Evaluation Of Our Project So Far

So far I think we have done well on this project. We have met the aims we set out to when we planned the project and in most areas done better than most of our objectives.We each took upon ourselves an individual task which all of performed well in and it shows in our final product. Overall I feel like we could have done better with planning however. We were not as ready to film as perhaps we should have been, which was clear with our lack of props where we filmed a body under a sheet. But, we did film it well, the camera angles used and the movement of the camera really gave acroos the atmosphere we wanted the audience to feel. This was also the case with how well we made the location low lit. The editing used slow cutting to build the tense atmosphere which is what we planned and the music also helped to create this. Overall we feel everyone performed well and we are pleased with our final cut, even if there are areas we could have improved if we had other equipment.

Evaluation of Music For Thriller Opening

After viewing the film with the finished piece of music on it, we found that for most of the scene the music fitted well. However, we did need to go back and adjust some small parts, where the timings were a bit out. When we went back to 'Garage Band' we soon sorted this out and it now works really well.

16th March 2010

Today is our last lesson for editing.
This lesson, all we need to do is add the soundtrack to the video and then upload it to youtube ready to blog at the end of the lesson. Our thriller project will then be complete!

Monday 14th March- Editing Lesson

After getting the feedback from Cigdem last lesson, we are starting to cut parts of the credits scene and add in parts of the forest scene to break up the shot, as she thought that it was too long and needed a bit more depth.

Music

The Music For Our Thriller Opening:


For the thriller opening sequence, we thought that we should have slow but intense piece of music to set a tone of mystery and create an uneasy atmosphere. We used the software 'Garage Band' to create this piece of music.


We decided to make the music mysterious and slow paced which matched what was happening on screen, which doesn't make it contrapuntal, this makes the connection between the visual film and the music easy to understand for the viewer. This was instead of choosing to make the music fast paced and sound more upbeat which would confuse the audience.


Initially we looked through the available sounds to find ones that were slow paced, intense and dark. We narrowed down the search by choosing certain instruments we notice in other similar thriller openings, so first we looked into strings especially violins. We found a lot of pieces that worked, so before we discarded all but one, we found a collection of pieces from piano to see which ones matched well.


Soon we realised that we wanted the music to build up, much like the scene does on screen, to build the tension with the visuals. We did this by adding extra samples over a period of time, so at the climax of the film the music is equally as aggressive for the audience. Also, we used the volume fader to increase and decrease the volumes of individual tracks when we wanted them to be louder and softer.


Finally, we took the finally edited piece of film and adjusted the timing for most of the instruments and volume levels, to make the music match the film perfectly.

Political Thrillers

A thriller including a national or international political scenario. They involve mostly illegal plots, designed to give political power to someone, while others attempt to stop them from getting it. Within a political thriller the hero or heroine must maintain stability within the government who employs them. It is said that the best political thrillers combine both political themes and gripping suspense throughout.


Some examples of political thrillers:
Notorious
The Lives of Others
The Manchurian Candidate
Munich
The Hunt for Red October


Usual codes and conventions of political thrillers:
and offer the unsettling thrill of having our flimsy notions and beliefs debunked. As the hero/investigator peels back the layers of falsehood, we experience the one-eye-open joy of seeing veils drop. We get more than just the solution of a mystery and a new interpretation of history and current events - we get the dark gift of prophecy


The codes and conventions of my own example of an action thriller opening sequence: