The Birds - Research

Alfred Hitchcock - The Birds

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock born on the 13th August 1899 at Leytonstone, Essex, England. Became one of the most well-known film producer and director in his time especially around the 1950-60s agenda. Within this time period Hitchcock brought out a few of his most successful films from his whole career, for instance 'Psycho' (made in 1960) and 'North by northwest' (made in 1959).

In Alfred Hitchcock's time of being a successful director he produced approximately 60 of his own films. Here are some examples of some of Hitchcock's highest grossing films and popular audience choices in the box office, for instance:

• Psycho (1960)
• North by northwest (1959)
• Rebecca (1940)
• Spellbound (1945)
• Notorious (1946)
• Rear Window (1954)
• The Birds (1963)

As a successful director Alfred Hitchcock presented many different methods throughout his filming career. A majority of his films included many sources of violence, crime and death/injury. He included methods in his film such as: Red herrings, MacGuffin, Enigmas and Cliff hangers. He used these methods to create tension and suspense which helps attract the audiences attention to his films and leaving them to want to watch more.

Psycho Research

Alfred Hitchcock - Psycho

The film Psycho was released during the 1960's, this film is an American Thriller/Horror film which is directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was firstly distributed by "Paramount Pictures" then in later releases it was distributed by "Universal Pictures".  This film was quite a success as the budget of the film was $800,000, and in the box office it made a massive $60,000,000.

Here is the trailer.

The shocking film Psycho is now classed as one of Alfred Hitchcock's most successful films. The film is based on a secretive relationship between Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and Sam Loomis (John Gavin). They begin with the discussion on how they cannot afford to get married. Marion Crane as returns back to her work place, where a client then hands over $40,000 to purchase a house for his daughter. Instead of Marion carrying out the transaction she takes the money for herself then escapes to a motel "Bates Motel" owned by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). 


The film "Psycho" is known for the famous "Shower Scene". This scene is where Marion Crane's death occurs. This scene on its own was shot for six days, from 17th December-23rd December 1959 the scene is approximately 3-4 minutes long. The shot includes 77 different camera angles. Hitchcock created this scene intelligently as it was a black and white film, he used chocolate syrup for the blood to give off the illusion of a deep red color.  The sounds of the stabbing was created by using a melon and plunging a knife into it.

Visions - The full opening (finished)

Visions - Full opening.

After all the filming and editing, this is our final and finished thriller piece. 'Visions' (zoned out productions)

Preliminary task

The Preliminary Task




 In this preliminary task me, Saana and Rebecca had to present a various amount if shots such as: Match on action, Eye-line match, shot-reverse-shot, graphic match and 180 degree. The film we have created involves a secret package that has to be transferred from Rebecca to me, although we was being very secretive in this film. We presented most of the Shots to meet the criteria of the preliminary task apart from one which was graphic match.

This is our match on action shot of me walking through a door, in the first image we have conveyed me walking in the door recording the shot from behind, then in the second image, we have presented walking into the room recording the shot from the front.

The next shot we presented was the 'Shot-reverse-shot', this is a shot that films one person to another for example through a converstation. In the first image, it presents our conversation starting off with Rebecca, then the conversation reverses back to me in the second image.

The next shot we presented was the 'Eyeline Match', this is a shot that links someones eyeline, with another person's eyeline matching or an object, in this case we used an object. In the first image, it shows me looking towards the object, in the second image it is the object. Which portrays that I am looking at the object.

Evaluation Question 7 -

Evaluation Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the product?

Comparing my thriller to my preliminary task

Looking back to my preliminary task comparing it to my finished thriller product. I feel as if there is a major difference and a major improvement as a whole. Back when I started the preliminary task I felt as if i was more of a beginner/amateur when using camera's, for instance during preliminary task I was still gaining more knowledge on how to use everything and how certain shots make effects on the film.

Quality of shot -

My quality of shots in my thriller were so much better compared to my preliminary task. During my preliminary task I found that as a group we had to crop out loads of little mistakes we made by jogging the camera and having problems with the zoom. Whereas, in our thriller the camera was very steady most of the time and we did not come across many problems with jogging the camera. Also the shots in our thriller flowed very well together when we put them together, yet the preliminary task we had much more fiddling about to do to make sure we cropped it at the correct time so it flowed together.

Quality of image -

I felt as if the quality of image was improved in my thriller compared to the preliminary task. I focused a lot on the positioning of the camera to make sure it was in the correct light, so we had an outcome of a stronger image. Whereas in the preliminary task I feel as if we were focusing more on the use of camera shots and using the microphone because we were still getting used to it.

Quality of sound -

I feel as if there were a slight improvement in the sound area in my thriller compared to my preliminary task. Because during the preliminary task I found it more of a struggle to find a sound to embed into my film and I also struggled to put it in the correct place. Whereas, in my final thriller as a group we already new what type of sounds we was going to use and where exactly we was going to put them, so it was an easier process.

Continuity -

There was a major improvement in the continuity sector from my preliminary task to my thriller the main thing being costumes. In my preliminary task we did not really have any set costumes, so if we was recording on a different day wearing something different we had to try harder to hide the fact that we was wearing different outfits. Whereas in our thriller the main character (Jordan) made sure he brought his costume every lesson, because Jordan was in the majority of the shots. In all our shots we made sure we was wearing the same or very similar costumes.

Conclusion -

As a whole, there was a major improvement between my preliminary task to my final thriller. I think this because I was still gaining a lot of knowledge during my preliminary task, on the other hand during my thriller I pretty much knew everything, and used everything that I learnt previously before the thriller. Which gave me a stronger and better outcome.

Evaluation Question 6 -

Evaluation Question 6 - What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Internet Sites

In the process of constructing this product I was introduced to many sites that I have not used before, or not used correctly before such as: Blogger, YouTube, Slide-share etc...

YouTube - Before I created this product I only used YouTube to watch videos so i did not have much knowledge on the site as a whole.  I have now learnt how to post videos, and also how to embed videos from this site to share them to other sources.

Blogger - Before creating this product I had never used blogger before so I have been supplied with a large amount of extra knowledge about this site. For example, I now know how to create and set out a blog. I know how to create labels (which helps me split the areas of my blog up to make it more easier to find), I also know how to embed or add pictures/videos/screenshots onto the site.

Slide-share - Slide-share is a very useful website to use, especially linking with blogger. Instead of using written word documents on blogger all the time, this site allows you to create a PowerPoint presentation and embed it onto blogger. Which makes it easier to present my work.

Hardware

In the process of constructing this product I was also introduced to electronics and hardware that I have never used or had knowledge on before. For example: Digital Camcorder, Microphone and Tripods.

Digital Camcorder - Before creating this film product, I did not have much experience or knowledge on how to use a digital camcorder. I now know how to film, how to cut at the correct time and how to playback my footage. I also know how to plug and upload footage onto the computer.

Microphone - I now have more knowledge on how to use microphones, and the reason why microphones are used. The use of microphones helps to enhance the sound, rather than the video camera struggling to pick up sound.

Tripods - Before creating this product I never used a tripod before and had no clue how to use it. Now I know how to attach the camcorder to the tripod and also know how to freely move the camera around whilst on the tripod. And also know how to shorten or extend the legs on the tripod.

Software

In the process of constructing my product I was introduced to a software that I had never used before which was 'Final Cut Express'.

Final cut express is a software that helps you make up your film. For example: uploading the film, putting them in the correct areas, linking the clips together, cropping down unnecessary parts, putting in filters or effects and adding text and titles to parts of the film.