Prem Task

The purpose of the Preliminary task was to experiment with camera shots, editing style and sound styles and  to have a visual of each type of shot/style. There are some strengths and some weaknesses that are shown in this and some of these are:
Weakness; the story was not scripted so when we were taking different shot in the same conversation the actors were in different precisions and the conversation didn't flow well. there was also to many shot changes which made the clip look really bad especially at the start.
Strengths; when we changed shoulder angles we did it in different takes so that the camera is never seen.

with this task we now know that we shouldn't have so many shots for one small sequence as it gets to crowded. we also know to have a script but a script that can be improvised so its just a guide line but when different shots are being taken they must remember what they said and they must stay in the same position

Vox Props

We chose to go around and interview people because we wanted to get feedback for the questionnaire that we created. We wanted to do this so we know what conventions people like to see in a thriller film. We asked a range of questions so we know what content we should put in, what age to aim towards, what's attracts people to watch these types of films.

From these interviews we found out that people like the suspense and tension that is within a thriller, something that builds up to a point of uncertainty. We also found that they like it to be enjoyable, scary and play mind games. We also found that they don't only watch thriller films once a month if that so we need to make really good so that we can either make them watch it a few times or to get them more interested in thrillers.

Questionnaire

Questionaires

1. Gender?

Male     Female

2. How old are you? 

<12       12<18     18<21    21<28    28<

3. What thriller certification do you prefer in a thriller? 

12      15    18

4. What pulls you in to a thriller film? 

TV Advertisement        By mouth      Posters        YouTube Ad’s       Other 

5. What are your expectations for a thriller film? 

Weapons        Masks        Flash Backs       Goodie/badie        Vulnerable woman 

6. What types of sound do you like in a thriller film? 

Tension sounds        Suspense sound       Sound effects       Horror  Natural   Other  

7. Would you like a sequel to your film? 

Yes      No

8. What characters do you like to watch in a thriller film? 

Group        Young       Other

9. What type of actors do you expect to see in a thriller film? 

..................................................

10. What settings do you expect in thrillers? 

..................................................

11. What other genres do do you think runs well with a thriller? 

Comedy      Action      Adventure     Crime     Gangster      Other 

12. What do you like the film to be for? 

Inform     Instruct      Educate       Entertain     To Scare You

Group Narrative

Group Narrative




My Idea:



From all of the the research I have done I have got an idea of the location, lighting, characters and iconography that I should use in my clip. It would be set in an estate with a big field or wod nearby and there is a character who is vulnerable or is being stalked. Walking dog ate night in the woods and there is a dark figure that you see running from tree to tree but you never see him/her. But she is ok then she goes through her day working but there is someone following her but still you never see his face. She starts to creep out as she knows that someone's following her so she invites some of her friends to co e and stay with her. Power goes off and they all get scared the tv turns on but it's fuzzy and makes a loud noise that scares them even more. Then there's a flash of lighting and the killers face appears in the window. So they all run to the top floor and try and call the police but the phone line has been cut and there's a bang which is the front door opening and the killer walks in and straight up the stairs as if he knows where she is hiding but he is shouting there's no where to hide and as he opens the door where they are hiding one of her friends throws something and they get out of the bathroom and they try and run but at the bottom of the stairs there is another man and both killers trap them and torched them until one escapes. The end.


A few of my ideas are from past thriller movies for example the masked men are from the strangers as there is more than one killer who is after the girls and the torcher sequence is from the human centipede as in this film there are 3 people who have been sown together. I will use lighting and sound effects from The Strangers also because my film is based in a similar condition, in a house.


Advantages: The advantages of my film is that the women all trapped and have no-where to go and this makes them vulnerable and this is a thriller convention.

Disadvantages: There is to much pact into a short space of time, this means there would have to be a lot of jump cuts which wouldn't look good



Harry's Idea:


The narrative to my thriller film should be decided by 4 key conventions. The Genre, witch would be a thriller so will limit the other 3 conventions. The Characters, witch have to follow the codes and techniques to a thriller genre so will be traditionally be a helpless female who runs up the stairs instead of out the door. The Time and Setting are the other two. They again have to follow the traditional techniques of the Genre, as it is the most important and deciding factor. The setting will be a dark secluded place with dark lighting and limited access to towns and villages. The Time will be as realistic as possible to get the audience to show a natural reaction to the clip.


My idea was to have a woman alone in a cabin. She is there with new friends but while she's asleep they mysteriously disappear. She wakes up and finds a not saying they've gone out for drinks. She thinks its a bit weird but thinks nothing really of it. Later on she finds a load of her stuff has been looked through and she starts to become suspicious. Noises and blatant change in iconography show tension build. She starts to see silhouettes in doorways and becomes panicked. She reaches for the phone and the line is dead. She runs to the door and swings it open and one of the friends is right there.


Advantages: It is set in a forest in a cabin which is a good thriller convention because the cabin is the only one for miles and this makes the victim vulnerable.


Disadvantages: You straight away know who the villains are but i think that they should be hidden so no-one knows who they are.


Arthur's Idea:


Starts of with camera moving across the ground at ground level. This will be the opening credits, the text is motion tracked with movement of the ground, featuring out names (credits). Ends with a small scream, which then transitions into the first scene.


First scene is extreme close up of the woman’s eye. Which then opens (the eye) where she is scared and breathing heavily and this point the camera shot zooms out into a medium shot. She then sits up looks over to a glass which is empty so she gets out of bed and goes to the kitchen where on the way the audience see the villain but the character does not. Whilst this is building tension the women then puts the tap on and fills here cup with water. The camera is facing her where as the camera is placed on the side where the tap is. The audience then see the villain in the background whilst the woman character does not, this builds loads of suspense. Then lighting (thunder) flashes and you get a better view of the villain then see the villain disappear. The women now turns around whilst drinking her water in relief. You then see the kitchen door creaking open which then you hear a thump and a black cat runs through, the women picks up the cat and turns around to go back to her bedroom and there is the villain right there where she bumps into the villain and screams she drops the cat and runs away in which on the way comes across the front door which is being banged on. She locks herself in her room in which she is very scared and reaching over to grab her home phone in which the line cut out whilst calling a friend number. She then screams and hides under her bed, it then becomes very silent you hear footsteps coming towards the door and then banging on the door. Then it changes into a POV shot and sees the door being opened and the villain walking in which you see him walking around then dropping on the floor so you have an extreme close up of the villain for around 1 second then screams and then it ends.


Advantages: The clip doesn't show to much into the characters and the killers


Disadvantages: It seems like there film would be very short s the killer already has the victim


Orcun's Idea:


a female character who is presumably the victim of the opening scene to my thriller narrative, will have woken up from a nightmare in the middle of the night. She is petrified and has not come to her senses once she has woken, she is breathing rapidly and needs a drink of water to ease her throat. she leans over to the glass on her bedside draw but there is only a drop of water remaining, this results in her stepping out of bed and heading of downstairs for more water. she will open the fridge once in the kitchen with the camera placed in the fridge so that we can see the look on her face as she searches for water. when she places the glass on the table there will be a figure in the glass door behind her, she will see his refelction on the window of the cupboard and spin around to catch them in action but to only find there is no one there.


The telephone starts ringing in the front room, on the window sill. she picks it up and hears a muffled voice which screeches through the phone line, this fades into a beeping effect which means the phone call has ended. someone is banging on the back door which she immediately drops the phone and runs to the front door, to find it half open. when somebody knocks on the second front door she runs back insinde to find the phone hooked back up, remembering she dropped it it confuses her.



Advantages: very exciting, fast pasted start and would grab the audiences attention.


Disadvantages: we would need a very big house for this as there is two front doors so it would be hard to accommodate for.



Final Narrative:

Opening credits are pasted onto walls and they will be lit up





We discussed and came up with this idea from using mainly Orcun's and Arthur's idea because we likd the fast pasted excitement. We took the main idea from Orcun's, for the girl having a nightmare and her going round the house scared.  

Narrative Theory

Narrative theory is something that directors follow when writing their storyline. There are three main theories:

Vladimir propp - a narrative isn't important in a film but having characters with different types of functions. (Fairy Tail) 

The hero - a character that seeks something 

The villain - who opposes or actively blocks the hero's quest

The donor - who provides an object with magical properties 

The dispatcher - who sends the hero

The false hero - who disrupts the hero's success 

The helper - who aids the hero

The princess - acts as the reward for the hero

Her father - who acts to reward the hero

Todorov theory

It's not about characters but aboutEquilibrium and disequilibrium. 

A beginning - Everything is nice and happy

A middle - something goes wrong

An end - At the end everything is better

Aristotle

Not about characters or narrative but about the themes in a film

E.g. 

Inciting incident

Dramatic question

Character goal

Antagonist/protagonist

Stakes

Resolution

Sympathy/empathy

Explain which theory you will use in your film and why?

For my thriller film I am going to chose Aristotle's theory because I don't want the victim to survive and I want the killer to get away so it leaves it open for a sequel which is why I'm not choosing Todorov. I also only want It to have a few main characters such as victims, killer, and someone searching for the victim which is why I haven't chosen Vladimir propp's theory. I have  based it around themes which is good for a thriller because you want a large amount of codes and conventions of my theme. 

Narrative

Ideas for the narrative of my thriller

A narrative is the story line within the film, it is important for a thriller as the plot opens up in a way that isn't expected.

This is a brief story line to my film if all of it was made:

From all of the the research I have done I have got an idea of the location, lighting, characters and iconography that I should use in my clip. It would be set in an estate with a big field or wod nearby and there is a character who is vulnerable or is being stalked. Walking dog ate night in the woods and there is a dark figure that you see running from tree to tree but you never see him/her. But she is ok then she goes through her day working but there is someone following her but still you never see his face. She starts to creep out as she knows that someone's following her so she invites some of her friends to co e and stay with her. Power goes off and they all get scared the tv turns on but it's fuzzy and makes a loud noise that scares them even more. Then there's a flash of lighting and the killers face appears in the window. So they all run to the top floor and try and call the police but the phone line has been cut and there's a bang which is the front door opening and the killer walks in and straight up the stairs as if he knows where she is hiding but he is shouting there's no where to hide and as he opens the door where they are hiding one of her friends throws something and they get out of the bathroom and they try and run but at the bottom of the stairs there is another man and both killers trap them and torched them until one escapes. The end.

A few of my ideas are from past thriller movies for example the masked men are from the strangers as there is more than one killer who is after the girls and the toucher sequence is from the human centipede as in this film there are 3 people who have been sown together. I will use lighting and sound effects from The Strangers also because my film is based in a similar condition, in a house.

What is a thriller film?

What Is A Thriller Film?

There are many Codes & Conventions to a thriller film. Some of these are as follow:

• Enigma - a mystery is always set in a thriller, E.g. In Scream you don't know who the masked killer is.
• Victim's characteristic - the victim is usually seen as weak and vulnerable and not able to help themselves in the situation in hand, E.g. The strangers where the lady tries to escape but isn't able to and is to scared so she hides in here bedroom.
• Violence - the murderer always commits some form of violence towards the victim when killing them, E.g. in Scream 4 one of the victims is stabbed in the back.
• Dramatic irony - the audience know who the killer is or who the next victim is.
• Low key lighting - low key lighting creates shadows to create a feeling of fearfulness and this lets the audience know that something is about to happen to the character, E.g. Prom night in the bedroom scene.
• Slow editing - slow editing is a term used when the editor has slowed down a shot to create tension and suspense.
• Iconography - iconography is the the props that are used in the film, E.g. knifes, shelves if pulled down.
• Non-Diegetic - this is sound that is heard but you cant see it on the screen this can be voices from a character that is off screen or music that is out over the top of the film, this can create suspense and tension and gives the audience an idea to what is about to happen.

Now i have stated some of the key Codes & Conventions about the thriller genre i will analysis the opening scene of "Saw 1" and show you what codes & Conventions are there:

Straight away you see a vulnerable character who was asleep in a bath full of water drowning and suddenly wakes up. This causes a shock to his system and he doesn't know what to do, in the process the water goes down the plug whole and this means he survives but he finds out that he is tied with a chain to a thick old pipe which is very strong. Whilst all this is happening the room is pitch black and you and he cant see anything so he starts to shout for help. Then a voice which is off screen, Non- Diegetic, calls out, this makes the audience try and guess who this character is, Is it another victim? or Is it the killer? Then the lights are turned on and there is a sense of enigma because you see that there is another character that is tied up but there is also another unknown character in the middle of the floor who is dead and has a gun in one hand and a dictaphone in the other hand. this confuses the audience because you would think that he was he killer but he is now dead so they don't know what's happening. There are also lots of iconography elements in this opening as there is a gun, dictaphone, chain, lock, bath, water and a key that floats down the plug hole. You also realise that they are in a big abandoned public toilet which hasn't been used for a long time. All of these create suspicion, tension and suspense which are key factors of the thriller genre.

Panic Room - http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sqIclb4qsJI

Straight away there are pan shots of a city like New York and there is soft but scary music in the background which is setting the scene. This gives you a brief idea of what is going to happen later on. Then you here a non diegetic sound of a woman talking but you can't see her and then it just cuts out. This sets the scene for the rest of the opening and an idea into the characters that you see. This opening doesn't really tell you that it is a thriller as there are not many codes and conventions that would suggest it.

I am going to take inspiration from saw 1 to create the opening scene for my group film. I will using lighting and sound to set a scene to what is going to happen and to also because it will be dark and loud, deep sounds it will make the audience anxious and scared. I will also have short clips to add tension and suspense. I will have diegetic and non diegetic sound to make the audience anxious low key lighting to make shadows, I will use all of the films that I have researched and analysed to create my film clip the betst I can.

BBFC

The BBFC controls the age ratings of films that enter the Uk. They decide what ages are appropriate for the content inside the film. These ratings are very important for the safety of the views because if a 5 year old was to watch saw they could be scared and mentally distorted at night, this could cause the film producers a lot of problems.

These are all the different types of film certifications:

• Universal - people of all ages can view this film and all content is suitable. An example of this is the Jungle Book.

• Parental Guides - people of all ages can watch it but some scenes may not be suitable for certain ages because of mild language or moderate language. An example is Enchanted

• 12A - only people over the age of 12 can view this film unless accompanied by and adult. These films can contain mild drug references, moderate violence, sex maybe discretely portrayed. The first 12 A was the first Spider-Man.
• 12 - 12 have the same guide lines as 12A apart from 12 year olds do not need an adult with them at the time to view the film.
• 15 - no one younger than 15 is permitted to watch these films. These films may contain; hard drugs, frequent strong language,limited use of very strong language, strong violenc and sex, nudity is discreet.
• 18 - no one younger then 18 is allowed to watch. These films may contain; bad language, hard drugs, explicite sex, sexual activity, strong real sex, very strong, gory and sadistic violence.

My film will be a 15 because there will strong violence and it will be too scary and violent for young people.

Editing

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=plpp&v=SWslT_EqKrc

AS Media - Editing

Editing happens after all the shooting. It is used to add effects to the film to change the feelings and emotions which the film is trying to convey. For this analysis I will be looking at the film 'The Strangers'.

The first point is slow editing, in this scene there is a woman who is asking towards the door but through editing they made her walk a lot slower than what it is. This creates suspense and shows that she is hesitant and that she is scared. This gives the audience the same feelings that she is feeling which is important to a thriller.

The second shot that I will be analysing is a reaction shot. For this shot the woman is looking through her curtains and the camera is so close to her face to show her reaction and her emotions when the killer pops up into the window. This shows tension when she Is looking out the window and fear when she sees the killer.

My third and final editing feature is a jump cut. A jump cut is is a lack of continuity in the film clip so there is part of the story missing. I this case the woman is crawling on the floor to charge her phone and then she appears into her corridor walking into her bedroom.  This let's the audience know that the killer has moved and in its next position because of the time you didn't see what is happening. This cut is also sudden so you don't know wether something is about to jump out at you or what's about to happen. This is important for a thrill because the audience get suspicious, scared and anxious because they think they know what's about to happen.

Editing is very good way to convey feelings and emotions. It gives a good impression on the audience and changes the way they feel to make them open to fear. I will use editing techniques to impact the audience and create feelings and emotions that the acting wont do alone.

Mise-En-Scene

   Mise en scene

Mise-en-scene is a media term, which has 5 categorise. These contain setting and iconography, costume, hair and make-up, facial expressions and body language, lighting and colour, and the positioning of characters. For this topic I am analysing “Prom Night”.

The first point I am analysing is the settings and iconography. There is a scene in a bedroom where there is the killer and the victim. The bedroom has broken lights and they are flashing and when they’re off they off the room turns really dark. The room looks untouched and natural but you can suspect that the killer is there because she is all alone. This scares the girl that is in there because she feels unsafe and then she walks into a lamp which makes her jump and the audience jump because we all expect it to be the killer. This creates suspense and makes everyone scared.

The lightings in this room also creates fear. This is because the lights are broken making the whole room dark. There are three light sources, the window light, which is the back lighting, the lights in the cupboards, which are the filler lighting, and the lights that are flashing are the main lights. These lights create a low key light, which makes shadows. Also the room is dark which resembles death and evil, which conveys someone is there but these are used to scare the character and the audience.

The facial expressions of the girl show that she is scared and worried. Her mouth is open and her eyebrows are lowered, and her eyes are open. This shows her emotions and this time she is scared, and shows innocence in the character. She is also walking backwards very slowly which shows she is scared and you know that something is about to happen.

Next I will be analysing the costume of the killer. The killer is dressed in a smart casual fashion, this shows that he could be fantasising about her and being her prom date. But he also has dark cloths, which shows that he doesn’t want to be seen. But he also has dark eyes and a scruffy unshaven face, this tells you about his life style and in this case he lives in a messy apartment working for a job that he doesn’t like, if he has one. But this dress code gives you an idea that he is a creep and a psycho.

The last point I will be analysing is the positioning of the character. All through the scene in the bedroom you notice the girl is always right up to the camera showing that she is the victim and the killer is a mid range to a long range to the camera showing the he is the killer because you can always see what he I doing. This tells the audience abut the characters and knows when something is about to happen creating tension.

To conclude mise-en-scene is a very important area to film. It creates suspense, fear and tension. I will use this in my video and I will use each area of it to create emotion and feelings to get the beigest impact as possible.

Sound

 Sound analysis 

Sounds are used to create emotions that the image might not e.g. Tension, suspense, fear and other such emotions to get the audience open to be scared easier. This is very important for thrillers because you want the biggest reaction out of each scene. In this analysis I will looking at the sound in the film trailer of 'Final Destination 1'.

Car engines are a type of on screen sound this means that you can see where the sound is coming from. You can see the NAS cars going round the track and you can hear their engines roaring. Because of this loud noise because it creates tension and suspense, this sets the scene because it tells you that the film will be fast and they don't have much time. This is good for thrillers as it gives you adrenaline so you are ready for what is about to come.

Also there is Non-diegetic which is the background music. It is a deep bass but it has been tuned to become sub bass, this is so you can't just hear it but you can feel it pounding on your heart making you scared and worried for the people.  It has also been made louder than the rest of the film increasing any emotions that you might have obtain by listening to it. This means that you are open to being scared which is important for the film as it is a thriller.


Talking is a part of a diegetic sound group. This is because you can see the where the sound is coming from. This sound is coming from the main characters in the group and especially the main character who sounds like he is in a hurry and is scared for what's about to happen. This makes tension between the characters and suspense and anxiety for the audience.

To conclude sound I found that it sets a very important tone to film and with out it you wouldn't be scared half as munch. Each type of sound is important as it gives different feelings and insight to what's about to happen or just to make you scared. Also the more sounds that are going on the more tense you become. I will use these in my film clip to get the audiences emotions overflowing with fear so it is easier to scare them and also to an idea to what is happening