Past Student Thrillers

Rating previous thriller film openings

In all of these openings I will be considering these questions:

1) Does it look like the opening of a thriller film?

2) Are any conventions of a thriller seen?

3) Have they made a good use of mise-en scene?

4) Is it technically secure? 

5) Is the sound appropriate?

Then I will be giving it a rating of 1 to 4

1) Minimal

2) Basic

3) Good

4) Excellent 

Finder's Keepers

Finder's Keepers did seem like an opening to a very fast paced action thriller.

This thriller was good because it had the conventions of a thriller. One example of this would be their use of a red herring. As the man reaches into his pocket we presume that he is going to bring out a gun, but instead brings out his phone.

Their use of mise-en-scene was well thought out. The area it was filmed was visually interesting. Also, the characters were in appropriate costumes that helped us identified the different characters.

The sound was fast paced to match the chasing scene. However, it did sound a little out of place at times as it did sound like party music.

Overall the thriller was secure as it mostly made sense. So the score given was a 4.
http://youtu.be/kGX_pag43XU
 

Hide and Seek

Hide and seek also seemed like an opening to a thriller.

The thriller created suspense and tension throughout the opening scene.
The mise-en-scene was very inentive as it was realistic and fun to watch. The costuming and make up was also well done.

The thriller was technically accurate as the plot was easy to follow. However, the sound was not as clear as it could have been; so it was clear that they did not use a mic.

Overall I rewarded this thriller a 3
http://youtu.be/Tqp_-IOprj8

Decus et Tutamen

This thriller seemed more like a trailer than an opening.

This thriller was very creative and used a series of various different shots; which made it more interesting.

There were conventions of a thriller including tension, suspense created through the music and chasing.

However, the type of thriller they were going was not clear. The plot was hard to understand so it not easy to judge whether it made sense.

Therefore, overall I give this a 2/3
http://youtu.be/m2e1ok1rWpY

Continuity Editing/Preliminary Exercise Evaluation

The Story

To show our understanding of continuity editing we decided to film a short conversation.
Our sequence was as followed

Character A walks through door and starts talking to Character B
Character B responds
Character A and B hold a short conversation.

This simple sequence was chosen as we could incorporate the editing techniques into it.

Match on Action

To create match on action we had character A walk through the door. The first thing the audience can see is the back of character A opening the door, then it cuts to the front of  character A walking through it. This was chosen to smoothly transition the character from the activity of one shot to the continuity of it in the next shot.

Eye Line Match

To include an eye line match shot we had character A glaring at something. We then cut to a shot of character B; and it is revealed that is who character A was looking at. Lastly, we see charcter A's reaction again.

Shot, Reverse, Shot

As our sequence included dialougue it was easy to include shot reverse shot. As the two characters argued we transitioned the camera angle to focus on the talking character and the other character's reactions.

180 Degree Rule

It was very important we didn't break the 180 degree rule. We had to make sure that the two subjects always had the same left/right relationship. To make sure this was in place we made sure the camera did not pass the crossing line.

Overall Evaluation

Overall our preliminary excerise was successsful as we were able to correctly film these continuity editing shots. We also made sure that the mise en scene was the same. This included the character's hair, costumes, make up and using the same room, except for one scene at the end.

As we are still beginners the filming and editing could have been tighter. Upon reviewing the film you can see little mistakes that could have been rectified.
If we were to do this again we could do things to improve it. This could include making sure the camera is completely leveled, getting rid of any extraneous noises during filming and making sure everything is neatly edited together.

Collateral

No Country For Old Men

Source Code

The Manchurian Candidate

Mis-en Scene James Bond Casino Royale

Mise-en Scene