Opening Sceneration - Miss Miller

Opening Narrative

The film Eternal is a revenge driven thriller which follows a woman's story after being left at the altar on her wedding day. After being left by her fiancée, she isolates herself from the outside world, the audience views her deteriorating mental state. From the pain she has suffered she plots revenge on her ex-fiancée slowly killing everybody close to her.
 
The film opens with the woman in her room, sitting on her bed, she looks distraught and her makeup is ruined from tears. We decided to use a mid-level shot to get both her wedding dress and the surroundings in to introduce the negative atmosphere in the beginning. There is suddenly a flashback to a scene of both the bride-to-be and the bride's best friend getting ready for the wedding, with happy music in the background to exert this. This was filmed in the style of a handheld camera to create a sense of realism within the scene. The flashback ends and we are back in the present, the woman writes over the decorations with deathly messages such as R.I.P. We used close ups so that the audience could read the writing on the balloons. There is suddenly another flashback with the men getting prepared for the wedding, again in the style of a wedding video with handheld cameras, we are introduced to all the victims. The flashback ends and the bride-to-be gets out a photo-album, crossing off the faces of each person who attended the wedding. We used close ups and a POV camera angle so that the audience could see in the eyes of the killer. When she crosses off their faces there is a brief flashback that indicates that the person has been killed, we decided not to include any actual scenes of anybody getting killed as this would not look as good and we also wanted the audience to be able to come to their conclusion by themselves thus using kuleshov effect. The film cuts a few weeks in the future when the bride puts a circle around the ex-husband's face, the ex-husband is with the bride's best friend and it is evident that they are now a couple and he has run off with her, we used a two man mid-level shot for this scene to get both characters in. The ex-husband goes to the toilet, as he walks up the stairs there is a high angle to indicate that this person is inferior and a victim. As he opens the door to leave to his surprise he sees his ex-fiancée brandishing a knife, this is an over the shoulder shot and we can see both the victim and the killer in the shot.

There are several elements that could improve our thriller and make it become more conventional:
 
Less dialogue - I had the idea of removing some of the dialogue within our thriller as usually there is less dialogue and more things occurring on the screen as it draws the audience in and is not boring. Our thriller opening however has a majority of talking and is more boring than we would have wanted, thus we will replace the dialogue with eerie sounds or violence.
 
Credits - Our credits drastically need improvement as they are not conventional to a thriller film, we must make them less colourful and change the font to make them scarier. We will take inspiration from the credits of the movie Seven as I have previously stated in another post.

Irrelevance – We were informed that certain parts of our thriller were irrelevant and thus we must cut out some scenes within the opening as it only confuses the audience, and this is not what we wanted to do.

Filming Schedule - Miss Georgiou

Filming schedules are important within the production of a film as they organise the filming of every shot, the location of every shot and who will be in every shot. Below is my filming schedule for the parts in which I filmed with my group.

In terms of sticking to the filming schedule we were very strict and followed every step the schedule told us to, my schedule is not complete as I was not present for certain scenes. There were certain parts that could not be done due to complications such as instead of the 4 males in smart clothing we had 3 as one of the actors was absent. However generally we stuck to it as we agreed that any changes would only complicate the entire filming process and narrative.

Shot	Date & time	Location	Content /Action	Shot type & Duration	Costume/ hair/ make up	Iconography	Personnel	Equipment
1	5:30 (26/11/13)	Debden, Essex (Amber's house - Lounge)	A wedding video of all the men getting ready (flashback)	Handheld camera (15 seconds)	4 males in suits or smart clothing	Newspaper, phone, ties	4Actors, Camera person	Digital camera, batteries, tripod,  / memory card
2	5:45 (26/11/13)	Debden, Essex (Outside)	One of the husband's friend is being murdered (flashback)	Mid shot (8 seconds)	1 male and "bride" in ruined make up and wedding dress	Knife, phone	1 actor, 1 actress, 2 camera personnel	Digital camera, batteries, tripod,  / memory card
3	6:00 (26/11/13)	Debden, Essex (Amber's house - Kitchen)	2 of the husband's friends are conversing without knowing the bride is behind them (flashback	2 man shot (30 seconds)	2 males and the "bride" in ruined make and a wedding dress	Knife, tea mugs	2 actors, 1 actress, 1 camera person	Digital camera, batteries, tripod,  / memory card
4	6:15 (26/11/13)	Debden, Essex (Amber's house - Garden)	The bride is revealed to be looking at the men through the window	Close up (5 seconds)	Bride, ruined make up	Knife	1 actress, 1 camera person	Digital camera, batteries, tripod,  / memory card
5	6:30	Debden, Essex (Amber's house - Lounge)	The husband and bridesmaid are sitting on the sofa	Panning shot (8 seconds)	Casual clothing	Tv remote	1 actor, 1 actress, 1 camera person	Digital camera, batteries, tripod,  / memory card

6	6:40	Debden, Essex (Amber's house - Stairs)	The husband walks up the stairs	High angle shot (4 seconds)	Casual clothing	Nothing	1 actor, 1 camera person	Digital camera, batteries, tripod,  / memory card
7	6:43	Debden, Essex (Amber's house - Bathroom)	The husband washes his hands and leaves the bathroom	Mid shot (5 seconds)	Casual clothing	Nothing	1 actor, 2 camera people	Digital camera, batteries, tripod,  / memory card
8	6:50	Debden, Essex (Amber's house - Bathroom)	The husband opens the bathroom door and the bride surprises him with a knife	Over the shoulder, mid shot (4 seconds)	Casual clothing, bride with wedding dress and make up	Knife	1 actor, 1 actress, 1 camera person	Digital camera, batteries, tripod,  / memory card

Risk Assessment - Miss Georgiou

There were several health and safety considerations taken within the production of our thriller opening scene. Health and safety are the regulations and procedures intended to prevent accident or injury in workplaces or public environments.

The first and most important regulation taken was the use of the prop the murderer used to kill her victims, the prop used to kill the victims was a very large kitchen knife, we used this prop as it is a household item and could be easily obtained by anybody. We were very aware of the risks that the knife held and were very cautious when handling it, as it could cause very serious injures if we were to act ignorantly when handling it. The only person to actually handle the knife was Lily who was the actress playing the role of the murderer, we made sure that the knife was kept low and she moved slowly when carrying it.

Another health and safety regulation taken was when filming on the roads or near the pavements, during certain flashback scenes. Cars can be extremely dangerous and we were very careful when filming on the roads, being hit by a car could cause very serious injury or even death and we discussed how we would eradicate the health risks before filming on the roads. We decided to film on an isolated road when it was later at night, this was as there would be a lack of traffic, this worked out very well as there were no cars that passed and we filmed with ease.

There were several other minor safety risks that we had to be aware of during the filming of our media project. The leads during filming were a trip hazard and a general safety issue, to prevent this we made sure no wire was on the floor or covered the wire with tape so nobody would trip and injure themselves. When handling the electrical equipment we made sure that there was no liquid near to prevent electric shock or breaking the equipment. The group member who's house we were filming in made sure there were no health risks or trip hazards within their home.

Production Roles - Miss Miller

People need to be allocated specific roles when creating a film for several different reasons, there are many roles within a movie production such as: director, producer, director of photography, actors, sound producers, screenplay writer, director of mise-en-scene , costume and make-up and editor.

Everybody contributing to the creation of our thriller film will participate in more ways than one, as there were only three people in our group including me we all had to play several different roles within the production of the film.

In charge of editing, sound and photography  was Amber, we concluded that Amber would be best suited to these jobs as she is very good technically and is very well skilled with computers and editing. Amber was generally in charge of camera angles and editing in our preliminary task, Amber used Final Cut Pro to edit our short clip, she showcased confidence in both aspects. Amber will also act in our opening. Amber also played a minor part in acting in the opening, playing the bride's best friend in certain scenes.

In charge of costume and make-up and writing the film was Lily, Lily was very enthusiastic to work with the costumes and make-up, she gathered the costumes such as the wedding dress and the bridesmaid dress, and used the make up well to potray a sad, heartbroken bride, the make-up ruined by tears effect and the smugged lipstick was very well done and will give the audience a visual represntation that they will be able to relate to. Lily was also a main actress within the production, playing the role of heartbroken-turned killer fiancee.

I was the producer of the thriller film, this was mainly due to my organisational skills and the group being dependant on me to provide props, determaine the location and organise the actors within the opening. I was also in charge of mise-en-scene within this thriller, I had to sort out the lighting, positioning, settings and several other aspects of the opening scene. I also had an acting role as the handsome fiancee who leaves his wife at the alter for her best friend.

There were several other small roles in which people took part in to aid to our thriller opening, several people helped with acting parts and providing of props for certain scenes, without them the production of the film would have been a lot harder.

Planning Opening Credits - Miss Georgiou

Credits are important within a movie as it credits those who have contributed to a production, opening credits introduce the important figures within the film. Opening credits since the early 1980s, identify the main actors and crew, while the closing credits list the whole cast and other actors.

 This is the conventional order of the opening credits: 

Name of studio, name of production company, producer name, big name actors, film title, featuring, casting by, music composed by, production designer.

Seven credit analysis:

The film Seven's opening credits are very good and will inspire me when making our groups opening credits. Firstly the font used is very conventional within thriller films, it appears as if it has been drawn on and is white, which stands out in front of the black background. The opening credits are also very good in terms of transitions and animations, the transitions are fast and create a sense of excitement within the audience as it is fast paced, and the credits move around almost jittering which creates tension with the audience. The distorted or erased effect of the writing also creates a sense of mystery with the audience. I was inspired to use the same sort of font within our opening credits as I thought it was conventional yet did not look too childish/pretentious.

Psycho credit analysis:

The film Psycho is another film that has a use of opening credits that I am interested in, the splitting effect used for the film title can create a sense of distress and danger as the words are broken. I will be attempting to use this to showcase the broken heart of the bride within our thriller opening credits. The use of white font and black background again has been used which can show that this is a popular method and I will consider this within my opening sequence. 

Our opening credits:

We found a font that the group agreed on entitled You Murderer online, and we will apply it to our opening as it is very conventional and much alike to the other fonts. The credits will only appear when the character is on the shot however credits may be integrated into the photo-album if people have more than one role. The font was initially decided upon as it had a sense of mystery to it and created the possibility to strike fear within the audience.

 

The original font.

The font used within our thriller clip.

The font used for  an actresses name within the credits.

Inspirations - Miss Miller

Being inspired is very important within all forms of art, we need inspiration to enable ourselves to be more creative as we need previous ideas to spur us on to create something of our own. I have looked at several different clips and films in order to become inspired and get some ideas.

Sound

One of the films I looked at was the noire thriller Sin City, the strong use of close ups, especially the use of extreme close ups. I was very interested in the use of these close ups for several reasons, firstly the close ups within the film are used to show certain aspects of a character, physically or mentally, the audience can read the character's face and determine certain things about them for example: within our thriller opening the bride's eye shadow is ruined, with the use of a close up the audience will be able to see this and make the assumption that her eye shadow is ruined because of her tears, and thus that she is upset.

Another of the films I researched was Saw, there is a strong use of the handheld camera effect within it, the use of handheld cameras is used within several thriller films as it creates a strong sense of urgency and action within a certain exciting scene. The handheld camera shot will be used during a majority of the flashbacks, the shot will be in the style of a wedding video to create a sense of realism. The handheld camera may also be used in the present scene, as the bride may be looking into the camera or filming to state she is going to kill the husband.

I have been strongly inspired by the use of straight and jump cuts within the thriller film. The use of both jump and straight cuts will be used when bride is looking at the photo album as there will firstly be a focus on the bride's hands, then there will be a focus on the bride's photo album. The jump cut will add a sense of urgency within the bride and will keep the audience alert as they will know that the photo album holds relevance within the scene, and the jump cuts in the shocking parts of the opening as the audience will not be expecting what is going to happen next and thus will be suprised if something was to jump out which looked disturbing. We will also use straight cuts when going to the flashbacks as they are quick and are intended to be tense.


                        

Planning cinematography - Miss Miller

There are several aspects of cinematography that will be used within our thriller opening, cinematography is important as the audience could not be able to see what is occurring within a scene, cinematography also gives the audience different angles and views of the same scene so a director can quickly showcase different points of focus within their film.

Our thriller opening will have a strong use of close ups, this is for a number of reasons, firstly the killer's identity is kept hidden throughout the film to create tension and a sense of mystery for the audience. The close ups will focus on certain aspects of the killer, for instance one particular shot will be an extreme close-up and will focus on the killer's eyes, bloodshot, bags under and make up ruined with tears the audience will easily be able to conclude that the killer has had a very bad experience and is very distraught by this, even without background knowledge or the use of flashbacks. Another example of this use of the close ups within the thriller is when in one shot the focus is on the killers hands and the end of her arms, firstly the audience will notice the killer's nails, painted and decorated nicely the audience will be able to identify the gender of the killer as female without any knowledge of this, combined with the killer being in her wedding dress the audience will be able to obtain some knowledge that the person was a bride-to-be in some sort of distress.

Another use of cinematography is the Point of View angle used in our thriller, this camera shot is used to put the audience in the eyes of a certain character. This shot will be used in two instances: firstly when the "bride" is looking at her photo album and secondly when the flashbacks are occurring. When the bride is looking at the photo album the camera will be as if it is in the view of her and can showcase how vulnerable she is and the importance of the photo album because of the way she holds it. The Point Of View shot used within the flashback sequences will create a sense of anticipation and tension, the "bride" will be carrying a weapon, most likely a knife and will be heading towards the victims whom have been crossed off on the photo album, the audience will be able to anticipate that the victims are about to be killed and will also associate the weapon with danger, thus creating a sense of tension.

We will use the handheld shot within our opening, this camera shot is used to create a sense of realism and urgency within a particular scene. The handheld camera shot will be used during a majority of the flashbacks, the shot will be in the style of a wedding video to create a sense of realism. The handheld camera may also be used in the present scene, as the bride may be looking into the camera or filming to state she is going to kill the husband. Handheld shots are used in extremely tense scenes that create a shaky and an urgent sense.                                                                

Preliminary task - Miss Georgiou

My group members are myself, Amber-Louise Reed-Johnson and Lily Badcock.

The intention of the preliminary task was to familiarise ourself with the camera and tripod and also to experiment with camera angles, camera shots and editing techniques. Our group was given the task of creating a one minute clip of a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character and exchanging dialogue. We were asked to use camera angles such as the 180 degree angle and the camera shot the mid shot.

The first camera shot used was the panning shot, this lasted 4 seconds and consisted of the man walking to the door, panning shots are used to follow a specific character and duly so that is how we used it, the main point of focus within this shot is the man and the audience will follow where he is going. Another panning shot is used several seconds after when the man enters the room and begins to converse with the woman. This shot put the point of focus on both of the characters and sets the two characters up for a conversation.

The next shot used is the two man shot from behind, both characters fit into the shot and thus a conversation can easily be held without continusly having to cut to each character. Two man shots are used to fit two characters within one shot as they are both the point of focus within a particular scene. The two man shot is used again when the man and the woman exchange books, this time at the front and close up, the facial expressions of both characters can be deciphered and the audience can see that they are happy.

A close up is used when the man gets a book out for the woman, the audience have a closer view and can see the character's facial expressions, a very important aspect of reading and relating to a character. Close ups are very common within movies as they create an undeniable sense of focus on a particular aspect within a shot.

Within this task we learnt several things in terms of editing and cinematography. We learnt how to edit our clip with Final Cut Pro, we learnt transitional techniques and how to crop and cut unwanted parts of a clip. We learnt how to handle the equipment, the tripod was hard to use however we overcame the obstacle and easily used it to get a better more stable camera angle. Our group worked well together and we easily made the clip and edited it, there were no arguments and the acting was well done with a lack of mistakes. We now have experience in terms of filming and have the confidence to film by ourselves and use the equipment in the near future.

Here is the clip we made for our preliminary task:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL6hTM7J0d0                             

Planning sound - Miss Miller

There are several instances of different sounds within our thriller opening. Sound is used to create an effect within a thriller and helps aid the audience know what is happening within the particular scene. We have planned to use both non-diagetic and diagetic sound within our opening sequence.

A use of non-diagetic sound within our opening is the use of the music that plays at the beginning, there is also a use of contrapuntal sound as one instance of music is the opposite of the atmosphere made by the low key lighting and setting. The music is generally positive and is in the theme of weddings and romance, which is a contrast from the despair that the "bride" is feeling. The music will feature throughout however will be distorted in certain parts. There will be two soundtracks that will play within our opening: The Police - Every Breath You Take and a eerie sounding background track. The first song is in the theme of romance and the second is a scary sounding track, both contrasting but relevant to our film.

A use of diagetic sound will be the use of dialogue within the flashbacks of our opening, during the flashbacks there will be laughter, and general discussion, the use of happy talking and atmosphere will be used to showcase the difference in situations that the "bride" was in, an audience will easily be able to decipher that the "bride" was going to get married previously and her friends and family were excited, and now she has been left and she is upset and angry. A lack of dialogue in the present tense can also showcase that the "bride" is upset as she has isolated herself and does not want to talk to anyone. A silent killer within a thriller film is a conventional thing as it creates mystery and hides a sense of personality of the killer.

Another use of diagetic sound is the sounds made from killing the victims, the weapon : a knife will make stabbing and slashing sounds to greater show the effect of danger the victims are in. The sound may be enhanced as stabbing sounds are not as noticable in real life as in films, this is a usual aspect within all movies, not just thrillers as it can become a key point of focus within a film as the director intends it to be.       

Individual storyboard - Miss Miller

My storyboard will be used through out the filming process of a thriller, I will refer strongly to the notes I have made regarding editing, camera angles and iconography. The storyboard showcases my idea of how the narrative should take place, and how each frame should be.

Group storyboard - Miss Miller

In our groups we discussed each of our individual storyboards and collaborated until we were happy with each frame. We took our time in deciding how we wanted our story to pan our as we know that he storyboard will be strongly used within the filming process and we will refer to the notes to aid our cinematography and editing. 

Lily's storyboard can be found here:
Amber's storyboard can be found here:                  

Each of the storyboards generally were similar in terms of narrative however we all had different ideas when it came to camera angles and editing. The idea of flashbacks was very popular within our group as they can tell the audience what had happened in the past whilst staying in the present, we thus decided to use this feature within our opening. Amber's storyboard had a variety of editing, the most notable being the use of the Kuleshov effect, this causes the audience to come up with a conclusion of what happened and this can provoke them.

In mine and Lily's storyboard there was a strong use of lighting, the use of low key lighting was important to both of our storyboards. We concluded that we will use low key lighting within specific parts of the scene and have a main source of light and strong lighting within the flashbacks, as mine and Lily's storyboard had suggested.            

 

Planning editing styles - Miss Georgiou

Editing is important within a thriller film as it can create feelings within a film and so the audience can understand what is going on within the film. Editing is the use of different effects and styles that create an effect for the audience and make things more interesting. Editing will be important within my opening sequence as it can create tension and build suspense, and can also entice the audience. My editing will be generally conventional to a thriller film.

One piece of editing that will be used within our opening will be the use of jump cuts, a jump cut is a cut in film editing in which two shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly, this piece of editing will be used during the parts in which the bride is looking at the photo album as there will firstly be a focus on the bride's hands, then there will be a focus on the bride's photo album. The jump cut will add a sense of urgency within the bride and will keep the audience alert as they will know that the photo album holds relevance within the scene.

Another piece of editing we will use is the credits within the beginning of the opening. We decided to make our credits distinct and interesting and combined the credits with the photo album: everybody that had contributed towards the thriller would feature within the photo album with a photo and the role they had. We decided to use this method as it would be unconventional in terms of credits and the audience would be interested in it.

We decided to use straight cuts within our thriller during the shocking parts, as the audience will not be expecting what is going to happen next and thus will be suprised if something was to jump out which looked disturbing. We will also use straight cuts when going to the flashbacks as they are quick and are intended to be tense.

The group's favourite piece of editing is the use of the Kuleshov effect. This will feature during the flashbacks as the bride will cross of the victim's face and then the camera will cut to the victim's running away or the killer behind them, the audience will be able to conclude that the victim has been murdered without actually seeing the vctim being killed or a dead body.    

























         

Group Narrative - Miss Georgiou

What is the purpose of a narrative?

A narrative is a sequence of connected events that tells a story, this can be presented to a reader or listener in a sequence of written or spoken words, or in a sequence of moving pictures.  Narratives can be organised in a number of thematic and/or formal/stylistic categories: non-fiction (e.g. New Journalism, creative non-fiction, biographies, and historiography); fictionalised accounts of historical events (e.g. anecdotes, myths, and legends); and fiction proper (i.e. literature , such as short stories and novels, and sometimes in poetry and drama.           

How did you and your group discuss your individual ideas?

In our groups we all talked about our own ideas and discussed how the opening would go, such as what features we would use and we concluded as to what the best opening would be. We took inspiration from all narratives and took aspects from all the ideas within the group, we decided to go with Amber's idea as it was unique and very well planned, we however added conventional techniques from each of our groups such as the use of hidden identity and extreme close ups in Lily's idea and the strong use of lighting and facial expressions in my narrative.

 

Group 1 Member, Lily: Lily's narrative idea was the idea we were initially going to choose. The film is about an arsonist who was abused as a child and was a burns victim, he uses fire to kill all his victims, we were all interested in the use of make up and iconography within this narrative as there would be several instances of people who had been burnt.  

Group 2 Member, Amber: Amber's idea is the idea we decided to choose, we liked how unique it was and we agreed that examiners would enjoy this as it would be different to other clips whilst maintaining the conventions of a thriller film. Her idea was about a woman who gets jilted at the alter, desperate for revenge she kills everyone close to her ex-fiancée and eventually plotting the death of him. 

Group 3 Member, Jazz: My group narrative had several aspects used within the opening sequence, the use of hidden identity and the motif of the colour red will be used to create tension. The use of unconventional characters was taken from my narrative as this meant our thriller would be distinct and unique which resultantly will mean the examiner will be more interested in ours.

Define the 3 theories

There are several theories from different people that claim makes up a good narrative.

Vladimir Propp had the idea that characters are the most important factor towards telling a story within a film however this idea generally is only relevant in children's films and other genres but most characters do not link to the thriller genre. There are 8 characters that Vladimir says make up a movie:

The Hero
The Villain
The Donor
The Dispatcher
The False Hero
The Helper
The Princess
The Father

Tzvetan Todorov had a theory of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium within narratives.

The 5 stages of the narratives were:

A state of equilibrium
A disruption of that order
A recognition of disruption
An attempt to repair disruption
A restoration of equilibrium

Erving Goffman's theory suggests that there are four main types of character that make up a narrative.

The protagonist
The deuteragonist
The bit player
The fool  

Research into target audience - Miss Miller

We interviewed random people to find out what an audience would expect and want within a conventional thriller film.

What age are you?

57% of our interviewees were 15-17 and this was intentional as our target audience was 15 and above, as this is the prime age of movie watchers and the our film would get the most audience. We used older participants to see what they wanted within a thriller film as well as they arguably have more experience in watching thriller films and could give a better insight towards the conventional thriller techniques needed.

What gender are you?

68% were surprisingly female, this is primarily because our film is unconventional in the sense that the female is the antagonist and a majority of the victims are male, this is very unusual as the victims in thriller films are usually female, also the film is not only focusing on thriller aspects within a movie, it also has a sense of romance or revenge and this traditionally could be a more female liked subject, we therefore used more females to indicate what they would want within a movie.

Which age certificate do you prefer watching?

65% of our response was 15+ this was good as this is our intended audience and can furthermore prove that 15+ certificates are popular.  

Do you have an interest in sequels?

50% said yes, this was interesting as our group had expected a negative response to this question however we can now implement a cliff hanger or something to set our group up for another movie.

What characters would you like to see in a thriller?

 Both victim and killer were almost even in popularity within this question, this can indicate that the audience do not want something unconventional when it comes to there being a killer and a victim as this is one of the most traditional features within the thriller genre, we will be using both characters within our film most definitely.

Would you like to see conventional or different characters?

70% of participants responded with different character which was good for us as our character could be argued as different to the conventions of a killer. We will now opt to make sure all our characters are unique and grab the attention of the audience.      

The results that we gained were generally what we expected, our group aimed to ask more females as the thriller is aimed for females. The aspects of a thriller wanted by the audience showed us that people wanted conventional things and that we should not be too radical in terms of making our thriller unconventional. We decided to go with a 15 rating as this meant that we could have aspects of violence and thrill but also get a wider variety of audience.

Characters in a thriller film - Miss Miller

We will have several conventional and un-conventional characters within our thriller films to keep the audience entertained and get them to relate with the characters.

Bride:

Name - Lindsey.
Age - 19/20.
Relationships - Engaged to Hayden, best friends with Jessica.
Personality - Fun, bubbly, friendly.
Summary - Bride-to-be turned killer after being betrayed by everyone around her and jilted on her wedding day.

Our main character is the villain or arguably protagonist is the "bride", jilted by her husband at the alter she is heartbroken and desperate for revenge. The character will be attractive and innocent looking, as the audience will not suspect that she would be a murderer or that she would be sinister in any way. The bride will look sad and depressed when in the present time, this will be noticable through use of make-up and facial expressions, however when in the flashbacks the bride will look happy and pretty as she is happy. We intended to create a character that was unconventional within a thriller film as usually the killer is a male and either is insane or weird in a certain aspect, we all agreed that a character much alike to the audience watching the film, who lives an ordinary life, with ordinary friends would be a very relatable and interesting character within our film.

Groom:

Name - Hayden.
Age - 20
Relationships - Engaged to Lindsey, best friends with Cass, Kofi and Gurbir, cheating with Jessica.
Personality - Selfish, charasmatic, funny.
Summary - Unfaithful man who runs off with his fiancee's best friend, he leaves the fate of himself and his friends in the hands of Lindsey.

Our other main character is the main victim or the "groom", who left the bride on the day of their wedding day. The groom is constantly paranoid and has a suspicion that somebody is watching them. The groom will look like a conventional thriller film antagonist and this will be for two reasons, firstly the film is shot in the viewpoint of the bride and thus the man who broke her heart will accordingly look evil in her eyes. Another reason for this is so the victims look completely unconventional, this will create confusion within the audience as they will not know who each character is or be able to predict what is going to happen thus also creating suspense.

Best friend:

Name - Jessica
Age - 20
Relationships - Best friends with Lindsey, having an affair with Hayden.
Personality - Sly, manipulative, selfish
Summary - Lindsey's best friend who betrays her and spurs Hayden into leaving Lidnsey at the alter.

The other most noteworthy character is Jessica, the best friend and bridesmaid to Lindsey, she is a deceptive woman who goes against her best friend and cheats with her fiancee. We wanted to create a relatable story line that is realistic and the audience could understand the feelings of the killer and almost sympathise with her, essentially brandishing the title of her being a killer and more of a protagonist in the eyes of the viewer.

Other characters are generally extras such as the friends of the groom (all male) and the bridesmaids of the bride (all female) there may also be the inclusion of the family of the groom. All of the characters that are close to the groom will be at risk of being murdered by the bride and a majority of them will be.                        

Planning mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Why is mise-en-scene important within a thriller film?

Without mise-en-scene you couldn't tell a story or present a narrative, it consists of 5 key elements that helps the audience depict what is happening: Lighting, Settings & Props, Costume, Facial Expressions, and Positioning.  

What is the mise-en-scene of your thriller & why? 

The scenes set within the present tense will all have low key lighting for several reasons, firstly the darkness will create a tense atmosphere, secondly it will aid with hiding the killers face within the thriller. The audience will be able to link the darkness with the sadness the "bride" is feeling, the dark room will also be eerie for the audience and combined with the soundtrack will create tension. The lighting within all the flashbacks are completely different, with bright lights and high contrast to mirror the happy mood the scene.

Lighting conceals this person's identity,
creating a sense of mystery.

The bright lighting makes this character look
good or like a protagonist.

                              

In terms of settings and props the opening will only primarily feature in one location: the bride's bedroom, however the lighting will be different in both the past and the present to mirror the atmosphere of the scene, there will be a change of location however during the flashback sequences, in the groom's house and outside the wedding venue. The main props within the scene is the photo-album: which will be used for both the credits, and to identify the people the bride will kill and the knife that the bride uses to kill the victims, the knife will essentially become a motif within the film and the audience will be able to associate that with murder or danger. 

 

In terms of costume the key outfit within the opening will be the wedding dress worn by the bride, this is so that the audience will be able to identify that this is the main character within the thriller film even without seeing her face. The people who are preparing for and at the wedding will dress accordingly, the men in suits and the girls in dresses, this is relatable to the audience and this is conventional clothing of a wedding. The make-up worn by the bride will also play a key part, during the flashbacks her make-up will be nice, and after (in the present) the make-up will be ruined, by tears.   

In terms of facial expressions, the bride/main character's face will not be shown fully to hide her identity however through the use of extreme close ups the audience will be able to see certain parts of her face. One close up on the bride will zoom into her eyes and show that she is crying, and another will show that the bride is angry through the use of eyebrows and her mouth. During the flashbacks the facial expressions and body language within the particular scene will be energetic and happy as the characters are excited for the wedding.

In terms of positioning there is a lack of general positioning or even dialogue within the scene, the characters and objects within the scene will cover the bride's face to create suspense and keep the audience eager to see what the bride looks like and who she is. There will also be a use of positioning that hides the bride and creates shock as the audience will not be able to see her.         

How is the mise-en-scene conventional to a thriller film?

A majority of the aspects within  the opening will be conventional to thriller film's mise-en-scene's, the strong use of low key lighting is an aspect of thrillers that is used widely as it can hide characters and create an eerie atmosphere we wish to create the same atmosphere as the audience will be gripped and eager to carry on watching to find out what will happen. We will also use the characters victim and the killer, although not conventional of the fact that the victims are males and the killer is female there is still the use of these two characters. Another convention we will use is the weapon used to murder the bride's victims, the audience will immediately be able to associate this weapon with murder and violence.

How can your thriller build a relationship with your target audience?

My thriller will be able to create a relationship with my target audience through the use of sympathy, the audience will feel sorry for the bride as she has been left at the alter and some of the audience may even be on the side of the killer as they can relate to the character. The fact that the film is set in the present time means that the audience will be able to relate to the film as the things occurring in the film are also occurring in real life. 

Opening Scene Analysis - Miss Georgiou

I will be researching the conventions within the opening scene of Halloween and how the audience are made aware of these conventions.

One convention within the scene would be the use of hidden identity of the antagonist, this is created through the use of a clowns mask which the killer uses to cover his face and the use of a Point Of View camera angle, which hides the killers face as the audience are seeing the world through the killers viewpoint, the use of hidden identity creates tension as the audience are eager to find out what the killers real identity is. Both masks within the Halloween film could be deemed as disturbing or scary which is traditional when a killer is hiding their identity, this is to create a shock factor as there can often be jump cuts the zoom in directly into the antagonist's face and the mask is can scare the audience even more as it is a motif throughout the film that is intentionally something that is disturbing such as a clown or a disfigured face. A hidden identity is a very traditional feature within thriller films an has remained as arguably one of the most important within the genre, it has remained consistent within films as it has only slightly been affected by advances within technology, as other features such as gore of suspense and the introduction of special effects which meant that several traditional feats of a film where scrapped.

Another convention within the scene is the victim, the victim is blonde and attractive which is extremely traditional within all films in modern days, the convention can be appealing to the male viewers of the film, and the actress has been intentionally cast for not only her acting but her appearance. There is often a romantic sub plot within the films between the protagonist and the victim. The killer could also be conventional as it is portrayed to be a child and children are used in several thriller films as they are seen as non violent and can be disturbing towards an audience. An audience would be able to engage with characters if they are more visually appealing and can distinguish the good people and the bad people within a film as good people in a movie are generally attractive and bad people generally unattractive.    

Within the opening there is a strong use of iconography, the knife within the opening is made a point of interest when the killer grabs the knife out of the drawer, there is a focus shot and the surroundings are blurred so that the only thing that is in good contrast is the knife, the audience can anticipate that the knife will result in somebody being murdered. A knife or blade has always been a traditional weapon used in films as they are violent and can result in several gory ways of death such as decapitation or stab wounds, an audience will always be associate a knife with murder and a murderer. Iconography is important within a thriller film and the use of motifs through thrillers can create an inevitable sense of tension.

Overall this clip uses several conventions familiar to a thriller film and resultantly creates tension and makes the audience engage with characters better.
   

Research into Sound in Thriller - Miss Miller

Sound is an important aspect of all films as without it the audience would not be able to relate with the film as they cannot hear or comprehend what is happening in a particular scene. I will be analysing the sound of the thriller clip from Saw.

A use of non diagetic parallel sound would be the music within the scene, the music creates an exciting atmosphere as it is of fast tempo, the music is suitable to the situation within the film as the people within the scene are in trouble and there is a dangerous feel, the momentum coming from the mixture of the music and the cinematography creates a strong sense of excitement for the audience. The music also starts less tense and builds up, the drums kick in and the tempo becomes faster when the victims are attempting to escape the trap, this creates suspense and urgency as the audience can anticipate that the deaths of these victims are approaching. Music is used in all movies to create a certain feelings and emotions, they are often composed and tend to either be extremely fast paced in things such as a chase scene, or slow and tense to create suspense or build up an eerie atmosphere.

A use of diagetic sound could be the conversation the people trapped are having, as it clearly correlates with what is happening in the film and the sound is made within filming, the diagetic sound may have been emphasized or amplified however to create a stronger effect or so that the audience can hear what they are saying, diagetic sound is a common feature within all movies and is very important so that the audience can understand what is happening on the shot, except animations as the sounds are all added on. Diagetic sounds are  convenient and can tell the story better as the audience can relate with the familiar sounds.

Another use of non diagetic souund would be the voiceover of Jigsaw, who is explaining to the victims the task they must complete. This sound is added on and has been affected to sound more scary to both the victims and the audience. Voiceovers are used for certain monsters or characters within films as the actual sound cannot be made without special effects. Jigsaw souunds distorted and has a low voice. 

Sound is a vital part of movies, it can create an atmosphere and sets the scene, it can be used to create a certain emotion within a scene and can get the audience to relate to the scene.

Research into the history of Thriller Films - Miss Georgiou

The History of Thriller Films

The thriller genre is one of the most popular within filmography in modern times, the use of suspense, tension and shock within the films scare and entice the audience, they are intended to stimulate an audience and give them different emotions. I will be researching how thriller films have evolved from the 1950's to the 2000's, in terms of mise-en-scene, narratives and conventions.          

The 39 Steps is a thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1959, it is a remake of 1935 version and an adaption of the novel The 39 Steps by John Buchan, it has been labelled as one of the suspenseful thriller films of all time. Alfred Hitchcock is one of the pioneers of the thriller genre, some of the conventions used within his films that are still within the thriller industry include the traditional victim and antagonist, Hitchcock usually favored to have attractive blonde females as the victim, this is due to his own mother growing up and recalling that his father would regularly abuse him and his mother, the use of a female is due to the fact that they are traditionally seen as more vulnerable than males. The use of a female victim who teds to be attractive is still a regular convention in not only the thriller genre but all movies genres, this is due to there usually being a romantic subplot between the protagonist and the victim. Alfred Hitchcock is mainly credited for being the "father of suspense," he create tension through several different techniques, there is a strong use of suspense within thrillers in modern day, however it is not as big of an aspect in some thrillers that are more fixated on gore and violence.

Portrait in Black is a thriller film directed by Michael Gordon, although the use of hidden identity had been used within several earlier thriller movies it is used very well within Portrait in Black to create mystery, the use of hidden identity is a convention  that is widely used in thriller films as it creates suspense as the eager are eager to find out who the killer is, the antagonists usually conceal their identity through the use of a mask or the dark, the masks tend to be disturbing in a sense to give even bigger shock value. The concept of being followed by a mysterious man is a popular narrative as the audience can engage with the victim/protagonists paranoia and fear.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a thriller film that was very influential within the slasher thriller sub-genre, it focused primarily on gore instead of the previously favored focus on tension and suspense, this however could be due to the previous restrictions within censorship, there were extreme limitations on what could be shown during the beginning of all movies, there could be no scenes of gore or violence and therefore when these limitations were taken away there were several films that tested the limits and tried to break barriers with controversy within the film industry. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is extremely gory and is seen as a cult thriller movie that influenced several other movie films and is still a running franchise in modern day times. The films narrative of a group of young people who are terrorized by one man with a hidden identity has been widely used and is a very popular narrative.

Dead Calm is an Australian film featuring Nicole Kidman, the film centers around a couple who are isolated and get attacked by a mysterious man, this is a very popular narrative that has featured in films such as The Strangers. This concept is popular as it is relatable to real life and the audience can engage with the characters and feel more concerned of their well-being of the victims, several films use relationships to create certain emotions within a film, such as a scene in which a sacrifice must be made such as in Saw when a man must choose to kill random people in order to save his wife and children, this creates suspense, or in which a persons partner is killed and a sad atmosphere is created.

Shutter Island has a strong use of lighting within the film to create certain effects, low key lighting can create tension and set up a shock for the audience. The film is set in a mental institution, the concept of mentally unstable is a popular one in films such as the Machinist, this is used as characters are unpredictable and the audience will not be able to guess the protagonist or antagonists next move, creating a sense of mystery.

Overall the thriller genre has not evolved as such, but been effected by things such as advances in technology and censorship, narratives are constantly being inspired by other films and there is always a recycling process in the industry, the main concept throughout the years of thriller films remains to be suspense, however in recent times gore and violence has been a factor.

Conventions of a Thriller Film - Miss Miller

I will be researching the conventions of a thriller film, there are several conventions within the thriller genre, mainly consisting around the sense of suspense, shock and surprise. I will be looking at the film Eagle Eye.

A convention used within this film is a vulnerable female and a male hero, this is common to thriller films as traditionally males are seen as more dominant and the protectors over females, whom from the influence of Alfred Hitchcock have always been timid victims. Within a thriller film it is usual that the female victim will be in trouble and it will be the male heroes duty to save her, there is most usually a romantic sub-plot, however that is a usual convention within all genres of movies as it gives the audience a relatable engagement, both characters are generally good looking and athletic. Thriller films generally always have a female victim and are most usually blonde and attractive, films such as Psycho and Texas Chainsaw Massacre use female victims and sexualise them in order to gain male and especially teenage appeal, the use of this resultantly will leads to higher viewership and a higher profit. The male audience may grow fond and form a relationship with a particular female character and thus will create a better viewing for them and they may also be more shocked and emotional if they were to be killed.




The male protaginist protects the
vulnerable female, the use of worried
facial expressions and the positioning
of the woman under the male shows
he is more powerful and in command.

Another convention within this film is the hidden identity of the villain, in thriller films the villains identity is usually kept secret through a mask or darkness, or even in a phone call as it is in this clip the main aim of this is to maintain suspense and so the audience are eager to find out who the killer is, and what their motives are, the villains mask is usually disturbing to shock the audience when there are close ups. The use of a phone call in this scene creates a sense of mystery as it makes the audience unaware of if the villain is alone or part of an organisation, it gives no clue to what the villains back story is as only a small part of information is given on their behalf as they are ordering the victims. Hidden identities within thriller films is very common, films such as Scream and Halloween both hide the identity of the killer to both create tension as the audience do not know anything about the killer and to create a shocking motif, the audience will soon relate the mask or costume both the killers are wearing and anticipate death and danger is nearing.

The antagonist within the thriller is hidden behind a
computer and thus the audience cannot tell
anything about them, thus creating suspence and
blocking the emotional relationship the film makers
woudl not want their audience to have with a killer.        

A convention within this clip is the use of tense music within the scene, this creates an atmosphere and sets the scene, the tense music used can make the audience anticipate that bad things are coming as this is a usual convention and a sign that the victim or hero is in trouble, the tense music, combined with a shocking moment can be a strong surprise for the audience as they may not have been expecting it. The tense music increases in tempo which creates excitement and a sense of adrenaline within the audience as it relates with the scene in which there is a situation where the mysetrious phoncaller is asking the female victim if she would risk her life for her son, the audience are eager to see what her reaction would be and what will happen next. Music and sound effects are an incredibly important aspect of thriller film as it can create feelings and emotions single-handedly, for example within Shutter Island the use of a repeating heartbeat that eventually begins to raise in tempo creates a feeling of urgency that can give the audience a sense of what is approaching.
In the clip the setting is very dark and there is a focus on the victim and the screen which shows the victims child, this makes these two things a strong point of focus and the audience cannot ignore these things. The use of low key lighting is very conventional  The dark setting is a very regular convention as the dark is traditionally correlated with evil and the dark is used by villains as they can hide easily and scare victims, the audience will feel scared as the setting is dark and the villain could be anywhere as they are not on screen. Lighting is incredibly important within filmography as it can create a certain perspective and adjust the audiences perception on a particular character, for example the use of bright main lighting on a character can make the character instantaneously look pure and like a protaginist, and the use of low key lighting the opposite.

The use of low key lighting instantly can give the
audience a sign that this character is evil.