Filming

We plan to go out and film on the weekend, either day from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th. We chose these dates because we have mock exams before that and these dates fall after me and George have finished them. I think this is a good time to film because we'll also get a gloomy London atmosphere.
This also allows us some time to plan a bit more about our opening.

Pitch

We thought about our thriller opening into a bit more detail and made a presentation (pitch) to present to the class. We started by thinking of the story line and plot and then used it to think of the film's title. We used Google translator to change words into Latin which was closest to English. We chose the title 'Angelus' which is agent in Latin. I think it works well because the word has angel in it, which is everything the main character is not meant to be. 

Foley Artists

I looked briefly at Foley art to get an idea of how it works. It is a process of creating and adding sounds to increase the quality during post production, also showing clarity of sound from our own world. 
Foley artists are very important to films. They create the sounds of the film by creating the sounds and recording them. You can see in the YouTube video how they create the sounds. Through modern technology, it has become more simple to re-create the sounds but traditional methods are still very effective as well as creative.

In the video I have embedded below, you can get a clearer idea of how the sounds are actually created. It suggests how simple some sounds can be created while others can be harder to find. The process is almost like trial and error as it can be difficult finding a realistic sound that fits into the film picture.




The Video below is a recreation of Foley art done by Roshni and Romina in the other class. I thought it was successful as it shows how the quality of the audio can be improved. The sounds are slightly off in some places as they don't always match the picture on the screen which suggests the difficulty behind the task. From the videos I watched above, I realised that watching the film clip while creating the sound was common to get them at the right time. The sounds were most likely created by recording the same actions done in the video (scrunching up paper, scribbling and recording the paper fall on the floor)

Generic Clichés

Throughout my research about genre, I began realising that there are so many clichés. Many films have very similar if not the same elements that build the narrative. We have become so used to seeing all of these elements, occasionally in a different form that we forget how common everything is. 

Below I have shown a series of film posters for different genres which shows how similarly clichéd they are. 

    

Taken from:
http://www.uproxx.com/media/2011/11/thirteen-movie-poster-cliches-and-what-they-say-about-the-movie/#page/1 

The link above shows many more famous cliché film posters.  

Investigating Generic Conventions

I watched the trailer to a few movies and began thinking deeply about the different elements that make them successful. I analyzed the opening briefly to show what it gives away and what is noticeable.

ELEMENT	FILM: The Bourne Identity  GENRE: Thriller-Action, Crime, Man on The Run http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tqK_3mKQUw
NARRATIVE (Typical storylines and structures used)	The main narrative seems to form around a secret agent who has the skills of ‘a dangerous man’. We are immediately given the impression that it is a hybrid of a psychological as he has no memory which would play a significant role in the narrative. We can see there is a structure based around a ‘man on the run’ who is trying to get away from government agency.
ICONOGRAPHY (Things we expect to see)	We are constantly shown technology devices which suggest that there will be a lot of it used, especially when tracking Bourne down. We also expect to see well captured chase scenes, car getaways and a few loves scenes with the build up in relationship between the two characters.
CHARACTERS (Typical characters who drive to story forwards)	The main character in this film is Jason Bourne. There is also a woman who travels with him. However, the trailer does not tell us her name or a lot about who she is which makes us want to find out. There is also a large group of the government agency who all come together to capture Bourne.
CAMERA WORK (Typical cinematographic style)	The Camera work throughout the trailer shows quick shots with excellent match on action. It suggests that there will be similar or more versatile shots in the rest of the film. We see that the camera is constantly moving and focusing on him to suggest that he is being watched. It has a promising mix of camera angles and shots.
SETTING (Typical locations used)	The settings shown in the trailer suggest that they are unknown and not what you usually tend to see in big mainstream films. They have however used the locations Zurich, small areas of France and Paris.

Narrative

This is the explanation of narrative in our own words. We also played with Todorov's theory of narrative and changed the story of Cinderella to make it a thriller. This allowed us to use what we knew already and think about what elements make a thriller. We took the story of Cinderella and adapted it, breaking Todorov's theory and planned a rough storyboard for the opening shots of it. They are explained in the clip above. We could work on our presentation skills as it wasn't planned out very well and the microphone was covered at times, preventing our voices from being heard clearly. I think we could have used more depth in explanation, terminology and included other theories by Propp and Barthes. Our story board opening was heavily inspired by the trailer of 'Snow White and the Huntsman', with the lighting in the first couple of shots. 

Narrative Theory

So, so far I learnt about the following two theorists:

Todorov- Basic narrative structure
               Equilibrium, disruption, recognition, repair, new equilibrium
Propp- Character roles (functions)
           (Spheres of action)

I then looked at Barthes who focused on enigma. 

Roland barthes. from Livvy Free

I think Barthes was trying to say that we usually look at texts in one way in one aspect and experience and make sense of it. We then gradually look closer into it and re-read what we originally saw to make more sense of it and unravel until we reach a whole new meaning or multiple versions. Each time we read a text, we pull out and learn something different which is always better than reading it once. This works like Enigma where we assume something and then gradually unravel the media text to find out more.

Slide 6: I think this slide explains that many media texts are sometimes made in a specific structure that allows the reader to only pick up certain bits of information and understand it in a certain way which hides other information from them. In comparison to readerly, writerly texts gives out more information and allows the reader to know more.

Enigma draws the audience in with questions and them wanting to know more (the unknown)

The Hermeneutic Code- (The voice of truth) This is the way that the story avoids telling and revealing to us the truth, anticipating us to constantly want to know. It only gives hints for the audience to try guess.
The Proairetic Code- (The voice of empirics) This is the way in which the tension is built up in the story and at times, makes the climax where the audience is left guessing.
The Semantic Code- (The voice of the person) This highlights parts of the film to suggest additional meanings.
The Symbolic Code- (The voice of the symbol) This is slightly like the semantic coded but is broader. It widens and sorts out the semantic meanings and may often be done through antithesis (new ideas and meanings come out from situations and conflicts)
The Cultural Code- (The voice of knowledge) This looks and considers the audiences knowledge culturally and how broad it really is whether it's morality or ideology. 

Heroism and theory

Vladimir Propp developed a character theory for studying media texts and productions, which indicates that there were 8 main characters which include:

• The villain (struggles against the hero)
• The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object) They are a catalyst to the hero on his way. They're known as the goodies but in modern twists can betray the hero. They occasionally die throughout the journey through evil or sacrifice. 
• The (magical) helper (helps the hero in quest)
• The princess (person the hero marries (often fought for during the narrative.) -Not necessarily an actual princess. She usually survives and is the archetypical victim rescued by the hero.
• Her father (rewards the hero) Man figure 
• The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and the hero off) He/she gives key information that forces the hero to go off.
• The hero (or victim/seeker)- reacts to the donor and weds the 'princess'
• The false hero/usurper/anti-hero- we think they're a hero but they turn out twisted. 

Levi-strauss: Binary opposites- If you have no oppositions, you have no story (good Vs. evil)

The villain/antagonist- thwarting the heroes attempts to 'save' the princess and usually loses at the end.

The Blocker- people that work for the antagonist and constantly creates obstacles for the hero on his journey.

There are many interpretations of what a hero is and research seems to suggest that heroes have to be all or most of the following: Intelligent, strong, resilient, selfless, caring, charismatic, reliable and inspiring. In film terms, we often use the term hero just to mean the lead role or main character. But to be a truly 'heroic' hero, the lead role also has to follow specific narrative lines. Some structuralists (people who see an underlying structure beneath), Joseph Campbell in particular,  suggested that the hero quest is a myth common to almost all cultures; a basic storyline that everyone understands and that every society has. 

Vladimir Propp, another structuralist, went further, saying that all stories relied on 8 basic character types (those listed above). Hero's are a very easy character type or archetype for film makers to work with and can be a simple stereotype. They're easy to use for film makers,easy to fit into story lines and sell to audiences, but are they quite so good for the rest of us?

We usually find that the hero is a he! Perhaps as audiences, we find it easier to match characteristics like strength, bravery, charisma, leadership, individuality and so on with men rather than women. This links back to generic conventions and representation. They may use men as it is reflective: they reflect what is actually true and real in society? Are men actually braver, stronger and more resilient, better leaders and more charismatic than women?

Stuart Hall, in his 1981 book on representations of race suggested that representations are always constructed, never natural, always put together in a certain specific ways. Seeing the typical male hero as a constructed representation means that it takes some truth from the way things really are and adds onto it. This has built upon the stereotype over the years and its reflected back us us so often that we start to believe its the way it should be, this is natural and normal. Films make it seem normal for men to be heroic, brave, strong, individualistic and not so normal for women to be like this. 

The down side to heroism is him gaining overconfidence and invulnerability. He can often be bad for the team in any organisation and shine at the expense of the team. A hero by definition is not a team player. This is what films tells us heroic: Shoot your enemy or he'll shoot you first- after all, everyone's out to get you (but what if he's innocent, or just a bystander? He's dead and your heading to prison); fight for what you believe in even if no one else believes in it; sacrifice everything for the cause; never look back at the trail of destruction and never ever give up!

In real life, a hero makes you a selfish, obsessive, paranoid, aggressive nutcase who ruins businesses, damages the economy and has a short-lived political career. 

Hegemony

In fact, this describes the process of hegemony where cultural norms are presented as just that: as normal. Anyone who steps outside of them is seen as abnormal, and therefore bad or wrong in some way. We don't even know we're doing it at times.

Information from Sara Mills, media at Helston community college, cornwall, AQA examiner. (Media Magazine, December 2011)

Narrative Theories

I began looking at narrative and some theorists behind it. The definition of narrative can be perceived in many different ways so I looked at definitions from three other sources to help define mine.

"Narrative refers to story-making and story structure. The narrative of a programme or an article is not just its storyline. It is also how the story is organised and about how the understanding of the reader is organised by the ways in which the stories are told." 

(BURTON, 1990)

"Films have a primary function of telling a story. The images are organised and made sense of around this function, especially feature films which are given a 'treatment' in terms of its plotline and this is perceived as being what the film is about."

(ROWE, 1996)

"Narrative is the process by which stories, fictional and non-fictional, are constructed by producers and understood by audiences."

(AQA MEDIA STUDIES BOOK, 2007)

I tried to consolidate my understanding of narrative through these definitions above. I concluded that narrative is a structure that tells a story in an organised manner so that the audience would understand depending on how the story is told through media texts. The narrative shapes the story in both chronological and non-chronological order with a possible addition of flash backs or fast forwards.

In most of the mainstream (and genre) films we watch, there is a basic narrative.
The structure usually consists of:

1. An exposition. A happy start where normal character(s) are introduced possibly with the protagonist/hero/victim
2. Dilemma. A complication is created including a villain/antagonist.
3. Solving the dilemma. Attempt to be saved/rescued/helped by the protagonist but there is a struggle
4. Reaches the peak of the film. This is the climax where there are many issues with the willingness to resolve.
5. The dilemma is resolved.

TODOROV 

Todorov was a Bulgarian theorist. He had a theory that all mainstream films follow a main structure which is:

1. Equilibrium- Carefully shown. The setting is established, key characters are introduced and the storyline is set. This needs to be done very carefully because the story plays around it and what the audience first establish these features as. 
2. Disruption- Oppositional character(s) appear and the story takes a particular direction.
3. Recognition of the disruption- The lives of characters and events are interwoven and tension builds throughout this section which is often the longest.
4. Repair- There is an attempt to repair the damage caused by the disruption- the highest point of tension after which is a change in dynamic. 
5. New equilibrium achieved/reinstatement of equilibrium- Matters are sorted, problems are solved and questions are answered. 

When we test Todorov's theory, we see that it does work and is still used. Many genre films still apply the structure such as:

• Christmas films
• Family films                                            
• Comedy                                                 
• Animation                              
• Chick flicks/romance

All these mainstream films have a wide mass audience. The theory is less likely with thrillers but a different arrangement may be used.

Enigma Code- Generates and controls what and how much we know in a narrative and holds our interest.
Action Code- Events we know will be significant in the development of narrative. We understand and recognise them instantly from other narratives. 

Inspiration

       
I found the trailer to Snow White And The Huntsman truly inspirational. The dim lighting, sense of darkness and hope is all shown through this. 
Here are a few shots that inspired me and that I thought were really fascinating. 

These are some of the shots that really caught my eye. I could use some of these points when creating my thriller opening. In addition to this, one thing that I loved about the shots was that the camera was constantly moving even if it was only a small bit. This constantly gave it motion and made it just that little bit more interesting to watch which I feel is very effective.

Genre

This is our video about what we learnt about Genre.
By Lisha, Priyesh and Leena

What went well?

• Covered many points of genre
• Explained about narrative expectation
• Could consider what the signifier's and semiotics are in the film posters

What to improve?

• Use more terminology 
• Explain into greater depth
• Work on presentation skills

Genre

Genre lesson slides 2012 from Liz Davies

Genre Theory

As I was looking at Genre and the theories behind it, I read through these slideshare presentations for more information and tips.

The Suspense Thriller

More PowerPoint presentations from Jon Champion

The suspense thriller is original in comparison to other genres too. He quoted "We are looking at our own world, a world which is not alien to us." Th suspense thriller usually takes place in the same time period as the time that te film was released unlike western , science fiction or fantasy films that are often in a particular time period. 

He tried to explain how the suspense thriller often involved crime in which the protagonist becomes a victim or non professional criminal. For example in The Bourne Ultimatum, he is being hunted down by government agency as he knows information. This is also like man on the run.
Within thriller, there are 9 sub genres. The slideshare below shows the hybrids within thriller and more about them.

Thriller sub genres from Agon Koshi

This slideshare also helped me and George look into the sub genres and learn more about them while considering whether we could use any in our own thriller opening.

Genre And Theories

Genre Theories

A "regulated variety"
(Neale, 1980)

"Genre theory is to do with a circulation of expectations between industries. Media texts and audiences. This leads to a 'regulated variety'"

(Hartley, 1999) 
"A contract between producer and audience which 'disciplines' choices and reduces desires"

(Barry Keith Grant)
"Experience and meaning in genre films"

All of these theories seem to state that genre films are very basic and structural without and original flow. Hartley's theory suggests that its is almost like a contract. The producer finds out what the audience like through reactions and continues to feed them the same thing. This reduces variety and change, allowing a basic form to constantly be kept. 

Is genre ideological?
Yes, I feel that genre is ideological to some extent as certain values are promoted through media texts which then go on to becoming predominant. I feel that we have become so used to watching genre films over and over that we subconsciously allow it to lead our lives. For Example, many girls may think to eat ice cream, watch films, drink hot chocolate or to burn the image of an ex-boyfriend is a good way of getting over them. This would have been lead from what we are constantly being fed by media texts showing a set of values/behaviours or reactions as the norm. 


Media and ideology from Rbk Asr

The slides on this presentation i found helped me understand ideology further in terms of media.
Hegemony is the dominant ideology of people in power.

All theorists agree that genre is 'slippery' and it is difficult to pin point every film exactly as one genre. This brings up the question to whether or not genre is restrictive?
Many genre films do evolve by tweaking some areas or by making it a hybrid but to what extent can it evolve. 

Auteur (1976)
The term 'Auteur' comes from France, translating as author. The theory was introduces in the 1950's by a few French directors. An Auteur is a director who has an arty side to them. They are willing to take risks, be completely different to mainstream films and do not tend to define their product as a genre film.
Francois Truffaut quoted...
"A true film auteur is someone who brings something genuinly personal to his subject instead of producing a tasteful, accurate but lifeless rendering of the original material"

Genre

We began learning about genre and various terms which could help us with our thriller film openings.

Films are advertised in different ways everywhere such as on bill boards,on buses, in stores Etc. This is called Cross platform marketing.

Advertising can also be done through selling products based around something in the way Sky Fall sold James bond aftershave (007) to attract the audience. This is called sinigy.

Genre can have a mix/cross over between more than one type of genre. This is often effective as it can give a film depth and appeal to a wider audience. The mix between genres is called a hybrid.

Genre films can often become a hit, becoming a franchise. There are benefits to franchise films as they already have an establishes audience. The established audience is the primary audience that watches the film, helping the producers find out how much they have made in the releasing weekend.

Promotion- Reels in new audience

                - Creates a buzz

                - Attracts attention from media

                - Gives the directors/producers recognition.

Many Films have generic conventions which are things we have become used to seeing. Some wonder whether it is a connotation of reality. 

Semiotics is the study of signs. We pick up different signs during a film and can often be unconscious. For example, some people may consider a cross to relate to religion.
However, they can be different for everyone. Others may consider a cross to mean something else such as medical aid. This is called signifiers.

Problems with mainstream Genre films?

• Mainstream genre films are formulaic
• Predictable
• Audience might get bored
• Type-Cast - Relies on big stars
                  - Attract a certain role

Why do we as the audience like mainstream Genre films?

• Audience like to recognise what will happen 
• Past genre films prove that we enjoy them

We feel comfortable(uses and gratification theory)

The uses and gratification theory discusses how the audience may choose a genre film that will satisfy them, make them feel relaxed, use it as a diversion or to escape from reality. Some may feel proud and uplifted when they know what is about to come next as it can allow them to feel inferior amongst they're friends and family.

Remedy to the problems?

• 1. Make it evolve a little
• Create a slight twist
• Change a feature/'ingredient' (setting or characters)
• Play on the audiences loyalty by bringing an element from before back
  Eg. Bringing Letty back into Fast and Furious.
• Bank on audiences loyalty
• develop old characters
  
• 2. Take it a step further and make the GENRE evolve which brings in hybrids.

Ideas

Me and my partner George started thinking about what we could base our film opening on and more about the narrative. We came up with loads of random, unwritten ideas previously and decided to look back and consider more ideas as we've learnt a lot more. 
Here are some of the ideas we thought of:

• Including cars
• Crime- Money? Drugs? Material objects?
• Chase scenes
• Radio/phone calls/texts
• psychological (lost identity)
• unknown identity 
• Government schemes with man on the run 

Opening of 'The girl with the Dragon Tattoo'

I watched the opening of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which is a thriller film with the sub genres of drama, mystery and crime. The film itself has a small scene before the title sequence begins with a long shot of a scene panning around, establishing the setting and time of year/day.

The shot changes to show a still of a home with snow covering the area and very little lighting except the natural light. We are caught in with the diegetic sound of a ringing phone as the transition of one shot to the next is made.
An elderly man picks up the phone and we are introduced to our first character. The shot is set up beautifully with a nice use of the rule of thirds.

This image shown above is the closest we see of his face. As he picks up the phone, we see him talking with his back towards us. It is simple yet effective as it may possibly suggest that he has something to hide. As the shot changes, we still see an elderly man on the phone but realise it is another character who is on the other side of the call. We see him from behind at a close up from a high angle which highlights his white hair and suit, possibly informing us about his money status as well as his surrounding of valuables.

The shot changes to the first man shown in the image where we first see his face. He walks out of the kitchen into another room towards the camera showing a close up of his face from a side profile. As you can see in the image, there is very little lighting used to create a dull atmosphere. This may possibly highlight the genre and create the winter feel. This is also done with the second man but in the opposite direction. I feel that the direction they're both looking in suggests that they are looking out for each other.

As the second man put down the phone and walks away, the camera tilts down and focuses on a painting which seems to be a tree in a frame with his glasses places on top. 

This is an enigma code as it make the audience wonder what is so significant about the picture and glasses and if they are in fact important at all. As well as this, another enigma code would be who are these two men? 

Both men are speaking a foreign language which also makes us wonder what they are saying and what is the relationship between both characters?

Throughout the opening sequence, there is orchestral asynchronous sound which is heavy in the beginning and quietens down gradually as they speak on the phone. 

The music changes a note and picks up to become almost punk/rock like and upbeat with flashing images with a majority of black space and shadow. The camera movement speeds up with quick shots and fast motions of panning and tilting. We begin to look closer and closer to try and work out what some of the images are. There are gushes of black water over the screen which slightly jars the atmosphere as it suffocates the title of the film. 

The title sequence is well executed from the start as colours are very basic with blacks whites and greys which may suggest that it is a dark thriller. The opening gives away some clues about the film but keeps a lot hidden. For example, we can see that technology may play a large role in the film from the interesting shot of the keyboard with water running down the spaces. I think the enter in the shot is to make the audience consider if they want to 'Enter' the film or not.

There are also series of shots with USB cables flying out from one side which suggests phones and small bits of modern technology will be used. There are also many shots of women and features of women which suggests that there may be sexually related scenes. In addition to this, there as a few shots of coins and money falling which suggests that money  could play a large part in the film.

The opening sequence has so much going on all in a short amount of time with sharp and quick shots. This fully engages the audience's attention and makes them think about what's happening due to the dark colour scheme. The Opening gradually becomes more upbeat, louder and starts to get jarring as we see people tied up, being suffocated by hands and water The simplicity of the colour use and the concept of having factors that play a big part in the film is inspiring and I think it was well made.

Art Of The Title Research

I began to watch the title sequences to more films on 'Art of the title' to gain more inspiration to help me develop my ideas for my own. I also used 'Watch the titles'. I watched the sequences of thriller films to get an idea of some of the main conventions used and analyse what works well.

Thriller