Preliminary Task - Evaluation

Through completing the Preliminary task we came across some strengths and some weaknesses.
Throughout most of the task we didn't have many weaknesses, only at the very beginning when it took us sometime to agree on a narrative for our short video and when we were unable to find a location that was quite enough to film in. Though we over came these, as we managed to come up with an idea that worked well and put in a sound floor and sound effects to cover up the noisy conditions we had to film in. obviously the dialogue and mise en scene didn't fit perfectly as it is very unlikely that a girl would get revenge on her cheating boyfriend in a school, though as this was the only space available for us we had to work with it, my final piece will be more professional than this, set in a more appropriate place to the narrative. I think that the strengths of this piece was that even though we came across problems such as being asked to stop filming in a room during the middle of filming, etc. we were able to get through them and still come out with a fully functioning short clip which turned out as I had hoped. I also think that my group worked very well together in making this video, and we came out with a piece that had good camera angles and the editing was done well.
Overall through doing this prelim task, I learnt lots on how to edit using Adobe Premium Pro and how to film properly with the use of angles and interesting shots. I feel as if the things that went wrong in the prelim task are things that I know now not to do when it comes to my final piece.

Preliminary Task - Video

Preliminary Task - Editing

This is an image of the final edited version of our prelim task. 

The program we used to do this was Adobe Premium pro, this was quite simple to use but gave us the outcome we wanted. I found the editing stage quite challenging at first but after Sir went through it and explained the basics, it became a lot easier. I found the editing stage to be quite interesting and feel like it has helped all of us in my group, as now we know how to edit video footage properly. This will be every helpful in our final pieces.
We started with our unedited footage, which luckily was in order of  how it would be edited together. Once we put all the footage in order on the program, we saw that they just didn't fit together as smoothly as we had hoped, so collectively we all decided to look through all the footage we hadn't put in and try and piece together clips that made it flow better, once we did this we added transitions that would also add to how smoothly the video would flow.
Due to adding the sound floor we had to lower the background sound, which caused us to lose out on sound effects. So we had to download sound effects from a copyright free website and add them in. this caused it to sound and seem more natural.
Overall I feel that my groups preliminary task went better than expected.

Preliminary Task - Filming

When filming we came across the issue of where to film. We had filmed a short part of prelim task in a room that wasn't occupied by a class, but as the bell went for period two we were asked to leave the room as a class was being held in there. So we had to find a new room to film in and the only other available room was the year 11 common room, this was quite noisy due to the pastoral support talking with other children and a class next door who where quite loud. Earlier in the lesson during our camera safety talk, Mr Wilson had mention the use of a sound floor so I suggested we did this so the non-diegetic sound would flow naturally through the scene rather than it sounding cut up in the different takes.

After we had changed rooms however we started to film the scene properly, redoing some shots we had previously done upstairs. Mia did most of the filming as Sam and I agreed to be in the film. However all of us did have a go at filming sections so we were all familiarised with the cameras for our final pieces. Our group worked well together, and worked collaboratively in agreeing which takes we were going to use in our final version of the task. 

Though towards the end of filming our camera started to run out of battery so the last few shots are not as polished as they could be, as we didn't have time to retake any and didn't want to risk not being able to finish our short scene. We also chose not to re-film the final shots as we didn't want to take time away from the editing stage.

Preliminary Task - Planning

My group (Mia, Sam and I) found it difficult to start with, in coming up with a plot to put behind the prompt. In the end we came up with the idea of a cheating boyfriend and a girlfriend seeking revenge.

We created a storyboard to help us during filming, this helps us while filming as it shows the sequence of shots we were to use and helps us to see how the final cut would hopefully look. Our storyboard was undetailed in the drawings and some of the descriptions but it gives us a basic outline on how to film. If we are to stick to this storyboard and outline then filming should go to plan.

 

The dialogue our group came up with is very simplistic but it relevant to the story behind our prelim task and links well with the cheating boyfriend scenario. We also listed the one prop we needed, which was ideally a fake toy gun but if no one could manage to get one then we would ask to borrow one from one of the food technology classes.

As a group we came up with the idea for the narrative, and we all agreed that the cheating boyfriend scenario was the best one. Writing the narrative down made it easier to stick to the storyline during the storyboard stage of planning.

Secondary Research of Thrillers

The top Grossing thriller on IMDb is Jurassic World (2015). However the top grossing thriller on Box Office Mojo under the category of Psycho/Stalker/Blank from Hell, is  Fatal Attraction (1987).

Jurassic World however is not classed as a proper thiller, it is more of an action/adventure film, with underlining thriller conventions. Jurassic World is number 3 on the top grossing movies of all time, just below Avatar and Titanic. Overall, on the opening weekends world wide it achived:

$524,418,134 (worldwide) (14 June 2015) (23,886 Screens)

Which proceds the budget which was $150,000,000 (estimated).

Fatal Attraction achived on its opening weekend in the USA only $7,602,740 (USA) (20 September 1987) (758 Screens). However it has now grossed to $320,145,693 (Worldwide).

This shows me that Thrillers are more popular when it is only used as a sub-genre, if it is paired up with other genres such as action/adventure then its more successful. Thrillers don't apeal to all audiences.

Jurassic Park

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writers: Michael Crichton (Novel), Michael Crichton and David Koepp (Screenplay)

PG-13

Adventure, Sci-fi, Thriller

The Universal Pictures logo is shown as they own the rights to the film and they own the brand of Jurassic Park.

Non-diegetic drum beats followed by a deep choral crescendo, it sounds almost like ritual music and gives a very powerful feel to the beginning of this scene. The deep vocals then transition into a sound bridge of rustling; the scene then cuts to a shot of an unknown object pushing its way through the trees causing them to part with the force its coming through. This creates

tension as it the audience doesn't know what is coming through the trees, it could be a dinosaur and all the people standing around are about to die.

The lighting is very dark, obviously shot at night time, the location is also somewhere deep in the jungle which makes the setting very mysterious. It puts the audience on the edge of their seat as danger could be lurking anywhere in the dark. The low key lighting casts shadows, which is because there are few lights at location but enough to light up the scene so you can see the actors faces. The darkness of the scene and the setting creates tension as anything could be hiding in the woods or shadows waiting to be attacked. 

A point of view shot is used when in this extract and when a growl is heard. It's made known that this shot is supposed to be seen through eyes that are not human and the growl suggests a creature that is aggravated and possibly dangerous. The fact that we can only see the humans through a small rectangle shows us that we are looking through the eyes of the creature in the box. Guns are also visible in this shot which emphasise the danger of the creature in the box.

On screen titles

Universal Pictures Presents

An Amblin Entertainment Production

JURASSIC PARK

The font and colour of the title is an orange and red futuristic type font, the dirty orange colour could symbolise dirt and the production team might have used this font because it could be symbolic of big dinosaur foot brinks in mud, and the red could possibly foreshadowing some danger that while occur during the film. The Font is big and bold and is placed at the centre of the screen. All these aspects cause the audience to pay attention to it.

Fargo

Director: Joel Coen

Writers: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

18

Crime, Drama, Thriller

These two logos are shown at the beginning of the film as these are the production companies that own the rights to the film.

Non-diegetic music starts playing when this statement appears on screen. The music is very melancholy giving a sad feel to the scene, at this point of the scene it is only being played with a piano but after that writing cuts to a muggy grey screen a violin is added to create more of a creepy feel. It creates tension as nothing is visible in the shot but the music is very loud and melancholy.

The Setting is very foggy and isolated. The fact the only thing you can see is two headlights in the distance shows how the location of the town is very far away from everywhere. The isolation of the setting creates tension as there could be on coming danger anywhere. It could also suggest that things could happen in the town without repercussions. 

There is a long take, and the editing is very slow paced, it takes 1 minute and 25 seconds for the car to be fully in sight and another 14 seconds on top of that for the scene to cut. This creates tension as the audience really have no clue about what’s going on, it intrigues the audience and draws you in to watch more. Something this simple can really draw you in and encourages you to watch the rest of the film.

On screen titles

Polygram Filmed Entertainment presents

In association with Working Title films

Frances McDormand

William H. Macy

Steve Buscemi

Harve Presnell

Peter Stormare

FARGO

 When the names of the actors come up they appear over the scene, and they fade in. They all appear at the bottom of the scene in the centre. The font they have used is sans-serif making the film appear more modern, the first and last names of the actors are separated, and the last name has spaces between each letter. This causes the audience to focus on the names yet still pay attention to the scene.

The title of the movie appears in big bold letters in the centre of the screen, the letters are spaced out to fill as much space as possible, this draws attention to the title. The font is sans-serif like the actor’s names, and it appears over the scene. The background of the writing is the same muggy grey shown throughout, this implies that the town of Fargo is isolated and completely on its own.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

Director: Francis Lawrence
Writers: Suzanne Collins (novel), Peter Craig and Danny Strong (screenplay)
PG-13
Adventure, Sci-fi, Thriller  


At the very beginning of the opening scene, the screen is completely black and there is a sound bridge of a woman talking, the scene then cuts to Katniss sat alone in the dark. Katniss is chanting something under her breath, she is hugging her knees and seems nervous and twitchy. This shows that she has been through something distressing and traumatic, she is tucked away in the corner of a room, which could suggest that she feels safe and comfortable there.

The lighting at the beginning of the scene is extremely dark it is difficult to even see Katniss' features. the dark lighting and the fact she has secluded herself to a dark corner in the room gives little of her location, it is doubtful she is in any real immediate danger as all we can hear is hear is her whispering and an ambient sound of blowing air. But the darkness could suggest something is lurking in the shadows. A white light is then shone on Katniss sending her into a panic and she retreats further into the corner, when her features are finally shown it can be seen that she looks tired and appears to have been previously crying. This suggests that she is scared of the people who found her and that she has been through a deeply disturbing event.

After the light is shone on her, there is a long take. There is dialogue of a voice that is quite clinical and condescending that tells Katniss 'you need to sleep. We can help you sleep.' This suggests that the people are taking care of her in the unknown location, Katniss refuses the help suggesting she the woman may have an ulterior motive. A mysterious figure dressed in all black descends down the hallway and goes to grab Katniss. This creates tension as the audience doesn't know who the figure is and where they are taking her. There is more use of dialogue as Katniss shouts for the man to let her go, this could possibly suggest a fear of where they are taking her.

The scene cuts to Katniss lying on her hospital bed. the cameras focus changes from close up of pearl to Katniss. this suggest that the pearl is of great importance and is significant to the character. the fact if focuses on it for so long is to make the audience remember it, this film being a sequel so the pearl might have been something she was given or she found in the last film and it is focused on so the audience see she still has it. The focus then pulls from the pearl to Katniss' face as she sits up after Katniss hears crying. This suggest that the pearl brought her comfort when she was alone and it was silent, but when she hears crying the pearl cannot act as an object that takes her from the reality she is living.

During the duration of the scene the editing is at a quite slow pace, which suggest there isn't any sudden danger and Katniss is safe where she is. In the scene they have used a handheld camera which make the scene seem shaky. This could suggest Katniss has a fear or reluctance to be there. It creates tension as it shows us that even though everything seems quite quiet and relax she is afraid of something we haven't been shown on screen.

The font is very simple and minimalistic. It is a basic white font on a black background, they font is also very big, bold and in capitals which makes it stand out a lot. The 'mockingjay' is bigger than the other words because it is the actual name of the film and the most important part in the titles. 'The Hunger Games' is also bigger than 'Part 1' because the film brand is more important than the fact that it’s only the first part of the film.