Assault on Precinct 13... The opening

Assault on Precinct 13

Camera – Mid-shot of Jake talking; camera is slightly shaky, gives a sense of imbalance

Editing – Rogue Productions 'zooms' into screen followed by fade to black. Straight cut to man talking, jump cuts whilst Jake is talking, suggests he is uneasy/unsure about something. Straight cut to a Serbian man, who is only on screen for about a second. suggests he is unimportant

Mise-en-scene – Man we first see (Jake) is in a white, slightly grubby vest; has an unshaven face, suggests he isn't bothered by his appearance. Serbian man is clean shaven and better dressed than Jake; suggests he is more professional about the deal.

Sound – Whirring sound as Rogue Productions 'zooms' into screen. Man starts talking whilst screen is black. Jake is talking rather fast; suggests he wants this over with. Dog starts barking as drugs are passed from Jake to the Serbian man to an assistant.

Watched until 1:06

Analysis of the opening scenes of "The Matrix" (1999 - Andy and Lana Wachowski)

Watched to 3:35

Camera

·         Extreme Close-Up of policeman’s face, showing that he is slightly bored, with his gun up at his head, ready for action. Point Of View shot of the door being kicked down, shows the police’s power in that instance. Tilt up of Trinity’s face, showing absolute calm, shows that she is going to be powerful in this film. When Agents are confronting policeman, the policeman is low in the frame and they are high, showing that they have more power over him, even though he’s acting cocky. Through Trinity’s arm, you see the policeman coming towards her, and she is very large in the frame, and he’s tiny, which suggests that even though she looks defensive, she really has the upper hand. Bird’s eye view of Trinity after she has just beaten up all the policemen showing how much destruction she can cause

Editing

·         Shows “Matrix Code” with the title coming into it, shows that the film will have technology.  Fast straight cuts to create a quickened pace.

Sound

·         Action type music, the type that you hear before a fight, which shows that this film is going to be very action based. Talking over the phone with computer screens showing, shows that they are mysterious figures to be worked out later on.

Mise-en-scene

·         Street filled with police cars, shows that the scene is chaotic. When Agents step out, their body language is confident, they hold themselves up high, but the policeman bows his head and tries to look away, showing that he is weak to them.

Thriller Opening - Planning

 Your tasks:

1.       What DVDs do you have at home that are Thrillers?

a.       Watch the opening 2-3 minutes and do a detailed textual analysis

                                                               i.      What is told to the audience?

                                                             ii.      How is it conventional/unconventional

                                                            iii.      How has it inspired your own planning

2.       Begin brainstorming your thriller opening Ideas

a.       Plot Ideas

b.      Conventions

c.       Camera Shots/Angles etc

d.      Characters

e.      Sound + Music

f.        Locations

g.       Subgenre

First Two Minutes Of A Film

We expect to see:

• A title
• Names of the actors
• See at least one of the main characters

Memento

Camera

Extreme close up of blood on the wall. Close up of bullet on the floor. Shots are quite tightly framed, conceals information. P.O.V of him holding Polaroid picture.

Editing

It’s backwards… All of it. Straight cuts. Simple blue font used in titles, but the blue gets darker.

Sound

String music; builds suspense. Hear the Polaroid picture being waved about (un-developing; time’s going backwards). Hear the camera whirring, the bullet and the glasses rattling on the floor. No dialogue. Sounds that are used are used to draw us in.

Mise-en-scene

Dark colours, not very brightly lit, man has a wedding ring on; suggests he’s a “normal” guy, man is wearing neutral colours; again suggesting he’s “normal”, man also has cuts on his face; suggests he’s involved with violence; BUT he looks scared/upset; suggests that he doesn’t want to kill the other man. Polaroid – set not too long ago. Lots and lots of blood.

Famous Thriller Directors

M. Night Shyamalan directed many films, such as The Village, The Sixth Sense, and Signs.

Christopher Nolan - Memento, and The Dark Knight.

Some Thriller Titles...

The Silence of the Lambs; starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster; directed by Jonathan Demme This is in the psychological thriller sub genre.

District B13; starring Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle and Tony D'Amario; directed by Pierre Morel. This is in the action thriller sub genre

The Village; starring Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard and Adrien Brody; directed by M. Night Shyamalan. This is in the psychological thriller sub genre.

I chose these 3 films to get clips of because in my opinion I think they are good examples of the thriller genre. In my next post I'll include some that are pre-1990s and that I haven't seen :)

Thriller Conventions

A complex narrative structure, with false paths, clues and resolutions.

A narrative pattern of establishing enigmas which the audiece 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 reflect an aspect of the pro/antagonist’s psychological state.

There is often a scene near the end of the film in which the protagonist is in peril.

Mise en scene which echoes/ mirrors the protagonist’s plight.

Thriller Conventions

Definition of a Thriller

Wikipedia defines a thriller as:

"a broad genre of literature, film and television that includes numerous and often overlapping sub-genres"

It also lists the sub genres, which are given as: Action thriller, Conspiracy thriller, Crime thriller, Disaster thriller, Drama thriller, Eco-thriller, Erotic thriller, Legal thriller, Medical thriller, Political thriller, Psychological thriller, Spy thriller (also a sub genre of spy fiction), Techno-thriller and Religious thriller.

Feedback

Feedback from our audience..

Camera Work- good- few shaky flames but good variety of angles.
Brief- excellent.
Editing/Continuity- good- a few jumpy cuts.
Mise-en-scene - good- no "rubbish" within shots but mise-en-scene didn't add to working out where it was.
Sound- excellent- fits genre but was drowned out and could og been a bit louder.

Another groups view..

Camera Work- excellent- interesting variety.
Brief- excellent- everything included.
Editing/Continuity- excellent- smooth.
Mise-en-scene - excellent- protag vs antag.
Area for improvement- Music needed at begining as it got a bit repeatitive and at times could not hear the dialogue.

Overall i agree with most of the feedback we recived and feel that this is a postitive reflection upon our footage. Taking these comments and my reflection in to consideration i think that our filming was quite successful in the fact that we fulfilled the brief.

What I have learnt while doing this project

While doing this project I have learnt how to use imovie to great effect. I have been able to use a variety of editing skills, and have been able to use my imagination to its best ability. I have learnt how to work well as a team, while brain storming at the beginning, and also druing filming.While filming this project, I have had to use initiative when coming up with the conversation. I have enjoyed working with the camera and I feel that I have shown a variety of camera angles and different techniques. I have learnt how to use a dolly (with difficulty, as we found that the dolly made a rattling noise when it moved quickly, so we slowed it down, and it worked fine) which was very affective, as it let us use a smooth movement while doing the corridor stalking scenes.

Story Board

This is the first draft of our story board. A few changes have been made since this, but this is the main plot of our 'stalker' idea....


Shot 1: Mid shot/long shot of both Sophie and the stalker step over the camera, first impression that someone is following someone else.

Shot 2: Mid shot of Sophie walks through the corridor



Shot 3: Mid shot of the stalker walking past, face covered so as to hide their identity, keeping a feeling of suspense.

Shot 4: Mid shot of Sophie turning around, slowly, also adding to the suspense.



Shot 5: Close up of Sophie looking scared, right into the eye of the camera.

Shot 6: A tracking shot from Stalkers point of view, following Sophie, getting a closer distance from her.



Shot 7: Long shot of Sophie walking, with the Stalker at the corner of the shot.

Shot 8: Pan shot of Stalker following Sophie around a corner and down a flight of stairs.

Shot 9: An Extreme Close up of the door handle.

Shot 10: A Close up of Sophie's hand reaching out to the door handle.

Shot 11: An Extreme Close up of Sophie's hand turning the door handle, Slowly.

Shot 12: A High angled shot of Sophie walking through the door.

Shot 13: Mid shot of Sophie pushing the door shut.

Shot 14: Mis shot of the back of Sophie's head, Sophie is looking through the window at the stalker standing outside in the corridor.

Shot 15: Sophie is inside the room. Her friend is sitting at the table, Sophie is panicked by the person following her. Long shot of Sophie dragging her friend to the window to show her the stalker.

Shot 16: At the window, as mid shot of the back of the two girls heads, looking out into an empty corridor.

How to stalk someone

This video gives you tips on how to stalk someone, we used the looking at the person, and following them...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwim0urrQS4

What I Have Learnt Through Making This Film

I think this film was a very good idea because it gave us the time to be creative and develop our skills and generally have a play around. These things included playing around with effects on iMovie, changing the shots, playing around to work out what went well and what went bad, and also gave us a chance to learn how to use Garageband, the music creating software.
I have learnt to think more carefully about what I am going to be doing and to analyse everything more carefully.
Our main problem as a group is that we were not satisfied with what we had already done, and we needed to re-film, but then part of someone's costume was forgotten, so we had to re-film it again because this was poor continuity.
Overall I think that the main thing that this film has given me was time to play around and get myself familiar to iMovie and Garageband, because we really didn't get a chance to play around in GCSE because we always had a deadline.

How Our Film Changed

We abolished the establishing scene, which was outside, because we thought that it would be poor continuity, as the rest of the film will be indoors. We changed it to:

Shot 1: Sophie walks round a corner, which is the first time she is seen on camera, followed by Stalker

Shot 2: Handheld camera, from the stalker’s point of view, which worked quite well as it created the suspense and anxiety. Shot 2, and the two shots after them, were essentially the same scene, but with different shots. The 2^nd shot was handheld camera from the Stalker’s point of view, the 3^rd was an over the shoulder shot following the Stalker following Sophie, and as she turns down some stairs, he does too. 4^th shot is a high angle shot of them both walking down the stairs and turning a corner.

Shot 5: Sophie steps over the camera, walking forwards a few paces, then the Stalker steps over the camera, and follows her.

Shot 6: Mid-shot, and we see Sophie’s torso pass the camera, and then the Stalker’s torso pass.

Shot 7: Close up of Sophie turning around, looking scared, (Jumps into Shot 8)

Shot 8(Jumped to from Shot 7): High angled shot, where she is still looking back, but turning away and walking forwards.

Shot 9: Mid-shot of Sophie walking towards the office door.

Shot 10: Extreme Close Up of Sophie’s hand going towards door.

Shot 11: View from inside office, door handle is pushed down, Sophie walks half way in

Cut to:

Shot 12: High angled shot of Sophie walking in fully and closing the door.

Shot 13: Mid Shot of Sophie sitting down in front of Millie

Shot 14: Stalker in background, Sophie looks, says “I think there’s someone following me” Millie Says “Are you sure you’re not being paranoid again?” “Yeah, come look, he’s standing right outside” Sophie stands up, as does Millie, and they both walk to the door and look

Shot 15: Over the shoulder shot of both of them looking out of the door, to see that the Stalker is not there. Sophie says “He was there just a minute ago!”

Shot 16: High angled shot of Sophie and Millie sitting back down

Shot 17: Over the shoulder shot from Sophie’s perspective, of Millie saying: “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure it will all be fine”

Shot 18: Over the shoulder shot from Millie’s perspective, of Sophie saying: “Yeah, it’s probably just my imagination”

Stalking someone

This video was of a game, where someone is following another person, with a gun. The idea of stalking someone is shown clearly in the video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwE71ZN7B_s

Conversation

Conversation between Millie and Sophie.
Sophie wallks in to a room, in a rushed mannor.
S' I think someones following me!'
Sophie sits down oppistite Millie at a table.
M 'are you sure your just not being paranoid?!'
S 'no look hes standing outside right now!'
Both walks over to the door
Shot of the stalker, back of head shot follownig with a point of view shot of the stalker being there no more.
Both turn around.
Sophie sits down saying
S 'he was there like a minute ago!'
Millie saying her line whilst walking round and sits down,
M 'Its probably just your imagination.'
S 'Yeah your probably right.'
END.

Filming

Ciaran deciding where to place the camera for a Worms eye view of Sophies feet being followed by the Stalkers feet

Sophie and Ciaran discussing where they're going to walk to/from and how far apart they should be
Millie filming Ciaran stalking Sophie; this is the only part of the film where we used a dolly
Ciaran and Sophie trying to decide what angle to film the door opening from
Ciaran filming part of the conversation between Millie and Sophie

Places where we're filming

Detailed Storyboard

Shot 1.
Long shot of main character with stalker far behind him, shallow focus on main character. Main character walks behind camera, turn to deep focus to stalker.
(Shots 2 + 4 will be a match on action, so they will both be going at the same pace)
Shot 2.
Shallow focus of both of the two characters step over camera. And walk forwards.
Shot 3.
Over the shoulder shot from the stalker following the main character. Then P.O.V shot from stalker following the stalkee
Shot 4.
Mid-Shot of Opening the door
Shot 5.
Close shot of Stalkee reaching for the door handle
Shot 6.
Extreme close up of door handle opening
Shot 7.
High angled shot of Sophie (Stalkee) walking through the door.
Shot 8.
Walk over camera, then sits down on chair, on front of Mim
Shot 9.
Over the shoulder shot of Stalker looking into the room.
Shot 10.
Mid shot of Millie saying “There’s someone looking in through the door”
Shot 11.
Stalker hides – shallow focus on Sophie, with blurry stalking in the background
Shot 12.
Extreme close up of Sophie’s face turning around to see no-one there
Shot 13.
Mid shot of stalker looking back through the window
Shot 14.
Mid shot of Sophie looking scared. Saying “I think I’m being followed”
Shot 15.
Over the shoulder shot of Mim “That must be scary. You should tell someone”
Shot 16.
Close up on Sophie’s face “I’m scared.”
Shot 17.
Point of view shot from the stalkers view, looking into the room at the two girls talking.

Mise-en-scéne

Costume - White/light clothes for Sophie, to create a sense of innocence
Black/Dark clothes for Stalker, to create a sense of darkness
Normal, professional clothes for Millie, she should be professional looking and look like someone approchable

Props - Hat, to cover the stalkers face.
Desk and chairs


Lighting - Dark lighting, creating a sense of gloom, as opposed to sunny, which connotes happiness

Expanding our idea

Stalking -

Someone is being followed within a school,they realise, but don't like to look back just in case. Nervous, obviously a girl, small, being followed by a larger man, all in black, where she is in white or similar colours, to show her innocence and his contrast to her innocence. His face will not be shown, to create suspense

3 Characters :-

Stalker - Undecided as of yet

Person being stalked (Stalkee) - Sophie

Person in room - Millie

It will be filmed at School, because it is very practical, and it has the right settings we need (hopefully, we will be able to film on a cold, dreary, windy day, for the outside scene, because if it was sunny weather, it would create an image of happiness, whereas windy, cold, dark-looking, creates a sense of gloom)

Original planning

Original basic ideas:

• Interview, for a job or something similar.
• Auditions, for a play, musical, film etc
• Parents evening
• Owes money
• Exchange of something (Mainly briefcases)
• Child/Student in trouble with teacher or headteacher
• Unknowing of what's occurring, keeping the conversation going. We scrapped this because we found the idea to be very limiting.
• Stalker/Hunter/Unknown person following lead character.

We had decided to do our preliminary task in the Thriller genre, because we found this would be the most fitting to our ideas