Spoiler Review of a Thriller: The One

End of module 2 report group

End of module 2 individual report

To improve: make sure that my level of care in presentation is of excellent quality

G321 Media

G321 Media
Wrong Place, Wrong Time - Level 1
- less than 10 slides
- no use of Foley
- hardly understood the context or the genre
- bad acting
- non-professional fonts
- not appropriate for target audience

 Creeping Shadows - Level 2
- no use of Foley
- genre was apparent
- good actress
- not enough slates

 The Catalyst - Level 3
- not enough titles
- good editing and camera angles

The Edge - Level 4
- believable characters
- unique titles
- good music
- great camera angles and editing
- colour grading
- appropriate for target audience
- excellent shot transitions

Individual Film Plot

Title: 'Secrets'

Opening:
I took inspiration from the movie Memento as the opening of my film will be a flashback of the murder that the women committed whilst she is in her prison cell and she is shaking and frantic.

The Film:
A middle aged woman named Rachel murdered her best friend Vanessa due to her being jealous and envious of her life. Only their other best friend Louise knows that Rachel was the murderer but is forced to keep it under wraps.
The neighborhood are questioning this murder and get police and investigators involved.
The stress becomes unbearable for Louise keeping this secret and she confesses to the police that she knows her best friend (Rachel) is the murderer.
Non Linear film

Location: London as it is a typical thriller landscape
Target Audience: Women aged 18-25
Genre: Crime thriller with aspects of a  psychological thriller. It will include props such as guns and cars and it will involve interrogation and dark scenes.

Falling Down Opening Remake

I created through looking at the falling down opening sequence and wrote down and recorded all the sounds that were within it. . I watched the first 2 minutes and 30 seconds of the film and noted down all the different sounds that were featured and the duration of each sound. This is shown below.


Garage Band enabled us to insert the sounds that were featured in the opening of Falling Down and merge the different sounds together. Using Sound Bible which is a website that offers and stores different sound bites, I searched for different sounds that were similar and more realistic to the sounds used in the falling down opening sequence, then added them to my Garage Band project.

This task enhanced my knowledge on different sounds used in a thriller and I was able to develop my iconic sound knowledge and Garage Band skills.This task was very helpful for broadening my expertise in using Garage Band which is a necessity when making my Thriller Opening.

Below is my Falling Down Opening Remake

Match on Action

Here is my video showing Match on Action. I was successfully able to complete this Match on Action task with my partner and it was good practice as we will be including this skill in our Thriller openings.

Spoiler review of a Thriller: Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace was the first Bond movie to be a continuation of the previous film, instead of standing on its own. It is jam-packed with stunts and fast pace action in its 1 hour and 45 minutes time span, making it the shortest bond film ever made. Director Marc Foster, the German-Swiss film maker previously directed very 'non-Bond' films such as Monsters Ball, Finding Neverland and the Kite Runner. 

As for a quick plot summary: still angered by the death of Vesper Lynd, James Bond goes after the shadowy international organisation he hold greatly responsible, even when ordered to stand down. Bond clashes with Dominic Greene, who is cornering Bolivia's water supply, and teams with Camille, who has her own mission of vengeance.

I must say that compared to all the other Bond films, this one stood out the most and not for reasons expected. The movie was much scattered and didn't follow a linear sequence at all, leaving the audience and myself confused. The theme tune was not memorable and was not fitting to the film unlike all the others. The title of the film alone isn't even made referenced in the film at all and is totally unrelated to the premise of the film. The movie on a whole is just thrust into explosive action and doesn't follow through with the drama and story essence of it. This, I would put down to the Director who I don't think has much experience in directing films such as these.

Synopsis Thriller Sub-genres & Narratives By Chloe, Nana and India!

This presentation discusses the different sub-genres that are within thrillers e.g. Psychological, Crime etc.
It also includes information about different narratives that are used in different thrillers

End of Module Reports

Level 3 = 12 - 15 marks

C = 13/20

Biggest Priorities I need to do to get my blog up to a Level 4- 
Upload and Edit remaining tasks,  
make sure there are no gaps between the pictures 
use more clips/pictures from actual films instead of clipart ones

Se7en Titles Remake Edit + comments

Below is my Se7en Title Remake edit that I created using Final Cut pro to put the titles, imaged and overlay the music with. I enjoyed completing this task as it was good practice with using this type of editor. It also enhanced my visual skills as I was sequencing different types of pictures and video clips to make a complete opening which had to embody a Thriller essence.

The main purposes of making a title sequence

• give the audience a general feel of what the film will be about by looking at the director, actors/actresses and production companies
• feature everyone who was apart of the film e.g. director, producers, actors etc.
• draw in the viewers

Report on What Makes a Thriller

What is a Thriller?

It is difficult to state a clear definition of a thriller because thrillers cross over various genres of writing. Thrillers can be divided into countless categories: e.g. action, psychological, military, spy, sci-fi, romantic etc. It’s easier to recognize a thriller through watching it than actually describing it.

However there are some general characteristics that most thrillers have. These usually include a plot that concerns itself with life-and-death issues. Many thrillers involve murder mysteries.

Nearly all thrillers put the protagonist and other sympathetic characters in serious danger. Most thrillers have very devious antagonists. Thrillers usually have a great deal of action, cinematic landscapes or city-scapes and take place in major cities such as New York and London. Thrillers are very dramatic even when they focus on someone’s mind as in a psychological thriller like ‘Inception’

A good thriller presents intense excitement, building up suspense, tension and anticipation of things to come during the duration of the film. As a movie genre, it provides thrills from various circumstances presented in the story, where the protagonist or main character encounters certain types of mysterious or dangerous situations.

Thriller Film Openings Analysis

The Bourne Identity

• Non Linear
• Restricted
• Phycological Thriller

• ·         Heavy weather as background noise e.g. thunder
• ·         Dark/dim lighting
• ·         Fighting
• ·         Distress from character shown within the first scene
• -    Surgical equipment

    Crank

•     Non linear
•     Restricted
•     Phycological Thriller
•     Drug dosing scene

• ·         Fast pace camera angles
• ·         Dark/dim lighting
• ·         Mysterious entry from the characters
• ·         One of the characters lives in an urban apartment – most likely situated in a city e.g. New York
• ·         Explicit language used
• ·         A clear Antagonist and Protagonist
• ·         Drug syringes
• ·         Cars

• 
  

  The Machinist

•     Crime Thriller - character, most likely murderer/criminal carrying a dead body
• -   Restricted
•     Aftermath of a crime scene
•     Non-linear
•     Enigma code - Who is the person that has been murdered and thrown into the sea? Why does this man have a dead body?
•     Dark and gloomy
• 
  

  
  Insomnia

•     Crime and political thriller - murder has taken place, opening character is a professional/detective, references to murders in script
•     Restricted
•     Linear
•     Enigma code - Who is the person in the pictures that has been slaughtered and murdered
• 
  

A Thriller Location

This is my chosen suitable location (London) to shoot a thriller.

In my picture the Shard is featured which is one of the newest skyscrapers to the city of London and this would be a good location to shoot a thriller as it is in a urban area and many corporate jobs take place here.

Collage of Iconography

The following collage shows different aspects that a thriller must have in order for it to be categorized as a thriller such as crime and cities. These are all recognizable characteristics of thrillers because they help the audience differentiate a particular film from any other film genre.

Self Evaluation

21-28 Impressive. I am thinking around elements that we have discussed in class and have clearly been studying around the topic and applying my knowledge rather than just remembering.

Self evaluation
25/28

I think that I am meeting the expectations of an A Level student, however I need to still look through the checklist and make sure that I have completed all the tasks to my best ability. In class I take as many notes that I feel are necessary to my home study and that I can look at later on. We have done a variety of activities to help us remember different media aspects, however certain activities have stood out out the most. The "Se7en" edit was very helpful as it was more hands on and I was able to understand the editing processes/. My independent learning has been going well so far, as I have understood my tasks and have been working well with the tasks.

Evaluation of First Shoot

Evaluation of First Shoot

The following is what I need to make sure my group and I need to do, when we film:

• Steadiness/Level (No sweeping and zooming)
• Quality of Image (exposure, focus, white balance)
• Correct Framing Angle
• Sequence creates suspense/paranoia (makes narrative sense?)

Group 1 

Shot (Lift)
Haven't rewound the tape, making it very difficult to find
White balanced
Not level

Shot (Hall-Way)
Wonky
Not Level
Not white balance

Shot 3
No close ups

Shot 4
Use of low angle instead of high angle
Not a close up, it is a medium close up

Filming Tips for next shoot

Have to rewind to the beginning
Make sure you use the right angles
Shoot in Order

Spoiler review of a Thriller: Inception

Inception Spoiler Review

This sci-fi action thriller from critically acclaimed director Christopher Nolan grossed over $800-million in all, and of which quickly became one of the highest rated films and most certainly one of the highest rated thriller of all time.

If you have had the opportunity to watch Inception then you most likely have had some sort of confusion in regards to the concept and ending of the film. As for a quick plot synopsis, Leonardo DiCaprio is Dominic Cobb - a man who is tasked to sneak into someone's dream, and plant an original idea in the furthest depths of their mind - a practice known in the film as "inception". 

Cobb recruits a team, and by using a dream-within-a-dream approach, which was cleverly executed by director Christopher Nolan, they attempt to navigate the subconscious world of their target, and plant an idea that'll benefit Cobb's employer.

While the plot is very well detailed, and complicated and requires full attention- it isn't actually hard to understand or follow-along. Inception's most impressive accomplishment is not in the engrossing and captivating story, or the jaw dropping visuals but rather the chilling accuracy in which it's able to live a long-lasting impression on the audience

There are a ton of theories being tossed around the about the ending of Inception and what really happened, the two biggest debates being whether Cobb was still in a dream or did he in fact return to his children in the “real world.”

Throughout the film, Cobb continues to obsess about spinning the top and verifying reality – however, at the end of the movie, he spins the top and walks away from it before he can verify if it stops spinning or not. His kids come running in and Cobb couldn't care less about if it is reality or not he just wants to be with his children, in whatever place he can be with them.

Overall, the main purpose of Inception is meant to leave you thinking and questioning the nature of reality and the ending enables you to do that.

Mindmap: Conventions of the Genre

This Mindmap demonstrates my understanding in what a thriller is.

On the Mindmap there are different elements and components such as spies, mystery and cities that need to be included into a film to make it a Thriller. These are the sort of things I need to remember when I produce my thriller opening with my group.

Titles Timeline Map

This timeline shows the times in which the titles/slates in The Warriors came in. It also shows the duration and   tempo of the background music.

This timeline map enabled me to understand the order and importance of titles in a movie and understand the different people involved in a movie such as Art Directors and Producers.

9 Frame Title Sequence

This title shows the production company. It is important to state who the produces the company as it reinforces who technically owns the film and to prevent stealing of the film.

This title shows a particular person who produced this film. Lawrence Gordon is a motion picture executive so it is important that he has one of the first titles.

This title shows four cast members who most likely have leading roles as they are placed first

This title shows four more cast members that were involved in the film

This title shows more cast members

This shows the person who created the music

This presents the composition of one of the songs featured. The composer and who performed

The editor

The Art Directors are featured in this title

Informs the audience that this is based on a novel and who the novel is by.

The writers of the screen play

This title shows the producer

This title shows the Director and this title was featured last out of all the other titles