Contextual links: Pay it Forward

In this scene from the movie 'pay it forward', there is a lot of tension that is created with the music and also when the boys are fighting and the parents are running to help him but cannot reach him in time. Also when the knife is revealed, a lot of tension is built. In our thriller, we definitely want to create tension, and I think this is a good example of how we would like our thriller to be in terms of tension and putting the audience on edge.

Contextual links: We are from venice

'We are from venice' is an A2 media studies music video that we found that was also done at Hurtwood. Although this is not related or linked to bullying, it does have a location and an aesthetic that would work well with our thriller. We definitely think that the location that this was shot at would be perfect for some scenes in our thriller, especially the beat up scene, as it is very urban and gritty. Furthermore, the location is very accessible as it is close to our school. 

The other aspect we like is the violent nature of the music video and the recklessness. We would definitely like to incorporate some of this into our thriller.

Contextual links: Cyberbully

I also found another clip from the film 'cyber bully'. I think that cyber bullying would be an interesting aspect to add to our thriller, as it creates the cycle of being bullied at school physically, and then going home and being bullied in the comfort of your own home by cyber bullies. I think that the way we could do this by one of the bullies filming the bullying and then posting it online.
In this scene from 'cyber bully' I think it really focuses on being sympathetic towards the victim, and shows how emotionally damaging cyber bullying can be, as it leads to her contemplating suicide.
I definitely think that introducing cyber bullying to our thriller would add an interesting angle to it, and this clip works as great inspiration.

Contextual links: Kidulthood

I found this clip on YouTube from the film 'Kidulthood' and I feel like this is a really good clip, as it is a good combination of violence and bullying. It is also is british, and shows a british bullying situation with british slang etc. and since we intend to make our thriller about a british bullying situation, this is a good link. We also like the idea of the mobile phone being involved, as using the mobile phone to film the bullying, and then that footage being posted online resulting in the victim being cyber bullied further, is quite an interesting concept as it means that even after the bullying has ended, it never really ends as she is still being bullied online. Ideally, we hope to make our bullying scene as realistic as this.

Contextual links: green street hooligans

Today our group had a meeting, where we began do some research to find some contextual links related to our thriller idea. When researching bullying scenes we found that most of them were centred around cyber bullying, but we found a scene from Green Street Hooligans which involved quite a brutal and violent fight scene which would probably be more compatible with our chosen idea, and whilst this is not bullying, it has the same violent aspect we are looking for in our thriller. It also involves a soundtrack which contrasts with the actions in the clip which is quite interesting.
The only thing that we feel makes this scene not completely compatible with what we are going for, is the fact that this is just lots of violence, and less actual taunting and bullying, but nonetheless it is still a good inspiration for our thriller.

Kyle Cooper: Spider-man 2 title sequence - ANALYSIS

In the opening sequence to spider-man 2, created by Kyle cooper, he consistently uses many animated pictures from scenes in the previous movie, which tell the story of the previous film, to introduce the audience to the sequel so that they are up to date and understand the context.I think that this is a very clever and creative, and also artistic way of introducing the audience to the film. 

I also like the way Kyle cooper incorporates movement into This title sequence, It makes it more visually impressive and the contrast in the colours he uses blue and red, bordered off by black lines which all relate to the spiderman theme, really set the audience in the right mind frame for the opening scene as it introduces them to it in such a great way.

I also like the way that the he uses the black lines that the opening credits appear behind, to create a web, it is very clever use of animation and it looks really great.

The Music used is the classic spiderman theme music used in their opening title sequences. It is upbeat which puts the audience in a good mood and creates a lively and interesting atmosphere as the film begins. 

At the end of the Title sequence, a picture appears of 'Mary Jane' and there is a voiceover from Peter Parker talking about her. The shot zooms out to a wide shot showing the picture of her on a billboard and then pans over to Peter Parker on a bike. 

Kyle Cooper: Wimbledon opening sequence - ANALYSIS

Kyle Cooper really does a great job in cleverly designing the sound effects, music and text to work together. The music in the background is happy and uplifting guitar music, which continues throughout the opening sequence, later accompanied by drums and subtle vocals harmonising. But there is also the sound effects of a tennis ball being hit back and forth, and every time the sound effect plays, a new title or credit appears, and this works really well and goes well with the theme of tennis in the film, as it is as if the titles are being hit from one side of the screen to the other, like a tennis ball.

The sequence is mostly composed of pictures being shown after each other in a stop motion fashion, for example it is used to show the audience looking from side to side following the ball. There are also a few short clips that are repeated each time the tennis ball sound effect is played. 

Overall, the sequence provides a good and interestingly constructed introduction to the film.

Kyle Cooper - SE7EN opening title sequence: ANALYSIS

In the opening sequence to se7en, Kyle cooper uses very eerie music with high pitched record scratch sounds which are very unsettling and set an eerie atmosphere. Kyle cooper really does manage to introduce the viewer into the story of the film without giving to much away in a very intelligent way. There are small actions that really open the story by teasing the audience with different clips introducing them to the film without giving too much away.
The credits and names of the actors are all relatively small regardless of the fact that they are big names such as Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. I think that this is so that it does not distract the viewer from what is actually going on in the sequence.
Instances like when the man is cutting the skin from his fingers hints at the fact he is doing this to remove his identity so that he does not leave fingerprints. Other things like when the boys face is being scribbled on with a black marker, show that the man in this opening sequence obviously has bad intentions etc.
In conclusion, I like the way that Kyle Cooper has designed this opening sequence to introduce the audience without giving to much away.

Kyle Cooper Demo Reel

Kyle Cooper

Kyle Cooper is a title sequence designer for many very successful motion pictures, from Salem, Massachusetts.

As of today he has directed over 150 film title sequences including some big titles such as: Braveheart, Seven with Brad Pitt, Spider-Man, Godzilla, Iron Man, Superman Returns, The incredible Hulk, The Orphan, Tropic Thunder, Sherlock Holmes, Arthur, American Horror Story etc. to name a few! 
Kyle Cooper's work is truly incredible, as his title sequences are extremely creative and the graphics are very advanced. 

Kyle Cooper also attended Yale school of art where he earned a M.F.A in graphic design.

Kyle cooper also works in TV and commercials, creating commercials for Apple, Coca cola etc. 

He has also Co-founded the company 'imaginary forces'.

Production meeting - storyboarding continued...

In our third production meeting, we started another draft our storyboard. This time, instead of the storyboard being on an A3 piece of paper, it was done on a proper storyboarding sheet, so this was really our actual first draft. 

I again drew the pictures, with Bea, whilst Harry did the info. The kind of information that we included was location, description of exactly was happening in the shot, the angle of the shot and type of shot etc. The purpose of this is to make it so that when the camera looks at the storyboard he knows exactly what needs to be done. 

In our next meeting, we will be doing our final draft, which will mean that the illustrations will be more details and it will all be more neat etc.  as it is the one that will actually be used.

Production meeting - Storyboarding

In our second production meeting, we began to transfer our thriller idea into the form of a storyboard, to plan it out visually. In our storyboard, Harry wrote most of the annotations, whilst Bea and I shared the job of illustrating the storyboard and drawing the pictures. 

I felt that writing down our idea into a shot by shot illustrative storyboard helped to out the whole thing into perspective and helped us to understand how achievable the idea would be and what would be needed for each shot. Although this is just the first rough draft, I now believe that the final draft will provide a good plan for when we actually shoot the thriller, and it will be especially helpful for the camera man, as it shows them exactly the shots that they have to have filmed.

I found the illustrative part of the storyboarding to be the most favourable part for me, as I do art and so I enjoy it, which allowed me to make sure that I did it well. 

Semiology

Denotation

Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a word. For example the denotation of fire would be a process in which substances combine chemically with oxygen from the air and typically give out bright light, heat, and smoke; combustion or burning.

Connotation

Connotation refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word. For example the connotation of fire would be danger, evil or fear.

A good example would be a knife. The denotation of a knife, would be an object used in households in the preparation of food etc. But the connotation would suggest that it is a weapon used to kill people by murderers. These ideas are promoted by the media. For example the film scream will have played a significant part in promoting the idea of the knife as a murder weapon. 

Opening sequence analysis - Don't look now

In our lesson we looked at and analysed the opening sequence of the film 'Don't Look Now', a 1973 thriller film directed by Nicholas Roeg.

The opening sequence begins with happy and dreamy non-diegetic music, which sets the mood for the scene. A white horse is scene galloping in the background as a young girl pushes a wheelbarrow. 

Another shot is shown later, which shows the young girl positioned in the foreground, with the house in the background, to show the audience where she is in relation to the house. 

There then follows a shot which pans down from the girl crouching above the lake. When the shot reaches the water, it shows her reflection in the water, which promotes the notion of her being underwater subliminally to the audience. 

The shot of the couple in the house shows the male figure looking at pictures, whilst who is presumed to be his wife sits with her back to him on the other side of the room. They appear very distant from each other by the way the shot is composed.

After this there are more shots of the girl walking, but these shots are of her reflection in the water, again giving the idea of her underwater. 

There is also a shot of the boy on his bike, running over a piece of glass and falling off his bike. Another scene is juxtaposed right after this of the Father looking up as if he heard the glass break, although this is impossible as he is too far away, which gives the idea that he can feel something is wrong, however it is evident that the wife does not have this same ability as she proceeds to act as normal and talk about the book she is reading. 

There is also then a shot of the mother putting her hand to her face to ask for a cigarette, which is immediately followed by a shot of the daughter doing the same hand motion, and finishing the action.

Afterwards there is also another shot which has the boy in the foreground and the girl in the background to show their distance from each other.

There is also another shot where the father finishes the action of the daughter, which starts with her showing a ball, and then the father finishes the action by throwing a pack of cigarettes to his wife. This also happens again when the ball lands in the water and then a shot of the father knocking over a glass of water is juxtaposed straight after to finish the action.

The father also continues to show that he can sense something is wrong when blood emerges on the photo and he immediately looks up. Although it is evident something is wrong and he can sense it. He tells the wife that nothing is wrong so they he is keeping something from her. 

There is then a shot after of the daughter submerged in water, which had been foreshadowed throughout the opening sequence.