Skills on final cut pro

Today while rendering my parity sequence i have learnt how to use several new affects in order to overcome obstacles involved in the remake of the sequence i made with my group (see group blog) these include:

- The use of the 'cut'/'razor' tool in order to achieve a short sharp cut of scenes which was very helpful while i tried to achieve a similar affect to the flashback affect used in 'Parity'.
- The use of effects tab, Filters/Perspective, apply Flop which was used to flip a shot of me mopping the floor (it broke continuity as i approached from the right side and then a close up shot showed me mopping on the left of the blood stain which broke continuity and made the sequence quality suffer with this effect i was able to reverse the shot and make it look like i was mopping from the left.
- The use of the slow motion of a clip to gain a better view of when to stop and start a clip and when to cut part of the clip that was a better take of a clip or a nicer angle of shot etc.

Production company logo's

Film 4 is a Film production company famous for film such as 'The Inbetweeners Movie' and 'How To Lose Friends And Alienate People'. There production logo is a very simple color scheme and design but it show the idea of the company using only three simple lines and the word film (simple but effective.

Dreamworks is another production company logo i have looked at unlike film 4 this logo is alot more intricate it uses alot of different colour schemes as well as an actual picture and background to achieve   publicity and effect it also has alot more animation involved in it (gives the impression that the company has more time and money, etc).

Paramount much like the DreamWorks logo has alot more of an animation factor which gives the opinion to our group that they have a lot more time and money committed to the film industry then logo's done by film four and thus when people see this they are given an opinion of a more professional and legitimate film business.

20th century fox is another film company that sports a very 'intricate' production logo as well as a very imposing title from these titles we are beginning to see a pattern most of the ones that we can remember from just viewing the image are the bigger companies that have more imposing titles, serious animatics and a backing track to there logo.

Lionsgate is a very simplistic design logo it however has animatic in the sense that a cloud movement as well as the title getting bigger and bigger this one i feel has a more eerie and darkened appearance (or can be contrasted with the opposites when it is shown in a lighter clouded environment) and has elements that could be incorporated into our production company logo.

Metro Goldwyn Mayer shows vintage film production logo animation (the tiger roaring is shown in a very old film picture style fuzziness and muffled sound etc)  this one also shows simplicity in the fact that apart from the lion no animation is present in the sequence and the logo literally just fades in and then fades out. (a good, simple and effective method to show our logo).

Spyglass like paramount and dreamworks is another production logo that incorporates a lot of animation, sound, color and placement to achieve a very high grade production company logo that gets it's point across that this logo is a high grade film production company logo.

Much like 20th century fox and lionsgate,  columbia is a very good example of high grade production company logo as it shows animatic through the movement of the camera and the shimmering light affects this one is a simple but also very intricate logo (the presence of artwork is immense but the  animation is very simplistic and low level).

Going back to simplistic design is the company of PATHE! which use a very simple wire model to achieve the affect of animation in there logo they however use more intricate lighting and 'real' objects instead of CGI rendering an example being that they use shadow to further show the logo.

Universals logo is by far the most intricate and interesting of all of the logo's in my opinion because it features the entire earth lighting up and links well with the title because of this people know about this title because it is distinct and is a one off production company logo. Like most of these production logo's it also features a backing track.

Closed door film productions

after pitching different ideas (such as  me, nicole and Ashleigh came up with the idea of calling our company 'Closed Door Film Production' once we had decided on this name we begin to write up sketches on how the animation for the logo could work, what color the animation would be, what font the animation would be below are these sketches of these different animation ideas and how they would 'flow' and how relevant to the film company they are. From this i created same plans and designs for our (see below to look at the photo's)

Interrogation mood-board

This is a mood-board me and ashleigh designed to incorporate all of our ideas into our interrogation scene for the thriller opening i found these images and created the mood board and from this i feel i have found different characteristics that should improve our mood board. 

Annotated scene map

Here is the annotated map for our interrogation scene labelled from the first moves and camera angles used from the beginning until the end, there is also the added box which contains information on what this scene will do (how the scene is set up and what will be used to keep an audience interested in watching the rest of the film).

Timeline for group work accomplished

This time line comes with both explanations of what will happen and pictures to show what will be happening at the times when certain 'time slots' are reached. This can all be seen below:

Group Mind Map

Two pitches for group thriller film

A Phycological thriller - This thriller is aimed at an audience of females between 15 to 25 years of age below is a brainstorm for this thriller concept










An espionage thriller - This thriller is aimed at an audience of 18 to 25 year old males below is a brainstorm of ideas that could be done for this thriller concept

The Dark Knight 9 frame opening

The first freeze frame of The Dark Knight sets the scene for the film (we are shown an overview of Gotham City Batmans home, this both sets the scene and gives us an overview of what will happen straight away from only one camera view this shows us the thrillers key characters as we know Gotham city is associated with Batman).

This next freeze frame shows the audience other key elements of character to the story men in clown masks committing organized crime (which links the audience to the joker who is a criminal mastermind and dresses like a clown which sets up the story because you know the joker will be a key part performing some kind of crime).

Further backing up scene two is the next scene  which shows a man from his back holding a clown mask (this mans identity remains a mystery and as such people are 'drawn in' to watch the film to find out this man we assume is a criminals identity and what he is planning to commit).

In scene 4 we find that these people are in fact committing a bank robbery but as such rises questions why are these people robbing this bank? to fund a plot? to get rich? who has organized them? why have they been ordered to kill each other? it is these questions that cause the audience to question the events of the film and intrigues them to continue watching it.

In the fifth scene we find that these men are skilled tacticians and hackers who are capable of using high tech equipment (the use of props throughout this opening shows that these men are in the power position they have guns, equipment, software etc that can be used to achieve there goals which gives the audience a 'thrill' factor.

In this scene we are shown the extremes of these villains  they use another prop (a grenade) to show that they are in the position of power the actions the criminal performs with it is that of removing the primer which in turn causes the man to panic showing that he is the weaker subordinate from the close up of his face and from the camera 'looking up' at the clown criminal.

In this scene we are once again shown that the criminals are more than simple robbers there organized effective people which adds to the mystery how did these skilled men come into criminal motives? who compelled them to commit this bank robbery? (it adds to suspense and mystery of what is happening in the film).

In this scene we are shown the 'opposite' of the criminals we see a well dressed bank clerk (also a skilled man) fighting back against the men showing that although crime is present in the city people are starting to become vigilant an aren't as scared of the criminals of Gotham anymore giving the audience more interpretation of what is going on in the scene.

In the final scene we are shown the front side of this mysterious masked clown in the second scene (we can see this man holds significant importance throughout the story as he has been shown for a second time) once again however the mystery is present who is this man? why is he so filled in on information regarding this robbery and why does he show no fear or worry?

Work evaluation for work done so far

Level one criteria has been met in my single and group blogs as:
- Planning and research evidence is partially incomplete.
- There is a lot of research and extra research on my single blog.
- There has been organization in characters and plots (which can be sen on both the single and group blog).
- There is substantial work on story-boarding, shot-lists, layouts, scripting and drafting.
- I have been doing work over the past 5 weeks (i have shown time management).

Level Two criteria has been met in my single and group blogs because:
- Planning and research is only partially incomplete (only 2 tasks are incomplete and are soon to be completed).
- There is research into similar products (thriller films) and a potential target audience.
- there was organization amongst actors,location, costumes and props which can be seen on both the group and single blogs.
- There was research conducted into shot-lists, layouts, drafting, scripting and story-boarding.
- I and my group have made sure care was taken in the construction of our blogs (however one or two things are out of place due to technical difficulties).
- i have used time management coming in on my free lessons to work on media coursework (which can be seen by the amount of work i have put into my single media blog and my preliminary task

Level three criteria has not been   fully met because:
- All planning and research is not yet completed.
- There is research into similar film products but more research could be done on potential audiences.
- There was order and organization of actors, locations, costumes and props shown in my preliminary task however more research could be conducted (such as more photo's of new locations could be taken).
- There was proficient work done on shot-lists, layouts, drafting, scripting and story-boarding.
- There is a good level of care and presentation shown in the blog however some things still require movement to make the blog look it's best.
- Overall the time management could be a lot better.

My self evaluation

Completion - 2/4 - I have made sure as much work as possible was completed however i could have used better time management to get the final few things onto the blog in time.

Useful research - 3/4 - I have made sure i have made good technical research written in my won words that shows my understanding of the thriller genre. However i have written quite a lot in text and as such i have a boring looking blog.

Care and creativity - 2 (or 3)/4 - I have tried my best to keep presentation at a high grade however technical problems have caused presentation degradation and will need to be worked on.

Time management - 2/4 - I could have managed my time better working on more group based tasks instead of focusing on my single blog.

I believe i have scored either 11 or 12 marks out of 20 marks.

To improve to the next level i must become better at managing my time and must focus more on group work instead of single work.

I will do this by scheduling my time better, using free periods as independent study time and by keeping up more-so on blog posts made by Mr Barton.

Overall i feel i have done several things well, these include:

- the research i have conducted on my media work i feel i have gone into a good depth of research and have put alot of care into finding the right information.
- The terminology i have used is varied and has improved throughout the blog i now use terminology that is used on a proffesional level and aim to improve this further.
- The amount of work i have conducted so far is in my opinion adequate i feel that i have done enough to meet a high grade standard..

A synopsis of my thriller film '6 Ways To Kill Your Husband Or Wife' and finalized script

Mr Barton also asked me to come up with a synopsis for the thriller film showing a beginning, middle and end for the film as well as a brief outline of what is happening in the film.


My '6 Ways To Kill Your Husband Or Wife' synopsis

Patricia Garmore is a woman born into wealth and resource. A good upbringing, a great job thanks to her fathers connections. she seems like a woman who has it all family, future and safety. Unitl she meets Mark hamburg a charming, charismatic man who seems to be Patricia's perfect match, months later the two are happily married until Patricia starts to notice strange occurrences after the death of her father...her husband sneaking out late hours of night, previous marriage records and pictures of dead women in his study...can Patricia best a man who seems to be a perfect ruse? can she overcome her own doubts and face a threat closer to home than she can imagine? 

Beginning

At the beginning of the film we will see the ending with Patricia bringing a prepared dinner to her husband while he harbours a gun and is waiting for the correct moment to kill her little do the audience know however that Patricia is aware of her situation and has taken the neccasery precuations to protect herself from her husbands wife killing spree. After the ending scene has played out and the final voice of Patricia is heard and the opening scene and credits roll beginning the film, the film then cuts to Patricia going to a high rollers country club for a cocktail party it is in this place that the character of Mark is introduced and the two begin to chat and get to know each other. The film then skips 5 years into the future to the home of Mark and Patricia Hamburg who are know both happily married and give off the allure of a normal married couple they both arrive home from work, eat dinner, watch televisionand then go to sleep until the early morning when Patricia is awakened to find mark driving off to a mysterious location.  

Middle

In the Middle of the film we see Patricia arrive work at her high end office and attends a board meeting when she is suddenly called out by her secretary who says her mother has called and that it's an urgent call, Patricia contacts her mother who reveals that her father has been shot by an unknown assailant and has been killed. The film then blanks out to court where we see a fragile looking Patricia listen to evidence being told to her by a coroner at a police morgue he reveals to her that her father was killed with a 9mm pistol that her father owned and was not recovered at the crime scene, and that there also appeared to be an intense struggle before he was killed. This news rings in Patricia's head until she arrives home to find her husband with severe bruising and scratch marks he claims to have been in a fight and been mugged and goes to shower of the blood on him, this causes suspicion in Patricia who begins to look through her husbands possessions in an attempt to find something to connect him to the murder after finding nothing she almost gives up until she spots a glistening metal behind a book in her husbands study finding it reveals it to be the gun that was used to shoot her father. This causes panic in Patricia who places the gun back where it was cleans up and then makes an excuse for going out she ends up in her mothers company and begins to research her husbands past and finds she is not his first wife but one of many long time rich women he has married. She begins to doubt her husband and falls asleep early in the mroning working on finding out his past, she awakens to find her mother killed in the same aspect as her father and  begins to feel her time is running short before her husband kills her collects her fortune and moves on. At this point we see her return home and begin to cook dinner poisoning her husbands food with rat poison, putting on a scared and delicate facade and awaiting his return.

End

Towards the end we see Mark returning home with the loaded 9mm pistol in his jacket the ending scenes then roll out where it is revealed that Patricia has been looking for a way to do away with her parents for a long time and that Mark ironically done her dirty work as now she can be gone with an inheritance and clear mind before no one notices the body of her parents murderer.

Script

6 ways to kill your husband (or wife)

(screen begins with MARK coming through the front door)

MARK

(concealing gun in suit jacket pocket)

Hello dear how was work?

PATRICIA

It's...it's so hard now moms gone. Bless her for leaving us a little something behind.

MARK

(sitting down on the dinner table with pistol now in hand)

Yes dear there's a lot we can do together now my dear try not to let your mom's death affect you after all anyone could die at any moment.

PATRICIA

(joining Mark on the table with two cups of tea for both of them)

I'll try to for you, i hope you enjoy you enjoy your!

MARK

(placing gun in lap and takes a sip of tea)

It is delicious thank you, however, i have some bad news that you should know.

Patricia

(Smug look on face)  Oh, what's that? that fact i know you killed my mother and that you have a gun on your lap ready to kill me too just like your other 5 dead wives!!!

MARK

Wha- How did you know?!

PATRICIA

And hopefully the poison from your tea will kick in very soon!

MARK

(falling to knees and clenching throat in pain)

y-y-y-y-you bitch! (falls dead)

(screen blacks out)

PATRICIA'S voice

You have to ask yourself wondering sometimes...is there really a perfect man or woman out there for you?

My scene script for my thriller '6 Ways To Kill Your Husband Or Wife'

Mr Barton has asked me to create a scene script for a thriller name of his choice, he decided to give me the name '6 Ways To Kill Your Husband Or Wife' below is the script i created for a scene in the film i have imagined.

Script of scene
(screen begins with the mid shot of Mark coming through the front door)

Mark (husband) : (concealing gun in suit jacket pocket) (switch to close up of Mark's face)  Hello dear how was work?

Patricia (wife) : (preparing dinner) (long-shot used to show Patrica from head to toe) It's...it's so hard now moms gone i'm all alone in the world no one but you now, i saw her lawyer today it seems we've been left quite a lot of money from all this seems odd i never knew about this cash but it's good news for us! maybe we can take that vacation we talked about?

Mark (husband) : (sitting down on the dinner table with pistol now in hand) (Camera following mark face forward while midshot is bieng used) Yes dear there's a lot we can do together now my dear try not to let your mom's death affect you after all anyone could die at any moment.

Patricia (wife) : (joining Mark on the table with dinner plates for both of them) (Camera following Patricia while mid-shot is being used) yes i guess your right...oh well there's no use crying about it now, i hope you enjoy it dear it's your favourite!

Mark (husband) : (placing gun in lap and picking up cutlery to begin eating) (close up of gun used, then close up of the piece of food on the fork entering Mark's mouth used in close up) Mmmm... pork chop's it's been a while since you've cooked these dear... divine but i'm afraid now ive got some bad news of my own.

Patricia (wife) : (Smug look on face) (close up of Patricia's face used) Oh and what is that dear? the fact i know that you killed my mother?, the fact i know you've got a gun on your lap to kill me with?, or the fact that in less than 30 seconds the poison in that food is going to enter your stomach and your probably going to die yourself?

Mark (husband) : (close up shot used to show the shock on Mark's face) Wha- How did you know?! (face turning to a dark shade of red and purple)

Patricia (wife) : (Mid shot used to show wife walking closer to her dying husband)  I've known the entire time, you really think 5 ex wives all killed in similar manners, the killer never caught? you think i didn't do some investigating? no you've made your bed and now thanks to you, I've got my mother inheritance i'll be out of the country before anyone knows whats happened to you.

Mark (husband) : (falling to knees and clenching throat in pain) (extreme long - shot used to show Patricia standing over Mark while he dies) y-y-y-y-you bitch! (falls dead)
(screen blacks out)

Patricia's voice : You have to ask yourself wondering sometimes...is there really a perfect man or woman out there for you? (opening scene and credits roll)

I believe that my script is Non - linear and is Restricted because throughout the script we know that the man is plotting to kill his wife but we have no idea that the wife has poisoned the mans food, has knowledge of the acts he has caused or is just as twisted and evil as he is, because of this i feel that the script is restricted as the audience holds limited knowledge to what is happening in the scene. I also feel that the script is non linear as this script clearly is the end of the film as the women has gained her revenge and is then talking in the final sentence of the film however the opening scene and credits then roll and the film begins, meaning that the film plays out as the end, beginning then middle and thus is non - linear.

Omniscient and Restricted storytelling techniques effects on the audience

What is Omniscient and Restricted storytelling?
The two storytelling effects known as Omniscient and Restricted storytelling are two different forms of narrative below i have explained each of the effects in more detail :

Restricted Narrative Storytelling
Restricted Narrative storytelling is a form of narrative that is used to keep an audience calm for a portion of a scene and then to suddenly create a sense of shock and mystery among audience this can be seen in many films for example in the interrogation scene in the film 'The Matrix' the situation seems calm and controlled while Agent Smith interrogates Ne yo when suddenly an explosion occurs and the audience is totally caught of guard this is an example of how Restricted Narrative Storytelling is used.

Omniscient Narrative Storytelling
Omniscient Narrative Storytelling is a form of narrative that is used to keep an audience 'in the know' with what is happening in the scene, in other words the audience has a godlike perspective into what is going to happen in the scene and as such causes suspense as the audience waits for an event they know will happen to trigger. An example of this is again seen in the interrogation scene of The Matrix Where we can see that before Ne yo is brought into the room hours before a bomb is placed underneath the rooms table, this gives the audience the knowledge that the bomb will go of while the interrogation is being conducted  and causes suspense because no one in the audience will know when it will happen.

My opening sequence comparison to Se7en opening sequence

During last weeks media lesson Mr Barton made us work on Final Cut Pro to create and opening sequence based on the thriller movie Se7en. Using all the knowledge i have gained from using Final Cut Pro i have put together a short opening sequence for a film named 'surveillance' this video can be sen below.

Comparing my opening to the opening of se7en (see the top video for my opening sequence and the bottom one for Se7en) i can see several differences and consistencies these can be seen below.

Consistencies

- The fact that both mine and se7en's openings are both dark, eerie, gritty and mysterious settings (mine showing various photo's and videos of mysterious people committing acts against the law and posing for police photo's while se7en's shows a person looking through medical books and medical documentation in a mysterious room)

- the fact that both mine and se7en's use similar effects causing overshadowing (effects that cause the viewer to see a distorted, eerie and mysterious picture.

- The fact that both use titles that don't tell an audience much about the story (Surveillance and Se7en leave the audience with many questions like what is under surveillance?, what does se7en represent? etc.)

Differences

- The fact that Se7ens opening has a lot more of a 'flow' to it as all the clips and photo's seem to fit together where at some points mine looks out of place and shoddy.

- The fact that Se7ens has had a more proffesional approach (you can see that more camera angles, money, props and coordination has gone into the making of the Se7en opening.)

- The fact that Se7ens opening uses a wider array of effects that are of more standard then the ones i used that where probably standards effects.)  

9 frame Poker game sequence for Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels

In yesterday's class Mr Barton made us watch a clip from the movie Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels in the scene a poker game was being played in a boxing ring. After the clip had been watched we where then tasked to find 9 key shots and use these as a sequence below is a storyboard i created in order to show these shots, what is happening in each one and what shots where used in the sequence.  

New rules and feedback on previous video clip creations

today during class Mr Barton made us look over our latest pieces of stalker footage that we have created to see what we noticed about the work we created. From the piece of work we where shown i could clearly see that the camera angles that where conducted where done quite well, for example all shots where done with very little camera movement and when certain shots where conducted they where conducted correctly and clearly, for example mid shots conducted from the piece of work didn't cut off the top of the head or torso.


New camera techniques


After we had conducted feedback on previous shots we created we began to learn about some new types of camera shots these shots where the 180 Degree Rule, Match On Action Shot and the Shot Reverse Shot. Below are descriptions of what i learnt as well as videos from youtube that taught me some of the aspects. These new shots include.


The 180 Degree Rule


The 180 Degree Rule basically states that when two characters are in the same scene and are talking or doing something, they should always follow an invisible line and should always keep the same left to right relationship so that the scene flows and is continuos (see the photo on the right to get a more). This rule however can be broken to cause disorientation and confusion in an audience (examples of this can be seen in films such as Inception or The Matrix) this can however lead to the production looking shoddy and ineffective.




This video is a beginners learning video into the basics of the 180 degree rule shot click on it to learn more about how the shot operates and what the parameters of conducting the shot are.

This video is an amateur production showing how the shot can be a very shoddy looking and ineffective way to show a scene if the line is broken.

The Match On Action Shot 


The Match On Action Shot is a shot that keeps the flow of the film going it does this by making sure that if an action is conducted during a scene (say a man opening a wardrobe) and then the scene cuts the following scene shows him getting something out of the wardrobe or shutting it on an eye view camera shot although the shot has changed the actions are the same, keeping     the flow and continuity of the piece going.


This video below shows a Match On Action shot used correctly it shows how it can be used as an effective shot to show different views of a persons movements and actions.

The Shot Reverse Shot

A Shot Reverse Shot is a shot used to show two people are taking to each other from the example shown on the left you can se that the camera is held behind a person head while another person talks to him showing that these people are talking to each-other this shot can variate between the two people during dialogue to show the person talking while we get the view that the person is being spoken to.


This video shows the Shot Reverse Shot being used correctly to give the view that these two characters are talking to each-other over a table.

A simple Thriller Synopsis

What i have created 
Mr Barton has given me the task of coming up with a simple thriller story after thinking about what aspects my thriller should have i came up with a synopsis for a thriller i have named 'Under The Cover Of Silence' below is that synopsis.

My Thriller Plot synopsis for my thriller Under The Cover of Silence

Peter Garrett is a man on the edge. A failed marriage, a shitty job thanks to a bastard who stole his work, no family and no future. Meanwhile across on the other side of a city Andrew harrow lives the life of a millionaire... sex, sun and shelter from a city strewn with corruption and violence, and from an idea stolen from another man. By chance the two men meet and Andrew Harrows life is changed forever as his life is brought into mysterious and cryptic revenge that Peter creates for him can a man with wealth and power outrun and outsmart a man who has nothing to lose?

Beginning

At the beginning of the film we will see both aspects of the men’s lives one living in depression and squalor while the other lives the high life we also see a back-story (sort of a flashback of how each of the men came to be in this position that they are in today) it then sees both men walking the streets on a empty city street and then have them having a ‘meeting of chance’.

Middle

In the Middle of the film after this chance meeting we see Peter following Andrew (who no longer recognizes the dilapidated Peter) home, and he gets to see the profit and prospect his stolen idea has brought Andrew. We then see Peter stalking Andrews daily regime and becoming more and more paranoid on ruining his perfect life. We also see Andrew starting to strain under the actions of what Peter is doing to him (interfering with his life and causing him emotional stress and physical trauma).

End

Towards the end we see Andrew trying to escape the actions of his past by trying to make amends to Peter. We also see that peter is building up to the climax of his revenge. As a man with nothing he’ll take the life of the man who stole everything he should have had and make his sweet and just revenge complete. As the final moments of the film climax we see a twist of sorts Andrew breaks under the pressure and snaps at Peter who both fight under the gun Andrew shoots peter however peter reveals in his dying moments this was his plan all along and as Andrew stares in confusion he finds Peter has alerted the Authorities who know see Andrew a man with everything standing over a shot man with a gun in his hand. Andrews perfect life lies in ruins.   

In depth Description of the opening sequence of 'Catch Me If You Can'

Mr Barton has given me the task of observing the Imagery, Style, Visual effects, Font, Animation and the Editing for the film 'Catch Me If You Can' below is my report for this.

Catch me if you can title sequence in depth description

Image used in the title sequence

The imagery used in the opening to ‘Catch Me If You Can’ uses a variety of colours which are used in the sequence to show people of importance and important objects that describe what the film is about. For example the animated cartoon man continually changes colour in his form as well as objects he is in (such as the taxi cab being yellow and a following car being blue and white, while all other cars are gray) this shows the importance of 2 animated men (Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hanks) which in turn tells the audience that these men are playing a game of ‘cat and mouse’ through various locations and causes curiosity in the viewer through the change of colouration making the audience curious to watch on in the film.

Style used in the title sequence

The style used in the title sequence of ‘Catch Me If You Can’ is cartoon style, it differs however from other cartoon styles as it is a silent cartoon that has only a mysterious music playing through that builds up as the man first shown in the sequence is almost caught by the other man who is chasing him leading to suspense in the opening scene the drawing style of the cartoon characters are a ‘sketchy and gritty’ style that is also mysterious as it can give the viewer the opinion that these men are like this because they may be sketchy or shady people.

Visual effects used in the title sequence

The visual effects used in the opening sequence of ‘Catch Me If You Can’ are quite simple in design (for example each cartoon mans movements appear to be simple animations apart from the two key characters who are given unique movements there are also constantly changing environments throughout the sequence which show that the film is set in a variety of unknown and mysterious location for example we see that the two men are in an airport, but why are they in an airport? and where is this airport? We are also given a lot of visual styles in the way opening credits are presented, every time one is presented it drops a line, turns into another object etc which is an effective way to include opening credits while not taking concentration away from the opening sequence cartoon.

Font used in the title sequence

The font used in the opening sequence of ‘Catch Me If You Can’ is a a very calm looking font as to say that the film is a calmed environment, however from the rest of the opening sequence we can see that it is not as it seems as the film appears to be a desperate and frantic chase of a man by another man we get the image from the font however that the location is also constantly changing for the two men as with every font change a new location for the cartoon is introduced possibly meaning the colours and the font hold a connection to the part of the storyline.

Animation used in the title sequence

The animation used in the title sequence is varied for the less important cartoon characters it is simple walking and swimming motions (showing that these are basically ‘filler’ characters that are made to represent normal everyday people) whereas two characters that stand out as important characters are given a lot more in depth animations (for example they move their heads from their arms, read newspapers, open doors, change clothes etc) The animations clearly show that the main characters are of importance as they are given these animations and are constantly changing from one environment to the next.

Editing used in the title sequence

The editing that is used in the title sequence of ‘Catch Me If You Can’ is a lot of separately done cartoon scenes cut, shortened and then meshed into one longer opening film this is done because it is a lot easier to make several smaller clips and put them together into a larger one as you can cut out content that you do not want (or to increase the ‘flow’ of the opening sequence) or to see where each ‘piece’ should be placed for the best effect. The other forms of editing used in this sequence can be seen on certain parts of text for example the fading of part of the title when the title ‘Catch Me If You Can’ comes on and part of the word fades like a cloud. Another type of editing used in the sequence is the constant colour changes that occur throughout the opening sequence that are placed to give a mysterious outlook to the cartoon sequence.   

Insight into the camera positions of the opening of Unbreakable

Researching and watching the openings to thriller films i have started to look in depth into how camera angles are used in the openings to films to describe and set the scene. One of these films is 'Unbreakable' by M. Night Shyamalan below is the report i created for my research into the opening sequence of this film. Below is the opening sequence to Unbreakable and the report i created on the camera angles used.

Media Homework

What does an audience expect when watching a thriller film?

When an audience watches a thriller film they expect to be both captivated into the movie and thrilled by the aura of suspense and mystery that the film wraps around itself. An audience also watches a thriller film for the storyline involved in the film it is for the storyline purpose i found the film i have chosen to watch the opening credits of the film ‘unbreakable’.

How are camera affects used in the opening scenes of Unbreakable?

The camera shots in the opening scenes begin with a series of extreme long shots and long shots to ‘set the scene’ which from the use of the shots can be shown as the backroom of a department store. As the doctor talks to 2 people the camera moves over to a close up shot of the woman and her baby showing both the emotion on the woman’s face at the child and the child wrapped in the blanket itself which is used to show that the mother and the baby are the important characters in this opening as soon as this is shown the shots variate from a close up to a two shot featuring the woman and the doctor and then focus back on the mother showing her giving her son to the doctor once the baby is given to the doctor the shot changes back to the mother asking the doctor to give the baby back and then changes back to a long shot to a mirror to reveal an extra 4 people in the ‘audience’ which shows that the doctor is asking these people questions after the questions are answered t camera changes to a close up shot of the doctor to get the view of the ‘emotion’ in his face it then switches to a long shot again to get in the women the doctor is asking another question to to get the reactions of both the woman and the policeman waiting behind the door and then switches to the doctor from mirror view showing everyone s emotion including him that there is a problem with the baby the mother then leans up creating a close up to show the image and visage of fear and curiosity about her babies condition this shot then moves from her to the doctor again to show the change of emotion that he has it is an emotion of desperation that the doctor has now as he continues to look from the baby to the mother. And the shot changes back to a close up of the mother who is also showing a change of emotion in the form that she is now crying.

What other affects are used in the opening scenes of Unbreakable to captivate the audience?

In the opening scenes of Unbreakable before the scene a page of text appears telling the audience information on comic books from the prices that they can vary from, the amount of illustrations inside an issue, the amount of comic books sold daily in America and many other pieces of information. As soon as the film begins you are set in a department store scene with the sound of a baby crying and a man (who is revealed as a doctor) being brought in. This sets the scene of mystery already as the baby is in need of medical assistance and no one knows why. Although later on the baby is revealed to have broken arms and legs the state of mystery is still present what has happened to the baby later on in life?, Will the baby be okay? And what has caused his arms and legs to break? This opening scene captivates the audience in mystery using the sound of the baby, the facial and speech expressions of the doctor and mother as well as that of the staff when told of the babies condition give the audience questions they are already seeking answers to thus captivating them to watch the film further.

Thriller Movies Mindmap

This a mind-map i created during media and in some of my free lessons i have looked into a majority of key points including openings, lighting, camera work etc. This was done to show how much i knew about thriller films at the start of the course, as i get through the course i will continue to add more and more to this mind map to show how my understanding of the thriller genre has developed. 

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