Planning Mise-en-Scene

Planning Mise-en-Scene

All 5 elements of mise-en-scene which are; settings & iconography, costume hair & make-up, facial expression & body language, lighting & colour and positioning of object or character within the frame are all important to include in a thriller film as they are the reasons whether or not a audience enjoy watching the film and are interested in actually what is happening. If the correct type of mise-en-scene are used it would build a relationship between the audience and the character by causing them more to feel the elements of surprise, shock and suspense throughout their experience of watching a thriller film.

Firstly, I would like to use setting and iconography in my own opening thriller sequence. The setting I want to use would be a isolated house/room and a non isolated house when the flashbacks occur. I chose these settings as it is more realistic so it would make the audience feel as they understand the narrative more. However, the girl would be in a house that is all damaged to show that she is been hurt and is in danger but the flashbacks would show a perfectly 
normal and safe house so the audience understand clearly that it is a flashback and the girl is now in danger remembering things from before she got hurt. 


The iconography I want to use is a knife, rope and mask when she is in the present time and in danger to show that she is in jeopardy of losing her life but also a smashed photo frame and a phone to help the character trigger her flashbacks into remembering how she could of been in that situation in the first place. These settings and iconography are conventional to the thriller genre as they create a dark atmosphere which engages the audience more and makes them feel more sympathetic towards the characters as these conventions build a strong relationship between the characters and the audience. 

Secondly, i would like to use lighting and colour in my own opening thriller sequence. The type of lighting i would use would be; low key lighting and backlight. The backlight would be projected from the lamp in the room. I chose these lightings as it would create a spooky scene which would engage the audience more and make them more scared as the darkness would imply death which foreshadows the victim dying. The colour i want to use are; shadows and dark black red. These colours would cause suspense as the black portrays death and red portrays blood so the audience would automatically think something dangerous is going to happen.
 The shadow would cause even more suspense as it would make the audience feel as the antagonist is there the whole time about to jump out and harm the innocent victim. These types of lighting and colour is conventional to the thriller genre as the audience do not know what is happening because they can't visually see it so when something does happen they jump and get scared. This builds a relationship with the audience and the characters as the audience feel more scared as that is the theme due to the lighting and colour so when something bad happens to the characters they feel sympathetic and upset for them.

Thirdly, i would like to use costumes in my own opening thriller sequence. The type of costume i would like to use is; black costume for antagonist and white costume for victim. I chose a black costume for the antagonist as it would portray dark death. I chose this costume colour as it would create suspense towards the audience as they feel more engaged as the costume colour shows darkness and would just pop out of anywhere at any time even shadows. 
I chose a white costume for the victim as it portrays the victim as being pure, innocent and vulnerable  I chose this costume colour as it it would create more suspends towards the audience as they feel as the victim is sweet and pure and when something bad happens to her it engages them more and makes them feel more sympathetic. These types of costumes are conventional to the thriller genre as the audience feel more intrigued by what is happening as the costumes help them decide whether the character is a antagonist or protagonist. This builds a relationship with the audience and the characters as the audience feel more sympathetic for the victim as the costume portrays the character as holy, sweet and innocent and the other costume portrays the other character as being scary, dangerous and violent. 

Fourthly, i would like to use facial expressions and body language in my opening thriller sequence. The body languages used would be; closed in for the victim and relaxed for the antagonist. I chose closed in for the victim as it would portray her as being defenceless. I chose this body language for the victim as it would make the audience feel more scared for them as she looks more frightened. I chose relaxed for the antagonist as it would portray them as being more powerful. I chose these body languages for the antagonist as it would make the audience feel more scared for the victim as the antagonist looks big, scary and powerful but also relaxed which makes him seem as he is dangerous and can be relaxed while being dangerous. These types of body languages are conventional to the thriller genre as the audience feel more understanding of the narrative as they feel as they are in the characters shoes more and are very clear of what is happening and the emotions of all the characters. This builds a relationship with the characters and the audience as the audience feel more sympathetic for the characters and feel their emotions more. The facial expressions i chose to use are; shocked and worried for the scared victim and focused for the antagonist. I chose shocked and worried for the scared victim as it would portray her as being powerless ad petrified through her facial expressions. I chose this for the victim as it would entice the audience into feeling more sympathetic for the victim and understand how she is feeling more clearly. I chose focused for the antagonist as it would portray them as being determined to kill the protagonist. I chose this for the antagonist as it would entice the audience into feeling more afraid for the victim as the antagonist looks like he has targeted the other character. These types of facial expressions are conventional to the thriller genre as it helps the audience follow the narrative more as they have already built a strong bond with the characters as they already feel sympathetic towards the victim and want her to be safe and aware from the antagonist who is plotting to kill her. 

Lastly, i would like to use positioning of characters in my opening thriller sequence. The positioning will be the victim as the main image and the antagonist behind the victim in the shadows. I chose this positioning of the characters as it would show the audience that the victim is in danger and is unaware that the antagonist is behind her getting ready to kill her. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it would build suspense and shock the innocent victim when she spots the killer therefore thrills the audience. This builds a relationship with the audience and the characters as the audience feel more engaged in what is happening so when they see the victim is in danger and does not know that her killer is behind her they feel more tense and scared for the victim as they have built a bond with them. 

My planning of miss-en-scene will help me create a conventional opening thriller sequence as it sets the genre of the sequence and gives the audience a idea of what might happen in the film. The Mise-en-scene I chose to use will make my sequence even more conventional as it will create an element of shock, surprise and suspense. The positioning of characters will create suspense for the audience making them nervous and on edge about what is going to happen. The facial expressions and body language used will create surprise and will shock the audience even more as they will understand what the character is going through and feeling more. The settings, iconography, costumes and lighting will all mix in with all three elements of; shock, surprise and suspense which will make the film more conventional and successful and will make the experience of watching it better for the audience. Mise-en-scene is used to create a sinister effect and this will not only engage my audience but will also thrill them and scare them when they least expect it.

Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Planning Sound

Sound is conventional in films as the music sets the mood for the audience and engages them more into wanting to watch the rest of the film without getting bored. Music and sound affects help to tell a story to the audience by telling them a story through adding a better visual to the images to help the audience understand the story more and intrigue them. There are many different sound techniques that directors use within a scene, examples of these are; diegetic, non-diegetic , parallel sound, on screen sound and off screen sound. .Planning is required to produce excellent sequences because then everybody can discuss the best sound to be used in certain shot or event taking place at a certain time. Sound links with the images seen on screen by portraying and elaborating on something that is going to happen with a certain sound to entice the audience more and make them understand what is happening more clearer by improving there experience in watching the film making it more thrilling. 

In my opening sequence i would want to use parallel sound which would occur when the victim is making her way to the curtains. Low beat music would be played to show that the victim is getting closer to the antagonist. Using parallel sound over the duration of this certain part of the sequence would create suspense for the audience and keep them on the edge of their seats to thinking that the victim is close to her death. This also shows that the victim is helpless as she doesn't know what is going to happen next and her death is being foreshadowed to the audience already. Parallel sound creates enigma to the audience which keeps them engaged into wanting to watch the rest and find out what else is going to happen to the victim. This gets the audience feeling the same emotions as the victim is and gets them on edge by creating a sinister atmosphere which gets them jumping when they least expect it. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the audience are made to believe that the film is very real, making it easier for them to put themselves in the situation of the characters. This builds a strong relationship between the characters and audience as they feel more sympathetic as they know the victim is getting close to a dangerous and life threatening moment in the film.   

Another type of sound I want to use in my opening thriller sequence is silence and this would occur when the victim sees the killer. This will create a sudden affect on the audience and would excite them more when a sudden thing occurs as they would already be on the edge of their seats. The silence used will build up tension getting the audience on edge and ready for something scary to happen after a dark atmosphere is created and set. It shows that the victim is vulnerable and suggests that she is no longer alone and the antagonist may be on the scene planning to strike and harm her.This is conventional to the thriller genre as the silence builds up suspense and tension which entices the audience more and thrills them more when something suddenly takes place. This builds a relationship between the character and audience as the audience feel more scared for them when something scary or dangerous happens to the innocent victim as they suspense built has kept them on edge and surprised which would lead them to feeling shocked when something suddenly happens to the character.

Diegetic sound is another type of sound I want to use in my own opening thriller sequence and this would occur when the victim steps on broken glass which is the picture frame on the floor. This will create a sinister scene to the audience and keep them excited and looking forward to what is going to happen later on in the film. The broken glass is realistic and engages the audience as they know what that sound actually sounds like. This also shows danger and creates enigma to the audience making them wonder what has happened previously for that glass to be broken on the floor like that. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it engages the audience more as they are kept in suspense and the sound builds a relationship with the audience and the character as it makes the audience feel as they are there because they have heard the sound before in real life so it is realistic to them and they feel as they are in the characters perspective. Diegetic sound also elongates a scene which is useful in a thriller as it creates more suspense for the audience and engages them more. 

Lastly, in my own thriller opening sequence I want to use non-diegetic sound and this would occur when the music plays over the flashbacks. This sound would be  spooky and low pitched music and would also create suspense for the audience. The high pitched sound will portray the victim and her instability while she tries to get away from the danger while the spooky sound portrays the antagonist looking for the victim to harm her and put her life in danger. The suspenseful music used will also set the genre of the film as it creates tension and foreshadows that something is about to happen to harm the victim. When i play the suspenseful music over the flashbacks creates enigma making the audience wonder what the antagonist is planning and what he is going to do to harm the innocent victim. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the sound would engage the audience more and make them feel more anxious to what they are seeing in the images. This would create a relationship with the audience and the character as the audience would feel more scared for the innocent victim as the music would go with the moving image and entice them into watching what will happen next as they would already be on the edge of their seats waiting. 

My own opening thriller sequence will be effective in creating certain emotions and reactions to entice the audience throughout to wanting to want to find out more and what is happening next through the different types of sound I have said I am going to include above. The sounds I have chose to use are all conventional to the thriller genre as they all make the audience feel engaged enough to see the film in the characters point of view as if they close their eyes and just hear the sounds they could imagine their selves in the actual film itself. I found planning the sounds in preparation for my filming very helpful as I sat down and thought about the types of sounds I can use in certain parts of the film that would make the audience enjoy their experience in watching the sequence more and I feel as I was successful in planning it.

Group Narrative - Miss Georgiou

Group Narrative

Our group narrative is that a girl is kept hostage and she wakes up from being tied to a chair. The girl struggles to escape but she finally does. She see's a person lying on the floor next to her, covered in blood. She is covered in blood as well and suddenly see's a shadow in the curtain. She makes her way towards the curtain and as she opens it, a face and hand appears. The girl panics for a bit and as she turns around she see's the killer standing there with a blood covered knife. However, there will be a few short constant flashbacks from how she was kidnapped. The flashbacks contain her at home on Facebook and she see's an embarrassing video of herself and she suddenly gets a lot of messages from an anonymous person. The messages threaten her and say she is going to die. When the girl is in the room, held hostage she sees things on the floor which triggers memories and starts the flashback for instance ripped up photos of her on the floor and the phone with the messages on the screen. There is also a smashed up photo frame on the floor with a picture of the girl circled showing she is a target of the antagonist. 

Group member 1- Myself 

My idea for the narrative in my very own 2 minute thriller opening sequence is based on cyber-bullying. In the opening sequence it will show a young girl watching an embarrassing video of herself that has been posted on social media then she receives a disturbing anonymous message warning her about her death that is going to happen very soon. Later on in the film, other people die from being cyber bullied and the enigma is who is the killer. Discussing with my group we have established that the strengths of my narrative idea is good overall as it is unique and different from other thriller films. It isn't the typical psychological film but instead it is more about reality and so makes the sequence seem more realistic. Another strength is that it is fairly easy to do and so it means that it would be possible to film. The location and the plot is ideal as cyber bullying happens every fay and it happens on electronic device which means that it can be filmed anywhere. The plot isn't complicated either so it can be made easily. However, my idea doesn't create much of a mystery as a disequilibrium doesn't happen at the beginning of the film. This may not engage the audience as much and they may not be left in suspense as to what is going to happen next. A death doesn't take place at the beginning but instead the girl is getting warned about her death and this doesn't create much tension or build up suspense so the audience aren't intrigued to watch the rest of the film. It doesn't create that many thrilling scenes and so the target audience would range from 12 and over however the older years wouldn't become as thriller as the younger years and this could be seen as a bit boring to the older years. 

Group member 2 - Ciara

Ciaras idea for her narrative is about a young girl and her boyfriend who go on holiday to Russia but she soon realises that since she's been away everything is going wrong back at home. The girl is unaware that her boyfriend is part of the Russian Mafia and they want her, which is the reason why everything back home is going wrong. They're taking away all her family and everything she has so she decides t0 stay in Russia. The Russian Mafia take young innocent girls who are vulnerable and will believe in anything said to them. The strengths of this narrative would be creating suspense due to her not  knowing what's going on back at home, she is unaware that the person she trusts the most is the person ruining her life. Her thriller opening sequence is creating an enigma throughout which is another strength; by creating an enigma its showing the audience that something bad will eventually happen later on in the film. This is conventional to the thriller genre. Lastly, it will engage the audience as they start feeling sympathetic towards the young girl who's being persuaded into doing the wrong things. However, the weaknesses of her narrative is that it would be hard to create as you need a lot of people to stare in the film and the setting is not ideal and easy to get to and film on. Her plot isn't also that engaging as it doesn't contain any scenes that would intrigue the audience such as death or a jumpy scene. It doesn't intrigue the audience as they need to get enticed into the film and the opening sequence does not clearly set the plot of the film for the audience to understand clearly and understand what is going to happen after.

Group member 3- Sasha
Sasha's idea for the narrative is to have a hostage scene in which a young girl is kept hostage by someone. The scene starts off with her waking up and realising she has been kept in hostage. The girl see's someone lying on the floor next to her, dead and covered in blood. She soon realises that she is covered in blood as well and she panic and tries to escape. Eventually, she does escape however she finds a handprint and a face staring at her. The girl panics and as she turns around the killer is standing across the room with a knife covered in blood. Sasha's idea is good because it is set in a ideal location which can be easy to locate and film in. The opening sequence is set in a house and this is ideal as the scene can be filmed in any house. The plot is also fairly easy to do as there are no major faults which could stop the group from doing this narrative. The narrative also creates a suspense for the audience as automatically an enigma is created and this gets the audience intrigued into the film straight away and makes them want to ask questions about why the girl is there and why the killer wants to murder her. Sasha's idea also contains good conventions of a thriller film as death is involved and the scene uses conventional iconography such as a knife to set a sinister theme. Other conventions such as a female victim and a masked antagonist make the sequence seem thrilling and intrigued as the audience are engaged into watching the rest of the film more and want to find out who the killer is. There is elements of surprise, suspense and shock as unexpected clip take place which thrill the audience and tension is built up to keep the audience on edge. However, Sasha's idea is not as unique as it could be as typically in thriller films the female victim is shown as the target and there is always a hostage scene which makes the girl seem vulnerable and weak. The narrative follows an original baseline from other thriller films which also shows a girl being kept hostage and there is always someone out there wanting to kill her. This makes Sasha's idea not as good because it is not unique and original. Some scenes in the opening sequence could be hard to film for example point of view as that technique is hard to do and it could result in a camera shot that doesn't look very good and this wouldn't appeal to the audience and would not engage them into watching the rest of the film.

Group member 4- Luca
Luca's narrative is about a home invasion by a unknown man that is never seen while the man who owns the house definitely knows someone is there he is searching the whole of his house trying to find him and as the film goes on there are hints and his family is killed as the killer taunts him and makes him look all around his locked up house. Throughout the opening sequence the man is trying to find out who is inside his house and is not too afraid at the time, he keeps all his family with him and throughout the sequence the antagonist is making noise and putting signs around the house, the sequence ends with the antagonist still not revealed and given a sign to the victim as the antagonist locks the family in their own house with now way to escape. The strengths of Luca's idea is that it is set in an ideal location which means that it can get filmed easily. The location is in a house which is good because it means that it won't be hard to film in. Another strength is that his narrative is also fairly easy to do as it isn't impossible and it can be easily done. Luca's idea would also have good camera and sound techniques and his narrative is very conventional to a thriller genre. He has created an enigma as the audience constantly wonder what is going to happen to the victims and who is the killer. His narrative is also conventional to the thriller genre because it shows an isolated home and a killer is in the house trying to murder the victims, this is seen typically in a lot of thriller films and so it is a good narrative to have. Another strength is that it engages the audience and intrigues them to watch the rest of the film as an enigma is created which keeps the audience on edge and makes them want to find out what is going to happen next. However Luca's idea doesn't have a lot of thriller conventions which wouldn't intrigue the audience as much because thriller conventions are what engage the audience into watching the film. His narrative does contain an enigma however it doesn't entice the audience that much as his narrative is very repetitive and this could make the audience become bored. He also may not have enough narrative to fill the 2 minute sequence and so this could become a problem when filming and it would be difficult to add bits on.

We came out with a group narrative by sitting together and finding the strengths and weaknesses of each individual narrative and trying to incorporate all of them in one group narrative by adding together the positives from each of  them. In the end our group all decided to mix up my individual narrative with Sasha's one. We added my ideas of cyber bullying and the flashbacks within our group narrative. Adding both our ideas together will not only extend the length of our production but will also help the audience understand what is happening more and enticing them into wanting to watch the rest of the sequence and find out why the girls is kept hostage and what will happen to her.

Out of Vladimir Propp, Tzvetan Todorov and Aristoile our group narrative follows Aristoile's theory the most because his theme was narrative and included a protagonist and antagonist, a incident and sympathy and this relates to our one because the audience are constantly feeling sorry for the victim and there is a dramatic question which creates an enigma and engages them more. It does not follow Vladimir Propp's theory as his was based on characters including victim, hero, victims father and many other characters while our sequence only contains a victim and antagonist. Our thriller does not follow Propp's theory as the characters are not consisting of; princesses and false heroes as these types of characters are not conventional to the thriller genre. Our narrative does not follow Tzvetan Todorov's theory either as it is about narrative however is a fairy tale like because he thinks all narratives should start with an equilibrium then go into a disequilibrium and then finally back into a equilibrium. Our narrative is not fairly tale like and does not focus on loads of different characters to set the film therefore follows Aristoile's theory the most. Aristoile's theory is the most conventional theory for a thriller genre and also is the most relatable to thriller films as it contains certain elements and aspects to entice the audience and make them enjoy their experience of watching a thriller film. Therefore, this is the theory we decided to make our narrative mainly follow.

Research into target audience - Miss Miller

Research into target audience

A target audience is a group people that a specific product is made for or is aimed at. Films have to have a target audience so that they know what age group they are aimed at to now what to add that would be suitable and engaging to the particular target audience. Research was carried out to put together plans and ideas to what the majority of the audience like to see in a thriller sequence. We asked 40 people the questionnaire so that we got a variety of answers so we know what most of the audience like to see and we also have a range of answers not limited to certain answers certain people like to see in a thriller film. The researches we carried out gave us in-depth qualitative data to work with and help us more when planning our own opening thriller sequence. We will use our results to see what the most liked things was and try to include most of the things the audience enjoy to see in a thriller in our very own opening thriller sequence. 

The pie chart on the right is  the results we received by the 40 people we asked about  their gender. The chart tells us that out of the 40 people asked 65% of them were male which is equivalent to 26 people and 35% of them were female which is equivalent to 14 people. This means that I need to include more violence into my opening thriller sequence to favour the needs of my predominant male audience. My thriller should be aimed more towards the male gender with bloody and violent scenes as my survey told me more boys enjoy watching thriller films than girls.

The pie chart on the left shows us the ages of the 40 people I asked a questionnaire to about their thriller film preferences. 12% of them which is equivalent to 5 people were the age of 12 to 14, 20% of them which is equivalent to 8 people were the age of 15 to 18, 25% of them which is equivalent to 10 people and 43% which is equivalent to 17 people were above the age of 26. This means that the most frequent age of the 40 people we asked the questionnaire to were 26 years of age and over which means we need to bear in mind that the answers for the other questions would be mostly in the mind of a person aged 26+ so they would prefer more full on scenes with more thrills and more violence compared to the other people in the other age groups answering the questions also. This age group is more conventional to thrillers as they prefer more thrilling scenes such as scenes from the films; Saw, Annabelle and the Conjuring. Therefore, I need to add shots and scenes with violence and loads of thrills to match the needs of the target audience and engage them in the film more. This will need to go on throughout the whole of the film to thrill the audience more and keep them on edge with the suspense being built through the scary scenes. Therefore, my opening thriller sequence will be aimed at the older years as they will enjoy it more and this means that i can include more violence and thrills that they would enjoy which would lead to my thriller sequence being more successful.  

The pie chart on the right shows us the favourite thriller films of the 40 people questioned. 8% of the people chose The Conjuring as their favourite thriller film which is equivalent to 3 people, 29% of the people chose Saw as their favourite which equals to 12 people, 23% chose Scream which is equivalent to 9 people, 24% of the people chose Final Destination which equals to 10 people and lastly 16% chose Annabelle which is equivalent to 6 people. Looking at these results i am going to take on board that the two favourite thriller films for the people answering this questionnaire were; Saw and Final Destination. Both of these films contain a lot of tenseful scenes that build up a lot of suspense which entices the audience into watching the rest of the film. Both these successful scenes also contain many jumpy and gory scenes which according to the questionnaire people like to see in a thriller film. This means that the scary, gory and jumpy scenes will need to be going on throughout the film and not just for a certain part of it. This scenes going on throughout the film will engage the audience more and make them want to watch the whole film as they would be trying to work out what will happen next. Therefore, i will use the idea of the same type of scenes in my own thriller opening sequence to make my audience enjoy my sequence and enjoy it more. Through the results on this pie chart it helped me finalise that i will not make my thriller cliche or psychological like The Conjuring or Annabelle as the audience do not enjoy watching it as it is very cliche to the thriller genre. I found out that i need to constantly build up suspense and tension throughout my thriller to make the audience feel as they can't wait to find out what happens next as thats what Final Destination had done and that film was the second highest percentage of my audiences favourite thriller films. My narrative will contain a lot of blood as the film Saw did because my audience enjoy watching it in their thrillers and it will help towards making my sequence more successful. I will be using blood at the point of the victim death in my thriller.

The pie chart on the left show us the favourite weapon used in thriller films for the 40 people questioned. 45% of people chose a knife as their favourite weapon which is equivalent to 18 people, 12% chose a gun which equals to 5 people, 32% chose a saw which is equivalent to 13 people, 8% chose a axe which equals to 3 people and 3% of the people chose other weapons which is equivalent to 1 person. Looking at these results i am going to take on board that the two favourite weapons are; knife and saw. Both these weapons are similar as they are sharp and cause a gory death. This makes them conventional to the thriller genre as it would mean the death scene would be more bloody and gruesome. The successful thriller film, Scream, contains a knife as the main weapon for all the deaths committed which the audience all like and think is the best weapon to use. Therefore, this is why i will use one of these weapons in my own opening thriller sequence to engage the audience by making them feel scared and more thrilled by a death with one of these two weapons. I helped finalise this idea through my research as it helped me decide which weapon to use and told me which weapon the audience would prefer to see which would lead to them being engaged more. The fact that the knife was the highest rated weapon means that if i use that weapon in my thriller the audience will be more intrigued to wanting to watch my film and the knife will be seen in the antagonist hand when he is trying to kill the victim. 

The pie chart on the right shows us what the 40 people would expect to see in a thriller film. 57% of the 40 people questioned chose death as what they expect to see the most in a thriller film and that is equivalent to 23 people, 10% chose masked antagonist which equals to 4 people, 18% chose low key lighting which is equivalent to 7 people, 10% chose unknown location which equals to 5 people and 5% chose point of view shot which is equivalent to 2 people. This means that the main convention of a thriller film to my audience is death. This will therefore definitely be included to make the film better for the to watch and feel more of a thriller film and not another genre. All these conventions are used in many of the successful thriller films however most of them are all used in the majority of the film, Scream. These conventions made the film Scream more enjoyable and thrilling for the audience to watch therefore i will use these inspirations in my own opening thriller sequence to try make it as successful. Looking at these results i am going to take on board that death is the main expectations in a thriller genre however in my own opening thriller sequence i am going to use all the answers given by the people in the questionnaire because they are the main conventions of a thriller and they are all linked to ether so my audience will enjoy the experience of watching the sequence more as they would be more engaged. 

The pie chart on the left shows is whether or not the 40 people questioned expect to see a female or male victim. 92% of the 40 people which is equivalent to 37 people chose a female victim while 8% of the 40 people chose a male victim which is equivalent to 3 people. This means that the audience are expecting to see a female victim as they are more stereotypically likely to get in a situation were they will not be able to survive or keep themselves as safe as a male victim would. Looking at the results i am going to take on board nearly all of the people expect to see a female victim in a thriller film. Many thriller films such as; Scream, The Conjuring and Annabelle all have a female victim instead of a male victim because female victims are not as powerful and self-protective as male victims. Therefore, in my opening thriller sequence i am going to have a female victim as it engages the audience more making them feel more scared and sympathetic as female victims are made to look more weak and vulnerable which makes the audience feel more thrilled that something bad is going to happen to them. I will make sure by the end of  my opening sequence my victim will die so enigma will be created to the audience making them wonder why the killer wanted to kill her in the first place. It will be shown at the end of the sequence to keep the audience watching the whole of the sequence and not to just see the death and then turn off the TV.

The pie chart on the right shows were, the people being questioned, expect a thriller film to be set, 47% out of the 40 people which is equivalent to 19 people chose a house, 23% chose a forest which equals to 9 people, 20% chose basement which is equivalent to 8 people and 10% chose a graveyard which equals to 4 people. This shows that our audience are expecting to see a thriller film set in a house rather than somewhere like a graveyard as it is more realistic and believable which would also make the audience build a relationship with the characters. Looking at the results i see that a thriller set in a house is expected the most by far compared to the other settings. The setting was also used in the opening thriller sequence of the film Halloween which was very successful and engaged the audience from beginning to the end. Therefore, i decided to use a house as the setting of my own opening thriller sequence as it is expected by most people and this setting is the most realistic which would engage the audience more and build a stronger relationship with the characters as they would feel more scared for them when they see life threatening situations occurring in a normal environment that is known to them as being safe and comforting. I also decided to set my thriller in a house because it shows the victim as being an easy target as they will be isolated and alone, awash from anything that could help her get to safety and survive. This will make the audience more intrigued as the isolated house will foreshadow death of the victim to the audience which will engage them and get them on edge waiting for it to happen. You will see that the sequence is set in an isolated house at the beginning of it when it shows that settings and surroundings being isolated.

The pie chart on the left shows if the people being questioned prefer gory or jumpy scenes more. 55% of the 40 people questioned prefer jumpy scenes which is equivalent to 22 people and 45% chose gory scenes which equals to 18 people. This means that the audience prefer to feel the suspense, shock and tension throughout the film. The Looking at these results i see they are very close so when i make my own thriller sequence i will use both jumpy and gory scenes to engage the audience more and make their experience of watching the sequence more enjoyable and thrilling for them. This will engage my target audience more building up even more suspense. Jumpy scenes are definitely going to be used when the killer unexpectedly appears behind the victim. This would lead the audience to the unknown and scare them more making my thriller more successful and fun to watch.

The last pie chart on the right shows whether or not the 40 people questioned actually enjoy being thriller. 97% of the 40 people asked prefer to be thrilled and enjoy it which is equivalent to 39 people and 3% which equals to 1 person does not enjoy being thrilled. Looking at these results it shows us that nearly every single person that answered the questionnaire prefer to be thrilled. Therefore, in my own opening thriller sequence i am going to use conventions to thrill my audience more which will entice them more into watching the rest of the film more. 

Vox pops are interviews with people of the public by video recording (television) or radio. I filmed some vox pops of people who took the questionnaire. The reason i made them was to prove that my questionnaire is true and reliable. This type of gathering research gives me qualitative data which is descriptive data and means i have depths of peoples feelings and preferences. This would help me mrs as it would give me more of an understanding and insight on what the audience would like me to include in my sequence in order for it to be successful. Vox pops also evidence whether or not i asked people questions and allow them to expand their answer and give longer ones instead of limited, closed short answers on a paper.  

This research helped me when planning my opening sequence as the questionnaire that took place was useful and informed me of the preferences in thriller films by a majority of the public. This helped me as now i know what the public find good about thriller films so i can add more of it into my own opening of a thriller sequence. I will incorporate results of my vox pops and my questionnaire into my opening thriller sequence such as; knives being used for the cause of death, a house being a location of the scene and adding both jumpy and gory scenes as the public all said that is what they expect and would like to see in a thriller film to engage them more. I am going to set my target audience as 26+ as that is what the most frequent age of the people who answered my questionnaire was therefore, i will be able to use more; violence, blood and jump scenes to engage the audience more. If i carried out another research investigation, i would ask the public more open questions which would lead me to getting more detailed answers which would lead to better ideas when i am going to create my very own opening thriller sequence. 

Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

Planning Cinematography 

The importance of cinematography within films is very important as it sets the different moods and emotions of the audience through the reactions of the characters to certain events taking place. My group planned the cinematography in our own thriller sequence to produce a good one as planning it would let us all know what we are doing at one points which would save us so much time and help us work together better. This is because when it comes to us shooting a certain part of the opening sequence we all know our positions and what we have to do so we do not waste time and we all do our parts quickly so we do not produce a bad and unclear product with the wrong camera shots that would not engage the audience and bore them.

In my opening thriller sequence I have decided to use a close up shot. This is when the audience see's the girls facial expression when she spots the killer in the distance. The purpose of this shot is to show a smaller part of the scene to emphasise on something and in this case it would be the girls face to show her reaction. This shot will create and build on the element of surprise through the facial expression of the victim which would engage the audience more making them feel more sympathetic towards her. This is conventional to a thriller genre as the shot creates suspense and mystery for the target audience and the shot captures detail in an importance of a scene and this builds a strong relationship between the audience and the character as they see and feel the emotions the character is feeling by the detail shown in their facial expression by a close up shot.

Another cinematography I'm going to use in my opening sequence is shallow focus. This is going to be when the killer is walking towards the girl. The purpose of this shot is to show the main subject in full focus whilst the rest of the shot is blurry and out of the shot and in this case it would be when the antagonist is walking towards the killer which creates suspense to the audience. This will also build on the elements of suspense as it makes it more tense for the audience and keeps them on edge waiting for something thrilling to happen and occur. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates an enigma as the audience cannot see the antagonist clearly and keeps them on the edge of their seat till he is more clear as he walks closer to the camera. This builds a relationship between the audience and the characters as it builds up tension for the audience and then makes them feel more engaged and intrigued by what is going to happen next.


Furthermore, I'm also going to use a high angle shot. This would occur when the girl is on the floor kept hostage. The purpose of a high angle shot is to be positioned above an object to make it look smaller and in this case it would be positioned above the girl on the floor. This will build on the element of shock as it makes the audience realise how much bigger and stronger the antagonist is compared to the victim. This will also make the audience feel scared as the victim is portrayed as being smaller and weaker. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it makes the girl look weaker and vulnerable which builds a relationship with the character and the audience as they feel more sympathy towards her when she is being hurt or when she is being scared as they know she is weak and cant protect herself and they are scared as they know she is about to get hurt by the antagonist and is most likely to die.

Moreover, I am going to use a point of view shot. This will occur when the girl wakes up and looks down and notices she is being kept hostage. The purpose of this shot is to show the audience the same image as the character is seeing within the film. This builds on the elements of shock and surprise as the audience will be feeling the same emotions as the character and will also be feeling more scared and enticed into the film and what will happen next. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it makes the audience feel like they are in the characters point of view therefore feel more engaged in what is happening in the film and makes them want to watch the rest of the film as well. This builds a relationship with the audience and the character because the audience feel more sympathy and understand the characters situation more as they feel like they are in their shoes and feel like the situation they see happening in the point of view shot is real and they are living it. 

Lastly, i am going to use an establishing shot in my thriller opening sequence. This will occur to show the location. The purpose of an establishing shot is to define the location and give the audience a perspective of what is to follow. It also defines the genre of the film for the audience and in this case this shot was used to show the audience that the scene was set in a house. This shot will make the thriller start of with a sinister atmosphere making the audience know from early on that the surroundings is isolated so the victim will be in more danger and trouble with less of a chance of escaping to safety. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it makes the audience feel like they understand the story more as they will see where the scene is set before anything happens. This builds a relationship between the audience and the character as the audience feel more sympathy and are more scared for the character as they see where the scene is set and when they notice it is in a house it feels more realistic so it engages them more and makes them feel more scared for the innocent victim in their own house. 

I believe that my opening thriller sequence will be more effective through the use of cinematography as it would create more of a deep and sympathetic emotion that the audience would feel for the characters and it would also cause more of a reaction for the audience after they build a strong relationship with the innocent character and would feel more affected by whatever happens to them. The cinematography is very conventional in relations of the thriller genre as it is the most affective techniques and types of cinematography that engage the audience and make them understand the thriller sequence more making there experience of watching the sequence more enjoyable. I found the planning helpful in preparation for filming my very own opening thriller sequence as i could get together all the cinematography used in other successful thriller films that have the most impact on the audience and make them enjoy the film more by making them feel more enticed by what is happening and wanting to watch the rest of the film and more. 

Preliminary Task - Miss Miller

Preliminary Task 

The members in my group were; Myself, Sasha Walledge, Luca Khan and Ciara Ratican. The whole point of the preliminary task was for us all to get  used to using the equipment that we will be using to film our opening sequence and understand how they work by trying out different camera movements and different camera angles and shot. We had to film a short clip to show that we knew how to video different shots including; mid shot, over the shoulder shot, long shot, close up and panning. The clip did not have a certain time limit or duration it had to be but we just had to include all the different shots above to try and get used to them. We had to use a software called . With this software we uploaded the clip then edited it by adding sound affects, tense music and cutting clips to make sure it all flows and there are no bits that look like it was recorded in different takes. 

While we were recording for most shots we used a tri-pod to hold the camera as this maintained a steady image and also could be adjusted up and down to change the view of the camera shot and adjust it depending on the characters position and setting. We had to use different camera techniques such as; over the shoulder shot, mid shot, long shot, close up and panning. The mid shot framed waist level and up of the actors to show the surroundings and the setting of which the narrative is happening around. The over the shoulder shot is above the shoulder of a certain character so the audience can focus on the other character and feel as they are in the characters shoes as they are seeing things from their view. The long shot shows a larger object and shows more of the background which shows the audience the setting of the event taking place and can show certain actions clearer from a further away perspective. The close up shot shows a smaller part of the scene to emphasise on something and in this case it was the characters face to show her reaction so the audience has a clearer understanding of how they are feeling. Panning moves from side to side following a moving object so that the audience can see what is happening from a bigger perspective as they see it from different angles and follow the action through, such as; someone throwing a punch, from one side to the other. 

Me and my group improvised good narratives together as a team on the spot to match the different camera techniques taking place to make the audiences experience of watching the clip better and help them understand what is going on more. We achieved these results by deciding the correct camera technique for the correct action taking place and we also used the tripod for a steady image and adjusted the height so that the audience can see things from a clearer perspective for them. We as a team did not struggle with anything majorly seeming as it was our first time and we did not have long however if we could improve and had more time we would set a better narrative and think it through to make it more interesting. 

However, at first we struggled with getting to know the equipment properly and did not know how to perfectly adjust the camera height according to the shot we was taking to make sure it suits it very well. The hardest thing we done was the filming of the panning shots. We struggled a little with this shot as it was difficult to film it as it included movement of the camera where the camera was on the tripod for alternate shots. 
The fact that it was not on the tripod for the panning shot made it seem unsteady and unprofessional compared to our other shots. You can see this from the slight change in the height of the character in the frames. 
I think that if we had a better setting to record our preliminary task it would of made it better as it would be more interesting to the audience instead of a boring school hall. Furthermore, I think we could of made it better by having more characters as it would of created more of a story line and engaged the audience more as they would of seen more drama on stage instead of a narrative between two people. Moreover, next time for the different camera shots we can adjust the size of the tripod and lift the camera holder up or down a bit more to make the shot look better as this time we did not know how to adjust it properly to match the shot. I will also make sure next time i use the tripod for every shot to make sure it looks clean, professional and steady even if it is hard to set up for a certain shot.Watching my footage back with my group helped us realise and understand the mistakes we made which were not using the tripod in more of the scenes to make it a steady image at the correct height so that the positioning of the characters were better to make it more of a thrilling shot. 
The over the shoulder shot was also a little difficult as it was hard try and get both the people fitted and focused into one shot rather than two people in a shot. The person who the focus shouldn't of been on took up most of the shot which also made the frame look unprofessional and not planned properly.

There were many strengths of the equipment and also a few weaknesses. A positive about the equipment was the fact that it was extremely easy to set up and the camera was very easy to use. This meant that if our camera guy was not able to do a certain filming day, another group member could of easily took their places as the camera was very easy to work and easy to understand. Another strength of the equipment was the tripod. The tripod was very helpful as it helped keep the camera steady and had a huge affect as it made the scenes look so much neater and professional which would help our thriller become more successful. On the other hand, weaknesses of the equipment varied from the fact that the tripod was very big so heavy to carry round to the fact that it was hard to film certain shots such as panning shots. The panning shot was difficult with this equipment because it required movement of the camera and the tripod was very stiff and hard to move around which made the filming come out staggery and not smooth. The fact that the tripod was big and heavy also made it a weakness as it was harder to carry round from filming session to filming session. However, we had to take it round no matter the size of it as it took a vital part in our filming of the scenes and each frame.

During the editing stage we were aware of some mistakes we made. The main mistake was in some shots we did not check the framing properly because of the low key lighting, which meant there were some objects and things in the background we was not aware of that shouldn't of been there. The thing we would do differently next time would be to turn on the lights even if low key lighting is needed and make sure all background objects are out the way and out of the frame that will be filmed as it would waste time if we later on found some in the scenes when editing. You can see the mistake we made in the framing on the right as there is school chairs in the background of the over-the-shoulder shot.

This task helped me and my group prepare for filming our opening sequence as it helped us get used to the equipment and the different shots and angles we will need to film. From this task i learnt that the camera has to be on the tripod to keep the shot steady unless using an unsteady shot for effect. The camera needs to be kept still so that when filming, the camera isn't shaking around which would make the shot look messy and unprofessional. I also learnt that the shots have to be from a certain angle and a certain distance to create more of a thrilling affect which would entice the audience more into watching the sequence and give the film more conventions of a thriller. When filming our opening sequence for our own thriller we need to make sure to use the correct method of filming such as; handheld to create a jerky image or a tripod to create a steady image for the different shots depending on which one would make the experience of watching the film more thrilling for the audience and engage them more. However, we need to keep our team work and communication skills the same as it helped us in our filming because everybody got a say and no arguments or disagreements happened which helped us all work together well and come out with a well filmed and performed opening sequence for practice. 

Inspirations - Miss Georgiou

Inspirations

When we are making our own sequences we take inspirations from other successful thriller films. We need inspirations from other films so that we know what the audience get engaged by for us to use in our own thriller and make it as successful as the ones we have watched. 

My first inspiration comes from the film Se7en by enigma being used. This was used in the box scene when the detective (Samuel l Jackson) was opening the box that the psychotic serial killer put his co-worker detective's (Leonardo Di'Caprio) chopped of head in. This engaged the audience as they were wondering what was going to happen next and intrigued by it. This has inspired me to use enigma in my own thriller sequence, as I would like to keep the audience on the edge of their seats guessing what the answer to the mystery actually is. Having an enigma in my sequence will entice my audience to watch the whole sequence and get interested in finding out the answer to the mystery set in it. This use of enigma is seen throughout the scene in the clip below.

My next inspiration comes from the film Scream 2 by silence being used. This was seen when the female character dies in the cinema while it was hectic and everybody was watching the scary film. This engaged the audience as the silence built up suspense and tension. In this case the silence can also be used to signify the death of the women as she falls to the ground then the silence occurs for the rest of the characters to be shocked and show their emotions after they have noticed what has happened. This has inspired me to use silence in my thriller sequence, as I would like to build up tension for my audience and keep them on the edge of their seats for when something major and scary jumps out straight after the moments of silence. Using silence in my own thriller sequence will also entice my audience, keeping them on the edge of their seats, and intrigue them more for when something jumps out to scare them after the suspense and tension built up throughout. The use of silence is seen during the times of 2:17- 2:21. 

My third inspiration comes from the film Halloween by tense music being used. This was going on throughout the opening sequence of the film. This engaged the audience as it built up suspense and made them more weary of something frightening about to happen. This has inspired me to use tense music in my own thriller sequence, as it would make the audience feel on edge and waiting for something scary to occur as they feel tension in the scene from the music. Having tense music in my sequence will entice my audience to feel committed into watching the rest of the film as they would already be intrigued into finding out what is going to happen by the tense music drawing them in and keeping them on the edge of their seats. This use of tense music is seen throughout the opening sequence in the clip below.

My fourth inspiration comes from the film Shutter Island by low key lighting being used. The audience see this throughout the chase scene were the two doctors go through the mental ward looking for the psychopathic patient. This engaged the audience by setting out a spooky setting by the colours of the room being dark and lighting being low. This inspired me to use low key lighting in my own sequence, as I would like to set a dark, mysterious and spooky setting. Having low key lighting in my opening sequence will entice my audience into wanting to watch the rest of the film as they would be engaged by the lighting as they can't see a lot so they would be on the edge of their seats waiting for something to jump out of a dark corner to scare them.

My fifth inspiration comes from the film Saw 3 by zooming out being used. The audience see this as soon as the "rock trap" scene starts and it zooms out straight away to show the main chained up onto the torture table. This created a emotional distance seen by the audience for the poor man chained up about to get tortured. This inspired me to use zooming out in my own sequence, as I would like to start it off with a movement to create an emotional distance so the audience can be shocked when they suddenly see what is happening which would most likely be something thrilling. Having a zooming out in my opening sequence will entice my audience by creating suspense, shock and surprise for them to start of the film with and then it would make them feel intrigued and want to find out what is going to happen in the rest of the film. The use of zooming out is used in the opening seconds of the clip below. 

My final inspiration is from the film The Purge by point of view shot being used. This is when the criminals knock on the door and talk to the innocent family through the key whole asking them there permission to let them purge. This showed the audience the same shot the characters was seeing so it built a stronger relationship between the audience and the character add the felt like they were in their shoes. This inspired me to use point of view shot in my opening sequence, as I would like to build a relationship with the audience and the character so they feel more sympathy towards the characters when something bad is going to happen to them. It will be used in my opening sequence when the girl wakes up in an abandoned house and notices she is being kept hostage and is looking around the room. Having a point of view shot in my opening sequence will entice the audience by creating a bond between them and the characters as they would feel like they see what the characters see so they understand them more. Therefore, the audience would support and want the character be safe in the end as they would care for them. The use of point of view shot is used in the clip below between the minutes of 0:30-2:45. 

To conclude, my research onto inspirations from other thrillers was extremely useful as it lead me into getting many different narrative ideas from different thriller films depending on what engages the audience the most and made them enjoy watching the film and building a relationship with the characters. Various inspirations have made my film better by giving me a clearer understanding of what the audience really enjoy to see in a thriller film and what actually catches their eye the most to make the experience of watching a thriller a enjoyable time for them.