Today we strated the process of storyboarding and talking about props and locations. As our Coursework we need to produce the beginning sequence of a Thriller/Horror Production which should last about 2 and a half minutes. I am in a group with Storm, Tom and Amy and we started the process of creating a storyboard by writing down the order of actions that are going to happen to then convert them into a storyboard. Amy is the Producer, Storm is the Director as well as me and Tom is the editor. We created a storyboard to make sure that when we are on the set we know excactly what and how we are going to shoot it and don't have to make it up. It provides instructions to the sound and camera crew and helps the director to organise the scene. A storyboard is also very hgelpful because if you are for example having a conversation in the sequence you don't take the camera, do the first sentense and then everyt b ody is turning round behind the other person so with the help of the storyboard you can form shots together and shot shots that are the same at the same time.
This is out list of actions so far :
Shots
1. The gate is closed and we see a car arriving and stopping in front of the gate
2. Tom goes out to open the gate and then drives through it (when the leaves blow up they from “Milano Production Presents”)
3. shot out of one of the windows in the house seeing the car arriving (we see the breath on the window and then a “A Storm Cunningham Film” is written in there”
4. pow shot of Tom looking at the house
5. shot from in front of the house seeing Tom getting out of the car and starting to walk
6. track shot of him going to the house
7. CU of his face looking around anxiously (next to him a door sign saying “featuring Tom and Alabama)
8. ECU of him looking through the window
9. mid shot of h8im hearing the noises
10. shot of the lights flashing behind the door
11. Tom walks back the mid shot and down the front door stairs until he ends in a long shot
12. camera sits in the back of the car and sees Tom arrive and enter the car
13. camera zooms into his eyes and the flashbacks begin
14. fast cut from long shot to ECU of the masks on the children (cold breath comes out and builds ( Produced by Amy Milan)
15. cut to Tom
16. shot of Tom stiching the mask (sticking stuff builds “Directed by Storm Webster and Stephanie Mareen”)
17. cut to Tom
18. bloody hands writing “Edited by Tom Cunningham”
19. zoom out of Toms eye
20. shot out of the window of the house seeing the car reverse
21. close up of tom using the gear stick
22. close up of him using the gas
23. camera in the backseat – view through the front side seeing the car leave
24. drives fast and the front lights hit a kid
25. shot from behind the kid looking at the front lights of the car
26. ECU of Tom blinking
27. pow shot of toim and the kid is gone
28. shot through the wind shield on the backseat is a child
29. cu of the child – breath coming out and building the title
Friday, 20 November 2009
Monday, 16 November 2009
Research Sources
In my free time I used a lot of clips on youtube to help me understand special camera effects, sound, lighting and atmosphere. Most of these clips were either movie scenes from Horror or Thriller productions or Trailers. One sequence that helped me a lot for the understanding of sound and music was the legendary shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho".
This taught me the important role music plays in a sequence and made me realise, that music is the one main thing that makes this scene work so perfectly-even though it is so old.
This end scene from "Seven" also helped me a lot with the music, location and atmosphere because all these factors make it work. The scene plays in the middle of nowwhere but still it works because the camera angles and music create a great atmosphere and the audience can feel Brad Pitt's pain that he feels for the loss of his wife.
The beginning sequence of "Casino Royale" helped me a lot because I saw the importance of editing. The way this sequence is edited is very interesting because it is in black and white because it is in the past and the camera cross cuts from the calm conversation to the violent killing scene. The killing scene is cut very quickly and therefore has a good effect on the audience.
This taught me the important role music plays in a sequence and made me realise, that music is the one main thing that makes this scene work so perfectly-even though it is so old.
This end scene from "Seven" also helped me a lot with the music, location and atmosphere because all these factors make it work. The scene plays in the middle of nowwhere but still it works because the camera angles and music create a great atmosphere and the audience can feel Brad Pitt's pain that he feels for the loss of his wife.
The beginning sequence of "Casino Royale" helped me a lot because I saw the importance of editing. The way this sequence is edited is very interesting because it is in black and white because it is in the past and the camera cross cuts from the calm conversation to the violent killing scene. The killing scene is cut very quickly and therefore has a good effect on the audience.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Chosen Thriller Production
The Thriller we have been choosing in our group will be a great Production. It is about a man driving home and on his way he meets a boy with a scary mask standing in his way and however he tries to turn, the boy is still in front of him.
The idea is very basic but I think it is going to work very well because of the effects we can built in. The light of the car which will light the boy are going to look scary and maybe we will even get some fog in the night. Another point is, that the mask, that the boy is wearing is very scary and this works because then you don't see his face or his emotion.
Another point is that the boy is kind of supernatural because he is always in front of the car no matter how hard the man tries to get away.
To have a great story we will have cues about the fact that the man had done something wrong or even killed the boy.
I think this Thriller is going to be great because of the masks and the effective lightings.
The idea is very basic but I think it is going to work very well because of the effects we can built in. The light of the car which will light the boy are going to look scary and maybe we will even get some fog in the night. Another point is, that the mask, that the boy is wearing is very scary and this works because then you don't see his face or his emotion.
Another point is that the boy is kind of supernatural because he is always in front of the car no matter how hard the man tries to get away.
To have a great story we will have cues about the fact that the man had done something wrong or even killed the boy.
I think this Thriller is going to be great because of the masks and the effective lightings.
My Thriller Idea
My Thriller Idea was to have 2 Girls sitting in a room and having a Girls-Evening. They invited a third one to make fun of her and as they are sitting there you can always see something evil in her eyes. As she goes to the toilette die other girls talk about the special "Halloween-Game" where you write "DEVIL" with lipstick on the mirror and when you turn the lights out a ghost will come out to kill you. They do it and as the girl comes out the toillette they turn the lights out and the audience sees that the girl coming out of the mirror is actually the third one. As nothing happens the two girls put the lights back on and the third one turns around to make the light out. The two girls scream because they are getting killed and the screen is dark except of the letters which spin around and form the title.
To give you a more detailed explanation i will put the Powerpoint Presentation onto this Blog!
To give you a more detailed explanation i will put the Powerpoint Presentation onto this Blog!
Monday, 2 November 2009
Thriller Posters
Seven is a great poster because it refers to the title of the movie but also gives a little overview about the movie. Final Destination and Gothika are put in blue which a really like because it looks cold and scary.
Life and let die is an example of a espionage movie and i love the poster because it attracts the attention.
Life and let die is an example of a espionage movie and i love the poster because it attracts the attention.
Horror Posters
This is an example of a Horror Poster from the Movie Saw and in my opinion this works very well because the letters look really scary and the special chair this person is sitting on makes the viewer wonder what it is and how it works. The fact that the person on the chair is wearing high heel shoes but a pig head makes us interested in what has happened to her.
The other movie is Drag me to hell, an example of a supernatural horror thriller and i like the Poster because it shows the unknown which makes us interested in it.
The next one is the exorcism of Emily Rose and I like the Poster because of the fog, the huge tree and the esorientated looking girl. The other one is a very old poster but i still like it because it shows pure horror and fear.
What is a Thriller?
A Thriller contains a meta-genre which are the emotions and reactions that should come from it, for example fear. Thrillers rely on the plot, fear in the audience, apprehension, suspense or you could just say basic worries that people have. These can be simple fears that make the audience emotionally involved. Thriller contain universal themes and work with a sense of delay because they use the time that the audience is waiting for something to happen to create suspense. Thrillers work because the are sadomsochistic because the audience likes seeing somebody else feeling discomfortable, they use ambivalence which means making the audience believe in what is happening and they are emotionally involved in what is happening.
There are different types of Thrillers, for example espionage or spythrillers like James Bond, Psychological Horror Thrillers like saw or supernatural thrillers like Drag me to Hell.
All of these genre are identified and classified by their key conventions which are the intricacy of plot, a complex unraveling narrative, a focus on fear, apprehension and suspense, a sense of delay and enigma codes which are mysteries and questions that the audience ask itself about what is happening and this also means that there is something unknown to the audience.
Other Conventions are that the audience pleasure derived from individuals discomfort and voyeurism, which means that we are aware of something that the character isn't.
If Thrillers contain each of these conventions they are good Thrillers and fulfil the expectations of the audiences.
There are different types of Thrillers, for example espionage or spythrillers like James Bond, Psychological Horror Thrillers like saw or supernatural thrillers like Drag me to Hell.
All of these genre are identified and classified by their key conventions which are the intricacy of plot, a complex unraveling narrative, a focus on fear, apprehension and suspense, a sense of delay and enigma codes which are mysteries and questions that the audience ask itself about what is happening and this also means that there is something unknown to the audience.
Other Conventions are that the audience pleasure derived from individuals discomfort and voyeurism, which means that we are aware of something that the character isn't.
If Thrillers contain each of these conventions they are good Thrillers and fulfil the expectations of the audiences.
Account of editing preliminary Task
We edited our Preliminary Task using Final Cut Pro. To get into the Programme we needed to enter the Password and find our Group Preliminary Task which was already put there by our teachers. by double clicking it we got to our work place where we could edit the sequence. There are two screens in the top right corner so therefore in one you can let one sequence take part and in the other one another. It was important to cut the different shots prom each other by putting the whole sequence into the timeline and then cutting out the different shots by pressing "i" when it starts and "o" when it ends. Then you have this single shot as a seperate file. After doing this with the whole sequence we needed to put them together and in order and then cutting beginning and ending to make everything fit. For this we needed to take the shots and put them at the right place into the timeline together with its sound and then cut them together to create a great flow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
