Thriller Posters

Lesson Update #2 (26/11/13)

In this lesson, continuing on from our last lesson where we were introduced to FinalCut for the first time, we got into our groups, and continued experimenting and discovering new tools and techniques within FinalCut, as a practice for when we come to properly use it for our thriller film opening. After we had another play around with the program, we decided to start editing the beginning scene of our film. During this, George found some music (not sure where from...) and we added this on top of the piece. In addition, before we were even introduced to FinalCut, a few lessons back, we went outside and filmed purely diegetic sound. We recorded the sound of trees, myself walking through bunches of leaves and natural wind. This was all in one continuous take and we did this so that when it came to the actual editing process of the film, in the beginning through the forest/woodlands, we could play the natural diegetic sound we recorded over the initial clip. We did this because after we would've put the non-diegetic music on top of the clips, you wouldn't be able to actually hear the diegetic sound that was recorded on that day through the camera. So, by adding the recorded sound, we were able to manipulate the natural diegetic sound which would've been recorded on the day of filming the beginning sequence. Diegetic sound and natural woodland environment sounds were vital for the opening part of our thriller film, so this task/process was really important.

Because we had already edited a rough draft copy through iMovie (before we were introduced to FinalCut), we knew exactly what clips to use and where we wanted them. So, with this being done, we imported all the clips we know we were going to use into FinalCut, and re-assembled them in there in the order which we liked and originally found through the rough draft copy in iMovie. After all the clips were re-assembled and put together in a smooth, continuous sequence, it was then time to add the on-diegetic sound. As well as the music, we needed a large, echoed and distorted gunshot sound which would play (and echo/fade out...) when the screen went blank, after the gun is seen being held. We all searched for a good gunshot SFX together, and we finally found one which was perfect. After we found it, we immediately imported it straight into FinalCut and placed it over the part in which we want it to be. This took a small bit of time as we needed it dead-on and precisely at a specific time (when the screen goes black after the gun is shown) to ensure that it was effective and flowed well with the sequence. When we finished altering the gunshot SFX (we had to trim some of the sound file as there was a huge gap of silence before the actual gunshot sound) and putting it into the film, we added the music on top as well.

The music was a very eerie and strange piece but it fitted in extremely well with the sequence. As I said, I am not sure where George actually found the music, but it was still brilliant and worked very well. We wanted eerie and sort of unsettling music at the beginning so this was great! After trimming down the music to the specific amount that we wanted and placing it over the sequence, we played it the whole thing back. I was extremely pleased with how it turned out (bearing in mind that this was our first actual edit of our film through FinalCut - discarding the practice session where we used the preliminary task) and I thought that all of the non-diegetic sounds worked brilliantly.

Because George's main focused area of the film is the editing, George did the majority of the editing today, with myself and Jess watching it through and Jess also taking some involvement with editing. Although, Amy wasn't here for today's lesson so she is yet to see it.

Although we have edited it the beginning sequence of our thriller film opening, this may not be the finalised version. For example, we may find some better music or find a better gunshot SFX. But, I love the music and the SFX which we have, but we may get better ideas and want to change things.

I'm not sure where George has saved the sequence to (the editing was done on his mac account), but hopefully in the next lesson we can all get hold of it and post it in future blog posts.

Se7en - opening analysis

Mise-en-Scene
Common mise-en-scene techniques are used throughout the opening of se7en. For setting it starts off showing a white kitchen, this connotes purity and makes the place seem safe. It is then starkly contrasted with the next location which is a dark, run down apartment. This apartment is also covered in blood with splatters on the wall and on the floor, it is very misty/dusky which gives a tense atmosphere and makes the audience question what has gone on there. The audience is shown very little of the dead person, this is to keep them questioning what has happened. The next scene is Detective Mills and Somerset outside the apartment, they are situated in a rundown neighbourhood which gives a negative connotation as the audience don't see it as a nice/homely place. The apartments are also shown to have the number 7 at the start, this links in with title and is an enigma code throughout the rest of the film. It's also raining outside, this reflects the mood and makes it seem dull and gloomy, creating the atmosphere that something bad has happened and is going to continue to happen. The next seen is of D.Somerset in bed, he is in a dark and dingy room which doesn't look very nicely done up or furbished. This room seems dull and gives a negative effect.

Costume is used to show the difference between the characters D.Mills and Somerset. D.Somerset is seen in a sharp suit at the start, this helps show he is a smart and respectable character and also fits in with the old conventions of how police detectives were dressed. His suit is also grey which shows he is neither a black nor white character and he has tendencies to be both good and bad. D.Mills is dressed in more casual attire, although he is still wearing a shirt and tie to show he is an important character he is wearing a leather jacket over the top which makes him out to be 'bad boy' character as leather connotes rebelliousness. Comparing him to D.Somerset who wears a cotton shows their difference and contrast in characters, already hinting at a bad cop, good cop kind of relationship.

At the start of the sequence the lighting is bright and soft in D.Somerset's kitchen, this (like I said before) helps show the contrast between locations as when shown the next scene the room is basically the complete opposite. Dark lighting is used to make the place look mysterious and creepy, there is also a lot of lighting to show shadows this creates a tense atmosphere as it's like the characters are being followed. Dull lighting is used outside reflecting the weather rather than showing how it is a dark day and giving it negative connotations. Dark and dingy lighting is then used in D.Somerset's room to show it's not a very nice place to be. This then contrasts with the title sequence which uses strong bright lighting and also red lighting. The red connotes blood and I felt the bright lights reminded me of hospitals so the lighting here had a theme of pain and death.

The props we are shown first are D.Somerset's items, a badge, knife, pen and gun. These are important as they help show a lot about his character {say what}. Police tape is used to show it's a crime scene, it creates a dangerous/creepy mood as the audience have negative associations with this and know something bad has gone on. A metronome is used to create tension by playing the sound loudly, like it's building up to something. 


Camera
To start off with the camera uses a lot of establishing shots to show what is going on and to set the scene. For example it shows an establishing shot which allows the audience to see the full view of the apartment and the dead man. There is no close-up on the dead man which I liked because it made it more mysterious as you didn't know what had happened. 
There are close ups used throughout this sequence. At first the camera shows a closeup on D.Somerset's possessions, they are a knife, badge, pen and gun these all help illustrate he could possibly be a dangerous character and also help link to how he is a detective. 
The next closeup is on a metronome, this motion makes the audience lose focus for a while as the closeup only focuses on that. It then transitions into the title sequence, this is an extreme contrast to the original opening scene and is extremely creepy.
During the title sequence many closeups are used on drawings etc, these help creep the audience out as the images are quite disturbing. There are a lot of enigma codes used during the title sequence, like certain words being highlighted, this already puts an idea in the audience heads of what is going to happen.
Throughout the main opening scene which shows D.Mill's and Somerset there are many red herrings dropped around the number 7, as the number of the apartment where they are investigating a murder starts with the number 7. This is already highlighting a clear link with the plot and title.

Editing
The editing between the part with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt to the main title sequence shows a massive contrast. The editing in the first part is smooth and doesn't have any harsh or sudden jump cuts, whereas the title sequence includes an assortment of sudden and jumpy transitions.
There are many jump cuts use in the title sequence this helps create a tense mood as the audience is flipped between one clip to another. It also adds confusion to the audience so they're already confused before the film has begun, confusion is a common technique in thriller films as it helps the create a tense atmosphere. 
The whole title sequence is full of enigma codes for the audience, the quick editing sequence makes the audience want to watch on as they want to find out what all these things link to and what is going on.
Some of the sequences are changed into red lighting, this help connotes the theme of death and gore as red helps connote the idea of blood. There is also loads of flashing images used this makes it look distorted and creates a tense mood because it doesn't make sense.

Sound
In the opening sequence a lot of diegetic sound is used to create tension and show the theme of danger. At the start it's very quiet but you can hear the noises of a busy and possibly dangerous neighbourhood. This is shown again when D.Somerset is shown in bed, it's quiet in his room except you can hear the noises outside, this includes things like people shouting and dogs barking. This makes the audience think of dangerous and possibly dodgy neighbourhood's which can include violence etc. So this already shows that the film is set in a dangerous place.
The really liked how they used the sound of the metronome and made it louder than all the other sounds. I found that because of the repetitive sound of the metronome there was a tense mood and atmosphere as I felt it was building up to something. I also thinks it helps show the contrast between the scene when it transitions into the title sequence.
The music for the title sequence is extremely weird and creepy. It makes an extremely tense atmosphere as it plays with the audience's mind as do the pictures and clips being shown. The music almost sounds as if someone is screaming, which obviously makes it very creepy and adds danger and mystery to what is going on in the title sequence. It's a very electronic soundtrack and seems to include quite high frequency noises. I found, for me at least, that this made me more scared and like something weird and abnormal was going on.

Narrative
I liked the narrative at the start of this film as it really set the film up well and made me want to continue watching, especially the use of the title sequence as I wanted to find out what all of that linked to. 
I enjoyed how they used pathetic fallacy to show the mood, as it was raining during the opening which helped illuminate how something bad had happened and added to the tense mood. I found the whole event of the murder investigation foreshadowed the rest of the film and how this was just the start, the same for the title sequence this included a lot of foreshadowing as to what was going to go on in the film.
I think Detective Mill's and Somerset are good characters because they are shown to be opposites (like good cop, bad cop) so I feel this will work well in the film. I also liked the way you found out nothing about the murder that had just happened as I was then intrigued to see what had happened and what it all linked in with.

Opinion
Personally I thought this was a really amazing opening, I loved the title sequence as it really built up the tension and wanted to make me watch the rest of the film. I found it really disturbing but at the same time wanted to understand what it all linked to. I also liked how they set up the main plot with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt as I wanted to also know what had happened in the murder and what it linked to.

Sub-Genres of Thriller

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Lesson Activity (Audience Types and Measuring Audience cont.)

(This is the continuation from my earlier blog about audience types and measuring audience).

As I said earlier, we had to categorise characters from The Simpsons into different audience types after learning about the different types of audience and how to measure them during the lesson. The categories for this activity were: succeeders, mainstreamers, aspirers, reformers and individuals.

George was not present during the lesson. Me, Jess and Amy did the activity as this is why just our names are tagged with this post and the activity.

Audience Types and Measuring Audience

- In one of our media lessons, we had to identify different types of audiences throughout the mass media and what characteristics each audience group has. In addition, we had to learn how these specific audience types can be measured.

Types of Audience (Not specifically for film - more mass media)

Who are you aiming at?

• Needs Directed - survivors on incomes that only allow needs and not wants to be fulfilled: pensioners and those on unemployment benefits, for example.
• Societally Conscious Achievers - Inner piece and environment more important than financial success; want personal fulfilment. Lovers of outdoors and fitness and like to experiment.
• Belongers - traditional conservative conformists: family-orientated,  like security, hate change and like a strong community.
• Emulator (Achievers) - successful, enjoy acquiring things and buy brand names.
• Emulator - young people searching for an identity - desiring to fit into adult world but can discouraged about prospects.

Measuring Audience: Demographic Profiles

TAGS = Target Audience Gathering System

• TAGS is used by Neilsen, a company that gathers information on audiences and develops marketing plans.
• Groups are based on information, lifestyle, attitude and media consumption. These are called Psychographics.
• AC Neilsen surveys tens of thousands of people aged 10+ each year to create this profile.

After we had learnt this, we were told to get into our groups, and we were all given handouts with pictures of characters from The Simpsons on them and we had to categorise them in audience groups under the categories of: succeeders, mainstreamers, aspirers, reformers and individuals. I will post a picture of that activity in a separate blog post.

Jobs And Roles For Our Film

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Se7en (Analysis)

Film: Se7en

Directed by: David Fincher

Starring: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow

Released: 1995

Elements of Mise en Scene, Editing, Camerawork/Cinematography and Sound

There is a scene of Detective Somerset in his house (this is the opening sequence). In this particular scene, there is a clear view of his clean, tidy and decorated house, showing him dressing up. His clothing is of a stereotypical detective costume smartly dressed with a trench coat and hat and we then realise that the film will be based around detective work.

Another scene introduces us to Mills, who is a complete contrast to Somerset, as he is young, more relaxed, and has a cheeky attitude whilst Somerset is a lot more serious about his job. Mills has an individual detective costume this is a leather jacket and more casual clothes, giving him a young and almost ‘rebellious’ bad-boy type of characteristic.

‘Se7en’ uses mise en scene to portray the two main characters through very different characteristics and idiosyncrasies. Through this, we can clearly see that they are binary opposites as Mills is the more up-beat cop with the unique costume and attitude and chewing gum. Pairing these two characters together creates conflict between them adding an element of drama to the film and some humour for the audience to enjoy.

There is a scene where Somerset knocks on an apartment door, and whilst doing so, we see in a wide shot, from the detective’s POV, a man entering the end of the hallway, who then pauses. The man’s presence is immediately unsettling. He is sinisterly decked out in an angular black hat and coat. Seeing Mills and Somerset, he pauses. The camera is close to them as they first notice this man – is this John Doe? The camera keeps the mysterious figure at a distance, but because he is carrying groceries and wearing a normal black coat, we begin to question whether he actually is the serial killer or just a normal person. The figure slowly takes a few steps towards the detectives and draws his pistol and fires. It’s a sudden shock to the audience and makes the tension shoot up, gripping the audience even more. The chase sequence is fast and paced uncontrollably. It gains its intensity from quick fluid camerawork and extreme use of quick cuts (editing) that bombards you with tracking shots and steadicam, keeping up with the sheer speed of the chase as Mills pursues the man. For most of the chase we stay close to Mills. Mills becomes isolated from Somerset as he pursues John Doe through hallways, down stair cases, through apartments, down fire escapes and ultimately into the alley way where the chase climaxes. Many shots simulate Mill’s point of view and this puts the audience in his shoes throughout the chase. John Doe’s bullets closely miss Mills. Often as John Doe shoots, the camera responds, in some cases shakily falling to the floor, or hiding behind a corner. We are often behind Mills as he chases the killer, and the frantic, jerky camera conveys both desperation and chaos. 

Mills eventually pursues the killer out into the daylight. As Mill’s searches for John Doe in an alleyway, we change to smooth tracking/still shots and short depth of field. This isolates Mills from the surroundings, thereby heightening the mystery. The tension ratchets as Mills gets closer to John Doe and crescendos as the killer surprises Mills by bludgeoning his face with a crowbar. John Doe’s gun barrel presses into Mill’s temple as he crawls on the ground begging for his life. Now, at the end of the chase, we see killer closer than ever before. Yet the shallow focus hides his face to keep the audience intrigued and the tension high.

Psycho - The Shower Scene (Analysis)

Film: Psycho

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire

Released: 1960

My rating: 5/5

Elements of Mise en Scene, Editing, Camerawork/Cinematography, Sound

The shower scene

Most of the shots are extreme close-ups, except for medium shots in the shower directly before and directly after the murder. The combination of the close shots with their short duration makes the sequence feel more subjective than it would have been if the images were presented alone or in a wider angle.

This scene features good use of non-diegetic sound. Before the figure reveals their self and kills Marion, the only sound we can hear is that of the water coming out of the shower head. This was used to make the audience feel that the scene is rather normal and that Marion is just taking a shower, as you normally would. That is why their is no need for any soundtrack behind the scene. But, as the shadowy figure appears in front of the camera and starts to murder Marion, the scene explodes with screaming violins and extremely loud, ear-piercing violas. As soon as we hear this, the scene immediately intensifies and because a huge shock to the audience because it was very unexpected. The music continues playing whilst Marion is killed in the shower and this helps maintain the scene’s horror, tension and fear.

After Marion is killed and the figure leaves the bathroom, the music suddenly cuts and the sound returns back to non-diegetic. This leaves the audience with the eerie silence of the aftermath as the sit in shock and awe. The sound is identical to the sound at the beginning of the scene when Marion is still alive, the water is still coming out of the shower head and that is all we can hear. This helps the audience feel that the scene was still a normality scene, because Marion was just taking a shower when suddenly she was killed by a mysterious figure. The camera is moving back from Marion to see the after effect of the death. The scene ends how it begun with the emphasis on the shower head and just everyday noises that we all hear when doing things such as showering. 

A particular close up shot is used on Marion’s eye and continues to pan out as she lays dead on the bathroom floor. This has been used on purpose to ensure that the audience experience the full emotion of shock and the aftermath of her character’s killing as the slowly stare into her lifeless eyes as the camera pans away, revealing her emotionless, dead face.

The majority of the film’s camerwork is very still and hardly ever moves and tracks the characters. This is done so that the audience can carefully analyse the characters in the narrative and their conflict between one another. It also maintains the tension in the film and gives off an eerie feel, because although the camera isn’t moving/tracking much, the characters in the shot are incredibly believable and help create the psychological and emotional tension without the use of static camerawork.

How does Psycho fit the Thriller genre?

Psycho is more of a psychological thriller (a sub-genre of thriller), where the danger of the protagonist (in this case, Marion - although she is killed off early in the film) is heavily emphasized and the connection between the protagonist and the antagonist is more mental and emotional rather than physical. The protagonist(s) always get themselves involved in dangerous situations whether it was by their own choice or by accident. In Psycho, Marion chooses to stop for the night at the Bates Motel but accidentally gets herself caught up with a ‘psycho’, immediately becoming vulnerable and open to danger from the antagonist. Most psychological thriller include the characters solving a mystery to overcome the antagonist(s) and in ‘Psycho’, the mystery behind Marion’s ‘disappearance’ is left to Detective Milton Arbogast. As the mystery goes on, more conflict and emotions erupt between the detective and Marion’s boyfriend and sister.

Learning How To Use FinalCut

In our last lesson (22/11/13), we were first taught how to use the program which we will be using to edit and finalise our film, FinalCut. Our teacher told us to get into our filming groups, gather round the iMacs in the classroom, and she went through some demonstrations and a few tutorials of the program, showing some of the tools and effects it had to offer. We were told to use some footage and put effects and different tools from FinalCut onto it and she let us explore and discover different things that we could use in our example footage. For us, we used our preliminary task in FinalCut and experimented with that. Because it was only an introduction and a demonstration of what the program contained, we didn't go into huge detail and explanation of the program, but we did cover the main basics such as: cutting footage and marking the beginning and ending of a clip, how to incorporate different effects like colours and changing the position and tilt of the clip and how to modify and alter the sound of a clip and how to add additional sound to a clip. Everyone in our group got a chance to try the program and play around with it. After we experimented with the preliminary task, we imported the very first shot of the beginning of our film and also experimented with that. As like the practice with the preliminary task, everyone got a good opportunity to play around with it.

It was great fun, and the program is really fun to use (even if it was a bit complex!). I'm excited for the editing process and to use FinalCut on the final footage of our film. Hopefully we can have some more practice on FinalCut in future lessons!

Titles Analysis: The Third Man

The Third Man is thought to be the best Thriller film of the 20th century and because of that, I decided to also analyse this film's title sequence. Although I was unable to embed the video on our blog, the trailer can be found in an article here.

To begin with, there is no music during this title sequence. All there is is a shot of Big Ben (and Big Ben's chimes donging in the background), with titles next to it stating "A London Film Production". This is written in a  font that closely resembles old-fashioned handwriting, giving it a slightly more personal feel to Skyfall's title sequence.

The text does not fade in and out - instead, the text is essentially 'embedded' on the image of Big Ben, and only fades in and out when the image does. This has a different feel to Skyfall's sequence and personally I do not prefer it because it feels a lot less natural. Allowing for the action to carry on in the background whilst the titles fade in and out seems more aesthetically pleasing in my opinion.
As the music begins, there is then an ECU of a zither and it is playing music. This music is not very stereotypical of a Thriller film and instead is quite relaxing. Titles fade in and out whilst the zither continues to 'play itself', this time using a font that looks more computer-generated. Similar to Skyfall, the names of people are capitalised but everything else is lower-case. This emphasises the importance of the people involved in the film.
Over the same zither playing, the name of the film, "The Third Man", is then displayed before continuing with showing the names of people who are associated with the film in the same style as before.

.... and that's it. That's the title sequence. It is ever so minimalistic when compared to such complex sequences like Skyfall but I think it is very effective because it means more of the audience's attention is on the names of people involved in the film. I much prefer it in many ways because of that.
However, similarly, this film dedicates time exclusively to the title sequence and this is something that we cannot afford to do with the time limit we have in our Thriller opening.
Similarly to Skyfall, the soundtrack played throughout the title sequence was composed especially for the film and this sequence was a real watershed moment for audiences all over the world because music like this had never been heard before during a film. The instrument used, a zither, was largely unknown until this film came about. However, unlike Skyfall, the same music was played throughout the whole of the film - whenever there was a transition or important moment in the narrative, the same music would play and this links the title sequence in nicely with the entire film.

Titles Analysis: Skyfall

As titles are such an important part of a Thriller opening, I have decided to analyse Skyfall's title sequence and see if there are any ideas for how we could incorporate titles into our Thriller opening.
During this title sequence, the viewer is immersed in the sea as James Bond is dramatically shot by one of his co-workers in the very opening to the film. The sequence is a combination of various analogies which link to his own private memories. This title sequence suggests Bond's current emotional state, which is something titles can be used to do effectively. You see Bond falling deep into the water and into a large whole in the sand. He is wearing a suit, which is very typical of Thriller films. The main thing about this title sequence is that it doesn't relate to the narrative of the film; the audience could watch the rest of the film without watching the title sequence and it wouldn't affect their viewing experience.
Unlike some films, the title sequence has its own exclusive 'scene', as opposed to being layered over another scene. This is not something that we will have the opportunity to do in our opening because we simply do not have a long enough time limit in order to do this.
A lot of red is used in the opening, which links in nicely with the idea of blood (especially as James Bond has just been shot). This also connotes evil and danger, implying James Bond's extreme bravery in being involved in such a 'risky situation', during which he got shot during friendly fire.
The font that is used is also very important. It is a very bold, clear font that contrasts well with the colour of the picture in the background, making it clear to read. It is all in capital letters, meaning that it highlights the importance of the people who made the film. The only exception is the roles of the cast and crew, which are written in lower case letters. The font, however, is not overwhelmingly big, and so you can still see the action behind the text.
The transition of the text is also very simple. As opposed to snapping in and out quickly, the text fades in and out smoothly, making it quite natural to watch.
The soundtrack which is layered over the titles is also very important. It is a song that has now become associated with this film. It was written exclusively for the film and now, whenever the song is heard it makes the audience think of Skyfall. Because of this, the film is very popular.

Overall I really love this title sequence. I particularly like the transitions of the text and this is something that I would really love to use in our thriller opening.

Se7en Analysis

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Behind the Net Curtains - Student Analysis

Filming Update #1 & Opening Scene Draft

On (14/11/13), we went out during our lunchtime and our free period to film the beginning of our thriller film opening! Due to Amy not being available during this allocated time, we decided to use one of our friends to play her role in the beginning of the film opening (Amy was fine with this). When we arrived at our location, we began filming. In order for us t get a variety and a wide variation of shots, we filmed each sequence in various different camera angles and shots so that when it came to the editing stage, we had different versions of each clip and sequence and we could then choose which one fitted in well with other shots. In addition, in these varied shots, I also changed the way my costume looked so that in the editing stage, we could also choose which costume looked the best. It wasn't a dramatic costume change, just simple things like: having my hood up and then having my hood down, two hands on the gun and then one hand on the gun etc.

In our media lesson the day after, because we haven't been fully taught how to use Final Cut yet, we decided to edit a draft version in iMovie just to get a rough idea of how it was going to look/possibly look. At first, we had a look of all the different shots and camera angles we got and tried to piece them together to see which ones fitted well with others. This took us some time to get a smooth and fluid pace because some of the shots were more fast paced whereas some were much more slower. In the end, we finally chose which ones fitted in well and then completed our draft. Because this is only a rough draft of how it is going to look/possibly look (due to it being made in iMovie and not Final Cut), there may be some more changes and alterations in the actual initial editing stage. In addition, we are considering returning to the filming location and getting a few more shots.

Our draft copy of the beginning of our thriller film opening can be found below. Enjoy!

Inner Evil - Student Example Analysis

Our Opening Scene Draft!

This is a draft of our opening scene. We edited this on iMovie although we are going to edit the final version on Final Cut Express. We will also incorporate credits and sound effects into the film as well.
This is just the opening scene - after this the (currently undecided) title of our film will appear onto the screen before going into the 'main' opening scene.
I was fairly happy with how the production and editing stages went. I think we need to put some thought into assuring the continuity of the opening is taken seriously, and that everything flows smoothly. I like the idea of using fast-paced editing for this part of the opening. I think the music choice will have a great impact on the scene as well - personally I think we should go for something slow and creepy, but ultimately it's down to Amy who is in charge of the sound aspects! In terms of my role as editor, I am happy with this draft cut.
The shot I particularly like is the first shot, which is essentially an establishing shot. I would like to display the opening credits ('Silly Kiwi Productions') on the bush at the bottom of the shot whilst the victim is being followed by the murderer in the background. I think we have used a nice variety of shots for such a short opening scene and I like our use of the 180 degree rule.

Filming Update

Yesterday we filmed for the first time. It went really well and we got some really nice shots. We didn't stick to the storyboard as strictly as we were anticipating, but we still got some shots which I think were really effective. We are going to put together a 'draft edit' later today (although our final film will be edited on Final Cut Express, we have decided to use iMovie for this task) in order to see whether the continuity is of an acceptable standard. I think we may need to re-film some shots. For example, we have a shot of the victim standing there out of breath but no shot of her stopping running so I think when we edit it later, it may look rather unnatural. However, this is something which we will be able to improve when we go out to refilm some of these shots. We are also hoping to film the second scene, at James' house, some time next week. This scene is longer and requires a lot more attention to detail so this may be more of a challenge than yesterday's antics!

Filming Update!

Mise En Scene

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Roles for our Thriller Film

We have recently discussed who will be in charge of what throughout the production of our Thriller Film:

• Jessica will be in charge of Mise en Scene and Actors in our film. She also studies drama so is perfect for the role of directing our actors throughout the filming stages. 
• George will be in charge of Editing. He will assist with the bulk of the editing after the primary filming has been completed. 
• James will be in charge of Camerawork and Filming. He will be filming the bulk of our Thriller film during the production stages. 
• Amy will be in charge of Sound. She will be sourcing the majority of non-diagetic sound that we use in our film.

Obviously we will all have an input into each section but as we now have somebody in charge of all of the main areas, it means that if we ever have a difficult decision to make we know who should make it! Additionally, it means that there is somebody to monitor each microelement of our opening and making sure we don't go off-track.

Student Example Analysis Powerpoint

Audience Research Video

This is our audience research video. We went around school and found people from our target audience and asked them to answer a few questions on what they preferred in a thriller film.

The questions were:

1. Do you watch thriller films?
2. What is your favourite narrative in a thriller film?
3. What is your biggest fear?
4. What is the scariest age for a villain to be in a thriller film?
5. What gender do you find scariest in a thriller film?
6. What's the scariest location for a thriller film to take place?

For question number one the most common answer we got was yes, which was encouraging as these were our target audience so obviously we want them to have interest in and watch thriller films.

There were two common narratives that were seen to be the most favourable. One was murder and the other was kidnapping, this helped show us what narrative we should include to interest and thrill our target audience. This has also helped demonstrate to us that the original idea we have (involving both capture and murder) will fit in with the needs of our audience. Other's mentioned were mystery and suspense, I feel we will also try and include this in our narrative, for example by covering one of the murderers identity, as it will keep our audience on the edge of their seat and make them want to continue to watch. All of these narratives are also common conventions of a thriller film so will fit in nicely. 

There were many different answers to what was our audiences biggest fears but I did pick up on the theme of darkness, as this was mentioned a couple of times. I feel it would be a good idea to include darkness in our film as it will create more mystery as the audience won't exactly know what is going on and will also make it eerie. Other fears we may think to include is kidnapping and possibly alleys as both of these will create a tense atmosphere and will thrill our target audience.

The most common age for a villain to be was 50/60, or someone who is old. I found this common because as our audience are younger they would be more fearful of the older generation as they are the least like them. We will try and use someone this age in our thriller film, if not slightly younger as they will be more scary and mysterious than someone our age.

Male was shown to be the scariest gender, we will use this in our thriller film as both of the murders are going to be male and the victims will both be female. This is also a common convention to have males as murders as they are stereotypically seen to be the stronger out of the two genders.

A lot like fear the main theme I picked up from location was darkness. This was mentioned in a few different answers, I think this has helped show us what our location should be like to create the most tense and eerie atmosphere. A few other answers I would like to incorporate are somewhere abandoned  a forest and possibly and alley as I feel these will all create a tense atmosphere and will also appeal to our audience. 

Thriller (Main Characteristics and Conventions)

Some of the primary elements of a thriller film are:

• The film's narrative is always mainly through the eyes of the protagonist and follow's their journey. This is prioritised over the narrative being based through the eye's of the antagonist although parts of a thriller film can majorly revolve around the antagonist.
• The initial force/motive of the antagonist is much more superior to the protagonist. This is normally resolved through the protagonist training and requiring the help of other protagonist to help them overcome the antagonist and become superior. The training/preparation for the confrontation between the protagonist and the antagonist is also a vital part of this in order for the protagonist to become superior and this normally occurs during the middle section of the film (this can be seen during the three act structure post I have already posted).
• The main structure/storyline of the film is the protagonist's quest to overcome the antagonist. On this journey, they typically experience death and danger to ensure that they become stronger and more motivated to eradicate the antagonist. Either by accident or purpose, a character must be put into a dangerous situation which either they or with the help of other protagonists have to overcome. The danger/death is normally produced by the antagonist to 'get the ball rolling' and get a reaction from the protagonist(s).
• The protagonist's quest is typically for justice, freedom, retribution or morality. This quest cannot be stricken and put down as it is the main bulk of a thriller film.
• There has to be an element of innocence and faultlessness during the film as it contrasts with the main idiosyncrasy of death/danger and corruption. The innocence which is portrayed during the film is typically for the protagonist as they have a motive (or another motive alongside another reason) to overcome the antagonist and restore order. But, what can sometimes happen is that the innocence which is shown isn't always what we think and the protagonist can sometimes come under danger from this innocence (innocence is normally in the form of a woman - femme fatale).
• A huge element of thrillers is suspense. This elaborates onto mystery, and things that are unpredictable. Thriller have to intrigue the audience into being fascinated with the narrative, and features such as suspense, tension, uncertainty promotes this particular fascination and audience pleasure. In addition, the element of suspense makes the audience feel on-edge as they are unsure of what to expect (uncertainty) and it also makes them want to watch further on because they wan to find out what happens. Suspense in a thriller film is normally portrayed during the protagonist's quest to overcome the antagonist as they may come across obstacles which produce danger, confusion and may hold them back from reaching their goal, ultimately arousing suspense for the audience. There are two types of suspense - the desire for everything to come to a successful and positive conclusion for the protagonist(s) and the uncertainty of what we actually know is going on and what we anticipate is going to happen.
• Protagonists in thriller films are mainly (but not always) ordinary people who have been introduced to danger and a situation unintentionally. But, this is not always the case as some protagonists in thrillers are actually already 'hard men' and have the abilities and skills needed to overcome the antagonist and the dangerous situation presented. Although these particular protagonists still normally go through a stage of training and preparation in order to defeat the antagonist, they have already originally acquired these skills whereas protagonists who have unintentionally entered a situation and are faced with danger (ultimately leading them to having to overcome the antagonist of the film) have to train and acquire the specific skills and abilities needed to restore order.

Storyboard For Our Thriller Film Opening

This is our storyboard for out thriller film opening. The title on the storyboard - 'The List' isn't the actual title we're going to use for our thriller film. I just needed to put something there for the storyboard whilst I was making it. I called it 'The List' as it linked with the narrative of the film.

Continuity wasn't a vital importance for the storyboard as it is only the storyboard and not the film, so that is why George and Jess are wearing different clothes later on through the storyboard.

As this is just the storyboard, we can still manipulate and alter things in the final process of filming our thriller opening, but it's still a good guideline to where we want to go with the film and it still ensures that we're not completely off task and filming something completely different as this is the narrative structure that we all like and want to create. But as I said, we can still slightly change and alter things as this is only the storyboard.

As I was making this, myself and the rest of the group kept discussing all the elements and features we wanted to include (mise en scene, sound, camerawork etc.) in the film. We already had a good strong idea of what we wanted in the film (narrative and camerawork wise) as we needed to actually create the storyboard with ideas in mind.

I had a lot of fun making this, and it was great to see everything glue together as I progressed through making it.

Audience Research Analysis

Inception: Trailer Analysis

I decided to look at the trailer for Inception in order to see how they advertise their Thriller film.
The first thing that happens in the trailer is a CU of the spinning top, one of the most symbolic enigma codes in the entire film. This links in with the idea of it being important in the film. You then see the main character in the film standing next to a table and spinning it.
This trailer also makes use of a voiceover in order to give a brief idea of what the film is about. The first thing the character says is "what's the most resilient parasite?". This immediate rhetorical question intrigues the audience due to the fact they are intrigued and want to discover the answer.
Some official ident logos are then shown in order to see the makers behind the film. Because they are all very famous companies, the audience feel straight away that the film is going to be very good because of their successful history.
The music gets a lot more tense at this point in order to increase the suspense. There are then some CUs of people's faces. You can see they are looking at something as they are shocked but the audience isn't told what. This CU is used in order to make the audience want to know what it is the characters are looking at because you can see their reaction. The reason for their surprise is quickly revealed - a disorientating establishing shot of the world seeming to fold over itself. This makes the audience ask why this is happening - but this is not revealed in the trailer. In order to find out why, the audience has to watch the film.
After another CU, this time of some water rippling (suggesting that the ground is shaking) and an over-the-shoulder shot of a man looking out the window at an explosion (again, increasing the action and tension) there are some medium shots introducing some more of the characters before the voiceover says "which is why....." and the music builds up to a crescendo and goes quiet right at the same moment the screen snaps to black. The character says "I have to steal it" before the music begins again and there is an action shot of him with a gun. There is then a black screen saying that it was directed by the same person as The Dark Knight, again making the audience aware that there is a lot of experience behind this film and so making them sure that it is going to be good.
There are then some more exciting shots like explosions and more of that funny world-folding thing and this showcases to the audience how some of the special effects throughout this film are quite spectacular.

Throughout the trailer, the main character is in a suit and this is a typical thriller costume. However, his suit is quite a light grey colour (as opposed to the dark colours that thriller characters usually wear) and this is breaking a stereotype, making the film a lot more interesting to watch.
Additionally, although he appears to be a good character, you see him in this trailer pointing a gun at people and being part of an explosion. Therefore, it makes the audience wonder whether he is a 'good guy' or a 'bad buy' - again, another typical Thriller convention.

Overall, I think this is a really good trailer and it has made me consider whether we should break some stereotypes in our film in order to make it more interesting for the audience. One idea that I have is to, instead of using an old man like our target audience has expressed their interest for, to use a young person (possibly late teens, early 20s) because this would be unexpected to the audience and so would appear more exciting.

Target Audience Research

As part of our target audience research for our thriller film opening, we decided to go round our school and 'interview' different people of various age groups and gender to get a varied and better collection of answers and opinions, non-biased. We each took it intern to ask different people the same questions. We wanted to use the same questions otherwise we wouldn't get fair results - we wanted different answers for the same question as it would be easier to identify strengths and weakness for those questions and it would be easier to evaluate different opinions. We didn't want to use leading questions but instead use open answer questions so the 'interviewees' could gave a full independent personal answer. The questions were: do you watch thriller films?, what is your favourite narrative? (we had to sometimes describe to our 'interviewees' what a film narrative was and give examples), what is your biggest fear?,  what is the scariest age for a villain?, what gender do you find scarier in a villain? and what is a scary location?. Although these are good questions which cover a range of aspects for a film, looking back at it, it seems that the questions may have been a bit horror-film-orientated. Thriller films aren't based around scaring and putting fear into the audience, instead emphasise mystery and leave the audience questioning. Evaluating the audience research video, I would say that maybe we should have used questions which were more thriller based such as: what is a mysterious location?, what do you find mysterious and eerie? and just simply - what gender is best for a villain? In addition, if the 'interviewees' had answered yes for the question "do you watch thriller films?" then they would have possibly understood questions which would have been more thriller based e.g. what gender is best for a villain in a thriller film? and get their views on what is best for a thriller film (considering that they watch thriller films). Like I said, they are still very good questions and we did get a lot of great answers and feedback from the people that we 'interviewed' which made our research much better. Also, because we asked teachers as well as students, we were able to get a mixed variety of answers from different age groups which made the research better as well. Although, sometimes some of the students we interviewed didn't actually give an answer for some of the questions due to maybe the other 'interviewee' talking over them or they literally didn't have an answer. We still got a great bunch of answers, and the gathering of our target audience research was a lot of fun! The video of our target audience research can be seen below.

Timeline of Production Process

If the above timeline doesn't work for you, you can also view it here.

Target Audience Research

As part of our audience research, we interviewed various people in our school to see what they liked in our Thriller film. As opposed to targeting a certain age group, we simply asked the question 'do you enjoy Thriller films' - this meant that we were able to get a further insight also into which age group Thriller films are particularly popular with. Take a look at the video below. 

The concept which stood out for me in this video is the idea of not knowing who the 'good guy' and 'bad guy' is until the end of the film. This is a typical thriller convention, and something which I think we would be able to implement particularly well into our film. Because our final idea is based around somebody coming into someone else's house who appears to be good, I think it would work really well.
Something else which is particularly evident from this research is the fact that people seem to find elderly people the scariest villain. Therefore, as opposed to using myself as the villain, I am really keen to use someone a lot older than me in order to appeal to our target audience.

Additionally, I have also analysed the feedback we received from our Thriller survey which we posted online a few weeks ago. We had an array of answers, but the most popular answer for "what makes a Thriller film scary?" was the idea of something happening to someone that could happen to anyone: something which is realistic and therefore will scare the audience for longer. People also liked the idea of cliffhangers and never finding out what happens, as well as the element of mystery.
Similarly to the Thriller interview video, 42% of survey respondents said seeing an elderly person (particularly a man) as being the scariest thriller villain. This has been such a popular response throughout our audience research and we would be mad to not listen to them!
70% of respondents also explained that they would prefer for the victim to be alone when they are killed, and so we have adapted our narrative to make this the case. They will now be isolated in a  house at the time of their murder.

We have received a lot of really useful feedback from our research and now we have made changes because of the responses we have received, I am beginning to get really excited for the initial filming in a week or so!

Our Target Audience

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Saw (Analysis)

Film: Saw

Directed by: James Wan

Starring: Tobin Bell, Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Michael Emerson

Released: 2004

Elements of Mise en Scene, Editing, Camerawork/Cinematography and Sound

The majority of the camerawork in Saw is steadicam. This is significantly used in the bathroom scenes with Adam and Doctor Gordon. This is so we get a hands-on gritty experience with them in bathroom and gives the film a sense of realism and it makes the audience feel like they’re up close and personal with Adam and Doctor Gordon in the bathroom because we can then see their every move and their emotions. This also presents the film in an eerie, uncertain sense because the camerawork is very loose, unguided and un-artificial. This specific technique is the most effective for building tension.

There is also some uses of close-up shots on the characters, again, specifically on Adam and Doctor Gordon in the bathroom. One example of this is when Doctor Gordon is on the phone to his wife who is being held captive and as she is tormented, Doctor Gordon becomes very upset and starts to breakdown. The close up shot on Doctor Gordon’s face helps capture his emotions up-front and personal so the audience can really get an idea of the situation and how badly Doctor Gordon is feeling. This allows the audience to feel sympathetic for him.

Another use of steadicam in Saw is when Alison Gordon (Doctor Gordon’s wife) breaks free from captivity, and tries to overpower ‘Zip’. As she does this, there is a lot of confrontation between the two characters. Steadicam is used in this scene to accomplish the fast-paced action of the scene and follows Alision as she tries to escape. This particular use of steadicam keeps up with the pace of the action and emphasises the pace and speed, also making the audience uncertain but intrigued because the camerawork is very impulsive and uncontrolled and the audience then have to focus more on what is going on.

The mise en scene in Saw is very important and plays a vital role. Right at the beginning of the film, their is very dark lighting being used as Adam awakes in the bathtub and and starts to stumble around and find out where he is. He is very confused at this point and because of the dark, low-key lighting, the audience are also very confused as well because they are in the same position as Adam. Adam has woken up in the darkness and the audience have started watching the film with the film beginning with darkness. It also emphasises the sense of mystery and intrigues the audience to the film because they want to discover where Adam has woken up.

When the lights turn on, we are immediately exposed to the filth, dirty set of the bathroom. The bathroom is absolutely filthy with broken mirrors, broken tiles, dirty and mould riddling up the walls, rusty toilet and bathtub and disgusting pipework around the bathroom. This helps show the bathroom’s age and misusage and gives background and mystery to the setting - has the bathroom been used for torture and captivity before? It also makes the film more gritty and makes it more realistic.

Throughout the course of the film, there is an obvious transformation being done to Doctor Gordon. Every time we see him in the bathroom, his face gets more pale and starts turning white, ultimately making him look ghost-like. This is showing Doctor Gordon’s deterioration and possibly saying that the bathroom which he is trapped in is slowly killing him and draining him, causing him to break-down, resulting in him going crazy and cutting his foot off to escape. The white make-up on Doctor Gordon (getting more pale throughout the film) gives the character realism and a sense of believability for the audience as they watch him slowly become stricken.

An example of digitally enhanced sound is when we hear a striking electric and buzzing sound when Adam gets electrocuted. The sound is ‘digitally enhanced’ and extremely emphasised to make the audience hear how painful it is for Adam as he screams in agony, as his body shakes to the reaction of the electricity and to also make the sound and action more forceful and striking.

Diegetic sound plays a big role in Saw, especially in the bathroom scenes. In these particular scenes, there is good use of diegetic sound to make the room more realistic and tense. Realistic, because all the sound that are heard are natural and belong to that bathroom and tense, because there isn’t any additional music/narration on top of the scenes, making them more quiet and eerie. Non-diegetic sound is not needed for these scenes because the quiet, natural sounds of the empty, misuses bathroom are enough to grip the audience and make them intrigued to the natural dialogue of Adam and Doctor Gordon.

Non-diegetic sound is used at some occasions in Saw. One example is at the end of the film, when Adam discovers the audio tape on Zip, and plays it, there is the Saw ‘theme tune’ (soundtrack) being played over the scene as he listens to the audio tape. This has been added to make the ending of the film more shocking and tense as we slowly reach the conclusion. The music is also a crescendo and gradually becomes louder. This makes the ending of the film more tense and gripping for the audience as they become glued to the screen. Right before the end credits appear, the music reaches it’s ultimatum and suddenly stops as Jigsaw closes the door on Adam, leaving him trapped in the bathroom to rot and die. When the music does suddenly stop, the only sound we hear is Adam’s screams (diegetic sound) as the credits appear. This has been done to show that even though the film is over and the credits are rolling, Adam is still left trapped in the bathroom and the audience shouldn’t just forget about him, which is why his merciful screams play over the ending credits, leaving the audience in a total shock.

How does Saw fit the Thriller genre?

I would say that Saw is more of a psychological thriller. This is because the danger of the protagonists (hard to pinpoint, but Adam and Doctor gordon are the main ones...) is heavily emphasised. This is clearly obvious that their danger is a strong element of the film because they have woken up in this misused bathroom without any indication of where they are specifically and how they got there (although we do find out later on in the film). This is also why it is more psychological because the two protagonists are uncertain of what is actually going on so their emotions take over them and conflict starts to erupt between them and ultimately drive them both crazy(leading Doctor Gordon to cut off his own foot to escape). In addition, psychological thrillers make the characters solve a mystery and Saw is one big mystery. Why are they in there? Who put them in there? - and throughout the curse of the film, they discover more clues and facts that make them realise why they are actually there...

Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-Scene is used throughout thriller films, it includes: costume, lighting, hair and makeup, props and setting. Here are the common ones used for thriller films.

Costume: 
Many of the protagonists in thriller films are seen to be dressed in black, this shows that they are dark and dangerous characters and that they're no necessarily all good even though they are seen to be the 'good guy'.
The male protagonists are usually seen wearing suits, this goes back to when thriller films were first made and mainly based on police detectives solving murder mysteries, here they were always dressed smart as part of their job. This has become a convention because it makes the protagonist look like and important person, many of the other characters are also dressed in suits as well (usually the antagonist) to show how they are also important. 

For eg. in Shutter Island Teddy and his assistant are police detectives and the main protagonists and are both seen dressed smart in suits.

Stereotypically women in thrillers are dress in elegant dresses which depict them as sexy and an objects of lust.This helps show the danger of the femme fatale character as they are seen to be just innocent and not a danger whereas they're always the major downfall of the male protagonist. 

For eg. The character Vesper in Casino Royale is the femme fatale and here is seen in an elegant and sexy dress, showing her to be lustrous and an object of desire not danger.

Hair and makeup:
This is usually done to fit in with the costume the character is wearing, like for example women will have their makeup done to match whatever colour their dress is. 
However in some cases makeup is used to make a character look scary and menacing. They use this in The Dark Knight by giving the Joker clown makeup, this scares the audience because many people are afraid of clowns so this draws on the phobia. The makeup also partly hides the Jokers identity and his scars which create a mystery about him and make him a more ominous character.


Lighting:
Dark and ominous lighting is used often throughout thrillers as it creates a mysterious and dangerous vibe to the setting as the audience can't clearly see what is going on and it also cast the characters in dark lights making them too look mysterious and dangerous.

For eg. In the opening scene of Casino Royale part of it is set in an office, this place is shown in dark lighting to help show the mystery about the setting and the characters.

Props:
Weapons:
Common weapons used are guns, knives, explosives, etc. These all help create tension and danger throughout, and therefore keep the audience on the edge.

Other:
Props like briefcases are also used, these create a mystery as the audience want to know what's in them and why they are being kept so secretive. These can also be used as a good red-herring to confuse and mislead the audience.
briefcases: mysterious 


Setting:
Many Thriller films are set in ominous and conspicuous places, although some are set in more common places that the audience would know. 

Action based thrillers are usually set in big cities as narrative events like heists and hostage situations can take place. They're done here as it makes the scene more tense and dangerous as more peoples lives can be at risk. People can also relate to this therefore making them feel a sense of danger as it could happen to them.

For eg. Gotham Ciy - Batman Begin, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises

In psychological based thrillers more remote and eerie locations are used. This is to create a tense atmosphere making the audience feel perhaps apprehensive and see there's danger in the location. Scary atmospheres also help thrill people, fitting in with the main aim of the genre.

For eg. Shutter Island, set on a remote and desolate island away from everything

Our Final Idea

Final Idea -

After talking about our three different ideas for our thriller film; we finally decided that Option 3; with the two hitmen was the best, and we could incorporate a lot of key thriller conventions in this film. For example, we can easily use red herrings, in the sense that the audience doesn't know that the man who calls at the woman's door is a hitman and shocks and confuses the audience when they see him kill her. It keeps the idea of normality and realism up until the point he does kill her.

Also, we can use camera shots such as point of view, tracking shots and over the shoulder shots which will add to the effect of a thriller film. We will use quite a lot of dialogue as the audience will need to see the man and woman having a conversation, but the conversation will seem very normal and realistic which will lead the auidence to believe that the man means no harm.

The use of the first woman in the forest blindfolded will add suspense and tension but will not play a major part of the opening, it will last a very short amount of time which will give the audience only a glimpse of what could happen. The idea of only showing a short clip of this is so that the film can return quickly to 'normality' and the audience will be left wondering what the significance of the blindfolded woman is.

A common theme we are trying to achieve in this film is realism and how normal the plot will seem. For example, the idea of someone coming to your house to talk to you about a matter they feel strongly about or to tell you that you have won something; could happen in real life. This will hopefully make the audience feel vulnerable and make them think how easily it could happen to them. Also the setting of the film; a house, is very normal too and normally people will feel very safe in their own home, but this plot completely goes against that idea and is different to other thrillers as most people will be killed during a fight, robbery, public place etc.

The prop used (knife or gun) which will suddenly appear will shock the audience and will automatically make them think something bad is about to happen. This can represent binary opposites as the plot starts off very real and normal, an everyday situation. But very quickly changes to a completely different situation, which is the complete opposite to the previous setting.