Soundtrack

This is the soundtrack that we wrote on Soundtrack Pro. It includes instruments like synthesisers, processed drum kits and electric bass guitars combined with sound FX like heart beats, heavy breathing, camera flashes and the thudding of a person hitting the floor. We hope this will help to increase the tension made throughout the film.

Planing Preliminary Match Cut Exrecise

In this lesson each group was given the same task to create a short clip where a character must open a door, walk into the room, sit opposite another character and share a speech of dialogue. this clip must have some essentials cut to its which were one match cut, shot/reverse shot and illustrating an understanding of the 180 degree rule.

there was no Requirement of what this clip had to be about or what sort of genre it had to be, it did not have to be a thriller. the purpose of this clip was to learn how to use the camera and learn how to get all the successful cuts like a match cut which we achieved successfully. we had many ideas when we sat down and had to come up with a short clip but we decided to opp for a briefcase swap where there would not be no set speech we would just make it up on the spot but the main purpose was to make this clip a smooth edit.

Our story board shows an suspicious character walk down the corridor and walk up to a coded door, of which is zoomed into when the code is entered. when this charter enters the code he walks into the room and sees another character sitting down at a table waiting for his arrival. during the conversation between the two characters a brief case is swapped. once the character has the brief case he leaves the room quickly and starts to hurry down the corridor with the briefcase.

this exercise was a useful exercise to teach us how to use the camera and to make a short clip with the key essentials which we all achieved. this exercise also helped us to gain confidence in our groups as in this activity we had to share responsibility for preparation for our thriller title sequence.

Skills Audit: Creation of Titles

The titles of a film are very important in establishing a mood. The different factors that make the titles so important include font, colour, case (upper or lower) and the format (narrative opening with titles running throughout; a discrete title sequence; titles on a plain background).

To make our titles, we used the text tool that already exists within Final Cut Pro. This is because it had the exact font that we required, and it was easier to manipulate text within the film if it was created within Final Cut Pro.

In our title sequence, we decided to combine the format of narrative opening with titles running throughout with titles on a plain background. This was to change the pace of our title sequence, as the titles on a plain background make the sequence more disjointed. This creates suspense, as the audience wants to carry on watching the film, but a title gets in the way.

We also decided to use a font that looks like a typewriter. It is a serif font, which connotes serious underlying themes. This is because our thriller is supposed to be a political conspiracy thriller - the government are involved in serious issues, so we used a 'serious' font. We also decided to put the titles in white, as it shows up over all the footage.

When the titles of the starring roles appear, a camera shutter sounds. This is to emphasise the freeze frame that occurs on each starring role. We chose to put a freeze frame in to make the audience pay attention to each of the characters.

Rough Cut - The Briefcase

This is the first rough cut to our thriller 'The Briefcase'. There are still some technical glitches in it (in terms of editing and continuity of the titles).

Camera Equiptment Tutorial

During this tutorial, we was introduced to the camera's and equiptment we will be working with in order to produce our thriller clips. We were firstly shown and told what each part of the camera was called. We were then showed how to insert our memory cards, how to zoom the camera, get the lense into focus ect.
We then were then told the safety regulations for the equpitment, which were:

• Making sure all bolts were tightened properly on the tripod before inserting the camera onto it
  
• Making sure the camera was secure on top of the tripod before letting go.
  Carry the equiptment responsibly.

Analysis of 9 shots from art of the title sequence

The style of the titles themselves reflect the point in time which the film portrays. The way the titles are written look like they have been handwritten with a quill and ink that would have been used in that period of time. Also the background of the titles have a 'old parchment' appearance which further represents the period of time the film is set in. The titles shown on this image gives the title of the film, the people who wrote the screenplay, the story its based on, the executive producers, music producers, warner bros production and the director who is Guy Richie. The main types of shots that were used in the images were mid shots and mid close up, especially on the top left image of sherlock holmes, played by Robert Downey Jr.
I really like this title sequence because it fits exactly with the time of which the film was set in and it really carried on the whole theme of the film. Also the style of writing is very effective and it really makes the ending of the film even better. It even keeps the audience wanting to see the rest of the credits.

Match Cut

In today's lesson me and my group were given the task to plan our match cut film.

We were given the brief to have one person walking into a room in order to converse with another person.

We were given a storyboard and we decided to have the situation of Me going to see a a man with a breifcase.

We decided to start the scene with an overall shot of the door and me walking into shot, which then lead on to shots such as an Extreme Close Up of My hand pushing down the handle. Then we decided on a Close Up of Goerge's face then a piont of view shot of goerge telling me to take a seat. We then planned to have a Medium shot of the scene of me and Goerge which has me asking him if he has the stuff. After that there is a close up of goerge giving me the breifcase. We then have a shot reverse shot between me and Goerge. We then show a close up of me leaving the room with them breifcase. the final shot was a close of me then running out of shot.

Cameras and health and safety tutorial

In this tutorial we were taught how to use the camera as well as the precautions we need to take while using the camera. We were shown how the camera works, what buttons we need to use while filming to get the best possible results. We were shown how to use the tripod and how to place the camera safely on the tripod. We were shown how to focus the camera, where the slot is for the memory card.

While we was in this lesson we learnt rules we have to stick to when filming our opening title sequence for our thrillers such as if it rains we should take umbrellas to cover the camera because if the camera was to get wet it would break and we would not be able to film. when we film we should not touch the lens otherwise you could get fingerprints on the lens which means it will ruin the quality of our film as fingerprints will be over the screen and also finally we should close the lens we are finished and make sure it is turned off otherwise the battery will run out.

There were many safety precautions we were told to take. One was to make sure we don't put our hands or the fingers on the camera lens because it would affect the quality of the filming. Another one was to make sure the camera was placed on the tripod properly as it might fall off. We were also told to open up the tripod properly because if it was not open properly then it might be unbalanced and unsecure.

Skills Audit: Editing

The editing process of any film is extremely important - especially a thriller film. The quick editing pace in thrillers is important in creating suspense and keeping the audience engaged.

When editing, we were given the advice to bring the clip in at the last possible moment, and cut the clip at the first possible moment. This is to make sure sure that the audience only sees the important parts of the plot.

To cut down the clips that we have filmed, we used the 'razor cut' tool. This helped us to make the most accurate cut possible and is made at the exact point that we want to cut the clip. This makes the whole sequence flow together cleanly and makes the editing pace quicker. This ensures that the audience only sees the important parts of the plot.

This screen grab shows us applying an effect to the clip. We applied a glowing effect to this point of view shot, as we wanted to emphasise that this is what someone is seeing. By changing the glow and combining this shot with a heavy breathing sound clip, the audience gets the impression that the character is panicking. This helps the audience to empathise with the character. This creates more suspense, as the audience actually feels what the character feels.

Health and Safety Tutorial

Before we could film and use the cameras we had to have a lesson on health and safety tutorial where we looked at a slide show where it taught us how to use all of the equipment. we watched the slide show and had this lesson so we know how to use the equipment properly and also so we would not brake or damage them or anyone with them, the equipment we learnt how to use was:
- Tripod
- Memory Card
- Battery
- Video Camera
- Video Drive.

In this lesson we learnt how to use the video camera properly and how to use all the different functions on the video camera for example how to zoom in and out to get shots like a crash zoom which would be used for effect, we also learnt what mode to put the camera in when you are shooting. we also learnt where to place the memory cards when we are shooting our thriller title sequence because we would need to save it on to the memory cards and then transfer it on to a card reader and then onto the hard drive where each group would be given their own one where we will save all our work like the film, soundtrack, live type and final cut pro.

While we was in this lesson we learnt rules we have to stick to when filming our opening title sequence for our thrillers such as if it rains we should take umbrellas to cover the camera because if the camera was to get wet it would break and we would not be able to film. when we film we should not touch the lens otherwise you could get fingerprints on the lens which means it will ruin the quality of our film as fingerprints will be over the screen and also finally we should close the lens we are finished and make sure it is turned off otherwise the battery will run out.

Art of The Title Sequence

This title sequence really stood out for me because it was different and what really stood out for me was the actual titles and the colour and animation behind the titles for instance the colour of the titles is red and red is meant to represent blood which is affected and it sets up the film as being a thriller and as my film is a thriller it gave me ideas for my thriller as to make the colour of the writing to be significance to the story. However with the transition of the titles and how they move around of the blood running down the screen is really abstract and i like the idea of using abstract title sequence as it is different and if it goes with the story like this title sequence i think it could really impress the examiner.

what I also liked about this title sequence is how it is not just titles it has action in it as well and shows part of the film or the story which is a really good idea because even though it is only a title sequence which is seen as a rest period before the film begins it captures the audience straight away and gets them into the film which is one of my key aims in making my title sequence. As it is not just title sequence which are usually boring as nothing really happen in them I found this one exciting and it caught my attention and this was one of the only ones where I found myself after looking to watch the film and make it carry on which is a good way not just to make a good title sequence but to make a good movie.

As this title sequence is very abstract with the writing but also with the types of shots used for examples in this title sequence there is an establishing shot of loads of people in a room which is black and white which in itself is an interesting shot as you want to find out why its old and who are those people but there is also closeups of main characters, which gave me an idea to use in mine as i want to show the story as well i think it is important that show who my main characters are and the best way to do so is close ups. there is a many variety's of shots in this title sequence that make it interesting such as extreme close ups and many different cuts in black and white which make it a very interesting title sequence.

there are many things that appeal to me about this title sequence such as the cuts used and how it is edited to news affairs and how that is in black and white and the close ups of people with blood on them which correspond with the actual titles as they are red which represent blood and Gore and the audience can expect blood as they are told in a subtle way which is a clever idea. this title sequence gave me many ideas for my thriller title sequence in to show action and to make it abstract in the edits and the actual titles to make it different and to help me impress the examiner.

Skills Audit - Editing the Speed of a Clip

This is an experiment that we decided to do to manipulate the speed of a clip. We intend to do this in the real version of our title sequence, so we thought we should practise slowing down and speeding up clips accurately. We did this in Final Cut Pro, using the razor cut tool to pinpoint the frames that we wanted to manipulate the speed of.

Similarities....

After simply browsing YouTube for thriller movies I came across a trailer for the film "Devils Racecourse". The plot for the movie caught my attention, " On an annual hiking trip, a group of college students find themselves caught in the middle of a government conspiracy. Now they are stalked by those determined to keep this secret from ever getting out." As did the location of the trailer because both are very similar to what we chose for our final title sequence.

Skills Audit - Filming

When we were on location, we decided to take some photos of ourselves setting up the equipment and filming.

We always kept the tripod balanced evenly by checking the 'balance level' on the tripod. We made sure that the tripod was evenly level to ensure that we achieved the best possible capture of each shot.

This is the 'mechanism' we used to keep the briefcase shut when George was running with it. We wanted to have the briefcase slightly open so we could capture lots of paper with our titles on flying around in the air. Sadly, it was not possible to capture this paper, as we could not get it to leave the briefcase in the correct way during filming.

This is the opening shot being filmed. The title sequence starts with George walking down the road towards an unknown location. However, on the other side of the road, a female agent is surreptitiously watching him and calls her associate to proceed and follow him.

This is a still photo of the closing shot to the title sequence.The piece of paper has the working title 'The Briefcase' written on it. This comes from the idea of showing our titles entirely on the paper in the briefcase. However, we changed the name of the film and did not include the paper in the air sequence, so it would not make sense to show the close-up we originally had of the paper. This is why we decided to show the paper with the red tie and briefcase clearly in view.

This is George and Rico on location in between shooting takes.

This is Kirsty and Sam on location

Location Shots:

Prior to filming, we were required to pick a suitable location for the setting of our opening title sequence.
As majority of the sequence takes place in a forest/ woodland, we required exactly that or something similar too, and so we chose Oakwood, Enfield as our location for filming. Parts of our sequence required a residential area; surrounding the woodland is a residential area, something that attracted us further to this location.