Inspirations - Miss Miller

To be inspired is to be influenced by something which arouses the persons mind by emotions or actions.

 We need inspiration before we can create something so we can generate ideas of creativity to include in our own work. Having inspiration doesn't only just give you good ideas, it can also motivate you to do better in your work and to also make us feel passionate about the things we do. We can take inspiration from anything, anything that is related to what your doing. In relation to the thriller genre, I have taken my inspiration from the internet, videos/clips, books and most importantly films in the thriller genre.

Sound

(Prom Night and Silence of the lambs)

In my own thriller I would like the sound to be calm and peaceful with out of tune, high pitched sounds. I also want the sound to increase with pace, to reflect the characters emotions and to also contrast with the actions going on in each frame.

I have taken inspiration of sound from two thriller films, prom night and silence of the lambs.

The sound from prom night used high pitched sounds and diegetic sound , such as, voices of characters. As you can hear in the sound clip below Lisa is panting, breathing heavily, screaming etc. This all impacts the audience positively, as they can connect with the character through there emotions/sounds this will then scare the audience. In my own thriller I would now like to include diegetic sound such as characters dialogue/screaming.

I was also inspired by the film 'Silence of the lambs' to use diegetic sound. Diegetic sound are sounds like, sound effects, mood music and any off screen sound. I would like to use this type of sound because it adds dramatic effect.

 Music represented as coming from objects/instruments in the narrative is called 'source music'. Source music is shown in the silence of the lambs - cop scene. We see this when the classical music is supposedly playing from the radio. Source music sets the scene,  making the scene more realistic.

 In this cop clip, the sound changes according to the plot of the narrative. This is shown when Hannibal grabs the police officer, the sound immediately changes from calm, classical music to a more menacing, suspense sound effect. This again plays on the audiences emotions manipulating them to be relaxed, then tense, this is caused by the build up of tension. Due to this scene, I would like to include an object like a phone, and play off screen sound. To add more of a dramatic impact.

The reason I would like to use both diagetic and non-diagetic sound is because it can show ambiguity.

Mise-en-scene

(Saw V)

Mise-en-scene is the arrangement of everything that appears in the frame – these include actors, lighting, decor, props and costume. I was inspired to include plain dressed, average looking actors as this will allow the target audience to connect with the characters on a personal level. I would also like to include low-key lighting as low-key lighting is used to create shadows and create suspense. Low-key lighting also suggests an air of mystery, as the characters faces and some objects are not shown so it creates a sense of enigma. I want the decor to be a natural typical setting with passing cars and located on a dark road this will emphasize the realistically of the setting and then cause terror. Props, we haven't decided to use any props except for a knife and maybe a mask to display the theme of hidden identity.  The film saw V really used all the conventions of the typical thriller.

Cinematography

(Halloween)

I was inspired by the film Halloween to use different cinematography techniques. The first one is a long shot of a house, I used this to introduce the beginning of the scene. As I used this long shot to start my film, it then allowed me to build on the narrative of the film by going into more detail (zooming in/close-ups). I was also inspired to use a jerky handheld camera movement, I used this to create a more homemade/dramatic feel to the scene. This was shown in the film Halloween when the boy was walking towards the house, to show that there is someone out there. I also used the same concept.

Another type of cinematography technique I was inspired by and included in my own thriller was panning. Panning was shown in Halloween when the villain was going round the house. I used panning to follow the character running and to also show the surroundings of the setting. Panning creates a smooth, swiveling movement. I used it because it creates the motion of a person turning there head from side to side, as I wanted the audience to feel as if the camera is the villain looking around.

I was also inspired to include close ups, high angles, and mid shots. All the emphasize on the main characters and show the characters emotions in some scenes. 

 Editing

(The Strangers)

I was inspired by the film 'The strangers' to use different editing techniques, such as the jump cuts , fast cutting, short takes, continuity editing and straight cut.

A jump cut is 'a cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly'. - Wikipedia. A jump cut is used to show the passing of time, I was inspired to use this by the film Halloween as it used the shot to show the passing of time when the little boy was walking out of his house. I included a abrupt cut in my thriller to yes increase the time but to also disorient viewers, and represent paranoia. 

In the film stangers there was alot of cutting used. It was shown when the woman in the house kept moving around, it showed us different angles of the setting. Straight cutting is where one shot suddenly changes to the next shot. A shot can transition to another shot by using wipe, fade or a dissolve. I was inspired to include this in my own thriller because changes the scene and setting easily this way. It also is used to change the POV or to build and create on a image/idea.

e.g of a straight cut

I was also inspired to use a eyeline match, a eyeline match consists of two shots. The first shows the character look off in one direction. The following shot shows what the character is looking at. This creates enigma and gives the audience information. I included this when the young girl was going out to jog, she looked down at her feet. And there was then a close up of the shoes. 

e.g of a eyeline match


In my thriller I was also inspired to include a 'fade in' effect. This is when the screen appears just a blank, black screen to begin with, and then the shot begins to fade in. This usually occurs at the beginning of a scene to indicate a softer, quieter introduction. This just creates a smoother way to transition cuts. I include the fade in effect at the beginning of my thriller to open up the scene. This allows the audience to have time to think about what they are going to see. 

example of fade in/out effect

Lastly, I included some short takes, continuity editing and fast cutting. This was used to increase the pace of some of the tense moments in my thriller and to also emphasize a moment or a reaction. I used these in the violent scenes to increase the tension and suspense to audience receive. 

Codes and conventions

(Scream)

Fast paced editing - chase scene

 In scream 4 there was a use of young teenage girls and blonde victims, this is typical to the thriller genre. The reason these type of characters are used is to make the audience feel empathy towards the character as they appear more vulnerable on the screen. This did inspire me, however, In my own thriller I did use young victims but they weren't blonde. I felt that the hair colour of the characters had no impact on the film. But it did sometimes give the audience a perception of that character, but I didn't feel that mattered. As long as the characters came across as vulnerable it's fine.

In many thrillers there are the use of mirrors/stairs. These were both included in scream 4, when they girls were running away from the antagonist.Mirrors are used are a convection by using a reflection of ones inner self, mirrors can also signify darkness within some characters. I'm inspired to use mirrors in my thriller as it increases suspense if we see the antagonist in the mirror first. It will usually cause the audience to react by jumping. So i feel that mirrors can cause terror, especially when it is paired with sounds, reaction shots etc.

Stairs are another convention, this was used when the girls in scream were running away, when paired with tension music. It gives the audience an adrenaline rush filled with terror. As we don't know whether the character will get pulled back down or make it to where they are trying to get to. Stairs are good because of the angles you can receive. For example high angles, so you can see all the characters reactions running. 

e.g of mirrors in scream 4

e.g. of girl running up the stairs in scream 4

As I mentioned before about the antagonist, a antagonist is the enemy or villain who strongly opposes someone or something. A protagonist is a champion or hero who tried to defeat something. In scream 4 the character Sidney Prescott is the protagonist as she tries to defeat ghost face. Ghost face is the antagonist as he/she opposes the girls. Using this convention makes a thriller much more interesting to watch as there are two views and sides to the story, good and evil. That's why I have decided to include the same convention. 

Sidney Prescott (Hero) and Ghostface (Villain)

Ghostface also has a hidden identity as he/she has a mask on. I would like to include this as it creates enigma and tension as you don't know who the character is so the film is built upon the audience trying to find out who it is.

Ghostface hidden identity

Lastly, I was inspired to include low-key lighting/shadows. As described in mise-en-scene     low-key lighting is a convention. Low-key lighting also produces shadows, shadows can represent the evil of a character in a film. It can also give an eerie atmosphere. These were shown in scream 4 when they were looking out of the window in a dark room. Windows are also another convention that I was inspired to include in my thriller as it symbolizes freedom but in the thriller genre usually a lack of freedom. 

Windows with the use of low-key lighting

My reasearch helped me produce many ideas for my narrative as I was able to take the best parts of different films that I felt had an effect on me and produce them in my thriller. It gave me a much clearer idea on what I was trying to produce when It came to filming and directing. As I knew all the conventions and themes to include.

Planning Mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

In this post I will be planning the mise-en-scene which will be included in my opening scene of a thriller film. Mise-en-scene is 'the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play'. Mise-en-scene consists of decor, lighting, costume(hair and make-up), facial expressions and location. All film's include miss-en-scene but In this post I will be discussing why all those elements of mis-en-scene are important within a thriller film.

Lighting - In thrillers lighting plays a big part in the film, low-key lighting is often seen in thrillers. Low-key lighting is lighting that has both bright and dark areas in the frame. This lighting technique has a strong contrast and is used to frighten the audience.

However, in some thrillers there may be high key lighting, but this is often seen in romantic comedies, this is the opposite of low-key lighting by having high contrast. High key lighting is not conventional in the thriller genre.

Lighting is important within a thriller as it creates suspense for the audience and enigma, producing shadows so you can't see the villain, and making the scene alot more tense.

I'm going to include Low-key lighting in the opening scene of my thriller because it gives hints to the audience that something bad is going to take place. It also connects to the villains emotions, and the villians evil intentions; then the audience will feel scared about what is going to soon take place. High key lighting will be when our actor Beau is outside, once Beau starts hearing voices in his head the lighting will be low-key, to show the audience that what he's going through is not normal.

Costume - In thrillers costumes allow us to have an impression on the character, before the character even speaks. So a character wearing a costume has meaning to it. Also in thrillers hair/make-up makes the characters much more realistic to the situation they're going through. For e.g. fake blood, when the character gets stabbed. Fake blood makes it more realistic, and then scares the audience and terrifies them as it looks really real and gory, but It's all just fake.

In my thriller Beau is going to wear pale colours to show he's the victim but wear a black hat to signify that he's going through something, which involves his head. The contrast between these two colours will be obvious to the audience, and make them wonder. The costume our actor Beau will wear will be simple clothing that people wear like jeans and a t-shirt. This is so the audience can relate to Beau by the way he's dressing as the audience will probably be dressed in the same way.

For make-up during the murder scene where our character commits suicide we will then use a make-up artist to make the murder scene more terrifying and realistic to audience.

Facial expressions - In thrillers facial expressions are used for the audience to connect with the character through feelings and emotions, whether sad or happy. Facial expressions allow the audience to connect with the character by either feeling empathy and sadness for the innocent victim when something bad happens; Or feeling terrified when seeing facial expressions from the antagonist.

In my own thriller we don't have any actual victim and villain. Our victim and villain is incorporated into one character. So we have to make sure our actor makes very clear facial expressions to show there split personality.

Location - In a typical thriller film, location sets the scene. It creates an identity for the film. It also impacts the audience before the narrative is introduced, so they then have a feel on what type of narrative is going to be in the film. It also creates tension for the audience as they don't know what is going to happen. They're own imaginations are suspicious about the storyline. They are then excited to find out what the film is about.

In my opening scene/frame you are going to obviously see the location. The location is still undecided between two options a road near school then the victim runs into school. Or a house location where the opening frame of the film is panning into the house with low-key lighting to add enigma and suspense. But either options will be In a suburbian location, desolate/deserted area.

Decor - once the camera pans into the school or house it will have decor which adds mystery an important the objects contained in the frame. Decor sets the scene. Décor can be used to amplify character emotion or the dominant mood of a film. It adds personality to the character.

In my thriller opening I will use futuristic style furniture. An important element of "putting in the scene" is décor, the objects contained in and the setting of a scene. This idea was inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1969) the futuristic furniture and reduced color scheme stress the impersonality of the space station environment. 

To Conclude, The various elements of mise-en-scene will help my group express our film’s vision by displaying a sense of time and space, as well as setting a mood, and suggesting a character’s current state of mind.

Planning Editing styles - Miss Georgiou

'Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. The term film editing is derived from the traditional process of working with film, but now it increasingly involves the use of digital technology.' - Wikipedia

Editing is important within a thriller film because it is one of the vital aspects in the process of film production. In general, editing is done to provide coherence and continuity to a film. Through editing, shots are combined in accordance with the script to create finished movie. A shot must be short enough to fulfill the purpose. Editing also prevents miscommunication between scenes.

There are a lot of editing styles used in films but in my own thriller sequence I will be using jump cuts; A jump cut is where two sequential shots that differ slightly in positions. This type of edit gives an effect of jumping forwards in time. Jump cuts are used to create acceleration and to increase the speed of the shots in the film. This is the main reason I want to include a jump cut in my thriller is to increase the pace of the film, and to then  make the audience keep there eyes on the screen even if the jump does look unrealistic to life.

In my thriller I also want to include a 180-degree rule. The 180 degree rule is described in the picture below.

(slideshare.net)

The reason I want to use the 180 degree rule is because it allows the audience to connect with unseen movement happening around the character/objects. If we did decide to use the 180 degree wall then we would have to avoid confusing the audience. As the 180 degree rule is a good editing style to use as it will create more tension in my thriller sequence, and create enigma for the audience.

I would also like to use a wipe transition. A wipe transition is where one shot replaces the other by travelling one side of the frame to the other. I saw this in the opening frame of 'halloween' the credits and non-diegetic sound were playing on a black background. This created a lot of mystery and suspense for the audience, so after the black frame the screen wiped and you could see the house. This is the type of opening frame i'd like to do for my thriller. The reason I was so inspired by this idea is because you didn't know what the film was going to be about, it was just darkness which made it a little bit more scary for the audience to watch.

Lastly, I would like to include fast cutting. Fast cutting is the editing technique where a lot of shots are put together to increase pace. To then increase adrenaline, anticipation and excitement for the audience. I was inspired by this idea from the film 'Psycho'. In this frame with fast cuts, I also want to include extreme close-ups to add more of a terrifying effect and increase the goriness for the audience, so the film will then have more of a suspenseful impact.

I also want to include much more editing techniques but those explained above are my top four which I will definetley include in my sequence. As I feel these four will have more of a positive impact to the audience for our opening scene.

Editing styles are conventional to a thriller film as they emphasise the narrative and emphasise the tension of the film. For e.g. In thrillers the innocent victims need to connect to the audience for the audience to then feel sorry for the innocent victim. Editing does this by using extreme close ups whilst using a lot of fast cutting to impact the explictness of the murder scene.


Editing will appeal to the audience by creating suspense and mystery by using all these editing styles. Like what I said earlier 'Fast cutting' It appeals the audience by the amount of adrenaline and excitement it gives them. Making them scared and at the edge of there seats. Then forgetting that it is a fictional narrative.

Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

I will be planning my cinematography in this essay. Cinematography is important in films because each shot is used to tell a part of a story. Each shot can show how a character is feeling, what a character is doing and how the storyline is going to progress.

I believe that cinematography is important, especially in thriller films because it includes the camera shots, camera angles, camera movement and the lighting within a shot/ frame. Furthermore within our thriller we hope to create and build tension among the audience while setting a unforgettable atmosphere. 

3 cinematography techniques I'm planning to include: 

Close ups - 

(When character starts to hear voices) 

I'm going to use close ups in my thriller when the character displays strong emotion on there face (facial expressions). The reason why I want to include close ups is because it will allow the audience to have sympathy with the character and connect with them. Close ups have more of an impact on the audience. 

This is conventional to a thriller as many thrillers like to show and empathise on a characters feelings and expressions within a shot, scene/ frame.

Pov shots - The point of view shot(POV) Is a shot that shows what the character is looking at. It is sometimes out together with a reaction shot.

I want to include this in. My thriller when the character is trying to open the door. It will capture the key and door. And will then go to the characters face to are the characters emotions. The reason I want to include this is simply so we can see subjects perspective.

Mid shots - A mid shot is a shot of a person from the knees up. A mid shot will be used when the character is shown in the open frame. The reason I am going to include a mid shot is because it shows the audience that this character is the main character/the important one. And so they focus on that specific character. 

 To conclude, is important to think about the cinematography, especially in thriller films because if used effectively, cinematography can build up the tension and suspense to keep the audience on the edge on their seats. Keeping them engaged with the storyline. Without good use of cinematography the audience can’t get into the story and it loses the emotional connection the audience has with the character.

Planning Characters - Miss Miller

In thrillers characters make the film unique. Characters have hidden meanings behind them, some hidden meanings are quite obvious for e.g. A female young character suggests vulnerability. In this post I will be planning what characters are going to be In my thriller and why. 

In our thriller opening we have decided to have a blonde young character. Blonde and young both symbolise innocence. Innocence will allow the audience to connect with our character having a emotional relationship with the character. Especially during the murder/chase scene. And tense scenes where you can see close ups and facial expressions. 

We will also have by passers as characters to add realistic was to our thriller. To increase the impact of the film and to shock the audience even more to imagine if they were the characters walking past. Would they help or just stare at the teenager who is Hearing voices.

Hero will possibly be the parents 

We will possibly have parents to play the characters parents to involve a different view and perspective on the situation and to again add reality to the film. To make the film not appear fictional.

 

No villain?

The reason for this is because  the victim will be playing both the characters as the voices will be in the victims head and those voices will drive the victim to kill themselves. This will be quite unique to a thriller genre, which will attract the audience even more. Therefore, the audience will be more surprised and shocked by the narrative. But all they typical conventions will still be in there for e.g. A chase scene. 

To conclude, The opening scene won't have that many characters. However, It will still output all the good things a thriller should do to the audience 'shock,surprise, suspense'

Individual storyboards - Miss Miller

A storyboard is 'a sequence of drawings, typically with some directions and dialogue' It's a useful tool for planning stories and films. Its a series of drawings to give a finished example of what the story/video will look like. This storyboard will benefit our group by allowing us to visualize what we need to record. 

My story board includes 10 frames, with different duration times, I also included different types of camera shots for e.g. Close-ups to capture the characters emotions so the audience can form a relationship with the character. Also another e.g. is a mid shot, I chose a mid shot because It will allow the audience to find out who the main character is. 

 I used different locations in my storyboard to make my thriller more realistic and more exciting, staying in one room for the whole opening scene would be very boring for the audience to watch, and our group want to entertain the audience. 

  In my storyboard I also used a lot of low-key lighting because it creates tension and suspense for the audience, which is typical to a thriller. In my storyboard when I wrote low-key lighting I explained that it will have a dark setting, with a lot of shadows all to terrify the audience. I also will be using three point lighting,so the audience can still see the characters. However, In some frames I have decided to make the lighting high-key to shock the audience, adding something which is not typical to a thriller.

In my storyboard you can see that I have only chosen one main character, Peter(Beau) throughout the whole scene. But there will also be a few other characters playing Peter (Beau's)parents and there will be a mysterious child miner, I have included the child minder to create enigma.

One type of sound I have written in my storyboard are sounds like 'sound effects' Sound effects, non-diegetic sound. Like screams, dog barking, wind. I included this enhanced/artificial sound because it will have more of an impact on the audience.

One type of editing style I have decided to use is jump cut. A jump cut are too shots put together that vary slightly. So it gives the effect of jumping forward in time. I want to use this so boring things can be cut out.

At the end of each frame I then added a description of each frame. 

As all of our group have different ideas, next lesson we will all discuss each others storyboard ideas and create one storyboard incorporated with everyone's ideas. To create a more efficient storyboard that we can all agree on.

As listed above I have incorporated conventions of a typical thriller in my storyboard such as low-key lighting, suspense, shock and suprise, tension etc.

Preliminary Task - Miss Georgiou

This preliminary task included two people in a school setting having a basic conversation. Using different camera angles such as Close ups, over the shoulder shots and long shots and panning following the character walking out of the room.

We then edited the clip on a mac to make all the frames smooth together, making the conversation appear more realistic (edited pauses/obvious camera jumps). Also taking out noises ad making the shot continuous.

This task carried out has helped me to know what the filming of our opening scene will be like, to know how we are going to carry out these camera angles/shots and gave us an opportunity to test out the equipment.

We then uploaded the preliminary task to youtube
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWSUepGFIdo