The art of the title

The art of the title is a website that is designed to showcase how the titles of films are made and the wide variety that can be created.

It also shows the names of all the designers that worked on the title. 

Title sequences

A title sequence's purpose is to show the audience who was behind the film , such as lead actors, directors etc. Also, the title sequence can be rolling as the film starts or have its own segment in the show. An example of this is 'Friends' the TV show. At the start of every episode you see the same title sequence. In thrillers, title sequences can be used to build suspense before the film starts. Furthermore, the title sequences can be rolling as the film starts to lead the audience into a false sense of security.

Studio Idents

Studio Ident

What is a studio ident? 
A studio ident is the animation before a film that tells the audience who was behind the production of that film.
Why is it important?
Studio idents are important as it represents the company responsible for the film. In addition, an ident is what the audience sees before the film, so it should make a good first impression.
What is the importance of the design?
The design of a studio ident is very important as it represents the company. If the design is bland, then the audience will instantly assume that the company is bland. Equally, if the design of the ident is grand and bold then the same could be said for the studio.

Example


20th Century Fox is a studio that is part of the 'big six '. Its ident is very bold and grand. 20th Century Fox is a very big corporation that is responsible for a lot of the blockbusters we know today. This lets us know that the film we are about to watch probably has a big budget and will more than likely be successful.


The MGM ident is a lion roaring. This makes the studio seem mighty and powerful.  Also, the uniqueness of the ident makes the studio seem original. MGM is a mini major corporation. This means it isn't as big as the 'big six'. However, it is bigger than the independent film studios.



Film 4 is an independent film studio. The ident shows us different perspectives of the film 4. This shows us everything isn't what it seems, and that film 4 will show us a different look on things.

Continuity Editing

Continuity editing is making sure the scene makes sense. For example if a character walks throw a door then closes it. That door should be closed in the next scene. Continuity is there to ensure there aren't any mistakes in the film.
In addition to this there is the 180 degree rule that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left right relationship throughout the scene.

Speed/ style of editing

Film editing is the way in which editors can assemble their shots into a sequence and have them tell a story. The speed of the editing tells the audience how to feel. If a scene is longer than usual, it is so the audience can experience it for longer. In a thriller, longer scenes are used to build suspense and bring the audience in to eventually hit them with a jump scare. Similarly, faster editing is useful to speed up scenes and get the audience to the desired scene quicker.

Analysis of modern thriller openings

In a lot of instances thriller openings use a very similar format in that the opening is very ominous and sets the tone for the film. In many cases they actually foreshadow the film. The opening to the film is very important as it shows the audience what to expect for the rest of the film.

mise-en-scene: Casino Royale

Casino Royale is very heavy on mise-en scene. For example, James bond is seen to be wearing a suit which shows he is a professional and slick. Furthermore, the fact he wears some black clothes shows he has a dark side and can be dangerous. The villain is shown to be wearing all black, black gloves and a soviet hat. This has connotations that he is dangerous and cannot be trusted. It immediately puts him in the stereotype of violent Russians.

Evaluation of sound exercise

Our sound exercise was fairly good, considering we didn't have long to film or plan what we was doing. The plot of the film wasn't the best, it was just a theft. However that wasn't the point of the exercise. The point was to get used to using the mic and learning how to ensure the background noise doesn't interfere with the film. This was tough because we had to make sure we could still be heard but the wind didn't drown us out. We done the best we could, however we had to lower the volume, this makes it somewhat difficult to hear the dialogue at the end. Another problem with the film was when sam swore. He done this because he forgot that i was going to attack him. This had to be beeped out during the editing. All in all i think mistakes were made as it was our first time. However, these mistakes won't happen again as they are easily preventable now we have some experience with the equipment. In addition, it didn't help that the sound man kept changing as we all wanted a turn. This lead to different audio levels which made it strenuous to edit.

Sound exercise

This is our sound task.

Shifty

“Shifty” An Independent British Thriller.

“Shifty” is a British Film that was made in 2008 as part of the microwave scheme The microwave scheme provided young London film makers with a platform to make a small independent film.

The rules of the microwave scheme were that the film had to be made in 18 days and with a budget of less than £100,000. “Shifty” was the second Microwave film to be released and opened in 51 small independent cinemas including the Curzon chain and on its opening weekend it took £61,000. The final box office takings were £143,000. Most of the film’s profits came from DVD and television sales.

“Shifty” was distributed by Metrodome. They spent £50,000 on making celluloid prints, administration and advertising of the film. The intention was to attract two different audiences. The first of which was the middle class audience that regularly sees small independent films at independent cinemas. In addition they wanted to attract a new, younger urban audience. This audience had made “Kidulthood” and “Adulthood” profitable.

Targeting Audiences and Cross Media Convergence

In order to target both audiences, Metrodome produced different trailers. Interestingly the trailer targeting the youth audience had a soundtrack of ‘hip hop’ music. However, there was no soundtrack in the actual film.

In addition Metrodome ran adverts on pirate radio stations, used Fly Posters (which are illegal) and gave out ‘business cards’ which made Shifty look like a drug dealer and directed the recipient to a website. In addition to this, a music video was uploaded to promote the film. The music video used audio suitable for a younger audience. This lead to more exposure for the film.

Furthermore, emails were sent out virally that made shifty look like a drug dealer, these emails were banned, however the publicity generated had already helped promote the film.

Finally, Metrodome targeted the youth audience through a competition offering £500 worth of studio time to young musicians. The winner of the competition had the chance to work with a musician who starred in the film.

Synopsis
"Shifty" isa thriller that builds slowly. There are three parts to the story. The first part is the fact that Chris, a young man in his twenties visit his best friend back home, who he hasn't seen for years. We are lead to believe that something awful happened.

We quickly learn that Shifty has become a drug dealer.This creates a realistic picture of urban life as shifty has to make a living illegally. The second part of the story is about Trevor, a drug addict, the film follows his search for drugs as e becomes more and more desperate.

The third part to the film involves Glen, who places Shifty in danger by lying and claims shifty is short changing his supplier. The film builds towards a climax which takes the audience by surprise.

Rope

"Rope” is a psychological thriller. It was adapted from Patrick Hamilton’s Play which appeared in 1929. The Play was based upon the real life murderers Leopold and Loeb who killed an innocent man to see how it felt. The case became very famous in America. It was linked to the ideas of Nietzsche and his notion of ‘Superman’ a morally superior being. These ideas influenced Hitler and the rise of the Nazis.

The film was made in 1948 and directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

What makes this film famous is the unique editing. Hitchcock wanted to film the story as one long continuous take so that it was like watching a play and the audience felt they were ‘living’ the action.However, in his time Hitchcock had to work with 10 minute rolls. He tried his best to hide his cuts but they are noticeable to a more modern audience. Using this editing technique creates a feeling of claustrophobia. The actors and the audience are both ‘trapped’ in the film. The fact that the body is present throughout the film adds to the tension as the fear of discover exists from the onset.

Another fascinating element to the film is the way homosexuality is portrayed. The relationship between the two murderers is clearly romantic but due to the times, Hitchcock wasn't allowed to state that.

Source Code

Source Code

Source code is a futuristic thriller, in which a soldier exists in a simulation of a train bombing. The objective of the soldier is to figure out who bombed the train. The film raises many philosophical points, including points about parallel universes and dimensions. In addition the film has moral and ethical dilemmas on whether or not such a thing should exist to prevent terrorism.

The film ends with many things open or unanswered, for instance the audience doesn't know whether or not the soldier is dead or alive, or whether he is continuing living as the man on the train. Either of these endings hint toward an alternate dimension.

For all the excitement the film has romantic moments. There is an ongoing romance and a very moving scene where the soldier, Colter Stevens (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) phones his father.

The film was made in 2011 and was directed by Duncan Jones.

. The film contains CGI special effects and cost $32,000,000 to make.

Colter Stevens is a resourceful hero. He gets out of a lot of scrapes as he challenges fellow passengers.

At the end of the film he challenges/persuades the scientist Colleen Goodwin to allow him one more attempt to enter the source code and change the outcome. She grants him this wish and whether he achieves his goal or not is unknown.

This film is an example of an ordinary person, albeit a soldier, who has been dragged into a situation he does not really understand.

Thrillers are villain driven plots. Colter Stevens is not only against the bomber he is also against the creator of the Source Code who refuses to let him die and wants to use him for future missions. Until the end of the film Stevens is powerless and is driven by others. In addition he also has to fight his own demons. This gives the impression that Colter Stephens is against the world.

Psycho

Psycho

Does psycho follow thriller conventions?















One of the conventions of a thriller is frequent action, psycho follows this convention is fairly action packed, especially for its time. Throughout psycho the protagonist is always in danger whether it be Marion or Detective Arbogast.












Another feature of a thriller is fast pacing. Psycho is a fast paced film, again, considering when it was made. The film was never short of action and it progressed at a good pace.
Also, in a thriller the characters are supposed to be smart and resourceful, this adds to the tension as the villain can outsmart the protagonist. Norman Bates isn't the smartest character but his awkwardness makes him scary anyway so he doesn't need to be smart.
Psycho doesn't have a driven villain but Norman Bates is a great villain nonetheless.
Suspense is needed in thrillers as it breaks down the action and makes the audience feel as though they are in the situation of the protagonist. A red herring is used to mislead or confuse the audience. In psycho the red herring is Norman's mother.  Psycho also has a good cliffhanger with the idea that Norman Bates is still mentally unstable.

Use of McGuffin.
A McGuffin is what starts the plot of the film but in the end has nothing to do with the plot. In psycho the McGuffin is the stealing of the money, by the end of the film nobody seems to care about the money.

Narrative Theories
Equilibrium- at the start of the film all is calm and seemingly normal until an event disrupts the flow of the film.

Disruption- In this case the disruption was Marion stealing the money. This drives the plot forward.

Attempt to restore order- The protagonist has to solve whatever it is that is wrong. In psycho this stage is when detective arbogast investigates the disappearance of Marion.

Equilibrium is restored but with changes- in this case norman is locked up and marion and arbogast is dead.

Lighting

This is a prezi on the importance of lighting in film.

Evaluation of camera techniques

As you can see by our camera techniques exercise we aren't the most experienced. However we did show some signs that could indicate that we have some skills in the area. Looking back on it there's a lot that i would change. For example, the shot at the end when someone is approaching our actor was unsteady and looked unprofessional. There was also a lot of flaws in some of the other shots where we could still see directors in the background. The sound was distorted which is another thing for us to work on. We tried to eradicate this problem by adding sound over the top. There was also a lot of subtle things about the editing that was frustrating. If i were to re-do it, i would make the transitions from shot to shot a lot smoother.

Camera techniques exercise

Use of the camera

North by Northwest

North by northwest from AlexJamesMaloney

Thriller conventions

Macro/micro - narrative /genre

Vladimir Propp was a soviet folklorist and scholar who analysed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irreducible narrative elements. He came up with a theory that each story has to gave a certain structure with certain characters.  

For example an example of the villain could be "Bane" from "The Dark Knight Rises". This is because he tries to over run the city by releasing all the prisoners. The helper in this film could be Commissioner Gordon who helps batman retake control of the situation.

Tzvetan Todorov came up with the theory that all films follow a certain pattern. 

The equilibrium is the beginning of the film where everything is in order. Then you have the disruption to the equilibrium which the hero has to fix. When he does this there is a new equilibrium set. 

Claude Levi-Strauss came up with the theory of binary opposites. This is the theory that every haracter in the film has a counterpart.