My media group involves Claire Golighty, Jake Butler and myself. This preliminary task was to get used to using the media equipment, we will be using this equipment for filming our opening sequence so it is necessary that we are understand how to set up everything and see what works well. We need to practise on creating certain shots that achieve what type of atmosphere we are creating in our own thriller opening for this we need to experiment with different angles and shots. We had to go off within our group and film one conversation that involved a various amount of shots, as long as it was a short conversation and didn't go on for too long then that was fine. When we edited the sequence, we watched it back and talked about improvements that would've been made for our future thriller.
At the start of the short clip we have a low angle of Molly walking down the stairs, the camera then pans over to invite both of the characters into the shot. We struggled with making the panning smooth as even though we used a tripod we struggled with moving it to the side evenly causing it to look jagged as we quickly had to turn it to the left. We used the low angle shot to create the feeling that the character was rushing down into a dilemma when she eventually reaches the floor it levels out so we can see the characters are at an equal status. regarding this scene although we thought the low angle and panning is done well within the scene it isn't as smooth as it should be when using a tripod. We had to be wary of the space that we had as well, the tripod and cameraman was very tightly impacted in the corner of the corridor.
We then have examples of shot-reverse-shot to show the two characters talking to each other. We struggled with placing the tripod directly in eye level with the characters. also because of the space restriction the tripod and camera space was very constricted often resulting in us having to change the shot slightly. This is show when the camera and tripod is placed behind Jake, as I appear lower down and we didn't intent to create a high angle. We wanted it level. This has prepared us for our own thriller opening as we plan to use this type of shot at some point meaning now we know its important to keep the camera and tripod at a certain height behind the shoulder when using shot reverse shot. As Jake finds the phone we see a close up of his reaction to finding his phone. This shot was rather successful at revealing Jake's emotion but failed to keep his whole head in the shot. This is what we struggled with. As we couldn't guide Jake into the right position for the tripod and camera to catch his whole face in the shot. This results in Jake being cut out which is not what we wanted to create. This was because we found it an issue with using the tripod at such a low angle. Due to Jake's characters crouching down we needed to copy his actions which resulted in confusion between the actor and camera man. This has taught us to try and work as more of a team and communicate better so the actors know exactly what the directors and cameraman wants.
The final shot consists of Jake exiting the scene this is done the same way Molly enters. but in reverse and at a median shot.It transforms into a median shot as the tripod continues to pan as we see Jake exit the scene. Again our main struggle achieving this scene was the fact that the panning wasn't as smooth and steady as it would be in a professional film. We wanted the panning shot to be able to see Jake leave Molly and exit the building. We did use the tiny space we had well but overall the consequence of this causes the scene to look very rushed and tight. We know now that in the future if we decided to use panning shots that they should be done at a slower more steady rate using the tripod correctly.
My group did a very good job of continuing to use different shots and angles. By using a number of shots the clip seems move intriguing and interesting to watch as the audience is able to see the location and characters in different ways. We did struggle with using the little space we had. When filming if you want dark alley ways or corners you have to try to adapt to the space you have. We also need to make sure we follow the 180 degree rule properly and only film from that particular space. In our opening sequence we will continue to try and adapt to the space we have and try not to break the 180 rule. We will imagine a line to try and keep within that space, unless used on purpose for effect.
While watching a footage back we saw how there were numerous accounts of shaky camera movements while ending the footage. This is something that was recognised and edited out and helped us understand the importance of editing to making it smoother and sharper. As well as trying to create an overall smooth shot.
Conclusion
We learnt how to produce and edit a short clip, this helped us by teaching us how to use the equipment properly and how to continue to use a range of shots and editing techniques. We had to think about the space we had and how to use it in the best way we would've. Which helped us to think about what type of angles we could use in our opening sequence. We learnt how to use the camera and tripod and what was needed to create a successful piece of film.
We need to ensure we use a range of techniques in the film, including camera shots and editing techniques. If we was redo the preliminary task we would try to keep the camera steady and provide a more believable sequence when moving our characters, making sure they don't jump from one place to another.
We decided to carry out this research to get a better understanding of what type of audience we should focus on making our thriller film for. We wanted to see what type of narrative and conventions people thought were entertaining so that we could apply them to our own opening narrative. We asked 40 people to gain a representative idea of how many people enjoy thrillers, watch thrillers and etc. We used these results and applied them to our idea for example the average age was 15/16 which means we are able to make a sequence that is suitable for slightly older audiences without scaring the more younger, sensitive audience.
This is the questionnaire that we made and gave to 40 people in order to gain the most accurate and reliable results. We included 7 closed questions and 3 open questions to gain more qualitative data.
Here we are able to see a true representation of what the majority of which gender has taken our questionnaire. This shows us that most of our answers would be answered from a male,meaning that our results may not accurately be a good representativeness of women, but will be of men. This means that we need to remembered after gaining our results to consider women as well and there feelings towards thriller films.
The majority of people here are aged 15/16. These students could be in year 11/12 and this displays a true demonstration of the usual age thrillers start at, most children/adults ages 15+ are the ones that are able to start watching thriller films as the BBFC usually set erie, thriller films at an age minimum of 15. This gives us a true representation of the target audience we are aim for and how the following questions have mainly been asked by the appropriate age group. This has helped us plan our opening sequence as we know that the majority of our audience are able to witness moderate violence and disturbing story lines without being to young and sensitive for this type of material.
Here we are able to see what percentage of people who actually like thriller films in general. We now know that 85% enjoy watching thrillers, Whereas only 15% don't. This gives us an understanding that the majority of people watching our thriller opening will enjoy it. This has helped to contribute to our thriller opening as we now know that the audience are expecting something rather unique as the majority of them enjoy a good thriller.
Here we see most people actually enjoy thrillers, More then half of the 40 people we asked said thrillers were one of there favourite genre. This gives us an understanding that the majority of these 40 people will enjoy our thriller opening and actually class it as one of there favourites. This encouraged us to think creatively about our thriller opening because if the audience are stating that there favourite genre is in fact a thriller then we know we need to set out thriller high if we where going to compete in the film market.
Most of the people here preferred the films that contained a mysterious story line or a killer with a hidden identity. Here we are able to watch Psycho and Shutter island and be able to study and take notes on what makes these films successful. Both of these films include very physiological story lines which include characters that are sometimes displayed as being very disturbed and the story lines may not always be in chronological order, creating confusion within the plot. We now know that the audience prefer to have to figure it out themselves and understand things better themselves as it supplies mystery to the story. This means that we are going to try and present this in our own thriller film. We wish to try and create something that leaves the audience a little scared, a little disturbed and a little bit confused. This has given us a whole new understanding on what settings, characters and narratives people prefer to have within a thriller film.
Here we can see the percentages of what type of sub genre people prefer, the most popular choice was psychological which supports our own idea of making a psychological thriller as we wish to use a unstable character that plays with the audiences psychological mind, some of the audience suggested something that wasn't within the options meaning that we were unable to get a true understanding of a favourite sub-genre, but from what we have learnt here people do enjoy a slight mystery and disturbing narrative within there thrillers. This has given as a wider view on what type of category our thriller opening will fall under. With the use of a mentally disturbed character we are falling into the psychological sub genre of thriller.
Here we learn what type of iconography our audience would prefer. The knife was chosen by half of our audience, this shows that people prefer a more violent and tense atmosphere with it being more personal. People are able to witness a more aggressive attack on someone. The majority of this audience prefer more gruesome weapons. This suggested to us that we needed to corporate this into our own thriller opening sequence. So we decided that a good, suitable weapon to use here would be to use a knife in the murder scene between Cameron and his mother. This would create a more interactive, brutal scene, which this audience would seem to enjoy.
The majority of our audience did in fact prefer quiet and isolated locations, this could be because they prefer a location that doesn't provided any safety or sense of escape. This helps us to decide what type of atmosphere to create in our own film, by changing the setting into an isolated scarier one. This is used in all our planned settings. As in the first scene we have arranged to have Cameron hang him self in a dark alley way/corridor. The following scene is in a compact kitchen that allows no escape for our character grace. In our final scene the character Harmony appears isolated as she is alone within the scene. There is no evidence of human activity when makes the scene a whole lot scarier as we have learnt from this target audience.
Here we see that 50% of the 40 people asked like the scary aspect of thrillers but 50% don't. This means that in our own thriller we need to focus on creating something that continues to be erie but not frightening enough to actually terrify people, this will help balance out the frightening aspect in our thriller. This is going to be done by maintaining a suspenseful atmosphere throughout the thriller opening but make sure that there are no sudden jumpy moments, unless crucial for effect.
Most of the people that where interviewed liked the idea of hidden identity. Due to more then half of the people preferring it. In our thriller we may want to have a lot of enigma and mystery to leave the audience suspecting, how, when, who and why?. We are planning to do this by having Cameron's death in the beginning of the opening sequence and then flash back. This is to create confusion within the audience and although the audience know Cameron murdered his mother they are unable to conclude why. Which is what would leave them watching our thriller Disturbia if it was a whole feature length film as they would want to learn more about this story.
Vox Pops
Vox pops have been used a numerous of times within the media. They are video or audio representations of interviews. For example if someone wanted to carry out a survey they could also use vox pops to one, prove that they have carried out the research rightfully. Or two, to look back over the vox pops and observe the interview for future improvements.
Below I have 3 examples of the vox pops I have presented for my research. This is to portray qualitative data within my research as well as just the written percentages which are quantitative data. I am also able to see what three examples these people fall into and even elaborate further by focusing on there reactions and facial expressions.
Conclusion
I was able to find out a lot of useful information that will be incorporated into my thriller. For example the use of an isolated setting and hidden identity are crucial for creating a disturbing and entertaining scene for this type of audience. If we plan to create a good thriller opening we also need to consider the story line, which by doing the questionnaire we have learnt people prefer mystery and psychological aspects.
If i was to repeat this research I would venture out of the school and ask parents and older generation to gain a valid representatives of the population.
Group Narrative In my group there is Claire Golighty, Jake Butler and myself.
Claires Idea Involves a suicide at the beginning. Her thriller sequence will show the audience the different events that leads the main character to commit suicide by hanging himself.The beginning of her thriller sequence will start with the audience seeing the main character. She wants to involve suicide from the main character. She wants to end the clip with an enigma that will leave the audience confused. Claires idea, involves an enigma which fits the convention of a thriller. This would be successful within a thriller opening as it creates a mystery atmosphere. A disadvantage of Claires idea is that is it very structured and could be too long and too detailed to be appropriate for just a thriller opening.
Jakes Idea is for the audience to know the back story and the plot of the film, and the narrative has to be flowing, makes sense and draw them in. Most films tend to explain the narrative later, but no film can ever not contain a narrative, as no one would want to watch it and no one would be interested. His idea was to involve a stalker harassing his ex-girlfriend. Jakes idea could be harder to film, because you need the streets to be cleared to create a night time effect. In addition to this you couldn't have an extras within the scene as this defeats the whole purpose of it being a stalker scenario. Although the plot was able to remain different and thriller-like. Which is good for being the audience intrigued within the opening.
My own idea involves a suicide that would be representative of a male with a mental disorder. He would commit suicide at the beginning and then flash back to how he got to that stage in his life. The ending would involve him killing his own mother and then his 'good side' would overtake him and then leave the audience into wandering why he committed suicide. The story line in my own idea, remains very confusing and could cause problems for an audience to keep up with. The advantages to my idea would be that it involves a mentally unstable character which fits the conventions of a thriller genre.
Final Group Narrative The beginning of our narrative starts with a suicide from our main antagonist, Cameron. He will be scene hanging himself, with a voice over presents, when he finally kicks the chair away Cameron is left hanging there and the flashback is presented. The scene then transitions into a dinner scene where Cameron and his mother are portrayed eating dinner. His mother begins to bombard him with questions about his health and well being. This then results in a violent murder between Cameron and his Mother. The mother is left for dead and is found by a friend that is isolated in the dark and the scene ends with a blackout and possible a scream that leaves the audience wandering what could be next. The title 'Disturbia' will then flash on the screen as the opening sequence ends.
Narrative Theory Vladimir Propp had a theory that the characters are what makes up a narrative. For example in the fairy tale genre. There is always certain types of characters such as the hero (protagonist), the sidekick, the humorous character, the princess (damsel in distress) He believes the characters are what make a film and bring it to life. Our group narrative follows some of this theory due to the fact our protagonist/antagonist Cameron is what our opening is all about he is the focus. The only thing that opposes this theory in our narrative is the fact that our narrative doesn't consist of the different characters also mentioned in Valdimir Propps theory. In addition to this due to our main character having a split personality he is not just the protagonist (his good side) but the antagonist also (when his evil side comes out).
Our narrative follows Aristoles theory. We believe our narrative follows two of his suggestions. One being sympathy/empathy within a film. This will occur when the character of Cameron commits suicide. The audience have no idea who he is and what motives he has, this means that they have no kind of judgement towards him. This type of narrative idea also occurs when the mother is murdered, as mothers are the people who nurtures and protect their children and in return she is brutally murdered by her son. Dramatic question is another aspect that is present within our opening narrative. We are able to leave the audience questioning whats happened in the sequence and whats caused him to commit suicide, making them want to watch more if this was a feature length film. The final theory is Todorovs. He believes that every narrative starts with an equilibrium. The fact that everyone is happy and eveything is safe and in its place at the start of the film, although suddenly this changes to an disequilibrium. This type of scenario is more common in other genres. These storylines will usually be rather sterotypical and able apart of genres such as romantic comedies and action films between good and evil. Our group narrative does not follow this theory at all as our film begins with a tragic event that is followed by another horrific event which leaves the opening sequence on a cliff hanger and the audience want to watch more.
Individual Narrative Idea The narrative is a very important aspect of a thriller and any other genre of film. It is all about the story line and what you want to happen within your thriller. The narrative is able to change the atmosphere and actually make the opening what it is. Main aspect of film
Very distraught character, commits suicide. From hanging.
Voiceover - Why did I do it?
(possible idea) - Flashback into dinner scene
Mum pesters boy and then is murdered
Characters
There would be three main characters within my opening sequence. These would be the main character Cameron (a very disturbed boy with multiple personality's) He struggles to deal with his own identity. Deep down he wants to be a member of society that will be good and help the community not shame it. The other half of him is a completely different person. Full of malicious and life-threatening insults. He would have a pale, bright complexion and wear white when he is 'good'. When his other personality is in action he will wear white and his eyes will be dark and emotionless. His character relates to the conventions of a thriller as he remains to be very unstable. In psychological thrillers we often see a very mentally unstable character. These types of thrillers may sometimes play with the audiences mind and cause them to really think about what it is that they are taking away with them from this story. These thrillers are successful due to the intensity they bring to the audience. Having a troubled character leaves the audience vulnerable as they are unable to predict what this character is capable of. His mother, Grace is a gentle and calming older lady. She wears clothes that are conventional to an older mother. Her character has slightly grey hair and remains to have a peaceful, innocent ora about her. He appears to be very worried over Camerons whellbeing and is eventually the one that has to suffer with her troubled son as she is the one that find him after his suicide. The final character that would be present in my idea is Harmoney. She is actually a childhood friend/love interest of Cameron. She remains to be the younger, vulnerable female that is sterotypical to the thriller conevention.
Codes and Conventions The use of iconography would be presnt within the opening sequence. The use of rope and knives would be present in my thriller. These are main conventions of a thriller as they remain more personal to the thriller genre. The male antagonist and female victim is also present. Low-Key lighting would also be portayed in my thriller film. Silence and erie sounds would be present when moments of suspence are at there highest.
Summary In my own film I want to concentrate on a very disturbed character. With dissociative identity disorder (multiple personally) the character will be male and named Cameron, due to it being a unisex name and portraying his split personality. The mother and girlfriend will remain innocent whose names are Harmony and Grace to remain positive and to represent purity. The young boy struggles with having to deal with the evil (other side of him) He continues to end his life right at the start. The audience see his death and then begin to wonder what made him do this, a voice over will then be present and lead into a flash back. The scene flashbacks into where his troubles began, as a child that struggles with bullying and the death of his father. The possible love interest/friend would be introduced at this point and the scene would end. My main idea that I want to have present within my thriller is the use of the disturbed character. In my group I will convince them to go along with this type of protagonist/antagonist as it is a very successful conevntion of the thriller genre. I will show them characters from films such as 'phyco' and 'shutter island' and demonstrate how much this type of character can influence the film.
We need inspirations to be able to demonstrate where our ideas are from. Sometimes our imagination can be triggered by certain films or elements that we have learnt about.
Our thriller opening can be inspired to be better. Aspects such as cinematography, editing, and narrative.
Cinematography is how the camera can be positioned to manipulate the screen. After doing the Halloween essay, I have learnt that P.O.V shots can be used to keep the hidden identity of a character. This inspires me to consider using this technique in my own thriller opening sequence. It is conventional to a thriller as it relates to the enigma of who the character is. We are planning to use this shot when he initially stabs his mother. To take our own twist on this camera shot we are using this shot to manipulate there audience into almost feeling like the killer themselves. This results in the audience taking a liking to the character of Cameron. This is because they may envy his power.
Jekyll and Hyde is an old story that consists of a man having spilt personality disorder (multiple personalities) The fact that he is unable to distinguish himself as one person, causes him to have a 'nice' personality and very 'evil' personality. I thought about this story after learning that unstable characters where popular within the thriller genre. I thought the perfect way to display this would be contrasting innocence with sin.This character will be Cameron and he will be firstly ported as a very weak, vulnerable boy that is devastated with everything his 'other personality' has done. This is when he commits suicide as he feels this is the only way to escape from the hurt and a pain he unintentionally inflicts on people.
Non diegetic sound such as soundtracks can be used to
create an atmosphere within a film. We plan to use the soundtrack 'Tiptoe thought the tuplics' - from Tiny Tim.
This is a very erie upbeat song that can immediately create a very child-like effect when listening to it over disturbing images and footage. It almost uses innocence to play with peoples mind and disturb them. This non diegetic will also act as a Parallel sound to the audience who watch our opening thriller as they won't be expecting this type of music. This originally found this piece of music from watching the film 'Insidious'. After suggesting this song to my group they agreed that this would be the perfect type of music to use when trying to display a very disturbed and unstable character. The song remains to sound very erie and childlike. The singer of the song is known for having a very childish mind. The fact that his stage name is 'Tiny Tim' supports remains to be a well known relation to to someone that wants to appear younger then what they are. The childish and silly behaviour on a grown man can cause the audience to feel very unsettled. This is because they are unable to trust someone that isn't able to come to the realisation that they are an older man.
Shutter island is a film that focuses on enigma and uncovering the truth. "The film grossed over $128 million in its initial domestic theatre release,[2] as well as an additional $166 million internationally." This link remains very important in why this film gave me inspiration after watching this film awhile ago and it intriguing me it made me think about how I could add aspects of this narrative in to my own thriller opening. The use of the physiological character has away been a favourite of mine when watching a thriller as it would make me and the audience never knowing what coming next. In a film such as shutter island you are never able to guess what is going to happen. Some of the story lines and scenes in this film made no scene and caused me to have to piece them together with my own mind. This is what I hope to achieve in my own thriller opening. The fact that this film made so much money supports the fact that the audience also enjoyed the physiological factor of this movie. The ending of the movie remains to be quite shocking in the way that it is represented to have an ending that is left to your own imagination. This film leaves on a major cliffhanger and you are unable to tell whether the character 'Teddy' is in fact sane or actually mentally ill.
Stereotypically a Disney movie is not really supposed to inspire you for your upcoming thriller opening, but the use of time is manipulated in a way that creates great emotional impact on the audience and the characters represented in the film. The beginning of Up show the a range of flashbacks of the protagonists life and his love 'Ellie' These flashbacks start at such young age and show little snippets of there life together. The way the editing as been manipulated in this sequence inspired me to do something similar in my own thriller opening. To have the end at the beginning and then add a transition that represents the flashback. The audience get a sneak peek of there life goals and struggles and this is ultimately what make them fall in love with the character them self. His portrayal of his love for Ellie through these flashbacks is what makes the story complete from the start. In our own thriller opening I hope to include a flashback after the suicide of our main antagonist/protagonist. This engages the audience straight away as it intrigues them into wonder what made him do this and what is it that causes him to take his own life the flashbacks then begin. The fact that Up muddled up the time scale is what makes the film successful. This is what will hopeful make my film different to other contestants as the film begins at the end rather then the beginning.
The film scream really inspired me when thinking about the types of mise-en-scene that could be portrayed in my thriller opening as they continuously use a knife as a motif in there thriller films. The use of a knife is a typical convention of a thriller. Although Scream uses it especially well. The fact that the lead up to the death is packed with chase scenes and characters stuck at dead ends with no where to run. Makes just one blade all that bit more powerful. The knife is one use of iconography that really stands out from other weapons as it continuously needs alot of close contact violence. The antagonist needs to get very close to the victim making the audience feel more tense and insecure about how the victims safety and life is going to turn out.
Conclusion
Overall without these inspirations I would have never been able to come up with the same unique finalised project. The time taken to analyse different films and the techniques used in them has remained very successful and helped alot on how I will produce my final opening sequence. I now know that I can add these 5 different techniques/ideas to my own thriller opening and this will contribute into making them different and independent as these are what have influenced me.
The word convention means conforming or adhering to accepted standards. Elements and methods that are common within different film genres would be typical conventions of the film. Certain genres can be identified just from the conventions e.g the lighting, characters, narrative. Typical conventions of a thriller are abandoned settings, low-key lighting and hidden identity.
In this clip of scream we see a young women being chased and murdered by a masked killer. Hidden identity is present in this clip as the killer wears a mask. The fact that the killers identity is withheld, creates a more inhuman feel to the clip because there is no human facial features that the killer can display to the audience which means he is unable to portray any human emotion. You are unable to hear the sound of his voice and the audience is unable to gain any relationship with this character. This is due to the fact they are unable to identify anything about him. This is a typical convention of a thriller as hidden identity is usually used to make the audience question who it is and add enigma into the film.
The victim in the clip is female. Stereotypically in thrillers, females remain to be the weaker more vulnerable sex. This enables her to appear as innocent as possible. In thrillers the women normally act as the damsel in distress. Men are usually portrayed as more dominant and violent within a thriller film. This makes the audience build a relationship towards the victim as they feel sympathy towards her and often the females will be more likable as they appear to be the ones being attacked by a man. The female is attractive and usually blonde to support the fact she is innocent. Overall this is a typical convention of a thriller as the men remain dominant and in control throughout most thriller films. Creating a very tense atmosphere and relationship with all male figures.
The motive in this clip remains to be one of the most popular thriller conventions to this day. The use of a knife is present firstly, when the women tries to defend her self with 'fake knives' and secondly the killers actual weapon is a knife. This use of a knife causes the action and violence to appear more personal and emotional. The killer has to be very close to the victim to reach them and make contact. Compared to a gun more strength and force is put into stabbing someone compared to shooting. This creates tension within a thriller as it causes a fast tempo and fast-pass emotion. This gives the audience a feeling of urgency. They begin to feel threatened by the killer, becoming a lot more terrified of the killers behaviour. Towards the victim is where the sense of urgency and escape really sets home as they already have a bond with this character, due to their purity and innocence. The murder is usually very brutal. This fits the typical convention of a thriller as the deaths are usually more gruesome and contain more violence and anticipation then horrors.
The setting is also another aspect that can determine what kind of conventions of a film will fit into the genre. Thriller genres usually consist of isolated or abandoned buildings. This is displayed in the sequence when the security guard calls out to the woman checking she is still there, when he believes she isn't he closes the door and locks it. This creates shock within a scene as the audience are now aware there is no one to help her and there is now no escape. The isolation in the scene causes the audience to feel uncertain about the woman's safety. This is a common convention of a thriller due to the misconception that she will be saved. The isolated area in a thriller is what usually leads to the victims death as there is no help made available and there is no escape.
Low key lighting is another commonly used convention of a thriller as it consists of certain lights being positioned in a way that creates lurking shadows. In this scene we see low key lighting used often within the scene which creates a sense of foreboding by keeping the victim in dim light, making her the focus. This lets the audience feel fear for this character as they know she is the one that is next in line to be killed. This can all be suggested just through the dark lighting. This type of lighting can also portray how corned the character appears. Almost again letting the audience know that something is closing in on her. Which overall creates high tension throughout the scene
Conclusion
Overall these conventions are what make up a thriller film. They are what make the scene as suspenseful and shocking as possible, because this clip is represented as a thriller of the need for these conventions are crucial to make it as mysterious as possible. These conventions are what are typically found within thrillers and continue to make up the thriller genre in every day thriller films. I now know that it is necessary to add typical thriller conventions into my own opening sequence.
How does the opening sequence to Halloween, inform the audience of the conventions of a thriller?
The opening sequence to Halloween displays a clear, suspenseful display of how conventions and aspects of a thriller can contribute to making a thriller successful. The opening sequence of a thriller is needed to be able to be full of suspense and shock to pull the audience in and have them entertained throughout the whole film. The first 5 minutes of a film should be made to give the audience a small taster of whats to come. This can involve major narrative clues and typical conventions that give the audience a slight understanding of how the film is going to begin and end.
Sound is everything you hear within a sequence. Sounds are able to create suspense without having any other elements to go with them, Without sound the whole atmosphere of a thriller would change.
Right at the start of the opening to Halloween there is an off-screen sound effect of a children's chant. This chant involves the sound of children laughing and singing about Halloween night. This immediately tells the audience what sort of night this is and also how disturbing this night may turn out. this is because chanting can be linked back to witchcraft and worshipping the devil. In addition to this the fact that children are the ones singing creates a very unsettling atmosphere. This chant indicates to the audience that a child will be involved in this murder, this creates a very unsettling atmosphere. The Erie sounds of children singing fit the conventions of a thriller as it plays with the audiences psychological mind set, involving children into the equation will create a disturbing scene within a thriller. Cinematography is the camera angles within a shot. It is purposely how the camera has been placed to change the angle, movement and perspective in a shot. Cinematography can affect the whole atmosphere within a thriller film. A high angle shot is displayed in the opening sequence of Halloween when the killers identity is revealed. This contrasts with the P.O.V shot that has been presented previously, throughout the sequence. This is to change the perspective of the shot. As the shot is now a high angle shot looking down on the little boy. The atmosphere of the scene changes. The audience is now looking down on the children and can see how inferior he is. This makes the audience feel differently towards him compared to how they would normally feel towards children. In thrillers story lines are often twisted and are full of enigmas to make the audience think about what is going to happen next. The high angle fits into the Thriller genre as children are normally insignificant and shown as the more vulnerable age. Having a high angle shot makes the child appear inferior, which fits the typical convention of how children are portrayed in thrillers.
Editing can be used to manipulate a scene and make it appear differently to how it originally may of turned out. The pass of different shots takes place in Halloween and the tempo suddenly increases straight after he has murdered his sister. The number of different shots increase creating a faster tempo. This shows an emotion of panic present as the antagonist attempts to make an escape. This excites the audience, as they try to keep up with the fast tempo within the scene. They want to be able to know what will happen next. This builds tension within a scene due to the panic the audience now feel for the antagonist to escape. This typical type of fast-pass editing is present in most Thrillers due to the conventional aspect of being chased. The tempo will usually increase when one of the antagonist or protagonists needs to find a way out of escape. This is why fast-editing is a typical convention of a thriller
Codes and Conventions of a thriller is vital because it gives the audience a certain expectation that needs to be followed. For example if the lightening within a film and remains very bright and colourful it is not likely to come under the genre of a thriller. Low key lighting is present at the beginning of the clip as the antagonist approaches the house. The scene is filled with shades of black and sharp, dimmed light that create shadows. This causes the audience to focus mainly on the house, giving them the idea that a terrifying event will take place in the house, because of this effect shadows are formed which cause the audience to try and guess what is lurking within the shadows this creates tensions and is intended to scare the audience and create the sense of unknown, leading to mystery and enigma. Low-key lightening is a typical convention of a thriller as it relates to the fact that things are going to be kept hidden and not everything that the audience can see, can be trusted as the shadows may be hiding secrets within the film.
Characters can make the scene in a thriller. Interesting and mysterious personalities are usually what makes a thriller. I the character seems mentally unstable, creates even more tension within a thriller as they are portrayed to be unpredictable. The antagonists identify, gender and age remains hidden until the end of the sequence this fits the typical convention of a thriller as it builds tension and anticipation. When the identity is finally revealed it leaves the audience to question why the boy in fact killed his own sister. This creates shock within a scene as they wander if this character is mentally stable. The female victim remains attractive and defenceless throughout the clip fitting the conventions of a thriller as females are stereotypically displayed as the weaker, more vulnerable gender. They remain to be presented as the damsel in distress. This leaves the audience feeling sympathy and empathy towards her, making them also begin to dislike the antagonist, Michael.
Narrative is the story that makes up the film. It consists of whats going to happen and why. In this opening sequence we are made aware of the date and season, being Halloween. This is because of the nessorcerry expectations halloween night brings. Halloween is a night that is sterotypically displayed as the night where the dead are able to roam free. According to legends on the 31st of october ghosts are able to come up from there tombs and terrioze citizens. The typically convention of halloween still to this day remains to be trick or treating. This is because of the masked young children, laughing and getting sweets how unusall it is to see one of those kids kill. This suprises the audience as the child remains to be young and innocent, causing them to form a relationship of curiousity towards the child. They want to know why he killed his sister and what can be done to save what sanity the boy has left. In additon to this Halloweens age ceriticate remains to be an 18. This is due to the intense narrative, aswell as the nudity and vilolence that takes place in the film.
Overall analysing this clip has made me understand and have more knowlegde on why different aspects of a film are initially what make it a good thriller. If people are able to feel intrigued and shocked while watching my own thriller sequence then i know i have suceeded in creating an accurate version of a real thriller film. I now know that i need to add lots of different things into the thriller opening to ensure that it remains dark and full of engima.
We then have examples of shot-reverse-shot to show the two characters talking to each other. We struggled with placing the tripod directly in eye level with the characters. also because of the space restriction the tripod and camera space was very constricted often resulting in us having to change the shot slightly. This is show when the camera and tripod is placed behind Jake, as I appear lower down and we didn't intent to create a high angle. We wanted it level. This has prepared us for our own thriller opening as we plan to use this type of shot at some point meaning now we know its important to keep the camera and tripod at a certain height behind the shoulder when using shot reverse shot.
As Jake finds the phone we see a close up of his reaction to finding his phone. This shot was rather successful at revealing Jake's emotion but failed to keep his whole head in the shot. This is what we struggled with. As we couldn't guide Jake into the right position for the tripod and camera to catch his whole face in the shot. This results in Jake being cut out which is not what we wanted to create. This was because we found it an issue with using the tripod at such a low angle. Due to Jake's characters crouching down we needed to copy his actions which resulted in confusion between the actor and camera man. This has taught us to try and work as more of a team and communicate better so the actors know exactly what the directors and cameraman wants.
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