Thriller evaluation - question One part Two

Thriller Evaluation - Question One

Update 31/01/13

Due to email merging problems I have been unable to post this update - so instead I filmed one with Danny and posted it up as a video blog. At the moment we are still working on our evaluation questions as some members of the group have not been turning up to some of the sessions. As we have now moved onto a new topic in media we are unable to use class time to finish our evaluation so meeting up outside of lesson is of vital importance. Some reasonable progress has been made on how we are going about answering each of the questions presented us.

On a more positive note I am now able to post as un-merging my account with g-mail and google+ has been successful, allowing me to post up some work I have not been able to post since christmas. Evaluation questions have all been addressed and planned we are now waiting on certain group members to carry out those plans. In the mean time we are still looking at old evaluation work to give us some ideas of how we would like to present our answer to the questions provided. 

Update 23/1/13

Update 23/1/13 

Analysing Past Evaluations Part: II

Analysing Past Evaluations Part: II 

The group have come with me to help me make a general conclusion about all of the past evaluations we have researched. We made a small video discussing some of the pro's and con's from all of them, and how we are going to include, or avoid, these things. 

The main topics we speak about are from 'analysing past evaluations part: I' but after some more extensive research, we do begin to speak about others we have viewed. 

Update 17-1-13

Update 17-1-13

Other Evaluations Part: I

Others Evaluations ...

My task today has been to find and analyse other past groups evaluations. I have gathered some from google and evaluations from previous students from Thurston. Here is what I found ...

Thriller Media Evaluation from Saima

This evaluation is done as a presentation, which is an idea that we like. My main problem with this evaluation is the fact that every question has been done using this rather basic technology. I think the lack of technology used in this evaluation, makes it a little boring to read, as it is mostly all block text.
Despite the fact that I do not like the idea of it all being in block text, there is not much text there at all, although even though there is a little amount of text, all of the questions are answered well, and quite thoroughly.
Another thing I don't like about this evaluation, is that there is a completely different background on every slide. This, to me, makes the evaluation a little childish. If the presentation followed a reasonable pattern, or even just stuck with the same background each time, the whole thing would look more professional, and wouldn't hurt the eye so much!
Despite the negatives I have seen from this evaluation, a couple of the slides include pictures with a brief analysis beside it. Slide 23 shows comparisons between real films, and their own. This slide also includes a brief, yet important analysis which makes this slide very good.
The picture slides after this all look like what I can only describe as a 'mish-mash'! There is one very small piece of text explaining what these pictures are about, but in my opinion, it all looks very unprofessional and messy. Some pictures over-lap and there is just no structure to it, which ruins a good idea.
Overall, I do not like this evaluation. It just looks a bit tacky, and rushed. The mass amount of block text really ruins the whole idea of using various technologies to make this, it just seems like they have taken the easy root. Also, although it is supposed to be a formal piece, this evaluation does not create any excitement, and definitely does not make me want to read on.
To avoid people thinking the same about our evaluation, we need to avoid the use of just one technology, and also avoid the use of mass text. I did like the ideas of the pictures, however, which I may choose to adapt and use myself, in a more structured manner!

This thriller evaluation is sone on prezi - a technology we have already decided to use in our own evaluation.
My main problem is the fact that the whole evaluation is done using only prezi. Despite the fact that I like the idea of this program, the presentation is 18 slides long, and flicking through it all is rather daunting. Unlike the first analysis I done, this evaluation uses very little text. This, to me, shows little understanding of how to answer the question, as little facts and points are shown, and what is written, does not sound very good.
Also, the way the paragraphs are split into different slides irritates me. The way the slides are continuously moving along every other sentence irritates me ever so much! The lack of depth within the answers shows to me this person seriously lacks any knowledge of media language.
Also, something I noticed was this person does not answer all of the questions. I searched the internet for a long time to try and find the other answers, but could not at all, so I have come to the conclusion that this person did not finish the evaluation?!
I did, however, like the way each question is in a different location and it moves along to it. This is quite a cool technology, and we shall use it within our own prezi.
Within our prezi, we will try to avoid too much movement, especially on every single sentence! Also, the use of the clip art, 'money' is so tacky and unprofessional and just so rubbish!
Overall, I feel that this evaluation does not fit any of the criteria's that are specified within the mark scheme. I think that the 'tackyness' ruins it completely, and also the lack of information put within it ruins it. With more information included, and the use of a 'P-E-E' structure, this evaluation had potential to be good, but the point was not backed up with an evidence or an evaluation. We have picked this up, and will definitely not miss this out ourselves.

Update 16-1-13

Update 16-1-13

Update Post

Christmas Update - final lesson 

Though I was not in most of our final lesson before the christmas holidays, many problems and issues have arrose since our last edit. A Certain clip within our edited movie had somehow over night been corrupted - this issue was simply resolved by gathering our raw footage and placing our selected clip back into final cut express and editing it all over again. Though most of our final editing has been completed and we seem happy with most of our opening sequence, some problems still seem to be facing us - with our final scene - a close up of our much beloved catalyst 'the pocket watch' on the ground - going missing. With the closing scene going missing and with no work done on titles we still are not able to surrender up our opening sequence just yet. All feedback given to us from our draft piece was followed, with slow motion effects being reduced by a substantial amount and the removal of a clip that broke the 180 degree rule. Many sound problems have also come up. Thanks to the windy weather that was taking place during filming - the diegetic sound of wind picked up by the camera is overwhelming. With these suden bursts of wind making it hard to get a flawless transition between cuts we are still left with a problem when it comes to the diegetic sound in our film. Solutions have been discussed, such as the removal of all diegetic sound from our final sequence. All though this may work, there is a distinct lack of diegetic sound within our film already - with it only being used within our chase scene which is only to be covered up with our "home made" incidental music. We as a group have been playing with the sound levels to try and dampen down the extreme amount of wind in the background of our final scene. This has not worked, preventing us from turning over the edited opening sequence to Ben for soundtrack incorporation. 

Problems with our soundtrack have also arrose. As of yet we have not been able to release our pilot films to gather audience feedback on our two soundtrack options. One soundtrack being orignal - made by group members - and one of which is pre-made and was used within out draft edit. As soon as our pilots have been made they will be made public and will be released for audience feedback so that we can choose which one suits best. Solutions to the pocket watch scene have also been discussed between the group with the options of re-filming the clip or leaving it out. Even though re-filming sounds like a good idea, as a group re-filming things has always been the case. With me making the suggestion that we leave the clip out - which brought group members to point out that their would be a rather big whole left within the narrative if we did so. All though I do take narrative into consideration when I made this statement I do believe for an opening sequence such as ours it's all about asking questions. With the appearance of the pocket watch typically answering audiences questions. When reviewing the clip in which we see the murderer looking at something within his hand I find it much more affective that we do not see what he is holding. It could be argued that the clip be left out for conventions sake. Rather than seeing the pocket watch we can just see the character looking at something that lies within his hand, making the audience raise questions such as "What is he holding", "Why is he holding it" and "What does it do?". For the convention of the unknown and mystery the clip is not longer a big part of the narrative, even though it is the catalyst for our film - it does not play a vital role within the opening sequence.

Problems with our narrative have been with us since the start, with our narrative being confusing and unclear to the audience. Due to this fact I have decided to write a full treatment behind our story in the hope it would make thing more clear to our audience where narrative is concerned. I do realise that this issue should of been resolved long ago to avoid problem during filming but things have been left this way due to certain group members not taking things very seriously at the beginning of the project.

Other problems will be delivered in later posts, by for now I wish everyone a merry christmas and a happy new year.  

Teacher - Draft Feedback

Draft Feedback

Highlighted Problems

One very noticeable problem within our draft edit was the breaking of the 180 degree line rule, with our camera crossing the line and confusing our audience as to what actions are being carried out. This issue has now been resolved with the removal of the certain piece of footage that broke the rule.

Other minor things were noted before the release, such as the wind in the background, making the natural sound very distorted and loud - causing some transitional  problems between certain scenes, making them seem very disjointed. This problem has also been resolved by placing a continuous background sound of the surrounding area we filmed in at the time.

Problems with scene cuts were mainly due to the fact this draft edit was done on imovie - which is a really limiting programe when I comes to certain cuts when slow motion effects and cross-devolves are being used. Some clips require trimming which has been done - the slow motion has also been sped up so panning seems more natural and stable. 

A distinct lack of close ups seem to lie within our sequence - this problem has still not been met with a salutation due to the fact we do not wish to do more filming, which as it stands seems to be the only possibility of getting more close ups within our sequence.

Considering we did not use all the footage available to us we managed to keep a narrative going throughout the scene - using simple codes and conventions of thriller to back up the notions of mystery and the unknown. As it is our first edit there still seems to be a lot of work to be done. Despite our problems we are happy with our frist edit and found the feed back we received from our teacher extremely helpful - allowing us to take our opening sequence to the next level and develop the conventions to get an even better affect.   

Soundtrack Update

Soundtrack Problems

At this moment in time, our group is discussing the use of soundtrack within our opening sequence and some complications have arrose. Within our draft edit a pre-made soundtrack was used. All though our group had earlier decided in the planning phrase of this project to create an original soundtrack, a change of mind-set has occurred. The group has become divided - some group members wanting to use a pre-made soundtrack and some for creating one to fit the opening sequence that is currently still in production. 

Our solution to this problem has been discussed. We shall be releasing two pilot opening sequences. Opening sequence One will be making use of a pre-made soundtrack, in contrast to opening sequence Two, making use of an orignal piece of music, designed and created by members of the group. We plan to present both films within a lesson, with the aim of gathering audience feed back - the question will be simple - what works best. When this feed back has been acquired we will then be able to make our final decision on the matter.

Draft Edit - Opening sequence for 'Clockwork'

Clockwork - First Draft

Please feel free to leave feed back. This is our first edit of the footage we have collected. Due to problems with filming at the early stages of our project we were unable to post a decent first draft. Many problems have already been pointed out and work has gone into correcting them problems. Please leave relevant and constructive criticism - this would be extremely helpful in aiding us to improve our final piece.

**Fair use Notice**

 -Music has been credited within the video description.

Credited music as follows;

Hans Zimmer - Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack - Available on the Itunes store

Tracks used:

On Thin Ice - Hans Zimmer - Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack

Born in Darkness - Hans Zimmer - Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack

Despair - Hans Zimmer - Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack

Soundtrack purchased via the Itunes Store

Music used for educational purposes

**Fair use Notice**

Music used for educational purposes - All music has been credited above.

Video edited on Macintosh - Imovie.

Editor - Ryan J G Curry

Directors - Ryan J G Curry and George Matthews

Actors - Ben Cusworth and Danny Hammond

Cinematographer - Ryan J G Curry

Writers - Ryan J G Curry, George Matthews, Ben Cusworth and Danny Hammond

(Original Screenplay) no adaptations used. 

Produced by: Clockwork Productions  

Filming: The Final Sprint

We are pleased to announce that our filming is just two scenes from completion. Following our filming last Friday we now only have to film the scenes involving the pocket watch that is central to our plot. The filming i am pleased to report went brilliantly save for a few mishaps involving a stray piece of bird feces and someone calling the police on us. We weren't in any trouble and the rest of our filming went perfectly. Main editing may be done by the end of this week with small parts of editing and the soundtrack hopefully by the end of next week. While we may have taken the longest with our filming, we are satisfied with what we have accomplished and have hopes for our final product.

Character interview

Update 6/12/12

Quite a while ago Ryan and I went out to do a character hot seat.

Unfortunately, we changed the narrative since we done this, so its kind of wrong, so we shall go and do another one very soon!

Soundtrack Analysis - The Dark Knight

Opening scene to "The Dark Knight"

Soundtrack analysis

The micro element of sound it extremely affective in any film, but in any case when it comes to a certain genre of film, sound usually has a specified role to play. In the case of thriller, conventions would have us expecting sound to help build tension and suspense within a thriller film. All the micro elements linked to the  film in question usually converge together to help reach a genre goal which allows the film to use it's other macro elements to meet it's other conventions.

Within this opening scene from "The Dark Knight" we can see sound used within the conventions of thriller. We can break down the sound used into 8 certified groups.

1) Dialogue - Conversation between characters within the film itself

2) Diegetic Sound - Things the characters can hear in the 'real world', we and the actors in the film can hear diegetic sound

3) Incidental Music - background music which adds to the atmosphere and in some cases to the action going on in the film

4) Non diegetic sound - Sounds that do not exist in the 'real world' of the film, for example, the soundtrack which the characters cannot hear

5) Sound bridges - When a sound carries on from one scene to another, or when we hear a sound ant then it cuts to the scene where the sound is coming from

6) Sound effects - Sound effects are added during the post production to build up the mood and is usually used to reinforce certain sounds actors and objects make

7) Sound track - A complete audio component to a film to include all sounds, specifically the music track

8) Voice Over - When the audience can hear a character, specifically over the top of a scene, often telling us what they feel and why they're feeling it

All though not all these elements will be incorporated in any one film, a select few are usually always used.

Dialogue Analysis

Dialogue between the minor characters in the scene is rather fast paced. The snappy conversation between the minor characters is used to support the fact they're robbing a bank and must be fast about it, keeping concentration is of vital importance. When things start to pick up the minor characters begin to shout demands - "...HEADS DOWN HEADS DOWN!" - this is used to create tension between all the characters within the film and the audience, with the helpless people within the bank being scared and surprised by the robbers' unexpected appearance. Dialogue from the main character - The Joker - is completely void, we do not hear him talking at all through out the whole scene. As we can see this meets the conventions of mystery and the unknown are met through the lack of dialogue between The Joker and the other minor characters within the scene. Dialogue within the scene is guiding the audience through the notions being performed by the characters.

Diegetic sound

Examples of diegetic sound are pretty apparent through out the scene. The glass being smashed at the very beginning of scene is the frist example of diegetic sound. Other sounds that follow such as the grapple-gun and the sound of them swinging from one building to another. These sound all fit action/stunts which is another major convention of thriller films. All other Diegetic sounds such as gun shots also meet conventions of thriller, weapons and stunts are the two main conventions reinforced by the simple use of diegetic sound.

Incidental Music

The incidental music is probably the most effective way to set the atmosphere of the film/scene. Incidental music runs through out this scene to deliver the simple connotations that are used to back up the conventions of the thriller genre. The music at the start of the film is rather quiet, with a very light ticking probably used to simulate the fact they are fighting against the clock to rob this bank. When the glass is broken the ticking becomes more clear and apparent. When the car pulls up to pick up The Joker, drums are brought in to show his importance as he enters the car. As the car pulls away the music goes quiet again, to show the change in importance. From this short few seconds of the opening sequence, incidental music has already played a massive role in delivering tension and suspense to the audience, with elements of the music also setting the vital atmosphere, allowing the audience to develop their ideas on what is happening through out the scene. Through out the scene the incidental music continues to do this, backing up the bigger underlining macro elements of the film, allowing all the themes of the film to take effect shortly after the scene.

Non Diegetic sound 

Non diegetic sound comes in the form of the Incidental music in the scene.With all other sound effects being added to clarify some actions being made during the scene. The characters cannot hear the music in the background that builds the tension and suspense behind what they're doing. 

Sound Bridges

Sound bridges only occur with the incidental music that plays through out the scene, the music carries over into different scenes with characters carrying out different lines of actions, this is done to keep tension and suspense built up within the film and to maintain the connection between the narrative of the events occurring in the scene and the audience.

Sound effects

Sound effects such as gun shots fit the thriller genre very well, with these sounds matching up with the simply conventions of thriller films. Other sound effect that were possibly added during some stunts were also used to back up the notions of what's happening in the specific scene. Other sound effects could be used to add clarity to make certain nosies more noticeable, so that the audience is better engaged with what's occurring within the scene.

There is no voice over and the soundtrack is all these elements put together. With all this combined, the scene has a certain sense of speed, uncertainty, mystery with a strange atmosphere set but the incidental music. All these fit perfectly into the conventions of the thriller genre. Putting tension and suspense at the for-front of what's occurring during the scene, making the audience question what's happening and making them think about why it's happening. The sound allows us to develop relationships with the characters, even though dialogue is short we still gather a better understanding of "The Joker". 

Movie First draft

Clockwork Soundtrack

After Danny constructed an idea for a soundtrack using pre-made loops i had my own go with my own content.

Danny is a beautiful creature...

Ben Cusworth made this on GarageBand

Alfred Hitchcock Director Study Part 3

Opening Sequence Analysis

THE BIRDS

The clip above is the opening sequence to 'THE BIRDS' by Alfred Hitchcock. I have chosen to analyse this particular opening because all though it does not show a lot of the conventions used in todays thriller openings it represents how far they have come and how some small, simple micro-elements of film can have a great effect on the target audience, even if only one or two elements are used. We are all able to observe the credits, rolling throughout this selected clip but we also observe the birds flying around in the background. This instantly makes us relate to the title of the film - 'THE BIRDS' - to the images on screen. Now all though birds do not usually come with negative connotations, the micro-element of sound comes into play to change our image of them and to mould their connotations. The non-diegetic sound played in the background sets and extremely eerie and sinister atmosphere. Now because of this, us the audience no longer rely on our own connotations that come to mind when we think of birds. We have allowed the micro-element of sound to mould our view of the creatures. The music has made them out to be mysterious, negative and maybe even dangerous creatures. These connotations would of never been brought up without the element of sound playing its part in this selected clip.


Alfred Hitchcock was a big fan of 'dragging things out' when it came to opening sequences, he loved a massive build up of suspense and anxiety, between characters and the audience, his methods were extremely effective when it came to building mystery and suspense. Hitchcock would often use the frist 30-40 minutes of a film to build the suspense between the characters, narrative and the audience. Many Hitchcock films did this, one of Hitchcock most famous films 'pyscho' gave Hitchcock his well earned title - "The master of suspense".

Preliminary task

The video below is our preliminary task, we have has issues with continuity, editing, acting and lack of group members. The continuity was an issue with the 'Masked Man' as we filmed his bits on two different days but because we haven't specified times this isn't such an issue. When it came to editing we had issues that the 'Masked Man' turned his head before the dialog had finished but then in the next shot he was facing forwards again. Unfortunately for this film we did not have any actors leading to some bad acting. Also one of the members of our group has gone on holiday in florida and so has entirely missed the preliminary task.

Codes and Conventions - Use of Black and White

Black and White

These two base colours play a vital role in the thriller genre. Black and White have been used in many iconic thriller films and to great effect. Often these colours are used to deliver important connotations to the target audience. Many connotations comes with these two colours and they can be used to create many different moods and provoke important reactions from the audience.

White - Information and connotations

The colour White is typically used to portray 'good' characters or objects within a thriller film. White can be used through out all aspects of film - Mise en scene is the main element White has a great effect in - characters, objects and maybe even locations can have a very strong affect on the target audience when this powerful colour is used.

There are many connotations that come with the colour White, and because of this it makes it a perfect base colour to use throughout film. When the audience see the colour White many connotations will be brought to mind.

Some examples:

White - Pure

White - Holy (Church wedding, wedding dress "The Virgin Bride"

White - Clean 

White - Peace - Surrender  'A White Flag'

White - Happiness 

White - Innocence - New born baby, "Wrapped in White blankets

And so on...

White is a very effective colour to use, delivering us many positive connotations while at the same time it proceeds to give the audience an aid in reading important characters, objects and locations. In future pieces I will be going in more detail to how the colour White is used in thriller films.

Balck - information and connotations

The colour Black - White's binary challenger - is commonly used throughout many thriller films. The colour Black can be seen in many different elements of film - it has relations to shadows aka lighting and costume - these elements play a vital role in the thriller films genre.

Black (being a binary opposition to White) delivers the connotations of 'Bad'. This in the genre of thriller is of vital importance as it fits in with one of the most important conventions of thriller films (the fact they always look at the world in a negative way). Black shows the audience the bad within the film within characters, objects or locations. The colour Black comes with many important connotations

Some examples:

Black - Shadow (the unknown we're all scared of)

Black - pain and suffering 

Black - Death - everyone where Black at a funeral

Black - Mystery 

Black - filth - Things that are Black can be viewed as dirty or unclean

Black - Satan - To religious people "the spawner of evil and darkness in the world"

And so on...

Black is very effective within films, but it doesn't work without a vital binary opposition, and contrasting, opposing force. Black working in contrast to White is very successful, and this is why many film makers will always involve these two colours together as binary opposition. The effect of this contrast in of vital importance when it comes to thriller films.

"Without the dark, how could we see the light? Without the light, how would we notice the Dark?"

These binary oppositions highlight the contrast between the colour connotations that come with both White and Black, if you don't have an opposing force to confront your connotations.

With these to colours working in conjunction with each other has a great impact on a thriller films target audience. I will be talking about the use of this convention in my textual analysis of thriller opening and will be highlighting why and how it's been used to affect the audiences thoughts and feelings during the films opening sequence.