BlackSheep Productions

Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Monday, 11 July 2011
Final Cut Express- N Square
In the past two media lessons, I have been learning how to use 'n-square' on Final Cut Express. At first it was difficult as there was not much information about how to use it on Google or Youtube. However, we then realised that it was similar to using split screens- except, you generally use the same shot and you split it into more squares. (e.g. 4 or 16)
Firstly, we went on to the school field and filmed a simple long shot of two of us running. Then, once it was uploaded, we copied the same piece of footage 16 times. We dragged one copy onto the timeline, then on the screen on the right we could change its size and position. With the following copies, you simply had to drag them over the top of the first copy on the timeline. We did this to all 16 copies (ensuring they were the same size) and then re-arranged them to form a grid of 16 squares. Although it was time consuming, I feel that n-square is really effective to use in our own music videos.
Monday, 27 June 2011
Director Case Study
- Born Nov 10th 1965
- is a Swedish film and music video director
- was a member of the black metal band 'Bathory' from 1983-84
- has won a Grammy for 'Best Music Video' and 7 other awards for his video for Madonna's song 'Ray of Light'
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Paul McCartney
- Christina Aguilera
- Madonna
- Robbie Williams
- The Rolling Stones
- Lady Gaga
- David Guetta
- Rihanna
- directed a full-length film called 'Spun' in 2002
- directed adverts for Swedish clothing retailer MQ
- directed Madonna's documentary film 'I'm Going to Tell You a Secret'
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
DIRECTOR STUDY
- Now 42 years old, Hype Williams was born in Queens, New York and earnt his nickname 'Hype' because of his hyperactive personality as a child (his original name is Harold).
- He attended the Andrew Jackson High School of Music and Art, graduating in 1987 and then going on to Adelphi University.
- He first set off in his director career when he started working with Classic Concepts Video Productions, Lionel "Vid Kid" Martin & VJ Ralph McDaniels created Hype's first opportunity with the "Filmmakers With Attitude" moniker (FWA), which became Hype's first video company.
- Hype has worked with many artists, such as Kanye West (see video), Christina Aguilera and Coldplay but appears to be more involved in the hip hop/ R&B scene more than any other, with work with artists such as The Notorious BIG, Kelis, LL Cool J and Jay Z (etc.).
- As well as directing many music videos. Hype Williams was also the director and writer of a film called 'Belly' (1998). However this was unsuccessful. Likewise, he was an actor in TV programme 'Lil Jon Makes a Video: Snap Yo Fingers' alongside Sean Paul but this was even more unsuccessful.
Sunday, 19 June 2011
The reason in which I found this music video from 1981 interesting is that it includes a lot of the expectations of a music video from that time. Firstly, the video includes all 3 aspects: narrative, concept and performance. At the beginning we see Phil Collins fade into our screen which immediately tells the viewer that he is dominant and important and also that it is he that the video is promoting as well as his music. The superimposition edits of him with an image behind him suggests that his thoughts and feelings are of key importance because after all, it is his song and probably his concept for the video. Similarly, the narrative story played behind Collins ties in with the lyrics of the song, backing up one of the mentions in Goodwin's theory. Nearer to the end, colour is experimented with to give an edge to Phil Collin's frame dominating face and would have been seen as 'different' and 'experimental' in the 80's when music videos were fairly new. Overall, I think the music video is interesting because it highlights the change in music videos from then to today and also backs up some theory, therefore proving it true.
A-ha- Take On Me
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Evaluation!
Hopefully we will meet the deadline!
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Friday, 18 February 2011
'Repentance'
We thought this name as our thriller title was extremely relevant to our film. This is because the main plot features the killer repenting his sins and feeling deep remorse for his actions. At the beginning, he is in a church, praying and having flashbacks of the murders. However, the question raised in the opening two minutes is whether there will be any further murders and obviously- will he get caught?
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Update
Monday, 14 February 2011
Film Complete!
In today's lesson we made some small changes - like the name of our film. It is now 'Repentance' rather than 'The Sinner'. We just felt it was a better name and suited the storyline of the thriller well. When we were completely satsified with the whole film and couldn't make any other changes we burnt it to a disk.
In the following lessons we will concentrate on the evaluation and in particular, how we are going to present it on film. One possibility is that we might answer the questions in an interview style (answer questions together as our film is playing in the background) :)
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
The End Is In Sight!
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Media Lesson- 8th Feb
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Filming -1st Feb
We then printed off the family photo and filmed the killer scribbling out each face. The shots we got were good and we think they will look very effective in our thriller. Lastly, we attempted to film some extreme close-ups of Katie's dad but the lighting wasn't the same as it had been in the church so we may have to use the ones we already have.
Thankfully, we have now finished the filming and can now concentrate on the editing of the thriller :)
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Audience Review
Monday, 31 January 2011
Media Lesson - 31st Jan
We have 11 days left to complete our editing so we hope we will get the music finished in the next few lessons :)
From Holly & Kathy
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Re-filming
In that time we also need to film the killer scribbling out the children's faces on the photo. This is a shot we never got to film as we had not taken the photo in time for the filming week.
It will be fairly easy to put these new shots into the correct places of our thriller even though we have already ordered the clips.
Media Lesson 26th January
We also used GarageBand to construct a good opening piece of music which would hopefully build tension for the audience. After a few changes of mind we are now happy with the music and next lesson we will be adding it to the film and making it play in time with the different shots. Overall, we feel we are still on track and are confident we will meet the deadline.
Monday, 24 January 2011
Media Lesson - 24th January
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Media Lesson - 19th January
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Park Scene
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Filming Continued...
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Filming
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Back To Work
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Monday, 6 December 2010
So Far So Good... (Preliminary Task)
Thursday, 18 November 2010
The Bourne Identity

The first setting shown is the Mediterranean Sea, this is revealed in the set up due to writing on the screen. However, also in the set up, slightly later on, another location is revealed which is The Central Intelligence Agency Langley, Virginia. This location is also revealed via writing on the screen.
What does the set up reveal to the audience about characters? Choose one character and explain HOW the set up reveals this information.
In the set up, the audience is introduced to Jason Bourne who gets rescues from the sea by some Fishermen in a storm. This is revealed through the surprised behaviour of the men on the boat who think he is dead, but then quickly try to save him. They do this by lying him down, and one of the men surgically removes a couple of bullets and a device from his back. The set up also reveals to the audience that Jason doesn't know where he is or why he is there, this becomes clear when he regains consciousness and demands answers from the man operating on him.
What does the set up reveal about the interrelationship between characters?
The man who operates on Jason appears to hold authority over the other fishermen. However Jason challenges him when he wakes up on a table in a fishing boat. The man reassures Jason that he is his friend, trying to help him and that he doesn't mean him any harm. The set up also reveals the language barrier between them, Jason (not knowing who he is) struggles to communicate with the other characters in the set up, but despite this, the fishermen get him off the boat safely into Switzerland.
What is this world like? Safe? Happy? Dangerous?
This world is dangerous and mysterious. In the set up we don't know who Jason is and neither does he, but the fact that he is found floating on the ocean with bullets in his back insinuates that the world he is living in is not at all safe.
What possible conflicts or strains are there that will become part of the story later on?
The main issue is that Jason Bourne appears to had lost his memory, but he keeps discovering things about himself, like that he is good at fighting when he needs to. Also, he finds his passport which he uses to find out basic information about himself, i.e. that he is called Jason Bourne and he lives in Paris. This becomes important to the story later on because he has to find out what he is doing with his life.
How does the opening fit with the codes and conventions of thriller films?
Establishing shot of boat in the water
Fast paced editing (when Jason attacks people)
Point of view shot (when he is looking down at the bag he dropped when he is hanging from a building)
Zoom (onto the boat)
Hand held (men playing cards in the boat)
Close-Up shots to show facial expressions
Tense, eerie music to arise a fearful mood.
Over the shoulder shots to give the impression something is going to happen behind the character.
Monday, 15 November 2010
*Questionnaire Results*
4% = 13-14 years 16% = 17-18 years
80% = 15-16 years
Gender
56% Female 44% Male
Do you watch thriller films?
96% said yes. 4% said no.
What is your favourite sub-genre of thriller?
32% said psychological. 4% said crime.
28% said action. 28% said comedy.
0% said political. 8% said romance.
In a thriller film, would you prefer the victim to be...?
60% said man. 12% said teen.
8% said woman. 12% said other.
8% said child.
Where would you most expect a thriller film to be set?
8% said graveyard. 44% said old house.
24% said woods 24% said other.
What excites you most about thriller films?
(Mixed results e.g. “the suspense and adrenaline”)
Do you prefer thriller films that make you think or ones that are obvious?
8% said ones that are obvious. 92% said ones that make you think.
Do you like thriller films?
88% said yes. 12% said no.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Our progress so far...
Holly & Katie x
Monday, 8 November 2010
Film Treatment
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Review Of Last Years Work
'Psycho' Trailer
Friday, 15 October 2010
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Quentin Tarantino Profile

Wednesday, 6 October 2010
SHUTTER ISLAND Q's & A's
1. What does the set up reveal to the audience about setting? Where is this place? What gives you this information?
The set up reveals that the 2 Marshalls are being taken to “Shutter Island” via boat, which insinuates that Shutter Island is out of the way because it is dangerous. When they arrive, this becomes clear when the guard explains that the wards are A, B and C, arranged in order of high risk, from this we discover it is a mental hospital.
2. What does the set up reveal to the audience about characters? Choose one character and explain HOW the set up reveals this information.
The set up reveals that the 2 men are Marshalls, going to Shutter Island on a job. The character Teddy is seen as more important than his colleague because the attention is more on him e.g. he gets sea sick on the boat. This seems pretty normal during the set up but later on we discover this is actually a result of the death of his 3 children who were drowned in a lake by his wife.
3. What does the set up reveal about interrelationships between characters?
The body language of the people and the things they say to Teddy are subtlety strange, e.g. the guard says with a smirk “I’ve never seen a Marshall’s badge before”. We don’t discover why until later on in the film when it becomes known that Teddy is a patient there and everyone is acting. Even the patients seem to recognise Teddy, one of them waves at him, another puts her finger to her lips and smiles like she knows him.
4. What is this world like? Safe? Happy? Dangerous?
In Teddy’s view, the place in dangerous and gives him unhappy experiences. But in reality, the place is safe other than the fact that they have the potential to cause him harm for his own good.
5. What possible conflicts or strains are there that will become part of the story later on?
There is a bit of tension from the start between Teddy and the deputy warden, (Teddy doesn’t want to hand his gun over).
6. How does the film opening fit with the codes and conventions of thriller films?
At the very start, the ship enters the shot through a mist, that way we don’t know what has happened before which makes the story more realistic when it concludes at the end, and we find out the meaning. Zoom is used when the ‘Marshalls’ are driven to the gates of the hospital; this makes the viewer feel like they are the character and therefore, involved. Eerie, tense music is used throughout the introduction to keep the audience on edge, and wondering what will happen. Foghorn and chain rattling at start – hint at what’s coming. Close up to show expression, washed out and cold colours, in contrast to the bright colours used in the flashbacks. Close up of badge, red herring. Low angle looking up at prison shows he is small in comparison. Use of tracking. Music gets very loud and then suddenly stops. Many POV shots used. Term “most dangerous” used. Teddy finds it easy to remove his gun, Chuck struggles. Woman with finger on lips used as red herring. When walking in, dialogue sounds disappear, natural sounds go up massively.
The Butterfly Effect- Eric Bress
Phone Booth - Joel Schumacher
Phone Booth – 2003
Starring Colin Farrell, ‘Phone Booth’ is a psychological thriller about a Manhattan Publicist with a rude and aggressive temperament and a guilty secret of lying to everyone he knows and cares about. Getting on with his everyday face-paced life, the phone booth starts ringing and he makes the worst call of his life. On the other end of the phone is a sniper with knowledge about the finite details of Stu’s life (Farrell).
The film starts with a narrator sharing facts about how many people use telephones and the unimaginably large population of the area. He says “there are an estimated 8 million people in the bureaus of New York”. This emphasises the situation Stu is in because it puts in context how unlikely it is that anyone will know who the sniper is, “there are hundreds of windows out there”.
The introduction to ‘Phone Booth’ is quick, with heavy use of tracking and added sound, which is upbeat music. The intro shows Stu’s true colours, as he openly lies to many people as he just passes them by. We soon realise he has been lying to his wife and his girlfriend about his infidelity to both of them, something he is later forced to confess to the gathering crowd.
To highlight emotion and give two sided conversations, the shot is often divided into grids or split into two parts which is interesting and unconventional.
We meet a key character within the first ten minutes, a pizza guy, also used as a red herring as we are led to believe he is the killer towards the end of the movie, when in fact he is just a random person who was victimised not only by Stu’s cruel words but also by the sniper who slits his throat. This leads the police into thinking it was him that was on the phone to Stu all the time.
The fast paced start takes a standstill as Stu answers the phone and hears the voice of the sniper for the first time. The music also stops and is replaced with eerie, tense music displaying the danger Stu is in. The sniper plays a mysterious character whose identity is not revealed until right at the end; he has a deep unnerving voice that frequently threatens Stu and his future. At the start of the conversation Stu is his usual self, aggressive and threatening. However, he soon realises his place and shrinks down to a defenceless man with deep regret, amusing the sniper greatly as Stu’s life falls apart.
Flashbacks are used at appropriate times, for example when Stu is asked to remember other people the Sniper has shot before, featuring on the news. The previously murdered men and Stu have all got something in common; they have done something wrong; however the quite wimpy reason for Stu’s hostage is as simple as his deception to the people around him. The sniper says “Stewart, you’re in this position because you’re not telling the truth”.
Ironically, the reason Stu is victimised, he is forced to continue when the sniper tells him to say hurtful things to his wife and the understanding policeman who are trying to help him get out of the situation he is trapped in. If he doesn’t, he is told they will be shot.
The sniper is inescapable; he has bugged the booth to find out all about Stu’s life since he has been making secret phone calls to his girlfriend behind his wife’s back. He has also rigged the booth with a gun, which he tricks Stu into touching leaving his fingerprints all over it, evidence for the shooting of a man the sniper killed, not Stu.
Many dramatic shot angles are used, such as looking down on the booth from the snipers point of view to enhance Stu’s defencelessness and show how small he is in the situation.
There is a twist to the tale right at the end, and it finishes off nicely with more facts from the narrator, who is in fact a key character in ‘phone booth’.
That’s why Thurston should watch it. :)