problems and issues we faced

Problems:

One issue we faced was chopping heads.

Making sure all of our actors were free.

One day there was alot of fog and it ruined our lighting.

The class room we were using for our film would have lessons in it so we had to make sure we filmed at the right.

How we dealt with issues:

we made sure we placed our camera correctly and did more than one take.

we organised the times for our actors.

we moved area to a class room.

we made sure we had more than one possible class room to use.

However, one positive than came of our filming was our ability to adhere to the 180 degree rule.

What is a thriller

Thriller and Suspense Films: These are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features.

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.

Thrillers are often hybrids - there are lots of varieties of suspense-thrillers:

• action- or adventure- thrillers
• sci-fi thrillers such as Alien
• crime-caper thrillers (such as The French Connection (1971))
• western-thrillers (such as  High Noon (1952))
• film-noir thrillers (such as  Double Indemnity (1944))
• even romantic comedy-thrillers (such as Safety Last (1923))

Another closely-related genre is the horror film genre (e.g., Halloween (1978)), also designed to elicit tension and suspense, taking the viewer through agony and fear. Suspense-thrillers come in all shapes and forms: there are murder mysteries, private eye tales, chase thrillers, women-in-danger films, courtroom and legal thrillers, erotic thrillers, surreal cult-film soap operas, and atmospheric, plot-twisting psychodramas. Thrillers keep the emphasis away from the gangster, crime, or the detective in the crime-related plot, focusing more on the suspense and danger that is generated. See also this site's listing of AFI's 100 Most Thrilling Films.

Characters in thrillers include convicts, criminals, stalkers, assassins, down-on-their-luck losers, innocent victims (often on the run), prison inmates, menaced women, characters with dark pasts, psychotic individuals, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, fugitives, private eyes, drifters, duplicitious individuals, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends, and more. The themes of thrillers frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder.

In mid-June, 2001, the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, California made its definitive selection of the 100 greatest American "heart-pounding" and "adrenaline-inducing" films of all time, as determined by more than 1,800 actors, directors, screenwriters, historians, studio executives, critics, and others from the American film community. To be eligible, the 400 nominated films had to be U.S.-made, feature-length fiction films, whose thrills have "enlivened and enriched America's film heritage," according to the rules. AFI also asked jurors to consider "the total adrenaline-inducing impact of a film's artistry and craft," regardless of the genre.

basic editing task-attempt one

For the task we where set we had to go out and film a short film following our plan that was no longer than 90 seconds but over a minute.
Personaly i found the filming to be harder than i had thought,to keep using the 180 degree rule while also including all the shots that where on are list was challenging but in the end of our first shoot we though we had done it.

Here is our first cut:

we then aplied them into adobe premier.  we realised that our reverse shot angle was filmed badly and some head where cut of but we carried on editing to have a test run.

The edit its self was good but there was things to improve on so we dicided to reshoot.
we filmed all our new clips and made sure they looked more proffessional and would run smoothly in the edit.  we will be editing these tomorrow in my free period and doing the final touches next lesson.
We forgot to include many shots and will need to keep the following in mind to our next edit.

shot list

below is our shot list:

Continuity Editing Task

We have been told to create a short video lasting no longer than 90 seconds,the requirments for this task will be:

• the 108 degree rule to not be broken, once you film on one side in a scene it cant cross over 180 degree line as seen below.
• 
• include a shot reverse shot.
• include many different camera angles. 
• the use of editing to make sure the continuity of the scene is clear.
• multiple locations.
• interaction between others.
• some non-diegetic sound.

We also must create a shot list and a outline on what we are shooting.

sound used in thrillers

Sound:

Sound is used in thrillers to help the audiences understanding of what is going on. Sounds are used to evoke characters feelings and emotions and get a response from the audience. It is also often used to symbolise both the protagonists and antagonists movements in the scene. By carefully using the sounds employed in the scene it creates the right mood and atmosphere and in the context of the thriller genre, helps to build suspense and tension.Thrillers are typically noisy and they uses lots of diegetic sound throughout the film. Common sounds include bangs, ticking and screams, they use these sounds to build tension and to create suspense. These sounds are normally heard by both the audience and the characters and they are normally very jumpy. Non diegetic sound is also used in thrillers. They sometimes use a steady drone which puts the audience at unease. Also as the action increases in the film and the tension builds the music speed up and increases in unison. Hitchcock used sound in a very new way than was typical at the time. For instance in Blackmail he demonstrates ongoing tactics, such as: withholding sound from the viewer to pique curiosity which is shown in the murder scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POMvKwfBVWo, there is no sound during the murder and we can’t see what is happening which leaves us wondering what exactly is going on. It subverts our expectations of a murder as we would expect lots of screams but we don’t get anything. He also exaggerates sound as a form of narrative emphasis and creating tension through both ambient noises and silence. Further, in a world where music was the dominant form of narrative accompaniment, he stripped music score away from his scenes and instead used the act of singing (and whistling) as a suspense device. Lastly, Hitchcock’s manipulation of human speech ranged from technical malfunctions of telephone calls to dizzied audio abstraction of the characters’ subjective thoughts.

codes and conventions of a thriller film

possible feeling a thriller could create:
tension
anxiety
uncertaincy 
suspense
anticipation.

iconography:
cars
wepons
fast paste edits
low lighting

themes:
assaination
crime
spies
terrorism
supernatural events
mind games

characters:
stalkers
spies
assasins
psychotic charcters
convicts

From what ive found out The codes and conventions of a thriller , low lighting, shadows, fast editing, quick cuts, changes in camera angle, tension building music, stairs, psycholigcal issues and games, disorientation of time and space as well as montage editing. The editing helps represent the darkness within some characters while shadows and the lighting used signify the inner darkness within being.

typography (UNF)

Above are some fonts that can be used in thrillers,usually used for the title of the film.  In the title sequence they also use quite simple/minimalistic fonts for names in the opening,some of the minimalistic texts are animated with the style of the movie.

We are thinking of using,the ALCATRAZ.ISLAND.CA.FONT as its professional looking and fits into the genre,psychological thriller.  

We ended up with this font as we watched the Shutter island opening and like the font used.

we then decided we would use a simple but eye grabbing bold font.

we ended up with the ALXATRAZ.ISLAND font,  this font is similer to shutter islands but slighty modified.

The other fonts we looked at also would not have fitted in with the possible story lines we had chosen.

Possible movie titles using the chosen font:

                 

film noir

What is noir?

Film Noir began in the 1940s and was one of Hollywood's original, artistic movements.

During and immediately following World War II, movie audiences responded well to this original,In 1946 a Paris retrospective of American films said that during the war there was a significant increase in popularity towards visually darker and more sublime films. It was then made that “film noir” ”or black film" is a new type of Hollywood product

Few, if any of the artists in Hollywood who made these films called them “noir” at the time. But the vivid co-mingling of lost innocence, doomed romanticism, hard-edged cynicism, desperate desire, and shadowy sexuality that was unleashed in those immediate post-war years proved hugely influential, both among industry peers in the original era, and to future generation of storytellers, both literary and cinematic.

To this day the debate goes on as to whether “noir” is a film genre, circumscribed by its content, or a style of storytelling, identified by its visual attributes. The debate — in which there is no right answer — is only one of the things that keeps noir fresh for successive generations of movie lovers.

questionaire

Here is a link to our questionaire:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GP7AD1w5HYSk0TCMnl-6XSkVduOCIc3bCtbSBfzP0W0/viewform

15 and 18 rated film

15

This film is not suitable for any under the age of 15. People under the age of 15 can buy or rent a 15 rated film.

Discrimination

The media text can’t encourage discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drugs can be shown as a whole but you cannot promote or encourage the use of drugs,this includes alcohol abuse. If it is in the film it is never unlikely to pass as a 15

Horror

Horrors can be “threat” and “menace” but sexualised and  sadistic is unacceptable.

Imitable behaviour

self harming should be shown in detail as it could be influential on this age group. Easily accessible weapons can’t be glamorised.

Language

Strong language can be used if in the right context.

Nudity

Nudity is allowed in educational sense and in a non sexual sense.

Sex

Sexual activity is allowed but aslong as it is not in detail.

Violence

violence can we strong but not in infliction. Sexual violence is allowed but mildy. The strongest “gorey” violence is unlikely to be acceptable.

18:www.bbfc.co.uk/sites/default/files/attachments/BBFC%20Classification%20Guidelines%202009.pdf

“• where the material is in breach of the criminal law,

or has been created through the commission of a

criminal offence

• where material or treatment appears to the BBFC to

risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour,

to society – for example, any detailed portrayal of

violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use,

which may cause harm to public health or morals.

This may include portrayals of sexual or sexualised

violence which might, for example, eroticise or

endorse sexual assault

• where there are more explicit images of sexual

activity which cannot be justified by context. Such

images may be appropriate in ‘R18’ works, and in

‘sex works’ (see below) would normally be confined

to that category.

In the case of video works (including video games),

which may be more accessible to younger viewers,

intervention may be more frequent than for cinema films.

Sex education at ‘18’

Where sex material genuinely seeks to inform and

educate in matters such as human sexuality, safer

sex and health, explicit images of sexual activity may

be permitted.

Sex works at ‘18’

Sex works are works whose primary purpose is sexual

arousal or stimulation. Sex works containing only material

which may be simulated are generally passed ‘18’. Sex

works containing clear images of real sex, strong fetish

material, sexually explicit animated images, or other

very strong sexual images will be confined to the ‘R18’

category. Material which is unacceptable in a sex work

at ‘R18’ is also unacceptable in a sex work at ‘18’.”

Evolution of the Thriller

Evolution of the Thriller

Thrillers have been in existence since the early years of film production, however, the conventions/principles that define a thriller have since changed greatly. For example, Hitchcock’s acclaimed ‘Psycho’ was very much regarded as a horror, but due to the evolution of horror and it’s sinister nature (desensitisation), it is now deemed as a thriller in modern day terms. Many argue the differences between horrors and thrillers.

Thriller uses suspense, tension and excitement as its main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewers moods, giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and/or terror. Films of this genre tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast paced.

A thriller provides the sudden rush of emotions, excitement, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace. It keeps the audience on “the edge of their seats”.

Thrillers often make use of literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists and cliffhangers. A thriller is usually a villain driven plot which presents various problems a protagonist must overcome.

Psychological thrillers are fictional thriller storys which enphasizes the psychology of its characters and their unstable emotional states, with similarities to gothic and detective fiction in sense of “dissolving sense of reality”, moral ambiguity, and complex and tortured relationships between obsessive and pathological characters.

Psychological thrillers often incorporate elements of mystery, drama and horror.

Examples: The Machinist, House of 9, Straw Dogs, Shutter Island.

Supernatural thrillers bring in otherworldly elements(such as fantasy and/or supernatural) mixed with tension, suspense and plot twists. Sometime the protagonist and/or villain have some form of psychic ability or super powers. Examples: The Dead Zone, Chronicle, Frequency.

Techno Thrillers are suspense films in which manipulation of sophisticated technology plays a prominent part. Examples: Jurassic Park

Spy Thriller: The protagonist is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists. The sub genre usually deals with the subject of fictional espionage in a realistic way. Its is a significant aspect of British cinema.

Examples: The parallax View, The Tailor of Panama, Taken, Unknown.

Thrillers thrive on the notion of suspense, provoking thought from the audience who spend the duration of the film trying to decode a complex plot. This is especially true for psychological thrillers.

Sound

Sound in movies

Parallel sound

Parallel sound is the music that runs along side the film in sink and relates  to the film.
Contrapuntal sound

this is when the sound is the opposet to what you see in the film.
Sound bridge

A sound bridge is when the music bleeds in from one scene and goes into the next
Ambient sound 

An Ambient sound is a sound that you expect to hear in a location. For example,birds in a wood.

Foley sound

This is everyday sounds that are added over a frame to a certain clip to create emphasis on the motion or activity.

the meaning of signs

The meening of signs to the audience

Semiotics - thestudy of signs.

This allows us to deconstruct media texts to understand how meaning is created.

Signifier - the object itself, example a rose

Signified - what the object represents, example the rose represents love.

A sign is the smallest element off meaning, they are joined together to create a larger over all meaning. these are codes which are to be decoded or interpreted by the viewer.

Denotation - The literal meaning off a sign

Connotation -  The interpreted meaning off a sign

Polysemy - Many different meaning's, something that has a many different interpretations depending on the type of audience.

The effect model

The effect model

The effects model is an idea within media to present the consumption of media texts:

These are the three ideas:

• Imitation- This is the idea that audience's passively take in what the media texts are presenting. This makes them copy what they see and get used to it slowly turning it into the norm.
• Desensitisation- involves media texts loosing their the effect they should have on the audience they are supposed to have on audiences,this is because they have become used to the events.
• Catharsis- This is watching media as an escape. Often audiences use catharsis to watch programmes that get them away from there life. These are programs such as Eastenders to make themselves feel better and have an escape from their life or even to feel like there involved in there life to get away from reality.

Audience theory

Audience theory

A target audience is the people the media is aimed at.

A target Audience is broken into differnt sub-categories

here are some of them:
Race
Gender

Religion
Class
Disability
age

The types of audience in media are an active audience and a passive audience.  An active audience is an audience that is engaged with the media and are consciously taking in what they are being told.  The passive audience is when you are taking in messages from the media text unconsciously and are almost being controlled by what u watch.

The other types of audiences are Primary which is actively engaging with the text.  Secondary this is Not fully paying attention to the media and lastly tertiary,this is unconsciously taking in what the media is telling you.

The 3 main theory's that are used for a better understanding about relationships between text are: 

1) The effects model
2) The uses of Grafications Model
3) Reception Theory

What is the purpose of censorship? (hays code,watershed,music videos)

What is the purpose of censorship?

Censorship is to provide guidelines in media texts and to block out explicit content from the viewer.
This is so the viewer doesnt get offended by any content that could be seen as derogatory in anyway or holds any explicit content, becasue of this The Hays Code was introduced.

The Hays Code was introduced in the 1930's as a Motion Picture Production Code it was named this as Hollywood's chief censor of the time was Will H. Hays,these codes were a set of rules that censorship guidelines followed.
So this meant the Hays Code decided what we viewed they made sure what was to be shown was to be censored as things that was seen as too explicit would curropt are youth and change peoples ideas and views.  The type of things that wasnt excepted and they would censor out would be: Sex relationships between the white and black     races, The use of the flag in a bad way, Arson, Firearms, Theft, Brutality, gruesomeness, murder, smuggling, Prostitution. The Hays Code was enforced in 1934 but later abandoned in 1968 due to The MPPA film rating system,this is what we follow today ed movies rated from U/PG-18 and R Rated.

A Watershed is when programs with adult aspects may be broadcast at a certain time.
It divides the day into the overnight sections where family oriented programming for a younger audience may be aired and where programming aimed at adult audience is shown, though not required.
Examples of adult content include, but are not limited to, graphic violence, strong language, nudity, secual scenes and drug use.
 In most countries, the same set of rules also applies to radio commercials and tv commercials, both for the content of the commercial and the nature of the product or service being advertised.

Today there is quite a heavy censorship on music videos especialy on MTV.MTV had concored number of music videos to remove references in lyrics to drugs,sex, nudity, violence, racism, homophobia, and completely removing or editing out the swearwords.MTV will also censor any content that is a concern to copyright holders. here are some examples:
"express your self" by N.W.A censored the words "i have a dream" when the group goes through the banner with the statement  while Dr.Dre began rhyming.
When the music video for "paper planes" by M.I.A. was released on MTV, the word "weed" was removed from the second verse, and the gunshot sounds that are heard in the chorus were replaced with cash register sounds in order to remove references to murder. Also, the singer's vocals were edited to take away from the song's mature content. This angered M.I.A. greatly, and she publicly spoke out against the censorship of the song on her Myspace blog.
The issue with this is that this doesnt approve to every music station and some show the un censored versons which is free for younger ages to watch,also things like youtube being able to upload any music video and having accounts such as vevo have made it harder to censor for all contries as it depends on where you are in the world.  

Discuss the way in which cameron has used binary opposition to create meaning in titanic.

In the extract we watched , Cameron uses binary opposition to show the difference between the rich and poor.  He does this by showing Rose arriving in a gold plated car which denotes wealth and is symbolic to high class showing her,and her family have power and wealth.  As she steps out the car she looks up at the boat with the sun shining down on her face again creating emphisis on her class and power and making her seem like a god-like figure.  

As the camera is focused on Rose she is wearing a purple hat,this again signifies wealth showing she is upper class.  The colour of the purple hat is very clean and the sun shining down shows how it is almost looking brand new and expensive, this connotes to the viewer that she is a strong character that will stand out. This is then juxtaposed with the use of iconography where as the first part of Jack the audience is him in a smoky room playing poker,dirty hands and messy hair and the only hat that is being worn is his french friends which looks like an old dirty chimney sweeper style hat this is an iconic sign that connotes that he is from the working class.

Also in the very opening we are introduced to the binary opposition between old and new.  The first clip shown is the sunken ship and then the camera pans to show the ship as if it were in 1912. Another binary oppostion between between old and new we see is between Rose and her mother. Her mother seems to be impressed with the ship, where as, Rose is uninterested and compares it to a previous boat she has been on and seems to feel as if its not a new expeirence and its just another boat trip.

Another Binary opposition Cameron used is as the passengers are boarding the ship the lower class and the upper class, because on one hand the lower class citozens are boarding at the bottom of the ship where it’s coloured black which connotes dirt and grime where as the upper class are boarding on the top of the ship which is white which connotes happiness/bliss and purity/clean. This is because people in the upper class can clean wash and dont have to work. On the other hand, lower class usually worked in factories and could not afford many clothes or even wash where as Rose wears very clean new clothes. Also, the lower class have to do health inspections before boarding to check for lice and even desises.  The upper class do not need to do this as they are expected to be clean.  Also, the lower class are wearing browns and blacks which again connotes to the impression that they are dirty as they cannot afford nice fresh coloured clothes that have to be dyed and stains/dirt are not seen on darker clothing.