Shot Research - Six Feet Under

To find examples for the different shots we would use in our opening, we looked at real-life examples from both Movies & T.V Programmes. Below is the opening sequence to Six Feet Under, where we took ideas from different camera shots to use in our own opening.

This is a close-up shot of a person washing their hands, taken from the video. We believed that this would be a good idea to use something similar in our video because the black background gives us a more ominous/mysterious feeling.

This shot of the titles being shown through a water beaker was another idea that we thought could be useful to be used in our opening. However, without using water, but 'blood'. With this, the liquid in the beaker would be stirred and the text moving through the blood. This would be a good way of showing a shot, as well as getting some of the opening credits shown as well.
 

Butterfly Effect Analysis - By Omar

The movie begins with a quote from 'Chaos Theory' and after that it opens up with a mid shot tracking a character. The character cannot be seen properly as the camera is inside a room and the character is outside of it and his appearance is blocked by the blinds covering the windows of the room. This gives a sense of mystery and begins with an enigma already. The name of the studio who distributed the film is seen as the camera follows the character. You can see that it is night as the room is dark and there are no lights on in the building the character is in. It gives the sense that the character is running away from something and he is all alone - maybe he has done something bad. Maybe he was convicted when he is actually innocent.


The movie then has a change of pace as the character bursts through the door by kicking it open closing it quickly and covering it with a sofa - preventing anybody on the outside from getting in. More questions that need answering are being asked to the audience by the movie. The mid-close up shot as the character kicks open the door and closes it again shows the emotions he is going through - he is desperae to get something done and the audience want to know what. The shot then turns into a mid-long shot as he puts the sofa in front of the door. We also see the clothes the character is wearing - casual baggy trousers with a normal white shirt on with a logo. Although there is one thing uncommon which is the long blue gown he is wearing that resembles a hospital - more questions are now being thrown at the audience.


The camera stays stationary and pans the character as he comes closer to the character turning the shot into a mid-close up. Some of the emotions of the character are shown as he moves and hides under the table although his desperation to get something done quick is shown as he grabs a notebook and writes down something as quick as possible (saying what he is writing at the same time). The camera then cuts to a close-up shot of the character now displaying what he is feeling to the audience - his need to gt something done quick whist not get caught is also freely shown.


The audience is then shown other people who are obviously looking for the character trying to break into the room. They cannot be seen due to the blinds on the windows. The shot is then focused into an extreme close-up of what the character is writing and looks at two words in particular - "Save her." This now explains more of the characters actions and the type of character he is as he might be trying to escape from the building to save someone important to him.


The scene then shows the notepad shattering and turning into butterflies as the title of the film is then shown. From a mid shot of a dark room to an establishing shot of a sunny day in an everyday neighbourhood is our next scene. The camera pans down and zooms in slowly to a long shot focusing on a younger  character whilst stating in captions that the scene is 13 years earlier from the opening scene the audience was shown.


What really surprised me is that after going over the movie again, apart from the name of the distributing company, no other titles were shown throughout the whole movie until the ending credits played.

Seven Analysis

The film opens with a progression of close ups and mid shots, the use of these shots resembles the anticipation and desperation for what may occur next. The angles for which the camera is in, is a vital element, as this includes every detail for which the man is doing. The use of close ups and extreme close ups portray the feeling of isolation and limitation as this is secluded within the space given by the camera.

The close analysis of the pictures and text show the discomfort the audience may feel at that point which relates to the villains point of state as the opening sequence is within point of view.

The shots of young children show distress and discomfort as modern day horrors relate to young innocent children for  the fact that the audience feel more emotion for.

The constant fixation on the moving titles resembles the genre for which it links closely with and the fact that the edgy, jittery sequence left the audience immediately noticing the fact that the genre is psychological thriller.

Overall the opening sequence for seven resembles distress, isolation and discomfort for which the audience may be feeling as it is also told in the villain’s point of state.

Questionnaire for Audience Research

Gender:
Male           Female


Age:
-10         11-17            18-25            26+


Favourite Thriller Genre:
Psychological thriller        Crime thriller          Action thriller          Man on the run


Suitable Location:
Alley way         Graveyard         Shopping centre         Hospital         Forest


How often do you watch films?
Daily            Weekly              Monthly                 Yearly


Time for which it should be filmed?
Early morning     Late morning     Mid-day     Mid-afternoon     Early evening     Late evening


Which of the following movies would you prefer to watch?
Seven                 The Butterfly Effect                     Number 23


What type of lighting would you film in?
Day (with lots of light)            Afternoon Sun            Night (with little light, only street lights)

Audience research

When we choose our film genre of crime thriller we knew we had to carry out audience research so we could see what type of viewers would watch our film opening. We did this by carrying out a mini questionnaire that served 20 people. This included a series of straight forward questions like “Are you male or female?” From our questionnaire we found out that most people who watch thrillers like crime as their best then psychological. This piece of information helped us as we knew what type of thrillers, viewers mostly preferred. Also we found out that people watch a film on average every week and the best location they preferred was a busy area and then a grave yard. This was good as some of our thriller takes place in a grave yard. Looking at the research from the questionnaire we can see that viewers will like our film opening in terms of the genre and the location. Our target audience will be from 15-25 as these are the people who like to watch crime thrillers.

Furthermore we then used a different type of research method which was an interview. We interviewed 15 different people within a range of ages who where male and female. We found out that male people like crime thrillers the most as they find it interesting and women like psychological better. Our results were very similar to what we found out in our questionnaire. When we asked the question about, where you would like the location to be they said a grave yard as it is scarier and sets mood. From our research of questionnaires and interviews we can see that the audience we are aiming our film to is correct.  

Group 2 - Props, Costumes & Setting

Shooting schedule
- Monday 06/12 - Test shoot, research shots and pictures, test shots of a couple of scenes from shot list
- Thursday 09/12 - Main focus on close-up and extreme close-up shots inside building
Props
- Beaker
- Syringe
- Spade
- Heavy duty garbage bag - all these props will be used in the scenes
- Possibly red dye or something to turn the liquid red
- Tools/ equipment usually found in a lab for mise-en-scene, e.g. scalpel, scissors etc
Costumes
- Casual clothes for our male character at the beginning
- White lab coat and latex gloves, for the scenes after the title appears
- Formal wear (blazer or suit) for the final shots

Locations/Setting
- Graveyard (must be updated)

Feedback

bjnGood Points
- A very detailed idea with a lot of thought gone into the shots
- Good linking with everyday examples
- Idea of a graveyard being involved is a positive one
- Interesting plot

Bad Points
- Might be difficult to get everything into 2 minutes
- Chance viewers may think it is more of a horror genre than a thriller
- Seems like too much is going on at once

Anticipating Problems
- To be able to shoot in a graveyard
- A tight shooting schedule is in order
- Many shots must be taken, more than one shot of the same scene is essential

Ideas For Our Film Opening

This is a mind map of the film opening we might do for your project. We have used different categories to organize what will actually be taking place in your opening sequence. This was a good and helpful task as we then knew what sort of ideas everyone in our group had. Also it gave us a main genre to focus on.

Shots

This is a brief shot list;

Shot 1 - High angle mid- close up
              Character drags a garbage bag through the field

Shot 2 - Mid-close up, character continous to drag garbage bag although this time past a tombstone. Text will will appear on the tombstone as the character walks past it

Shot 3 - High angle close-up of the ground where the character then drives his spade into the ground. Text will appear as as he hits the ground with the spade

Shot 4 - Camera moves up into a long/establishing shot of the sky. The title of film will appear in this shot

Shot 5 - Close-up of characters hands putting on latex gloves probably behind a dark or light background.  Text will also accompany the shot

Shot 6 - Low angle shot moving up until it sees a beaker on a table. In the background there is a depth of field making everything blurry, our character puts something in the beaker. Text will be on the beaker.

Shot 7 - Another close-up of the characters hands although this time he is holding a syringe. Text will appear
when character flicks the syringe.

Shot 8 - Extreme-close up of a sink filled with liquid (red), text will be on liquid. As liquid is drained the text swirls down with it
(will be updated)

The Number 23 Opening Sequence

Thriller Opening Pitch

Media Pitch

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