PRELIMINARY TASK - Miss Miller

PRELIMINARY TASK

For my preliminary task i have created a short clip which includes myself and the other members of my group.  The other members of my group are Oliver Longshaw and Hannah Hobbs.  The purpose of a preliminary task is to get used to equipment that you will be using for filming your opening sequence and to understand how it works and to experiment with different camera angles and shots. 

For our preliminary task we has to create a short clip under one minute which had to include; long shot, panning, shot reverse shot, over shoulder shot and close up. When filming with my group we had to include all of these shots. When filming we had to take film many different scenes and then edit them together. We had very little time to complete this short preliminary task and did the best that we could when preparing. Our preliminary task had to be between 30 seconds and 1 minuite.

Above is the preliminary task which we made. This clip is 35 seconds long and includes all the above shots. In the first scene there is a panning shot, where the camera follows me walking along the corridor into the room. A panning shot is by turning the camera horizontally on a vertical axis and keeping it i the same position to give the effect the camera is watching the person walking past and has a full eye view on them. This panning shot has helped to include an introducing of the character and see a full view of her.

We decided to use this and thought it would create an effect on the audience by creating an introduction and letting the audience get to know the character, this works well as it gives a feeling that the audience are actually there watching instead of being behind a screen. The second shot me and my group included is a long shot. We included two long shots in to this short clip, firstly when i walked in at the opening sequence and secondly when myself and hannah are walking out of the room for the ending sequence. Long shots help the audience to see a full picture, not just of the character but of the scene. It is important for the audience to capture and understand what clothes the charachter(s) on screen are wearing and why, aswell as the background in which It is set. In this short clip the scene is in a kitchen, and a large open planned room. This helps to show the audience what is exactly in the room. For example, in most thriller films, women wear a sexy black or red dress, this may implicate to the audience through a long shot that she is vunrable and can be taken for granted easily. Furthermore the background, a long shot shows the full background, this may show to the audience what type of house/setting it is and whether it is night or day time outside, also showing the amount of lighting used. Looking at long and panning shots in my preliminary task has helped me and my group come to conclusions and helped us find out what works well in a thriller and why them certain things should be used, whether they are bad or good. 

We also used another camera shot which was zooming in. This shot helps to show close up images and facial expression/features for the audience when watching. For example, this can work well when the killer is angry of the victim is scared, zooming in can show the real fear and emotions and can help to create suspence for the audience. We found when looking into this it worked well and zooming into my face was just a trial, but found that looking closely at emotions helps create different emotions and thoughts for the person watching. In this preliminary task, we zoomed into my face when talking, although this didnt really show any emotion, it was a trial for us and helped us consider using it in our opening sequence.

When filming, me and my group used a tripod, this gave a better effect on the camera as it was kept still and we could move it up, down and side to side easier, for exmaple when filming the panning shot we oplaced the camera on a tripod and moved to round when filming me walking. Although when we filmed over the shoulder shots, the person holding the camera (ollie) held the camera in his hand as it was easier and found it better to get a full picture of the face, although we did find this difficult as the picture wasnt perfect as the camera kept on shaking a little. Although when filming these shots we was careful not to break the 180 rule. The 180 rule means that the camera overlaps when filming and goes past the 'wall', is this rule is broken this is bad when filming and gives the film/shots a bad image. When filming our over the shoulder shots, we had to keep the camera on the same side of our shoulders on me and hannah, this meant that the audience got the same picture when watching the clip.

This preliminary task helped me and my group to see the pros and cons of the techniques we used.  Although, after creating our preliminary task, it helped us research into differenct camera shots and editing techniques that we can use when creating our opening sequence.

advantages we found went well

The first advantage that i felt went well was the panning shot. A panning shot helps show the whole background as the camera moves around slowly. When using our panning shot, the camera followed me round a corridor, this was the first introducing of our charachter. We have discussed and found that we will defiantly use a panning shot in our opening scene and this trial has helped us to see this.

Secondly, i feel when watching back our preliminary task, that the long shot went well. Although this does simliar things to the panning shot, it can also show two or three peoples whole bodies, and in out clip it showed a full conversation and a leaving of a scene. Also, we came to the conclusion that we will use a long shot. Long shots help show the whole scene, and this is good in a thriller film as it can give away clues to the audience and also create tension and suspence.

disadvantages we feel that need changing

The first disadvantage we came to a concluion of was zooming in. Zooming in for our preliminary task didnt go so well, we thought that it would show emotions and facial features. Although we found this didnt really happen. Although we do want to include a zooming in shot in our opening scene, although make sure we research into it properly and use it in the correct places. Zooming in to objects also works well from previous research i and my group have studied. For exmaple a phone ringing, this creares tension and can create the audience to feel nervous, i feel this works well when watching a thriller film.

Watching our preliminary task back helped us to look at mistakes that we made aswell as the pros. A mistake that we made when filiming was leaving the tripod in the background. This was a common mistake and has helped us to realise what little mistakes can be made when filming a short clip.

Overall, creating a preliminary task has helped us to experiment with the camera itself, camera shots and editing styles. The research we had done before creating the short clip helped as we knew what we was doing. Although we used a small amount of editing styles, i feel that we used them well and have learnt from our mistakes. I feel that the disadvantages has helped us correct and look further into research for our opening sequence.

GROUP NARRATIVE - miss georgiou

GROUP NARRATIVE

Firstly i am going to look at my other peers in my groups idea. The two other people in my group is Hannah and Oliver. They have come up with their own narrative thoughts just like me and i am going to discuss and look at them, and decide together which idea we are going to use/change.

Hannahs idea

A narrative is important to a film as it creates a main purpose for the film. Without a narrative the film would be unwatchable as there would not be a point or solution. It is important to have a narrative for a thriller as it should create enigma to keep the audience engaged and making them want to continue watching, also creating the three key elements of shock, surprise and suspense.

I will target my thriller towards people aged 15+ as some of the scenes may be upsetting towards a younger viewer and may potentially be scary due to the use of blood, gore and weapons. 

My own individual narrative for my thriller sequence is based around a boy that was kidnapped which the reason is unknown to the audience, tied up and taken to the middle of the forest. The audience will see the struggle of the boy and the flashes of the event. By using flashes of the event, and not completely showing the event I hope this will create enigma as they are wanting to know what is happening to the boy and why, making the audience want to watch on, to see why this has happened. The sequence will then end on a cliff hanger when two girls who happen to be walking into the forest discover the boy. This is a cliff hanger as the sequence would end on a scream, which is unknown to the audience who's scream this is, the audience would then begin to wonder is there a reoccurring theme of entering the forest and death.

Some conventions that i will include in the opening sequence could be set in a forest at night time. This is because it conforms with typical thriller conventions of an isolated setting as it is in the middle of nowhere, automatically giving a sense of fear and danger as there is nobody around to see, hear or help if anything dangerous occurred. Furthermore, the use of dark lighting creates suspense as the vision is slightly impaired in darker vision so it is harder to see what is going on and what is hiding within the darkness. This makes the audience sympathises for the protagonists as they are not aware of what is about to happen and has less of a chance to defend there self as they cannot see what is coming.

Another convention I will use is the use of iconography. the iconography my group will use is most probably a fake knife. This is because a knife is a typical weapon you would expect to see within a thriller film. A knife has several connotations such as death, brutality, blood and violence. This will create a sense of foreboading for the audience as the knife will be a clue that something bad is going to happen to one, or possibly three of the characters. 

My thoughts and ideas on hannah's post: i think hannah's post has a good narrative and has a good basic story line. Also she has explained the conventions and explained them well. Although there is a few disadvantages, she has not explained any camera techniques she will be used e.g. zooming in or slow editing. 

Furthermore, hannah has explained her overall narrative idea with detail and said things she's going to include to create a better opening sequence, for example, cliffhanger, although she hasn't explained why this would work well. Another advantage is that she has used a convention example, this is iconography. She also explains why this would work well and create a good opening sequence.

Overall i feel that hannah has a good idea and has explained things well. She has over ridden her disadvantages with advantages and has talked about her target audience and who and why she is aiming it for. Overall i feel that after concluding everyones narrative idea, i would defiantly use hannah's idea as it has good structure and could work well, i like hannah's idea and the amount of thought she has put into it. After conferring with my own group and making changes we will decide together and come to a conclusion.

Olivers idea

I have come up with a narrative about an old eery forest which has had some weird unexplained happenings occur in it. A group of friends take a trip to the forest for a day out and they suddenly become trapped and in danger. The forest plays with your mind and makes you confused and lost really easily. There is also a dark cloaked figure constantly lurking amongst the trees, spying on people that enter the forest. There have been constant sightings of this figure and some even say he follows you when you leave the forest. 10 people have suddenly disappeared over the course of two years. 

My opening sequence will consist of 3 friends going to the forest to try and find out what all the fuss is about. After one girl spots the dark figure in the corner of her eye they leave thinking that it was just her imagination going wild. She returns home haunted by her experience and goes to bed trying to forget about it. She later wakes to find that she is back in the forest. Scared and confused she tries to find her way out but she ends up encountering the figure again. This time she doesn't  escape. She becomes the 11th person to go missing. The opening sequence the ends with a close up of the dark figure with just his face showing. 

The first disadvantage i can say about Oliver's work is that he has a very small amount of work. Although he has concluded his idea although with minimal detail. He has explained well how many characters he is going to used and why and where they would work well. His overall narrative is good and i would use this as our final piece. 

Oliver has explained where his setting would be which is in a forest, although he hasn't said in detail what will happen to the characters in the opening sequence. Oliver explains well about feeling and emotions. For olivers to improve he would have to add things such as editing styles, conventions and sounds that would be used.

Overall i feel that Oliver's narrative story line would work extremely well with some improvements. If my group was to conclude on oliver's idea i think it would work well and catch the audiences attention quickly, with a solid target audience. 

My own idea

My production is going to be a thriller film. Planning out my narrative is important so i know exactly what i am going to do and collect all of my ideas.
Firstly, my first ideas for my setting are:

• Small town
• Dark and gloomy/bad weather
• A small crowded place e.g. forest with lots of trees and some greenery& plants or messy room
• Abandoned house in a middle of a street

I want my thriller opening sequence to be a cliff hanger. This keeps the audience/watchers wanting to watch the whole film and eager to know what is next. This creates suspense and catches more views from the audience.

Furthermore, i will use animals e.g. dogs in my opening sequence. This creates a little more adventure instead of just using me and my other group members in our opening sequence.

My overall narrative story line will have a dark setting. For my first enitial idea I will be filming in two different scenes. In the first seconds of the scene The audience will see a news flash on the television being watched by myself. The news flash will contain a recent reocurring murder that has taken place in that day. Then myself and Hannah from my group will be having a friendly conversation walking down a open road. We happen to come onto the conversation of the news flash. Whilst walking with out pets(dogs) we see a van speed of with a young boy inside trapped in the back, we think nothing of it until we head into a pathway leading into the forest. It's only until then the camera slowly zooms into a body laying on the floor. The scene will end here on a cliffhanger.

There are many conventions that will be used in this opening sequence. Firstly the setting is dark and with minimal lighting. Furthermore, i feel that I have created something different to normal thrillers. I am going to use a male victim instead of a female, this will give a different aspect onto the audience, creating a completely different view on thriller films. I have tried to keep a simple story line although one that will keep the viewers interested. Although this might not be my final idea, I feel that this narrative story line would work well and have good feedback from the audience. I will receive feedback from my questionarre and from this I will discuss with my group what works well and what dosent. Although I feel I will use typical conventions that the audience love to see. E.g. A weapon In the scene somewhere which could conclude to some sort of evidence. Furthermore a lot of drama to keep the pace of the film going. Although i am only making an short opening I want the audience to want watch more and feel like this could be a real film. Furthermore, i would use eery and tense sounds to create the feeling that the audience watching are actually in the film and experiencing what the characters in the film are.

Overall from re-reading my narrative i can now see that i need to make a few improvements and adjustments to my ideas. Firstly i think that i have explained my narrative opening scene well and explained all the points that i have made. Secondly, i have explained conventions that have worked well in other films and which ones i could use in my own opening sequence. Although i feel that i could have elaborated on sounds. I feel that sounds are very important in thriller films and create most of the tension that is made.

Also i need to talk about lighting and what costumes would work well and would be used. I have come up with a few ideas for the setting and scene as i couldn't decide which one to pick. I have discussed a few weapons that could be used and would work well to intrigue the audience and keep them on the end of their seats.

Overall i feel that all three ideas that i have analysed have been put together well and would all work good, although one one can be picked or create a whole new one.

Overall group narrative idea

We have discussed our ideas and come up with our narrative.
Firstly our setting is going to be in a small town which is surrounded by forest. Two young girls (myself and hannah) are watching TV in a house in the village, whilst watching a newsflash arrives on the screen explaining their have been several disappearances in the area, the two girls are surprised to see the news but do not think anything of it, but little do they know a black figure walks past the window behind them. 
The scene changes to the outside of the house and the two girls are walking their dogs, as walking down a long bendy road a van screeches of the road and speeds of down the road. The sunset begins to fall and they begin to enter the forest, little do they know a black figure is surrounding them and they soon tumble across something on the ground.

Our opening sequence is the ending to our film and we have decided to do this so the audience watch it and want to know what happens at ending, and will want to know the entire storyline leading up to the main events. They will want to watch it to the end and want to watch more. We have shown the disequilibrium at the end instead of the beginning of our opening sequence.

The narrative theory we have chosen to use for our group narrative is 'Aristotle'. This philosopher has knowledge that can be related to media. I think our theory is based around Aristotle as we are focusing on themes, we have a antagonist and a protagonist, we use sympathy/empathy and a resolution. 

Editing styles and cinematography: There are many editing styles i have easearched and looked at from the start until now, so know what works well with what.
Firstly i feel that in our opening scene of a thriller there will be the following: Panning shot, zooming in, long shot, close up, slow moving of the camera and focusing on the main object of the screen. All of these editing styles will help to build tension and create suspense for the audience. Without editing styles, a thriller film would be very basic and would use the same camera angles the whole way through, whereas including different editing styles can show different things to the audience; for example, when there is a long shot on the scene you can see the whole background aswell as the character, this background could just simply show the setting or could be used to show something to the audience, e.g. a charachter standing at the window or someone/something hiding in the room. I feel that overall i will take editing styles into consideration when creating my thriller opening sequence as it makes alot of difference when watching back and trying to create different emotions towards the audience.

Conventions: Conventions are typical things that happen in a film, i have researched conventions of a thriller and now have a clear picture in mind what conventions i am going to use for my opening sequence.
Conventions that i am going to use and i know work well are; female victim, low-key lighting, iconography such as a knife or axe or clothing such as red or black, main weapon, isolated setting and masks and props. I will be also using conventional sounds such as eary music and a heart beat sound track. A heart beat sound track creates suspense as this may show the heart beat of the person scared or afraid, and as it gets faster and faster it builds up tension for the audience. Furthermore, when a strange shadow walks past the window in our opening sequence, the antagonist will be wearing dark black clothing aswell as a mask. Conventions are what make a thriller exciting and fearful. Conventions help a thriller to have the same running fear through them all and mainly every thriller made uses atleast one of the above conventions.

Target audience: My target audience for my opening sequence will be ranging from the ages of 15+. From my questionarre i got feedback suggesting that the public ranging between 15-30 enjoy watching thriller films the most. A target audience helps me know what to include when creating my opening sequence, for example as my opening sequence is going to be viewed from the ages of 15+ there cannot be alot of blood and gore and only mild references of swearing and strong language.

RESEARCH INTO TARGET AUDIENCE - miss miller

RESEARCH INTO TARGET AUDIENCE

In this post i am going to be researching into my target audience. I have created an questionnaire which i have asked 40 random people from the public. This questionnaire contains 10 questions about thriller films. Three of the questions are open questions which means the answers will have elaborated answers, whereas seven of the questions are closed, this means the answer will be simply one worded or a tick or a cross. This questionnaire has helped me to conclude my results and gather information from the public.

Questionnaire 

This is my questionnaire, there is ten questions with either multiple question answers or answers that the audience have to answer themselves e.g own opinion. This questionnaire will help me to determine what i will and won't use when creating my opening thriller scene.

Pie Charts
From the results that i gathered from asking 40 random people from the public, i put my results into pie charts to show my results. From my results overall i feel i got fair answers and has helped me to conclude and get to know what the audience like to see in thrillers.

This is my first pit chart, from these results i can see that the majority of the people i asked are aged between 16 and 20. I thought the answer would be this as young people (teenagers) enjoy watching thriller films with their friends either at home or in the cinema. Furthermore, the second largest percentage of ages groups is 12-15 with 22%. From my pie charts i can see that its people under 20 that enjoy thriller films the most, although i only asked 40 people i can see that from my results the smallest amount is 21-30 years old. I find that these have the smallest amount of viewings because of work life, or other social things. Overall i found my results were conclusive and gave me a good idea of who to aim my target audience at.

My second pie chart which i created has the title of 'Are you male or female?'. From these results i found that more women watch thriller films than men. 58% of women watch thriller films and 42% of men watch thrillers; these were the results from 40 people. Before the questionnare i made a conclusion that more men would watch thriller films, although i found that it worked the other way round and more women actually enjoyed watching thrillers, whether this is on their own or with someone else they know. From this i now conclude that men like action/romance films over thrillers.

The third question on my questionnaire is 'Do you like thriller films?'. The overall result from this question on my pie chart showed that the majority of the people i asked said Yes. 82% of the 40 people i asked said yes and 18% said no. This concludes that the amount of people that answered my questionnaire gave fair answers and used information from thriller films they have seen before. There are many different thriller films and everybody has their own taste for example, horror thriller or an action thriller. 82% is a large percentage and i am happy with the result of the questionnaire.

My fourth question to the public was 'What music do you think works well in a thriller?'. I asked this question so that i have a good idea of what music and background noise to use when creating my short opening sequence. In this question i gave three answers the public could pic from, the three were; eery, tense, fast and slow. The results i collected showed that the public most like tense music, the results showed 37% of the public like tense music. The least popular was joint; fast and slow both with 18%. This gives me an idea and image that i will use tense and eery music. The public picked these two because they create the most suspense and brings tension to the audience. Furthermore, the eery music is a background noise which makes the audience scared and give them the idea that they are in the film and experiencing what the victim is.

(picture) Another question i have asked the audience about thriller films is 'Do you like the killer to be identifed or not?'. This question was closed, and only had 2 answers which could be selcted, these were either yes or no. I asked this question as i was curious on what the audience like to see, whether the majority like to be kept in suspense and not see the killers face. The results from this question showed that 47% said yes and 53% said no. This was conclusive to show that over half of the 40 people i asked didnt like the killer to be identified.

(picture) 'What is your favorite thriller setting?' This was the next question i asked in my questionarre. I asked this question to the audience as i wanted to know what peoples favourite setting was in a thriller, obviously in thriller films they can be set anywhere but there are some prime settings that are used. The four answers that i gave the audience to choose from were forest, haunted house, abandoned building and isolated loacation. The answer i found that was most popular was isolated location with 33%.  I feel that this was the most popular answer picked as there are many places that can come under an 'isolated location' and can mean different things to everybody. The answer which was picked the least with 13% was 'abandoned building'. This answer was only picked a few times and has now shown me that not many people enjoy watching thriller films which have a backgound setting of a abandoned building.

(picture) My seventh question that i asked the audience was 'do you think a female victim works well?'. For this question i gave the public 3 choices to choose from, these were; yes, no, sometimes. 77% said yes, 20% said no and 3% said sometimes. This is what i expected from this question, in my opinion i think the vemale victim does work well and most of the public agree with me. The female victim in a thriller can create all three of the 's's'. These are shock, suspence and suprise. A female victim also grabs the adiences attention well as the female victim is usually sexy and attractive, this helps build tension. I feel overall that the public do like the female victim and the part of the public that said no, either dont like thriller films or find that something else works equally as well in a thriller.

The next set of questions  i asked the adience were 'open questions' which means that there is no answers given, the audience have to use their own interprtation.

(picture) The first question i asked was 'what do you like about thriller films?'. The question gave me loads of feedback and i feel the public gave me some good answers. The three most popular answers i found were; creates suspence, the narrative and iconography. Iconography was the second most popular with 35%. Iconography simple means props and costumes. Iconogrpahy plays a huge part in thriller films and also helps to engage the audience, this could be because the female is wearing red or the killer is wearing a mask. The most popular answer i found with this answer was 'creates suspense' with 40%. When asking this question i found that the majority of the people said or mentioned this and i feel this is because when people watch thrillers they want to be intreged and be kept on the edge of their seats, the public want to be shocked aswell as suprised and be intreged in suspencful moments. Overall from this question i found i gained good answers and got a good range of answers, although i heard so many, these were my top 3 answers and helped me to conclude my thoughts about what people like in thrillers.

(picture) The second open question i asked was 'What conventions do you like, and why?'. From this question i found that many people didnt know what conventions in a thriller was, before asking the question i simple explained the typical conventions of a thriller e.g. low key lighting, female victim, blood and gore, slow editing, fast scenes, hidden setting, dark and gloomy weather/sky or night time etc. The three most popular answers i received from the public were; music, scene and female victim. The answer which i heard the most was the music with 37%. The sound in a thriller is a convention, for exmaple if the killer was walking up the stairs there would be slow eary music to create suspense for the audiece. The sound can create tension and works well at intreging the audience. The scene has a percentage of 33. The scene can range from anything to an abandoned house to a farm. A thriller film can be set anywhere as long as it has charachteristics to fit with the story line.

(picture) Lastly, my final question is 'what weapons do you think work well, and why'. I knew before asking this question that there is a range of answers that can be said and the top three that i came out with are; gun, knife, axe. I found from this that over half of the people i asked said knife, with 68%. A knife in a thriller is very common and i feel is the weapon which creates the most suspense. With a knife anything can happen, the killer can miss target, hit someone else, stab themself or simple not do anything at all. From this question i found that people explained themself well and has plenty of answers to say, everybody watches different thrillers and hs different opinions.

These pie charts and evaluations have helped me to conclude the publics answers. Each member of the public i asked gave different opinions and answers which helped me to show that everybody like something different. I feel the question that helped me the most was 'what do you like about thriller films'. This question in my opinion sums up all of the questions overall and simply saying your opinion and answer helps when it comes to looking at what scene and what charachters to use.
The target audience in which i feel i am going to aim my thriller opening sequence at is 16-20. From my pie charts i can see that this age range gave the highest amount of watchers and enjoy the most  and my gender audience will be for men and women. I feel overall that using pie charts has helped me analyse my results thouroughly and helped me to create an image of who likes what and what does and dosent work well in a thriller film. Pie charts helps you to see clearly the percentages and the highest and lowest answers out of three.

Vox Pots

Vox Pots are short videos interviewing a member of the public. My Vox pots invlove me asking questions from my questionnare, in my questionnare there are 10 questions. These vox pots videos are answers which are included in my pie charts.

(insert video)

(insert video)

(insert video)

INDIVIDUAL NARRATIVE IDEAS - Miss Georgiou

INDIVIDUAL NARRATIVE IDEAS
(planning the thriller production)

My production is going to be a thriller film. Planning out my narrative is important so i know exactly what i am going to do and collect all of my ideas.
Firstly, my first ideas for my setting are:

• Small town
• Dark and gloomy/bad weather
• A small crowded place e.g. forest with lots of trees and some greenery& plants or messy room
• Abandoned house in a middle of a street

I want my thriller opening sequence to be a cliff hanger. This keeps the audience/watchers wanting to watch the whole film and eager to know what is next. This creates suspense and catches more views from the audience.

Furthermore, i will use animals e.g. dogs in my opening sequence. This creates a little more adventure instead of just using me and my other group members in our opening sequence.

My overall narrative story line will have a dark setting. For my first enitial idea I will be filming in two different scenes. In the first seconds of the scene The audience will see a news flash on the television being watched by myself. The news flash will contain a recent reocurring murder that has taken place in that day. Then myself and Hannah from my group will be having a friendly conversation walking down a open road. We happen to come onto the conversation of the news flash. Whilst walking with out pets(dogs) we see a van speed of with a young boy inside trapped in the back, we think nothing of it until we head into a pathway leading into the forest. It's only until then the camera slowly zooms into a body laying on the floor. The scene will end here on a cliffhanger.

There are many conventions that will be used in this opening sequence. Firstly the setting is dark and with minimal lighting. Furthermore, i feel that I have created something different to normal thrillers. I am going to use a male victim instead of a female, this will give a different aspect onto the audience, creating a completely different view on thriller films. I have tried to keep a simple story line although one that will keep the viewers interested. Although this might not be my final idea, I feel that this narrative story line would work well and have good feedback from the audience. I will receive feedback from my questionarre and from this I will discuss with my group what works well and what dosent. Although I feel I will use typical conventions that the audience love to see. E.g. A weapon In the scene somewhere which could conclude to some sort of evidence. Furthermore a lot of drama to keep the pace of the film going. Although i am only making an short opening I want the audience to want watch more and feel like this could be a real film.

RESEARCH INTO THRILLERS - Miss Georgiou

RESEARCH INTO THRILLERS
(opening sequence analysis)

Opening sequences catch the audiences eye quickly and intrigue the audience. An good opening sequence is vital when creating an thriller film. An opening sequence is a mystery it gives away small clues for the audience about the rest of the film.

The film i have chosen to study for the research of thriller is Halloween. This film was made in 1978 and has many great features.

In the film 'Halloween' the Narrative is a thriller film set on the night of halloween. This film was directed by John Carpenter and he was inspired to make this film from the film made in 1960, Psycho.

Firstly, i looked into Cinematography. Cinematography is the art of photography and camera work in film making. The first point i made about this film was 'shallow focus'. This happens when the knife is coming out of the drawer. When this is happening it creates suspense for the audience and makes them wonder what is happening. This scene keeps the audience on the edge of there seats and makes them look further into the story line. This is conventional as there is always a main weapon in a thriller film. A main weapon creates suspense although the protagonist or the villain can use this.

Secondly i looked at Editing. The first point i am going to talk about is 'slow editing'. At the beginning of this short clip the antagonist is looking through the windows, spying on the young girl. This camera view creates suspense, as she walks slowly up to the door this is slow editing. This slow editing shows her strong facial expressions and focuses on the main weapon. This creates suspense for the audience as the main view is on the knife and you don't know whats coming next. Her facial expressions are blank the the slow editing works well by creating a build of up the scene.

Furthermore, i looked at Conventions.  Conventions are commonly used things in films. In thriller films the most seen conventions are; female victim, main weapon, slow editing, low key lighting, isolated area or scene and blood and gore. and My first point is 'iconography'. Iconography simply means props. The prop in this clip of Halloween is knife, it is in the lime light of the screen and creates suspense for the audience. A knife is the main prop and is a scary weapon to be holding in front of the screen. Also, the 'timing of shots'. The protagonist walking up the stairs really slow creates tension and suspense as you don't know what's coming next. The camera slowly watches the antagonist, and creates an image to feel like we are actually there. Also you don't if he's going to make it up the stairs in time and kill her.
Furthermore I also looked at Sounds. Sounds in thrillers are very common and without background music and extra noises to create tension a thriller would be boring. Firstly in the film Halloween, there was non-diagetic sound. This was when the light in the room turnt off, this noise creates tense atmosphere for the audience, aswell as a small shock. This is a small background noise and blends in with the background. Moreover, there was also a diagetic sound, there was many examples; chiming of the clock, the victim humming and finally screaming. All of these diagetic sounds over come the voices and background music if there is any. all of these sounds creates an atmosphere so the audience feel like they are in the film themself and are surrounded by the scene that is actually going on. Diagetic sound is a convention of thriller films and is commonly used. They are used because the attract the audience to watch more and more of the film. Also diagetic sounds can create a jumpy scene and an intriguing soundtrack.

The Target audience for this thriller is of an age range of 16+. I would rate it as this because there is a few violent scenes  and can be quite horrific. A thrillers purpose is to scare and frighten the audience although on the other hand intrege and capture them into watching the rest. The opening scene is vital and without it the viewers probably wouldnt want to watch. An opening scene also informs the audience of what conventions are going to be used and introducing the characters and their enemies.
 

The film being set on Halloween is typical of a thriller film. The audience would expect fear, hidden identity and elements of scariness. Halloween night is full of suprises and has a lot of mystery and enigma.

Looking at opening scenes of thriller films has helped me to persue an idea of why they are so important. What is it the audience like so much about an opening sequence? Is it because they love to see the intoxication of the characters identitys aswell as their hidden ones. The audience like to figure out the rest of the scene themself and picture out in their heads what the film is going to be about. An opening scene is a mystery and throught opens secrets to the film. Watch ing an opening sequence helps you experience the whole film and intreges you to watch more. My opening scene will be very much like Halloween. There will be hidden identities and lots of suprises.

INSPIRATIONS - MISS GEORGIOU

INSPIRATIONS

Inspiration means the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. To create/have ideas for a thriller film you need inspiration. Throughout my blogs i have researched into different parts of thriller films. Overall i have looked at BBFC, miss-en-scene, thriller, cinematography, sound, conventions and editing styles.

Each post has inspired me to look and include different things in my planning for my opening sequence. Being inspired has allowed me to express my ideas in many different ways.

Firstly i looked at Mise-en-scene.
In the mise-en-scene post i looked at the settings and iconography, the costume and makeup, facial expressions and body language, lighting and colour and finally the positioning of the characters and the main objects in the frame.  All of these are the main 5 points in mise-en-scene. In this post i analysed a scene and looked at these 5 points. This helped me to realise what actually goes on in a film and to look at all of these individually. Looking at the setting made me realise that most thriller films are made at night or in a dark or gloomy place. Also the weather conditions that are used has also helped me as when i create my own opening i will look at the setting as it makes a difference and adds more effect to the audience point of view. Furthermore, the costumes. Women normally wear something sexy, either red or black. The women victim is a main source in a thriller film and the inspiration i have gained for this is that costume is really important. A female victim can easily build up tension and bring suspense to the audience. In an opening sequence you want to be intrigued and be on the edge of your seats waiting for more. Mise-en-scene helps to create suspense and without these 5 things being made important thriller films would not be great and would the audience probably wouldn't be intreated as much. Mise-en-scene has helped to inspire me and look at new ideas for my opening sequence, i will take these 5 main points into consideration and look at everything i need to include in the scene.

The second post that i researched is cinematography. I have been inspired by this post by many things. In relation to my thriller i have found that cinematography uses important things that make thriller intriguing. The sequence that i looked/researched about in my cinematography post is The Conjuring. From this post i explained what uses of cinematography had been used and why, this inspired me to look at what uses i would use for my opening sequence. Furthermore, i will try to incorporate some of these techniques into my thriller as they can create tension, suspense, shock, surprise, all of these help engage the audience and create a relationship between the characters and the audience. An example of cinematography i found inspired me is shallow focus. This shot blurs objects out in the background, i found this inspired me because i looked further into what these shots create and why they are used in certain sequences, for example why was the man in Scream 2 blurred out in the background and the woman close to the camera focused on. This may be so the audience look at her emotions and facial features and because he was leaving the screen and wasn't needed to be focused on anymore. Not only looking at cinematography in this clip it helped me to research ideas for my opening sequence, as well as incorporating ideas using uses of cinematography.

Another post which i researched is sound. Researching sound in thriller films has inspired be to use some of these techniques in my opening sequence. The clip which i researched for my sound post is the conjuring. I chose this clip to analyse because it uses different choices of sounds. The one which inspired me the most to use in my thriller opening sequence is a diagetic sound - thunder. I found this inspired me the most because it is a natural sound and can scare anyone and not used just for the purpose of the film. Using natural sounds in thrillers is conventional is it creates a jumpy atmosphere. The large gush of thunder is loud and this builds up a tense atmosphere throughout, the thunders unexpected and isn't seen before by the audience, which i found worked well and inspired me to research further.
 

The fourth post that i researched is editing. Editing meant i could be inspired by what different skills are used when editing and what skills are used in other thriller films. The 'strangers'. This is a thriller film which i chose to look at for my editing research. From this i got inspiration from looking at the different editing skills usedm, the first one that i looked at was 'jump cut'. From writing about this i not only learnt what is was and why it worked well i learnt why it worked well in thrillers and why i may consider using it in my thriller opening sequenece. Editing is an important part in filming and means you can elaborate to the audience emotions and features of the film. I found that i was inspired by all the different editing skills used in this film and i found that they all worked well. Another use of editing that i looked at from this thriller clip is 'reaction shot'. As soon as i saw this it inspired me as it shows to the audience clearly what the victim is feeling and how their emotions change within seconds. This is one use of editing i will defiantly use in my opening sequence as i feel it works really well engaging the audeience and creates a relationship from the start of the scene.

The fifth post i researched into is conventions. This post had alot to write about as there is so many different types of conventions in all thriller films. There are many common conventions in thriller and some that arent so known, for my research i looked at a clip from 'The conjuring'. I picked this clip as i when i first saw i noticed many typical conventions of a thriller, the first being; low-key lighting. This is used in nearly all thrillers and many other films. Low-key lighting has inspired me as it brings emotion to the audience and helps keep them intreged. I found that low-key lighting keeps the audience on the edge of their seat as they dont know what is going to pop up next. I have been inspired by this to consider using this in my thriller opening sequence. I found that from other members of my class, nearly everyone found that low-key was used and found that it inspired them to thknk about using it as it keeps tension going throughout the sequence.

Overall, looking at my recent posts at what has inspired me, i feel they have all given me great ideas on what i can and shouldnt use in my opening sequence thriller. Inspirations post has not only let me gather thoughts from research i have collected, but to let me be inspired by what has been used and be intreged at why these skills work well.

RESEARCH INTO EDITING STYLES - Miss Georgiou

RESEARCH INTO EDITING STYLES

The clip i am analysing for editing styles is The strangers. This film is a thriller and has many editing styles that are used when creating a film.

 

Editing is a big part of films, especially thrillers. The clip I have chosen is a thriller and uses a lot of editing styles that can be spoken about. 

Firstly, 'Jump cut'. This is an effect of when the camera instantly focuses on something. In this short clip, the victim in her own house is trembling to window in fear. The camera is on focus straight on her face and the main weapon, in this case a knife. The camera does not move of the victims face and weapon until the camera turns and faces the door where the antagonist is waiting for her.

Also at this scene there is a style of editing called 'slow editing'. This is where a scene is filmed at a slower pace to create suspense. This is defiantly created in this scene as I as the audience do feel suspense. The camera movement is really slow and the walking up to the door feels like it takes forever, this scene has the audience on the edge of there seats waiting to see what's next. This feature of editing has worked well. Also when the female victim is looking around the room, this is another example of slow editing. I feel that slow editing works well and really shows the emotions on characters faces and the definition of there fear. Slow editing creates suspense as well as shock for the audience. The viewers watching do not know what to expect and an element of shock is reached when the slow editing starts and the audience brace themselves for what is coming next.

 

Furthermore, another editing technique which is used is 'Reaction shot'. A reaction shot takes place when the female victim sees the antagonist at the window. Her initial instincts immediately change, along with her facial expression and emotions. A reaction shot shows the immediate reaction that takes place in one shot. As you can see this has happened in this short clip of the strangers. Also the victims reaction changes when she hears a strange noise outside, she is surprised to hear the noise and opens up an element of shock. This reaction shock shows that she is scared and petrified about what is happening next. Furthermore, there is also an reaction shot at the end of the clip, creating shock, surprise and suspense. The audience and the victim are expecting the antagonist to walk into the bedroom, although we see the complete opposite her boyfriend/husband. This is a complete surprise for the audience and gives a sense of relief.

The three main things that stand out are shock, suspense and surprise. These are the three main things to understand/know when creating a thriller film. These three things intrigue the audience creating the film to be good and interesting. All three, surprise, shock and suspense are in this short clip. Although there a lot of conventions in this film, firstly there is a main weapon and a female victim which is a typical convention of a thriller film and without these the thriller would probably be boring. Furthermore the antagonist is wearing a mask hiding his identity, this creates an element of shock for the audience as we don't know what face is underneath and what is going to lurch out. The slow editing also is an convention of a thriller film. Nearly every thriller film uses slow editing to get the audience intrigued and ready for what is happening next.

Overall from looking at editing styles I taken into consideration that editing is a main part of thriller film and without certain editing skills a thriller wouldn't be interesting and popular. I now know and will think about using in my thriller opening sequence certain editing skills that will keep the audience on the edge of there seats and create an overall good thriller opening sequence. I have also learnt that conventions are used when looking at all research of thriller films.

RESEARCH INTO CONVENTIONS- Miss Miller

RESEARCH INTO CONVENTIONS

The film is has chosen to analyse is The Conjuring. This film is a thriller film and explores most features of a thriller convention. Conventional is conforming or adhering to accepted standards. In films it means elements that are common within different film genres and patterns that can be seen and used in different films from the same category.

Firstly, in a thriller film you would normally see many conventions, some examples of these are; low-key lighting, female victim, antagonist, violence, masks or props, mystery, blood and gore, always a main weapon, hidden identities and music that creates suspense or tension


. Conventions helps you to create an interesting and inspiring film which catches the audiences eye straight away. Most conventions are well known by the audience and are easily spotted by the audience that enjoy thrillers. Conventions are what make a thriller, create the excitement and the great relationship between characters and the audience.



The conjuring is a thriller film which I have chose to analyse for its conventions. The conjuring was not created not long ago, which means it is update to a lot of the things used in thrillers now, also meaning that the picture will be clear and easy to recognise conventions. The reason i chose to look and analyse this short clip is ebcause the conventions stand out to the audience and arent hard to pick out. There are various amounts of conventions and for me, this clip uses them very well.


The first convention which I clearly recognise is the sound of thunder. Although the screen is black a sound is used to introduce this scene, the sound isn't too loud but the thunder is used to show to the audience that the weather is stormy and bad, leaving the audience thinking anything could easily happen and any small sounds wont be recognised. The scene soon opens and the sound of wind is recognised, although this confuses the audience as it is night time and there is no reason for a window to be open. There is a small pendant swinging from side to side, this makes a small chiming noise, easily alerting the audience/viewers that something is going to happen next. Which this conclusion is correct, a loud streak of thunder hits the screen and the female victim is soon awaken. Here a small streak of light (low-key lighting) is used through the window to show the movement of the victim as well as the facial expressions.



 Low Key lighting is used a lot in thriller films and creates tension and suspense quickly. It is commonly used to hide identities, hide certain images in the room or may be even to show other things e.g. lightening or small flashes of lights from different directions, they can leave the audience waiting for the next scene to arrive. The low key lighting creates a mystery and the dark hallway up the stairs gives a point of view that we are looking upwards at something and waiting for something to jump out on the screen. The point of view also allows the audience to think that they are in someone elses shoes when watching, creating the feeling that they may be the antagonist.(point of view) The camera doesn't show clearly what we are looking at but The low-key lighitng is used in every thriller film i have watched, and is very unknown to not be used. From this, there is a sense of relationship created between the two, the audience and the young female victim. The low-key lighitng shows a minimal amount of background leaving the audience with throughts that something could be behind her or hiding in the small amount of scsne shown.


In this short scene we see that this is what has happened, the audience are confused by what they can see, leaving them wanting more. At the beginning of this short clip, there is also a reference to low-key lighting. The small amount of light shining in from outside gives a shadowing effect onto the girls face and the side of her bed. Again like most thriller films this has a female victim although in this case the female victim is very young and comes across as vunerable to the audience. A venerable young female victim brings more suspense to the screen and can create more empathy for the characters, the audience easily feel sorry for her and puts there mind saet in her shoes. The low-key lighting also brings surprise to the screen; the antagonist's face is not shown but clues are given away by the minimal lighting and shadows that are created, which is what occurs in most thrillers. Although in this short clip you don't actually see the antagonist, you can clearly see that the antagonists faces is being pot rayed through a mask (scary doll).

 Hidden identities is also an convention in thrillers. This can create empathy for the characters and bring tension and shock to the audience as the true identity is not actually revealed and leaves a hanging story line on who is actually underneath the mask, also leaving the audience asking questions.. is it someone we don't want to see? The mask is usually worn by the antagonist, this is used to scare the audience and the victim easier, rather than showing there real face, as it might be someone they know or are afraid of. Again, lighting in this clip creates a huge effect as it flickers on the mask's face showing the mask to the audience. This flicker of the light happens within a blink and is easy to miss. This creates suspense for the audience as we/they want to watch more and keeps you on the edge of your seats.

Furthermore, the horrific weather outside also adds to the tension being created. The weather in thriller films are usually dark, raining and stormy. In this clip the weather outside creates a huge effect on the film as its really stormy and the flashing lighting from the lightening is creating effects on the the woman victim. The flashing lightning creates minimal background light and the sound can makes the audience jump. The sound from the the thunder and lighting also creates effects such as; tension, shock, suspense and surprise. The lightening outside also opens up a pathway for the victim. As she walks down the small stairs, the lightening flashes lead her into a room. This is clever and creates a relationship between the audience and the character. The audience soon feel sorry and worried for her, as we can see the bigger picture.

The silence from the house creates suspense and the thunder is unexpected. Although many films use sound tracks as a convention, this film uses silence. Silence is a powerful way bring empathy to the audience and anticipates that something is going to happen. Unlike most thriller films they have a repeated sound track that is quiet but stands out to the audience a lot, this film uses natural sources for sounds. A repeated sound track can build up tension very quickly. The girl screaming is a convention of a thriller. In this scene, the young victim screaming brings empathy to the audience and the background noise soon becomes crowded and full. The overall noise is no longer silent, the rain begins to fall harder and faster and the tension begins to rise.

At the very first opening, the camera slowly zooms into a piece of jewellery swaying side to side. Zooming in is a convention of a thriller film and usually shows something that is important for the audience to see. The necklace swinging whilst the background noise is silent brings attention to this and the shadow on the bed cover may show that someone is in the room and bringing attention to themselves. Again, this creates a relationship with the audience very quickly and creates tension and suspense.