Today i have watched many thriller opening sequences to gain research on the genre, which will help me with the right techniques to use from the genre when it comes to filming and editing my own sequence. I have found key styles of editing cinematography mise en scene and sound through the different sequences i have watched.
Sound
- Use of dramatic music, such as deep sounds from instruments like violins and pianos. A noticeable effect used in thrillers is the use of crescendo's where the music start off quite and builds to a loud and dramatic piece, this really adds to the tense and dramatic mood.
- Use of sound bridges to link different scenes is a good way to help with the continuity of the editing.
Editing
- A good technique for Thrillers is to use fast paced editing it puts the audience on edge and adds to the shock and disorientation of typical thriller scenes.
Cinematography
- Fade to black transitions, these are really good to use to show that time has passed, and will be helpful in my project as i only have a short amount of time to convey my story.
- Use of extreme close ups in thriller genres is quite common, it displays the high emotions of the characters well and can add to the mystery of characters when you cant see very much
- Establishing shots are important in the opening sequence as the audience need to get an idea of where it is taking place and when, this can also be demonstrated by natural lighting, as the film could be set at the day time or night,this could also be a way to show time has passed. This is something i will take into account when planning my filming.
Mise en scene
- Use of props in thrillers seem to be quite important as most use weapons like guns to create drama, however this will be difficult due to the restricions i face (not having a Hollywood budget)
- Uniforms when involving important characters such as police officers
- I can consider using make up to make fake injuries like bruises and cuts
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| Watching and making notes on opening sequences |
This research has defiantly helped my knowledge of the genre and will influence my filming and editing decisions.
The blue tint connotates a cold mood, suggesting also that now time has passed the relationships have changed and perhaps not so friendly any more. After the montage it cuts to black, this editing technique shows the viewer that time has passed and builds slight tension as we wait to see what is happening. There is a sound bridge of diegetic sound, a man is speaking about dogs, as the shot pans over to the man we see a extreme close up of his face and think he is on his own, but as the shot zooms out we see a number of police officers waiting with him. The uniform here is an important choice to make sure the audience understand the nature of the scene. This montage has given the audience the opportunity to think about the significant pictures they are viewing which are reinvent to the storyline.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q2KMscDKpI
The Antagonist Character speaks directly to the audience, telling the audience about his plans to commit a bank robbery, the character is well spoken and confident giving the viewer the feeling that he is intelligent and well organised. He is in Key lighting against a black background to force the audience to pay attention to him, He stares at the camera making eye contact with the camera at all times in this sequence suggesting his confidence and dominant attitude are key features of his character his body language is very controlled and intimidating adding to the introduction of the character as a threatening character. A montage of clips from the 'prison' establish his villainous character. The background slowly appears as the character fishiness's his speech and this shot ends with a fade transition suggesting a change in time.
Non diegetic sound is used in the sound track the music is contrapuntal in the way it contradicts the picture the audience is viewing, the music is a generic convention of a Bollywood picture with Indian vocalists, where as the establishing shots display New York city in a Montage of shots, The first shot of this sequence is a slow tracking shot which focuses of a mysterious black van, the camera then rises upwards to give the audience a better view of what the van is doing as it drives further away from the camera. Close ups of artefact's are displayed in montages displaying an equilibrium and establishing setting, after these close ups the camera cuts to tracking shots and point of view shots of the Black van to suggest there is a significance to this vehicle, there is a shot where the character in the painting suit gets into the van and drives froward as the vehicle moves further away the camera tilts up to reveal a bridge which could suggest that this black van is going to effect the environment and surroundings around it, this shot also links into the close up shots of the artefact's showing that the Van is getting closer to this significant area using both shots in one.
As the van drives across the bridge there is a worms eye view shot of the bridge followed by a tracking shot of the van from the front, these shots link to the previous shot by revealing a location by tilting up to the bridge and then showing the van on the bridge in the next series of shots. The shots of the van are separated by more environmental shots such as innocent pedestrians walking in the streets re establishing the sense of equilibrium only to be disrupted by another character in the painters outfit.
To end the sequence the audience are gradually let into the mysterious van but the characters identity's are covered up by the white outfits and black sunglasses.
The aspects I would like to replicate for my Thriller opening are the way in which the environment and a mysterious object collide using cross editing, there is a very quick pace after the long cuts characters speech in the opening sequence which creates contrast and an interesting visual sequence.
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| notes whilst watching clip |
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| notes whilst watching clip |
I enjoyed the production of the Preliminary task but admittedly i underestimated the importance of planning and the overall importance of the blog.
with limited group members and less than an hour of filming time able to be used after the loss of original footage i was lacking shots such as characters completing the transition from standing to sitting, the film overall is short because of the lack of footage, missing the more visual and cinematic shots i would have liked to have used in the film.
i understand i broke the 180 degree rule during the opening of the video but that's because i lost the footage that links the two shots together of the character walking to the opposite door, it would have been a close up tracking shot of his feet tilting up towards his hand on the door handle.
i was unable to re shoot this in time due to the character dropping out of media.
i would have my video uploaded by now also but the video uploaded to you tube is not the finished product including non diegetic laugh tracks, booing and exciting music to create alot more tension, so i will wait until i am able to upload the clip i am more proud of than the current one available which also is weaker in production visually with bad cuts.
Just in case i do not get the time to actually do it, i was/am planning to create real tension and cinematic effect by taking such a trivial scene and adding intense music and sound effects to the footage this would make the finished product a lot stronger and touching to my public and viewers, but working on my own i am struggling to do this so we all will have to wait and see what i can achieve... exciting stuff
OK So we were set a task to do.... a BIG task involving editing filming planning and of course blogging, that's why I'm doing this blog to let you into the life of a future great ;) also to entertain you .. i hope anyway back to the story i have been dealt BIG blows during my time at Media my friends are dropping out like fly's! first George, and then my study buddy, my film crew and my final remaining media partner dropped out Jack, but i will continue to complete this task on my own :(
i would like to give a thanks to Jack Kinsdale And Also Tom Ryan who were involved with the filming of the project, due to the lack of numbers and general lack on stability in the group i did not have alot of footage to work with, it doesn't help that I ...well actually ill blame jack ... (because he doesn't get graded) :) recorded over our original great footage which was destined for certain Oscars and multiple Emmys of course, so working with the footage i had in the editing suite with the time ticking against me, i triumphantly began editing my masterpiece.
the idea of the piece is to show general skills displaying the 180 degree rule match on action and general filming and editing skills, we decided that the best way to display this would be to use multiple shots and reaction shots but most of all using a great deal of humor, unfortunately i had to sacrifice a lot of the shots i had in mind due to the LOST footage and the loss of time, but i feel there is still an element of humor in the ''masterpiece'' the plot involves a simple office clash with Gregory and his Nemesis. hope you all like the end product..