Feedback from final title sequence : take 2

What words would you use to describe the visual style?

- Blood + gorey with photos - stalkery
- Photos were good but didnt get why he was a hobo
- Very bloody
- Titles a bit tacky
- CCTV effect really good
- location convincing

Highlight at least three things that you think are good about this thriller and two
areas for development or suggestions of how things could have been done differently.

- In time with music good
- CCTV shots good
- Music fitting editing
- Flashing confusing - effective
- I like the font
- Excessive repetition

How effectively edited is this thriller?

- well edited - music fitted with changes of shot transitions
- good titles
- Shots of the wall - going to the struggle on the chair is good, but gets a bit repetitive
- titles with bloodstains are very effective
- final title excellent
- quick cuts between shots at the end created tension and were in time with music
- The photos were excellent

Discuss the use of sound in this thriller, both diegetic and non-diegetic. What emotions does it invoke and how effective is it?

- music is dramatic/sort of mission style
- needed a bit of diegetic sound

Final Piece!!! :D

Final Cut Feedback

Did you like the sound, and did you think it fit with the sequence?
response:was ok, a bit more dramatic than footage, but fit well. Not really, you tried to make it too dramatic and trailery. Sound is interesting, love it. Music far too dramatic, didn't fit. Sky Sports News music good.

Our reply: We did not try to make it too dramatic or trailer like, it just turned out that way, and yes, sky sports music is good.

Can you identify a good use of props?
response:fake blood, chair, candle, yes yes all good. School car park. Photos good. Did you use any. No.

Our reply: yes we did

What is your favorite shot in the sequence?
response: CCTV, the bit where the dramatic sound starts, final title shot, credits.

our reply:thanks, credits are not really a shot

What would you improve?
response: get rid of white background on titles, make darker, make credits slower, they are too sudden, the whole ending, too repetitive, wall, face bit too repetitive, set should be more deserted, film somewhere else, man on chair is shown too much, splash don't look like blood.

our reply: if we had done the weapon thing, would not have been so repetitive, mainly used to make up the time, was deserted, only cars around, splash was water, we wern't exactly gonna cut ourselves you mug

How would you describe our visual style?
response:photoshop and splatter brushes, comic booky, splatter looks good and pro, a bit rubbish

our reply: how is it comic booky? a bit rubbish, you change it then

Although the music sounds like a trailer, what qualities does this bring to the piece?
adds to feeling of dread, drama, i don't think it sounds like a trailer

Editing

Yesterday we edited our clips to fit our jumpy music. This is because, before our music made our sequence seem more like a trailer as the clips were slow flowing and didn't show the viewer enough of a story line and more of just a plot. Our clips are now faster flowing to fit the music and they show the viewer a storyline of what is happening however also lay out the plot of the film.

Overall we were very pleased with the response we got give by our colleagues. However, due to our lack of props and simple set we do understand how some viewers may not quite understand our plot.

Editing- Most of our editing response was positive, however one group found it bit to slow, which is understandable as we have no sound but we did need our CCTV footage to be as long as it was or it would have been completely not understood.

Camerawork- all of our camera work was positive as the group wrote "the shots of the room were very depressing" this is good as it was the effect we wanted to give off.

Sound- we were given ideas for our sounds for example a chainsaw noise and noises that relate which we are thankful for.

Mise en scene - Again we got positive responses mostly, however we apparently had too much fake blood even though we thought we didn't have enough as the actor Alex street had had his head blown off.

Narrative- The group who analysed our narrative were rather harsh, but that group obviously didnt understand our opening.

Feedback on rough cut

Editing

• Good titles/introduction of characters
• use of transitions flow well- CCTV effective
• Pace a bit slow - content interesting, but faster pace would be benefiting

Camerawork

• CCTV bit is rather good
• the photos are good
• the shots of the room are depressing
• Pretty damn good

Sound

• Chainsaw noise would be good
• or like noises that like relate

Mise-en-scene

• Very hostel and saw like
• a lot of fake blood
• the CCTV footage was good
• nice red tinting
• The chainsaw and axe looked slightly tacky

Narrative

• No clear storyline
• Idea is good but could be expressed more to make more effective
• random footage f car park

Generic convention

• being watched/followed, blood, death, kidnaps, abstract
  

Action Plan for next for lessons

following our feedback, our main priority for editing is to shorten some of our clips and make the timing slightly better. we will be re-making the credit titles he made as planned. from a selection of music tracks we chose, we will decide on the 1 we will use and then we will cut it up into samples and rebuild it on garage band to how we want it.

First attempt at the images for our credits

here are 4 images to be used for the credits sequence in our thriller. they are only test images and will be re-made at a laer date before the final deadline. it is just to show what they could look like, e.g style and layout.

Pictures for the polaroids

Like the image already posted, i am going to edit some more pictures for use in our opening. I will use Photoshop and a range of brushes and techniques in order to create a real feel to the polaroids. Here are the images i will use.

Edited, test footage

This is the test footage that i took and then i edited it using lots of different effects...all effects are named.

Test footage

This is the original tester footage that i took. All at different angles. First half with normal light and second half with spotlight.

Polaroid Preview

I have made a test polaroid to show whatthe polaroids we use in our final peice may look like.

Shot List

Shots 1, 2,3 ,4
closeups of 4 different parts of the room the character is held in
1-low dark corner of the room
2-water dripping from ceiling
3-a leg of the chair character is on
4-door

shot 5
screen will flash and cut to alex in chair struggleing to free himself - 5secs

shot 6-7
close up of tied arms & feet

shot 8-9
medium shot of blood splattered up wall/ floor

P shot
10 polaroid will flash onto the screen. possibly alex preparing(heroine)

shot 11
close up of bag on head

P shot 12
polaroid flash onto screen. possibly alex injecting heroine

shot 13
flashes back to room/ door where dark character is standing. camera stays same position as character takes 2 steps into the room

P shot 14
polaroid of alex hitting someone in the head

shot 15
camera slowly moves from looking at the character over to the tray of weapons

P shot 16
polaroid of alex intimidating/ shouting at a cowering male (close up from behind alex's shoulder)

shot 17
close up panning shot along the weapons

P shot 18
polaroid of alex holding a knife

Shot 19
dark characters arm reaches and pick up a weapon, turns it over/ examines. puts down and picks up another, does the same thing, and then chooses his final weapon.

shot 20
close up again of alex with bag on his head ( screams and shouting intensify to highlight his final struggle)

shot 21 pans out to a medium shot, dark characters arm comes into the fram and pulls the bag from alexs head
finished

Teacher Feedback

Your blog is looking very good, it would benefit from clips of Hostel and Saw if these are films that you are greatly influenced by.
Your idea is very simple and I think it will be very effective. Your test footage shows promise and looks very effective. Make sure you blog it to illustrate the development of your ideas and your thriller's mise en scene.

Possible Props

these are examples of some possible props we will use in our sequence.

It should include...

All thriller opening must have:

- Title(s)

- Diegetic and non-diegetic sound

- A variety of shots

-Some of the generic conventions of a thriller
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Things to consider:

-Transitions

-Movement within the frame

-Feasibility - Health and Safety
- Technical aspects

Sound

We have not yet come up with the soundtrack for our sequence as we want to make sure it will fit in well with the sequence. We want it to to be quite mysterious and creepy, which is the atmosphere we are trying to create for our sequence, we will possibly use strings and some sort of beat, but we have not decided this yet.

Anamatic

This is our thriller anamatic.
It is our story bored in motion. It is only a rough guide to what we are going to do, and it will not end up turning out exactly the same.

Location Report

We thought of three possible places that we could use for our location, a classroom, the green room or the black room. Using a classroom could be good because there would be a lot of space, and we could make it quite dark and get a good atmosphere from it. However, there would be lots of other things in the classroom, that would need to be removed, which could take up a lot of time. The green room would be quite small but we could make it quite dark and it could provide a good atmosphere for our sequence. However, we decided we will use the black room because, even though it is quite small, we believe it would provide the best look and atmosphere that we want for our sequence.

Props + Costume Report 01

Props + Costume Report

in our opening sequence we need to create a dark and scary scene. props and costumes will have a big influence on this. we looked at props and costumes from other similar films. the first example is of an executioner in the film hostel >>>>>

we also found a range of props/ tools of torture from the film hostel>>>>>>


we will try and use similar costume for the killer in our sequence and also a similar varitey of props.

idea

We have a new idea, we thought that we should do a intro based on the films hostel and saw. Someone will be kidnapped in town down a alley and then it will go to a room where the victim has been abducted and is sitting tied up in a chair and then it will flash to a shot of a table with tools and weapons on it, then keeps going back to the victim. Maybe do the camera work as though its a cctv camera.

Student thriller analysis - Derilium Tremens

I thought this opening sequence was quite effective, the fact it was in black and white to set a mysterious tone and then when it cuts to the two men in the car and then the music comes in it suits the atmosphere. It manages to confuse the viewer as they are unaware as to what will happen next, and also to quite what is going on, but It keeps them intrigued, as they want to find out, why are they in the car? What do the flashbacks indicate? Where does the other man form the car go? All of this makes it an effective and suspenseful opening.

Ideas and thoughts

Ideas-
1) Abstract opening- no one acting in it, just the opening sequences made out of things. i.e the names written in a pool of blood.

2) Someone being murdered. at night, in a quiet street. no one else around.

3) Some friends out walking when some jumps out from hiding and tries to attack them, they have to try and escape, and then get hit by a car. Maybe....

4) Someone in a house on there own, its dark, they hear someone knock at th door but no one is there. they hear rattleing at the window, start to get worried and scared, they think they can see shawdows outside, dont no who it is tho. The go to pick up the phone but the line is down, and then all of a sudden the lights go out.

These are our first 4 ideas.

Idea 1 is probably the most practical idea as, it will be easy to do, and we might not have to go out of college to do it, a lot of it could be done on the computer, although it might be the most practical it might not be the best idea.

Idea 2 we will have to think hard about the setting, it will have to be chosen well, and a lot of thought will have to go into it. It will not be possible to do some of it in college.

Idea 3 will be quite hard to do, as it will have to be done in quite a specific location, it will also have to have be done in the right light to give the right atmosphere, dusk will probably be the best time. The idea of someone being hit by a car could be done where there is a shot of the car speeding along the road, and then a shot of the people running across the road, and then the sound of a crash and screems and then a shot of them lying in the road.

Idea 4 will be the hardest to do, as it will need to be done at someones house, we will first need to decide who's house to film it out. it needs to have quite a creepy feeling. it also is best to do it in the dark to give more suspense. Even though it may be the best idea, it will be the hardest to do. It will need a lot of thought going in to it. The sequence in this idea will need to be at a fast tempo to make it look effective, this will be good as it will signify the victims heart beating fast because they are so scared.

Studen Thriller Analysis - David

Comprehensive analysis of a student thriller opening sequence

Surface - 2007

surface is a very good opening sequence for a thriller. it successfully builds suspense and confuses the viewer. when watching you do not know what is going to happen next. you can see their is some sort of hostage being taken or torture happening.

the music has been carefully chosen to create a dark tone and to try and scare the viewer. it also uses screaming noises to show what the women is going through and to show she is being hurt or is scared. the flashing images and distorted footage further creates confusion to the whole sequence.

Silence of the lambs

Suspense- AT the beginning of the opening sequence the camera view is set to the tops of a forest. This brings suspense as the viewer doesn't know what is below the camera. As well as this the music is ere and gives a sense of hostility to the sequence. The title sequences are very simple and flash on and off. This doesn't create much suspense at all.

Mystery- With the area that the sequence is set in there is alot of mystery as there is fog and only trees set in the middle of nothing, as much that the eye can see. The music most definatly gives the the sequence a sense of mystery as it uses stringed and wind instruments with no verse or corus to it only a repetative sequence going over and over.

Twists- there is only one twist at the end of the introduction where the leading role sees gory newpaper reelsin her bosses office.

Confusion- With the music and setting it is quite ere however suddenly a lady running in tracksuit through an assault course.

Face/off analysis

The sequence starts off happily, with the father and child enjoying the carousel, and the viewer is given a false sense of security and happiness, the atmosphere changes when the other character comes into view, and then the shots is fired and the child killed. It sets the tone of the film, that it will be violent and that it could be a key part to the story of the film. When it switches back to the normal time of the film, the viewer will be confused, as they see the murderer in a church dressed as a priest, and even further so as he has what appears to be some sort of dangerous weapon. Overall, it is a very good opening, as it sets the tone of the film well, and excites the viewer, making them want to find out what will happen.

Real Thriller Opening - David

Comprehensive analysis of real thriller opening sequence - David Weaver


The Island

the opening sequence to The Island at first is confusing. It shows the dream of a man. The dream is of him and a women on a boat in a nice place with bright sun. he reaches out to hold the women's hand and then he is dragged into the water by what looks to be some sort of human monsters. he is then told "you have been chosen, the island awaits you". after this he wakes form his dream in an immaculate, modern, clean white room in a bed. there are LED displays around sending him messages which shows it is fairly high tech. he realises he has a shoe missing which disturbs him a lot. this shows some sort of flaw within the male. he then leaves the room and walks down a corridor with other men which seem to be in the same position as him wearing the same thing.

this opening sequence at first catches the viewers attention and draws them into watching more. the confusion caused by the dream builds suspense.

there is music playing at the beginning of the dream. this music could be described as heavenly with orchestral string instrumentals and soft choir vocals. it makes the reader feel as if the man is dreaming about getting away and having a better life and when the twist occurs it shows that at the present moment in time he may be finding it hard to do this. the credits playing throughout the opening sequence are seamless and unnoticeable. this makes the viewer focus on what else is happening within the sequence.

Real thriller opening sequence - Insomnia

Insomnia- at the start of the titles it is just a white screen with some names on it.


It then goes into scenes of a mountain, which does not give any indication of what genre of film it is.


The music is very slow and low toned, which gives the feeling that it is going to be a dark film. It has not really got any beat to it at all. The opening sequence is really strange, that goes well with the title of the film 'Insomnia'. You do eventually get an idea of the genre at the end of the titles when you see blood on a bandage.


The wholw clip send out out a message of mystery and confusion.

Welcome