Practising With Titles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5e931OXjGc

This is our preliminary piece. I have started to experiment with titles using different effects, fonts and movements to get some experience ready for our thriller opening. this is shown in this clip where I've played around with titles to see what's appropriate and what works well with the genre.

Location Shots

Me and another member of the group went to a potential location that I knew, to see if it was appropriate for our thriller opening. After taking photos and discussing the feasibility of the location, we were able to then develop the ideas for our storyline based on the surrounding area. We began to incorporate new ideas based on the location proving that visiting the location was essential in developing the full storyline.

Interviews about thrillers

This video shows us interviewing both young and older adults to find out a bit more about the people that we should aim our thriller at and what a thriller opening should be like. we asked:

How old they were
What their favourite thriller is
What they expect to see in an opening of a thriller
Whether they like this genre of film

by asking these questions it helped us determine who is going to be our main target audience for this piece (we've decided on young adults). for example, all of the young adults stated that they liked this type of film meaning that thrillers are well suited to this age group. furthermore, we were able to get an idea of the best things to put in our opening by asking what they expect to see. for example, on the second clip, one of the girls stated that they expect to see something major that the rest of the film can focus on meaning that we were then able to decide as a group that we were going to do something similar where we show a significant event that occurred and then aim for the rest of the film to be based around it.

Analysis of The Woman In Black (thriller/horror)

Below show some snap shots from The Woman In Black. I'm analysing the opening to help me get ideas and see what is appropriate in this type of film to help me produce the opening of a thriller.This is the first snapshot that you see in the film. By using a close up it allows the audience to see clearly what the camera is focusing on. As well as this, the lighting is very bright and clear allowing a very clear view which makes it easy for the audience to watch. This is appropriate for the film as it represents the time of day in the film (mid day). Furthermore, even though a lot of horror films like using dark lighting, it creates an eary and quite sinister setting which in some cases makes the film even more scary. 

The film uses parallel sound in the opening. It does this because the image is being played in slight slow motion. This matches the sound as they play a slow and childlike song thus being parallel and adding to the sinister affect that is created

This camera angle helps to show the location. It does so because you are able to see that the girls are playing in a sort of house and in particular a bedroom. Furthermore, from this image you can see the time period in which this film may be set as you can see the props used (very old fashioned toys with no electronics) and the costume that is worn (all of the children have dresses on that suggest it is set in the past).

This part of the opening breaks the fourth wall between the film and the audience. It does this because the girls are seen to look I to the camera and it's made to look as if they are looking at you or something that is behind us. This helps to show the genre as the audience is scared to see what they are looking at and so it fits in with the horror/thriller style of film.

After the film breaks the fourth wall, the film starts to turn quite dark and more scary. This is shown in this image as you can see that the girl steps on and breaks one of her toys. This contrasts with before because before this, the children are very delicate with their toys.

This snapshot suggests that these three girls are not particularly the main characters in this film. It does so because it shows them dying which means that they have no further involvement in the film. Because of this, it then draws our attention to the last character shown in the opening of The Woman in Black:

This image creates a sense of mystery towards this character because we are unable to see her face and it only shows us a small area of her. Because this woman is in black it suggests that this woman is a main character as the title of the film is of course The Woman In Black.

Analysis of the opening of Insidious (thriller)

 

 

Below are some print screen from the opening of Insidious.

The titles used are effective in showing the genre of the film. It does so because of the colours. By using a lot of black surrounding, it connotes a dark, mysterious and scary setting. The titles of the film are red which connotes blood meaing that it is fitting to the film as it is a thriller.

 This boy is the first character to be shown in the film which is suggestive in telling us that he is the, or one of the main characters. Furthermore, this image gives us a hint as to where the film is set as it shows a bedroom within a house.

This part of the opening shows us a family photo which makes us think that the film has something to do with this family. By having the black and white effect it connotes a sense of death to it as there is no colour/life in the picture which takes away the happiness from their smiles and instead creates quite a sinister atmosphere.

Throughout the opening, there are images of the house both the exterior (like this image) and interior which suggests to the audience that this house has some importance within the film.

This character is the second character that is shown in the film. This makes us think that she has some importance in the film. Because this character is quite covered up, surrounded by darkness, it helps portray the genre of the film as it creates quite a scary image and suits the thriller genre.

 

Analysis of the opening of Harry Potter

These are stills from Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. Below I analyse how the genre, location and characters are introduced or hinted within the opening.

 

 This image gives us the impression that this boy is being delivered to the addressed persons on the letter.

This image is the first part of the scene that we see. From this, we are inclined to think that Privet Drive has some important or significant role in the films and as we later find out, it is the place where Harry Potter is left to the Dursley's of number 4 Privet Drive. This not only gives us an idea of the location of where it is set but it gives us an idea of what genre of film this is. It does so because there is an owl perched on the sign. This is not something that you see everyday and so would suggest that there is a sense of magic or fantasy in this film. As well as this, owls are often associated with magic which would also suggest the idea of fantasy and magic being dominant in this film.

The character's importance are seen in this part of the opening. I think this because Professor Mcgonagall is looking up to Dumbledore, asking him questions and being almost dependent on him. This use of proxemics suggests that he is more dominant or has more power than her in the film.

This whole opening scene is about Harry Potter being left to this house meaning that the baby has an important role and if not, is the main character (even though he is not the first character to be shown in the film). This snapshot from the opening is quite significant as the scar on his head sticks out and it automatically draws our attention to it. This will draw in peoples attention because the logo of Harry Potter is in the design of a lighting bolt style (much like Harry's scar) which is also suggestive in telling us that he is a main character in the film.

This shot from the opening of Harry Potter gives us an idea of what type of film Harry Potter is. It does so because this character is the stereotype of what a 'wizard' looks like (often an old man with a fat, long hair and robes on). It therefore suggests that the film has an element of fantasy in it.

 

Analysis of the opening of Hot Fuzz

 

 

 

 

These are a few stills taken from the film Hot Fuzz. This is a film that I've chosen to analyse as part of my practice for my thriller opening. By looking at aspects such as how the character, plot and location are introduced it will help me to see what techniques are appropriate dependent on the genre of the film.

 

 

This part of the opening of Hot Fuzz tells us a lot about the character asides from his physical appearance and name, we can see that he is a police officer and so has some authority.

 
 These two images took from the opening of Hot Fuzz help us to know a bit more about the character besides the fact that he is a police officer. It does so at it shows us the different activities that he is involved in and so we get the impression that he is a man that does a lot (especially because the opening of this film is quite fast paced). The use of a fast paced opening helps the audience to get the know the character before the films storyline starts to unfold and so we get a sense that we know the person.

This photo is suggestive in telling us that the character is successful as he seems to be at a rewards ceremony. Furthermore, the use of proxemics is effective in telling us that he is important as he is stood in the middle of everyone.

This part of the opening gives us an idea of the genre of this film. It does so because there is a sense of black comedy in there as the man stabbing him is Santa. Furthermore, the music that is played is not serious and fitting to a serious situation which also gives us a sense of black or dark comedy as a theme in this film.

 This part of the opening shows that the character is successful in what he has done as it shows us a certificate from his policing job.

 

From this image, you are able to see that it is set in a large area (a city) as it is quite a spacious building. Also, if you look out of the building, you can almost get the impression that you are high up at this level in the building which also suggests that it is set in a city (with high buildings).

 

Furthermore, because this opening is quite bright and there is no dark lighting used, it tells us the genre of the film because the bright and natural light makes us think that it is not a dark and serious genre such as a horror but is a sort of comedy (the lighting is appropriate for the genre).

capturing emotions in still image

This photo shows anger. we did this by showing all of the body but close up so you could see the strain that she is putting on her head. by using this shot you can also see her facial expression.

this photo shows happiness and friendship. we thought about colours in this picture where we used warm colours to express the comfort in the picture. for example, the floor is brown whereas if it was white it would look cold and uncomfortable and wouldn't be a true reflection of the emotion.

this picture shows loneliness. we decided to make this picture black and white as most of the picture is dark and so it reflects the mood that we are trying to create. we also showed a lot of space around the girl to represent the fact that she has nobody to comfort her as she is alone.

Experimenting with light

 These are a few examples of the images I've taken whilst experimenting with lighting to create different shadows, and effects.

Preliminary Piece

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOsfj4vkgaI&feature=c4-overview&list=UUht5fxUjha19_XNfG0mi2EA

This is the piece that my group have worked on. during this process, we got used to experimenting with camera angles, storyboarding, editing and general filming. this was a good practice to prepare us for our Thriller piece.

Titles

we've recently been practicing with titles to help us with our preliminary piece.