Shot 2

Unlike the first shot I posted on here, this shot was originally in the storyboard, although, when actually at the location, I noticed that there was a large bush on the side of the path which Amalia runs down for this shot, I thought a good idea may be to move the camera so that it has the impression of someone jumping out from behind a bush in which they'd been hidden. The other members of my group agreed, as this shot was supposed to be a point of view shot from someone running after her, and this added to this effect. However, also unlike the first shot I posted, this shot took several takes, as I discovered that running after someone with a camera in your hand and keeping the camera steady enough to still see what's going on at the same time is very difficult. In the end, I decided to use small zooms to get closer to Amalia without having to run at the same speed as her, which allowed me to keep the camera steadier than previously. Although the shot is still pretty shaky, this was the effect we wanted, and you can still see Amalia clearly. We told her to run from the beginning of this path rather than just from where the shot begins, so that she's already in full flow when she passes the camera and it looks more natural. Obviously, when editing, we will cut the beginning and end of the shot, and, like the first shot, make it darker to seem like we filmed later than we actually did.

Shot 1

This is one of the shots that I filmed myself, of which I am most impressed with. It took only one attempt to film, although it wasn't in our original storyboard. This is because we underestimated the length of the path we use for our location when designing our storyboard, and we didn't allow enough shots to cover the whole path (although we thought we had when we planned it.) However, I'm quite glad we came up with it because it works very well. Amalia (our actress) was told to run from just before where she'd ended in the previous shot, and I zoomed the camera on her to a long-shot (I stood quite far away from her, as you'll see in the clip). As she ran, I zoomed out to show the full length of the path, and Amalia ran just out of shot and then across the front of the camera, the effect of which I really liked, as it was almost like an invisible wipe. I'm very proud of the fact that I managed to create such an interesting shot to solve a last minute problem, and of how it turned out on the first cut. Even though it's daytime and quite sunny, getting a darker effect for our thriller genre won't be a problem, as before going out to film, we played around with our editing software with a couple of practice shots to see how dark we could make the background without making details unnoticeable. We're confident that we'll be able to make this shot, and our others, look darker using the editing software.

Storyboard

Here are 4 images of parts of our storyboard:

The first shot isn't an actual shot, it's just an edited in title of our production company name.

In the second shot, we were inspired by an invisible wipe using a van that we saw in the popular tv series Skins, which is in the genre of social realism. Although it's a tv series rather than film, we thought the idea would be effective for our opening and would help us to create an element of social realism.

To go completely the other way and affirm our main genre of thriller, in shot three, we will have half the shot hidden behind a bush (we've already checked out our setting, and have found an appropriate bush to use). This wasn't inspired by anything else, I thought of this idea myself, but thought the fact that half the shot was hidden and it appears that someone is watching the girl from the bushes would create an action code and suspense.

We wanted to use extreme close ups like in the opening for the film Se7en, because we felt it allowed the audience to see certain details but not others, which makes them question the details they can see and want to know the details they can't. We thought we should use this for when the girl in our opening receives and replies to text messages, because the audience will be just as confused by the messages as the girl will.

We're also using a shot that will hopefully be a little disorientating for the audience. We plan to start with a close up of the phone, and slowly zoom out and over the girl's shoulder. Although we haven't taken this shot from any particular opening, we liked the use of other disorientating shots created by special effects like in Fight Club where it is highly zoomed in on a characters skin and zooms out to reveal what the image actually is.

We liked the idea of using an arc at a mid shot because it allows the audience to see more of the surroundings (but not too much), and also makes them see how panicked the girl is by her body language. This was used in the film Reservoir Dogs, and personally, I thought it was effective for the reasons stated. Also, it's a fairly unusual camera movement to use, which is exactly the kind of thing we want in our thriller film.

Contrasting from the earlier mid shot, we wanted a close up of the girl's facial expressions so the audience could clearly see the panic on her face. This was used in the opening to the thriller film Taxi Driver, where it allowed you to see the expression on the driver's face more clearly, and is also something I've seen in other thriller films. If a character, particularly one who, at this point in a film, seems to be a victim, we tend to empathise with them more, and this facial expression will make the audience also feel panicky and worried for the girl.

Audience Feedback

My group presented our ideas so far for our opening to a group of people who we perceive would be in either our primary or secondary audience (females 15-24, males 15-24), and asked them to give feedback.

Many people, both male and female, liked the idea of going against typical thriller stereotypes by having having a female protagonist, antagonist, AND victim. Using similar graphics to Se7en was also a highly popular idea, as was the use of a handheld camera. However, although using diegetic sound was praised, it was suggested that we use non-diegetic sound together with diegetic sound to create a creepier effect. Our group has decided to follow this advice, so although diegetic sound will be an important part of our piece, non-diegetic sound will also play an important part.

Our audience seemed to understand the plot of our film and opening, so it must be comprehensible for them, although some were confused as to whether it would be a mainstream or independent release. I think this partly comes from the fact that our group hadn't really discussed this ourselves, but once we did, we decided it would be a mainstream release.

So far, our opening seems to appeal to our target audience, so, after making a couple of tweaks, we feel more confident about going ahead with creating our opening. We will try out a test screening when we've created our opening with more people from our target audience to check we're making the right choices, and change anything we feel needs changing once we've received their feedback.

Due to the positive attitude we received, it seems we've correctly judged our audience. This will help us to make our film seem as attractive as possible to them. We know that this age group tend to spend more time than other age groups at the cinema, so cinema posters and trailers are a good way to start. However, we need to make sure we pick out elements that will not make these biased towards one particular gender. For instance, in the posters for the film 4.3.2.1. , the females were made out to be sex objects, which made the film less attractive to females. We don't want to make the same mistake. We also know that this age group (females in particular) tend to be very active online, especially on social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace. It would be sensible to create pages on these sites (and other similar sites) in order to promote our film. As for tv adverts, we should target these at certain shows that are popular with this age group. This includes reality tv shows (e.g. The Only Way Is Essex), talent shows (e.g. The X Factor), teen dramas (e.g. Skins), and some comedy programs that tend to attract the younger audience (e.g. Family Guy, Mock The Week). Considering the genre of our film, it may also be a good idea to advertise during similar themed tv shows (e.g. Dexter, Prison Break) in order to appeal to people who particularly like this genre of film.

Screenshot Inspirations

Here are screenshots from films which have inspired elements of our film:

Representation



This film inspired us because it uses a female protagonist which breaks the stereotype of thriller films. We are going to have a female victim, protagonist and antagonist, which completely breaks the typical representation of females in thriller films.

Titles and Graphics




We liked this font because it has a creepy effect and sets the mood for a thriller film. We decided this type of font would fit in well with our film because we want it to jump around the screen and put the audience on edge. Our title also has numbers (443336) and we like the way the number has been incorporated into the title.

Camerawork



Extreme close ups allow the audience to see certain, important details, but leaves out other potentially important details, leaving a mystery around the scene. We plan to use these in our opening scene on the mobile phone, so you can clearly see the number 443336, but not much else.



Establishing shots will also be used to show the setting. This is important as we intend the victim in the opening sequence to move from and open space to a more closed in space, and we want to clearly show this change in scenery in order to build suspense.



Fish Tank uses a handheld camera in the opening scene, which gives it a "real" sense. We want to include an element of social realism in our film, so we intend to use a handheld camera to capture this.

Sound



We intend to use purely diegetic sound, like in Scream, as this 1. gives it a sense of realism, and 2. builds suspense as we can clearly hear the diegetic sounds. The scream we will use at the end of the opening sequence is the most important of these.

Mise en Scene



The mobile phone in our piece will create an enigma code via the number you can see on it. What does the number mean? Who is it who's texting the victim? These are the questions we want our audience to ask.



We will use plenty of low key lighting in our opening sequence, which is highly typical of all thrillers, as we tend to be more scared of the dark and we can't see things quite as clearly.



Continuing the element of social realism we want to include, we will use urban clothing for the costumes of our characters. This is typical costume for social realist films, especially for the age range of our cast and audience, teenagers and young adults.

Editing



We will use continuity editing in our opening, like in Fish Tank, to help the element of social realism we want, and to show the run up the the victim's death clearly.

Conventions Of A Thriller

For our coursework, our group has decided to make a thriller film. In order to do this, I've researched screenshots from famous thriller films to find the conventions of them.

Inception



The gun gives a sense of danger, as it could result in somebody being killed.

It looks as though a chair/stool has been thrown into the bath in the background, suggesting there’s been a lot of movement (most likely violence) prior to this screenshot.

The lighting is natural, and as it’s filmed inside, this makes it look quite dark for the daytime.

Psycho



The woman is naked, and this makes her appear more vulnerable.

Her screaming face also shows the audience that she’s feeling scared and vulnerable.

In the background, you can see the shadow of a raised hand, which gives the impression of somebody about to stab her, but it’s more of a mystery as you can’t see the real hand.

The Silence Of The Lambs



Contrary to the previous slide, this woman is shown using a high-angle shot, making her look more powerful (which is also unusual in thriller films).

Again, there is a gun involved, which immediately adds a sense of danger.

There is only low-key lighting, which makes it seem more dangerous as you’re less able to see everything that’s going on.

Se7en




The lighting in this screenshot is even more low-key, again making the situation seem more dangerous.

The man on the right has a red stain on his tee shirt, which suggests that someone has been injured badly.

There are three people watching the two men in the background, which gives the impression that they’re always being watched.

Fight Club



Who wrote the writing in the background, and why? This is an example of the enigma code.

The man is looking at something out of shot, but the audience can’t see what. This is an example of the action code.

The lighting is again low-key.

Jaws



The mast has fallen over, leaving the man hanging dangerously over the sea.

There’s a shark’s fin in the background, which also adds to the sense of danger, although it’s not as obvious as the mast.

Yet again, there is an example of guns being used.

Die Hard



The lighting is very low key once again, meaning the audience can’t see the details as clearly.

Again, there is a gun involved, adding the element of danger.

The man is holding the gun and the woman is at the other end of it, making her the victim, typical in thriller films.

Sin City



Although there is no gun in this screenshot, there is a knife, another type of weapon, so the danger is still there.

Yet again, the lighting is very low key.

However, the woman seems to have more power as she is bearing the weapon in this case.

Pulp Fiction



The blood stains on the man on the right’s shirt are a very obvious sign that violence has been going on.

The two men are blocked closely together, making them appear stronger.

They are also both wearing suits, making them appear authoritative, and therefore more powerful.

Conventions Of A Thriller

For our coursework, our group has decided to make a thriller film. In order to do this, I've researched screenshots from famous thriller films to find the conventions of them. This slideshow shows my findings: