Animatic Story Board

Instead of having to draw out a story board for our preliminary exercise, we used jelly babies and took pictures of each shot. Completely forgetting that we had to actually act out what we took pictures of...our shots weren't really ones that we could act out. when it came to acting out our shots we found it hard....so we had to change most of it around so we can actually act them out. During the process of creating our animatic story board, everything went according to plan....however, we didn't get enough time to add sound, so that was our main downfall. Our animatic storyboard looks really good i think....thanks to my camera skills and nicks editing ..... but the storyboard would have been better with sound.

click here to watch animatic story board

The Film Shoot: Day Two

Today we officially started filming; Wala, Charlene and myself came to college in the morning to shoot, each of us having brought our assigned props. I was mainly in charge with handling the camera for this shoot with help from Charlene, whilst Wala 'set the scene' by arranging the props and gave us her creative input. It went very well and I think we managed to film some effective shots, although we still have quite a bit left. We will continue filming tomorrow and through Wednesday's lesson. In the meantime, here are some 'on the set' photos... (click to enlarge any of the photos and excuse any blurriness, my phone's camera isn't the best)

Charlene and Wala add the finishing touches to the Facebook chat PowerPoint I created to simulate an online conversation happening in the thriller opening

Charlene experiments with camera angles

The 'mood board'

 

The scrapbook

Additional shots for our storyboard:

 

Cinema Audiences

As films come under several genres, the thriller genre has many sub genres, so it is good to consider which kind of audience(s) apply to each. In class we looked at some of the films relaeased in the UK and what their kind of audiences were.

In the UK  there were 31 suspense films relaeased and in total 503 films were relaeased last year.

Action, comedy, and animation films accounted for 52% of the total box office gross. why are these genres so popular?

I think these genres are very popular as they have a wide spread of target audiences. Everyone likes to have a laugh. Also both comedy and animation are two genres that would normally mix to make a sub genre. There are several films that come under the Comedy & Animation sub genre. E.g. Shrek, Madagascar, kungfu panda, Monsters inc. Animation films are suitable for all age groups, this is why animation films get alot of viewers.

Image by Nick Bor

Why is it that thrillers account for quite a low proportion of UK Box office takings (4% in 2009)?

I think that the thriller genre doesnt have a wide spread of audience in comparison to comedy and animation. Also the thriller certificates limits people to what they can watch. some thriller certificates ar 18 meaning only those who are 18 and over can see it at the cinema. wheras the Animation or Comedy genre will be PG or 12 rated. this makes it easier to get a wide range of audience.

As many thriller films have really shocking scenes with blood and gore. This could lead to nightmares or children trying out the scenes at home. Thriller films need a mature audience this why many have been rated 12, 15 or 18.

'Watching' Documentry

As a class we watched a documentry which talked about film openings 'watching'. Thomas Sutcliffe said: "to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible" By this he mans that film directors shouldnt get the audience excited and hint things to them that wont happen later on in the film as this will just dissapoint the audience. Insted they should allow the film to build up and keep it interesting for the audience.

Jean Jaques Benix (director) thinks if 'instant arousal' is used this means that the director will have to think harder to create such an astonishing film. However by keeping the opening simple and letting it build up is better for directors and the audience as the audience will want to know what will happen next.

"good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn't know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure that it doesn't know too little" - This means that too much information shouldnt be given away as the audience will feel like they've watched the complete film by just watching the opening. However too little information is bad as the audience wouldnt show any interest in the film. So its best if directors dont give away too much or too little ; Just keep it in between.

Critic Stanley Kauffmann described what was once called 'the classic opening' - 'a film began with an establishing shot of New York City ... then the camera went up a building ... then it went in the window, then it went past the receptionist desk to the private office and there sat Cary Grant' By this he means that the typical opening of a film will tell you a little about the setting, the characters and their occupation.

Kyle Coopers title sequence from the film se7en is known very well it is exciting and very effective as it wakes everyone up and you begin to think its part of the film because it tells the story bit by bit. Orson welles wanted his title sequence for 'A Touch of Evil to not have any titles. However there was a disagreement as Universal Studios wanted it to have titles etc. The reason he didnt want no titles is because he wanted to get straight to the plot and plunge his audience without any distractions.

A Favourite Trick of Film Noir' starts from the ending of the film and has flashbacks of the begining. I do think its a good techinque as the audience will want to know what had happened eearlier to lead to that particular scene.

The opening sequence of the The Shining is suspenseful as the car is being followed (panning) by a helicopter from above and it has a good focus on the car also the soundtrack playing helps to build up the tension. They also drive on the edge of the cliff which hints to us that something sangerous is going to happen.