Thriller EvaluationREVERSE Entertainment

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REVERSE Entertainment

DIRECTOR-Stefan COLLIN Whyte-Linton

PRODUCER-Marium Shaikh

CINEMATOGRAPHER-Mohammad Hashi

EDITOR- Lychelle Marie Christian

Preliminary activity The first stage of our preliminary activity was to create a short one-minute opening

sequence of a video which would help us understand the 180-rule and continuity editing as these camera angles will help us film our thriller.

The preliminary activity helped me understand continuity editing , different camera angles as well as editing and how they should be used to create our opening sequence. In the group there was four of us and we all had to pick a job role from director , producer, cinematographer and editor.

As the groups' producer it was my job to promote the video. In order to achieve my target I posted the video on Facebook and YouTube, this would help me achieve my target as the videos are now open to public and ready for feedback.

I also contributed to other roles of the group director for the part where Stefan was acting I made sure as to where the positions of the actors should be and when and how to start, However, everybody played their part well and the open sequence was a success.

The first stage to create our preliminary activity was to create a storyboard.

The storyboard was there as a guideline, it gave us a general idea

of what we had to film and what camera angles and settings were going to be used. The storyboard

helped us a lot as it told us step by step what we had to do. However

when we were filming our preliminary activity we had changed some of the

camera angles.

Stage 1-Creating a Storyboard

Stage 2- Filming the Preliminary Activity

After we completed the story board we moved on to filming our

preliminary activity. As we had already discussed what we are

doing and where we are doing all we had to do was film it. The

teacher had given us a charged HD video camera and a tripod and a

extra memory card to film our preliminary. Throughout the

preliminary we made sure that the right camera angles were used.

This shows us that we had learnt how to use the 180- continuity editing. However we also used long shots, mid-shots and close-ups. n these pictures

What went well...As group we worked very well together and I think our preliminary task was

successful. We were very organised as we had made sure that everybody was doing their job and that everybody is on track. I as the producer made sure that everything is done on time. Our cinematographer and editor sat together and discussed the camera angles that were going to be used and made the script while the director and producer sat down and discussed for any props that are going to be needed, the location we will be filming. As we filmed our preliminary in school we had to get permission from the

head of the sixth form which we did and also we had to discuss the timings we were going to do it. The discussion we had was a benefit for us

as we planned everything so we just had to follow it.

What I learnt...Doing the preliminary activity made us learn how to be organised and doing

everything on time as we had a short period of time to shoot out preliminary. I also learnt that before we start to film the preliminary

opening make sure that everything is ready and all prepared for anything that goes wrong because when we were filming our preliminary we did not have our shot list with us which made things more difficult however we did manage to complete it. One big issue we had was agreeing with

each other which had caused arguments, but we had to think everything through and had to work as a 'Team’ which meant working together

without any arguments and problems. Always put our work first and take responsibility.

What we could Improve...

I think that we can improve our team skills which is really important as throughout the preliminary we had mini

arguments which was time wasting. In the preliminary activity I think we could’ve used more continuity editing and the camera was shaky in some bits so

that could also be improved .

Feedback...

When we had finished our preliminary activity, as the producer it was my job to promote the video so I can get feedbacks. As a group we had made a Facebook group so we can promote our work , so I posted a video of our preliminary on the Facebook page as well as YouTube. And received feedback.

Bloopers!!!

Stefan dancing .mpg

Stef being an idiot

Lilly being silly

Stage 3-Research for Thriller After we had finished our preliminary

task we had to move on to do our thriller activity.

The first stage to do our thriller activity was to do research as a group by

watching other thriller openings and see how they used the thriller codes & conventions in those films and see how we can use those in our thriller

opening.

The thriller opening we had watched were Memento, Signs, Se7en, Last house on the left and The Decent

Se7en (1995)

In the opening sequence of ‘se7en’, they never showed us a person just them

writing and plotting some information in which they were pictures of victims and pictures drawn how they are going to be killed. Throughout the opening the

sound was creepy as you can hear machines and metal being used.

In the opening sequence there were a lot of close ups that showed the ‘killer’

and this created tension and suspense for the audience.

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Signs Signs was a lot different than ‘se7en’.

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Stage 4-Story for our opening thriller

After we had finished our research we had to come up with individual ideas. Then as a group we had to put our ideas together. When we had decided what we

want to do in our opening we had spoken to our teacher and told her the idea and she gave us some feedback which was very helpful, however, when we finalised our idea we had presented our idea to the

whole class which mean that we can get a wider opinion and see what they think about it. We knew

what we were going to film for our opening but we still had to decide what the ending to our thriller was going

to be as the opening will represent the ending.

Before we started to film we again had made a storyboard which was to guide us but we also

made a shot list to ensure that we are using all the right

camera angles and so that everything goes according to

plan. This would help us throughout the thriller activity.

Also before we started filming our opening thriller sequence we had to discuss the characters that were going to be in it and also get all the props ready for the day so we won’t be falling

behind. ^^^This is the shot list which shows all the camera angles

that we plan to use.

Production Process

<<<Thriller Storyboard

Background info on Thriller opening

We had started to film our thriller opening sequence. It would be over

a three day process in which we would film the different scenes

which was set in different places. Our thriller opening sequence is a set

of different shots put together. We used over the shoulder shots to

build tension throughout the extract also we decided that we

would not want to show the killers face as it is a mystery and also

leaves the audience in suspense.

When we were discussing how it is going to be edited, the editor decided that it is best to black outs which was to build tension and suspension . This worked well as the setting was mainly the woods because this would be seen as a thriller convention which would be because we are using a claustrophobic setting to make the audience feel as they are being trapped and frightened. For the scene in the woods we used the handy cam shot and it would seem more realistic .

There were other settings that we used throughout the filming which was the subway in Neasden, and a house setting in the kitchen and bedroom

Codes and conventions that are used in our thriller

The thriller conventions that are used in our opening are fast paced edits, dark secluded and claustrophobic settings, tense/heavy base music , creation of suspense by concealing characters,

plot revolves around crime, black outs and extreme close ups as it fits in the thriller genre

Target Audience

We has posted and advertised our group (REVERSE Entertainment) on Facebook and asked people to answer a questionnaire:

Thriller questionnaire

As a group we were given 10 questions and we were asked to make up 5 more questions which was about what people prefer either going

cinema's or watching films at home. The results showed us a pattern as most participants  between the age 16-18, like going to watch thriller

films at the cinema and a small percentage showed that people would prefer to watch it at home. Participants aged 25 and older liked watching

films at home on DVD rather than going to the cinema it also showed that male over 25 preferred to watch action films rather than 

thriller films. Other conclusions we have made from the questionnaire is that men prefer to watch thriller films than women,  women like to watch

romantic comedy films rather than thriller films.

So we had decided that people aged 16-25 are most likely to go watch thriller film in cinema's which helped us decide our target audience

Stage 5- Health & Safety

The teacher had given us a Health an safety form

which every group had to fill out.

>>Health and Safety form>> This was to ensure that the

locations we were using are safe and the

equipment we were given are also being used safely.

When filming our thriller opening we were given a HD video camera with the wires to connect it to the TV and the charger, a tripod with extra memory cards just in case we ran out of battery. We were happy with what we had got but there were a few problems that we faced when filming the opening sequence to our thriller were:Lighting- when filming the camera’s flash

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