both clips;

Simpsons Psycho Spoof                                                                                Original Psycho Film

   

This is the script that we wrote for our final prelim. However, we won't use any dialogue in our original film opening.

Prelim Video

This is the prelim we did. It shows the camera angles that we used, shown by the images. We learnt from this practical, how to use camera angles effectively in our footage. 

Target Audience

Target audience is the group of people that the film is appealing to. For example cartoon adventure films will be aimed at families because it appeals to young children aged 3-10 who cannot go to the cinema on their own so instead they will go as a family.  The movies poster can also identify the target audience.

            Another example is the film Adulthood. The film is about London’s teenagers and is showing what teenagers life’s are like and what a struggle is it.  This film is aimed at mainly male teenagers (aged 15-25) that live in a big city, the reason for this is because the characters in the film are aged 21-22 and the film is certified a 15 making is possible for young people to see.  And the film is set in a big city (London). The film also contains violence strong language and scenes of sexual nature; making is more appealing for males rather than females. Furthermore on the poster for Adulthood it has an image of 8 teenagers male and female dressed up in tracksuits and hoodies, this also makes it appealing for teenagers because they are dressed up how most teenagers in London would dress up.

Target Audience Research

A target audience is the type of group the movie is targeted at for example a comedy thriller or a romantic drama, usually these can all be identified by the cover of the movie.

Home Alone is a perfect example of a family adventure movie because it has all the elements of being a great movie, that the family can sit around and watch and be sure that they will have quite a laugh. Also the the cover of the film gives us a little insight of what the film is going to be about this is common in covers of family films because it has to attract the right audience.











The film target audience is all identified by the way the cover may look to the view for example the colours used and the kind of pictures and the way the film is presented on the cover may determine the audience is targeted a.

Health and Safety Tutorial

Before doing any filming by ourselves, we were first introduced to the equipment, regarding health and safety issues, as well as how to use the camera, and equipment provided. As the equipment provided by college is the best, we as a group need to take special care of it.


Here are some bullet points of what we learned regarding to safety issues:

•     Never touch the lens because finger prints will show on our film, and also they are expensive to replace.
•     Never take it out on the rain, there are umbrellas we can use to cover the camera.
•     Never leave our SD cards inside the camera after giving them back to staff
•     Always bring the camera back on time, because other groups want to use it as well.

We were also given a tripod for recording. Before placing the camera into the tripod, first you have to make sure that the legs are fully out and secure it. Make sure that it is even, because if it isn't the camera can drop. When you check it you place the camera into the tripod (you will hear it click). However, before doing panning or tilting, make sure that the camera is securely attached to the tripod.




We are given the memory card to do our footage. That is why, we must handle it with care so it doesn't get lost or damaged. We also must remember not to leave it in the camera while handing back in the equipment.

Target Audience for thriller

The target audience for thriller films really does depend on what type of thriller it is, so there are sub-genres to help us decide this. Most stereotypical target audiences for thrillers are males who are teenagers, young adults and adults, as common thriller conventions are action, danger, cars, guns, fighting etc, which are related with that gender and age group.

Some thrillers do stray from those very stereotypical thriller conventions and target audiences, such as the village by M. Night Shyamalan, which is probably targeted more at a female fan base, as it deals with love, family, trust and belief, whilst having thriller conventions such as murder, death and mystery. For thriller movies, the target audience depends from the sub-genre, and it is not all the same.

Genre and Sub-genre

First sub-genre that I will analyse is action thriller. It can have certain features such as a race against time, violence, fighting and an obvious antagonist. The film would most probably include things such as guns, explosions, car races and other related things. E.g: The Bourne Identity/Supremacy/Ultimatum.

Second example, The Crime thriller sub-genre, is a fusion of both crime films and thriller films, and it offers a suspenseful or mysterious account of a crime - successful or failed. This type of thriller usually focus on the criminal-characters, rather than the law enforcers. Crime thrillers are most likely to emphasize the action taking place over the emotional or psychological thoughts/aspects. E.g: The Recruit.

In a Drama thriller, the film would normally consist of drama aspects mixed with the thriller aspects. The film is usually more slow paced, and involves the characters developing emotionally, psychologically and sometimes physically. This usually coincides with the plot, and with its twists and turns. E.g: The Box.

Psychological thriller, a normal conflict between main characters leading to an often violent resolution, is another sub-genre. The conflict between the characters is usually mental and emotional, rather than physical. The conflict could even be something that in real life, wouldn't be scientifically possible. This can include movies to the likes of and including "Memento".

Supernatural thriller, another sub genre, includes conflicts between some main characters. Usually one, both or all of them has super-powers, and may be considered a SuperHero or a Villain. E.g: "The Awakening".

Audience Research

Audience Research 

Psychological Thrillers:       

                                         The target audience for this genre are more likely to be middle-aged men and women. In most cases psychological thrillers require people to think, younger people tend to chose certain genres as a form of escapism whereas adults like the intellectual stimulation provided by a film which requires them to think and almost solve the mystery with the central character. 

Genre and Sub-Genre

Genre and Sub-Genre 

       A film is classified into a genre through the identification of key elements which are used in that film and in others of the same genre. Depending on where the genre boundaries are drawn, one film can be identified as several other genres. Sub-genres can develop in movies which successfully decide to mix the conventions of different films in one movie.

 

  There are several key elements which define the thriller genre. In most films, the main storyline for the central character is a quest or an enigma which must be solved. In my opinion, political (conspiracy) thrillers and Action Thrillers are the most successful. These two thriller sub-genres have a tendency to a gripping storyline and are able to engage their audience from the opening of the film.
   

        In Political Thrillers such as 'Salt' the audience are encouraged to engage with the plot within the first minute of the film. Which is what I inspire to do in my own opening of a thriller film. 

Genre & Sub-genre

Genre is something which gives the audience a specific picture of a film from its main genre, for example a horror genre will immediately make you think of a scary movie. However there is also something called sub-genre which involves other categories which define in more detail such as for example a comedy/ thriller or a drama/ romance these are all sub genres which go alongside the films main genre. For example the film 'In Time' this is a film which is based around action so the sub genre of this is movie will be perhaps romance or even drama.


Crime thrillers
This type is a contrast of a thriller as well as crime film. For example  Scarface. This sub genre would be really good in my thriller because crime thrillers are associated with many things which will make the audience interested into what the deviant character might carry out next.

Psychological thrillers

This genre consists of mostly action that is signified through emotion and mentality as maybe to physical action for example Psycho which is a film made in reverse, which forces you to watch it twice to get a better understanding of the film, also 'The Silence Of The Lambs'. This might also be a great sub genre to include into my film opening because the audience will immediately try to figure out what happened to the characters in the film and it slightly plays witch the mind which makes it very interesting and exciting to watch.

 Supernatural thrillers

This would include characters who maybe have unnatural abilities for example be gods or even ghosts. for example Bruce Almighty.

This would be a really interesting sub genre to use in my thriller because it would make the audience curious about what might take place next due to the characters supernatural power.

Genre and sub-genre

A genre is a category of what the film is going to be about. For example is the genre of “The Transporter” film is action, you will be expecting a lot of action like fighting and shooting guns. This is used for people to have a brief understanding about the film.

A sub genre is another category for the film because the film may fit into two categories. An example can be “Rush Hour”. Rush Hour’s Genre is action and its sub-genre is comedy thus making it an action thriller. The reason why the sub genre is used is because some of the audience may not like comedy and when they see rush hour thinking that it will be a full action film, they can be disappointed, therefore if they new the sub-genre was comedy they would not have went to see the movie in the first place.



    An example of a film with a genre and sub-genre can be the film Momento, A Physcological Thriller. In a Physcological Thriller you will tend to find the storyline pretty complicated.Usually main character will be in search of something for example in Momento the main character is in search of who killed his wife and have some sort of flashbacks to give you clues.

Title Sequence Analysis

This is a picture of our timeline which we carried out as a group task.

We looked closely at film openings of Momentum and Sleeping with the enemy, in both openings the film

tittle always appeared towards the beginning of the film, roughly 40 seconds into the movie. 

The general order of all titles comes according to status and importance, with the most famous actors used at the beginning of the film used as a marketing device, drawing in more audience. The production and distribution companies appear first, followed by actors. Actors who are less important tend to appear on screen with other actors. The technical crew appears after the actors followed by the Director who is the most important. 

Teacher feedback

Hi group 23!

Having a look at your blogs for marking, looking good so far. Great remake of the collateral intro! enjoyed that. Really good use of slow motion however you may want to think about the timing of the shots. Stills from the editing process have been uploaded but no brief descriptions, you must write about the process alongside the stills you have uploaded. I haven't seen any photo's from the filming process yet, also a side by side comparison (inculding stills from both the remake and original) hasn't been completed. Mohammed and Justyna- a good analysis of films so far, be sure to complete them.  Mesut and Lukasz you are falling behind, please keep up with the blog checklist!

Otherwise, keep going and keep up the good work!

Takers

Takers is an action/crime/thriller movie which consists of a group of notorious bank robber in LA that carry out the most coolest bank-robbing in the city. On the groups most audacious job in this slick and starry heist thriller, the group were all in for a piece of the action, while a tenacious cop is determined to ruin their biggest laid plans. Wall-to-wall flash served with a generous helping of a bang and a wallop.

In the opening to the film we are introduced to all the main characters involved in the plot, we immediately get a insight of the groups calmness and intelligence into how they profile themselves into carrying out the job/robbery. We are also introduced to the police officers which are later on going to find out about this group of professional robbers plans and try to nail them down.

I like the way a sound motif is used while all the group makes their way to the location of the planned robbery which is on the top floor of the building which is being renovated sseing as this is a right place to plot a robbery, also because its gives us an insight that something dramatic is about to take place.

(Add screen grabs here with description)

The motif along with the camera work is great combination because the camera work suggests to us the roles of the character for example when the main character is walking towards the building through the city the camera is first shows the character from a high angle then cuts straight to his suit case which may have a significance to the film.

Source Code

Source code is an action thriller centered on a soldier who wakes in the body of an unknown man and discovers he is part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. In the first five minutes of the clip the sound plays a very important role in establishing the film plot. The use of enhanced diegetic sounds of the train when the central character wakes up establish the location of the plot. The enhanced sound of the drink can being opened and the drink being spilt on his shoe shows significance to the plot. I believe the sounds plays a very important role in this clip and it has inspired me to pay a lot of attention to sound in my own thriller opening


The narrative of the plot is very unusual for a thriller film. The opening scene can be seen as confusing and unclear, despite having most film opening conventions. It's almost like the film begins halfway through and the plot unveils only towards the end of the film.