Production Roles - Miss Miller

Production Roles

When creating a film, many roles are included as well as actors that take place behind the scenes. All people involved in the film are assigned their own role and credited in the film.  It is essential to have directors, actors, producers and people behind the scene to contribute towards the film.

In our group, the following roles are as follows

Producers- Go Butson
Director - Molly, Claire
Actors - Morgan, Jake, Molly, Grace
Director of photography- Claire
Music producers- All
Screenplay writer- Jake
MES co-ordinator- Jake
Editors- Molly

We all played a part in producing and worked together as a group to create things such as the storyboards and posts, molly and claire were the directors as they previously filmed a production at GCSE, whilst I opted to create a magazine instead.

Morgan is the main character and antagonist and while my group had to re-film I had to cover for him, molly features as his girlfriend while grace plays the mother. Claire was made director of photography as she previously took this as a GCSE subject. We all helped in chosing and producing the music relevant to the scene as we used molly's computer to open editing to edit and compare the sounds. I was made screenplay writer as I was able to showcast my talents in this as I take A-level english langauge and achieved an A in GCSE. I was made MES co-ordinator for my previous work in media studies at GCSE. Molly is the main editor as the film and memory card is on her computer.

From working with claire, mainly in molly's absense, we were able to make very effective editing with sound and also some shots in the sequence. We agreed on most ideas together and it was fun working with her as we got a lot done when on a task alone together, and hopefully I can continue working with her more in the future.

I believe Molly voiced her opinion well with most topics and took a good stand on things, especially improvements to make and the overall editing and also she performed well in her acting role, however I tried to involve myself as best as I could within the group and felt I was often shut out, and from the beginning they did not need me to act nor change the plot, and although I enjoyed my roles as MES Co-ordinator, screenplay writer and sound editor, I wished she would've let me take part in more things in the group, that I hope will happen during the next group task we are given.

Overall I believe everyone contributed well in their role, they were chosen well and all for a reason, which is why everything has worked out effectively so far in our group and I enjoyed participating in the roles that I was given. I don't believe anything could've been done differently as everything has been effective and has played out well.

Opening Sequence Narrative

Opening Scene Narrative

Introduction

The first frame of our opening sequence is of a longshot  of the main character and antagonist, Cameron, shot in the school corridor, dragging a chair along the hallway creating an eery sound, and preparing for his own suicide. The sound used here is very basic in this scene, as the focus is mainly on the squeaking sound of the chair, which is an eery and adds suspense, keeping the audience on edge and unsettled. The scene continues and goes onto a medium shot and the sound and frame remain similar, now focusing on just building up the tension in the scene. This scene then shows Cameron opening the door which follows the scene with the stair case. This shot here is another medium one and all the audience can hear now is the door creaking slowly behind him, which then this changes into a close up of the door, which then shuts firmly and suddenly to show how trapped Cameron actually is. The scene then fades to black, by using low key lighting to set the mood and is reunited with a close up of him tying the rope around the metal staircase. 

The next shot is filmed in the same location, which is still shown as damp and dusty to the audience. The use of iconography is now present in this frame as the chair and scarf are now seen, which is used as a suicide rope for Cameron. As the main character Cameron steps onto the chair, eery sounds can be heard non-digetetically as they are not on seen on the screen. A close up of Cameron's lifeless and emotionless face is then shown to the camera and also the audience. We used makeup under his eyes to show his exhaustion. His facial expressions continue to appear as if he has given up, now on life itself as suspense and tension is created as it is clear his intentions are suicide. 

The cinematography in this scene changes as it zooms out into a medium shot. The editing is very slow in this part, as we planned to use slow motion to prolong his death and drag out the scene, creating tension and suspense. The final frame in this scene is filmed with a medium shot. The audience can see his legs continuously struggling. The iconography remains the same and all the audience see now is the chair being kicked over by him. The soundtrack remains dark and depressing to create the effect and realisation that his life has come to an end. The positioning of the character Cameron remains very unsettled as we see his struggle after killing himself. The editing then comes in from a big fade/flash transition to show we have actually gone back in time to where Camerons struggles began. 

The first frame in the next scene could suggest that Cameron had a 'normal' family life growing up. The sound of eating is present and digetic and the long shot is used to show the positioning of the characters which is Mother and Son placed awkwardly at different ends of the table, creating suspense. The iconography in this scene is the cutlery and food that is left out for the pair of them to eat. The constant sound of eating and knives against the plate is can be heard and the lighting remains quite natural considering this is shot during the evening. The shot that follows is a P.O.V shot form Cameron's eyes as he is looking at his mother as she begins to nag him, talking about a doctors appointment. 

Her facial expression remains concerned and the only digetic sound we hear is the mother raising her voice about how she believes Cameron has behaved. 

A close up is then shot of Cameron stabbing his knife into the his toast here. The audience see the anger in the way he uses this iconography which builds up the audiences perspective of what type of character Cameron is. We then see Cameron's whole body language after this, his position stays very stiff and his facial expression remains very tense. The lighting then becomes darker as the scenes atmosphere fades away. The sound of his mothers dialogue and speech is faded as Cameron's intentions and thoughts turns dark. The next shot shows an extreme close up of Cameron's dark eyes. Eery sounds begin then appear as we see the frustration in his facial expression. A sudden fade then comes in which lasts roughly 3 seconds. Cameron then shuts his eyes. 

After a flash transition the frame is led from Cameron's point of view and side of things and the use of iconography is used and repetition is used showing of the knife is constant and carries on. The short and violent scene are brought to the audiences attention in quick editing. The character Grace is shown being stabbed and falls off her chair while she then looks confused and dazed after being wounded. Cameron then remains in power as we see him struggle to maintain purity as he murders his mother. We hear nothing but the soundtrack being played, which is a cover of Tiny Tims - Tip Toe Through The Tulips. This parallel sound is played as Grace snuggles to get her son off of her. Although this diagetic sound is muffled, We are able to here Cameron's muffled breathing. The lighting is still dark at this point to show that his 'dark' side is present. The title of our film "disturbia" is then displayed on scene in white font in front of a black background, whilst tiny tim "tip toe through the tulips" plays in the background.

The final scene is then played out, with a medium shot that shows Harmony, his girlfriend walking. The audience are then able to see an empty looking street and a bush to the right. The following shot remains quite low and only shows half of her body. Her phone then begins to ring and a medium shot is used so the audience can see her answering the phone. 

When the phone remains fuzzy and threatening she panics and a P.O.V shot is shown as she frantically looks around to see if anyone is watching her. Cameron replies with 'Cameron's Not Here Anymore' - As Harmony walks off we see her in a black coat. She wears all black to connotate that danger is near for her. We got Cameron to remain in a suit almost to show the contrast in characters. When he is innocent he wears white. When he is in black he is evil and the fact he is in a suit at the end shows that this is only the beginning for Cameron. His 'protagonist side' wants to trick the audience into thinking his in charge.

Conclusion

If this was an entire film the storyline would continue to show how Cameron's innocent side deals with the guilt which leads him to his suicide and how does the film actually end does Cameron really die. The fact that Cameron appears to kill himself at the start how does this differ to sterotypical thrillers.

Risk Assesment

It is important to consider risks before filming, as we do not want anyone getting injured during our production and also make sure it is completely safe to film in order to ensure there is no distractions and we are wary of hazards so everything can run smoothly. If a group member or actor is hurt from a hazard, not only may they not only be able to take part in the production, serious injury or even death may occur, which is very bad for obvious reasons.

The risk assessment will assist us with filming as it will make sure we are in a safe environment and remove all possible dangers that we may encounter before filming. It also ensures no one is hurt and that we have covered all possible dangers we may encounter when filming, meaning that our group members and actors will be perfectly safe and aware of all hazards.

Filming Schedule- Miss Georgiou

A filming schedule is important to have, as it keeps everything organised in your group to do with your filming, such as when and where we will meet too film and also what we will need in each scene. Withput a filming schedule, scene filming would be un-organised and it would be hard to check and remember everything you need, by following the schedule, you know when and where to meet and also what you will need and what shots you will be filming, which is helpful as everything is organised so filming can run smoothly.

Group Storyboard- Miss Miller

Group Storyboard

It is important to have a group storyboard, because it allows you and your group members to see and know the overall narrative of your scene and also the order you are filming in and your order of shots, which gives you an organised plan and is vital in planning the production. In our group, Me, Molly and Claire all compared eachothers ideas from our own individual storyboards, and decided that Molly's drawings were best, which was why we let her illustrate the storyboard and also Molly took ideas from mine and claire's features of editing and sound such as silence and slow editing to include in our group storyboard.

We included silence in the beginning of the sequence to create tension, the audience are unaware of what's going to happen next and are made uneasy by the silence and also unsettled by the eery squeek of a dragging chair and a closing door. Low key lighting was also important to include, which was featured in all of our individual storyboards as it sets the tone for the audience and is conventional to a thriller as it dimmens the mood, creating tension.

 From Molly's storyboard, we also included a lot of the camera angles from the end scene, such as over the shoulder shots and a P.O.V which are conventional to the thriller genre and also allows the audience to connect with the character as the see things from their perspective. 

I believe our storyboard is well organised and effective, as we clearly include everything in our narrative and also the key elements in each shot such as sound, editing, characters and lighting. We did well to incorporate all 3 of our ideas into our joint group storyboard, making sure all of our ideas were considered but also making sure we used the most appropriate to the scenes and shots to make the most effective it could possibly be.

Individual Storyboard - Miss Miller

Storyboard

The purpose of a storyboard is to help better plan a scene and to also plan each part of the scene and what happens inside of it. It paints a picture for the scenery in a shot and also the overall imagery. It also allows you to plan the sounds, editing and camera angles of what you plan to film and also the order you plan to film it in.

In our groups, we created individual storyboards to share ideas with eachother about our opening sequence and also show each other what we think the scene should plan out like. It also allows us to compare our ideas and what we think is best for the group as a whole for our production, which is why we are creating a group storyboard afterwards.

My individual post will help will help when we are group planning as it will allow us to compare ideas and use the best possible ideas for our group, which means I could possibly have a better idea than the other two people in my group. I have included the general outline of the plot in my storyboard, but also included the sound and editing featured in each shot and also the narrative of what's happening in the scene, which is vital to planning as our group need to understand what is going on. For example, I included low key lighting in some shots, such as the suicide scene at the beginning to create an enigma and also suspense as the audience are awaiting to see what will happen to the character and fear for him, which is how I made this conventional to a thriller and also set the tone for the audience. I expect the audience to be drawn in to my sequence, as suspense is created by slow timing and also various points of silence throughout some shots, such as the dinner scene to create tension and an eery atmosphere for the audience, making them feel uneasy and on edge and also low key lighting dimming in the mood and the overall plot of the sequence, creating suspense and tension throughout.

I have taken inspirations for my sequence from the Alfred Hitchcock classic, Psycho, which is set in low key lighting but also creates suspense for the audience very well for the audience such as the shower scene, which I incorporate into my beginning shots. In conclusion, I believe my storyboard is well laid out and clearly shows what's needed in each scene such as editing, sound and costumes. From my storyboard, I hope my group incorporate my ideas about sound in the first few shots and also the camera angles during the dinner scene as I believe it is best for the scene and creates suspense and tension for the audience well. Doing this individually and sharing back to our group allows us to compare ideas and also decide what frames and overall storyboard slots are best for the group and our final storyboard.

Inspirations-Miss Georgiou

                                           Inspirations

Before we create work, watch a film or even take part in an activity, we need to be inspired inspiration requires interest, but also motivation and we can take inspiration from personal experience and also interest from something we'd seen. If someone had never tried or seen something before and were talked or pressured into something, they would not be inspired and they would need to hear and more importantly see good things from that partially field to be inspired and motivated to take part or do something. For example, with our production, we have taken inspirations from various thriller films and also clips from these films.

Psycho
An Alfred Hitchcock classic was one of our main inspirations for our film for a number of reasons. Mainly for the low key lighting used throughout the film to create suspense and darken the mood, adding tension as the audience do not know what is around the corner. It is essential to use low key lighting in our production, as it is a thriller and is conventional to the genre. The film is also directed very well by hitchcock, who is known very well for building suspense, tension, shock and surprise very well in his films, particularly in this example by using the shower scene to mix all elements into one scene. We use this as an inspiration for our thriller by building suspense throughout, but also shock and surprise when Cameron kills himself and then his mother.

Se7en- From our opening sequence, we took many inspirations from the opening sequence of se7en. It is mainly a dark scene, with low key lighting throughout to dimmen the mood for the audience and also not reveal very much about the plot. The mysterious use of sound throughout also creates suspense and tension for the audience, drawing them into the story, which is vital for us to repeat as we want people to be interested by our sequence and feel emotions towards it.

Human Centipede- Editing is significant in the Human Centipede, elements of slow editing, reaction shots and straight cuts. It is used to slow the action to create suspense for the audience and leave them further waiting to see what will happen next, the reaction shots are used to show facial expressions, allowing the audience to connect with the character and see their emotions. We use this in our sequence for the main character cameron, using reaction shots in his suicide scene or when he kills his mother, which also includes slow editing followed by a straight cut to his frantic girlfriend on the phone. 

Overall, our inspirations have inspired us to include key elements at various points of our filming and also gave us ideas on how we could make our production better and more suspenseful.

Planning opening credits

Planning Opening Credits

Opening credits are used at the start of films for a number of reasons. It is mainly used to let the audience know the different roles that will feature in the film and also the film title. Usually the roles should appear on-screen in the order that they do in the film, also having the directors name featured near the very beginning. It lets the audience know who stars in the film. It is essential to make these credits stand out and look interesting to get the audience drawn into the film and also relate it to the genre, e.g you wouldn't have creepy mysterious writing for a comedy film. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEq-4fua3lM

An example of a well produced starting credits is from the film Se7en. The font and style of credits used is fuzzy scwigly white writing always against a black background. The fuzzy writing could show the mental state of the antagonist being twisted and that he is an evil character and also the colours set the tone of the film with white always being on a black background, showing how a sense of danger may be looming and also the white and black colours could suggest the innocent (white) being killed by the evil (black). This is effective and builds suspense as the audience do not know who may possibly be murdered. The credits of the sequence is a title with the production company name to show the audience who made the film and also to introduce the film showing them the title, followed by the main actors that they will see in the film in order of appearance. Low key lighting is used to show myterious things early on that could really to the film, such as hand prints and a character writing and the audience also feel shocked as there is a part where someone is cutting the skin on their thumb, also creating suspense as the audience want to know why this is happening and also why the previous shots are there too. Tension is built throughout but the upbeat and mysterious music from bass and a piano, keeping the audience on edge and feeling un-easy. 

For my credits, I generally want to use a black and white or dark theme to set the tone for the audience and film as our opening sequence is quite dark and covers dark themes such as murder and suicide. The director and main actors names should come up on screen as well as the name of our production to show to the audience. Below are all example of mine and my fellow group members font and colour ideas, the first being mine, second being molly's and third being Claire's. For my design, I chose the colours as white on black, typical for a thriller film and also made the font big, bolg and in capitals to stand out. Although this is effective as it relates to a thriller, it seems a bit basic and also not gripping enough, which is why our group decided not to go with this. Molly's style featured a mix of red, black and white with bold and almost depressing writing. This is clearly conventional to a thriller as dark colours are used and also the use of red could connote blood or danger and it is overall the best presented and looking out of ours so our group decided to go with this. Although Claire's idea is good with the colours and presentation, I do not agree with the font and layout as for me it looks too much like a sci-fi style font, which is why overall it was best to go with Molly's style. 

Thoughout our sequence, from the beginning until the point where we show the title of the film font, each person involved in our film will feature in the credits in various different shots. The same font will be used to maintain the atmosphere throughout and gloominess of the film, and our title will be shown behind a black background once all the credits have finished, the white font on black background showing the innocent (white) in danger of the dark and evil (black) , like those around Cameron, his mother and his girlfriend. 

Planning Characters - Miss Miller

Characters

Cameron - Main Character and Antagonist

Our main character and antagonist, cameron, is an eighteen year old student who lives alone with his mother. His facial expression is always worn out and depressed, showing to the audience that he is in distress, he is also worn out and emotionless due to the amount of time he spends fighting his split personality disorder. In his suicide sequence, he will be wearing white to convey his real innocence and that he is innocent, he cannot help his problems which all could've started at age 10 when his father was murdered, however he wears black in the murder to scene to convey his darkness and he is a sinister character, being conventional to a thriller as this gives an element of surprise to the audience as they believed he was an innocent person, being a paradox to the previous scene and thoughts to they previously thought of Cameron. He has always naturally been a very quiet person

Harmony- Girlfriend

Harmony is the worried and paranoid girlfriend of the main character Cameron. She is not a villain and does not assist with helping Cameron kill his own mother, she is a nice character who cares about the mental state of her boyfriend. This allows the audience to symphysis with her as she is a nice character but also because she is clearly in distress which makes the audience feel sorry for her.

Grace- Mother

Our third and final character is Grace, the mother of Cameron. Her husband died when Cameron was 10 and it has been a struggle for her bringing Cameron up, it could be one of the main contributors to Cameron's sadness and depression. She is a nice lady and comes across as a warm and loving mother, and the audience feel sorry for her as not only does she have a lot to deal with, she innocently murdered by her own son after already having a stressful life to deal with. 

Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Planning Sound

Parallel
In our production, parallel sound present is of a knife stabbing someone, this shown in the dinner scene where cameron kills his mother. The sound of the knife is used to add emphasis to the pain his mother is feeling and also showing on-screen sound as we see the knife. This leaves the audience being wary and fearful of cameron, leaving them unaware of what he is capable of and always on the alert when he appears in a scene.

Non-Digetic
At the end of our opening sequence piece, we shall play the soundtrack of "tiptoe around the tulips" this is while the credits are being played to play out the scene. This is also a very childlike sounding song, not linking with the violent scene and also the gore in the scene, meaning this also comes as contrapuntal sound. This unsettles the audience and makes them feel uncomfortable, also adding tension to question why the sound is here if it is not related to the scene.

Digetic
During the suicide scene, significant digetic sound occurs such as the chair dragging prior to his suicide, it is an eery sound and creates tension and suspense, the audience are made uncomfortable by the sound and it makes them wary of what may happen next. This prolongs the anticipation of the suicide, it adds another element of mystery as we do not know whether he will kill himself and the audience will find out and shock is created with digetic sound when the chair falls to the ground and the only thing that can be seen are his legs dangling.

Off-Screen
Off-screen sound occurs at various points during our opening sequence, a notable example is when Cameron's girlfriend is on the phone to him and we can hear Cameron's voice but cannot see it, adding a sense of mystery and tension as the audience does not know where the sound is coming from and want to know what Cameron is really up to. This also makes the audience fear for his girlfriend and this adds to the distress of the audience as we see her concerned and almost facial expressions, which are her reactions to what she is hearing but cannot see, just like the audience. This also builds suspense and no one knows where the antagonist is and whether others or himself are in danger.

Planning editing styles - Miss Georgiou

Planning Editing Styles

Reaction Shot

Reaction shots are shots used that are intended to show an characters facial expressions and emotions about an event. In our scene, we shall use this to cut to a phone conversation to show the characters reaction to her boyfriend killing herself. This therefore creates shock which is usually followed by slow editing that emphasises the point. Using a reaction shot in this scene benefits our audience as they cannot see cameron speaking on the phone to his girlfriend, instead it's effective as we see the on-screen characters distress of what she's hearing elsewhere. This type of shot also creates shock and normally follows slow editing, to emphasise the emotions and drag the effect out, further impacting the audience.

Slow Editing
In our production, our suicide scene includes slow editing, to increase the intensity and the drama of what's happening. This is effective and creates suspense as there is a longer wait until the next shot for the audience, keeping them on edge and drawn into the scene, this is conventional to a thriller as this therefore creates suspense. Using this also slows down the timing of the shots. 

Filters

Dark filters and low key lighting are used a lot throughout our production. The dark lighting effects are used in our scene to add to the mystery and also keep the overall mood mellow, the colours are not bright and cheerful which also dimmens the mood of the audience and adds tension as they are made to feel uneasy by these colours. This filter is also used typically when showing flashbacks to show it's in the past, as is done in our production when Cameron has a flashback, this builds relationship with the audience as they can relate to what he is feeling and his emotions and the audience also get an insight of the character's past, feeling more connected with him, which can create surprise as the audience may find things they did not know before about the character.

Group Planning - Miss Georgiou

Group Planning

In my media group we have Molly Emmerson, Claire Golightly and myself, Jake Butler. For our group to succeed, it is vital for us to have meetings and plan our production to the best quality that it can be.

In the first group meeting that we had together, we all discussed our individual ideas about the production and how we would be able to take each others ideas and work with them to create a good piece and our final group narrative. For example, we mainly used the idea of Molly's plot, however ideas were taken from me and claire about cinematography and possible sound we could use, each incorporating ideas about how elements of the thriller genre could best fit in our piece. For characters, we agreed molly would play the girlfriend, Harmony and her boyfriend would play the role of Cameron and a friend, Grace would play the mother. Me and Claire would help with the scenery and also filming to play a role in this production, whilst the 3 of us worked on our posts in lesson and continued to give each other ideas. 

It is essential to carry out these group meetings because we can tell each other what we are happy with and unhappy with. It allows each group members voice to be heard and so that we can decide on an idea as a group together and also possible changes we can suggest to make things better for our production. I believe our group has worked well together, the work has been very well done, organised and centralised and also the meetings have been productive between us and have produced results.

Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

Planning Cinematography

Cinematography is important in film for a number of reasons. It is mainly to do with camera shots and what the audience sees and how the director plans to best show shots and scenes to their audience. To best execute these shots, high planning is required to ensure the best effect.

Close up- Close ups are used to focus on facial expressions and show the audience what the character is feeling or the current state of emotion that they are in. The audience can see how the selected character feels and may symphasize with them as they feel their emotions. In our sequence, we shall use this for our main character cameron to show his depressed and empty emotions to convey to the audience how he is feeling and it also get's the audience involved into the story and allows them ti symphasize with the character.

Point of view- P.O.V shots are also used from our main character cameron which allows the audience to see events through his eyes and get his side of things, getting them further interacted and inolved into the story which draws them to the edge of their seat as they feel as though they are part of it. It also adds suspense as the audience are on edge and can't see the characters facial expression or mood, being unaware of what they are capable of and what will happen next.

Low Angle- A low angle shot is used in our production on cameron possibly in the suicide scene to convey his power, as low angle shot's are used to make a character fearful and Cameron murders his mother in our opening sequence, so there is reason for Cameron to be feared by our audience. This is conventional to a thriller as this builds suspense, making the audience fear the superior and dangerous character, making them wonder what they are capable of.

High Angle- A high angle shot is used in our production in the room before Cameron kills himself, showing that he is now vulnerable and death is near. It is used to make the audience fear for the character as they feel he is in danger and is conventional to a thriller as the shock element comes when he suddenly hangs himself. This is conventional to a thriller and it creates tension for the audience, the character in the high angle shot appears vulnerable, making them fear for him and wonder what might happen to him.

Mid Shot- A mid shot is used in our production after Cameron commits suicide, showing his legs dangling and the chair falling over, to show in a powerful and emotional way that Cameron is now dead and the sudden drop of the chair and his legs comes as shock to the audience.

I believe cinematography plays a big part in our sequence in showing character emotion and really deepening the mood for the audience and at the same time drawing them into the plot. It is convential to a thriller is we create elements of suspense and shock throughout the scene for the audience to keep them drawn in and entertained. This planning has been very helpful as we have been able to use the best possible and most meaningful camera angles for each shot to get accross our point and at the same time we have been successful in making it convential to the thriller genre.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene

Setting and iconography
My thriller sequence will take place inside an old remote house a dark bedroom and kitchen, which gives an eery feeling to the audience and questionable of what could happen next, this is conventional to a thriller as tension is built and therefore created for the audience, they will be eager to see what happens inside this room and to why the scene is set inside here.
The dark room for suicide adds suspense as low key lighting is involved, there is not much around the room, giving it a mysterious, eery feeling, and by doing this we clearly convey to the audience that this is a thriller. The knife is the murder weapon and also provides shock for the audience, and the plates in the kitchen are extra iconography added to the scene when his mum is killed, smashing to add tension and shock.

Costumes hair and make-up
Suicide scene, the person; cameron committing suicide wears white, to convey innocence, but then wears black in the killing scene of his mother to show his dark side and that he is also evil, gives the audience a second meaning and creates a paradox. This comes as surprise for the audience, they first believed he was just innocent and troubled in himself, but the next scene surprises them and throws them off, as Cameron commits an unmerciful murder, making the audience question what Cameron is really about. The Mother, Grace, played by a much younger actor than the characters age is in the story will wear make-up such as eye shadow to make her look older in order to match her with the character description of Cameron's mother.

Positioning
There is an awkward distance between the characters, giving an eery feeling across the audience and anxious as to what is going to happen next. This atmosphere creates suspense and tension for the audience, as it is awkward and tense, they want to know what is going to happen next, yet feel uneasy and thrown off by the unwelcoming vibe. Cameron's body language is always passive and awkward, such as folding his arms to keep himself to himself, showing the audience he is uncomfortable, which makes them further question the reasons for him being down and feeling alone, symphasizing with him before he commits the murder where the audiences attitude towards him completely changes.


Lighting and Colour
Low key lighting used in suicide scene to convey a dark theme and the overall mood of the scene, gives a dark feeling to the audience and also fearful of what is going to happen next as a dark scene is not hopeful, meaning this therefore creates suspense for the audience as they are already fearing what is about to happen next. The dinner scene contains bright lighting, to make verything stand out and also seem normal and at peace, however this quickly changes to low key lighting as the theme once again turns dark as cameron murders his own mother. This also comes as surprise for the audience as the mood changes very quickly and throws them off-guard, things all seem calm and normal between the pair, but suddenly take a turn for the worse when Cameron turns into his bad side.

Facial expressions and body language
Cameron's facial expression is often blank and personal, he shows no emotion, which conveys he is an empty and a lonely person. He is clearly depressed, and the audience is left unknown of what he is capable of and also wary of him if he shows no emotion and is a dark character, however the audience could also symphasize with him and feel sorry for him, as he has no one and is lonely and upset. His moods and overall state of emotion create tension for the audience, they are always left feeling on edge as they are unaware of when he is feeling either at peace or down and depressed, leaving them not only to fear for the characters around cameron, but also fear for cameron himself.

Our mis-en-scene included in our opening sequence relates with the audience in a number of ways. We showcast each characters feelings and emotions in each part of the scene itself, getting the audience involved and showing them how each character feels, but at the same time dragging them into the story, constantly on edge and wary of what is going to happen next, as our group builds the thriller conventions in a number of ways using mis-en-scene through our sequence.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task

In our group for media, containing me, Molly Emmerson and Claire Golightly, we filmed a short conversation as practice for our media production. Me and Molly were the actors and played a scene where I lost my phone under the stairs and she helped me find it. It only lasted a minute or so and was a short scene. We watched it back several times to check errors that we made when filming and sometimes had to re-film scenes because we had got it wrong. We used a series of close ups and medium shots and stuck to the 180 rule when filming to keep it in good quality. This is our groups preliminary task that we filmed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--KJpSWFNRE

I think our group planned well and had a good plot, also cooperating well with each other to use the best possible camera shots that we could.We worked very well together and listened to each others ideas. We struggled sometimes setting up the camera to film our shots and also to stop ourselves giggling sometimes and keeping our composure before filming a scene, however we overcame this well as we were able to film and finish the scene in a pretty quick amount of time and me and my fellow group members were all happy with the end product. I believe next time we could have maybe took more time to compose ourselves before scenes and also looked for a wider variety or camera angles, as I counted that we only really used three. When we film our opening sequence, its vital to remain composed and also to make sure we have the best camera shots with the most meaning and effect towards what we are trying to get across in order to draw in our audience. Watching our footage back helped us realise the mistakes we made and also how we could better things and what to look out for when we re-filmed. Watching back our mistakes also taught us lessons for our production and how we could make things better and also how to avoid the mistakes we made in this task.

Overall, this task has helped me and my group greater understand the concepts of filming and also what we can do to make it more gripping and entertaining, such as using different camera angles for effect and also work on the timing of our shots. Our overall acting is good and I do not believe it needs to be improved or anything, just to look out for our camera work and shots and I believe our final product will turn out very well.

·  

Research into Target Audience - Miss Miller

Target Audience

The purpose of our group surveying 40 people for our questionnaire was to have a range of results that would differ but also show peoples general attitude to thriller films. This was also to give us a better understanding about what people like to see in thriller films and also was used to help better our groups opening sequence piece. Here are our results, in pie chart format.

We started them off with a simple question to ease into the interview, however this was also helpful as it gave us a genral view of the type of people we surveyed, only a few more males than females and with this, we expected to possibly see more fans of gore as males tend to be less squemish.


We asked this to get a general idea of the sort of films the people we questioned had watched, with 60% watching 15+ rated thriller films, 30% watching 18+ and 10% watching 12A.


From this, we can see the majority of people we interviewed are fans of thriller films, with only a small percentage not being a fan of the genre, which tells us that the thriller genre is a popular one in films and a high majority of people do enjoy watching them.

Many fans of the thriller films tend to most prefer psychological thrillers, which is why psycho and shutter island lead in the percentages, and a close 3rd came saw, a very gory thriller which as mentioned before was expected to be popular due to our group interviewing more boys than girls.

From this, we gather that a high number of people who watch thriller films prefer to have a sense of mystery and not know exactly what is going on. We could possibly use this in our production as it is a simple change to make that may entertain people more and leave them on the edge of their seat, asking questions about the sequence and have an element of fear and mystery.


A high number of people prefer to watch thriller films with isolated locations, stating that they prefer this because it adds tension and mystery, and some may have said no due to the fact they may be confused as to what's going on or it might be too cliché. From the area we live in, it is to our advantage that our group could possibly include isolated locations in our sequence, as more people tend to favour this than those who don't.
 
As we see this data links with why psycho was the most popular thriller amongst the people we interviewed, as the psychological sub genre won this by a landslide.It shows people who watch thrillers mainly look for a good plot that will keep them drawn in and intrigued by the film. It is lucky that our group already has a very psychological plot and does not involve a less popular sub-genre such as crime.

This is interesting, because if we look deeper into the results, we can see 50% said yes and 50% said no, meaning the people we interviewed were literally half and half about this, as many modern thriller fans are today. Face it, many people watch thriller films to be scared, they like the feeling and some want to be suddenly spooked, but as the years have gone on with films, it has become a bit too cliché and sometimes it may even be too scary for the viewer. Our group does not plan to include any jump scares in our sequence, as in my opinion it would be too risky and i'm sure we can still make it scary or eery without doing this anyway.

Many people prefer a knife, as it is the most common weapon used for murder in the thriller genre, mainly famous in such films like Scream, Halloween and Psycho. It is likely that the ones who chose chainsaw are fans of gore and those who chose the axe may be a fan of the famous classic starring Jack Nicholson, the shining.

Vox Pops

In our group of three, we each did a vox pop on three people, which is basically recording ourselves conducting our questionnaires on some of our volunteers, to give an example of some of the answers we came across during our questionnaires. Here are the links to the vox pops that I conducted myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7zgZjh8qec - Stephen's Vox Pop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFkgjJHjvhg - Sharaf's Vox Pop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0n884lNAN4 - Charlie's Vox Pop

Conclusion

Overall, our research that we conducted was very helpful, as it allowed us to see the general opinions of viewers on thriller films and also help us see their opinions on elements inside the film, allowing us to see what our potential audience would prefer, which in turn will help us further improve our production to satisfy the general wants of our potential viewers. If we did this research again, i'd maybe include less obvious questions such as are you male or female and how old are you, as this can be noted anyway and we could use those spaces to include better and more important questions. Overall, I thought this research was very helpful as it gave us a good insight into the things we can include and avoid in our production in order to make it as entertaining and as gripping as we can.

Questionnaire-Miss Miller

Questionnaire

In our group, we conducted a survey on 40 people about the thriller genre in general. This was to give us a better understanding about what people like to see in thriller films and also was used to help better our groups opening sequence piece. Here are our results, in pie chart format.

Vox Pops

What is the purpose of Vox Pops?

We each had to record 3 people taking part in our questionnaires and giving us answers. The purpose of this was the show the general attitude and answers we may have encountered. 

Group Narrative-Miss Georgiou

Group Narrative

For our group production, I, Jake Butler worked with Molly Emerson and Claire Golightly

Individual narrative idea

The narrative is an important aspect of any thriller film, as it can dictate the appropriate target audience for the film
The narrative is the plot of the film.

Idea for a new thriller film

Claire's thriller sequence will show the audience the different events that leads the main character "Cameron" committing suicide by hanging himself.
The beginning of my thriller sequence will start with the audience seeing
The main character "Cameron" will have a dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality) - his name is unisex
Suicide - main character - twisted - hanging
Dark
Voiceover
"I know what you're thinking.." - talks directly to the audience - engages them

Following the suicide scene the audience will be shown a flashback of a dinner scene between Cameron and him mum.
Quiet and awkward - his mum attempts to start a conversation - she is the only one talking
"How are you feeling?" "Your doctor told me that you've stopped going to therapy..."
Cameron begins to get annoyed at her
"Do you ever shut up?" under his breath - foreshadows him killing her

The girlfriend "Harmony" and the mum "Grace" both have positive, uplifting names that tell the audience that they are the victims/innocent
In the final scene the audience will be introduced to "Harmony", the girlfriend of Cameron. She will arrive at the house shortly after the murder of Grace
Girlfriend comes to his house
Calling out to the mom and boy
Takes shoes off etc
After Harmony finds the mum dead at the kitchen table
Screen goes dark

Advantages: Creates an enigma
Disadvantages: Her idea is quite long and detailed and as a group we may not be able to fit it all into an opening sequence.





My Narrative Ideas

My idea: 

For the thriller sequence was to have a stalker ex boyfriend chase and hunt his ex girlfriend around the local area, such as forests and the satin and alleyways. I also wanted to show the audience the backstory and make them interested and intrigued by the background, making them ask questions and keep them guessing. The chase scene shall create suspense which keeps the audience entertained and on the edge of their seat. This may be difficult to film however, as we would have to clear the area and it may even be too dark to capture most of the scenes, which comes as a disadvantage, however an advantage can be is that the plots are completely different and it is a fresh idea.

Molly's idea was:

In my own film I want to concentrate on a very disturbed character. With dissociative identity disorder (multiple personally) the character will be male and named Cameron, due to it being a unisex name and portraying his split personality. The mother and girlfriend will remain innocent whose names are Harmony and Grace to remain positive and shown to represent good. The young boy struggles with having to deal with the evil other side of film and continues to end his life right at the start. The audience see his death and then wander what made him do this a voice over will then be present and lead into a flash back. The scene flashbacks into where his troubles began, he begins having a conversation his his mother over dinner but then suddenly and violently turns and murders her with a knife. This is a good idea as it is a psychological plot that is well thought out and shock some in a good way, however one disadvantage may be that it is quite confusing and may be hard for the viewer to follow.

Final group narrative
Our group decided to mainly use molly's idea and to start our opening sequence to a thriller film by showing the audience the main antagonist, Cameron committing suicide, this will create an enigma early on the film to keep the audience hooked. The first shot will be of his feet dangling to show the audience that he has hung himself, followed by a voiceover that will be directly to the audience. The scene will then flashback to before the suicide to show the audience Cameron and his mum eating dinner. Things will escalate between the pair and cameron will end up murdering his own mother. His father or brother will later find him dead, which is where the film ends with the end credits playing out the scene.

Disturbia

Narrative Theory

The narrative that my group follows is aristole's. His theory is that the narrative focuses on themes within the film. We believe that our group narrative will incorporate two of his suggested themes. these are a dramatic question and sympathy.Our group cannot follows vladimirs theory as it is not a fairytale and it does not follow todorovs as we have no equilllibrium and it does not figure itself out.

Individual narrative ideas- Miss Georgiou

Narrative Ideas

Narratives in films are particularly important for a number of reasons, they guide the audience as to why the things on screen are happening and what is behind them, which also at the same time has to draw in the readers attention. The audience wants to know the backstory and the plot of the film, and the narrative has to be flowing, makes sense and draws them in. Most films tend to explain the narrative later, but no film can ever not contain a narrative, as no one would want to watch it and no one would be interested.

For my thriller production, I am considering basing it around possibly a night chase or jump scare scene, filmed around the local area such as alley ways and train station. It is important to use features such as low key lighting and close-ups in my sequence to entertain the audience and keep them on edge. The main plot could be about a jealous stalker ex who hunts down his previous girlfriend, becoming obsessed with her. Typically a scene like this would end on a jump scare, however these days they can be considered too cliche so I will have to discuss with my group whether this is a good idea or not. Mis en scene included can be such things such as a knife, phone, dark lights and lonely station. Mainly tension and suspense is the main intention for my idea as it is a chase and I want the audience to be on edge and not know how the scene will end, further drawing them in.

I plan to share this with my group and discuss these ideas to see if they agree with them and if we settle on a different narrative, if they can take other features from mine that we can add into our final narrative.

Research into conventions- Miss Miller

Conventions of a thriller film 

Suspense, shock, surprise, tension, enigma,




In a thriller film, it usually will consist of a battle between the protagonist and antagonist, commonly when there is a disruption in the plot. Then the story shows a chain of bad events building up with suspense and tension prior to the climax. The aim of the protagonist is to restore justice, while the antagonist seeks to destroy it.

The main conventions will usually be to do with the plot, sound, lighting and editing, but in terms of a thriller and its' conventions, you should expect to see black and white shots with possible low key lighting, quick cuts (jump scares), digetic sounds to do with the scene, music which changes in tempo to add tension and suspense and finally, usually the protagonist may be in the mercy of the antagonist.

Suspense- Suspense is mainly used prior to a climatic part or even the ending of the film and has the purpose to keep the audience on edge and draw them into the action. It can be built up using sounds, scene editing and cinematography and plays a key role in the thriller genre itself, as suspense are the main parts of climatic scenes with elements of mystery where the audience are left guessing and on the edge of their seat.

Shock- Shock in thriller films are what true fans crave and is usually at the climax of the scene, which contains gore and usually violence. It's what the audience pay to see, the real action and often what sells the film.

Surprise- Surprises can commonly be referred to as "Plot twists" and are used to throw the audience off, creating more confusion, making them ask questions and keep them on the edge of their seat as they are more drawn into the film.

Tension- The eery atmosphere in a scene where the audience are left working out what is going to happen can be described as tension, and it is built in a number of ways, through possibly sound and even the narrative itself.

Enigma- Enigmas create mystery and confusion among the audience and are usually something the audience does not know and are associated with the plot and narrative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LToG7Agx30

Scene Analysis

For this piece, I decided to analyse the kidnapping scene from the purge (2014) it is a favourite scene of mine and forecasts the conventions of a thriller in a number of ways.

Tension is created as there are eery sounds that create an atmosphere and the characters are forced to stay silent and helpless in a closet and the audience is left fearing for their safety and wondering if they will be found, making them feel sympathy for the characters. The silence in the air also creates suspense, as well as the villains stalking through the house to hunt the protagonists, again giving an element of fear and making the audience wary and scared of what the villains are capable of. There is then more tension and suspense, as we see the facial expressions of the protagonists and see how scared they are, which shows the audience their emotions and allows them to relate to the characters and possibly feel sympathy and fear for them. There is then sudden surprise, as a jump scare occurs when the antagonists storm in and capture the victims, as there was silence the audience may have possibly thought the trapped characters were safe, but to their sudden surprise, they were caught. The enigma in this scene is that the audience does not know the identity of the antagonists, as their faces are hiden the whole time, which creates an element of mystery. The shock then comes at the end of the scene when the characters are suddenly dragged through the hall and a masked antagonist is seen shooting, the characters are now in trouble and the shock provides the climax for the scene, what the audience have been waiting for.

Conclusion

In just a short while, this scene managed to cover all conventions of a thriller by using a number of techniques to keep the audience drawn in and on edge, which means it was successful. All conventions are clearly present, and for my sequence, I could possibly include suspense and shock, as it keeps the audience on edge and also the shock itself has to be good, as it's what the audience have waited for and they expect a good climax to the scene as they have been eagerly waiting for it.