Final Production

untraceable for web from Tom Ryan on Vimeo.

Evaluation Task 4/5

Final production – target audience from tomryan1994

Evaluation Task 3

Throughout the process of our filming ad editing we have gained a vast amount of skills in which we did not poses before we began our filming process. For example the fact we all had to by ourselves edit a produce and opening of a thriller this was a new experience to all of us. As well as this, this is only the second time in which we had used pinnacle studios for editing a video in which we produce (the first time was our preliminary task). One skill which we had learnt was how to create numerous title pages on pinnacle which was a new editing skill we had learnt for example our production company logo. Also we learnt how to add and take out sound effects as we used pinnacle in which to add the gun shot noise that we wanted. The beneficial part of this was the gunshot noise on pinnacle fit the scene perfectly. We also added in a lot of fades and dissolve which we had not done much in the past so it was a good and enjoyable skill in which we had learnt and it also made our final production a lot better. Lastly we learnt how to add a sound track to our production which was a new experience for us all. We had to save the soundtrack and upload it on the video, but the tricky part was to verify the sound of the music in which we wanted to hear the talking between the Hitman and the detective. Over all we had learnt a new selection of skills which were important in completing our video. I believe we all had an important part to play in the production and we managed to pick up the new editing skill very easily and our production may not be perfect however it was a pleasing outcome considering the time in which we had learnt all the new skills.

Evaluation Task 2

During the late 1960s and 1970s the saturation of the horror film market by competitors and the loss of American funding forced changes to the previously lucrative Hammer-formula, with varying degrees of success. The company eventually ceased production in the mid-1980s and has since then been, in effect, in hibernation. In 2000, the studio was bought by a consortium including advertising executive and art collector Charles Saatchi. The company announced plans to begin making films again after this, but none were produced. In May 2007, the company behind the movies was sold again, this time to a group headed by Big Brother backers, the Dutch consortium Cyrte Investments, who have announced plans to spend some $50m (£25m) on new horror films. The new owners have also acquired the Hammer group's film library.

Evaluation Task

Problems with shooting the film During the shooting of our Thriller Opening, we did encounter some problems; however we carried out the task with minimal difficulties and managed to get the task done. One problem which could have occurred was the possible issue that one of our scenes which was filmed in the toilets and one of the main difficulties which could have occurred is that there are several mirrors within the toilets which could have made it difficult to get the shots we needed without accidently placing the cameras and the person filming within the reflection of the mirror. Another problem which could have occurred was the fact that Mr Clarke may not have allowed us to use his office for the detective scene. However, his office was free and proved ideal for the location of the detective’s office with great ease. In addition to this the weather and lighting could have been a big problem as the lighting in the bathroom could have been too dark to shoot the video therefore causing problems with the shot. However, we took a few practice shots beforehand to ensure that the lighting was appropriate for this scene and managed to avert and major lighting issues.

Thriller Opening - Shot List

Shot List
1. Prestige Productions Logo
2. New Line Cinema
3. Low angle medium shot of Tom leaving bathroom cubicle
4. Full screen title credit of Tom Ryan fading in and out
5. Medium below the neck shot of Saqib entering the bathroom
6. Over the shoulder medium close up of Toms reflection washing hands
7. Medium shot of sinks and Saqib’s reflection with gun outstretched
8. Medium close up tracking shot of Saqib walking towards Tom
9. Over the shoulder close up of Tom’s reflection showing Saqib pointing the gun
10. Low angle long shot of Tom collapsing after the gun shot
11. High angle medium shot of Saqib stepping over the body
12. Close up of Saqib cleaning the gun
13. Dissolve to long shot of Saqib leaning on the sink
14. Full screen title credit of Saqib Younis fading in and out
15. Medium shot of Saqib dialling a number
16. Medium shot of Jacob sat at desk
17. Full screen title credit of Jacob Buick
18. Over the shoulder shot of Jacob holding certificate followed by slow zoom into an extreme close up
19. Return to medium shot of Jacob standing up
20. Close up of the back of Saqib’s head on the phone
21. Close up of Jacobs phone ringing in his hand followed by him answering the phone
22. Low angle of Jacob speaking on the phone
23. Extreme close of Saqib’s mouth talking on the phone accompanies by an overlay credit
24. Medium low angle shot of Jacob on the phone
25. Return to Saqib’s mouth still on the phone
26. Close up of Jacob still on the phone
27. Return to close up of Saqib’s mouth
28. Close up of Jacob speaking on the phone accompanied by another overlay credit
29. Another close up of Saqib’s mouth talking on the phone
30. Low angle medium shot of Jacob still on the phone
31. Long shot of Jacob hanging up and putting his phone away
32. Zoom out and tracking long shot of Jacob walking towards the desk
33. Medium shot of Jacob picking up the gun accompanied by another overlay credit
34. Cut out of Jacob loading the gun and putting it in his waistband
35. Medium long shot of Jacob walking to and opening the door
36. Match on action of Jacob walking through the door
37. Full screen title of Untraceable

Thriller Opening - Plan

Synopsis
The opening follows two characters. An unidentified killer and a detective who is tasked with catching him. The killer is highly skilled, and frustrates the detective, revealing a “flaw” in the hero not only by covering his tracks well, but with phone calls which taunt him. The opening of the film centres around one of these calls. The film follows a common convention of the killer and detective playing cat and mouse for the duration, with continued taunting on the killer’s part and the detective hitting more and more dead ends in his investigation, in a detective’s office where no one else seems willing to help with the case, and a rival detective who envies our hero’s abilities and does his best to be unhelpful in the case. Eventually the detective’s brilliance and persistence leads to him to discover that his chief detective, who has been discouraging him from pursuing the investigation has been contracting the murders for financial and political gains and has recruited almost his entire police force into the corruption. He is unaware of the phone calls. The hero is forced after a manhunt to confront the chief and eventually apprehends him and a number of other rogue detectives who he thought to be colleagues, including the rival detective whose house, when searched after being arrested, reveals him being responsible for phone calls attempting to throw the detective off the trail. A closing scene reveals the hero acting the new chief of the detective’s office, with a new workforce. Equilibrium has been restored.
Shot list
1. Begins with close up of the dead body
2. This is followed by a slow zoom out of the body, revealing a man stood cleaning his hands with the body now in the background.
3. We then cut to a medium shot of the hit man and the body in the background.
 4. A close up of the gun used in his pocket is used.
 5. There is then an extreme close up shot of the hit man getting out his phone and dialling a number.
6. There is then a tracking shot of the man lifting the phone to his ear.
7. We then cut to an establishing long shot of the police station.
8. There is then a slow zoom into the window of the police station.
9. We are then shows to the inside of the police station and a long shot is used of the detective sitting at his office desk.
10. Then there is a show reverse shot as another detective comes and gives the phone to him.
11. There is then an extreme close up of the mouth of the hit man as the conversation begins.
12. As the conversation continues, there is a variety of shots used for both the murderer and the detective. Script
 Saqib-Hello there detective
Jacob-Who’s this?
S-You’ve forgotten me already?
J- …….
S- I’m disappointed, Detective. Two years and you’re still no closer to finding me.
J- It’s a matter of time
S- Good luck. Time isn’t something you have. I’ve done it again.
J- Who are you?
 Phone cuts off.

Props
BB gun
Briefcase
Blood capsules
Police badge
Detective certificates

Character Costumes
Detective-Shirt and tie
Hit man-black shirt
 Dead body-shirt tie

Thriller Opening - Script

Script
Saqib-Hello there detective
Jacob-Who’s this?
S-You’ve forgotten me already?
J- …….
S- I’m disappointed, Detective. Two years and you’re still no closer to finding me.
J- It’s a matter of time
S- Good luck. Time isn’t something you have. I’ve done it again.
J- Who are you?
Phone cuts off.

Thriller Opening - Props

Props –

 Saqib: Gun, phone

Jacob: Gun, phone, certificate showing character is a detective, detective attire (braces, smart clothes)

Costumes –

Tom’s character: Purposely dressed in clothes which don’t identify him as part of any particular group.  This means his character can remain fairly unimportant to the audience, but also shows that he is likely to be innocent

Saqib’s character: Dark clothes, purposely quite non-descript to enforce the idea of the character’s identity being a mystery, and of him being almost faceless.  Dark colours also have connotations of being villainous, or evil.

Jacob’s character: Formal trousers and shirt with braces, to give connotations of professionalism.  Heavily influenced by the character of detective Mills in the thriller Se7en.

Justifications for props and costumes –

The gun in both cases is a small black handgun. 

 In Saqib’s case, this is to display secrecy and to uphold the idea of the character being a “silent killer”, giving the idea of discretion. 

 For Jacob’s character, the gun was used to finalise the image of the detective being in law enforcement, after the detectives costume and the detective’s certificate of appreciation which is being read by the detective at the beginning of the office scene.

Phones used in the conversation between Saqib and Jacob were in both cases mobile phones.  The killer uses a mobile to call the detective, rather than a landline.  This is to show that the killer isn’t restricted, or necessarily in a certain place.  This ties in with the idea of him being “untraceable”.  At first, we intended to have the detective receive the call on his office’s landline, to show his closeness to the police department.  However, we decided that if we showed the detective to be talking on a mobile we could create the impression that the relationship between the detective and the murderer was a more personal one.  Secondly, it suggest that the detective, who is the hero in the story, is not necessarily a part of the police force all of the time when it comes to dealing with criminals.

Se7en - Thriller Opening

Se7en: thriller opening In this essay I am going to analyse the opening of the thriller Se7en. The setting and iconography of the thriller Se7en, the first scene is set in the morning this is to denote that it is the beginning of a normal day in the life of our “hero”. It shows Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) in his home. The room is coloured with a soft blue, which connotes calmness and implies Somerset’s character to be a calm, collected one. The scene entails Somerset preparing for a day at work, and has a medium shot of his table with some of his possessions neatly laid out on it. The first piece of equipment he has is a badge, which shows imply that he is a member of law enforcement. In addition to this he has a pen which suggests that unlike a usual or stereotypical policeman or detective he is more likely to use his knowledge and intellect as opposed to force or violence. Lastly, he has a pen knife which shows that he is likely to take a more light-fingered approach to situations, but also perhaps an old-fashioned one as use of pen knives is not as widespread as it was in the past. Other aspects of Somerset’s house seem to connote a more old-fashioned style of life. For example, the technology we see in the house is very limited, even for 1995. We see lamps and lights, but we don’t see televisions, radios, or other luxuries which were common in 90’s American households. This suggests that Somerset is not a man of amenities, or leads a particularly luxurious or wealthy life. It also suggests that he may not have much of a life outside of his job, as the metronome is the only item we see in his house that isn’t part of his work. The sound in this scene reinforces these ideas. Particularly the sound of sirens in the distance, signifying crime. In the next scene the lighting is low key high contrast chiaroscuro, and is set in a dark, squalid house. We are also shown and told about blood being splattered “up the walls”, informing the viewer immediately that the dead man they saw in a medium-long shot was murdered. When both detectives leave the crime scene the viewer immediately notices the extremely rainy weather, which is a use of pathetic fallacy to give the conversation and the situation a negative and gloomy feeling. The streets seem to be in a poorer area of a city, and a lot of the windows have bars on them. Not only does this again show that the area where the detectives are working is not a pleasant place and has high crime, but the bars could also be a metaphor for the situation the pair of detectives are about to be trapped in as the film goes on. The idea of the city being a generally unpleasant place is reinforced by Somerset’s dialogue in this scene, where he dismisses detective Mills saying he has worked in homicide by saying that he “hasn’t worked here” and therefore may not necessarily be qualified. In the final scene we are again shown detective Somerset’s home where he begins to get ready for bed. As he does this the room itself is peaceful, however in the background diegetic noises such as dogs barking and sirens are heard, showing that although he has done his best to make his surroundings tranquil, he cannot change the fact that he is close to the unpleasant area where he lives. The opening of Se7en represents the two characters as not only being in law enforcement, but as being committed to their jobs. For example with Somerset’s home being so work-oriented, and the fact that Mills moved to the city with worse crime of his own volition. However, we see differences between the two characters, particularly in their approaches. Detective Somerset is a man who is shown to have a more careful approach to investigations, asking questions which seem to his colleagues as being irrelevant. This idea is also given with the view of his tools in his house, where we are shown his pen instead of say, a gun. Detective Mills is represented in a much more eager and energetic way. In the conversation he is also very eager and the fact that he chose to move to a harder place to work represents him as a character willing to challenge himself. For example, when he enters the crime scene he jogs up the stairs and walks quickly into the apartment. This contrasts to Somerset’s measured and cautious approach. The dress codes of the characters are also contrasted. Mills is wearing a leather jacket over his traditional white shirt and tie, which is a change from the suit which you would expect a detective to wear. However, this is a convention Somerset follows; giving the impression that Somerset is likely to be a more experienced and perhaps aged character. The other characters in the opening have are not named, largely showing their irrelevance to the story as a whole; however the interaction between Somerset and the unnamed detective is an important one as it demonstrates Somerset’s methods being different to his colleagues. The other character we are shown, besides the dead body, is the murderer during the opening credits. We are shown only his hands, which are bandaged on the fingertips. This is a result of him cutting his fingertips off to stop himself being traced, immediately portraying him as a character with something to hide. He is also portrayed as a mysterious man with some kind of interest in religion, as we see him cutting various pieces of paper, including the word “God” out of a piece of American money. The non-diegetic soundtrack to accompany this scene is “Closer” by Nine-inch Nails, a song with screeching, industrial sounds which also mentions God, finalising with the viewer the knowledge that religious ideas will play a part in the film.

Student Thriller Opening

AS opening of a student thriller analysis The link to this video is as follows and is saved under the name Nocturnal Windows In this essay I am going to analyse the opening of the student thriller called Nocturnal Windows. The student thriller begins with the logo of the production in which these students have decided to do go with “the new line in cinema” the logo fades in and then fades out. There is then an ellipsis edit which goes on to the opening scene. There is a montage edit of clips and different views of the house. The setting of the first scene is very dark and gloomy and the lighting is chiaroscuro which sets an eerie and mysterious atmosphere. There is then a dissolve edit of to the first scene which contains actors. There is during the characters walk to the house there is a match of action as when the male character walks through the gate leading toward the house. As they enter the house the lighting seems to be very bright and high key this may show signs of optimism. Then on to the next scene there is an unusual shot which shows the male character switching the light of then it goes onto an ellipsis edit of the couple in bed together. In the bed scene the lighting is very they use a night vision camera which shows and creates a more dramatic and serious atmosphere. When she puts the lamp on the room lights up a scary effect of the scene kind of shimmers down however there is some mystery. As the room is not fully light as there is only one lamp on. There is then a slow zoom out of the bed from the close up two shot of the couple as the man leaves the bed. It then goes to a number of shots of the male leaving the bed and heading up stairs. It then cuts to a shot of the women alone in bed indicating and connoting a sense of vulnerability and loneliness. There is then a close up of the woman who grabs a torch out of the draw. After this there is an unusual ellipsis dissolve edit into the woman walking in the very low key part of the house. There is then a medium shot of her walking up the stairs the same place where her partner went. After this there is a tracking shot of the camera following her movements coming up the starts however the camera is not on a tripod but is being recorded by hand. I believe they did this due to the fact that it gives the audience a feel of being there almost like a point of view shot. After this there are a number of shot reverse shots of the woman walking up the stairs. The director would do this for the face. A short while after this there is a point of view shot of the woman opening the door they did this so that the viewer would see the same in which the actors are seeing this is mainly done in thrillers to focus the attention of the viewer so therefore they are more often caught in surprise. There Is then another match on action shot as when the women walks through the door. The opening then goes into slow motion to show the dropping of her torch, her light to indicate darkness is only in her sight. There is then an unusually long scene of her running away. The camera then goes to a close up of her face and the camera is moving in quick short movements this is done to show the quickness of this chase. Through the chase scene there are numerous cuts from the victim and killer. There is then an extreme close up of the knife of the killer who’s dress codes is very rugged as he’s wearing a hoody a hiking boots. Lastly it cuts to the title which is written in serif writing. In addition to this the titles scenes are in the corner of the video like in the thriller face off. This is done to take keep the focus on the film also if there were full title sequins the reader may lose interest as they take majority of the page.

Location Settings

When planning for our thriller opening, it was very important that we chosen reasonable and appropriate locations to set the different scenes. For example, for the murder scene we used the toilets in our college which served us well as it was an isolated and quiet area which would prove ideal for a murder to take place.

As there were only two different characters with dialogue within this thriller opening, there were only two different locations, the second of these being the detectives office. For this location we used our deputy headmaster's office as this too was the most appropriate room for this scene to take place. For example, it has a very old fashioned look about it with many accolades and certificates decorating the walls which helped to resemble that of a prestigious detective's office.

Synopsis

Synopsis The opening follows two characters. An unidentified killer and a detective who is tasked with catching him. The killer is highly skilled, and frustrates the detective, revealing a “flaw” in the hero not only by covering his tracks well, but with phone calls which taunt him. The opening of the film centers around one of these calls. The film follows a common convention of the killer and detective playing cat and mouse for the duration, with continued taunting on the killer’s part and the detective hitting more and more dead ends in his investigation, in a detective’s office where no one else seems willing to help with the case, and a rival detective who envies our hero’s abilities and does his best to be unhelpful in the case. Eventually the detective’s brilliance and persistence leads to him to discover that his chief detective, who has been discouraging him from pursuing the investigation has been contracting the murders for financial and political gains and has recruited almost his entire police force into the corruption. He is unaware of the phone calls. The hero is forced after a manhunt to confront the chief and eventually apprehends him and a number of other rogue detectives who he thought to be colleagues, including the rival detective whose house, when searched after being arrested, reveals him being responsible for phone calls attempting to throw the detective off the trail. A closing scene reveals the hero acting the new chief of the detective’s office, with a new workforce. Equilibrium has been restored. Shot list 1. Begins with close up of the dead body 2. This is followed by a slow zoom out of the body, revealing a man stood cleaning his hands with the body now in the background. 3. We then cut to a medium shot of the hit man and the body in the background. 4. A close up of the gun used in his pocket is used. 5. There is then an extreme close up shot of the hit man getting out his phone and dialling a number. 6. There is then a tracking shot of the man lifting the phone to his ear. 7. We then cut to an establishing long shot of the police station. 8. There is then a slow zoom into the window of the police station. 9. We are then shows to the inside of the police station and a long shot is used of the detective sitting at his office desk. 10. Then there is a show reverse shot as another detective comes and gives the phone to him. 11. There is then an extreme close up of the mouth of the hit man as the conversation begins. 12. As the conversation continues, there is a variety of shots used for both the murderer and the detective. Script Saqib - Hello there detective Jacob-Who’s this? S-You’ve forgotten me already? J- ……. S- I’m disappointed, Detective. Two years and you’re still no closer to finding me. J- It’s a matter of time S- Good luck. Time isn’t something you have. I’ve done it again. J- Who are you? Phone cuts off. Props BB gun Briefcase Blood capsules Police badge Detective certificates Character Costumes Detective-Shirt and tie Hit man-black shirt Dead body-shirt tie

Research Into Thriller Conventions

Preliminary Production - Evaluation

Over the past few weeks I have taken part in the preliminary production task which involved a group of us filming, starring in and editing our own short films. This short film has taught us the basics of film making and the good and bad points. This involved us taking shots from several different camera angles as well as different shots to emphasise different points in the story and pick the right shots for the corresponding scenes. During this exercise I have learned many different things. Not only about filming, but also the different techniques used when filming and which shot size or angle to use for the appropriate scene. I also learned the importance of correct camera positioning including the use of a tripod to make certain scenes look fluent and to have a good sense of continuity. I also learned how important the editing process was. This has showed me that no matter how good the filming is and how effective the camera angles and shot sizes were, without a good standard of editing these shots can be useless and look ineffective. When taking part in this task, one of the main points that went well was the actual filming itself. We managed to use a good variety of different shots and by filming scenes several times we were able to choose the best scenes to make our film look effective. The fact that we filmed several different scenes from different angles allowed us to choose which one we thought was the best and most appropriate angle to fit in with the scenes which preceded them. One point which went wrong with our filming task was the fact that we did not take into account the sound that was picked up when recording. For some of the scenes (particularly the ones that involved dialogue) we did not assess the sound that was picked up and some of the scenes that involved speech came out a bit quieter than we envisaged. We should have reviewed every scene before we started the editing process to ensure that no further time was lost. However we re-recorded these scenes to ensure that the sound was up to standard so that it would fit in with the rest of the film. Although this did solve our problem, it was quite time consuming and we had to record around four scenes all over again which did make filming the next scenes quite rushed. In my opinion, the best thing that I took part in and accomplished was the actual filming. I filmed several scenes for our short film and thought that they went quite well. This involved me taking several different shots of the people in the film from several different angles to fit in with the current situation. When editing the scenes at the end, we used several different editing techniques such as fade, dissolve and wipe. In conclusion, the overall task did go quite well as we managed to get the task all completely done within the allocated time and no scenes or important shots were missed. We managed to put all the scenes together and use editing software to make the film seem more realistic which worked out quite well. Apart from our sound and audio trouble the task went quite well and we successfully managed to film the task that was asked of us.

Preliminary Task

Tom R - Preliminary Task 1 from Tom Ryan on Vimeo.

Introduction

My name is Tom Ryan and I am a media student at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School and this is my blog for my AS Portfolio. For my AS Portfolio I am going to be making the opening two minutes to a Thriller.