Thriller Opening - The Script

Below is the completed script for our Thriller Opening. We didn't want too much talking in it as it would probably take away some of the building atmosphere. The ending was difficult to decide upon because it is only an opening and we don't want to give too much away or make too much happen within the opening.

Script: Undefined Reality

Bathroom scene:

Killer washes face and proceeds to put the mask on before exiting the bathroom (overall scene)

Killer: Reality. What is it? What is it that makes reality so real? What defines it? I don’t know. But those that use fake realities are blind to the one they live in. And those people don’t deserve to exist if they cannot live where they belong.

Outdoor scene:

Victim explores the abandoned, run down place, trying to discover something to be later revealed. He finds a phone and as he stands up in realization, he is struck with glass (ice) and tries to escape. He falls, and his neck is sliced by the killer. The killer ponders his reflection when the onlooker sneezes from the bushes (allergies) and the killer moves towards his next target.

Killer strikes the victim.

Victim tries to run.

There are many dangers in this reality and I am one of them!

Victim falls.

Killer pins him down with Glass (ice) to his neck.

Killer: People in a virtual world are not people you can trust here! This is MY reality!

Killer kills victim.

Killer notices his reflection and ponders.

Killer: (screams in rage then holds his head in his hands) I’m so sorry to have had to do that.

Onlooker’s phone goes off.

Killer notices him in the bushes.

End

Stroyboard Planning

 Side 1: The first side is all of the shot ideas up until the antagonist attacks.

The shots that we used were a wide shot, an over-shoulder shot and a two shot. The wide shot is probably most likely to be seen as our establishing shot, as it sets up the mood and theme as the location is mysterious and dark. The over shoulder shot is used to show the action of the victim, and that gives the impression that there is someone watching him (because there is someone behind him). The two shot shows the comparison between both characters and that they are binary opposites as one is evil while the other isn't evil.

Side 2: This is the scene that shows that the victim is wounded and is trying to crawl away. Multiple kinds of shots are going to be used to create different effects. On the second box the victim is crawling past the camera while its on a fixed position just to show that the victim is trying to crawl away from the murderer, however the attacker is doing the slow walk to give the victim the impression of hope before the final strike.. The over the shoulder shot is used this time to show the height distance between the two characters and that the murderer is in control of the situation and has the power.

Director Case Study

As well as producing as company case study, we also did a director case study. Our group's director of choice was the lens-flare mastermind, J.J Abrams.
Below is the link a Glog that the other Max created about J.J Abrams.
Be warned, there are 826 uses of lens flare in Star Trek: Into Darkness...
http://maxm9.edu.glogster.com/jj-abrams/

Lighting Practice

Today we practised using lighting to emphasise certain expressions.

In this photo we used an artificial light to darken out most of Andreas' face.   The fact that his eyes are darkened yet his mouth is mostly visible shows that he is a suspicious character, as the shadows of the light also emphasises his sinister expression.      

In this photo we used the light to brighten up one side of Brad's face. One half of his face is black, and his expression shows that he isn't a protagonist, but is rather the antagonist. This can also refer to an effect of binary opposites, where the light and dark meet each other to make Brad appear more evil.

This photo of me used to lights to light up my face in the dark environment without making it too light. My facial expression is that of happiness. The light shines on my smile, not just making my teeth yellow, but emphasising my smile. Also, the light sort of reflects off of my glasses, making my eyes dark and secretive.

We used two artificial lights for this picture of Me, one was shined across the left side of my body and one was placed above my head but also put shining towards the left to make the whole left part of my head brighter than the right side. This is shown to make me look happy, as the light shines on my smile and it makes seem like the jokey character who isn't serious.

We also took this shot from above to make the light show more and that I show a larger smile when my head is leant back to make me look at something higher than myself. In addition to this, we used the high angle shot to show my glasses reflect a shadow onto my face which shows a good effect of making me look secretive but happy.

In this image, we used the natural light in the room to make Andreas' head stand out to the background. Even though the light in the background is fairly similar to Andreas' head, it makes Andreas' head stand out as it makes his hair brighter.

In this photo of Brad, we used the light created from the ceiling lights in the room to make Brad look intimidating, this is shown by the low angle shot but in addition the light shining down on him makes the front part of his body slightly darker which could also show how he could be an antagonist and how evil he will look when the light is shown making him darker from the front.

 

In this photo of Max, we used the natural light seeping through from behind the blinds to attempt to make an effect. There was one artificial light placed next to the camera aiming at him but in this photo it did not come out in a good enough quality for the full effect to be seen.

The light from behind is supposed to show that there could be something else in the shot to look at apart from his head. This is useful to make multiple things happen at once during the shot.

Of course, Max being Max and me being me, had an opportunity to make something silly from a photo of me so we took it.



Paramount Pictures Studios

 http://maxm9.edu.glogster.com/paramount-pictures/

Paramount Pictures

Today, we begun our case study on the company 'Paramount Pictures', and what kind of films they produce in which are popular.

One of the main type of films that Paramount have made that is popular is psychological thrillers. Examples of these are 'Shutter Island', 'The Conversion' and 'Rosemary's Baby'. These are all popular as they have induced their audience within the films, and made them enjoyable overall. I have looked into reviews from the following websites.
Rosemary's Baby Review
Shutter Island Review
The Conversation Review
These reviews all have some things in common that they talk about. One of which is an interesting protagonist. This is done by giving them a niche feature, such as in 'The Conversation' where the protagonist is bad at their job, but is quite an important job. This is important as the protagonist has to be interesting to watch, or the audience may not enjoy the film.
It was also common to hear about an interesting plot. The plots of each are well written and, while not all original,(Rosemary's' Baby is quite similar to Psycho), it still has a reason to watch. In the case of 'Rosemary's' Baby' it was still different to 'Psycho', even if both protagonists were widows.
One complaint I saw from 'Shutter Island' was that is was too 'classy' for it's setting. This is important as the props and background had to be considered, but quite new and classy furniture was around on an isolated island full of mental people. The use of mise-en-scene is key to thrillers, and wasn't used as effectively as others.
There were also many other thrillers that I looked into as well.

The Film "Zodiac" was based on a true story that revolves around the "Zodiac Killer". The people that are more aware of the Zodiac Killer will already be more aware of the real life event and so will be a little harder to impress but for the newer audience you need to feed the story in a way that everyone would enjoy.

"The whole story is very chilling and kept you going.

The Zodiac Killer is a case that forever will remain a mystery and it was a

great idea for a film" one public reviewer stated on the IMDb website, and

the film gained an overall rating of 7.7 on the same website.

It seems as though the film was a very effective thriller and

was received very well by critics. The look of the film was largely revolved

around the real 1970's case, so it is filmed in an aspect that would be similar

to the movies seen in the 70's. This helped to create more of an atmosphere

because you were made to feel as though you were looking into the past.

The Hunt for Red October was based around the story of the

USSR captain that defied orders and headed for America.

Again the people who remember the event would be more

prepared for what the film might show but the newer audiences won't properly

understand. What happened would be more open to the story.

The film gained an overall review score of 7.6 on IMDb.

"The Hunt for Red October" is a movie filled with some superb

underwater action sequence's that were brilliantly directed by action movie

veteran John McTiernan" was one of the public reviews on the same website.

The film is mainly portrayed as an action thriller and many

people think it just that due to the finale and the build up.

Psycho (1998) is a fictional remake of a horror thriller of

the same name about a woman who is murdered in a motel and her sister, boyfriend

and a private investigator try to find her (because they don't know she was

murdered).

The film received a review score of 4.6 on IMDB and many or

the reviews question why the remake was actually made because the original

Psycho was a classic film.

"My biggest question is "Why did they re-make a

classic Hitchcock movie?" It's a "no-win" situation", one

person said.

The film did not receive very high review scores wherever you

look and thus was a very unpopular movie.

These were some of the top films on the following website.

Paramount Pictures Top films