Suspense

Film Noir - Annette 12th November 2024

Film Noir is a style of filmmaking characterised by cynical heroes, stark lighting effects, frequent use of flashbacks, intricate plots, and an underlying existentialist philosophy.

Film Noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylised Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasise cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American film noir.

Trapped (1949) - Flicker Alley 

Cinematography

10 seconds in and the camera quickly shifts to the guy pulling her. Then zooms into their faces to catch the woman's facial expression (shot name: close up). Shadows are constantly on the guy's face until the second scene so we stay curious about his appearance. The camera then focuses on the guy in the bathroom from thighs and up. As he's walking over to the woman the camera just follows the man until he's next to the lady. When the man starts talking again at 1:06 the camera is placed just on the side behind the lady's hair where you can just about see her ears and cheek. This angle is focused on the man's facial expression. After it does the same thing but shows the woman's expression instead (shot name: shot reverse shot). It shows the woman's face at least 3 times and the man's face 2 times. The camera angle then goes lower to show the man sitting on the couch whilst he brings the lady to sit down with him, grabbing her hips. Lastly, the camera shifts onto the lamp just behind them focusing on the lamp then moves downwards fading into the 2 dudes sitting down listening to the conversation.

Mise-en-scene

The cloth next to the sink is deliberately placed there to show the actor is going to use it. After the lady has 2 tea cups on the table on a tea cup holder which shows their both going to drink tea or have already drank it. The background shows that her whole house is nature-decorated which suggests she likes plants, especially if it's on her couch design and on her 4 pictures on the walls (flowers). Her lamp with plants growing underneath it is placed behind them so the camera has something to focus on that is interestingly decorated.

Editing

The intro of Flicker Alley fades into the scene of the woman walking. Everything is in black & white with noise crackling on the screen too. This is because of the camera they had, it couldn't pick up colour yet. It then fades out again of them walking out of the screen to the left with a new scene of the man in the bathroom washing his face and drying it with a cloth. Then fades once again into 2 men in the basement listening to their conversation on a recorder.

Sounds

At the start, you can hear a calm minor sound flute or clarinet with footsteps as the lady is walking but then 10 seconds in the music suddenly changes to a loud crash with string instruments. Once the lady figures out who the man is the music turns into a romantic theme when they kiss and hug and goes quieter as they start talking. The music from 13 seconds and on wards just stays high pitched and major.

Narratives

The whole short video tells us that a man escaped prison and the lady was his love and that he wanted to find her. They both went to her house afterwards and he was telling her what happened to him with cops and she even told him that she changed her name to protect the both of them. She then said to him that she's glad hes back. He after told her about what hes planning to do: which is to strike and then go to his ex partner in crime to help him out with something. Then it shifts to either their conversation playing on a recorder or their being watched or their trapped in the recorder box.

Characters

You can first see a blonde woman in a long coat holding a purse in her left hand just walking casually till a man pulls her from the side and pins her to the wall whilst holding her right arm down and using his other hand to cover her mouth so she doesn't scream. He explains who he is and the woman immediately knew and started kissing him on his face and neck etc.. Since they haven't seen each other in a while this whole video shows how close they were to each other.

Suspense in Films

Suspense is a literary technique used to create a sense of tension, anxiety, or uncertainty in the audience, keeping them eagerly anticipating what will happen next. It is often achieved through a combination of narrative strategies, such as withholding crucial information, using cliffhangers, and manipulating time. For example, an author might introduce a dangerous situation but delay revealing the outcome, prolonging the reader's anticipation. The pacing of events is also crucial in building suspense—quickening the rhythm during moments of high tension and slowing it down during moments of calm to draw out the emotional impact. Additionally, suspense often arises from characters facing difficult choices or unpredictable situations, where the consequences are unclear. This uncertainty keeps the audience engaged, wondering how the situation will unfold, and often drives them to continue reading or watching to resolve the tension.

Industry Roles - Yasmin 13th November 2024

These are the six related roles of film, games and audio/broadcasts that interest me.

Animator

Animators have the job to physically or digitally move something in frames to create an animation. They have multiple different kinds of animation they can do such as: Stop Motion, 2D Animation, 3D Animation, Traditional Animation, Motion Graphics etc..

(I wanna be an animator 😌) 

Concept Artist

Concept artists need to apply their imagination and artistic skills to make images of people, places, creatures and moods. They can also create sketches of how they want it to look like and update it later.

Game developer

Game developers use their technical knowledge to translate concepts and designs into finished products. The making of a game from concept to finished product can take years and involve teams of professionals. There are several stages, including deciding on the initial idea, genre and setting, defining the mechanics of the game and how the player character interacts with the game world, identifying a particular look and art style, animating characters and objects, creating audio, programming, localisation, testing, editing and producing.

Music producer

Music producers work with artists and groups in the studio, helping them to realise their full potential in creating recorded music. You need to pull together the separate parts of a recording process. This includes writing, arranging and mastering music, and selecting appropriate production techniques and types of musicians to get the required effect.

Film director

Film directors have ultimate responsibility for the production of a film, from start to finish, and need effective communication skills to coordinate everyone involved. In order to do this you'll need a strong creative vision and the ability to communicate your ideas to a variety of people throughout the production process. This will include your production team, crew, actors and those responsible for financing the film.

Actor

Actors communicate a character or situation to an audience through speech, body language and movement across a variety of mediums, including theatre, film, television, radio and video. Your role as an actor usually involves interpreting the work of a writer under the instruction and support of a director, although some work may require the actor to devise a character or improvise the reactions of a character to a situation.

Making a scenario for a film - Annette 15th November 2024

I decided to go with a Horror Romance Love scenario with small references from the show 'DEXTER' on Netflix.

Like for example I used the name 'Rudy' as my 'mass murderer' and in 'DEXTER Season 1' there was a murderer called 'The Ice-Truck Killer'.

I came up with the title Bloodluck because I just thought that the Mass murderer is bloody and Lexi is lucky he was there in the first place otherwise if he wasn't then her ex would've got to her...

After Effects Tutorial - Annette 22nd November 2024

Today we used Adobe After Effects and we tried out how to use effects on a video imported from files of these floating robot jellyfish in the air.

I used CC drizzle which gives a rain effect on the video, because I tried to use CC bubbles but for some reason, there was a black screen on the video and we couldn't see the original video.

Media Key Concepts - Yasmin 27th November 2024

Codes and conventions - Codes are systems of signs and symbols used to convey meaning. They help to communicate ideas, values, and messages to the audience. Conventions refer to the established, agreed-upon practices or norms within a particular medium or genre. These " rules " are followed to make content understandable and familiar to the audience. Conventions develop over time as audiences become accustomed to certain patterns in media.

Representation - Representation is the way in which media, language, or art portrays or depicts people, groups, ideas, or events. It shapes how we perceive reality by using specific images, symbols, and narratives.

Denotation - Denotation refers to the literal or primary meaning of a word—the definition you would find in a dictionary. It’s the straightforward, explicit meaning of a word.

Connotation - Connotation refers to the emotional or cultural associations that a word carries, beyond its literal meaning. These associations can be positive, negative, or neutral, and they can vary depending on the context and the individual.

Narrative - A narrative is a story or account of events, experiences, or information, whether true or fictional. It involves characters, a plot, and a setting, and it is often structured with a beginning, middle, and end.

Genre - Genre refers to a category or type of artistic work, such as music, literature, or film, characterized by shared features or styles. Examples include fiction, comedy, horror, and drama.

Adobe Audition Practice - Annette 3rd December 2024

This is what I've done on Adobe Audition and I've put this together with footsteps starting off, then suspense music, then the footsteps stop after a certain amount of time. 

Sound - Yasmin 4th December 2024

Origin of diegetic sound - Diegetic sound originates from within the story world of a film, television show, or other media. It refers to sounds that are produced by sources visible on screen or implied to exist within the narrative, such as dialogue, footsteps, music from a radio, or the sounds of the environment. These sounds are part of the character's reality, unlike non-diegetic sounds, which exist outside the story world.

Diegetic sound - Diegetic sound refers to any sound that originates from within the story world of a film, television show, or other media.

Non-diegetic sound - Non-diegetic sound refers to sound that comes from outside the story world in a film, television show, or other media. It is not heard by the characters but is intended to influence the audience's perception or emotional response. Examples of non-diegetic sound include the film's musical score, voiceover narration, or sound effects added for dramatic effect. Unlike diegetic sound, which exists within the narrative world, non-diegetic sound exists solely for the audience's experience.

Trans-diegetic sound - Trans-diegetic refers to music (or any element, including other types of sound) that either begins as diegetic source music and then becomes part of an extra-diegetic (or non-diegetic) soundtrack or score, or, vice versa, when the extra-diegetic becomes diegetic.

Creative exceptions - Limitations & exceptions allow the public to use content without permission. In many countries these include permission for parody, criticism, access for visually impaired, and libraries.

Analysing Title Sequences - Annette

Liaison (2023)

The title sequence starts off strong with no fade intro and shows a lady laying down with hands of a partner touching her. The colours used were as if they used an infrared filter of some sort to see the body temperature. They also edited it afterwards and made the film look noisy and blurry so you get a feeling of a hallucination. 

From 21 seconds to 29 seconds you could see buildings from an birds eye view, and then at 22 seconds they make it look as if the buildings were melting or that they were glitching downwards as if the person watching it is hallucinating again.

30 to 35 seconds you can tell their using another filter but with different colours like red, light blue, yellow and beige. You can tell it's protest happening because people are clapping and holding signs. Also theres that same blurry and noisy vision throughout the whole title sequence.

It then goes back to the man and woman having their little intimate session and then it shows a clear image in purple of Paris, probably telling us the film is located in France or a character in the movie is associated with Paris. After it melts/ glitches sideways to the left. 

After it just repeats the same kind of images which is like the editors using repetition of some kind of hallucination with the city, intimacy and a protest.

The font they used looks like they've used the typewriting font. It's all in a bright red colour to make it visible to see during the videos playing in the background. There's no special transition between the clips, it just cuts to the next video. Near the end of the video at 1:23 you see the title of the film show at the last video then a purple screen to mix with the video and fade into the purple screen with the title.

For the audio you can hear a drum kit and a bass guitar playing a bass riff, 41 seconds in the bass drops and you can hear a electrical guitar come in with a repeating riff. From the start you can also hear a woman vocalising and singing in breaks. You could also hear at one point where the sound of a sci-fi instrument panning through my headphones from right to left.

Average Media Enjoyer. (2023). Liaison Opening in 4K. [Online]. Youtube. Last Updated: 24 February 2023. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tlUxJ6cNQ0 [Accessed 24 February 2025].

Arcane S2 (2024)

The title sequence starts off with a blue background which mixes into another shade of blue with a face on the right side of the screen. At the start, the font colour starts as black and then mixes like a glitch to white. They also used a serif font to make the show look more serious.

On her face, it shows 2 letters which are a V and an I and it looks like it's painted on in Roman numerals. Then when she wipes it off the screen glitches from a close-up to a mid-shot of her just standing up and the camera pans to the left and shows another character standing up behind her and spasms every 2 milliseconds when she shows a gun with her fingers.

After the girl with the blue hair mixes with another character of a man standing in an opposite spot of her to the left.

The text also glitches into different colours before returning back to white and the text moves into different places on the screen based on where the empty space is. In certain parts where it's a dark space with a hint of orange light like it is a sunset or sunrise, the text changes to orange.

The colours used are mostly light colours like: pink, blue, orange, green, red, yellow, black. etc. And the black just contrasts with the colours and makes the intro look mythical.

I love how at the end of the sequence a person is moving his hand through a beam of light and then disappears with the light and the title of the title sequence appears in a sans-serif font. Right at the end the screen glitches upwards and the screen then goes black.

Also, the audio starts off with a snare drum making a ''wooosh'' sound then the start starts off with drum beats going in 4s then a 1-second break before it taps again. Funny enough, the sound doesn't match at the beginning since its background music but the moment the beat drops Jinx is waving the flag in the air. It has string instruments involved and they've used the song by Imagine Dragons - Enemy for the intro but an orchestral version.

I'mStrange. (2024). Arcane: Season 2- Opening Titles. [Online]. Youtube. Last Updated: 9 November 2024. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtDb-ljJ2hE [Accessed 24 February 2025].

Story Plan

Group project suspense: George decided out of all of our story ideas we would use mine. My story is a horror romance based in America about love. The basis of the story is about a girl who is seeing a mass murderer without her knowledge and her ex is still crazy about her trying to get back with her. The climax of the story is when the ex and murderer cross paths...

What scene are we going to create? - The scene of the 2 guys in the film, crossing paths as this is the film's big moment.

The title of the film: Blooduck

Location: Somewhere dark to show the suspense in an alleyway

Green screen? - Maybe not because it would create more suspense to do this at night underneath a lampost to create the dull lighting in the atmosphere.

Actors - Leonie, Victoria, and Cris

What props do we need - Fake knives/bags

Costumes: Cris will be wearing an all-black costume

I'll be wearing something dark too possibly putting on makeup to look more masculine and deranged.

Victoria would be wearing possibly so skirt and tank top and a long black coat with makeup on.

George will be wearing all-black clothes too so when he records you won't see him.

Script:

Opening Shot:

The cameraman (George) follows Lexi (Victoria) as she races through a shadowy alleyway. Her breath is shallow, her steps fast, and the cold air makes her visible with every exhale. We hear the distant hum of the city, but everything else feels eerily silent.

The ex (me) eventually catches up to Lexi and grabs her arm firmly, then screams "Let me go!!" but then she runs behind a figure

The Encounter:

Lexi slams into Rudy (Cris) as she rounds a corner. He’s standing in the alley, dragging heavily stuffed black bin bags into the shadows. The bags look ominous—something’s definitely inside.

Storyboard

Wednesday 8th January 2025

Today I finished off making my script on Celtx for our film on Bloodluck.

(I changed our prop to a gun because my actors don't have a fake knife prop but a gun)

Title Sequence on Premiere Pro

First, I started by adding a black video and then added text, I had an idea to make my text fade in and out of the screen within 6 seconds. I wanted the text to disappear and zoom in too.

I changed the font and made it look more thick hence I also changed the spacing between the letters. I went into the effect controls window to change some things about the font itself. As you can see the font is a serif because of the extra ticks in the letters. 

I scrolled down till I saw opacity and wanted to make it go from 0% opacity to 100% during the fade-in and fade-out. But it was too hard and I didn't understand too much with help so I went to Capcut instead and made my title sequence there.

TITLE SEQUENCE - 31st January 2025

I edited this using Capcut because it was something I was familiar with using and it was just easier.

The audio I used for my title song was 'It's Just a Burning Memory' by The Caretaker.

The Caretaker. (2023). A1 - It's just a burning memory. [Online]. Youtube. Last Updated: 30 November 2023. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPOF5FgG3DU [Accessed 10 February 2025].

This shows the audio of my song fading out at the end.

The arrows mean that my text is fading in and out.

SHORT FILM Made By Leo 

(Cameraman For Film)

I used Premiere Pro to edit this, and I used suspense music at the start. I made the audio fade out when Rudy and Jaxon started fighting and changed the music to a fighting theme. When Rudy raised his gun to Jaxon's head, I added a loud gunshot effect and let the audio be blank for like 2 seconds before putting in happy music. I got all of the themes from freesound.org and just downloaded the sounds and imported them into the film.

I also made sure that the happy music at the end, ends off at a note that could be an ending note, so the audio doesn't sound like it just cut off. It was pretty easy to import the audio and cut off some parts. However, I'd say the hardest part was to make the video black and white so it represents an actual suspense film made in the late 18th century and early 19th century.

Using Adobe InDesign - 7th February 2025

I started off by inserting 3 pages so I have a cover and 2 middle pages and an end page. I started on the cover page and decided that I wanted to make a gradient of black an pink.

I then added in text of the name of my story in pink, but I was debating whether it should be red instead. But I changed my mind and made it pink, more lighter than the pink I used for the background so then you could actually see the title.

I went to my inside pages and went onto the file window and clicked place and added my photo then I went on to effects and dropped the shadow.

I then went onto google and searched for a dark themed background so I could add it into my page. I went onto file and clicked on 'place' and then just resized to it fit whole canvas. I added text in and made it white so its visible to read. I also tilted the writing under the first photo just to have some style.

I decided to make the writing into a gradient of pink and black just to be less boring by just having white. For the back of the booklet I made the spiral gradient the same as the front page and just put 'Made by Leo' in the same font as the middle page in the middle.

FINAL BOOKLET - Annette 25th February 2025

Final Evaluation - 27th February 2025

I thought that working together as a group wasn't a success at all because whenever I tried to make plans my teammates weren't in or sometimes whenever I had a problem and I couldn't come in that's when things actually happened. I would say that our group's biggest probably was planning and time management. We talked to each other on teams in a group chat and Victoria was the one planning when we were going to shoot our film and who we were going to use for our actors. One of my teammates Cris was never in so it was just me, George, and Victoria trying to get something out of it. 

George was managing the equipment and what we would use for our filming, like the camera (Canon mg), microphone (directional), and lighting. Victoria was one of the actors 'Lexi', Cris was supposed to be one of the actors too (Rudy) but he didn't come in. And I was the person filming, at first, I was going to be an actor (Jaxon) but I lost my confidence and decided to stay behind the screen. We got 2 other actors from other groups which are Darius and Leet. Darius was first playing as Jaxon till he couldn't co-operate and then we switched the actors mid-performance and made George Jaxon. Leet was going to play Rudy. There's one thing I hated the MOST about this project, when we wrote out our stories, my group agreed to pick mine and then I wrote out the script to the best I could, by putting emotions in there and camera angles. I had it all planned out. But then my team said ''Let's just improvise'', and they only followed the script a little bit and the camera angles were so bad in the final result! Everyone kept telling me not to hold the camera in my hand because it would be shaky and to keep it on the tripod. So I did that and looked at the results, absolutely rubbish in my opinion.

When I was editing the clips and putting them together I tried to evoke the suspense feeling by making the whole video in black and white and adding mostly eery music in the background. And I wanted to add a night-time effect and rain particles on the screen but I didn't know how to so I left it out. I used fades at the start and end of the video. The most successful part of the video is probably the part where Rudy shoots Jaxon because the audio lines up so well will that part and exactly where the chaos music stops suddenly. The main difficulties were my team, the fact we're not compatible with each other and it just didn't work out. 

I asked my family to take a look at my title sequence but without looking at the film first and to tell me what they thought the film was about, they said that they thought it was a film about werewolves because of the forest background. That gave me the thought that my title sequence wasn't giving any kind of hint as to what my film was about so that was a bad thing. The song I used for my title sequence was a bad idea because the song sounds like something scary and creepy was happening but the film is actually supposed to be more dramatic and horrifying. I gave up too easily and did it on cap cut instead of Premiere Pro is one of my weaknesses, but I think it was still a small success at least making it. To improve for future references I would make my own audio and possibly get free videos that actually link to my story and possibly take on board feedback before I update the final thing.

My brochure suits my film really well because I added colours like black and magenta that harmonise with the text 'Bloodluck' and on the middle page which is in red, I added a graveyard image to represent that there is a killer in this story. I used Adobe Indesign to make this booklet and it turned out pretty well. I mostly used the text tool and the gradient tool. I kept the text in the middle of the booklet in white so it's easier to read and also kept the font the same. The most successful part of the booklet is probably the fact it's readable and looks fun to read since there isn't too much writing and more pictures. I haven't really encountered hard difficulties other than trying to see where you insert pages and what window to click on. I would like to improve for the future which is to add more writing and possibly make a better front cover so it's not too boring.