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