Thriller Opening Sequence

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back from the start of the project I feel that at every stage my project has developed that I have learnt something. This is from the editing I learnt how cut each clip indivually in iMovie and then merge them and how to keep the suspense, to the research where I found out how much detail goes into the planning, researching, preparing and compacting of the story-line. Finally the filming, I never realized how many shots you had to take just to get a litle 10 seconds of your opening sequence, for exampe; the last picture below is only 10 seconds in my opening sequence however I took at least 5 different angled shots of this which took me abut 10/15 minutes. Also how many different angles you can film from, like I just said I thought that you'd plan to shoot one shot and thats it from mid-view and that be it, not shoot it high angle, low angle, long shot etc to see which was the best one. I thought you would of planned out which one was the best shot. Overall I feel that I've learned a hell of a lot from this project which will help me with future media projects I do.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I learnt quite a lot from making my opening sequence, mainly because this was a new experience for me. The main thing was using i-Movie and all all it's acessories; I learned how quickly it was to chop and change scene around, cut parts that you don't need and change the effects to black and white or misty screen, add a postbox effect.This was vital that I learned this and picked up the specific technique of how to get it done quickly because I had decided that the majority of my opening sequence would be in black and white. Another thing I learnt about new technology was the camera we used. How to zoom in and out, how to position my shots so I didn't give much away etc and how slowly panning the camera can make my shot more effective! This is vital in a thirller opening sequence especially the positioning of a shot from the camera so you dont give much away, so learning where to position certain elements such as key items like natural scenery to give it a more eerie effect happened because I had full understanding of the euipqment I was using.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience by using close up camera shots. Throughout my opening sequence which has very eerie music, the camera shots focus on certain aspects that don't reveal a lot about the story-line so it intrigues the audience to watch more. Another way I attracted my audience is by using establishing shots of places where 'no-body can hear you scream' places; for example parks and big open landscapes. Places perfect for a crime to happen.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I feel that my movie/opening sequence audience would be 16-25 as i specified in my research and planning stages. This is because the story-line is very complexed and you'd have to have a wider knowledge of situations that the characters are in, a younger person wouldn't normally understand and know because they haven't experienced them yet in life. Thats why I feel it'll be more beneficial to aim a target audience with a mature age because then the movie would be fully understood. Like the majority of Thriller movies released my product gender audience will be male.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I can't see a reason why any company wouldn't distribute my thriller movie based on what happens within it and the storyline as a whole (bar Disney, Pathe etc; mainly because they distribute movies that relate to younger kids; not my target audience). It's a very good opening sequence that includes many if not all of the thriller opening sequence conventions, so unless something went majorly wrong in the rest of the movie then I believe that there's no reason why they wouldn't distribute the film.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product shows 1 type of 'social groups'. That is the poorer class (my character) - my product gives off the vibe that poorer people are the victims of jokes and not valued high enough because they don't have what other people have like the latest trainers or newest video game. This is why in the opening sequence you don't see alot of any characters just mine with tracksuit bottoms and not good trainers. Through our first draft of the opening sequence we would of portrayed teenagers of rude, cocky and not really caring about anyone but themselves. However when we went off separately to edit I cut them shots out and made the sequence my own interpretation which was more about close-ups and building suspense, not really acting and talking.

2nd Filming Session

It was good that we only needed 2 filming sessions to get the rest our our filming done. With Paul and Jacob taking the camera home during the week to get their personal shots done, all we needed to film was the scenes that made the audience ask a lot of questions. So close ups up of me laying on the ground, plus the phone ringing and lots of slow pans across the misty fields. Plus there was still snow on the ground which i think added a lot to our film especially with the morning light. We finished recording and went back and uploaded the footage to iMovie ready to start editing in the next lesson! Next lesson I'd start my own interpretation on the editing of our movie.

1st Filming Session

Today we went out into the back streets of Sutton and Sutton common park and started to film our opening sequence. We didn't get all of the filming done however because we ran out of time although we did get quite a few of the first shots done, including what we planned to be the first scenes. We took many different shots and angles of the same scene so we had a variety to work from when editing and then after about an hour & half we decided to finish for the day and complete the rest of our filming during the next Media lesson that we had.

Sound

In our opening sequence the sound is being kept to a minimal so that we keep a lot of stuff secret from the audience. The dialogue from the characters is very little in each shot if there is any at all and the tension building music is from the website www.freesound.org. Other that that the only sound you'll hear is hyperbolic sound on the phone vibrating which finishes the opening sequence from our group.

Before I decided on the type of eerie music I wanted in my opening sequence I looked at 2/3 other's and then decided on the one I thought was best.

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=33796

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=33703

These two examples were the soundtracks I listened to before coming across the one that I used for my final piece.

Script for 'Behind It All'

Shot 10:

Norman: Hey, you alright?

Scott: Yeah.

Brandon: Come on, lets go, man.

Shot 11:

Norman: Did you watch the Man. United game last night?

Shot 12:

Brandon: Yeah, can't believe it finished 3-2!

Shot 13:

Norman: Innit!

Shot 14:

Scott: Rooney's goal was good!

Shot 15:

Norman & Brandon: What?

Brandon: I don't think so, mate! You stupid?

Scott: I bet you're gonna do this tomorrow! (Putting me down all the time).

Shot 15.2 (partly same shot):

Norman: Ok, today, he's late again!

Brandon: Probably looking for his breakfast!

Shot 16:

Norman & Brandon: (laughing to themselves).

Shot 19:

Brandon: Phone him again, man.

Norman: Yeah.

Shot 25:

Norman: (On other end of phone) Yo, pick up the phone!

Shooting Schedule

Shooting+Schedule+Tyler+Paul+Jacob.jpg

This link above sends you to the shooting schedule of my group. The shooting schedule is our plan when to film our opening sequence & when we'll be finished & ready to edit.

Title Sequence to 'Behind It All'

20th Century Fox Presents

An AS Production

In collaboraion with TC Inc.
Music By Freesound

Set Design By Jacob RootsA film by ...
Paul Knight
Tyler ChambersJacob Roots
Music by Jacob Roots
Written & Directed by ...
BEHIND IT ALL

Conventions of Thriller's

Following on from my research i have found that below are some of the main conventions that make up a Thriller movie!

• Set in foreign cites, deserts, high seas etc
• Usual hero's = 'hard-man' although sometimes general public when intrigued
• Eriee/Tension type's of music
• Often over-laping storylines throughout movie
• Plot makes the audience think

We will hope to include all these in our opening sequence for our thriller films.

3 Locations

These 3 locations will be used in our media production. The first image will be used by all 3 charcaters, however image 2 will be used just by my person & image 3 used by only paul and jacob's characters.