How did you use new media technologies in the construction, and research, planning and evaluation stages?
The availably of media technologies have heavily influenced the research, planning and evaluation stages of my project. We have used a variety of equipment and software to aid us in the production of our film. The wide availability and lack of technological constraints has helped us collectively to develop and produce our project in a professional approach. The varieties of high quality digital equipment we used in the production of our film, gave us the scope we needed for planning, research and overall physical production the final product.
We also used a zoom recorder, which was used to film Alice’s Voiceover in the film. We decided to use this device as it was the best quality of recording devices at our availability. The zoom recorder was also used in the making of our radio trailer. The zoom recorder was quick, easy and efficient and was very easy to put on our computer.
Notably, we used an Apple Mac, providing us with a variety of software programmes needed in the creation of our film. Available to us was Cel-tex were we could create professional looking scripts. Final-cut pro was also used to edit our film and of course, the internet for any research material. This also gave us access to prezi, slide share and our blog to create professional pieces.
Final-Cut Pro was the software which we used to most. During our AS year, we used this software; but only at a basic level; this year we were able to create the film is a less basic form, using colours to edit, different effects that worked well against our film and rhythmic editing to create that professional finish. Final Cut Pro allowed us to create our professional finished film.
We used adobe photoshop to create our film poster, where we are able to blend images well, create fluidly in the picture and change and edit colours and parts of the picture efficiently. Overall, the use of this helped is to create a really well-rounded poster, which represents our film and looks great.
Finally, access to the internet using slideshare and prezi has helped us to create our final evaluation. The uses of this are really effective in create a really great look of our ideas.
These images demonstrate the production of my Critical Evaluation - Task 2
This image shows the way how I read my Task 2 evaluation. It's a TelePrompter App for the iPad. You type text into the generator, then when you press the 'start' button, the words appear on the screen.
This is an example of what the words look like when they are on the screen. This made it much more easier for me to produce my task 2 evaluation. The words were easy to see because they were displayed on an iPad.
I thought this was a clever background to shoot my Task 2 Critical Evaluation. The poster in the background ads a professional touch to the evaluation. A Sony HDR-CX190 Handycam was placed on top of the tripod and a Jessop's light was stood on a smaller tripod to the left of the camera. I postitioned the lighting at that angle so that it lightens my face but also doesn't beam a shadow on the poster whilst filming.
In what ways does the media
product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The following clip is our group's 5 minute short film called 'Alice'. ‘Alice’, is a
fictional horror/thriller story. However the film is shown in a documentary
style. The documentary style aspect of the film means that the technique ‘shot
reverse shot’ is nonexistent. This is because, the majority of the film show
the interviews of the people who used to be in Alice’s life. The interviews are shot using the conventions
of a documentary style film. Documentary style and interview camera angles are commonly
medium close-up shots, as shown in my research. The medium close-up shot
combines a mid shot and a close-up shot which shows the face more clearly but
doesn’t get uncomfortably close.
The
‘Mother’ interview shot uses a high angle medium close-up shot. This makes the
mother look powerless over her daughter Alice who the interview is about.
As
opposed to the opening shot when Alice is first shown to the audience where she
is filmed using a medium close-up shot and the close-up shot of Alice which
appears halfway through the mother’s interview. These are both low angle shots
which give the impression that Alice is powerful and dominant.
Throughout the film, Alice is shown to be smoking a cigarette. This uses mis-en-scene and suggests to the audience that Alice is a rebel and doesn't care about damaging her lungs or killing herself.
As
well as documentary styled camera angles, standard film camera angles were used
in our film. The scene where Alice is walking through a tunnel, the camera
angle begins as an over-the-shoulder shot. When Alice walks down the tunnel,
the camera begins a dolly shot which slowly follow Alice down the tunnel. It gives
the impression that someone is walking behind Alice. By the time Alice gets to
the end of the tunnel, the shot has developed into a long-shot which gives a
larger perspective of Alice’s
surroundings.
This camera angle is how the scene begins.
This is the long shot camera angle how the scene ends. I used a "flashframe" transition to get the really bright effect when the scene is merging into the next scene. This looks really professional and paid of in the editing.
Throughout
the film, many editing techniques are used to achieve a smooth level of
continuity.
When
Alice’s mother is first shown to the audience, she boils the kettle and makes a
cup of tea. This scene is a perfectly edited sequence which establishes logical
coherence between shots by using quick cut editing. This editing technique is
achieved by cutting to continuity which achieves a smooth transition of time.
Basically, it gives the effect of breaking a lengthy task down to only last a
few seconds, and only includes the most important features of the subject of
which the shot is representing. Inspiration for this shot is sourced from the
“Gearing up” scene from the film “Commando”. This can found in my ‘Editing
Techniques’ research.
A lot of positive feedback was received from my films
questionnaire feedback data. For instance,“The
editing was good. In some places shots were cut to the music. There was also an
interesting use of transitional effects between shots.” This was answered from
the question, “What did you think about the use of editing throughout the
film?” The music matched the cuts in the opening sequence where the pictures in
the photo album where shown. This visually satisfies the audience and makes the
transitions between the photo shots smooth and appealing. This demonstrates a
level of continuity throughout the film; including a high level of editing even
in the smaller detail. The non-diegetic sounds match the visual footage shown
on screen. The non-diegetic sound is the Alice’s voice-over, and the footage
shown on screen relate to the things she says. An example of this is in the
opening sequence when Alice says in the voice-over, “...this is the main
protein in bone and is essential for its strength, so my doctor told me I had
to eat more protein.” Whilst at the same time some footage raw meat on a
butcher’s counter is shown on screen. This shows the fluency and continuity of
the opening sequence.
The way each shot is
filmed influences how the audience will perceive the narrative and
characters. “I enjoyed how camera shots
were related to the narrative” - this is a piece of questionnaire feedback data
in answer to the question, “What did you think about the camera work and camera
angles used in the film?” This shows that appropriate shots were shown in
accordance to the narrative and voice over. This is important to satisfy the
audience and make them further engaged in the film.
“Excellent editing, I thought the way images blurred in and out e.g the text
made it eery.” - This is a piece of questionnaire feedback data in answer to
the question “What did you think about the use of editing throughout the film?”
Attention to detail in the editing process helps the film to achieve the
Horror/Thriller genre. The paradigm of the horror/thriller genre was researched
so that I could incorporate some of those paradigm factors into my film.
Blurring the text in the title sequence gives the film a horror styled
eeriness. The music which is used throughout the film and radio trailer is a
piano based song called “Love Hurts”. The song reflects the
horror/thriller genre achieving continuity. The sound effects which are used
throughout the film are appropriate each scene. I have used, horror drones when
appropriate to create tension; a cinematic boom when the title Alice appears in
the title sequence. A reversed chime effect is used after the end scene which
intensifies and underlines the shocking twist at the end of the film and
retains the audience’s attention.
The radio trailer uses the same music “Love Hurts” and
similar sound effects. The horror drone from the film, a heartbeat sound effect
when Alice’s voice over is played. This is the first clue to what Alice
actually is... A human in a world surround by Vampires. There are sound effects
which are only included in the radio trailer such as a lightning effect to
start and finish the radio trailer which strengthens the horror/thriller genre.
The most complex editing is shown in the “pool hall” scene.
Firstly, the shot was wire framed to evenly fit the screen and look more of a
framed angle shot. Secondly, the “pool hall” shots purpose is to demonstrate a
passage of time, suggesting that Alice is in her own world thinking about her
life, whilst not paying attention to events happening around her life. Because
of this, the shot was speed up 850 times quicker than the normal speed that the
shot was filmed at.
To make the shot look more attractive and
professional, a “wide frame” effect was added to the shot which creates a trail
effect. This allows the balls of the pool table to travel 850 times quicker
than normal with ghost like trails behind their wake. This visually stimulates
the audience and achieves a level of high quality editing. The following
clauses are quotes from the questionnaire feedback data.“Editing was very good. Loved
the use of time lapse in the snooker hall”, “particularly liked the shots
around the pool table creating the effect of time passing very clever”,
“Brilliant film work, especially the part by the pool table where Alice stood
still but everything else was moving around her.” And“Interesting - created trendy normal
images -particularly liked the shots around the pool table creating the effect
of time passing very clever. A hint of Blair witch documentary style - maybe
hints of the monster inside or the dark side ... Haunting wanting to know more”
These questionnaire responses illustrate that the
“pool hall” shots were effective.
Another editing technique which is demonstrated in the film is the
180 degree rule. This can be seen in the Ex-best friend scene of the film. The
interview shows Alice’s Ex-Best friend as a medium-close up shot sat at a table
and facing the camera. In the interview the shot cuts to the right of the
character where she is seen to be reading her book in the same place as she is
sat in the interview. When the shot jumps to the right hand side of the
character, the positioning of the camera angle keeps in the boundaries of the
180 degree line which makes the cut look fluent and natural. This high level of
continuity visually satisfies the audience and makes cuts smooth.
Match-on-action is another editing technique which was used to
strengthen the continuity of the film. “I liked the cutting between Mum's cuppa
and the girl drinking coffee” This is some questionnaire feedback data of
someone’s answer to the question “What did you think about the use of editing
throughout the film?” This demonstrates the use of match-on-action of the
transition between the two shots. This allows the transition to run smoothly.
The shot was wire-framed to perfectly line up with each shot. The shot was
flawlessly edited to capture the motion of the mug going to the mouth and then
back down to the table.
A great example of a use of Match-on-action can be seen in our group's preliminary task before we created our short film. This task practiced are film making skills, i.e. camera work, acting and editing.
Our film follows the conventions of the
horror/thriller genre throughout. Mainly this is achieved by the suspense and
anticipation that the audience doesn’t know what is Alice’s illness and what
makes her different from everyone else. This keeps the audience on the edge of
their seat. The music follows the horror/thriller genre. The piano music is
very eerie and carries with it a feeling of suspense. The following quote is
from the questionnaire feedback data which suggests that the film has audibly
achieved the conventions of the horror/thriller genre. “The sound effects made
the film look more professional. The piano music went well with the genre of
the film.”
The dark lighting throughout the film makes the shots
look gothic which adds finesse to the shots and helps to achieve the genre of
the film.
CLICK HERE for research about
"Hitchcock the master of suspense".
An audience pleasure which is provided from the film
could be the Richard Dyers’ Utopian theory. The theory is the suggestion that
people watch fictional films for the escapism and distraction from their
everyday lives. This applies to my film for the people who wish to escape from
their everyday lives and experience a fictional world that is unlike realism
which contains monsters in a world which appears normal. However, the full
extent of the theory goes on to say that people want to escape to a fictional
place which is a perfect and ideal world; a Utopian society. In this case, this
is not fully achieved from my film. However, the most significant audience
pleasure which applies to my film is the uses and gratifications theory. This
theory suggests that the audience take an active role in interpreting and
associating the film with their own lives. My film ‘Alice’ is based around the
angst of teenage life. The film appeals to anyone who is a teenager or has a
relationship with a teenager. They could be parents, grandparents, aunties,
uncles, teachers or anyone who knows a teenager. This is because the main
character of my film is a teenager; and the troubles and angst of teenage life
is represented in my film. The following piece of questionnaire feedback data “From
watching the film, who do you think is our films main audience and why? (Gender
and Age)”,was answered to the
question “From watching the film, who do you think is our films main audience
and why? (Gender and Age)”this
data strengthens my point. One theory which the uses and gratification theory
can fulfil is educating the audience from the film. In the opening sequence of
my film, the main character Alice talks about a bone illness which she was
diagnosed with when she was young; called “osteogenesis imperfecta”. This is a
real disease which gives the audience a level of education.
The film subverts the narrative of the film
deliberately. This is because the final scene gives the film a complete twist.
The final scene reveals that the Mother along with everyone else are Vampires;
by saying “She’s not normal Alice, she’s not one of us” then snarling her
vampire teeth at the camera. This adds a surprising twist. The narrative makes
the audience think that it’s going to be Alice who is the monster to the
audience. But actually, she was normal like the audience, but is not normal in
a world full of vampires.
Here is an example of a very effect editing technique. This clip is from the film "Commando" and is the famous "Gear up" scene. It is a perfectly editing montage of exaggerated weaponry and sound effects to match.
I have used this editing technique as inspiration to create the kettle scene in my short film. The kettle scene used quick editing to show Alice's Mother boiling the kettle and making a cup of tea.
The following images demonstrate the order of shots in sequence.
The sequence doesn't particularly feature match on action because the quick cut editing is supposed to give the effect of breaking a lengthy task down to last a few seconds and only include the most important features.
This is the questionnaire results video from our preliminary research before we started the creation of our film.
Not only did this questionnaire help us practice our filming and editing, but it gave us great insight and different ideas of how to adapt our short film idea into something that will appeal to a majority of audience.
In the interview we asked people about their preferred film genre, their opinion about films with a twist ending, general feedback of our film idea and many more contributing questions.
The following image is the script for our radio trailer for our short film Alice. The script was created on 'Celtx' and shows the different features which will be contained in the radio trailer. The script shows the character or narrator's speech, sound effect which will be in it in their specific place and the dialogue which will be used.
This is the final and official version of Alice the short film by Celestial Pictures.
The first draft of our groups short film was posted on YouTube. I created a questionnaire on google docs. I posted the questionnaire on Facebook and Twitter which contained a link to my film. This enabled me to receive feedback about the film from the audience. This is so that I could make any amendments or changes which could improve the film.
After questionnaire data was analysed, some people didn't fully understand or come to grips with the narrative and genre of the film. People were also confused about the mystery behind Alice's illness.
The feedback from the audience suggested that a few changes should be made on the film to make the narrative and genre of the film more understandable. The audience who answered the questionnaire showed a lot of concern about the lack of information at the end of the film about Alice's illness and why she's the odd one out from everyone else.
However, this official version of Alice uses an alternative ending, which will reveal the truth about Alice's illness and why she is not like everyone else. Afterall, "The supernatural is the natural not yet understood" - Elbert Hubbard
The following YouTube clips are film radio trailers which follow a horror/thriller genre.
The Alien 1979 radio trailer is very basic. But that is all that it needs to be. The radio trailers mainly consist of music and sound effects which are used in the film. The music links to the genre of the film. There is very little dialogue in the radio trailer. The only part of dialogue in the trailer says "In space, no one can hear you scream! Alien, rated R from 20th Century Fox". However, in this short piece of dialogue, a lot of things are mentioned. These things are:
The name of the film.
The age certificate of the film.
The film's production company
And the films tag line "In space, no one can hear you scream!"
However, the radio trailer contains no diegetic dialogue from the characters in the film. This is a common feature of modern radio trailers because they can give the audience an idea about the narrative of the film.
The following two YouTube clips show two similar radio trailers which contain diegetic dialogue from the characters in the film.
From this research, I will contain the features used in the Alien film, which apply to my film. These are:
The name of the film.
The age certificate of the film.
The film's production company
And the films tag line "In space, no one can hear you scream!"
I will also include some diegetic sounds from my film which will be some of the character's dialogue. This is because I want to give the audience an idea of the narrative of my film.
The following images are screen shots of the script of our groups short film.
The script was created on an Apple Mac desktop via software called Celtx.
The script shows the scene heading, characters name, action and dialogue for each section of our short film. This was an important feature which made the production of the film run smoothly.
The images are in chronological order of which they are shown in the film. The script was created at the same time as the storyboards for each scene. This was so that a clear layout of the different sections of the film and narrative would be shown. This would also show the order of which the scenes would be produced. Because of this, the film production team and actors would be able to familiarise themselves with each part of the film before the filming. This would increase productivity.
This is the final film poster for the 5 minute short film Alice.
On the first draft film poster, our groups production company logo was missing. Therefore, I edited the logo on to the poster. This has made the poster more realistic by following the exact conventions of a film poster.
From researching thriller film posters I acknowledged some significant features which need to be contained in a thriller film poster. Firstly, most thriller film posters included a blue tint, which sets an eerie yet intriguing mood. The credit text at the bottom of the poster follows the conventions of any film poster. The text has been stretched and orthographically follows the same features of any other film poster.
The film certification is displayed at the bottom right of the poster, as well as our group's production logo and Barnsley College logo.
The title of the film is displayed in the centre of the poster and has a considerably larger font size than the other text. This makes the film title more distinct and noticeable. This is a common feature in other film posters.
This is our groups official radio trailer. The radio trailer was created using Imovie on an Apple Macbook Pro. The radio trailer was based on several radio trailers which I researched. The Radio Trailer is 27 seconds long which is an ideal length for a trailer which can only use audio.
The audio from the radio trailer uses diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Some sound clips from the short film have been abstracted and included in the trailer. Also, a voice over has been added to the trailer which allows extra information to be included in the trailer.
The non-diegetic and diegetic sound from our short film:
The diegetic sound from the film which is in the trailer is some of the quotations from some of the characters interviews such as:
"to how close we actually were, I just didn't think that she'd actually do it to me"
The non-diegetic sound from the film which is in the trailer is some of Alice's voice over which introduces Alice to the audience.
"My name is Alice, I'm 19 years old and I'm a monster"
There is also a narration throughout the radio trailer. The narration helps give the audience more information and details about the film. For instance:
The production company who made the film. - "A Celestial Studios Production"
Strong statements which intrigues the audience. - "Someone who cannot be helped"
A quote which is used in the film and on the film poster. - "The supernatural is the natural not yet understood"
The radio trailer ends with the name of the film, release date and the rated age certificate. - "Alice, coming soon, rated 15
Our groups production logo was created on Adobe Photoshop. An image of a moon is incorporated in to the logo. This is to link our logo with our short film. Our film is about a girl who is supernatural. The film is a horror/thriller film which links with the eeriness of the logo.
Celestial means: "Positioned in or relating to the sky, or outer space as observed in astronomy" or "Belonging or relating to heaven."
The idea that Alice is something from outer space or belongs to heaven is very intriguing. Small clues are left throughout the logo design, radio trailer and film poster, which give more information about the story line behind the narrative shown about Alice's illness.
The black and white text and image carries on the theme of good and evil. The white contrasts the black background and dark shadows on the moon. This concept related to the horror/thriller genre of our short film.
Feedback received from the Questionnaire has brought to light some issues which need to be changed.
The main issues from the questionnaire results are that in some cases the audience wasn't sure what the plot and narrative the short film is. People was confused with the issues surrounding Alice and that they were quite difficult for the audience to understand.
Here are some of the data from the questionnaire:
What could have improved the film?
"Again, it could be my stupidity, but I couldn't quite work out the purpose of the film."
"More of an insight on what happened to her."
"To see what Alice was hiding from everyone."
"I'd like more obvious clues about what was wrong with Alice. What was it that she had learned to live with? She said herself "it was never about her bones."
"better ending."
"more if an insight of what happened to her."
Was the music and sound effects appropriate for the film and why?
"Yes & no. Initially I thought this was a horror genre, given the title sequence & music - I found this to be effective. however, as i continued to watch, i couldnt decide if it was a spoof or documentary. Perhaps it's just me but I was a little confused, sorry!"
Created drama and a sense of seriousness and tension."
Did you understand the film's plot and storyline?
"Not entirely."
"I think, but need to watch it again."
"I think so."
This data suggests that more information about Alice's illness needs to be shown in the narrative. The lack of information in the narrative about Alice's illness confuses people about the purpose of the film. These issues need to be addressed to improve the overall film.
To show Alice's illness in more light and to reinforce the horror/thriller element of the film, a final shot has been added at the end of the film. The shot shows Alice's mother brushing her teeth in the mirror. She'll then say "Alice isn't normal, she's not like us" then turn around and scream towards the camera whilst showing her teeth. She will show that she has vampire fangs. This will completely turn the plot of the film on it's head and add an unexpected twist. The audience will be startled by the scream and at the same time find out that Alice was the only normal person and the rest of people are vampire monsters. This will reinforce the thriller and horror aspect of the film and also add an unexpected twist to the narrative.
The following images are some results from the questionnaire which has been entered into column graphs and a pie chart:
These results suggests that our film will appeal more to a younger audience. People aged 15-17 were by far the most popular age answer my questionnaire.
Because the genre of our film is Horror/Thriller; these results suggest that we were successful in making the film as a Horror/thriller genre.
The common place where short films are released is online on various sites such as YouTube. This strengthens our initial thoughts.
The following images are a selection of thriller film posters:
Thriller Film Poster Conventions
Mainly, film posters are portrait. However, I found some posters which were landscape. For example, the Inception poster above.
The majority of Thriller Film Posters have a blue tint. This creates an eerie, yet intriguing mood.
Here is a screen shot of 'Thriller film posters' which was searched via Google images.
As seen above, the majority of thriller film posters include the blue tint which is a common convention.
The title of the film is has a very large font compared to the rest of the text. This helps the title to stand out from the rest of the poster. The title is displayed in the centre of the poster, but differs from the top to the bottom depending on the images in the poster. For example, posters which contain close-up shots of faces, usually displayed the title underneath the face or across the eyes of the character. If the poster contains a background image, then the title text is normally place at the bottom of the poster or adapting around the scenery.
There is no specific criteria for a thriller film poster. The graphology of thriller film posters are always different. However the contents which are shown on them are always the same.
Factors which are always shown on a thriller poster:
Title of the film
Credit text (at the bottom of the poster)
Blue tint effect
Directors name and previous films which the director has made
Age certification
Production Company logo
Factors which can vary in a thriller film poster:
Text clauses from the film
Release date
Actors name (usually if the actor is not shown on the poster)
The research in to Thriller Film posters will help me to produce a Thriller film poster which contains the conventions of a thriller film poster, but also includes unique elements which apply to our 5 minute short film.
This is the first draft of our 5 minute short film 'Alice'. The first draft's purpose is to receive feedback from the audience. The data collected from the questionnaire will be used to improve the film.
Depending on the results from the questionnaire; re-filming and/or re-editing shots could take place which will create a much better finished film.
No list of suspense or thriller films can be complete without mention of English film-maker/director Alfred Hitchcock. He helped to shape the modern-day thriller genre, beginning with his early silent film The Lodger (1926), a suspenseful Jack-the-Ripper story, followed by his next thriller Blackmail (1929), his first sound film (but also released in a silent version). Hitchcock would make a signature cameo appearance in his feature films, beginning with his third film The Lodger (1926), although his record was spotty at first. After 1940, he appeared in every one, except for The Wrong Man (1956). [See all of Hitchcock's cameos here.] Although nominated five times as Best Director (from 1940-1960), Hitchcock never won an Academy Award.
Alfred Hitchcock is considered the acknowledged auteur master of the thriller or suspense genre, manipulating his audience's fears and desires, and taking viewers into a state of association with the representation of reality facing the character. He would often interweave a taboo or sexually-related theme into his films, such as the repressed memories of Marnie (Tippi Hedren) in Marnie (1964), the latent homosexuality in Strangers on a Train (1951), voyeurism in Rear Window (1954), obsession in Vertigo (1958), or the twisted Oedipus complex in Psycho (1960).
Hitchcock's films often placed an innocent victim (an average, responsible person) into a strange, life-threatening or terrorizing situation, in a case of mistaken identity, misidentification or wrongful accusation (i.e., in The 39 Steps (1935), The Wrong Man (1956), and in North by Northwest (1959)).
He also utilized various cinematic techniques (i.e., the first British 'talking picture' - Blackmail (1929), the extreme zoom shot of the key in Notorious (1946), the glowing glass of milk in Suspicion (1941), the prolonged cross-cutting tennis match in Strangers on a Train (1951), the virtuoso set-piece of the crop duster in North by Northwest (1959), the montage in the shower sequence accentuated with composer Bernard Herrmann's screeching violin score in Psycho (1960), the dolly-zoom shots in Vertigo (1958), or the heightening of anticipation with the long pull-back shot from inside a building to the outside and across the street in Frenzy (1972)).
Visually-expressive motifs were also his specialty (i.e., the surrealistic dream sequences in Spellbound (1945), the key in Notorious (1946), the staircase or the use of profiles and silhouettes in Vertigo (1958), the murder reflected in the victim's glasses in Strangers on a Train (1951), the concept of "pairs" and guilt transference in Shadow of a Doubt (1943)), or the making of technically-challenging films (such as Lifeboat (1944) and Rope (1948)). [Rope was a film of many 'firsts': it was Hitchcock's first color film and his first film as an independent producer; it was his first film released by Warner Bros.; it was his first and only attempt to make a film appear as a single shot, with a series of ten-minute takes cleverly spliced together; and it was his first film with James Stewart. The basis of the film was the famed Leopold-Loeb case.]
In many of his films, there was the inevitable life and death chase concluding with a showdown at a familiar landmark (for example, London's Albert Hall in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), the Statue of Liberty in Saboteur (1942), the UN and Mount Rushmore in North by Northwest (1959), Westminster Cathedral in Foreign Correspondent (1940), and the Golden Gate Bridge in Vertigo (1958)). He also reveled in tight and confined spaces, to heighten emotion (i.e., Lifeboat (1944), Rope (1948), or Rear Window (1954), etc.) or restrictive train journeys (i.e., The Lady Vanishes (1937), and North by Northwest (1959), etc).
Filmsite. (2013). Thriller and Suspense Films Part 1. Available: http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html. Last accessed 1/3/2013.
The Thriller genre is based around suspense and tension. Simply, the aim of a Thriller film is to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.
Thriller films are notoriously stressful leaving the audience anxious and nervous for the main characters or the victims in the film.
Here are some examples of Thriller Films:
'The Silence of the Lambs'- An FBI agent develops a relationship with a serial killer, Dr. Hannibal Lector, in order to gain Lector’s help and contacts in the hunt for another serial killer.
'The Great Escape' - A huge group of british prisoners of war, plan an escape from a German war camp in the middle of World War II.
'North By Northwest' - Mistaken for a government agent by foreign spies, an advertising agent travels cross-country trying to survive.
Thriller films are often hybrid films clashed with another genre. For example, the main thriller sub-genres are, Action or Adventure Thriller's, Sci-Fi Thriller's, Psychological Thriller's and Western Thrillers.
Here are some other examples of iconic thriller films:
The Terminator (1984)
Basic Instinct (1992)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995)
The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Mission: Impossible (1996)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Goldfinger (1964)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Jaws (1975)
Our groups 5 minute short film takes a thriller genre. The aim of a thriller genre, is to keep the audience on the edge of their seats throughout the film. The plot in thriller films is set against a problem, an escape, a mission or a mystery. In the case of our film, a mystery is developed throughout the plot. The mystery surrounds a girl called Alice, who to all of her friends and family has completely gone off the rails. A group of media students decide to base their media project on filming Alice and her family, friends and members of the community who used to know Alice.
From my research, the Codes and Conventions of a thriller film are mainly the camera angles, sound, editing and lighting. What I mean by this is that these codes and conventions add suspense to a thriller film.
Camera Angles
The use of camera angles are a huge factor to create a thriller genre film. The camera angles help to express character's emotions and body language. Most thriller films use a range of close-ip and extreme close-up shots of character facial emotions. An example of a this is in a film called 'Band of Brothers', where a character is shot, whilst a close-up of the characters face is shown. This shows the characters pain to the audience. Another shot to follow the codes and conventions of a thriller is a Dolly shot. This shot is used in films such as 'Goodfellas'. In this film the camera quickly tracks through a room and makes the audience think something dramatic is going to take place. This 'dolly zoom' shot which is featured in the 1970's thriller film 'Jaws'. This shot put you in the mind of the man in the frame. As his emotions are expressed by his facial expression which is zoomed in on, whilst the background is sent shooting backwards. This gives a psychedelic affect to the shot and suggests that the man has just seen something strange or terrifying. The human visual system uses size and perspective cues to judge the relative sizes of objects. If the human eye sees a perspective change or a size change is a visually disturbing effect. Depending on which way the dolly zoom effect is shot, can either make the background suddenly grow in size and detail which dominates the foreground. Or in this case the foreground becomes immense and overwhelms the rest of the surroundings. would be a brilliant shot to include in our 5 minute short film. Perhaps to show the facial expressions of a character who is also experiencing something strange and unordinary.
Sound
Strong and distinctive music that adds tension is appropriate in thriller films to add suspense. Music such as strings and themes as they make a different mood and theme for thriller films. For example, the music from 'Psycho' which plays in the film's famous 'shower scene', adds the effect of anxiety to the audience, which adds to the effect of the visual footage. This can be describe as tension building music.
Editing
Editing is an important code and convention of a thriller film. Quick cuts between frames are an important feature which raises suspense and anxiety. This is shown in the 'Psycho shower scene', shown above. The quick cuts combined with the loud and piercing music makes the scene fast paced and very intense for the audience.
Lighting
The use of shadows and low lighting are codes and conventions of thriller films, which create a mysterious environment. Low lighting and shadows are shown in the Psycho shower scene, which increase the drama and tension because of the decrease visibility. Low-level lighting and shadows are closely linked. If a character is shown to have low-level lighting or a shadow covering half of their face for example, this shows the audience the character has a split personality and that they’re mysterious. This gives the audience the determination to find out why the character is mysterious and motivation to carry on engaging in the film.
This mind map shows more codes and conventions of a thriller genre film on a wider scale...
To summarise the codes and conventions of a Thriller genre film, this is a list of effects and features our group will use in our 5 minute short film:
Low-level lighting, shadows, rapid editing, sudden changes in camera angle, high-tension music, flashbacks, use of photographs/images/articles and black and white colouring.
Rapid editing increases the shock and horror of an event that is happening on screen.
High-tension music creates a high level of suspense and makes the audience feel awkward and out of their comfort zone.
Flashbacks can relate to a shift in time and confuse the audience, which represents the characters confused thoughts or horrific past life.
We are intending to create a 'twist' within our film, maintaining throughout the duration of the film a different perspective on the truth of Alice's condition. From this, we will evidently be integrating no horror images until the end, which, in turn would be very short; to create a cliffhanger/scary twist. From this, we need to look into British Board
The Devil Inside is
a 2012 American supernatural horror film directed
by William Brent Bell and written by Bell and Matthew Peterman. It is a documentary-style
film about a woman who becomes involved in a series of exorcisms during her quest to
determine what happened to her mother, a woman who murdered three people as a
result of being possessed by a demon. It was released
theatrically on January 6, 2012.
Here are some clips of the typical features and themes within The Devil Inside. Showing some elements of documentary style techniques to use and develop into our own film.
This scene works well in demonstrating documentary style elements, with the use of amateur-like camera use, mise en scene and diegetic sounds to create a very realistic effect. Similar to the ideas we have for our film.
Reviews
Screen
Rant’s Ben Kendrick reviews The Devil Inside
The Devil Inside is presented as assembled
found footage that follows twenty-something Isabella Rossi (Fernanda Andrade)
as she reunites with her mother, Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley), and searches for
an exorcist that can free Maria of a long-running demon possession. Maria has
been locked away in a Catholic psychiatric ward, following an attempted exorcism
that resulted in the murder of three people 20 years prior.However, as
Isabella spends more time with Maria in the ward, strange occurrences begin to
escalate as a dormant evil finds a convenient batch of new visitors to
terrorize.
Some
moviegoers will no doubt be ready to compare The Devil Inside to the 2010 film
The Last Exorcism – since the film also
features unique locales, documentary-style filmmaking, body-contorting horror
sequences, and a weighty religious side-arc. In addition, The Devil Inside also
relies on a similarly grounded tone – with a lot of exposition to fill out the
story. Instead of the limited (horror in a box) scope and slow-burn pacing of
the Paranormal Activity series, The Devil Inside employs larger sequences that
feature characters rushing from room to room to uncover a mystery, or run for
their lives. While the marketing might lead moviegoers to believe that the
majority of the film takes place inside the Catholic psych ward, the film
actually covers a surprising amount of Italian locales, while the exorcists’
“scientific” approach to freeing people of demon possession offers some fresh
ideas – not to mention smart suspense cues.
Evan Helmuth
as David in 'The Devil Inside'
The
exorcisms in the film deliver some intriguing moments, but while there are
definitely a number of jump scares throughout The Devil Inside, overall the
“scariest” points tend to be less “frightening” and rely on expectation and
tension more than in-your-face frights. The possibility of something terrible happening
fuels most of the film’s best sequences – though, looking back, some horror
fans may feel as though not a lot actually happens by the end of the various
proceedings.
For better
or for worse (depending on how much character drama a filmgoer wants in their
found footage films), The Devil Inside spends a lot of time developing the
primary characters – especially how the two main exorcists in the film feel
about the Catholic church. David (Evan Helmuth) is a “company man” who, despite
his frustrations with pastoral politics, believes in the church and identifies
strongly with Catholic doctrine. Ben (Simon Quarterman), on the other hand, is
the nephew of an accomplished exorcist – and feels that working outside of the
church is the only way to truly help victims afflicted by demon possession.
Along with the primary narrative arc involving Isabella, the movie spends a lot
of time developing these side stories – all for very little payoff. As events
unfold, The Devil Insidecompletely abandons character building and resolution
in favor of “shocking” set pieces. One Ben-centric story bit is especially
under served – even though it’s hinted at more than once. The result is an
uneven narrative experience that’s front-loaded with too much exposition and
ends without any real payoff for the mythos (or the characters). Similarly,
audience members will probably find the film’s conclusion extremely abrupt or
possibly outright infuriating – at least if they are hoping for an interesting
(or exciting) climactic resolution.
Suzan
Crowley as possessed mother Maria Rossi
That said,
the most outright bizarre aspect of the film is the way that the “documentary”
is actually presented onscreen. A number of segments feature hand-held camera
work, via cameraman Michael (Ionut Grama), coupled with static security-like
footage. However, on more than one occasion following close-up hand-held camera
footage (i.e., Michael in the room filming), The Devil Insidecuts to one of the
static shots ( where Isabella and Rosa are the only ones in the room, for
example). While some moviegoers will no doubt consider this nitpicking, the
success of “found footage” films is in their ability to (for a brief moment)
attempt to trick the audience into believing that these things actually
happened. As a result, anyone who is invested in how the film is being
presented will likely be pulled out – due to the inconsistent strategies in
presenting the footage.
The Devil
Inside won’t break any new ground in the “found footage” horror genre, but it
does offer some intriguing ideas about exorcism, a pair of interesting
characters, and a number of tense (though not entirely frightening) moments.
Overall, fans of the genre are likely to enjoy elements of the film – though,
given the slow, exposition-heavy opening act and a TOTAL lack of any ending or closure, many
moviegoers will leave the theater feeling as though the experience wasn’t worth
the ticket money.
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