My short film uses the forms and conventions just like actual films in the industry, to follow our genre into it becoming a psychological thriller. We thoroughly thought through ideas as a group to make our film a success and to give the audience the expectations in what they are looking for whilst watching a thriller film.
The opening to my film gives the audience big clues as to where the locations might be set, and shows the title ‘Sedition’ in big lettering. My film starts off by having quick pace edit shots which gets the attention of the audience and gives them the impression that something has happened or is about to. We introduced our main character Megan with a medium close up of her from the side shutting her car then we showed that she was now inside the house by having a long shot of her walking in through the kitchen door coming closer into the shot. We wanted to try and show her face from a distance and as little as possible to keep her identity a mystery and also because it’s a classic thriller technique by leaving the face of the villain out so the audience are left to guess who it could be. We added in an effective looking angle in the scene of Megan and the devil at the sink, as we placed them in these positions on purpose so that there was a close up of Megan washing up whilst showing the devil in the shot but from a slight distance. Overall the angle was beautifully filmed. We used a close up of Megan’s hand consistently scrubbing the floor to clearly show an important part to the story to get the audience in thinking that she could be cleaning up blood, giving the idea that someone has been in danger, also to show that she suffers from OCD and has an obsession. A submissive shot was used on the character Megan in the kitchen scene with her kneeling down on her hands and knees whilst again scrubbing up any evidence. This is showing a more weak and vulnerable side to her through the use of this camera angle. We also show her in a dominant shot when she is opening the boot of the car showing her looking in control and powerful. The camera in this shot was placed in the boot directing up at Megan to get this effect, also it’s the first time the audience gets a real look at the characters face.
When going through our editing process we got the chance to experiment with different tools available on the programme to help make our short film look more visually interesting to watch. Whilst editing we were able to be more creative and started to include different effects. We over lapped images, such as the first two images shown in the opening title sequence, and throughout the film we blended some scenes into one another making the transition from scene to scene easier on the eye to watch. We used the use of slow motion when the three female characters are standing in a line side ways facing towards the sea, showing a more emotional element to the film. The idea of the beach scene with the lead character reflecting on her thoughts, came from the film ‘This is England’. We used a similar idea from this film as it would make the audience connect more emotionally with the character Megan. We super imposed some images together, creating the effect of being able to see double, showing an unsteady dizzy look, which related well with our idea of someone not being mentally well. We applied these when Megan was standing on her own whilst facing the sea, when she is standing sideways on the beach alone, and the ending image of her face as a close up. These fitted in well with the thriller theme.
Throughout my film we had special awareness and used the idea of tight framing frequently. The idea behind this was to give off the impression that the main character was trapped just like the thoughts in the her head was. These tight framing got to show the audience the tension within the scenes and the stress that the character was feeling. In order to get this across we made sure that the character didn’t have much space around her so she was placed in between people or put next to objects. Some examples of when we used this in our short film was when the three characters were sitting closely at the table and bench after the zoom out effect was used, the main character appears to look very closed in and her facial expressions of looking troubled adds to this idea. Whilst she was on the kitchen floor cleaning, we made her kneel close to kitchen appliances such as the washing machine and oven showing the hardship of what a woman’s stereotypical every day role is, which we wanted to show as it ties in well with the idea of her stressful thoughts being influenced by her mental illness. Also in this shot we had her in the middle of the angel and devil showing her closed in.
The dialogue in my film starts by having the angel talking, then the dialogue switches to and from the angel to the devil character. The devil says a line such as ‘use bleach, bleach gets out everything’ in the film which we use repeatedly throughout over other scenes which adds affect, as its suggesting that she gets rid of the guy to get rid if her problems. The repetition of this also goes with the idea that all of the lead characters thoughts repeat themselves and goes round in circles, again relating back to her illness. The lead character doesn’t contribute any dialogue until a minute into the film when her first word is ‘shit’. This shows that this film isn’t for young children due to the language used, but as our film is a 12a this type of word is acceptable. In the second half of our film we use previous lines from what the angel and devil have said to Megan, and we put them over the scenes where Megan is revealed to be on her own showing that these were all in her mind. We show the line ‘be merciful, no be forceful over the imagery of the sea, which goes well visually as the word force is relating to the motion of the waves. We use this line over the top of another scene also, but we distorted the sound of the voice making it sound deeper so it sounded abnormal and slightly evil. With some of the dialogue we cut and faded some parts making the conversation more quiet showing that she knows what is being said as she has heard it in her head so many times. The audience would still know what was being said judging by the hand gestures and facial expressions of the characters.
My film used two locations which we carefully thought about as we wanted these to represent our topic whilst linking in connotations using these settings. An example of this is the kitchen scene which we specifically chose to film in this particular one as most of the room was white and this linked in with the obsessive cleaning idea, and her having a mental health issue, also relating to the condition of having OCD, which shows an obsessive side. The audience got to see the type of area that surrounded the lead character when she was leaving the house and whilst driving. This showed the setting of her on an urban council estate and her trying to escape the pressures of her everyday life and some aspects of her illness, leaving her time to think and reflect in a more peaceful setting. Having chosen to film at the seaside town of Felixstowe we wanted to show a contrast which surrounds this idea of it being a pleasant and enjoyable place to having a criminal trying to plan a way of seeking revenge. We purposely got a shot of the warning sign in the sea to go with the idea that the character Megan was being warned by the angel of what damage her actions could cause. It also shows the idea of the dangers that can be created by having a mental illness.
The type of music that we had were two very different sounding pieces, and were the opposite to each other, but both fitted in well with our film. The instrumental piece used in the first half is a form that is often used in short films, as its very common and recognisable for this type of sound to be used in them. We used a piano instrumental that was by the artist Ludovico Einaudi which was called ‘Fuera Dal Mondo’ as it had the perfect sound of making any one that listened to it become emotionally connected as its sad sounding. This song also featured and worked well in having an affect on the audience in the film ‘This is England’ which we had previously watched and researched. This song worked well in our short film as it also had the sound of being in a romantic genre, which would possibly have tricked the audience. Our second piece of music that we chose fitted in more with our genre and was a classic sound found commonly in thriller themed films. Our soundtrack choices were different to average thriller films as we used a contrast in the two types of music. We started the change in music when the audience got a better picture of what was going on from the shot of the lead character opening the boot of the car and revealing that someone was inside it. The facial expressions on Megan’s face at this point really added to the fact that she was being known as the villain. To add to the music, we also used the sounds of the original wind that was picked up on the camera whilst filming and we amplified it, making it sound more loud and aggressive.
We purposely waited for a day where the weather would suit the atmosphere to our storyline, and we filmed at our locations on a day when it was dull and grey. This would go well with the mood and it related well with having bad thoughts being involved in the characters head, and there being a sense of bad energy. We made sure that in some scenes in the kitchen there was natural bright light to reflect on the all white colours to show it being spotlessly clean going with the obsessive idea. We also pulled the blind down in the other scenes of the kitchen to add a darker tone, giving off an orange tint which was another different type of lighting.
For costume ideas we thought carefully how each individual character was going to look and what they were going to wear which would best suit their role in the film. For the character Charlie who played the devil, we used the iconic colour that comes to mind when thinking of a devil which was red, and dressed her in a red top and made her lips the same to match to add to the idea of a femme fatal image. The devil also had a black cardigan over the top which symbolises death also could relate to feeling of negativity. Dark black eye liner was worn on the eyes of this character to add boldness and look evil. The angel who was named Catherine was wearing a white top representing the purity and innocence of her role, she also had a purple cardigan on representing her being honourable. The lead character known as Megan wore a variety of mix matched colours, which went with the idea of her personality having many different sides to it. We made her wear pink rubber gloves whilst in the scene of her washing up at the sink to show the domestic work of what a woman is typically known to do.
I think that my film turned out to be a success when fitting in with the thriller genre and whilst following the codes and conventions. Me and my group worked well in coming up with ideas, listening to each other and co-operating together to plan and produce our short film.
I then went on to making a film poster to go with my short film. Prior to making this I had done some research to find out a bit more about them and how they are so important when it comes to advertising in the film industry. I wanted my film poster to represent the genre of it being a thriller and make it look appealing to the eye. I had looked at previous film posters that already existed to get an idea of the layout so that I could make mine look realistic. I noticed that the title of the film was usually in the biggest font and at the top of the poster, that the film strap line was always catchy sounding and in smaller font than the title. The names of the actors and director with the film company would often be in a ‘diamond’ type shape at the bottom of the poster in very small print and in alphabetical order. The main image on the poster would always be big with the main star of the film on it.
When putting together my film poster I tried to follow the structure of how real film posters are put together. I placed my title ‘Sedition’ in white which was in the biggest lettering in order to grab the audiences attention. The font of this was very sharp and edgy to go with the type of genre, and overall It gives off a stressful feeling due to this. The strap line ‘be careful who you listen to…’ was placed just underneath the title in white smaller lettering and sounded like a warning message towards the viewers, with the words ‘be careful’ implying that they need to watch out goes well with the thriller theme and will intrigue the target audience who like these scary genres. They in particular will want to find out what to be careful of therefore wanting to see the film. The strap line always goes well and is clever worded which goes with the storyline. I used dark colours on my poster to give it a mysterious atmosphere, the main colour on the poster is black and the contrast in lettering which is white really stands out when against this colour. I wanted my image to be in the centre of the poster as it was a picture of an eye, therefore when the audience will look at the poster it will seem as if the eye is looking directly at them. I also made the image to look as if its looking through something and made it look an evil eye by adding the deep colour green in the pupil suggesting envy, with a blood shot effect around it, with the red representing anger. I added the necessary film information at the bottom in the smallest print, in the typical ‘diamond’ looking shape. I mentioned the company, director then listed the actors names and other people that were involved in the production of the film. I feel that my poster clearly anchors the film showing that its specifically aimed at adults, and overall I am pleased with the end result with how my poster looks.
I researched how film critics wrote a review on different films and became familiar with the structure they used when writing one. I noticed some of what they mentioned when making a review such as they add in important film information for example the director and length of the film, how they use formal words aiming at a more educated audience, and how they would mention another film name if it was similar to the one they were talking about in the review. Whilst studying existing film reviews made it easier to write and produce my own as I became familiar with structure of one.
My film review starts of with the film details such as the certificate, length of film, the distribution and the release date. I then mentioned a rough outline of the film making it sound intriguing to the readers and I added in the directors name showing that the director came up with a brilliant twist in the storyline. In more depth and detail I then discuss what the happens in the film mentioning the characters, how the film is structured as a double cycle, comparison to other films that have already been done with a similar theme, and included a negative and positive comment, ending with a line involving an opinion on the film overall. I set out my film review in two columns as if it was in a newspaper article to make it look more realistic as this is the layout of most reviews.
I think that my review matched up well with a real film review and therefore came across believable. I ended with a line of positive comments and included ‘definitely one to see’ making it sound persuasive as it’s the last thing the viewers will read.
By having the ability to be in a position to be able to use different programmes through the use of new media has helped my project, for example being able to show anyone my work, and make it easier to do my work and make it look as professional as possible.
Having an online blog meant that anyone could have access into viewing my page at any place and any time they wished to. This is a good thing as a variety of people world wide could then look at my blog and even communicate by posting a comment if they wanted. The blogs were also a great way to distribute, as our film could of been uploaded onto the site and be watched by millions of people within seconds.
New media has enabled anyone to produce something that is high quality and to look almost like the real things, for example, designing and making a web page, making films, posters, magazines and leaflets. Prior to having new media and technology, rich and high end business people would be the only kind of people who were fortunate enough to be able to produce things that would look decent. Through the use of new media and democratisiation anyone can now successfully make something through the use of technology and programmes which will be alomost be just as good as the people working in the media industry.
New media has helped me and my project as it made things a lot easier and quicker. The use of having small digital min flip cameras to film on was good as they were wasnt heavy whilst holding them and they could be taken anywhere. When uploading them onto the computer to watch what you had filmed took a matter of seconds which was good time consuming. The editing process was useful as we got the chance to be more creative. We could play around with different effects and make it more personalised. When editing our film and poster we could make them look better by using the various options and tool with just a few clicks on the mouse it could be changed in minutes.
The opening to my film gives the audience big clues as to where the locations might be set, and shows the title ‘Sedition’ in big lettering. My film starts off by having quick pace edit shots which gets the attention of the audience and gives them the impression that something has happened or is about to. We introduced our main character Megan with a medium close up of her from the side shutting her car then we showed that she was now inside the house by having a long shot of her walking in through the kitchen door coming closer into the shot. We wanted to try and show her face from a distance and as little as possible to keep her identity a mystery and also because it’s a classic thriller technique by leaving the face of the villain out so the audience are left to guess who it could be. We added in an effective looking angle in the scene of Megan and the devil at the sink, as we placed them in these positions on purpose so that there was a close up of Megan washing up whilst showing the devil in the shot but from a slight distance. Overall the angle was beautifully filmed. We used a close up of Megan’s hand consistently scrubbing the floor to clearly show an important part to the story to get the audience in thinking that she could be cleaning up blood, giving the idea that someone has been in danger, also to show that she suffers from OCD and has an obsession. A submissive shot was used on the character Megan in the kitchen scene with her kneeling down on her hands and knees whilst again scrubbing up any evidence. This is showing a more weak and vulnerable side to her through the use of this camera angle. We also show her in a dominant shot when she is opening the boot of the car showing her looking in control and powerful. The camera in this shot was placed in the boot directing up at Megan to get this effect, also it’s the first time the audience gets a real look at the characters face.
When going through our editing process we got the chance to experiment with different tools available on the programme to help make our short film look more visually interesting to watch. Whilst editing we were able to be more creative and started to include different effects. We over lapped images, such as the first two images shown in the opening title sequence, and throughout the film we blended some scenes into one another making the transition from scene to scene easier on the eye to watch. We used the use of slow motion when the three female characters are standing in a line side ways facing towards the sea, showing a more emotional element to the film. The idea of the beach scene with the lead character reflecting on her thoughts, came from the film ‘This is England’. We used a similar idea from this film as it would make the audience connect more emotionally with the character Megan. We super imposed some images together, creating the effect of being able to see double, showing an unsteady dizzy look, which related well with our idea of someone not being mentally well. We applied these when Megan was standing on her own whilst facing the sea, when she is standing sideways on the beach alone, and the ending image of her face as a close up. These fitted in well with the thriller theme.
Throughout my film we had special awareness and used the idea of tight framing frequently. The idea behind this was to give off the impression that the main character was trapped just like the thoughts in the her head was. These tight framing got to show the audience the tension within the scenes and the stress that the character was feeling. In order to get this across we made sure that the character didn’t have much space around her so she was placed in between people or put next to objects. Some examples of when we used this in our short film was when the three characters were sitting closely at the table and bench after the zoom out effect was used, the main character appears to look very closed in and her facial expressions of looking troubled adds to this idea. Whilst she was on the kitchen floor cleaning, we made her kneel close to kitchen appliances such as the washing machine and oven showing the hardship of what a woman’s stereotypical every day role is, which we wanted to show as it ties in well with the idea of her stressful thoughts being influenced by her mental illness. Also in this shot we had her in the middle of the angel and devil showing her closed in.
The dialogue in my film starts by having the angel talking, then the dialogue switches to and from the angel to the devil character. The devil says a line such as ‘use bleach, bleach gets out everything’ in the film which we use repeatedly throughout over other scenes which adds affect, as its suggesting that she gets rid of the guy to get rid if her problems. The repetition of this also goes with the idea that all of the lead characters thoughts repeat themselves and goes round in circles, again relating back to her illness. The lead character doesn’t contribute any dialogue until a minute into the film when her first word is ‘shit’. This shows that this film isn’t for young children due to the language used, but as our film is a 12a this type of word is acceptable. In the second half of our film we use previous lines from what the angel and devil have said to Megan, and we put them over the scenes where Megan is revealed to be on her own showing that these were all in her mind. We show the line ‘be merciful, no be forceful over the imagery of the sea, which goes well visually as the word force is relating to the motion of the waves. We use this line over the top of another scene also, but we distorted the sound of the voice making it sound deeper so it sounded abnormal and slightly evil. With some of the dialogue we cut and faded some parts making the conversation more quiet showing that she knows what is being said as she has heard it in her head so many times. The audience would still know what was being said judging by the hand gestures and facial expressions of the characters.
My film used two locations which we carefully thought about as we wanted these to represent our topic whilst linking in connotations using these settings. An example of this is the kitchen scene which we specifically chose to film in this particular one as most of the room was white and this linked in with the obsessive cleaning idea, and her having a mental health issue, also relating to the condition of having OCD, which shows an obsessive side. The audience got to see the type of area that surrounded the lead character when she was leaving the house and whilst driving. This showed the setting of her on an urban council estate and her trying to escape the pressures of her everyday life and some aspects of her illness, leaving her time to think and reflect in a more peaceful setting. Having chosen to film at the seaside town of Felixstowe we wanted to show a contrast which surrounds this idea of it being a pleasant and enjoyable place to having a criminal trying to plan a way of seeking revenge. We purposely got a shot of the warning sign in the sea to go with the idea that the character Megan was being warned by the angel of what damage her actions could cause. It also shows the idea of the dangers that can be created by having a mental illness.
The type of music that we had were two very different sounding pieces, and were the opposite to each other, but both fitted in well with our film. The instrumental piece used in the first half is a form that is often used in short films, as its very common and recognisable for this type of sound to be used in them. We used a piano instrumental that was by the artist Ludovico Einaudi which was called ‘Fuera Dal Mondo’ as it had the perfect sound of making any one that listened to it become emotionally connected as its sad sounding. This song also featured and worked well in having an affect on the audience in the film ‘This is England’ which we had previously watched and researched. This song worked well in our short film as it also had the sound of being in a romantic genre, which would possibly have tricked the audience. Our second piece of music that we chose fitted in more with our genre and was a classic sound found commonly in thriller themed films. Our soundtrack choices were different to average thriller films as we used a contrast in the two types of music. We started the change in music when the audience got a better picture of what was going on from the shot of the lead character opening the boot of the car and revealing that someone was inside it. The facial expressions on Megan’s face at this point really added to the fact that she was being known as the villain. To add to the music, we also used the sounds of the original wind that was picked up on the camera whilst filming and we amplified it, making it sound more loud and aggressive.
We purposely waited for a day where the weather would suit the atmosphere to our storyline, and we filmed at our locations on a day when it was dull and grey. This would go well with the mood and it related well with having bad thoughts being involved in the characters head, and there being a sense of bad energy. We made sure that in some scenes in the kitchen there was natural bright light to reflect on the all white colours to show it being spotlessly clean going with the obsessive idea. We also pulled the blind down in the other scenes of the kitchen to add a darker tone, giving off an orange tint which was another different type of lighting.
For costume ideas we thought carefully how each individual character was going to look and what they were going to wear which would best suit their role in the film. For the character Charlie who played the devil, we used the iconic colour that comes to mind when thinking of a devil which was red, and dressed her in a red top and made her lips the same to match to add to the idea of a femme fatal image. The devil also had a black cardigan over the top which symbolises death also could relate to feeling of negativity. Dark black eye liner was worn on the eyes of this character to add boldness and look evil. The angel who was named Catherine was wearing a white top representing the purity and innocence of her role, she also had a purple cardigan on representing her being honourable. The lead character known as Megan wore a variety of mix matched colours, which went with the idea of her personality having many different sides to it. We made her wear pink rubber gloves whilst in the scene of her washing up at the sink to show the domestic work of what a woman is typically known to do.
I think that my film turned out to be a success when fitting in with the thriller genre and whilst following the codes and conventions. Me and my group worked well in coming up with ideas, listening to each other and co-operating together to plan and produce our short film.
I then went on to making a film poster to go with my short film. Prior to making this I had done some research to find out a bit more about them and how they are so important when it comes to advertising in the film industry. I wanted my film poster to represent the genre of it being a thriller and make it look appealing to the eye. I had looked at previous film posters that already existed to get an idea of the layout so that I could make mine look realistic. I noticed that the title of the film was usually in the biggest font and at the top of the poster, that the film strap line was always catchy sounding and in smaller font than the title. The names of the actors and director with the film company would often be in a ‘diamond’ type shape at the bottom of the poster in very small print and in alphabetical order. The main image on the poster would always be big with the main star of the film on it.
When putting together my film poster I tried to follow the structure of how real film posters are put together. I placed my title ‘Sedition’ in white which was in the biggest lettering in order to grab the audiences attention. The font of this was very sharp and edgy to go with the type of genre, and overall It gives off a stressful feeling due to this. The strap line ‘be careful who you listen to…’ was placed just underneath the title in white smaller lettering and sounded like a warning message towards the viewers, with the words ‘be careful’ implying that they need to watch out goes well with the thriller theme and will intrigue the target audience who like these scary genres. They in particular will want to find out what to be careful of therefore wanting to see the film. The strap line always goes well and is clever worded which goes with the storyline. I used dark colours on my poster to give it a mysterious atmosphere, the main colour on the poster is black and the contrast in lettering which is white really stands out when against this colour. I wanted my image to be in the centre of the poster as it was a picture of an eye, therefore when the audience will look at the poster it will seem as if the eye is looking directly at them. I also made the image to look as if its looking through something and made it look an evil eye by adding the deep colour green in the pupil suggesting envy, with a blood shot effect around it, with the red representing anger. I added the necessary film information at the bottom in the smallest print, in the typical ‘diamond’ looking shape. I mentioned the company, director then listed the actors names and other people that were involved in the production of the film. I feel that my poster clearly anchors the film showing that its specifically aimed at adults, and overall I am pleased with the end result with how my poster looks.
I researched how film critics wrote a review on different films and became familiar with the structure they used when writing one. I noticed some of what they mentioned when making a review such as they add in important film information for example the director and length of the film, how they use formal words aiming at a more educated audience, and how they would mention another film name if it was similar to the one they were talking about in the review. Whilst studying existing film reviews made it easier to write and produce my own as I became familiar with structure of one.
My film review starts of with the film details such as the certificate, length of film, the distribution and the release date. I then mentioned a rough outline of the film making it sound intriguing to the readers and I added in the directors name showing that the director came up with a brilliant twist in the storyline. In more depth and detail I then discuss what the happens in the film mentioning the characters, how the film is structured as a double cycle, comparison to other films that have already been done with a similar theme, and included a negative and positive comment, ending with a line involving an opinion on the film overall. I set out my film review in two columns as if it was in a newspaper article to make it look more realistic as this is the layout of most reviews.
I think that my review matched up well with a real film review and therefore came across believable. I ended with a line of positive comments and included ‘definitely one to see’ making it sound persuasive as it’s the last thing the viewers will read.
By having the ability to be in a position to be able to use different programmes through the use of new media has helped my project, for example being able to show anyone my work, and make it easier to do my work and make it look as professional as possible.
Having an online blog meant that anyone could have access into viewing my page at any place and any time they wished to. This is a good thing as a variety of people world wide could then look at my blog and even communicate by posting a comment if they wanted. The blogs were also a great way to distribute, as our film could of been uploaded onto the site and be watched by millions of people within seconds.
New media has enabled anyone to produce something that is high quality and to look almost like the real things, for example, designing and making a web page, making films, posters, magazines and leaflets. Prior to having new media and technology, rich and high end business people would be the only kind of people who were fortunate enough to be able to produce things that would look decent. Through the use of new media and democratisiation anyone can now successfully make something through the use of technology and programmes which will be alomost be just as good as the people working in the media industry.
New media has helped me and my project as it made things a lot easier and quicker. The use of having small digital min flip cameras to film on was good as they were wasnt heavy whilst holding them and they could be taken anywhere. When uploading them onto the computer to watch what you had filmed took a matter of seconds which was good time consuming. The editing process was useful as we got the chance to be more creative. We could play around with different effects and make it more personalised. When editing our film and poster we could make them look better by using the various options and tool with just a few clicks on the mouse it could be changed in minutes.
