Final Thriller

Thriller Comparison - Miss Georgiou

 I think that we did create a successful thriller sequence because we included certain elements of editing, sound, cinematography and mise-en-scene also including the micro-elements.  The fact that we included conventional qualities of the thriller genre like low key lighting which is able to create a sense of mystery and suspense which adds more depth into the opening sequence. 

 I believe the best micro-element which shows my creativity and understanding would be mise-en-scene because it is able to show the main conventional qualities of the thriller genre.  The location for example; one of the locations is an abandoned car park, despite cars being there nobody seems to be using it and the fact that the victim walks through there alone while nobody is there, the audience knows she is unsafe because nobody is with her which makes the victim an easy target.  It is conventional to the thriller genre for locations to be in desolate places where the victim would most likely be alone and would ensure that the villain gets caught.  The audience would be able to relate the victim as they would have used a car park.  This best shows my understanding because the villain wouldn’t want to get easily caught, so they would chose locations where not very many people would go to get a victim.

Another micro-element which shows my understanding is the low key lighting because it is able to create an atmosphere for the audience and is able to create a sense of mystery and suspense considering the limited light in the scenes.  Low key lighting is able to create shadows and make the villain seem less visible to the audience as well as creating an eerie atmosphere.

Dead End: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgv-dFnIcOE

Our thriller opening sequence can be compared to scream as it is quite similar.  

Both films include the villains having a hidden identity, this is conventional to the thriller genre because it adds a sense of mystery making the audience question who is behind the mask as it could be someone the victim knows or just a stranger that has chosen them to be their victim.  The fact that the audience doesn’t know who the villain is, it keeps the audience engaged into the film. 

Scream 4

Dead End

The settings are conventional to the thriller genre because we also used a car park in the opening scene, this car park seemed quite desolate and even though there were cars there nobody was there.  The car park would enable to audience to relate to the situation therefore making it more close to reality.

Both films contain non diegetic sounds such as music to help create suspense for the audience.  The fact that the sounds chosen we suggested to create a suspenseful atmosphere for the audience is make them feel fearful of might or may not happen.

Both films have a female victims who are brunette.  The fact that the victims are brunette aren’t as conventional to the thriller genre compared to having a blond victim but it is still conventional to the thriller genre as females are considered to be vulnerable and naïve.  It also adds a sense of reality as it shows the audience that it could happen to anyone not taking into consideration the hair colour.

They contain similar styles of editing styles as it is edited to create suspenseful atmosphere along with the cinematography such as point of view shots which are unsteady which enable the audience to relate to the characters more because they can see what they can see.

AS Thriller Evaluation - Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The purpose of the preliminary task was to show my understanding of cinematography that I have learnt and to be able to get used to using the camera and tripod, which we will be using when I started filming our thriller opening sequence.    After filming the shots, we had filmed I had to edit them, taking out unnecessary parts which were not needed, therefore showing a clip which flows through easily. There was background noise within my preliminary task, we improved this going to a quieter setting and turning the volume down during the editing process, so that any unwanted noise in the opening sequence would be able to be heard. 

From the preliminary task I learned how to use the camera which we will be using during the process of creating of our thriller opening sequence.  This gave me knowledge of how to use the camera, rather than getting to the filming stage and not knowing how to use and operate it.  This included learning to how to turn it on and how to zoom in.

I also learned how to use the tripod.  I had to do certain things for the tripod to get taller, how to screw the camera on and making sure the stage is level, so that the picture in the viewfinder of the camera is level.  This helped, as I would know what to do with the tripod when it got to the filming stage.  Without the use of the tripod, the sequence may look very amateur as it would look unsteady if it was handheld.  Meanwhile, using the tripod would make the thriller film look more professional.

I got an idea of how to use the editing software ‘Final Cut Pro X’.  The opportunity to use the editing software provided us with more knowledge and experience of how to use the filming software including cutting and combining the clips together in order for them to flow easily.  Being able to use this in the preliminary task meant, that when we have filmed the actual shots for our sequence and want to combine them and edit them, it will not take as long to edit, as we already would have known how to use it because of previous experience.

I learned how to edit by using final cut pro X; this skill helped when going towards the end stage of making our thriller film.  Another skill, I learned was how to use the camera as we all took turns on using the camera, so that everyone knew what they to do, when handling the camera to the best of my ability.  Another skill, I learned was how to use the tripod as this avoided any shaky shot which weren't meant to be unsteady.

Audience Feedback - Miss Georgiou

Audience feedback is important to a production because the audience is who you were creating the film for and by following a process of answering the facts of what they liked and dislikes helps the group improve on certain aspects.  The fact that it’s coming from an audience ensures that the film will be more successful as producers have to take their comments on board.  It’s an opportunity to make it better for the audience before it officially releases onto the screen meaning it will be more successful than it could have initially been.

We received audience feedback from doing a presentation explaining the ideas we have and the narrative and reasons for choosing certain elements in the film.  We also had to explain how we got the idea and how we did it.  We held a screening of our rough cut which we had created so far.  The audience gave us feedback including what went well and what could be done better in order for it to be more successful.  We received constructive criticism and focused on the things we could do in order for it to be better within the time we had.

During the screening, the audience had a questionnaire to answer.  The questionnaire consisted of three sections including of how many marks they thought the opening sequence would be marked if it was the full version.  Another section was for the positive comments and the next section was for constructive criticism to in order to make our sequence better. 
The feedback received benefited our production because it meant we could instantly improve on the things which we need to do in order to make our opening sequence better for the audience.  It would benefit the industry because improving our film would mean that it would get more successful therefore benefiting the industry.

One positive comment was on effect of Low Key Lighting.  The audience thought that the low key light was visually appealing according for audience.  Another point why they liked the effect of low key lighting as it is conventional to the thriller genre and the fact that if high key lighting was involved then it would have a completely different effect on the audience.                    


Another positive comment was about the conventional characters because they are is conventional in the thriller genre.  It is conventional in the thriller genre to have a villain and a victim.  The fact that we included these two characters meant that it was familiar to the audience when it was shown.

One constructive comment would be that we didn't have sound throughout.  The reason for this would be we hadn't quite finished the sequence and we were still in the process of choosing music that was appropriate for a thriller.  Another point, would be that if the final media product had certain clips which had no sound meant that it seemed very unprofessional or amateur and it just didn't feel right for the audience.

A second constructive comment would be that we could've used more or a range of camera shots considering cinematography.  This would be because there wasn't really a range of cinematography as there was POV shots of the villain’s point of view.  We could have included close ups of the knife and the shadow making the movement of the knife.  At this point we were short of time and couldn't film it in time as well as getting it edited.  I think the audience commented on the cinematography because a range of cinematography is able to create a good effect on the audience according to different camera shots.

Overall, I believe we have followed the aims of creating the thriller from learning about the different elements of the thriller genre including cinematography, sound, mise-en-scene and editing. Without learning about these elements I wouldn't have been able to create a successful thriller film. 

AS Thriller Evaluation - Question 5

HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?

Camera Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_vp-uHWQ-c

Primary research was essential for my production because the research collected consisted of information which would be helpful for our group as we asked the public a series of questions using a questionnaire.   This was essential because it helped us as group decide on the best target audience; without knowing the target audience, I wouldn’t know who we would be aiming it to and knowing that type of thriller to create.  

We researched various thriller films focusing on one element of the conventions.  I did a series of blogs analysing mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing styles, sound etc.  Doing this research helped us get a better understanding of why a certain element would be used in a film and what type of effect; it would have on the audience.  It also helped convey our own understanding of thrillers overall. 

I did research on the history of thrillers and what made the thrillers successful.  This helped to get an understanding of what other films were like in previous years and that other films got inspiration and took the ideas and involved in their own films.

I also did research on film certificates; this research was done to help to get an idea of what the different film certificates were like and what kind of things the film had to involve to get that specific film certification by classification.  I carried out research for the certificates of U, PG, 12, 12A, 15 and 18.

I carried out secondary research on narrative theories; this helped us have an idea of what type of theory was more similar to our own narrative.  It provided us to research about three different theories from Vladimir Propp’s, Aristotle and Todorov.  We wanted our thriller to be realistic for our audience, so we followed the idea of realistic events leading up to equilibrium.

We carried out a source of primary research; this research involved making a questionnaire consisting of open and closed questions for the public to answer about thriller films. 

This secondary research helped to plan our film because without the research we wouldn’t have made a successful thriller.  I had to plan what to include, to get the best results for the audience.

The primary research helped to find out who our target audience was going to be.  Without knowing the target audience, we wouldn’t know what kind of things to film.

I took editing ideas from scream 3 including timing of shots and straight cuts to suggest a change in location because these editing styles were conventional to the thriller genre and would have an effect on the audience. 

I took inspiration for mise-en-scene from Shutter Island and scream 3 because we used the idea of the car park and the low key lighting from Shutter Island because it added an eerie atmosphere.  

I got inspiration of sound from Halloween as it consisted of the diegetic and non-diegetic sounds as well as the on-screen and off-screen sound because without these sounds everything would be different. 

I took inspiration of cinematography from Saw and Halloween, as they consisted of various camera shots such as point of view shots in the film Halloween because it added a sense of mystery.  Another camera shot, we took the idea of the establishing shot because it lets the audience know the location of where the action will be taking place.

The research of the film certificates helped to plan what type of thriller opening sequence I wanted and knew what types of things to include for that certain age certificate being for fifteens and over. 

The primary research was a big help when planning the film as this helped us decide on what we should aim the target audience to be in our thriller.   The questionnaire consisted of open and closed questions, to get a range of different answers both detailed and straight forward. We took on the generalisation of the results of the questions.  I took the idea that a lot people liked the suspense and the feeling of being scared when watching a thriller and tried to incorporate that into my thriller film.  I also took the idea of making sure that it was going to be cliché because we didn’t want it to be too predictable.  I took the idea that they liked the effect of the music, as this also played apart on how it made them feel.  Knowing that the general age asked was 15+, we decided that our target audience would be fifteen and over.  My primary research inspired my thriller as it consisted of answers which included answers from the public and I was able to generate my idea from the popular answers of what type of thrillers to use.  The questionnaire consisted of open questions which was able to produce quantitive data which means that more detail could be involved in my results.  The closed questions consisted of possible answers next to tick boxes, this was able to create quantitative data, so it was easier to gather statistics and get a visual of what answer was more popular.

Overall, the primary research assisted with planning what our target was going to be and what would be best to include.  The secondary research was a big help when planning the thriller because it provided us with essential information to make the thriller opening sequence.

AS Thriller Evaluation - Question 4

Camera Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKS94mt_kS0

Target audience is important because I need to consider the types of people who would be watching my film and know how to make it appeal to that specific target audience.  Recognising or knowing what you would like the audience to be, before the production point is vital as they will determine the content included.  E.g. a company which would want the film to appeal to 15’s and over, would want to the content to appeal to young adults and older people.  They would have to be able to engage and relate to the film opening to that specific age group.

My target audience is for fifteens and over because we decided this, through our primary research and results showed that the age who liked watching thrillers, were in the age of fifteen and over.  The fact that we also wanted to film this for an older audience was because we wouldn't be limited in what we could include in the thriller film.

My narrative appeals to our audience because it is able to create mystery and suspense, as they don’t really know what is going to happen or who this villain is. 

   Characters appeal to our audience because people will be able to relate to the victim who goes to work and is wearing business like clothes.  The audience will be able to build a sense of suspense and fear with the villain because they know what his intention is and then want the victim to get away.  

My mise-en-scene appeals to the audience because the audience would be able to relate to the setting and the second location, would appeal to the audience because it’s dark and they don’t necessarily know where it is therefore creating mystery making them want to know where it is and what is going to happen. 

   The costume would appeal to the audience because they will be able to relate to what the victim is wearing, if they go to work.  They will appeal to the costume of the villain because of the dark colours, which he is wearing so he won’t get caught easily.

The editing would appeal to the audience because it is able to flow easily and the straight cuts are able to show a change in location.

AS Thriller Evaluation - Question 6