Jack's Evaluation on Thriller

Evaluating your own Foundation Portfolio Thriller Opening.

 

Assessment Criteria	What went well	What did not go quite so well
Shooting material appropriate to the task set;	The short film related very much to the genre we were trying to convey – Thriller. The film was very suitable for the audience we produced it for.	Some extra materials could have been used in order to adapt to the thriller genre as much as possible, e.g. detective coat.
Controlled use of the camera	All shots seemed an appropriate size and the movement on some was very smooth, e.g. beginning panning shot with actress writing.	Camera could have been less shaky on shots such as the crabbing shot outside in the evening. Shaky shots could have been used more obviously to enforce the meaning of the actress awakening from unconsciousness. Towards the end the lighting is very bright, for this reason the white balance could have been changed in order to show the facial expression and body language of the actress to as large an extent as possible.
Attention to framing	Subjects were nearly always framed in the centre of the shot. In some cases the subject was intentionally away from the centre of the shot e.g. when the actress is on the phone saying she found him. This allows the shot to continue on to the shot of the actor away from the centre.	Some shots may have needed to be pans or tracking to keep subject in centre, e.g. the actress walking under the street light. Composition and angles could also be changed as some were unintentionally canted.
Variety of shot sizes	The shot sizes were very appropriate to the genre as shown from our research into other thriller films.	Some shots may have needed to be larger or smaller to focus on the point we were trying to get across, e.g. close up of phone could have been larger to set the scene.
Close attention to mise en scene	Dark colours and low-key lighting was suitable for the thriller genre.	The costumes used and setting, props and décor could be altered to ensure the mise en scene is constructed for the message of the story, e.g. detective coat could have been worn alongside the dark colours.
Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer	The use of dissolves at the beginning really emphasise the time passing – manipulating time and creating an on-going story. The use of match on action also helped to manipulate space, as with the actress walking through the door.	Editing could have been used to make the audience feel how we intended them to feel – scared and on edge. The use of dissolves, fades, etc. may have been to light and continuous, with use of cuts the pace could become more sharp and fast paced.
Making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions, captions and other effects	The use of titling and captions related very much to the meaning of the film opening – creating a newspaper and dramatic font. Transitions and other effects communicate the meaning of her search being a lengthy process.	Captions and titling could have been used alongside the newspaper theme, with a font more generic of a newspaper. Transitions could have been more relevant to the genre to communicate meaning of a fast paced and non-stop process, e.g. with cuts as cut transitions were used majorly in the film openings we researched.
Recording and editing sound with images appropriately.	Non-diegetic sound fit mainly around the genre and created a mood and impression on the audience. Foleys were recorded well and were edited in time with the image.	Sound effects could have been more realistic in terms of sound and pace, e.g. with the pencil at the beginning the louder sound seems rather unrealistic and the pace is a bit too quick. Diegetic sound could also have been used – in terms of dialogue – through recording of a voice recorder to ensure that only the  actresses voice was heard clearly and no background sound was picked up.