This blog has been marked. SJA 08/05/11

Convention of your chosen genre

.The conventions of an opening sequence are very important for a movie. This is because the opening sequence is where the titles appear and the logo and company name is introduced to the audience. It is very important because it also sets the mood on an audience for example a comedy movie may have fancy texts and bright colours with up beating non-digetic sound. In contrast a thriller movie may have slow titles appearing on the screen and slow background sound, with a black background, which sets the thriller mood. A opening sequence has many conventions such as

- Establishing shot to set the scene
* It must be exciting
*It must be able to draw the viewer in
* Must make the viewer want to see more
* Have good titles that draw in the viewer as soon as they start watching
* Make the viewer be curious and have questions
* Let the viewer be able to see the characters visually
* Lead the viewer into the story
* Do not give anything away
* Should be a good amount of time
* Create an atmosphere
* Good use of soundtrack that can set the tone/ mood


contact sheets to show the conventions of an opening sequence:
What does a title sequence look like?

I think that 'Dexter' is a very successful opening sequence as its quite cringe feeling when the character shaves as an audience I can actually hear the sound of it. This is called hyperbolic sound which has been used to create an atmosphere. It still uses all the connotations needed for the thriller genre, but adds everyday life activities to engage an audience and keep them interested. Red is a very prominate colour which is red and similar colours used as it expresses pain, death and anger. The contact sheet shows that each shot has been carefully thought about as it looks very artistic and presented well. Dexter has many of the above conventions, it is very good at pulling the audience in. As I watched Dexter I felt like I started to know what was happening, this character is the main character that is may be getting ready to go work. He is cooking up his food, cutting up his fruit. However the cinematography which is used shows it in a very different way, there are many close ups and extreme close ups which show the detail of each prop used in the frame.

Conventions of your chosen genre

The conventions of a title sequence are very important for a movie because this sequence sets the mood of the film. There is usually a black out first which indicates that it may be a thriller film.
These at the conventions of an opening sequence
• Variety of cinematography
• Short/long clips to build tension
• Quick shots
• Misty, dark rooms, woods, car parks, graveyard and derelict settings
• Blood and gore
• Thrilling scenes





- Dark lighting- low key lighting -shadows
- Opening sequence foreshadowing the ending of the film
- Match on action
- Psychological
- Clues throughout the film
- Twists in the plot
- use of Establishing shots and Close up/extreme close up shots- Low resonant sounding music
-Good use of special effects
- Bold, traditional font on titles, such as serif
- Use of quick, snappy cuts
-eery sound, which creates an unknown , mysterious mood with tension
-Objest/props that you don't expect to see in a carm film.
-Props to give the viewer an imagination.
-Strong colours such as red, black and dark colours.









I had chosen a series of shots from well known thriller films which are old and fairly new. I have created a contact sheet with some of the scenes in the film. I will be also discussing if I’m going to use or create something similar with my group. The first shot is taken from the film (Se7en, 1995, David Fincher, USA) this is a picture of a scilowet figure of a hand behind a piece of paper. On the paper there is writing which is unreadable, this may be because this character is writing in a type of code, because he is some sort of killer, his performance through this scene is very cringe feeling affect because of the action he does. He plays with very sharp tools like blades and cuts eyes out of pictures. In this persefic photo, the hand behind the paper indicates that he is unknown to the audience this shot also tells the audience that they won’t be able to gather out who he is and why he is doing what he is doing. The use of low-key lighting has connotations of a dark and dangerous theme within the shots. This shot in particular has shadow and low lighting, this may point out danger. As an audience they would certainly feel intrigued and anxious because they can’t figure out what is happening in the sequence. I feel very inspires from the opening sequence and title sequence for the movie’Se7en’ because of the strangeness in it , also the feeling I get when I watch it. This cringe and a fraid feeling is exactly how I want my audience to react and feel when I had finished creating my opening sequence. I believe I will be able to achieve this.

The second image is from the film (The Next Three Days, 2010, Paul Haggis, USA) this shot is very interesting because it can be seen in many ways. This still image shows happiness, a one united family who have no problems in life and are ok with the way things are at the moment. As a still image this is what can be seen by someone, due to the high key lighting and the performance on the actors in the frame. The mother seems very happy and so does the family as they are tacking a family picture with their still camera. However this atmosphere changes when it’s being played, as an audience when I am watching it feels like something wrong is going to happen. At this point the music is becoming tensed, this tenseness in the music hints that something very bad is going to happen later on the film, it hints that it may be the family splits apart from each other. This is because the female who seems to be the mother is tacking a photo very happily and joyfully, however the speed of the shot is also very quick which hints to the audience that this happiness isn’t going to last its going to change to a dis-equilibrium very soon.

The third image is taken from another thriller movie called (Panic Room, 2002, David Fincher, USA). I very much like this shot as it is a contrast to the actual genre of the movie this still image expresses happiness, joy and so on, however the movie is actually a thriller. Therefore these shot shows that something May very bad happen and change people’s lives. The cinematography used within this shot is a long shot, but it does also look a little like Point of View shot. This is a long shot because it shows the modern skyscrapers in the background of the park, there are nice well architecture buildings. Every person in this shot seems to be really happy and the whole setting looks quite family orientated. Within the frame there is the use of high key lighting. This shot hints and tells me as an audience that something very harsh and dangerous may come across to these happy people and it may even kill them or change their lives. They may end up fighting for their lives; I feel this may happen because I know it is a thriller so I am making a hypothesis about it.

New Storyboard SEIZED

This is my new story board for Seized, which is done by Donna,it is followed accuratley as I used it to think off perfect shots.My story board really helped me remeber what type of shot to use and when to use it.

Q7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Preliminary Task



Seized

I feel I have gained a lot more knowledge in how to use a camera properly. Using the camera tripod I made sure I adjusted the camera to the ‘shoe’ on the tripod. This is so the camera is stable. I always made sure I had experimented on the different types of cinematography for example a close up is to show the facial expressions and emotions. I progressed well because I learnt many types of rule in filming and I used the guidelines into my filming. Such as the rule of third, 180 degree rule which is very important. I have progressed even better from my preliminary because I have taken my criticisms from that task and made sure my final product did not have it. For example I had couple unstable shots, this meant I had to make sure it didn’t appear on my final piece. I also started to think carefully about the meaning a shot may give out. With this I carefully thought about the mise-en-scene. This is very important because this can also set a mood to an audience. Looking back carefully at my preliminary task and my new final product I can see a very big difference in my filming techniques. Many of my shots in my preliminary task were shaky and unstable. However a very good improvement has been made and there are no shaky moments in my opening sequence.

My shot types have greatly differed from my preliminary task to my final piece. It has changed to a variety use of cinematography. Comparing my over shoulder shot on my preliminary contact sheet the fourth image was very shaky compared to my high angle shot on my final piece of all the weapons laid out. The differences is that it’s not shaky at all, the camera was well held still, the panning was also improved from previous preliminary task.

I feel I have learnt many different techniques and the conventions of a thriller opening sequence. I have understood and learnt the use of titles, what the reasons are for them. I have improved in many ways such as understanding how a thriller opening sequence works, the way it draws the audience’s attention slowly.
The improvements from my preliminary task to my opening sequence has changed majorly, I have more knowledge about the film industry for example I am aware of what a film studio does the importance of a distributor, an example of one can be Spy Glass. I have also learnt how to put a music track into my piece of work, the track I put into my opening sequence is a copyright free sound form freesound.com.

Q6) what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt to use many types of equipment in order to successfully create my opening sequence. I have learnt firstly how to use a tripod and a Sony HD camera properly and professionally. This was crucial for me in order for me to create the best possible outcome. I learnt how to also function the cameras and how to pan smoothly. In able for me to create a good opening sequence I had to learn to use Apple Mac computer, the IMovie and to upload footage from the camera to the computer.
Using the IMovie, I found editing my sequence very interesting I had to think carefully where I was going to use transitions and where I was going to cut a clip.
I also used the still camera to take image of the props and the location of my opening sequence. The equipment I used, I learnt how to use it by experimenting and researching on it. All the logos above are the websites I had used to complete my tasks for my opening sequence. Such as Blogger I am able to post my work on my profile.

I used Google to research on the different types of thriller opening sequence and the types of conventions an opening sequence contains. This is the search engine I used to find out important information about the different types of thriller institutions such as Spy Glass and New Line Cinema. I have learnt how to use the different Apple software’s such as Final cut, I had no idea on how to navigate the programme, and however I have learnt a lot from trying to use it. After filming with the Sony HD camera’s I have learnt how to keep it stable and film properly with the tripod, the right way to pan without shaking and the rules of filming like the 180 degree rule. The technologies were very interesting to use because it was my very first time to experiment and get a real feeling of how professionals film and edit their sequence’s.

using the props annotated

Q5) How did you attract/address your audience?

A video audience feedback of my target audience, video was created by me


I attracted my audience simply by applying as many thriller conventions as possible to keep them interested and entertained. Such as the slow title appearing on the black dark background. This reinforces the genre of the film which is Thriller and also helps the audience to keep focus. As the title appears slow music starts play this creates a creepy, thrilling scene. With this the different shots appear slowly the transitions are slow and fade into one another, watching this builds a feeling of depress due to the performance in the frame which is the killer planning out how to kill the victim. The extreme close ups are very important because these shots emphasise the expression and indicate the types of mood a character may be in.
I uploaded my opening sequence on my Facebook wall; this was one way off how I attracted my audience. The age group who watched my opening sequence varied from 15-24 this is the perfect audience for my sequence. Many of my niche audience liked and made comments on the video.
The other way I attracted my audience was telling people to watch my opening sequence and give some feedback on how they felt as an audience watching it. If they liked or disliked the sequence and the reasons for this. I published my opening sequence on You tube and informed my friends and family to watch it. This was a way I informed my audience, I also asked my class mates to watch the sequence and give an honest feedback. Above is a video which I created on specifically for the audience feedback. It is class mates giving back feedback after watching my opening sequence, they are the right audience for my opening sequence.
How I attracted my audience to watch my sequence was I made sure people were aware of my sequence on my face book profile. From their I received many comments on how they enjoyed the sequence and many people ‘like’ the opening sequence. Not just this I also receive constructive criticisms on how I could improve my opening sequence it was mainly on the clarity of the drawing and so on. In the close ups the audience wasn’t too sure on what it was due to some of the unclear footage. I feel it was a very good idea to post my sequence on my wall because it attracted my perfect audience and also I received good feedback which I can defiantly use for my next project or film making.


print screen of seized on fb





Above is my print screens of the audience feedback on my opening sequence which I posted on my Facebook, I have made anotation on my feedback and shown understanding on the constructive criticisms I recieved.



Sound

I also used well composed sound that matches with my genre to attract the audience, keep them interested, the sound straight away hints that the opening sequence is a clip leading to a thriller.

I came up with what sound to put into my opening sequence, I felt that I was able to take an advantage of this responsibility by making lots of research in the different types of non digetic music being used in thrillers. I carefully listened to the opening sequence of Se7en as I was inspired from the opening sequence. On my journey finding the right music to fit the purpose of the opening sequence I felt I wanted the audience to get a cringe feeling and to start feeling anxious when they started to watch the opening sequence, with the music. This was my very big target I really wanted the audience to feel the way I felt when I was watching Seven, and the opening sequence of ‘Sins’ which is also a very big inspiration for me. Sins is previous down on my blogger this opening sequence has changed my perspective of what I want to achieve in my opening sequence. The sound is very scratchy and eerie this feeling is not a nice feeling with the entire close ups of the blades and sharp tools.

I have found very similar music to the opening sequence of seven and Sins, this is because I want my audience to feel afraid of what is happening. The sound is very important for me because this source is what creates and tenses the feeling as the audience are watching the opening sequence.

A site that was used to get this music that we have for our opening sequence is called free sound. Here is a link:


http://www.freesound.org/



http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=105044


voice over





Above is a voice over; of me and my group annotating and making connotations on our final piece we discuss many topics such as what the meaning of a shot is for example the medium shot of the knife sharpening the pencil. This is the hint to the audience that this person who is performing this is unstable and could be very dangerous. As the lighting is very low key and is dark, this was chosen because I wanted it to be setting a uncomfortable atmosphere whilst the audience watch it.