example 1
- 1. Alasdair Gibson 9159 Claremont Fan Court School 64680 OCR Media Studies J526 B324 Production Portfolio in Media Studies
- 2. Video Brief 7: opening sequence from a new thriller with storyboard: Firewall • I worked in a group with Marcus Allan & James Peters. • We made a thriller film opening entitled Firewall. • The genre of our film is Thriller/Crime/Mystery. • I helped devise the treatment. • I took specific responsibility for the titles in the editing, editing sounds, directing indoor/some outdoor scenes (including self directing), and acting as the main character Arthur. I
- 3. Research into similar films • I researched deeply into both films in the thriller genre, and television drama. • I watched The Dark Knight for research into thriller films. There is also a kidnap/hostage scene which is very suspenseful and the film is effective at creating tension and drawing the audience in. • I noticed that the music was always very ominous, and in action scenes it was fast paced yet still ominous. Drums helped to create tension and signify action or an intense/significant event. I utilized this by choosing the right moment for the percussion in our backing music to come in at a time that picked up the pace of our opening scene and created tension. • Close up shots to show actions and reactions, for example in the hostage scenes to see the fear and dismay on the hostages faces, and the anger on Batman’s face when he is interrogating The Joker. The close ups help to make the scene more believable and make it hit harder and draw the audience in. • The crime element also creates a clear sense of good and evil forces, so that the audience knows who they want to win.
- 4. Research into similar films openings • I watched The Dark Knight, The Hangover and Top Gun. I watched how they created suspense and drew in the audience in the opening scenes, so that I could use similar techniques for our production. I noted that there tended to be action or an event/ occurrence which was not fully explained so that the reader would be drawn in to discover more, hence the mystery. • In Top Gun, suspense was made by fast , tense orchestral music, and the sense of a threat of an Russian fighter plane flying in United States airspace, and not responding to Tom Cruise’s attempts to communicate. This draws in the audience as they will wonder if the Russian plane will be deterred and fly away or attack, or something else entirely. Close up shots of Tom Cruises reactions help make it more believable, and I utilized this in our production by capturing a number of reaction shots to be used. • In The Hangover, although it is seen as a comedy, the opening scene is not comedic and is purely to draw the audience in. This is done very effectively, as one of the main characters calls his best friends wife-to-be to tell her that the friend has gone missing, and they are getting married tomorrow. There is no music, but the scene is bleak, as it is in the desert, very dry looking and bleak. Coupled by the fact that the main character making the call looks very roughed up with cuts, bruises, blood and unkempt appearance, makes the audience assume that something has gone wrong. This further draws the audience in as they want to know how this happened, the enigma, how it will be resolved, and if they will make it to the wedding giving the film a happy ending. Close up shots of reactions help to intensify this. • In The Dark Knight, suspense is built with the help of ominous, slow, deep orchestral and percussion music. We see multiple unknown men wearing clown masks, with high tech gadgets and weapons, preparing for something. This makes the audience wonder what is going on and what will happen (the enigma or mystery), and the music sets the mood that it will be something bad with threatening and ominous music.. When it is shown that these men are robbing a bank, that explains upfront, but then the men talk about a man called The Joker who employed them. This is association for fans as The Joker is a long standing character in the Batman films. Then the men kill each other and the one left turns out to be The Joker, and he escapes with the money.
- 5. Our Target Audience • Audience profile: our target audience is likely to be male and female, although significantly more tilted towards the male audience. They will be a fan or enjoy action movies with suspense and mystery, and will have seen at least one kidnap/hostage style movie before. • They are likely to have seen these films: Taken (dir. Morel, 2008) , Ransom (dir. Howard, 1996) Panic Room (dir. Fincher, 2002) • They are likely to go to the cinema once or twice a month as well as buying DVD’s and having a collection of DVD’s, many of the action genre. • Audience figures show how popular the thriller /action genre is. Box office returns for films similar to mine show the following figures: Taken-$226, 830, 568 (Box Office Mojo/via Wikipedia) Panic Room-$196,442,913 (Box Office Mojo/via Wikipedia)
- 6. The forms and conventions used in • Opening- our film • the opening draws people in with the enigma and mystery created as people wonder what is happening and what will happen. This is especially personified in the briefcase that is made to seem important and the boy who is being stealthily watched. • Titles- The main title comes in at the very end as to show that the opening scene is a prelude. Names appear throughout to list actors, director/producer/editors. The writing is nondescript and not flashy, curly or extravagant in any way. • Mise-en-scene (locations)- • Inside of the house: The home promotes a sense of security, which is contradicted by the sense of danger posed by the unknown threat. • front garden/driveway: with the car, gives the sense that travel has just taken place, e.g returning home from a job. • back garden: the garden, being open yet with foliage, gives a sense of vulnerability and also fear/danger. • Costumes- Arthur-Work shirt, tie, grey trousers and black leather shoes, along with buttoned smart jacket promote the feeling of working/importance/intelligence. Son-jeans, t-shirt, trainers/casual shoes, IPod promote informality and a sense of the person being laid back or relaxed. • SFX- • no special effects such as Photoshop or green screens or pyrotechnics were used. The only special effect was the computer program that was designed to look like an FBI Login screen and files, and the hacking/typing program displaying random numbers.
- 7. Forms and conventions • Sound- (continued) We used a Heartbeat sound clip at the start to help build suspense and create a sense of danger/tension. A Wind sound clip was also used in the backing sound and it fused well with the music. • Music- We used ‘Clubbed to Death’ by Rob Dougan for the backing music. It helps to create tension and suspense with the fusion of orchestral/piano music and the percussion/heavy drums at key moments. • Atmosphere- The atmosphere is tense and threatens danger, while promoting mystery. • Suspense- Suspense is created by the mystery of what is happening, along with the music, and close up shots of reactions. Enigma- The enigma is the mystery of what is happening, why the son is being watched, and what is in the briefcase that is never opened. This is further invoked by the mysterious person typing messages and mysterious men kidnapping his son.
- 8. Audience feedback We got some good comments from our clip on YouTube. The feedback says that it had a good feel and that we did a good job of building tension and had a good storyline. Other Feedback- Floris Schirmer- “I really liked the use of the computer as part of the storyline, but i think some parts of the filming are too shaky.” After this feedback, I made sure i went back over the edit and cut down the non essential clips that looked too shaky or unprofessional. Aidan Marshall- “the acting was quite good and the music went really well with the editing.” We made sure that the music fit well with the film as best as possible so that tension was made.
- 9. How successful our project is as a film opening • I think that Firewall functions well as a film opening. As has been told to us via audience feedback, it draws the viewer in and makes them want to watch more- it has a hook. • The acting was good enough to accurately show what we wanted from this film opening, and the use of music and multiple reaction shots helps to make it more realistic and convincing. • The camera angles such as the low shots through the bushes create the sense of spying and of being watched, and this helps to create danger and keeps the audience guessing. Also the significance of the briefcase is shown and further induces suspense & mystery as it is obviously something important-and it keeps the audience guessing. • The editing is fast paced and gets faster when the heavy beats of the soundtrack kick in, further creating tension as the music builds to a crescendo.
- 10. How successfully the whole project answered the brief • I think that our project answered the brief quite successfully. All of the feedback we received was constructive and positive and helped us to improve the film opening. • We edited it in a similar style to other thrillers, and built suspense in the same way and used a similar concept. The computer effects are also reminiscent of the high tech gadgets and computer skills seen in thriller and spy movies, and this is what we were hoping to replicate. • I also think that our audiences are convinced of the reality of our production and followed and enjoyed it, and felt drawn in by the mystery & enigma that we created with our narrative and editing; it unfolds in a fast paced, compelling way.