[RG] Group - Discussion 28/01/10

Richard and I had a group discussion in class regarding the first few opening shots. We have started to storyboard the camera angles and shots we are going to use create a running scene and have discussed where to fit in the correct music, narration and diagetic sounds during the sequence. We have also been looking at fonts for the films title as we have planned how we will incorporate the title into a freeze frame during the opening running sequence.

RO - Theme music for opening

As The opening of trainspotting is the male running, we could do that but have the song "Keep on running" by Spencer Davis group, (I think that's the right song name as the computer in the 6Th form library didn't have sound), as this state running away from something which could be a theme for the opening as well, create a plot of someone running away from someone or something, then we could leave a cliffhanger before the end of the scene to hook the audience in, for example he catches up with someone or something and the camera is shown from that point of view at the main characters face to show the disbelief and fear in his eyes. Just a thought but thought it could really well with the theme music. :)

Group - Discussion 26/01/10

We had a discussion in class yesterday and started basing an idea on the trainspotting video and a teen thriller as the video has an effecftive yet simple opening. i'll have to search around the teen thriller to find more films along the lines of trainspotting and find out different techniques used.

RO - Camera Work

Using the cameras yesterday we used a sweep shot to capture someone running, then a steady cam shot to follow the runner, we used the teachers chair to help with the steady cam to create a mobile platform for filming while holding the camera.
run into a bit of trouble with the chair as it was difficult to steer therefore i fell of it but everything worked out as we found out that we took a risk by shooting the thin path in the quite area and not the path leading from the art block.

[RG] Opening concept - Stephen King's IT

This video shows a simple but highly effective oppening to a Horror movie. With some basic editing software to create the opening credits and employment of some elementary camera shots this oppening could be recreated by our group. It is an effective oppening to a horror movie as it creates suspence and fear in the audience, while also leaving a great deal of mystery for the film to expand upon.

The link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcW_FbNG1cg

Watch from 0:00 - 3:13

[RG] Genre Analysis - Horror

1. Horror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness. Many horror movies also include a central villain. More recent horror films can usually be split into three distinct, but related, sub-genres: the horror-of-personality i.e. “Psycho”, the horror-of-Armageddon i.e. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and the horror-of-the-demonic i.e. “The Exorcist”.

2. Early horror movies are largely based on classic literature of the Gothic/horror genre, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. A sub-genre of horror is the slasher film, usually with a teenage cast and targeted towards a teenage audience, so a good direction of the genre for our group to look into.

3. Horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films feature a wide range of styles, from the earliest silent Nosferatu classic, to today's CGI monsters and deranged humans. They are often combined with science fiction when the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when Earth is threatened by aliens.

4.

Villain



Victim

5. The location of Horror can be practically anywhere, from widely populated cities to more commonly small, barely populated villages. One location often found in horrors is the large, old fashioned building that is usually haunted or abandoned.

6. The essence of horror is the violent, unanticipated disruption of audience trust in moral and natural order, but modern “horror” are less about horror and more about iconography. The horror genre is a flood of movies featuring zombies, vampires, werewolves, swamp creatures and Frankenstein who's analogues have supplanted the superhero as the dominant mainstream figure.

7.Costume

8. By changing the angle and placement of lights, you can turn an everyday scene into something horrifying. While these techniques are ideal for horror, they can also be used to add suspense or an air of mystery to an otherwise ordinary scene.
Low-key lighting is a style of lighting for photography, film or television. It tends to heighten the sense of alienation felt by the viewer, hence is commonly used in film noir and horror genres.

9. Here are a few fonts found on 1001freefonts.com that would suit the Horror genre:

RO - Technical Analysis of Trainspotting opening

Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996)

The Scene starts with a close up steady shot of the main male character running towards the camera to convey a sense of mystery, for example running from something.
Then the Camera cuts to his feet to show items falling out which conveys theft while showing people running behind in suits conveying security.
Then a medium low shot to show the actor running from a near side on view.
Then a low angled Shot to a follow sweep to follow the male down the stairs.
A POV shotto show the character running as if someone is following him or chasing him.
Then a mid shot to show from the cars POV and the male sliding over the cars bonnet for him then to stop.
A Mid shot of the character smoking,
Then a long shot of the male character smoking,
A long shot of the teams of footballthen shots of the football with titles of the characters names.
A continuity shot between two scenes of him falling down.

Narration shows the story at the beginning but also gives you a view that this is going to be a teen thriller.
Music has a high tempo to convey running as its an upbeat lifting song but also creates an britpop feel through the music to create a film based on the 1980's

I have learnt from this that you can create a simple opening yet it will be very effective, the narrative drives the film as it explains what he does in which we want to know more.

RO - Genre Analysis - Thriller

Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains.

Vladimir Nabokov who taught at cornell university said that "In an Anglo-Saxon thriller, the villain is generally punished, and the strong silent man generally wins the weak babbling girl, but there is no governmental law in Western countries to ban a story that does not comply with a fond tradition, so that we always hope that the wicked but romantic fellow will escape scot-free and the good but dull chap will be finally snubbed by the moody heroine"

There was connotations of earlier thrillers in "Homer's Odyssey."

"The genre is a fascinatingly flexible form that can undermine audience complacency through a dramatic rendering of psychological, social, familial and political tensions and encourages sheltered but sensation-hungry audiences, in Hitchcock's phrase, "to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like." Quote From Source

Thrillers include assasination, jeprody, murder, mass murder and terrorism.

Sub Genres of Thrillers

Action Thriller - The Transporter(Leterrier, 2002)
Conspiracy Thriller - JFK (Stone, 1991)
Crime Thriller - Seven (Fincher, 1995)
Disaster Thriller - World trade centre (Stone, 2006)
Drama Thriller - The illusionist (Burger, 2006)
Erotic Thriller - Basic Instinct (Verhoeven, 1992)
Legal Thriller - The Firm (Pollack,1993)
Medical Thriller - Awake (Harold, 2007)
Political Thriller - The Agency (Kaczender, 1980)
Psychological Thriller - The Good Son (Ruben, 1993)
Spy Thriller - The Bourne Identity (Liman, 2002)
Techno Thriller - The Hunt for Red October (Mctiernan, 1990)
Religious Thriller - The Di Vinci Code (Howard, 2006)
Science Fiction Thrillers - Alien (Scott, 1979)

Text source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)