ollie here
The opening of the thriller will see the main character climbing out of a ditch in the twilight. He throws up a dirty and bloody shovel before ascending out himself. we then see the character filling the ditch in and casually turning away with his ipod headphones in, he begins to walk toward the camera with the noise of his ipod's music growing ever louder. He continues his walk toward the camera and up the road until his image fills the screen. The camera then cuts to the view of garage doors. the camera begins moving towards them and then proceeding through the house in a POV shot. as the character visits the different rooms, the names of actors and production titles appear on houshould objects such as newspapers. all the while strange images and cult symbols are flashing on screen for split seconds. The character then visits a small room with a bible resting open on a piano, one of the symbols that had previously flashed on screen has been etched onto the paper. the character then proceeds to enter a room and stare at a mirror, when he leaves the room his reflection stays behind in the mirror eerily looking on with a depressed expression. The character leaves to go up the stair, the camera doesn't follow him, instead time speeds up showing the light of dawn and morning creeping in. The character then leaves the house but it is not revealed where he is going and what his intentions are.
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Technique idea
ollie here
Whilst in class the other day me and chris were discussing different techniques available to us in final cut express. we used some of our time to learn how to pull off some key techniques on the editing programe such key frames and how to slow down specific times in the scenes. One idea we had was to use a "mirror Clone" technique as outlined in the diagram below
the basic premis of this idea is to take two separate shots of chris walking into the room (my living room) from the angle depicted in the image. the first shot will have him standing infront of the mirror looking sad or upset. the second shot will have him walking into the room and then leaving. we will then split screen the clip but take half of each shot so that it looks like a single shot and no-one will be able to tell that a split-screen in occurring. this will give the effect that chris is leaving his reflection behind when he leaves the room. giving connotations of a deeper meaning behind the shot.
thats all for now, but this is good progress.
Whilst in class the other day me and chris were discussing different techniques available to us in final cut express. we used some of our time to learn how to pull off some key techniques on the editing programe such key frames and how to slow down specific times in the scenes. One idea we had was to use a "mirror Clone" technique as outlined in the diagram below
the basic premis of this idea is to take two separate shots of chris walking into the room (my living room) from the angle depicted in the image. the first shot will have him standing infront of the mirror looking sad or upset. the second shot will have him walking into the room and then leaving. we will then split screen the clip but take half of each shot so that it looks like a single shot and no-one will be able to tell that a split-screen in occurring. this will give the effect that chris is leaving his reflection behind when he leaves the room. giving connotations of a deeper meaning behind the shot.
thats all for now, but this is good progress.
Friday, 29 January 2010
Sound plan
We currently have a various selection of eerie music. Our music range is:
The taste of regret by In Fear and Faith
Travis Bickle by Emmure
Kiss and Control by AFI
and a reserve track, Broken Statues by We Came As Romans
We are currently unsure of where to use each piece of music, however we will try out each song in the different scenes, as they would all work, and we want to find out which one would work best. However we are definitely using Travis Bickle at the beginning of scene one, the rest will be trial and error. We have permission from the authors.
Also recording of sound will not be an issue, as we have no dialogue, and the tracks will go over everything, although we may use some diegetic sound during the tile sequence, and possibly some during the ditch scene (unless we choose to use/do something else, we will update the blog).
The taste of regret by In Fear and Faith
Travis Bickle by Emmure
Kiss and Control by AFI
and a reserve track, Broken Statues by We Came As Romans
We are currently unsure of where to use each piece of music, however we will try out each song in the different scenes, as they would all work, and we want to find out which one would work best. However we are definitely using Travis Bickle at the beginning of scene one, the rest will be trial and error. We have permission from the authors.
Also recording of sound will not be an issue, as we have no dialogue, and the tracks will go over everything, although we may use some diegetic sound during the tile sequence, and possibly some during the ditch scene (unless we choose to use/do something else, we will update the blog).
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Costume ideas
I've had several ideas for costumes however as we only have one character in the opening of our thriller movie it has proved difficult to really branch out with different ideas. Because there is an heir of mystery about the main character that chris is portraying i feel that for the first scene in the ditch he should be wearing a black hoodie with the hood up to hide some of his features and some dark trousers. this will emphasize the fact that this scene is very sinister. Also stereotypically in today's society hooded figures are seen as threatening by many people and have connotations of crime and violence just because it hides the wearers identity. The clothes should all be black/dark as this is typically assosciated with evil and sadness which is the mood and tone we are trying to set in this scene.
Just an idea but i thought it needed to be included.
Just an idea but i thought it needed to be included.
Props List
these are the props we will be using in our thriller opening. I will update this if we have any late additions.
-Shovel
-Bible
-headphones
-ipod
-candles
I feel positive that this is all of the props we have discussed, but feel free to update this if i have missed anything out Chris & Nikki :D
-Shovel
-Bible
-headphones
-ipod
-candles
I feel positive that this is all of the props we have discussed, but feel free to update this if i have missed anything out Chris & Nikki :D
Group meeting 26/1/10
Ollie here.
We have a video Recording of our last group meeting! .The idea was to film one of our group meetings and upload it to the blog. this shows an understanding of the technology and is also something that no other groups (to my knowldege) have done yet. I also decided to film one of our group meetings because it seemed intuitive and would allow us to review how we work as a group in order to improve and become more efficient and productive as a group. this would be an invaluable tool if we were to continue doing it. sadly nikki is not in shot because of the positioning of the camera but im sure the audio quality will allow you to hear her input.
We have a video Recording of our last group meeting! .The idea was to film one of our group meetings and upload it to the blog. this shows an understanding of the technology and is also something that no other groups (to my knowldege) have done yet. I also decided to film one of our group meetings because it seemed intuitive and would allow us to review how we work as a group in order to improve and become more efficient and productive as a group. this would be an invaluable tool if we were to continue doing it. sadly nikki is not in shot because of the positioning of the camera but im sure the audio quality will allow you to hear her input.
Today
We made some good storyboard progress on the title sequence, Ollie's done a risk assessment, and Nikki is re-drafting the title sequence storyboard. Without anything to do to contribute, i decided to spend the past hour getting to grip with the basic of final cut express, by watching a youtube playlists of tutorials, and i found some very interesting stuff. I've found out how to seed up and slow down a shot/video, which is what we needed for our title sequence, so thats good, and i also found a few other things we could make use of, such as some downloadable effects, for instance a rain effect, which would save the hassle of filming in the rain if we chose to. We have another meeting tomorrow i believe, so expect more to be coming along soon.
Risk Assessment
Ollie Here
As we have all of our locations planned and pretty much finalised i think this would be a good time to write a risk assessment.
Scene One
In scene one we have chris in a ditch to begin with, this could be potentially hazardous in case one of us, or the camera, were to fall in without climbing in carefully, in order to make this as safe as possible we will use a particular area that is not too steep so that when chris is climbing in and out he will be at minimal danger of hurting himself. In order for us to film the worm-eye view shot from inside the ditch i think that only one of us should be operating the camera, i.e so that a minimum of two people are in the ditch at any one time, this will leave one person on hand to help out at all times. Besides the ditch there is not much else that could be a health hazard, obviously we will all be bringing our mobile phones in case we need to call for help. We will be filming alongside a road for about 30 seconds worth of film, however this will not be too risky as we will be keeping an eye on the road as anyone would on a daily basis.
Scene Two
This will probably be the least potentially dangerous of all scenes, only one person is needed at any time throughout the scene as it is all to be done via a POV shot with no characters appearing on-screen. However filming for this scene will not be taking place in one single location, we are planning on doing a very small bit of filming by a lake in Dunmow, but this will take place more than 20ft from any actual water so the risk of one of us falling in is minute. My garage is being used for part of the filming, there is alot of mess in my garage so we need to be careful with the camera and that we do not trip over.
Props, weather, other
Outside of scenes our only potential danger is weather, however this is only really a danger to the camera which we can cover in a coat if need be. If it happens to rain during filming of the ditch scene then we will make sure to be out of it before there is a risk of the slopes becoming too slippery to climb out of. We maybe using floodlights for some scenes however we are not completely sure if we are logistically able to transport them to the locations and if we can even get a power supply to where we will be. If they are used then we just have to be responsible when using them. As far as props go for the scenes, we were thinking of using a candle as lighting for one part of Scene two, obviously fire carries its own risks but if we are responsible i'm sure we will come to no harm. In Scene one we are using a spade as a prop, I dont think there are many risks from using it but as it is being used during the ditch part, we should be careful not to leave it lying around in case one of us trips on it and hurts themselves, or even falls into the ditch as a result of tripping on it.
okay that should just about cover all risks, until next time blog :D.
As we have all of our locations planned and pretty much finalised i think this would be a good time to write a risk assessment.
Scene One
In scene one we have chris in a ditch to begin with, this could be potentially hazardous in case one of us, or the camera, were to fall in without climbing in carefully, in order to make this as safe as possible we will use a particular area that is not too steep so that when chris is climbing in and out he will be at minimal danger of hurting himself. In order for us to film the worm-eye view shot from inside the ditch i think that only one of us should be operating the camera, i.e so that a minimum of two people are in the ditch at any one time, this will leave one person on hand to help out at all times. Besides the ditch there is not much else that could be a health hazard, obviously we will all be bringing our mobile phones in case we need to call for help. We will be filming alongside a road for about 30 seconds worth of film, however this will not be too risky as we will be keeping an eye on the road as anyone would on a daily basis.
Scene Two
This will probably be the least potentially dangerous of all scenes, only one person is needed at any time throughout the scene as it is all to be done via a POV shot with no characters appearing on-screen. However filming for this scene will not be taking place in one single location, we are planning on doing a very small bit of filming by a lake in Dunmow, but this will take place more than 20ft from any actual water so the risk of one of us falling in is minute. My garage is being used for part of the filming, there is alot of mess in my garage so we need to be careful with the camera and that we do not trip over.
Props, weather, other
Outside of scenes our only potential danger is weather, however this is only really a danger to the camera which we can cover in a coat if need be. If it happens to rain during filming of the ditch scene then we will make sure to be out of it before there is a risk of the slopes becoming too slippery to climb out of. We maybe using floodlights for some scenes however we are not completely sure if we are logistically able to transport them to the locations and if we can even get a power supply to where we will be. If they are used then we just have to be responsible when using them. As far as props go for the scenes, we were thinking of using a candle as lighting for one part of Scene two, obviously fire carries its own risks but if we are responsible i'm sure we will come to no harm. In Scene one we are using a spade as a prop, I dont think there are many risks from using it but as it is being used during the ditch part, we should be careful not to leave it lying around in case one of us trips on it and hurts themselves, or even falls into the ditch as a result of tripping on it.
okay that should just about cover all risks, until next time blog :D.
title sequence update
We had a meeting about the title sequence earlier today and i have redrafted it with the changes there are still a few bits that we need to work out but as far as the title sequence goes
it will begin outside the garage with chris walking through he places the shovel down in the garage which will be dimly lit.
When chris places the spade down we will see a newspaper that will have the first of the names in the title it will say 'Chris Harding and carry on to read something along the lines of starring and co producing the next big thriller' he will then carry on walking through the garage until the utility door at the end which leads into the kitchen all of this will be point of view shot.
Once in the kitchen he will carry on walking through he looks at the fridge which will have the 2nd of the names Ollie Cracknell spelt out in fridge magnets.
after this he will carry on walking through the kitchen and across the hall to the living area which will then show the 3rd name Nicola Mooney although we are unsure where this name will appear.
As we walk through the the door ways we will have flashes of images the first will be of a knife. the second of this bible with the symbol in side on the piano next to a candle maybe, the third of a child by a lake with a balloon a happier childhood memory maybe, the next will be of that same lake with the same balloon but the child will be gone and the balloon will pop ( this will be done by us behind the camera out of shot shooting it with a bb gun or a spud gun so they cant see how it pops) and one of just the symbol maybe if we can fit it in if not the symbol will be in the bible which will hold significant value to the story later.
Chris will then perhaps fall asleep on the couch an the camera will point out the window an we will see the night fade away into day and chris will get up and leave the house via the front door which will reveal our title if the film this will then lead onto Chris's idea of watching him leave the house after.
it will begin outside the garage with chris walking through he places the shovel down in the garage which will be dimly lit.
When chris places the spade down we will see a newspaper that will have the first of the names in the title it will say 'Chris Harding and carry on to read something along the lines of starring and co producing the next big thriller' he will then carry on walking through the garage until the utility door at the end which leads into the kitchen all of this will be point of view shot.
Once in the kitchen he will carry on walking through he looks at the fridge which will have the 2nd of the names Ollie Cracknell spelt out in fridge magnets.
after this he will carry on walking through the kitchen and across the hall to the living area which will then show the 3rd name Nicola Mooney although we are unsure where this name will appear.
As we walk through the the door ways we will have flashes of images the first will be of a knife. the second of this bible with the symbol in side on the piano next to a candle maybe, the third of a child by a lake with a balloon a happier childhood memory maybe, the next will be of that same lake with the same balloon but the child will be gone and the balloon will pop ( this will be done by us behind the camera out of shot shooting it with a bb gun or a spud gun so they cant see how it pops) and one of just the symbol maybe if we can fit it in if not the symbol will be in the bible which will hold significant value to the story later.
Chris will then perhaps fall asleep on the couch an the camera will point out the window an we will see the night fade away into day and chris will get up and leave the house via the front door which will reveal our title if the film this will then lead onto Chris's idea of watching him leave the house after.
Wednesday meeting
We are currently undertaking different task at the moment, Nikki is redrafting the title sequence, Ollie is mixing one of our bits of music we intend to use, and i'm getting to grips and look at possible effects and techniques we could make use of with final cut (as i couldn't get the music i wanted to mix as it isn't downloadable from anywhere) same sort of thing next period (5th) but we intend to come together and finish storyboarding then.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Locations
As a group we have decided on some definite locations for our opening sequence
Ollie's house.
The road by Ollie's house.
The lake in Great Dunmow.
we will be using Ollie's House for the title sequence when we track through the house.
The road by Ollie's House we will be using for the first scene when chris climbs out of a ditch as it has a ditch running along one side of it and the lake in Great Dunmow will be used to film a child with a balloon as part of the montage/ the images that flash up in the title sequence.
we will post a risk assessment for each location shortly as well as a risk assessment for the props, weather and everything else that will need to be covered.
Ollie's house.
The road by Ollie's house.
The lake in Great Dunmow.
we will be using Ollie's House for the title sequence when we track through the house.
The road by Ollie's House we will be using for the first scene when chris climbs out of a ditch as it has a ditch running along one side of it and the lake in Great Dunmow will be used to film a child with a balloon as part of the montage/ the images that flash up in the title sequence.
we will post a risk assessment for each location shortly as well as a risk assessment for the props, weather and everything else that will need to be covered.
Title Sequence Draft
Ive Drawn a story board for the title sequence which needs a few tweaks but so far we have the camera tracking through chris's house (in the movie), it will slowly move from one room to another going in each room to see it in more detail almost like a virtual tour. The camera will be facing down the hall way as if it was someone walking backwards.
As the camera goes through the door ways, random images will flash up like memory flashbacks these images will consist of childhood memories, images of chris, the sacred book with the symbol and such.
They will be quite quick but long enough for you to see what the image is.
As the camera moves from room to room you will also see the producers names either spelt out across the tables and walls or as ollie suggested spelt out in house hold objects such as magnets on the fridge.
For the main title i think it would look really effective if the last bit of the tracking could end up in front of the front door as if looking in with the title being in the room and as we walk backwards the door closes so we can no longer see the title and is just a shot of the front door.
The house will just be a normal house where chris lives with his parents but could hold significant clues for later in the plot hence why we see it in so much detail.
Once ive re-story boarded it i will scan it an upload so we can see it properly.
As the camera goes through the door ways, random images will flash up like memory flashbacks these images will consist of childhood memories, images of chris, the sacred book with the symbol and such.
They will be quite quick but long enough for you to see what the image is.
As the camera moves from room to room you will also see the producers names either spelt out across the tables and walls or as ollie suggested spelt out in house hold objects such as magnets on the fridge.
For the main title i think it would look really effective if the last bit of the tracking could end up in front of the front door as if looking in with the title being in the room and as we walk backwards the door closes so we can no longer see the title and is just a shot of the front door.
The house will just be a normal house where chris lives with his parents but could hold significant clues for later in the plot hence why we see it in so much detail.
Once ive re-story boarded it i will scan it an upload so we can see it properly.
Monday, 25 January 2010
The movie plot draft
I finished writing this a few minutes ago, it didn't take too long, incorporates our main plot ideas, but I had to be creative with making the rest of the story after Chris finding the strange bible (Note-this is not the final draft, probably, and names, content, ideas etc are subject to change over the next few meetings)
Here is my draft plot summary:
The movie is about an autistic teenager with strong obsessive tendencies, who discovers a strange insignia in an old and strange bible, filled with annotations, and on each page is this strange symbol. Chris becomes obsessed with the symbol and sets out to find out what it means. By studying the book closely and following the clues he wrestles from the anonymous annotator’s scrawlings, he is led to a dingy crypt beneath an old, abandoned church. Here he finds a small cult dedicated to cleansing the world of sin. With his search finally complete Chris is happily drawn into their rituals, led by an obsession about the strange symbol, and becomes obsessed with the cult’s cause as well. Seeing how impressionable and innocent he is, the cult leader manipulates Chris and sends him off to carry out his bidding. Under the impression that he is pleasing God, Chris carries out his master’s wishes without a second thought, burning certain buildings down, trashing a church, and assaulting a priest. Until Chris is sent on more evil missions, and murdering ‘sinners’. These select targets are ones who will go unnoticed, and he makes the killings seem self inflicted, until the cult leader orders his to physically murder the most hateful sinner (in their eyes) and absolve the planet of his presence, thus pleasing God greatly (theoretically). Whilst all the while the police are investigating and an intrepid young detective believes the attacks and killings to be connected, and sets out to track down the young protagonist. Until an attack on his own life is made and Chris is captured. He then coerces Chris (without use of force, Chris is co-operative as he has lost faith in the cause, and wants to make amends to God) into disclosing the location of the cult and their leader. Chris then leads them to the crypt, the cult members are arrested, but then seeing the destruction of his very cause the cult leader stabs Chris, who then seeing his chance to absolve the world of the very evil he believed to be good, takes the knife from his chest and stabs the cult leader in return. The cult leader dies, all willing to live gone from him, whilst Chris lays in the detectives arms and smiles, confident that he has earned his place in heaven.
Any corrections or adaptations shall be posted forthwidth. I state again, this is just a draft.
Here is my draft plot summary:
The movie is about an autistic teenager with strong obsessive tendencies, who discovers a strange insignia in an old and strange bible, filled with annotations, and on each page is this strange symbol. Chris becomes obsessed with the symbol and sets out to find out what it means. By studying the book closely and following the clues he wrestles from the anonymous annotator’s scrawlings, he is led to a dingy crypt beneath an old, abandoned church. Here he finds a small cult dedicated to cleansing the world of sin. With his search finally complete Chris is happily drawn into their rituals, led by an obsession about the strange symbol, and becomes obsessed with the cult’s cause as well. Seeing how impressionable and innocent he is, the cult leader manipulates Chris and sends him off to carry out his bidding. Under the impression that he is pleasing God, Chris carries out his master’s wishes without a second thought, burning certain buildings down, trashing a church, and assaulting a priest. Until Chris is sent on more evil missions, and murdering ‘sinners’. These select targets are ones who will go unnoticed, and he makes the killings seem self inflicted, until the cult leader orders his to physically murder the most hateful sinner (in their eyes) and absolve the planet of his presence, thus pleasing God greatly (theoretically). Whilst all the while the police are investigating and an intrepid young detective believes the attacks and killings to be connected, and sets out to track down the young protagonist. Until an attack on his own life is made and Chris is captured. He then coerces Chris (without use of force, Chris is co-operative as he has lost faith in the cause, and wants to make amends to God) into disclosing the location of the cult and their leader. Chris then leads them to the crypt, the cult members are arrested, but then seeing the destruction of his very cause the cult leader stabs Chris, who then seeing his chance to absolve the world of the very evil he believed to be good, takes the knife from his chest and stabs the cult leader in return. The cult leader dies, all willing to live gone from him, whilst Chris lays in the detectives arms and smiles, confident that he has earned his place in heaven.
Any corrections or adaptations shall be posted forthwidth. I state again, this is just a draft.
Out of class meetings
We have decided today that to complete our pre-production piece quickly, and to a good degree, as we have the ideas, but havn't got them set in stone, we are going to be meeting up to complete our preproduction work during our following study periods this week:
Tuesday 4th period
Wednesday 5th period
Thursday 2nd period
This is because most of our work either requires, or we would like to carry out together, so we will complete the work during this time. Expect notes on our progress during these periods.
Also today we assigned each other a task to complete tonight in time for our meeting tommorow. Nikki is completing the title sequence/montage section in whatever way she see's fit, although we all have the main idea the group wants for our task, and if nany amendments to our work need to be made, then we shall make them tommorow when we are together and can evaluate each others work. Ollie is writing out the plot of the opening sequence in detail, we know what we want to include here, but we just need to write a synopsis for the opening sequence in story format to appease the pre-production requirements. I am writing the plot for the film in its entirety, which is less detailed than the opening sequence plot, but requires a broader picture. I have the basic idea for our plot, but the rest has been left up to me to come up with, so I shall run that past them tommorow. I think we have split the workload fairly and that the extra work on top of our individual plans for tonight (homework etc) should'nt effect our evenings by much. Also this should set us well on our way for completing our pre-production segment. More information on this later.
Tuesday 4th period
Wednesday 5th period
Thursday 2nd period
This is because most of our work either requires, or we would like to carry out together, so we will complete the work during this time. Expect notes on our progress during these periods.
Also today we assigned each other a task to complete tonight in time for our meeting tommorow. Nikki is completing the title sequence/montage section in whatever way she see's fit, although we all have the main idea the group wants for our task, and if nany amendments to our work need to be made, then we shall make them tommorow when we are together and can evaluate each others work. Ollie is writing out the plot of the opening sequence in detail, we know what we want to include here, but we just need to write a synopsis for the opening sequence in story format to appease the pre-production requirements. I am writing the plot for the film in its entirety, which is less detailed than the opening sequence plot, but requires a broader picture. I have the basic idea for our plot, but the rest has been left up to me to come up with, so I shall run that past them tommorow. I think we have split the workload fairly and that the extra work on top of our individual plans for tonight (homework etc) should'nt effect our evenings by much. Also this should set us well on our way for completing our pre-production segment. More information on this later.
There's been a lapse in my research
before we finish our pre-production I wanted to check over some thriller opening clips (on top of what we've already looked at) as at the moment our group gets confused every now and then between writing for a trailer, and writing an opening sequence. The first example of this I would like to look at is the opening theme for the TV series Survivors, a thriller-esque drama about a deadly flu virus that kills off around 99% or more of the population (the remainder being immune to the virus). The opening is really effective as it uses a theme song that rises in tempo (see the video below) and raises anticipation as it builds up, whilst keeping a sinister, chilling air about it. The imagery is very effective as well, the opening uses a montage of clips of people just, well, living really. Normal busy streets, children on swings, people crossing a high street, a few smaller scale clips of just a few subjects, for example a couple enjoying a day on the beach, whilst a creepy cell effect multiplies and grows to cover the screen until the adtual title comes up on screen after the montage. It is very effective as it strikes at the viewers emotions with different camera angles such a POV shots, aerial shots, tilted shots, and several others to keep it mixed up, but all the time showing the normality that is about to be shattered by this virus. This isn't an opening sequence as such, but it is a title sequence (a main part of our opening sequence, so researching this is useful) as the credits are just slipped into the opening theme, by being subtle yet obvious, in a normal size font, so not tiny or too large and bold, so you can see the main producers, yet the don't break the flow of the story build up. Also using quick cuts between each clip and the credits fit with the music well and really make the show immersive right from the off.
updated cultist symbol
Ollie here :D
This is expected to be the final design for our fictional underlying cult logo that will be recurrent throughout our thriller opening.
it was designed on photoshop by me, I think for the most part this is an origional design, loosely based on the emblem system in the halo video games franchise (the player designed their own from preset symbols) however i also tried to make it look a tiny bit supernatural and alien-like so there are small some small personal influences in my design. I was also aiming for simplicity in the design, which was not present in my previous one. Simplicity is a recurring feature of most cult symbols throughout history and so i tried hard to emulate this. for example the KKK and Nazi Symbols:
Anyway we agreed it looked good so expect to see this in the opening :D
This is expected to be the final design for our fictional underlying cult logo that will be recurrent throughout our thriller opening.
it was designed on photoshop by me, I think for the most part this is an origional design, loosely based on the emblem system in the halo video games franchise (the player designed their own from preset symbols) however i also tried to make it look a tiny bit supernatural and alien-like so there are small some small personal influences in my design. I was also aiming for simplicity in the design, which was not present in my previous one. Simplicity is a recurring feature of most cult symbols throughout history and so i tried hard to emulate this. for example the KKK and Nazi Symbols:
Anyway we agreed it looked good so expect to see this in the opening :D
clip idea
I thought it would be really effective if we filmed the walking clip of me from a frontal angle with me walking towards the camera wth two people on either side of me, all of us wearing back hoodies with the hood up to create a mysterious air, then both of the wingmen to fall back as I kept walking forward. I will discuss this with the others shortly, but it would be accompanies by one of our thriller-esque songs in the form of non-diagtic sound.
synopsis's of todays lesson
The aim of today's lesson will be to produce a synopsis of the plot of the movie as a whole, then a more detailed synopsis of the actual opening sequence.
some idea's i've had are, the main character (me) is being accused of murder, but he actually hasn't done anything wrong, and when he found the actual murderers victim, he buried the body due to religious beliefs (for example a soul can't find peace until it rests or something), the other idea the group had was involving a cult, which we may develop next lesson so keep your ear to the ground, and we will finalize the opening sequence plot .
some idea's i've had are, the main character (me) is being accused of murder, but he actually hasn't done anything wrong, and when he found the actual murderers victim, he buried the body due to religious beliefs (for example a soul can't find peace until it rests or something), the other idea the group had was involving a cult, which we may develop next lesson so keep your ear to the ground, and we will finalize the opening sequence plot .
Sunday, 24 January 2010
quick ideas
in regard to the lighting most of the first scene were using torches as were setting it at dusk/night i think itd look really effective if we could either get two really good torches or maybe even car headlights and just have them shining down the road so its not directly on chris but gives the illusion of a car hence when you see him walk towards the camera he could be walking towards the car.
i think this could look really effective because it will highlight chris and provide enough light for us to see what hes doing because hes moving but it can also make the scenary look slightly creepier by adding shadows from the trees and surroundings.
i think this could look really effective because it will highlight chris and provide enough light for us to see what hes doing because hes moving but it can also make the scenary look slightly creepier by adding shadows from the trees and surroundings.
Location
hey guy
i was looking at other possible locations to film and by my dads house in Great Dunmow there a lot of feilds, trees and walkways/bridleways and other such plus a little lake so i took some shots so you could see roughly what it looked like i didnt get all the shots i wanted but i got photos of the main places.
this is a walkway that runs past my backgarden it goes from being really well maintained to quite creepy.
this is the other side of the walkway.
this is a walkway that runs by my house an leads across a feild one side is houses the other trees.
this is the lake its not massive but around one side it has trees you can follow it round and it leads to a small opening where the rabbits normal congregate.
this is a slightly closer shot of the lake
this is part of the opening from infront of the lake
i quite liked this shot its taken from infront of the lake looking across the feild on the other side you can see a tower an over the other feilds
this is just another walkway/bridleway i thought could look quite effective.
so there you go these are all from Great Dunmow wich has quite easy access but its also fairly quiet along those fields apart from the occasional dog walkers.
i was looking at other possible locations to film and by my dads house in Great Dunmow there a lot of feilds, trees and walkways/bridleways and other such plus a little lake so i took some shots so you could see roughly what it looked like i didnt get all the shots i wanted but i got photos of the main places.
this is a walkway that runs past my backgarden it goes from being really well maintained to quite creepy.
this is the other side of the walkway.
this is a walkway that runs by my house an leads across a feild one side is houses the other trees.
this is the lake its not massive but around one side it has trees you can follow it round and it leads to a small opening where the rabbits normal congregate.
this is a slightly closer shot of the lake
this is part of the opening from infront of the lake
i quite liked this shot its taken from infront of the lake looking across the feild on the other side you can see a tower an over the other feilds
this is just another walkway/bridleway i thought could look quite effective.
so there you go these are all from Great Dunmow wich has quite easy access but its also fairly quiet along those fields apart from the occasional dog walkers.
Friday, 22 January 2010
Film ideas
We have produced a complete storyboard for our first scene, and also developed some very interesting ideas. I (Chris) think that a sequence before the main action starts would look really effective, and after we finish storyboarding we will see how well it might work and fit in. We have also developed a symbol which we are going to feature a couple of times in the opening sequence, the first time it will be for the observant viewers, and the second it will flash onto the screen to make viewers think what is this? here is an example of the symbol we might use (final design may vary)
this was created on Adobe Photoshop by us and is supposed to represent some sinister cult that is maybe responsible for the murders that take place in our opening sequences.
this was created on Adobe Photoshop by us and is supposed to represent some sinister cult that is maybe responsible for the murders that take place in our opening sequences.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Intro outline
Hey guys All of us here
Scene One is essentially set in stone for us now we have a detailed understanding for what we want to do for it. a few minor details such as specific location still need to be addressed but other than that we are sure of what we are going to do.
Sound - will be diagetic and will be a piano scale by In Fear & Faith (used with permission)
Weather - most probably overcast as we are filming in Jan/Feb time
Time - Twilight/ Dusk possibly slightly later depending on lighting availability
Location - still a bit hazy...either ind. estate, private road or bridleway.
Main plotline will be Chris coming out of a ditch and walking along a road towards a camera whilst dragging a dirty spade that will be slightly out of focus. the camera will track him until a certain point and will then stop tracking to allow chris' image to fill the screen at which point he will bring the shovel around into full view, the lighting should show mud and blood on the spade. we could then have the next scene coming in from a fade to black.
We were thinking of mixing the title sequence in with a montage of quick cuts showing small clips of possible progression of the killers resolution to commit the alluded murder, we were then thinking of possibly incorporating some minor credits into scenery e.g, like on cartoons when a character opens a fridge and a producer's name is spelled on the fridge magnets. we may not do the exact same thing but that is a fair example of what we were thinking of doing.
We've got a vague idea of what we want to do in the next scene the opening shot will be of a family happily sitting down to a meal most probably breakfast a complete contrast to the scene we previously saw of chris with the shovel. we were thinking of having diagetic music coming from a radio. We will elaborate on this idea later when we are all together .
Scene One is essentially set in stone for us now we have a detailed understanding for what we want to do for it. a few minor details such as specific location still need to be addressed but other than that we are sure of what we are going to do.
Sound - will be diagetic and will be a piano scale by In Fear & Faith (used with permission)
Weather - most probably overcast as we are filming in Jan/Feb time
Time - Twilight/ Dusk possibly slightly later depending on lighting availability
Location - still a bit hazy...either ind. estate, private road or bridleway.
Main plotline will be Chris coming out of a ditch and walking along a road towards a camera whilst dragging a dirty spade that will be slightly out of focus. the camera will track him until a certain point and will then stop tracking to allow chris' image to fill the screen at which point he will bring the shovel around into full view, the lighting should show mud and blood on the spade. we could then have the next scene coming in from a fade to black.
We were thinking of mixing the title sequence in with a montage of quick cuts showing small clips of possible progression of the killers resolution to commit the alluded murder, we were then thinking of possibly incorporating some minor credits into scenery e.g, like on cartoons when a character opens a fridge and a producer's name is spelled on the fridge magnets. we may not do the exact same thing but that is a fair example of what we were thinking of doing.
We've got a vague idea of what we want to do in the next scene the opening shot will be of a family happily sitting down to a meal most probably breakfast a complete contrast to the scene we previously saw of chris with the shovel. we were thinking of having diagetic music coming from a radio. We will elaborate on this idea later when we are all together .
Group time
We are finally getting to grips with our intended plot (as discussed in an earlier post) with the three seperate clips. Locations are being worked on, and ollie has found some good potential locations, whilst me and nikki are going to follow suit and check out some other locations. So we are going to start taking photos whilst out and about of good locations that would work for our thriller. Storyboarding will begin soon so we can have a concrete idea laid out. More posts coming soon.
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Self Evaluation
Ollie here :D
I just realised that i havn't done this yet and so i think i'll be doing this at regular intervals of perhaps once a week from now on so that i can see how im progressing, or rather how i think i'm progressing. I will be assessing myself on five main criteria: Camera skills, Editing, Group work, motivation to blog (MTB), Quality of posts.
I think i'll rank them out of ten as it is a bit less ambiguous than 5 but will not be as unmanagable as something like 100.
Camera Skills: 4/10 - I think this has to be a low rating because the experience i have had so far has been positive and i felt like i knew what i was doing, however my experience is limited and i was only performing small tasks with it and so i think a four reflects my ability to use a camera effectively
Editing: 2/10 - I think that i really need to sit down with the group and we need to work out how to use final cut express. I know how to use windows movie maker and so im hoping some experience with that will assist my learning of final cut however in comparison Movie maker is trivial next to Final cut and i don't know any advanced techniques. So this rating has to be lower.
Group work: 6/10 - I think I can work well in a group and i really like how we bounce ideas off of each other. I think that when i work with either Chris or Nikki i can stay on task well however i do sometimes get destracted and so this is maybe something to focus on but ultimately i feel that i am doing well in this aspect.
MTB: 8/10 - I feel that i can post effectively and frequently most days without even needing to persuade myself or peel myself away from Facebook so i think this deserves a positive mark at this time, however i expect this to fluctuate as i continue to update my self assessment. This is because i will be rating based on my weeks performance on this criteria as it is hard to generalise.
Quality of Posts: 6/10 - After talking to miss mapp i have realised that i need to include much more external links in my posts in order to attain top-band marks for my posting. other than that though i feel that my posts contain good content and show variation. the use of more links would show my understanding to the technological aspect of the course which is a criteria the examiners are looking for.
that is all.
I just realised that i havn't done this yet and so i think i'll be doing this at regular intervals of perhaps once a week from now on so that i can see how im progressing, or rather how i think i'm progressing. I will be assessing myself on five main criteria: Camera skills, Editing, Group work, motivation to blog (MTB), Quality of posts.
I think i'll rank them out of ten as it is a bit less ambiguous than 5 but will not be as unmanagable as something like 100.
Camera Skills: 4/10 - I think this has to be a low rating because the experience i have had so far has been positive and i felt like i knew what i was doing, however my experience is limited and i was only performing small tasks with it and so i think a four reflects my ability to use a camera effectively
Editing: 2/10 - I think that i really need to sit down with the group and we need to work out how to use final cut express. I know how to use windows movie maker and so im hoping some experience with that will assist my learning of final cut however in comparison Movie maker is trivial next to Final cut and i don't know any advanced techniques. So this rating has to be lower.
Group work: 6/10 - I think I can work well in a group and i really like how we bounce ideas off of each other. I think that when i work with either Chris or Nikki i can stay on task well however i do sometimes get destracted and so this is maybe something to focus on but ultimately i feel that i am doing well in this aspect.
MTB: 8/10 - I feel that i can post effectively and frequently most days without even needing to persuade myself or peel myself away from Facebook so i think this deserves a positive mark at this time, however i expect this to fluctuate as i continue to update my self assessment. This is because i will be rating based on my weeks performance on this criteria as it is hard to generalise.
Quality of Posts: 6/10 - After talking to miss mapp i have realised that i need to include much more external links in my posts in order to attain top-band marks for my posting. other than that though i feel that my posts contain good content and show variation. the use of more links would show my understanding to the technological aspect of the course which is a criteria the examiners are looking for.
that is all.
Monday, 18 January 2010
Mmmmmmm Quite
Yes. I like these ideas.
And Nikki has raised some valid points about lighting and weather. Sadly the snow seems to have passed (or will have when it comes to filming, as that would have looked very cool, and also if we were to film in rain it would have to be very carefully performed and executed, as the moisture can damage the internal mechanics of the camera, but with suitable protection it is a possibility. Definately whenever i envision the walking scene, i see it raining, so definately one to think about.
We shall mull this stuff over tommorow.
And Nikki has raised some valid points about lighting and weather. Sadly the snow seems to have passed (or will have when it comes to filming, as that would have looked very cool, and also if we were to film in rain it would have to be very carefully performed and executed, as the moisture can damage the internal mechanics of the camera, but with suitable protection it is a possibility. Definately whenever i envision the walking scene, i see it raining, so definately one to think about.
We shall mull this stuff over tommorow.
Musings
Ollie Here
I Just read nikki's idea about showing the next scene after the titles. I really like this idea, i think it would allow people to either make thier own assumptions whilst alos leaving them on a cliffhanger so they want more. i think if we were to do this we should completely juxtapose the image that the family give off, i.e we should make the scenery/location look really bright and happy to contrast with the previous scenes. This would be effective because it would surprise the audience and gain their attention t oa greater degree
also maybe in the background for diagetic noise we could have a radio playing the in fear and faith song that Chris posted earlier. If we made it so that it came on all of a sudden, like in a random radio playlist, and then quick-cut to chris looking all of a sudden very creepy (we may need to play with your face chris ;). this could link the assumed murder to tie in with that song as previously we would have seen chris listening to it on his ipod whilst drawing the knife. this would effectively give us a cliffhanger whilst further allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions.
let me know what you think guys :)
I Just read nikki's idea about showing the next scene after the titles. I really like this idea, i think it would allow people to either make thier own assumptions whilst alos leaving them on a cliffhanger so they want more. i think if we were to do this we should completely juxtapose the image that the family give off, i.e we should make the scenery/location look really bright and happy to contrast with the previous scenes. This would be effective because it would surprise the audience and gain their attention t oa greater degree
also maybe in the background for diagetic noise we could have a radio playing the in fear and faith song that Chris posted earlier. If we made it so that it came on all of a sudden, like in a random radio playlist, and then quick-cut to chris looking all of a sudden very creepy (we may need to play with your face chris ;). this could link the assumed murder to tie in with that song as previously we would have seen chris listening to it on his ipod whilst drawing the knife. this would effectively give us a cliffhanger whilst further allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions.
let me know what you think guys :)
Weather
Oh i nearly forgot weather could be an issue aswell but it can also be an advantage
would it cause a problem if it rained? or would it just add to the effect because if it was filmed in the rain it could either look really good or pretty poor and if its really sunny it could make the whole atmostphere seem happier than its suposed to be
when we finally go out to start filming i suggest we look up weather reports and such befor we set a day. :)
would it cause a problem if it rained? or would it just add to the effect because if it was filmed in the rain it could either look really good or pretty poor and if its really sunny it could make the whole atmostphere seem happier than its suposed to be
when we finally go out to start filming i suggest we look up weather reports and such befor we set a day. :)
Location and Lighting
Hey again Nikki Here
ollie the computer wont let me look at the photos you posted however ill try again on my computer when i get home.
on the subject of location comes the issue of lighting, time of day, and weather.
we need to think about what kind of time we should film most thtillers ive seen its normally a dark but visible place and time so you can see whats happening but giving it an element of mystery unlike in some films we need to make sure we dont make it too dark as you miss vital elements of the film wich can lead it to be very confusing.
if we decide to film at night we can still make artificial light with out the use of actual lights which could be too bright and ruin the effect.
i helped out on a proffesional photo shoot a couple of months ago so we could use some of the techniques they use big white sheets which reflect light especially natural light like the sun and moon without it being too bright which could be handy in the darker hours or use large white cardboard peices or even tin foil can work but if it gets scrunched it wont give even lighting.
we also need to think about lighting in general as if we need the use of artificial light depending where we are we may not have use of electricty or street light so torches an such will be required.
ollie the computer wont let me look at the photos you posted however ill try again on my computer when i get home.
on the subject of location comes the issue of lighting, time of day, and weather.
we need to think about what kind of time we should film most thtillers ive seen its normally a dark but visible place and time so you can see whats happening but giving it an element of mystery unlike in some films we need to make sure we dont make it too dark as you miss vital elements of the film wich can lead it to be very confusing.
if we decide to film at night we can still make artificial light with out the use of actual lights which could be too bright and ruin the effect.
i helped out on a proffesional photo shoot a couple of months ago so we could use some of the techniques they use big white sheets which reflect light especially natural light like the sun and moon without it being too bright which could be handy in the darker hours or use large white cardboard peices or even tin foil can work but if it gets scrunched it wont give even lighting.
we also need to think about lighting in general as if we need the use of artificial light depending where we are we may not have use of electricty or street light so torches an such will be required.
Titles
Nikki Here Longtime no post,
i had two thoughts earlier one to do with titles which we need to include into our work.
i thought the idea we have is really good and really promising but we obviously need to include titles some where, i had two ideas for this we could either have the title coming up over the top of the opening scene like in silence of the lambs just obviously not so bulky and obstructive we could have them sort of sliding in from different directions or just one direction across the bottom of the screen or just generally appearing in a flash an then fading away we could play about with different types of effect on powerpoint.
another idea i had was once the scene has played out we could switch to a black screen and have the titles coming up against a black back ground using some type of special effects once all the title have come and gone i thought itd be quite cool if we had time left to maybe lead on into the next scene and just have something completely different like a family sitting down to breakfast to contradict the previous scene this would then raise questions as to who are they and who where the people in the last scene whats the connection and so on wich ties into the idea of a thriller creating suspence and raising questions
anyway let me know what you think ill upload the other thought i had later :)
i had two thoughts earlier one to do with titles which we need to include into our work.
i thought the idea we have is really good and really promising but we obviously need to include titles some where, i had two ideas for this we could either have the title coming up over the top of the opening scene like in silence of the lambs just obviously not so bulky and obstructive we could have them sort of sliding in from different directions or just one direction across the bottom of the screen or just generally appearing in a flash an then fading away we could play about with different types of effect on powerpoint.
another idea i had was once the scene has played out we could switch to a black screen and have the titles coming up against a black back ground using some type of special effects once all the title have come and gone i thought itd be quite cool if we had time left to maybe lead on into the next scene and just have something completely different like a family sitting down to breakfast to contradict the previous scene this would then raise questions as to who are they and who where the people in the last scene whats the connection and so on wich ties into the idea of a thriller creating suspence and raising questions
anyway let me know what you think ill upload the other thought i had later :)
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Location Location Location
Ollie here :D
I went dog walking today and as promised took some location shots of the area within a mile of my house, lots of black and white shots here because they seemed clearer to me. also i like how artistic they look.
this is an artsy shot of all the mud in the bridle way
this is a colour shot of the bridle way. the bridle way would be a cool place to film i think because it has a creepy feel to it. especially at night time.
Yet another artsy shot of the bridle way
Another entrance to the bridle way, i like how the branches of the bushes stick out eerily.
Lots of Mud. But im thinking we could maybe zoom on the tracks to show a car has been there recently and then cut to the road which is where chris would be walking down?..something along those lines
The field. to give an idea of directional relation the picture of the muddy tracks (above) was taken towards that house.
Possible establishing shot?
Muddy road near my house. i think this could be a distinct possibility for primary filming location.
another possible establishing shot?
The road my house is on.
Feedback and opinions will be needed from Chris and Nikki but as we were thinking of filming around here id love to know any ideas you have :). bear in mind it may not be so muddy when we film so dont let it put you off.
I went dog walking today and as promised took some location shots of the area within a mile of my house, lots of black and white shots here because they seemed clearer to me. also i like how artistic they look.
this is an artsy shot of all the mud in the bridle way
this is a colour shot of the bridle way. the bridle way would be a cool place to film i think because it has a creepy feel to it. especially at night time.
Yet another artsy shot of the bridle way
Another entrance to the bridle way, i like how the branches of the bushes stick out eerily.
Lots of Mud. But im thinking we could maybe zoom on the tracks to show a car has been there recently and then cut to the road which is where chris would be walking down?..something along those lines
The field. to give an idea of directional relation the picture of the muddy tracks (above) was taken towards that house.
Possible establishing shot?
Muddy road near my house. i think this could be a distinct possibility for primary filming location.
another possible establishing shot?
The road my house is on.
Feedback and opinions will be needed from Chris and Nikki but as we were thinking of filming around here id love to know any ideas you have :). bear in mind it may not be so muddy when we film so dont let it put you off.
We have Photobucket
Ollie Here :D
Chris & Nikki just so you know I set up a Photobucket account for us the login details are:
username = nfgsJupiter (no dot between the s & J) password is the same as the blogs :D
Chris & Nikki just so you know I set up a Photobucket account for us the login details are:
username = nfgsJupiter (no dot between the s & J) password is the same as the blogs :D
Friday, 15 January 2010
Semi-Group meeting
Ollie & Chris Here
Nikki isn't here so as this is a fairly crucial point of the course me and chris are going to be discussing our plot ideas and hopefully getting some storyboarding done which i will scan and upload later this evening technology permitting.
Plot line
Me and Ollie agreed that his alternative plot idea was good, but inappropriate for a thriller genre, as it is too closely associated with a horror theme. We've conclusively decided that we are going to use Ollie's original plot idea, with the character walking towards the camera, and the knife, and then the clip will transition into Ollie's montage idea, except using the sound intro that I (Chris) found. This is because we feel that the music would compliment a slow paced montage perfectly. Then the clip would end with my finishing idea, which was as the music builds up to the guitar kicking in, a close up, with the main character will spin around and look directly at the camera (before the guitars come in).
Nikki Has Arrived
I [Nikki] i've read over what ollie and Chris have decided on and think it sounds promising. I'll post again soon with more input.
Right well i [ollie] am happy to host filming outside my house because it's remote and quite creepy with some good locations, ill upload some pictures to the blog in the coming days.
Nikki isn't here so as this is a fairly crucial point of the course me and chris are going to be discussing our plot ideas and hopefully getting some storyboarding done which i will scan and upload later this evening technology permitting.
Plot line
Me and Ollie agreed that his alternative plot idea was good, but inappropriate for a thriller genre, as it is too closely associated with a horror theme. We've conclusively decided that we are going to use Ollie's original plot idea, with the character walking towards the camera, and the knife, and then the clip will transition into Ollie's montage idea, except using the sound intro that I (Chris) found. This is because we feel that the music would compliment a slow paced montage perfectly. Then the clip would end with my finishing idea, which was as the music builds up to the guitar kicking in, a close up, with the main character will spin around and look directly at the camera (before the guitars come in).
Nikki Has Arrived
I [Nikki] i've read over what ollie and Chris have decided on and think it sounds promising. I'll post again soon with more input.
Right well i [ollie] am happy to host filming outside my house because it's remote and quite creepy with some good locations, ill upload some pictures to the blog in the coming days.
Monday, 11 January 2010
Another Plot idea
Ollie here
Another idea i've had would be of one of us us a field, perhaps Nikki because she is a girl and can maybe better induce sympathy from the audience. my idea is that we could have Nikki standing in a field out of breath (implies she has been running). we could have a POV shot of an unnamed creature glancing at her through the bushes and drawing rasping breaths. we could maybe use a black and white filter for the POV shots as it is traditionally associated with animals or monsters in the horror/thriller genres. this could continue for about ten seconds with the sound of snapping twigs and quick footsteps. I think we should have some quick cuts between the POV shot of the creature and Nikki trying to gain composure. My idea is that the creature slowly creeps out of the bushes and approaches her with the POV shot and the sounds of snapping twigs and footsteps continuing. I'd like to bounce this idea off chris and nikki before adding to it as we would undoubtably need a group discussion on something as integral as the plotline.
this is fairly similar to my idea because it's pretty creepy but not enough to be placed into the horror genre.
Another idea i've had would be of one of us us a field, perhaps Nikki because she is a girl and can maybe better induce sympathy from the audience. my idea is that we could have Nikki standing in a field out of breath (implies she has been running). we could have a POV shot of an unnamed creature glancing at her through the bushes and drawing rasping breaths. we could maybe use a black and white filter for the POV shots as it is traditionally associated with animals or monsters in the horror/thriller genres. this could continue for about ten seconds with the sound of snapping twigs and quick footsteps. I think we should have some quick cuts between the POV shot of the creature and Nikki trying to gain composure. My idea is that the creature slowly creeps out of the bushes and approaches her with the POV shot and the sounds of snapping twigs and footsteps continuing. I'd like to bounce this idea off chris and nikki before adding to it as we would undoubtably need a group discussion on something as integral as the plotline.
this is fairly similar to my idea because it's pretty creepy but not enough to be placed into the horror genre.
Friday, 8 January 2010
Inspiration from Gaming?
Ollie here
Something that i have noticed is that many games are basically interactive films, they have all the same conventions as most films do (depending on Genre) the only difference between them is that a game is virtual and you get a say in what goes on. so i thought it would be an interesting idea to see if i could draw some ideas from this relatively untapped source of inspiration. however as these are games it will be difficult to talk about camera work seeing as they are mostly all either POV or 3rd person view.
Modern Warfare 2
This game is of a modern war theme (funnily enough)and contains many of the same aspects as hollywood blockbuster action movies. although it is not striclty of a thriller genre it contains use of orchestral non-diagetic music to emphasize any mood at the time/situation. MES in this game is fairly typical: lots of Guns and macho men. however i do really like the use of sound so this may be something to draw from.
Left 4 Dead 2
This is a Zombie survival game and so it contains conventions of horror which are closely linked to thriller at times. this game mixes diagetic sound and creepy non-diagetic music to draw the player into the environment. also a really interesting feature of this game is that all special events have their own distinct theme music. also each special infected (mini-bosses) make distinct noises so that the player can distinguish what is happenning by ear, which i feel is a really interesting and unique way to put across diagetic sounds. obviously we wont have zombies in our actual Coursework but adding in special Sound FX is definatly worth considering. below are some examples of the different infected noises:
Assassins Creed II
This is an interesting one, an adventure action hybrid set in renaissance Italy. it incorporates mostly diagetic noises of the italian public congregating in markets with the sound of the main characters footsteps. it also likes to exaggerate weapon noises, for example there are very audible slashing noises when the character draws a small dagger, so this is clearly just to emphasize violence and make it seem more interesting to the viewer/player. Because we are thinking of including a knife prop in our intro this could definatly be considered as an idea. The game also provides a non-diagetic backing track for chase moments and exciting parts of the storyline.
Something that i have noticed is that many games are basically interactive films, they have all the same conventions as most films do (depending on Genre) the only difference between them is that a game is virtual and you get a say in what goes on. so i thought it would be an interesting idea to see if i could draw some ideas from this relatively untapped source of inspiration. however as these are games it will be difficult to talk about camera work seeing as they are mostly all either POV or 3rd person view.
Modern Warfare 2
This game is of a modern war theme (funnily enough)and contains many of the same aspects as hollywood blockbuster action movies. although it is not striclty of a thriller genre it contains use of orchestral non-diagetic music to emphasize any mood at the time/situation. MES in this game is fairly typical: lots of Guns and macho men. however i do really like the use of sound so this may be something to draw from.
Left 4 Dead 2
This is a Zombie survival game and so it contains conventions of horror which are closely linked to thriller at times. this game mixes diagetic sound and creepy non-diagetic music to draw the player into the environment. also a really interesting feature of this game is that all special events have their own distinct theme music. also each special infected (mini-bosses) make distinct noises so that the player can distinguish what is happenning by ear, which i feel is a really interesting and unique way to put across diagetic sounds. obviously we wont have zombies in our actual Coursework but adding in special Sound FX is definatly worth considering. below are some examples of the different infected noises:
Assassins Creed II
This is an interesting one, an adventure action hybrid set in renaissance Italy. it incorporates mostly diagetic noises of the italian public congregating in markets with the sound of the main characters footsteps. it also likes to exaggerate weapon noises, for example there are very audible slashing noises when the character draws a small dagger, so this is clearly just to emphasize violence and make it seem more interesting to the viewer/player. Because we are thinking of including a knife prop in our intro this could definatly be considered as an idea. The game also provides a non-diagetic backing track for chase moments and exciting parts of the storyline.
Character codes
Ollie here
This hasn't been covered yet. so i thought I'd get right on it as it is clearly an integral part of all movies, Characters in thriller movies are often at an extreme end of the situational spectrum e.g. murderers, cops, stalkers, down on their luck bosses etc. the lead character is rarely an ordinary person with a desk job. this contrasts to many other genres such as comedy, romance and even horror to a large extent (Texas chainsaw massacre, Severance, The Grudge for example). Characters in thrillers need to have a slightly different situation so that a story can be built around them more easily. Se7en and One Hour Photo are great examples of this. Se7ens main characters are two Detectives who are confident in personality and very good at their jobs. In other words the perfect characters to get sucked into a thrilling murder case. This is comparable to One Hour Photo however the movies main character is the killer(sy). Sy differs hugely in personality to the detectives in se7en, he is a reclusive mall photo developer who becomes obsessed with a family that are regular customers at his kiosk. He is very low on confidence and is driven to the point where he becomes psychotic and threatens violence on the father of the family. The two movies are obviously of different sub-genres. se7en being a crime thriller and on hour photo being a psychological thriller.
Anywho this should do for now, much love.
This hasn't been covered yet. so i thought I'd get right on it as it is clearly an integral part of all movies, Characters in thriller movies are often at an extreme end of the situational spectrum e.g. murderers, cops, stalkers, down on their luck bosses etc. the lead character is rarely an ordinary person with a desk job. this contrasts to many other genres such as comedy, romance and even horror to a large extent (Texas chainsaw massacre, Severance, The Grudge for example). Characters in thrillers need to have a slightly different situation so that a story can be built around them more easily. Se7en and One Hour Photo are great examples of this. Se7ens main characters are two Detectives who are confident in personality and very good at their jobs. In other words the perfect characters to get sucked into a thrilling murder case. This is comparable to One Hour Photo however the movies main character is the killer(sy). Sy differs hugely in personality to the detectives in se7en, he is a reclusive mall photo developer who becomes obsessed with a family that are regular customers at his kiosk. He is very low on confidence and is driven to the point where he becomes psychotic and threatens violence on the father of the family. The two movies are obviously of different sub-genres. se7en being a crime thriller and on hour photo being a psychological thriller.
Anywho this should do for now, much love.
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Another idea
I thought a different approach to Ollie's plot idea would work well. Instead of using a sound effect such as a police siren, implement some non-diagetic music, I was thinking something classical, yet tension building. Either that or the killer can have visible earphones in, and therefore make the song seem diagetic, whichever will have more effect and incorporate into the rest of the video better. I thought the song, The taste of regret, by In Fear And Faith would be effective for this as the piano, drum and violin mix intro that lasts about 22 seconds would work really well. The drums slowly builds in tempo and volume, and helps to ease the audience into the flow, so that the drums rise with the tension. Also to make the music work well in contrast to the footage, the camera should be following the anonymous killer as he/she walks whilst the intro plays. considering the length of the intro this would probably have to be a part of our footage, as it would only be about 20 seconds long. I have linked the song below, listen to the first piano intro, and the music will cut out just before the guitar kicks in.
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Plot ideas
Ollie here
With regards to some (vague) ideas of a storyline/ plot for our thriller introduction I (ollie) think that we should begin with chris walking towards the camera at night whilst being tracked. We could include some diagetic sound such as a police siren with flashing lights in a blurry background. as chris continues to walk away from the lights the camera stops tracking him and as he approaches the camera he slowly draws a knife from his jacket pocket, the knife could be shown to have an ominous red stain on it to create tension. Chris continues to approach the camera until he is obstructing the view of flashing lights behind him. I then thought a 'fade to white' would be appropriate with a chronological change being displayed in the middle of the screen e.g. 20 minutes earlier. after that there could maybe be a montage of events (edited into quick cut's to make it more interesting) that are to show chris' antagonization at the hands of either myself or Nikki. The sound for this part could be considered really creepy perhaps to add to the thrill of the audience it would have to be non-diagetic perhaps in the same style as the music at the start of se7en (see embedded video below). this should last no more than 30 seconds with a piercing scream all of a sudden to signal the end of it. this would hopefully be edited in a way to make it seem scary to the audience i.e. so they didn't expect it. After this short sequence there could be a loud heartbeat noise with short images of key figures flashing on screen in time with the beats, ideally they should fade in from black if editing skills will permit.
Here is an example of a police siren sound effect and a heart beat that me and chris liked:
With regards to some (vague) ideas of a storyline/ plot for our thriller introduction I (ollie) think that we should begin with chris walking towards the camera at night whilst being tracked. We could include some diagetic sound such as a police siren with flashing lights in a blurry background. as chris continues to walk away from the lights the camera stops tracking him and as he approaches the camera he slowly draws a knife from his jacket pocket, the knife could be shown to have an ominous red stain on it to create tension. Chris continues to approach the camera until he is obstructing the view of flashing lights behind him. I then thought a 'fade to white' would be appropriate with a chronological change being displayed in the middle of the screen e.g. 20 minutes earlier. after that there could maybe be a montage of events (edited into quick cut's to make it more interesting) that are to show chris' antagonization at the hands of either myself or Nikki. The sound for this part could be considered really creepy perhaps to add to the thrill of the audience it would have to be non-diagetic perhaps in the same style as the music at the start of se7en (see embedded video below). this should last no more than 30 seconds with a piercing scream all of a sudden to signal the end of it. this would hopefully be edited in a way to make it seem scary to the audience i.e. so they didn't expect it. After this short sequence there could be a loud heartbeat noise with short images of key figures flashing on screen in time with the beats, ideally they should fade in from black if editing skills will permit.
Here is an example of a police siren sound effect and a heart beat that me and chris liked:
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