Media Thriller Evaluation

This evaluation is the overall analysis of my created opening sequence of my thriller.

Finishing Font

As of discussion for my opening sequence, I found that my font was out of place and did not fit the atmosphere of the footage and the music. With a little helpful criticism from one of my interested teachers, I have been researching some new unique and different fonts on http://www.dafont.com

I've found this website very helpful because there are various choices of 'personalities' and 'themes' for the fonts, I used the key word and theme 'horror' and 'distorted.'

Finished Piece

Through having troubles using Garage Band, editing minor sounds and changing tempos, I feel I've learned a lot using Garage Band as I have never used a programme that advanced and so open to choose what ever you want and what you feel like. I've enjoyed the challenge and the process creating my own soundtrack.
The process was really easy when I first started because I found what I needed step by step just exploring all the different options, then when I was aware of the choice of different genres and options, I was able to just add pieces together.

The sounds I had used in my music piece included,  Percussion - To add a slight rhythm and bass, this also helps with suspension using ambient sounds. The ambient sounds that were included based on uneven winds sweeps fading in and out; Some ambient sounds were exaggerated so they boomed in the speakers making it more dramatic and loud. I had tried orchestral sounds, with low heavy sounds to make the opening sequence grim and gripping. Some sounds I experimented with didn't fit and wasn't good enough to fit the certain places I needed, so with the thousands of choices, I added a piece I thought was chilling and quite light to end the sequence, but the piece I had tried and had shown to the groups had explained it gave the entire opening a different atmosphere which made it too light and not chilling enough. Instead of piecing together orchestral samples, I chose to insert 'beats' and 'percussion' to make the ambient sounds bold and striking. 

  

The sound from my footage was kept high to keep the realistic feeling in the sequence. Natural sounds are heard as well as the screams of the victim ( Julianna ) and witness ( Mollie )

Music & Editing Update

Through todays lesson, I have pleasingly finished my music piece. I feel very happy with the sounds and effects I chose to put in the music because as it was assessed, I received good feedback that it created good suspense and was used in sync with the clips. I agree and admire the comments and with the pointers and criticism about a few things, I can improve it even more with the ability I have with 'GarageBand' and 'Windows Live Movie Maker'.
I have found the exact pieces and various sounds I need to fit the atmosphere in my footage. If the music does not fit when it is uploaded, I will quickly and effectively change what needs to be improved.

On Wednesday's lesson, our films were assessed and shown to all the groups. We created questionnaires for every group, to comment, criticise and evaluate our mise-en-scene, camera angles, characters and also music. Through this process I was given a few things to improve and fix, such as, the time ( date ) on the clips - to understand where the characters are and who has been murdered ( The detective death reports ), the fonts that are used to present the characters names ( Appears to be an earlier year, old fashioned. ) and even the music, which had a weak ending as it wasn't all finished.

My next step for my production is running through pages in my folder and making sure I have everything I need.

My SoundTrack

As of being noted that I'm unable to use the soundtrack from 'Lara Croft' because of copyright, I have started to prepare a sound track on GarageBand, this programme uses of sample pieces. Included in the sound catergories are, electrical, intense, melodic and orchestral sounds -Violin, Piano and Cellos. These sounds especially help my sound track as I need a strong intense theme. There are also ranges of ambient sounds which helps show the similarities of the movie 'Se7en' and my creation.

This video shows the music I'm going to be 're-creating', it also shows similarities against the 'Lara Croft' music piece of which I like.


This is the piece of music I am hoping to create.

Updated Narrative

Narrative Of The Story -

Two girls, Julianna Hernandez and Mollie Cotton are staggering home from a late night party. Through the eerie, lonely looking park, they make their way. Only to find unexpected company that leaves Mollie frozen in fear. Gloved hands and a covered body grips Julianna and lifts her off her feet in a split second. Left in the cold and silence, Mollie stands in fear.

Finishing and editing

Before the half term, I was able to create some articles of the victims in my sequence that do not appear; this shows and tells the viewer that the murderer has already been out killing. These scenes were short and fast, this was to create the effect and similar qualities to the film 'Seven'. I have cut and changed the tempo on some of these clips to give an unreal, unstable time.
Filming the characters of the victim and witness in the dark giggling to themselves went well in addition it got dark quicker than expected. Although this was a slight fault when uploading to my computer, the picture was noisy and slightly unclear, yet it created a good effect when brightened on the programme that I used. The atmosphere of the clip is eerie and uneven but not too uneven that its difficult to see.
This video is a sample video expressing the snatch of the girl as well as showing the lighting.



Through searching for music, I found that it was not so easy to find the perfect piece. I researched into several recent films such as 'Insidious', 'Exorcist' and 'Unstoppable', and to my disappointment, they didn't fit and were not in sync with the clips. But in the half term, I researched some films of which I have watched and that I enjoy, to my surprise I found a soft yet dramatic song that really did flow with my clips. The movie that I chose was Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Even though the film may not seem a thriller and a harsh bloodshed film, the music that is used is better than you think and can really help build the tension to improve the movie in some parts.
Effects that I used for my opening sequence only included fade ins and outs, I experimented with the brightness and contrast levels to improve the look of the two characters walking home.