Feedback

Good Points
- Sound is really different and effective- Love it!
- Good location
- Dog is cute
- Good sound track- contripuntal sound makes it more creepy
- Contrast of the scene adds a sense of mystery to the opening
- Really like the use of close up shots are the beginning as this leaves the viewer in suspense and creates tension which is really effective
 - The combination between the diegetic and non diegetic sound is effective and builds up the tension for the audience
- The camera angle being on the side when the girl is laying on the floor is effective as it brings the audience down to her level which shows a connection between the girl and the audience which is effective
- OMG!
- camera work, angles, sound and concept are all really good
- nothing bad to say, amazing
- Brilliant!
- loving the actress (mum) and dog
- sound, camera angles, lighting, everything is brilliant!
- brillian opening, enough is given out to the audience without giving too much away
- in the last scene the tension is built excellently
- not a bad word to say about it
- good use of lighting in the barn- very dark and mysterious
- the soundtrack is excellent, it really fits each scene perfectly
- good use of camerashots, had a good variety of different shots

Improvements
- Talking on the phone/ voicemail was a bit cheesy
- titles disappeared a bit too fast
- a few more shots of the barn location could have worked
- unsteady shot in the kitchen scene is not as effective compared to others which are well shot
- i thought the tiger proguction abel didnt bleng with the theme the titles created, perhap a change here?
- it seems more like a horror than a thriller because of the way the scene ends.

Final Cut Disconnected

Taa Daa! :D

Thriller Film Panes

 

(Order from left to right, down a level and left to right again)
Image one: Thriller Conventions: This screengrab shows the shadow of the Antagonist who has kidnapped a teenage girl.

Image two: Thriller Coventions: This screengrab gives the viewer a sense of voyeurism.

Image three: Costume: A mid-long shot of the charater Jade's costume, with tears and mud all over her clothes.

Image four: Props: Jade is talking into a pink mobile phone.

Image five: Title: 'Disconnected' in a slightly distorted font.

Image six: Lighting: This pane shows how the barn in dimly lit.
Image seven: Location: This screengrab is of the barn location, it is dark and dirty.We chose this image because it gives a good feel of the overall scene and it shows a large amount of the scene. We also really liked the lighting and angle of the shot.

Image eight: Camera work: A close up of Jade's hands bound up over a bloody handprint.

Image nine: Camera work: This screengrab is a point of view shot from Jade watching the kidnapper about to smash the phone.

THE TEAM

Best and Worst Thrillers

The Top 5 Thrillers voted for on IMDB are;
1) Goodfellas
2) Fight Club
3) The Dark Knight
4) Inception
5) Pulp Fiction

The Bottom 5 Thrillers voted for on IMDB are;
1) The Hellcats
2) Way of the Vampire
3) The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek, Part II
4) Shark: Rosso nell'oceano
5) Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace

Our favourite Thriller films;
Michaela = Inception & The Taking of Pelham 123
Alistair = Shallow Grave & The Day After Tomorrow
Holly = Shutter Island & Premonition
Bekki =Leon & Taken

Analysis of Taking of Pelham 123

Taking of Pelham 123 is an action thriller. It is about the train, Pelham 123, being hijacked by four armed men requesting money. The film is about one man, the protagonist, saving the people as hostages and getting the money to Ryder in time.

Camerwork
At the beginning there is a establishing shot of New York city high rise panning around the tallest buildings. It then moves to a high angle looking down on different streets of New York, with taxis and crowds f people, moving to a close up of the subway sign, showing the location of the movie.
They use lots of fast zooms and quick, stiff movements for side to side. This makes the scene disorientating and confusing.
There are many long shots and mid shots then a sudden close up on the faces of the hence men, showing their importance in the film and making them stand out to us.
When the location moves to the office they use a slow pan mid long shot to show the new location. Then over the shoulder shots during the conversation.
They use some hand held when in the crowds of people to make it seem that we are really there in the crowd ourself.
Then there is a close up of the gun then a high angle long shot of the subway.
At the end of the opening it goes back to the high angle of New York high rise.

Sound
At the beginning there is only the sound of a train moving and then a long beep. This then suddenly changes to ambient sound with quiet train sounds in the background. When the film goes to the crowds of people the soundtrack suddenly starts. it has heavy base sounds and fast tempo with some rapping, there are still sounds of trains moving. The music stops just as suddenly as it started when it changes to the office where a quiet ambient sounds starts with office noises e.g. talking, papers moving and quiet beeps. There is a loud guitar sound when change of location then it all stops with a sound of a loud train beep.

Editing
There are lots of different editing techniques used in this thriller which is one of reasons I find this such a great film. At first the production titles come on screen it seems to grow in size. The picture starts as a small square in the middle of the screen and slowly moves forward, drawing as in. During the establishing shot titles come on to the screen with a sliding black bar. The black bar covers part of the shot, below the bar the shot of the city flickers and the city turns dark. The titles them self flicker is well and change colour from whit to light blue then back to white. When changing from the city high rise to closer shots of the city two footages of the same piece of city, one bright and one dark, are merged together in a flicker then cuts to the next scene. The scenes  change quickly with cut transactions however when there is a close up on Ryder's face the footage is slowed down, making our attention focus on him. A black screen slides on from the right with the film name. Behind the name small blue bars slide past that look like train windows zooming past. In the office the main transaction used is a cut however after the establishing shot of the office a wipe is used which follows a man walking past the camera, this creates a very good effect. The main transaction used in the subway is a fade mixed with a zoom. The black bar is used again here for the names of actors. Another name appeared on to the screen by a slide and it looked as if it were being pulled on by the passing train, and another is sliding forward through a tunnel, this also looks like a train.
When there is a change in location there is a very fast montage of images that blur together before settling on the office. All of this is in parallel editing. To end they have a simple black screen with block white writing say the time '1.58 pm'
Lots of the editing is done to link or fit with trains, they do this to show the importance of the trains and to show what the basis of the film in based on.

Mise-en-scene
Pace - The pace of the opening sequence is very fast when in the streets and subway, this builds up tension and confusion on location and the people. In the office location the the pace is slower showing the normality in everyday working life for these people.
Costume - The hence men are wearing similar clothing. Ryder is the lead man therefore looks the worst. He is wearing a black hat, long black coat and sunglasses, therefore hiding most of his face. He is also holding a black bag which we do not know the content. The other hence men are also wearing the same type of costume however theyare not n black showing that Ryder is the most important out of the 'bad guys'
In the office everyone is wearing normal work clothing, shirt with ties and smart trouser or skirt. This shows the normality in this situtation.
Props - The whole opening is centered around a train, with things linking to them and images of the train itself. Also the bag that the hence men have makes it mysterious.
Colour - In the office the lightng is lighter with a blue tint to it, making it seem calm and technical. The subway is dark, grey and slightly dingy. This shows the difference between the two locations.
Body Language - The Hence men are all standing very still waiting for the train, showing that they are waiting in anticipation however they look as if they are calm and know what is about to happen. The people in the office seem very relaxed as they are in a comfortable location and everyday work, not knowing anything strange is going to happen.
Location - There are two location in the opening which are the main and nearly only locations used in the film. There is the office and the subway train.

Thriller Director - Danny Boyle

Danny Boyle was the director for such films such as 127 Hours, Shallow Grave and Trainspotting. He is one of the seven directors to win the Golden Glode, Director's Guild, BAFTA and Oscar for the same movie, Slumdog Millionaire. Some of Boyle's tade mark moves are that he uses the opening shot is usually a shot from the middle of the movie, often uses electronic music, kinetic camera and bright colourful landscapes.

"This is a film about how precious life is. And it's only precious because of other people. It's not precious in itself, which is what we sometimes think - we think the will to survive is an individualistic thing. ... But it's actually connected to other people. And that's what the life essence is really about - it's always about other people, even in the loneliest places."

Rough Cut - DISCONNECTED

Rough cut Analsis:

Logo Research

 looking at various logos of production companies, we played around with words and came up with TIGER DOOR PRODUCTIONS, a bit of a play on the 'lionsgate' productions.
Holly drew the tiger and we scanned it onto the computer where we edited the background and text on photoshop.

Research for intro music in thriller

For the beginning of our film we wanted something a bit eerie but urban, combining classical music like piano or violin with drum beats and bass.

A great example for this is Kanye West's song Runaway

Font

 
This is the font that we decided to use for our titles,we chose it because of it computer geerated appearance.

David Fincher - Thriller Director

David Fincher is a successful thriller director, he has directed films such as Se7en, Fight Club, The Game and Panic Room. When he was 18 years old he went to work for Korty Films where he worked at ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) from 1981 - 1983 however left there to direct his own television adverts and music videos. Fincher then made it to directing films by founding Propaganda in 1987. 


Fincher has some trade marks that he uses in his thriller films such as a single inserted frame, for example in Fight Club he used several single frames that flashed on the screen in the middle of a scene. He also uses he characters as silhouettes during a scene in the shadows so you cannot make out their faces such as Kevin Spacey in Se7en. Fincher's films often end in suicide whether it be attempted or successful. They also often have green or blue tinted colour temperature and low key lighting. And his most used shots are low angles and wide shots.


Here is a list of all the films David Fincher has directed so far in his career;
- Alien 3 
- Se7en
- The Game
- Fight Club
- Panic Room
- Zodiac
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Social Network
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

"People will say, 'There are a million ways to shoot a scene,' but I don't think so. I think there're two, maybe. And the other one is wrong." - David Fincher.

Analysis of Thriller - After Life

After.Life

After Life is a psychological and supernatural thriller. The name suggests a supernatural however while watching the film there are 'mind tricks' involved as you do not know whether the girl is alive or dead or in the afterlife.

Conventions

For psychological

-Anna wakes up and is being told she is dead however she is breathing and talking therefore we do not know the truth about her identity.

-Anna has the trauma of her life and the car crash which she still has nightmares about.

-She is not sure if she is real or not. 

For supernatural

-The antagonist is said to have an ability to see people between life and death.

-There is a plot twist at the end where we do not know if this is true or if he is the one killing them.

Mise-en-scene

Props - The first scene the antagonist only has four items, a flower which he puts on the dead man's suit, and a needle, medicine, and a camera on a table. The next scene there are very little props as they are in a apartment where the only prop used is a cigarette. The scene changes again to a school where there is are chicks in a class room which also makes diegetic sound. As this is parallel editing the scene flicks from Anna to Mr Hutton. Anna has props such as paper, pen and also a pot of pills and Mr Hutton has a coffin and a board showing his profession.

Costume - Anna - a red under garment. The colour red was a good colour to choose as it stands out from the rest of the white apartment and is also the colour associated with death and blood. She later has on working clothes of a school teacher of dull colours.

Paul - wears a suit for work which also has dull colours apart from a blue tie which stands out showing he has importance in the film.

Mr Hutton - He is also wearing a suit with all the colours different shades of grey showing his relation with death.

Body Language - Mr Hutton also stands up straight with pride as if he were better then others. Paul is more slouched however is trying to reach out to Anna by putting a hand on the glass she is showering behind. Anna also stands up straight however more with tensions then pride however there are times when she seems to each up, this is when she slouches against her desk.

Editing

-The opening of this thriller uses parallel editing, showing the protagonist and the antagonist in their lives before they have met each other. 

-The main transition used is a cut. When the filming goes from the antagonist to the credits there is a flash dissolve to a white screen using a flash from a camera as a link. The same transition is used to go back to the storyline.

-The credits are red writing on a white background where they dissolve slowly in and out of focus. 

-A dissolve is used each time the filming goes to a different location. Making the change in location important.

Camera work 

The different distances of the camera goes from one extreme to the other, this makes you anticipate as you feel someone bad is about to happen, it also makes you disorientated. The different angles of the shots lets you see who is the important character in the scene for example at the very beginning of the film there is a low angle shot of the antagonist and a high angle shot of a dead man who he is talking to. This shows that the antagonist has the power in this situation has control on the man in the coffin. In a lot of the shots there is a small amount of movement that could be described as hand held however it is too smooth and precise to be. The movement seems to follow the movement of a character, this also makes it disorientating and makes you feel as if you are really there watching them. They also use some slow zooms. Here is a list of some of the shots in sequence;

Cantered low angle

extreme close up

close up high angle

Pan of body

birds eye view close up, zooming out moving to side

...

establishing shot

over the shoulder

extreme close up

slow zoom

hand held

extreme close up

establishing

long shot 

over the shoulder

...

tracking 

extreme long shot

long shot

extreme long shot 

close up 

extreme long shot

close up 

Sound

At first there is no soundtrack which makes the scene creepy as the only sounds are diegetic such as foot steps, water dripping and a sudden camera flash is well as speech. After the camera flash the sound track begins with the credits. The sound track is mainly played by the piano in a slow minor key which makes it mysterious, upsetting and very eerie. There is also heavy breathing and cymbals this adds to the feel of the music. The music then turns quiet however is still played over the footage and non-diegetic sound for a little while until it stops at the change of location. When the soundtrack starts again it is very quiet however builds in volume for a few minutes until it then stops to the sound of echoing footsteps and lights fuzzing then sparking out.

Filming Analysis

Good Points 

• We had our actresses assigned long before our filming began
• We didn't have to retake many shots because most were successful the first time.
• We had all props close at hand from planning.
• Our actresses had previous experience in amateur dramatics so they were confident.
• We worked well within our group and took on different roles to best fit our personal skills.
• We already had two locations available which were perfect for our scenes.
• Our two locations were easily acssessable as they were owned by members of the group.
• We had effective costume and make up.
• We got all the shots we needed from the shot list.

 Bad Points

• The actress who played Jade got very cold, her arm actually going numb due to the unheated location used for the hideout scene.
• We had to wait for it to get dark before we could film the kitchen scene, to avoid continuity errors.
• Some of the shots in the hideout scene were too dark and had to be manually lit with a torch or edited in Final cut to make them visible.

Target Audience

The target audience for Disconnected would be teenagers and young adults. This is because conventionally thrillers are aimed at this age range. Younger children may find scenes disturbing.we are going to appeal to our target audience through the micro elements.

Focus test.

Certificate Rating

Our chosen certificate for Disconnected is a 12 because it conforms to the criteria of a 12 film from BBFC, which include:

Discrimination: Discriminatory language or behaviour must not be endorsed by the work as a whole. Aggressive discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly condemned.

Drugs: Any misuse of drugs must be infrequent and should not be glamorised or give instructional detail.

Horror:Moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted, provided disturbing sequences are not frequent or sustained.

Imitable behaviour: Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied, or appear pain or harm free.  Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language: Moderate language is allowed. The use of strong language must be infrequent.

Nudity: Nudity is allowed, but in a sexual context must be brief and discreet.

Sex: Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Sex references should not go beyond what is suitable for young teenagers. Frequent crude references are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme: Mature themes are acceptable, but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers.

Violence:Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context. Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated, and must have a strong contextual justification.

Story board

Font Research

Test Shots

 

The video above shows different shots, transitions and sound that we may use for our thriller opening. 

When editing the shots together we need to make sure the black screens inbetween shots are shorter then the film it self and so they keep the interest of the viewer withour being boring. In this video we have used a 'Fade in, Fade out Dissolve' for all transition between black screens, on the video this gets very repeatative however as there are going to be less shots in our opening we are going to keep the 'Fade in, Fade out Dissolve'

We tried different angles for the shots as we could not decide which would look the best, after watching through the test shots we have decided on which angles and distances we now want. For example, an extreme close up of Jades eye instead of a close up. a birds eye view shot of Jade lying down and with the phone next to her instead of a a straight angle from the floor. We also tried two panning shots, one using a tripod and the other hand held we decided to go for the use of a tripod.

The sound in this video is of 'Audio Track 33' which is of ambient sound, it was not long enough to fit to the end, therefore we had to have another to the end, however it does not truly fit as it goes quieter after building up the tension. In our opening we will either have a different sound or we will cut it so that the tension stays the same. 

In our thriller opening the kidnapping scene will be darker and Jade will be wearing torn and muddy clothes.