FinalThriller

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

I was set a preliminary task to show my current skills at the time so I could analyze what we did well and what i could improve on for my final sequence. My task involved one person entering a room, sitting down and having a short conversation with the person opposite. I learnt how to use different camera angles to portray authorities of each character and to show who is talking a the moment in time. I also learnt how to use the software we were going to use for our thriller and also how to set up a tripod.This preliminary task allowed me to have an engaging and dramatic opening sequence as i could analyze the preliminary task and look at what i did wrong and change it for my final thriller opening sequence. This then improved my work and i then could have an opening sequence which creates shock, surprise and suspense. I could have also looked at what i did well which i then used in my final idea as i knew what i created was god and will give me confidence in my final idea. This preliminary task helped me with my final idea because it taught me what i should used and what i shouldn't use. It taught me that i should plan before filming and also give myself a lot more time to film more footage. This was because we didn't have a plan for the preliminary work which is why it turned out not very good so i then knew that i should use one so that we can get on and film as much footage as possible. In addition i also knew that i should've given myself a lot more time to film in the final production because i could then film lots of footage which i could then edit and choose which footage works best. I learnt this because in my preliminary work the amount of footage i had wasn't enough to make a successful piece.

Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the project?

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Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

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Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The main characters in my sequence are an unknown killer, a blond women and a husband. I left the identity of the killer unknown as it leaves the audience in suspense and makes them want to know who it is so they are more on the edge of their seats which will engage the audience more to. 

I used a blond girl as it is conventional and stereotypical and engages the audience into my film as they are waiting for something to happen to her as blond girls are stereotypically known to be stupid and vulnerable. I used this as it is one way to subtly show that she is vulnerable without actually saying it. This then creates suspense as they are waiting for her to be killed or injured. The girl in my opening sequence appeals to the audience as women can relate to her situation and think about how they would be feeling in her situation. She also appeals to the audience as anyone who watches a thriller out of choice wants to see someone being murdered and they know from the start she is going to be the victim.

These characters appeal to my audience, people aged between 15-30, as the killer makes the audience put themselves into the victims shoes and empathises with their situation. This also appeals to the audience as they do not know when the killer will pop up which then creates suspense. The girl in my opening sequence appeals to the audience as women can relate to her situation and think about how they would be feeling in her situation. She also appeals to the audience as anyone who watches a thriller out of choice wants to see someone being murdered and they know from the start she is going to be the victim.

Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, developer challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Many thriller films follows many conventions to try and make my thriller appeal to a certain audience and create suspense, shock and surprise.  Some of these successful conventions are characters, iconography, lighting, hair & make up and setting. I followed a few of these conventions in my product because I believe that if I wanted to create a successful opening sequence I will need these to create a conventional thriller. 

One convention I used is characters, in my thriller I used the stereotypical blond victim. I used this because people tend to believe blond girls are vulnerable which will create suspense as thy are waiting for something to happen to her. 

Another conventions I used is setting, I believe that the setting I used was the main thing in which creates fear for the audience. The themes of shock, surprise and suspense are evidence in my thriller because throughout the sequence the audience are aware of the presence of an unknown man but do not see any deaths until near the end of the sequence. I used this because it sets the scene and lets the audience in to what type of thriller its going to be. The setting I used was an every day home, this is because the audience can relate to this as its somewhere in which relates to where they live which creates an emotional relationship with the characters. 

Another convention is iconography

Another convention is unknown killer 

Another convention is low key lighting 

The last convention i used is 

Overall my thriller does not challenge any conventions because I believe using the conventions will make my piece more successful and relatable for the audience.My thriller is similar to the original scream, like mine the actress of this film used a blond, vulnerable girl and an every day house as the setting.  I believe that we both used this as its good at creating suspense, shock and surprise for the audience.  

Font Ideas

For my thriller opening sequence i wanted to include writing over the top as opening credits so I could included all the people who have helped and credit them for their work. I looked at many different font types and colours and tried to find which ones were best for a thriller film and creating suspense. I wanted my credits to be red to portray evil and also to portray blood. This colours would engage the audience straight away as it gives them a sense of evil and bad which will set up the rest of the film. In addition I also wanted my credits to pulse out at the audience as this will give it the scary and thriller look. I did this by going onto the font settings and making the secondary colour white and chose a transaction which pulsated between the two colours.

Rough cut - Miss Miller

A rough cut is important when making a film as its a good way of getting advice from peers or anyone who watches it. This is because i have placed my rough cut on you tube and showed my class it, my whole class gave me feedback on my opening sequence and me and my group took the criticism and positives away from the discussion and had a meeting to discuss what we need to change and what we should keep.

Audience feedback is very important to consider when presenting our rough cut, as it gives us a chance to get an honest and un-biast opinion on our opening sequence. They can give you productive criticism to help you improve on elements that may not be working, but also tell you what parts are not as effective, so that you can improve on them, or simply make sure you keep them or keep them out of the sequence.

We created a slideshow in which we presented to the class to give them a better understanding of the background of the characters, the story line and who did what roles.We did this so we could get alot of feedback from them because they would understand the plot more. The presentation included; 

• What our group narrative was
• How we came to a conclusion of the narrative
• What our final narrative was
• Our individual narratives with the positives and negatives
• What we wanted to create. + How we think we have created it.
• How is it conventional to a thriller genre

We then showed our class our rough cut which we had posted on youtube to get their feedback on the actual piece. From the discussion me and my group found that people were laughing at our rough cut more than being engaged or scared so we decided to scrap the whole piece and start over as i believe i could make a much better piece. We then changed roles and i became the director and Vasil become a producer. This helped us as i believe i was a better director as i could control what was going on and make sure it was scary and not funny.  
As part of our feedback we received from our peers/audience, we discovered all of our strengths and weaknesses. Our strengths included:

• The use of low key lighting as it showed something that was conventional to a thriller.
•  The variety of camera shots we used. This includes a lot close ups and POV to represent enigma and hidden identity. The close ups show the characters facial expression which helps towards allowing the audience to build a relationship with the characters.
• Different sound techniques used which helps create different atmospheres and can represent how characters were feeling, the different and unique use of sound also allows tension to build, leading to shock, surprise and suspense amongst the audience.

 These were also followed by some weaknesses such as:

•  Lack of consistency through themes and characters created a lot of confusion amongst our audience.
• Lack of conventional elements to a thriller, resembled traits of a comedy.
• Order of shots seemed out of place and messy.
• Rushed and unexplained ending.

Opening scenaration - Miss Miller

In the first 4 frames we did we used many different editing styles and iconography to try and create an everyday atmosphere to also create suspense. This was because if the audience see an atmosphere they an relate to it will engage them into the scene and leave them oblivious to what else is going to happen. We used a car as many people own a car and use it on a daily basis which, like i said, makes them relate to the relevance of the scene. We also used a cell phone, this again is something that people in everyday life use. And again this puts the audience into the characters shoes and engages them which we can then use to scare them more. 

In the fifth frame we introduced the killer. In this frame we hid the identity of the killer because we do not want the audience to know his/hers identity because this creates suspense throughout the whole of the opening sequence because they wont know their identity even after the opening sequence is finished. We did this by using a POV shot so that we can see from his point of view which also allows the audience to put themselves in their shoes and make a conclusion whether they like him/her or not. We did this by using a mask and filming the scenes through the wholes on the mask which gives it that POV effect. 

In the sixth, seventh and eighth frame we introduced the wife. We did this by using things which are relative to an everyday situation, like a bath and getting changed. This creates a relationship between the audience and the wife because they can relate to her situation which also creates suspense as the audience may be waiting for something to happen to the wife but aren't sure when or what will happen to her. We can then tear apart the relationship created by killing her off which the audience may not expect and create a sad atmosphere in which is were the surprise element comes in. 

In frame 11 we used two candles to create a sad an eerie atmosphere. We did this by using them to portray the husband and wife and to create tension for the audience by blowing one out to show the wife is dead. We did this instead of showing the wife being dead as it creates suspense before hand as the audience may not know if she was dead. This also creates a relationship between the audience and the husband as they empathise with the fact his wife just died and he is oblivious to the situation which also creates suspense to whether the male character is going to die.

In frames thirteen, fourteen, fifteen and sixteen we started to introduce the male character properly. In these frames we showed how oblivious he is to the fact there is a killer in his house. We did this by showing his facial expressions clearly and showing him coming home from work just like normal and acting like nothings happened, which he thinks. His facial expressions start to change when he realises his wife is nowhere to be seen although he had just rang her and she was at home. To show how his facial expressions we used close ups on his face throughout to make it clear to the audience on his situation as well as to create suspense on whether he finds out or whether he gets killed.

Planning opening Credits- Miss Georgiou

Credits are important in films as they are there to credit people who helped during the production of the film or actually acting in the film. This gives recognition to these people and give them more of a name in the industry for future director who can look at what they've done in a film and maybe hire them. This also allows the audience to research these people if they have seen something they like.  They are usually shown as text on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. Some opening credits are built around animation or production numbers of some sort. By analysing different sequences we have been able to look at four main points which include:

• The colours used in an opening sequence
• The Style of Credits used
• Thriller Conventions
• Order of Appearance

The first film I will be looking at is Se7en, this film was created in 1995 by David Fincher and was a huge hit with the thriller audience. The opening sequence was very effective as the colours used suggested death, blood and plain. This was because the writing flashed out at us and is coloured white and red. Another reason these opening credits are effective is because they use a lot of conventions, such as the order in which the credits are shown, eg producer first. This is key because it gives the most important people more credit than the less key people and by putting the more important people first will always suggest they are more important.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEq-4fua3lM

In this opening sequence the director uses 3 colours to portray many different ideas. The first colour used is red, this portrays death, blood, evil and sins, The director used this to let the audience decide why they used this colour and to leave them in suspense to whether what is going to come in the rest of the film. Although this could also show colours of love or romance which could also suggest this thriller may be about a romance which is destroyed by gruesome deaths or maybe a love of god which is destroyed by sins. Another colour used in this opening sequence is white, this tends to show purity and maybe innocence which could suggest that this thriller may be about innocent and pure people, lovers of god, being killed. The last colour used is black, this connotes dark and evil which could suggest this thriller has something to do with the devil or evil spirits. This colour contrasts with the white which shows the good verse the bad and also makes the white stick out more to the audience and make them concentrate more on the people in the credits

  

The next thing I noticed was the style in which the credits were written, the font of the writing was different but very conventional to the thriller genre. This is because it sticks out to the audience and makes them remember the names but at the same time the font used is one I've never seen before. In addition the writing is in a way electrified and as looks as though its Moving, shaking and pulsating. This pulsating makes the audience remember the names in the writing as well as giving them an insight to what may follow in the rest of the film. This adds effect to the thriller as the jerky movement of the writing makes us as the audience feel on edge and feel uneven about the film.

In this opening sequence there are many conventions which are used, many which are used a lot by many other thriller films. The first convention used is the colours used, this is because as i said before they represent may different things like death and blood, this is conventional as death and blood are things that tend to be used alot in thriller films. Another reason the colours are effective are because they are contrasting which make the writing pulsate out at the audience which is conventional as most directors want the audiecne to notice these peoples names and give them credit for what they have done. Another convention used is the low key lighting, this is used throughout the whole opening sequence and is used to show evil and gloom over the audience. This is conventional as many directors use low key lighting to portray doom and gloom aswell as to create shadows. It also is conventional as it creates suspense as the audience cannot see much happening apart from the main prospects. Another convention to a thriller is the sound. With it being diegetic sound it creates a realistic atmosphere over the film as well as an unrealistic atmosphere at the same time. The sound makes everything more intensifying and makes the audience feel like they are in the thriller. This is conventional to a thriller as it engages the audience into the scene as they can put themselves into the scene as it seems realistic.

The Se7en opening credits are in a simple order which tends to be used by many of films.

• Title and Production
• Characters - Brad Pitt & Morgan Freeman
• Title of film - Se7en
• More actors involved
• The Director
• Producers
• Company Name
• Actors (2)
• Title
• Director (Twice)
• Music Producers
• Costume Designers
• Editors
• Production Team
• Camera Operators
• Co-Producers
• Producer
• Written By
• Director

We can see that the directors name is said twice which is used to show his significance in the production in the film aswell as the main actors are mentioned first to show the audience who the main characters are and imply their importance as well as the directors.

The next film I analysed is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, this film is very similar to se7en as it uses alternate colours and used both white and black. It also uses many conventional items like low key lighting to portray different things aswell as giving away ideas about what may follow.

The first thing i noticed was the colours used by the director. He uses white and black which are alternate colours and make the writing clearer to the audience which is just what the director wants to do. These colours contrast with each other as they make everything more bold and it makes it stand out more so that the audience take more notice of the people in the film and the people who produced it. This is used as it is very conventional aswell as being very effective at making the audience remember the names of the people involved. The colour white suggests the innocence of the victim, that is brutally taken away when they are murdered. And the colour black suggests the evil nature of the villain in the film or the way he kills his victim.

In the background of the opening credits we can see a lot of ink flying around which relates to the title of the film, The girl with the dragon tattoo, this is used to show the audience that the name has relevance to the film as is something they should remember. Another reason I believe they used this in the background is because ink has a dull colour and could suggest the films villain is a dull person and may have weird ways of killing people. In addition we also see fire in the background, again this shows the relevance of the title as the fire could resemble the dragon tattoo which lets the audience know what the film to follow will include.

The Writing in the opening credits looks hand written and is very small. This is because the cast of the production is very big and the director didn't wanna waste a lot of time mentioning everyone's name one at a time. Another reason small writing is used is because the director did not want to cover the things which were going on in the background, like the fire and ink, which are key into creating suspense for the audience. I believe the credits were made to look hand written because this creates a sense of reality for the audience which then creates suspense as they are waiting to see what happens in the film in which they can relate to. This is also very conventional to the thriller genre as many thriller credits tend to create a sense of reality for the audience so they somewhat feel reassured but then are surprise with what actually happens in the film.

 

The order in which the production roles are set out is simple and is very simular to the se7en credits;
 

production company first

director

actors

title

actors

Filmer

costume designer

co-producers

sound man

music man

Editors

Production designer

director of photography

executive producers

producers

screen play

director

We can see again, just like in se7en, that the directors name is mentioned twice to show his importance to the audience and to make them remember his name and to maybe research him and buy some of his other work. In addition we can also see in these credits there are two lists of actors, first being the main actors to show their importance and then followed by the less important but still important actors a few frames after.

Group discussions of research and what your credits will say

Analysis of fonts/ Styles/ Colours of own credits.

Production Roles - Miss Miller

In the production of films people are assigned roles, this is because if one person was in control of every single role the production would be very slow and wouldn't be very efficient. This is because they would be working hard all the time trying to do every thing whereas if the roles where allocated to different people the individuals can perfect their role and make the production good and then in return get more profit. In addition if people have individual roles and something goes wrong with a specific role the person in charge can sort it out instead of everyone rushing around and getting in one another way. People who are good at certain things are allocated roles which are specific to their ability which allows the production to be more successful.

Some of the roles used in productions are;

• Producers - is a person responsible for the financial and managerial aspects of the making of a film. 
• MES co-ordinator - This is someone who controls costumes, make-up, iconography etc
• Screen Play writer - A screenwriter or scriptwriter or scenarist is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media such as film
• Directors - A person who is in charge of an activity, department, or organisation.
• Director of photography - A cinematographer is the chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, and responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image
• Sound technicians - They prepare, operate and maintain technical equipment to amplify, enhance, mix or reproduce sound.
• Editors - Somebody who makes the film flow by editing the scenes and cutting things out

In my group we allocated eachother a specific group so that our production runs smoothly and so we can create the opening sequence without any hick ups or any problems. This will make sure we all have an individual task and will help us to film it and organise it a lot faster than if we allocated all the duties to one particular person. 

I have been allocated the role of the director of photography, sound technician and the editor of the opening sequence. I believe i was chosen for this as i have a lot of experience using cameras and editing software so my group know I am very good with these things so decided I would do this job. I wasn't allocated the role of being director as i believe i am more of a listener than a talker so i wouldn't have done the role well and told my group what to do. We also allocated each other roles depending on their skills;

Director; Vasil Nikolov
Mise-en-scene coordinator; Danniella Cross
Producers; George Miller, Vasil Nikolov

We chose Vasil to be the Director as he is a very good speaker an can control a group of people well, making sure nothing goes out of line and everything moves perfectly. We also chose him as the Director as he is very good at working with a team and is good at communicating with people to achieve what he wants to achieve without being horrible. We also decided that he would be a producer as one role may not be enough for him and isnt fair that everyone else has 2. Another reason we chose him to be a producer is because he is very good at working with the financial side of things and is also good at managerial aspects, this means he is able to go round and watch what people are doing to see whether they are doing things correctly and to correct them if they aren't.

We chose Danniella to be the Mise-en-scene coordinator as she is a good artist and is good at doing hair and make up and this is needed throughout our opening scene to create suspense, shock and surprise. We chose her as we do not want to get these aspects wrong as it may not then create the 3 S' and she is the most talented in our group at this aspect. She is also good at creating costumes which is essential for our opening scene as costumes are needed throughout. If we were to choose somebody else to do this we may end up with rubbish costumes which will make our thriller look tacky and cheap. Danniella is also good at keeping things organised which is another reason why we chose her, she will be able to control what goes on set and will not forget to bring props to the filming which will then stop the production from moving slowly. 

Danniella did her job very successfully, creating the costumes and doing the hair in the right way. By her doing this, the thriller itself allowed the audience to engage into the scene as the costumes were every day outfits in which the audience can relate to. On the other hand I decided to take over Vasils role as he wasn't doing the job to the best of his ability and I believe i would be better at being the director as I know what should go where and what creates the 3 S's. After the change the production went very smoothly and allowed us to film a lot of footage in which we could edit to create the best opening sequence possible. If we were to do the production again I would have liked to have more people to work with and i would've like more effort from Vasil. 

Narrative Theory - Miss Georgiou

Aristotle - themes
Propp - charceter
Tolerov - equilibrium

Planning Editing styles - Miss Georgiou

In a thriller, editing is used to engage the audience into the scene and create suspense, shock and surprise. Editors do this by using editing such as a fade, this creates the 3 S’ as it shows emotion as its slow and might show someone’s life fading away.

In my group we decided to use these editing styles

Fade

Jump cut

Slow editing and many more

We first used slow editing. We used Slow editing when the girl is in her room and hears a knock at the door. She knows that the person knocking isn’t her husband. We used slow editing when she is walking towards the door, this builds up tension and creates suspense. This is because the audience know who’s knocking at the door and are waiting for her to open and be killed. This creates a relationship between the girl and the audience as they know her fait and feel sympathy for her as she is portrayed as innocent and is about to be killed by the killer. This is conventional to the thriller genre as many editors use slow editing to build up tension and create suspense for the audience.

The next piece of editing we do is jump cut. We use a jump cut when the man arrives home from work and the killer is waiting in the corner of the room. We see this scene from the killer’s point of view. We used a jump cut here because they are used when the editor wants the audience to suddenly focus on something, in this case the killer in the corner. This puts the audience in an uncomfortable position, as they know the killer is there and want to help the man but they cant. This creates a relationship between the character and the audience as they can put themselves in his shoes and realise he doesn’t have a clue who is in the room. This is conventional to the thriller genre as mostly every editor uses a jump cut to make the audience focus on something scary or something mysterious.

The last piece of editing we use is a fade,. We have used this as the screen fades to black and it will often signify danger or that something is going to suddenly take a dramatic change for the worse. This is used at the end of our opening sequence, straight after we see the killer pop up at the mans car window. We used this here because it is the end of the scene and creates suspense for the audience, as they do not know what will happen to the man. This engages tem into the sequence, as they will want to watch the rest of the thriller to find out what happens to the man. This is conventional to the thriller genre as editors tend to use this to show something dangerous is about to happen or someone’s life is ending or about to end which is just how we have used it.

Filming schedule - Miss Georgiou

A filming schedule is key for a director and everybody involved. This is because each person who is a part of the production will have one which will direct them to where they need to be and when they need to be there. In addition for the prop person, the schedule will also have what props are needed which tells them what to bring to each scene or each day. This also makes things a lot easier for the group when filming as this will make sure everything runs smoothly, and avoid any arguments or disruptions. By having a filming schedule for our group, we can get the filming done as quick as possible and edit it as quick as possible, this is because the schedule tells us where to be and when to be there. As we only have a week to film our opening scene, this schedule will allow us to film lots of footage which we can analyse and take the best parts.

Risk Assessmant - Miss Georgiou

Risk Assessment
Risk assessments are needed in the filming industry to make the actors feel safe which will then allow them to act to their best of their ability as they wont be under any risk of being injured or hurt. A Risk Assessment is aprocess of evaluating the potential risk that may involve in a project or undertaking. 

Inspirations - Miss Miller

To create a thrilling and engaging thriller we need different inspirations. We get inspirations from many different things like other thriller films that we have watched, I have watched at a few different award winning thriller films and looked at the different sounds, camera angles and the mise-en-scene used by the directors. You can so take inspirations from personal experiences or other people who have ideas. Our group took many inspirations from films such as shutter island, scream and halloween. We looked at different clips from these films that created tension, surprise, shock and suspense.

One of the clips I looked at was one from Shutter Island were Leanardo Di Caprio was walking through the prison. The lighting used in this clip inspired us as it create suspense as we cannot see what is ahead of him and are waiting for something to happen to him. This is because the only light in the corridor is the flame he is holding in his hand and this does not light up the whole corridor just the space in front of him. This creates suspense as anything could be out of reach of the light and waiting to attack him. This makes the audience on the edge of their seat waiting for a killer or anything to scare them. This inspired me as in my piece I want the audience to be on the edge of their sets and what the director of shutter island did in this clip is something i want to do in my thriller to create suspense.

Another clip we looked at was the original scream, this gave us all sorts of inspirations about mise-en-scene. This is one of the best films when analysing mise-en-scene, it includes things like iconography, setting, hair and make up, costumes. All these things are conventional to the thriller genre as many thrillers have a few of these elements but I chose this one as it has the most conventional things. The conventions Used in this film inspired my group to use some of the same conventions as they creates a lot of suspense, shock and surprise. We have decided to use a villain who's identity is unknown, just like from scream, as it creates mystery within the audience as they are unsure of whom the killer is and also allows them to have their own suspicions of who the killer is. Although our killer isn't seen throughout the whole of the opening sequence until right at the end. Another idea we took was the murder weapon, we decided to use a knife as the murder weapon as this is very conventional and the audience will expect to see a knife. We took an inspiration from scream because it created tension and suspense for the audience as they are awaiting the death of a specific character, in addition the use of a knife means that the girl might not die instantly which will make the audience sympathise with her because she is suffering.

We also looked at a clip from Saw V, from this clip we analysed the cinematography used and suggested why they might have used different camera angles. This clip has a lot of different camera angles in it which is why I analysed it. Me and my group looked at this clip and a few camera shots inspired us. One shot that inspired us was a high angle shot, this shot was used in Saw 5 to portry the inferiority of the charecters in the scene. We will use this shot from the point of veiw of the killer to portray his superiority and the victims inferiority.  This is very effective as not only do we get a high angled shot we also get the point of view of the killer. This shows that the killer is looking down over the victim which implies he has loads of power of them and can do what he likes. We will use this shot to create a negative relationship as people might frown at the fact he is looking down over them. Another shot that has inspired us was the shallow focus shot used when focusing on the keys in the box which is the most important thing in the shot. This makes the audience focus on the importance of the keys and think about what they mean and the significance of it. This shot is used to create a relationship between the character’s and the audience, this is because the audience can empathise with their situation and therefore like the character’s more. I will be using this shot in my opening sequence when we focus on the 2 candles at the table and one blows out to show the death of the wife. We used this specific shot as it will make the audience focus on the candles and think why one is blowing out and not the other. This creates suspense as the audience are either waiting to see whats happened or to see whether the other one will blow out. This shot is effective as it is only concentrating on the candles and nothing in the background, this means that the audience can look at nothing but the candles. 

In The Strangers clip I analysed, the director uses Mise-en-scene very well to create suspense, surprise, shock and tension. From analysing this clip I can take diffrant ideas about mise-en-scene and use them in my own piece. I can take ideas about all 5 elements of mise-en-scene and use them to try and portray certain ideas to my target audience and make them feel shock, suspense, surprise. From analysing this clip I have also learnt that thrillers don't tend to have a lot of dialogue in it and so replace this with music. I am going to use minimal dialogue in the thriller to try and create as much of the 3S' as possible. I have also noticed that you dont need that many props to create a good thriller just a good setting, low key lighting and a unknown killer covered by even the simplest mask. One of the key elements of Mise-en-scene that has inspired me is the idea of an unkown killer through costume. This inspired me as it creates the 3 S', This is because in my opening sequence we do not want the audience to know who the killer is and will not know throughout the film but will want to know who the killer is. 

In the Jaws clip i watched and analysed, the director uses sound very well to create surprise, suspense, shock and tension. From analysing this specific clip i can take a few ideas as inspirations. I believe that sound is the most effective method of creating suspense, shock and surprise as if there was no sound we wouldn't have a clue what was going on and when to expect the unexpected. I will also use this clip as the sound in this sets the mood and creates an eerie atmosphere and that is exactly what i would like to do in my thriller clip. It helps the audience to connect with certain characters by putting them into the mindset of that character, which helps the audience to respond emotionally. One sound technique used in this clip that inspired me was the diegetic sound at the end of the clip when the man is surprised to see a shark. We hear a hammock swinging which shows the atmosphere is quiet which shows the shock and surprise of the characters. I will use this in my thriller as I believe it helps the audience create an emotional relationship with the characters as it shows how scared the characters are. 

Overall i have found looking at other clips very useful as i can look at the good parts and use the ideas of it for my own thriller. In addittion i have found this useful because as we gathered many ideas and inspirations for our opening scene, this enabled us to make our thriller more effective and enaging for the audience. By researching, we were able to see what sort of iconography and camera shots professionals used and whether they created suspense or surprise. This helped us make our group narrative more realistic therefore making the audience more sympathetic for the victims and more hatred towards the villian.

Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Sound is important within films as it creates an emotional atmosphere within the scene. The sound of a sequence gives depth to what is going on and allows people to understand what sort of film they are watching. In thrillers, the producers tend to use sounds that create shock, surprise and suspense. They use sounds such as

• Diegetic sound
• Non-diegetic sound
• Off screen sound
• On screen sound
• Parallel sound

In our thriller opening sequence we have used all 5 of these sounds. We will use mostly use on screen sounds as we want to make our thriller as realistic as possible as this will engage the audience and create more fear throughout the audience.

The first piece of sound we use is some off screen sound of the mans wife on the phone. We put this at the start as it creates an everyday atmosphere for the audience as the man is just arriving home from work on his anniversary when his wife phones to find out if he's almost home. This happens on a day to day basis in every married couples life, the audience will then relate to the sequence which will engage them and get them more focused n the scene. This is off-screen sound as we cannot see the wife but we can hear her although its not non-diegetic as its not added in the editing stage and is happening when were actually filming. This is conventional to the thriller genre as many directors use a phone call to create a realistic scenario just like I did. They do this to get the audience engaged into the scene, lead them into a full sense of security and then twist the scene and scare them.

We then use some on-screen sound when the wife is walking down the corridor we hear her footsteps. We did this because this creates suspense as everything is silent and we are waiting for some loud noise to occur and scare the audience. This puts them on the edge of their seat, waiting for the killer to attack the women which will then throw them into the back off their seat. In addition this will also engage the audience as when you are home alone and you walk across the landing, you hear your own footsteps. This will bring them closer to the characters as hearing your own footsteps is realistic and allows the audience to put themselves in her shoes. This will then frighten them more when she is killed because they can relate to it and think it could happen to them. This Is on-screen sound because we can see the source of the sound which is the woman's feet and its not diegetic because it isn't added in the editing stage. 

Another piece of sound we use is non-diegetic sound in which we use as a soundtrack. We will use this to create surprise, shock and suspense throughout our piece. We will use this as the music sets the scene and i believe if we get the right track it will make the sequence more intense and scar for the audience. In addition it also creates suspense for the audience as they cannot hear whats going on in the scene so they will not know what is going to happen which allows use to bring something scary into shot without them having a clue its going to happen. This will bring the characters closer to the audience as they do not know what is going on so they empathise with the fact that the characters may also not know whats going on. This is conventional to the thriller genre as all opening sequences have a soundtrack which creates suspense, shock and surprise for the audience. 

We will be using sound techniques such as parallel when the girl is in the kitchen listening to music, as we want to make her be portrayed as vulnerable and innocent, that she is is actually oblivious to the consquences and the situations that are about to happen. this also creates suspense as the girl wont be able to hear whats going on around the house so she will be oblivious to any noise of somebody trying to kill her. This creates a relationship between the characters and the audience as they sympathise with the fact she cant hear anything and also to the fact most people listen to the radio so they are engaged into the sequence and make them more on the edge of their seat. This is conventional to the thriller genre as most thriller directors use parallel sounds to create shock suspense and surprise for the audience. 

Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

Cinematography is important in thriller films as it creates an atmosphere for the audience and also creates emotion throughout. The different camera angles can suggest different scenarios within the film which helps create a relationship with the audience and build tension within the film. Camera angles are also key because they create suspense and surprise for the audience as they might slow down the pace of the film or suddenly change the atmosphere. Planning is required to produce excellent sequences because without planning it is easy for us to go off track and lose sense of what our plan actually is within out thriller. The plan for our cinematography is critical so that it makes our scenes more interesting and effective making and inspiration a reality.

In our group we looked at many different camera angles and analysed whether they would work well in creating shock, surprise and suspense in our thriller. There were a few shots that stood out in creating these things, they were

• Close up
• Long shot
• High angle
• Low angle
• Point of view

We will use these shots in our opening sequence as we believe they create an emotional atmosphere and engage the audience into our thriller.

We will use the point of view shot in our piece as it engages the audience into the scene. This is because this shot puts the audience in the characters position as they can see what the character is seeing. We will specifically use this shot when the killer is entering the couples house and takes a knife from the draw, the shot makes the audience feel as if they are the killer as they can see what he sees which creates a relationship with the audience as they believe they are in the killers shoes adding suspense as they feel guilty for what the killer is about to do. This shot will also make the audience sympathise with the wife's situation as she is about to get killed and the audience can see it from the killers POV so they feel like they are guilty for whats going to happen. We hope this shot will create shock and surprise for the audience through the fact they don't know who the killer is and that he has taken a knife from the drawer. This would be conventional to a thriller as if it creates suspense and tension for the audience as directors like to make their audiencee feel both of these elements. 

Another camera angle we will use is a close up shot. This is because these shots focus on a characters facial expression and body language, this would be good in our thriller as throughout our thriller the characters will be frightened so close ups would show there un settled facial expression in great detail. This will create tension and suspense as the audience will not know what he character has seen but know that it is something to be scared of. We have used this angle when the women opens her bedroom door to the killer standing broad and intimidatingly at the door. This angle is effective as you can make the emotions from the characters create a relationship with the audience, from changing to sympathy and regret, to suspense and dread of what is going to happen next. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the facial expressions focused on are ones used every day which creates a sense of reality in the audience.

We have also used a high angle shot in our opening sequence when the killer is in the loft and looking down on the husband. We have used this as it shows the superiority of the killer and the inferiority of the man who's life may about to end. This creates suspense and tension because the audience are wondering who is looking down on the man and why they are in the attic. This creates a relationship between the audience and the husband as they feel sympathetic for him as they know that he is about to killed and they will feel helpless. We want this angle to make sure the characters are portrayed as vulnerable so that the audience feel sympathy for them making them create a relationship with the characters themselves. This is conventional to the thriller genre as many thriller directors use a high angle to shot to portray the inferiority of a character who is in danger from a murderer.

Using different camera angles will create many different emotions throughout our clip which is just what we want to do. These emotions will get more and more tense as the film progresses until the end of the clip where we leave them in suspense as to what will happen next. I believe that us planning what camera shots to do will help us do this as we can take the positives and negatives for each one and use the ones we think are the best at creating shock, surprise and suspense. this has also helped us with the preparation for the filming as it has broken down all of the elements we need to make out thriller more intensifying and scary and also means we know what to do instead of on filming day thinking about what shot we should use.