Smart Shooting

Objectives:
 To identify conventional shots to create a successful thriller film.

Learning Outcomes:

ALL: Will be able to explain at least one effective shot. A
MOST: Will be able to explain 2 or more effective shots and relate it to a thriller film.C
SOME: Will be able to explain 3 or more effective shots with examples and able to relate it to their own potential thriller film. E

Analysis of  the film Halloween Resurrection for any smart shooting techniques used.

The opening sequence of Halloween Resurrection contains many smart shooting techniques.
The first technique made evident in the point of view shot instantly displayed after the opening credits. This not only gives view of the location but as the audience we feel we are apart of the film. 

 A voice over is used to narrate the story, the point of view shot continues until we get to a room with a woman in it.

The shots indicate this is some type of hospital or mental asylum because of the use of characters such as the nurses and the patient . The use of  mise en scene and low key lighting create a chilling atmosphere, for the audience they are made to feel unjust or uncomfortable as they are still unaware of the story, all they know of is the setting so far.

 Through the door is a child like room, a close up of the woman’s face is displayed to show her facial expression, she is very gaunt and unhappy; we can make the assumption she is a patient in the facility.

Relation To My Own Thriller Film :

Various smart shooting skills can be applied to my own thriller opening. After analysing the opening of Halloween i can apply the smart shooting i had extracted for my own. The effects of smart shooting can have an impact on how the audiences views. The most popular shots i have noticed are those such as close ups and mid shots, this is to display emotion a lot clearer and show action within the scene. I myself, found the close ups a lot easier to see the emotion on the female actress face in the film Halloween, and would consider applying this to my own thriller. the midshots were helpful in showing location and conversation also .

Opening Sequence Part 2

Analysis of the opening sequence of Twilight

- Narrative of Film:  A young girl has set out to live in the town of Forks with her father, leaving behind her mother and step dad, her narration makes the audience aware of this and her negative feelings towards moving.

- Characters: The main character seems to be a young girl; she is the narrator of the film and is central in the action of the opening scenes.

- Discuss order of appearance: At first we are shown a deer running away in a wood, which could metaphorically indicate upcoming action in the play. The girl who was narrating throughout is then shown, confirming her importance as a character.

- Location:  At first the opening of the film is located in a woodland area; we are then shown a small town in Washington, known form the narration as Forks. It seems to be a quiet town where the population is very small, therefore indicating not much happens, setting the perfect location for a story to take place.

- Genre: Potential thriller because of the low key lighting and earth colours such as dark browns, black and greens, it is not very vibrant. The characters also look gaunt, as well as the location itself.

Analysis of the opening sequence of Vertigo (1958)

- Narrative of Film: We are not completely aware of the films narrative, as the opening is mainly an abstract illusion, however we can assume of murder and crime, because of the colours and images used within the abstract opening.

- Characters:  The female character at the beginning is used to start the illusion, the extreme close ups on parts of her face were used as the background for the opening titles. The male characters, seeming to be robbers and the police demonstrate a chase scene; we are unaware at this point what for.

- Discuss order of appearance: In regards to the opening credits the names of the two main characters in the film are shown following the title itself, Vertigo. The co stars are then a follow up of that. The order of appearance on screen shows a man running away from the police. The man running could be the main character we are unaware at this point.

- Location: On top of an industrial/city building is where most parts of the police chase take place. This small part gives us indication that the film is based in a city area.

- Genre: Thriller/ crime, this is because of the unusually opening of the extreme close up of a woman, the change of colour to red give the impression of danger. The police chase after the 
opening credits could indicate a crime genre.


Relation To My Own Thriller Film :

Over the holidays we was given the task to think of 2 potential narratives for our opening sequence.



Narrative 1 : 

A young girl school girl has sneaked into an over 18's club, previously she heard on the news about a stalker who had been hanging around her home town. At the club she bumps into some of her older sisters friends and dances with them, a man comes over to her politely asking for her to dance with him, she dismisses him very rudely, and intends to avoid him the rest of the night. As she leaves to go outside for a cigarette he immediately grabs her from behind and takes her to a near by wood. Where he kills her and leaves her body, a police enquiry for her whereabouts begins.
Although I do like the idea of a serial killer with a fascination for killing, this specific narrative I do believe it is quite horror like rather than being a thriller genre opening.


Narrative 2 :
Opening storyline is based around a man who has awoken in an abandoned house. He believes his family have either gone to work or school and continues with his daily routines such as brushing his teeth and making breakfast for himself. At first this opening does not display any convention of a thriller and simple looks like a man getting ready to go out. The music is crucial for this opening as it changes as soon as he notices a DVD on the table, lighting changes to become lower key. He plays the DVD and it is of his family held captive in an unfamiliar location with a mystery kidnapper demanding money. The conventions of a thriller begin with the scenes taken place in the DVD, the mans facial expressions change as he becomes irrational from his once mellow mood. I think this could be a good opening as it is very polysemic and can be played around with to create a good opening. It has the psychological bases of a thriller film and a kidnapping story is very common.



THE HALFWAY HOUSE
When actually creating our opening sequence and what content we will included i looked at previous media students opening thrillers and got some idea’s of what we could take and apply to ours. In the student thriller opening ‘ The HalfWay House’ i thought the music soundtrack was very subtle and not to overpowering which enabled the audience to focus on the narrative. The digetic on screen scream was very deafening and i found it to overpower the calm suspense. I liked the idea of the tracking of the feet as the male character walked. It created an enigma and incised you to see what happens next, however I did feel the narrative itself dragged on and became very boring. The contestant shift of location and the use of lighting were good.

THE HUNTED

‘The Hunted’, however was based around a chasing scene, the use of colour effects during the editing stage i believe made the opening good, without it there was not really any various camera shots and you could hardly tell what lighting is used, with only one location. I would apply the breathing sound effect onto my own opening; i thought the off screen sound made it seem chilling and created suspense rather than just the use of a soundtrack alone. The non diegetic scream at the end i was expecting and therefore very typical. The titles at the beginning i also thought was very jumbled, i plan to use the same effect and font rather than various ones.

Opening Sequence

Learning Objectives
 : To be able to identify the generic conventions of an opening sequence within a particular thriller film.

Learning outcome:
ALL: To be able to describe the conventions of an opening sequence. E
MOST:  Will be able to analyse an opening sequence from a film explaining the purpose of referring back to the generic conventions used. C
SOME:  Will be able to create own appropriate opening sequence for a thriller film. A

Opening Sequence

A film's opening sequence is really crucial to setting the tone and engaging the viewer. A good opening sequence lures your attention, allowing you to accept and embrace the what it is creating. If done accurately, it can also be an indicator to the complete story and help introduce characters and setting.

Analysis of the opening sequence of Sex and the City (The movie):

- Narrative of film: At the beginning of the opening sequence, from a voice over we are aware the story is based around 4 female characters located in the city of New York, The group of  friends are on the discovery to find love and themselves.

- Characters: We can assume the central character is Carrie Bradshaw, who is the narrator as she is the one who introduces the lives of herself and her friends. Carrie writes a weekly column called "Sex and the City" for the fictional newspaper, The New York Star. The column focuses on Carrie's sexual escapades and those of her close friends (Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha).

- Discuss order of appearance:  The order of appearance shows Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha’s life and their character persona, before Carrie herself is introduced at the end after the list of her friends.

-Location: City location, known landscapes indicates the city of New York. This can be related to the title of the film (Sex and the city), and where the film will be mainly located around.  

- Genre: By the use of colors and lighting, I would assume the genre was a romantic comedy. The lights glisten bright, similar to glamorous spotlights during premiers, the color scheme is kept to colors in connotation with woman and girls such as pink.