Friday, 10 December 2010



This is the rough cut of our thriller opening.
There are some changes to be made e.g. the titles, soundtrack and various shots.

Thursday, 9 December 2010

Italian Job Opening Scene


This is the opening scene of the Italian Job. This opening reflects our groups opening because of the timing of the music and the fact that there are men on the run.

Wednesday, 8 December 2010

What we have done so far

So far our group has completed the story board for our opening sequence. We have also decided on the score that will be playing in the background whilst the sequence is playing. The area where our opening will be filmed is Stratfield Road, we have also managed to get props such as fake guns, walki- talki's and a car. We will begin filming next week.

Wednesday, 24 November 2010

Thriller Moodboard
This is The Cover for the Bad Boys Movie

300 opening sequence analysis



The scene begins with the title "300" in a sketchy bloody font. It then goes to a man (who is known as a spartan) holding a baby (who then goes on to become the main actor) over a large cliff. At this point the audience would be tense as they are unsure if the man will drop the baby or not. There is also a medium close up on the baby's face to show its innocence.
The scene then cuts to a few years later when the baby boy has grown into a boy, he is being trained how to fight by his father. At this point the audience would be feeling shocked because it is not normal for a father to purposly train their child to become violent, at the end of the scene it shows the boy looking and probably feeling angry.
It then goes to show the father showing his son the spartan sheild and the boy (medium close up) nodding.
The next few shots then goes to the boy being subjected to a lot of violence.
It then shows the boy growing into a teenager and having to attack and kill a large wolf.
The scene then cuts to the teenager, who has now become a man, becoming king of sparta.

Monday, 22 November 2010

"The Silence of the Lambs" analysis

The opening sequence starts by setting the mise-en-scene. It is a foggy forest, then the first titles appear and they seem to be blunt and to the point. The movie stars Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald and more. It then goes on to show the title "The Silence of the Lambs". The background music sound is mysterious and somewhat dark, it sounds as though there is a choir of violins and chellos playing. Whilst the music is playing and the titles are appearing, the camera is also tracking through the scenery, it is showing the foggy forest from all sorts of different angles such as, a long shot, high angle, tracking and panning. As the scene proceeds is goes on to show a woman who has just finished climbing a steep cliff, she looks worn out and yet she begins to run. This creates a mysterious atmosphere as the audience is unaware as to why she running and whom she is running from. Whilst she is running there are also many different camera angles of her, all of which are tracking (as she is moving). After a few more minutes the audience comes to realise that the woman is infact not running from anything, she is doing an assult course as she works with the FBI. After this moment the atmosphere seens to change as before we thought it was mysterious because we were unsure as to why she was running, now that we have found out that she works with the FBI the audience might think that this movie is more action as most FBI movies invlove some amount of action. The mise-en-scene also changes as before the lady was running in a forest, now she is in a busy work building. Whilst all this is happening the credits are still rolling, this is showing the casting director, music producer, editor of the movie and more. The woman then enters what seems to be her bosses office, she then begins to stare at picture of what appears to be dead people.

Thursday, 4 November 2010

Convections of a Thriller Opening

Convections of a Triller Opening

Research on Triller Sub- genres



Fight Club (1999)
Director: David Fincher
Staring: Brad Pitt,  Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier and more.
Storyline: Fight Clud is an 1999 action thriller adapted from the 1996 novel with the same name written by Chuck Palahniuk. Edward Norton plays an unnamed protagonist, he is known as an "everyman" in the everyday american lifestyle. He is discontented by his "white collar" job, this is why he creates a fight club with a soap salesman named Tyler Durden, who is played by Brad Pitt.





Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Staring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, Kristanna Loken and more.
Stroyline: More then 10 years after Terminator 2 John Connor, who is played by Nick Stahl, now only exists as a drifter. He is descibed as "living off the grid", this way no more Terminators from the furture can hunt him down. Unfortunatly, SkyNet sends another Terminator back called T-X, this one is more powerful and more advanced then the T-1000 from the preivous movie.

Analysing "The Birds" scary scene



1st shot:  Long shot
2nd shot: Medium shot
3rd shot: Medium long shot (whilst tracking)
4th shot: Low angle mid shot, then turns into long shot whilst walking
5th shot: Mid shot
6th shot: Mid shot
7th shot: Medium close up
8th shot: Wide shot
9th shot: Medium close up
10th shot: Medium close up
11th shot: Medium close up
12th shot: High angle and wide shot
13th shot: Medium shot
14th shot: Close up
15th shot: Long shot, then it turns into a medium long shot
16th shot: A long shot turning into a low angle close up

1. What principles of continuity are used here? How successfully? Refer to specific shots / screengrabs.
The continuity in this scene was used successfully as it was able to flow from shot to shot. A prime example of this is when the lady character looks from the kitchen into the hallway. Due to this good use of continuity it keeps the audience in suspence and adds tension.

2. What is the effect of the editing on the viewer? What are we meant to feel at different stages? (ie before she enters the house, in the kitchen, in the corridor, in the bedroom, running away)?
During the opening of the scene we as the audience are unaware that something has happened in the house. this is due to the editing. In the opening shot it shows that it is a nice sunny day and this would show the audience that nothing has happened. Nevertheless as the scene proceeds the audience begins to realise that something has happened and we start to get different feelings about each shot during the scene.

3. What is the 'best bit' for you in this sequence in terms of learning new techniques and why?

The best bit for me in terms of learning new skills was when the lady first entered the house. This is because the minute this happens the mood of the scene changes completely, this is due to good editing and camera shots.

Sunday, 10 October 2010

Producers and Distributors

There is a 9 frame storyboard for the movie "Blade 2" staring Wesley Snipes. 
The producers are the people who create the movie as a whole, meaning the scenes, the plot and basically everything that is going to happen in the movie. They also control the amount of money given to the movie, which is important as all movies need some sort of income in order to make the movie. Some of the producers of this film are Avi Arad , Robert Bernacchi, Michael De Luca and Jon Divens.
The distributors are the people who are respobsible for giving the movie to the public e.g. cinema, dvd, blue-ray ect.

Wednesday, 29 September 2010

Thriller Image

The genre I chose to do was thriller/horror. This particiular picture shows me opening a door in a cautious way, this shows that I am unaware of what is on the otherside of the door which adds to the thriller/horror effect.

I decided to take this particiular picture as I believed that in most thriller/horror movies there is always a scene where the man/woman opens a door unknowingly and gets shocked at what they find on the otherside. Looking closely at my hand it is clear to see that I am not opening it a normal way, this possibly shows that I am aware that something is wrong but I am unsure of what it is. 

I am quite pleased with my shot as it does have the thriller/horror effect to it. The way I open the door adds to the effect and although there are no added effects if this particiular part was in a thriller movie I believe it would create great tension in the audience.

If I was to re-create the shot I would add extra effects so that the scene is clear and veiwers are aware of what is happen through this one picture. I would also try and take a more clear picture.