Final Post

My aims of the project were to improve my technical skills, learn to work better as a group member and to complete something i was proud of.

I definitely improved my technical skills, i can now use Adobe premiere competantly and know about many more tools than i did before. I have also improved my camerawork skills, i can hold a shot much steadier now and have learnt to be much more creative - mainly from the rest of my group.

With regards to become better at working in a group i think i achieved this to an extent, i can now compromise better and i did take other peoples opinions into account a lot more than our last group project. However, towards the end of the project i did take control a lot more, this did help the group though because it meant i organised a lot, but i was definitely quite hard to work with. Our group as a whole worked together quite well - partiuclarly at the beginning, but during the post production stage there were much more arguments, but we managed to resolve them all in the end.

I think i did achieve something i am proud of, my only regret is that our opening is a little irrelevant to the rest of the film (location wise etc), however, many other successful films do this as well. In general i am happy with our sequence.

Influences

I think the area which i was influenced more in was cinematography, particualrly by Shrooms and The Blair Witch Project.

Shrooms has a similiar theme of drugs in it (although they are recreational) and so the use of an effect called 'Shutter speed' gave my group 2 fantastic POV shots which they use on characters to show what state they are in. Shrooms also has an aerial shot in a forest which is so effective and gives so much impact that it made me/my group want to try it, so one of my group stood on a tree stump with the tripod and camera fully extended and the shot looked really great. In the end though due to continuity we couldn't use it - there were no trees in this aerial shot but where we shot the chase there were lots of trees either side. Shrooms also had some really effective side tracks from behind trees (i.e. the trees maskd the view of the characters sometimes) - which we also did and used in one shot which fades into a title as it goes behind the tree.

I loved the Blair Witch Project camerawork because it was jumpy and chaotic it mae the situation even more jumpy, our camera work was quite shakey because obviously we had to run with the camera but i think the effect is amazing. The diegetic sound in the Blair Witch Project is also brilliant, i rewatched the ending of it without the sound to understand what was going on (it was too scary with the sound) and it made so much less impact. The diegetic sound really does make the film, so i personally spent a lot of time trying to perfect our diegetic sound to give greater effect.

Compare + Contrast: Narc Opening

Narrative
Similarities
The majority of the opening to Narc is a flashback so just like my thriller it is used to give some background to the film. They both also include chase sequences which are full of suspense. In both openings the person who is chasing wins and the person being chased is killed.

Differences
Although the fact that Narc’s opening is a flashback is a difference as well because it means it is set in 2 different time frames. The people around them in Narcget dragged into what’s going on – including getting injured. In Narc it is the person being chased who is the evil one (he is drug user) where as in my film it is the innocent who is being chased.

Iconography
Similarities
They both use handheld camerawork and diegetic sound to create atmosphere and get the audience more involved and to help suspend their disbelief. They are bother set in the day time, and they have similar lighting and colour – lots of blue and grey tones showing coldness.

Differences
Narc is a lot ‘gory-er’ and violent than my film is, in Narc 2 people are killed and another is shot and you see all of it, where as in mine one person is killed and this is only implied. Narc is also in a much more public setting where as the Anaesthetist has a huge sense of isolation.

Character
Similarities
Much like with Scream and The Anaesthetist both of the people being chased are very determined about getting away. This is shown in my film through he fact that she is clearly intoxicated but still trying her best to get away, it is shown in Narc by the fact that the criminal killed someone in the hope that it would slow the policeman down.

Differences
The character’s reactions to the events are very different; in Narc the main character shows clear remorse for his actions (the stray bullet hitting the pregnant woman) as he is thinking back over it (the flashback). Where as in the Anaesthetist he has done it so many times it’s clear that he does it for enjoyment.

Themes
Similarities
Drugs
Corruption of Innocence
Chaser has a weapon
Police involvement
2 different locations

Differences
Realism – Narc
Drugs are recreational - Narc

Compare + Contrast: Scream Opening

Iconography

Similiarities

Both of the settings have the idea of isolation, there is one shot in scream which establishes that the house is close to a forest with no others around and in mine it is clear that no one else is around. The costumes of the characters are very similiar, they use black and white to connote innocence and evil/corrupt.

Differences

The camera work is used to different effects, in The Anaesthetist we used a wide variety of shots to make the woods look interesting and quite weird where as in Scream the camera merely shows what is going on it doesn't give any impressions. Scream is during the night time where as mine is during the day - making mine seem a little less isolated but the contrast makes the forest look more menacing. Scream also looks like a normal setting - i.e. a house - where as the contrast and shots used in mine make the woods seem very evil and not so indifferent.

Narrative

Similiarities
The main similarity between my opening sequence and Scream is the actual narrative events - this is the death of a false-heroine. In both the first girl we see is set up to be the heroine - blonde hair, white clothing - connoting innocence, and quite attractive yet they are both killed. This keeps the audience on their toes as they realise they must expect the unexpected (which is especially true of scream considering the maor plot twists at the end), it also gives the audience information on the murderer (i.e. his killing style). I think that this concept is always an effective opening as it is more interesting than going straight into slow starting background events tc.

Obviously they also both include a chase which is another large similarity, they are both used to create suspense and lots of action codes - e.g. she has fallen over will he catch her now? They both use the idea of something happening to you without your knowledge - i.e. someone watching you and planning something, they tap into society's current fears.

Differences
My opening sequence is very fast in starting and although it is filled with suspense i think it is more effective in scream when it is dragged out more by building up the suspense slower.
I think that Scream's opening gives a lot less information away than mine does, all it shows is the killer's costume, weapon - i.e. brutal killing style, where as mine gives away all of that and the news report which says quite a lot - the location, how many times he has killed before, the police are very involved etc.

The chase in Scream is incredibly physical with her escaping and him recapturing her numerous times where as in ours he grabs her once and clearly she doesn't escape. The Anaesthetist also doesn't show the murder like Scream does, i think that this is more effective because if we had shown the murder it would have looked incredibly amateur.

Character

Similarities

Both of the victim's are courageous and are trying to fight and get away despite obvious difficulty - both very determined. Both of the Villain's clearly like to be in control, in Scream he forces her to answer questions and play games and my villain has drugged her to keep her under control. The villain is male in both and the victim female, i think that we decided to be conventional with this because the only time a role reversal works is in films such as Elektra where the woman is an assassin - but we didn't like this idea at all.

Differences

In Scream the villain hides and is almost nervous, where as the Anaesthetist's villain is very confident and wuite clearly striding out in the day time. You find out very little about the characters in my opening as there is no speech where as we find out lots about Scream's - for exmaple that she has a boyfriend, personally i think that opening's have more impact when there is no speech. There are many more characters introduce din scream's opening - her parents and boyfriend where as the Anaesthetist only slightly introduces his new victim via a photo.

Themes

Similarities

Chasing
Innocence
Isolation
Following/Watching
Psychotic

Differences

The idea of playing games - Scream
Concealing identity - Scream
Brutal/Gorey murder - Scream
Previous victims - The Anaesthetist
Police/Authority involvement - The Anaesthetist
Other characters - Scream has her parents and boyfriend.

Applying Theory: My Opening Sequence

Binary Opposites - Claude Levi-Strauss

Good vs. Evil
Innocence vs. Corrupt
Sanity vs. Insanity
In control vs. Subservient
Drugged vs. Sober

Action + Enigma Codes - Roland Barthes

Action codes - Events leading to other events, the audience wonders what will happen next

She fell over - So, will he catch her now?
He has caught her - Will he kill?

Enigma codes - The audience asks the reason for an event

Why she on the floor
Why she is wearing a silk, white dress
Why she appears to be druggd


Narrative Structure - Tzvetan Todorov
It follows a different structure depending who you are viewing the situation from, red is the girl/rest of the world, blue is the villain.

Equilibrium - The film goes straight into the diruption

Disruption
- This young girl being captured - also outside of film time (happened before)
- Also the fact that she has obviously escaped

Recognition of disorder
- The police are looking for her (news report)
- The villain has come after her - he noticed she was gone

Attempt to repair
- She has escaped
- He recaptured her and then killed her

Continuity Techniques Achieved

Camera
Shot Order

180 degree rule
This was the one rule which we always made sure we followed, when creating or thinking of a new shot we always made sure that the camera was always to the left of our characters (i.e. to their left). And i think this definitely helped to keep continuity and to keep just the right amount of confusion without the audience being distracted from the action.

30 Degree rule
We also kept this rule in mind when shooting, this was partcicularly important for us because as we were moving, each bit of forest was only really covered by one type of shot (e.g. a MS track from behind) so it was important that when we were editing none of these created jump cuts.

Eyeline Match
This wasn't particularly important because our characters weren't shown to look at eachother very much but the one shot which was sort from his point of view (a track of her as she looked around) is on a slight high angle.

Match on Action
We had quite a few matches on action:

• When our female puts on her shoe
• When she spins around after he called her name
• As she gets up off the floor
• When she falls to the floor - POV - Getting up off the floor
• When she walks back and he captures her

We probably spent the most time editing these shots to make sure that the actions and gestures macthed, the main problem was with the final shot of her capture as our females arms were almost flailing in the air and it was hard to match them. So to check they were the same in the end we actually shot the action with 2 cameras to make sure we got exactly the same movements.

Shot, Reverse, Shot

We have one shot reverse shot which is when our female falls over, we see a shot of her fall, then her POV, then back to her getting up. I think this is a very successful and impactful shot.

Editing
Transitions

The main transitions we used to assure continuity was fades to black which are used to show the passing of time. We used them rather effectively in between her capture and her being dragged away, and in between ger being dragged away and him crossing her off his wall.

Sound
Diegetic

I personally thought that diegetic sound was incredibly important to make sure the audience suspende their belief and get lost in the diegetic world so i spent time finding sounds of feet walking on leaves for shots which didnt have approriate diegtic sound. I also made sure that where necessary there were panting or distressed sounds coming from our female character - this involved recording some extra sound on our school field.

Non-Diegetic

Our non-diegetic was perfect because it fitted with our clip at the beginning and the end (although ti would have been nice to have a proper climax when he catches her), the only slight problem was that it kept the same tempo after reaching this at around 10 seconds. Although i think this is kind of fitting because it implies that she is never going to get away and doesn't even have a hope of doing so it sort of forebodes/predicts her capture.

Sound bridge

I think these are really effective to aid the transition in and out of titles so sounds like panting and footsteps often run into our titles and then start before they finish.

Finished Sequence and Cover

Overall i'm really proud of our opening sequence, particularly our Mise-En-Scene and the interesting shot types we used that made the woods seem even more menacing and confusing. The only thing which i don't like about it is that fact that it's a little irrelevant to the rest of the film, even though scream has a similiar beginning - where the girl you expect to be the heroine is brutully slaughtered - at least she is in some way related to the rest of his victims as she is their friend.

Tagline: An overdose of desire

Blurb:With Strikeout Pictures’ most recent production, once more, we are not disappointed. Nominated for ‘Best Film', 'The Anaesthetist' follows a story of voyeurism, obsession and kidnap. Unbeknown to Naomi Lawson (Sian Williams) she is the latest fixation of ‘The Anaesthetist’ (Nicholas Green) – the systematic serial killer with a fetish for white silk, a scientist’s knowledge of euthanasia techniques and passion for autopsy.

Opening Sequence: The Shining

The opening sequence to the Shining would be a beautiful view across wide valleys and tall mountains if it wasn't for the very sinister undertone that the music created. The music is incredibly eerie as every so often there is low chanting and scratchy violin notes which set a suspicious mood for the audience.

The opening sequence also sows the isolation of the hotel in which Jack Nicholson goes to by showing is took a long time for him to get there via long windy roads and he also tells another man it took him 3 and a half hours. Also by the fact that all of the shots are high angle - showing vulnerability as well, and extreme extreme long shots. This creates suspense as the audience realises as the storyline is uncovered that he ans his family will be completely separate from all civilisation and anyone who can help.

At one point the car also goes into a very dark and sinister looking tunnel which is quite ominous. Towards the end of these mountaineous shots snow appears in the frame which again shows isolation but also possible discomfort in the coming cold months - implying that winter is coming.

Shooting Problems

In a group, meeting we had to brainstorm the problems with out shoot and what could go wrong, and these are the ways in which i, individually, am going to help the shoot run as smooth as possible.

• Forgetting Equipment: I have to always check i have mine, and to text everyone else in the group to remind them.
• Continuity Problems: I will help, like everyone else, to make sure we don't shoot over the same section of forest, and that we stick to all the rules, e.g. 180 degree line
• Time Wasting: I will help make sure no one time wastes, and to remind everyone of our tight schedule - although this is more relevant for the real shoot.
• Losing my patience with others: try to compromise more and remember we're all equal when it comes to new ideas etc

Our Group Idea

As a group we decided to centre our idea around Grovelands park as we all like it as a setting, i really like the idea of having a chase scene and having a tall, striking man chasing (striding confidently) after a dainty frantic younger girl. Dressed in black and white respectively to show the contrast. I think that the weakness of this idea is the fact that we will be shooting outside in December so as well as being unpredictable (rain, cloud etc) it will also be uncomfortable - which would be a problem getting actors on board, and obviously would put a strain on continuity. However we do all like the setting a lot and we like the idea that it will be challenging - particualry in the area of camerawork as the majority will be moving.

Initial Idea 2

I have another idea which i think could also use my garden shed which i think is really good as it's really quite creepy (i don't like going into it in daylight).

This idea is a little more vague than my first one, but basically the event happening in it would be someone discovering something very disturbing happening in the shed. So possibly it is a girl and her boyfriend is secretly a serial killer, and he has told her not to go into it but (obviously)she does it anyway and then at the end of the opening sequence he finds her snooping and we hear screaming (and then it jumps to earlier or later in the film).

Location

I never thought of it until someone mentioned it in a group meeting, but i have the best location for a thriller, literally, in my back garden. My shed is the creepiest place ever, I'm actually quite scared going into it in even daylight (which is why there are no pictures of the inside), and it has a particularly creepy atmosphere to it, which would be perfect if it captured on film.



I think this first photo would be a really good POV shot for someone looking at the shed because it seems almost like corruption in a nice, normal, rural setting.

Initial Idea

We have been put into groups and we are having our first meeting on Wednesday so we set a target to have an initial idea by then, and this the favourite one of mine:

The opening is shots of a normal, middle-aged (early 30s) man in his house (study) organising/arranging/cleaning surgical tools, and sometimes there is maybe a photograph of him and his wife shown. Then the phone rings and he answers it and you see him pick up one of the photographs, smile (slyly) and say 'I'm sorry she's not here at the moment can i take a message', then he snaps on rubber surgical gloves.
It's late (around duskish, or else it would be too dark to shoot) and he goes into his garden and starts to walk up his garden path towards the very overgrown part at the back of his garden towards his shed (with his surgical tools). He scrapes the door open and there tied up is the women in his photos - i.e. his wife.
I think the title should be something like 'the ultimate betrayal' - or possibly something a little more warped. I think this idea is good because it leaps straight into the action and because it taps into audience fears - someone close abusing your trust/something twisted going on right in front of you.

An alternate in the structure could use parallel editing - so in between the shots of the male lead there would be blurry POV shots of his wife waking up from being drugged/unconscious etc.
Although to add a real element of surprise he would have to be doing something very not suspicious so the audience thinks 'oh dear, he doesn't know his wife is in trouble' - but then as someone comes to open the door of the shed we see that it's him. But this presents the problem of continuity wise it wouldn't be much of a surprise as we would have to see him going towards a shed and the audience would inevitably assume he is going to see her.

So although there are still some formalities/problems i think it's good because, as far as i know, it hasn't been done in previous years as they seem to have focused on stalking, abduction, and gangster thrillers.

A Good Thriller

What i have noticed is that there is one key difference between a good thriller and an amazing thriller: a good storyline. This seems strange but a good thriller doesn't need an amazing storyline to be successful or even a believable (even within the diegetic world created), all it needs is enigma + suspense - because to me a good thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat right until the very end.

Example: The Omen - Original, 1976
Basically the plot is that a wealthy family's child was switched at birth with the actual offspring of Satan - personally i thought the plot was awful but it kept me interested through out. It did this by having suspense, but also in the way that it created enigma - through hints and clues left throughout the film for the audience to piece together. I particularly love it in films (especially in the SAW series) when you try to second guess the ending, so maybe that's why i liked it, but even so, despite the appalling storyline i still enjoyed actually watching the film.

Now, an amazing film has to have a good storyline - with twists and turns and hints etc as well as lots of enigma and suspense. Examples i love are shown on the right hand side (Primal fear, The Butterfly Effect etc).

So in order for my opening sequence to have the potential to turn into an amazing thriller, it will have to do one of two things:

1. Have an event/conversation which is interesting in itself but doesn't lead onto anything in particular in the reader's mind - e.g. the discovery of a body (without any clues as to who the villain is) as this should disorientate the audience and keep their attention
2. OR, it has to make the viewer read into it in as many different ways as they can, so they are trying to second guess it and make sense of it - e.g. discovery of diary (which of course won't make sense to them at the time, but that would come later on)

Conventions of Opening Sequences

There are a few conventions of opening sequences:

• The production company
  
• The distributor
  
• Credits - director/actors


• Establishes either the main characters/themes or


• Shows the disruption straight away (Todorov's theory)

I think that the opening sequence which establishes the main characters/themes is almost like an introduction to the film, during the credits it gives you an idea of what to expect - and going back to Field's theory it helps the audience decide if they are going to like it or not. Saying this, it doesn't mean that an introduction-style opening sequence is absolutely necessary, for example when the opening sequence shows the disruption to the equilibrium it doesn't give the audience an introduction it just goes straight into the action/storyline - and to me this indicates that the rest of the film will mimic this (very fast moving/exciting etc) and therefore won't take a very long time to get properly started - for example, unlike rear window.

Opening Sequence: Point Break

The opening sequence to Point Break is interesting, but it doesn't make sense to you at the time. It depicts parallel editing between the lead character - Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) - taking part in a police training test for shooting accuracy and Bhodi (Patrick Swaze) surfing during rain. These are the two main themes/lifestyles shown in the film - laid back surfers/police officers or detectives. It's quite an emotional opening sequence - in that in both the events occuring simultaneously there is quite a strong atmosphere, mainly passionate. The two things which are shown are the things which the repsective characters love most in the world - being a policeman/detective and surfing.
I think this is really good for an opening sequence as it gives the audience information on exactly what the film is about, particularly the main characters - who for the next 90 minutes or so are the main people in the viewer's mind.

The Blair Witch Project: The Website

http://www.blairwitch.com/

The Website played a massive role in the advertising campaign for the Blair Witch project, it was set up a year or so before the film was released to create the illusion that it was all in fact real. So when the film came out all the people who had been on the website obviously wanted to find out what really happened.


Here are some examples of how the illusion was set up that it was real:

The first screen fades to this message (In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared into the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found). So as there is no reason for the viewer to doubt the legitimacy of the site yet, this statement is just taken as a fact

Mythology
There is also a section of the site called 'Mythology', where lots of different stories are told of the 'Blair Witch'. For example:

August 1825
Eleven witnesses testify to seeing a pale woman's hand reach up and pull ten-year-old Eileen Treacle into Tappy East Creek. Her body is never recovered, and for thirteen days after the drowning the creek is clogged with oily bundles of sticks. (and bundles of sticks play a slightly significant role in a part of the film so the part of the audience who have seen the website will keep making links back to it - decreases their doubt)

March 1886
Eight-year-old Robin Weaver is reported missing and search parties are dispatched. Although Weaver returns, one of the search parties does not. Their bodies are found weeks later at Coffin Rock tied together at the arms and legs and completely disemboweled.

After a few more examples of these the story of the 3 filmmakers is told in a few lines - so if the viewer believed the previous stories then they are given no reason to doubt the story of these 3.
(http://www.blairwitch.com/mythology.html)

Aftermath
The section entitle 'aftermath' is just full of police-style photos of different places/props from the film as if they were from official reports. For example, this photo comes under the sub-heading 'evidence' - which again suggest fact.


A more important piece of 'evidence' which increases the credibility of the story are the film canisters:


Under Mythology there is a further sub-heading of 'search' and i think one of the most inventive pieces they put on the website was the missing person's poster:



All of these little words (like evidence and the dates) and photos work together to make the audience believe this tale, and so i think that when the film was released the website played a very large part in it's success - it made nearly £5.9 million in it's first week.

The Blair Witch Project

I watched The Blair Witch Project on Halloween and it was one of the most scary films i think I've ever seen (apart from possibly the Saw series), and the amazing thing was that afterwards i realised that you never actually see anything scary, the whole film plays on the audience's imagination. It's also quite inspiring because it's similar to the thriller i will create in that it was very low budget of around £2000 - cheap for a cinema screened film of course.
I think the most effective factor of the film is the iconography:

Setting
Set in a large forest it provides the scariness factor of shadows, noises in the night time and total isolation - i think this isolation plays on audience fears the most therefore making it even more thrilling. This is all also emphasised by the fact that they are lost and are in unknown territory.

Mise-en-Scene
Is generally very dark - this provides the unknown factor again, the lack of glamour to their clothes and general look adds realism to the film/story so it makes it seem more believable and therefore scary.

Camera
Is entirely handheld (or at least on a very shaky track) so it heightens the sense of their isolation from the world because it allows the audience to suspend their belief and think that there isn't a film crew there. At some points the screen is just black because it is night and they don't want to turn their lights on, and i think this panics the audience a little. It's almost like a break from having to close your eyes in fright but at the same time you want them to turn a light on in case something jumps out - so it dramatically increases the suspense.

Colour
Is all natural browns and greens - which adds realism again. Then sometimes when it's black + white it makes it seem supernatural and almost adds glamour - in an old movie style way. By glamour i mean something out of the ordinary - they seem to have very normal lives and i think the black + white symbolises this extraordinary event (also could be put into 'camera')

Rating: ****

The Illusionist

What i found interesting about the illusionist before i watched it was the fact that it was a PG and still managed to a thriller - i know they don't all have to contain violence but it's a very common convention. The film is about a magician Eisenheim (Edward Norton) who falls in love with Sophie as a young boy but she is a Duchess and the two are forbidden to see each other.
Years later he comes to town as a master illusionist and the 2 meet again at a performance, they oinstantly realise they are still in love and make a plan to run away. However Sophia is engaged to the Crown Prince he finds out of her love and she is found dead in a river.

From that point on most of the story is driven by one question 'Is she dead or was it a trick/an illusion?'. After she is found 'dead' Eisenheim leaves town and sets up a different kind of show where he summons the dead (however it is all a trick) and he summons Sophia and finally himself at the end. The final scene is him running to Sophia and therefore showing she was alive all along and they are now going to start a new life together as everyone believes them to be dead.

Back to the point about the PG rating, i think this shows that the film is easy to second guess because there is really only one you want to know - is she dead or alive, and that it's easy to understand. Despite this i think the way it explores pushing the boundaries of what people will believe is really successful and interesting.

Rating: ***

Inspiration: Past Thriller Projects

Under the Gun



I think that the Mise-en-Scene and Cinematography in this opening sequence is particularly good. The colour in it appears as if it used to be so vibrant and saturated, and it's not that now it's cold with blue/grey tones, it's just that it's faded and become so much less passionate. The lighting also creates suspicion from the audience, the shadows and dark corners seem very sinister, connoting something very illegal/underground etc. The Mise-en-Scene as a whole creates the sense of past glamour/the darker side of glamour - the glamour connoted by the suit, cards, crystal glasses, but it's all dragged down by the grimey ashtrays and tiny box room. The cinematography is full of tight frames, the use of CUs and MCUs and low angles shows the panic of the male character and the disgust and passion/feistiness of the female. It also shows how to-close-for-comfort the tiny room is, and how intimidating the male lead is.

Exposure



I think the continuity in this opening sequence is by far the best because it follows all of the rules.
It has lots of brilliant matches on action - for example when he bursts through his bedroom door
It had dissolve transitions to slow the pace down and to heighten emotion
It also has a fade to black at the end of the clip which conventional symbolises the passing of time, so possibly the opening sequence is in a separate time frame to the next part of the film.
It increases realism with loud diegetic sounds like the running water, keys rattling etc
The pace is fast at the beginning which a little unconventional but it balances this out by slowing it down after a minute or so.