Group - 2 Minute Film Opening - Polaroid

Group - Animatic

Group - Preliminary Task

AO - Evaluation Planning

For our evaluation of the opening sequence, we are looking to film a directors interview. The interview will have both Josh and I in, and we will be answering the questions together. We will only film four out of the seven questions in the interview, the rest will be answered in a powerpoint presentation. In the presentations Josh will be answering question one, where as I'll be answering questions three and six. The interview will involve Josh and I talking about the answers, and how we feel it went.

Pitch Slideshow

Polaroid

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AO-Third Shoot

We have finished our third shoot, for our film opening. We were filming in the basement under the stage at school, the same location as we filmed in before. Most of the shots that we filmed were filler shots, as we need to make our sequence longer, because it is too short at the moment.

The shoot was a success, as we were able to shoot all the shots that we needed and they looked to be what we wanted. We will edit the shots tomorrow to see if we can include them into our opening sequence.

Group - Sound Samples

This is the atmospheric music we have chosen to go with our film opening. We think it fits the genre because it is very tense music.
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=34662

This is the door slam we are going to use in our piece:
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=46076

Here are some other atmospheric music samples we have looked at:
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=39661
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=34141

AO- Second Shoot

Yesturday we carried out our second shoot, for the hostage scene. This was done at school, so it was easy to access and we didn't need to travel far to get there. We had two hours to this sequence, and we shot all the shots with both cast memebers in, we could not shoot all of the shots as we didn't have the polaroid pictures we need.

Overall, i believe the shoot was a success as we got all the shots we wanted, and we think that these shots are suitable for our opening sequence. I think that we got enough takes, as we tried to film as many as we could in the two hours available to us, so from these takes i think that our sequence can be made. We will start editing the scene within the next two days, so we can get a feel for the shots, and see how they fit into the sequence.

AO - Next Shoot

We have decided to do our next shoot, of the hostage scene on Thursday the 11th March. We are going to plan this a lot more than our previous scene, as when we came to edit it, we thought it was inadequate to our expectations. This is to ensure that we shoot the whole scene in the time, and that everyone knows exactly what we are doing.

We have taken the decision to remove the flashback sequence from our opening because of the length and the effect it has on the film.

JM - First day of shooting

So yesterday (Saturday) was our first day of shooting our AS level coursework. The location of the shoot was a friends house in Sevenoaks, so there wasn't really much travelling or risk involved in the shoot.
Overall, I think that yesterday was a very productive day and we got all the shots we needed, so that this week we can begin to get the editing phase underway, choose which of the takes to use and which will end up being ditched. We encountered no problems during our shoot and everything ran smoothly, which was good.
With one more shoot planned for this coming Thursday (11th March) we aim to get the final shots for our film finished,

JM - Fun with Fake Blood...

So there's gonna be a bit of blood in our opening sequence, so I set about finding a good recipe. A bit of a search on the internet and I found one, but it didn't come out too well. So some experimental procedures later and staining my hand several times with food colouring (be careful, this takes ages to come out) I have found a recipe I think is good.

First you will need:
1. Water - One small cup
2. Flour - 2 teaspoons
3. Red Food Colouring
4. Golden Syrup



Ok, so first things first mix the flour and water in a bowl and whisk until all lumps have disappeared. You should be left with a slightly cloudy mixture. Next, put the mixture in a sausepan and bring to the boil. The simmer this mixture for about 10-20 minutes, until you have a good, slightly thick consistency to the mixture. Place back in a bowl and add some Red Food Colouring before whisking the mixture further. Finally, add 3-5 teaspoons of Golden Syrup to mixture and continue to whisk. Leave to cool before application (From personal idiotic experience). Your final mixture should look a lot like this, (lighting shows mix as very bright, it is darker in real life)



This mixture is good for showing trickles of blood, such as nose bleeds, and also for staining clothes. If anyone tries this, feedback is fine, and any questions just ask.

JM - Location shots

I went up to a possible location in Epsom recently and took some photos:

AO- Moodboard

Group - Film Treatment

Our film is going to be called 'Polaroid', and the opening sequence will feature two main characters. The main protagonist of the film will be called George Weah, and he will be tormented and tested by the antagonist known only as G.U.S who has kidnapped his girlfriend Jodie Morris. Our opening sequence will also feature a flashback from where the remainder of the film narrative would progress, were we making it.

Opening Sequence
The sequence will open with a blurry screen that comes into focus in a rundown room which looks to be part of an abandoned building. This will be a POV shot from the main character, George. This room will have many polaroid photos on the wall, which will be crossed out in red pen, and will have bloody fingerprints and smears on them. After a few have been shown with close-ups, mixed in with shots showing that George is tied to a chair, there will be a loud bang from a door being slammed. Then the antagonist will be shown to have entered the room, however his face will be obscured throughout this scene. The antagonist will become known to George simply as G.U.S, but the identities of both characters remain unknown throughout the opening sequence. G.U.S will then sit down next to George and begin to fiddle around with something that is also obscured. George begins to panic, before it switches back to POV to show a needle up close, which will squirt liquid. The needle disappears from view, and Geroge becomes more distressed. Still from POV a polaroid camera appears close-up and flashes. The screen goes completely blank/white at which point text appears saying 'One week previous' showing that a flashback has taken place. The sound and visual of an alarm clock will slowly fade in before a hand comes down on the alarm clock to silence it. As the hand retreats from the alarm clock, there is a polaroid photo in it's grasp. The hand it turns out belongs to George and the picture shows a girl smiling. This girl is George's girlfriend and on the back of the photo the is a location and time. Below this text it will be signed G.U.S. The scene will then end.

Ideas for the rest of the film
The basic idea of the rest of the film is that George goes to the location at the time specified and a public telephone rings. The person at the other end of the line will inform George his girlfriend girlfriend is being held hostage by him (This person being G.U.S). G.U.S then sets out tasks for George, with polaroid photos giving further clues to the next task. When completing one task George himself will be captured and will then wake up to find himself in the senario of the opening sequence we will film. After falling unconscious again he will wake up in a high rise building. This final task set by G.U.S is that he shoots the Primeminister, or his girlfriend who is in the opposite apartment building with a rifle. The door to the apartment is rigged meaning George cannot escape. After contemplating it for a while George assasainates the Primeminister, and is subsequently arrested. A further flashfoward would the show Georges girlfriend visiting him in prison six months later. The would film then end.

JM - Analysing an opening sequence - 'Memento' (Nolan, 2000)

Analysing an opening sequence: Memento (Nolan, 2000)

Genre
1. Thriller

2. The audience's generic expectations of the basic format of any film are not conformed to because there is a time reversal in the opening sequence, rather than the time being real, all action is reversed. However, when looking at the content of this scene there is the usually iconography of a thriller such as blood and a gun, meaning that the content conforms to the audience's generic expectations of the text.

3. This sequence conforms to the characteristics of the genre, by using an atmospheric string/orchestral style of music throughout. The room that the sequence is shot in is very dimly lit, and the room itself is very shabby and derilict. There is also blood on the walls, and a man is dead on the floor.

Film Language
1. The mise-en-scene creates a sense of mystery and aggression in this sequence. Use of props such as the gun create the aggression as it is used to commit a murder in this sequence, and the photograph of the victim after he has been shot creates the sense of mystery. The photo also sets up the role, and may indicate to the audience that photos will become a pivotal point in the meaning of this film.



2. The long extended close up of the photo developing in reverse (going from an image to being blank) creates the feelings of mystery, suspense and confusion that dominate this sequence. Another key shot in this sequence is the solitary empty bullet shell lying on the floor, which allows the audience to realise that the man on the floor has been shot. The final important shot is the close up of the man being shot in the head in reverse, his scream being the only vocal sound made by either character in the sequence, and jolts the audience at the climax of the building tension. The cutting rate throughout is very slow and this techniques allows the audience to soak up the tension of the narrative.



3. The String/Orchestral music used throughout the sequence is just another factor that anchors the feeling of tension ans suspense in the opening sequence of memento. The music is soft and slow, but plays in such a way that it has the tense effect it is intended to create.

4. We learn very little about the characters through dialogue, but we do learn that the man with the gun is very calm, even when commiting a murder through his complete lack of dialogue or emotion.

5. The obvious visual technique used is a time manipulation to make the sequence play out in reverse. By doing this the director adds to the confusion of the scene, which in turn makes the scene tense.

Narrative
1. The narrative is organised in a very strange and confusing manner in the opening sequence of Memento. With the time manipulation that is used the narrative of this scene is in complete reverse. This is a very odd structure and could confuse the audience intially.

2. The audience is positioned in a way that they are a mutual observer in this horrifying and confusing opening. With little dialogue and a reverse narrative it is hard to sympathise with either character. Although one man has commited a horrendous crime, we as the audience know nothing of his reasoning, which is the same for the victim, who may have done something to enrage the man with the gun to the severity to which he is willing to kill.

3. The techniques of the identification in this sequence are that the man with the gun is an agressor and it is the gun and his actions that clearly show this. The man who is shot is thus identified as a victim of the aggressor.



4. The major themes of the narrative are of death and murder. There is a man who has been killed, by another man and now lies dead on the floor. This sets up a theme of murder for the rest of the film.

5. Tension is created and maintained throught the different techniques of sound, mise-en-scene and camera work. Combinations of the String/Orchestral music on the soundtrack, time manipulation, lack of dialogue and iconography such as the use of a gun all create and maintain the tension.

Representaion and Ideology
1. There are only two characters in the opening sequence and they are both white males. The fact that the aggressor is male represents men as an aggressive and violent sex and this representation is created through the use of a gun and the fact that he murders someone.



2. I understand this question, however I cannot any evident beliefs and values, or an ideological discouse in this opening.

3. The denotations of the gun that the aggressor uses to commit the murder are that this man is armed and has a weapon, but this connotes many things also. It connotes that this man is aggressive and violent as well as someone who breaks the law. It also connotes more about this man in the fact that he could be dangerous because of the fact that guns are dangerous when being used.

Media Audiences
1. I believe that the target audience for this film would be the 18-24 age range, cutting out 15-17 year olds due to its cetificate of 18. I also believe that the film is also aimed more towards the male section of this age range due to its high violence content, an area that men are typically more interested or enthused in than women.

2. The probable and possible audience readings of this text are that it this film is an intense psychological thriller, but there will also be a fair degree of violence and action involved.

3. In my personal opinion i enjoyed this film and found that it had many of the conventions of a Thriller film. With the degree of violence in this film I feel more enthralled due to me being male, however this does not mean that females would not enjoy the film. Also as a younger person I am not as put off by the violence as opposed to the more mature audience who may be put off. However once again, this does not mean that everyone in this group would not enjoy the film. Finally, despite the rise in British gun crime, the area I come from there is very little notion of guns. However with more accessability to guns due to American law, the fact I am British does alienate me slightly from the storyline.

Institutuional Context
1. Having been in previous films such as 'Rules of Engagement' (Freidkin, 2000) I feel that Guy Pearce may have been a draw to the film from those who had viewed this film.

2. This film was produced by the 'Newmarket Capital Group' which is a Los Angeles based production company. Being a relatively large studio this film qualifies as an 'industrial' film.

3. Jonathan Nolan designed the film's official website. The website was intended to provide further clues and hints to the story, while not providing any key information or spoilers. After a short intro on the website, the viewer was shown a newspaper clipping detailing 'Leonard's' murder of 'Teddy' (The murder depicted in the opening sequence). Clicking on highlighted words in the article leads to more material describing the film, including Leonard's notes and photographs as well as police reports. The filmmakers employed another tactic by sending out Polaroid pictures to random people, showing a bloody and shirtless Leonard pointing at an unmarked spot on his chest. Since 'Newmarket Capital Group' distributed the film themselves, Christopher Nolan edited the film's trailers himself and sold them to inexpensive American cable-TV channels like 'Bravo' and 'A&E', and websites such as 'Yahoo and MSN'. It was the trailers that were key to the film gaining widespread public notice.

4. There were no real clues, apart from the names of the production companies that were shown prior to the sequence, to as whether or not this was an 'independent' film or and 'industrial' film. All the visual effects used were pretty basic, such as the manipulation of time. The best production value in the opening sequence is the effects used in the murder, such as the gunshot and blood spatters, which give a slight clue to the films 'industrial' production, due to these effects being of a high quality.

AO- Analysing an opening sequence- Phone Booth (Schumacher, 2003)

Genre

1. Phone Booth is a psychological thriller
2. There is not much suspense or tension created in the opening sequence of the film. The sequence suggests is that technology plays a big part in the film. Also the fact there are no main characters that are established in the opening sequence suggests that what ever happens in the film affects a lot of people. However these techniques are usually used in crime thrillers, because of the technology used.
3. The opening sequence conforms to characteristics of a thriller through the music, which has characteristics of machinery and technology, linking in with the theme of the opening sequence. Also the opening sequence has shots of a policeman, conveying crime and deviation- which link into characteristics of thrillers. However, the singing at the beginning of the sequence would not normally be associated with thrillers, and so has a contrasting effect.

Film Language

1. The opening sequence is shot in New York, in a big city centre, which we associate with crime and violence; this is backed up with shots of policeman and emergency vehicles. There are also shots of guns, again conveying crime and violence, there are also a lot of phones, and the fact that the title is called Phone Booth suggests that the centre of the crime is a phone.
2. The movement of the camera starts off slow, but then increases, which adds to the intensity of the sequence, the cuts between different groups and individuals are also quick, and quite jumpy, this adds to the uneasiness for the audience, it also creates more mystery surrounding the sequence and the people in it.
3. The music in the opening sequence anchors the images by increasing the movement of the camera and the cuts to them as the music increases, so they are simultaneous.
4. There is not much dialogue in the opening sequence of the film, which adds to the mystery of the film, and that the audience doesn’t really no what is going on. However, towards the end of the sequence there is a voice-over narration, and he has a deep voice, which we associate with evil and sinister behaviour. He starts to talk about the people of New York and phones that are used there, connoting that he is plotting a crime with phones, which has an effect on the people of New York.
5. The director uses the sequence at the beginning to connote that the film had something to do with technology and science, because of the zoom into the satellite, and then the zoom into earth, which happens to be the inside of a phone- again associating the film with phones and technology.

Narrative

1. There isn’t much of a narrative, because no characters are established in the opening sequence of the film and there is hardly any dialogue, the only dialogue is the voice-over, but we have no indication to whom or where he is. The only thing we get from the sequence is that it looks to be situated in New York.
2. The audience are positioned with the people in the city, as if they were there watching what people were doing. This is shown through the quick movement of the camera, portraying the busyness of New York.
3. There aren’t any examples of identification in the opening sequence of the film, because during the sequence we are never focused on one particular person for a long period of time, so no relations can be made.
4. The major themes that are in the narrative are is the idea of technology being at the centre of the narrative, and that most people that are in the opening sequence is on a phone. Another theme that is in the narrative is crime, and images/shots that connote crime and violence, however these are themes that will come about later on in the film.
5. There is not much tension created in the opening sequence of the film, however there is some mystery and uncertainty that is created in the opening sequence. This is done through the lack of knowledge and understanding that surrounds the film.

Representation & Ideology

1. There are many social groups that are represented in the opening sequence of the film; however the groups are not a focus point of the film, as they are just representing different social groups within New York.
2. A common belief that is used throughout the opening sequence is that phones and technology as a whole are used all the time in life, today, and that they now control a big part of our lives.
3. The semiotics of the framework represent that people that do bad things are usually punished, and do not get away with carrying out a bad deed.

Media Audiences

1. I think the target audience would be predominately men aged from 15-35, because of its high intensity plot and the crime involved.
2. The probable reading of the text is that the film is a crime thriller- because of the connotations of weapons that shown. There is also a lot mystery surrounding the film, as there aren’t any characters established at the beginning of the film, and the antagonist is never seen. Another probable reading could be that people always get what’s coming to them, because the main character cheated on his wife, he was targeted for an attack.
3. I think that this film is a bit outrageous, and I don’t think that this could happen in reality; however I am hooked by the mystery and suspense of the film. I don’t think that I was influenced much because of my age, gender or background, except that there are consequences for everything in life.

Institutional Context

1. The film had bankable stars such as; Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland, Forest Whitaker, Radha Mitchell, Katie Holmes. They are important because they help to promote the film and bring in an audience.
2. The film was produced by 20^th Century Fox, an industrial film company.
3. The marketing strategy was to package the key attributes in the posters, with bid pictures of Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker and Kiefer Sutherland. The film had a production budget of $11 million, and a prints and advertising budget of $25 million. This suggests that 20th Century Fox invested a lot of money into advertising and getting the film across to audiences.
4. Yes, because the film opens in the centre of New York, which they would have had to close off while they shot these first few scenes of the film- this would have cost quite a lot of money.

JM - Thriller Mood Board

AO-Genre Analysis

Thriller
The genre that we have decided to do is thriller, this is because we find thriller films to be more interesting and grip the audience in a better way. There are a lot of sub-genres for thrillers, the four main sub-genres are:
Crime Thrillers- a combination of crime and thriller films, which are usually focused around the suspense of the crime, and its success or failure. The psychological aspect of the film is not focused on in the narrative as much as the physiological aspects. e.g. Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992)
Action Thrillers- action thrillers normally contain a lot of violence, and are focused on that fact that there is a race against the clock. These films also contain a large amount of guns, explosions and large action sequences. e.g. The Transporter (Leterrier and Yuen, 2002)
Science Fiction Thrillers- a combination of science fiction and thriller films, which normally as a fantasy element to it. e.g. Sunshine (Boyle, 2007)
Disaster Thrillers- the conflict made in disaster films are usually because of a natural or a man-made disaster that happens, like hurricanes, floods or a nuclear disaster e.g. Earthquake (Robson, 1974)
Psychological Thrillers- this involves a lot of emotional and mental conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist, they are often resolved with violence. e.g. Phone Booth (Schumacher, 2003)

Phone Booth (Schumacher, 2003) - the main conventions throughout the film is that there is a lot of mystery surrounding the film, and this is key in trying to create suspense- which is the reason for the audiences interest in a psychological thriller.

Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992) - the main theme throughout crime thrillers, are the connotations of crime, and what that comes with. Like guns, death and the police. There also tend to be a large amount of violence in crime thrillers. These conventions of crime thrillers are used in Reservoir Dogs, for example, one of the earliest scenes has a man with a bullet wound, and is bleeding.

Conventions in a Thriller
Usually in thrillers there is the hero (the protagonist) type figure that is portrayed, this figure is normally played by a man, because of their mental and physical strength. Men are also used a lot because they can easily play an ‘anti-hero’ especially in crime and action thrillers. E.g. Jason Statham in the Transporter (Leterrier and Yuen, 2002)

However, these roles can sometimes be played by women, because of their sexual presence. E.g. Rachael McAdams in Red Eye (Craven, 2005)






Villains in thrillers are normally played by men, as they are seen as the more menacing and aggressive sex. Men are also seen as the villain because they are seen as more deceitful and going against the law. The villains that are portrayed in thrillers usually have some sort of mental health issues, which is their motive for their illegal acts. E.g. Kevin Spacey in Seven (Fincher, 1995)









Thrillers are conventionally located in outskirts, and derelict areas, where there is hardly no-one around- this is used to create an eerie feel to the film, and create more mystery. These areas are usually were the antagonist is located, and is seen as a type of ‘hideout’ for the antagonist.

Iconography for thrillers is usually symbols that connote death and have a certain link with murder or a crime that has/is about to take place. These types of iconographies are seen through symbols, such as knives, guns, blood, police (sirens).

For the opening sequence of our film, we are looking to have the villain dressed in a long white coat (like a doctors), and the protagonist dressed in ripped/torn clothing, that is ruined.


The main connotations with colour that are used in thrillers is, red suggest blood, and death, it can also be used as a warning or danger to a character. Black is also used, to set the mood of the thriller, for example a scene shot at night will create a different atmosphere to one during the day, creating an unnatural feeling surrounding the film.

The types of fonts used could be styles that are gothic, and that connote fear and danger to the audience, for example:

JM Genre Analysis - Thriller

Films in the genre of 'Thriller' are those that contain a great deal of tension and suspense and promote intensity throughout the narrative.. There is more information on the conventions of the Thriller genre in my previous post entitled 'The Thriller Genre', but the main points are that there is often many twists in the plot, and the tension builds greater towards the climax of the film. Most often in the Thriller genre you will see one main protagonist and an opposing antagonist whose conflict is the basis of the narrative. There are often many stock characters who will state their allegiances to either the protagonist or antagonist and subsequently aid them in the conflict.

Thriller Sub-categories
There are many sub-categories in the Thriller genre, that can be used to refine the conventions of certain films. It can be said that some films fall into more than one of these sub-catergories; creating sub-category 'hybrids' if you must. The sub-categories mentioned below are the most pre-dominant and common sub-categories of Thriller.

Action Thriller:
In this sub-category there is often a large amount of violence and an obvious antagonist. There is often a lot of guns, explosions and an elaborate setting and sequence of events to allow the action to take place.

e.g. The Bourne Identity (Liman, 2002)

Crime Thriller:
In this sub-category the audience is often given a suspenseful account of successful or failed crimes. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects and central topics of these films include murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, and 'double-crossing'.

e.g. Seven (Fincher, 1995)

Disaster Thriller:
In this sub-category the main conflict is provided in the form of a natural disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane, or a man-made disaster such as a nuclear disaster. It is common to find in this genre that the actual disaster itself replaces the traditional antagonist.

e.g. Deep Impact (Leder, 1998)

Psychological Thriller:
In this sub-category the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist is mainly mental and emotional rather than physical, until the unltimately violent climax.

e.g. Memento (Nolan, 2000)

Sci-Fi Thriller:
In this sub-category we see the usual conventions of the Science Fiction genre crossed with the thrills of the Thriller genre. The usual narrative of 'Sci-Fi' would be ficticious, but unlike the Fantasy genre the events are usually possible within the laws of nature.

e.g. 28 Days Later (Boyle, 2002)

Conventions of a Thriller
The main protagonist of a Thriller film is usually portrayed as either being a hero or 'anti-hero'. The 'anti-hero' will often appear in Thrillers that are based on Crime, the 'anit-hero' usually breaking the law in order to acheive their goals, although as the narrative postions them as the protagonist we sympathise with them. An example of this would be Clint Eastwood in 'Dirty Harry'(Siegel, 1971).



Although these characters are often portayed by a male, there can sometimes be females playing these roles.

Once again the anatagonist of a Thriller will usually be played by a man. This is because more often then not the antagonist ina thriller film is a villain, and men are seen as the more sgressive and menacing sex. Their motive would usually be a profit of some sort, which is usually obtain through illegal acts. Another popular situation is for the villain to be mentally ill or looking for revenge. An example of a villain in a thriller is Heath Ledger in 'The Dark Knight' (Nolan, 2008)



Thrillers can be located in a range of locations, mainly the outskirts of a city or on derilict land in order to help create tension and mystery in the narrative. The main locations of Thrillers would be the 'hideout' for the antagonist, a place in which the protagonist aims to go, in order to confront the antagonist.

Connotations of colour in Thriller is centred around the colour red, which connotes death and blood. It can also connote danger when seen, or could be used as a warning to characters. Black is another common colour in the Thriller genre and is used in order to heighten a sense of mystery.

Iconography of the Thriller genre will often be centred around weapons and other object that are use to commit crime. For example guns and knives. Infact the iconic use of a 'Smith & Wesson Model 29' in the film 'Dirty Harry' (Siegel, 1971) caused a huge rise in demand for the gun amongst American gun owners. Other iconography of Thrillers is anything that relates to death, such as blood.

AO- Technical Analysis- Seven (Fincher, 1995)

Shot by shot analysis
The film opens on a CU of a book, with a man turning the page- slightly blurred vision
Cuts to a black screen with production credits on, in a stylistic font- the writing is small and white
A cut to a CU of a pair of hands that are drawn on a piece of paper
Cuts to an ECU of hands turning a screw
A cut to an ECU of a piece of equipment or machinery opening
Cut to an ECU of a hand pulling down on a lever
Cut to a black screen with a cast members name (same style writing as before)
A very quick cut to a black background with a white circle and some writing
Cut to an ECU of fingers holding a razor blade (this happens several times in a row)
Cut to a black screen with a cast members name
Cut to an ECU of a hand putting a piece of paper in water
Quick flash of writing on a black background
Another quick flash of a Polaroid picture of a died person
Cut to a black screen with the title of the film ‘Seven’
Cut to an ECU of a hand (with a plasters on fingers) opening a box
The text ‘Seven’ comes up over the top of this shot, in the corner
Quick flash of numbers written on a wall
Cut to a CU of a hand opening a book
Cut to a CU of a hand pulling a piece of paper through a machine
Cut to a black screen of a cast members name
Cut to an ECU of a hand writing on a piece of paper, the same hand writing is put on top of the other one, so it looks like two hands are writing
Cut to an ECU of writing that has been turned upside down
Cut to a red background, with a CU of a Polaroid picture of a man- this also has a red-wash to it.
A black cross then flashes over the picture, and then disappears
Cut to a black screen with a cast members name
Cut to an ECU of a pair of hands, using scissors to cut a piece of camera film
Cut to a CU of hands, using scissors to cut a piece of a Polaroid picture
Cut to a black screen with a cast members name
Cut to an ECU of a finger (with a bandage on it) sticking some cello-tape to a piece of metal
Cut to a CU of hands, using scissors to cut parts of a photograph of someone
Cut to a CU of a hand lining up a picture on a piece of paper
Quick flash of some writing on a black background
Cut to a CU of writing, saying ‘in god’
Cut to a black screen with cast members names
Dissolves into a CU of a Polaroid picture of a man, being stuck to a piece of paper
A quick cut to an ECU of scraps of newspaper, with text and writing
Cuts back to the Polaroid picture of a man
Cuts to an ECU of a page turning in a book, you can see the shadow of a hand, through the page
Cut to a black screen with cast members names
Flashes of writing and lines come up
Another quick cut to writing on a wall, before cutting to cast members’ names on a brown screen (still in the same font as before)
Cut to an ECU of a finger smudging pen over some writing on paper
Cut to an ECU of a pen highlighting words on a piece of text, about pregnancy
Cut to a ECU of a book turning a page, writing then flashes over the top of this
Cut to a black screen of cast members names
Writing then flashes on the screen, on a brown wall
Cut to an ECU of a pen highlighting words in a text
Another pen is faded over the top, so it looks like there are two pens writing
A quick cut to an ECU of a piece of camera film being cut with scissors, cuts back to the pen highlighting
Cuts to a CU of drawing of a man, and I line is put through the man with a pen, most of this shot is taken up by a black screen, which has more crew members on
The CU of the man then cuts to another CU of the man, but his whole face has been covered in pen
This shot then flashes, with a red-wash and the screen is also turned red
Cut to an ECU of a pen writing on a piece of paper
Cut to a split-screen, one half a ECU of a pen writing on some paper, the other half is ECU of a hand dipping a photograph in water, in a red-room (red-wash)
The red-wash continues to the next shot, an ECU of camera film being put onto some paper, the red-wash then fades out
A jump cut to an ECU of a photograph being put onto the same paper as before
Cut to a black screen with production credits
Cut to a ECU of a hand (with a lot of bandages and plasters on they’re fingers) pushing something down
Cut to a black screen with production credits
The same hand is seen again in the next shot, a CU of the hands pushing something down onto paper- as before
Cut to a CU of a page turning in a book
A CU of a piece of machinery then fades over the top of the book, but then it cuts to an ECU of a hand holding a camera film, in a red-room (red-wash of the shot)
Cut to a CU of a book full of photographs of people, the page is turned over and there is a picture of a man with something impaled in the back of his head
Cut to a black screen with production credits
Cut to a CU of an opened book
Then back to the black screen with the production credits
Cut to a ECU of a pair of hands, that damages and cut, smoothing out a piece of material
Cut to a ECU of a page being put over some photos
It then cuts back to the damaged hands, smoothing out a piece of material
Cut to a black screen of production credits
Cut to a CU of an open book
Cut to a CU of a hand turning the page in a book
Cut to ECU of damaged hands threading a piece of thread through the eye of a needle
Cut to a mid-shot of the ceiling, that fades away from the top of the screen to the bottom
Cut to a black screen with production credits
Dissolved into a ECU of a hand sewing a piece of material with writing on it
Cut to a black screen with production credits
Cuts to a panning shot of a book-case (the books look old and not looked after)
Cuts to a CU of photos of two dead people
Cut to CU of a book with pictures in it, this then fades away as a hand turns a page in another book
Cut back to a CU of those two pictures of dead people
Cuts to a black screen with production credits
Cut to a CU of writing, and a hand cuts out the word ‘god’ using a knife
Cut to a panning shot of the book-case
Cut to a black screen with production credits, the writing is shaking
There are then very quick cuts to end the opening credits of the film



Effect of sound on the sequence
During the opening sequence of the film there is no dialogue, this adds to the mystery and suspense of the film. There is music in the sequence, which creates tension surrounding the visuals that are seen throughout the opening sequence. There is not much music to begin with, but as the sequence goes on, the music builds up, and its intensity is built up. More layers of music are added, so that they create more of a harsh sound, and can make the audience edgy about what is coming up later on in the film.

What i have learnt from the analysis
I feel that the opening two minutes for seven is an excellent opening to a thriller film, this is because of the mystery that is created around the montage editing at the beginning. There is a lot of suspense that is created around whatever this person is doing and why they are doing it. The conventions of a thriller film are in the opening to this film, and are not only shown through the visual aspect, but also through the music. This music creates the whole mystery and sets the tone for the rest of the film. The mystery of the film can also be created by the fact that no characters are seen throughout, and there is no dialogue. This opening sequence to the film could be very useful to our film, as we are looking to have a montage at the beginning of the film, and the techniques used in this one are very effective.

JM Technical analysis of 'The Number 23' (Schumacher, 2007)

When it came to choosing a film to analysis, I took into consideration the genre that we had chosen for our film opening. For our film we were looking st doing a psychological thriller, so having seen 'The Number 23'(Schumacher, 2007) previously I knew that it had a good opening sequence.
Technical Analysis
The film starts with the 'New Line Cinema' logo, before a blank parchment effect fades in, upon which some text appears, with a type-writer style font. After this different text appears and disappears on different parts of the page. After this, the cuts stop and a scolling effect is instead used to reveal more and more text. The number 23 is repeated over and over again in the text, and the screen eventually shows 'The Number 23' in the middle of the screen, but this text is in red as opposed to black which has previously been used. An effect of blood soaking into the page is used to cover the text, before it cuts to more text. From here on the text that comes up on the page is surrounded by repeated '23's. This makes the text difficult to read along with the cutting rate, which progressively speeds up. The text on the screen are stats from history such as 'There are 23 letters in the latin alphabet' and all the stats in the passage are connected by the number 23. Further into the scene there are blood spatters appearing around the text, and blood trickles across the screen. As well as this some of the text is now turning red, having appeared originally in black. Again the cutting rate increases and different distance shots are now being used, for example and Extreme Close-Up magnifies the text to fill the screen. Throughout the scene the soundtrack is just music and no dialogue. This music has deep bass, contrasted with a high tone brass instrument, the notes being very jumpy up and down a scale. Another effect is now used on the text, with what appears to be permenant marker some of the text is now crossed out or underlined. After this the blood soakes the whole screen, turning it red. Different shades of red are used to expose a large '23' before it fades to an establishing shot of a house on the outskirts of the city.

What have I learnt from this analysis?
Although this isn't the most visually spectacular opening sequence, I do think it provokes a feeling of suspense and mystery early on, which is key to wether or not the audience will think initially. The mystery surrounding the number 23 means that the audience will want to continue watching the film in order to find out the significance of 23. When I first watched this film I thought the use of historical statistics that kept me gripped for the rest of the film, as it gave me a feeling that the film had relevance in the real world. Furthermore, the lack of dialogue meant that I was filled with a bigger sense of mystery. However, this involves very little camera work, and therefore would not be very useful to our film, but some of the effects and text manipulation could be useful.

Feedback #1

Some interesting ideas. Make sure you include images/stills in your posts where possible to communicate your ideas development visually.

Don't forget deadline for technical analysis is tomorrow
CF

Group- Idea

Our basic idea at the moment is; the main character wakes up tied to a chair, in a room where the walls are covered in polaroid photos. The antagonist comes into the room, but says nothing before the scene ends.

We are thinking of having a short montage before this. Another idea is that the antagonist threatens the main character with a needle.

AO-The Horror Genre

The horror genre is usually a fictional genre, that looks to scare or terrify the audience. Horror films intend enforce fear into the the audience- normally involving death for characters in the film.

Horror films would normally have everyday experiences mixed with supernatural and unreal events, which are usually the focus of the horrorfying experience, including mental illnesses- associated with evil and ruthlessness. Horror films are associated with grusome and surreal stoy lines, looking to create suspense and frighten the audience.

Notabale horror films include; The Phantom Of The Opera, Frankenstein, Night Of The Living Dead, The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Masacare and The Saw sequel.

JM The Thriller Genre

Films that are classed under the genre of 'Thriller' are those that contain suspense and promote intensity; as well as a high level of anticipation, extreme expectation, uncertainty and anxiety. 'Thriller' films have many interchangable catergorisations, with similar features and characteristics.
If the entire genre of 'Thriller' were to be defined under strict terms then the main aim and goal of these films would be to provide un-relenting thrills to the audience in order to 'keep them on the edge of their seats'.
The tension in a 'Thriller' would be provided by the main character(s) being placed in compromising positions of action, mystery or danger. The life of the main character(s) is threatened, usually because the they are oblivious or unsuspecting of the dangerous or potentially deadly situation that they may find themselves in. The plot itself will usually be based upon conflict between characters or an outside force (e.g. the government)
The genre of 'Thriller' often has many hybrid sub-categories such as 'suspense-thrillers' (e.g. Phone Booth), 'action/adventure-thrillers' (Die Hard), 'sci-fi-thrillers' (Alien) or 'crime-thrillers' (The 51st State)
Another closely related genre to 'Thriller' is the 'Horror' genre. Film such as 'Saw' can be percieved to be a mix of the two genres, having the suspense and tension of a 'Thriller' and the gore of a traditional 'Horror' film.
Frequented themes of a 'Thriller' are that of terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit and love triangles resulting in murder. The characters that often appear in films categorised under 'Thriller' are the police, criminals, stalkers, assasains, psychotic individuals, fugatives, terrorists and menaced women.

Group- Genre

Our genre is going to be thriller- we have looked at different openings and already have a starting idea.