The importance of Fonts

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The importance of Fonts in movies

There are 2 types of fonts:

1. SERIF fonts- such as Times and courier, serif fonts are traditional and more formal than sans serif fonts. it also has the extra little detail at the end of each stroke of every letter
2. SANS SERIF fonts- such as arial and comic Sans, these fonts are more informal and "fun" and modern. They don't have the extra detail on their letters.

This is a great example of how movies uses fonts to create an image of their movie. Twilight's font represent the magical and mysterious nature of the movie. It also gives out out a modern gothic style which reflects the mood of the movie. The use of Serif font reflects the old tradition of vampires, but the way it is edited reflects the younger generation.

The movie "The Host" is a monster thriller genre, so the font they used reflect the theme of the movie. It uses a slanted sans serif font which is in bold and capital letters to show the appearance of the monster. It is also modern and edgy to give the movie an edgy mood.

I think by looking at the use of fonts in movies, it makes me think about what type of fonts I would use for my movie to fit into the mood and also reflects the story line. I also think that font can be a great way to advertise as shown through Twilight's fonts, a lot of people recognise the font, or even Harry Potter's fonts.

Memento - Opening sequence

Memento

the opening sequence

In class we watched the opening sequence of the film Memento. Memento is a psychological thriller movie which is my favourite type of thriller genre. During the opening credits of the film, the only sequence to be played backwards is shown. It starts with the developed polaroid photograph of a man shot in the head. As the sequence plays backwards we are shown the photo undeveloping, entering the camera, being taken, etc. As the credits end, we see the protagonist shoot a man in the head. The production and distribution companies were also introduced in the opening credit. New Market is the company that produces Memento, they also produced the popular psychological thriller Donnie Darko. So by stating the producer of the movie creates a mood for the movie as we meet the producers of the movie. It also gives us the idea of the budget of the movie, as New Market is an independent movie label they have a smaller budget to the normal Hollywood movies. They also introduced Summit Entertainment as a partner, this is usually what producers of movie has to include to show their partnership with another company, I think it acts as a way of advertising each other as well. The structure of the the intro would fit into the category of tittles on a plain background followed by the narrative opening.

Art of the tittle sequence

The structure of thriller openings

There are 3 basic structures which are followed

• A narrative opening with tittles running throughout

an example would be The Shining's opening credit

the opening credit for this is interesting because of the way the camera angle works as if it was a target. It shows the structure of the movie and it shows the narrative of the movie

• A discrete title sequence

an example of Se7en's opening credit

Se7en's interesting and descrete opening credit reveals very little about the plot of the movie yet it also gives the audience a lot of information about the mood of the movie.

• Titles on a plain background, followed by the narrative opening

an example of What Lies Beneath opening credit

What Lies Beneath's opening credit reveals nothing of the plot bluntly , but by the use of editing and photoshop the audience can guess what the movie is about from the image of water.

I think all these different ways of opening a movie is interesting because it reveals a lot about the movie or none at all, so I would consider the ways in which I will interpret these strategies into my movie. At the moment my favourite way is the discrete opening because of it's mysterious feel that could add to the tension of my movie

News and current affairs events

Current news

There are a lot of events happening all around us which triggers the story of a great Thriller movie. Here are some examples of current events which I think would make a great thriller film.

Murder of Meredith Kercher

This particular event is a very unfortunate event which got the whole nation in shock.

The murder of Meredith Kercher is a great example of a real life thriller. I think this is an event that you would probably see in a normal thriller film, the death of a beautiful girl over jealousy.

This gave me an idea for my thriller film, as this gives me an example of a real life murder,

which could happen to normal people. So if I could make a film based on this incident I would emphasize on the normality of Meredith Kercher as she was just a normal citizen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Meredith_Kercher

US Intelligence and London confrence trigger new MI5 terror alert

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7000874.ece

"Intelligence from America that an al-Qaeda-affiliated group is close to finalising preparations for another atrocity, along with a conference on Yemen and Afghanistan in London this week, led MI5 to raise the terrorist threat level in Britain."The times Online

London is one of the main cities in the world which are targeted by terrorists. So this particular event could easily be translated into either a spy or action thriller genre. I think this event would make a very interesting thriller movie as it is something that Londoners can relate to from the terrorist attack.

Thriller sub-genres

Thriller sub-genres

In class we discussed the different sub genre within the Thriller genre. Here are a few of examples of thriller sub genre's and movies that fits into the genre.

• Action thriller
• 
• Crime thriller -
• 
• Disaster thriller
• -
• Drama thriller
• -
• Spy thriller -
• 
• Psychological thriller-
• 

Out of all these genres, the most inspiring genre to me is the psychological thriller. To me a movie that engages me from the start to end because of its distinctive story line which makes me think a lot is a type of movie I enjoy the most. The movie Old Boy by Park Chan Wook is a South Korean movie, it is one of the installments of the revenge trilogy including Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathy_for_Mr._Vengeance

and

Sympathy for Lady vengeance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathy_for_Lady_Vengeance

Park Chan Wook is famous for his thrilling brutal movies which I think is reflective to the great Quentin Tarantino with an Asian twist. I think his movies have inspired me with lots ideas for my thriller movie. I would like to make a movie as gripping and unique as Park Chan Wook's work.

Here is the trailer for one of my favourite movie of all time Old Boy

The Structure of Thriller Opening

In lessons we learnt methods in which different Thrillers have different openings, there are 3 methods of opening a thriller:

1. Narrative


2. Discrete


3. Plain background followed by Narrative opening

The first method is defined as tittles running whilst the action is ongoing a good example is THE SHINNING because, we notice there is a car travelling on a road and the titles are scrolling whilst the opening scene is ongoing.

The second method is whereby you don't really notice the credits are appearing on the screen an example for this is SE7EN whereby we notice the character cutting his fingerprints and writing on a book and whilst this is occurring credits are on the screen, however they are not obvious they are on the screen compared to the previous method.

The last method is a combination of both and the film which I have come across that uses this method is MEMENTO & WHAT LIES BENEATH

Title sequence analysis- MEMENTO

The following film me and and my group analyzed was called MEMENTO, the word memento could be defined as someone keeping something an object so they can have memory of it such as taking a piece of rock from a pond so it would remind you always about that pond when you look at the object, so therefore this film could be about a specific character which has a short memory loss and has to have some sort of object to remind him what he done the previous day.

MEMENTO starts of with a blank background this is whereby the titles are presented to the audience in a plain background, in this case it is a black background with the font being blue, soon after wen come across narrative opening this is whereby the opening scene is occurring but the titles are still coming up, after the titles have all been presented the character sakes a picture 3 times and ever time he keeps waving it, it becomes more undeveloped then we as the audience realise somethings not right here, and then at the minute 2:05 we notice that the opening scene is going backwards therefore giving the audience a clear idea who the person that suffers from Long Term Memory due to him being the person that is taking the picture so it is him who is suffering from this illness therefore he takes picture as MEMENTO of what he done the previous day month etc.

Fonts

Fonts are a great method to sort of give the viewer some clear indication of what the film is based around or is it humorous or documentary based etc. The following two fonts are the ones we have learnt in lesson they are:



Serif fonts- These are more traditional fonts and also more formal, the fonts used with this type are TIMES & COURIER.


"Serif is the extra detail at the end of the letter for example if you look closely to the letter 'R' you notice it has extra detail at the end of it"


Sans Serif fonts- They are completely different to Serif they are informal and more modern and they come to audience as being more 'friendly' an example o this font is ARIAL and COMIC SANS

Two examples which we viewed in class are:


Pearl Harbour- What does the font PALATINO connote?:

• It is very formal



• Patriotic



• They stand up like Soldiers at war



• Serious font resembling a war situation



• Masculine- Tall Bold capitals

ROCKY- FRANKLIN GOTHIC HEAVY is the font used why is it used?:

• The font is very manly


• Could suggest it being a strong this is because it is a boxing film


• its a San serif


• very big impact like big punch


• Unintelligent- simply in your face this could once again reflect the sport boxing because you have an opponent up in your face for 12 rounds


• Capital letters- Dominant strong & Tall

New and Current Affairs Events

The following newspaper is based in the Islington area as it clearly states in the name, and decide to read news from this specific newspaper because it will help me realise that mysterious or possibly horrifying this occur near by our college. There have been two great stories which has allowed me to realise thrillers may be created on real life events:

• Mystery Over walker found dead in pond- This I can clearly resemble to 'what lies beneath' because this mysterious person has died in a pond and in the film we realise that the male character has killed someone and placed them in a lake therefore clearly there is some sort of resemblance occurring between this film and true event and also this headline has made many people a bit scared by how someone mysteriously has ended dead in a pond, therefore this could give a clear idea on how we could plan our thrillers by reading on true events and possibly representing them on a short film.

• Holloway Butcher Is knifed To Death- This is another great example of events occurring which have been represented on numerous of thriller film's,this may be a cliche where somebody is killed with a knife however for the audience it still a great thrill but this gives me and my group that knifes is something that occurs everyday and in many thrillers knife is the main weapon so therefore we may reconsider this, yet this event is still a fascinating headline from a media pupil perspective because it has allowed me to acknowledge that Thrillers may occur in our real life.

Detailed Analysis of Thriller Clip

The film we watched in class is called 'What Lies Beneath', this film has many parts which the audience are put through immense tension one good example is the method in which the camera work is well used in the scene, were the women is looking through a hole in her garden fence to see why her neighbour is crying yet we notice her neighbours mouth so therefore we know her neighbour is there however soon after her neighbour suddenly shows her eye we as the audience didn't expect that particular moment to occur therefore the director has achieved by making the audience intrigued with this moment and also many more and one clip I specifically enjoyed is the following:

In my opinion this is the most fascinating scene which occurs in this film due to the amount of thrill we as the audience are put through all the way from the beginning to the end, we notice the first thrill when the women checks the phone she notices it says 411 instead of 911, yet we see her reflection so the first shot we notice nothing behind her suddenly wen she looks at the phone and then the camera is slight tilted upwards we suddenly see her husband behind, the following part is when the husband notices his wife has the necklace on therefore he decides to take it off her, yet to do so he needed to take her wife out of the bath which he did and because the necklace is the wrong way round he titles her head all the way back at this moment we don't see his wife's face we see her hair and when he brings her back down she turns into some sort of ghost which apart from making her husband scared it also achieved the same with the audience and she appeared like the picture to your right.Lastly as soon as this occurs we realise her husband is knocked out on the floor yet suddenly the audience are seeing a point f view shot so this means that we are seeing what the wife is seeing and all of a sudden her husbands hand appears, I would imagine she is thrilled but because her whole body is cold she can't demonstrate the emotion of being scared, on the other hand the audience encounter one more thrill because of this specific part.

Photo 'Word' activity

The above is what we carried out in lesson regarding photos that express many features such as electrify, quick and many more, so we would have to pick four topics and somehow express this theme with a picture so this is why I will explain the following.







We as group decided the topic mysteriouse was a great choice due to it being related to thrillers also the effect of the fog occured with nature because we didnt edit or add anything to improve the picture, however we took the picture from the 4th floor of the college building this gave as a great view (Birds eye view) and we just waited patiently for someone mysteriouse walked pass and it was great effect that he was walking pass these barriers therefore this could connote that the person was going to commit some sort of mischieve and had some air of danger around. Lastly the attire he was dress all in black therefore adding to scene.

Photo 'words' acitvity

This was a photo taken in class to show claustrophobia. It was taken from a high angle as it shows everyone in the shot and the enclosed space. Whereas if it was a mid shot others may be cut out as its very composed.

Technical Audit of Bait Tutorial

Final Cut pro is a technical editing program on mac which allows the user to do many actions to improve the clip by using:

• Razor tools


• inserting clips


• using the method of putting a clip above another this is really useful for music videos


• How to use just a certain piece of a clip by using the method "I" for in "O" for out this would mean that I is the starting point and O is the finishing so when you have finished editing, the audience would only see from were you marked.


• Also we learnt how to insert a small piece of the clip in between two edited pieces, this has enabled match cuts to occur smoothly and also any glitches to decrease.

The following clip will help you identify more clearer want we learnt on my first try using Final Cut Pro:

Technical audit of Bait tutorial

In the lesson today we used Final Cut Pro. This is the first time I've used this editing software and was rather clueless about what was going on.

I have now learnt how to mark the in and out points, using 'I' and 'O' in the viewing window which allows me to view the clip without the 'action' and the end art that I don't need.

I have also learnt how to use the razor blade tool to cut a clip and then insert another clip.

I have also learnt how to drag clips with the double headed arrow to change the length of the initial clip. I've also learnt how to layer clips.

Editing skills audit of Bait tutorial

I learnt how to cut clips so that I only use what I need. So within a clip I can edit it so that I don't hear the director saying 'Action!' Also the 'Razor Blade' tool allowed me to make good match cuts and helped with shot reverse shot within the sequence. Dragging the clips down to the timeline allows me to order and change the length of my clips. Moving the cursor around the time line lets me watch back any part of the sequence I have created.

Technical audit of Bait tutorial

Final Cut Pro Beginner skills

In the lesson

today we learned a few things to do on the final cut pro software. This is my first time using this software or even editing but I found it clear and easy to use for beginners like me. Today we learnt how to use the razor blade tool which I find very useful in quick editing, we also drag clips with double headed arrow to change length. We drag clips onto time line and inserted the clips

into a sequence. Another skill that we learnt today was layering clips which apparently is used frequently in music videos. I thought overall, as this was my first time using this software i found it fascinating and interesting that i want to learn more.

Here is a youtube video of a beginner tutorial

How is suspense Created in 'What Lies Beneath?'

I pasted a small clip to define how suspense is created because it has short little moments which create huge suspense to the viewer such as when the shoe flies out from the boat so therefore this makes the audience realise that Norman may be in the boat and when she stops the car this makes the audience shout and say 'why are you stopping?' therefore this clip is once again following the Bomb theory. And the last suspense moment is when he crashes into the car and starts grabbing his wife therefore this precise moment grabs the audience attention and creates a huge tension.

"What Lies Beneath"- suspense created in the film

What Lies Beneath

IMDB Site

Suspense is the drive of this movie, the video above are the clips of climax suspense in the movie. In the class we've discussed the main suspensful moments and how it was created

For example

the scene where Claire is looking into the bathtub and there is another reflection of some one other than her. Here suspense because the audience don't expect there to be other reflection than hers.

Another example would be

The scene where Norman (Harrison Ford) picks up Claire (Michele Pfiefer) in the bath tub to find a corpse, is incredibly suspenseful as the audience did not expect to see the corpse

How is suspense created in, 'What Lies Beneath'?

There are many ways in which suspense is created.

When Clarie is looking through the window at her neighbor (frames 1 and 2) and then he dissappears. (frames 4, 5, 6 and 7) Both the audience and Clarie are wondering where he is, at the next look, he is there. (frame 9) The audience and Clarie are both shocked. The use of silence before he appears and then when he appears using dramatic music makes the audience jump as it is unexpected.

Another way that suspense is created is when Claire looks back at the phone. She checks back and she sees it was '411' not '911'. The camera then quickly pans up with Claire looking up to see Claires reflection in the mirror and Norman peering over her.

How was suspense created in the film I watched in class?

The film I watched was 'What lies beneath.' Suspense was created really well which always built up to something that really gets the audience frightened.

In this scene it creates suspense because as Claire leaves the house we do not know whether Norman did too. AS she drives a shoes falls off the truck. This leaves the audience wondering wether he is at the back or not, and this is a key element of suspense.

What is suspense?

Suspense is an uncertainty of what is going to happen. It is a good way of creating tension and keeping the audience on its toes. Alfred Hitchcock came up with the 'Bomb Theory', this means that the audience is waiting for the bomb to explode but the characters in the movie don't know and we are waiting on their behalf.. It is a great way of puting fear into the audience.

What is suspense?

Suspense could be better known as tension built at any time during any clip

Furthermore suspense is the method used to keep the audience wondering what is going to happen next this possibly follows Hitchcock Theory called the Bomb Theory, this is whereby the audience know allot of information but the characters in the film don't know so therefore we as the audience feel concern on there behalf.

Also we established this theory in the film What Lies Beneath which the bomb theory is used a numerous of times.

What is suspense?

'Suspense is a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety about the outcome of certain actions, most often referring to an audience's perceptions in a dramatic work.'

In thriller films suspense is a key factor, it's what makes the film. The element of surprise is also key in creating suspence.
Suspence creates tension which leads the audience to wonder what's going to happen next.
It keeps the audience on their feet, they don't know what's going to happen next.

Alfred Hitchcock had a theory which was called the 'bomb' theory, he explained it like this:

'Four men are sitting at a table playing poker. The scene is rather boring. Suddenly, after 15 minutes, we hear a big bang - it turnes out there was a bomb under the table. This is called surprise as it isn't what we expected would happen.If we watch the same scene again with the important difference that we have seen the bomb being placed under the table and the timer set to 11 AM, and we can see a watch in the background, the same scene becomes very intense and almost unbearable - we are sitting there hoping the timer will fail, the game is interrupted or the hero leaves the table in time, before the blast. This is called suspense.'

What is suspense

• –noun

  1.

  a state or condition of mental uncertainty or excitement, as in awaiting a decision or outcome, usually accompanied by a degree of apprehension or anxiety. Dictionary reference In the lesson we've discussed suspense after watching "What Lies Beneath". We've come to conclusion that suspense keeps the audience; tense Keeps us on our toes ( we don't know what will happen next) Keeps audiences wondering what will happen Alfred Hitchcock has a theory of "bomb theory" Bomb Theory is a phrase coined by Alfred Hitchcock to explain his method of creating suspenseful cinema.