Forms and conventions of Thriller
View more presentations from Vithujan Arumugam.
24 March 2011
Title sequence analysis
I did a title sequence analysis for the films Arlington Road and Max Payne.
Similar Text AnalysisView more presentations from Vithujan Arumugam.
To see the title sequences please click on the links below:
MAX PAYNE
http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/10/28/max-payne/
ARLINGTON ROAD
http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/04/03/arlington-road/
5 March 2011
Production Diary
1st Feb, Tuesday
Our first day of filming and we were a bit nervous about things going wrong. We took all the equipments required (DV tape, tripod and the video camera) and left college at around half 10 to get to Greenford. When we got to our actress, Lorraine’s house, we were somewhat disappointed to see that she wasn’t ready. After waiting for about 15 minutes or so (we weren’t bored though: we were watching MTV as we waited! But we realized how important it is to be punctual at least when people are expecting something from you), we left to get to our first filming location which was a minute walk from there.
We spent about 30 minutes filming Lorraine in the pathway that leads to the graveyard. Sometimes, we had to wait as there were other pedestrians walking that way and we didn’t want them in our footage. We took extra shots just so that we’d have more footage if we changed our minds while editing. After this, we went to the graveyard and there, we saw a Victorian style carriage and horses which meant: a funeral was about to take place. We thought we might need to reschedule the ‘graveyard shot’ but fortunately, the funeral attendees went inside the church for the ceremony which is when we filmed near the gravestones. We filmed more things than we’d initially planned which seemed to be a good idea because it is always better to have more footage as we’ve been told.
Instead of using the pedestrian crossing shown in the Recce, we decided to use the road near the graveyard and we somewhat changed the plot: Grace (Lorraine) runs away from the scene instead of walking away calmly. It was around quarter to two by the time we packed up and we planned to continue filming on Thursday. Vithujan and I took the equipments back to college while Paris went back with Lorraine.
3rd Feb, Thursday
This time, we met in Harrow Bus Station and from there we took the bus(es) to Lorraine’s house and then to the Greenford High Street. All the equipments had been brought by Vithujan, the cameraperson. We went to the café in Greenford that had agreed to let us film and were disappointed to find that the owner had changed his mind. We went to three other cafes nearby and got refused- one said we’d need to pay them. So we took a bus and went further down the road and went to a Carribean restaurant-café-like place- the lady there kindly agreed and even provided a free cup of tea (our prop) – we still gave her some money as a ‘tip’ when she wasn’t willing to take it!
We were planning to take a few more shots (e.g. bus scenes) if there was more time but because of refusals from all those cafes, that wasn’t likely. At half 2, Lorraine helped Paris take the equipments to her house and we decided to meet at Paris’s or Lorraine’s house on Saturday which we were to confirm via text.
5th Feb, Saturday
We were aiming to finish all the filming by this day! Vithujan and I met Lorraine and Paris in Greenford (- Paris had brought the equipments with her). Then the four of us took Bus Number 92 to Ealing hospital where we filmed the ‘upper-deck’ bus scene. Later we went to Paris’s house and filmed the bits where Lorraine is shown writing on her notebook and later tearing into pieces. We finished filming at around 1. Satisfied with what we’d done in those three days, Vithujan and I went back home leaving the cameras in Paris’s house because she’d agreed on taking them back on Monday.
Though relieved with the filming coming to an end, we were all worried about post-production work where ‘all the magic happens’ or in other words: the tough job!
Tape-Log
We did 'logging' before we started capturing our footage. Logging is basically a written record of all the shots on the DV tape and it tells us which bits we are to capture and why the rest are ignored. It is a way of saving time in the editing suite.
4 March 2011
Editing
When we initially started the project, we had Dhruv with us who was allocated the role of the editor. He had done quite a lot of editing and was actually a freelance editor. Unfortunately due to health reasons, he had to drop out of the course. I had done BTEC Level 2 in Media last year and I could use the editing software so I agreed to be the executive editor.
Final Cut Pro, a professional software programme, made by the Apple Inc. software is used in non-linear editing. Final Cut Pro logs and captures video on a hard drive from where it can be edited and processed. Non-linear editing is an advanced editing method that involves accessing any frame or shot in a digital video clip easily. It is similar to the ‘cut and paste’ method that we are so used to while working on a word document: we can cut and paste the videos wherever we want. After logging, the video tape (footage) is loaded onto a DV tape player from where the shots are imported (captured) on the computer. We can then start editing the footage. (The DV tape player is a firewire-a connection that allows exchanging data very fast.)
On the software, we’ve got a timeline where the visual and audio tracks are kept; sound is kept in an audio wave form (a pictorial representation of music). With a timeline we can see how long the chosen clips are; hence the word ‘time’line. The timeline in Final Cut Pro allows 99 video tracks to be layered on top of each other. The audio wave form helps to know the ups and downs in the song and therefore it’s very helpful to keep the video clips according to the musical beat which is also known as ‘cut to the beat’. The word ‘bin’ in this software denotes the space where the visual or audio tracks: footages are kept.
As this software has ‘cut and paste’ functions, we can do it for various visual clips with the use of Shortcut keys. ‘I’ key when pressed while the clip is running acts as a start or ‘in point’ and the ‘O’ key is the end button or the ‘out key’. So when we use those keys, we get a short clip from the original one which can be dragged to the timeline to go along with the soundtrack and this is done with respect to the musical beat. Other keys are: ‘J’ to rewind, ‘K’ to stop and ‘L’ to play and forward. To simplify this process, we have a ‘playhead’ which can be dragged to the left and right side of the clip and we can see the clip in a fast pace; the clip going quickly is called scrubbing. The spacebar is used to play and pause the video and the backspace is the delete button. For this software, it is beneficial if the user can use the mouse and the keyboard combined.
On the screen, we’ve got a tool bar at the bottom tight side where there are tools like magnifier to magnify the clips. There is a razor tool to cut the clips. On the canvas screen, we can watch the clip we made or are making, by copying and pasting the visual clips, along with the music whereas in the viewer screen we watch the original visual clip where we can use the ‘I’ and ‘O’ key to choose the part in the videos. The ‘roll tool’ in the tool bar helps to change a particular clip without altering other clips. The lock symbols on the left side of each track are called ‘locking tracks’ which are pressed to secure the item in that track so as not to mess it up.
Before ‘Capturing’ , I created a new folder in ‘Scratch’ disk>Sam>AS Media and named it ‘VithujanParisMizla Thriller’. To capture the footage, I clicked on ‘File>Log & Capture’ (Shortcut keys= Cmd-8) after which we can view the visual on the computer screen. Before starting the ‘log and capture’, we are supposed to select the file where we want to keep all our footage. Hence, we need to click on ‘Preview>Capture Settings>Scratch Disk-Set’ and select the folder we made. This saves the project and all the footages in our folder while capturing. To select the footage, I clicked on ‘Now’ at the bottom of the video screen and ‘Esc’ to stop the capturing. I named each captured clip/footage according to what I’d written on my Tape Log Sheet.
Final cut pro has 150 effects available, for example, Glow, Light Rays, Outer Glow, Desaturate etc. There are video transitions like Cross Dissolve, Additive Dissolve and it also has audio transitions and audio filters such as keying tools, mattes and vocal de-poppers and de-essers. We learnt how to ‘close the gaps’ between the footages in the time-line and how to change the volume in a certain part of the same clip by using the ‘razor tool’ and altering the red line in the audio track. For this we used the Toggle Clip Overlays button which brought the volume line in the track. We used effects like Cross Fade (0db) in the audio transition for a smoother flow of the sound.
We were also introduced to Master Templates and told about PAL and NTSC: we are meant to use PAL because the other one is used by US Television Companies. But we decided to use Adobe AfterEffect and just the plain texts to make our titles.
Though I had used this software a few times to edit my BTEC projects, I still learnt a few new things and got a chance to refresh old memories. I helped Paris and Vithujan to understand the software and answered the questions they asked. Although, I was in charge of the post-production work, we three, as a group, decided what footage to use and where they belong and so on.
Storyboarding
This is the storyboard we made before we started our filming. After scanning them on the computer, I've decided to use felt-tip pen or something if they are to be scanned.
Risk Assessment
After writing the Recce, I prepared a Risk Assessment Form for our shoot. The forn contains the essential understanding of any Heath and Safety issues that are associated with the locations during the filming process. It is helpful to identify possible risks and prepare appropriate notes to guard against those misfortunes.
We didn't have to worry about bathroom, changing room and
refreshment facilities because (as mentioned in the Recce),
we were filming very near Lorraine (our actress) and Paris's
(the Producer) houses.
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