screen grabs

this is the location of our film is here

rough cutting

Fisheye Effect

Bad TV Effect

CCTV Effect, Add Noise and Desaturate

Radial Blur Eddect

Lighting experiment

 We have been experimenting with lighting effects and filters, these are the results we have.

Image no. 1: This is with a white back ground and shows the light with no filter on, the lighting is harsh and creates defined shadows.

 Image no. 2: This image is with the white background and uses the low key light filter, as you can see the lighting is alot more soft.

Image no. 3: this picture shows the normal white wall background with a light blue filter, we were just experimenting with different colours.

 Image no. 4: This picture shows the white background with a red filter, however because of the natural light the filter does not have a great effect to the subject.

 Image no. 5: This image was taken with the black wall background in the dark, this picture has no filter and exposes the subject to much.

 Image no. 6: This image is the black wall background with the dark blue filter, this could show a characters coldness and not show emotion.

Image no. 7: This image is in the black wall background with the light blue filter.

Image no.8 this is in the black walled room and has a red filter, this shows the characters anger and also conflict between theirselves as there are two contrasting colours.

Shot list

Our character, is 48, has mid length brown hair and is around 5 feet 7 inches tall. She will be wearing either a nighty or white bland/boring clothing, her hair will be back combed and messy and her make-up is going to be dark and gloomy emphasising her eyes and making her look tired and scary.

This is our shot list for our sequence;

shot 1. close-up on half of the lady's face, focusing on her eye.

shot 2. close-up on the other side of her face focusing on the other eye.

shot 3. mid-shot, focusing on her hand twitching.

shot 4.  mid-shot focusing on the other hand twitching.

shot 5. long-shot of the whole of the actor staring into the camera with blank expression, making you think of how her emotion should be.

shot 6. time lapsing to a close up of her face, then she screams.

shot 7. close up of the character still then the camera starts to pan around the character in a circular movement.

shot 8. camera pans around the room in the characters point of view.

shot 9. camera is still panning but stops and focuses on a notebook. 

shot 10. close-up of the notebook, showing detail of it.

shot 11. still a close-up of the notebook and then credits come up on the notebook when she turns the page.

shot 12. close up of the characters hand, and then woman writing this is also time lapsed.

shot 13. a flashback in black and white with the character walking away from the camera walking from a mid-shot into a long-shot using tracing.

Production Meeting - 23rd of January

In our group we discussed initial ideas and plots for our thriller opening sequence;


Idea 1 

• Located in a busy town
• Fast shots- highlighting important symbols of a thriller 
• Everyone around main character moving quickly, but they are moving slowly (time lapse) 
• Shots from high angles, and birds eye view- idea of CCTV camera

Idea 2

• Group of friends- park/field dark spacious area
• Take photos of each other 
• Look back over the images a few minutes later to find that someone in the background was being murdered

Idea 3

• Time Lapse effect of the main character moving really slowly and background moving fast. 
• She is holding her head and screaming-  going insane. 
• Foreshadows how she ended up this way 
• Symbols of thriller
• Flicks back to interviews in her past

Deadlines for Thriller Project

9th Jan to 13th Jan: Thriller introduction.

16th Jan to 20th Jan: Analysis of real and student examples/ Production logos.

23rd Jan to 27th Jan: Planning and delivery of pitches.

30th Jan to 3rd Feb: Storyboarding, shot lists and other planning.

6th Feb to 10th Feb: Filming.

13th Feb to 17th Feb: Half Term.

20th Feb to 24th Feb: Filming and editing.

27th Feb to 2nd March: Filming and editing.

5th March to 9th March: 9th March Shooting deadline. 2nd lesson of this week is Rough Cut Deadline. Third lesson of week, rough cut feedback.


12th March to 16th March: End of second lesson of the week is Final Cut Deadline. Last lesson of the week, feedback on final cuts and re-introduction to Evaluation questions.

19th March to 23rd March: 9am 19th March is Interim writing deadline. Lessons this week are for feedback on interim drafts and revisions/writing.


9am 26th March: Final writing deadline.

Delirium Tremens- Student Thriller Sequence

We would give this Sequence a Level 4-   Grade B-, and the mark would be 49. 


We think there is an excellent standard of:

•  Titles being used appropriately, and fit for the genre with the correct institutions- e.g. Noir productions. 
• The sound is low pitch and fits the conventions of a thriller. Suspense is created. It also fits in with the black and white theme because it is suggesting danger and possible deaths. Low Key lighting has also contributed to this. 
• Attention to framing has been considered carefully, especially with the shot of character A walking through a puddle, suggesting that he is treading in his sins.  
• The editing has short duration shots, which is a convention of a thriller as this is building an enigma and suspense. 
• Shooting material is appropriate to opening sequence, steady in most places, apart from the shot where the character is walking past the railings which is supposed to be from his point of view.
• The opening shots give us an insight to the rest of the film. Establishing shot has been used which is panning. sets the scene,  gives a sense of an isolated location. 
• Although these points were met, the narrative could have been made clearer and of a higher standard in these areas, and more editing techniques used. 

The Reckoning, Student Thriller

The Reckoning (Student Thriller - 2007) 

We would have given this sequence 48 marks. This would be a level 4 grade B. 

• The editing techniques used in this sequence are very good, the shots have a very short duration and it creates a dramatic effect for the audience.
• The score created for this sequence matched the shots very well and created suspense for the audience.

Saul Bass

http://youtu.be/Tek8QmKRODw

This clip is a title sequence for the film 'Psycho' (1960) by the extraordinary Saul Bass.

Saul Bass (May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996) was a graphic designer and filmmaker, best known for his design of motion picture title sequences.

During his 40-year career Bass worked for some of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese. Amongst his most famous title sequences are the animated paper cut-out of a heroin addict's arm for Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm, the credits racing up and down what eventually becomes a high-angle shot of the United Nations building in Hitchcock's North by Northwest, and the disjointed text that races together and apart in Psycho.

In this sequence there are lots of lines darting across the screen and going through/producing words for example 'psycho' this relates to a stabbing motion and gives hints to what could happen in the film. saul bass was so influencial 

LA Confidential

The story revolves around a group of LAPD officers in the early 1950s who become involved in a mix of sex, corruption, and murder following a mass murder at the Nite Owl coffee shop. The story eventually reveals organised crime, political corruption, heroin trafficking, pornography, prostitution, institutional racism, and Hollywood. The title refers to the scandal magazine Confidential, which is fictionalized as Hush-Hush. It also deals with the real-life "Bloody Christmas" scandal.

The three protagonists are LAPD officers. Edmund Exley, the son of a legendary detective, is a "straight arrow" who informs on other officers in a police brutality scandal. This earns the enmity of Wendell "Bud" White, an intimidating enforcer with a personal fixation on men who abuse women. Between the two of them is Jack Vincennes, a flashy cop who moonlights on a police television show and provides tips to a scandal magazine. The three of them must set their differences aside to unravel the conspiracy linking the novel's events.

L.A Confidential follows the conventions of a thriller genre by revolving around a crime, this being numerous murders. The phycological theme is a convention used, as it makes you wonder what you would yourself do in a similar situation! Also as you have ideas to has done the crime, but your instincts may be challenged. 

Conventionally the long enigma is solved at the end. 

In L.A Confidential, it could be interpreted that voyeurism is used, as there are scenes of secret photo taking by Danny Davito, and peering through windows. 

As a group we feel that L.A confidential does NOT challenge the conventions of a thriller as there are several themes of identity exploited, also the protagonists (Bud, and Edmund) overcome several obstacles put in there way, such as the antagonists doing everything in his power to turn the protagonists against each other. 

Definition of a Thriller

A Thriller is a type of genre that usually consists of:

A clear narrative that revolves around a specific crime such as murder, theft etc. 'Prestige' is an example of a film revolved around murder.

Themes of identity --> doubles, hidden identity, mistaken identity, split personalities. An example of this is found in the film 'Identity'
Enigmas is a mystery which conventionally is solved at the end

There is usually a Protagonist and an Antagonist. The Protagonist often has an obstacle to overcome, however the Antagonist tend to find a flaw (mentally or physically) that the Antagonist takes advantage of. Also the Antagonist leads the Protagonist into a complex web of intrigue.

Conventionally themes of Voyeurism (pleasure in looking) using props such as mirrors, windows and binoculars