Two Minute Intro Scene - End Call

Two Minute Intro Scene - End Call

Here is our draft version of the final two minute clip, called 'End Call'. 

 

Thriller Research Task

SE7EN

The introductory sequence to the thriller "Se7en" (1995, David Fincher) [1] is largely effective in creating a tense atmosphere and raising questions right from the beginning of the scene.

Sound

Sound plays an effect, albeit small part in helping to create tension and a dark atmosphere during the opening sequence of "Se7en" The steady beat of the ticker evolves into a deep drum sound, which develops gradually into a heartbeat, and helps the film (and the audience) create a sense of pace, like the intro is building up towards a climax. This, combined with sounds of muffled shouts and visual cues such as distorted video, all help create a dark atmosphere during the opening sequence of "Se7en".

Editing
The introductory scene for Se7en uses editing successfully to create a tense atmosphere. The director uses fast cuts shots of the killer's hands and photographs of people's faces, being scratched out. The fast cuts between these disturbing images creates excitement and mystery for the audience, as they are wondering who these people are, and why they are being scratched out. The fast cuts creates a good pacing for the scene, which is in time with the ticker.

Mise-en-Scene
Mise-en-Scene plays a smaller role in creating a tense atmosphere during the intro scene. Short cuts of the murder's hands are shown during the scene, during which time they are seen scratching out faces on images of people, and using a knife to remove his fingerprints. This is a largely disturbing part of the scene, as you can instantly tell this person is not a friendly character in the plot, and being in the 'presence' of a villain increases the levels of tension dramatically, as you are unable to predict what will happen next.

Camerawork
Camerawork is used effectivly in this scene to help create a tense atmosphere. At one point, you see an image of a head, with the eyes being scratched out. The next shot we see is the same face but entirely scratched out. The face is highlighted in a clear circle, surrounded by darkness. The highlighting of the face, and the scratching out, simply hints that the person in the head shot has been killed, or 'scratched out'. The darkness around the image could be representing death, and death is surrounding the man in the picture. The scratching out of the face could be hinting that the man's life is being scratched out. The darkness around the image also helps to create a sense of mystery.

THE DARK KNIGHT

The introductory scene to the comic book thriller "The Dark Knight" (Christopher Nolan, 2008)  [2] uses various techniques to create a tense atmosphere.

Sound


[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114369/
[2] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/

Production: Blog

On Wednesday, during the half-term, me and the group went to Adam Bexon's house to film the final project. We had decided on using Jack's photography camera, which is a Cannon EOS 110D digital single-lens reflex camera, which allowed us to shoot in 720p HD, to allow high quality audio and video. In total we spent about two hours, and had a few mistakes which, in retrospect, we could've avoided, but overall I am happy with our time management. We managed to get several shots of certain parts, so we could pick and choose which cut fits in best with the others. We had to think about continuity when choosing between multiple clips, as some things happened in a certain way (such as me falling down in a certain position, or the phone being dropped in a certain place) which lead directly into the next clip and can affect the overall 

Research and Planning

Questionnaire

This is part of our research into the thriller genre. To gain information on what the thriller market want, we designed and created a short questionnaire, with questions based around topics key to the genre, and areas we would like to explore. We were asking questions based around age ratings, favourite thriller movies, tension and atmosphere, and scares. We are currently leaning towards a horror-thriller, due to the vast amount of possibilities available to a film maker when making a horror thriller.

The results we received shows a few things with certainty. 70% of the people I asked said that they mainly watch 15 and 18-rated thrillers, which fits well with what we were planning to do. 60% people I asked preferred a horror thriller to any other kind of thriller, which also fits in very well. However, only 25% people said they preferred a slow pace, which is what we were planning to do, so we have decided to do a mixture during different parts of our movie opening, which would allow the majority of the audience to enjoy the pacing. Yet another thing which fitted in well was that 7 out of the 8 people we asked preferred jump scenes to a long drawn atmosphere. However we are planning to incorporate that kind of atmosphere into some of the jump scenes, which should have a great effect. We had mixed responses with the favourite thriller question. Although many said they prefer a horror thriller, we received answers for this question such as "Terminator 2" and "Alien". This is not particularly helpful, but after some discussion we decided that we could draw inspiration from it. 4 of the 8 people we asked said they preferred a tense atmosphere, which again fits in well with what we originally planned, and we can incorporate that easily into the plot.

Overall, the questionnaire helped us to adapt out original ideas into a short sequence, with a good atmosphere and a few scares, which we think the audience will enjoy. It has also helped us when planning the draft plot we created. However, as the sample we used was only from a total of eight people, we cannot make assumptions that everyone has the same views, as the sample we used was not big enough to use as a representation

Plot (Draft)

The draft plot we created was inspired by some of the answers we received from the questionnaire, and it helped us shape a rough sequence of events.

This was the original story we created. We decided due to budget restrictions, and simply not having enough time, we would focus more on atmosphere than action and effects. I think the end result is, in my opinion, better than what we had originally intended, so I am very pleased.

Preliminary Task

This is what we did and how we organized our time during the test clip production.

Planning

As a group, Jack and Adam and I collectively wrote the original script for the test video. We also started the original storyboard for the original script. It was originally such more complex and effect-heavy, but the amount of time allowed for the practice task didn't allow us to do everything we wanted, so we opted for a simpler approach, which has worked out well. We decided on using Jack’s own Cannon Eos 110D, compared to the college’s own cameras, because Jack’s SLR allows us to record in 720P HD.

Production

We started and completed all filming for the draft clip. We spent about 20 minutes looking for an available room, which obviously limited the amount of time we had, but we managed to record everything we wanted, and we also managed to record from multiple angles. We decided on a simpler script, due to lack of time, and filmed the final test clip.

Post-Production

Adam Bexon and I did some smaller editing parts, and helped Jack when we initially started editing, when I mainly helped Jack decide on what we did for the test clip. At a later date, Adam Bexon and I did the rest of the editing, with Adam Bexon taking the first hour and I took the second hour for editing. We

This storyboard tell us the basic plot.

Adam walks into a room.
Bexon sat down in room.
Adam slides folder to Bexon.
Adam sits down.
Adam: I know what you did.
Bexon: I don’t know what you’re talking about. (Slides folder back across)
Adam: Don’t give me that. (Stands) I have proof here that says otherwise. (Throws folder on desk)
Bexon: You don’t understand, I didn’t do anything.
(Walks behind, puts hand on shoulder and pulls Bexon back).

This is the draft test clip. It is not yet finished, but was required to be shown anyway. Due to the computer we used having sound difficulties, we couldn't check the sound properly, so some lines are out of sync.