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)

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.

RESEARCH INTO SOUND - Miss miller

RESEARCH INTO SOUND

In this post i will be researching different sound techniques used in a short scene of the film Conjuring. I decided to choose this film as i know from previously watching the film that there is a lot of different sounds that i can comment on and it shows good examples.

Firstly, In this clip there is a small amount of sound although the sound that is used works well in this short clip. At the beginning of this clip the scene is dark and there are two characters in the frame. The young girl is whispering which is a diagetic sound. This may show that she is scared and docent want to talk loud to scare the protagonist. Whispering shows she dosent want anyone to hear her voice and may leave the audience feeling scared as they dont know who or what she is talking to. Her facial expressions link with the sound. As she is sleeping there is a large gushing sound which is short and quick which is frightening for the audience. This is a non-diagetic sound as you cannot see the place that the sound is coming from, creating more suspense towards the audience.This wakes her up and the sound disappears quickly. This gives an effect that the sound is short and snappy and gives an effect that the character is scared and this is an instant movement. Also this wave of short sound may implicate something has just happened or arrived. After this movement there is complete silence. Silence is a diagetic sound, as you can see on the screen that there is no sound moment at all.k The characters facial expressions show that she is scared and doesn't know what to do. After a few seconds of silence the background noise starts to rise. Silence brings tension to the screen and makes the audience wonder what is happening next. There is a small humming noise which gives an effect that something is going to happen as the noise begins to get louder and quicker. The humming begins to get louder as it builds up tension on the screen.

In most thriller films there is always a background noise when something is about to happen, e.g. a heartbeat or a sudden large sound, this can create tension and suprise. Sounds in thriller films and are important and without extra sound clips that have been edited in a thriller film wouldn't be interesting and give that buzz of an thriller film everyone loves. Any film without sound would be boring. The heartbeat sound is very commonly used in thriller films as it mostly represents the victims heartbeat as they are being apporached by the antagonist or scared for some apparent reason. A heartbeat sound is non-diagetic as you cannot see the sound taking place and creates a sense tht the audience are in the victim or antagonists shoes. This creates an image that we can actually hear there heartbeat and gives us an insight into what they are actually feeling. There are three important things that involve sound when creating a film; human voice, sound effects and music. These three things are mixed and balanced together to produce the necassary emphases which in turn create desired effects. Background music is used to add emotion and rhythm to the film.

Furthmore there is a diagetic sound at the beginning of the clip. Diagetic sound means the sound is part of the film world, e.g. dialouge or a dog barking. The door creaks after the young girl wakes up. The door creaking creates suprise for the audience and suspense as it brings the idea forward that something is there and waiting to jump out. Although you cant see anything there and the images that are being talked about in the girls head you can still hear the creak of the door, this scares the audience and the charachter. A creaking door is conventional to a thriller and creates as sense to the audience that they are actually in that scene.

Overall i feel that i have learnt that sound is very important in thriller and overall in any film. I have learnt the conventional sounds that occur in thrillers and the ones that arent usually found in them. The sounds that create the most suprise are the ones you dont expect, e.g. a loud bang that gives the serialism that you are actually in the film and you are frightnened for the victim. Furthmore there is alot of tension caused through sound and without it you wouldnt have that lump in your throat that makes you frightened in a thriller. When looking at creating my opening scene for my thriller, i will look closely at the sounds and music that i use. I will use conventional sounds e.g built up music to build up suspence for the audience and sounds that will create suprise and shock like the creaking door in this clip.

RESEARCH INTO CINEMATOGRAPHY - Miss Miller

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Cinematograpy is all about the camera work in a film, it includes angle, movements and positions. Cinematogrpahy plays a massive part in the making of a film especially of the thriller genre. Cinematography is the art of camerawork and photography in film-making. It plays a massive part in the making of a film especially of the thriller genre. Cinematography can be used in different ways to enhance a film's audience reach. When used in a film of the thriller genre, it tends to make them more tense, jumpy and edgy. 

The film i have chosen to analyse and look at is 'Scream 2'. This is a small clip of this well known thriller film and invloves alot of cinematography.

 

Firsly in the opening scene of this short clip, i can clearly see the camera is focusing on the main charachters back. The man in the background is blurred out and you can only see the colours he is wearing and the main outline of his body. This is called shallow focus. This is when some parts of a scene are blury. This creates an effect on the audience as it shows that you should be focusing on the main characther as it may be building up to a main scene or something dramatic going to happen, also building tension and suspense. Furthermore, the character in the background may not be a great focus in the film anymore and may not need paying attention too.

Moreover, the camera is zoomed right onto her face in this screenshot. Zooming means moving right onto a certain object or onto something that needs to be seen. I can clearly see here that the victim is on the phone to the antagonist. From this zoomed in shot, you can see clear emotions and rage in her eyes. Her grip on the phone shows she is angry and the zoomed in features create the audience to feel scared and worried about what is going to happen next. The camera zooms closer into her face as the conversation moves on and tension begins to rise quickly. The zooming In almost represents the graduale build up of tension. 


Furthermore, this technique is a long shot shown in this screenshot. A long shot shows all of a larger object and a large amount of background. In this shot you can see the venerable young woman running away. The camera is zoomed out showing all f the background behind her. The scenery behind her is greenery, and a door which is her escape exit. Also in front of the camera there is a shallow focus on drink and food on the table. A long shot shows to the audience a full picture, giving a full image of the ladies clothing aswell as anything Infront or behind her. A long shoot it used in this scene to intrege the audience and show to them that the antagonist may be in sight so a long shot is shown to keep them on the edge of their seats.

HISTORY OF THRILLER FILMS

HISTORY OF THRILLER FILMS

The word 'thriller' is a type of genre in a film. A thriller film involves a lot of action, tension, suspense and excitement. A thriller film can bring many emotions to the audience and create a lot of fear and suspense. A thriller film is usually scary and keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats, waiting for the next scene to take place, this is what is intended to be done when the producer is producing the film.


Looking at the history of thriller films I have researched some well-known thriller films from the past decades/years to show my understanding of how things have changed and stayed the same in thriller films now-a-days.




Before I hang


The first film that I have chosen to analyse is a 1940's film called Before I Hang. This film was well known in this year and was a great hit with the public, I found a short clip on you tube which I have used to look at.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07ykt1pgpE8
This is a trailer of the film, the trailer would have been shown as a preview before the film was released, this may have given certain emotions to the audience to watch this thriller. The film is about The film is about a physician on death row for a mercy killing is allowed to experiment on a serum using a criminal's blood, but secretly tests it on himself. He gets a pardon, but finds out he's become a Jekyll-&- Hyde. This film demonstrates convention of a thriller, the key convention 'blood' is used throughout, also being used by the key/main character. The blood is not only used for the characters purpose but leaves the audience asking questions at why he is using his victims blood. The behaviour used makes the audiences suspicious of the characters in sight. Furthermore, the use of him secretly testing this experiments on himself discreetly conventional to a thriller genre because this creates enigma as it is mysterious of why he has to do this experiments secretly which builds up the tension and suspense as the audience wonder why he is acting in the manner. Also the fact that he is a Jekyll-&-Hyde shows that he constantly alternating between good and evil behaviour (convention of a thriller) which builds up suspense and tension because we do not know why he is acting in this way. There is a constant switching of behaviour between them, which shows that he is clearly hasn't got his mind set showing that he is not being himself,  building up tension between the audience and the characters.




And soon the Darkness

1970

This is a 1979's film which shows improvements in the thriller film industry and when released saw a very violent start. This film is about two nurses having a biking holiday in France.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmEOl29iy8c
This was an English film, directed by Fuest and Produced by Albert Fennell and Brian Clemens. This film was made by the same person who created the hit TV show The Avengers.
 Although after arguing leaving one another isn't the best idea as one of the nurses is murdered in a near by forest. Unlike most horror films this film used two women to be portrayed as the victims, although only one of them is hurt the other is still in the frame. In most thriller films only one sexy female victim is used, which is why its un usual to see this. One women used in thrillers is conventional in thrillers as it leaves the audience feeling sorry for them and creating a strong relationship between the two. In this trailer the opening scenery noise is a police siren, immediately setting of alarm bells to the audience leaving them wondering what has happened. One thing I noticed from this trailer is that there is a lot of good uses of sound used, the scene soon arises into the sun, but the director is clever and uses a crackling sun which almost sounds dangerous, the crackling stands out and grabs the audiences attention quickly. This trailer uses a lot of conventions of a thriller film, the location  is set in a forest, instantly meaning that the victims are trapped and abandoned in such hard place to get out of.

Fatal Attraction
Fatal attraction is a thriller film made in 1987. This film is a American Psychological thriller directed by Adrian Lyne. The Budget of this film was very high, meaning they knew it was going to be very popular.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3oF8Po4qWc
This film became very popular in the USA and also the highest-grossing film of the year worldwide. This films narrative is about a married man who has an affair in the state of New York City, this man becomes the victim of innocent stalking and emotional blackmail, but very suddenly ending with the sudden death of the antagonist. The audience in this film plays a large part, engaging with the audience easily and portraying the characters differently in their eyes. This film is very eye catching and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats throughout.


All of these thrillers that I have researched are very popular (still are and used to be). The thriller industry hasn't changed much, a lot of the same techniques are still used to portray the audience and keep them engaged.

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RESEARCH INTO MISE-EN-SCENE

RESEARCH INTO MISE-EN-SCENE

•Settings & Iconography

•Costume, Hair & Make Up

•Facial Expressions & Body Language

•Lighting & Colour

•Positioning of characters/objects within the frame

MES means everything that is put into a scene. This consists of the five things above. Mise-en-scene is used in most films but is most commonly seen in thriller films. I have picked the thriller film 'Scream'. The clip above only shows a short time frame of the film although throughout the whole film mise-en-scene is used.

(1)In this first picture is shows the scene of the house. It is very dark and mysterious outside. Inside the house there is few dimmed lights on, this makes the character stand out more to the audience and giving the bakground of the house a dark and gloomy look. The house is very old fashioned which gives the feeling the house has been there a long time. This creates tension for the audience, also making them feel scared for thr young lonely girl, as we can see more things than she cant. The audience feel the urge to shout at the vunrable woman and explain to her what se is getting herself into.

(2)In this picture you can see the characters eyes glancing at the main object of the room. Her white jumper indicates that she's an innocent young woman who is in this large house on her own. There is a very restricted amount of lighting on in the room and her and the knifes stand out and are the main focus for the camera. The camera is zoomed into her face and the direct point for the camera is the knife. The knife is the main feature of the room and makes the audience feel scared. I as the audience feel scared for her aswell as us, we dont know what is going to jump out or scream in her/our faces, creating a sense of mystery.

(3)Thirdly, you can now see that the character is playing mind games with the 'scary' voice and her facial expressions soon change. Her smiling face shows that she is happy with chosen weapon and is right in her eye frame. Her position shows that she is directly in the middle of the room with all sharp kitchen utensils around her. This shows although she may look sweet and innocent she is in fact very clever inside.

(4)Lastly, the popcorn popping in the background gives a huge effect for the background noise. As there is no music and just background silence, the phone call going on is all you can hear. From the phone call you can hear a dark and deep voice coming through the speaker, this is done intentionally so the audience can hear the full conversation going on between the two. Although this victim doesn't seem to be bothered that her popcorn is ready to eat, her main focus is on playing mind games with her secret caller and her position is still on the main weapon in the room. Her facial expressions do not seem to show her being frightened at all, she looks as though she has the main power. This creates an overall suspence for the audience and in the room. Her mind games are winding up the murderer and the long lasting popcorn noise is a typical conventionn of a thriller film. 

The film Scream is a prime 'thriller' film for mise-en-scene. This film has all five of the features, making it a great film. This character has a petite young looking woman, wearing a slim fitted cream jumper. This could influence that she is very innocent. The fact that she is left on a house in her own at night time in the middle of no where is a prime scene for a horror movie to take place. There is also limited lighting which gives the effect that no one is home and it would be easy to scare someone. Unlike most horror films her facial expressions show that is she is not afraid of this cold caller and feels she has no reason not to answer the phone. Her house is very old fashioned which could implicate that her / family have lived there a very long time. Furthermore, the fact that its night time would mean blinds/curtains would be closed, unlike the background scene in the first picture which shows the house is on full display and the lights being on implicates that some body is in that room. This clip will help me to create my own thriller as i have looked at the background, for example, in this film the background is in the middle of the no where giving a greater effect to the watcher. Furthermore, the knife is creating suspense and she grabs it, making the audience scared. This has helped me as i will now explore what objects i am going to use to create suspense for the audience.

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RESEARCH INTO BBFC - Miss Miller

BBFC

The BBFC stands for the British Board of Film Classification. It is a highly expert and experienced regulator of the moving image. They ensure that every film released has the appropriate age certificate for the target audience. 

U

The U symbol stands for Universal. U films are suitable for young children over the age of four. Although any U film could upset a child and parents should be wary of what is the main story line of the film they are about to watch. In U films they only use very mild bad language and nothing that should affect a young child. Violence will be very mild throughout the whole film. A U film may include include small fighting scenes or moments where characters are placed in danger. However, moments of emotional stress or threat will be quickly resolved and the outcome will be reassuring. Not all U rated films are for children, some adults may watch them although they are mainly targeted at young children as there is no violent fighting and no frequency swearing. An example of an U rated film is 'Toy Story'. Toy story is a cartoon film which is enjoyable for young children, they use young children's teddy bears and toys with a very small amount of violence. Although there is a few arguments during the film between the characters they are not aimed at the audience and soon become friendly. There are no potential dangerous or anti-social behaviour within that may influence children, making it suitable for such a young age to watch.

PG

PG stands for Parental Guidance. This means a film is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.A PG allows the parents to be able to decide whether or not the content may upset or affect their child, although not all PG films are made for younger audiences. PG films can include and explore challenging issues such as racism and bullying, though, will not include any themes inappropriate for a child's viewing. Violence will usually be mild. There should be no detail of violence in a PG work, so while there might be some blood, we would not see how the injury was inflicted in strong detail. Whereas if drugs or alcohol is mentioned in a PG film it would be made clear that this is a bad thing to do and not encouraging the watcher to do this or think this is a good thing. Nanny Mcphee is rated a PG film. Although i see Nanny Mcphee to be a film for all ages as its fun and enjoyable for all ages. This film has no violence and uses a lot of references to do with magic and spells. 

12 and 12A

Films classified 12A and video works classified 12 contain material that are not suitable for any persons under the age of 12, this is specifically for reasons to do with safety and the understanding of the child. With a 12A film you need to be accompanied with an adult. 12 and 12A works are quite similar in the fact that this 12 years old 'barrier' is in place, however, 12 rated films may contain slightly less uses of strong language, certain ant-social behaviour or drug or sexual references. Parents have control over what there children watch and 12 and 12A films means they have to have parents connect or a parent/guardian with them.12A works require anyone under the age of 12 to be accompanied by an adult when seeing the film in the cinema (otherwise cinema's are at risk of loosing their licence).A 12A could be pushed to a 15 with some 15 certified film features contained in it, however, other features, say if the film is particularly positive, may stop this change in category. 12 and 12A films are roughly the same although with a 12A you need an adult with you, this may be because it uses more violent actions or language or it contains nudity that would only be allowed to be allowed to be seen with an adult. An example of a 12 film is Wild Child. Wild Child has mild language with a small amount of sex references. This film is practical for young people the age of 12 and above. Although there is no strong voilence with no blood or gore, this film has mild references to swearing and shouldnt be repeated by any persons younger than 12. Wild Child uses alot of recent sound tracks, although none with involve swearing. Furthermore, an example of a 12A film which has to be watched being accompnied by an adult is Mean Girls. This film has uses of strong language and small sex references. Although unlike a film which wouldbe rated a 15 this film shows no nudity and sex references arent aimed at the audience and shouldnt be repeated. Although this film is a 12A to watch it in the cinema when you are 13 or below you need to be accompnied by an adult for the young persons understanding of the film.

15

A 15 rated film means that No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a 15 rated video. 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age. A 15 rated film meas it involves frequent swearing, some nudity and sex references. There will also be strong violoence, scenes of drug taking and strong verbal references to sex. This is not to be seen by anyone under the age of 15. In a 15 rated film, there may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language which could upset any one under the age of 15 or may cause a distrubance. Obviously film producers and the bbfc do not want this to happen this is why there is strict guidlines for who can watch what films. Super bad is an example of an 15 rated film. Superbad, directed by Greg Mottola is a good example of a film with a 15 age certificate as it includes adult humour, a lot of sexual references, nudity, a lot of bad language and some violence. This film is about 3 boys leaving high school and getting ready for college. These 3 boys are interested in girls and find any way to grab their attention. Children can easily copy words and phrases used in this film which could harm young children. Alot of the words used are for the ears of 15+ only. Like most most 15 age rated film, superbad does use homophobic terms and these shouldnt be taken into consideration by the audience.

18

18 rated films are Films rated 18 are for adults only and are defiantly not suitable for children. Unlike all the other rated films an 18 uses extreme language with no restrictions. They include very strong violence, strong portrayals of sexual activity, scenes of sexual violence, strong horror, strong blood and gore and real sex (in some circumstances) (bbfc website). 18 rated films can use any type of language and also explore discrimination, this can be horrific for anyone under the age of 18 to watch. An example of an 18 rates film is The inbetweeners. This movie / TV series involves and uses a lot of strong language and mild usage of sexual references which may be disturbing for anyone under the age of 18. 

Overall, the BBFC are precise about all of the age certificates that they award to each film and it is in their best concern to consider how a film may effect those of different ages. They take alot into consideration and make sure sll she groups are watching what is suitable for them. research Into the BBFC has helped my understanding into age certaificstes and when creating my opening sequence I will have full understanding on why and how to rate it, depending on the language used.