I have decided to do some research into other thriller films, I will watch some opening title sequences that include people being stalked. This will give me some inspiration and help me in the preparation of my own title sequence.
I have decided to look at One Hour Photo and Halloween.
1) One Hour Photo
It begins with the name of the Company and immediately, we see a man's hand snatching a camera off the table really quickly and everything else is very fast-paced. After a few images, some words appear in white writing in black background and disappears quickly. This makes it stand out to the audience and gives them enough time to read what it says. "He knows your name", "He knows your life", "He knows where you live", gives the impression that a stalker is involved in this film. There are photographs of a family which is only shown briefly and quickly and after that, a girl appears holding some photos looking rather anxious and worried. This could signify a bad memory or someone unknown might have sent pictures to her which are distressing. At the end of the title sequence it says, "You're a very lucky man, you have a wonderful family" - this leaves the audience wondering what this could mean, whether this is the stalker speaking or the person being followed in this film. From watching the opening title sequence, it is clear that this is going to be a thriller film with someone going after another person with an unknown motive as it was from a point of view where someone is watching the characters silently and possibly takes photographs of he or she follows.
2) Halloween
3) Sleeping With The Enemy:
Saturday 6 December 2008
Our Initial Ideas
Me and Emily have agreed on the title of our opening sequence: "He's Coming After You" and the filming location, which will take place at Abbey Wood Ruins.
The narrative structure of the film will be Non-Linear as it will have two scenes (at the park and at the stalkers house) occurring throughout the film.
After several attempts in trying to come up with a Logline, we decided that this will suit our title sequence the best:
"An obsessive stalker deeply in love with his ex-girlfriend, avenges her by murder".
Change in Scene 10:
We have decided to change the last scene of our title sequence. Our original idea was the stalker walking behind the person grabbing her shoulder, dropping her iPod in shock in slow motion and the heart monitor going flat (signifying that the stalker has killed her).
We have changed it to the person walking through the park, the audience sees the stalker coming out from behind the trees, instead following her like expected, he turns around and walks away in the opposite direction. The person carries on walking and meets a friend at the other end of the walkway and starts off a brief conversation; the person talks about how she thinks she was being followed by someone.
This is the conversation between the person and the friend:
Friend - "Hey, are you alright? You look a bit worried."
Person - "Yeah, I'm fine, just thought I was being followed."
Friend - "What, again! That's like the fifth time in two weeks!"
Person - "I know, it's probably nothing."
Friend - "I'm not so sure. I don't think you should be walking through here on your own anymore. It's getting too freaky."
Person - "It's fine, honestly. As I said, it's probably nothing. Now come on, let's go." (The person looks over her shoulder).
In addition, we have made changes to scene 7:
- Our first idea was the door opening to reveal a room covered in pictures of the person being stalked and the camera filming all the pictures and everything else in the room.
- Me and Emily decided that it would be rather difficult to get a whole room completely covered in pictures.
- A door opens and the camera moves into the room to reveal a small table in the middle of the room, covered in pictures of the person being stalked. The camera moves forward and has a close-up shot of the pictures on the table.
Things to do for the change in this scene:
- Get white sheets to cover up the computer desk and chest of drawers to give the room an eerie effect, the house is not an original family home but the stalker lives in a strange ghostly home.
- The blinds on the windows will be messed up, hanging half down and the other half is caught up. It will also be half open and half shut to make the room look quite dark and this will give the room an creepy light and a strange atmosphere.
In our Media lesson, after listening to Granite and Axe Grinder by Pendulum, me and Emily decided that the song Granite will best suit our opening title sequence.
The music sounds eerie, especially at the beginning of the song, which builds up suspense. The only problem is finding copy-right free music, if we are unable to find it, we will have to use another music.
Granite by Pendulum:
Axle Grinder by Pendulum:
The narrative structure of the film will be Non-Linear as it will have two scenes (at the park and at the stalkers house) occurring throughout the film.
After several attempts in trying to come up with a Logline, we decided that this will suit our title sequence the best:
"An obsessive stalker deeply in love with his ex-girlfriend, avenges her by murder".
Change in Scene 10:
We have decided to change the last scene of our title sequence. Our original idea was the stalker walking behind the person grabbing her shoulder, dropping her iPod in shock in slow motion and the heart monitor going flat (signifying that the stalker has killed her).
We have changed it to the person walking through the park, the audience sees the stalker coming out from behind the trees, instead following her like expected, he turns around and walks away in the opposite direction. The person carries on walking and meets a friend at the other end of the walkway and starts off a brief conversation; the person talks about how she thinks she was being followed by someone.
This is the conversation between the person and the friend:
Friend - "Hey, are you alright? You look a bit worried."
Person - "Yeah, I'm fine, just thought I was being followed."
Friend - "What, again! That's like the fifth time in two weeks!"
Person - "I know, it's probably nothing."
Friend - "I'm not so sure. I don't think you should be walking through here on your own anymore. It's getting too freaky."
Person - "It's fine, honestly. As I said, it's probably nothing. Now come on, let's go." (The person looks over her shoulder).
In addition, we have made changes to scene 7:
- Our first idea was the door opening to reveal a room covered in pictures of the person being stalked and the camera filming all the pictures and everything else in the room.
- Me and Emily decided that it would be rather difficult to get a whole room completely covered in pictures.
- A door opens and the camera moves into the room to reveal a small table in the middle of the room, covered in pictures of the person being stalked. The camera moves forward and has a close-up shot of the pictures on the table.
Things to do for the change in this scene:
- Get white sheets to cover up the computer desk and chest of drawers to give the room an eerie effect, the house is not an original family home but the stalker lives in a strange ghostly home.
- The blinds on the windows will be messed up, hanging half down and the other half is caught up. It will also be half open and half shut to make the room look quite dark and this will give the room an creepy light and a strange atmosphere.
In our Media lesson, after listening to Granite and Axe Grinder by Pendulum, me and Emily decided that the song Granite will best suit our opening title sequence.
The music sounds eerie, especially at the beginning of the song, which builds up suspense. The only problem is finding copy-right free music, if we are unable to find it, we will have to use another music.
Granite by Pendulum:
Axle Grinder by Pendulum:
Tuesday 2 December 2008
My research on Saul Bass
Saul Bass (1920-1996) is a well-known graphic designer of the mid 20th century. He had created over 50 title sequences for Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, John Frankenheimer and Martin Scorsese.
I have researched three of Saul Bass's title sequences in depth and included my analysis:
1) North by Northwest
In this title sequence, it is fast paced and everything moves constantly. There are loads of people walking quickly in order to get to where they ought to be. It is set in a busy place, possibly during rush hour where everyone has to go work or go home. At the beginning, the title appears quite quickly onto the screen from the top and from the bottom, in different directions which represents the title sequence as being very fast-paced. The music is fast and changes with the titles. As it appears, it disappears with the same pace it came on with. I like the end of the sequence where the viewers see a bus driving off even though there was a man who arrived at the bus stop just in time to catch it but was unfortunate enough to miss it. The door closes and the bus moves off whilst the man is disappointed. There isn't much communication between the people as they are busy rushing to get to their destinations. Despite the number of people in the area, no one cares about anyone else apart from themselves getting to their preferred place.
In my opinion, I don't really like North by Northwest title sequence as I find it rather boring. The music stays the same all throughout the title sequence and not a lot happens during it apart people hurrying. An atmosphere of tension is created.
2) Psycho
The Psycho title sequence immediately builds suspense as soon as it begins. The music is fast which also helps to create tension and suspense. Throughout the sequence, a black background is used which gives the audience an atmosphere and a feeling of dark, evil and mysterious. By the music and background, the audience already know that this title sequence is based on darkness and that something mysterious is going to happen. I like the fact that the titles appear on the screen in pieces as if the words have been put together like a jigsaw puzzle and the words join up so the audience can read the title clearly. This gives the audience a sense of confusion where they can read the title once it has been pieced together. Some titles are 'moving' which gives a feeling of uneasiness. The words are kept in the dark which makes the audience wonder about what it is going to say but eventually can be read as it is in white, contrary to the black background. At the end of the title sequence, a black and white picture appears. This is possibly where the film is going to be set. There are no pictures throughout it until the very end where we see it vagely which makes me wonder where it is and why was it shown. This is one of my favourite title sequences by Saul Bass, it is very inspiring.
3) Vertigo
This title sequence begins with a close up shot of a woman's face in dark background, with the emphasis of her eye moving slowly from side to side looking worried and nervous. After that, the the titles appear. After watching this, it is clear that the theme of this film is going to be based on an eye. The sequence begins with shots of the eye where it moves from side to side, looking anxious about what might be happening around them. This beginning gives the audience sense that something dramatic is going to occur, making them feel tense about what could occur later on in the film. The eye widening gives the audience a clear message that something shocking is going to occur at some moment in the film. The various shapes that are included during the rest of the title sequence are all based around the shape of an eye. Saul Bass has used various shapes which are strange and a bit mysterious.
These are some other opening sequences that I have looked at produced by Saul Bass:
4) The Human Factor
5) It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world
6) Ocean's Eleven
7) Spartacus
I have researched three of Saul Bass's title sequences in depth and included my analysis:
1) North by Northwest
In this title sequence, it is fast paced and everything moves constantly. There are loads of people walking quickly in order to get to where they ought to be. It is set in a busy place, possibly during rush hour where everyone has to go work or go home. At the beginning, the title appears quite quickly onto the screen from the top and from the bottom, in different directions which represents the title sequence as being very fast-paced. The music is fast and changes with the titles. As it appears, it disappears with the same pace it came on with. I like the end of the sequence where the viewers see a bus driving off even though there was a man who arrived at the bus stop just in time to catch it but was unfortunate enough to miss it. The door closes and the bus moves off whilst the man is disappointed. There isn't much communication between the people as they are busy rushing to get to their destinations. Despite the number of people in the area, no one cares about anyone else apart from themselves getting to their preferred place.
In my opinion, I don't really like North by Northwest title sequence as I find it rather boring. The music stays the same all throughout the title sequence and not a lot happens during it apart people hurrying. An atmosphere of tension is created.
2) Psycho
The Psycho title sequence immediately builds suspense as soon as it begins. The music is fast which also helps to create tension and suspense. Throughout the sequence, a black background is used which gives the audience an atmosphere and a feeling of dark, evil and mysterious. By the music and background, the audience already know that this title sequence is based on darkness and that something mysterious is going to happen. I like the fact that the titles appear on the screen in pieces as if the words have been put together like a jigsaw puzzle and the words join up so the audience can read the title clearly. This gives the audience a sense of confusion where they can read the title once it has been pieced together. Some titles are 'moving' which gives a feeling of uneasiness. The words are kept in the dark which makes the audience wonder about what it is going to say but eventually can be read as it is in white, contrary to the black background. At the end of the title sequence, a black and white picture appears. This is possibly where the film is going to be set. There are no pictures throughout it until the very end where we see it vagely which makes me wonder where it is and why was it shown. This is one of my favourite title sequences by Saul Bass, it is very inspiring.
3) Vertigo
This title sequence begins with a close up shot of a woman's face in dark background, with the emphasis of her eye moving slowly from side to side looking worried and nervous. After that, the the titles appear. After watching this, it is clear that the theme of this film is going to be based on an eye. The sequence begins with shots of the eye where it moves from side to side, looking anxious about what might be happening around them. This beginning gives the audience sense that something dramatic is going to occur, making them feel tense about what could occur later on in the film. The eye widening gives the audience a clear message that something shocking is going to occur at some moment in the film. The various shapes that are included during the rest of the title sequence are all based around the shape of an eye. Saul Bass has used various shapes which are strange and a bit mysterious.
These are some other opening sequences that I have looked at produced by Saul Bass:
4) The Human Factor
5) It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world
6) Ocean's Eleven
7) Spartacus
Saturday 29 November 2008
My StoryBoard for my Title Sequence
In our Media lesson on Friday 28th November, me and Emily have thoroughly discussed and have expanded our ideas about what the opening title sequence of our Thriller film is going to be about.
This is our StoryBoard:
Scene 1) At the Woods
A close-up shot of the person's iPod which zooms out and the audience sees the person walking through Abbey Wood Ruins, listening to their iPod, so they are completely oblivious to what is going on around them. The background music will be the song on the person's iPod and the point of view will be from a mysterious stalker in the bushes watching the person.
Scene 2) At the Woods
This is from the point of view of the stalker: sees the person walking.
Behind the person, there will be a bush or a tree moving as if someone's hiding behind it but the person on her iPod is unaware of this. The audience doesn't see the figure - this creates suspense and tension.
Scene 3) At Stalkers House
There are loads of knives and the camera moves along, showing all the knives. We don't see the stalkers face but his hands moves on to the most sharpest and biggest knife. This shows the audience that he/she has an obsession with knives.
Scene 4) At the Woods
The person is walking - the stalker is hiding behind the bush - the audience doesn't see him but sees the bush move.
Scene 5) At the stalkers house
We see the stalkers reflection in the knife, but we don't actually see his face, only a dark figure. This represents darkness and mystery.
Scene 6) At the Woods
The stalker behind the bush/tree reveals himself - dressed in black (again, we don't see his face) and follows the person. The person realises there is something behind him/her, stops and turns around. The stalker suddenly disappears.
Scene 7) At the Stalkers House
The stalker picks up the knife slowly and we see the audience's reflection in the knife - close-up shot of stalker's reflection (his face is covered, we just see a darkness).
Scene 8) At the Woods
The victim is walking and the camera moves sideways and the audience can see the stalker hiding in the bushes and watching the person walking. The person doesn't realise and carries on walking.
Scene 9) At Stalkers House
The knife is put down on the pictures of the person whilst the blood gradually spreads all over it. This is a close-up shot.
Scene 10) At the Woods
Lastly, the audience sees the stalker walking and grabs the person's shoulder and the peson drops the iPod in shock in a slow motion shot. Blood splatters everywhere.
- We are considering using a heart monitor to represent the person is dead when it is seen going flat but the stalkers identity isn't revealed to the audience.
- It is shown briefly coming out from the bushes, while its rustling due to the cold weather.
- The shots of stalkers house is never shown to the audience. Obsession is shown through lots of pictures, blood on pictures and loads of knives.
This is our StoryBoard:
Scene 1) At the Woods
A close-up shot of the person's iPod which zooms out and the audience sees the person walking through Abbey Wood Ruins, listening to their iPod, so they are completely oblivious to what is going on around them. The background music will be the song on the person's iPod and the point of view will be from a mysterious stalker in the bushes watching the person.
Scene 2) At the Woods
This is from the point of view of the stalker: sees the person walking.
Behind the person, there will be a bush or a tree moving as if someone's hiding behind it but the person on her iPod is unaware of this. The audience doesn't see the figure - this creates suspense and tension.
Scene 3) At Stalkers House
There are loads of knives and the camera moves along, showing all the knives. We don't see the stalkers face but his hands moves on to the most sharpest and biggest knife. This shows the audience that he/she has an obsession with knives.
Scene 4) At the Woods
The person is walking - the stalker is hiding behind the bush - the audience doesn't see him but sees the bush move.
Scene 5) At the stalkers house
We see the stalkers reflection in the knife, but we don't actually see his face, only a dark figure. This represents darkness and mystery.
Scene 6) At the Woods
The stalker behind the bush/tree reveals himself - dressed in black (again, we don't see his face) and follows the person. The person realises there is something behind him/her, stops and turns around. The stalker suddenly disappears.
Scene 7) At the Stalkers House
The stalker picks up the knife slowly and we see the audience's reflection in the knife - close-up shot of stalker's reflection (his face is covered, we just see a darkness).
Scene 8) At the Woods
The victim is walking and the camera moves sideways and the audience can see the stalker hiding in the bushes and watching the person walking. The person doesn't realise and carries on walking.
Scene 9) At Stalkers House
The knife is put down on the pictures of the person whilst the blood gradually spreads all over it. This is a close-up shot.
Scene 10) At the Woods
Lastly, the audience sees the stalker walking and grabs the person's shoulder and the peson drops the iPod in shock in a slow motion shot. Blood splatters everywhere.
- We are considering using a heart monitor to represent the person is dead when it is seen going flat but the stalkers identity isn't revealed to the audience.
- It is shown briefly coming out from the bushes, while its rustling due to the cold weather.
- The shots of stalkers house is never shown to the audience. Obsession is shown through lots of pictures, blood on pictures and loads of knives.
Wednesday 26 November 2008
My A/S Media Studies Coursework Brief
For my AS Level Media Studies coursework, I will produce a brand new opening title sequence of a Thriller fiction film. I have decided to work with Emily Peachey, we will be planning and producing the opening title sequence.
- The filming will take place some time in January lasting 2-3 minutes. It will be filmed during the day in Black and White to set the scene and eventually in colour as the suspense builds up.
- We have some ideas about the locations we have have selected, such as Abbey Wood Ruins, Greenwich Park, Near Woolwich Crown Court/Belmarsh Prison (Belmarsh Road). We want to film our opening title sequence in an area that is dark and mysterious which will give the viewers an idea of what is going to happen.
- At the beginning, the music will be loud but tense, we will decide on a song that starts off slow, then fast gradually building up the suspense as it gets louder. At the end, the music will be really loud to go with the end of the scene being really dramatic to break the tension.
To assist me in the preparation of the opening title sequence in my Thriller film, I have decided to watch some films in order to develop and expand my ideas and thoughts.
One example includes "Se7en"-
I have noted several aspects which will help me in making the film: the sound is scratchy and has screetching chains which gives viewers the feeling of being nervous and uncomfortable which places them in the context. It is stylistically deeply claustrophobic which is dominated by close-up and extreme close-up shots. There is not much dialogue at the beginning of the opening title sequence but the portrait of the mind of the serial killer is formed which also gives the impression that the killer is meticulously planned, prepared, educated and a religious iconography.
The images of the opening gives the impression to the audience that the stalker has an obsession with religion and is carefully planning on how to kill his victims. This is done by the audience perceiving the murderer as putting detail in creating a religious icon from the Bible and searching for information about the Seven Deadly Sins. This represents to the audience that this character is a potential murderer and religion is an important aspect in his life. We liked the idea of seeing a stalker planning to kill his victim; this creates suspense to the audience and makes them want to continue watching. I like the opening of Se7en which is in black and white and how it gives the scene a mysterious look. This could be a good idea for our own film opening, so to give our stalker scenes the same mysterious look we can edit them to black and white as they are in Se7en. The music is fast paced and has an edgy feel about it. As it goes on it the music gets louder which creates a spooky atmosphere. We plan to use similar techniques to this film opening and we hope we can build the same tension to the audience as Se7en did to us when we watched it.
Another example is "Messiah 1" -
Sound - low key music which helps to build up suspense and tension. The blood dripping is amplified to intensify the situation and the classical music is an important signature of character, mood and religious themes. This punctuates the drama signposting the change.
Shots - It consists of shot reverse shots, including candles which represents romance and religion. There are also feet shots which could be interpreted as danger ahead.
Character - A girl starts of having fun and eventually becomes worried and anxious by a boy's presence. He is established early on as having potential 'murderer' qualities. The colour red has the status of authority and this is symbolised by reactions to him.
Mise-en-scene - The gothic clothing links to red and black which could potentially be religious themes. The white-house symbolises purity and that wealthy, priviledged people live in the classical Georgian property. The rain signifies a sense of invasion.
- The filming will take place some time in January lasting 2-3 minutes. It will be filmed during the day in Black and White to set the scene and eventually in colour as the suspense builds up.
- We have some ideas about the locations we have have selected, such as Abbey Wood Ruins, Greenwich Park, Near Woolwich Crown Court/Belmarsh Prison (Belmarsh Road). We want to film our opening title sequence in an area that is dark and mysterious which will give the viewers an idea of what is going to happen.
- At the beginning, the music will be loud but tense, we will decide on a song that starts off slow, then fast gradually building up the suspense as it gets louder. At the end, the music will be really loud to go with the end of the scene being really dramatic to break the tension.
To assist me in the preparation of the opening title sequence in my Thriller film, I have decided to watch some films in order to develop and expand my ideas and thoughts.
One example includes "Se7en"-
I have noted several aspects which will help me in making the film: the sound is scratchy and has screetching chains which gives viewers the feeling of being nervous and uncomfortable which places them in the context. It is stylistically deeply claustrophobic which is dominated by close-up and extreme close-up shots. There is not much dialogue at the beginning of the opening title sequence but the portrait of the mind of the serial killer is formed which also gives the impression that the killer is meticulously planned, prepared, educated and a religious iconography.
The images of the opening gives the impression to the audience that the stalker has an obsession with religion and is carefully planning on how to kill his victims. This is done by the audience perceiving the murderer as putting detail in creating a religious icon from the Bible and searching for information about the Seven Deadly Sins. This represents to the audience that this character is a potential murderer and religion is an important aspect in his life. We liked the idea of seeing a stalker planning to kill his victim; this creates suspense to the audience and makes them want to continue watching. I like the opening of Se7en which is in black and white and how it gives the scene a mysterious look. This could be a good idea for our own film opening, so to give our stalker scenes the same mysterious look we can edit them to black and white as they are in Se7en. The music is fast paced and has an edgy feel about it. As it goes on it the music gets louder which creates a spooky atmosphere. We plan to use similar techniques to this film opening and we hope we can build the same tension to the audience as Se7en did to us when we watched it.
Another example is "Messiah 1" -
Sound - low key music which helps to build up suspense and tension. The blood dripping is amplified to intensify the situation and the classical music is an important signature of character, mood and religious themes. This punctuates the drama signposting the change.
Shots - It consists of shot reverse shots, including candles which represents romance and religion. There are also feet shots which could be interpreted as danger ahead.
Character - A girl starts of having fun and eventually becomes worried and anxious by a boy's presence. He is established early on as having potential 'murderer' qualities. The colour red has the status of authority and this is symbolised by reactions to him.
Mise-en-scene - The gothic clothing links to red and black which could potentially be religious themes. The white-house symbolises purity and that wealthy, priviledged people live in the classical Georgian property. The rain signifies a sense of invasion.
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