Preliminary Task

Preliminary Exercise.

Continuity exercise involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing the room and sitting down on a chair opposite another character, both exchanges lines of dialogue. It should include Match on Action (filmed twice but shows continuity, once edited the sequence becomes fluent), 180 Degree Rule (shooting from the same side) and Shot-Reverse Shot (when characters are involved in a dialogue, flilmed with close ups of one person, then cut to a close up of the other).

  The Storyboard of the preliminary task.

The task.

Here is the preliminary task which I filmed whilst my group partner Darcy and friend Tobi 'starred' in. We took into consideration the shots needed to be involved and a decent location to film in which was suitable and that had a door to walk through and a sitting area to continue doing the shot-reverse shots. so we choose the school common room. It had its disadvantages like the lack of silence so we couldn't hear the dialogue during the filming. I believe we have used the appropriate shots correctly and it has fluently been filmed. The bad point in this video are that as we were friends, the acting and dialogue wasn't taken too seriously so this needs to be thought through in our main task. This clip also needs to be edited so that some clips will be taken out for it to run more smoothly.

Here is the edited version of the Preliminary task, we imported the original task onto iMovie, from there we dragged the clips into place, we cut some clips to delete any unnecessary noise/laughter from me or the 'actors', this made the clip run fluently.

Still frames of the Preliminary Task.

Darcy opens the door.

Darcy walks through the door, shot of match on action begins in this frame.

Match in action continues as the sequence becomes on smooth frame.

Darcy crosses the room.

Darcy sits down opposite another character, Tobi. This  demonstrates the 180 degree rule.

Shot-Reverse Shot begins here.

Shot-Reverse Shot continues with other character.

Shot-Reverse Shot.

Shot-Reverse Shot ends.

Coursework Groups.

I have decided to work in a two person group with Darcy Sullivan (http://darcythrillercoursework.blogspot.co.uk/)as we are good friends and own the same characteristics to perform well during this task. We have had initial ideas about the content of our thiller movie clip, for example- a kidnapp/psychological type, rather than the typical murder storyline.
   We have taken into consideration the audience (rated 15); this allows minimal violence, minimal nudity and rare use of bad language to be used in our film. The themes within a thriller itself contain frightful, distressing scenes, the use of tensions and anticipation to heighten the arousal of the audience is heavily used in this type of genre; therefore we will have to also take this into consideration when planning our final idea.

Thriller Films.

Panic Room - We watched a three minute clip in lesson of 'Panic Room' to give us a rough idea of the codes and conventions of a typical thriller. it was a continuous shot with no edits which was purposely done to heighten the anticipation of the audience. Zooming was effectively used to create a good sense of POV. The typical blurry 'villain' was outside the house was another convention of a thriller. We shall consider using a variety of continuos shots or the use of zooming to highlight importance or to create frightful arousal.

Taken - This thriller owns the same narrative theory of Vladimir Propp, the idea of the hero (the father), the victim/damsel in distress (the daughter) and the villains. The defined roles in this film has produced a dramatic action thriller full of tension and suspense. This idea of defining key roles will help build understanding for the audience, in order to produce a successful thriller we will dedicate key roles in our films so that the storyline seems less complexed.

Shutter Island - This is a more psychological themed thriller containing confusing, distressing, anticipating scenes with clever techniques of plots and twists, some narrative retardation/complexed characters and the heavily use of mis direction. The element of mystery and twists will be heavily considered in our planning of our film as this highlights the key areas of a successful thriller and engages the audience.

Narrative Theory

Definition:

Narrative - The way in which a story is told in both fictional and no fictional media text.


Narrative Techniques.

• Plots and twists
• Multiple lines of action
• Flashbacks
• Narrative retardation
• Red herring
• Chases/pursuits
• Mis- direction
• Principle of concealment
• Mysterious  characters
• Morally complex characters

In lesson, we discussed the multiple theorists which include, Vladimir Propp, Tzveton Tadarou, Roland Barthes and Claude Levi-Strauss. 

TzvetanTodrov

 

• A Bulgarian literary theorist                                        .
• He suggests more narratives start with a state of equilibrium in which life is 'normal' abd protagonists are happy.
• The state of normality is disturbed by an outside force which has to be fought against in order to return to a state of equilibrium.

EQUILIBRIUM >>> DISEQUILIBRIUM >>> NEW EQUILIBRIUM

Claude Levi-Strauss

 

• A structuralist philosopher.
• He was interested in how the world is described in terms of opposites (night/day, light/dark).
• He believed these opposites struictured many texts in stories, plays and films as well.
• He thought that the contrast is what attracts consumers.

They all owned their theory of what films contain, but the two theorists suggestions that I believe are more commonly used in thrillers are:

Vladimir Propp

• He analysed over 100 Russian fairytales in the 1920’s.
• He suggested that there should be classified characters and that their actions should clearly define their roles and functions. (E.G Starwars have several of these models, however Pulp Fiction does not follow the traditional theory). 

Propp's Character Roles

• Hero
• Villain
• Dispatcher
• False hero
• Helper
• Princess
• Princess' Father

I believe that Propp's theory of defining characters is commonly used in the thriller genre as a subtle reference or obvious. This is used to create emotion towards the characters, add tension/suspence to the plot and to make the storyline more fluent and enjoyable.

 

Roland Barthes

• He suggested that the narrative works with five different codes which activate the reader to make sense of it.
• ACTION
• ENIGMA - tease the audience.
• SYMBOLIC
• SEMIC
• CULTURAL
• The use of denotation and connotation (hidden meaning)should also be present throughout movies.

Barthes theory of the use of connotation and dennotation throught the thriller genre is also important. This is because the sub-genres of thrillers contain alot of mystery and suspence, to add to this the subtle detail of objects that dennote hidden meaning is important to the plot/storyline.

A Thriller Movie - The Codes And Conventions

The Definitions:

The Codes - Systems of signs that create meaning and can be divided into two categories; Technical and Symbolic.


Technical Codes - Camera work involved within the film making process.
Symbolic Codes - Show what is beneath the surface of what you see, (a characters actions show how the characters feeling).


The Conventions - These are the generally accepted ways of doing something.


Thematic Elements - Enigmatic, tension, excitement, anticipation, arousal.

The common codes and conventions throughout the Thriller movie are; eerie tense music, creaking floorboards, wind, phone calls, footsteps, the increasing sound of a heartbeat. These codes are expected to be displayed in this genre to create 'thrill'. The technical codes commonly used are point of view shots, which are specific camera angles- close ups, low angles to create atmosphere and tension. Characterisation is also important to this genre, the typical blurred figure, dark clothing, silhouette in the dark lighting, tall, commonly male is also expected.


Considering the codes and conventions, myself and Darcy have produced a survey to gather information on what the consumers (15+) expect in the thriller genre.....

Our results....

Our findings show that the people of our age rating audience prefer, supernatural or psychological thrillers; suspense/tension, a male villain and features such a tense music and mystery. This will help influence our idea as we now know what the public look for within this genre, we will aim to please.