My Final Preliminary Task Mark

Here is my grade for my preliminary task where I received a C. I received many good areas to the task although bordering the weak areas.
Teacher Feedback:
'Strong start wth over the shoulder shot.
At 0.41 - 0.43 a very compelent high angle/birds eye shot which added to variety.
Transition as character walks into editing room ( cut between opening door and entering room) is rather Jerky.
All three principles covered well (shot reverse shots - very good; 180 degree rule applied; match on action - generally good.
Sound

Case Study - Essex Boys

Essex Boys
Made and released in 2000.
Terry Winsor directed it.
5.9 stars out of ten from around 2,100.
Opening Weekend: £111,548 (UK) (16 July 2000) (54 Screens)
Gross:£441,128 (UK) (6 August 2000)
Aimed at Males between 18-30 normallly.

A majority of the votes have come from males compared to females however the best rating have come from the Females aged 18-29 with a rating of 6.9 out of a possible 10.












Lighting

This is the first scene in 'Essex Boys' where Jason is discovering the car in the claustrophobic garage. Here we have the noir lighting which gives te dark on light effect to the scene.
One can also establish that the light is Non-Ambient and also has been made to be in the spotlight of the scene so we are able to see what else is in the scene and how it is made to be a thriller.

This picture can also be put into the Lighting catagory due to the reasoning that the light in the background is in exactly the correct spot so we are to see through the dirty and smerred window. The light hits the Sean Bean character perfectly like a spotlight which helps us to see him and the way he can be shown to the audience through his costume and his facial expression.






Effects

The effect shown here with Sean Bean being portrayed through a car window shows us that he can be seen as a dodgy character and person. From him being shown through the dirty window also helps us to establish that he is detached from everybody but not in the way which makes him dull or monotonous. This effect also helps us to understand that he is a rather cold character and makes it look as though he is out for revenge of some sort now that he is out of prison.

Here we have a Vanishing Point. This is the third scene of the film where 'Jason' is driving the character of Sean Bean to a destination. This can tell a number of things; firstly being the fact he is driving into a tunnel is like looking through the barrel of a gun which in turn can also show him driving towards another dimention. The Vanishing Point can also portray that he is driving himself into trouble and also into moral darkness which the scene tries to show. We can also see the wet shiny streets which also helps to put across the idea of him going towards trouble. We also have the Primeval of the character where Jason is being dominated by his primitive instincts.

Camera Angles

This camera shot presented is of the Sean Bean character attacking a memeber of a factory. It comes from a Point of View shot from Jason. This type of shot is very effective due to the reasoning that it puts the audience into the shoes of the character and shows us what that character is seeing at that specific moment in time.

This is also an effeective camera angle which has been used. The high angle shot of the character of Sean Bean when he about to get 'revenege' on a second character. This type of shot attempts to show the characters insignificance and vulnerability to the scene. Despite this however, due to the fact that we have already seen what he can do, we know that he isn't this and is actually quite menacing and composed. The shot here also helps to position the audience into the scene.

Location

In Thriller films, locations are a vital aspect towards the genre and the film itself. In these pictures below we can see the bare landscape of the Essex marshes using Point of View and Longshots.

                                              

These pictures helps to set this specific scene as being away from civilisation and out in the open. The landscape which has been used helps to reflect the morality to the character of Jason. It helps to establish to us that Jason is an isolated figure with himself having a detached personality. These pictures also help us to understand that he has no moral boundries. This helps to prove to us that his world is considered to be dangerous.

Sound

Despite the fact there isn't much to mention of the sound of the film, especially during the opening parts, we can establish one important factor which makes the film effective in it's own way. The voiceover from Jason helps us to understand what he is thinking at that moment in the film while also building up the relationship between them and Jason.

Case Study - The Killing

Exploring the Generic conventions in the trailor of The Killing and how they are used with in it.

Lighting

In 'The Killing' we have your traditional Noir thriller as we have the dark surroundings. Here we can see that effect of suspence it creates as we are unsure about what is going to happen next.

There also a use of chiaroscuro lighting which presents the right on dark effect. This also helps to connate us to the illusion and to the nightmare of the scene that is is used in. The use of the torch also helps to create that classic thriller as it can be associated with so man of them.

Mise en Scene - Examples

1. Torches to create the chiaroscuro effect
2. Having a dead body creates again the classic thriller example as you always see a minimum of one dead body.
3. Search parties which are also associated with the thriller are a must as their are always police or detectives in the search for clues as they are in search for who has committed the murder.

Lifts which are also seen in the thriller genre are a signifier for thrillers as is creates mystery and sometimes have people trapped which also creates suspence.

Locations 

As we see in thriller films, there are always the same locations we see which help to make the thriller the genre it is. An example of this would be car parks. This type of location helps to show that if a victim is being chased by the villian in a sense, once you enter the car park then normally there is no escape for the victim; especially multi-story, which if you reach the top then you cannot get away.

Another example of locations can be cities which help to create a dystopia. As you can see below the city looks menancing which cross-references to the film Bladerunner which also uses a city to look menancing. If we look at 54 seconds to 58 we see the use of this through the trailer.

Costume

There isn't really much to say on the costume aspect apart from one major element. During The Killing, we are able to establish that Sarah Lund wears the same Jumper in every episode. This helps to tell us one of two very important aspects to her character; firstly it shows us that she isn't just a typical cliche character and has her own style and way she wants to go about her.

Secondly, linking to the job element is that it implies thats she cares more about her detective work than the appearence of her which also portrays than her job is more important.

To start with, the Jumper look that Sarah Lund took up in the first episode of The Killing looked to be monotonous and dull, whearas it has had quite the opposite effect where it has become an iconic figure when we talk about her character as a whole.

Effects

Another generic convention for The Killing is the use of effects throughout this thriller series. As you can see to the left is a picture of the use of water. The water in the picture is of a character from the series The Killing running through a dark/noir forest. (Again another signifier of the thriller genre) The usage of water in this context helps to reflect the lighting used; whether it being Ambient or Non-Ambient, towards the scene so we are able to make out what is around the character and also where they actually are. It also supports the way it helps to create a sense of mystery as we do not know why this character is running or in more realistic terms to the thriller, What she is running from.

Vanishing point

As you can see above, we have The Killing's trailer. Because I am unable to pick out certain bits and print screen them, I am having to show you this way. If you play the trailer and skip to one minute and six seconds you are able to see the use of the vanishing point that gets used within the series. This, in effect helps to show a sense of danger or even mystery as you are unsure what could be down the corridor or even if anything could be down their such as clues in the attempt to help solve the storyline. They also provide an enigma thus adds to the sense of mystery. Where does the vanishing point go and what is at the end? This type of camera shot is also visually appealing and adds style and interest to a film.

Research on Essex Boys

Essex Boys
Made in 2000
Title Sequence establishes the thriller genre through the Noir lighting at the beginning of the film. It also is established through the screeching of the blackboard.
Director: Terry Winsor

Key word - Primeval - Pre-historic
This is used as an example in Essex boys as Jason is dominated by his primative instincts.
Opening Scene
Contains Noir Lighting to establish the genre straight away.
First scene is set in a garage which symbolises the thriller because it is a clostrophobic space.
We also have the shot of Sean Bean character through the dirty window which portrays to use he is a dodgy, detached and cold character as we look through the dirty smerted screen.
Second Scene
In this scene we have the wet shiny streets which help to show the thriller as this is a classic technique when showing whether or not a film is a thriller or not.
Another way is the vanishing point which is used through the tunnel which symbolises a scope on a gun which can also show that he is driving towards trouble. It also shows us the moral darkness of the scene with the tunnel.
The chiaroscuro lighting is used when the main character Billy Reyonlds driving Sean Bean's character to his destination with the white stripes which symbolise he has only just got out of prison.
The film also uses a voiceover which helps to build a relationship with the audience and to help us to know what he is thinking.

The use of a white van is used in classic thrillers. It makes us what to know what is in it; we see that something terrible is kept in them so we want to know what is in it and creates the classic suspence.

How the landscape reflects characters and their morality.
As we can see in the film that Jason is isolated with his detached personality from the way he tries to keep himself to himself. He also doesn't have any moral boundries which helps us to understand that his world is considered as dangerous.

Development of Evalution

I have decided to take my tutor advice and have opted to talk about which angles worked in our preliminary task and which didn't. Firstly I think that one shot that worked well was our first shot. This was the Over The Shoulder shot which I feel was successful because it helps to place the audience in the position of the character. It also symbolises somebody following the character as well.

It also was a tracking shot which followed the character as they walked towards their target while the Over The Shoulder shot was taking place.

Another shot that I think was used well in our preliminary task was not breaking the 180 degree rule while we filmed it. Here we can establish that during the conversation we have the camera facing the two main characters. We can see that we haven't broken the 180 degree rule and this was because we had a wall behind us and we were not able to do it. We haven't disorientated the audience as they are able to establish where the characters are and have been, and we know they haven't moved.

Lastly, our conversation was school themed. It consisted of one character talking to the other about the media lesson. This was about the media lesson being cancelled and having to catch up on work, where one character was worried that she couldn't whereas the other not minding and thinking a lesson off was goodand she'd be able to catch up easily.

Preliminary Task - completed