Week 3 Summary 25th - 31st JAN (Faraz Maqbool)

A lot happened in the third week of the project work. we actually did get through a lot of work, we were able to do research on genre. This was carried out to get an understanding and increase our knowledge of thrillers and the types of them as we were looking to make our 2 minute film around thrillers. we eventually decided upon a horror/thriller type of movie.

We also delegated the group roles and responsibilities to make sure that everyone in our group knew exactly what they were doing and what was expected of them. This also allows to see who is falling behind and not meeting deadlines and it also allows us to see the contribution that everyone is going to be making.

We were having trouble with the possible name of the movie and so we decided to enter that into our questionnaire and allow the audience to decide between two names which were either "Deranged" and "The Legend of Edward Wolfe". We were able to create the 90 Minute synopsis which is the outline of the whole movie saying what happens. It gives us a better idea of the movie as a whole and its characters personalities as well as what the complete story is about.

Our group was also able to do the treatment which basically is a kind of in depth look at the Movie we are creating. it concentrates on the Product (which is the movie), the target audience we are aiming at, the context of the film, the media languages used, the possible institutions involved, the representations that could be used and finally the genre of the movie we are creating.

We also had our first attempt at the Preliminary task this week as well, however it did not go as smoothly as we had hoped due to complications such as the breaking of the 180 Degree rule. This mistake was made quite a few times in the first attempt at a preliminary task, however we were unable to finish the second preliminary attempt as we discovered that we ran into the same problem once again and also we also made the mistakes of not positioning the camera correctly. This was the first week we actually started to use the camera and so some of us were quite awkward with it however we are getting better at operating it and should get the hang of it soon. we are hoping to complete the preliminary task in the following week.

The Legacy of Edward Wolfe (Gareth Hawkes, contributions by Faraz Maqbool)

The Legacy of Edward Wolfe/Deranged

90 minute synopsis of The Legacy of Edward Wolfe/Deranged (Gareth Hawkes)

In the past, a teenage boy was continuously bullied by a group of other teenage boys. His name, Edward Wolfe. This group of boys continued making threats to him, and continued bullying him; until he snapped. Edward started getting his own back, murdering those who bullied him, murdering his own family and his friends, his mentality, changing. The police found out and killed him, due to the deaths of other police, and innocent people. Some brutal, others unknown.
But now he's back, existing in a new body; Alex. Just a simple, light-hearted college student, controlling his every move. Before, Alex was relied upon, by many a moon; trusted upon by many people, until Edward's dark-hearted spirit suddenly took over his body. Now, what was and still is, becomes a deranged student, murdering those who bullied him, murdering his own family and his friends; controllable, not now; not ever. Unless he can stop it, and rid the world of the legacy, Edward Wolfe's Legacy.

Genre Research (Marian Hassan and Faraz Maqbool)

A thriller is a film that restlessly pursues a single-minded goal. It gives the audience thrills and keeps the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually builds when the main character(s) is placed in a frightening situation or dangerous mission from which an escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.
Thrillers are often hybrids - there are suspense-thrillers, action- or adventure- thrillers, sci-fi thrillers e.g. Alien (1979), crime-caper thrillers e.g. The French Connection (1971)), western-thrillers e.g. High Noon (1952)), film-noir thrillers e.g. Double Indemnity (1944)), even romantic comedy-thrillers e.g. Safety Last (1923)).
Another similar genre is the horror film genre e.g. Halloween (1978)), also designed to bring forth tension and suspense, taking the viewer through agony and panic. Suspense-thrillers come in all shapes and forms: such as murder mysteries, private eye tales, chase thrillers, courtroom and legal thrillers, erotic thrillers, surreal cult-film soap operas, and atmospheric, plot-twisting psychodramas. Thrillers keep the emphasis away from the gangster, crime, or the detective in the crime-related plot, focusing more on the suspense and danger that is caused.
Characters in thrillers include convicts, criminals, stalkers, assassins, down-on-their-luck losers, innocent victims (often on the run), prison inmates, menaced women, characters with dark pasts, psychotic individuals, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, fugitives, private eyes, drifters, duplicitous individuals, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends, and more. The themes of thrillers frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder.

The Codes and Conventions

It is very important to follow the Codes and Conventions of the genre in which you are creating your movie. This is because it allows the audience to understand what type of movie that they are watching. An example would be that if they were watching a Horror movie there would be props, lighting, iconography, music, etc that would be used to convey that type of movie, so there would be scary/eerie music being played. However in a thriller movie there are certain Codes and Conventions that have to be watched out for, these are:

- Quick cuts and changes of the camera angle
Directors in many thriller movies like to use quick cuts and a vast amount of camera angles to keep the pace of the movie fast, and build suspense and create tension for the audience. it keeps the audience interested and focused on the movie.

- Surprises and twists
This is a very important convention that must be used in a thriller as it is a way to keep the viewers of the TV Show or Movie guessing and so that they are literally on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happens next. The show Lost does this spectacularly by leaving its viewers wanting more and more after each episode that they watch and keeping them in suspense until the next episode is released. It also keeps the viewer interested in the show and allows for shocking storylines that the viewers did not expect.

- Sound
Sound plays a key role in thrillers as it is a way to convey certain feelings to the audience and so in effect it is able to keep the viewer enthralled in the movie. There are many different types of sound that can be used such as Synchronous, Asynchronous, Diegetic, Non-Diegetic, etc. It can be used to evoke the feeling of suspense and tension in the viewer.

- Props
The props used also are able to convey to the audience what type of movie that they are watching. it is common to see guns, knives, stairs and also mirrors in thrillers, if the director chooses not to follow the conventions on the props used then the audience may not find the film very interesting as it does not seem realistic to the genre being portrayed.

- Editing techniques
Depending on the genre of movie being made there are sometimes some editing techniques that are associated with those genres. An example would be how Flashbacks are used in thrillers such as Phonebooth or lost. It is usually used to portray the past of a character so that the audience knows more about this character and can maybe even take a liking to that character through some sort of connection. Lost the TV Show makes great use of the editing technique such as the flashback.

- Effect on the Audience
A good Thriller really does leave the audience thinking and it may even be putting forward some moral or ethical decisions that may have the viewer contradicting their own beliefs. This is not found in all thrillers but it is found in a few, one such example would be the movie Shooter. it makes the viewer think about what they would do if they were in the position of a character in the movie or TV Show and it makes them start to think about what they would do or could do in that particular situation.

- Antagonists Point of view
Thrillers such as Phone booth have the audience seeing things in not only the protagonists view but also the antagonists view. Phonebooth may not be seen as a conventionial thriller but one convention that links this movie to being a thriller is that it shows the story from the antagonists point of view. this type of movie also plays with your mind and can be classed as a Psychological thriller.

Group responsibilities

Director - Gareth Hawkes and Faraz Maqbool

Camera person - Marian Hassan/Faraz Maqbool and Gareth Hawkes

Editor - Faraz Maqbool

Week 2 Summary 18th - 24th JAN (Faraz Maqbool)

We had to make changes to the synopsis created as it was far too long and detailed. And then after the first amendment we found that it did not make much sense and so I altered it again for the third time which finally made sense and was the right length required. The brainstorm was not retouched as it was adequate enough.

However the script created still gave us a few more problems as it did not resemble one. But we managed to amend it and make it look like a proper script with some help from a few example scripts.

Synopsis to 2 minute opening sequence (Faraz Maqbool)

Three students are at college after hours doing their project work, when they are attacked by a mysterious and terrifying being, two of the students Toby and Carla make a quick escape while Derek is caught and un-mercilessly killed. The two students are not out of the frying pan just yet as the killer Alex is in quick pursuit, the two students try to get away and end up in the college car park with Alex not far behind. In such a wide and open space Alex spots them easily and advances for the kill, but when it looks like the end is near for the unfortunate students a vehicle strikes Alex with a thunderous force sending him crashing down onto the ground. Alex is crumpled on the ground lifeless..... Is this the end or is it just the beginning.

Week 1 Summary 11th - 17th JAN (Faraz Maqbool)

In the first week we got through the brainstorm, the script and the 2 minute opening sequence synopsis. However we had to make some changes due to the fact that the script created was far too long with too much dialogue that would have made it difficult to make and also make it go over the time limit for the film.

Our Brainstorm (Faraz Maqbool, contributions by Gareth Hawkes)

The 180 Degree Rule (Faraz Maqbool)

This is a video explaining the 180 Degree rule that we have learnt in lesson.