Thursday 28 January 2010

The credits

-All of the credits for the three main women in the film will be shot in the restaurant, the camera will pan around the table and freeze frame on each woman's face.


Our inspiration for our film opening came from a scene in the film Grosse Pointe Blank, where two men both have guns underneath the table threatening each other. This scene also inspired us because of it's comedic value, although it's a thriller it can still contain humour, which is what we aim to do with our film opening.

Initial Ideas

-Location: cafe with booth seats (Frankie & Benny's)
-Something secret going on under the table (Women with guns)
-The exchanging of something between the women
-3 Step-ford women: 1. Nervous woman on drugs, 2.Drug dealer type (rich and snobby), 3.Undercover police women whose befriended the women and gained their trust.
-Funny or suggestive phrases between the women to reference danger or bitchiness e.g. "it's to die for."
-All three women have guns but none of them know about the others.

The Film:
-Beginning with music and three shots of the women coming to the restaurant and shots of their surroundings with credits. The music stops and a restaurant bell rings, the next shot is of all three women sat around the table. There is interaction between the women and snidey comments between them, after we have established a relationship between them and why they're all there we go to a shot under the table of all three women hiding guns behind their purses, napkins etc...

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Past students work.

Having watched thriller openings made by last years media students, we have decided that a common theme was people either being followed, or running away from someone, and lots of gory detail. We decided that we do not want our thriller opening to contain these themes as we found that they were very repetitive and we want to try and make something that is a bit different.
We have been discussing some ideas on what we want our thriller to be like and have decided we either want the opening to be the ending, for example, opening with a shot of someone tied up in a dark room, and then the film would flashback and tell the story/explain why the person is in that situation. The second idea that we have is to have a really 'normal' scene, of people talking and sitting together however there would be one element which would be really abnormal, such as someone may be possessing a gun or holding a knife under the table, another idea that we have been discussing is to open with a scene of someone buying an item, which on it's own seems really innocent, but the following scene would show someone else buying another item and another person buying another and put together these items could be/make something which is weird or dangerous.

Monday 25 January 2010

Reservoir Dogs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awGkBWTlZPE&feature=fvw

Reservoir Dogs is a film which we took inspiration from. The whole idea of having a few people sitting at a table having a conversation, mean while there is some dodgy business going on gave the idea for our thriller opening. A drug addict, a drug dealer and a police officer acting as an undercover drug dealer are our main characters. During the conversation between the women, there will be a gun hidden under the table. This is unlike Reservoir Dogs, as it is our own idea which will spice up our video.

Analysing Opening of a Thriller


Panic room using an establishing shot to show the spectators exactly where the film location is, the tall gray buildings and large amounts of road traffic show that the setting is a city. The opening credits for Panic Room are done in a relatively simple way, the font used is 3D and fairly square and bold. The letters for each credit are in capitals, this helps them to stand out, as like the buildings they are displayed on, they are also gray in colour. As the text blends in with the images that are in the background it has a good effect as the text and the location are similar in style however this lack of contrast between the text colour and styles means that the credits can be slightly difficult to read. Each individual credit has a different background image which shows different areas of the city and the camera alternates between panning across the images and remaining still. This variation in camera shots prevents the credits from becoming too repetitive and therefore boring to watch.

Saturday 23 January 2010

Political Thriller

Usually set against the backdrop of political power struggle. The plots are usually illegal and are designed to give political power to someone, while the persons opponents are trying to stop him from getting it. They can involve either national or international political scenarios. Both US presidential elections and World War 11 are popular scenarios. And example of a political thriller is the film Agency. An example of a political thriller is State of Play.

Action Thrillers

Action thrillers usually feature
- a 'race against the clock' theme
- contain a lot of violence
- an obvious antagonist.
- use of explosives
- use of guns
Some examples of action thrillers are the James Bond films, the Bourne films and the Transporter.

Crime thriller

This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal or criminals instead of the policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, and double-crosses are central ingredients. Some examples of crime thrillers are Seven and Resevoir Dogs.

- Wikipedia

Friday 15 January 2010

Analysis of Casino royal




Casino royal opens with Shot of James Bond shooting someone, this then goes into a sequence of spades and things appearing to do with a casino but also has guns this shows that the film is going to be set around a casino also there will be a lot of deaths as this is shown by the gun, the opening credit for casino royale are done in a simple way as they just apear in the centre of the screen quit plainly.

Thursday 14 January 2010

Antagonists and Protagonists

In a thriller there is usually an obvious protagonist and antagonist. The protagonist is usually the main character, the 'good guy' and will be most favourable by the audience and will be sympathised for, by the audience. The antagonist is the opposite to this, the 'arche-enemy' 'bad guy' type who is against the protagonist and creates obstacles or problems which the protagonist must overcome.
An example of a protagonist and an antagonist in film are Batman and the Joker.

Conventions Of A Thriller

A crime is the centre of the narrative.
A complex narrative structure, containing false paths, clue and which results in a resolution
A protagonist, who is systematically dis-empowered and drawn into a web of intrigue by the antagonist.
Extraordinary events taking place in ordinary, everyday situations.
Identity themes such as mistaken identity,
Themes of mirroring
Themes of voyeurism
The protagonist possesses a 'flaw' which is exploited by the antagonist
Titles of the films often reflect an aspect of the pro/antagonists psychological state
Near the end of the film, there is often a scene/s in which the protagonist is in peril.
Mise-en-scene which mirros the protagonist's plight.

Psychological Thriller

"Generally, thrillers focus on plot over character, and thus emphasize intense, physical action over the character's psyche. Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this formula to a certain degree, emphasizing the characters just as much, if not more so, than the plot. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state." - wikipedia

Wednesday 13 January 2010

What Is a Thriller

Thriller- is a genre of fiction in which tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary heroes are pitted against villains determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world. Part of the allure of thrillers comes from not only what their stories are about, but also how they are told. High stakes, non-stop action, plot twists that both surprise and excite, settings that are both vibrant and exotic, and an intense pace that never lets up until the adrenalin packed climax. Thriller-If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a film that rentlessly pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the main character(s) is placed in a menacing situation or mystery, or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.


Thursday 7 January 2010

Preliminary Task

In our preliminary we had to follow four basic codes.
1) Continuity editing. A system of cutting to maintain continuous and clear narrative action. Continuity editing relies on matching screen direction, position, and temporal relations from shot to shot.

2) The 180 degree rule. This is when 2 character are having a conversation and the camera stays on the same side as each character. If the camera goes over the imaginary axis, this is called crossing the line. The camera needs to stay on the same side as each character so it continues the left/right relationship of each character.

3) Match on action is another rule. Match on action is pretty much continuing a shot. For example, a person walks through a door, the camera will have a close up shot of their hand on the leaver, the following shot will be of that character opening the door but from the other side so the action is continuous.

4) Shot counter shot is the final rule we had to follow. This is when two characters are having a conversation. The camera has a few of character A's shoulder and the side of their head but focusing on character B, who would be talking, when character A starts to talk, the camera will reverse to character B.


This is our first draft of our preliminary.

Monday 4 January 2010

Script

-Hiya
*Hi
-You alright?
* Yeah good thanks bye.

Shot list.
Establishing shot. walking along corridor
Close up shot. Door handle
Match on action. Walking in the door
Reaction. Someone swiveling on a chair facing the door
Long shot. Both the people
Over the shoulder. Conversation

Props.
Chair.

Location.
Media classroom