Preliminary Match Cut Exercise(editing and cutting)

Photo1: This is an image of the clips that we have combined and edited together using final cut pro. As you can see all the clips are on the left side corner which is the browser, on the right side is the canvas where we preview each clips so that we could edit and cut it and at the bottom is the timeline where all the clips are being deliver.

Photo2: Here are all the clips that we have taken for our preliminary match cut exercise. Some of these clips are outtakes. There are alot of thumbnail clips that have been repeated during our filming which shows how we were trying to improve our shots that we were aiming for.


Photo3: Here is one of the clips that we have edited. On the first canvas, that is where we did the cutting of the clip by using 'I' (Input) and 'O' output so that the clips will start and end on the right timing. The next canvas is where we transferred the edited clip.

Photo4: The edited clip from the canvas will be then delivered here on the timeline where we can adjust the speed of the clip and the gaps in between each clips.

Thriller sub-genres.

The genre 'thriller' itself comes with many different connotations, or sub-genres. All of them build tension, excitement or suspense in some way or another.

My class came up with 6 different sub-genres of thrillers:

• Serial Killer

This type of thriller movie involves lots of murder and planned deaths, such as a murderer on the loose.

Examples of these movies are 'Seven', 'Final Destination', 'Psycho', and 'Silence of the Lambs'.

• Innocent on the run

This type of thriller is similar to the Serial Killer Thriller, but is more directed in blackmailing and unexpected outcomes. It is more mysterious and mainly has one main character- normally the victim.

Examples of these movies are 'Phonebooth' and 'The Fugitive'.

• Political

This type of thriller resolves around conspiracy and fraud. It is more intellectual but is similar to the Action thriller im many ways. It could revolve around illegal issues or money.

Examples of these movies are 'Collateral', 'Eastern Promises' and 'Bourne Conspiracy'.

• Psychological

This thriller is more to do with guesswork and mind games. It involves things with the human mind psychologically such as memory loss and mentality.

Examples of these movies are 'Memento', '21' and 'Donnie Darko'.

• Action

This thriller is more fast paced and exciting. It can include plots such as escape plans, chasing and survival.

Examples of these movies are 'Mission impossible', 'Deep Blue Sea' and 'Jaws'.

• Super natural

This type of thriller is also known as 'Chillers' for the fact that is is quite similar to the genre of horror. It is more scary and can involve things such as ghosts or powerful spirits controlling people.

Examples of these movies are 'The Sixth Sense', 'The Exorcist', 'The Village and 'The Shining'.

- The one which inspires me most at the moment is Supernatural Thriller, Serial Killer and Psychological thrillers.
These thrillers include lots of tension, suspense and is more mysterious which would make the audience think more about the movie and plot. These thrillers genuinely have good interesting plots and can vary in many ways.

Final Cut Pro Bait Tutorial

In a lesson, we were given a tutorial on how to access and use the programme on the Macs, Final Cut Pro. With this, one can create a movie using recorded clips from a camera.

News and Current Affairs events

Tributes to Afghan death soldier



Tributes have been paid to "husband and father" killed in Afghanistan fighting insurgents.
Lance Sergeant David Walker, 36, of 1st Battalion Scots Guards died on Thursday 18th Feb. in Nad-e-Ali.
His family stated; "We are devastated by the loss of David, who was a terrific husband and father."
A total of 263 British troops have died since operations in Afghanistan began in October 2001.




32 killed in Madeira floods


Flooding swept cars away and knocked houses down as a storm killed 32 people on the Portuguese Island of Madeira.

The Lusa Agency quoted another 68 people are being hospitalised in the city, Funchal.

Lusa claimed that roads had been blocked off by broken down trees, houses had been torn down and some bridges had been downed.

Madeira's president Alberto Joao Jardim spoke to European president Jose Manuel Barroso to appeal for emergency from the European Union.






Father jailed for killing Baby Daughter


A father, Olusola Akinrele, 34 was jailed at least 16 years for murdering his six-week old baby daughter Leeya in December 2006.
Three weeks before the incident, she had 22 broken ribs, a fractured skull as well as a fractured thigh. She also had numerous bites on her nose and hands.

However, Baby Leeya then died of brain damage 12 days after her body had been found in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire.

The baby's mother, Kelly Innman, 22 then pleaded guilty to allowing her death and was cleared of murder. She was jailed for a total of five years and convicted of a separate fraud charge.

The Art of Title Sequence

For my analysis of Title Sequences, i have chosen 'Catch Me if you Can' which was created by the famous Title Sequence artist Saul Bass of which i am currently studying for my AS Graphics Course. Saul Bass also created 'Casino Royale' and 'Kiss kiss Bang Bang'. With Bass' tile sequences, they are all cartoon animation with a use of objects transforming into another object. His work is very known for black stick people and the use of bright vibrant colours and curved / straight lines.


I think there are many different Camera shots used in these 9 shots such as the Bird's Eye Shot of the cars on the road, Establishment shot in the 1st shot and a couple of mid shots. These shots are very effective as they are all used in different ways which attract the eye more. Also the use of different colours make it look more modern and amusing.

The titles state the different actors and specific roles of the crew. The thing I really admire is in the 2nd shot, it states the famous actor's name, Tom Hanks. The use of the stick man portraying a business man,reading the newspaper and the blue scheme background appeals to men as this is a man's name. However on the other hand, in the 6th shot, it states the actress' name, Nathalie Baye which uses a vibrant yellow background. The use of objects such as the glass of lemonande, curvy shapes and half of a woman's body appeals to the females as this is a woman's name being stated. So therefore this shows that the title sequence is very well thought out for each shot.

The fonts used throughout the whole Title Sequence is Sans Serif fonts which is more informal and appealing to women mainly. The use of the text being involved with the animation in the background makes it quite childish but possibly more appealing for young people. Also the boldness is more attracting to the audience.

I feel this title sequence attracts me so much as it is also as if it portrays my personanality of a bubbly and happy female. The bright colours and simple but amazing animation make you feel as though you were in 'Candyland'. I love the effect of the stick people and how the shapes are used along with the fonts.

Photo 'words' Activity

In a lesson, we were given the task to capture photos expressing a list of words on a sheet. Using different locations of the college such as the lift, a class room and the corridors, we put together the following photos portraying the following words;

Paranoid

Adding a blue glow to the face makes the theme more cool and alerting. I think this photo is really good as it could look like a movie's front cover. Moreover blacking out the rest of her body makes the audience focus more on the face and expressions which is as if she is gazing into something.

Twist

By adding bright light to person in front, this makes them the focal point of the photo. On the other hand, i made the person behind in a darker light and faintly blurred her body making her look quite scary. The twist is the person in front is supposed to be happy and joyful whereas the person behind is supposed to be scary and the binary opposistion. The facial expressions are acceptable but i think the scheme colours need to be more binary for this twist.

Calm / Futuristic

Using the programme PhotoImapct, i changed the whole theme of the picture to a grey/light blue theme which signify calm and gentle, cool colours. I added a cartoon effect to the buildings which made the photo look quite futuristic. And along with my posture as i gaze out the window, i makes it seem that i am anxious to get outside and be in the futuristic place. Therefore, the use of posture and colours portray the calmness of the photo.

Claustrophobic

Using the theme of grey and black makes a more mysterious look. The posture of being trapped in the corner of a lift represents the idea of claustrophobia. Her hands on the wall show she is wanting to get out and the idea of everything being the same colours of different shades definately portray the idea of a character trapped in a movie and wanting to get out.

Skills Audit: Filming & Editing Preliminary Match Cut exercise

After we finished filming, we have to used Final Cut Pro to edit and put our clip together. The summary of our storyline was about a teacher talking to a student about her behaviour and attendance. We were given a storyboard where we organised and put our ideas together which include shot types, timing, etc. For the mise-en-scene, we wanted to portray a serious looking teacher and a a rebellious student. Therefore, we had to make the teacher look decent and formal, such as smart clothes for example, a black cardigan. In addition, the student had on tracksuit bottom along with a black hoody.

During filming, we have understand match cuts, shot-reverse-shots, 180 Degree rule, mid shots, close up shots and low angle shots. As we editing our clip, as a group, we have agreed on our strengths and weaknesses.

Because either of us are professional actress, yet we still encouraged each other to do good acting and the camera work. There was a lot of out takes but we managed to pull it together in the end and completed our task. However during editing, we found out that we had made a lot of mistakes. For instance, one of our clips was out of focus and this has taught us to check that the camera is on focused before filming. Furthermore, we had to cut down some of our clips because there were a few gaps between each scenes in order for it to come out properly.

Overall, I think we did a good job because we've managed to concentrate on the task and got it done quickly. On the other hand, I think we could improve more on our editing and also, to work on match cuts in order for it to work smoothly.

Planning Preliminary Match Cut excercise including storyboard

As part of our course work, my group and I have to do a Preliminary Match Cut exercise. We were given a storyboard to put down all of our ideas together including type of shots, dialogues, timing and what happened during each shot.

Firstly, we used a over-the-shoulder shot of a student walking along the corridor towards a classroom and as she knocks the door, we used a mid shot of her waiting for the teacher replied come in. This the lead us to a match cut of her opening the door coming in on the other side of the classroom.

Secondly, the teacher said her 1st dialogue and looked at the student. This was followed by a mid shot of the student sitting down and the conversation between them starts. As they continues their conversation, we used shot-reverse-shot.

Thirdly, we used mid shots on the teacher because we wanted the audience to know that she's the one that's in control of the situation. On the other hand, we used low angle shots on the student to tell the audience that she's suppose to be obedient towards the teacher. Also, as the student's anger increases, we used close up shots of her face to show her emotion.

News and current affairs events

Many movies are based on news and true life events. As a group we had to individually do our own research of what's going on in the world recently and this is to help my group to create ideas to make our thriller film.

Tuesday 16th February 2010
''Young fear years of unemployment'' The Guardian

Two third of young people aged between 13's to 25's believe the economic downturn will cast a shadow over their job prospects for years to come, a survey of nearly 6,000 young people was revealed today.

Wednesday 17th February 2010

''Gordon Brown demands Dubai 'hit squad' ID inquiry'' BBC News

Gordon Brown has called for a full investigation into hoe fraudulent British passports were used by alleged killers of a Hamas commander. Six British-Israelis whose names were on the suspects' passports say they had nothing to do with the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.

Thursday 18th February 2010

''Politics & Fashion join forces for Haiti'' SKY News

A fashion show collaboration between Sarah Brown and model Naomi Campbell will take centre stage at the launch of London Fashion week today. The Fashion For Relief show will raise money for The White Ribbon Alliance, an international aid organisation that saves pregnant mothers and newborn babies around the world. The Prime Minister's wife is the global patron of the charity which will direct funds from this year's spectacle to helping those affected by the Haiti earthquake.

Skills audit: Livetype and Sound

Today, we had an introduction lesson of how to use Livetype and Soundtrack Pro. We were taught about the basics and were allowed to practice on how to use it.

LIVETYPE

SOUNDTRACK PRO

Filming and Editing the Prelim Match Cut / Anaylsis.

As a group- following the storyboard and our dialogue script- we arranged many different shots to achieve an effective sequence.
Following the task set- which required us to have a character walking through a door, sitting down and exchanging dialogue with another character set. The shots we needed to follow included the 108 degree rule, a match cut, a mixture of close ups, mid-shots and long shots and angled shots in our Preliminary Film exercise.

Analysis of the Match Cut Prelim: Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Shots are carried out effectively
  
• Most of the shots are in focus
  
• Clear acting and dialogue can be heard
  
• Editing of shot reverse shot
  
• Use of different angles to emphasize power
• Different use of shots and camera techniques
• Differences in characters are clear cut
  

Weaknesses

• Match cut looks very poor
  
• We could add in extra scenes so sequence is smoother
  
• One scene is extremely out of focus
• We could have added additional shots that are more variable- such as establishing shots or panning shots
• Movement of props differed in different shots
• Sequence is not fully smooth and seamless- it is jumpy in some places
  

Editing was pretty much a straight forward process- we had to select which ones were the best ones that had minimum or no mistakes done, or whichever looked the best. We then set it up chronologically on Final Cut Pro and exported it to a Quick Time file.
As we had little time to plan this and carry it out- it is not to our best standard. However, in that short amount of time we can learn from our mistakes and improve our skills even more so.

Planning the Preliminary Match Cut Exercise.

To be honest, we did not plan our Match Cut Prelim exercise that well. All we did was write out a list of the dialogue of what each character said.

Our storyline was basically in a setting at school- the teacher verses the 'mischievous, naughty' student who disobeys her and talks back rudely.
We had basic mise en scene setting such pens and notes in front of the teacher who would look formal and neat compared to the youngster student who wears a rucksack and has ruffled hair. We then talked about effective acting so that when watching the scene we can understand what role the characters should play as.

The shot reverse shot was pretty straight forward- we knew that whilst the character was saying the dialogue we will switch between each characters to show their face. We thought about the mixture of high angle shots and normal angle shots.

The match cut shot we wanted to do was a girl outside the door, then a close up of the handle and then the girl closing the door.

This was proven quite difficult- we had many re-trys to try make the sequence effective.
We had different mixture of long shots, medium shots and close ups- which portrays their expression. We tried to make this significant from our growing 'close ups' when their row increased between the teacher and the student; as well as the slight camera tilt to show which character is in power over the other.
In addition, we made sure we used the 1/3 rule and there should not be a big empty space when filming a character- also, we should make the empty space above the character's head almost equal in space when doing the shot reverse shot.
We used a mixture of hand-held shots when walking alongside the student character- as well as using the tripod for the still shots.

When filming, we took at least 2 shots of the same sequence (perhaps with a little change) so that when it comes to editing we can choose the best one for that shot.

We believed there was no use in using a storyboard for this Preliminary Match Cut Exercise, but an idea of what kind of shot we should use and the dialogue was extremely important.

However, for the 'Card Game' sequence (our very first filming task) we did plan out a story board, as it would be much easier for us to follow as we had very little knowledge and skills, so planning out a storyboard is convinient.

Planning Preliminary Match Cut exercise including storyboard

As part of our Preliminary Match Cut exercise, we have used a storyboard to plan out the camera shots, actions and the dialogues that we have to say and use.

For the first shot we used the over the shoulder shot as the student was walking down the corridor. Then we used a mid shot of the student knocking and leaning at the door then this was followed by a match cut and close up of the hand opening the door. Again, a used of match cut entering and closing the door with a use of long shot. As the teacher looked up and said her first dialogue we used a mid shot, then this was followed by another mid shot of the student sitting down on the chair. Throughout the conversation between the teacher and student we mostly used a shot/reverse shot and mid-shot. Towards the end we used a match cut between the clips of the student getting up from her chair and then approaching the door to exit. Again this was followed by a mid shot and close up of the teacher saying her last dialogue.

Thriller [Sub-genres]

There are many Sub-genres of Thriller which are the following examples:

Psycological Thriller -->

Movies that come fro the Psycological idea include less action but the plot is more of a conflict between characters through a mental or emotional way. With movies like these, more thinking and prediction from the audience is possle as the physical action does not tell he movie easily. An example of this idea would be 'Donne Darko' (starring Patrick Swayze) or even the 1958 movie, Vertigo which is famous for it's title sequence created by Artist Saul Bass.

Disaster Thriller -->

These movies associate to natural or artificial disasters such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes. They could include a more tragic side to the audience and minor action is used. A perfect example of this sub-genre is the movie 'Earthquake'.

Crime Thriller -->

These contain scenes of robbery, murders, shooting and chases. In this case most of these films would associate to gangs, police and detectives. An example of this sub-genre is number one best selling crime thriller movie The God-father:




Action Thriller -->

These contain scenes of violence including weapons such as guns and explosions. Most of these kind of films associate to crime and the impulse of time against the action which causes the suspense in the audience. A good example of this would be Blade II (starrng Wesley Snipes) or even the famous 2003 movie, Kill Bill (directed by Quentin Tarantino.)

My Opinion -->

From my point of view, i would say that Action thriller movies appeal to me the most. However i don't watch much thriller movies anyway but out of all the movies i have researched i all sub-genres, most of my favourites come from the Action Thriller section. I guess i find it quite interesting watching a plot that needs to be accomplished but includes a lot of crime, weapons, blood and fighting. This inspires me because young people relate to guns and money which most of these movies are related to.
On the other hand, movies that come from the Psycological, Disaster or Religious sub-genre, do not interest me at all because i don't like to think alot during a movie as it may confuse or cause me to not watch it.

Preliminary Match Cut Film (Strengths and Weaknesses)

As a Group we had to make a short clip using Match cut to practice our ability in using this technique. Our was 'A character opens a door, walks into a room, sits down opposite another character and they share a few lines of dialogue.' Other than the technique of Match Cut we have also used Shot/Reverse shot, 180 Degree Rule, close ups, mid-shots and low and high angle shot. After taking this short clip we had to put all the clips together by using Final Cut Pro. During our editing we have discovered our strengths and weaknesses as a group.

Our story line was about a conversation between a teacher and a mischievous student about the student's attendance/behaviour. We had a storyboard to plan all the acting and the dialogues that we had to do.We worked on our mise-en-scene to portray the characters individually. The student had to be presented as naughty and rebel, so we used a black hoody, messy hairdo, a just do it bag and a tracksuit. Whereas the other character had to be presented as a teacher, so we had to make her look formal and decent, she was wearing a black cardigon, a scarf, a glasses and her hair was tied up neatly.

During filming we have discovered that one of our strengths was the ability to worked together as a team and sharing our ideas together. We have encouraged one another to do a good acting and good camera works. Despite of the outakes we have managed to concentrate on our task. However, during the editing task, we have discovered our weaknesses while putting the clips together. We have noticed some gaps between some clips so we had to do some cutting down in order for the clips to blend in smoothly. One of our clip was out of focus and we learnt that we should check the camera first before recording. I feel that we could've improved our mise-en-scene as some scenes does not fit in with other clips for instance; the clip when the student dropped the bag beside her then the next clip the bag was infront of her. So i definitely think that we could've improved it.

But all in all, in my opinion, we have successfully done the task a group with the help of our co-operation and ability to work and put all of our ideas together. Also we had a feedback form the teachers regardless on some little gaps and the milliseconds between some clips and we should've added more clips such as; when the student was closing the door the we could've taken a shot of the teacher looking up to show how she responds by the entrance of the student.

Preliminary Match Cut Film Analysis

12/02/10:

After filming a short clip using the techniques given of Match cut. shot/Reverse shot and 180 degree rule. Moreover, we added our own shots to the clip which consisted of High angle and Low angle shots, Panning. Close up shots and Mid/Long shots. This was a great advantage as we were being creative to add our own cuts which did make a great success in our Match Cut Film.

When putting our ideas together, we came up with the scene of a teacher having a meeting with her student about their behaviour/attendance. being more creative we worked on our Mise-en scene. as seen in the video clip the student is wear a school bag, tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie which portrays the youngsters' style of today in school. On the other hand, the teacher was dressed in a shirt, cardigan and scarf which is mostly the style of young teachers. Moreover, we added crops to the table such as pens/pencils, papers and stationary items to make the scene look more realistic.

With this, we then wrote a short script including dialogues and actions with camera work. a strength of this idea was the group fairly choosing two actors of the group and having two camera workers. Throughout the process of filming, there was good concentration throughout the group even when there were a few mistakes in acting but we then worked on it.

The next day we edited our filming using Final Cut Pro and smoothly put the clips together leaving us with an acceptable Match cut film that looked absolutely super according to the teachers who gave us feedback.

Personally, I feel there were a few weaknesses in our work which were not that noticeable. For example in one shot the Student's bag would be laying on it's back and the next shot it was sitting up. Without panic, we then cut down the clips to run smoothly which did work. From feedback, we were told that there is a slight gap of a millisecond. Also i would say the lighting from the corridor to the classroom was a huge difference as the corridor was more yellow and orchard coloured and the classroom was more white light.

On a final note, i feel the group did amazing to work together and put together an amazing clip because we had a good understand of Match cut, Reverse shots and the 180 degree rule which was the actual brief.

Skills audit:filming and editing preliminary match cut exercise

Match Cut Prelim

Art of the Title Sequence and Analysis of 9 shots

In lesson, we were asked to visit The Art of The Title Sequence web page and choose a title sequence of a movie and analyse it. There was a list of different movies such as Casino Royale, Se7en, Panic Room and many more. After I watched some of the title sequences, I chose Mission Impossible.

Mission Impossible

Above is a title sequence of a movie called 'Mission Impossible'. It started off by quick cut images to give it a fast pace as it is an action movie and the title it self is called MISSION IMPOSSIBLE also give audience a hint that it is an action film. The use of fonts is in capital letters and the word 'Mission' is in italic and in colour white with a black background to make it stand out and appeal to the audience. In this sequence, close up and extreme close up shots are mainly used. For example, an extreme close up shot of Tom Cruise's face to show audience that he's the main character. Furthermore, Tom Cruise is a famous actor known by starring in action movies will also attract the niche audience who loves action movies.

Overall, I chose this title sequence because through out the whole sequence, there was a constant fast pace, upbeat music that I find interesting.

The Creation of Suspense in the movie 'No Country for Old Men.'

An example of suspense created in the movie is just before the action (approx. 45mins into the movie) between 'The Killer' (named Anton Chigurgh) with the silence gun and the guy originally staying at the Motel (known as Llewelyn Moss). As Anton drives down the motorway on a hunt for Llewelyn, in the car seat next to him is a detector that senses the distance between him and Llewelyn. Before the detector starts to beep, there is the environmental sounds of the car engine. When the detector then starts to beep, it is at a very slow pace. The idea of this engages the audience within the action as they are anxious to find out if Anton finds Llewelyn. The closer he becomes, the faster the beep is and this idea portrays a heartbeat getting faster and creating the suspense.

The edits cut to and fro from Anton driving to Llewelyn building away at his piece of work. Therefore this is informing the audience not only what both characters are doing at this moment of time but how unaware Llewelyn is of danger and Anton is becoming anxious to find him.

With sound, the idea of silence throughout the scene shows how tense it is and how danger is near all the time. Aother obvious aspect is the facial expression which tells the audience that something bad is going to happen which is the build up along with edits and sound to suspense.

Photo 'words' activity

As a group, our task was to choose six words out of a list and take pictures to convey their purposes. After a discussion, we have agreed and chose claustrophobic, happiness, paranoid, futuristic, calm and twist.

After this task, each person in the group had to choose four pictures and edit it how they want it to be. I have chosen twist, paranoid, happiness and claustrophobic.

TWIST




PARANOID




HAPPINESS




CLAUSTROPHOBIC

Current News And Affairs.

Some movies are inspired by the news or current issues and affairs that revolve around the world. I am keeping a account of interesting matters that come up on the news that may inspire me and my group of what our Thriller movie may be about.

29/01/10
Former prime minister Tony Blair decision to lead Britain into war against Iraq- the turmoil and conflict of the invasion and whether if it was legal or illegal and issues raised.

4/02/10
In China, a Dad chains his son to a lamp post whilst working- in fear of him being kidnapped. His mother is ill and there is high rates of child snatching and he cannot afford to place his son in a nursery.

7/02/10
Man attempted to cut his ex-wife's head off after having psychotic delusions that she was planning to murder him in Millom, Cumbria. He hacked her throat with a pen knife before grabbing a larger knife to cut her head off. The daughter watched in horror as the attack took place but managed to escape and alert the neighbours. Shortly after this event, the man then visited his stepfathers house and attempted to kill him there too stabbing him several times with various knifes.

List of Thriller sub-genres-which inspired me at the moment and why?

In our first lesson about thriller, we had a discussion the different sub-genres of it. As a class we came up of 6 sub-genres, which involved:

• Supernatural (also known as 'chillers')

Under this sub genre are the films which inlcudes ghosts. Yes! It is sometimes close to horror movies because of the supernatural theme but it is still thriller. This is the type of sub-genre that people get confuse about, wether it is a horror or thriller. So here are some examples of this sub genre; (The sixth sense, The shining, The exorcist, The Orphan, The village and Slither)

• Serial Killer

Now this sub genre fits in more with the thriller because it is more realistic which involves human more. It also involves dramatic actions. Examples of this sub genre are: (Final Destination, Psycho, Silence of the lambs, Seven and Taken)

• Innocent on the run

This is very close to the sub-genre of Serial Killer, however this is more mysterious, block mailing and etc. Examples; (Phonebooth, The Fugitive, Eastern Promises)

• Political Thriller

Again, similar to the previous two sub genres. The title says it all. This differ because it is more about political chaosity. Again, more actions, dealing, guns and etc. Examples: (Bourne Conspiracy, Collateral, Law Abiding Citizen)

• Action Thriller

This is more into films that involves nature or animals. Such as the films; Deep Blue Sea, Jaws, Anaconda and M.I. a lot of chasing, hiding and blood.

• Psychological Thriller

Again, the title says it all, it more psychological. It involves those flashbacks, being insane and etc. Examples: Memento, Dollie Darko and 21

There are three thriller sub genres that inspires me at the moment. These are the Supernatural 'chillers' for the reason that it gives me goosebumps and it's really exciting to watch because of the suspense and unexpected scenes that makes me jump off my seat. Serial Killer for the reason that it makes my brain working to who the killer is in a film and it helps me to have an understanding of the film not only the pleasure. Lastly is the Action thriller, for the same reason as the Supernatural sub-genre, it's exciting and fun to watch as you don't know when the rival is going to come out, there are a lot of suspense.

Soundtrack Pro Tutorial

On that same day Friday, half of our lesson we also had a Soundtrack Pro Tutorial. This program will help us to produce our own soundtrack with our own thriller title sequence. Again, it was very fun, as there were a lot of sounds choices. There were instrumental beats, piano, violin and a lot more. These variety of sounds can be found at the right hand of the program which is called the Browser. On the right hand is where the tracks can be drag. The teacher's advise was to place the tracks in different bar so that it would be neat and not confusing for us.

Livetype Tutorial

On friday we had a tutorial of how to use Livetype. Livetype is a program where you can edit your titles for your title sequence. It was fun using livetype because of the different fonts, effects and backgrounds. There was a canvas and timeline section which is very similar with the skills audit. There were two lines of boxes around the canvas which helps us to limit ourselves of where to put the texts, in order for our text to be allowed in any form of media player. Also, there was a green line across the canvas which helps us to move the text inside those two boxes.

Then there was a section of where we can type the text and for the fonts, effects and backgrounds. There were two text box, one at the top and the other one is at the bottom. There's really no difference between the two, they only differ because of their sizes. Next to these boxes are the icons of the effects,fonts and backgrounds. There were all next to each other so it's not that hard to look for them. Also, as we clicked on each icons, there were a lot of different choices of styles that we can choose.

And the last but not the least is the timeline. It is where all the effects,fonts and backgrounds are being combine together. The photo above is a photo that shows one of my try outs of making a good title.

The art of the title.

http://www.artofthetitle.com/ is a website of many different openings of movie sequences.

I selected 'The Hulk- 2003' because it appealed to me most.
The opening had the production company Universal, so the audience knows it is made from big producers. Because it originated from a comic, created by Marvel, the beginning also showed fast paced different images scrolling down- almost as if someone is just flicking through the pages of the comic book. Then there is a big logo of producers- Marvel dissolving in. Next there is a tear drop on water, which then disperses into the universe exploding. Here there is heavy use of effects which makes it effective.

From there, the camera then follows its own route into the explosion, which then the title sequence begins.

The font of the sequence is sans-serif, looking childish, modern and informal. The font is almost similar to the font Comic Sans MS. The font is green representing the whole theme of 'Hulk' and it is in capital letters which most comic books go by this rule.

The title sequence begins introducing the big company, following up its sub- companies that helped produced the movie which then the actual movie name follows up in big bold letters. This can be represented as it emphasises strength, power and masculinity. The Hulk is a discrete opening title sequence, which we view a opening footage that will be related to the film.

We see various quick cut jump shots of DNA samples, laboratory equipment, paper documents, experiments and facial expressions all in extreme close up shots which the music corresponds with the sequence of images at certain points- especially when the music is fast paced. The extreme close ups of hands and the experiment carried out adds to the anticipation of what might happen next. The whole sequence looks very realistic, expensive and uses high-tech equipment.

The information included is things such as the music production, the cast, costume designers, editors etc which ends with the information who directed it being last. It all has different transitions when the names come in, such as fades in/out, dissolves etc.

The reason why i like this title sequence especially is because it is eye-catching, interesting and has a biological aspect to it which can make the audience wonder if this can be done in a real life situation. It is fast paced and edgy which can attract a wide range of audiences.

Click here to watch Hulk Title sequence

News and Headlines

4th of February 2010

It's hilarious but at the same time touching how people care so much for the animals. For instance today as I was reading the Metro, there was a news about a PANDA named Mei Lan. It says on the newspaper that they are looking for a language teacher who is an English-Chinese speaker. Mei Lan was born and raised in the US but now will be flying to China therefore Mei Lan will be unfamiliar with the language in her new country. According from a colleague Cui Kai; "Mei Lan will be taught Chinese with a Sichuan dialect, because people here all speak Sichuan dialect. She will become familiar with some simple phrases." Also, the staff in China has changed Mei Lan's food diet from biscuits to steamed bread and fresh bamboo.

4th of February 2010

"An Englishman's Home will not be his castle"

An Englishman named Robert Fidler who is a farmer slyly built a hidden castle. It was said that he spent 2 years to build the whole castle. It was estimated that the castle should costs him £1m, however as Mr. Filder used secondhand materials for his castle therefore he only spent £50,000. The court have decided that his property is unlawful which is why it must come down. Mr. Fidler's dreamhome was not found because it was hidden behind the "bales of straw". The completion took place in 2002 and then followed by the removal of the camouflage which took place in 2006. He was confident enough to believe to the rule stating which implied that a property cannot be demolished until a 4 years completion. However, the judge backed Reigate and the Council's demolition order of 2007. "He said the removal of the camouflage formed part of the building process of the castle in Redhill, Surrey, and so the four-year rule did not apply."

4th of February 2010

"What a crazy pheasant"

A village has been disrupted by a crazy, mischievous pheasant. This bird "terrorised neighbours and dogs and chased prams and cars". It has been harrassing the children as soon as they got off their school bus. One of the incident that happened with the neighbours was when a 60 year old woman who was walking with her two and a half year old grandson was attacked by this pheasant. It pecked her skin until it started bleeding. Despite all the troubles a postman arrived and saved her.

Using Livetype And Soundtrack Pro Tutorials.

Skills Audit

My class had a introduction lesson to use Live Type and Soundtrack Pro. We got taught the basics and had a feel of using the programs.

Live Type Tutorial

My class familiarized ourselves with using Live Type, which is used mainly to create titles for your title sequence. It is quite similar to Final Cut Pro, in terms with having a time line and different canvas's for different uses.
Live Type has many different backgrounds, effects, video transitions and fonts to create a original looking opening sequence. It could be combined with clips and in addition, extra effects could be added in.

There is a canvas where you could look at your title sequence and visually view it, and two smaller windows beside it- one is where you can browse through the different types of fonts, 'Livefonts', textures, objects and effects and view them. Beside it is where you can alter the different types of effects such as the style, timing and attributes.
The time line could also have layers of different effects and music which can all be placed on the time line and be edited around to make it last a certain amount of time.

Live Type is useful program to easily make a title sequence or use quick simple editing to create a effective moving image.

Soundtrack Pro Tutorial

We also got taught how to use Soundtrack Pro, which is where you can create your own original music or sound effects.
There is a empty time line canvas where you can combine different instruments or sounds to create your own music. There is also a browser menu where you can listen to the different sounds- such as sound effects, instruments etc. You then can drag it for it to be placed in the canvas, which you can edit the time length or where it is placed exactly.
There is also different windows which you can alter around the sounds/soundtrack or looking at the sound meters in your created soundtrack.
You can also add in a recording or anything from a audio clips to be added into the browser menu.

Soundtrack Pro is only used for audio editing, which is useful for copyright reasons if we was to use music or sounds from a different producer.

Thriller Sub-Genres

Thriller is a genre of literature, television and film. It's characterised as fast pacing, frequent actions and usually heroes versus villians. Futhermore, thriller includes numerous and sometimes sub-genres.

Thriller can include the following sub-genres:

Action thriller e.g. James Bond films
Crime thriller e.g. Seven
Drama thriller e.g. The Illusionist
Political thriller e.g. Agency
Psychological thriller e.g. The Talented Mr. Ripley
Spy thriller e.g. Mission: Impossible
Sci-Fi thriller e.g. Sunshine

There are many more different types of sub-genres but out of the lists above, I enjoyed watching action thriller and drama thriller movies. This is because, action thriller films often works against the clock and contains lots of violence and also it has lots of explosions and special effects. On the other hand, i enjoyed drama thriller films because it has a slower paced to it as audience get to see the characters' developed along with a plot twist.

Technical audit of Bait turorial

Today, we had a tutorial on how to use Final Pro Cut. The teacher taught us the basics and how to use the programmes and I was familiar with the programme because I've made a short film before by using final cut pro.

We used the BAIT tutorial to familiarise ourselves and some of the techniques we've learnt are:

• Opening a clip from browser menu and dragging it in to the left canvas to be edited.
• Input and Output points.
• Dag clips onto timelime.
• Vdeo transitions - dissolves.
• Learned hoe to build a sequence on the timeline using audio clips.