Researching different films

As we have now decided on a specific film genre (Thriller/Documentary style) I can begin to research some similar films to this genre, to inspire our own film. Below are some of the films I have researched...


Cloverfield

On youtube I found this trailer from the film 'Cloverfield' which gives you a basic summary and style of the film. One of the things I noticed and really liked was the way that the start of the film seemed so realistic and normal, the party was believable because of the jump cutting of the camera footage and also the silly script was typical for a group of friends enjoying each other's company. Watching the film, you actually begin to forget that it is a movie as you feel like you are just viewing someone's normal home video until the lights cut off and the panic begins.

This style definitely works really well when creating a thriller film and I think that our own short movie should possess similar realistic qualities to make the thriller aspect of the film even more shocking when it arrives.


The Blair Witch Project

I particularly liked the start of this film where it shows a statement telling the audience that three students have disappeared in the woods, offering post modernism and realism immediately to the film. That opening section draws you into the movie straight away as there is now that tense ambiguity whether or not the following film holds some element of truth.

The soundtrack at the start of the trailer is extremely tense and the heavy base instantly sets the feel for the rest of the film. It is effective because it is not too obvious to the viewer that there is a soundtrack. The simplicity of the one long note works very well and fits the 'documentary' genre perfectly because it is supposed to be real therefore it wouldn't work if there was a stereotypical creepy soundtrack throughout the film because it would ruin the authenticity of the story. 

I think that for our film the soundtrack needs to be very minimal and subtle. we want to build the tension using soundtrack but not in an obvious way. 

I also liked the fact that the held-hand cam had a grainy effect, once again making the footage realistic. This is definitely something that our group could replicate with our film. Similar to the Blair Witch Project we could also base our short film on student filmmakers working on some type of project which could turn into something much much more. I will present this idea to my group for the next lesson and we can discuss ways of developing the idea but also how we could challenge it.

Reading through some of the feedback online for this trailer, to gain inspiration, I come across a comment which said...'The witch was only in their mind. "if you believe in something it comes true" their mind was playing tricks on them.' This really inspired me and got me thinking. Perhaps our own film should explore this quote, "if you believe in something it comes true" a film conveying weird, peculiar events but never knowing if it is actually happening to them or just in their imagination.