Media Film Project Evaluation

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Editing (The real thing this time)

We decided the day before after a lengthy group meeting where we aired out our grievances that we would meet up at Usman's house to do our final edit to present to our media teacher on Monday. So the day rolled around and I got a call telling me the time had changed to one o'clock but then several minutes later I got a text saying the time had changed back to twelve o'clock I was like make up your mind people!! Anyway I left the house and got Usman's house at ten past twelve and as I arrived Ali was there already, so I grabbed a chair and sat down to do some editing. We all had problems with the other edited versions of our film as before we gave Ali a list of improvements and he went away to do them. This wasn't fair to Ali as he ended up doing all the work and when we didn't like the changes he took it personally which was understandable. The first thing we did was find all the clips as Usman's USB had some shots missing so we had to do a lot of importing from Ali's USB this didn't take long as Ali thank God had his USB with him. Anyway, after all the shots were there then we had to decide what shots to put into the timeline; there was a dispute between Shadei and Ali over the fact that in one shot Shadei had jeans on and in another she had a dress on. I personally didn't really see it as a problem but I understood where she was coming from as there was some continuity problems. Then we decided to compromise and put the shots of Shadei in a dress, once that had been sorted we continued with putting the shots we wanted into order and another problem came up we had a dispute about what shots to include and the end as we had shots of the car and shots of Shadei running away from men in masks. The dispute was what shots to use as there was two shots of Shadei being chased;one where she was being chased by a man in a mask with a stick and one of her being chased by two men. My case was that the shots of Shadei running away from the 2 men was more effective because she was screaming,it looked like something out of 28 weeks Later. In the end we went with the shot of Shadei being chased by a man with a stick as we felt that the fact that Usman (guy with the stick) was so close it made it scarier. Next up was the title sequences, after much debating we came up with a name which had a relation to our film, we called 9 Seconds and I won't tell you why because that would ruin it but it will be pretty obvious when you see the film. The final thing to do was to slot our names in but here we ran into a problem, Ali put his name as director but Shadei said that wasn't fair, I didn't even want my name in as I hadn't done any acting but we resolved all arguments and just left Ali as director with everyone names following on. Then disaster struck, the computer crashed, my idea was to turn it off and let the program recover it for us but nobody listened to me, so we spent an hour trying to recover our file until eventually we turned it off and guess what I WAS RIGHT!! It cam back and we did the best thing we had done all day we saved it!!!

Day 3:Filming

I arrived early today and as I waited for the group to arrive I checked the camera to see if I haved charged the camera whcih I sometimes forget to do, but never during filming time. Anyway, eventually the group appeared and we gathered to discuss what exactly we were going to film. Shadei straightaway decided she needed to change and as the guys walked away we decided to film the shot which was the most controversial because of the danger incolved. we were going to drive over the camera!!!! The first time we drove over it, the camera wasn't even recording so despite all our nerves we had to do it again; I couldn't watch it because it was scary. The second time we went over the camera it was slower which doesn't look good on film so once again we had to do it again. So we composed ourselfs and once again drove over the camera but this time we went over it at full speed, I went up to the van and Ali told me that we need some scenes to come inbetween the bit where Shadei gets licked by her boyfriend and when she gets caught. We tried to film a scene where a case of knives that was opened that didn't work because there was a lack of lighting as well as the problem of how to place the camera in an effective position to get the best outcome. So instead we took the case of knives into the van and filmed a scene that consisted of Shadei's boyfriend opening the case. This scene worked alright although I have to admit this shot was just a filler whilst we decided what to do. After this scene was filmed we figured that maybe we could do a scene in the park, all we did was do a couple of shots in the park of me walking around saying "where is she" whilst searching for Shadei in the bushes. Personally I think that this day didn't go too well as basically to tell the truth we ran out of ideas and were just filling out the time doing shots that we probably weren't going to use.

Research

I watched a recent horror thriller called Diary of the Dead. The thing that interested me the most was the way the film was shot. It was incredibly innovative in the way the film was shot, what happened was the film was shot through a hand-held camera but the real twist was that the person filming the film was an actual character who the other characters talked to, he even developed an actual love interest!!
The reason why I think this applies to my film as the pure innovation is inspiring for me to take the courage to do shots that may sound crazy in theory but look incredibly good in the film. If I can apply the innovation of this film to my film then I will be in good stead in terms of grades.
Inside Man is another thriller that I watched and is what I think is the perfect thriller as it confounds the audience and makes the audience think what is going to happen next. The opening consists of the audience hearing a man describe a bank robbery and invites the audience to watch and then we see an efficient gang enter an bank. I liked this opening as it confused me until I realised it was the leader of the gang telling the story. My thriller has to do exactly the same thing as I want to disorient my audience so much that they want to stay and watch the film just to find out what may happen, the television show Lost employs the very same strategy as even the most die-hard followers of the show don't know what is going on. I don't want my opening to be as confusing as Lost but I do want there to be an element of confusion that leaves the audience in a state of perpetual wonderment.

Day 2:Filming

Today was not a good day to film as it was pouring with rain which I put in the risk assessment as a hazard. I was wondering what exactly we were going to film with it raining so hard but I was willing to try, so I got dropped off as per usual and found Ali and Shadei waiting in the van huddering from the cold as I climbed into the van I asked what we were going to be filming today and was told we were going to begin filming the torture scenes that occur in the van. As we waited for Usman to arrive we discussed what shots to include and what exactly we should film as there is no point in filming unless we knew exacty what we were going to be doing. Usman arrived and rapped at the window, I opened the door for him and he bundled into the van. The very first shot we filmed was the one of Shadei landing into the van but we had to be careful as there was a board that had a nail at its head somewhere in the van. This shot I think worked to a certain extent but I think we didn't get enough sense of the fear that we wanted to display. The next shot was the shot of Shadei getting licked on the face; this was probably the most annoying shot of the day as we had to constantly keep doing it over and over again because SOMEBODY kept laughing all the time. This shot apparently didn't work when we viewed the film on camera, Ali and Shadei said it looked pornographic on film but maybe if the shot had been more darker as in the shot was more shady in the sense of Dark Knight it may have worked as I think that the light that was there made the shot look weird. The final shot we did was the shots of the van as it sped to kidnap Shadei I filmed these shots personally and these worked well as I followed the van, it looked those car films were the chase is looking really fast although I haven't seen what it looks like I hope it worked.

The Bourne Identity

A prime example of a film that left the audience wanting more is the Bourne series of films, the one I shall be taking a look at is the first of this trilogy, The Bourne Identity.
This film is an action thriller this means that there will be a variety of car chases, lots of fighting and running as well as incredible stunts. Mixed in with all this is some romance for Jason as well as crime (identity crime, Jason's lost his identity thanks to the CIA). I watched the opening scene where Jason was picked up by a fishing boat and I then made these notes...

• The darkness combined with the sea sets a foreboding opening


• Boat location makes audience wonder what is going on


• Constant darkness entwined with eerie background music is effective


• Location is not appropriate for removal of bullets (Jason got shot and there is doctor on board the boat)


• There is a series of shots from different angles showing him being pulled


• Blackout used-point of view of the character (Jason)


• Reaction shot of the fisherman's face


• We build up to the audience realising where the character is. The audience is plunged into the world with the same sense of lack of knowledge as the main character


• Non-digetic soundtrack used to create suspense and tension


• Digetic sounds-thunder/lightening/creaking lights and floorboards on the ship


• Foreign language alienates the audience

Thriller films such as this one work by combining all of the above to create an intelligent piece of film which creates tension and a response from the response. Leaving the audience wanting more is the way to go in today's movie world but not many films accomplish this feat and the ones that do are the films that are most successful. It takes a lot for a film to do this as I have signaled up above, as I am only doing an opening I have to piece together some of these factors to keep the audience interested in a way that makes them want to watch the rest of the film. Foreign language has some resonance in my film as the girl who gets kidnapped is from another country and is talking on the phone in another language before she gets grabbed. I have taken a leaf out of The Bourne Identity's book and decided on mainly darkness to begin with as darkness leaves everybody wondering what is going on and in terms of my film it will be better in building tension and suspense as the dark mood will give off the sense that something sinister may happen.

Thriller research

Martin Rubin wrote a book called "Thrillers" in which he described what a thriller is. Martin Rubin said that there is no such thing as a 'thriller", as the "thriller" is a meta-genre that gathers several other genres under it's umbrella. Thriller components work better with some genres than others, for example it works well with spy, crime and horror films but not so well with musicals or war films.
I totally agree with this analysis as when has there ever been a film which was described as just a thriller, the answer is never. Instead whenever you see the word thriller it is always associated with something else so can never be a genre on its own. Thrillers can never be associated with all films as it definitely works better with some films than others as can you imagine High School Musical combined with a thriller; you'd have Zac Efron dancing around when all of a sudden he'll stop and creepy music begins to play as a hand grabs his shoulder but its just VANESSA HUDGINS!! Ha ha.
In my opinion an effective thriller film should make the audience sit up in anticipation as they wonder what may happen next. A thriller must make a person think and also try to figure out what is going on. Thrillers must have many twists and turns within the films and end in a way that leaves them wanting more. The thriller I would most like to produce is a psychological thriller with a bit of violence thrown in for good measure. Psychological thrillers are my favourite kind of thriller films as they give me a chance to predict what may happen next which as I am mostly right most of the time gives me a happy feeling. But even when I get the predictions wrong these sorts of films always make me go "how did that happen" or "I did not see that coming", these sort of statements are what I want to give to the audience as they watch my opening as I want to give my audience the same feeling I get when watching psychological thrillers, the feeling of not knowing what may happen next.

THE STORY

3 men are getting prepared for something, with balaclavas and scary looking masks. A woman is an alternative location and is talking on the phone in another language; she finishes her conversation and begins to walk down the street. A black van is lurking around and starts to move behind the girl, looking decidedly sinister. The van with it's tinited windows, the girl looks behind her and feeling uneasy begins to walk faster when suddenly 3 men burst out with masks on their faces and all black clothing. They roughly manhandle her into the van and the doors slam shut with a BANG...
If we leave this scene we shall take a look at these three men and their past. All three men resided in the Northwick Park mental hospital for sociopaths, only people who were extremely dangerous and incredibly unstable were left here. Due to the nature of the residents Northwick Park mental hospital had high security levels with all sorts of ways to stop them getting out such as rabid dogs, lasers in restricted areas and even extra fortified foundations so the residents couldn't dig their way out. The 3 men were particularlu dangerous even in an environment with so many deranged people, so they were in isolation from the rest. This isolation gave them the time to muse and when sociopaths who are mentally unstable are given time to think, the result is never good. All 3 of them retreated into their minds where they heard voices and lived in a world called Desolation. Desolation had its own money, language and laws (there are no laws); it was here that these 3 men hatched a plot to escape....
Back in the present, the men had stopped whatever they were doing to the woman as the van had ceased shaking but that didn't mean they were done with her, as they had tied her arms and legs to each corner of the van and left her there naked as daylight broke....

Treatment

Pitch-Vulnerable foreign girl gets abducted by males at night whilst walking home.

Themes

Sexual fantasies
Psychological thriller
Perception of reality

Audience:18-35- This film needs a more mature audience as there may be some scenes that will be inappropriate for people of a younger age. Also the older audience may have a better understanding of what is going on especially during the opening where we try to establish a precedent for the rest of the film. As this film is quite urban the audience we shall be aiming for will definitely be more city-based although I am not saying that people who don't live in the city won't understand the film, the characters will have to be more ordinary conveying the fact that this could happen to anyone at any place, at any time. This sort of incident an has an element of realism as it is based in an isolated area that allows for things such as this to happen. The audience will know that this film is a thriller simply because they won't know exactly what is happening and the film can change direction at any time without them knowing. This is what I think is the basis of all thrillers; the power to surprise.

Script- Pre production task

(shot)- Guys in the van, a short shot of there hands about to open the door,audience is given idea that something bad's going to happen.
(1sec shot)-
A close up of Shadei's face for just less than a second,more of a flicker of her face rather than an actual 1 second shot. This will help to create a sense of fright as it is going to be such a quick shot.

(1sec shot)- Guys jump out of van, (maybe this could be a tracking shot) grab Shadei and struggle to keep her quite while getting her back into the van as she is fighting them of.Shadei: "Velaaaam Kon!Naaaa!Velam Konid!Komak!HELP HELP!" (speaks in foreign language, when she shouts "help"- she says it with an Iranian accent.)(while Shadei is shouting, the camera could slowly drift of towards the van driver, and then slowly drift back, but we still hear her voice in the background.)

Van driver: "Shut the fuck up! Shut her up Ted!" (Ted is a temporary name for one of the guys.)Ted- 'Ted slaps Shadei' Ted: "Shut the fuck up!"Shadei is crying as she tries to hit back but Ted grabs her arm and forcefully gets her in the van.

NEXT SCENE-LOCATION:(van)-Ted's hand is covering Shadei's mouth, but we still see her attempting to scream. Guy (2) passes rope to ted. Guy (3) holds Shadei as Guy (2) and Ted try to wrap the rope around Shadei's mouth to stop her from screaming.Ted: "Get me something to cover her fucking face! Now!"A conversation between van driver and Guy (3), saying to move location.I haven't decided the exact conversation. Car screeches to new location. Short shots of girl/van driver etc.

(2secs)-A short shot of Ted getting tools ready. Shadei hits Ted and hurts him. Ted grabs Shadei's face, forcefully squeezing both her cheeks with one hand, really hard and then tries to lick her cheek.They come to a sudden stop, get out the car.

Soundtrack Research-The Silence of the Lambs

Silence of the Lambs (1990) is regarded as one of the best psychological thrillers ever made. It won Oscars for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Film.

The Opening- We see a character running through a wood on an assault course. The music from the start is an eerie piece of classical music which is immediately unsettling. In fact we are waiting for something to happen. The music makes us predict something in the visuals.

The Interview-Soundtrack plays as she walks towards Hannibal Lecter. It is used to disturb the audiences' comfort zone without going to its full tempo.

As you have seen there is a simple but effective way to produce a distinct soundtrack that will make your film great. The Silence of Lambs soundtrack is a string quartet track that heightens and lowers its volume and gives off a sense that something is about to happen just through volume control. Although my film won't have a world-renowned composer I can still create a killer soundtrack by picking the right soundtrack and adjusting it to fit my film in a way that will make the audience try and anticipate what may happen and leave them on the edge of their seats. The problem is that I don't know how to compose my own music so I could either find somebody who does or I can find copyright free sites to download music that will fit with my film.

Pre- production planning

Before we began filming we had to make extensive plans to ensure that when we went out to film we knew exactly what we were doing to make sure that we didn't waste any time filming. We had to produce a shooting schedule and a storyboard to prove toour teacher that we weren't going to run around like headless chickens. So Ihave included these plans into my blog.

Day 1:Filming

The time has come for us to finally begin filming our opening to a thriller film. It started off with a bit of chaos as Ali called me to tell me to buy fake blood, so I had to leave my house and go to the store to buy it costing me three pounds WHICH I STILL HAVEN'T BEEN REPAID!! Anyway after I had acquired the fake blood Shadei then texts me to bring an onion; seriously an onion. But the real problem wasn't these minor inconveniences it was the fact that I didn't have a clue where Ponders End the place where we were meant to be filming was. Obviously, this posed a problem but I overcame it with an ingenious idea which was to simply go on the internet, find a journey planner and use it to reach Ponders End. So I hopped into the car as I had decided to go with my Auntie who suddenly decided to turn this simple filming trip into a family outing and made me go to the launderette first before taking me to Tesco where I was scheduled to meet Ali whose dad's house was pretty close, as I sat waiting for Ali to arrive I received a call from Usman who wanted to verify whether we were wearing all black. Eventually Ali arrived and we made our way to the location we had done recon on which is basically the area outside Ali's dad's house. When I arrived Shadei, her boyfriend and her cousin were already there and all we had to do was wait for Usman who had just left his house to arrive. He came about 15 minutes later and then filming began!! The first shot we filmed was the shots of the three deranged men checking their bags of tools and then throwing it into the van, these shots were repeated several times to the point that I was getting bored but eventually we moved on to start filming Shadei's walking scene which I got to film finally, I did loads of different angles such as shots from the bushes, tracking shots and even shots which followed her feet exclusively. After I had performed this part of filming then I filmed Ali putting on his mask as he revved the engine; these shots were my favourite as it was quite unique and gave the viewer a different perspective, to me it looked like a Hollywood style shot although not as good. Then came the action scene, Ali and I decided the best way to grab Shadei was to put me in the van with the camera and then let me follow the deranged men as they grab Shadei. It took several tries to get this right but according to Mr Sim at least one of them worked which I am pleased with; this shot was the last ones we did as guess what? Just as we were getting on a roll, the camera died which was great just GREAT! So that cut short our first filming day and left us with some shots to do at a later date.

Memento

In a recent lesson with Mr Ethrington we watched the psychological thriller Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan who also directed the worldwide smash hit The Dark Knight. As we watched the film Mr Etherington asked us several questions which we had to answer:

1) What ideas does the "memento" make you think of?
The word memento makes me think of a story involving memories or someone trying to hold on to hang onto their memories. Basically I think that thriller titles should symbolise something in the film or represent a hidden message in the film. Clearly "memento" is a showing up the fact that he is trying to remember something and the tattoos on his body are his memento from his former life. My film title has to be something that relates to the film or has some hidden significance.

2) What sort of a character is Leonard?
Leonard is trying to do good but he is confused and lost but there may be dark side to him as he demonstrates when he kills Teddy and most heroes don't have that ruthlessness in them. Character types are important in thrillers as they are what makes the thriller interesting but as I am only making an opening I won't have that much time to include a character with issues as complex as Leonard but if I can create a character that the audience can relate in my film then my opening will be a job well done.

3) What flaws are there in Leonard's character
He can't put new memories into his mind and this brings up trust issues with almost everyone he meets, he is very vulnerable because of this.
Flawed characters are always more interesting than plain cut ones, for example Wolverine is more interesting than Indiana Jones simply because he has so many issues. So in my film the characters may have to have some sort of sordid background that is hidden until it is later revealed.
4) How does the audience feel about Teddy?
The audience doesn't really like Teddy because we don't really know who he is which makes him a shady character and therefore he is an untrustworthy character. In my film we won't have time to create a character whose loyalties are cryptic so we have to make do with what we have. This helped me in my planning as I realised that I can't be too ambitious when formulating character types.

5) What narrative enigmas are created in the opening few minutes of the film?
What happened to Leonard? Who is Teddy? Why did Leonard kill Teddy? Who is Natalie? Who put the tattoos all over his body? Is Leonard justified in killing Teddy? Loads of narrative enigmas are what makes a thriller film but as my film is just the opening I would be pleased if we managed to create at the very least 4 questions that the audience will ask as they watch the film so I must have an opening that can deliver these enigmas to the audience.

6) How is non-digetic music? What sort of mood does it help to create?
The music is eerie, sets a sombre and dark mood. The music of my film will be very important as a good soundtrack will make a rubbish film better. So considering that my film is going to be made by Hollywood I need to choose the right soundtrack to enhance the features of the film as I know it is not going to be up to the quality of Hollywood as I don't have the same equipment and actors.

7) How would you describe the opening overall? Does it set up any sense of equilibrium or begin with disruption?
It begins with instantaneous disruption as we see Teddy being shot in the head. Disruption is another feature that thrillers are often associated with; an example would be The Bourne Identity's opening which begins a bunch of fisherman finding a wounded Jason. I have therefore decided that I will also follow this convention and begin my film with a disruption as I believe it draws the audience into the film quicker rather than leaving them with a long build up.

8) Think about the following aspects of mise-en-scene. How does one help us with ideas about either narrative or character?
Leonard's car reflects the mystery of the character as it is a European car which has been imported into America meaning it is quite expensive but the car is very dirty which makes you wonder where Leonard has been. The motel in which Leonard resides is an isolated and cheap place where no questions are asked. Nobody knows what is going on behind closed doors which is perfect for a amnesiac, the isolated building is a place where Leonard commits a murder and begs the question how far will Leonard go? The mise-en-scene often hides messages that the audience will eventually see but will see it coming if they pay attention to the mise-en-scene. I don't know whether the time I have for my opening will allow me to hide messages in my mise-en-scene but I will aim to put at least one hidden message within the mise-en-secen to see if the audience will see it.

Skills Development

I actuallty had a decent amount of expensive filming as I had to produce an opening to a thriller film for my GCSE Media course. However, I have to say that since then I have forgotten many of those skills and I am using this experience as a refresher course as I have even forgotten how to open the cartridge which holds the tape! So far I have relearnt most of the camera's features such as rewinding, playing and scene selection as well as various new shots I can incorporate into my repoirtare. I don't think I'm good at anything as I haven't had much of a chance to film and this mainly my fault as I am continuosly acting, but I do think that I am pretty solid on the camera shot rules and conventions, so when and if I film I should be solid. I need to improve my involvement with the filming if I'm ever going to find out if I am the next Steven Spielberg or not!!!

Editing the Prelminary task

Editing, a key part in the creation of any film and to get a more professional look to our films we had to go on a mini trip to Enfield Town to go to the City Learning Centre otherwise known as the CLC. There was a slight problem with getting there as because I didn't know where the CLC was I decided to with Serhan, Vedat and Khaled who had been there before, I came to regret my decision as Serhan who thought he knew where he was going LOST HIS SENSE OF DIRECTION. It took Vedat, Khaled and I to figure out where to go and we just made it there on time; the problem is that when I got there I discovered to my dismay that my group was there yet so whilst we got prepared setting up firewires and logging onto the computers, some guy called Andrew introduced himself and told us to gather round. He droned on and on about some stuff and then it was time to work but my group still wasn't here so I logged on and set up the firewire to the camera when finally my group arrived. As the film uploaded onto the computer Shadei who had only been at the CLC for 10 minutes said she had leave because she had Grease, I was like what was the point of coming!! More disaster struck after that as the film uploaded in one chunk and not in splits which made it much harder to edit as we had to go slowly through the entire film to find the shots we wanted and then split it to put it into order. This process took hours so when we had all the shots we wanted it was time to leave, we took so long that Mr Etherington left because he had parents' evening to attend so we asked a helper to put the film onto a disk so we can edit at home and guess what WE STILL HAVEN'T GOT THE DISK!!!!!!

Preliminary Task

Anyway to bring you up to date with what is going on we have just finished filming and editing our preliminary project which is a simple film which displays someone coming into a room, exchanging a few lines of dialogue and certain camera shots must be displayed. My group consisted of Ali, Usman, Shadei and myself which is a group that I have no problem with working with. We had quite a problem with our storyline as at first we had a story about a gay couple (male) one of them was Cockney the other was Asian as they went to meet their parents. Our teacher didn't really approve of my comedic script so this meant the entire story had to be scrapped and we eventually had to come up with a more mundane story of two friends meeting up at one of their houses. Filming commenced the next week, and as we gathered our cameras, the filming started with Ali filming Usman calling me to inform me that he has the new Fifa and a new projector to play on; this scene kind of got on my nerves as Ali kept filming from so many different angles that it was ridiculous, Shadei and I became restless as we weren't filing or being filmed. Eventually the scene was finished and we moved onto my scene where all I had to do was look happy at thought of playing Fifa on a massive projector; once again this simple scene was shot from several different angles which I thought was a waste of time (don't tell Ali), which led to the next scene of Usman and I meeting at his house (not his actual house obviously). This scene was filmed with more efficiency than the other scenes and was over quite quickly especially as Usman and I got so much into character that the arguments we had over who was going to win went past the allocated filming time. The last proper scenes we filmed was one of Usman and I getting down to the nitty gritty of gameplay whilst we push and shove and I celebrate scoring, we did however film one more scene but we didn't plan enough to fully utilise our time so this meant that we didn't really film the scene to its full potential so the next time we film planning will be key.