Research on films from the film network

Two & Two
In a school governed by a strict regime, the pupils are informed that simple facts are no longer true. .
In a drab, anonymous grey school governed by a strict authoritarian regime, an apparently unremarkable day is turned on its head following a seemingly ridiculous announcement.
Disbelieving at first, the all-male, identically uniformed pupils are informed that what they had always been taught as fact is no longer true. When the incredulous students speak out, what initially seems laughably absurd becomes desperately real as they are forced to question how far they will go to stand up for their beliefs.
Two & Two is an allegory for the absurdness of dictatorship and tyranny - and the resilience of the human spirit.
In the first 2minutes we see a grey ‘prison-like’ class room with simply desk, chairs and a chalkboard: the children are noisy at first but as soon as the teacher walks in they are quiet and obedient we a general view of the class room, then we see a boy trying to stand up in what he believes is right  The cut from when we see the three older boys pretending to hold a gun and we cut from a straight on view to a side view

A drama based on a true story about the emotional and psychological impact of sex trafficking from the point of view of the victim.
In the first 2 minutes we are shown the main character and a bit about her hopes and dreams and what she has already achieved as she explains them in an voice over with clips running behind it. The whole movie is like a play that has been filmed as we see the audience and there reaction to some scenes
The cuts were quite jumpy in certain parts


The View 
The emotional connections experienced by different visitors to a picturesque coastal location.
The View is a short poetic film that centers around a bench overlooking the British coastline. During the film we are witness to poignant moments in the lives of the location's fictionalised frequent visitors, who each have a different reason for being there. A poem written for the film carries the narrative through from start to finish.
The movie begins with a voice over and an old couple where then man has just proposed to the woman. The movie is based around a bench by the cost and different people s experiences and life troubles by the bench, the voice over explains how ‘there is always a sunrise after a sunset in life’ and how things will always get better 
The characters all had a similar role and equal part in how long they were filmed for. The cuts were fairly slow and scenes were similar in length http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p00ny05m

My Idea for the opening sequence

By day Martin is a top student at southview college by night he is a pro free runner.
The opening sequence begins with him running through the night wearing a hooded jumper , there is lots of match on action and continuity editing where he is jumping down stairwells. Then there is a mid shot/tracking shot following a side view of him  as he is running and the credits are following him attached to his shoulder. We follow him through the night and in the background there is fast paced music(Guitars drums and a bass but no vocals, instrumental only) then we see him climb back into his house through the window, he sits on his bed being careful not to make a sound. There is silence. We can only hear the sound of his deep breathing. He clears away any trace of his secret. Then in the morning we see him wake up he gets out of bed then we switch to a P.O.V. shot he gets dressed then he goes downstairs. His mum says to him “You look awfully tired dear” he slouches when he walks. He skips breakfast and gets to college.

Group Discussion 20-12-12

Today we reviewed our ideas and figured out how we could incorporate all of our ideas in to the final project. we looked at the best bits of each idea and put them all together. Like Mateusz had a good plot, Tina had a good technical idea by reversing a scene so that it went backwards in slow motion and Theo had good ideas of where to put the credits

Target Audience

Target Audience Profile

Gender: Mainly males, but women who like sci-fi.

Age: 18-25

Professional Status/Educational background:

Either in full time education at the end of sixth form/college, in university or in a full time job. The people are fairly educated, like the top of the middle percentage of people with grades just above average. They would probably have an interest in maths or the sciences.

Personality:

The personality of our target audience can be described as friendly, because they enjoy spending time and hanging out with their friends. They enjoy reading up in their interests. They are generally focused on their work and they are good at independent learning.

Marital/relationship status:

The target audience are made up of those who are single and those who are in a relationship. If they are single, they are happy with their current status and just hanging out with friends. If they are not single, they are most likely in a committed relationship where they are living together

How often do they watch thriller/sci-fi?

They watch thriller films whenever they have the time and they enjoy watching them both at the cinema and in their own home mostly always with friends.

Why do they like the sub-genre of Sci-fi?

The sci-fi sub-genre; is our target audience’s favourite due to the conventions it features because they like the idea of using chemicals and finding ways to solve problems. Also they like a lot of enigma

The Rock Sequence

The Rock – Camera Movement sequence analysis – Pan & Track

NAMES:   Serena and Kirsten  Date: 16/10/12
1.	Firstly the camera zooms in on the character that is speaking going into a close up frame, emphasis on what he is saying , also the camera could be subtly zooming into the action. Then the action (which is the car) drives towards us along with people chasing it. The action comes towards us – the camera is mostly stationary. This makes the audience feel like they aren't completely in amongst the action but are observing in from a safe distance
2.	Then there is a cut to the police cars following the car that had been stolen and the action moves past us but does not pan again like the first scene the audience feel like they aren't completely in amongst the action but are observing in from a safe distance. Then there is a cut and the camera is placed low down and produces a low angle shot and the camera is right in the action as it is attached to the character following him through the crowd of people from the front as it is a low angle shot it could show how the character is powerful or has a lot of power as he is also shoving people out of his way with ease which also shows the importance of him
3.	The worms eye view shot at the beginning of the scene literally attached to the tire highlights the speed of the car and the camera is placed where no person could realistically be (not a potential ‘point of view’)but the camera is right in the action.. Then there is a cut to the gear-stick of the car which is a significant object within the scene and the audience sees the action from several points of view There is close-up framing of the car
4.	The camera is stationary as we see the car drive away then the camera movement is handheld and jumpy to again emphasise speed and the way the car is shaking which can be seen as bringing the audience into the movie. we are again attached tot eh bottom of the car from a worms eye view Then camera cuts from the action coming towards us with a straight cut to the action going away from us. and when the car crashes into the other car we see this from several different angles including  a brief pan, mixed in with other camera angles and shots and points of view and the camera is high up which produces a high angle this is for the audience to feel like they are watching the action from a safe distance but still feel part of it.
5.	In this shot the camera is at high angle which gives the audience a brief sense of overview (where they can begin to see more of what is happening), also the camera is moving down and zooming in toward the cars racing towards it, this keeps the sense of speed and movement. It then cuts to a frame inside the car in which the camera movement is jumpy and moves with the car, this could help the audience to feel the speed of the chase and identify with the character (he’s being thrown around in the car – the camera is jumpy). We then cut to a shot where the camera is attached to the rear of the car in a sort of tracking shot this again helps to emphasise the speed of the car as everything is rushing past it. Then there are many fast paced cuts as one of the cars crashes showing the crash from many angles – this again emphasises speed and also draws attention to the crash and making it seem more devastating. Then it cuts inside the car to show the drivers facial expressions – this helps to show the sense of urgency that the character is feeling. There is also a shot of on lookers of the chase with the action rushing by them – this helps to emphasise speed and also helps to heighten the drama of the chase – how it is affecting people in their everyday lives.
6.	The handheld jumpy camera movements in this shot help to connect you to the characters and make the audience feel drawn into the action. Also as the camera is zooming in and out of the characters face it draws attention to him and the importance of the dialogue, this also slightly disorientates the audience which helps to link with how the characters may be feeling. Also the fact that the camera is moving rapidly again helps with the emphasis of speed and urgency.
7.	The camera is at a low angle and does not move allowing the action to rush past emphasises the speed and also makes it feel like the cars are high up which helps to add to the sense of danger. Shot inside car showing facial expressions – showing the difficulty he is having with driving which heightens the sense of danger and the possibility of a crash.  Camera is far away and jumps with cars this gives you a brief overview of the action but also keeps you connected as you are still moving with the cars. Quickly cutting closer to the action helps to keep the sense of speed and danger and keeps the audience connected to the chase. Facial expressions of urgency emphasises his dialogue of “get out of the way” and helps to make the audience approve of him as even though he’s the one being chased he is still worried about the safety of the pedestrians. Low angle shows STOP on floor – gives a sense of irony in that they should be slowing down but it seems that they are speeding up. Shot giving an overview of the town this again helps to show the height and sort of gives an air of what’s to come as it is looking down the street, but also stays connected to the chase as the camera tilts up as the car seemingly jumps over the camera.
8.	The handheld jumpy camera movements again draw the audience into the action and connect with the characters. Also the camera zooms right into the characters eyes which shows us his facial expressions of determination and helps us connect with what he’s feeling.

Representation in thrillers

Stereo types
In most of the thrillers I have seen a male has been the main character for example I Am Legend, Max Payne, Inception and The Bourne ultimatum. This may signify that males are very determined and good a problem solving, and typically there are action/fighting scenes so it maybe seen that females aren't suitable for these roles

Ethnicity

Usually the main character is white and between 30 and 40 years old for example Max Payne perhaps because the audience may feel safer if they are more used to the type of character

In our film I think that we will break some of the these typical representations because personally I don't think that some of them are fair like having a male protagonist because a female would be just as good at the role, that's why we will have both Theo and Tina in the lab and give them equal roles.

Sound in Opening sequences

The sound in an opening sequence has to grab your attention, weather the music is interesting and the genre appeals to the listener, or it is loud and grabs your attention, or the dialogue is meaningful and a part of the actual story of the movie.

Panic Room 
There are ambient sounds of the city, like cars, people, the wind ect... to set the scene .

Then there are strings and the panning matches the sounds and it becomes quite dark because the notes are quite low in pitch and it sounds fairly minor.

The sound of the cymbal signifies change, this could be significant further on in the movie.

The music then speeds up and there is a sort of ticking sound in the background which could indicate how time is moving the background.

Finally there is a sound bridge right at the end of the title sequence going into the main dialogue at the end of the movie.
Reservoir Dogs

It starts with an overdubbed monologue.

Then it goes into a well known song with a funky bass line, the sound, sounds fairly happy and in a major key. it also sounds lively and has a nice vibe to match the facial expressions of the characters as they are smiling and laughing.

The music could be seen to be fairly 'cool' this could be what they are trying to represent in the character to the audience of how cool they are and they are wearing black sunglasses. 

We can clearly see that the scene has been slowed down to match with the music.
some of the lyrics in the song could co-ordinate with the actions in the scene like there is a lyric 'take a drag' as they are smoking.

Again at the end of the sequence there is a sound-bridge going into the first bit of the movie.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

In this sequence the music is very important because it is used to emphasises the visuals and the effect of them, because they are dark images.

There are drums at the beginning then the Synths arrive and it all sounds dark, but lively at the same time as the pace of the visuals is quite fast and the cutting pace is fast to.

The music has some sort of scream in it this also goes with the visuals because you would be expecting someone to be screaming because some of the visual we can see trapped hands and this is quite gory.

Max Payne

Scene number and description	Effect and technique
1 20th century fox motif which is non diegetic	Introducing what company made the film
2 eerie sounds quite quiet and a voice over no visuals	This introduce the characters thoughts to the audience as there are no visuals this makes the audience concentrate on the thoughts of the character
3 sound of the character bursting out of the water, diegetic and on screen	Gives an enigma to the audience as they wonder why the character is there and where he is
4 water bubbling, the character trying to breathe	This makes the audience feel shocked as the character could be drowning and this could raise the tension. As the sounds of the character trying to breathe are harsh this could also sway the mood of the audience to make it more serious
5 splashing and coughing from the character, diegetic and on screen	This makes the audience wonder where he is trying to swim to or if he is trying to get away from something
6 the character is coughing and panting diegetic and on screen	This put the audience on the edge of there seat wondering what will happen next as the scene is serious and anything could happen as they have no background information
7 sound of a person sinking in the water, diegetic and on screen	This scene shows another enigma to the audience as they can see a person sinking under water but there is little sound to go with it on the voice over of the character
8 baby crying non diegetic with a sound bridge	The sound bridge could signify that the baby runs through several parts of his life
9 baby crying and a bass sound that is getting	This could show the audience that he is getting closer to something important also the visuals of a door which has a golden light being released from the room could signify something extremely important to the character or the light coming into the dark and happier place in the room
10 voice over of the characters thoughts and feelings
11 door creaking  which is diegetic	This could be opening up part of his life that is most important to him and the creaking may suggest that it has been opened in a long time
12 wind chimes	this could signify a mystery and that everything is not what it seems
13 wind chimes
14 wind chimes and a clock ticking, thunder and lightning	This could suggest that the character is running out of time to do something or it could be a count down to something else and the lightning could represent the mood of the opening in general or how the character is feeling, this scene is also parallel  to the visuals as it is quite dark with little lighting
15 silence	The scene is parallel to the silence as the screen is black and there is nothing there as silence usually represents emptiness
16 sirens and the ambient sounds of the city diegetic	This reassures the audience that everything is back to a more familiar place also the sound ties in well with the visuals

Test Embed

Harry Potter Sound Exercise

This is my Harry potter exercise 

The style of music we feel that we created was an oriental sound as the loops we used included pipes, small cymbals and a mandarin which is usually associated with a more oriental sound we used this to show the equilibrium at the start of the sequence and to show that it was calm and serene from when we looked at the sun down to the city then as they walked through the field. The loop we used for when the title came up was a reversed cymbal that was crescendo this matched with the title getting bigger and closer towards you. think that the overall effect that we have created right at the beginning was, firstly when we saw the title the reversed cymbal sound signified to the audience that something important was coming creating tension and secondly when the we saw Harry walking through the field we created the effect that we wanted to, which i mentioned earlier in the paragraph. 

We feel that we used a similar style of music to the first scene, but towards the end we want to create a humorous effect so we used cymbals when Harry went over to the boy and grabbed his shirt, also because the sounds were quite harsh it signified the strength in Harry. we made the tempo of the loop match with the scene. Right at the end of this scene we used an orchestral sound to convey vitality of the change in the weather.

We tried to create a mysterious effect, at the start of the transition we used a deep noise that sounded like wind the effect we wanted to create with that was that there was a storm coming and to show the intensity and power of it. Then we used a sci-fi sound for the rest of the transition to create a mystery as they were looking up at the sky.  Then a distorted electric guitar came in to show that something had changed the certain loop we used was also very dominant signifying the dementor

Overall I am pleased with the sequence but I think that we could have added more loops to the dementor scene to make the effect more dominant and to make the audience feel more about what the scene is about. Also in the transition between the change of weather and when it got darker i think we could of had a sound like a snare or bass drum to emphasis when harry and the boy were running as the tracking shot and the way that the camera was slightly jumpy showed the speed but the sound could emphasize that