Final Requirements for the Thriller

Our main aim is to actually film the villain uploading a video of the hostage onto a site called:

www. vimeo.com

which is a real blogging website. This will make it seem more thrilling and raise more questions without making it very obvious. 

To do this we have shot a video that would be something that the hostage has supposedly shot of the hostage. 

We are further planning to  edit the shot by putting it in black and white- with a record sign to make it look from the hostages point of view. Also, this will seem very effective and raise even more questions- which is one of the main conventions of a thriller.       

 

today we were filming in the basement of the college candi. we made sure that Jen was wearing the same clothing as she was the last filming date. this help show continuity. we also made sure that we had brought in lighting for the shoots because in a previous shoot the lighting was very dim. we made sure that we brought an extra  cam-corder for prop. 

for the props we brought in a gun, camcorder and lights. 

we feel that we have finshed filming but will start editing to check if there was any shot that we could include to make our work to its perfection.

Second Day of Filming

Today, we filmed the final part to the thriller. It was successful as we did many shots including close ups, over shoulder shots, extra close ups and other various shots. It was tiring but fun. 

The short part we filmed on Wednesday was not as successful as today. This is because, we didn't have enough time and the lighting wasn't very good.  However on camera, the lighting seemed fine but when uploaded onto the computer- it was too dark to see. At another time, we will be filming the  same shots again but with better lighting. 

Personally, the hardest type of shot to put together is the 'match cut' shot. This is because you have to get the actors repeat the same thing many times (depending on the match cut you want) and it may make the actor feel bored or less enthusiastic. I can now understand that in real life it is very difficult and time consuming to put together such things and that I now appreciate the amount of effort and time that goes into  filming and producing.  

Also, we reminded Jen to wear the same clothes she had on before - this is to represent continuity. 

Overall today has been successful. I managed to put our current shots on the hard drive and save it for now and this is where I saw other shots which weren't so successful. 

 

Our group's aim is to now re-shoot the shots to actually complete the filming process of the thriller. Next lesson we will carry on filming the last of the thriller. 

First Day Of Filming

Today we started filming for our thriller. We used the college basment with was quite dark and things were stacked away which made the mise en scene look like an isolated place. It could have been more effective if things weren't in the basement but it is impossible to be able to remove them just to film.

Today we did interesting panning shots of the villain and close up and lots of shots of the hostage. Myself and Eman have taken the camerawork role as, Jen and Michael are acting.

The most interesting type of shot which was suggested by Jen was to have her in the frame but make it in and out of focus. By doing this, I can already see its creativity and will look really good once editted.

We did ECU's of Jen's feet hands and a close up of her face. We now need to get many more shots in and we need to include a 'flashback' of when the villan actually kidnapps the hostage.

We have used the props of a gun, a chair and a chain of loose metal to put around the hostage's feet.

I am quite pleased with what we filmed today and I'm sure things will progress by Friday.

just after finalising the idea for the thriller we started filming for the the thriller. the plot is basically a young girl is being held hostage and the villan is filming his hoastage. eventaully the the villan decides to upload his video of the hostage and expose her.

so far we have started shooting footages of jenny being held hostage with various types of shot angles.and plan to continue filming footage in our own  tine

FINAL PLANS FOR THRILLER

Myself, Jen and Eman discussed final plans for our thriller. As Jen wrote down shots that can be used, today, I finalised these ideas.

Finalised Idea For Thriller
Plot: A girl is being held hostage and the villain is filming his hostage. She is frightened and does not know what will happen to her. The villain then goes on to a computer and uploads his video of the hostage onto a website…

(locations/props/characters needed: basement, computer (room) hostage and villan, video camera for the villan and a CD, and a fake website)

Types of shots needed:

1. Location of the hostage being kept there tied to a chair or sitting on the ground.


2. FAST OCCURING SHOTS of hostage looking around, hostage feeling isolated, hostage struggling- trying to escape.


3. Hostage then stops looks frightened.


4. Shot of villains back walking towards the hostage. (Match cut) of villain walking.


5. Picks up a video camera.


6. Hostage looks confused/unaware of situation.


7. Presses the record button.


8. Hostage is being filmed by the villain- hostage becomes even more scared.


9. Goes into flashback of: the villain tying her up, kicking her, shouting at her, hostage crying and also screaming. (sepia or black and white)


10. Villain walks to a computer


11. Goes onto a website


12. Uploads video.


13. Shows upload complete sign (final shot)


The group will start filming as soon as a ideal location is found.

Thriller plans (nearly finalised)

In today's lesson, we discussed further plans for our actual thriller. Howvere we had many difficulties as the plans we had come up with, was too complicated to film for a two minute opening scene. One member of our group was missing (Micheal) so me, Jen and Eman were left to make final decisions about what should be taken out improved and put in.

After break, we presented our ideas- gave a 'pitch' to the class. However our teacher Anabell believed that our idea wouldn't work so well. After trying to discuss what we could improve, we didn't come up with a solid plan. We thought that our plot should involve:

2 Spy's and one hostage who had links with the 'government'
The villan was meant to keep this person hostage until they had got what they wanted from the government.

We noticed that our idea was too complicated therefore did not go ahead with what we had planned.

For advice Mickey then came along. He suggested that we should have a less complicated idea and that we can do something that could stick with our hostage idea.

So our final decision for today was:

The villan will hold somebody hostage and he will film his hostage. He will film it in such a way that the hostage becomes frightened because she does not know the consequences. However we will have an interesting shot of the villan using a camera and we will in our own sequence have a part of the 'villans' filming.

During the sequence there will be black and white constant flashbacks:
- Tying her up
- Attacking her
- Shouting at her.
- Hostage screaming

But then after you will see the villan go to his computer and go on a website. He will then post a video of the hostage online.

The very final shot will include the hostage and a phone dangling down. This will be shown from a very low angle, possibly from knees down...

Thriller Plans 2

In today's lesson, my group and I discussed further plans for our media thriller. Firstly we have decided that there will be:

CHARACTERS:
2 Spy's (links with government)
1 hostage (links with government)
1 villan (steals confidential information from government)

POSSIBLE LOCATIONS:
For the hostage and villan scene, we were thinking an low roof basment- totally empty and character is left hostage there.
Outside at night-spy's being followed by an unidentified character [this creates mystery and raises questions].
Shots from inside a building.
Governments office- dark computer room.

Finalised ideas will be blogged by Friday.

Practice Thriller

Here is our finished practice thriller-

Starring Jennifer and Eman

Camera work by: Elif & Micheal 

Further Ideas For Thriller

I have thought about further ideas for the thriller.
There will be 2 government spy's trying to take violent action against a terrorist- and there could be another character possibly held hostage.

Yet again, these are not finalised decisions, I have just made an idea and will share with my group accordingly.

Thriller Plans

Me and Eman have come up with some ideas for the actual thriller. We were thinking more of a spy thriller rather than a scary one.

We haven't finalized our plot yet- but we a have a general idea of what type of characters we would like to include in the thriller. We had discussed there being two spy's and one villan. The villan will be doing something and spy's will follow the villan.

We will need to discuss with the other two members of our group about further plans and whether they agree about the current ideas.

Practice Thriller

Today we filmed out practice thriller. Our group managed to use a spare room to film the sequence.

We experimented with many different shots including the match cut. We did a match cut of Jen walking and then another match cut of her closing the door- from in and outside the room. I noticed that this 'match cut' makes the sequence interesting.

We did not manage to finish editing today- however the group have decided to spend workshop time in the editing suite. During this time- we can improve and finish off our sequence. Our group will be starting to discuss ideas for the actual thriller that's coming.

Match Cuts

Thursday 15 January 2009

In Wednesday's lesson- we looked at how match cuts can be used. It was very interesting to see that match cuts are used so smoothly in a film that it is hardly noticed. However, it is very effective of showing how one thing can be expressed from two different camera angles/ point of view.

In our groups, in order to practice for the actual thriller, we planned our short trial of a thriller. We were given a plot already and as a group decided how the camera angles and most importantly, how a match cut will be used in our trial thriller.

I think this will be very useful for our coming thriller as it will help it make it look more interesting.

Film Openings

9th January 2009

In today's lesson, we looked at a documentary explaining film openings. We also watched examples of some students work in the college.

By watching this documentary and according to Jean Jacques Beineix he stated that starting an opening of a film as too major or strongly- may destroy the rest of the film. This is called instant arousal.

A good beginning cannot reveal too much and in a thriller case should possibly confuse the viewer or make them mentally raise questions.

One example of a good film opening is 'Seven' by Kyle Cooper. It find this good because there is no dialouge included, just a small pan and then quick close ups. This sudden close up from the slow pan can possibly represent the pace of the situation and can suggest that so many things are to happen that the viewer is unaware of. So the opening almost hints that there will be surprises soon after.

Some openings want to give the idea away- an example of who tried this was 'A Touch of Evil' BY Orson Welles.

Openings can also create suspense. An example of this is from 'The Shining'. In this film, there is a camera which is moving along as it drives up empty hills/mountains. The music helps create suspense but also the fact that the camera is fixed on such small car and uses extreme long shots there is an indication of danger or some sort of problem.

The main features which will make a good film opening is:
- Surprise the audience
- Give quite little information/hints as to what is going to happen
-Use music instead of dialouge