Skills Audit Editing

In our lesson, we learnt the basics of how to edit a small part of a film, using an application known as Final Cut Pro. To do this, we had to move to another media room, where we could start using the bigger apple macs. As this was a new experience to the class, we sat down & listened somewhat eagerly.

Primarily, we opened up the final cut program & the first thing we were taught how to do was inputting in & outpoints. This would allow us to determine where our clip would start & end, also how long it would last for. After playing around with this for a while, we selected a clip from a variety of them & practised how to input the necessary points. After doing so, we dragged the cut clip to the timeline & watched our clip throughout.

After this, we learnt how to implement transition effects onto our clip using the effects that were on offer. These skills would later on become very handy in helping us to produce our Thriller film!

Match Cut Prelim Exercise

To get to grips with the idea of match cutting and the 180 degree rule myself and the group created a short sequence which uses match cuts effectively to show somebody entering a room, having a short conversation and leaving.

Thriller Sub-Genres

When it comes to films, the ones that catch my interest are the ones that are loud and eventful. As thriller films usually contain action, most of the films that i prefer to watch come under a sub-genre of thrillers. These subgenres include :

Psychological Thrillers

These are the thrillers that will contain ghosts, such as Paranormal Activity. They are the thrillers that are made to mess with the viewers heads, often confusing them and making them unsure of what will happen & offer thrills, rather than to scare you will blood & guts.

Action Thrillers

These are the thrillers that contain the fast paced action scenes such as car chases. With loud & explosive events often occuring.

Supernatural Thrillers

These thrillers involve monsters, ghosts, demons etc. You will often find all scary creatures in these films, some may appeal to younger audiences, some to older.

Political Thrillers

These are the thrillers that are related to the government, such as the Bourne Conspiracy, these films are often expressing views of some political bodies.

Blade II Title Analysis

Blade II is a sequel of the film, 'Blade', based on the Marvel comic character of the same name. The movies themselves are known for their action & gore as the story is based around vampires, which is usually followed by violence.

The title sequence of Blade II is a series of dark, gritty shots, reflecting the atmosphere of the film itself. The speech in the title sequence is Blade himself telling us his background. Within the shots themselves, they correspond to whatever Blade is talking about, for example, when he speaks about his birth, the shot will show a clip where blade is being born.

When it comes to the titles themselves, there is not much of them as they are kept short, however they do explain what they need to, for example, who produced the film (New line Cinema in association with Imaginary Forces) but there is no mention of cast. The font of the titles is a red, bloodlike font, obviously reflecting the vampire theme of the film.

Intro to Cameras and health and safety tutorial

During the lesson we learnt everything that we would need to film using the cameras plus all the health and safety requirements that we needed to know. We had to make sure we fully understood everything that was said and then sign to say we had undertaken the training.

The image above shows the form that we had to fill in for health and safety and the camera operation. As the cameras are expensive and we have had little chance to use them before, we had to make sure we knew exactly what we needed to do.

We firstly had to show to the teacher and media technicians that we were able to;

'Take the camera out of the bad'

'Check that the lock is off and the camera is set up for filming'

'Attach a battery'

'Inset a memory card'

'Place the camera securely on a tripod'

After we had successfully been able to do this, we then had to show that we understood the health and safety precautions that we had to bare in mind when we were going to film.

Each time we were taking the camera out of the college we had to;

'Tell the teacher the exact location of the filming'

'Leave contact details'

'Always film in a safe manner'

'Not to use mains electricity or equipment, always use batteries'

'Not to break the law, which includes the issue of trespass'

'Always ask for permission to film individuals and locations'

This was one of the most important things that we had to learn before we was allowed to take the camera out and film; it proved that we were mature and adult enough to look after expensive equipment.

The use of suspense in 'No country for old men'

In my class, we watched the smash hit film by The Coen brothers, entitled 'No country for old men'. We all found the film to be entertaining as we were all fans of the violence & bloodshed within the film. There were also many examples of suspense used, and they managed to keep all of my peers and I on the end of our seats as we waited for the upcoming event, which always turned out to be a massacre of some sort. For the duration of the film, we were asked to make notes of when suspense was used, however there was a variety of scenes to choose from, something which we all found to be a positive aspect of the film.

The first example of suspense that i noted was in one of the primary scenes of the film, where we see the psychopath in custody, presumably about to be put into a cell. During this time, the officer who had apprehended him was making a call, possibly to other officers, informing them that he is with the psycho. Meanwhile, the psycho slowly creeps behind him, whilst he is handcuffed. As he gets closer, he throws the chain of the handcuff around the officers neck, strangling him to his death.

The second example, also involving the psycho, is after he has escaped from the police station. He is seen to be driving along what appears to be a desert, where he spots someone driving by. He pulls the man over and asks him to step out of his vehicle. At the time we were unaware of what was about to happen, as was the man in the vehicle. He steps out of the car and the psycho slowly raises his air gun to the mans head and shoots him. This scene came as a surprise to my classmates and I, which was evident when they gasped as it happened.

The third and final example, Llewelyn arrives in the deserted area, where he comes across many dead bodies. During this scene, there is no sound whatsoever, even the emptiness on the screen mirrors the lack of sound in the environment. He is constantly turning around, looking to see if anyone is behind him. This edgy behaviour suggested to us that something big was about to happen & that we were about to witness something that would have a big effect on the plot of the film.

The Shining Opening Title Sequence: Youtube Video