Font Types for our title credits...

Font Types

Dark Secrets (Algerian).

This font has a shadow effect with the use of fine lines used to make a good thriller (shadows is a code and convention to make a good thriller) and create the common fear of darkness. It also looks fancy to reflect the rich and secret mafia our plot is based on.

Dark Secrets (Blackadder ITC).

This font is also fancy to reflect the plot, but it has wobbly letters and swirly capitals (the letter ‘D’ and ‘S’) to almost looks like plants or weeds. This also helps the plot or setting because most of our opening is set in the woods.

DARK SECRETS (Chiller).

This font looks creepy and eerie because of the ink-like written font that has a splattered effect (like paint) that almost looks like dripping blood. This would be good for our thriller because the opening involves a murder.

Dark Secrets (Magneto).

This looks like a fancy and 50’s like font which would benefit the mafia in our play because mafias were around mainly in that time period. However, it does not have a creepy feel to it which a thriller mainly has.

Dark Secrets (Vladimir Script). This is also an old and fancy font which reflects the mafia in our film, but it also does not have a scary side to it, therefore it does not have the code and convention of a thriller we need.

Dark Secrets (Edwardian Script ITC).

This is also posh and Victorian which shows that the mafia or organisation is old. However, this font is graceful which is not what we want the audience to feel when watching our thriller.

DARK SECRETS (Mistral).

This reminds me of rough handwriting which looks rushed and rapid which is a code and convention of a thriller. However, is not posh or fancy so it does not reflect the old mafia. On the other hand, it almost looks like branches to contribute the scene in the woods.

Dark Secrets (Forte).

This is a bubbly, but dark font which may correspond with the common fear of darkness, but we do not want a uplifting feeling towards our film.

DARK SECRETS (Footlight MT Light). This is bold and creepy font that also has a fancy or royal side to it which suits the idea of the mafia well. It is also got fine lines and sharp points (like the line between the letter ‘E’ which reminds us of a knife or weaponry which is danger) which corresponds well with the murder idea.

Dark Secrets (Gigi).

This is a rough and fancy font which is good to show the old and rich mafia, with the rough side of it to show they are evil. On the other hand, the swirly shapes of the letters are elegant and the font has a girly feel to it.

Dark Secrets (old English text Mt).

This is a bold and gothic font which has a medieval side to it. It is dark and almost religious which helps support the idea of the time period we were basing our film on (1950s) and shows the audience that this mafia are evil and believe in their doings of their organisation (murder).

From these 11 fonts, the one we think is best for our thriller film is Footlight Mt Light (DARK SECRETS). We think this is the best because the font connotes all the ideas we have to include in our film such as the set period (1950’s) because the font looks old fashioned and the bold, dark letters are used to bring up the common fear of darkness. This font creates tension because of the fears brought up and the capitals used to almost yell the name in the audience’s face (since capitals are used to exaggerate shouting).

Votes for what we should call our film...

... AND DARK SECRETS IS TRIUMPHANT! HOORAY!

Post Filming Feedback

Here is feedback from Mr Jones that we are going to work on to improve our media product, it mostly consists of breaking shots down and getting rid of the shakiness and camera wobble where needed.

The Codes and Conventions of the Thriller Genre

The common codes and conventions of a thriller film.

• Dark, moody lightning that cast shadows.
• A twist at the end.
• The antagonist or villain is hidden.
• Everyday setting.
• It could be about supernatural sifi or about war, paranormal,etc.
• Play on common fears.
• Mixes with other genres.
• The audience may be slightly confused at the beginning of what’s going on, but somewhere in the middle or late beginning of the thriller, the audience realise what is happening by the film having something happen to explain it.
• No sound motives.
• Music is in a minor key of an orchestral (moody and creepy).
• Many close-ups to show anguish.
• Rapid editing to enhance suspense.
• Common micro elements.
• Intelligent.
• Crime.
• Sense of risk.
• Protagonist in mortal danger.
• The things that happen in society such as rape or burglary.
• Titles!
• Macro elements are the micro elements meaning or reminiscent. For example, red text could mean danger, blood, and death. The red text would be the micro elements and the danger, blood and death meaning would be the macro elements.

The Usual Suspects Assessment

Here is another essay I wrote on the opening of the film 'The Usual Suspects'

Kelly AlexanderThe Usual Suspects Assessment In the opening scene of The Usual Suspects there are no titles given or shown; the movie shows action immediately. This allows the audience to understand what is going on without interruption.
There is a lot of camera movement going on. The camera is held mostly to allow the audience to understand what is going on but at several points a tilt is used. These tilts give an impression that someone is watching the actions that are happening such as the oil trail at 0.21 and this heightens the suspense as we don't know who is performing the following action. There is also another tilt which is at 1.46 where a character moves the gun he is holding into his other hand and this shot gives the impression that this unknown character is watching this action and this gives the idea we are seeing this from his point of view.
There are lots of camera angles used too. The most obvious camera angle being the low angle at 1.56 where the mysterious, unknown character is holding a gun at the other character. The low angle makes the character on the floor seem weak and insignificant and shows the power the mysterious character has over him. The level of the camera is quite low at about 1.02 to show isignificance of the character that we can see. This is very similar to the scene at 1.56.
The mise on scene is very typical for a thriller as the whole opening is very dark and there is very little light. It is very shadowy which is again typical for a thriller as it plays on a common fear of darkness, so, therefore the attention of the audience is drawn to the fire and flames which is another example of thriller movies playing on common fears, as the fiery colours are seen as dangerous and harmful. The darkness makes it very hard to establish where the characters are but the long shots start to make it clear that this is all happening on a docked ship.
The cutting rate is a bit slow which shows there is little action going on and highlights movement and dialogue of the characters. It also draws suspense as the audience will question what will happen next. This whole scene is pieced together by match cuts, this allows for the audience to understand what exactly is going on and helps keep their attention on the many events.
The beginning of the scene is very quiet with only diagetic sound such as the crackling of fire which builds up the suspense. Around 30 seconds music begins to play and gets louder showing it is building up to something great. The music later becomes even louder and changes slightly indicating that that character is powerful and mysterious. From the character dialogue we know that they are familiar with each other as they use names.

Silence of the Lambs Essay

Here is an essay I wrote on the Crime/Thriller/Horror movie, 'The Silence of the Lambs'

Silence of the Lambs Opening Scene Analysis

The first shot (a long shot) takes us to see the landscape from atop of a raised area, with the trees in the fog in the foreground being the main focus. The trees and fog give an eerie, depressing feeling which also exposes ideas about the season of the time of filming. As the trees are shown with no leaves, this would indicate winter or late autumn. Having the grey clouds in the background would add to the idea of winter and also add to the depressive, eerie mood.

Furthermore, to add to this atmosphere of depressive, eeriness the music plays an interesting role as it can gives clues to the film genre. The music has a creepy feel as its deep orchestral instruments give an almost miserable sense to the film already. Miserable like the surroundings, the music can relate to the weather and setting of the scene, in a forest during winter.

As well as the non-diegetic sound, diegetic sounds are also heard in this case it’s the croaking of the crickets and insects that live in the forest. The natural sounds being heard fit in with the scene perfectly as they create an intense feel of this scene. As the camera pans down slowly to show the female character (Jodie Frost), the title of the film is shown first in block capital letters. The same long shot shows the character climbing the steep hill using rope while breathing heavily. This may indicate she is exercising or training for something, so at this point, her character and motif is unknown. This brings the audience to question, ‘Why is she working out?’ and ‘If she’s training, what she is training for?’

The name of the actors show on the screen, the order of the names may be due to order of appearance, or order of importance (within the film). As the character comes closer to the camera, a mid shot is shown focusing on the characters. The audience can no see that she is sweating from the work out, and that she is in fact working out due to the clothes she is wearing (sweatshirt). As she continues to run, the camera follows her before cutting to a mid to close up of the character after fading into the haze. The camera then tracks the character running through the forest, next the camera tracks her feet while she runs. A profile close up is shown of the character while she’s running; this allows the audience to see the expression on her face while she runs. The camera cuts back to a mid shot of her running from behind, and in this shot she is seen to be running towards a rope wall which is shown in near distance. As she climbs up and then down the rope wall, the camera shows this doing an approximately 270° pan at a low angle.

As she finishes climbing she continues to run, where the camera pans to the right following her running and jumping over laid logs. At this point a male’s voices is heard calling, “Sterling! Sterling!” After he calls her the second time, he is shown running onto set where the camera follows him running towards Sterling. He tells her that Crawford wants to see her in his office, raising the question to the audience, ‘Why?’ She runs back towards where she came from, leaving the man watching her go. The audience are then able to identify this man as being involved in the F.B.I. as it says so on his cap. This brings us in a little into her job occupation.

The next shot shows the camera tilted up, and then tilting down showing a tree with signs nailed down it. The signs each have a word on them relating to the same thing; pain. The audiences see the words, ‘hurt, ‘agony’ and ‘pain’ and finally, ‘love-it’. As Sterling is shown running in to the scene, the camera follows her panning to the left. This shot turns into a long shot as she runs down hill into a training base, answering the questions raised before. The audience now knows this is a training base as it shows, people climbing up a rope on one side, and a group of people running in unison on the other. As she was running down the hill towards the training base, the sunlight shone through the trees which at this point the music had changed into being slightly dignified, optimistic and less depressive, signifying the end of the opening scene.

Thriller Analysis

Here is a brief analysis I wrote on the thriller genre.

Kelly Alexander

Thriller Analysis

    A thriller is a genre of film that uses suspense and tension as its main elements. The most popular types of thrillers are crime, mystery and psychological. The opening to a thriller film always sets the mood and tone for the rest of the movie. The film ‘Se7en’ (Seven) is a good example of this.

   The music to the opening is very tense and industrial. It is very spine tingling and makes me cringe. It matches and flows very well with what is actually going on image-wise in the opening and is very intense as it is so unusual. Sounds are also used to add more intensity such as the many diagetic sounds, for example, screeching noises which sound like screams which can be very unsettling.

    Lots of editing is used to create suspense such as the rapid imagery, which starts the movie off with a creepy undertone that not a lot of films manage to do. We are exposed to horrific torture and warped images, this gives off the impression that we are seeing into the mind of a deranged individual and sharing his insane thoughts. The editing often makes it hard to see clearly what is exactly going on which hints that this is something secretive, something that we should not be seeing right now. The flashing also adds to this ‘blind’ feeling and gives a strange sense of schizophrenic delirium.

    The lighting is creepy, one dimensional and very dark. This plays on the common fear of darkness which gives the feeling that something sinister is out of sight or hard to see, in this case, the horrific images in the opening which we are given glimpses of, such as dangerous objects; things that can kill. Some close up camera angles are used to give a fuller view of this.

    In general, the mise-on-scene is pessimistic and disturbing in the opening sequence of the film. The colour of red is used a lot. Red symbolises death and anger and most importantly blood which signifies that murder or death is involved. A bible or a religious book is another part of the mise-on-scene which must be very important to be shown in the opening. Coincidentally God supposedly created the world in seven days, scriptures say there are seven spirits of God and there are numerous places where 7 has been used in the bible, therefore, the bible has been used in the opening scene to emphasize the title.

In short, the opening sequence is very true to the traditional thriller movie opening, but still proves very unique in its own way.

Feedback from Mr Jones

Here is the current feedback we have recieved on our work so far

Storyboard

Here is the storyboard breaking down key events that are going to happen in our film with short explanations

Preliminary Task

Here is our preliminary task :) It is a short silent film about a monster (Teresa) chasing a young girl (Keri) Similar to the chase which occurs in our media product

Film Planning Sheet

 

Date	Shots	Props needed	Costume	Location
Sunday, 9th January	Test shots (Shots 16 – 34)	Wine glass, wine, little table, armchairs, candle sticks	Black dressing gown, masks, black cloak, scarf, black trousers, suits	Inside House of Keri, Dining Room
Thursday, 20th January	Indoor shots (Shots 16 – 34)	Wine glass, wine, little table, armchairs	Black dressing gown, masks, black cloak, scarf, black trousers, suits	Inside House of Keri, Dining Room
Saturday, 5th February	Outdoor Shots (Shots 1 -15; 35 – End)	Knife	Dress, black cloak, black trousers, mask, suit	Outside Keri’s House, Garden and surrounding land
Sunday, 6th February	Continuance of Outdoor Shots	Knife	Dress, black cloak, black trousers, mask, suit	Outside Keri’s House, Garden and surrounding land

Filming Location

We have finally decided on our filiming location and Keri's house is a great unique place with 50 acres of land and plenty of different rooms with precious antique furniture that definately fits in with the 1950's

We will spend as long as it takes filming in these locations. It is probably a good idea to come up with a long term planning sheet.

Costumes

Ok so we have finally made decisions on costume and also the actors in our film.

Teresa will be the main antagonist and she will be wearing a black dressing robe and a scarf. Her face will never be fully displayed keeping to the code and convention "The antagonist's face is always hidden."

I will be Teresa's main servant/butler. My costume consists of a black suit, black trousers, a black hoodie, black shoes, black gloves and a plain white theatrical mask. The plain white theatrical mask whilst disguising identity and emotion will stand out from the rest of the costume which is all black and will look very eerie when walking through a dark room.

Sophie will be playing the organisation member in charge of the girl. Her costume will be exactly the same as mine minus the gloves and plus a cape as her outfit is the genuine organisation costume.

Finally, Keri will be playing the Protagonist and will be wearing the floral dress commonly worn in the 1950's by young ladies and this will be worn with a belt. Her shoes will be the general modern footwear of the era and will be worn with socks as they were worn back then and this costume gives the impression that the girl is quite well off and therefore may be being held for a ransom.

Now we have organised the majority of our film it is now time to decide on a filming location which is going to make our film very unique and realistic.

1950's Costume Research

So before we could really come up with the costumes to use in our film, we did some research about what would be worn in the 1950's and this is what we came up with:
 

In the 1950’s, poodle skirts, petticoats, pump and saddle shoes (plimsoles) were a fashion craze with many women of different ages, especially the younger ones. Many of the dresses in the 1950’s were knee-length and emphasised the waist and the shoulders. Dresses with full skirts (like in the picture on the right) were made to stick out wider by wire, rope or often nylon netting.　

For men, jackets with broad shoulders, tight trousers and shirts (with long collars sticking out) with floral ties were popular in Europe. Some styles like this (picture on the left) were inspired by the Edwardian style suits which many young men wore in the Fifties. This was known as the British Teddy Boy subculture and this trend rapidly spread across the UK in the 1950’s, associating with American Rock and roll music. Some groups who were ‘Teddy Boys’ formed their own gangs who had violent clashes with rival gangs and threatened other people.

The rocker jacket with gelled back hair and jeans also was popular among young men to get a rocker look which most young men wanted to be considered as. This look was used a lot in films and television back then which is how it was inspired in the first place.

In our film we are also using hoods and we found out that they were invented in the 1930’s which means we are able to use them for our film. It also told us that the style and form of the hood dates back to the Middle Ages.

We believe this research will benifit us because it will make our costumes more accurate but we want to try our own unique take on the 1950's fashion.
Also, floral dresses were very popular in the summer.Big hair or high ponytails were also a popular trend with the girls back then.

For our thriller film idea, we are basing the time period in the 1950’s since mafias like we have in our storyline were around that time than they are today. In order to make the time period as realistic as possible, we are researching into the 1950's fashion which we will use in our film.

Props List!

Well, after looking through our shotlist and plot we have come up with a range of props that we are going to need in our opening:

A large knife
A ring
Candles
Real/fake wine
A wine decanter
A regal looking armchair
A wine glass

If need be, more props will be added but so far this seems to be all that is needed. Next we are going to discuss costume which needs to fit with our theme of 1950's

Initial Shot List

Here is our first ideas for a shotlist, it is highly likely that changes will be made if we find faults within these shots but this is our basic shotlist:

Basic Shot list

1. Establishing shot of Mansion
2. Close up of barred side door, seeing a girl sneaking out of side door in house
3. Over the shoulder shot of person in black clothes walking along corridor.
4. Medium shot through barred door seeing the girl walking over, looking around panicked.
5. Person in black clothes coming close to door.
6. Medium shot of girl opening the door, then cut-away, changing to black-dressed person opening the door.
7. Medium shot of girl standing in half-opened door, looking around unsure
8. Masked person entering the room.
9. Point of view shot of room being empty.
10. Medium shot of girl turning around again, starting to run.
11. Point of view shot through window, seeing girl running away over grass of garden.
12. Outside shot of the masked person standing in front of the window.
13. Running feet (?)
14. Over the shoulder shot of person walking along corridor
15. Dolly /Zoom into/ of wooden door coming closer
16. Medium shot of person sitting in a chair with wine glass, waving for more wine
17. Servant coming over, pouring wine into the glass, then putting down bottle, giving the glass to the person; person waves servant away
18. Close up of person drinking wine.
19. Rapid editing shot of running feet, girl’s panicked face, running feet (change of music)
20. Close up of wine glass put down on the table, seeing in blurry background a person entering.
21. Masked person coming over, kneeling in front of person
22. Close up of masked person looking up
23. Medium shot of masked person standing up, going to person in chair
24. Masked person whispering something into other person’s ear
25. Close up of person’s hands clenching arm rest.
26. Medium shot of person slowly standing up, masked person stepping back frightened.
27. Person suddenly hitting masked person in the face, masked person falling over armchair next to her.
28. Shot of servant?
29. Person sinking back into chair, face in her hands.
30. Masked person getting up, trying to grab other person’s hand
31. Person in armchair pushing masked person away (with that moving out of shot).
32. Servant coming over, grabbing masked person, pushing him forward, pointing to the door.
33. Masked person standing up, walking to the door.
34. Cut-away; seeing person going through the door, closing it slowly.
35. Running feet.
36. Handheld of forest or so coming closer.
37. Running feet.
38. Masked person walking through forest, cloak waving behind her
39. Running feet.
40. Medium shot or long shot of girl in dress in forest, stopping to get some breath, basing on her knees.
41. Shot of masked person again.
42. Handheld point of view of girl in the forest, coming closer through woods.
43. Close up of masked person pulling out a knife from under the cloak or from a pocket.
44. Close up of girl’s face suddenly looking up.
45. Medium shot of masked person quickly hiding behind a tree.
46. Close up of girl looking around panicked.
47. Point of view looking around forest?
48. Long shot of person behind the tree, seeing girl in the background looking around.
49. Close up of masked person lifting the knife a bit
50. Rapid zoom into girl’s face looking really panicked, like she heard something, then her screaming (matching music to scream?)
51. Medium shot of masked person lifting head, as she heard the scream.
52. Medium shot of tree, suddenly masked person stepping from back of tree to its side with knife in hand
53. Point of view seeing the girl running away.
54. Rapid editing of running feed, panicked face of girl, running feet again
55. Close up of masked person’s hand clenching around knife.
56. Medium shot or long shot of girl looking over her shoulder while running (if possible).
57. Medium shot of person starting to walk towards the camera with knife in her hand.

Optional ending:

Number 1: Just scene of running feet, evil person from mansion smiling, running feet, then fade out and titles.

Number 2: Rapid editing of running feet, girls face, masked person’s hand with knife and mask of person getting very quick, then suddenly extreme close up of mouth of evil person smiling, fade out and titles.

Number 3: Rapid editing of running feet, girls face, masked person’s hand with knife and mask of person getting very quick, then fade out and titles.

As you can see we have got a wide variety of shot types in here therefore improving the quality of our opening and making it more interesting. It is always important to gain lots of audience attention and we believe by doing this our audience will be very impressed and engaged in our opening.

Film Plot!

After much discussion we have come up with the basic plot for our film opening:

The film will be set in the 1950's and will revolve around a secret and rich female organisation that assassinate anyone who stands in their way. In the opening a girl finds out about their dark secret (which is a mystery unknown until the end of the movie) and is held prisoner until she manages to escape. She breaks out of a gate and runs away through woodland but to her shock and surprise she cannot find a way out. A member of the organisation is sent by the main antagonist to track her down. The girl falls and the organisation member walks towards her and a fade to black is used to end the opening on a cliffhanger.

Our next discussions will be coming up with a shotlist, props list, costume and make-up list and most importantly the location.

Results from the Silence of the Lambs questionnaire!

Well, after several people took the questionnaire we now have the much needed results we can use in our film. We like the idea of having an all female cast which is what the audience seems to want and we also like the idea of part of it being set in the woods or possibly all of it. However it is likely we will have the final decision on the sound, shots, editing and mise-on-scene.

Silence of the Lambs opening sequence.

From looking at The Silence of the lambs opening sequence we decided this is what we want the opening to our thriller film to be similar to and so we conducted a questionnaire to see what people like in the opening to give us suggestions on what we could use in our opening.

Welcome to the blog!

Well, this is my blog for media, mostly for our film which I will document everything that we do for it.