Delirium - Final AS Media Product

EVALUATION 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

EVALUATION 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

EVALUATION 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

EVALUATION 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

MALES

Michael Ridgewell in our thriller opening is a protagonist; an every day, normal character who reinforces the male stereotype of the heroic male. Most stories and thrillers in society have shown males to be the hero; from when we were younger in fairy tales such as Snow White to more current films such as I Am Legend starring Will Smith, who plays Robert Neville, the hero, the man who risks his own life to save a lady and a child. This is the stereotypical male leader, showing that he's the stronger sex. Like in most typical thriller/horror films the man is usually the protector.

I compare Michael to the character Robert because even though the story lines of these thrillers are completely different these characters are alike in the sense that they both dress very casual, like every day, normal people. They are both protecting something; in Delirium Michael is protecting Sarah which is why he goes off to find out what the strange noise is whereas Robert is protecting a life saving formula in blood and saving a female and her child. The storylines are completely different but the characters in itself are similar.

FEMALES

 

AGE

In most thrillers the hero tends to be an older male although in ours that is not the case; this is because we didn't have older people available to film for it. Our thriller is made up of actors that are teenagers. Rather than represent the stereotypes of teenages we decided to oppose it. The media represents teenagers to be rough and they are not usually represented as heros however our male lead went out to protect his girlfriend. Our thriller aim to show the vaunrability of teenagers and shows them to be more caring of each other. One of the stereotypes we decided to use was that teenagers are rather careless. Our characters went to investigate an abandoned building which is outside of the public eye. Doing this meant that they were risking their safty by going somewhere where they could not be protected. They age of our killer is unknown. We decided to keep this as it helps to build mystery in our thriller however he is also from the teenage age group even though the audience don't know this.

Official Delirium Poster

We've given Delirium a BBFC rating of 15 due to it's portrayal of violence and distressing imagery throughout the film. We think the content would be inappropriate for people of a younger age group due to such content.

Delirium Poster Idea 1

Here is our final poster for our production DELIRIUM:

TAKE 2 - The production process

Before we filmed on the 9th April I had to arrange the date and time to do it with everyone. We had to re-film everything and not all of our actors were available for a new filming date so I also had to find new actors. I quickly asked Michael Ridgewell (previous actor) if he was available, he said yes; then I asked Alex Jobson and Sarah to help us with 'EMERGENCY FILMING'. I explained that we were desperate to film and we needed actors. Once this was agreed I explained to them over a facebook inbox exactly what would be happening on the day. I explained to each person the storyline, the types of characters they would need to be, that we would have to film multiple shots to ensure we get the best we can and to make sure they act fairly professional so that we don't have laughing and messing about during filming; which they all understood even though this was hard to fulfil on the actual day but everything worked out okay.

I put all of the props in a bag; the fake blood, latex and faces wipes. Although as this wasn't in school time we had no way of getting a tripod. I also remembered to charge the camera and clear space for the footage; it'd be a big nuisance if it ran out in the middle of filming.

We and met at Hutton Country Park at 1:30pm and made our way on to location from there. Upon reaching the house, we promptly ran over the shooting schedule with our new actors and began shooting shortly thereafter. We were shooting for a few hours, taking multiple shots with various angles. We had a short lunch break as I had brought food along for everyone; during this time we did make-up. This is what our villain, antagonist looked like in the end.
The only problem during the day was that our camera battery ran out on our very last shot so we had to switch cameras but this was not a problem. Then we took a wide range of shots for the poster.

I immediately started uploading all of the videos when I got home because it takes a while to upload them and make sure the format was right to edit them on Movie Maker. Once they were done; I split it into sections, for example; walking through the field, Michael scares Sarah, etc. This made it all easier to work with because in the end I only had to edit the ending and beginning clips together although this did prove very difficult. The hardest part to edit was 'the hug' because sometimes the hand position would be different or it would look strange or the clip would be ruined by bursts of laughter; editing that out was extremely difficult. I decided to do a zoom reverse zoom on the line Sarah said "oh my god what was that", it was two separate clips put together but the speech has clearly continued throughout the clips. I spent a lot of time trying to find sound to fit into it, it was trial and error but I eventually found some music on sounddogs.com and freeplaymusic.com. I remember that James Hodges, former AS Media Studies student recommended this when talking about the do's and don'ts for our thrillers.

A problem I had with Movie Maker is that when I had finally finished editing all of it; one of the key videos (the hug) had "broken" and was not compatible with the rest; I attempted fixing it but in the end I had to re-upload the video and star again. By this time all of the music had jumped around so I had to fix and reposition that as well. Once this was all done and saved with no glitches or jumps; I uploaded it to YouTube and then embedded it on to the blog site. A small glitch had developed here but it was nothing to do with the editing it was a small buffer when uploading. Apart from that everything went smoothly.

Editing

Delirium Version 1 Evaluation

This is the first edit of our AS Media production 'Delirium.' Unfortunately we found this particular edit unsatisfactory and decided to refilm it. The final product can be found here

The above piece does not contain music, as we decided we weren't working with it before we sourced the music for our current piece. There are areas that are muted, this being an indication that music would be in place of it (0:00 - 0:25). The camera at the beginning is also noticable shaky, which is something that we remedied in the second piece.

The match on action shot at 0:32 is also not perfect and required a re-edit. Match on action throughout the rest of the piece, however, is not bad.

The disappearance of a character at 0:39 was also an aggravating factor, something that we revise and made much more slick and less confusing in the final product.

Dialouge throughout 0:49 to 1:10 was also unsatisfactory, as it appeared fake and almost cheesey.

The cut at 1:07 was really noticable, and unfortunately we didn't have a sufficient amount of shots to fix this. We would need to re-shoot to achieve this.

At 1:12 as Kieron pulls out the ring, a stifled laugh can be heard in the background. This was a problem as it ruines the immersion and tension that we were trying to achieve.
Following this is a long period of silence. (1:15-1:27) Initially this was a kind of first person perspective of our protagonist with their eyes closed, and the atmospheric sounds were to build tension. However, the clip didn't cut so we were left in the dartk for much longer than we intended (6-7seconds) and ultimately it didn't achieve what we wanted it to. This part was scrapped completely in the end.

The clips from 1:29 until 1:36 were blurred to indicate confusion in our character, however that didn't realyl work so we were lift with clips that just looked out of focus and out of place.

We intended to overdub appropriate dialouge over the clip from 1:44 until 1:55, however this never came to fruition.

Following the fade-to-black at 1:55 we wanted to have it fade back in to Louise lying on the ground and discovering blood and markings on her body, much like you see HERE in our final product. (EDIT: This part was eventually cut out of our final edit due to time constraints, however it is still visible at the link above.) However we couldn't film this during our first day of filming due to loss of light, a drop in temperature and one pissed off dog (leading to the exclusion of it's role in the final product.)

Despite all of these problems, we felt that we had some good shots that we recreated in Delirium V.1

 

 

There were also shots that we originally shot that we couldn't use

 



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But then there were also shots that we didn't think of in the beginning that we really liked

 

Final Thriller Name

After tossing around ideas for a title for our project as a group, I suggested "Delirium." Defined, it means "A temporary state of mental confusion" which fits our idea perfectly.

Before now we'd struggled to find a name, with ideas such as "Symbols," "Zodiac" and "Gamorra" being thrown around, all efforts in vain. After a quick brainstorm this morning, Delirium was suggested and a unanimous decision made to make that the official name.

A Brief

Symbolism of Colour

Throughout all of history colours have been attributed to different things. Purple to royalty and nobility, pink to love and romance, and grey to intelligence and modesty. These expectations of colours can be  exploited within our thriller to direct the audiences attention, and more importantly, lead their thoughts in any which direction that we desire.

Red: is the colour most often assosciated with love, passion and desire, making it ideal to use in our 'young-love' scenario. The presence of red within scenes can hint towards their affection to one-another. However, it is also the leading colour when it comes to death, danger and aggression. Because of this dual-association, we may be able to find a way to implement it in such a way as to represent both passion and danger, possibly by means of foreshadowing.

Black: is typically associated with evil, anonymity and mystery. This perfectly fits our intentions of using a silhouette to represent our antagonist. Black also represents power, which will also be fitting as our protagonist will be left vulnerable and clueless, with our silhouetted 'villian' holding all of the power.

White: suggests purity, innocence and youth. Our 'victim' could be pictured wearing white to display their innocence whilst their partner is in red to both represent their passion but also foreshadow their death.

Green: is oft attributed to nature and environment, but also has links to greed, envy and misfortune. This could suggest a possible motive in those forms, and maybe even put forth a "wrong place, wrong time" scenario.

Brown: is the colour most closesly related to earth and outdoors, whilst also having connections to comfort, simplicity and homeliness. With our set consisting on natural browns and greens due to it's woodland location, we can partner these 'comfortable and homely' browns (Dirt, trees) with the misfortunate and envious greens (leaves, grass and ivy) to create an atmosphere that is seemingly harmless, but has a sinister feel about it. If we find a way to correctly do this, it will help in our aims to lull the audience in to a false sense of security.

Blue: Blue suggests both peace and sadness, confidence and depression, security and cold. I feel as though blue is a particularly deceptive colour due to it's many assosciations. With this in mind, we could use it in such a way that makes it clear that not everything is as it seems; not everything that is secure is warm.

Green, brown and blue will likely be colours used in establishing shots. As the opening credits 'roll' we'll likely feature shots of the surrounding area. Scenes featuring more brown may feel more comfortable to the viewer, whilst the implementation of green in to them will introduce that overhanging feeling of misfortune.
A shot of a blue sky would then bring forth this idea of the environment not being quite as it seems. Maybe even the introduction of the colour Yellow in the form of a shot of the sun or sun shine passing through the trees can bring light or optimism in to the picture, whilst carrying this inherent affiliation with cowardice and dishonesty with it.

To conclude, by looking at all of the different meanings colours carry with them and applying them in different ways, we can lead the audience to think one thing whilst intending to take them another. All of these will be present in our thriller be it in costume, make-up, environment or elsewhere, and by correctly optimising them we can manipulate the viewer's thought patterns, assisting us in our "psychologically hard-hitting" production.


Sourced: http://www.incredibleart.org/lessons/middle/color2.htm

Choosing a Location

Analysis of a Thriller Questionnaire

 

The Process of Production

Pre-Production

 

Upon being given the preliminary task, we formed our group and began brainstorming for ideas. Initially we didn’t digress from the typical idea of simply walking in to a room, spewing a few lines of conversation and leaving it at that. We then had the idea of having a conversation through a wall, but that was disregarded when one member jokingly mentioned doing an “Inception-esque” approach of having a “prelim within a prelim”. We then build upon that; fleshed it out somewhat through discussion and producing a script shortly thereafter. An issue arose when we wrote the script, because some of the ideas we had had previously were lost as they weren’t noted immediately after. This made our end-result somewhat less exciting as we’d hoped.

 

There were also a lot of changes and omissions following the drafting of the script, and as such it became somewhat confusing. This wasn’t a major concern however. 

 

Before filming, we produced a storyboard, and whilst it was vague it did give us a rough idea of what we wanted to achieve. Our storyboard and final product do differ, however, as we found that sticking to the storyboard to strictly was unwise, and more creativity was found within the production of the prelim than was found in pre-production.

 

We also watched some example videos from previous years; some good, some bad. From these we learned that even if your ‘story’ idea is awful, you don’t lose marks, something that can be applied to the main thriller task. We noted that editing is the most important thing. Keeping continuity and varying shots mad even the most awful prelims bearable, and in doing so also achieves more marks. There were multiple instances of students who hadn’t got the editing right when opening a door and entering a room, which really does throw the viewer off.  We’ll use this information in the main task, and focus more on getting the right shots and editing it correctly than we will story writing. 

 

We also spoke to year 13 media students that had completed the task the previous year and obtained advice from them. They told us things like “be inventive” and to be prepared to “take criticism”. They made it clear that the prelim would likely not be very good, but also that it would benefit us as it would highlight areas that we need to work and improve on for the thriller. They also gave the advice of not following storyboards too quickly, something that we took in to account and used during our preliminary task. Their biggest piece of advice, however, was to use common sense. Things like framing and composition were necessary and often at the front of our minds, but things such as battery life and memory space weren’t. They made it clear that we’d need to pay attention to little things such as these as if overlooked they could ruin an entire days shooting. We kept all of this in mind when it came to shooting our prelim, however none if it became an issue and filming went relatively smoothly in the end. However, their advice won’t be lost once it comes to planning, filming and editing our main task.

Sean Cleary

Production

As we did not have much time to create the prelim we did not put much time into working out what problems we would encounter, because of this we did have to overcome a few problems that we ran into when filming. Of course none of us are amazing actors and we don’t have much of a background in creating ‘short films’ therefore none of us were prepared. Some of the issues we ran into we just small things like people moving out of the frame. Also the fact that we were using a camera phone really affected the outcome of our video but really it was all just a matter of controlling our immaturity!

Because none of us really took the filming seriously we were all joking around and laughing. This meant that rather than taking 3 to 4 scene takes, we ending up having to take millions! Even still we did not take enough decent footage to create an impressive prelim video. However the issues we faced during the filming and editing eventually will only help to make our thriller opening a strong production. We will concentrate more on making sure we are not looking into the camera and that we remain in the centre of the shot and will remain focused. We will also be more aware of our surroundings to make the clip as authentic as possible. This will involve cutting out any background noise that is non-digetic and checking around to make sure our surrounding corresponds with our thriller. For example if we decide to film something based in the 1800’s we will have to make sure we don’t leave anything that would we out of era. When we moved the filming into the common room we also had the problem of background noise. Although background noise can help create the atmosphere and we will definitely look into using such a technique in our thriller, the noise we encountered actually drowned out the dialogue in our prelim. Even though our prelim was not the most fantastic video, we now have a good idea of the direction we will take towards creating our thriller. If we had to re make our prelim and do the whole thing again we would definitely take certain problems we encountered on board to make sure we give our prelim a more professional look. We would also give ourselves more time to plan which would then allow us to come up with a more interesting storyline and also a better production all together we would also get hold of a better camera. During the editing we would allow more time to sort out any mistakes which in turn could allow us to re film any scenes that we were not happy with. After watching other people's prelims we decided that adding music helped create a better atmosphere in the clip and if we had to do ours again we would most definitely add some music.

Our prelim was rushed however as a group we are all happy with the outcome we managed to produce however our prelim won't be able to hold a candle to our thriller clip when it is made.

Louise Cormack

Post production

The biggest issue I had for editing involved technology; as we recorded the clips off of a phone it was hard to transfer them on to another device. Originally, we were going to send them to Sean but problems came up and we couldn’t send them, we it but it didn’t work until the night before the deadline. It took a good hour for most of the clips to download on to my laptop. Once they had finished downloading and then put on to Windows Live Movie Maker I found that they were an unsupported format therefore couldn’t play. I then transferred the clips on to my brother’s laptop which was an updated version of the Windows software; everything ran smoothly once I’d figured out how to actually use Movie Maker. This is very important as we don’t want another technological disaster when we need to edit our thriller opening; we should make sure we know exactly how to use our technology, that the formats are all the same and that we know how to transfer all footage in the first place so that we spend less time fixing and more time editing.

Problems during the editing were clarity of videos and movement with the camera because they were filmed on a phone and we didn’t use equipment such as a tripod. Another problem with using a phone is that the sound quality was not great, we filmed in class rooms during lesson time to ensure that we wouldn’t have background noise but our last scene was filmed in our school common room and there was a lot of loud background noise from people talking and you can’t keep continuity on that because you can’t get everyone to repeat what they say for every take. I think this is valuable information to carry to the thriller because you need to be aware of your surroundings and all the potential noise in the background because it has the potential to spoil the clip. For example, if you’re filming near a road or near houses you don’t want people talking in the background or a car beeping and realising too late and having to go back and film another day. This is a hassle because you would have to have all the conditions the same (e.g. the weather, setting of props, costume, layout, etc.) for continuity.

There was a problem with continuity with dialogue and movement, for example, in one shot Sean brushes his hair back and speaks and then we film another angle and he does the same thing although his dialogue and movement weren’t the same. It was really difficult to match these, I spent minutes clicking seconds to cut forwards and then backwards in the clip in order for it too match up. This is important because we can’t break continuity, if one moment you’re walking forward in a clip with your left leg from another angle it can’t be your right leg; it will make the thriller seem amateur and not like a serious production.

It is very important to get a lot of footage when filming, there’s no such thing as enough, the more choice you have the better because you will have a variety to choose from, for example the lighting could be of a better quality in one clip than another or you could try different angles and shots for scenes to make sure you get the most out of your location. This is all good for editing because you will be able to choose the clips that look the most professional.

Overall I think that the prelim was useful as it gave me a chance to learn how to use the technology and software that will be required for our main thriller meaning it will take us less time and I will be able to do a better job having practised before. We got some feedback from the year 13 students who did this all last year; they thought we had continuity and they saw the correct techniques; 180 degree rule, match cut and shot reverse shot, they thought it flowed; they could see small errors with the actual footage itself such as the clarity and sound quality but overall they said it was good. One thing they did say is not to use silly transitions after they saw we used a speed change at the end of the prelim as when used inappropriately it can look amateur and silly.

As a group we wrote down many ideas for how we wanted our prelim to go, we wanted to create ‘Prelimception’; ‘a prelim within a prelim’ was the initial idea and we got that as our ending result. We created a storyboard of how we wanted it to be set out and we followed it exactly. Although, when the Year 13’s came into our lesson to give us some advice and tips they said you don’t have to follow a strict structure, test out what you want while you’re there filming because it may be better than your original idea.

Danielle Ranaghan

Cape Fear Opening Sequence Analysis

            “Cape Fear” is a psychological thriller, produced in 1991 by Martin Scorsese. The opening sequence is a prime example of using visual effects and sound to build tension and mystery within the first few minutes of the film, getting the audience interested and asking questions before it has even begun.

Most notable is the prolonged use of water throughout the scene. The backdrop of the first two and a half minutes of the sequence is water, with more images superimposed over them.

 

 Scorsese did this for a few reasons. As humans we have a primal fear of water. Aquaphobia is a characteristic shared by a large number of people, be it out of fear of drowning or simply not knowing what is lurking beneath the surface; the fear of the unknown. The inclusion of this in the title sequence also foreshadows the ending of the film, and the most notable location; the cape on which the final encounter occurs.

Another noticeable image within the sequence is the repeated inclusion of eyes superimposed over the backdrop.

In the scene, the eye is looking back and forth in a frantic manner. This implies urgency and panic, suggesting that the person in shot is in danger and may be looking for a means of escaping, or attempting to identify the source of danger. Being superimposed over the water also implies that the person is submerged, and is looking panicked as they’re drowning, a possible foreshadowing.

There is also an image of an eagle soaring in the reflection of the water towards the beginning. The eagle is a well-known predator, indicating that a predator-type-character will be present within the film. Rather than somebody that is explosive and brash, the antagonist is one who watches and stalks instead. The Eagle is also often associated with Freedom, as it is the National bird of the United States of America, the “Land of the free and the home of the brave”. Combined, these points can be taken to infer that a predator is now free, as is seen in the first seen in the film.

Later on there is a silhouette of what appears to be a man behind his back. This also plays on the fear of the unknown, but also gets us asking the questions “who is this man” and “what is he holding behind his back. The inclusion of a silhouette implies sinisterness and threat.

Further into the sequence the water turns red, in to what we can assume is blood. Blood is often associated with death, so this could serve as foreshadowing. A single drop is superimposed over the liquid, suggesting that blood may be spilled in the film.

Towards the end, a girl appears and delivers a monologue of sorts. She states that “the only thing to fear on those enchanted summer nights was that the magic would end,              and real life would come crashing in.” The use of the word “crashing” in this context makes us think that something huge and potentially unexpected is about to occur. The fact that the “magic would end” makes this shine in a negative light, building tension right from the start.

The first scene of Cape Fear also goes lengths to get the audience asking questions and building tension right from the get-go.

The first shot contains pictures of infamous historical characters, such as Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini and Friedrich Nietzsche. This tells us that the occupant of the cell respects powerful people, and those who rule with an iron fist. The camera pans down and shows us a book shelf filled with thick hardcovers. Cady’s later statement when asked whether he wanted to keep them or not; “Already read ‘em” tells us that he’s educated.

As the camera pulls back, we see a man doing lifts. He’s clearly well built, and dons multiple tattoos, the most notable of which is on his back.

A cross holding up the scales of justice. One side is ‘truth’ and the other ‘justice’.  The fact that they are balanced insinuates that once the truth is out justice will be reaped, a possible hint as to his intentions.

He is then led out of the cell by a police officer. As he walks through the prison, we see other inmates at their cell doors just watching him walk. This subverts the stereotype that other films put forward concerning prison culture. Typically, we expect inmates to be shouting and screaming, banging their cups on their cell bars, but in this instance they are silent. This makes us question why. Are they intimidated by him, or have they a lot of respect? What has he said or done that’s made them react in such a way.

He’s led outside, and as he’s leaving the prison there is a storm brewing In the far distance. The suggestion here being that Cady’s release is the beginning of a storm.

This entire opening scene makes the viewer ask a lot of questions. Who is the man in the cell? What are his crimes? What is the significance of the pictures, books and tattoos? What is the ‘storm’ that is on the horizon?

In the first five minutes, not much has happened, but what has occurred is so non-elaborate that it seizes the viewer’s interest and gets them hooked, as they want to know the answers to these questions.

Prelim Video - Prelimception

This our prelim, called 'Prelimception' as our idea for it is a prelim within a prelim. We created this idea from the film Inception; written and directed by Christopher Nolan.

It features the 180 degree rule, match cuts and shot reverse shot as required.