Wednesday, 12 February 2014
AS Evaluation- Question 3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Thriller Comparison
Overall, I believe that I have created a successful thriller sequence. This is because, I incoproated conventional micro elements for example, costume within mise en scene. before doing so, I also researched into all of these elements, and how they were added to other successful thriller films. Lastly, I made sure that my sequence appealed to my tagert audience by adding these elemtns and researching other films. The use of my unique narrative also added to this, as the audience are engaged to this and my unique characters added.
I believe that the micro element used that best shows my creativity is the use of mise en scene. This is firstly because of make up and costume. The wedding dress highlighted the bride/killer's importance within the sequence. This showed that she was once innocent. The fact she murders victims in this costume, further highlights her deteriorating mental state. Her make up and hair is also messed up, showing her negative emotions and the fact she is broken.
Setting is another aspect of mise en scene. Within my sequence, the main setting is the dark secluded room. I believe this is creative as the bride's negative outlook makes the audience engage with her character. She is shut off from the rest of civilisation, which causes her negative mind set to be shown explicitly. Aswell as this, another element of mise en scene is lighting. Low key lighting was used alongside this setting. The darker lighting caused suspense as the audience were unaware of what would happen next, causing them to worry more. The dark lighting also showed the bride's mindset and negative emotions, causing the audience to engage with her further. This type of lighting is conventionally used in thriller productions to cause suspense and makes the audience fear for the worst.
The bride's body language/facial expressions are highlighted all throughout. When she is sat in the room, she seems miserable and pained as she reflects on the negative events that unfolded around her. This causes the audience to sympathise with her on some level. Her body language when she murders victims contrasts to this. She appears strong and menacing, showing that she strives for revenge and she enjoys killing these people. From this element, her character appears more sinister. She frightens the audience as she has the power to make them feel for her and against her.
I believe that the micro element used that best shows my creativity is the use of mise en scene. This is firstly because of make up and costume. The wedding dress highlighted the bride/killer's importance within the sequence. This showed that she was once innocent. The fact she murders victims in this costume, further highlights her deteriorating mental state. Her make up and hair is also messed up, showing her negative emotions and the fact she is broken.
Setting is another aspect of mise en scene. Within my sequence, the main setting is the dark secluded room. I believe this is creative as the bride's negative outlook makes the audience engage with her character. She is shut off from the rest of civilisation, which causes her negative mind set to be shown explicitly. Aswell as this, another element of mise en scene is lighting. Low key lighting was used alongside this setting. The darker lighting caused suspense as the audience were unaware of what would happen next, causing them to worry more. The dark lighting also showed the bride's mindset and negative emotions, causing the audience to engage with her further. This type of lighting is conventionally used in thriller productions to cause suspense and makes the audience fear for the worst.
The bride's body language/facial expressions are highlighted all throughout. When she is sat in the room, she seems miserable and pained as she reflects on the negative events that unfolded around her. This causes the audience to sympathise with her on some level. Her body language when she murders victims contrasts to this. She appears strong and menacing, showing that she strives for revenge and she enjoys killing these people. From this element, her character appears more sinister. She frightens the audience as she has the power to make them feel for her and against her.
An influence of mine was the film 'Orphan'. This film is popular and is conventional within the thriller genre. This is an influence of mine as the storyline and characters are unique and contains conventional micro elements that help make the film a success.
The narrative is based around an orphan that appears to be a innocent, young girl. She is fostered by a new, welcoming family. However, she isn't as she seems and is actually and older woman in a child's body. As can be seen, the narrative is extremely unique. I believe the successfulness of this film is because of the unique narrative. This influenced me as I made my storyline more unique, wanting to appeal to a wider audience.
The orphan is an extremely unsuspecting killer as she is a female child. This causes her to become more sinister as she tricks the audience as she is believed to be something she isn't. The fact that she is so brutal, also makes the audience feel sympathy towards the family/victims for being so open and unaware. This overall influenced me, as I wanted the characters added to my thriller to be unique. The audience should engage with the characters and feel certain emotions towards them such as fear or sympathy. I made my killer a woman, as she is unsuspecting yet surprising and sinister. She too tricks the audience, causing them to feel tense and uneasy.
Audience feedback
Feedback from an audience is extremely important when having made a production. This is because, it needs to be known to you that your film will make a profit and that your chosen target audience would watch the film. Lastly, you'd need to be assured that your chosen micro elements applied to films succeeded and appealed to the target audience.
I recieved feedback for my sequence by forming a focus group. From this, people within the group discussed the positive points that they saw within my sequence. I also gained constructive critisism which can help me improve, next time. Overall, this source of feedback helped as the group was made up of my chosen target audience of 15+. Aswell as this, I formed a questionnaire that I gave people aged 15+ to fill out. This was extremely helpful as I gained more knowledge as to what my audience liked about my sequence. I asked questions such as 'do you think this sequence contains a high element of shock/surprise/suspense?' and I asked 'would you want to see more of this, if made into a full film?' I found questions like this important, as I could view if my production would make a profit and appeal to it's audience. Feedback such as this is considered benefitial for production companies and the industry. This is because, this feedback allows the company to see if their production would sell at the box office. Further from this, large industries that produce these films, make blockbusters, which expands their target audience as film success can spread worldwide.
Here are three positive comments that I recieved:
1) 'Good use of costume, it makes the opening more appealing to watch.'
This can be refering to the wedding dress used. I thought the costume used was extremely important and helped show the character of the bride in her destressed state.
2) 'Full of suspense. The music helps this.'
I analysed many different music pieces before choosing the appropriate non diegetic sound to play within scenes high in suspense. Suspense helps draw the audience in, as they start to engage with the narrative.
3) 'Unique plot, haven't seen this kind of sequence before.'
I aimed to create a narrative that was extremely unique. Although I added conventional micro elements for example, low key lighting, I didn't want to use the traditional thriller sequence. This is because, it has been viewed by many audiences, and another conventional narrative can disencourage them.
I also recieved constructive comments from this feedback:
1) 'Could add more shock rather than just suspense'
Although I believe that shocking frames and ideas are added, I could have added more of the shock/surprise element to engage the audience futher.
2) 'Less dialogue, more sound effects.'
In the beginning, I believed that dialogue was needed for the frames to make sense to the audience. However from feedback like this, I found that clearer frames and more sound could do this equally.
3) 'End scene was confusing'
The sequence ended with the groom and his knew partner sat on the sofa. Luckily, this is only the opening sequence therefore, this would be explained in the rest of the film.
Overall, I believe that I have followed the aims of the brief. This is because my opening sequence contains micro elements that are seen within other successful thriller films. Therefore, I used influences to create a strong opening sequence that would appeal to my chosen target audience. I have made a post containing my final sequence here. From this, it can be seen that the brief was followed as I created a two minute thriller secrets, containing researched conventional micro elements such as cinematography that would appeal to my target audience.
I recieved feedback for my sequence by forming a focus group. From this, people within the group discussed the positive points that they saw within my sequence. I also gained constructive critisism which can help me improve, next time. Overall, this source of feedback helped as the group was made up of my chosen target audience of 15+. Aswell as this, I formed a questionnaire that I gave people aged 15+ to fill out. This was extremely helpful as I gained more knowledge as to what my audience liked about my sequence. I asked questions such as 'do you think this sequence contains a high element of shock/surprise/suspense?' and I asked 'would you want to see more of this, if made into a full film?' I found questions like this important, as I could view if my production would make a profit and appeal to it's audience. Feedback such as this is considered benefitial for production companies and the industry. This is because, this feedback allows the company to see if their production would sell at the box office. Further from this, large industries that produce these films, make blockbusters, which expands their target audience as film success can spread worldwide.
Here are three positive comments that I recieved:
1) 'Good use of costume, it makes the opening more appealing to watch.'
This can be refering to the wedding dress used. I thought the costume used was extremely important and helped show the character of the bride in her destressed state.
2) 'Full of suspense. The music helps this.'
I analysed many different music pieces before choosing the appropriate non diegetic sound to play within scenes high in suspense. Suspense helps draw the audience in, as they start to engage with the narrative.
3) 'Unique plot, haven't seen this kind of sequence before.'
I aimed to create a narrative that was extremely unique. Although I added conventional micro elements for example, low key lighting, I didn't want to use the traditional thriller sequence. This is because, it has been viewed by many audiences, and another conventional narrative can disencourage them.
I also recieved constructive comments from this feedback:
1) 'Could add more shock rather than just suspense'
Although I believe that shocking frames and ideas are added, I could have added more of the shock/surprise element to engage the audience futher.
2) 'Less dialogue, more sound effects.'
In the beginning, I believed that dialogue was needed for the frames to make sense to the audience. However from feedback like this, I found that clearer frames and more sound could do this equally.
3) 'End scene was confusing'
The sequence ended with the groom and his knew partner sat on the sofa. Luckily, this is only the opening sequence therefore, this would be explained in the rest of the film.
Overall, I believe that I have followed the aims of the brief. This is because my opening sequence contains micro elements that are seen within other successful thriller films. Therefore, I used influences to create a strong opening sequence that would appeal to my chosen target audience. I have made a post containing my final sequence here. From this, it can be seen that the brief was followed as I created a two minute thriller secrets, containing researched conventional micro elements such as cinematography that would appeal to my target audience.
AS Thriller Evaluation
My initial brief was to create a two minute opening sequence that contained codes and conventions typical of the thriller genre. This had to be created in groups. My group members were Amber-Louise Reed Johnson and Jazz Chrystie and myself. Within the production, group members had to be allocated to certain roles. Consequently, filming and editing would run smoothly and quickly as everybody in the group would have an assigned job. Firstly, Jazz was made the producer as he purchased all props needed and did not have a huge acting role therefore, he could supervise the making of the sequence. Jazz was also the mise en scene coordinator. Mise en scene is a huge contributer within the media industry and the making of a production. Amber was appointed the director of photography and filmed the whole sequence, this is because she was skilled with the equipment that would be used, for example the camera. Amber was also the sound producer and was responsible for sounds used within the sequence. She was succesful and filled this role well as she found conventional sounds before hand, and knew how to apply the. Lastly, Amber was the editor as she had experience using Final Cut Pro X therefore, she could edit the final sequence successfully. Within the sequence, we needed more than one actor therefore, the whole group had an acting part in some point of the sequence. I believe that this was a positive aspect as we could act as the characters we had created, therefore we knew first hand want we wanted the character to be like. From this also, the audience would engage with more believable characters.
My roles included directing, main acting and screen play writing. Firstly, I was in charge of directing other actors and the technical crew therefore, I had to be available to instruct others to make filming run smoothly and quickly. The role of a screen play writer is extremely important and I was appointed this role as I was the main creator of the narrative and storyboard. The opening sequence was made from detailed notes I made on each frame. From this, I learned how to make a well planned sequence and my team skills strengthened. I also learned how to instruct others rather than to be instructed. Overall, my group worked well together as we all knew our specific jobs that had to be done within these allocated roles. To improve next time and strenthen our group skills, we could have planned the filming schedule more sufficiently and should have made sure that the days were appropriate for everybody. However, because of well planned frames, there were no arguments.
My roles included directing, main acting and screen play writing. Firstly, I was in charge of directing other actors and the technical crew therefore, I had to be available to instruct others to make filming run smoothly and quickly. The role of a screen play writer is extremely important and I was appointed this role as I was the main creator of the narrative and storyboard. The opening sequence was made from detailed notes I made on each frame. From this, I learned how to make a well planned sequence and my team skills strengthened. I also learned how to instruct others rather than to be instructed. Overall, my group worked well together as we all knew our specific jobs that had to be done within these allocated roles. To improve next time and strenthen our group skills, we could have planned the filming schedule more sufficiently and should have made sure that the days were appropriate for everybody. However, because of well planned frames, there were no arguments.
Sunday, 29 December 2013
Rough cut- Miss Miller
Within our group, we produced a rough cut of of opening sequence that would be presented. From doing this, we can gain comments and opinions from peers, which will make us better our opening sequence from taking comments on board. Following on from this, we will also be able to edit out any mistakes that were made. Our rough cut can be watched here.
Audience feedback is crucial, as we need to be aware of what they want to see and what they don't want to see and how to engage them with the narrative. From showing the peers our rough cut, we can change certain elements, based on the audience's opinion. This further links to our target audience of 15+ as our rough cut was shown to that age group. From doing this, we discover what our chosen age certificate like and dislike about our opening sequence. The audience may also gain a deeper understanding of why certain elements are added into the sequence. Fundamentally, grades can be heightened as the audience are an influence and their opinions are considered.
Presenting our rough cut means that we can discover different successes and identifies what should be kept and what she be deleted. Furthermore, this was extremely helpful as any further steps are decided if we were confused before which overall, helps us proceed in the editing process.
Positive points gained were:
Good use of contrapuntal sound.
Clear narrative.
Good use of iconography and costume (wedding dress).
Variety of shots.
Good use of music and sound effects.
The shooting is appropriate to the task.
Transactions between frames.
Good use of conventions.
Plot twist.
Good acting.
Good font for narrative.
Creates suspense.
Negative points gained were:
Clear dialogue.
Sound chops and changes too often in the middle.
Use more suspenseful music leading up to the final killing scene.
More conventional thriller music
Less dialogue.
More low key lighting
Clearer narrative at the end of the scene
Shorter transitions
Thriller font, less neat.
Transitions are not needed.
Soundtrack only when needed.
Audience feedback is crucial, as we need to be aware of what they want to see and what they don't want to see and how to engage them with the narrative. From showing the peers our rough cut, we can change certain elements, based on the audience's opinion. This further links to our target audience of 15+ as our rough cut was shown to that age group. From doing this, we discover what our chosen age certificate like and dislike about our opening sequence. The audience may also gain a deeper understanding of why certain elements are added into the sequence. Fundamentally, grades can be heightened as the audience are an influence and their opinions are considered.
Presenting our rough cut means that we can discover different successes and identifies what should be kept and what she be deleted. Furthermore, this was extremely helpful as any further steps are decided if we were confused before which overall, helps us proceed in the editing process.
Positive points gained were:
Good use of contrapuntal sound.
Clear narrative.
Good use of iconography and costume (wedding dress).
Variety of shots.
Good use of music and sound effects.
The shooting is appropriate to the task.
Transactions between frames.
Good use of conventions.
Plot twist.
Good acting.
Good font for narrative.
Creates suspense.
Negative points gained were:
Clear dialogue.
Sound chops and changes too often in the middle.
Use more suspenseful music leading up to the final killing scene.
More conventional thriller music
Less dialogue.
More low key lighting
Clearer narrative at the end of the scene
Shorter transitions
Thriller font, less neat.
Transitions are not needed.
Soundtrack only when needed.
Sunday, 22 December 2013
Sound discussion- Miss Miller
Sound within every film overall is extremely important. As without sound, the storyline would be confusing and would not make sense to the audience. Thriller films should conventionally, scare the audience and make them feel certain emotions such as fright and sadness. Sound adds to this as different sounds can be used to surprise the audience such as screams, put them in suspense by the use of eerie music or make the audience understand the sequence by using dialogue. Overall, sounds are needed to link to what they are watching, which will cause them to feel negative emotions and engage with the narrative.
Contrapuntal sound will be used through scenes of the bride playing a wedding CD of what was meant to be a song at her wedding, 'Every breath you take' by The Police. Although this song is known to be reminiscent and positive/based on love, the mood is also quite negative. The audience will listen to the music and will gain a sense of negativity which links to what they are seeing on the screen. Also, the song relates back to a happy memory, which contrasts to what the audience see on screen. The audience will build a relationship with the character as they would want to understand the narrative and that the wedding day was ruined. This is conventional to the thriller genre as music is played to create a negative atmosphere, and come sometimes contradict what the audience see on screen, causing them to engage with the narratives and characters within the scene.
The next sound used is wedding bells, which is a non-diegetic technique. This will be used when there are close ups of the bride crying and again when the groom/victim is walking up the stairs.. This relates back to the wedding day, but links to the sequence as the wedding failed however, the audience are not sure why making the engage with the narrative and characters. From eerie wedding bells, the audience will feel suspense and sadness, as the day was not a success and they are scared and excited to find out why. The eerie wedding bells are played as the victim is walking up the stairs, as he was the groom, the sound highlights the mistakes he has made and may foreshadow his death. This is conventional to the thriller genre as this sound engages the audience as suspense rises, and the audience feel tense and engaged by the mood set by the music.
Non-Diegetic sound is used through eerie music soundtrack which will play through most of the sequence, for example, when the bride is in a dark secluded room. This signifys the bride's emotions to the audience, causing them to feel empathy for her and the audience/character bond to strengthen. The tone of the music causes the audience to be left in suspense, and again emphasise with the bride as she is alone in a room, after realisation of the narrative and the ruined event. From this sound, the audience see first hand the bride's deteriorating mental state. The music would imply how the killer is feeling, causing the audience to be placed in her position or allows them to see how dangerous or harmful she can be. Eerie music is conventional to the thriller genre as it builds suspense and this non-diegetic sound is commonly added before a negative event takes places, making the audience more shocked afterwards.
Silence will be used at the end when the killer is behind the door. Leading up to this, sound and dialogue was running all the way through, however leading up to the big event, silence is added to contrast with the other sound techniques, highlighting the scene's importance. Silence makes the scene more tense, making the audience feel the same and left worried for the victim's safety as that is where the opening sequence ends. Silence is used in the conventional thriller and is extremely popular as it intensifies the audience's emotions and the overall tone of the sequence and is a well known sound technique to create a negative ambience.
The chosen sounds for the opening sequence are effective as they are all conventional to the thriller genre and engage the audience with the overall narrative and characters. The use of eerie music for example, highlights characters feelings, causing the audience to feel empathy towards them. Fundamentally, these sounds build tension and suspense and furthermore shock the audience when linked with correct scenes, as they maked the sequence more interesting for the audience.
Opening scene analysis- Miss Georgiou
The purpose of an opening sequence is to create the idea of a narrative and to introduce the genre. Also, the opening should interest the audience to make them to want to continue watching. An opening sequence should contain Mise-En-Scene, characters, suspense and an enigma. In this post, I will be analysing the Halloween opening sequence and will discuss the cinematography used, editing, the use of sound, conventions, the narrative and the representation of characters.
Cinematography:
The Point of View camera shot is used when the killer is killing the victim. This specific shot gives the audience an in depth view of the situation and shows how the characters think and feel. The point of view shot is very personal, which could link to the killer's relationship to the victim as we later discover that they are siblings. The point of view shot is typical to a thriller as it used to involve the audience and make the scene look less structured and adds an eerie theme.
Handheld camera work is used when the killer walks through the door. This is used to make the scene more personal and to make the audience feel uneasy, like we are the prey as this killer is in charge. Also, this foreshadows the killers identity as he confidently walks through the house, highlighting the fact that he lives there. This links to a conventional thriller as the handheld aspect causes the killer to seem very strong and a higher and more terrifying status as apposed the the victim.
An eye level shot is used when the boyfriend leaves. This causes the audience to worry about his girlfriend's fate as she is upstairs alone as he leaves. Also, the killer is close to him in this shot therefore, we worry about him too. This shot also confuses the audience and foreshadows the brother being the killer as the boyfriend looking straight at the killer, not suspecting a thing. This links to the typical thriller as this shot creates a sense of fear and suspense.
Zooming out is used at the end when the parents and killer are standing outside the house. Zooming out causes the house to now look small, highlighting the fact that the sister is dead inside. As the house and family are now looking small, it could highlight the killers past and that he may kill again. Also, the effect of zooming out shows that family meant nothing to the killer and highlights the death of his sister. This links to the conventional thriller as zooming out can be used to make certain objects look small and to create as sense of misfortune.
Editing:
A jump cut is used when the killer takes the mask off. This could either highlight the end of something terrible i.e the killing of his sister or the beginning of him going on a murdering rampage and the mask being a motif. This further worries the audience and causes the feeling of uneasiness. The jump cut helps the mask signifying danger and the killer taking the mask off causes him to become a child again for when his parents return. This links to the conventional thriller as the editing used helps to show the motif of hidden identity and the killer's thoughts and actions, causing the audience to react to what the see on screen.
Timing of shots is used when the killer goes to stab the victim. The pace was slow but was then picked up as the girl was being stabbed. The slow pace builds suspense and the audience worries for the victim.The picked up pace as the girl is stabbed makes the whole situation worse and makes the girl's death more violent and meaningful. This surprises the audience as the editing was a slow pace before hand.
This links to the conventional thriller as timing of shots is typically used in death scenes and chase scenes to make the mood tense and shocking, making the audience feel the same.
Sound:
Parallel sound is used when the victim screams. Parallel sound means that the sound fits what the audience is seeing. Therefore, we would typically hear screams if a person was being hurt. Furthermore, the audience feels empathy towards the victim and realise how tragic her death is and sense the power in which the killer possesses. This relates to the typical thriller as parallel sound is used to highlight the situation and the significance of the character's death.
Contrapuntal sound is used when the girl is singing. This type of sound is the opposite to parallel. This is used when the sound does not link to what the audience sees on screen. Therefore, we do not expect her to sing before she gets killed. We could also debate that the contrapuntal sound foreshadows the killer being the brother as that is the complete opposite of what we thought would happen. This highlights the lack of safety in her own home and the fact she believes she was safe but she is not and that her brother is the killer. The audience feels uneasy about this as the setting and typical female character it too familiar. The audience is now aligned with the victim as both she and the audience are unaware that her brother is the killer. This links to a typical thriller as the use of different aspects are used to make the audience connect with characters in this case, sound.
Diegetic sound is used when we hear the clock. This creates suspense as the audience
want to know what will happen next and the clock sound creates a nervous and tense atmosphere.The sound of the clock could also mean counting down to her death which makes the audience fear for the victim. This is linked to a conventional thriller as without the sound, the scene would be pointless and would have a lack of effectiveness. This relates to the conventional thriller genre as this certain sound builds suspense and fear.
Conventions:
The dark settings for example the house, signal a lack of hope and loneliness. The fact that the house is dark and the killer is the brother shows a lack of trust and shows the audience that everything isn't as it seems. This relates to a conventional thriller as typically, settings like houses are uses to create a lack of safety or to create a sense of fake normality to the audience. The fact that the setting is dark is also conventional as it adds to the lack of safety and our amount of empathy for the victim.
Another convention used is the use of costume for example, the masked killer. This highlights that the killer's identity is hidden adding a mysterious theme and causes the audience to worry. The characters in the opening sequence act normally towards the character which therefore shows their closeness and can later link the killer to being the victim's brother. This relates to the conventional thriller opening as more often that not the killer's identity is hidden as it adds to the feeling of suspense and would surprise the audience when the killer's identity is found.
Narrative:
The enigma is that the killer is a child as that is surprising and isn't really used in thrillers often. The fact the child is the killer raises different questions and theories for example, the point of view camera work is too high up for the killer to be a child. But, it is most likely that the child was the killer as he is holding the knife at the end, wearing the costume and the characters for example victim's boyfriend, allows him to walk around the house openly. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the enigma is strange and makes the audience want to continue to watch the film once the enigma is presented in the opening sequence.
The mask is used again highlighting the killer's hidden identity. The killer turns out to be the child and when the child wears the mask, the he seems to be taken over. Therefore, the audience would want to continue watching as the mask and child are presented in the opening, therefore the film will follow his story and the audience would want to find out more about him. This links to a conventional thriller as the mask signifies what is yet to come and foreshadows death and a lack of safety and possibly the child finding safety and a wanting to murder people.
Lastly, the setting for the opening sequence is an American, suburban house which we believe will be safe and would portray as sense of innocence. But it does the opposite and creates a sense of false security. This makes us feel sorry for the victim and highlights that everything isn't as it seems. Also, as the house is typical is shows that everything else is the opposite, foreshadowing that the meaning of family means nothing to killer and he goes against it. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the use of a normal setting scares the audience as they may believe that this could happen to them.
Representation of characters:
The use of the couple is stereotypical. They are obliviant to the killer showing their status compared to the killer's as showing a sense of uncertainty and lack of security when the couple are in the house. The are typical to the thriller genre as usually a couple is added in some way or the idea of the romance sub-plot. The male of the relationship knows the killer as he acknowledges him in the hall, foreshadowing that the killer is the girlfriend's brother. The female is the typically pretty and has blonde hair, showing her as being innocent and the typical target.
The parents arrive at the end at the typical American house, which furthermore creates a sense of fake normality as we see that they come home after the killing of their daughter. The parents are confused at the situation as are the audience.
We discover that the boy is the killer which is new to us as he is a child that has just murdered his sister. The killer usually has an air of confidence and brutalness which the boy strangely now needs to possess as the killer. The child wears a stereotypical clown mask, which is ironically childlike and almost shows that he is hiding who he is to his family and the audience and in fact, he is not childlike, he is a killer which confuses the parents at the end. The hidden identity relates to the conventional thriller as the audience and characters which are the parents in this case, are surprises and are left wanting to know who the killer is.
To conclude, from this research I have identified what a good opening sequence to a thriller should include and this research has helped me and influenced me to make my own thriller. I uncovered different micro elements that are extremely important to a narrative such a representation of characters and the belief that characters should be conventional yet unique/interesting to the audience and have a back story. Also, I now realise what my opening should contain which I didn't really before therefore, I now have a much clearer outlook due to my detailed analysis.
The Point of View camera shot is used when the killer is killing the victim. This specific shot gives the audience an in depth view of the situation and shows how the characters think and feel. The point of view shot is very personal, which could link to the killer's relationship to the victim as we later discover that they are siblings. The point of view shot is typical to a thriller as it used to involve the audience and make the scene look less structured and adds an eerie theme.
Handheld camera work is used when the killer walks through the door. This is used to make the scene more personal and to make the audience feel uneasy, like we are the prey as this killer is in charge. Also, this foreshadows the killers identity as he confidently walks through the house, highlighting the fact that he lives there. This links to a conventional thriller as the handheld aspect causes the killer to seem very strong and a higher and more terrifying status as apposed the the victim.
An eye level shot is used when the boyfriend leaves. This causes the audience to worry about his girlfriend's fate as she is upstairs alone as he leaves. Also, the killer is close to him in this shot therefore, we worry about him too. This shot also confuses the audience and foreshadows the brother being the killer as the boyfriend looking straight at the killer, not suspecting a thing. This links to the typical thriller as this shot creates a sense of fear and suspense.
Zooming out is used at the end when the parents and killer are standing outside the house. Zooming out causes the house to now look small, highlighting the fact that the sister is dead inside. As the house and family are now looking small, it could highlight the killers past and that he may kill again. Also, the effect of zooming out shows that family meant nothing to the killer and highlights the death of his sister. This links to the conventional thriller as zooming out can be used to make certain objects look small and to create as sense of misfortune.
Editing:
A jump cut is used when the killer takes the mask off. This could either highlight the end of something terrible i.e the killing of his sister or the beginning of him going on a murdering rampage and the mask being a motif. This further worries the audience and causes the feeling of uneasiness. The jump cut helps the mask signifying danger and the killer taking the mask off causes him to become a child again for when his parents return. This links to the conventional thriller as the editing used helps to show the motif of hidden identity and the killer's thoughts and actions, causing the audience to react to what the see on screen.
Timing of shots is used when the killer goes to stab the victim. The pace was slow but was then picked up as the girl was being stabbed. The slow pace builds suspense and the audience worries for the victim.The picked up pace as the girl is stabbed makes the whole situation worse and makes the girl's death more violent and meaningful. This surprises the audience as the editing was a slow pace before hand.
This links to the conventional thriller as timing of shots is typically used in death scenes and chase scenes to make the mood tense and shocking, making the audience feel the same.
Sound:
Parallel sound is used when the victim screams. Parallel sound means that the sound fits what the audience is seeing. Therefore, we would typically hear screams if a person was being hurt. Furthermore, the audience feels empathy towards the victim and realise how tragic her death is and sense the power in which the killer possesses. This relates to the typical thriller as parallel sound is used to highlight the situation and the significance of the character's death.
Contrapuntal sound is used when the girl is singing. This type of sound is the opposite to parallel. This is used when the sound does not link to what the audience sees on screen. Therefore, we do not expect her to sing before she gets killed. We could also debate that the contrapuntal sound foreshadows the killer being the brother as that is the complete opposite of what we thought would happen. This highlights the lack of safety in her own home and the fact she believes she was safe but she is not and that her brother is the killer. The audience feels uneasy about this as the setting and typical female character it too familiar. The audience is now aligned with the victim as both she and the audience are unaware that her brother is the killer. This links to a typical thriller as the use of different aspects are used to make the audience connect with characters in this case, sound.
Diegetic sound is used when we hear the clock. This creates suspense as the audience
want to know what will happen next and the clock sound creates a nervous and tense atmosphere.The sound of the clock could also mean counting down to her death which makes the audience fear for the victim. This is linked to a conventional thriller as without the sound, the scene would be pointless and would have a lack of effectiveness. This relates to the conventional thriller genre as this certain sound builds suspense and fear.
Conventions:
The dark settings for example the house, signal a lack of hope and loneliness. The fact that the house is dark and the killer is the brother shows a lack of trust and shows the audience that everything isn't as it seems. This relates to a conventional thriller as typically, settings like houses are uses to create a lack of safety or to create a sense of fake normality to the audience. The fact that the setting is dark is also conventional as it adds to the lack of safety and our amount of empathy for the victim.
Another convention used is the use of costume for example, the masked killer. This highlights that the killer's identity is hidden adding a mysterious theme and causes the audience to worry. The characters in the opening sequence act normally towards the character which therefore shows their closeness and can later link the killer to being the victim's brother. This relates to the conventional thriller opening as more often that not the killer's identity is hidden as it adds to the feeling of suspense and would surprise the audience when the killer's identity is found.
Narrative:
The enigma is that the killer is a child as that is surprising and isn't really used in thrillers often. The fact the child is the killer raises different questions and theories for example, the point of view camera work is too high up for the killer to be a child. But, it is most likely that the child was the killer as he is holding the knife at the end, wearing the costume and the characters for example victim's boyfriend, allows him to walk around the house openly. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the enigma is strange and makes the audience want to continue to watch the film once the enigma is presented in the opening sequence.
The mask is used again highlighting the killer's hidden identity. The killer turns out to be the child and when the child wears the mask, the he seems to be taken over. Therefore, the audience would want to continue watching as the mask and child are presented in the opening, therefore the film will follow his story and the audience would want to find out more about him. This links to a conventional thriller as the mask signifies what is yet to come and foreshadows death and a lack of safety and possibly the child finding safety and a wanting to murder people.
Lastly, the setting for the opening sequence is an American, suburban house which we believe will be safe and would portray as sense of innocence. But it does the opposite and creates a sense of false security. This makes us feel sorry for the victim and highlights that everything isn't as it seems. Also, as the house is typical is shows that everything else is the opposite, foreshadowing that the meaning of family means nothing to killer and he goes against it. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the use of a normal setting scares the audience as they may believe that this could happen to them.
Representation of characters:
The use of the couple is stereotypical. They are obliviant to the killer showing their status compared to the killer's as showing a sense of uncertainty and lack of security when the couple are in the house. The are typical to the thriller genre as usually a couple is added in some way or the idea of the romance sub-plot. The male of the relationship knows the killer as he acknowledges him in the hall, foreshadowing that the killer is the girlfriend's brother. The female is the typically pretty and has blonde hair, showing her as being innocent and the typical target.
The parents arrive at the end at the typical American house, which furthermore creates a sense of fake normality as we see that they come home after the killing of their daughter. The parents are confused at the situation as are the audience.
We discover that the boy is the killer which is new to us as he is a child that has just murdered his sister. The killer usually has an air of confidence and brutalness which the boy strangely now needs to possess as the killer. The child wears a stereotypical clown mask, which is ironically childlike and almost shows that he is hiding who he is to his family and the audience and in fact, he is not childlike, he is a killer which confuses the parents at the end. The hidden identity relates to the conventional thriller as the audience and characters which are the parents in this case, are surprises and are left wanting to know who the killer is.
To conclude, from this research I have identified what a good opening sequence to a thriller should include and this research has helped me and influenced me to make my own thriller. I uncovered different micro elements that are extremely important to a narrative such a representation of characters and the belief that characters should be conventional yet unique/interesting to the audience and have a back story. Also, I now realise what my opening should contain which I didn't really before therefore, I now have a much clearer outlook due to my detailed analysis.
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