ART OF THE TITLE

SEVEN

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/03/26/se7en/

The image suddenly emerges with an extreme close up on a book spine, with the pages flickering; this starts off the film with an immediate enigma code. Further the saturation is low, giving a cool feel to the scene. The music is eerie, with an atonal melody, making it feel uncomfortable. The screen goes black, leaving the titles for the film, they are written as if scratched out, which lends itself well to the genre. The screen cross dissolves in to a bird’s eye view of a picture of distorted hands, these hands make the viewer feel uncomfortable and this sets the mood for the rest of the film. The bird’s eye angle gives us as the viewer an ominous feel. The light moves and flickers to bring some light towards the righting that says this is a film by David Fincher. This I followed by a succession of quick cuts that we are not entirely sure of what they are, but it flows in to a black screen revealing the words Brad Pitt, one of the lead actors in the film. This is again succeeded by images, this time what appears to be a razor blade in someone’s fingers, this could suggest, cutting someone and murder. Again this is followed by a black screen which contains the name of another leading actor. Then you see a video clip of someone looking at books, and making tea, these are every day activities, but due to the quick cuts, and low lighting, and eerie music, this gives an uncomfortable feel, and the viewer knows something is not right. We see the title of the film ‘Seven’ come up multiple times over the screen, different sizes, and different fonts, and this is followed by, a close up of a hand writing in a book. This image flickers which makes it uneasy to watch. Then we see the process of a dark room, and photography being made, and this brings up the question, why? Why Most of these images are quick cuts, and it leaves the viewer confused as to what’s happening, until we see the slow motion movement of a page going over in a book, this breaks the flow and keeps the attention of the viewer.


In the title sequence the names should appear in this order:
1. Distributor
2. Producer
3. Director

ARRANGING THE SHOOT

FILM:  Wotch

SHOTS:  All shots with just the girl.

DATE: Saturday the 5th of Febuary 2011.

LOCATION:  House. Laleham Village.

ACTOR(S):  Rachel Farago as The Girl.

COSTUME:  Black top, Denim skirt.

FIRST DRAFT OF VOICE OVER

Instead of having someone speaking, while being on screen, I think this may slow down the action for the opening, so I am thinking Il probobably use it as a voie over. The lines I have first come up with, are completely auto biographical. When I wrote it I thought it would fit in to my opening, and I hope it will be more emotionally engaging, if its straight from my mind, and not deviced, I am hoping it will be more emotional. The lines will be spoken by the boy charecter, who will narate while the girl is getting ready to leave.

I share the same fear as you,

My fear is time... and its infinity

It appears to me, to last forever

This infinite line, in which I am

Only some small speck, and my

Importance is that of a speck,

People come and go, and what do

They really matter, in what way do I

Matter to those people.

I am another person, out of this

Mass; this grotesque swarm of humanity.

ATTEMPTING YOUTUBE ISSUES ON PREZI

http://prezi.com/evu6jcx63wwx/attempting-to-bring-in-youtube-videos/

I'm hoping that this link will connect to a Prezi that will upload A youtube video.

PREZI ISSUES

http://prezi.com/presentation/w_ben@hotmail.co.uk/ds8

I have created a desktop Prezi, but it will not get any internet interaction. Thi means I cannot put 'youtube' videos on it, or upload it on to the internet for it to be viewed. So here I am testing the online link, which will hopefully link to my presentation, and I will have to re do my prezi.

ART OF THE BEAT SHEET

When I was looking at film courses, I found The 'Rain Dance' courses. I came across something called 'The Beat Sheet' I didnt realise, but apparently as a director, the treatment is for use of others, and it helps to have the beat sheet, the rough ideas to keep to for yourself, which allows you to artistically make decisions, and not have to keep true to the treatment completely.

http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/

. Enigma code - watch.
. Claustrophobia - setting in woods.
.pathetic fallacy - maybe use the weather to help set the mood.
. Low saturation, to bring warmth out of opening.

ANALYSING THE OPENING OF START THE MACHINE

‘Start the Machine’ is not a thriller film, but is the documentary of a band break up and the reformation of another. I’m choosing to look at the opening because it uses very clever techniques when fading from one thing to another.

It starts with a spinning record with no writing on it; it is replaced with one with the band’s name on it. All you can here is the hum of the machine then the needle falls and hits the record and the screen goes white at that precise moment. Music from the band starts with the white screen, on this the titles start to appear, and then you see shadows appearing, and a form starts to appear. It turns out to be the ceiling of a plane, and the camera is walking through and if a passenger. Then the camera pans down to eye level, where it passes in to a cabin where the band front man is sitting. The camera has a close up on him, then his eyes. A different, faster song comes on and the camera zooms in to his eyes where this transforms in to shots of CGI.

Record player

Here the Records are changed

This is a repeated image from earlier, but this time when it touches the record...

The screen goes blank.

The production companies start to appear. The blue against the white stands out.

The shapes start to fade in.

The shapes become more defined.

It becomes obviouse that this is a plane.

the camera travels through the plane.

We see the bands front man.

Now a close up of the bands front man.

Now you can here a news report, reporting the break up of the mans previouse band Blink 182.

This is a clip of the news report, showing a music video from the band.

Now there is a close up on the front mans face.

The camera is a super close up of the front mans eye.

The pupil fills the screen, and the camera travels through the eye, and this turns in to a sequence of CGI introducing the band.

ART OF THE TITLE

As I am working on the title sequence, it was important to think of a title, and make one that was catchy and interesting. Lots of the titles I had seen on thrillers were fairly simple, white writing against a black back ground. I came up for the idea od using the pocket watch as my enigma code, so I wanted to carry it on to the title. I wanted a title that would stick in peoples minds, I sudenly realised that if I took the word 'watch' and swaped the A for an O that this would stick in peoples minds, but also I could use the pocket watch as the O. I took this idea from one of my favorite bands logo (Angels and Airwaves).

Band logo:

I then took a picture of the pocket watch I am going to use, and placed it inside the text, hoping to get the same affect as the 'Angels and Airwaves logo.

MY CO-PRODUCTION COMPANY

Co-Production company

I learned from the Film Distributors’ Association 2009/2010 that distributors try to spread the risk and opportunity across different platforms. Production companies have business partners and sister companies to help with funding. Therefore I decided to create my own sister company to show that my company was sharing with a European company to ensure distribution with the European market. The result of this is going to be ‘Ressa Films’ in co-production with ‘Compagnia Colosseo. I decided to create an Italian production company because I felt my thriller would appeal to an Italian audience, and then hopefully this would give my film a strong link to the European market. I chose to use a picture of the colosseum Rome because it is a strong iconic Italian image, and from this I came up with the name of the company. I also finished off the picture by colouring it in with the colours of the Italian flag, to ensure that the viewer knows this is an Italian company.

'THE GOOD SHEPHERD' OPENING

Analysing the opening of ‘The Good Sheppard’

The screen is black and you can hear an eerie soundtrack fading in, this soundtrack is composed of string instruments and a hum of a synthesizer. The logos of the production companies fade in, in time with the music.

The screen then fades black again, and you can hear the sound of human breaths, this leads the viewer to believe that someone is running away from something, the screen fades in to a blurred scene in black and white which slowly becomes focused and is a series of quick shots of a couple in bed together.

Now a voice of a woman is overlays the sound of breaths. At the same time the title screens come up, and then the screen fades black to reveal the title of the film. 

MUSIC

One of the most important parts of a film is its music. Many great films have the reacuring theme of great music, for example 'The Lord of the Rings', 'Starwars' ect... From looking at the music in thriller openings, it seems to consist largely of synthetic sounding string instruments, with the ocasional percusion. Also the music seems to be disonant (out of any sort of key). This makes the listener feel uneasy, and this helps build the tension.

I went in to the recording studio and selected string sounds with the synthesizer and created a piece of music that was in no key. Further I aded the sound of rain and thunder to add to the pathetic falacy, and help build up the mood.

Here are some screen shots from the recording software:

Opening of ‘The Godfather’

The Godfather’ is not a thriller film, however the opening is slow, and simple, yet still captivating, and I want to have a look how the director has made such a gripping beginning so simply.

The screen is black and then you can hear the famous ‘Godfather’ motif. Straight away this sets the scene for the film you are about to see. The music stops sharply. Most of the screen still stays black, but we see a close up on a characters’ face, he is speaking what appear to be a monologue, with the opening line ‘I believe in America’.

From the man’s accent, we can tell that he is foreign. During his speech the camera goes from a close to, and moved to a wide angled shot, revealing more of the frame around him. Revealing a dark, richly decorated room. The man talks about how his daughter has been beaten up, by other Italian men. From what he has said so far, we have already deduced they are likely to be Italian Americans, and from the film title, we know that this is a mafia film; the audience now have a good idea of how the film is going to be. 

The camera keeps zooming out until it passes over a man’s solider, and we are left with a traditional ‘over the shoulder’ shot. The camera now changed to a different shot, and is of a man’s face. We realise the man is now asking his Godfather for help. The main character has now been introduced and we see an insight in to his personality.

Although a slow paced and simple opening to a film, the opening of ‘The Godfather’ is gripping and sets the mood for the rest of the film. I like the idea of bringing a narrative to my opening, starting my film with alternating plots. 

ANALYSING THRILLER OPENINGS

Understanding Thriller

One of the most memorable thriller film in my mind is ‘The silence of the lambs’. It probably has the most memorable opening sequences for a thriller, and one of the most simple. The first image is the MGM logo that appears.

Now the production company has been introduced, we are lead in to another company logo which blends from a blank screen, into a star filed sky.

This then transforms to become the ‘Orion’ logo.

The film opens with a wide shot of a misty forest, setting the scene. There are also some trees in the foreground of the shot, obscuring the view of the entire forest, adding to a claustrophobic feeling, which is important to bring to the feel because it makes the character seem trapped in this wilderness.

This shot then pans to the side slowly, in this time it reveals the names of the main actors, and then the title of the film. It is interesting to note the fact that the writing is no fancy text; it is just a bold text that sticks out against the background.

The camera now slowly pans down to reveal our character that will be the main character in the film. At the same time there is a fast passed piece of music made from violins, adding to the eerie feel. The music gets louder and more intense as the sequence goes on, making the suspense build. The camera follows the character running. She is covered in sweat, and we do not know what she is running from, this grabs our attention automatically, as we wonder what’s the cause of this. We see her from all angles, but first the camera is following behind her, almost giving the audience a feel of being the cause of her running away, involving the audience more in the action. 

The running becomes more fast passed and out of focus as the music gets louder, but then we come across an obstacle and realise that she is in fact training for something and not running away from anyone or anything at all. 

After this obstacle a man in an orange jacket, who we presume to be an instructor has a conversation with her, and the music stops. The film is about to begin.