- The genre of our film is: Psychological Thriller.
- This is a sub-genre of the wide ranging Thriller genre, which can also be closely linked to the genre’s horror and mystery.
- Thriller are usually full of suspense, serious and sometimes disturbing content, they are meant to shock and excite the senses. Psychological Thrillers add elements that can be related to the psyche.
- We chose three films that influenced our ideas and best related to our film.
- “Hide and Seek” directed by John Polson, written by Ari Schlossberg and released on the 25th February 2005. The genre is described as a horror/mystery/psychological thriller, the exact genre’s we wish to convey with our piece. We noted the movies techniques of suspense using build ups of tense music and long camera shots followed by quick sudden actions to encapsulate the perfect level of anticipation, which if we were to make our whole film we would want to demonstrate similar techniques. We also thought the unexpected twist in the plot leading to a switch of focus in the film as the protagonist becomes the bad guy created a direct parallel between our own ideas and the plot of “Hide and Seek”.
- “Fight Club” directed by David Fincher, Written by Chuck Palahniuk (novel) and Jim Uhls (screenplay) and released on 12th November 1999. Described as a action, drama, thriller although does not have the horror element we wish to embody in our own project there are many parallels between the psychological elements of the film, in particular the hallucinations. If we were to make the entire film we could use many of the techniques for distorting camera angles to recreate the distorted head of the protagonist. For our introduction we wish to take influence on the lighting and camera angles for the alleyway seen, distorting light and having fast pace music as “Fight club” includes in the more violent scenes of the film.
- “Scream” directed by Wes Craven, written by Kevin Williamson and released on 2nd May 1997. The film is described as a Horror/Thriller. We wished to learn from the stereotypical horror genre elements of the film. That build suspense for the viewer, two particular influences for us were the setting, in your own home (the way they take away the comfort and safety of your home), the protagonist (teenage girls are the typical victims) and recognisable motifs, for example answering a phone alone at night, leading to come kind of trouble.
Thursday, 18 December 2008
Filming Progress
After presenting our film pitch; which included a power point presentation, research of the genre, the three sentence pitch, a synopsis of our film and the hand drawn story board of our two minute introduction, we were given very positive feedback and the only criticism was to add more detail to our story board (i.e. stating where the titles will be and where the music will come in.) We made these improvements and received the recording equipment. Putting aside two evenings to complete the filming; this had to be done in the evening as we wanted it to be dark to create the correct atmosphere for our genre. The first filming session we began to realise the hard work and large amount of time that goes in to making a short piece of filming. We came across small problems, such as laughter, back ground noise and making the post it notes stick to the walls and light changes from frame to frame; all minor issues that were easily overcome. We tried to get at least a few decent shots of each frame to give a wider various of material for the editing process, finding the storyboard very useful as a guild for us. After spending over three hours on the first session and not achieving half as much as we had hoped we made a clear plan of things to do for the next session, which we felt ran far more smoothly finishing all the filming in another few hours. We have now uploaded our material onto the Apple Mac’s and started a small portion of the editing, however will now wait until next term when a director is visiting the school who will demonstrate how a film can be edited.
Friday, 5 December 2008
Film Pitch
Living in the heart of Oxford criminology student Steph grows increasingly paranoid as young girls begin to turn up dead around campus. This gruesome yet gripping psychological thriller will keep you guessing as the plot takes a harsh turn of events revealing the horrific truth.
Final Film Project Synopsis
This psychological thriller sets its scene in the university city of Oxford, England. Steph is a nineteen year old first year criminology student living alone in her bed-sit in the heart of the city. The community is sent into hysteria as young female students begin to mysteriously disappear. Steph notices a striking resemblance between herself and the victims, haunted by twisted nightmares of the kidnapped girl’s gruesome murders and the eerie feeling of being watched she grows increasingly paranoid.
As the kidnapped girls start to turn up dead identical to how Steph had dreamt, she believes she may have some psychological connection to the events. Setting out to stop any more girls and herself from facing a fatal end she confides in a friend Chris for help. The focus of the film switches onto Chris as he begins to research the murders and kidnappings. The more time the two spend together the more strange behavior he observes of Steph his research turning towards her past.
Chris discovers she has been lying about her perfect family orientated upbringing, having spent her childhood and adolescence battling mental illness in an institution. Instead of confronting her he begins to scrutinize her every move revealing incriminating evidence linking her to the killings. In a hope that she will give herself up Chris breaks into Steph’s flat covering the walls with letters anonymously threatening her, claiming they know she is the killer.
The film then begins to centre back on Steph the audience realize the depth of her illness as it shows in her deluded world she really is the victim and has no idea that she killed the girls. The threatening letters send her into a hysterical frenzy pulling apart her apartment only to find the possessions of the victims and the documents discharging her from the institution confirming her illness. After this extreme realization the scene will end with Steph phoning the police claiming she has information about the murders, the scene finishes leaving the impression that Steph has handed herself in.
The final scene is years later, Steph is baking with her five year old daughter in a family home. A news report comes on the television stating that it is the ten year anniversary of the ‘Oxford University Killings’ and the convicted murder who was sentenced to life Christopher Waine hung himself in prison.
As the kidnapped girls start to turn up dead identical to how Steph had dreamt, she believes she may have some psychological connection to the events. Setting out to stop any more girls and herself from facing a fatal end she confides in a friend Chris for help. The focus of the film switches onto Chris as he begins to research the murders and kidnappings. The more time the two spend together the more strange behavior he observes of Steph his research turning towards her past.
Chris discovers she has been lying about her perfect family orientated upbringing, having spent her childhood and adolescence battling mental illness in an institution. Instead of confronting her he begins to scrutinize her every move revealing incriminating evidence linking her to the killings. In a hope that she will give herself up Chris breaks into Steph’s flat covering the walls with letters anonymously threatening her, claiming they know she is the killer.
The film then begins to centre back on Steph the audience realize the depth of her illness as it shows in her deluded world she really is the victim and has no idea that she killed the girls. The threatening letters send her into a hysterical frenzy pulling apart her apartment only to find the possessions of the victims and the documents discharging her from the institution confirming her illness. After this extreme realization the scene will end with Steph phoning the police claiming she has information about the murders, the scene finishes leaving the impression that Steph has handed herself in.
The final scene is years later, Steph is baking with her five year old daughter in a family home. A news report comes on the television stating that it is the ten year anniversary of the ‘Oxford University Killings’ and the convicted murder who was sentenced to life Christopher Waine hung himself in prison.
Brief for final project:
A short pitch (3 sentences)A longer synopsis of the complete film idea (3 paragraphs)A storyboard of a minimum of 16 establishing/main shots
We must create the introduction to a film lasting 3 minutes, we must think about ‘mise en scene’ and semiotics in relation to our genre and we must include examples of ‘shot reverse shot’, ‘match on action’ and use the ‘180 degree rule’.
We must create the introduction to a film lasting 3 minutes, we must think about ‘mise en scene’ and semiotics in relation to our genre and we must include examples of ‘shot reverse shot’, ‘match on action’ and use the ‘180 degree rule’.
Preliminary Task Evaluation
We were given a preliminary media task to help us understand the process involved of planning the film, creating a story board, the filming itself and editing of our work. Our brief was to make a short film of someone opening a door, walking through, sitting down and having a few lines of dialogue with another character lasting up to about thirty seconds and at least eight to ten frames. We were also told we had to include a ‘shot reverse shot’, the ‘180 degree rule’ and a ‘match on action’. We were shown how to story board our film to include a drawing or picture of what will be in the shot, labelled with details of the shot angle and size. Firstly we did this with drawings and then progressed to pictures taken on my camera phone. However as this had to be completed within lesson time and inside school we felt our plot and setting was restricted; something we will be able to develop in the main task as we are filming in our own time and therefore can vary our setting and props.
After completing our story board we filmed each shot up to three times to give a range of shots to choose from when it came to editing. We then transferred our film from the camera’s cassette tape to the Apple Mac computer, using the Mac film editing programme to pick out the perfect shots and fit them together. If we had had more time to spend on this project we would have added music as this will add to the atmosphere and in turn help to create the correct features of our genre.
Overall I was pleased with this preliminary task as I felt we demonstrated the ‘180 degree rule’ consistently throughout always filming from the same side of the characters. I also felt our ‘match on action’ as the first character sits down and ‘shot reverse shot’ as the two characters exchanged dialogue. I found the task useful as I learnt how to story board, film and edit in preparation for the final task. However I did not feel we conveyed the genre of a thriller successfully. In terms of ‘mise en scene’ I felt that filming during the day and in a school did not connote fear and suspense as we hope to show in the final project through filming outside when it is dark in a secluded setting. Using minimal props meant that we could not use any clear signifiers to denote the genre, another aspect we will build on in the final piece. For example we plan to have the female protagonist answer a phone call alone in her flat, an iconic signifier used in thriller/horror films connoting danger. We did however use a close up of the hand opening the door and of the feet walking inside before we revealed the characters face to increase the suspense, adding to the theme of a thriller by connoting risk and foreshadowing a possible danger to come.
After completing our story board we filmed each shot up to three times to give a range of shots to choose from when it came to editing. We then transferred our film from the camera’s cassette tape to the Apple Mac computer, using the Mac film editing programme to pick out the perfect shots and fit them together. If we had had more time to spend on this project we would have added music as this will add to the atmosphere and in turn help to create the correct features of our genre.
Overall I was pleased with this preliminary task as I felt we demonstrated the ‘180 degree rule’ consistently throughout always filming from the same side of the characters. I also felt our ‘match on action’ as the first character sits down and ‘shot reverse shot’ as the two characters exchanged dialogue. I found the task useful as I learnt how to story board, film and edit in preparation for the final task. However I did not feel we conveyed the genre of a thriller successfully. In terms of ‘mise en scene’ I felt that filming during the day and in a school did not connote fear and suspense as we hope to show in the final project through filming outside when it is dark in a secluded setting. Using minimal props meant that we could not use any clear signifiers to denote the genre, another aspect we will build on in the final piece. For example we plan to have the female protagonist answer a phone call alone in her flat, an iconic signifier used in thriller/horror films connoting danger. We did however use a close up of the hand opening the door and of the feet walking inside before we revealed the characters face to increase the suspense, adding to the theme of a thriller by connoting risk and foreshadowing a possible danger to come.
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