11. 9 Screen Shots From The Dead Zone

1. My first shot is of a large old fashioned American house. I think it is effective because of the use of colour. It is quite a dull looking image, as in it looks quite dark. The sky is an ominous shade of grey that promises rain and the silhouette of the trees and the black on the house are both quite an inky colour. This makes it seem deeper and gives the image more depth. The house also looks empty and isolated.

 

2. In this second shot, two shapes have appeared on screen. In the foreground, you can see wheat and in the background, there are trees and fog. The crops and the colour of the trees indicates that it is autumn. The fog in particular, makes the image look mysterious and creepy. I like this shot because it is a very well composed image and it is mysterious too.

3. In this shot, more of the black shapes have appeared and I really like the growing mystery with the shapes. It makes the watcher wonder why they are there and what their significance is. The colours in this shot are similar to the previous shot and this indicates that it is from the same place. The colours are all quite faded and they have an orange/red tinge to them. In these images, you either don't see any people or they are only in the distance and this gives the impression of isolation and abandonment.

4. Because of the grain in this shot, the watcher gets the impression that the image is old. The fencing and the trees make the place in the image look isolated and closed off, giving the impression of secrecy. All the colours in the image look like they could be bright and cheerful but they are dampened and this makes it darker and gloomier.

 

 

5. More of the black shapes have appeared and they are starting to form the outlines of something. In the image, there is the sweeping corner of a road that disappears behind a wall of trees. The watcher doesn't know where this road leads and they can't see what they are heading towards. The road is abandoned and the way it is surrounded by trees makes it look secluded and scary.

6. This is the first shot where you can really start to put together the shapes and see that they make letters and words. I like this because it is forming the title and it is also very mysterious. In the background, we see a small country road, trees and power-lines leading to a house. The scene is very gloomy and the place looks unwelcoming.

7. The title is becoming clearer and clearer as the shots progress. I like this shot because of the simplicity of the image in the background. Everything above the 'equator' of the image is just trees, but below the equator, we a road and two people on motorbikes/scooters. Their size in comparison to everything else makes then look vulnerable or unimportant.

 8. The title is finally complete and this is when it has started to shrink toward the centre, giving the impression that it is moving away from us. The background image is more trees, fog and houses in the dull and gloomy colours that are featured through-out the opening sequence of this film.

9. The title has continued to shrink and it is fading out and we see an old fashioned school. I like this shot because it is clear that the movie is about to begin because the image is quite different to the others. The colours are clearer and the image looks sharper. I also like the way that the tree frames the image and I think that this also create a connection between all the previous images and this one because they all have trees in them.

8. Identifying Traits Of Thriller Movies

Thrillers movies tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced. They aim to heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, causing them to feel uncertainty, anticipation and a heightened expectation for fear and terror as well as excitement, suspense and tension. There are ten main subgenres for thrillers;  comedy thrillers (e.g. Mr and Mrs Smith), conspiracy thrillers (e.g. The Da Vinci Code), crime thrillers (e.g. No Country For Old Men), erotic thrillers (e.g. Chloe), legal thrillers (e.g. The Jury), political thrillers (e.g. Notorious), psychological thrillers (e.g. Panic Room), spy/espionage thrillers (e.g. Hanna), supernatural thrillers (e.g. Chronicle) and techno thrillers (e.g. I, Robot).

"The primary elements of the thriller genre:

• The protagonist(s) faces death, either his and/or her or somebody else's.
• The force(s) of the antagonist's must initially be cleverer and/or stronger than the protagonist's.
• The main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or a character that cannot be put down.
• The main plotline focuses on a mystery that must be solved.
• The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist's point of view.
• All action and characters must be credibly realistic or natural in their representation on screen.
• The two major themes that underpin the thriller genre are the desire for justice and the morality of individuals.
• One small, but significant, aspect of a thriller is the presence of innocence in what is seen as an essentially corrupt world.
• The protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) may battle, themselves and each other, not just on a physical level, but on a mental one as well.
• Either by accident or their own curiousness, each character is dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve. "

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)#Suspense)

From this research, I can see that we will need to choose a subgenre that will help us to determine the way we make our opening sequence. It is clear that building tension is very important but it is also important to have a sense of mystery that keeps the watcher hooked and interested.

5. The Jelly Baby Task

We had to create a set and story for our jelly babies. We decided to make our story a thriller. Our first two shots had a blue sky, in the other three the sky is black. We thought this would reflect on Yellow's mood and the intentions of the two other jelly babies. Also, places are much scarier in the dark and shadows make people paranoid. The final three shots were building up tension as well as solidifying Red and Black's bad guy persona and the impression that Yellow is innocent and vulnerable. This makes you feel fear when you see the final shot where Red and Black confront Yellow. We used music and speech to help create a tense atmosphere and to help the story flow better.

"This video follows the story of Yellow and Orange, two little jelly girls who are playing at the park when they notice a man hiding behind a tree. The man jumps out with a knife and kills Orange. Yellow is sad and scared and she keeps noticing two men following her. But what will they do to her?"



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4yZVCTkBzo&feature=youtu.be