Research: Sounds - Ms Begum

What is sound in films ?

-Sound is one of the most important element when it comes to a film production. Sounds are used to create understanding for the audience and to have more meaning about the character and their emotions. A meaningful soundtrack is often as complicated as the image on the screen and is also used to create a response from the viewers.

There are many different sounds being used in films such as:

- Diegetic sound:

Diegetic sound is the sound which come naturally in the film world e.g. a dialogue, music from a radio or juke box. The sound can either be on or off screen. An example of the most recently famous film 'The Conjuring' here is an evident, the used of this sound in the beginning of the trailer make sense to the ear because its realistic and makes the audience don't expect anything to happen to the victims yet as the characters looks relax and enjoyable and also create naturalism which makes the movie more believable.

- Non-diegetic sound:

Non-diegetic sound is the sound that being created to put on the film world for example a soundtrack, a sound effects or a voice-overs. This scene down here of the well known film 'Paranormal Activity' is an example of non-diegetic sound, the used of this type of sound makes sense to the scene and create understanding towards the viewers. This helps to makes the audience to have a chill-excitement feeling and helps to engage their attention more towards the movie.

- On screen sound:

On screen sound is when the audience can see where the sound is coming from e.g. radio, car or telephone ringtones. This video down here of a famous film 'Dawn of the dead' is an example, the used of this type of sound create naturalism and make the scene more realistic. This helps to make the scene more believable and helps to keep the audience on track to follow the movie all along.

- Off screen sound:

Off screen sound is when you can hear sound but cannot see where it is coming from, but it makes sense to the film world for example a phone call, traffic sounds or coughing. For example this scene down here from the famous film 'Scream' is an evident, the used of this typed of sound makes the audience feels sympathy and have an idea of what's going to happen next to the victim.

- Parallel sound:

Parallel sound is the sound when the sounds in the back ground match with the main sounds for example when the character speak on the phone, the audience still allow to hear the answer from the other side of the conversation. This trailer down here of a mystery-horror film 'One Missed Call'' is an example, the used of parallel sound in this trailer helps to give the viewers an idea of what's the film is about by allowing them to hear what's in the phone and the mysterious story behind it. This helps to engage the audience attentions to watch the movie and find out for themselves.

- Contrapuntal sound:

Contrapuntal sound is when the sound dose not match the expectations of what the audiences viewing for example ‘Jaws 5’. The scenes of the beach are accompanied by the contrapuntal sound of the theme tune 'dur dur' which does not fit in with the happy images. This helps to makes the scene more surprising and makes the audience aware of all the bad things that can happen behind the happy images.

Conclusion:

I have analysed and explained the definitions of all these type of different sounds and the emotion plus expectation it creates. This has helped me to developed a deeper understanding of what sounds can create and the important of sounds in the media industry. I am looking forward to use as many different types of sounds as possible whilst doing my own film production.

Research : Cinematography - Ms Begum

What is Cinematography ?

Cinematography:

- Cinematography is the combination of how the way the shot is framed, the angle it is taken in and the movement of the camera.

- All these techniques allow the audience to have a different representation of the character and how the audience response in different ways.

- The way the shot is framed allows the audience to see more or less of the scene and how the character is feeling or what situation they're in. For example, close up shot allow the audience to see the characters feeling through facial expressions.
- The angle the shot is taken allow the audience to see how the character is presented as inferior or superior. For example, taking a shot from high angle which is above the person's head makes the character look vulnerable and inferior. In contrast, taking a show from low angle which is below the person's feet makes the character look powerful, dominant and superior.
- The movement of the camera allow the audience to engage in the action of a scene. For example, the protagonist is being chased by the antagonist, the camera movement would be up and down or across, tilt or palling. This will allow the audience to notice where they are and what situation they're in.

Camera shots and size:

Shot sizes are the different types of camera shots.

There are many different camera shot:

''XLS'' - Extreme long shot is when you can see the character from head to toes and the surrounding. This will allow the audience to notice the characters, what they are doing and where they are. For example this is an extreme long shot of a scene from 'The Conjuring'', Lili Taylor who played 'Carolyn' part was being possessed in the basement with the camera being positioned to capture the scene, this allow the audience to see the surrounding. This leads for the audience to have sympathy towards the character due to what happen in the scene.




''LS'' - Long shot is when you can see the character from head to toes with no surrounding. This will allow the viewers to get an insight of the character's characteristic or features. For example their appearances and their gender. This is a long shot of 'Jason' from 'Friday the 13th', he is presented with long dark clothes & holding a machete. This helps the audience to notes that he's a bad character and leads the audience to have an idea of 'Jason' is going to commit a crime.








''MCU'' - Middle close up shot is when you can see the character from the shoulders and above. This will allow the audience to see the character's facial expressions and some body language. For example this is middle close up of 'Lorraine' from 'The Conjuring' showing the viewers that she's focusing on the mirror through her facial expression. This makes the audience have an idea of her being concerned due to what is going to happen to the character in the movie.




''CU'' - Close up shot is when you can see the character's face only. This will allow the audience to see the character's facial expression whether if they're feeling negative or positive. For example this is a close up shot of 'Lorraine' from 'The Conjuring' showing the viewers that she's looking back and feeling unsafe. This leads the viewers to expect what's going to happen next to 'Lorraine' and also a sign to the audience to prepare for the next scene.




''MS'' - Middle shot is when you can see the character's from their chest and above, quite similar to middle close up shot to show the character's posture, some body language and to show the importance of their characteristic through facial expressions. For example this is a middle shot of 'Lorraine' from 'The Conjuring' showing that her posture was ready to turn but her face expression shows that she's terrified. This helps to makes the audience to have a chill-excitement feeling as they know what to expect in the next scene.




''XCU'' - Extreme close up shot is when the camera is focus in one particular part of the character's body to shows importance and the key moment in thrillers. For example the camera is focusing on the character's eye, and we can justify a number of feelings just by looking at this one particular part. This makes the audience think about how the character's feeling through eye contacts and also helps the audience to reflect due to what happen in the movie.

''ES'' - Establishing shot is when you can see the whole location and mostly used in the beginning of a film, it gives the audience an idea of where the film is being set, for example this is an establishing shot of 'The Amazing Spider-Man', this allow the viewers to notice the location and have an insight of where the scenery of the film is being set. 

Camera Angles:

- Camera angles is where the camera is being positioned to take shots from different angles.

''High Angle'' is when the camera has been positioned above the character. This camera shot makes the character look less powerful and vulnerable towards the audience. The used of this camera angle makes the audience feel sympathy towards the character as they see them as the victim. For example the 'female victim' is being looked down from the camera showing that she's weak and useless.

''Low Angle'' is when the camera is has been positioned underneath the character. This camera shot makes the character look powerful and dominant towards the audience. The used of this camera angle makes the audience afraid or admire the character as they are presented as hero or an antagonist. For example 'Chucky' is being filmed from underneath makes him look extremely dangerous and fearful.

Camera Movement:

There are many different ways the camera can move for example:

- Panning shot is when the camera move across the screen. This video down here is an example of a thriller film called 'Moon In The Gutter', the panning shot showing the victim's body suggest that she has been raped and left dead on the street. This allows the audience to have a closer look at her dead body and feel sympathy towards the female victim. Also makes the question themselves to find out who the murderer is.

- Tilt shot is when the camera moves up and down. The opening of this video down here of a recent thriller film called 'World War Z' from 0:01 - 0:03 is an example. The tilt shot shows the whole scene where there are a lot of traffic in the early morning which suggest the time and location where the scene is being set. This helps the audience to not anticipate anything to happen yet as the scene is looking fine and peacefully where people are casually stuck in traffic in the early morning.

- Crane shot is when you take shots on a crane, it helps to make the camera movement flexible. This video down here of a action-thriller film called 'Taken 2' from 0:03 - 0:06 is an example. The crane shot is used to show the whole mountain scene who's involve in the scene. This allows the audience to note where the film is being set and makes the audience feel content as the scene is looking perfectly normal without any dark intentions.

- Zoom is when you zoom in or out of a scene to take a shot to capture emotions or to get away from it. This video down here of the most famous scene from the first thriller movie ever called 'Psycho' is an example. Zoom is used to show the character whole body from far away to close up to his face. This allows the audience to have a closer look at the character as the zoom shot is showing the viewers all the informations about the character from how he looks like to how he behave as the camera is getting closer. This makes the audience feel uncomfortable as they feel like the antagonist is moving closer and look right at them.

- Point of view shot is when the camera is being film to make it looks like it is from the person's view. The whole opening scene of this thriller film called 'Halloween' is an example. Point of view shot is showing the mysterious character's view as he walk inside the house. This allows the audience to see what the character is seeing and feel more engage as they feel like they're the character in the movie.

- Hand held shot is when the camera moves with the person. This trailer down here from a thriller movie called 'Paranormal Activity' is an example. Hand held shot is showing a real footage of how the viewers reaction whilst watching the movie. This helps to makes the trailer look more effective and makes the viewers who have not seen the movie feel frightened as they can see how other people react towards the movie but also boost up their curiosity to come watch and find out for themselves.

Conclusion:

- All the information above has helped me to have a deeper understanding of how each shot is being taken in different positions and angles. I'm looking forward to use the camera shot/size, camera angle and a few camera movement such as hand held shot, point of view shot, zoom, panning and tilt shot to develop my camera skills and also to use these techniques whilst doing my AS coursework's to gain as many marks as necessary.

Media As - Reseach 'What is a Thriller...?' Ms Begum

What is a Thriller & Thriller Genre ?

A thriller is a film or a book which is created to keep the audience such as readers or viewers on edge with suspenseful and sensational action. Thriller is also being produced in television program, radio, theatre productions and other media.

Thriller genre is a group of productions which affect the audience moods by stimulating the level of anticipation, uncertainty, surprise and high exhilaration. Thriller films or books intend to be unexpected & interesting which helps to engage the audience attention to find out the actions in movies or stories.

What are Genres ?

Genres are the categories that a film belongs to. It is very important for the audience to know about genres, this is because of the age certificates and each film have their own narrative and conventional that are suitable to falls into their own genre. For example :

'Saw The Movie' is a production representing Thriller with the involvement of the antagonist and protagonist. The story line of 'Saw' is about a character named Adam & a doctor wake up in a cellar, jigsaw which is the 'antagonist' tells them what they have to do, meanwhile the police think that the doctor is the jigsaw killer and responsible for the murder of his partner & other victims.

Why is it important to know this ?

It is very important to know this because there are groups of different ages between people such as children, teenagers, adults & elderly. This type of genre would not be suitable for children & elderly as they will find it not very enjoyable & even feel frightened by this genre because it involves violent, blood, and crime which would affect their mind-set. In contrast, teenagers & some adults would find this very enjoyable & they'll appreciate the fast pacing and complex plots associated with this genre.

Sub-genre of Thrillers.

Sub-genre of thrillers is when a thriller is mixed in with another genre whilst maintaining extra details to the main production and still purposely using thriller techniques. For example:

-Action Thriller:


- Crime/Gangster Thriller:

-Science Fiction Thriller:

Example of thriller films & Description of narrative.

Description:

'The Conjuring' directed by James Wan is about a married couple between Ed & Lorraine, they are what people called 'Paranormal investigators' which means using scientific and technology to report of paranormal activity. Ed & Lorraine works to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farm house.

Common themes in thriller.

The common themes that are conventional to thrillers are low key lighting, costume, mise on scene, iconography cinematography, setting & sounds effect.

Cinematography is shown in thrillers to show the audience the situations in the movie and the emotion of characters, this is why in thrillers the cinematography that you would most frequently see is close ups long shots and medium shots to and high and low angle shots. This will then make the audience feeling sympathetic in certain parts of a film.

Low key lighting is used to have a bigger effect on an antagonist and a protagonist for example in scream four the victim who is speaking to the antagonist on the phone gets scared, after the antagonist reveals her name, which makes the audience concern for her safety.

Costume is used to represent the characters in thriller and show the differences between the antagonist and protagonist. For example, the antagonist will dress with dark (strong) colour such as black, red or dark blue mean while the protagonist will dress with light colour such as white, green & light blue.

Mise on scene is a combination of all the themes in thrillers. It includes lighting, setting, costumes and iconography.

Setting is the place and location of where a movie would start off with. For example a thriller movie will be set in the wood at night time or a haunted house.

Iconography is used to show certain situations in a movie and also to build up the tension in a thriller movie. For example, a protagonist would be tied in a chair with mouth covered with duct tape, around the protagonist would have a lot of dangerous objects such as knife, hammer, saw and chains.

Sounds effect is mainly used which build up the tension created by the storyline, violins and other classic instruments. The sounds effect usually builds up to a climax to help entice the audience on intense part of the films.

Who is the general audience for thrillers ?

The main audience for thrillers would be teenagers who is 15+  because they find it enjoyable and wanting to have more experience with thrillers for example seeing interesting characters or unexpected scenes in movies that would make them feel frightened but yet still be interested in what will happen next. They also appreciate the fast-pacing and heart- pounding moments in thrillers.

 

 

 

Audience response to thrillers.

There are many different responses to thrillers depends on the age groups. For example:


 

 

Children response to thriller would be extremely frightened and concerned. For example, ‘’Child Play’’ the movie about ‘Chucky’ had quite a massive impacts on children. The movie was about an evil character that was cursed to be in a dolls body named ‘Chucky’ and was committing crimes such as murder and had quite a few disturbing scenes. As we all know children loves toy such as doll, teddy bear etc...Even though children are not allowed to see this genre but a lot of family ignored the rule and allowed their sons or daughters to see this movie. And after seeing this, a lot of children was absolute terrified & most children was in need of psychotherapist.  





Most teenagers especially students are interested thrillers simply because their curiosity wanting to find out more details about the movie and enjoy feeling heart-pounding moments. For example, when ‘’The Conjuring’’ posters & trailers was released in the street and internet, the movie was hugely successful with the amounts of views and shares online through Twitter, Facebook, Youtube & other social networks. They have also done an after-movie live reviews with some teenagers to let others know how they feel after watching the movie and whether if the movie is good or not & they get good results out of most. This was done purposely to attract more teenagers to watch the movie and find out for themselves. 

On the other hands, some teenagers would feel the opposite & wouldn't find this genre as interesting as others.

Some adults would have the same response to thrillers as teenagers because they enjoy feeling challenge and they appreciate the fast-pacing and they can handle the adrenaline in thrillers. In contrast, other adults would not be interested in thrillers at all & don't appreciate the making of thrillers.

Elderly would not be interested in thrillers because they'll find this genre disturbing and they might get a heart attack while seeing scenes that they cannot handle.

The general emotions people gets from thriller would be fear, chill-excitement and will affects them in certain ways. This is because thriller can activate the audience attentions, and to engage their curiosity to find out what the movie is about and challenge them to handle their fear and other emotions.

Conclusion.

All the information above has helped me to develop massive amounts of knowledge about thrillers and how thrillers would make such an impact to the media industry and have a huge range of different responses from different people with different opinions.