AlexNightingaleThriller: February 2009

Saturday, 28 February 2009

Research into locations

I went around college and took a few photos of places and things i thought would either look good to use in a shot or use as a location to film.

This picture can be used to create tension, it can be used at the start of the film as a sign there isnt going to be a fire later on.

This picture is of a roof top, this shot can be used to show somebody looking over the edge maybe planning to jump off, creates tension, can also set the scene.

This shot could be used to show somebody running away as we can see them running a long way.

I took this shot with the same thoughts in mind as the picture before it.

This shot is used to show the side of a building, the camera could then zoom in on something in the window.

I took this shot to show the set of interview room or conference room.

I took this shot as it can be used to show where somebody has slept, creates the theme of povety

This shot represents where people would have a casual meeting.

Friday, 27 February 2009

Main Task Brainstorm and storyboard

Action films:
1. Usually high energy
2. Contain voilence, fight scenes, murder Etc
3. Usually follows the 'good guy'
4. A big crisis in the form of either buildings being destroyed or lifes being lost
5. Fast paced, ( Like the Bourne films and the latest James Bond film )

Thriller films:

I have already looked at coventions of thrillers earlier in my blog, some well known thrillers are:

The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Rear Window (1954)
Cidade de Deus (2002)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Fight Club (1999)
Psycho (1960)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Horror Genre:

Blood
Death
Killing
Darkness
Villain
Victims
Haunted houses and isolated settings
Monsters
Evil
Weapons
Storms
Chase sequences
Gore
Ghosts
Violence
Screams

Horror films:

Psycho (1960)
Alien (1979)
The Shining (1980)
Aliens (1986)
Diaboliques, Les (1955)
Låt den rätte komma in (2008)
The Thing (1982)
Faust - Eine deutsche Volkssage (1926)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Frankenstein (1931)

Adventure films:
1. They usually include a very intertesting location
2. Happiness and sadness shown
3. Unusual creatures in the film.

The top 10 adventure films according to the IMDB website are:
1. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo., Il (1966)
2. Dzhentlmeny udachi (1972)
3. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
4. Shichinin no samurai (1954)
5. Star Wars (1977)
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
7. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
9. North by Northwest (1959)
10. The Matrix (1999)

Comedy genre:
1. Funny main character
2. funny plot
3. No serious gun fights, they would all be funny.

The top 10 comedy films according to the IMDB website are:
1. Balkanski spijun (1984)
2. Dzhentlmeny udachi (1972)
3. Sluzhebnyy roman (1977)
4. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
5. Verdugo, El (1963)
6. Zügürt Aga (1985)
7. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983)
8. WALL·E (2008)
9. Kibar Feyzo (1978)
10. Esperando la carroza

Websites I used to carry out this research:
http://www.imdb.com/chart/comedy
http://www.imdb.com/chart/adventure
http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html
http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Genres/Horror/
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/444810/index.html

Main task questionnaire

I have taken a screen shot of what the questionnaire looked like in word and then i have copied the information into the blog so it is easy to read.

Questionnaire.

1. Which Type of thriller do you prefer?
A) Action thriller
B) Crime thriller
C) Conspiracy thriller

2. What sort of set do you think is more suitable for a thriller
A) Dark small room
B) Well light big area
C) Park or shopping centre, open space

3. Do you think flash backs are good bits of editing to use in a thriller?
A) Yes
B) No
C) Sometimes

4. Do you think thrillers with a lot of sub plots are better than thrillers with just one main plot?
A) Yes
B) No
C) Sometimes

5. In a Crime thriller do you think its better to have the crime about,
A) Murder
B) Kidnapping
C) Big robberies
6. In a conspiracy thriller do you prefer one main conspiracy or for it to spiral off into many twists and turns?
A) One main
B) Spiral off

7. In the opening sequence of a thriller do you think it is better to start with a crime or something that sparks questions in the audiences mind?
A) Start with a crime
B) Spark questions

Question number Answers (15 people asked)
1 B, A,B,B,C,B,B,B,C,A,A,C,B,B,B A=3 B=9 C=3
2 C,A,A,A,A,A,B,C,A,C,A,A,A,A,A A=11 B=1 C=3
3 A,A,C,C,C,B,C,C,C,A,A,C,B,B,A A=5 B=3 C=7
4 C,A,A,A,B,A,A,A,A,A,C,A,A,A,A A=12 B=1 C=2
5 B,A,A,C,A,B,A,A,C,C,A,A,A,A,C A=9 B=2 C=4
6 B,B,B,B,B,B,A,B,A,B,B,B,B,B,B A=2 B=13
7 A,A,A,A,B,A,B,B,A,B,A,A,A,A,B A=10 B=5

Analysis of questionnaire:

The questionnaire shows that people prefer thrillers about crime set in dark mysterious places and involving murder. It also shows that the use of flash backs can have a possitive impact on a film as well as many sub plots. People love a thriller to spiral off in different directions and start with a main crime.

Wednesday, 11 February 2009

The main task lesson 2

My group and i went back to the same place as we were in before and got straight to work, we then went and spoke to our teacher about the ideas we had come up with and how far we had got with our storyboard. After this we went on to finish the brain storm and continue with the story baord. I then went off to make a questionnaire to found out what thrillers people like in general and what they expect from an open sequence. I got this finished and the group had a look and gave me feedback and put some ideas of their own into it.

The Main task Lesson one

Alexander Nightingale
Candidate number: 3139
George Spencer College 28278

Group for the Main task:

Alexander Nightingale: ( Candidate number above )
liam Hutchinson: Candidate number: 3099
Ryan Boyington: Candidate number: 3191

In the first lesson to start the main task, we were given the briefing in class on what we have to produce for our main task. After this I had to decide what group i would like to work in or if i would like to work on my own. I decided to work with Ryan and Liam as i get on well with them and i know we will work well together.
The three of us went off to a quiet place and had a 10 minute discussion over what we think the best thrillers have in them and what we aim to produce. After this we began to make a brain storm and a storyboard on our main task. My group did not get these finished by the end of the lesson but we had a good idea about what we wanted to do as a group.

Preliminary task brain storm

The brain storm i made with my group for the preliminary task.

preliminary task video

I had to upload our video to youtube as it would not upload onto here.

Dialogue used for the Police Interrogation

PC Walker: Interview Commencing at _ _ : _ _ at Sun Hill Police Station with PC Dan Walker and Paul Smith. Where were you between the hours of 7:30 and 9:30 yesterday
Paul: At home
PC Walker: Can anyone confirm this?
Paul: I was on my own
PC Walker: How do you explain this? (shows evidence)

Preparation for making the opening sequence

In Preparation for making the opening sequence my group did:~

- Got the equipment we needed, lights, cameras, green screen, seats, the room we would film in.
- Went through the lines that I had to speak with Dan who was also speaking in the opening sequence.
- Made sure we had enough time to film and edit so started as quick as possible
- Talked it over with the other group members so that we all knew exactly what shots were going to be taken and when they would happen.