Preliminary Task
  <<<< This was our location
On Tuesday 23rd November we filmed our preliminary task in St James' Church in Weybridge. We chose to do it at about 5pm as by this time it was dark. The weather was freezing which created a mist and because the the grave yard in front of the church has lights shining upwards it really emphasized the mist and created a brilliant effect for our task. It very much reminded me of a thriller film. We took some shots when we first got there of the church and the graveyard. The church was lit up beautifully. Our filiming worked really well and were able to practice with loads of different shots and angles. The church inside was a perfect location for what we were trying to achieve. Inside the church is was cold and lonely and our filming picked up on this very much creating an atmosphere. In our preliminary we created the idea that Anna was a weird, abnormal child who spent most of her time in the church sitting quietly, oblivious to everything around her. Meme was a happy girl who enjoyed spending time in the church gathering her thoughts and praying. Meme finds Anna sitting rocking on the pue in the church, starring at a candle just below the beautiful stained glass window. In our preliminary we had to show somebody walking and opening a door, walking across a room and having a conversation which someone. As easy as it sounds, it took us quite a bit of thinking to come up with how we were going to portray this. I filmed Meme walking up to the church door and opening it, she then walked down the church isle and put a set of keys on a table. As she was turning around she realised Anna sitting, rocking and starring at the candle. She sat down on the pue opposite her and asked her if she was okay. Anna did not respond to Meme so Meme asked Anna again and Anna then responded in an angry manner "I'm fine".  In our preliminary we were able to capture close ups, long shots, 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot. In my opinion our preliminary worked really well, it gave me a better feel for how the camera worked and we were able to play around and try out different types of angles. The church worked really well as it makes it look scary and very thriller like.

Ideas for preliminary task

In our groups we've started to think of ideas for our preliminary task. As there is four of us in our group we thought it would be quite easy to work with as we can really focus on the different types of camera angles we use as well as creating a thriller.
We liked the idea of a church at night, we believed this would create a very creepy effect and therefore would be an ideal location.

Possible Camera shots

In the film instrustry there are many types of camera angles. For our A level exam we are limited to what angles we can use. Some of the camera angles we have looked at using in our piece are:

Wide Angle shot

Showing a wider view of a scene. It gives the audience a chance to see the bigger picture and allows them to see more of what is going on.

Framing shot

Using a piece of set or scenery to frame a shot. It highlights whatever is in the frame to the audience.

Point of view shot

Camera shot as if through the eyes of protagonist or character. It gives an interesting view and allows the audience to understand what the character is seeing.

Two-shot

When two people are in the shot. Highlights and shows the relationship between the two characters.

Establishing shot

A shot, often outside, that indicates where the action will take place. Allows the audience to know more about what they are watching. Sets the scene- sets the mood and atmosphere of the drama.

Close up

Close in to a face or item. It creates an atmosphere, adds emphasis and allows the audience to see things in greater detail. ie.facial expressions.

Low angle shot

From below the actor or set. Gives the person being filmed a high status or to create a sense of height.

High angle shot

Taken from above. Gives the person being filmed a lower status or to create a sense of depth.

Steven Spielberg



As one of the most acclaimed directors of the late 20th Century, Steven Spielberg's work has rarely failed to capture the imagination of movie-goers worldwide.
At just 13 years of age, Spielberg received praise after winning a contest for a short film entitled "Escape to Nowhere."
In a bid to make it in the movie industry, Spielberg raised enough money from a close friend to make "Amblin", a short film that gained the attention of major Hollywood studios, and winning numerous film festival awards.
"The Sugerland Express," was Spielbergs first feature film, releaed in 1974. This sucess was followed one year later by the Oscar and Academy Award winning "Jaws". Then in 1982, Spielberg's 'Amblin Entertainment' was brought into the spotlight with its first full length feature 'E.T.'
Following many years of outstanding success with Amblin Entertainment, Spielberg extended his horizons and formed Dreamworks, a highly respected partnership with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen responsible for films such as Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator and Chicken Run.

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was an English filmmaker and producer.He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood. In 1956 he became an American citizen while remaining a British subject.Over a career spanning more than half a century, Hitchcock fashioned for himself a distinctive and recognisable directorial style. Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades. Often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker.

180 degree rule

180 Degree Rule

   

The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle. 

Preliminary Tasks

In class we got a chance to watch some of last years preliminary tasks. We focused on what we thought was good and bad about each of them. All of them were very different and each were effective in their own ways. The first task we watched was by George and Jack. I found in this one that the introduction music worked well and was very effective, the lighting was a very dark effect which worked well and linked well to the thriller genre. The intro music then suddenly cut and went to complete silent which worked well, they didn't show the faces of the characters at first which also was effective. They had a close up shot of Jack's mouth of him saying "sit down" this was effective for me as someone in the audience as it was very clear and it enabled me to feel what kind of mood he was in. I felt the improvements that could have been made were things such as the use of the camera was shaky at times and this could have worked better by using a tripod. The other thing was the music when one of the characters was exiting, it did not fit with the scene at all and didn't make it as tense as it could have been.
Next we watched Callum and Zoe's piece, I liked that it was set at night time, this created a very mysterious setting. The street lights added an interesting effect as they were filming somebody being followed the street lights made it feel much more real. I felt this was one of the weaker tasks as the sound was not very good at all and the camera shots were very shaky.
The next task was by Livi, Tilly, Claudia and Ellen. I very much enjoyed watching this task as I felt it had the most excitement. The lighting in the scene worked well, mainly the flickering lights as this added a mysterious, creepy effect. The close up shots of the girl lying on the stairs were effective and what made it even more effective was the blood on her wrists. There were a couple of shots that were shot through the doors, and as the doors had a grid like effect it worked really well and it gave a caged look. The music they chose was also a good choice as this worked well and blended with there piece. I found they could have improved on the quality of their filming at the end as it was such a great start it was a bit of a let down when it came to the end.
Next was Cissy, Chloe, Asia and Jasmine's task. The intro music worked well. This task was very different from the others and I felt it didn't have much of  a thriller feel to it. They spent a lot of time interviewing one of the characters which was a nice idea but I just felt it didn't have as much to it as the others did. There was no element of excitement or horror.
After we watched Matt and Lauren's task, this was also another one that stood of from the others. The music worked really well especially during the shots on the stairs. The beginning of their piece was very random and didn't really fit in with the rest of their task. Towards the end when Amy was found in the cupboard tied up, I felt this worked really well as she portrayed to the audience how scared she was. The improvements that could have been made in this were definatley at the beginning. The didn't need to involve repetitiveness and this just confused me as one of the audience.
Josh and Victoria were up next, this one was interesting to watch and I felt as if I really needed to concentrate. The darkness of the scene worked well however at certain points it was too dark to the point where you couldn't see anything. The effect of hearing her footsteps walking up the stairs also worked very well as it created a lot of tension. They could have improved the sound of their scene and also there could have been pauses during the conversation at the end, it would have made it much more exciting for the audience.

My first project

Our first project was to practice filming and get to grips with using the camera and editing our piece. We filmed it within the school building, we had to film somebody walking along a corridor, walking in and out of a room and then to film two people having a conversation. This was a challenge considering there was only two of us that were doing the task so it made filming difficult. I filmed Joanne walking down the corridor and walking in and out of a room, this helped me as I got to get a feel of filming. When it came to having a conversation it was difficult as we had to plan who would turn the camera on to come and sit down without making it look like they'd just turned on the camera. When it came to editing it was also an experience as neither of us were used to using the equipment, some of the effects we added really made a difference to our clip as it added suspense and tension when needed. Having done this task, its now given us a feel of the equipment and technology we have to use and next time we film it will be much easier. We also have decided that next time we film we will work in a group of more than 2 and will therefore make filming much easier.

Famous Thriller movies-

• The Godfather
• Inception
• Pulp Fiction
• The Dark Knight
• Rear Window
• Fight Club
• Psycho
• The Usual Suspects
• The Silence of the lambs
• Taxi Driver
• Vertigo
• The Shining
• The Departed
• The Prestige
• Strangers on a train
• Jaws

Thriller themes


The themes of thrillers frequently include:

• Terroism
• Politics
• Conspiracy
• Pursuit
• Romantic triangles or dysfunctional relationships that lead to murder

Conventions of the thriller genre


The thriller genre contains a number of typical conventions including:

• Mystery
• Suspense
• Tension
• Plot twists- they engage the audience and retain their interest
• An atmosphere- dark, terror, paranoia
• Heroes and villians
• Conventionally they have a 'happy ending'

Typical thriller characters often include-

• Criminals
• Stalkers
• Assassins
• Innocent victims
• Characters with dark, mysterious pasts
• Mentally disturbed and psychotic individuals
• Terroists
• Police
• People involved in twisted relationships
• Disillusioned individuals who want to take revenge on society
• A hero with a mysterious past or a point to prove to society

Crime Thriller

• This sub genre is a hybrid of both crime, thrillers and often action.
• It offers the viewer a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime(s).
• They focus on the criminal(s) point of view (narrative) rather than a policeman or a victim's.
• Crime thrillers usually empahsize action over psychology aspects.
• Central topics of the sub genre include serial killers/murderers, robberies, chases, shootouts, heists and double-crosses which lead to violence.

Psychological Thriller

• The conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical.
• There is usually a violent resolution as there is some psychological imbalance.
• Alfred Hitchcock was famous for creating psychological thrillers including Psycho.

Action Thriller

• Action thrillers contain- Suspense, conspiracies, the plot usually revolves around fights, action and revenge.

Political Thriller

• They contain plots that revolve around conspiricies.
• The hero/heroine fights to ensure the stability of government/organisation that employs him/her.
• They often have tense power struggles and conflict.

COLLATERAL

We watched 10 minute clips of five movies, Collateral, Kill Bill, Perfume : Story of a murder, Psycho and Batman- The Dark Knight and had to analyse a few things in particular. Things such as the interesting types of camera angles, scenes which created tension and suspense for the audience and the pace of the movie.
All five movies were very different, the first movie we watched was the opening scene from Collateral.

A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles. He must find a way to save himself and one last victim.

This movie was one of the hardest to analyse as we were watching only 10 minute clips it was hard to get to grips with the story line straight away.

The interesting camera angles I picked up on were firstly:

• A close up face shot with the blurred city lights behind him, the colours and reflections enabled the audience to create an atmosphere for them.

• The camera switched from person to person a lot of the time, creating a tense and exciting feel.
• When the car was upside down and the camera was inside the car, this was great as it made everything seem so real and it created a real sense of fear not only for the audience but because it was so real you could feel the fear of the characters.
• Smoke slowly drifting in front of the camera created a nice effect, it gave a mysterious feel.
• When the police officer discovers the body in the car, the camera really zooms in. This is effective as you are not expecting it.
• Another thing I found really effective was when the man was running towards the camera, this really built up the tension and as someone in the audience it was exciting for me as it felt like he was running towards me.
• When the camera zoomed in on the lit up mobile phone was effective as it was a key object at this point in the movie, it was something which he was relying on and the camera really showed this.
• Also when he enters the building and the camera closes in on him swiping the card for him to get in to the other part of the building. When the camera zooms in on this, it clearly tells the audience that it’s a key part; in this case, he wasn’t supposed to be entering the building.
• We also looked into the parts of the movie that created tension and suspense for the audience:
• The lighting being very dim at several parts in the movie created tension as a lot of it was set at night and gave it a more mysterious feel.
• The police cars driving past, flashing lights and sirens created suspense and tension as it emphasised either trouble or danger.
• The car chases in the movie were exciting and kept the audience gripped.
• The music was fast, tense and exciting.
• The characters running and all you could hear was them breathing, this created a real sense of tension as you had no idea what to expect next.
• The phone ringing and the waiting of the person to pick up created a lot of tension and suspense for me personally.
• When there was no music being played, just pure silence was also another key thing for me that created an awful lot of tension and suspense.

PERFUME- THE STORY OF A MURDER

Finally, the last movie we watched was a thriller called Perfume- The story of a murder.  Its a story of a man born in the stench of the 18^th century. He develops a superior olfactory sense, which he uses to create the world’s finest perfumes. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he tries to preserve scents in the search for the ultimate perfume.

I very much enjoyed the clip I watched of this movie and found it very interesting analysing the particular things.

• The camera angles which I found interesting in this movie were:
• The close up shots of the potions being made.
• The close up of his eyes, this gave a really creepy feel.
• All the dead women that were filmed were naked, this was interesting and also created a very creepy, mysterious feel.
• The murderer being seen through the door but the shadow that is created only allows the audience to see one side of his face, this was very effective.

Tension and Suspense:

• The music was fast and tense at certain points throughout.
• Everyone putting locks on their doors, this was very cleverly done as you could hear the clicks of the locks, this created a lot of tension for the audience.
• The concentration in his eyes when he was creating and arranging the potions.
• The dark alley created tension, purely because it was dark, quiet and she was on her own.
• The main thing for me that created suspense and tension in this movie from what I saw was the clip from in the maze. There was no music being played and all you could hear was the breathing from the characters. The audience knowing that the murderer was in the maze also created a lot of suspense.

PSYCHO

The next movie was Psycho, a thriller from 1960 directed by Alfred Hitchcock. You could tell this movie was from 1960 as it was very different to the others, very old fashioned and it was filmed in black and white.

The interesting camera angles I picked out were:

• The shadows created on the walls and as the movie was filmed in black and white it almost created more of an effect.
• The close up of objects that were clearly very relevant at the certain points in the movie.
• The close up of the number plate on the car just before he pushes it into the swamp.
• The car slowly moving was an interesting shot as usually when cars are being filmed it’s a fast atmosphere.
• The close up of the letter, this portrayed to the audience that it was clearly an important object.

• When the camera was moving backwards in the room, the room slowly was getting bigger, creating a sense of space.
• At one point there was a mirror in the background and the man was being filmed just in front of the mirror, the mirror being there enabled the audience to see more as they could see a lot of what was going on in the mirror.

Tension and suspense was created an awful lot in this movie:

• The fact that it was black and white created tension as it had a very dull feel.
• The music was definitely a key factor; it was very loud tense music at points throughout.
• The turning off of lights and the music getting faster built up a lot of tension.
• When the music suddenly stopped, it left the audience on the edge of their seats dying to know why the music has suddenly stopped and what is going to happen next.
• The fading of scenes.                                                                                      
• The fast, sharp music and the flicking of scenes created a lot of tension.

THE DARK KNIGHT

The next movie we watched was The Dark Knight, Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent are forced to deal with the chaos unleashed by an anarchist mastermind known only as the Joker, as it drives each of them to their limits. I love this movie and I found there were some really interesting camera angles such as:

• Close ups on the characters made it clear to the audience how they were feeling, it really emphasized their emotions.
• When the camera was moving through the city, this was a really interesting shot as it was at night so was therefore dark and gave a very mysterious, creepy feeling.
• The close up shots of the two characters holding hands, this quite clearly showed the audience the feelings being portrayed.
• The close up of Bruce with the city lights behind him, this was interesting as it created a lot of depth.
• The close up of the Jokers face, this was a great camera shot as you could see in detail his facial expressions.
• During this movie there was an awful lot of tension and suspense created, the ones in particular I picked up on were:
• The music being played throughout was very tense and a lot of the time it was being built up to something big.
• The lighting was dim which created mystery.
• The awkwardness and hate between the characters at certain points in the film definitely created a lot of tension.
• The jokers evil laugh.
• I found Batman’s deep voice created suspense.
• The masks which the characters wear also create a lot of tension and suspense as they have hidden identities.

KILL BILL

The interesting camera angles that particularly grabbed my attention:

• Close up face shots are very effective as it’s making it all about that character, also it emphasises the emotion the character is feeling.
• At the beginning of the movie, there is a close up of the woman’s face and a wandering hand, you cannot see who the hand belongs to. This works really well and is effective due to the fact that it keeps the audience guessing and makes them want to continue watching.
• There were a few camera angles where you could only see the characters outline and around them was complete darkness. This gave a very mysterious feel, almost creepy. It also creates a very tense atmosphere, keeping the audience glued for what’s about to happen next.
• There is a close up shot of a finger on a doorbell; I personally felt that this suggested that it was going to be a big and quite important scene. It turned out to be that exactly, a very tense fighting scene that had a lot of relevance to the story.
• After this fighting scene took place the camera focused on her feet walking back through the smashed glass all over the floor, the sound of her carefully treading backwards through the glass made the scene very tense.
• There is one point at the beginning of the movie where the camera is set over two rooms, bird’s eye view. It was very effective but also made me as the audience feel I had to concentrate as there was more to focus on.

I then looked in to the clips that created tension and suspense:
 

• The first scene is a woman heavily breathing and it’s being filmed in complete darkness. For the audience, it’s exciting, keeps them watching as they want to know who it is, and why there heavily breathing.
• Footsteps slowly getting louder creates tension, keeps the audience gripped.
• A wandering voice, the camera is not actually on the character speaking, this gives a very mysterious feel; it also creates suspense, where is the voice coming from? Who is it?
• There is a gunshot then the opening credits follow, its unexpected.
• The music is tense during the fighting scenes, keeps the audience interested. The music makes the fighting scenes seem so much more exciting as the music really emphasises the tension between the two characters.
• People whispering rather than speaking aloud, creates a tense atmosphere as it gives a secretive feel.
• The pace of the movie is generally quite fast, the fighting scenes are quick and tense, and the music really shows this.