STORYBOARD.

My group produced a storyboard to give an idea of each section which is going to be in our film opening. On our storyboard we used 2 film institutions because lionsgate was the main institution for our film opening but hammer was more precise, however in our final piece we only used liongate so we can stick to the time limit. We showed how long each shot would be filmed for and what actual shot we would be using to film a particular section.

COMPARING CHARACTERS.

My copycat jack the ripper character can be compared to Zodiac Killer this is because jack the ripper was very sly and sneaky with his killing so was the Zodiac killer. They both were unsolved and no one still does not know the identity of both the killers. They both have a specific type of people they kill. The zodiac killer and our jack the ripper copycat killer are very similar. 

OUR FILMING

On the 14th of November we did the first lot of our filming, we filmed in Rochester to add a Victorian days touch and got Victorian costumes. Most of our outdoor filming was done in a alley way but we made sure we got as much shots as possible which would make a good effect to our film opening, most of our shots were panning shots.

Props

For our film opening we bought fake blood for when the prostitute got stabbed by our copycat character 'jack the ripper'. This is a replicate of jack the rippers story as he used to kill just women. We also used fake blood to write the title.

For Jack the ripper we bought a top hat and a long black jacket for the character to wear to represent how mysterious he was and how no one knew his identity which worked out well.

Our Filming

We made sure we got as many shots as possible and panning was the main camera shot type because most of our scene was with someone moving so panning gave the best effect. We used iPhone instead of a video camera because the battery lasted longer and also we realized that they were better quality. Also most of us had iPhone which made it more convenient for us. We also made sure it was not too bright and was set in a dark scene to bring an  horror effect.

Who was in my group?

Carla Dawkins
Nicole O'Brien
Marnie White
Bukky Odumosu (Me)

What we have finally concluded to do in our film opening.

In my group we have decided how our horror/thriller film opening is going to be, while designing our story board we had a brief discussion and suggested a range of ideas. We have decided to name our film "RED JACK" we decided this because the name is quick and snappy which is a good effect for horror films. The "Red" symbolises blood which gives you an idea of what the genre is going to be by the title. We decided to base our film opening on just the titles and the credits for example who edited the film, who the music was by, who got the props etc this will make people want to watch on as our titles are going to be creative, gruesome and effective which will draw the audience to carry on watching the film, the titles will also be linked to the film.

The film institutions we have decided to use are both lionsgate and hammer this is because lionsgate is a very big company who have produced a wide range of successful horror films but not only have they produced a range of successful horror/thriller films but they have also produced a range of successful films of different genres. The film institution hammer is more generalised into horror/thriller films they're most well known for producing such successful popular horror/thriller films which is why we have decided to use it as well. hammer is more specific on a genre which is horror/thriller which is a very good film institution to use for our opening film.

The transitions we have decided to use are when a scene flashes into a next scene and fading out to a new scene these are good transitions to use for horror/thriller films. We also decided to make our film in either black and white or the sepia effect this is because we want to make our film like its set in the time of the movie and not in our modern time, this will be effective because it would be like we filmed it at that present time.

With our film titles font we have decided to be very creative and original by deciding to use our own props for the titles and as it is near Halloween we have decided to use that to our advantage to get the right props we need to make our thriller/horror film opening as effective as possible. For example for our main title "Red Jack" we decided to make the "Red" look like blood dripping to give that thriller effect so we have decided to use the prop of red food colouring as it looks like blood. We have decided to use tea stains as the background of the titles to give that Victorian effect.

Because we are trying to do a copycat of jack the ripper we want a film to look in the Victorian times so we are going to film in an area which looks from that time. We are going to use Victorian costumes e.g. a jack the ripper top hat and a prostitute of those times dress, hair and make up. 

garageband

GARAGEBAND

In today's lesson we tried out garageband we tested out and made our own music which we can put in our film opening. Because my film opening is a horror/thriller I had to make sure it had some sort of spook to it. The tempo of my music started off slow and peaceful then got faster and the volume got louder, this shows the effect that something is about to happen. This type of effect attracts the audience to wanting to watch the rest of the film.

Se7en (Opening Credits) - Transitions

Thrillers always start off with extreme close ups, everything seems unsure and in seven's opening scene it straight away started off with a extreme close up on a book but you can also see hands faded in the background this buids up tension. Credits then faded in slowly which brings the horror effect as you don't understand whats happening or whats going to happen next! The credits then popped up backwards then fades back to the right position this brings a thriller effect.

The dissolve is a transition used on most horror/thriller films as they are slow makes you intrigued to what is going to pop up on your screen next. The dissolve is when a scene dissolves or fades into another sometimes quite rapidly sometimes quite slowly, when the first scene fades into the second it becomes lighter and then the second scene becomes more easy to see. This is very effective for horror/thriller films.

The fade is another example of a transition which can be used in horror/thriller films the fade in and fade out usually signal the beginning or end of a scene, especially if the film maker is fading to/from black. This the most common, of course, but fading to white has become trendy, too. The opening title sequence from HBO series Six Feet Under feature many fades to black and a couple brief fades to white. The very last bit in the sewuence fades slowly to white. 

My thriller film opening production company.

MY FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY.

My group has decided to pick lions gate as our production company for our thriller film opening, this is because lions gate has been a well known production company for thriller\horror films which have produced successful films e.g. the possession, Saw 3D, and the Lincoln lawyer. Lions-gate is the largest and most successful film production in North America It focuses mainly on foreign and independent films which has come out very successful.

HAMMER

Another film institution that is very successful for thriller/horror movies is hammer, my group was going to use hammer to use lions-gate as we felt it was more popular and well known. Hammer is a British film television production company based in London. They've also produced a lot of horror/Thriller films, during the 1960s Hammer released a series of psychological thrillers e.g. taste if fear. The success of this movie spawned a series of movies, similar in theme and tones. 

THRILLER TITLES.

THRILLER TITLES.

The titles of thriller films have a big effect on the genre, how the title is presented is what will draw audiences in to watching your film. Most thriller titles have a sort of effect which looks like blood is dripping below this straight away tells you that its going to be a thriller/horror film. The titles are mostly presented red to symbolise blood which is very effective. The pictures below are a range of examples of what my thriller opening title could be like. Thriller titles are always eye catching and bold which is something I need to put into consideration when creating my film opening. They often either have two colours black and red or one which is the colour used most often. 

THRILLER TITLES ANALYSIS.

The paranormal activity title has a very good horror effect, the title is bold and red which gives you the first impression of blood this is good because you will be able to tell the genre by just looking at the title. The title has a shadow effect and around the title it says "What happens when you sleep? Don't see it alone" this links with the film as the shadow effect could emphasis that wherever you go there will be a shadow following you which links to the film and gives you an insight of what the film is going to be about. In my thriller opening I should use this example because it gives a really good thriller effect not only does it give the genre away but also links with the whole film which i should try and do in my film opening.

In the film when the title was being shown it was dark and had big bold writing with a twitching effect this also gave a psychological thriller effect because it was like a person switching lights off and on which gives you the emotion of being frightened. The title later on faded into just a black screen which builds tension as you would want to know whats going to appear on your screen next which will make people want to carry on watching it and draws people into watching the film. In my thriller opening I should try and put this example into my title to make it more effective and to draw people to want to know whats going to happen next.

Two minute film opening - AS Media Studies

Example of an AS Media Studies Film Opening.

This AS Media studies film opening was really good the background music was slow and flowed with the opening scene, the slow music caused a dramatic effect and caused suspense as you would want to know what is going to happen next. The dark, miserable weather makes you assume that the film is not going to end very well and by it being shown at the start gives us an insight of what the genre of the film is. The opening scene started off with a guy who recieved a text which said "its done" this makes us have suspicions to what has been "done" which makes you want watch more. The male character was wearing black gloves, tracksuit bottoms and a hoddie this gives us a impression that he is about to commit a crime or about to do something because streotypically people who are about to commit a crime or have commited a crime are seen to have worn some sort of tracksuit and hoddie with black gloves this gives a criminal look! A lot of close ups was shown especially on the character this showed us the characters emotion. When this character recieved this text he got out of his car and was jogging to a particular place and as he got closer the tense music got faster which made us feel that something sudden is about to happen. This film opening was really good as everything flowed and it made us want to carry on watching the film to see the ending.

Analysing Dexter

Dexter is a TV show opening and this shows a lot of close up shots which gives you loads of emotion, Dexter starts off with an extreme close up which straight away draws you into the film. It then pauses and shows you the title which is big and bold and looks like its been covered in blood this gives a thriller effect. Dexter was shown doing everyday things but because the camera shot extreme close up was used it gives us a different impression and you will think that Dexter is some sort of murderer. Extreme close ups are good camera shots to use for thrillers as it shows you loads of emotion and gives you eagerness to know what is going to happen next. 

My Film Openings Genre

OUR FILM OPENING GENRE

Example of genre Film Analysis 

My group has decided to do a horror/thriller for our film opening, I think this genre will be a very good genre to do because we believe that our camera shots will be very good, we said extreme close ups and close up will be used often as this shows a real insight of what is going on and also will show the tension as the film goes along. Slow extreme close up will really bring a horror and thriller effect. As I watched different horror /thriller film openings I noticed that they all had a kind of dark setting this shows something is bound to happen. Close ups was the most used camera shots which gave us the idea to use it in our film opening as they really show the affection on the characters faces. 

The red dragon is a American thriller film, the opening scene started with an opera show, Dr Hannibal lecter was the character that was shown on the cover of the film and the advertising poster was the first important character shown in the opening scene. Dr Hannibal lecter looked evil from the start he was the first character which will steal your attention out of the crowd of people there was something about his look that showed that he was a scheming, mysterious character who carriers a lot of trouble. In my groups film opening we need to make sure our main character will have the right look, something about our main character needs to look like he is going to be up to something, needs to steal our attention and this film could give us an example to how we could dress him up and make him look like a mysterious, not a everyday normal guy. Normally these main characters who are up to something dress well this could give you the wrong impression at first but will surprise you as the film goes on because you will start to realize who this guy really is and what his aim is.  In the red dragon opening scene in the opera show Dr Hannibal lecter was shown winking at another character with his dark appealing eyes, straight away you knew something was about to happen with him. Close ups was shown on him which gave the effect of tension because you would want to know whats going to happen next.

As the film went on another character was shown having a meeting with Dr Hannibal lecter which was shown at the beginning of the film, straight away you realize there's something strange about these two guys relationship and you want to know more and as the meeting was coming to an end slow dramatic music was instantly played which gave the feeling of suspense.

Extreme close up on a old book was shown, this could symbolize something important that's going to happen later on in the film which is essential for later on in the film. For the credits the first name was in red which symbolizes blood and gives a horror/thriller effect. 

Institutions

INSTITUTIONS.


Institutions are worldwide organisations that have huge power they earn a lot of money and create other small companies and they all would make a huge amount of money. A media institution are a company which owns a large number of companies in several mass media such as television, radio, publishing movies and the internet. They strive for policies that speed up their control of the markets around the word. The film institution deal with the creation and distribution of advertising, entertainment, and information services. 20th Century fox, Warner Bros, Universal pictures and Lions gate are all big film institutions and are also well known film institutions which make the films. 20th Century Fox is one of the biggest film institutions, they have a well known logo and have made such successful and popular films which have made them a lot of money. The company was founded in 1935 in New York City by a guy called William Fox they are owned by a news corporation, even though they were one of the late film institutions they still got bigger and better very quickly. Some of their popular well known films are avatar, star wars, the Simpson movie, home alone and many more.

WALT DISNEY COMPANY.


Walt Disney media is also one of the largest media organisations in he world especially in America, they have theme parks globally and own and operates the ABC broadcast television network such as Disney channel and ESPN. Its revenue in 2010 was $38 billion.

Preliminary Task

In today's lesson we looked at different editing shots which were match on action, shot reverse shot and 180 rule.

Match on action is a editing technique which is a very simple technique where perspective of the camera changes during the scene and the scene continues to flow; its all about continuity. In my group we had a conversation where Carla couldn't to an essay and the camera was just on her but then the perspective of the camera changed with Marnie and me joining her in the conversation with us all doing the essay, Sam was recording it all.

Shot reverse shot is a editing technique where one character is shown looking at another character and then that is followed by a reverse angle where the other character is then shown looking back at the first character. In my group me and Marnie had a conversation and Sam recorded me looking at her and then Marnie looking at me. 

180 rule is a editing technique where you can not cross the line of action, you have to keep the camera position within a field of 180. In my group me, Sam and Marnie had a conversation about the school where we kept the camera position at 180. 

We started off our group with just me, Marnie and Carla and did one video of match on action but it didn't go so well as we couldn't think of what to say in our conversation. Sam then joined our group and we was more planned in our conversation so it was much better and we ended up completing our task and doing all three shots, match on action, shot reverse shot and 180 rule.

We edited our videos my imovie, we had different clips but with imovie we was able to cut the parts we didn't want and join all the clips together.

Film openings similarities and differences

Film Openings

James Bond - Quantum of solace 

TED

The Vow

Anuvahood

Saw 7

In these film openings there are a lot of similarities for example close ups; all 5 films show close up shots, some to show tension that something is going to happen and some to just show relationship between the characters. When there is tension in these films the music changes dramatically from being slow to fast this builds up the tension and draws you into the film and it also shows something extreme is about to happen these are things these 5 openings had in common.

There were also differences in these film openings, the James bond quantum of solace showed a lot of pan shots which showed speed and different angles. The comedy film TED was a lot more different from the action and horror film as there was much slower, calm music and not fast loud music which brought up the tension in those films. The comedy TED also had a first person narrator at the beginning which gave you an insight of what the film is going to be like as you go along. 

Films can be very different or very similar depending on the genre. 

Saw 7 Opening Scene

Saw 7 the final chapter is a horror and psychological thriller, you see a lot of extreme close ups which intrigues you to see whats happening it also shows you the emotion on the main characters faces. You see long shots on the crowd of people that are there who are not the main characters. The music is very loud, fast and high pitch this shows fear and also builds up tension. Close ups are on the figures of the film to show the audience whats really going on. From the opening scene's you can straight away tell its a horror film by the background music as it straight away comes in with fast, loud music when you see the main characters it does not gradually get fast. So you could see there is tension as the film shows the main characters which shows there will be something happening all the way through it.

The opening setting of Saw 7 the final chapter was seen to be in a high street which was during the day, there was no bad weather so you will assume there was nothing bad happening at first but as the film goes on the fast dramatic music is played which showed something extreme is about to happen and gave you suspense. You could also tell that the film was modern as the characters looked like they were from this generation.

The plot was easy to understand and very interesting so you would want to carrying on watching the film to see what was going to happen next the whole film is like a game that different things will happen each time with different people which makes you want to carry on and watch the ending of the film.

The opening scene is very gruesome but realistic although it could put you off the film it can also make you want more!

I decided to pick media studies for A-Levels because i'm interested in magazines, movies and all the media industry so I love learning about it, I watch movies a lot so I am able to write about and analyse them for example writing reviews etc. I also find that i can be very creative and original when designing or making things and this will help me throughout this media course. I love watching different genres of films so in media you will be able to research how the films were made and even make your own opening film and that is something I will ind fun to do and I am really interested to do. 

Media will also challenge me to work hard and be creative as you have to be original and creative in most of your tasks in Media. You will also need to make sure all your work is appealing and presentable which i am also really good at. I think that picking Media was a good choice for me as i am willing to work to the best ability and be creative in all my tasks.