Opening Scenaration - Miss Miller

The first shots the killer walking (low key lighting), where the audience do not know, but will find out later in the sequence.  Susan Moore, a seventeen year old, who is a secretary drives home from work.  A panning shot of a car passing the repton tower.  A POV shot is shown when she is driving the car, showing what she can see on the road, this helps the audience build a relationship with the victim.  She drives into the car park of where her apartment is.  She gets out of the car (mid shot) and realizes there's a man in a mask looking at her, and then realizes that he standing there with a knife (close up shot of victims face, she begins running.  When the knife is shown, a jump cut, is done to make the audience focus and let them know that there is a knife involved as this is iconography and it is a key part.  She runs into a forest, a straight cut is used to show a change of location.  As she is running, a jerky handheld POV shot, showing what she can see at her own eye level.  A shot is shown of the killer walking, as he follows the victim.  This is conventional to the thriller genre because the killer is confident that they are going to catch the victim.  The victim stops looks around, thinking that she has got away from him, but then  something is put over her head and and the screen goes black and you just hear screaming which fades into the background.

Overall, the low key lighting will make it more conventional because it creates an eerie atmosphere for the audience, this would make the sequence better.  A close up of the victims face will make the audience relate to the character as her emotion will be shown.  

Planning Opening Sequence Credits - Miss Georgiou

Credits are important because they can indicate to the audience the initial genre of the film that they will be watching.  It is able to establish a tone for the audience, so they can fall into the mood which the film may make them feel.  The best openings will leave the audience intrigued which will leave them settled in the seats making them want to know more about the narrative.  The credits show who were included in the making of the film including the director, producer, actors etc.

In the se7en opening sequence the colours are limited as the colours are only black and white, this conveys to the audience that there may be mystery included in the film and it also conveys good and evil to the audience as white has connotations of purity and black has connotations of fear and evil.  In parts, it looks like there are specks of blood, indicating to the audience that there will be death/murder involved.  Black and white is conventional to the thriller genre because it represents mystery and and uncovered scenes or problems which may happen within the film.  

The style of credits are in sync with the music, the credits have movements which are shaky, jerky and a jumpy effect to them.  They also seem to have a handwritten effect, which makes it more personal and eerie feel.  The credits also tend to appear in different areas of the screen, making the audience look more of what is showing.  The style of credits is conventional as it would be able to make the audience engaged to the film and keep them looking on the screen.

There are a series of thriller conventions which are included in the opening sequence, indicating to the audience that the film will be a thriller.  One convention is the suspenseful music as this keeps the audience in suspense, another element of the music is that it seems to be high pitched in certain parts.  The fact that it is high pitched in different parts is that it may add the sense of shock to the audience and keep them engaged in the opening sequence and make them keep watching.  

The images in the background would also create suspense as the pictures are of sharp objects such as knives and needles, making them wonder why those particular pictures would be shown.  The sharp objects are also conventional to the thriller genre, because they signify death and have meaning added to them.  The sharp objects are generally considered to be part of a thriller as it means that somebody is going to get killed.  Iconography such as sharp objects are conventional to the thriller genre as 

The credits help to establish the genre of the film, the order of appearence of who are involved in making of the film and the actors.  The credits seem to go in the order of importance.  The first name shown is the production company 'New Lines' and then goes to who it was directed by 'Film by Fincher' and then it shows the big actors names including Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow and Morgan Freeman.  It then shows the names of the music, costumes and director of photography and so on.  At the end it shows the directors name again, as he thinks that he would have been the most important in the making of the film.   

INDIVIDUAL ANALYSIS

 The colours in the opening credits in Hannibal are just black and white, which would portray to the audience that mystery may be involved in the film.  Black and white may also indicate the different sides of people, who will be included in the film because of the colours as each colour has a connotation to go with it.  Black would give off connotations of evilness and white would have connotations of the good side.  The colours are conventional to the thriller genre because black and white give an idea of mystery and eeriness as there may be things to uncover during the film. 

The style of credits seem to be very fast paced, which would make the audience may more attention to what they are watching.  The music seems to be something you wouldn't expect, as they would be able to hear a piano in the background with all these fast paced images showing.  Depending on what the background of the clip is, it depends if the credits are black or white, which would show contrast and make the names stand out.  The series of clips which are shown seems to be shown through of what seems to be a CCTV camera, which give the audience the idea of someone being watched without them knowing.  Fast paced credits are conventional the thriller genre because it gives a sense of jerky unexpected movements which may be portrayed throughout the film.

One of the conventions of this opening credits is the type of editing, as it's quite fast paced, as it keeps the audience engaged and would make them pay attention to what the credits say.  The fast paced nature of this opening sequence, makes it conventional to the thriller genre because it keeps them engaged.   Another convention would be the colours, most thrillers may have an opening sequence where it would have limited colours as it would create a different effect, comparing to if it would be in full colour, RGB.  The fact the colours are limited suggests mystery of the film, as the real colours will be shown as the problem is being solved.   Fast paced editing is conventional to the thriller genre because it keeps the audience on edge and keeps them engaged into watching the first scene of the film.

The order of appearance is very different compared to Se7en's opening sequence as the first names which are shown are the actors names and then follows onto the people who were involved in making the film by the 'casting by Louis Digiamo' being the first person to be shown after the actors, and then showing the names of the costume designer, music, production designer, director of photographer, executive producer, based on the novel by, produced by and then the very last name shown is the director 'Directed by Ridley Scott.'

GROUP ANALYSIS

In our group, we discussed what we would each be considering what kind of jobs we would have already done at this time, and also considering what we will be doing later on.  The credits will go in order of importance, taking into consideration what production role or actors would go first.  The credits will go by what other credit sequences look like 'directed by..' 'costumes by..' 'Director of photography by' etc.

We plan to have our credits white/grey, as it would contrast along on our clips.  The credits will appear in different parts make the audience pay attention to other things which is happening.  We plan to have the credits to have a handwritten style because it would add a different effect than what a different one might.  The credits will fade which will give them an eerie effect as they fade away.  The font we have selected is 'Bradley Hand' because it looks handwritten and more natural to the eye.

We have decided to keep the colour natural because it would make the audience relate to the scenario of what's happening.  The colours would be in full colour of RGB but our thriller opening sequence is already in limited colours considering it is in mostly black and the orange coming from the lights.

Production Roles - Miss Miller

People need to allocated specific roles when creating a film because they have to be apart of the process of making them film, and different people will have different attributes to them, making them more suitable for the job. 

JOB ROLES INCLUDE:

Producers: They have to create the scenes and conditions for the movie.  They initiate, co-ordinate supervise and control matters.  producers are involved throughout all phases of the film-making process to the development to the completion of the film.

Directors: The person who involved in the making of the film and tells the people involved what to do in the film and they are responsible for translating the script into actual images and sound.

Actors: Actors are people who play as the characters in the movie, to help bring the film to life.

Director of Photography:  The cameraman has to hold the camera taking into consideration the types of shots which they have to do. 

Music Producers: The music producers pick the music which will be included in the film and sometimes produce the music if something different is needed.

Screenplay Writer:  The screenplay writer, writes the script of the film, thinking about what each character is going to say and what they may doing while they are saying it.  It provides the characters to learn their lines.

MES Co-ordinators: The people who are in charge of the mise-en-scene considering the setting, iconography, colour, positioning and body language of characters.

Editors: Editors are the people who edit the footage which the camerman gets, cutting out and adding the music.  They are responsible for putting the final version of the film together.

We decided who will be doing what considering what the strengths are of each group member.  The director of photography is Ben as he is confident with handling the camera.  We decided to choose Ben to be our cameraman, and not someone else as we know he confident with handling the camera, compared to somebody who wouldn't know what they were doing.  Within this role, he has to manage the camera and make sure the shots are steady and are at the right angle.  This will make filming and editing easier as we will not have to worry about the stability and editing out too much of the camera work.This role had to be changed to myself, as I am confident with controlling and operating my camera, which will make it easier as I won't have to show them what to do when handling my camera. This has made production easier, as no time was wasted, as I didn't have to explain how to the camera properly.   I believe the director of photography did well as the shots created are of good quality and are how we expected them to be as we originally planned.

As a group we decided to have two actors, a victim - Ellie Holt and a killer - Louie Hart.  We decided to pick Ellie as our victim as she is blond female and in thrillers blond females are considered to be vulnerable for the audience and being a blond female makes it conventional to the thriller genre.  We picked Louie Hart as our killer as he is a tall male, therefore being conventional to the thriller genre as he would be considered to be the strongest comparing to the victim is considered to be weak.  

Due to the actors not turning up we had to turn to other people who would act for us but it came to the conclusion that two of our group members would have to take part in the opening sequence so we didn't get behind.  Wai-lum Pang took the part of the victim, being brunette, we though of a reason why she would be brunette as it is mostly more common for blondes.  However, we came to the decision that realistically a victim could have any hair colour, even though blondes may be portrayed as more vulnerable in thriller films.  I believe she did her part well she had good body language of the victim.

We decided Wai-lum was going to be the editor of our opening sequence as she edited our preliminary task, and has more of an idea of how to use final cut pro x, as this makes her know have more of an idea of what to do.   As a group, we will also help with the editing making sure that everything is how we want it.  As part of the role, she will be using final cut pro to edit our opening thriller sequence.  This will make editing easier, as it probably won't take as long as someone who doesn't really know anything about using the editing software.  I believe she did well doing this job as she paid close attention to certain parts of clips which we may have not needed and making sure the sound was in sync with everything else.

Ben will also be a producer, as he has organised most of the times we will be filming and when.  During the role he has arranged times, when everyone will be free and what time we will meet up at our location.  He will also have to take control of certain issues which like, actors which may have not turned up and think of a compromise.  He also had to assure that everyone is doing their job properly.  This makes the group focused.  I think Ben did well on being producer because he made sure that the group met up and the right place and time.  He also made sure that we got the necessary shots needed for our opening sequence.

The screenplay writers is the whole group consisting of Beau Abery, Benjamin Yarwood, Wai-lum Pang and I, as we thought of the idea together, so we plan on what happens in each frame and agree with what will be best for our opening thriller sequence.  This made the making of the planning of this easier, as it was group effort.

MES co-ordinator is Beau Abery, we decided this as he decided on the location, taking into consideration what would look best considering the setting and the background.  Also trying to  to get us a car, as we can't drive and getting some who can drive in position of our victim.  This role was done well, as the location was set.  However, communication lacked and had trouble finding the location, meaning we ended up going home and did not have each others numbers at the time.

Sound producer will be Wai-lum Pang, as she knows things about music and believe she will be able to pick the right music for our thriller.  Everyone else in the group, will also be included in picking the specific sounds as we will agree or disagree if the sound if right for our thriller opening sequence.  We did this well as we worked well as a group, knowing what sounds were good for our thriller and what was considered to be bad.  This made production easier as we all agreed and picked the right music.

Overall, we have allocated people different roles according to what they would be best at.  We considered these roles for the group members, taking into consideration strengths of everyone and making it their own role.  We think allocating these roles will make the production and the sequence better because we have considered what everyone can do best and giving them the right job.  

We did not film what we wanted as problems arose with the characters not being unavailable and having to change the characters. So time was an issue, so we would have to plan when the actors would be available at the same time.  We could have used our time more wisely, as when we got around to filming on the day, we couldn't find the location. This resulted us having to give in the camera and tripod back with no footage.  We had to find a compromise camera and tripod. I was willing to use my Canon 600d and tripod as it is a good quality camera and we didn't necessarily worry about having to have the filming done within a week.

Filming Schedule - Miss Georgiou

A filming schedule is important to have, because its good to be organised for a group to know when they will be filming and what kinds of shots we will be taking.  A filming schedule includes:

The type of shot:

The type of shot is numbered 1,2,3 etc. so the members know what type of shot is being shot and what order certain frames will be filmed in.

Date and Time:

The date and time is made, so all the group members and actors know when and what specific shot is being taken at the time.  

Content/Action:

This is a short descriptions of what happens within the shot.  It provides a reminder to the actors and director of what to do in the shot.

Shot type & Duration:

This is helps the director of photography know what kind of shot/cinematography to be filmed, which could include a high angle, long shot or panning shot etc.  The duration reminds the group how long it should roughly take.

Iconography:

This reminds the group members, what iconography should be included in a specific shot.  E.g. A knife or mask

Equipment:

This reminds the group members, to have the necessary equipment needed for filming.  Therefore, meaning they will not forget it.  The equipment may include: Camera, batteries, memory card, tripod etc.

We had to make some changes regarding some members did not turn up meaning we had to compromise and film what we could.  We also have to film on different days, so that it won't take as long and keep moving from location to location.  Our group decided to film on different days because some group members had to be back by a certain time, due to other plans.

Risk Assessment - Miss Georgiou

The main purpose of a risk assessment is to identify problems, which may arise during the filming process of creating our thriller opening sequence.

It is important to consider risks  before filming because, we have to think of possible ways to avoid these risks, therefore not making filming a disaster.  Certain elements have to be considered including identifying particular risks and then thinking about to prevent those risks from happening to the members or actors during the filming process.   

This risk assessment will assist us with filming when taking caution with these specific risks.   The risk assessment ensures would the group members and actors to feel safe.

 

Inspirations for Opening Scene - Miss Miller

Before we create something, we need inspiration because it would help to create something of good quality taking on similar ideas from where we get the inspiration from.  We can take inspiration from anything depending on what we want to create, including if we want to create an art piece, we would get inspiration from other artists work or graphic design and taking ideas from other pieces of graphic design and incorporating similar qualities into the design.  We are able to get inspiration everyone if you put your mind to it.  In this matter, we have to create our own opening thriller sequence, so we have taken inspiration from a range of different films.


Elaborate - What sequences have you looked at? (Various research posts) and what inspirations have you taken from them? How were they inspiring? How will you try to incorporate these ideas into your opening sequence, whilst making them your own

SAW - CINEMATOGRAPHY

We have taken inspiration from Saw 1 with the element of a close up shot.  The close up shot shows details of the character or object which the audience would not be able to see from another certain element of cinematography.  This was inspiring as we could show the victim of our sequence fear in the face when she realises the killer.

Another cinematography element would be the establishing shot, we have taken inspiration from this, as it would help set the scene or location.  It helps the audience get an idea of where the action will take place.  This shot was inspiring because it would help our sequence and we could use this when the car would be passing the Repton tower.

Another element would be the hand held camera cinematography shot, this was inspiring as it gave us, as the audience a sense of fear and chaos, as the shot does not appear to be smooth like panning is.  We have taken inspiration in our own thriller, for the victim would be running in the forest.

SCREAM 3 - EDITING

We have taken inspiration from scream 3 with the element of a straight cut, as this helps indicate a change in location.  This editing element was inspiring because it would help us in our own thriller sequence.  We plan to use this in our thriller opening sequence as it will show a change in location, as our thriller involves three different settings.

Another editing element we plan to use would be timing of shots as the slow editing creates emotional impact and builds suspense, the the editing would get noticeably faster therefore creating emotional impact.  We would incorporate this into our own thriller from the point of the antagonist walking past and then it would get faster from the point onwards from when the victim starts running.

Another editing element would be jump cut, this is inspiring because it would help the audience focus on an object.  We would incorporate this idea by showing the victims face when she realises the killer is holding a knife and then a jump cut will focus on the knife, to emphasise and alert the audience that there is a weapon involved.

HALLOWEEN H20: 20 YEARS LATER - SOUND

We plan to use non diegetic sound, the music was inspiring as it was suspenseful. 

Evaluate - How was your research useful in terms of getting ideas for your narrative? How will have various inspirations made your sequence better?

In terms of getting ideas for our narrative, my research was very helpful as getting ideas from different films was a better idea than getting it from just one specific film.   

Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Sound is very important within any film as without the sound the audience would not know what characters would be saying or what kind of sounds would be playing in the background, or the music which plays which plays at certain times to create different effects for the audience.  If music would be playing from its soundtrack, then it may go with what the character is doing or how they character is feeling, by showing the images of what they're doing.

 

One sound technique, we will use is parallel sound.  Parallel sounds are sounds which fit the scene e.g. a happy scene would have happy music and laughter.  Parallel sound is what you would expect to hear along with what the audience will be able to see.  In the context of this thriller opening sequence, we will include the sounds of footsteps of the victim as she will be wearing heels and use music which is tense to add suspense for the audience, therefore making the audience build a relationship with the victim as they can hear what the victim is doing.  Another parallel sound we will be using is screaming, this would portray to the audience that the victim is fearful and wants somebody to notice.  This parallel sound will take place near the end of the sequence as this will create an enigma and the audience will not know what happened to her, if she has lived or died.  In terms of suspense, the screaming will add suspense because the audience do not know if she going to die or if the victim has died.  This could result in the audience feeling shocked or have a sense of fear for the victim because the scream would be unexpected and they don't know what really has happened if she is

 

A second sound technique, we plan to use is non diegetic sound.  Non diagetic sounds are sounds which the character/characters will not be able to hear and the audience will not be able to hear where the source of the sound is coming from e.g. background music or a narratives voice.  The non diegetic sound we will use is tense music, the music will take place when the victim see the killer and starts running, this will create suspense and keep the audience engaged in the film, making them keep watching as the audience will be left in suspense.  It could also indicate to the audience that something will happen to the victim.  Non diegetic sound such as the background music which will be selected will make the audience react in a way which they can feel the suspense through hearing the music as the tension builds throughout the film as they know that something could happen but they don't know when that event will happen.

Another sound technique we plan to use is diagetic sound.  Diegetic sounds are sounds which would be part of the film, meaning the sounds come from objects or people e.g. dialogue, radio or a kettle boiling.  We plan to use the sound of a car radio for diegetic sound as it adds reality to the scene.  This means the audience will be able to relate to the situation as they probably would be listening to the radio while in the car.  The sound of the car radio will be heard when a frame shows the car driving.  Other diegetic sounds which the audience will be able to hear are the car door opening and closing, the engine of the car, the bushes and leaves on the ground as the victim in running through the forest and breathing when the victim is running.  The diegetic sounds adds reality to the film.  The use of diegetic sound will ensure the audience reacts in a way which helps them relate to the situation and keep them engaged in the film.

We plan to use a range of on screen sounds, as these are sounds which the audience can see on the screen including the car radio, victims scream, the sound of footsteps. This will add reality to the opening sequence.  The sound of the car radio will be a frame of the point of view shot, of that the victim can see as she is driving.  The sound of footsteps will take place when the victim walks out of the car.  The scream will take place near the end when the screen black as something appears to go over the eyes.  The sound of the scream will also make the audience feel shocked as they don't know what happened to her as they can't see what happened.  The sound of footsteps will make the audience react in way which will make them wonder who it is and keep them engaged.  The sound of the radio will add normality to the scene and make the audience in a way that they can relate to the current situation.

We also plan to use off screen sound, this sound will take place when the car alarm has been set off, the audience will not know where the sound will be coming from meaning the sound will be off screen.  Off screen sound is conventional to the the thriller genre because the audience do not know where the intial sound is coming from creating mystery as they would want to know where the source is comming from.  The fact that the car alarm suddenly goes off unexpectantly means that the audience would act in a way which would make them feel shocked because the audience did not suspect that the car alarm would go off.

Overall, in terms of creating suspense, our thriller opening sequence, will be successful as it would include the generic conventions of thriller genre therefore creating a successful thriller sequence.  I believe our thriller be become more conventional through using these sounds because it will be able to add more of the mystery and suspenseful aspects of thriller therefore having a better effect on the audience.

 

Group Storyboard - Miss Miller

The purpose of a storyboard is get a visual idea of what would be  included in certain frames when planning a film.  After, looking at each others own individual storyboard, we decided to combine some of the ideas from our individual storyboard but not all ideas, taking into consideration what would be best for our opening sequence of our thriller.     

Benjamin Yarwood - We have decided to use the element of low key lighting as we feel that it will create a more eerie atmosphere compared to what type of atmosphere, high key lighting would create.  Low key lighting is said to be conventional the thriller genre, as it creates a sense of mystery and suspense as the audience do not really know what is there.  We expect the audience to feel suspense because what the audience can see is quite limited, so they don't really know what could happen in the darkness and lead them to feel shocked at specific moment after the suspense has built up.

Wai-lum - A second element we have decided to do is using tense music for one of our non diegetic sounds as this would be able to create suspense for the audience.  Therefore making the audience engaged with the film and make them keep watching.  This would take place when the victim sees the killer and notices that something is not right and starts running away from the killer, as he walks towards them.  We expect the audience to feel shocked when the killer is shown because the audience will react to a sound, as they would have not expected it.  The audience will feel suspense when slow music is being played because it is slowed down and could lead to something which would shock them.

Michelle Woods - A third element we have decided to use is a point of view shot, as this will help the audience build and create a relationship with the character.  This will take place when the victim is running through the forest and the camera movement will be jerky, giving the sense of chaos and urgency to the audience also making them engaged.  We expect the audience to relate to the character because they can see what the victim sees, meaning they can see what she's seeing and feel her initial fear.

We do expect our target audience to enjoy and be shocked by our audience as we think we have included the best elements for our narrative, to make it the best for our target audience.  We did incorporate each others ideas, but also considering if it would be good for our narrative and visualising what it would look like, when it comes to the point of creating it.  

I think our story board is good, the issues we may come across my include having permission to film near Repton, so we will ask permission to see if we could film there.  Other issues may include getting the actors together at a time, when they can all make it as they may have other plans.

As a group we did find this useful, as it has helped us communicate more, put forward our own ideas and help us make sure it will be the best it can be.  I think, creating the group storyboard has helped with getting an idea of what our opening sequence will look like, even though it may not be exactly the same.

Narrative Theories - Miss Georgiou

Narrative theories were made by three people, including how the narrative is made up. Three people including Vladimir Propps theory, Todorov's theory and Aristotle's theory.

VLADIMIR PROPPS THEORY 

A Russian Critic, said that the narrative is based on the characters which perform a function.  
Including characters of:

• The hero - A character that seeks something
• The Villan - who opposes/actively blocks the hero's quest 
• The donor - A character who prepares the hero or gives an object
• The dispatcher - character to makes the lack known and send the hero off
• The false hero - Takes credit for the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess
• The helper - character who helps the hero complete task

This theory is allot like Shrek, therefore meaning its based more towards fairytales and not thrillers.

TODOROV'S THEORY

Tzvetan Todorov was against Vladimir Propps theory idea of narrative theories whilst allowing a more complex interpretation of film texts with his theory of equilibrium:

• State of equilibrium
• Disruption of equilibrium
• A recognition that the disorder has occurred
• An attempt to repair the damage of disruption
• Resume or a restoration of equilibrium

The narrative is driven by attempts to restore the equilibrium.  However, the equilibrium attained at the end of the story is  is not the same to the initial equilibrium.  He argues that the narrative needs transformation.  The characters or the situations are made through the process of disruption.  The disruption itself usually takes place  outside the normal framework, outside the normal social events.

ARISTOTLE'S THEORY

Aristotle's theory was around the idea of certain theories.  The theory may include headings that are used by some producers. 

Including the themes of:

• Inciting incident
• Dramatic incident
• Character Goal
• Resolution
• Sympathy
• Empathy

Our narrative will follow Todorov's theory as it will follow a story which is realistic and will have a equilibrium included, therefore leaving the audience in suspense and wondering what will happen.  Our narrative will be realistic because we want our target audience to relate to the situation.  We will be including an equilibrium because it will leave the audience in suspense and make them keep watching, to see what will happen next.

Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

Cinematography is important within films, as the shots show the importance of the character/object.  Another reason, why cinematography is important within films, is that certain shots can make the audience build a relationship or relate to the current situation being shown, depending on the cinematography.  E.g.  A low angled shot of a villian will possibly get the audience to feel fear, as they are made to look bigger.  Planning is required in order to produce excellent sequences because you have to get a general visual idea of what it may look like before filming.  It is required to plan the cinematography before filming because without knowing what the following shots will be shot, we won't know what effect it will have on the audience.

We plan to use the following cinematography shots:

PANNING SHOT

We plan to use a panning shot, when the car is going along the road.  We have chosen to use this shot because it helps the audience focus on one subject which is moving, making them pay more attention to the subject and making them recognise the subject in other shots.  Panning shots are conventional to the thriller genre because they are able to show the general location of the setting in most thrillers or to show a character moving e.g. a character moving across a room. 

ESTABLISHING SHOT

We plan to use an establishing shot, as this helps set the scene of where the action will be taking place and it will show a significance of the place, making the audience wonder why it was shown at that time.  Establishing shots are conventional to the thriller genre as it does help set the scene of the location and lets the audience know where it will be happening.  Establishing shots are conventional to the thriller genre because they set the scene, as it shows what the setting is like of where the action is taking place.  In thrillers, an establishing shot may be shown to show the house or the location to give the audience an idea of what is happening in the place the characters are at.

POINT OF VIEW SHOT

We have also chosen to use a Point of view (POV) shot as this, helps the audience see what is happening from the characters own view.  This shot in particular will help the audience relate the the character as the audience can see what they see and can get idea of what they are seeing in front of them.  The point of view shot is conventional to the thriller genre as it can help build suspense at some points as they do not know what they look like in some films. e.g. Halloween.  This is conventional to the thriller genre because it shows mystery and it is successful in getting the audience to relate to the character, as they can see what the character is suggestively seeing through their own view.  It is able to show mystery sometimes because the audience do not know who's point of view it is in.  Through this camera angle, the audience is able to relate to the situation as they may feel like they are apart of the film and can see what the character can see.

 

MID SHOT

We have chosen to use a mid shot, as this will help the audience see what the character is wearing, which helps them get idea of what the victim would work as, they would be able to see what the victim would be wearing.  The mid shot also helps the audience relate to the character, as if they see something that the victim is wearing, they would be able to relate to what she is wearing as it may be something that they would wear everyday. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it is able to show the audience what the character looks like and will give information on what they are, depending on what they are weaing.  Overall, making a relationship with the character. 

CLOSE UP SHOT

Another shot, we have chosen to use is a close up shot as this will help the audience focus on one thing and will be able to the victims fear in the face, when she realises the killer.  This will help the audience build a relationship with the victim, as they will be able to relate to her fear.  By seeing the victims facial expression, the audience will be able to relate to the situation/character because they will be able to feel her emotion.  We also plan to use a close up of her shoes getting out the car, as this will help indicate that a female will be in the sequence. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it helps audience see the characters facial expression in the characters face, making the audience relate to her.  Close ups shots also help to put significance on objects e.g. a knife.
 

HIGH ANGLED SHOT

We plan to use a high angled shot of the victim as this will help portray the victim as the weaker character, putting the message across that the killer is the stronger character.  It also helps portray the victims inferiority as the high angled shot will make the victim look smaller.  This will help the audience create a relationship with the victim, as they will relate to the fear of the victim and how much weaker the victim will be when the high angled shot will be shown.  This shot is conventional to the thriller genre as it helps convey the victim as they weaker character, letting the audience know that something will happen to her.  High angled shots are conventional to the thriller genre because they generally indicate weakness of the victim.  The audience will be able to realte to the situation as they would be as if they were looking down at her and feeling how insuperior, she would feel at the time.

I think our sequence will more more effective with the following cinematography shots as without these shots, it will not have the same effect on the audience. Without the cinematography, the audience may not be able to build a relationship with the characters.  Planning the cinematography was helpful for filming, as we will were able to get an idea of how the audience would build a relationship on the audience and what type of effect it would have on the audience.  Our sequence will be more conventional to the thriller genre, considering our planned cinematography shots are typical of the thriller genre.  Therefore, making the audience to relate and enjoy our thriller opening sequence.

Planning Characters - Miss Miller

Without characters the audience will not be able to have something to focus and develop a good narrative.  The audience will be able to build relationships with the characters, therefore making them more interested in the narrative.

VICTIM

The victim of this film will be a blond victim who will be 17 year old who works as a secretary.  Our victim is a stereotypical, conventional character of the thriller genre as she is blond female.  In thrillers, female blond victims are known to be innocent and have a quality of naivety about them.  The fact that the victim is naive and innocent, causes the audience to build a relationship with the audience because these qualities of the victim may make them feel worried towards her.  

The victim may be completely unaware of her surroundings and who will be around.  This would make the audience emphasise with the victim and make them feel sorry for her, therefore creating a relationship with the victim.      

The fact that the victim would be a similar age to our target audience which is a 15+ will help the audience build a relationship with the victim as she would be a similar age to them.  The experience which the victim entails will also help the audience create a relationship with the audience, making the audience develop feelings for the character.  

This character is conventional to the thriller because in most thrillers there is always a victim who is blond as they would be considered to be vulnerable, naive and innocent. 

KILLER / ANTAGONIST 

Our killer is a male aged 25, the identity of the killer will hidden by a mask, we have taken inspiration from scream as this will help create mystery.  

The killer, we have chosen is very tall, this would helps with the fact that it would help put the message across that he would be inferior and stronger than the victim.  The audience can build a relationship with the antagonist as they feel fear, as they don't initially know what he is going to do.   

The background of the killer would be that he is mentally unstable, we have taken inspiration from Halloween in this as we find out that the killer is mentally unstable as Michael gets released from the institution. 

The killer is a stereotypical character of the thriller genre as he will be wearing dark colours and a mask as this help with the whole hidden identity idea.  The audience will be able to build a relationship with the killer, as it will make them have a sense of curiosity, making them pay more attention to the killer.

The killer is conventional to the thriller genre because it's what the audience may expect when thinking of a villain.  They have to be considered the strongest of the characters compared to the victim who is the weaker character.  The fact the killer is unknown, due to the mask, would make it easier for the audience to relate as they are to envision what they want the antagonist to look like.

Overall, the characters chosen are very conventional to the thriller genre because they are, what the audience may expect in a thriller film. Considering, the victim being blonde and the villain being of a big build, tall and wearing the dark colours.  We have chosen these characters instead of others because it is conventional in thrillers to have a villain and a victim.  Another reason why we have chosen these particular characters is because if they were different it may have a completely different reaction for the audience. 

Planning Editing Styles - Miss Georgiou

Editing is important within a thriller film because without editing the film would have a completely different affect on the audience.  It is crucial to have editing within a thriller as it will have the ability to attract the audience, and engage the audience and also will help include the qualities within a thriller film of shock, suspense and surprised.

One type of editing style that we are using is a straight cut. We are using this specific editing style because it helps establish  a new location.  Our thriller will probably include about three different locations and the straight cut editing style will help let the audience know that there has been a change of location and let them know where the action will be taking place.  The effect this editing style is to indicate to the audience that there is a change of location, where the action will be taking place.  A straight cut will happen right after the car scene  driving on the road, in Repton where the victim is driving into the car park and then another straight cut will show the car driving into the car park and the next straight cut will happen when the victim starts running in the forest. The straight cut is conventional to the thriller genre as it helps indicate changes in location.  This follows the codes and conventions of the thriller genre as it establishes the scene.

We plan to also include other editing styles such slow and fast editing in our opening sequence because the fast editing will help influence the idea of urgency and engage the audience into the opening sequence. Fast editing may take place in the chase scene. We also plan to use slow editing as this is a big quality in a thriller film to add the element of suspense for the audience. The effect of fast editing is that it helps make the audience more engaged with what they are watching as it fast paced.  The effect of slow editing is that is able to create suspense and it also helps make the audience more engaged with what they are watching.  The slow editing will take place when the victim is just walking to her apartment from the car park.  Once the victim realises the killer and starts running is where the editing will pick up the pace. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it also helps create the elements of shock and suspense.

Another type of editing, we plan to use is timing of shots as this will also help create the element of shock as suspense, if the editing is slow at one point and then something happens such as something which helps to shock the audience which therefore trigger to make the editing faster.  Timing of shots will help create the effect of shock and suspense. The effect of timing of shots is that it makes the audience feel more engaged with the film, so it will not be tedious for them to watch. This is conventional to the thriller genre because the majority of films use this to create the element of suspense.

These editing styles would appeal to our audience as it would make them feel more engaged into the film, therefore making them keep watching the film.

Planning Mise-en-Scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise - en - scene is everything which the audience can see on the screen.  It makes the film more effective and makes it more realistic and it sets the scene.

Mise en Scene consists of 5 elements including:

• Settings & Iconography
• Costume, Hair & Makeup
• Facial Expressions 
• Body Language
• Lighting, Colour and Positioning

SETTING

We have decided to use different settings such as a car park and a forest.  People may be able to relate to a car park scene as it could be close to reality.  It would be close to reality because everyone can realise a car park.  The car park would need to be empty, to give a sense that it's abandoned and the victim may the only one there at the time.  Another reason, we have decided to use the car park would be that our sequence requires a car and the car would pull into the car park.    

Even though a forest is quite typical of a thriller, we have decided to use the forest as we know it may create a different atmosphere but it is also a relatable location, therefore meaning they will be able to connect with the character.  The setting of a forest, may makes the audience think something bad might happen.  Forests are known to be desolate, isolated settings, as its hard for people to find other things.  Therefore, creating suspense for the audience because they question if the victim will escape/survive or not. 

The mise-en-scene is conventional to a thriller film because the setting would be abandoned as nobody would be around the car park, which would be conventional to the thriller genre because most settings in thrillers are set in secretive, abandoned places where it would be possible for victims and the killer to get found out otherwise it would be too easy for the killer to get caught and the victim to get away from the killer.  

ICONOGRAPHY
Iconography is a key element in thrillers as certain objects can add significance to the film as it adds meaning to the scene.  It is a way of introducing an important object the scene.

In our thriller the iconography will be a mask and a knife as these pieces of iconography are conventional to the thriller genre as the knife indicates to the audience that a death/murder will take place and knives have connotations of death, danger, murder and blood. The fact that the knife indicate danger and death to the audience, would inform them that there will be a death which will take place.  An unfortunate event may happen to the victim, once the audience knows that there is a knife involved.  The thought of the knife will make the audience feel hatred towards the killer, therefore meaning they have made a connection to the situation.

The mask is conventional piece of iconography as this will help create mystery and signifies a hidden identity to the audience, making them want to know who the killer would be.


 COSTUME, HAIR & MAKE-UP

Depending on what the characters are wearing, the costume makes the audience make assumptions of what they are.  Weather they're wearing something which looks expensive, the audience would believe they would be wealthy etc.

The antagonist will be wearing dark colours, as dark colours hide the identity, therefore creating a mystery.   The antagonist will also be wearing a mask, this would help create suspense as it also creates a sense of mystery.   We chose the villain to wear dark colours because it is conventional to thrillers as it keeps their identity hidden.

The victim will be wearing work business type clothes, so the audience will get an idea that she has come home from work.  This is conventional the thriller genre because in most thrillers the antagonist wears dark colours to create mystery and keep the hidden identity.  The audience will be able to relate to the victim as they will relate to the fact that she is wearing work type clothes.  Therefore, making them relate to the situation.

We want the victim to look normal, therefore meaning their make-up will look normal and their hair will be normal in an everyday style.  



FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
Facial expressions are a clear indicator of how the character is feeling.  Depending on what facial expression the audience sees the characters face.  If the audience sees a character frowning, they would make the assumption that he/she is in a sad mood.

The facial expressions for the characters will be shocked and confused as the victim will have to portray these emotions in order for the audience to see what the victim will be feeling and relate to the current situation.  This would be conventional to the thriller genre because the victim has to convey fear and the killer has to convey the confidence that they will kill the victim.  

BODY LANGUAGE

Body language is another factor which indicate to the audience how the audience is feeling. An example would be that a character may be in a slouched position, meaning they may be sad.

Body language of the victim will be scared and the body language of the killer will be confident, as the audience will be able to see the difference of body language and see how the characters feel according to their body language.  

The villain may come across to the audience as confident because of his posture and by the way they walk.

When the victim is running through the forest she will be looking around for other ways to run.  She will be unsure of where she will be going and will keep on looking around to show, she is unsure if where she is going.

LIGHTING

The lighting of this thriller will be low key lighting, as this type of lighting is able to create an eerie atmosphere than high key lighting would create.  Low key lighting is also good for creating mystery to a film as it has a completely different feel.  Low key lighting limits what the audience can see.  It has the ability to build suspense and tension as they don't really know what else is going to be shown.

COLOUR
The colour will be in RGB as it is able to add a realistic feel to it than black and white, even if it would create a different atmosphere to it. The fact that the colours will be normal, will give the audience an idea that its just a normal everyday scene.

POSITIONING OF CHARACTERS
The positioning of the characters, can make the audience make assumptions on the characters depending on how or where the are positioned.

The positioning the characters would be that the victim would be in front of the killer at all times to signify that she is the victim and wants to get away from the antagonist who's aim is kill her. 

The mise-en-scene is conventional to a thriller film because the setting would be abandoned as nobody would be around the car park, which would be conventional to the thriller genre because most settings in thrillers are set in secretive, abandoned places where it would be possible for victims and the killer to get found out otherwise it would be too easy for the killer to get caught and the victim to get away from the killer. 

Our thriller will be able to build relationship with our target audience as audience may be able to relate to the settings and the audience being able to see the facial expressions and body language of the characters, the victim in particular as the audience will be able to relate to her fear shown through the body language and facial expressions.

Group Narrative & Narrative Theory - Miss Georgiou

The purpose of a narrative is to send a message to the audience. It is also important because its what the whole film is going to be about and able to use starting point of what different techniques to use.

We had a group discussion and told everyone our own narratives. We took turns to discuss our own narratives one by one and spoke about the advantages and disadvantages of each narrative.

INDIVIDUAL NARRATIVES

Wai-lum Pang 
A couple get married, the man named tom and a single mother called Elizabeth. The mother has a daughter called Katie, who they move in with Tom.  Katie comes home upset and talks to her step-dad and explains her best friend is going out with the guy whom she has feelings for, so she feels betrayed as her friend knew about this.  Tom treats Katie like his own daughter, this the first time, he has seen Katie in the state.  He starts thinking of a way to make things better and thinks of plan as he invites her friend over to talk to her friend.  However, it didn't go as planned, as he gets aggressive towards her as he seems to get flashbacks of his step-daughter sad.  Tom could not control his anger and grabs the first thing which could cause any kind of harm, that being a vase and smashes it on the back of her friends head while she was turned.  This doesn't kill her, but leaves her unconscious, he decides to take her body to the basement.  He stabs her body continuously, as he thinks she will tell everyone  At this point, Tom realises what he has done and becomes mentally unstable.  The police finds out that her friend is missing and goes on a search around every house with a dog at hand.  This is the part where he gets arrested.

The advantages of this idea would be that it has quite a good story line to it, it has a twist as they will not know what is wrong with the husband.  A disadvantage would be that it would be quite hard to get characters as there are allot of character involved including the police, dog, couple, daughter and the best friend.   The disadvantage of this idea would be that it may be quite hard to film. 

Beau Abery 
An patient is on life support in a hospital, after being in a car accident as she was ran over.  There is a doctor, who always wears a mask.  In the first instance of seeing this doctor, the patient is terrified and her first instinct is to take off the all the medical equipment which she is hooked to and runs away out of the hospital.  The masked doctor, looks for her and chases her into the forest where she dies from not being on the life support machine, which she needed.  The masked doctor takes her back a room which nobody knows about and experiments on her.

An advantage of this idea is that it isn't really a typical narrative for a thriller, it's an original idea.  I believe it make the audience build a relationship with the character as she is ill and they would want her to survive.  The disadvantage with this idea is that it would be difficult to film as you would need equipment which looked like it should and it may confuse the audience.  It may also be difficult to get a setting which looks like a hospital.

Benjamin Yarwood 
A group of friends go to the cinema to see Madagascar 2, one to friends (the victim) falls asleep.  Once the film has ended, her friends decide to leave her there and everyone else leaves the cinema, meaning she is on her own.  The victim wakes up, wondering where everyone has gone, so she goes into the lobby but finds out the cinema is shut down and abandoned, nobody is there. She suddenly hears a cinema reel rolling, she goes up the stairs to see what it is showing and she finds a masked man and then runs away shutting the door.

The advantage of this narrative is that some of the audience will be able to relate as it may be regular thing for a group of friends to gout to the cinema to see a film.  A disadvantage to this would be that it wouldn't be close reality as surely friends would wake somebody up if they fell asleep somewhere, unless they thought it was a joke, therefore meaning its not realistic.

THE GROUP NARRATIVE

Our group decided to make a whole new idea, as we felt they weren't really good enough.  So, we thought of a range of ideas and came up with this idea, combining some of our new ideas together to make this thriller narrative.   Some of the inspirations came from Scream 3, considering the car park idea.

A women comes back from work, she drives into a car park, whilst she locks her car and attempts to leave, a car alarm sets off, she turns around.  There is a killer, who then gets chased into a forest and gets lost.  The audience do not know if she gets killed or not.

 The narrative consists of two characters the female victim and the killer. We have decided to do use the female victim because they are conventional to the thriller genre and also because they are seen as vulnerable where the audience are able to build a relationship with them.

NARRATIVE THEORIES

Narrative theories were made by three people, including how the narrative is made up. Three people including Vladimir Propps theory, Todorov's theory and Aristotle's theory.

VLADIMIR PROPPS THEORY 

A Russian Critic, said that the narrative is based on the characters which perform a function.  
Including characters of:

• The hero - A character that seeks something
• The Villan - who opposes/actively blocks the hero's quest 
• The donor - A character who prepares the hero or gives an object
• The dispatcher - character to makes the lack known and send the hero off
• The false hero - Takes credit for the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess
• The helper - character who helps the hero complete task

This theory is allot like Shrek, therefore meaning its based more towards fairytales and not thrillers.

TODOROV'S THEORY

Tzvetan Todorov was against Vladimir Propps theory idea of narrative theories whilst allowing a more complex interpretation of film texts with his theory of equilibrium:

• State of equilibrium
• Disruption of equilibrium
• A recognition that the disorder has occurred
• An attempt to repair the damage of disruption
• Resume or a restoration of equilibrium

The narrative is driven by attempts to restore the equilibrium.  However, the equilibrium attained at the end of the story is  is not the same to the initial equilibrium.  He argues that the narrative needs transformation.  The characters or the situations are made through the process of disruption.  The disruption itself usually takes place  outside the normal framework, outside the normal social events.

ARISTOTLE'S THEORY

Aristotle's theory was around the idea of certain theories.  The theory may include headings that are used by some producers. 

Including the themes of:

• Inciting incident
• Dramatic incident
• Character Goal
• Resolution
• Sympathy
• Empathy

Our narrative will follow Todorov's theory as it will follow a story which is realistic and will have a equilibrium included, therefore leaving the audience in suspense and wondering what will happen.  In our narrative, the equilibrium will be when she see's a shadow or a man standing with a knife, once she has stepped out the car.  This is the point where it would be not normal for the character it disrupts her daily routine. Our narrative will be realistic because we want our target audience to relate to the situation.  We will be including an equilibrium because it will leave the audience in suspense and make them keep watching, to see what will happen next.

The narrative includes the victim driving home from work and pulling into the car park, to go into her apartment.  While she steps out the car, the villain is watching her and as she walks, she realised the killer holding a knife.  This is the point where her everyday event has been disrupted, making what she was about to do completely different as she starts running out of the car park and into a forest.