Speed of editing
Clips of a scene/film are joined together at certain points. The length of each shot determines the pace of the film and helps determine the mood.
Film trailers
Film trailers are an excellent way in connecting an audience to a film, in a quick summary it can explain most of the films narrative in a quick 1-2 minute trailer.
Editing Types
Straight Cut:
When one shot moves into another shot in an edit and it does not confuse the audience.
Fade to black:
When one shot moves into another like a straight cut but however there is a black filter added inbetween.
Wipe cut:
When the shot slides into another.
Dissolve:
When one shot disintegrates into another.
Reaction shot:
Any shot (often used as a cutaway) in which a subject reacts to a previous shot.
Montage:
Is the speed of editing, where shots are quickly juxtaposed together to create exitement.
Slow editing:
Is when clips are put together at a slower pace and this is to create suspense and capture action
Fast editing:
Is when clips are put together at a fast pace and this is used to crate suspense and thrill.
Shot reverse shot:
This is mostly used in films where a converstation is taking place and it is when one shot quickly follows another.
180 degree rule:
This is a precise rule a camera must follow, usually applied to a converstation scene where the camera has limited space and rotation, In a simple summary; In a converstation in a scene where we can see the girl is on the left and the man is on the right, the camera must constantly keep this perception of the girl on the left and man on the right. In order to avoid confusing the audience such as instant camera view switches, where the place of the talkers change, confusing the audience. If a camera movement takes place where it places the talkers the opposite way or in a different position, they must show the camera movement.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Questionaire - Mrs G
1. When you look at the genre "Thriller" what thoughts come into your mind?
(bullet point if you wish)
[
]
2. What do you expect to see in a thriller film? (bullet point if you wish)
[
]
3. What do you believe would affect the film the most?
- The narrative? (how well written/planned the storyline is) [ ]
- The characters? (Their background/bio, costumes and features) [ ]
- The theme? [ ]
4. What places would you suggest/believe that would suit strongly for a Thriller movie? (feel free to bullet point if you wish)
[
]
5. Does gender matter to you in terms of who plays what major roles? If so, Please tick the corresponding boxes below;
I prefer the "killer" of a generic thriller to be a;
- Male [ ]
- Female [ ]
- Doesn't matter [ ]
I prefer the "victim" of a generic thriller to be a;
- Male [ ]
- Female [ ]
- Doesn't matter [ ]
6. In a thriller, Do you prefer certain/specific ways the victim is killed or murdered by the killer?
- Yes [ ]
- No [ ]
If yes, Please describe what you look for in terms of ways of how you like the killer to murder his/her victim?
[
]
(bullet point if you wish)
[
]
2. What do you expect to see in a thriller film? (bullet point if you wish)
[
]
3. What do you believe would affect the film the most?
- The narrative? (how well written/planned the storyline is) [ ]
- The characters? (Their background/bio, costumes and features) [ ]
- The theme? [ ]
4. What places would you suggest/believe that would suit strongly for a Thriller movie? (feel free to bullet point if you wish)
[
]
5. Does gender matter to you in terms of who plays what major roles? If so, Please tick the corresponding boxes below;
I prefer the "killer" of a generic thriller to be a;
- Male [ ]
- Female [ ]
- Doesn't matter [ ]
I prefer the "victim" of a generic thriller to be a;
- Male [ ]
- Female [ ]
- Doesn't matter [ ]
6. In a thriller, Do you prefer certain/specific ways the victim is killed or murdered by the killer?
- Yes [ ]
- No [ ]
If yes, Please describe what you look for in terms of ways of how you like the killer to murder his/her victim?
[
]
Monday, 10 October 2011
Narrative - Mrs G
Thriller Narrative
My ideas for the thriller narrative:
1. - Involving a internet/online chatroom,after a brief dicussion between the the main and the "unknown" person, the main character mentions they have to leave and then turn off the pc, but the pc screen turns back on and the text appears "I'm not done yet", this is followed by the lights instantly go out and then the main character fiddles around in the darkness looking for the light switch,but once the main character does and turns the light switch on, his shoulder is instantly grabbed by the other character who he had just been speaking to on the online chat room and then the screen fades to black fastly followed by the credits at the end.
Advantages and disadvantages with this narrative idea (1) :
- The advantages this narrative idea has is it can create suspense and tension on certain parts of the narrative, specifically the part where the computer screen switches back on and the text appears stating "I'm not done yet" and then the lights instantly go out.
- The disadvantages however for this narrative idea is that we believe it cannot be stretched out to around 2 mins long, (which is required as a min requirement) and that it is not too interesting or unique in terms of creating tension or curisotiy from the audience.
2. - Based around a car, The main character is in the house getting ready for a night out and then after getting ready, approaches the car after closing and locking the doors to the house. Once in the car the main character starts the car but however the car dosent fully start up. The character then decides to get out of the car while leaving the keys in the ignition and investigate to see what is causing them problem and sees no physically damage to the car or any signs of the car being sabotaged, so the character gets back in the car and tries again but notices the keys are missing, so the character searches around the front of the car, but is then shocked after hearing the rattling of his own keys, he notcies something in the rear view mirror, which is actually a person who is just partly seen from the shadows/darkness and then the screen fades to black
Advantages and disadvantages with this narrative idea (2) :
- The advantages for this narrative idea would be that we have a stronger and more interesting narrative than our first idea. And unlike the first one, it does question the audience or the least creates curiosity or questions to where did the keys go, and then what happens once the character sees the unknown person in the mirror who was the one rattling the keys.
- Sadly the disadvantages however, is once again it cannot be stretched out to a 2 min duratation which is the main requirement needed. That, and we still believe we need a more interesting or something that creates suspense and tension as well as in a sense, confusing the audience.
3. - Based in a forest, The main character is exploring/hiking, after a few seconds in the scene, he looks up at the sky and notices it is getting very dark and decides to head back home and follows the path he came from. But to his surprise, he keeps ending back to the same place as he was before. To add to his worries, he also hears someone elses footsteps in the distance and the rustling of leaves/shrubs as well. The character paralized by fear slowly walks backwards while keeping his eyes starring into the distance and direction he heard the noises from. But then suddley bumps into something and turns around quickly, but luckly notices it is just a tree trunk. But his relief is short lived as a hand grabs onto his shoulder and then the screen fades to black.
Advantages and disadvantages with this narrative idea (3) :
- The advantages for this narrative idea would be that it focuses on the narrative more greatly than the previous two in terms of both more interesting and can be stretched out for a longer period of time.
- However, the disadvantages for this narrative idea would be that the camera we may be recieving to record with will not be able to record nighttime/low light scenes.
Group Idea for thriller narrative:
- Set inside a house, With credits on the screen while during the scenes, the protagonist enters the home frustrated, throws camera to the side and sits down, holding his head in his hands and rocking slightly.
He then ruffles his hair, and whispers incoherently to himself before hearing a muffled voice.
He then looks around himself, realising it has stopped, he stands and turns on a television by remote control, but however the TV does not turn on. Pressing the button angrily, he eventually gives up and walks to the kitchen and into the fridge, and then hears the whispers again.
He then furrows his brow, closes fridge, questioningly glacing around but sees nothing, he scratches his head in confusion and heads to the bathroom.
He turns on the shower and glances to the mirror seeing a hooded person, when looking again he finds his own reflection.
He starts to sigh nervously and locks the door in fear, he turns once again to the mirror but this time the reflection is himself with the hood and his real self is holding a knife. He checks self for injury, looks up and the mirror self smiles at him, he looks down again and the screen cuts to black with the character screaming and a sound effect of a slash is heard.
Then a photo of a knife is shown held by a white gloved hand, looks up from the photo "Another one..." and then the title screen.
Narrative Theory
There are 3 theories made by 3 different people which explain most narrative concepts for movies/films.
- Vladimir "Propp", a russian critic, states that the characters of a film can explain narrative within a film more effectively than just the narrative on its own. In short, he believes that it is all about the characters in a movie that will impact the narrative dramatically.
- Tzvetan "Todorov", in a nutshell is basically the opposite of Propp, he believes that the narrative of a storyline will set the stage for the movie rather than just the focusing on the characters. By editing the narrative to make it more interesting and effective, this is done by the use and adding of equilibriums and de-equilibriums, plot twists, and other major points of interest within the narrative.
- "Aristotle", States and only states that only the theme should matter in setting a narrative. The reason behind this is because Aristotle explains that once you create a theme, you can then in turn start to build up your characters and the narrative from there more easier than from a blank canvas.
The narrative theory our group is following/using:
- The narrative theory our group is following would be "Todorov's", or more simply put, focusing on narrative/storyline, which in turn will allow us to then develop our characters and theme (Minus the fact we are restricted to making a thriller genre). As seen in our group narrative example above; You may be able to point out that the way the narrative is put or explains the situation of the scenes, it then in turn allows us to then develop characters and their role in the movie, which then in turn the theme. for example in mentioning a "hooded person" in our narrative, this has set the costume for one of our characters already.
- The idea of focusing strongly on narrative also appeals to us, especially with how our narrative goes. Aside from it allowing us to then build up interesting characters to react to the scenes and themes to go with it, we plan our narrative to in a sense, confuse the audience but at the same time, make them curious in order to try to link the scenes or what is happening together, which at the end of the scenes at the last part of our narrative, the audience can have a chance to link all the random occurrences to then figure out what is really going on.
My ideas for the thriller narrative:
1. - Involving a internet/online chatroom,after a brief dicussion between the the main and the "unknown" person, the main character mentions they have to leave and then turn off the pc, but the pc screen turns back on and the text appears "I'm not done yet", this is followed by the lights instantly go out and then the main character fiddles around in the darkness looking for the light switch,but once the main character does and turns the light switch on, his shoulder is instantly grabbed by the other character who he had just been speaking to on the online chat room and then the screen fades to black fastly followed by the credits at the end.
Advantages and disadvantages with this narrative idea (1) :
- The advantages this narrative idea has is it can create suspense and tension on certain parts of the narrative, specifically the part where the computer screen switches back on and the text appears stating "I'm not done yet" and then the lights instantly go out.
- The disadvantages however for this narrative idea is that we believe it cannot be stretched out to around 2 mins long, (which is required as a min requirement) and that it is not too interesting or unique in terms of creating tension or curisotiy from the audience.
2. - Based around a car, The main character is in the house getting ready for a night out and then after getting ready, approaches the car after closing and locking the doors to the house. Once in the car the main character starts the car but however the car dosent fully start up. The character then decides to get out of the car while leaving the keys in the ignition and investigate to see what is causing them problem and sees no physically damage to the car or any signs of the car being sabotaged, so the character gets back in the car and tries again but notices the keys are missing, so the character searches around the front of the car, but is then shocked after hearing the rattling of his own keys, he notcies something in the rear view mirror, which is actually a person who is just partly seen from the shadows/darkness and then the screen fades to black
Advantages and disadvantages with this narrative idea (2) :
- The advantages for this narrative idea would be that we have a stronger and more interesting narrative than our first idea. And unlike the first one, it does question the audience or the least creates curiosity or questions to where did the keys go, and then what happens once the character sees the unknown person in the mirror who was the one rattling the keys.
- Sadly the disadvantages however, is once again it cannot be stretched out to a 2 min duratation which is the main requirement needed. That, and we still believe we need a more interesting or something that creates suspense and tension as well as in a sense, confusing the audience.
3. - Based in a forest, The main character is exploring/hiking, after a few seconds in the scene, he looks up at the sky and notices it is getting very dark and decides to head back home and follows the path he came from. But to his surprise, he keeps ending back to the same place as he was before. To add to his worries, he also hears someone elses footsteps in the distance and the rustling of leaves/shrubs as well. The character paralized by fear slowly walks backwards while keeping his eyes starring into the distance and direction he heard the noises from. But then suddley bumps into something and turns around quickly, but luckly notices it is just a tree trunk. But his relief is short lived as a hand grabs onto his shoulder and then the screen fades to black.
Advantages and disadvantages with this narrative idea (3) :
- The advantages for this narrative idea would be that it focuses on the narrative more greatly than the previous two in terms of both more interesting and can be stretched out for a longer period of time.
- However, the disadvantages for this narrative idea would be that the camera we may be recieving to record with will not be able to record nighttime/low light scenes.
Group Idea for thriller narrative:
- Set inside a house, With credits on the screen while during the scenes, the protagonist enters the home frustrated, throws camera to the side and sits down, holding his head in his hands and rocking slightly.
He then ruffles his hair, and whispers incoherently to himself before hearing a muffled voice.
He then looks around himself, realising it has stopped, he stands and turns on a television by remote control, but however the TV does not turn on. Pressing the button angrily, he eventually gives up and walks to the kitchen and into the fridge, and then hears the whispers again.
He then furrows his brow, closes fridge, questioningly glacing around but sees nothing, he scratches his head in confusion and heads to the bathroom.
He turns on the shower and glances to the mirror seeing a hooded person, when looking again he finds his own reflection.
He starts to sigh nervously and locks the door in fear, he turns once again to the mirror but this time the reflection is himself with the hood and his real self is holding a knife. He checks self for injury, looks up and the mirror self smiles at him, he looks down again and the screen cuts to black with the character screaming and a sound effect of a slash is heard.
Then a photo of a knife is shown held by a white gloved hand, looks up from the photo "Another one..." and then the title screen.
Narrative Theory
There are 3 theories made by 3 different people which explain most narrative concepts for movies/films.
- Vladimir "Propp", a russian critic, states that the characters of a film can explain narrative within a film more effectively than just the narrative on its own. In short, he believes that it is all about the characters in a movie that will impact the narrative dramatically.
- Tzvetan "Todorov", in a nutshell is basically the opposite of Propp, he believes that the narrative of a storyline will set the stage for the movie rather than just the focusing on the characters. By editing the narrative to make it more interesting and effective, this is done by the use and adding of equilibriums and de-equilibriums, plot twists, and other major points of interest within the narrative.
- "Aristotle", States and only states that only the theme should matter in setting a narrative. The reason behind this is because Aristotle explains that once you create a theme, you can then in turn start to build up your characters and the narrative from there more easier than from a blank canvas.
The narrative theory our group is following/using:
- The narrative theory our group is following would be "Todorov's", or more simply put, focusing on narrative/storyline, which in turn will allow us to then develop our characters and theme (Minus the fact we are restricted to making a thriller genre). As seen in our group narrative example above; You may be able to point out that the way the narrative is put or explains the situation of the scenes, it then in turn allows us to then develop characters and their role in the movie, which then in turn the theme. for example in mentioning a "hooded person" in our narrative, this has set the costume for one of our characters already.
- The idea of focusing strongly on narrative also appeals to us, especially with how our narrative goes. Aside from it allowing us to then build up interesting characters to react to the scenes and themes to go with it, we plan our narrative to in a sense, confuse the audience but at the same time, make them curious in order to try to link the scenes or what is happening together, which at the end of the scenes at the last part of our narrative, the audience can have a chance to link all the random occurrences to then figure out what is really going on.
Monday, 3 October 2011
Scream analysis - Ms Begum
How is Scream a conventional thriller?
The narrative about Scream can be related or even seen as one of the many conventional thriller films due to how it first starts of innocently and then slowly starts to become more darker and builds up suspense until eventually something very dramatic happens, usually the killer makes his appearance and strikes the victim. (resume explaining and relate to scream scene here)
Sound
- The doorbell starts to ring, this in turn gives a reaction from a audience that they are expecting something to happen, this is diagetic sound as it is both sound we expect to hear and it relates to the scene as well (the killer ringing the doorbell and in turn, we hear the doorbell ring)
- The music within the scene starts to calm down as her parents are driving towards the house and then eventually parking up nearby the house, showing a sense of hope. But then the music builds up quickly as the killer jumps onto her and then a quick chase happens with very intense music, then when she is finally stabbed, the last killing blow quickly stops the music and a eery silence is then cast as the parents enter the house to find she is not inside but do not know she has just been struck down by the killer right infront of the house
Costumes
- The girl who is focused on in this scene is wearing cream/white clothing which shows she is an innocent character as white usually reflects purity
- The antagonist aka the killer, Is wearing a long black cape which reflects mystery and how he blends into the night/darkness, he also has a white mask to hide is identity which both makes us curious to who he is or/and what he looks like; adding onto the mysterious look and feel he carries
Editing
- There is a reaction shot on the girl character to show us that she saw something outside and how she has reacted to it by showing us both her body language and facial expressions
- The editing of the sound comes into effect and we as a audience can hear and see this as the part when the killer jumps through the window to get to the girl, the music starts suddenly and very loudly
Iconography & Setting
- The mask that the killer is wearing protects the antagonists identity. Conventional as the audience gains suspense to what the killer looks like and we question who he really is
- Knives in the kitchen, standard everyday tools used in cooking, but in this case the girl pulls out the knife and now from being a normal kitchen utiensil, it has now become a weapon
Narrative
- The girl picks up the phone and starts to get into a convenstation with a stranger which then she slowly loses her interest and shuts the phone, but the stranger calls her back constantly demanding her attention and gets very angry quickly when she starts constantly shutting the phone and ignoring him.
- The stranger on the phone starts to play mind games with the girl by asking her questions, but with a horrible outcome if she loses as we discover by the stranger telling her to put on the garden lights, that her boyfriend has been taken captive and is at risk of being killed if she gets the question wrong
Summary of how it has helped me understand thrillers more:
This has helped me understand the thriller genre much more, specifically in terms of using mircoelements, such as for example the use of iconography, the ability to turn everyday household objects, such as the knives in the kitchen into weapons.
More mircoelements that i have learned to be able to focus on is also costumes and how it can give us as a audience a sort of guess on what role/part the character plays as, such as the girl wearing the white sweater in Scream, as an audience we see her as a innocent character, which later in turn we also see the killer who is wearing full black clothing aside from his mask, Which also hides his identity and adds to the mystery and makes us curious to who he is or looks like behind the mask.
The narrative about Scream can be related or even seen as one of the many conventional thriller films due to how it first starts of innocently and then slowly starts to become more darker and builds up suspense until eventually something very dramatic happens, usually the killer makes his appearance and strikes the victim. (resume explaining and relate to scream scene here)
Sound
- The doorbell starts to ring, this in turn gives a reaction from a audience that they are expecting something to happen, this is diagetic sound as it is both sound we expect to hear and it relates to the scene as well (the killer ringing the doorbell and in turn, we hear the doorbell ring)
- The music within the scene starts to calm down as her parents are driving towards the house and then eventually parking up nearby the house, showing a sense of hope. But then the music builds up quickly as the killer jumps onto her and then a quick chase happens with very intense music, then when she is finally stabbed, the last killing blow quickly stops the music and a eery silence is then cast as the parents enter the house to find she is not inside but do not know she has just been struck down by the killer right infront of the house
Costumes
- The girl who is focused on in this scene is wearing cream/white clothing which shows she is an innocent character as white usually reflects purity
- The antagonist aka the killer, Is wearing a long black cape which reflects mystery and how he blends into the night/darkness, he also has a white mask to hide is identity which both makes us curious to who he is or/and what he looks like; adding onto the mysterious look and feel he carries
Editing
- There is a reaction shot on the girl character to show us that she saw something outside and how she has reacted to it by showing us both her body language and facial expressions
- The editing of the sound comes into effect and we as a audience can hear and see this as the part when the killer jumps through the window to get to the girl, the music starts suddenly and very loudly
Iconography & Setting
- The mask that the killer is wearing protects the antagonists identity. Conventional as the audience gains suspense to what the killer looks like and we question who he really is
- Knives in the kitchen, standard everyday tools used in cooking, but in this case the girl pulls out the knife and now from being a normal kitchen utiensil, it has now become a weapon
Narrative
- The girl picks up the phone and starts to get into a convenstation with a stranger which then she slowly loses her interest and shuts the phone, but the stranger calls her back constantly demanding her attention and gets very angry quickly when she starts constantly shutting the phone and ignoring him.
- The stranger on the phone starts to play mind games with the girl by asking her questions, but with a horrible outcome if she loses as we discover by the stranger telling her to put on the garden lights, that her boyfriend has been taken captive and is at risk of being killed if she gets the question wrong
Summary of how it has helped me understand thrillers more:
This has helped me understand the thriller genre much more, specifically in terms of using mircoelements, such as for example the use of iconography, the ability to turn everyday household objects, such as the knives in the kitchen into weapons.
More mircoelements that i have learned to be able to focus on is also costumes and how it can give us as a audience a sort of guess on what role/part the character plays as, such as the girl wearing the white sweater in Scream, as an audience we see her as a innocent character, which later in turn we also see the killer who is wearing full black clothing aside from his mask, Which also hides his identity and adds to the mystery and makes us curious to who he is or looks like behind the mask.
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