''Falling Down'' Foley and Iconic Sounds Connected with Genre

Iconic sounds, Why we chose the sounds.

0.40 - We chose a heavy breathing sound for this point of the sequence to show the character is stressed and annoyed. It also creates a claustrophobic atmosphere which makes the viewer feel uncomfortable and wanting to know why he is stressed and sweating.
1.00 - Then we selected the ambiance of an outside sound to show that the camera is coming outside the car and into the traffic jam.
1.12 - We chose the motor sound  to enhance the traffic jam environment and to show that the cars haven't been moving in awhile as smoke is arising from the car in front and the sound just adds effect and keeps the viewer guessing on why the cars are not mobile.
1.30 - This is the sound of a coach motor, this simply just introduces the coach full of children into the scene.
1.37 - We selected the sound of loud children, this also shows that the cars haven't been moving as the sound of the kids are loud which indicates they are bored. This sound also reasons with why the character in the car is stressed and annoyed.
2.00 - The broken radio is sounded to set the scene as there is no signal on the radio, this keeps the viewer wondering where the traffic jam is and why there is no signal and what the characters are doing there and how they got there.
2.19 - The fly sound is added to enhance the frustration of the character as he kills the fly. And if this sound was not there the scene wouldn't look right as the actions don't show that its a fly but with the sound its all clear.
2.28 - Then we chose the turning on of the air conditioning sound as it shows that the environment is hot and the characters all hot and bothered.

Group , How we went about to complete this task

All three of us separated off too learn and research individual topics and then come back and discuss what we had learnt and found out . Toby went off to learn the timings and marking out of the actions in the falling down sequence which came in handy as Dave was learning how to import the sounds and video sequence on Garage band and apply the certain sounds at the correct time so the sounds would match the actions within the video. I then went off to research and watch videos and make notes on why sounds are so important within a film, I found out that sounds can build suspense and mystery, give away personality of a character instantly, create ambiance and set the film and add action effects and build drama and make a scene more interesting to watch. I discussed and taught all these aspects to the other two members off the group after I finished doing the research , so that we then can use this education to produce an effective Foley for the ''Falling down''sequence, this will also help in the long run when we comes to creating the sound editing for our opening title thriller sequence. After we all regrouped and went through what we done individually, we applied all the skills we had learnt as a whole to re-create the sound Foley for the ''Falling down'' sequence. This helped us as a group as it helps us to understand the importance of sounds and why they need to be done well and accurately to fit timings. Its also going to improve our opening thriller sequence as we can build more mystery and suspense and improve character creation through sound and timing to better our sequence and make it the best it can possibly become.

My Contirbution to Group Task : Thriller Sub-Genres, Enigma Codes and Naratives

I contributed to this task by writing the content and editing the video for Thriller Sub-Genres and I also edited the Enigma codes video after being sent information content via another member of the group, Below is proof I did these contributions as the print screen shots represent both videos being edited and published on my personal GoAnimate account :

 

http://Goanimate.com/

Module 1 Self Assessment

Level = 3

Grade = (B1)

To Improve :

Complete all the outstanding tasks.
Task 1 , 3, 8, 9, 10, 11

Meet Deadlines, Come back after school and work on editing on a regular bases.

Se7en Re-Edit ( First Time )

This video attached is a re-edit of the opening title sequence of ''Se7en''. I edited this video with another student. The reasoning behind doing this was to learn the basics of ''Final cut pro'' and to understand what kind of effects and fonts we will need to use when it comes to creating out own opening title sequence of a thriller to make it fit the genre. This video is very rough as its the first time of using Final cut.

Spoiler Review ( Fight Club )

   

''Fight Club'' satisfied me as a thriller as the film contained all the main elements that you would expect to discover in a thriller genre. This includes a huge aspect of the film which was mystery and suspense which is presented through the plot, characters, cinematography and special techniques with the effects that keeps the audience guessing.

At the very start of the film the director creates mystery as in the opening credits its flashing through the nervous system of the brain , this confuses the audience as they think the film is about fighting (based on the name) so this makes them guess why the nervous system of the brain right from the start but in the end this all becomes clear as the narrator turns out to be a schizophrenic.

The Narrator of the film describes his lifestyle at the start which is quite ordinary apart from he is an  Insomniac, by doing this it instantly keeps the audience thinking where the film is heading and what is going to be the main topic as fighting was suspected to be , but it hasn't even been introduced in the first 30 minutes of the film. But if noticed by the audience subliminal messages are sent throughout the start of the film, as flashes of fighters appear in point of view shots of the narrator this shocks the audience and make them question themselves if they actually saw it, this is a great atmosphere to create in a thriller genre.

Marla Singer is a character that is introduced in a very mysterious way by her smoking and wearing sunglasses and strolling in on a council meeting standing out from the rest , this instantly signifies to the audience she is an important character and will play a main part in creating mystery and this turns out to be true as she is the one the narrator calls to reassure he is a schizophrenic as he sleeps with Marla later on in the film and she saw him as Tyler Durden.

Then Tyler Durden is introduced and straight away he clicks with the narrator and they create the fight club and go out creating reckless crimes, this builds suspense as the crimes and the entire fight club as a whole are like a build up to the twist at the end and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats as the fighting scenes keeps the audience interested. Also the fact the two characters click unnaturally fast makes the audience question if he is real or not this can also be suspected through the characters strange and unnatural costume .

The director creates mystery and suspense through the cinematography as he specifically throughout the film uses camera angles and shot types to never have Marla, Tyler and the Narrator in the same shot in a set which makes the audience wonder why the director has done this, and it builds suspense up to lead up to the audience discovering  the Narrator is Tyler Durden and he physically saw his conscious and had a split personality.

Here I have attached a few stills and important scenes that resemble the style of the film and how it is presented :

Overall I feel the film delivered brilliantly as a thriller genre as the twist at the end was very successful and made all the past of the plot become crystal clear which brought the shock factor to the audience. So for these reasons I rated 4/5 for Fight club as a thriller.

How to Adjust the Camera's, Exposure, Focus and White Balance in Manual Setting

Click the ''Menu'' button to be presented with the listing of adjustments.

Use the ''Left'' and ''Right'' buttons on the side of the camera to scroll throught the options.

Click on ''Function'' to be presented with exposure and white balance options.

Scroll down to ''White Balance'' button to adjust the white balance.

Scoll down to your chosen white balance option and then hold the ''Menu'' button until your chosen option flashes twice, then the setting will be set. (Options depend on if you are shooting inside or using sunlight as your light source).

Use the top two ''Zoom'' buttons to zoom in and out.

Go back , then press the ''Menu'' button again and then ''Function'' to get to the exposure setting.

Use the scrolling buttons to select the ''Exposure'' setting.

Press the ''Manual'' button to adjust the exposure.

Scroll up and down to select the exposure number you wish to use , depending on the surroundings.

Press ''Focus'' button located above the scrolling pad to be presented with the focus setting. Then use the left and right button to adjust the focus.

Personal Photography of a Thriller Setting

I photographed a dark alley as a thriller setting. I chose this because this is a common place in a thriller where a murder could take place. Also the lighting of the lampost gives an eary, suspicious atmosphere to the photo and the two walls closing in together makes the audience feel claustrophobic , which is a good feel to give the audience in a thriller. The light fading into pitch black in the foreground also produces a sense of mystery.

Genre Iconography Mood Board





















Thriller Collage

I created a thriller collage of DVD Covers, Film posters , Typical thriller scenes, Costumes, Lighting and Props. I did this to develop my knowledge on key aspects of a thriller.  Instantly you can tell that the collage is a thriller because of the colour scheme, which includes black as its associated with death which is very common in a thriller, black also gives a sense of mystery and suspense as its a very unrevealing colour. Blue is also used which is a very emotionless colour that describes some of the characters personality in a thriller ( Murderer, Cold blooded ). Green represents jealousy which can be a common theme in a thriller.  The lighting in each individual set design photo is  dimmed and dark blueish , this may be done to create mystery as the lighting can cover the killers identity and keeps the audience guessing. Dimming the lighting can also create a sense of suspense as it tells the audience something is going to happen. The characters create mystery as they are commonly dressed in dark clothing which  doesnt give away the characters personality straight away,  they also dont give a lot of information away through their facial expressions.  You realise its thriller based due to the type of characters involved: Cop, Detective, Hooded killer and Victims which are all common characters played. The props consist of guns, police tape, torches and blueprints which also tells the viewer that the genre of the collage is a thriller. The location is a key aspect of a thriller as they are mainly based in the adult-world like Cities, Houses and Warehouses, as you can see these types of locations are present in my collage.

AS Media Studies , Mark Scheme

The class researched the mark scheme thats followed and tasks that need to be produced in the course and the deadline dates . Then we gathered together to go through it all and make sure we understand what we have to do and what is expected of us.

Class Analysis of a Thriller Film

At the end of the lesson the class gathered together as a whole to put all our knowledge of what we have learnt together on the whiteboard about the mood and atmosphere of thriller films. Every student had some input on this activity.

Written Timeline Tittle Sequence (Splice)

Title Sequence Timeline - (Splice)

                                         0.05

                                          0.10

                                         0.15

                                         0.20

                                         0.27

                                         0.33

                                         0.39

                                         0.45

                                         1.07

                                         1.19

                                         1.39

                                         1.42

                                         1.47

                                         1.53

                                         1.59

                                         2.02

                                         2.10

                                         2.14

                                         2.18

                                         2.22

                                         2.27

                                         2.30

                                         2.33

                                         2.38

                                         2.42

                                         2.45

                                         2.53

                                         2.55

                                         3.01

                                         3.08

                                         3.17

                                         3.23

Why have I done this Timeline Task?
I did this task to acknowledge how many slates there actually are in an opening 3 minute title sequence , so when it comes to making my own creation I can make my project look as professional as possible. Also looking at the sequence it made me became aware that the names of the actors and companies involved need to be projected in a certain order, ( Production company ALWAYS has priority of first slate as the production is their property ). I also learnt that the main actors also prefer to own there own slate as it represents more importance and some actors may become very competitive when it comes to this. Whilst watching numerous title sequences it also helped me to get an idea on how to create a title sequence which suits the genre of film I will be creating and how to give an insight to the viewers on what the films going to be about and keeping them interested at the same time, ( Horror genre-  Erie, dark music, suspence, tense and creepy atmosphere, mood of fear , glimspe of villains and weapons,  gothic or bloody styled font, spooky abandoned setting ). I also learnt that title sequences had to be at the begining of every single film due to legal and copyright reasons , and that some directors despise them as they are commonly known to cause the viewers to loose interest. Most directors would prefer to jump straight into the storyline to hook the viewers onto the film.