hey guys. Ollie here, reporting from the apple store in Sheffield. i seem to do all my posts from random locations.
i watched terminator salvation last night and although it is an action film and not strictly a thriller film i still felt that it contained some useful aspects that maybe we could incorporate into our coursework...special effects permitting. namely the combination of music and suspense at certain points to draw the viewer in. because thriller is such a broad genre that includes many contrasting themes and convections i think that it could be an idea to take positive aspects from all appropriate/similar genres in order to gain a wider understanding of the genre on the whole.
just a thought for the time being,
Also...nobody (including myself) has posted anything over christmas...Chris..Nikki if your reading this we need more stuff up here..granted its christmas but i don't want to fall behind. All three of us have been slacking...oh and chris...I love you..
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Sound ideas.
Hey guys! Ollie posting here from the UN Delegation hall
we're on a break from the debates right now which has given me a chance to think about the dynamics of sound within the genre of a thriller.
For the most part there is usually modernistic style music that is used to give energy to the film
this is almost always non-diagetic.
however when aspects of horror merge with the thriller genre (e.g. 2nd scene of se7en) then the modernistic music is often substituted for much creepier music. e.g. classical violins.
As far as diagetic sound goes this could be anything from police sirens to smashing glass etc.
Because we cannot include copyrighted music without the consent of it's author i tried experimenting with possibilities on my kaossilator (pocket synth). It provided some pretty interesting sounds that i will run by Nikki and Chris when i return from Geneva.
Ollie out.
(p.s. Iceland rules...)
we're on a break from the debates right now which has given me a chance to think about the dynamics of sound within the genre of a thriller.
For the most part there is usually modernistic style music that is used to give energy to the film
this is almost always non-diagetic.
however when aspects of horror merge with the thriller genre (e.g. 2nd scene of se7en) then the modernistic music is often substituted for much creepier music. e.g. classical violins.
As far as diagetic sound goes this could be anything from police sirens to smashing glass etc.
Because we cannot include copyrighted music without the consent of it's author i tried experimenting with possibilities on my kaossilator (pocket synth). It provided some pretty interesting sounds that i will run by Nikki and Chris when i return from Geneva.
Ollie out.
(p.s. Iceland rules...)
Monday, 14 December 2009
Location scouting
Me and Nikki google mapped our respective areas and couldn't think of any suitable areas for potential filming .
However we haven't decided on what we are going to do for our opening, so we don't really know what we're looking for.
Once Ollie has returned to us we can discuss our ideas and come up with something so that we can check out some locations properly.
So no concrete decisions on location yet, but we should have some ideas after Ollie returns :)
However we haven't decided on what we are going to do for our opening, so we don't really know what we're looking for.
Once Ollie has returned to us we can discuss our ideas and come up with something so that we can check out some locations properly.
So no concrete decisions on location yet, but we should have some ideas after Ollie returns :)
Conventions of a thriller
Chris and Nikki in media :)
Missing ollie great amounts and his input, but the show must go on
Most thrillers play on the ideas of voyeurism, which is the idea of watching, or being watched.
Most openings of thrillers utilize dark, dim lit interiors, also playing on the idea of building suspense
The sound tends to be quite eerie, dramatic, high pitched, suspense building
There is little if any dialogue but they often use sounds over the top of the music like a metronome in se7en, or related sounds like a shutter of a camera in one hour photo
The editing involves a lot of cross cutting in shots so as to build tension and keep the viewer on edge, because you're being overwhelmed by perspectives
Some thrillers like to use flashbacks as an opening scene, and cross cutting from happy scenes to sad, intending to throw the viewer
Quite often the main plot of a thriller is involving murder, so they use a key event such as a death to set the movie in motion, and it is often the person you would least suspect
They go for the psychological impact and sometimes focuses on why and how, as opposed to finding out who the killer is, if we know from the start.
Missing ollie great amounts and his input, but the show must go on
Most thrillers play on the ideas of voyeurism, which is the idea of watching, or being watched.
Most openings of thrillers utilize dark, dim lit interiors, also playing on the idea of building suspense
The sound tends to be quite eerie, dramatic, high pitched, suspense building
There is little if any dialogue but they often use sounds over the top of the music like a metronome in se7en, or related sounds like a shutter of a camera in one hour photo
The editing involves a lot of cross cutting in shots so as to build tension and keep the viewer on edge, because you're being overwhelmed by perspectives
Some thrillers like to use flashbacks as an opening scene, and cross cutting from happy scenes to sad, intending to throw the viewer
Quite often the main plot of a thriller is involving murder, so they use a key event such as a death to set the movie in motion, and it is often the person you would least suspect
They go for the psychological impact and sometimes focuses on why and how, as opposed to finding out who the killer is, if we know from the start.
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Se7en Title Sequence
Its Nikki Again
Ollie analysed Se7en earlier but i wanted to just show this clip its the title sequence for Se7en and as we have to create the title sequence an the first few minutes of a thriller i thought it was pretty vital to analyse this bit aswell.
i think this is one of the best title sequences ive seen so far all the camera angles are closeups of the books and photos and the hands we dont know who's doing this or what exactly there doing but it all looks rather sinister the music an sound that goes along with it really sets the mood it has a simple rymthm but has creepy noises over the top almost like some thing creaking or maybe a typewritter type sound its all quite erie and makes you wonder what exactly there doing.
it flicks between lots of different things in a short amount of time it starts with a book and then you see whoever it is developing photos sticking things down sewing up the edge of the pages it uses limited colours that are all quite darks like blacks and red wich make it seem quite dark i paticularly like this begining however i cant write much more now ill come back to it later
Ollie analysed Se7en earlier but i wanted to just show this clip its the title sequence for Se7en and as we have to create the title sequence an the first few minutes of a thriller i thought it was pretty vital to analyse this bit aswell.
i think this is one of the best title sequences ive seen so far all the camera angles are closeups of the books and photos and the hands we dont know who's doing this or what exactly there doing but it all looks rather sinister the music an sound that goes along with it really sets the mood it has a simple rymthm but has creepy noises over the top almost like some thing creaking or maybe a typewritter type sound its all quite erie and makes you wonder what exactly there doing.
it flicks between lots of different things in a short amount of time it starts with a book and then you see whoever it is developing photos sticking things down sewing up the edge of the pages it uses limited colours that are all quite darks like blacks and red wich make it seem quite dark i paticularly like this begining however i cant write much more now ill come back to it later
Hey Guys its Nikki
i had a few ideas of things we could incorporate into our intro i watched a film called Unknown (i dont know if you heard of it but its not that bad)its a thriller about these 4-5 guys who wake up in a warehouse and 2 of them are kidnappers the others are hostages, but they dont remember who is who as the were all knocked out by this gas.
In the begining theres a bit which i paticularly liked where the camera goes through the warehouse showing different rooms and setting the scene but it follows the pipes through the walls from one room to another untill it gets to the main room where the men are all unconcious. ones tied to a chair another laying next to a bloody shovel one handcuffed over the rails and another just laying there and this gave me the idea for the setup being inside some form of building or house going from room to room but you see it through the key holes of the doors. everything would seem normal theres 2 people in the house one just carrying on with everyday life completly normal and then in the last room you'd just see the other person lying there dead.
However after reading chris idea i think thats pretty cool aswell it creates suspense and leaves the audience with unanswered question and if we did it right it would make people carry on watching to find out what happens :)
i had a few ideas of things we could incorporate into our intro i watched a film called Unknown (i dont know if you heard of it but its not that bad)its a thriller about these 4-5 guys who wake up in a warehouse and 2 of them are kidnappers the others are hostages, but they dont remember who is who as the were all knocked out by this gas.
In the begining theres a bit which i paticularly liked where the camera goes through the warehouse showing different rooms and setting the scene but it follows the pipes through the walls from one room to another untill it gets to the main room where the men are all unconcious. ones tied to a chair another laying next to a bloody shovel one handcuffed over the rails and another just laying there and this gave me the idea for the setup being inside some form of building or house going from room to room but you see it through the key holes of the doors. everything would seem normal theres 2 people in the house one just carrying on with everyday life completly normal and then in the last room you'd just see the other person lying there dead.
However after reading chris idea i think thats pretty cool aswell it creates suspense and leaves the audience with unanswered question and if we did it right it would make people carry on watching to find out what happens :)
Architectural ideas.
Ollie here posting from Geneva :D wow talk about commitment
the architecture here is fairly inspirational. we visited a gothic/roman styled castle today and although we can't shoot our intro all the way over here in Geneva i still managed to come up with a bunch of idea's. yeah cant talk for long, will get some more content up shortly though, maybe even some pictures so everyone can see what i mean :D.
the architecture here is fairly inspirational. we visited a gothic/roman styled castle today and although we can't shoot our intro all the way over here in Geneva i still managed to come up with a bunch of idea's. yeah cant talk for long, will get some more content up shortly though, maybe even some pictures so everyone can see what i mean :D.
Friday, 11 December 2009
Musings
I'm off to Geneva tommorrow so this may be my last post for 5 days
if anyone's wondering; Geneva is in Switzerland (see the map I painstakingly labelled on paint below). Oh and Chris I found that Tag gadget you were after :D. I doubt i'll be able to contribute much from Geneva. Repping Iceland.
However maybe my host family will show me the courtesey of the use of they're computer. Time will tell. I think that in order for our introduction to be a success it will need to incoorporate some mystery, suspense, action, and possibly to a lesser extent horror (although this could be to build suspense). these conventions should combine and overlap in some way through the use of Camera, Editing, Mise En Scene and Sound. If we can pull it off and expand on this outline I think we can create a good piece of coursework.
if anyone's wondering; Geneva is in Switzerland (see the map I painstakingly labelled on paint below). Oh and Chris I found that Tag gadget you were after :D. I doubt i'll be able to contribute much from Geneva. Repping Iceland.
However maybe my host family will show me the courtesey of the use of they're computer. Time will tell. I think that in order for our introduction to be a success it will need to incoorporate some mystery, suspense, action, and possibly to a lesser extent horror (although this could be to build suspense). these conventions should combine and overlap in some way through the use of Camera, Editing, Mise En Scene and Sound. If we can pull it off and expand on this outline I think we can create a good piece of coursework.
Analysis of Silence of the lambs in comparison to one hour photo Cont.
Chris and Ollie here. Personally I (chris) enjoyed the one hour photo opening sequence more than the Silence of the lambs because I found the opening had far more impact than the silence. There was a lot more suspense build-up in one hour photo, and it felt alot more immersive. Whereas the silence of the lambs was more blunt, and i felt that the opening sequence repelled the viewer rather than drawing them in. This was mainly because of the obscuring nature of the titles, which broke the immersion for me personally.
I (ollie) thought that the main difference between the opening sequences of one hour photo and the silence of the lambs was that one hour photo's intention is to create an air of suspense and mystery whilst relating to the theme of the movie by having the producers and actors names slide-wipe across the screen as if they were photo negatives. whereas silence of the lambs is jumping straight into the movie with the clip of the women running the assault course. however i feel this is not nearly as effective as one our photo because the whole clip is stifled by the names of the producers and actors in large bold font. this takes up much of the screen and does not immerse the viewer in the movie.
Analysis of Silence of the lambs in comparison to one hour photo
The title sequences contrast greatly, Silence of the lambs take a bold, stand-out approach, with the titles in the centre of the screen in bold text that does its job but doesn't relate to the context. Whilst one hour photo takes a subtle blank screen approach, with the titles flashing across the screen like a photo negative, therefore relating back to the theme of photo capturing. Nikki personally preferred one hour photo because she thought "it created more suspense as there were long pauses and lots of questions raised. It created contrast as the first shot its a very white clean sterile environment and then its that kids birthday party and there is lots of colour. Whereas in silence of the lambs its quite plain with the girl running the obstacle course and big blocky writing blocking the shot". Chris and Ollie's thoughts will be posted soon.
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Personal musings
One idea that i've had so far for the opening is, Ollie smoking a cigarette, waiting down a secluded area (The crote for example) then switch to me asking someone (out of shot)where Nikki (fake name for film purposes?) is, and being told she'd gone for a walk (maybe before this build up a profile for Nikki, such as she is under police protection), then i run to the 'secluded area to catch Nikki' to find her dead and no sign of Ollie, whom the audience knows about, but I don't and ending there. I think this would be effective as it would be a different approach to the well milked stalker following someone, and also create an air of mystery about the identity of Ollie right from the start, whilst setting the story with Nikki's death and my obvious worry for her.
Shot ideas and Editing ideas
Whilst watching this clip from Se7en i saw many interesting shot types. To begin with i think the shakey tracking handheld shot is particularly effective given the context.Also the use of a worm-eye shot on John Doe (kevin Spacey) was particularly effective when combined with the Sound to give the character an ominous aura. The Clip also contains uses of profile shots during heated dialogue to good effect with constant Cross-cutting to the character who is talking at that particular moment. I also noticed that at the point when David (Brad Pitt) decides to shoot John Doe there is an image flash of Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow) Which only lasts a split second but effectively conveys Mills Last thought before he shoots. The camera then cuts to The gun being fired and then cuts to a long shot of all three characters with a flash of red coming from John Doe's head as he slumps on the floor. this allows the movie to conform to the "thriller" genre by not revealing excessive gore but still including significant drama. Another interesting feature is the use of a Filter on the camera in the POV shot of the helicopter sniper at the end of the clip. i think that this is an intuitive use of editing technique and a relatively simple method.
Shot ideas
Whilst watching series 3 of skins i noticed a very effective camera shot, that was following one of the main characters, but filming her through some flames. This was effective because it blurred the character in the background and it appears more interesting than the same shot without the fire. I intend to utilise this in our piece at some stage. At the moment the video clip of the scene i wanted to embed is unbeddable as requested by the uploader, so i will try again at home and upload the scene myself. Expect a visual reference soon :)
Greetings and salutations
Hello :)
We are Group Jupiter aka Groupiter, and welcome to our AS media blog :)
Keep an eye out for updates as we will be posting constantly
Love from Chris, Ollie, and Nikki
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