Research - Lighting And Colour - Ms Begum

Lighting And Colour

Lighting and Colour is very important to the film industry. These conventions show a contrast between genres and help in the atmosphere of the film. This convention is very important because it is largely responsible for the look of the film.


There are 3 angles which lighting can do in film; under, top and back. Under lighting is at a low angle which brings the effect of distortion in shadows and shapes, this is mainly used in horror/thriller films. Top lighting is from the top of the screen which shows the scene as a bright setting. This is used in more happier films compared t6o thriller and horrors, like romance and comedy. Lastly, back lighting is from the back of the screen showing an eerie effect of shadows. This is also used mainly in horror/thriller films because it brings out shadows and doesn't show detail in the face or body very well. This is usually for antagonists to hide their identity.


There are 2 types of lighting; high and low. High lighting is used mainly in happy films like romance and comedy, This is because high lighting is very bright and brings a happy atmosphere to the scene. Low lighting is used in more gloomy films like horrors and thrillers, this is because the lighting is very dark which brings an eerie atmosphere to the scene.


I think that the lighting that is conventional for thrillers is low lighting which is either from the under lighting angle or the back lighting angle. This is because in thrillers the atmosphere needs to be scary and quite uncomfortable in order for the audience to feel uneasy in their seats. If the lighting was high and from a top angle, I believe the audience wouldn't feel as scared.


Another important element to the film world is colour. Colour creates substance to the scene and shows a lot of meaning in the atmosphere of the scene. There are main colours which will be seen in films to show meaning, there are a couple of examples, blue in a scene shows sadness, green can show envy or jealousy, and red could either mean romance or evil (depending on the genre). Thrillers usually have grey and black to show gloomy effects throughout. But, some do show dark green/purple colours to show other elements in the emotion that is given out to us as the audience. In my opinion it all depends on the storyline and what emotions are shown by the characters behaviour.


I analysed the opening of the film 'se7en', and I noticed the colour and lighting used. Firstly, the lighting is low and its from the back and under. This shows an eerie effect and makes things look distorted and creates shadows. The colours shown was mainly grey, black and white which gave me an impression of an ancient background and made things scary and mysterious.


Overall, my research has shown me a more understanding of what colours and lighting suits particular genres. In my thriller I want to use the balk and white effect to create suspense and tension. The lighting needs to be low and from a low angle so it creates shadows which is a good way to also create suspense and tension. Lighting and colour is the main source for tension in thrillers.

Research - Scream Anaysis - Mr Smith

Scream Analysis

How Is The Opening Sequence Of 'Scream' Conventional To A Thriller Opening?

The opening of 'Scream' uses all the micro elements very well. The tension and suspense is all built up because of all the micro elements used in the scene. 'Scream' the film has one of the best openings because of mainly how the audience is feeling as a reaction to what is happening.

Cinematography is used cleverly to build tension in this opening. When the main character is on the phone and the conversation between her and the antagonist is calm and slightly flirtatious, the camera sees her from a medium shot as the emotion on her face is neutral. The shot shows her from a calm point of view, making the audience feel calm. But, as soon as the conversation changes and the girl realises that he is watching her, the shot changes to close up to show her emotion as she is extremely terrified at this moment in time. This close up makes the audience feel what she is feeling. Camera movements like tilt are also used in this scene. This is used to show the view of the garden and the house, and the swing moving to show suspicious behaviour around the house. This shows signs of danger to the girl that is home alone on the phone inside. Point of view shot is used when the girl looks out the patio window, this shows the audience how she is feeling looking out into the eerie, dark garden. The most drastic cinematography used in this opening for 'Scream' is when the antagonist says "I want to know the name of the girl I'm looking at" over the phone, this changes her mood completely from calm to completely terrified. This is shown in a sudden zoom shot.


Editing is one of the main reasons for the building of tension in this opening. All the cuts in this opening is straight cuts but the pace of these cuts is what makes the suspense build. When she is relaxed on the phone, making her popcorn, the edits are very slow as its a calm atmosphere. But, as soon as she realises that he is watching her somewhere whilst on the phone to her, edits get faster as she is cautious of her surroundings, hurrying about locking all the doors for safety. This makes the audience nervous and feeling the way she feels.


Sound is used effectively in this scene to build tension for the audience. Firstly, Off screen sounds like the phone ringing and the door bell ringing made tension build too. But, the off screen sound which was the main focus was the antagonists voice on the phone, this made his identity hidden, making the audience think about what he really looks like. The on screen sound I noticed was the cutting of  skin when the victims are being attacked, and its very disturbing to hear from the audiences point of view. Non-Diegetic sound is used cleverly through out the whole of the opening of scream, for example, when she is being chased and attacked, the music is high and quicker compared to the other parts of the scene. Other parts in where Non-Diegetic sound is present is when she realises that the killer is watching her somewhere, the music builds a little bit with small beats to build more tension, scaring the audience.


Mise en scene is divided into 4 sections; lighting and colour, facial expression and body language, iconography and settings, costume hair and make up. When the main character is relaxed, the lighting is high-key from the top angle, showing a calm atmosphere in the scene. Whereas, when the scene begins  to be tense and scary things start to happen, the lighting is mainly under and from the back, with low-key lighting. Iconography and settings is important to every scene in the film industry. The iconography in the scene highlights the events in the scene too. Objects like the phone, a knife and  chair are enhanced to show their uses in the opening. Their are a couple settings used in this scene; a house, garden, and it is set in the middle of nowhere. This shows the audience that this place is deserted, dark and quite dangerous. The costume, hair and make up category in mise en scene is very important. At the start, the main characters overall appearance is very tidy, for example her hair is neat and her make up isn't smudged. But when the victim is being attacked and all the tension has built up, you notice that her hair is messy, her outfit is messy and ripped, and her make up is smudged. Facial expressions and body language is crucial to all characters in all films. This shows the audience their type of character, how they react to certain moments in the scene and how they are feeling. For example, the female victim/main character is very innocent/weak and her body language shows this as she's not very open and her posture isn't great.


Conclusion.
as you can see through the scream analysis we are able to see the different ways that micro elements are being portrayed within the creams analysis and how its conventional to the  thriller genre down to the iconography and the low key lighting we are able to see how the director has done through the epic scene of scream.

Research - Sound - Mr Smith

Sound

What is "sound" in film?

Sound in the film world doesn't necessarily match the image, or doesn't have to be continuous. Sound is used to ease the transition between shots in the continuity style. Sound is used cleverly to set the mood of the scene and atmosphere and makes the audience feel deeper into the film.


What terms and definitions did I learn in the editing lesson?
- There was many terms and definitions i learnt in the sound lesson. This helped me understand sound in more detail when it comes to the film industry.


"Diegetic Sound" is sound which is part of the film world. For example, dialogue, music from a radio or a juke box. The sound can be on or off screen.

"Non Diegetic" is sound which is not part of the film world. For example, a soundtrack, sound effects, etc. "On Screen Sound" is sound you can see where it is coming from (like a radio or a car).

"Off Screen Sound" is where you can hear the sound but cannot see where it is coming from, but it makes sense to the film world (traffic sounds, coughing, etc).

"Parallel Sound" is when the sound you hear in a film is what is expected.


"Contrapuntal Sound" is when the sound does not match the expectations of what you are seeing, for example, in the movie jaws, the scene when someone is about to get attacked.

Conclusion -  How Has My Research Developed My Ideas For My Thriller?
- My research has helped me alot because its helped me understand sounds which would suit thrillers and which sounds can be used effectively to make my thriller more unique and "thrilling". Sounds like non diegetic sound can be used effectively with scary music building an atmosphere on my thriller. Some sounds like on and off sounds, diegetic sounds and contrapuntal sounds are useful for me to use in my thrillers and helps me be more flexible with the use of sound.

Research - Editing - Ms begum

Editing

What's Editing? Why is it important to use in films?

- The definition I looked up from the internet; "Film Editing  is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. The term film editing is derived from the traditional process of working with film, but now it increasingly involves the use of digital technology".
Editing is what makes the film a lot more interesting because if it was all from one shot, you would lose your audience quickly as it would be very boring. having different shots edited together shows the scene from different points of view which does add interest to the film.
So, editing is important because editing is used to enhance the film so the viewers attention is grabbed towards the screen and the film never lets go of the viewers interest. Some edits fit to certain film genres and match up to the genre perfectly. For example, in a horror, a scenario of a killer attacking its victim would consist of fast edits.
In psycho, the shower scene clearly shows a contrast in slow and fast editing at specific points of the scene.
Slow editing is used when she is calmly by her desk and then getting ready to jump in the shower, but when the killer is attacking her, there are approximately 33 edits in the space of 20-25 seconds, which brings excitement in the scene.

What terms and definitions did I learn in the editing lesson?

- There are many editing techniques I learnt which are used in editing films..
 "Straight Cut" is when one shot moves into another shot without any transition, and also doesn't confuse the audience. Its the most simplest way to go from one shot to another.
"Fade to black" is when one shot moves to another but has a black filter in-between, this is used a lot in trailers.
"Wide cut" is when the shot simply slides from one shot to another from the side of the screen, its not used much is horrors or thrillers, but its used a lot in comedies, musicals and other joyful films.
"Dissolve" is when one shot disintegrates into another shot. This editing technique is sometimes used in a very clever way, for example, in the ending scene of psycho when the antagonist is looking towards the screen, it fades into a slight image of a skull but quickly dissolves into the ending image on a dragging car. The Skull is quickly showing a message of how his life may be ending, or probably showing the end of his psychotic days. It all depends on how the viewer sees it.
"Reaction Shot" is any shot (often used as a cut away) in which a subject reacts to another shot, this shows the viewer detail in the actors reaction and is usually a close up so the viewers see the reaction in detail. I learnt many other editing techniques which will help me in the making of my thriller.

A Scene Where Editing Techniques Are Used Effectively.
- The opening scene to scream were the blonde girl is on the phone to the antagonist shows a massive contrast of when she is relaxed and when she is scared and panicking, realising the killer is watching her. This contrast is shown drastically through the editing. This is because when she is calm the editing pace is very slow and calm, whereas when she is being chased and attacked by the antagonist, the editing is fast and makes the audience uncomfortable with the quick edits.

Conclusion, How Has My Research Developed My Ideas For My Thriller?

- Learning all of these editing techniques as given me ideas of how to make my thriller more interesting and unique. My aim is to draw my audiences attention which can be used effectively with editing techniques like straight cut, dissolve, jump cut and many others I have learned from research. One technique which I can use effectively at the most exciting part of my thriller is the montage shot. This is when shots are quickly put together to build excitement, this is mainly used in attacking scenes where the most scariest things happen, and it grabs the audiences attention.

Research - Cinematography - Miss Begum

Cinematography

What Is Cinematography?

- Cinematography is the art of camerawork and photography in film-making. Its looking at the way the camera shot is framed, the movement of the camera, and the angle it is taken in. All these thing give a different representation for the audience of the character and allow the audience to respond in different ways. The cinematographer could be referred to as the film director's main visual collaborator. Cinematography is what makes the films more interesting in the flexibility it has.

Size, Angles And Movement.
- The camera uses different sizes of shots to make the film have various shots of the scene. Mainly, film directors use close ups and extreme close up shots to show strong emotion in detail to effect the audience emotions too.
Mid shots and Long shots can be shown in different ways to show different parts of the scene. Angles are used to show how characters are classed in the film, this is only in some cases though. For Example, in the thriller category, a low angle shot for a character like a murderer, they show power over the victim.
Also, a high angle would show the victim as a weak character which has no power over the killer. In the film industry, the movement in the camerawork is very flexible and important to the films image quality and the effect it has on the audience.
Shots such as panning shots (where the camera moves across, which would be used if a character is travelling), Tilt shot (when the camera moves up and down), and others are used to make a big impact on the film and add interest.

Thrillers Using Camera Angles.

- In the thriller "se7en", they use the camera angle two shots in the end scene showing the clear 2 main most well-known characters, showing a big impact on the characters in the film giving the audience a build up of tension in the film.

- In the thriller "Would You Rather", they use a close up on the main character show her deep emotion. You can see she's upset/scared because of her smudged make up and the fear in her eyes. This gives the audience a deep insight of what the main character is feeling.




Thrillers Using Camera Movements.
- A Panning shot can be used when the character is walking or travelling in the scene. For example, in the grudge when the grudge is crawling down the stairs you see her from the side travelling downwards. This causes tension as you are seeing the antagonists journey, making us as an audience nervous.

- A Zoom shot can be used when an emotion is quickly caught on camera or in the genre thriller, the camera wants to scare the audience with a quick close up of the antagonist. This shows the audience a scary and more deep emotion to the characters face and sometimes can make a sudden movement to scare the audience, which what makes some thrillers exciting.

Conclusion.

- My research has helped me develop my knowledge on cinematography and has helped me understand why particular camera shots are used for certain moments and how this makes a big impact on the audience and how it effects the audience physically and mentally. This helps me with more ideas for my thriller because my knowledge of different shots, angles and movement is a lot more flexible compared to before researching cinematography.



  

Research - What is a thriller? - Ms Begum

What Is A Thriller?

 

 

What are genres?

- Genres are a style or type of art or entertainment which is categorised for audiences. Examples of genres around the topic of films are; comedy, horror, romance, action, etc. Its important to know about genres because film producers need to engage their target audience which will lead to the films being more successful. The target audience needs to know if the film is appropriate to watch at their age and if it suit their likes or dislikes, so they can choose whether they would want to watch the film or not. Another reason why genres are important to know is because it is to facilitate the categorization of films.

The Thriller Genre - Definition.

- "Thriller" is a literature genre which brings suspense, tension and excitement to the audiences eyes, which is its main elements. A Thriller brings a sudden rush of exhilaration and emotion to the audience, keeping the audience on "the edge of their seats". Thrillers and their storylines effect you psychologically, making more interest to the audiences eyes.

Thriller Films.

- "Se7en" is one thriller which makes the audience build up with excitement and confusion to why the killer does what he does in the film. This film is about a man who kills people by the seven deadly sins and kills them in a way which resembles to which sin they commit, for example, the man who commits the sin of greed, the killer makes him eat until he dies. This film really catches the audiences eyes and attention by the twisted way of his killings.

- "Would You Rather" has to be one of my favourite thriller films. This is because the plot to the whole film really does catch your attention and makes you feel the emotion that the victims are feeling in that situation. "Would You Rather" is about individuals who all go to a man for help as they desperately need money.  He makes them play a game to win thousands of pounds but as soon as they start the game they then realise that its more of a torture chamber which they have no way of getting out. Its frightening to watch and all the way through the film you wonder about who wins the game and if people pass the rounds or not, which is scary and nerve-wracking to watch.    

Sub Genres Of Thrillers.

- Sub Genres is the stems of classical genres. Sub Genres like; crime thrillers, action thrillers, science thrillers, psychological thrillers, and others are popular in the film industry by the target audience. They are categorized as Sub Genres because this gives the audience more detail in which the film is based around. For example, the thriller "The Orphan" is a psychological thriller because it mentally gets to your head, the storyline is confusing and twisted for `the audience.

Common Themes.

- There are a few themes that are common in thrillers to match the codes and conventions that come into the genre of thriller. The idea of crime, corruption, politics, violence, drugs, sexual violence and death are mostly used in thrillers. These common themes are the criteria's to achieve a successful thriller in order to create emotions and is appealed to the audience.

Audience's Response To Thrillers.

- Thrillers tend to challenge the audiences mind based on the mixed emotions it creates.  This means the viewers would get an opportunity to challenge themselves whilst experiencing what is going on in the scene. Whilst experiencing, the audience will be able to feel a dark atmosphere which makes the audience feel petrified, concerned and pushes them to be "on the edge of their seat".

How Did This Research Help My Understanding Of Thrillers?

- The research  helped me understand thrillers a lot more than before so I can see a different point of view towards thrillers rather than the average view of thrillers. This will help me create my own thriller and make it unique compared to other films in the film industry. I am more familiar with sub thrillers which could make my thriller more specific in the genre I want to use. The lesson has given more a lot more ideas for what I want my thriller to be about. I don't want it to be like an ordinary thriller, where someone gets killed and the obvious happens. I want my thriller to be more psychological, confusing, unique and suspicious for the audiences eyes.