My Achievements In This Project

My aims for this project were to fulfil the brief to the best standard I could and to become more vocal in class as well as improving my editing and filming skills.

Before our test shoot we were quite unorganised so I took the role of organising everything we would need because firstly I am very organised, secondly, no one else in the group seemed voiced any desire to take that role and thirdly, I was collecting all of the equipment and providing transport so it was easier for me to provide what I could and delegate the rest between the group. As this had worked well for our test shoot we did the same again for the real shoot, but with our more comprehensive list of props we were able to split the responsibility more fairly.

On the day of the shoots we all took turns filming, checking sound, continuity etc. so that we all gained practice and double checked each other as well as deciding the set up of each shot as a group.

Before the project I had used Premier and Paintshop so knew the basics about how to use them, but throughout this project my editing skills have improved vastly and I now am more able to use the programmes, with some basic skills of After Effects too.

As a group I think we all, eventually, learnt to compromise, or at least knew when to stop fighting for hat we wanted. I think this helped with our communication and having arguments as we went along made it easier to work as a group. Previously I hadn't ever really got involved with creative arguments, but in this project I felt that I should voice my opinion and become more confident in my suggestions. I think one of my biggest achievements has been the higher level of confidence I've gained, I am now slightly vocal in class and have got to know the rest of my class better.

Overall I feel that I did achieve my aims and have learnt that discussion is key to a group working together to produce a successful thriller sequence.

Music Inspiration

My main source of inspiration was watching other films to see the music that they were using, although not necessarily thrillers.

The idea of using In A Heartbeat really appealed to me after watching an episode of Hollyoaks and seeing how much suspense it had created in that. If it could create that amount of suspense in a TV show, it could create even more in a film.

The Massive Attack song that we eventually decided to use was something I hadn't listened to in a long time, and as soon as I heard it again I know that it would fit in with our idea for the film.

Much of our original shortlist ideas that I suggested were ideas that I thought could maybe work when I was listening to them on my iPod, which as we developed our idea further many of the songs seemed inappropriate.

Applying Levi-Strauss' Theory

This theory says that every element has a direct opposite in the film. In 'Rupture' some examples are:

Good v evil
Justice v injustice
Freedom v entrapment
Male v female
Calm v turbulence

Identifying The Character Types In My Film

There are two characters shown in the opening sequence of 'Rupture', who appear to be a certain character type, but the rest of the film would reveal otherwise.

The Villain
This is the girl in the sequence because she is the one holding the guy hostage. However in the film itself the guy could also be the villain because he killed her sister.

The Hero
This is also the girl who is trying to bring about revenge and justice for her sister's death.

Applying Barthes' Theory To Our Film

Barthes said that every film raises questions (enigma codes) and some actions lead to other acttions in the film (action codes) to create suspense.

Action codes:
Showing boots walking
Laying out tools
Guy being held hostage
Camera fading to black at the end

Enigma codes:
Why does she fire a blank at his head?
Why is he being held hostage?
What tool will she pick?
Why does she need so many tools?

Finished sequence &cover

I am pleased with the opening sequence created. I think it fits teh film and leaves the adudience with questions they want answered to get them to watch more of the film (if there was to be more). The music creates suspense and fits with what is happening on screen, building up to a dramatic ending. However, the acting was not as good as we had hoped and teh lighting isn't constant throughout which makes some shots harder to see than others.

5 Things...

My 5 things that I can do to contribute to the group are:

1. Say what I think, don't let everyone else give their opinion but not my own
2. Keep the group focused and avoid becoming distracted myself
3. Be honest, if I don't think something works I should say then
4. Check I have everything I need to bring (props, food etc) before I leave home
5. Make sure I have the correct keys and codes for access on location