Q6 Audience feedback and Comment - 1

In our last lesson with Bernard, we started our evaluations for our Final Cut. We started of with Question6 with was to find out the audiences reaction towards our film and get some feedback from the other students in class. Bernard shows us a more creative way of showing the feedback our blog by using the website (www.wordle.net). So I've experimented a bit on this website and wrote down all of the feedback we've recieved from our class...

Unfortunately as I'm doing my blogging at home now, I'm unable to use the wordle website. But my plan is to post the feedback comments on my blog as soon as i get to college tomorrow morning!


TO BE CONTINUED.............

Evaluation Question Number 6

Final Edit The Basement

WE'VE FINALLY FINISHED OUR FINAL THRILLER OPENING!!!!!!

As a group, we struggled a lot to get to this stage. At first we were put into a group with 2 other students which dropped out from the course. Then we were put into another group which consisted of 4 students (myself, Netitia, Lorenzo and Muazzin), unfortunately, Muazzin had formed his own group and filmed his own movie. So in this case we had to use our Rough cut for our Final Cut as well, because we didn't have enough time to make another movie. 

We hope that this film is also as enjoyable as the others even though we couldn't spent as much time as we could have to edit it!! 

Who Watches Thrillers?

Who Watches Thrillers?

I was very interested as to who watches thrillers and who my possible target audience could be so i did some research to find out .

What i found out ............

 

 

 

 

 

 that thrillers have a very mixed audience and that men and women both like thrillers because the fact that it always keeps its audience on its toes and because of the constant cliff hangers .

Type Of Shots

Type Of Shots

Shots in movies are very important as they are what we see,they are also important because they help tell the story and give the audience an insight to what the other charcters inthe film may not be aware of .The types of shots my group and i have put in our thriller opening are as follows ............ 

Extreme Close Up

Mid Shot

Medium Close Up

Close Up

 With these shots we will try to create suspense and tension causing our audience to be left wanting to know more .

The Effect We Want It To Have ?

The Effect We Want It To Have ?

We want our thriller to make the audience fell very involved and as if they know what is going to happend but just as they think one thing something different is going to happen which will shock the audience leaving them wanting to know more .And then as questions form in the audiences minds they will slowly be answeared as things are uncovered in throught the opening sequence .

difficulties with editing

difficulties with editing

When it came to editing for my group they became kind of lazy,so i took control and did it by myself however this was not easy ! at all as i had to figure things out that i had previously forgot so i found doing certain things like cutting a clip in half quite difficult but however i over came it and became a master at cuttin clips in half. more over as i got over one obsticle there was another one soon approaching as things became difficult like adding titles into the movie sequence .I found this difficult because i had to use efects such as fadein and fade out to makesure that there wa spaces for the tiltes and that they where not to long at the same time i had to makesure that the sequence made sense and didnt confuse the audience this involved watching the same clips and sequences more than it got a bit annoying but i still carried on .once i put all the clips in order and added titles i watched the whole thing more than five times to makesure that it made sense and had the effect on the audience that we wanted it to, this part of editing was very boring bt however the hard work paid off and the title sequence looked really good all that was left was to add the msic which i could not do so i left it to another meber of my grop called lorenzo he made the soundtrack n i gave him my opinion and told him when i thought he should change things and where he should add things,woring as team really paid off  when it came to makeing the soundtrack as we used both our ideas to make a really good soundtrack when added it to our movie sequence we found that it flowed really well and it also inspired us to change certain clips in our film to make it better and they worked really well so editing was hard but the hard work paid off in the end !

What I enjoyed most when making my thriller

What I enjoyed most when making my thriller

What i enjoyed most about makeing my thriller was the chance to use the cameras and the chance the act .this was an enjoyable experience to me because i ahve never used a professional camera before and i didnt think that my acting skills were very god but as i have found im quite good at this act thing .Moreover i also enjoyed exploring different things and testing out diffferent ideas from different members of my group . But i must say that the best part was when something funny happend like when i was meant have a serious face and i would just burst out laughing or when i had to flirt on camera with another meber of my group who didnt even like in that way .But overall i would have to say that this experience was really fun and helped me get closer to other media students not just in my class but in other classes aswell .

 

Thriller music

Thriller music

I looked at different thriller music, so I could get a better understanding on how thrillers creates suspense through sound.

Sound in a Thriller and it is important

The best way to make a thriller have more suspense is to add music to create the atmosphere as it helps the audience that something bad might be about to happen. But in order to be able add music to a film you have to be able to use a special programe called soundtrack pro .In one of my media lesson i was taught how to use soundtrack pro and was shown that is has a range of sound which can create the perfect atmosphere in a thriller giving the audience the best experience .

Sound effects

Sound effects

These different sound effects creates tension within the audience as the load jolt of sound makes the audience jump as it was unexpected. 

Structure of Thriller Openings

 

When you look at film openings there are 3 main basic structures that are followed:

1. A Narrative opening with the titles running throughout;
This is when titles appear while the story is being revealed, the titles are surrounding the film. Some examples of narrative openings are The Shining, The Stepfather and De ja vu.
This is the opening to DE ja vu:

2. A Discrete title sequence;

This is when the title sequence is separated from the film, its on its own. It is by itself on a background e.g. it'll show some film and then show a title and then show some more film. Examples of discrete title sequences are Arligtion road, James bond and seven etc.

I think that seven is a really good opening sequence, it grabs the attention of the reader straight away with the scary & chilling start. The opening of seven uses a lot of close up, i think that this is good because it creates suspense because the audience don't kw what is actually happening. All they can see is what the director wants them to see. The implications for this is that the audience will want to watch the rest of the film to figure out what all these little snippets of film reveal after. 

This is the title sequence to seven:  

3. Titles over a black screen, followed by the narrative opening;

This is when  all of the titles are played before the narrative opening starts, the black screen usually has sound and the black screen lasts for about 30seconds max. this type of narrative takes a while to happen, the camera slowly crawls in and keeps the audience waiting or keeps them in the dark about whats happening. Some directors will love to use this type of narrative because it builds up suspense, however other directors will disagree and say that the audience will be bored and switch it of in the first 5-10 seconds. 2 examples of a titles over black screen opening are dead calm and Donnie Darko.

Here is the Donnie Darko title sequence: 

4.There is one last type of title opening that directors use and this is 'a narrative opening with highly styled editing, distinct from the rest of the film. this type of opening is like a music video in a sense because the the clips are edited to the beat of the music. The normal sub-genre that uses this type of opening are 'action thrillers'. The Taking of Pelham 123 is a really good example of this type of title sequence.

This is the opening for The Taking of Pelham 123: 

Here are some other title sequences, see if you can remember what type of title sequence they are:

1.

2.

 

 

The documentary 'WATCHING' on Film Openings

Film Openings

Thomas Sutcliffe says "films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible."

What he means by this is that when making a film, directors need to think about how they will keep the  audience interested throughout the film. It must a lot of different plots, twists and unexpected events. the directer has to keep the audience's anxiety high so that they feel like they need to watch the whole film. Thomas Sutcliffe says that the best way is to use 'instand arousal'. This is when the audience get a shock/ or when a significant piece of information is revealed, or if there is something out of the ordinary e.g. a big explosion or fire at the beginning of the film, rather than the film building suspense throughout the film, then revealing the shock later in the film, Instant arousal makes the audience engaged from the moment the action starts. If the film started with a explosion or fire this is how i would react:  hehehe :D
                              

What are the risks of instant arousal??

According to director Jean Jacques Beineix the risks of instant arousal is that the directer has given most of the exciting bit of the film at the begging and have nothing that will compare to it, therefore the audience will not want to watch the rest of they film. They will get bored and switch off... looking like this:
                  

Jean Jacques Beineix's idea implies that we must make sure not to give too little information in the beginning, and not too much. If the audience knows too much then there is no suspension for the rest of the film which means they will not want to watch the film. If there is too little and they don't know what's going on, then they will lose interest and will not want to watch the film. That's why its important that "a good beginning must make the audience feel that they don't know enough yet, and at the same time make sure that they don't know too little."
                            <-- Jean Jacques Beineix

A Classic Opening :

Stanly Kaufman describes the classic opening to be some sort of establishing shot of the surroundings e.g. the city, the countryside etc. This the leads to the camera going slowly to the main characters/objects/place. he says that it will typically show landscape, then it will show the building it takes place in and then the window in the building, which leads to the action within the room;

 >>  >>  >> 
                        
I think that this style works because it's good for the audience to know where scene is happening and what environment its going to be in. i think the type of place or environment tells us a lot about how/ what the film is roughly about. However this opening is  not the right type of opening for me, I'd rather they cut to the chase and give me something that will appeal to me. An example of a classic opening would be the opening to the film 'The Shining'...
                                       

'The shining' is a very successful movie because it creates lots of suspense. The idea in the opening to use the helicopter is great because it creates the idea that something is following the small car from behind, it tells us that the car is heading ina bad direction, they also try to create this by the music. The music is very slow and the trumpet is played slowly in a low note, which leads to the idea that something bad is going to happen. in the documentary there was a quote that really stuck with me: "The camera is like the predator". I think that this is the perfect way to describe the how the opening was supposed to make you feel or think.


                

Kyle coopers title sequence of 'se7en' is so effective because of the way the letters move on the screen like they are trapped and are trying to escape, i think that because they used lots of close up it really made the film mysterious, leaving the audience wanting more, wanting to find out what happens next.  i think that the music is amazing because it really gives you the creeps, also it really co-operates amazingly with the opening. From the opening we might also guess that the character cutting faces from newspapers, crossing eyes and sawing the paper might be crazy, they might have some kind of mental disorder, maybe they are some kind of crazy serial killer.............
                                                 

'A Touch of Evil'

Orson Welles with his opening to the film 'A Touch of Evil',wanted to achieve suspense by puting in an explosion that the ausinece were not expecting, he was planning to do this by having people acting as they would on a normal day, and the suddenly have a car explode. However universal studios put title credits over the the opening which ruined the effect Welles wanted to have on the audience. He faught his case with the production company but in the end they won. universal studios only did this because they wanted to be known and recognised.
                                                  

This is the Opening to 'Touch of Evil':

'A Favourite Trick of Nior'

'Film Noir'/The Trick of Film Noir means when the opening of the film starts with the ending. the rest of the film shows the sequence to how they ended up in that position at the beginning. i think that this is effective because it will leave the audience asking 'why did it happen?' 'who caused this to happen?', this will make them in curious and therefore lead them to watch the rest of the film to find out answers to their questions... It is very effective, however keeping the suspense is very difficult as the action happened at the beginning and we know already know the ending. this is the opening to casino, this is a really good example of Film Noir;

Intertexuality

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is the relationship that exists between different texts, especially literary texts, or the reference in one text to others

The ways in which Hitchcock's 'Psycho' has influenced more modern day slashers.

Psycho's infamous scene of the girl getting murdered in the shower, has had a mighty impact on the rest of slasher films. It was a huge hit when it was released, and even to this day film makers have gained inspiration from that particular scene and have even incorporated aspects of it in their own slasher movies.
We watched a clip from 'What Lies Beneath' in class and noticed that the director chose to include a bath and a running shower. The director clearly took liking to the bathroom setting, and I too agree that it is an iconic setting to shoot a murder scene.

Thriller clip analysis

 

What lies Beneath (Supernatural Thriller):

In the first scene the camera is positioned on top of the stairs facing towards the women, as she stops and looks, the audience are not privileged to knowing what she is looking at or what is behind the camera.

Mid-shot

  Eerie music is played during this scene helping the suspense of the moment.

Music stops, where then the camera starts to pan towards what the women is apparently staring at.

As the camera continues to pan, the audience can hear several sound effects such as birds chirping in the background and a low hollow blowing sound.

Camera panning

 The camera finally stops panning where then the sound of the hollow blowing intensifies. 

Another sound effect is when the women opens a door, the audience are given a creepy creaking sound of the opening door which adds to the intensity of the atmosphere.

The misty fog which leaks out the gaps of the door also helps the directer achieve his aim of creating a suspenseful environment.

Close up.

Close up of the women, we can see her facial expression and in this very moment, we are able to notice that there's something for her to fear, as well as the audience.

Point of view shot

Point of View Shot, this camera shot helps the audience empathise with the situation as they wait for something to happen or appear due to the build up of suspense. 

Close up

Long shot

The scene then leads to cuts in the shots from the close up of the women, to a long shot of the bathroom, the 'close up' of the women allows the audience to see how she is reacting as she walks close to the bathtub.

The 'Long shot' of the bathroom lets the audience think why the women is acting so strangely, especially as the bathroom seems to be an ordinary everyday bathroom. 

Over the Shoulder

This now emphasises the situation, the audience now know that the women has making her way to the bathtub, and due to her facial expression, the audience now know that the build up of suspense has lead to this scene.

High pitched sound starts to play over the scene.

Low-angel shot

High pitched sound continues to play, however camera goes into a low-angle shot, the camera also appears from underneath the water inside the bathtub, this makes the audience feel as if they are looking through another persons  point of view. But who?

Over the shoulder shot

Again, this type of shot emphasises the situation, however the audience now see that there is nothing inside the bathtub, so who was looking up? Adds to the mystery of the scene.

Women unplugs the bath, the scene goes quiet except the sound being made by the unplugged bathtub, the audience can believe the suspense is over, the camera then pans to the right and we are lead to a 'over the shoulder' and 'two-shot' which will make the audience jump as they finally witness what the suspense was building up for.

A high pitched bang sound plays when it pans to the ghost in the reflection.

 

Close up of reaction

Scene cuts away to another room which shows
the man jumping out of bed to investigate the scene.

Over the shoulder

During this shot, the high pitched sound continuous to play, also, when the man looks at the bathtub, a loud noise is instantly played, probably representing the sudden realization of what has just happened.

Two shot/Close up
A sudden change in music changes the atmosphere of the scene,
the sound becomes more calm and relaxing as the scene of suspense
finally comes to an end.

Cutaway - shot

The final seconds of the scene cuts away to the bathroom plughole, all sounds are gone except the breathing of the women, however these final moments tell the audience that the threat is over and so is the scene.