Preliminary Exercise

For our preliminary exercise, we got given a sheet with dialogue on it in order for us to shoot a practise video to practise shooting in different camera angles. This will mean that we will be able to apply the techniques that we used in to our “Thriller Action Video”. The director for our preliminary video was Tobi Adewusi and, the actresses were played by Karishma Bhandari and Jordan Ward. Our story line was about (Jordan) a girl who was being abused by her partner and, her friend (Karishma) was telling her to run away before the abusive partner gets back. We decided to shoot our video extract in school in the common room. We chose to film in this place because it was quite, small and the lightening was good. The first time that we filmed the video some problems occurred as the camera wasn’t functioning properly. As we realised this after we had finished filming our video. This therefore meant that we had to re-do our video a second time. The second time that we recorded our video we came across some complications as, when we finished watching the video that we recorded, we realised that the image was showing but there was no sound to it. Due to the error that occurred again we decided to shoot our video a third time. The third time that we shot our video it came out perfectly which meant, that it was ready to be edited. As we were satisfied with what we recorded, we then went on to edit our video. First we connected it to the computer and went on to edit film. Since we filmed more than we had to it made it easier for us to edit it and put it together. During the time of us filming we, also decided that it will be best to film over anything that we mistakenly done as it makes it easier to edit. We also decided to film in chronology order for the film as we also thought that it would be less complicated for us. As we were editing our film it was a bit difficult however, we got the hang of how to edit really quickly. After we finished editing our video, a problem arose within the opening title and our fist two scenes as; they would speak but not show an image. This therefore meant that we had re-connect the camera again to the computer and import the first two scenes again and our opening scene. Another problem also occurred in our film in one of the scenes. This scene was when Karishma went to shut the door the scene quickly jumped on to the next scene. Also when we filmed her walking, the camera angle that we placed it at, we wasn’t satisfied with it, so we imported those two scenes in again and re-done it. In our preliminary exercise we used various different angles and camera shots to make our video look more realistic. We are all happy with the end result (Tobi, Karishma, Jordan).
Below is the finishing video that we done in our media class. Hope you enjoy it.

Shadow of a doubt

The music starts with merry widow and is a sound bridge.
There is a dissolve from the wealthy people dancing to a industrial scene. And the music changes to show the two differences between the two places.
There is a burnt out car dumped at the side of the river, this shows that this area is industrial and a run-down area.
A long shot is used down the run down road and shows children playing in the street. To us they look poor.
The music then gets more dramatic and there is another dissolve to show a man in the building, lying on the bed.
The man on the bed is smoking a big cigar, and he is smartly dressed. In this scene low key lighting is being used and this causes shadows in the room.
The camera then moves around his room to tell us a bit about the character and his surroundings.
There is a close up if some money on the floor , and this shows us that he don’t care about the money as it is just lying around.
We can tell he character is calm by his facial expressions and he ins’t really interested about what the woman is saying to him when she enters the room.
The blind then comes down, and he all f a sudden comes alive in the dark. This makes us think that he is a villain, there is sinister music as well that adds to the effect of him being a villain.
He then smashes a glass, and this tells us he is angry and violent. He has gone from lying on the bed with no energy, to anger and smashing glasses.
There is some piano music to create tension as the other men follow him, however they pretend they don’t know him.
The high angle shot that is then used makes them look powerless. There is a silhouette of Charlie looking down on the men that were chasing him.
We can see a comparison from where Charlie is - a run down industrial area, to Santa Rosa – a bright, sunny, more posh and more pleasant area. The music used when filming Santa Rosa is softer and calmer compared to the sinister music used in the industrial area.
Charlie was lying on the bed in the same way uncle Charlie was, however uncle Charlie’s room had a darker light, where as Charlie (niece) room was more lighter.

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was born in 1899. He made his first British sound film in 1924 and he was a leading film director in Britain. In 1928 he made and directed "Blackmail" and by 1939 it was a hit in Hollywood. However his first Hollywood film was called "Rebecca" and this won an oscar for best film. He made 52 films throughout his career, which lasted a total of 50 years, and his last was "Family Plot" in 1976. Between 1940-1976 he was mainly in America and he became the best known director.

Thriller Conventions

• A crime at the core of the narrative (often murder, but not necessarily).
• A complex narrative structure with false paths, clues and resolutions.
• A narrative pattern of establishing enigmas which the viewer expects to be resolved.
• A protagonist who is systematically dis-empowered and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist.
• Extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations.
• Themes of identity.
• Themes of mirroring.
• Themes of voyeurism.
• Protagonist with a flaw which is exploited by the antagonist.
• Titles often respect an aspect of the protagonist / antagonist's psychological state.
• Often a scene near the end of a film in which the protagonist is in peril.
• Mis-en-scene which echoes / mirrors the protagonists plight.