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.

Individual 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.  We would have created individual ones before creating a group so we would be able to include different ideas for the best possible sequence.    I hope my storyboard will help when planning our group storyboard, that we could take some ideas from my own storyboard into our own and help put across other ideas and suggestions for our own story board.

I have included the element of low key lighting, as this type of lighting will help create a more eerie, suspense atmosphere  compared to what high key lighting would create.  The fact that low key lighting is conventional to the majority of thriller films, helps the audience indicate that it is a thriller and something bad may happen.

Another element, I have decided to use in my storyboard is a close up shot for cinematography.  The close up shot will help the audience see the victims initial fear in her face, therefore making the audience relate to her fear of what is happening.  The close will also help the audience see the characters emotion up front, so they can get an idea of what she is feeling.

A third element  I have decided to use is slow editing because slow editing is has the ability to create suspense which is essential to have in a thriller film, therefore it is conventional to the thriller genre.  Slow editing also helps with the sense of shock once something has been discovered, which in turn makes the audience shocked.

I expect the audience to be shocked by my sequence as I want allot of shock elements to be included along with the element of suspense, as it incredibly essential that suspense is included in a thriller film otherwise it will not have the effect it should on the audience.

Our group will incorporate each others ideas when creating the group one, with specific ideas from the other group members, thinking about it carefully as to what would be best for our thriller opening sequence. I hope they can take some aspects of my storyboard into the group one.  

I have found this helpful, as it has helped me get an idea of what our sequence will look like.

Preliminary Task - Miss Georgiou

The preliminary task is a continuity task which involves filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in chair across from another character, where they have to exchange dialogue to one another.  The task should have demonstrated match on action, shot/reverse shot and 180 degree rule.  It had to be at a maximum of one minute of length.

The group members who are in my group are called Wai-lum Pang, Beau Abery & Benjamin Yarwood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WYDo56qhrs

The purpose of the preliminary task  was to show our understanding of the cinematography which we have learnt and to be able to get used to using a camera and tripod, when creating a short clip.  After the shots were filmed we had to edit them, taking out unnecessary parts which were not needed, therefore making a a clip which flows through easily.

We didn't just have to incorporate the different camera angles of cinematography but make sure there was dialogue included.   The types of cinematography we tried to include were:

High angle, over the shoulder and panning.

We learnt how to use a camera & tripod and got some knowledge of how to use the software (Final Cut Pro X).

We found the panning shot quite difficult to do, even though the task of just moving the handle on the tripod and we loosened it, we still have trouble moving and making sure it was stable.  To overcome this we just had to make sure that the shot was smooth and level with the movement.

Over the shoulder was reasonably easy as we just had to make sure the camera was in the correct space and to make sure that it was over the shoulder when using the dialogue.

We also seemed to struggle with wondering what to say, as this probably wasted most of our time, so we ended up making up a conversation project.  The editing stage seemed to also be quite challenging as none of us seemed to know how to use the software, therefore meaning we had to learn how to use it, so we took more time than we normally should on the editing.  By the time we had finished filming we only had enough time to upload it onto the computer and save it.  This meant that we had to come up in breaks or in our free periods to complete this task.

This preliminary task assisted us, to give us an idea of what it will be like when we get to filming our thriller, as it won't be as new to us when we get to it.  It also helped with using the editing software so that we will not be as confused, when we use it.