Saturday, 9 January 2010

Saturday, 2 January 2010

Camera Shots

This is an example of a long low angle shot of a house. This conveys isolation, intimidation for the viewer. This recce shot reveals the idea of setting for the opening to my film. I would then use a fade onto a MS of the house, to convey a developing intrusion and tension. I would like the establishing shots to look something like this.

Tracking shot


This is an example of a tracking shot used in a thriller to establish location and characters aswell as naturalistically following their action and the plot action. The tracking shot it perhaps used to prolong events and make them more realistic aswell as bulding up tension due to lack of sound. I would like to use a short tracking shot in my opening to reveal location inside the house, and create tension. Somewhat taking the viewer on a naturalistic journey through the plot instead of involving fast paced editing and an abundance of sound, i would like to achieve an eerie atmousphere through a short slow tracking shot. This is an example of my own version of a tracking shot.

Ideas for my main filming task.

Some ideas that i have gathered are:
- An isolated house newly owned by a disorientated female character.
- There is a build up of questions in the viewers' mind. What happened to her? Why is she like this?
- Through the character being female I believe the idea of victimisation and vulnerablity is more successfully conveyed.
- I am going to use alot of CU's in my production similar to that of the innocents, in which plot and characters are revealed through body language. I would use a close up of a characters hands, revealing discomfort and desperation. Also, i would use a close up of the face to reveal disoriantation, shifting eyes for example. I took the idea from the innocents to use a fade from a close up of a character whom is desperate and something has obviously happened to them before this point to the same character at a different time before. This use of editing would allow the viewer to establish that something happened to this character and they are now going to see exactly what did happen to this character. I think that using this in an opening sequence is a good way to maintain interest and intruige aswell as conforming to the conventions of horror by making the audience experience a sense of discomfort in viewing certain situations.

In studying 'Rosemarys baby' directed by Roman Polanski, I like the idea of somebody moving into a new house, to then experience perculiar occurances.
In another film by Roman Polanski, Repulsion, I also like the idea of a females character disintigrating and gradually deepening into madness.

Ideas from my storyboard

To conform to my genre of Thriller and my subgenre horror i have selected particular ideas of camera shots/angles, editing techniques, sound and mise en scene.
For my establishing shot i may include a long low angle shot of a house, to convey isolation and intimidation, suggesting the audience is to feel inferior to the house.
A particular shot i wanted to use was a tracking shot through a hallway into another room. I would use this to convey a sense of intrusion, putting the audience in the questioning position. What went on here? Whats wrong with this place? And, combined with low key lighting and sound FX of a large breath, the sense of intrusion is maintained.
I would use CU to reveal certain aspects to the storyline/characters. For example, a CU on a characters' hands. Through the body language could reveal desperation, vulnerability and discomfort.
An editing technique that i would use is a fade. For example, a fade from the long low angle shot of a house to a MS of the house. This would convey a real sense of intrusion, the idea of a building tension perhaps.
Some examples of mise en scene that i would use is low key lighting. The low key lighting conveys mystery and a dark atmousphere.

Thursday, 26 November 2009

Target Audience

For my thriller film, of the sub genre horror i must ensure that i have a specific target auidence in which i aim to entertain throughout the opening of my film.
I have chosen to research my audience by using the site
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/


This site allows me to research each film certificates criteria and establish if the opening to my film is likely to conform to a cerificate of 12 or 15.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/recent/films
This part of the website allowed me to determine common trends for each cerificate. For example, 'strong' is the common word used associated with language, violence and sexual themes for a 15, whereas, the words associated with a 12 are mostly 'moderate' and 'infrequent' regarding language, violence and sexual themes.
In studying this page further i looked at films of the horror genre such as 'the forth kind' and 'paranormal activity' which are both 15's and found that the labels attached to these films were 'contains strong psychological horror' and 'contains strong language and threat'

In the production of the opening to my horror film, i must consider the common trends i have established and work out what certificate my production would most likely come under. I must also ensure that the technical codes conform to my target audience.

Monday, 16 November 2009

Research into famous Thriller/Horror directors

ALFRED HITCHCOCK 'the master of suspense' - He is a notorious film maker most famously associated with Film Noir, 'vertigo' and 'Psycho.' He inspired a new generation of filmmakers and revolutionized the thriller genre, making him a legend around the world. I am interested in Hitchcock because of his imaginitive skils and his ability to provide the viewer with a plot full of suspense, mystery and horror. I hope to be able to mirror particular film language techniques (camera, sound, editing and mise en scene) he uses in order to produce and edit a successful horror opening sequence.

JOHN CARPENTER
- Who is mostly known for his direction of the 1970's horror 'halloween' and other horrors such as 'the fog' and 'the thing'
I am intruiged by Carpenter because he focuses on the sheer fear and the unknown of human kind and its impact on society. This interests me because within his films, the technical codes he perpetuates allow the viewer to appriciate the plot and its meaning, which is what i aim to try and achieve in the production of my opening sequence.