*Martin Rubin suggests that there is no such thing as a 'Thriller' which is in fact a meta genre that "gathers several other genres under its umbrella".
*Thriller components work better with some genres than others. It works well with spy;crime;horror but not well with musicals or war films.
In my opinion an effective thriller should...
*put you on the edge of your seat without implying other genres too much such as horror.
*only know as much as the characters
*should keep the audience in a state of suspense and uncertainty
*make the audience always ask themselves rhetorical and unanswered questions about the narrative (narrative enigmas).
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Looking at eachother's practise videos with the whole class to discuss what went well and what could be improved
The whole class organised themselves into small groups to practise filming which was then shown back to the class.
My first practise video was with Serhan, Elena A. , Jhanelle, Vedat and I. We were filming Serhan proposing to Elena, and Elena refused his proposal and ran out of the room. We choses the canteen as our location as ae wanted Seran to be proposing in a resturant, so the canteen was the closest to a resturant we had that we could use. Vedat did the camera work, while Serhan and Elena A. did the main acting, I did the directing as well as a minor acting part where I had to act as a waitress and bring plates to the table and Jhanelle acted as the other waitress and sorted out our setting for filming by making sure no extra items ruined our shots and furniture was in the right place.
My second practise video was with Serhan, Thegla, Sadek and I. Serhan and I acted, Thegla did the camera work, while Sadek played the role of the librarian. This film communicated affairs, relationships, lies, secrets, empathy and sympathy to the woman character. The idea of our video came from my pitch of a girl and a boy meeting in a libary and having an arument. As a group, together we then built on it, including dialogue and body action aswell as wht kind of shots we would have where. The final idea was that Serhan and I were a couple and I had somehow found out that he was being unfaithful in our relationship. The conversation includes me asking him where he was ''last night'' and what ''they were doing together, and Sehan denying it and acting confussed at which point I get angry and raise my voice and walk out of the room leaving Serhan to try to call after me which doesnt work, and there is a shot at the end where he looks down, sad because I have left him.
There could have been more close ups to communicate emotion to the audience.
The over the shoulder shots worked well but in future could be more neat in their 180 degree rule and the way they appear to the audience.
From Anna and Thegla's group, the shot of Anna walking in to the bathroom to meet the character of the drug dealer worked really well because the audience see how serious Anna's face is and we can tell that she is troubled. The shot on the stairs where Thegla and another girl are talking, the audience are filled in on what they are feeling and how they feel about Anna. The best shot was the one at the end where Anna is in the toilet cubilcle and is taking the drugs and the camera cuts to the shot of her lieing on the floor with her eyes closed, dead from a drug overdose. There is no sound, just silence, and the camera is very still and the audience feel sad that Anna has died this way.
From Aya's group's video, the shot with the close up of her eyes was very nice and effective. It showed her emotions to the audience at the right time which conveyed what she was thinking as the character in her role. On the whole, the video worked really well but continuiety needs to be worked on as one of the characters at the beginning suddenly disappered and became someone else playing the same role which confused the audience. But apart from that the video was a success.
From Khalid's group video, there were really good camera shots. I like the way they experimented with all different kinds of shots and what they included in the shots. This had a positive outlook on what was portrayed to the audience overall as it made the emotions between the two male characters come to life as the audience understand their secret gay love. Yana and Anna, who played the two women in relationships with Prince and Khalid do not know of the chemistry between Khalid and Prince and the audience realise this with the sequence of shots where Prince bits his lip, Khalid taps his fingers together and they both tap their feet on the floor. These could be normal everyday actions, however the audience automatically know that it symbolizes awkwardness between the two male characters and the two female characters are unaware that their partners are actually gay. After the conversation that Anna and Yana exchange, where Khalid and Prince do not pay attention to because they are to busy thinking about eachother, Yana and Anna walk away out of the scene and Prince and Khalid are left alone with eachother where the camera focuses on both of them and the intent of their exchange in body language becomes sexual.
Due to the fact that I missed a week off school because of the art trip to Barcelona, I missed out on taking part in the third practice video. However I watched the videos filmed by those who did not go on the art trip with the rest of the class.
From Ali's group, what worked well was the framing of the shots, the angles of the shots, the camera movement, the editing, the 180 degree rule and continuity. There were some nice shots where the camera was getting the whole corridor in the screen from an angle, Aslihan is standing up leaning against the wall waiting and Ali opens the door from inside the room which he comes out of to greet Aslihan, where the audience see the look on his face as he sees her. This conveys to the audience how Ali is pleased even though the couple seem to be far apart, as the shot with the phone conversation shows that the couple have not seen eachother in four months. Also the close up shot of Ali stroking his wedding ring carefully before putting it in his pocket wroked well as the audience then realise that he is married and that the reason that the couple seem to be far apart is because Aslihan is ''the other woman'', and the last time they saw eachother was when Aslihan got pregnant. The shot of Ali putting his ring away communicates to the audience that although he is married, he now has a baby on the way which is a big responsibity to take care of. The whole video worked really well as a whole and could be quality if the group had time to edit and refine.
From Serhan and Anna's group they managed to use an extra character with the help of a fellow sixth former called Tarek. The dialogue with Tarek and Anna worked really well when there is a backwards tracking shot of the couple walking down the corridor. Also when the camera stops tracking and there is over the shoulder shots with Tarek and Anna and it shows their argument about not spending valentines day together, to the audience and we understand how Anna is feeling. What did not work was when Tarek ad Anna finished their conversation and the camera jumped straight to Tarek looking down the corridor looking sad and the audience are unsure where Anna went. The next scene is of Serhan sitting down on a staircase listening to music. There is also a nice shot of Serhan from behind, although it really should have been an over the shoulder shot of Serhan looking at Anna from the top of the stairs, but it doesnt work in that sense because the audience cannot see Anna. Next, we see Anna walk up to the staircase at which point Serhan sees her and notices she is upset and asks her what is wrong. She walks up the steps and sits down next to him and tells him the problem is that she thinks Tarek is ''cheating'' on her and is lieing to not have to spend valentines day with her because he is spending it with another girl. The audience sympathise with Anna and this makes the film a success because we understand that she as a character must be feeling upset because of what has happened to her. Next, there is a nice close up shot of Anna's eyes looking up into Serhan's as she rests on his shoulder, and this intimacy conveys immediate sexual tension to the audience as their heads grow closer and they are about to kiss, however they both burst out giggling and fall back onto the step behind them. Apart from the laughter at the end, it was overall a very effective shot which shocked the audience of Anna's secret feelings towards Serhan, and this leaves us thinking whether Tarek was completly in the wrong atall.
From Yana, Jhanelle and Usmund's group, there were some fresh and effective shots which made the film unique on the whole. The quick establishing shot of the exterior of the school followed by a very slow backwards tracking shot of Yana and Usman talking. I liked it alot because it was steady and slow and it looked realistic, like someone else's view of them talking to eachother quietly. It made it casual. The shot of Prince and Jhanelle hugging worked well because the camera circulated around them, and this created warmth on screen. Yana writing 'Prince' in a love heart on paper and the camera getting a close up of it worked well as if the audience are sharing her thoughts. Also, when the camera gets close to Yana's phone and the audience see clearly what is written in her text. What needs to be improved is trying not to spend too long on each shot. What also worked well was the extreme close up of Yana's eyes which caught her emotions as she realizes with the audience that Prince is not being truthfull about his words and is going out with Jhanelle instead of her.
From practising filming, I gained an understanding of how to use the camera effectively, and how to act appropiatly to create realism with camera shots, angles and techniques which would help me in my coursework, so I am very glad we did practise before doing the real thing.
My first practise video was with Serhan, Elena A. , Jhanelle, Vedat and I. We were filming Serhan proposing to Elena, and Elena refused his proposal and ran out of the room. We choses the canteen as our location as ae wanted Seran to be proposing in a resturant, so the canteen was the closest to a resturant we had that we could use. Vedat did the camera work, while Serhan and Elena A. did the main acting, I did the directing as well as a minor acting part where I had to act as a waitress and bring plates to the table and Jhanelle acted as the other waitress and sorted out our setting for filming by making sure no extra items ruined our shots and furniture was in the right place.
My second practise video was with Serhan, Thegla, Sadek and I. Serhan and I acted, Thegla did the camera work, while Sadek played the role of the librarian. This film communicated affairs, relationships, lies, secrets, empathy and sympathy to the woman character. The idea of our video came from my pitch of a girl and a boy meeting in a libary and having an arument. As a group, together we then built on it, including dialogue and body action aswell as wht kind of shots we would have where. The final idea was that Serhan and I were a couple and I had somehow found out that he was being unfaithful in our relationship. The conversation includes me asking him where he was ''last night'' and what ''they were doing together, and Sehan denying it and acting confussed at which point I get angry and raise my voice and walk out of the room leaving Serhan to try to call after me which doesnt work, and there is a shot at the end where he looks down, sad because I have left him.
There could have been more close ups to communicate emotion to the audience.
The over the shoulder shots worked well but in future could be more neat in their 180 degree rule and the way they appear to the audience.
From Anna and Thegla's group, the shot of Anna walking in to the bathroom to meet the character of the drug dealer worked really well because the audience see how serious Anna's face is and we can tell that she is troubled. The shot on the stairs where Thegla and another girl are talking, the audience are filled in on what they are feeling and how they feel about Anna. The best shot was the one at the end where Anna is in the toilet cubilcle and is taking the drugs and the camera cuts to the shot of her lieing on the floor with her eyes closed, dead from a drug overdose. There is no sound, just silence, and the camera is very still and the audience feel sad that Anna has died this way.
From Aya's group's video, the shot with the close up of her eyes was very nice and effective. It showed her emotions to the audience at the right time which conveyed what she was thinking as the character in her role. On the whole, the video worked really well but continuiety needs to be worked on as one of the characters at the beginning suddenly disappered and became someone else playing the same role which confused the audience. But apart from that the video was a success.
From Khalid's group video, there were really good camera shots. I like the way they experimented with all different kinds of shots and what they included in the shots. This had a positive outlook on what was portrayed to the audience overall as it made the emotions between the two male characters come to life as the audience understand their secret gay love. Yana and Anna, who played the two women in relationships with Prince and Khalid do not know of the chemistry between Khalid and Prince and the audience realise this with the sequence of shots where Prince bits his lip, Khalid taps his fingers together and they both tap their feet on the floor. These could be normal everyday actions, however the audience automatically know that it symbolizes awkwardness between the two male characters and the two female characters are unaware that their partners are actually gay. After the conversation that Anna and Yana exchange, where Khalid and Prince do not pay attention to because they are to busy thinking about eachother, Yana and Anna walk away out of the scene and Prince and Khalid are left alone with eachother where the camera focuses on both of them and the intent of their exchange in body language becomes sexual.
Due to the fact that I missed a week off school because of the art trip to Barcelona, I missed out on taking part in the third practice video. However I watched the videos filmed by those who did not go on the art trip with the rest of the class.
From Ali's group, what worked well was the framing of the shots, the angles of the shots, the camera movement, the editing, the 180 degree rule and continuity. There were some nice shots where the camera was getting the whole corridor in the screen from an angle, Aslihan is standing up leaning against the wall waiting and Ali opens the door from inside the room which he comes out of to greet Aslihan, where the audience see the look on his face as he sees her. This conveys to the audience how Ali is pleased even though the couple seem to be far apart, as the shot with the phone conversation shows that the couple have not seen eachother in four months. Also the close up shot of Ali stroking his wedding ring carefully before putting it in his pocket wroked well as the audience then realise that he is married and that the reason that the couple seem to be far apart is because Aslihan is ''the other woman'', and the last time they saw eachother was when Aslihan got pregnant. The shot of Ali putting his ring away communicates to the audience that although he is married, he now has a baby on the way which is a big responsibity to take care of. The whole video worked really well as a whole and could be quality if the group had time to edit and refine.
From Serhan and Anna's group they managed to use an extra character with the help of a fellow sixth former called Tarek. The dialogue with Tarek and Anna worked really well when there is a backwards tracking shot of the couple walking down the corridor. Also when the camera stops tracking and there is over the shoulder shots with Tarek and Anna and it shows their argument about not spending valentines day together, to the audience and we understand how Anna is feeling. What did not work was when Tarek ad Anna finished their conversation and the camera jumped straight to Tarek looking down the corridor looking sad and the audience are unsure where Anna went. The next scene is of Serhan sitting down on a staircase listening to music. There is also a nice shot of Serhan from behind, although it really should have been an over the shoulder shot of Serhan looking at Anna from the top of the stairs, but it doesnt work in that sense because the audience cannot see Anna. Next, we see Anna walk up to the staircase at which point Serhan sees her and notices she is upset and asks her what is wrong. She walks up the steps and sits down next to him and tells him the problem is that she thinks Tarek is ''cheating'' on her and is lieing to not have to spend valentines day with her because he is spending it with another girl. The audience sympathise with Anna and this makes the film a success because we understand that she as a character must be feeling upset because of what has happened to her. Next, there is a nice close up shot of Anna's eyes looking up into Serhan's as she rests on his shoulder, and this intimacy conveys immediate sexual tension to the audience as their heads grow closer and they are about to kiss, however they both burst out giggling and fall back onto the step behind them. Apart from the laughter at the end, it was overall a very effective shot which shocked the audience of Anna's secret feelings towards Serhan, and this leaves us thinking whether Tarek was completly in the wrong atall.
From Yana, Jhanelle and Usmund's group, there were some fresh and effective shots which made the film unique on the whole. The quick establishing shot of the exterior of the school followed by a very slow backwards tracking shot of Yana and Usman talking. I liked it alot because it was steady and slow and it looked realistic, like someone else's view of them talking to eachother quietly. It made it casual. The shot of Prince and Jhanelle hugging worked well because the camera circulated around them, and this created warmth on screen. Yana writing 'Prince' in a love heart on paper and the camera getting a close up of it worked well as if the audience are sharing her thoughts. Also, when the camera gets close to Yana's phone and the audience see clearly what is written in her text. What needs to be improved is trying not to spend too long on each shot. What also worked well was the extreme close up of Yana's eyes which caught her emotions as she realizes with the audience that Prince is not being truthfull about his words and is going out with Jhanelle instead of her.
From practising filming, I gained an understanding of how to use the camera effectively, and how to act appropiatly to create realism with camera shots, angles and techniques which would help me in my coursework, so I am very glad we did practise before doing the real thing.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
British Social Reality Dramas
- Shane Meadows- A Room For Romeo Brass
Shane Meadows moved to Nottingham when he was about twenty years old, but grew up in Uttoxeter. His films hint on the kitchen sink realism (a movement in the late 1950s to the early 1960s) with a modern twist. A lot of what is included in his films is based on his own experiences from when he was growing up. 'A Room For Romeo Brass', (1999) was inspired by his best friend and nieighbour, Paul Fraser and his young self. Paul suffered an accident and had to stay in bed for a long period of time and Shane befriended a messed up individual instead. It is a real life movie with elements of comedy and drama. It uses local locations in both the countryside and the beach. Meadows, known as one of the rising stars of British cinema has created a relaxed style of film with ad lib which is no script and it is made up as they go along. There is a lot of rehearsal time using unknown characters, and other actors feel encouraged to take this style on to create a better sense of reality within their acting.
I feel that within our film, there is a similar style as we wanted our film to have a simple and realistic approach, and I think it has really worked quite well.
The film begins with credits in a unique font on a black background. Sound sets the feel of the film. The volume is high on the credits and in the background when action is occurring. The merging of the narrative and credits used to break up action and involve the audience more in the story and we are waiting to see what happens next. We are introduced to the characters and the storyline with a mini storyline which is started and completed. There are clues about the genre.
Our film does not do this. Our title sequence is completely unique. Our title is unique and comes up on the background of the playing opening which is in full colour.
The film starts with two characters who are young boys. The audience can tell they are good friends from the way they insult each other. The fat boy says: ''Why did i do this again?'', referring to why he has eating more than his own share of chips and the thin boy replies: "'cause you're fat?''. The chubby boy does not get offended and there is familiarity through dialogue.
The themes of friendship with Romeo and Gavin or 'Knocks' growing apart. Morrell begins by helping the boys however becomes increasingly violent when he becomes infatuated by Ladine and threatens Gavin and Romeo's father. Romeo's father is in the scene but Romeo does not get on with him. The audience hope that Morrell is going to flip and want Gavin and Romeo reunited.
The overall feel of Shane Meadows' films is that they have that local, urban and realistic touch to them, and I think this is definitely something we can link to in our film, as we used local settings and did not spend any extra money on props. I think our film could be a microwave film as we have kept the locations simple, and have not spent any money on sets, props, make- up, costume, special effects or paying actors and we would therefore have a cheap budget.We just worked with what we had, and it worked really well.
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