Mind map- What is a Thriller?

This is my mind map that I created using all the research I have found about thrillers which make them a Thriller.

Spoiler Review- Shutter Island

Shutter Island

This thriller is based on a island called Shutter island, which has a federal mental hospital on it for the mentally and criminally insane. Some detectives or going on to the island to deal with a women escaping from the hospital, one of the detectives 'Teddy' reveals how his wife dies to his new partner 'Chuck', Chuck refers to Teddy as 'Boss' and he told that is well known through the federal service and detectives. The hospital is more like a prison and is sectioned on blocks of certain types of insane people. There is a debate over a drug, to treat patients. Teddy moans about feel ill from the ferry so they give him water and pills, which he thinks are just aspirin.

The women who escaped named Rachel, is there because she drowned all three of her children and she doesn't think that she did and sometimes thinks her life is normal where she is, however they say that she vanished. The lighthouse which is guarded and has gates all around it seems to make Teddy want to know what is there. Teddy's job is to interview staff and patients and while looking for clues where Rachel went, her doctors is shipped of for a long vacation which makes Teddy suspicious. Teddy also gets a lot of flash backs from his dead wife advising him on what to do, and about the world war 2. After having a interview with patients and chuck a lady rights in his book saying 'RUN' soon after Teddy also confesses to Chuck that he wanted to come on an investigation at the mental hospital to find the man that set his apartment on fire, which killed his wife. Also he discovers from an encounter of a patient that there is some serious research going on at the island.

After Chuck and Teddy being out in the rain investigation, a wardens car pulls up and they get in back to the hospital, they changed into some white staff clothes and are told that their suit will be ready in a couple of days, the white suits make them look more like patients then detectives, also they are told that their cigarettes are ruined from the rain but are given some other ones by the warden. Teddy starts to feel ill again and falls, he is offered some pills but refuses the first time and then the doctor insists so he takes them and falls asleep, in his dreams he has more visions of his wife who tells him that Rachel is on the island and needs help. Teddy is told that a man has been taken to the light house to be experimentent on because he was a trouble maker. Also he asked him is he has ever worked with Chuck before but we know this because we are told at the beginning. Rachel is found, Teddy talks to her and she thinks that he is her dead husband. When Teddy tells Chuck he wants to go to the light house, Chuck tells him not to go which makes Teddy suspicious. Teddy and Chuck go out to the cliffs and argue about going different ways, Teddy goes of but gets stuck so decides to go back to Chuck on the cliff but all he sees is his cigarettes and looks over the cliff and sees Chucks body there, waves crashing into him.

 

When Teddy tries to look for Chuck, he is not there instead he finds a women in a cave who tells him that the drugs and cigarettes they have been giving him are to control him and that people are against him and can use his wife dying as a reason for going mental. Teddy is then told by the doctor that Chuck came to investigate alone and that Teddy wasn't his partner, also he is warned by his dead wife not to go to the lighthouse. The doctor tells Teddy that he is a patient at the hospital as has been for 2 years but he tells him is isn't and that he is a U.S Marshal. Teddy is then told that he killed his children that he didn't think he had and his wife is Rachel and that Chuck has just been collecting information from him. He then finds out that his wife killed is kids and he killed is wife and feel responsible and is taking to the lighthouse at then end.

The Thriller has a lot of mystery and suspense, when you start watching it you cant stop. I would rate this a 4.5/5.

Paranoia

This is our Paranoia edit that we created with cameras in the school. Testing different shots and angles to practise our camera skills and how they are different. My evaluation for the basic shots, composition and continuity. This was our first time going out with the professional cameras and testing them out.

1. Rule of Thirds- We used the rule of thirds in some parts of our clip, for example in this first screen shot, we aligned the actor with their intersection points allowing it to flow. I feel we did this rule well however it could be improved, the camera could be lower to allow the viewer to see more of a full body point of view.

2. Head Room- Head room refers to the space between the top of the frame and from the actors head. It is good to leave a small but not to small distance between the head and the top of the frame to make the shot look more professional also you should not make the distance to big because it will leave a large gap in the area about the head and mislead the viewer because they will think that something is going to happen in that space. In this screen shot from our clip I feel that the camera high camera angle and head room work well and the right amount of space is there. for our first time shooting I would consider this a good use of head room.

 
 
 

 

However, in this shot below I feel that the head room is poor and that the space between the top of the frame and the actors head is too large. Also this gives the viewer a false indication that something is going to appear or happen in the large area.

 

3. Looking/ Lead Room

 

Lead room is the idea that viewers want to see where a moving object is going not where is has been. You can adjust the shot to offer a bit more room in the direction the person is, and a bit less room behind. It also is the space where dramatic energy is directed. When filming close up shots, the term described is called 'Nose Room'. 

 

 This is and example, I feel that our clip doesn't have much strength in Lead room, however these 2 screen captures are a slight example as the actors are walking into a space and direct energy to the area. Taking this as a practice we can continue to perfect and add to our skills.

 

 

4. Framing of shots- The term camera shot is how an image is refered to on a screen; Extreme long shots, Mid Shots, Two shots, Close ups and extreme close ups. In our clip I feel that we established a few of these shots, by creating long shots, two shots and close ups, however although they are not perfect they still have the idea of how we applied to the scene using the camera. This is our example of a long shot.

5.  Manual Controls-

Through this progress I have found that there is a lot to do when filming to make sure your final piece looks professional and to a high standard, although this edit isn't brilliant I feel that it has shown us how to use the cameras and how we can learn from errors and not breaking the filming rules. The mystery and suspense wasn't great however in some parts you could tell from the actors and the camera angles that there may be some mystery, due to their being no sound for this clip also made it hard to understand what was going on. When I was using the camera it took a bit of time to get used to using the manual controls, however once I had it became a bit more easy. We sorted out the white balancing before, by holding up a white sheet and adjusting the camera. The shoots we took weren't all well framed some 'sweep' across the room and created a poor effect, however in all the shots we used a tripod which kept the camera steady and it didn't move around. We followed the shot procedures and filmed what was asked of us, if we were to do it again, from what we have learned how to use the camera and the techniques when shooting for example head room, lead room can all be improved.

 

 

 

Falling Down - Sound

During this Falling Down clip, I choose a small section of the video and recreating the sound within the video to make it work and sound good. This was created on Garage Band using sound clips and attaching the different times and also we created our own sound of the character squatting the fly by slapping our hands, then we edited and cut the sound to the exact time it happens to make the timing precise. By using more than one sound at a time created the build up in this video and made it more realistic and interesting. I think it works well due to what sound they were and how the character was reacting when the sound were there.

What is an enigma code?

Pose questions to the audience which are then answered shortly after or later in the film.

Who's this killer?

Who done it?

Who are they?

What's going to happen? 

Why did they do it? 

Doctor Who -Camera angles masculine/feminine

Me and Daisy created different camera angle shots from a clip in Doctor Who, we used cut out doctor who figures to help indicate different angles and how they are made feminine and masculine just by listening to the clip. Low shot camera angle shots made the character appear bigger therefore have more power in the shot which made this a masculine camera angle, whereas sometimes when the camera was at a high view shot- making the character look small and weaker this made a feminine camera angle shot, depending on the mood and what the character what showing and expressing! Also the close up and long shots gave the character a type of gender. By doing this activity it helped us practise creating masculine and feminine shots using our phones.

Seven Edit

Laura & Georgina
My first time on final cut, we used final cut you create a remake of seven. I added pictures and videos also we added filters on top of the video to create a thriller themed layout to add suspense and mystery! By intercut the videos and pictures we was able to break then up and make them more interesting to watch! We intercut in order to make a narrative. The opening scene consisted of roughly 20 title sequences. The first was the production company and last is the title of the film. We have titles for a legal rights and copy rights.

Sound

What sounds can you hear?

Walking, doors opening, outside, birds, humming, squeaking, horn, wheels, water, chains, breathing, winds, dog, flies, branches snapping, grunting, bees, banging, train, fire, hooting.

No dialogue

Lengthy&dull

Day-Night change 

No talking- loneliness- long shot 

Wind noise- isolated 

Dog crying- sympathy

Genre? 

Western

What does this tell you about the characters?

Sound tells us about the characters

What mood does this create?

Sound tells us about what mood is present 

Loneliness  and laziness 

Clip : once upon a time in the west by Ennio Morricone