Final Thriller Opening Sequence- Untied Justice

Media Studies Peer Assessment - Foundation Portfolio Planning.

AS Media Studies Assessment- Opening Sequence

Assessment of Evaluation Q.s 1 & 2 (SJA Feb 10th)

www:

• Emma, when I glance through the work you have completed so far in your evaluation posts, I am really pleased.
• You have made some really good attempts to be creative and to make posts super visual
• Q.2 - You have made really good use of Prezi for this Emma - Well done. Good written description about what you were trying to do, and good to see pics of George compared to pics from professional products.

ebi:

• I think you need to come back to Q. 1 and develop this more. Good to see you using prezi for this, but all I could see was text - this post really calls for IMAGES - you should take images / screen grabs from 'like' movies that are very similar to your own idea... and then take screen grabs from your own film to compare / contrast how you and your group have set out to mimic the 'look' (certain camera shots / movement... mise en scene ... shot framing... plot line... title - placement and font choice...) I know your group was really influence by the opening for 'Kill Your Friends' - so take screen grabs from this and compare to the similar shots of the messed up room from your own opening - talk about what you were trying to replicate with this (developing viewer interest... sparking Q's in the viewer mind)

Overall effort: EX (Q. 2)...  IN (Q.1)

Assessment 06/02/12

7. Looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

My Preliminary Task:



My Opening Sequence:

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions? on Prezi

Assessment 23/1/12 LFE

WWW

• Emma you have atempted all of the posts we asked you for so this is a good start.
• You have made a detailed list of the media technologies you have used
• There are some good ideas beginning to form in your discussions

EBI

• Your presentations now need to start being more visual for example to show you using media technologies you could produce a Jing presentation.
• When you talk about representing your social groups, consider how you have actually represented them in more detail. Mrs Jarrett gave you some ideas to think about during today's lesson. Use these ideas to further your post.
• Remember to use capital 'I' when referring to yourself
• You speak about the idea that your opening sequence is different. How is it different and why? Think about linking it to the representation or audience ideas you might have.

Grade: IN (these are drafts adn you should now have some ideas about how they can be developed further to improve your mark)

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

If our film was to be screened I think it would be first screened in London because even though it isn't a big budget film, it it distributed by a popular company 'Momentum Pictures'. The certificate of our film would be a 12A because there are some scenes of violence and bad language but it isn't too scary or frightening for pre-teens. We put our titles in order of more important for actors and then from less important to more important leading up to the director and then the main title. Least important job titles would be:
- costume and make-up
- photography
- music
- lighting etc.

The more important job titles are:
- director
- producer
- executive producer
- written by etc.

Possible film distributor companies for our video production:

• Summit Entertainment 
• Artificial Eye
• 20th Century Fox
• Entertainment One
• Lionsgate
• Warner Bros. Pictures
• Columbia Pictures
• Paramount Pictures

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Audience Feedback:

4. Who would be the audience for your media production?

When we carried out our audience research before we started planning for our opening sequence we got some very successful feedback from the audience we asked to fill out our questionaire which helped us decide on the target audience we as a group were focusing on representing and relating to. We asked a range of people from teenagers to older people so we could get a range of ideas of what audiences would prefer when watching the film. This gif is a screengrab from my results of the questionaire. Discussing thr age, gender, titles and conventions of a thriller opening sequence. Looking at this information we could then go on and start creating our ideas linking with our target audience. 

                                             
Make animated gif


Short Character Profile
Name: Kelly Fidler

Age: 17
Attends College and studies hairdressing.

Her main hobbies are reading, watching films and hanging around with friends on the weekends. She likes to go out to parties and go for walks with her family. On the weekend if she is invited to the cinema she would accept depending on the type of genre the film is. Thrillers are her favourite genre of film but she also likes romantic comedies such as Bridget Jones, Love Actually etc. Her favourite thriller films are The Sixth Sense, Taken, Die Hard and Brick. Her and her closest friends all enjoy the same type of genre and would rather go to the cinema than stay at home with a DVD.

She likes to listen to quite rocky type music but also listens to hip hop when she hangs round with her friends.

She shops in mainly game or music stores such as HMV and GAME. She also likes to shop in clothes shops such as Primark and also shops in boy stores like Topman and Madhouse.

Kelly aspires to be a musician when she is older as she plays the drums and the piano. Music is her life and she attends a few music clubs in and after school and has taken part in music shows.

She dresses quite girly when she hangs around with her friends in school but outside of school with her other friends she acts quite boyish and doesn't care what people think of her. She enjoys going round her friends for pizza and films but doesn't do it often as she likes to go to the cinema. She dresses in a very stereotypical way, jeans and a t-shirt, maybe a handbag and always carries her mobile phone with her.

This character profile of Kelly links with our thriller opening sequence and the target audience we have chosen for it because this is the type of strereotypical teenager we are aiming towards to come and watch our thriller film.

2. How does your media represent particular social groups?

How does your media represent particular social groups? on Prezi

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Technologies we have used
- fig rig
- tripod
- video camera
- audio fx
- imovie
- freesound/youtube/blogger/bubl/wordle/live type
- jing
- high and low filter
- sound fx
- itunes

Tools/ effects we have used
- fade in
- slow motion
- equalising
- extracting sound
- duplicating
- ghost trails
- fast/slow/reverse
- brightness and contrast
- transitions
- adjust colours

1) When editing our video production we used a specific effect such as the adjust colours tool to make the brightness darker so it fitted in well with out Thriller Genre and almost creates a scary feeling for the audience and makes them feel as if something bas has happened or is going to happen. Below is a screengrab of the adjust colours tool and the different options you can use to change the colour of your moving background.

2) The ghost trails effect was used when we tracked back from the telephone so it looks as if the person who created the mess in the room is still there and could somewhat represent how disoriantated the character may have felt by what they have done. Below is an example of a Ghost Trails effect used when someone is doing a jerky or interesting movement to really capture what they are doing. This could be used for any genre, not just to create a creepy thriller mood.



3) The slow motion effect was used when the phone was ringing and when we made the video camera track away from it so it gives the audience time to take it in and makes it more 'creepy feeling'. Below is an example of how we used the Slow Motion effect on our opening sequence.

Costumes

For costumes we have decided to choose relativiely dark clothes with a rather casual feel. This way we can show the audience that the film is a thriller yet it is happening to an ordinary person. I hope that by doing this we will achieve a succesful synopsis that makes sense. If the character was wearing suitable cargo clothes that would be good for running around in it would loose the whole mystery of the thriller.

assessment - Planning SJA 18/12/11

Shooting Schedule

We are planing on doing most of the filming during the Christmas Holiday and during some of the media lessons. We hope the whole team can turn up to each session which shouldn't be too bad as we all live relatively close to each other. 

Family Pictures

This image will be in the frame in our opening sequence when the camera pans round the empty apartment giving the audience clues. The image of the wife and husband would be important because even though the audience don't really see them in the opening sequence, by having this image in the background of a certain shot it can give the audience a sense of what their life was like and gives the audience a positive image about the family.

We also think we should use this picture because the daughter gives the audience an idea of what they are like and how happy they were as a family unit. This could give proof to the audience that they are a very naturalistic and happy family however the costumes in this picture could give away that they aren't 40 year olds or older so maybe a change of clothing into a nice shirt or an old dress could make it more realistic.

Panning Practice for thriller opening sequence

we took a short video of us practicing the panning that we are attempting to do in our opening sequence so that when it comes to filming it properly we can make it look realistic and give lots of clues to the audience. We could improve this by maybe using a tripod to steady the camera or have a steady hand using handheld camera.

Example of similar thriller opening sequence

The video above is a close example of what our own opening sequence would look like. The extreme close ups and panning which are used in this particular opening sequence show certain clues and types of shot ideas and questions which the audience would want to be asking during this sequence. This makes the audience want to watch more and even though university students covered this project i believe that we can make it just as good using our own initial ideas fitting in with our plot.

Teacher Assessment for Research

Peer Assessment for Planning

Working on Storyboards

Costume, Props and Location

Making a gif


Making a gif

Costume, Props and Location Ideas was drawn, coloured and written by Eleanor Pullen in our group.

Casting

When decided on the cast of our film we took into consideration the typeof characters but also we thought about how accessible different people would be when filming was needed to be done.

The first character we decided on was the main character, Mark Wilson. He needs to be someone who looks quite tough and strong. Also he needs to be fearless and knowledgeable.

We have chosen to cast George Blewitt (a member of our group) as Mark as he is well built and suits this role quite well. Another reason for this decision is , as he is in our group he will be easier to get hold of when we need him for filming. Also, he can put his own twist on his character and put ideas to us as a team. He will also be dedicated to the group and we know we can rely on him.











We then cast Megan Thornton, the daughter. She is 17 years old, average teenager therefore she was easy to cast. Also, you only see megans hair in the opening so we didnt have to put much thought into the casting.
Taking all this into consideration we cast Rosie Winton (another member of the group) as Megan Thornton.





Casting the mother/wife, Wendy Thornton, was again very easy to cast as she is not in the opening sequence. Therfore, we cast Emma Chapman (a member of our group) as Wendy Thornton.

The last character we casted was Robert Thornton who is the husband of Wendy and Father of Megan. He is also Mark's best friend and plays an important part in the opening sequence of our thriller.

Font ideas for our Thriller Opening Sequence

This title font caught my eye because of eerie handwriting style. The writing could somewhat represent a murderer trying to write a ransom note or something along those lines following the idea of being framed. 

This font signifies an Eastern European setting for our thriller. The font is bold and stands out. This type of font relates to the environment our opening sequence is set in and is also simple to read.

The title immediately signifies a large city like area because of  the skyline imagery used at the bottom of the font.  Also the font seems to have like a dirt effect that could convey the idea of grit or blood to the audience, possibly highlighting the violence of the film. 

We have decided to choose this font for our thriller film title. It stands out bright and bold, there isn't too much going on. The dirt like effect on the font will signify a gritty urban setting, or it will imply blood and violence. This will attract audience members who are fond of action and violence. The title 'danger sign' like font will also highlight the idea of violence and danger. The title in this font will suggest the main themes of the film thus making it a perfect for our film.

George Blewitt in our group searched and found all of these fonts for our main title for our thriller opening sequence.

Storyboard shots

Making a gif

Thriller Opening Sequence Storyboard Animation

Script

How do you make gifs


How do you make gifs

Character Profiles

Children Of Men Thriller Genre Analysis

Peer Assessment for Research

Initial Shot Ideas

Online gif creator

Thriller Sounds for our Opening Sequence

In our discusions in our groups we have brought together some initial ideas for the type of music (non-diegetic)in which we have consiered using in our own thriller opening seqeunce. To do this we used copywright free websites and even thought about creating our very own music to relate to the genre and this is important because the sound sets the atmosphere at the very beginning of an opening sequence.

http://www.freesound.org/people/suonho/sounds/58962/

The sound above i found on freesound.org. I chose this particular piece because it can link well with our synopsis and the way the character may be feeling. We would probably use this type when something mysterious is about to happen to make the audience feel immediately in the mood in which we want them to feel. (above)

http://www.freesound.org/people/suonho/sounds/58960/


My second sound which i found i think can relate to thrillers because the high pitched screech which is heard somewhat scares the audience and relates to a womans scream, also the pace is fast and upbeat which could be used in our piece when he is walking rather quickly to get to his friends house, it keeps the mood constantly but also speeds up the rythm so the audince get a feeling of excitement.(above)

http://www.freesound.org/people/imaginaryband/sounds/79421/

My third sound which i have chosen creates a sad, sympathetic mood when it begins to connote sadness or distress but then quickens up to represent that someone is on a mission or their emotions are overwhelming. This could be used in our opening sequence when the man finds his dead friens (the slow sad part of the music) and then when he gets the daugher (upbeat part). (above)

http://www.freesound.org/people/fonogeno/sounds/19425/

Lastly i found an eary telephone ring which creates a ghosly feel and fits in well when one of our shots incudes just the telephone and the constant sound of it ringing in the background to connote the feeling of silence, lonliness or even panic that no one has answered it.(above)

Audience Research 2

Audience Research Analysis on Prezi

Synopsis of our Thriller

A man goes to visit his friend at his house. He rings his friend as he walks there to make use everything is still good. There is no answer. The man assumes everything is okay and carries on his journey to his friends house. When he arrives the door is open, he still knocks but there is no answer. He opens the door to see if everything and shouts out his mates name. Still no answer, so he goes inside only to find his mate and his wife dead. He immediately goes into shock and panics desperately trying to bring his mate back to life without realising that he is contaminating the crime scene with his fingerprints. He eventually notices that their daughter is not there and then starts to look for her. He finds her upstairs under the bed, alive.

The man and the daughter then take part in a journey to avoid the people trying to kill her family and the police who believe that he was the one who killed the family and kidnapped their daughter.

Initial Ideas

Initial Ideas for our Thriller Opening Sequence on Prezi

Thriller Genre Questionnaire

Location Ideas for Thriller Genre

I chose to take this image of this particular location (field opposite St Helier Hospital) because i feel that it would relate well to a thriller genre by the features in the frame. The darkness represents a scary, creepy and somewhat ghostly feel to an image which can immediately leave an effect on the audience. The trees are in clear focus with the faded out into black behind which i feel is thriller-like because the trees look dead and you cant see anything behind them. The 'dead' look can connote death in any way relating to thriller and can give a spooky feel to a setting.

This location is down a wide alley way with gates either side, based just next to Sutton High Street. This relates to a thriller genre because looking at the white walls they are dirty and connote an abandoned or deserted feeling by the way its been treated or could also look as if it has rotted away through passing of time. Again, i took this picture in the dark because i feel darkness makes a location have more emphasis and meaning behind it to make it feel more spooky and realistic.

My final image relating to thriller i took in a deserted playground by Sutton Arena. The playground i believe, represents a feeling of coldness and can create a ghostly feel when for example, an empty swing is shown swinging by itself. The darkness makes it look deserted and creepy with the way the colours of the climbing frame stands out and the rest of it blends in with the blackness, i feel this would be a good location for a thriller because of the connotations of the mood this would set the audience in.