British Board of Film Classification

So that we knew what age to classify our film as,we had to do some research on age certificates to see what extremities each of the certificates can go to.

 

After questioning a variety of ages we now know that our target audience is going to be aimed at young adults and upwards. We think that classing our film as a 15 will be most suitable as some of the themes expressed throughout (such as violence and disturbing scenes of nature) would not be suitable for anybody under the age of 15. We didn't think that our thriller should be classified as an 18 as there is no drug/sexual references or racial/discriminatory themes.

Textual Analysis

For our task we have to film the opening of a thriller movie. I watched several film openings of different genres to see how they differ and to what extent they reveal information to the audience about the rest of the film.

This is a textual analysis for the film 'Chatroom' which is of the thriller genre.

The World's End - Textual Analysis

This is a textual analysis for the film 'The World's End' which is a science fiction comedy movie.

This is a textual analysis for the film 'Face/Off' which is a action thriller film. 

                                              Nowhere Boy - Drama

More PowerPoint presentations from Coreen Henman

Audience

We wanted to know what people like to see in the opening of a thriller trailer and how they like to  feel after seeing it, so we went and asked a number of people of different ages some questions about thrillers and their preferences. The questions that we asked included:

-How old are you?
-Do you like thrillers?
-What is your favourite thriller film?
-What do you like to see in a thriller opening?

From our responses, we have found that thrillers appeal to both a variety of ages (ranging from teens to adults) and genders.

Location

For part of our planning, we needed to think about our location so that we knew what we would be working with. We found our location in Darley Dale and took some stills for future reference.

Lighting

As part of our research, we have been looking at ways to make the filming look effective. One particular way of doing this it the use of lighting.

In this picture, we cannot see the eyes of the character which gives us the idea that he may be untrustworthy or dishonest.

 





Here I have created a shadow of the character much larger than himself, more imposing, suggesting that he has a hidden evil inside.



In this picture we can only see the outline/iconic characteristics of the character (which we can look out for later on in the video), keeping his identity a mystery.

Preliminary Piece

Evaluation

The aim of the preliminary piece has been met. We successfully made a short clip that included somebody walking through the door and also having a conversation using match on action. The preliminary was helpful in many ways, the first being that it allowed us to make errors and learn from them; for example, in the main task we will know how to correctly use the reverse shot (180^o rule). We also learnt how to use match on action which can prove to be very effective. In addition to this, it allowed us as individuals to bond together with our group.

Editing

To edit the clip we used Adobe Premiere Pro. We had previously had a play about with the programme so the process didn’t provide us with any difficulties. We put together our footage, making amendments and trimming certain pieces to make them run smoothly. Whilst editing, we found that we had made an error in the way that, in one instance, we had broken the 180^o rule. After finishing and submitting our piece, we took the opportunity to explore the software further and learn about the different things i.e. effects, titles, transitions etc. that could be added to video. This gave us the chance to see what looks good and what does not.               

Filming

The filming process ran fairly smoothly. We used the storyboard as a guide but of course we often experimented to see if we could film something using different shots/movements so that it either looked better or ran more smoothly. We used an array of shots, opening with an establishing shot of the car park with the school building in the background to set the scene for the audience. We then used an over the shoulder shot as the character got out of the car to give the audience an insight into the character’s life, as though they were sat in the passenger seat witnessing it for themselves. Using match on action, we filmed the character getting out of the car, using a long shot. Again, this gives the audience an insight into the character’s life as they can see everything that is going on around her. We use a low angle shot when the character is getting her bag from out of the boot, to achieve this we set the camera filming and put it into the car. As the character runs down to school, we zoom in causing the camera to blur slightly, showing the rush the she is in. We use close ups to express the character’s emotions, for example, the teacher shouting at the student for being late; the teacher is in the audience’s personal space and they feel uncomfortable. A low angle shot is also used here to convey the power of the teacher. One of the main problems of the filming process was that there was often times when the whole group wasn’t present which meant that we couldn’t do what we had planned for that day, however, there was always an alternative, such as editing, which we could be getting on with.

Planning

The aim of the preliminary piece was to film a short clip which involved somebody walking through a door and then later on having a conversation, all using continuity. We got into a group of four which consisted of myself, Liam, Laura and Emma. In preparation for the task, we took a walk around the location looking for suitable places to film; taking into consideration such factors as the lighting. We took still shots of our ideas so that we could have a look later on and make a decision. Using the still shots, we put together a storyboard which would guide us through the filming process, thinking about which camera shots/movements would be most suitable for each shot.

Morning!

For our assignment, we were asked to take a few shots of things that could be used in the opening of the film to signify that it is the morning/beginning of the day. I chose to use a cup of coffee; showing that the character is energising themselves for the the day, and a running shower which would show that they are getting themselves ready.