naming our film

We have decided to name our thriller film "13". This is because of the 13 victims of the murderer. 

We did some research into the name "thirteen" and "13" and found that there were several films that include the number "13" and one that is called "thirteen". From this research we decided to use the number 13 to name our film instead of the word as we originally planned to do.

Last part of filming/ editing

We filmed the last part of the film this week.
In preperation for this i took photos of people and looked through lots of magazines and newspapers for suitable words to cut out, i also typed some on the computer.
We have also done a lot of editing this week to make sure we get it finished by the deadline.

Final Piece of Filming

After filming on Friday the 27th of February, we have decided to finish all filming by the end of Friday the 6th. 

This will be the final time filming before editing and then finishing. 

 

Friday the 27th

On Friday the 27th of February we have decided to go to our location and start organising the first location, then filming the second shot.

Backstory which motivates what happens in our film

The main characters mother saw thirteen different psychiatrists with mental health problems, they were all unable to help her because the illness was so severe. This led her to commit suicide, the main character has never got over this and seeks revenge on all thirteen psychiatrists. Prior to the start of the film he has killed off the first twelve psychiatrists and now he is after the thirteenth.  

Sin City Analysis- Lighting and Sound

The clip starts with a woman walking out onto a balcony, diagetic sound of cars and sirens can be heard.
A voiceover of a man talking can also be heard a few seconds into the clip, it shows what the man in the clip is thinking. It is so the audience can hear him but the woman in the clip can not. The voiceover also acts as a narrater as is describing what the woman is doing.
As the camera turns so the audience can see the womans face and the man walking towards here, a quiet non diagetic ambient trumpit sound is played, this shows suspence and tension.
When the man reaches the woman the voice changes from non diagetic to the character speaking. Its not very noticable as is in the same tone, but this shows it is the same man speaking.
When the man offers the woman a cigerette the sound of the lighter opening is emphasised and is louder than the other sounds that are happening at that time.
The sound stayes the same while the man and woman talk for about a minute, it then goes back to the man speaking as a voice over, he is again describing what he is thinking aswell as the woman.
The non diagetic sound changes to a piono for a few seconds then stops completly. As the man says 'i tell her i love her' in the voiceover his mouth moves in the clip saying 'i love you'. This shows he is describing something that happened in the past, and could be re-telling a story.
As they start kissing there is a gun shot which is emphasised by being loud and there is a ray of light that shoots across the screan.
As the woman falls to the ground in the mans arms, all that can be heard is the voicover of the man and raindrops. The silence in the background adds tension. As the camera zooms out a louder non diagetci sound is played, it sounds as if it is drawing away.

The lighting is low key as is set at night time. There are bright beams of light coming from building windows. As everything is in black and white apart from the womans dress and lips the lighting effects dont look perticulally realistic. Shadows are over emphasised, it also looks as if they have a bright light above them the whole time.

Today we have decided that we are going to watch the beginning of the film Sin City.

 We are going to break it up into section for analysis:

• camerawork-Colin
• Lighting and sound-Jasmine
• Mise en Scene-Charlie
• Editing- Adam

Each person will analyse the beginning and then we will put our notes together and update the blog.  

Questonaire results

we have put all of our results together and this is what we have found:

Only 2 out of 20 people we asked don't like thrillers.

We asked people what their favourite thriller film was, these are the one that are most common:

• Da vinci Code 
  
• Sin city
  
• sixth sense
  
• The mummy
  

We then asked, what makes you want to see a thriller?

• Excitment
• suspense
• The thrill
• The plot
• Action
• Death
• Mystery

We then asked what you expect to see in the film?

• Blood
• Death
• Car chases
• Gun fights
• Storylines-suspence
• Explosions

Plot and Character Motifs

The plot motif for our piece is something bad happening to what appears to be an ordinary person. In the whole film it might result in murder but the audience don't know this from just the opening. 

There is an Antagonist, he is in the first scene, although you can not see his facial features so can not recognise him, the audience know he is the antagonist because he is doing strange things. Such as sitting in a dark room surrounded by pictures that have been cut up and crossed out. There will also be many other strange things about them that make it more obvious to the audience that he is the antagonist from the beginning.

The Protagonist is the victim. They appear to be a normal person out for a run, but they then get hit on the head and a sack put over their head. is there more to them than meets the eye.

From the opening the audience don't know if there is going to be a perticular Hero or not. In the whole film there would be, someone who discovers what is happening and who the antagonist is.

27th Jan. 2nd group blog

Colin, unfortunately, is absent due to a Geography trip.

This is what we have come up with as our plot idea so far. 

Shot 1

Location: Dark, cold and erie room for example a garage or shed.

Characters: Man, although you can't see any of his facial features, so he is not recognised.

Lighting: Low key lighting, one single swinging light, no lamp shade to create shadows.

Sound: Diagetic sound from video tape or non diagetic erie music, depending on what turns out best.

Rough plot outline: Starts with panning of room showing darkness and pictures in the walls and tables and floor, dirt and blood smears. Crossing out of pictures, and scribbling, cutting and sticking paper. Video playing on repeat of victim. Credits appearing every now and then, intergrating with his actions.

Shot 2: 

Location: Road or track, very quiet, no houses and few cars.

Characters: The victim, the antagonist/mystery person from first shot. 

Lighting: To be decided.

Sound: Music from runners ipod, also general diagetic sounds e.g, birds, cars and wind and footsteps.

Rough plot outline: Victim is running down the road or path, some shots are point of view, and some other. car draws up behind we hear this, peer round, then a blackout.

Friday 23rd Lesson

What i noticed about the clip of the opening of se7en.

• Low lighting used.
• Use of diagetic ticking sound, sounds like a heartbeat-tension.
• Non diagetic starts with a quiet beats and ends up at a faster pase.
• The use of a red filter, shows the colour of blood and death.
• Hands of the character are cut, tension, why?
• Overlay of clips, shows time going past quickly.
• Fast editing between clips, faster action, more to take in and think about.

Mise En Scene
First clip (i cant remember the name)

• Old cars show the era it is from.
• Big overpowering buildings.
• Smart costumes show something important is happening.
• Mopeds stand out over other cars-must be important to story.
• Woman in cream coat also stands out, important character?

One hour photo

• Coloured, fading credits.
• Camera, new technology, feels as if you are being watched as is there for a long time.
• Man stands out in the white room, contrasts.
• Not that much happens, but there is still lots to think about, what will happen with the camera and the man?
  

Hello, 

This is our first blog regarding the first three lessons of our Media Studies coursework on a thrillers. We have thought about a few plot ideas, these include:

•  A Kidnapping
  
• A shooting 
• A bombing

After conducting our research on what people like and expect in thrillers, we decided the kidnapping was the best idea. We chose this because in our research we discovered that people like suspense, action and the thrill of the plot unfolding.

Our idea is to have a man alone in his room crossing out pictures of girls. There are many pictures of his victims, but they are all crossed out. There is soft light with the TV playing, of  what seems to be a future target. While this scene is in progress credits are displayed at various times. The next blog will be udated