Problems

We had a few problems with our opening sequence.

One of the problems we had was the phone booth shot. This was supposed to be through the stalkers eyes however, when we first filmed this we used a zoom and this showed that it wasn't through the stalkers eyes. We then shot this again, but realised that we didn't think the shot worked well with our opening sequence. 

Some the shot we had shot were jumpy, this was because they were not shot using a tri-pod, we then cut these shots so the jumpy parts were cut out and left us we a shot perfect for our opening sequence. 

Another problem we had was a working problem not a filming or editing problem. Because the group live in different secret locations and have very hectic social lives it was difficult to meet up and film. 

When we were taking photographs it was difficult to shoot some of the pictures. For example, we had pictures of Charlotte and Paul up a tree, Charlotte got stuck in this tree and David had to carry her out. 

There was also lack of communication skills as David did a sponsored silence for a week, so had to write down all of his views and opinions, but his pad was stolen.

We also had problems importing, as it kept stopping so we had to start importing again. 

Our Own Analysis

Overall we thought that our opening sequence worked well. We liked the use of different camera angles that are featured in our opening sequence, we believe this worked well. Most of the shot we used were panning shots however, we did have some that were eye level. The vinyl shot are different though. A lot of the shots were aerial shots, this is where the shot is taken from an overhead position. We also used point of view shots. This is when Charlotte is walking and the stalker is behind her, the shot of the car is also a POV shot.

We also used a juxtaposition. This is the shots of the mug and the writing. You see the first part of the shot, this is a panning shot, then you have shots in between this and the other mug shot, when the ink drips onto the paper. We really like theses shot and we believed that they looked better in black and white and creates a more creepy atmosphere. 

The music is both diegetic and non-diegetic. The music is diegetic on most of the shots, its non-diegetic on two shots, the shot where Charlotte is walking and the car driving past. 

Titles

The titles featured in our opening sequence are:

• S3-84 Thriller 2008
  

• A Silent Sound Production Presents
  

• A Howard Guy Film
  

• Charlotte Carrington
  

• Film Editing By David Haines 
  

• Cinematography By Molly Jeakings
  

• Original Music By Elvis Presley
  

• Produced By Paul Wells
  

• Directed By
• Charlotte Carrington
• David Haines 
  
• Molly Jeakings 
  
• Paul Wells

• Love Me Tender
  

Love Me Tender

OUR FINAL VERSION

Some feedback on the feedback of our project that we made after initial feedback.

For my final blog i would like to bring up the points made by my fellow classmates regarding our final cut of the thriller project.
FIRST THINGS FIRST cinematography we got immense feedback on the vinyl shots; which was expected (by Paul at least..., and then its still only down to interpretation).YEAH!!!!!! However a few people were a tad confused we apologise for any disconcerting effects this may have had upon the audience. The clips that were confusing was the car scene which was supposed to add a confusing element to our project. so basically thats all good. We also had good feed back of the clips that show the photos going onto the wall.

Apparently not enough tension was created which to some extent i do agree with i believe that some of our shots were drawn out too long. How ever we ran out of time to really do any thing about that but psssh.





From Paul's subtle and overwhelmingly immense evaluation of our cinematography to my evaluation of our evaluations on editing. We asked the kind audience what they thought
what the thought of the pace. Generally it was considered that it was quite slow, which, in comparison to the music is what we were aiming for. However, we had intended to try and get the white board picture build up scene to perhaps be faster,to build up more of a feeling of thee pace, determination and obsession of the man stalking the victim. We also asked the viewers to kindly to comment on the transitions, of which reactions were generally positive, and it was shown to be a good choice that we used transitions sparingly.

Feed Back

1-Cinematography
- Can you pinpoint the three most effective shots and explain why they stood out.
Some people really liked the cup with the writing.
The ink dropping onto the paper.
The photo wall explains allot in the story.
The record player is very professional and works well.
- Do the variety of camera shots linked to the thriller conventions?
Not really, not enough tension or mystery.

2-Editing
- Do you like the pace of editing and why?
Some places the editing was too slow, but it fitted in with the music.
The pace reflected the slow and eerie atmosphere, this worked well.
- Are the transitions appropriate, and why?
The transitions work well
The fade transitions are effective.
They fit with the overall pace of the music.

3-Sound
- Does the soundtrack create and atmosphere?
Yes, its appropriate, however a little bit slow at times.
Love the song, makes it seem like a tragic love story.
Could' have used more stringed and higher pitched instruments.
The song goes a bit boring at the end.
The music fits in with the story line.
- Do you think the static works well and why?
OK, but it could be quieter.

4- Mise En Scene
- Does the lighting work effectively in creating contrast between shots?
Yes, however, a little too bright to give the thriller effect.
Black and white worked well however the lighting all seemed similar.
Yes, it is appropriate.
Could have used different colour effects and tones.
-Is the Mise en Scene appropriate to the genre.
Yes.

5-Overall Effect.
- Does the opening sequence pose any questions, and what are they?
Who was the girl?
Didn't understand the shoe shot.
what do the pictures mean?
Whats happening - intriguing.

Transitions

WHERE THE TRANSITIONS ARE FEATURED
We added transitions to our final cut in between some of the shot to make our opening sequence run smoother and overall look much better. Most of the transitions that we put into our opening sequence were either going into or coming out of the vinyl shots. Most of the transitions we used were fades or dissolves, we believe these were the best transitions to use as they made the change between shots more gradual and made the sequence flow.

LIGHT CHANGE
We thought that they worked best near these shots because they were so different to the rest of the clips, this may be because of the light change. Sometimes this light change made the clip change more obvious and it was not up to our high standards and it did not look of a good quality. For example, some of the shots we had had very dim and faded light and this didn't look right next to the vinyl shots as they had very bright light in comparison.

BLACK AND WHITE CLIPS
We turned some of the clips that were featured in our opening sequence black and white. This is because as a group we felt it made them look a whole lot better and more professional. We made the shots of the mug and writing black and white, as we thought the mug was brightly coloured and didn't look very nerve racking and it gave off a completely different atmosphere and effect which we did not like. We also turned the clip of Charlotte walking and the clip of the car driving past black and white, this was because they looked better and more thriller like, we also blurred these shot to make them slightly more unclear, we thought this worked well as it was a thriller.

The lord of the blogs: The return of the bloggist

The credits in our thriller are considered by some to be utterly sublime. The credits in mention are done mainly on the vinyl scenes for numerous reasons. What are those reasons i hear you scream well firstly the vinyl clips are substantially longer than our other clips so it allows time for our credits to fade in and out also giving time for the audience to cast there eyes upon them and read them with glee rather than them rush in and make them unreadable.

Secondly there is not an immense amount of action or light change in the clips thus the audience wont miss out on to much which they could easily, on some of our high octane and furiously intense scenes. All in all the audience is left in perfect comfort rather than having to make reading the credits a chore.

Soundtrack

As we have said before we decided to use Elvis's Love Me Tender, as a primary sound track to the film, of which it would also share its title.
We have also added static to the beginning, which we found after a short search on Google. Although it come from a radio, rather than a vinyl, the effect is pretty much the same, and although not authentic, we thought it had a more menacing sound that adds to the abstract uncertainty.

Our Progress

INTRODUCTION
We have made good progress with our opening sequence. So far we have decide which clips we want to use and the order the clips are in.

CHARLOTTE WALKING
We have used clips of Charlotte walking, this is supposed to look like it is through the stalkers eyes and we believe we have achieved this.

VINYL
We also have used clips of the vinyl playing the record "Love Me Tender" by Elvis, these clips will have the credits written over the top. The vinyl shots that Molly made are really well shot. She has shot the vinyl from different angles and the group agreed that they are quality.

NEWSPAPER
We have included clips of newspapers with particular words cut out such as: "deaths", "emotional goodbye" and "blood", these relate to the murders the stalker has committed. We have also used props in these clips such as a pair of shoes and scissors, we have zoomed in on these props and sometimes this makes the shots unclear, this was the effect we aimed to achieve. The lighting in this shot is not very good, it makes the shot dim and shadowy, however, we thought this effect worked well.

CAR DRIVING
We have a shot of a car driving. This clip is there to confuse the viewer and make them ask questions. We are thinking about changing the colour of this clip and make it black and white.

PHOTOS
We took pictures and covered a wall with them and made several different panning shots of these pictures. Firstly the pictures didn't have scribbled out faces, then we put different clips in between these clips then towards the end of the of the opening sequence the faces get scribbled out as the sequence progresses. This shows who the stalker has killed or is going to killed.

FLICKERING PHOTOS
The group also loved Davids shots of the photos and how he made them flicker as more pictures were added to the wall. He did this by making still shots of the wall then stopped filming then added more pictures to the wall then made more still shots of it. We sped up these clips, as it took up to much time , and some of the clips were too long. We then slowed it down at the end and focused on a picture of Charlotte.

MUG AND WRITTING
We also had clips of a mug, with writing underneath the mug. This shows how much the stalker loves Laura, the girl who Charlotte plays. We also have ink dripping onto the page for an eerie effect.

THE CLIPS
Clip 1: Shot of man's hand putting needle on vinyl and the song begins.
Clip 2: Panning of photos.
Clip 3: Zooming out on the word "Deaths", this is a newspaper shot.
Clip 4: Panning of mug and writing that the stalker has made.
Clip 5: Vinyl.
Clip 6: Zooming out on scissors, newspaper shot.
Clip 7: Charlotte walking, filmed behind a tree.
Clip 8: Ink dropping on paper.
Clip 9: Vinyl
Clip 10: Panning of pictures, closer shot than before.
Clip 11: Car driving past.
Clip 12: Zoomed in on one picture, two faces get scribbled out.
Clip 13: Vinyl
Clip 14: Zooming out on pictures and every one's face except Charlotte's are scribbled out.
Clip 15: Zooms in on a picture of Charlotte, dims towards the end.
Clip 16: Vinyl
Clip 17: Pictures begin to be put on the wall.
Clip 18: More pictures are added to the wall, begins to speed up.
Clip 19: More pictures are added to wall, faster than the shots before.
Clip 20: Zooming in on shoes, Newspaper shot.
Clip 21: Vinyl
Clip 22: More pictures added to the wall, speeds up.
Clip 23: More pictures added to the wall, speeds up.
Clip 24: More pictures added to the wall, speeds up.
Clip 25: More pictures added to the wall, speeds up.
Clip 26: More pictures added to the wall, speeds up.
Clip 27: More pictures added to the wall, speeds up.
Clip 28: More pictures added to the wall, speeds up. Zooms in on Charlotte.
Clip 29: Vinyl
Clip 30: Zooms in on Charlotte.
Clip 31: Vinyl. Man's hand taking needle off, songs ends.

blog is my life

we decided to remove the phone booth section from our opening due to the fact we strongly believed the current shots we had were bellow par to our immense standards.If we had sufficient time remaining we would most likely find a more suitable location and thoroughly try to get the perfect shot. Alas this is not the case and we sadly have to abandon this once epic idea.

However upon careful consideration from the entire group we think that the opening as a whole works significantly better without the telephone booth bit anyway. It has a more dark eeiree feel to it so all is well that ends well.

blog it =)

after our rough cut we looked at the feed back we had received and noticed that a few people thought many of the clips were too long. Upon careful analysis of our work we came to the conclusion these people were right. So we have shortened most of our clips to coincide with more conventional methods of editing thrillers.

We as a collective unit have also decided to cut up our clips and mix them about more to add a sense of dread and confusion to our project.The sense of dread is needed to build the atmosphere and to create tension and depth all of which are vital to the thriller essence.

Extras

Mise en Scene


we'll record the vinyl player in many different shots as if they were all the same it could become too repetitive.



In the clip where the stalker is watching the girl in the phone box we will use hand held camera. We'll use the typical old phone booth as it adds to the atmosphere, and obvious to the viewer.



In the clips with the scribbled writting on the paper, we'll scribble out certain phrases to show the stalkers anger and confusion.

Feed Back on Rough Cut

1-Use of Mise en Scene
Not obvious where it is which adds to the thriller conventions.
2-Cinematography
Record player adds to the atmosphere.
The ink spots work well.
Some shots are confusing.
Some shots at the begining were good, however deterioated toward the end.
Very good shots of the record player.
3-Editing
Flowed smooothly.
Credits needed to enhance the film.
Too light, could be slightly more sinister.
reinforces the contradiction with the events and character.
4.Sound
messed up static at the beginning is good.
Music makes it seem like a tragic love story.
Contradicts the events/paper titles, and gives an insight into the killers personality.
Timing of music track, ad record player was good.
5-Genre conventions
Newspaper clippings work well.
not a clear link to a thriller.
Photos on the wall.
Scribbling on the faces.

Rough Cut

Animatic

This is our animatic for the Thriller incorprating our preliminry ideas on what images will be within the opening scene, and the time they are on screen for.

Sound

The opening scene of our thriller is to introduce the main themes of the film and introduce the protaganist, and her life, while keeping the antagonist in the shadows. As with all good thrillers, the antagonist is always there, something your always aware of, but, just as in jaws, if you keep the threat in mystery, it can become a lot more intimidating when its an idea, rather than a rubber model...


To do this we wanted to try and keep the mood quite melodramatic, with a sense of irony within its soundtrack, as we found that sound is fundemental in creating the atmosphere required for a thriller.

As a past example, the film silent hill made fantastic use of Johhny Cash's ring of fire, and so did Blue veltet (title of the film and soundtrack), in creating a contradictory effect, while remaining quite eery, as most songs of this era and style seem to have.

After deciding on this style of music we wanted, we searched google and you tube for popular songs of the 50s and came across the songs by elvis presely- 'Love me Tender', and 'And I Cant Help Falling in Love'


Love me Tender



And I Cant Help Falling In Love


Desicion

After much thought we decided that 'Love me Tender' would create a much more eerie atmosphere and would contrast more with the clips we had behind it. Also, it shows that he wants the girl that he is stalking to love him.

Ideas

We had a few different ideas. The first idea we had was about filming on a train and on the tube. We thought that a train would be effective as there is no escape and no way to get away. However, this would be difficult to film, and we would have to limit what we shot. There may interruptions from the public which would disrupt our filming.

Another idea we had was to do with stalking someone. We could take pictures of one of us and cover a wall with pictures of that person. We could also you newspaper clippings and letters, etc. To make this more eerie we could write the persons name in blood to show the extent of the stalking. We would use short,fast, abstract clips to make this more edgy and confusing. We could also leave props around such as scissors, and a leaking fountain pen, and screwed up paper from the letters. We could photograph the girl with a man, but the face of the man is scribbled out to show the stalkers jealously. Also we would use shadows crossing the picture to add to the atmosphere. We could also have the persons name scribbled over and over again. The idea is that the stalker is obsessed with the girl and wants to get rid of everyone close to her.

We also had an idea of using a old record/vinyl player, and focus on the needle skipping.


This is from the film Sea of Love. We like how it crackles at the beginning, also its a nice record, you associate it with happy images, so if we put disturbing images with the record playing throughout the opening sequence and cut the clips so they flicker back and forth to the pictures and the record it would make it very disturbing.


We also had an idea of photographing the girl with friends, family members, her boyfriend etc, and scribbling out their faces and then writing the date of their death above them. Some of the dates will be in the future and others in the past, this will suggest that the stalker is killing off everyone close to her.

Analysis

Work that we liked...



This opening Scene although being an opening for a film festival has helped give us some ideas for our thriller. Forinstance, you can create a story in a more abstact manner, that could be represented in a way more artistically appropriate to the subject of the film.


Opening Sequence of Se7en-Analysed



The opening music enters dramatically, coming from silence.
The opening credits are appropriate to the feeling they want to create, being scribbled and flashing, adds a sense of vice to the film, and relates it back into him writing like a scrap book of his life. This is enforced by the clips being out of focus as it may give an insight into the mind of the character.
The cuts come quickly, and are fast, with close ups on the body testing,
Lighting is also effective, allowing you to only see what they want you to see, and leaving a sense of mystery to the characters.


Previous Student work-Analysed



In this students' opening sequence we liked how in the opening credits the number 36 flickers and flashes across the screen. We also like how there is a close up on the eye as you can hear the heart beating. We found this very effective. However, we did think that the heart beat could of been more effective by speeding it up. Also the music did not fit the genre, and the beginning was more like a romance than a thriller. It didn't really leave you asking questions, as all parts of the back story seemed answered.

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