On friday's media lesson, the class was taught the basic skills of editing through Final Cut Pro. In the tutorial, I learnt that you cannot open up Final Cut Pro without a video drive as it has all what is needed in this hard drive. So once the video drive is connected to the apple mac computer, you can get started with the programme. I aso learnt how to mark rushes onto the timeline, how to insert, replace and overwrite clips. Then towards the end of the tutorial, we learnt how to add sound and effects such as transitions between two clips, for example a dissolve between two clips could portray time shift.
I found the tutorial very useful as I was assigned the position of editing in my group. Editing plays a big role when making movies as it gets rid of the unwanted shots and joins nicely with another shot, and this is put together through editing to make it flow. On the far left hand window, there is a window which shows you all documents of clips you have on your hard drive so you can choose from them easily. Then, next to that is a canvas which shows the original footage which you can vew/play by clicking on a clip then pressing the 'spacebar' to play the footage. Then on the right hand window, there is a viewer which shows you what you have editied so far and what you have dragged/inserted onto the timeline. You can re-arrange the different clips on the timeline whenever you want to and when it i needed.
When editing the footages, you have to watch it, and while watching it, you have to press 'i' for 'in' to mark it the start of the edited clip, then 'o' for 'out' to mark it the end of the edited clip. Then once you are happy with what you have marked in and out, you then have to drag the clip onto the timeline, then drag the yellow mark on the top of the timeline to the start of the clip to view what you have edited on the viewer. And if you are happy with your clip, you can then chose another clip and do the same process, but if you are unhappy with it, you can just click on the part you don't like on the timeline and press 'delete' to delete it.
Sunday, 31 January 2010
List of Thriller sub-genres
List some Thriller sub-genres that inspires you at the moment and why?
Crime.
Personally, I enjoy watching crime thrillers because of the whole 'good cop' and 'bad cop' - you'll never know who's the good one till the end. Also, it is such a cliche to have police chases in a thriller movie because it happens in a majority of thrillers to help build on the tension and suspense. Although it is a cliche, I still enjoy watching it to see how it differs in every other moive. It is the thrill of watching the 'bad guys' get away. This inspires me to base my thriller clip on crime as now a days, the younger generation seems to be commiting as much crime as the older generation. So by having a crime clip, it could possibly open up the eyes of a lot of youths commiting crime.
Religion.
By watching a thriller that is about religion really draws me into the movie as the world that we live in today can relate to movies such as these. It helps us wonder on how to come about the sitations also aiding us to realise other people's point of views. The great thrill about these movies is that religion plays a big role in the world as there are so many different religions, so therefore, it is easy to build on tension and suspense whilst in a church for example. I find this sub-genre inspiring as it is quite controversial and also mind grabbing.
Crime.
Personally, I enjoy watching crime thrillers because of the whole 'good cop' and 'bad cop' - you'll never know who's the good one till the end. Also, it is such a cliche to have police chases in a thriller movie because it happens in a majority of thrillers to help build on the tension and suspense. Although it is a cliche, I still enjoy watching it to see how it differs in every other moive. It is the thrill of watching the 'bad guys' get away. This inspires me to base my thriller clip on crime as now a days, the younger generation seems to be commiting as much crime as the older generation. So by having a crime clip, it could possibly open up the eyes of a lot of youths commiting crime.
Religion.
By watching a thriller that is about religion really draws me into the movie as the world that we live in today can relate to movies such as these. It helps us wonder on how to come about the sitations also aiding us to realise other people's point of views. The great thrill about these movies is that religion plays a big role in the world as there are so many different religions, so therefore, it is easy to build on tension and suspense whilst in a church for example. I find this sub-genre inspiring as it is quite controversial and also mind grabbing.
Friday, 29 January 2010
The art of title; Halloween analysation
Halloween (1978)
the title sequence of this film is very effective especially for the genre of thriller.
When the extreme close up shot, the font is and orange reddish colour symbolizing fire and danger. the opening shot indicates the production company "A compass international pictures release" The extreme long shot shows title the name of the director of the film John Carpenter and the name of the film which is Halloween; the colour of the word Halloween changes from red to orange, this is used to emphasis the word. Then a long shot introduces the main character, Jamie Lee Curtis a popular actress and P J Soles, analyzing the main characters to be females the audience would have an insight, stereotypically females are vulnerable and passive comparing to males. making it more of a thriller, the audience would feel paranoid and fear; especially the female viewers.
The film was produced in the late seventies, therefore having the limited resources to make as scariest as possible however the simplicity of the film is what makes it much scarier, the pumpkin alone makes the audience have an imagination of their own. Nowadays technology allows film producers to have an advantage of making great films, however this film is one of the best horror films of all time. comparing Halloween 1978 to Halloween 2007 the title sequence of the original film is much longer to the recent one, the recent one is only one shot to analyze the name of the film which last for approximately two seconds.
The title sequence appeals to me because it gives me the feel of anxiety and curiosity of the plot.
The Art of The Title Sequence
www.artofthetitle.com - Choose a title sequence which appeals to you, copy it onto your blog, and write a short analysis of it.
In this opening title sequence, the style is kept very simple. The main colours used is orange and black with some use of red to give it that scary feel. The titles themselves fade in and out and stay on screen for about 2-3 seconds. I've also realized that the people's names are all in capital letters and is in bold to connote 'danger' and the actual title 'Halloween' is in a different font for it to stand out to the audience so they know that that is the actual title of the movie. Also, the use of one object (the pumpkin) which the camera slowly zooms into is a key prop as it has connotations of Halloween. As the camera zooms into the pumpkin, the titles appear, disappear and then reappear which a different name for example, the producer, then the director. The pumpkin is seen as a scary object as someone has made it look like a head which doesn't look very 'pretty' but more as 'creepy'. There is no backlight, just a pumpkin with a candle inside flickering it to give off the only light in the dark room. There is only a little bit of light for the pumpkin to be visible, but as we zoom into its right triangle eye, you can no longer see the orange pumpkin but the light from inside the pumpkin. The simplicity of this title sequence is cleverly used so the audience cannot get distracted easily from anything other happening. The main focus of this plain, but scary title sequence is for the audience to focus on the cast's names that are showing on screen. Furthermore, with the high piano notes playing repeatedly over the titles portray the word innocence while the snare of the drums play rapidly and then the low key piano starts playing when the pumpkin appears on the screen contrasting with the high piano keys which gives off the impression that something is going to happen with the innocent children during the occasion of Halloween. Also, at the end of the credits, the title 'Halloween Night 1963' is on the screen in a white font on a black background and we can hear children chanting a rhyme about Halloween Night insinuating that the movie involves children on Halloween Night. This title sequence appeals to me as it makes me fearful of the pumpkin as it gets closer and closer.
Halloween Analyis- Art of the Title Sequence
CHOOSE A TITLE SEQUENCE WHICH APPEALS TO YOU AND WRITE A SHORT ANALYSIS OF IT.
Halloween (released in 1978) is a classic example using a title sequence to lure and capture the audience's attention to watch the film. The sequence begins with a dark screen where we immediately hear the sinister high-pitched score. Each text is only shown on the screen for a couple of seconds and dissolves into the black screen. The style of the font is very distinct and bold capturing the audience's attention whilst disappearing. This creates a sinister feeling because it might allow the audience to believe that people may disappear one by one. It is shown in orange slowly changing into red to depict the type of genre of film it is. Red is normally associated to danger so added with the title of the film 'HALLOWEEN', it gives a taster to the audience to what the film may be about. The audience is introduced to a halloween lantern/pumpkin fades into the black background which flickers in and out with the music. This emphasises the halloween theme of the film sets the scene for the rest of the film.
As the sequence goes on, the camera moves away from a long shot to a zoom in to where we focus on the pumpkin. This gives a thrilling image as by already moving in a little circle on its own by zooming allows the audience to feel paranoid and some sort of fear. Zooming in from a long shot to a close-up of a pumpkin draws intensity for the audience to watch the film. At the beginning of the sequence, the production company 'Compass International' slowing moving to the director of the film 'John Carpenter' and the actors who star in the film itself like 'Jamie Lee Curtis','Nancy Loomis' and 'PJ Soles'. Already the audience is established to the actors already and are imagining what type of character they would be portraying in the film away from their previous movie roles. The image of the pumpkin and the titles are collaborated with each other very successfully as the colour scheme is the same and relevantly selects the tone for the film. The theme music used to accompany the title sequence complied with piano and theatrical high violin notes work well together. This could represent in the film where it could connote some sort of chase and the dark undertone of the piano keys could represent the villain. This could force the audience to watch the film as the theme music is dramatic persuading them of the potential action and drama likely to be featured on the film.
HALLOWEEN (1978)
Halloween (released in 1978) is a classic example using a title sequence to lure and capture the audience's attention to watch the film. The sequence begins with a dark screen where we immediately hear the sinister high-pitched score. Each text is only shown on the screen for a couple of seconds and dissolves into the black screen. The style of the font is very distinct and bold capturing the audience's attention whilst disappearing. This creates a sinister feeling because it might allow the audience to believe that people may disappear one by one. It is shown in orange slowly changing into red to depict the type of genre of film it is. Red is normally associated to danger so added with the title of the film 'HALLOWEEN', it gives a taster to the audience to what the film may be about. The audience is introduced to a halloween lantern/pumpkin fades into the black background which flickers in and out with the music. This emphasises the halloween theme of the film sets the scene for the rest of the film.
As the sequence goes on, the camera moves away from a long shot to a zoom in to where we focus on the pumpkin. This gives a thrilling image as by already moving in a little circle on its own by zooming allows the audience to feel paranoid and some sort of fear. Zooming in from a long shot to a close-up of a pumpkin draws intensity for the audience to watch the film. At the beginning of the sequence, the production company 'Compass International' slowing moving to the director of the film 'John Carpenter' and the actors who star in the film itself like 'Jamie Lee Curtis','Nancy Loomis' and 'PJ Soles'. Already the audience is established to the actors already and are imagining what type of character they would be portraying in the film away from their previous movie roles. The image of the pumpkin and the titles are collaborated with each other very successfully as the colour scheme is the same and relevantly selects the tone for the film. The theme music used to accompany the title sequence complied with piano and theatrical high violin notes work well together. This could represent in the film where it could connote some sort of chase and the dark undertone of the piano keys could represent the villain. This could force the audience to watch the film as the theme music is dramatic persuading them of the potential action and drama likely to be featured on the film.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Event Diary Blog
Thriller film plots are often inspired by a real life event.
Keep a diary of current and world events. Write about things that you see on the news or read in the papers - the most ordinary stories cold form the basis for a good Thriler!
Curently, the event that happend in Hati has hit the news globally. The natural disaster of the Hati Earthquake is a major real life event as so many were killed, injured and there are bodies still missing. This could be a successful plot for a thriller movie as it about the thrill of surviving. Another event that keeps recurring in the news is the kidnapping of children but this could be seen more of a cliche if this was to be put in a thriller.
Keep a diary of current and world events. Write about things that you see on the news or read in the papers - the most ordinary stories cold form the basis for a good Thriler!
Curently, the event that happend in Hati has hit the news globally. The natural disaster of the Hati Earthquake is a major real life event as so many were killed, injured and there are bodies still missing. This could be a successful plot for a thriller movie as it about the thrill of surviving. Another event that keeps recurring in the news is the kidnapping of children but this could be seen more of a cliche if this was to be put in a thriller.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Photo Activity
Paranoid
This image is of a survailance camera to emphesis the word paranoia. we have taken this picture because every human living in london are being constantly watched by these survailance cameras. Paranoia is a psychological disorder, people who suffer from this disorder, feel they are being constantly watched, the feel is anxiety or fear. The term matches the thriller genre since the victim always has a sense of paranoia.
Calm
This hand image was to indicate the word calm. The hand which could also been seen as a waving hand shows peace and togetherness. Thriller films give this feel to the audience either when the vitims safe or the murderer is killed etc. we had this picture taken on one of the clear windows the people walking by, have no idea whats happening. This also occurs in a thriller, for example when a person's being brutally killed, and the neighbours having no clue about whats happening next door.
Clostrophobic
In this picture shows a girl her reflection on the window door, with a lock on the outside to show her entrapment. that represents claustrophobic. in thriller films, claustrophobia is what one of the character in the film is encountering such as a person being chased by a murderer to a criminal chased by the police. Because when a person feels claustrophobic they feel they're in a small place alone, they tend to become less calm and start to sweat.
City
This picture emphasis the word "city". this image shows a landscape view of the buildings in London. thriller films mostly tend to set in a big city, recognizable to the audience. This helps the audience feel threatened. also because of the numerous of places roads, nowhere is really safe, anyone could be hiding anywhere.
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