Training Day Title Sequence (Crime Thriller)

 Distribution company

 Production company

Here we have the opening title of the film 'Training Day'. The use of red text for, which is backed by the setting of the sun which gives an orange tint may connote to foreshadowing violence and murder later along within the film, in turn suggesting that the film may follow one of the conventions of thriller films, violence. Throughout this sequence non diegetic sound plays, seemingly written in a minor key, giving off a restless, edgy vibe to the audience. It is apparent that the sound uses a range of computer orientated sound as well as a combination of string instruments. The dynamics of the piece also seem to be quite low only adding to ever rising tension.

The opening of scene utilises a medium shot of one the main characters facial expressions, in which he appears to be apprehensive about a forth coming event (one example of mise en scene). Further pushing the idea of forthcoming events, in this case violence. However, due to the continuation of the non diegetic sound the suspense begins to have a continuation. This is also aided by the low lighting in the scene. Due to the dark lighting in the scene the audience begin to have an input into the character who's facial expression appears to be dreary as well as miserable. This idea is further suggested as there is a combination of diegetic and non diegetic sound within the scene with the character 'sighing' at the same time as there is a cluster of notes all of which seem to be still in a minor key.


Here we have a medium shot of a gun, thus symbolising violence that may be forthcoming in the film, continuing the idea. During this scene diegetic sound is mainly used, with dialect between characters.

In this shot, the director used an over the shot angle in order to interpret the concern of one of the characters faces, this may indicate further suggestions of violence.

Here we have an establishing shot of the city, which depicts where the actual film is set. Although there is another combination of non diegetic and diegetic sound again. Within the composition it is apparent that drums, brass and strings are also used, however all of which are played in minor, all oh which can be heard through police sirens in the backdrop, which may connote to high crime in the city.


Mise-En-Scene
Setting: From a few of the shots it is available, it is shown that the film is located within an inner city area, in this case South Cental Los Angeles. This location follows the conventions of a crime thriller in which commonly are located within city areas. For example 'The Dark Knight Rises'.

Props: The director connotated foreshadowing violence through the use of props. For example the use of guns and police badges do hint towards the typical conventional crime thriller film.

Final planning for final filming

Group Members

Andrew Onabanjo

Casper Viriri

Jordan Hogstan

Cast

Rakim - Jordan Hogstan

Ahmed - Tahmid Suhel 

Saeed - Athavan Puthanevrian

Mysterious man/detective Victor - Andrew Onabanjo 

Props

Television

Xbox

Mobile Phone

Black sports bag

Large desk

Chairs

Equipment

Camera

Tripod

Editing software

Group roles

Directors: Casper Viriri & Andrew Onabanjo

Editor: Casper Viriri

Marketing: Casper Viriri

Script: Andrew Onabanjo

Producer: Andrew Onabanjo

Actors: Andrew Onabanjo and Jordan Hogstan

Setting

Jordan's bedroom

Kasper's driveway and living room

Clockhouse train station

Harris Academy Beckenham's conference room 

Production Company Logo Analysis

The reasoning for our particular company logo is so that we have the opportunity to represent the idea of a crime thriller to our audience. In order to achieve this we used the outline of a detective and a flashing light over him in order to create the sense of crime and investigation. We also added non diegetic sound of bars being slammed shut, thus further pushing our idea and concept of crime in the opening few seconds. However the darkness in our production logo also hints towards mystique and confusion in the opening

 

Production Company Analysis

If we analyse the logo opening for Warner Brothers in this case we are able to identify that the film is likely to either be of a dark or tense nature.   For example in the clip attached the use of dark clouds may indicate dark times and or a foreshadowing event which is likely to occur.

When considering foreshadowing events it is imperative that we consider the mise en scene of thriller films, thus which includes tension building and foreshadowing, both of which are shown in the crime thriller Training day.

So when creating our production logo we believed it was imperative that it would automatically give the audience an insight into the type of film in which they are about to view.

Director and Editors Interview

Our actual props (Test Shots)

Character Interview Jordan - Rakim

Costume Analysis - Saeed (Screening)

With the character Saeed we have gone for a youthful ‘urban’ look. For example the character appears to be wearing blue Nike training which seem to be very popular among many teenagers in present times.
We as a group believe that this appearance will give our project the best project to present a youthful, urban on screen presence, that will contradict the presence of other characters involved within the project, who may appeal to an older audience (Detective Victor).
Our aim is to automatically give the audience a general stereotype of the character before they actually become aware of the actual subplot, with the possibility of reinforcing the audience’s stereotypes on certain groups.
We used the crime thriller ‘Training Day’ as inspiration for Saeed’s character. For example in the film the two main characters were hardly dressed in smart attire, so we followed suit by allowing one of our characters to fulfill this  role.

Character Profile - Saeed

Saeed is young male from London, him and his two friends Ahmed and Rakim have all been under surveillance from the police as they are all suspected of terrorist activities. Saeed appears to have a mildly aggressive demeanor and only seems to be out for his own personal motives whilst using his friend Rakim to aid him in his work.

The character Saeed is very important when considering our target of reaching a young urban audience, during the scripted shots we informed the actor to use a set of informal slang terms and greetings to present himself in a certain way.

During a series of shots it has also been intended that Saeed conceals his other motives whilst also remaining aggressive so the audience is aware of his true intentions.

Possible initial 30 seconds of thriller opening (screening test, angle test, location test)

This is our initial 30 second opening for our thriller opening.

Costume Analysis - Detective Victor

We used the crime thriller ‘Training Day’ as inspiration for Ahmed’s character. For example in the film the two main characters were hardly dressed in smart attire, so we followed suit by allowing one of our characters to fulfill this  role.

Whilst the detective’s counterpart appealing to more of an urban demographic here we have detective Victor seemingly adhering to an older age demographic due to being seemingly quite mature and smartly dressed. We believe  that in all this will help to contribute to the mise en scene as of the opening as the costume adds to the authenticity of the character.

Character Interview Kasper - Detective Victor

Script

Detective Victor: My name is detective Victor, this interview will be recorded.

Detective Victor: At the moment you're facing a ten year stretch... But you can drop that...
Saeed: I'm not a terrorist

Detective Victor: That's a lie

Detective Victor: What did you do at Albert Square with your friends Ahmed and Iqbal?

Saeed: We were chilling
Detective Victor: Chilling doing what?

Saeed: We were just chilling.
Detective Victor: Is chilling killing a hundred people heinously, unmercifully is that what chilling is to you?

Saeed: What do you mean killing people I don't know what you're talking about.

Detective Victor: You know exactly what I'm talking about.

Detective Victor: You and your friends Ahmed and Iqbal, went to the festival in Albert Square, planted a couple bombs and killed hundreds of people.

Saeed: Do you have evidence of this?

Detective Victor: We have so much evidence... Fingerprints, CCTV, DNA. We even have eye witnesses.

Detective Victor: So here's what you're going to do. You're going to infiltrate your little friends gang and get evidence for us.

Saeed: I can't do that!

Detective Victor: On the contrary you may just.

Saeed: And if I don't?

Detective Victor: If you choose to disobey us, we can make you disappear...

Call Sheet/ Production Timetable

Ahmed’s test screen shot:

10^th December

Beckenham Recreational Park

2:00-3:00 PM

Actors needed: Athaven

This will be our initial screening shot involving an actor known as Athaven, this will be our test to see whether our initial ideas and initial actors will help us to follow our concept, camera angles and how our music will fit in with the opening.

Costume:

Casual clothes will be necessary in order to fit the character of Ahmed who is a young ‘urban’ teenager. This includes colorful trainers, jeans and other sports apparel.

Interrogation scene:

December 20th

Harris Academy Beckenham

2:00-5:00 PM

Actors needed: Casper and Jordan

Casper will need to wear a suit in order to follow the usual conventions of a detective in order to give our audience a true representation of his character. Jordan must be in casual wear (jumper and trainers) also as he must follow the provisions of an urban teenager.

During this day we will be filming the entire interrogation scene with varying angles, test shots and even interviews. We will be using lighting that may vary in order to give us the opportunity to follow the mise en scene of crime thrillers.

Props:

·       Table

·       Chair

·       Tape recorder

February 4th - Final Editing 

Character Profile - Detective Victor

One of the main protagonists in the opening detective Victor is the chief inquirer during the investigation. From the beginning it quite apparent to the audience that Smith is quite aggressive and forward towards the character Rakim, in some circumstances showing brief flashes of ignorance, making brief references to Rakim's character. Throughout the interrogation he appears to be biased in his questioning towards Rakim, almost forcing him into confessing a crime he merely didn’t commit. Numerous times during the investigation Victor claims to have the power and influence to put Rakim into jail, even though he had not committed to any crime. Although he is subtle with his aggression, the audience is aware that he is corrupt and wants to convict Rakim without a proper trial.

Questionnaire

Thriller Opening Concepts (Images)

 The idea of our thriller opening around an interrogation scene. In order to do thing we are going to try and follow the conventions of a range of thriller films. 

In the images attached the audience can identify a range of lighting within the different shots used in the scenes. In the second image a 'two shot' is used in order to depict the two characters in the scene. Dim or little lighting is given from above, however is contradicted  by the bright light in the middle of the table. This was able to create a sense of mystic within the scene which added to the effectiveness of the seriousness which was being imposed on the audience.

It should be noted that dim and dark lighting are common when considering the mise en scene of conventional thriller films. However, we also plan to be very sensitive with the lighting used, as seen in the over the shoulder image a slight light is shown on one of the main characters face,whilst the other side remains without light. This could creates the sense that the man may be innocent as well as guilty.

In order to achieve this I plan to plant darkly coloured objects within the room such as can be witnessed in the following images where objects are mainly brown, grey and navy blue. All of these colours only add to a 'dreary' and hopeless sense.  

In order to create an opening that captures the true gravity of the situation I plan on using a range of shots such as over the shoulder shot which in many situations is able to give the audience an insight into a character's emotions and feelings at the current time.

Costume

In order to capture the true essence of a detective I have chose for the character to wear a suit in order to give the audience a true insight into the seriousness of the character and his approach.

Possible Character Screening - Saeed

Props

When considering props we carefully analysed prior interrogation scenes such as the scene in the film Britz which featured a very simplistic prop list, containing only two chairs, a table, a lamp and a tape recorder. We as a group believe that this simplicity will only add to the overall seriousness of the opening, as the audience will have to focus their attention towards the dialogue and concept of the opening.

Target Audience

My Target audience revolves around the age group of 16 to 35 year olds. The reason for me targeting the teenage demographic is due to the fact that through past experience many teenagers have been stopped by police, in which they feel is injustice although it can be argued that the police are simply doing their job, even at the cost of brewing tensions not only between teenagers but also different cultures and races. However my targeting of a youthful audience is also due to the use of young actors in the film, thus displaying viewpoints and ideas that a younger generation would be able to relate to. The reasoning for targeting an older demographic (20+) is due to them being alive during recent terrorist activities so they may either be able to relate to the film or may be intrigued by being able to have another insight into what may occur in the lives portrayed. 

Unfinished Script - Thriller opening

Storyboard

London's Burning Pitch

Change of creative direction

Following a group meeting among our group members we have decided to change our original action thriller concept of 'Anbu' and change our concept into a crime thriller. We came to this decision as our group critically analysed our piece of work and came to the conclusion that our opening was too closely linked to another television series and we were placed in a situation where we felt that we were no longer using our own creativity. So in turn we have decided to follow a new project initialed 'London's Burning'. We believe that this switch is best for all parties and we will continue to ensure our project will be of our own creativity and talent.

- Andrew, Kasper and Jordan

Anbu Opening

Our filming process

Updated location reccee

Storyboard (Anubu)

Sound - Thriller Continued

The theme song from the film '28 days later' proves to be a very good example of a soundtrack that would be able to build suspension in a thriller film. Due to the piece being written in a minor key it immediately creates a sense of fear, tension and suspense. This was done through the use of strings, piano and also computer oriented sounds. Through the use of repeated phrases and the adding of instruments and vocalisation tension and fear begins to build up, part of the mise en scene of thriller films. All of which can be seen in the following clip.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6IuIww6Drw 

Due to the emotion that the soundtrack created we used it in out short media piece, as it allowed us to slowly build tension, eventually leading to the climax.

Sound - Thriller

Location Reccee (Prior Concept)

The following images that you can see will the locations for our thriller opening. The reason for the selection of the location is that the forest back drop provides a mysterious/scary vibe to the film. The lack of natrual  lighting adds a sense of fear, as the lack of lighting will leave a sense of suspension as the audiance will have a lack of awareness due to the fact that they will witness less within the opening scene.

Location Reccee Images (ANBU)

ANBU Pitch

Thriller Conventions - Wordle

The representation of males within thriller films

• Within thriller films it appears that men are of either substantial wealth or either resort to crime in order to obtain wealth.
• Wealth appears to be the sole goal of many male characters within thriller films
• They appear to be on extreme an spectrum of either being a villain or a hero
• They also appear to thrive of either being in power or in search of influence 
• It may be noted that many men within thriller films have fit physiques which adds to their image of being a hero, which may connotate to power and influence 
• Although villains are more likely to rely on weapons and may not be as 'visually appealing'  
• Men also appear to be less emotional within thrillers and usually take an active role within leading