Finished Thriller Opening Sequence

My finished thriller 'Nostalgia' can be seen below;

 

Thriller comparison - Miss Georgiou

I think my group and I have created a successful thriller sequence because it fulfills what the brief asked of us. It is 2 minutes long and is conventional in many ways. It also confuses the audience, making them vulnerable to feeling any emotion, which will make them feel nervous and means we can fully manipulate their emotional state. For example:

• The use of low key lighting (See below).

• The setting of a forest, (See above), which is conventional as it creates the idea of the victim not being able to escape from the killer which builds tension. 
• The music we used added to the effect of the footage and matched the images on screen, building suspense. 
• The mysterious, childlike credits matched the narrative and built tension, (See below). 

• The sound scape built up into a crescendo during the blackout, before the underwater scene. - It made the audience wonder what was going on which made them feel nervous, creating suspense. 

I feel that the micro element which best shows my creativity and understanding of thriller conventions would be the use of a fade. This editing technique is used in my narrative to clearly show the change in time from the girl walking alone in the forest to her being with her older sister. It is also the change from low key lighting to high key lighting and this confusing the audience and makes them feel that things are forever changing. It gives my narrative a clear but creepy mood to it and the emotions the audience feel because of this is what makes it conventional. (See below for an example of a fade). 

· Compare your opening sequence to a successful thriller and explain how your thriller is conventional. Consider the narrative, representation of characters, sounds, editing, mise-en-scene





To show my understanding of the generic conventions and developing a real thriller, I have compared my thriller opening to the film ‘The Sixth Sense’.

The film is about a young boy who can communicate with spirits that don’t know they are dead, who seeks the help of a child psychologist, played by Bruce Willis. Just like most thrillers, the film uses low key lighting in certain scenes in the film; these scenes are usually when Cole (the little boy) is communicating with a dead person. For example, the scene where he shows Malcolm the dead people who hung themselves at his school and when he talks to a woman in the kitchen. It is in these scenes where the suspense is built, and so the low key lighting, tension building music, the use of montage to put the images together etc, are all used to show viewers how scared the little boy is and to help the audience feel scared too.

The clip below is from the Sixth Sense and shows one of the scary, tension building scenes in the film. It shows the innocence of the little boy bursting for the toilet but is too scared to go in the dark. This makes viewers connect and sympathise with him, associating him to be the victim. This is similar to my thriller as the scarf and pink dress the girl wears shows her youth and innocence. This clip is conventional mainly due to the sound added which makes the scene scary by building suspense. Viewers, having previously connected to the little boy, feel the emotions he does as it is clear the boy is frightened. The use of the shot showing the thermometer going down and the breath being visible in the air shows how cold it is in the house. This gives the scene a supernatural feel to it as we associate the cold with the supernatural, and dark, scary things. It also may make people shiver and feel paranoid which is very conventional in thriller films. There was also the use of low key lighting in the shot showing the length of the hallway (see below) and throughout the clip to add to everything mentioned above.

This film, like my thriller opening is not a very stereotypical thriller, as the sixth sense focuses on the journey of the boy and how Malcolm helps him deal with his ‘gift’. There is a fight scene, but instead of taking up the entire narrative of the film, happens at the beginning and is forgotten right until the end of the film. The film has various settings such as Cole’s house, school, local hospital and the area he lives in. These settings are not conventional as they do not make the audience feel nervous by the victim being trapped etc, but simply tell viewers more information. They also make the thriller more believable as these settings are easily accessible to the general public. This could make them think the scenario in the film could happen to them which will make viewers nervous, and this feeling is what is conventional. The fact that this is an entire film and not just a two minute opening means that the effects used are going to be better. Whereas my group and I allocated several different roles between us, there would have been a team of people on each job; they would’ve had a bigger budget etc, and so there are obviously some major differences between the two. Both thrillers do have a similar element, as both create the enigma of finding out the main character is dead; Malcolm finds out he died at the beginning of the film, right at the very end, and the entire film has been building up the tension so that the audience feel very shocked at the end of the film, which makes the film conventional as it had used the common 3S’s in it. However, in my thriller, I only had 2 minutes to create a similar effect. The main character, who is the victim, unlike in the sixth sense, finds out she is dead at the very end of the opening, which would also surprise the audience in the hope they will continue watching. I therefore had to build suspense in a different way as I didn’t have the length of an entire film. I therefore chose the stereotypical setting in a forest, with the victim dying at the end, as well as the conventional looking credits added in.

Audience feedback - Miss Georgiou

Audience feedback is important to a production as it enables the producers to get an idea of what message is coming across to their audience and allows them to gain some positive and negative comments on the film so they can improve it. 

In order to improve our thriller opening sequence, my group and I wanted to get some feedback so that we could improve our thriller. We got this feedback by showing a small group of people, between the ages of 15 to 18 which is our target audience. We then asked them a short questionnaire, consisting of questions like 

• 'What was your first impression of our thriller sequence?'
• 'How did it make you feel?'
• 'Do you feel it was conventional to the thriller genre? If so how?'
• 'Is there anything you would change to make our thriller better?'

The feedback we gained would benefit our production of the thriller as we are now able to go back and improve certain elements to make it even better, potentially allowing us to get a better mark. However, if this was a real film produced in the industry, the audience feedback would also allow the film's production team to review certain parts of the film to make them better. These changes could potentially make the film more successful by making more money as it could appeal to a larger range of people. 

Some positive feedback my group received was:

1. We included a wide variety of cinematography which made the sequence interesting and effective. - I agree with this comment as this was something we tried to do. We wanted to show a range of shots but made sure they were consistently conventional. For example, we always used a high angled shot looking down at the little girl to portray her as the victim, (See below). 

     2. The idea and use of the underwater scene was unique and made it stand out compared to other thriller          opening sequences. - This comment also sums up another one of our aims as we had this underwater            scene idea right from the start. We wanted our thriller film to be different but by still being conventional.          Also we noticed that there wasn't a lot of other thriller films who have an underwater scene and so                thought if carried out correctly this would make our narrative really successful. 

     3. We were also told that our opening sequence was very conventional to the thriller genre, such as the              use of low key lighting, the characters of the protagonist and unknown antagonist, as well as the choice          of tension building music. - We wanted to try and make our opening sequence very conventional and            so did this through the examples listed above as well as many more. We also made the music match              the images and edits on the screen, so that it would build suspense and be even more effective. 

Some negative feedback my group received was;

1. The narrative was very confusing and some of my audience didn't understand it. - I think that by planning, researching and re-editing the film so many times, we understood the narrative and so assumed that our audience would too. 
2. They said that whilst our credits were good, they could be improved by making them look more conventional and more suited to the narrative of the little girl. 
3. The idea of the flashbacks was good, but we needed to make this clearer and easier to understand. 

To improve these points my group did the following:

• Whilst our narrative was confusing to viewers, my group and I were not too worried about this as this is what we were trying to do. By confusing your audience you make them vulnerable to feeling many different sorts of emotions, such as them feeling nervous or anxious to what is to happen next. This will allow the climax and ending of the opening sequence to have a bigger effect on the audience, and this is what we were trying to do. However, saying this, we did re-watch our thriller and got a second opinion and decided to take out a few of the shots in an attempt to make the narrative easier to understand. 
• We decided to follow the feedback about the credits and changed the style of our credits. We decided that as the narrative was about the little girl, the credits should look like a child wrote them, perhaps the little girl herself. We therefore chose a more childlike font style which gave the credits a more sinister feel and helped to build suspense, (See below). 

• We also decided to make the flashbacks clearer by changing the lighting to a brighter high-key light, as well as adding in the transition of a fade to emphasise the change in time, (See below an example of a fade). 
  

Overall, we followed the aims of the brief my creating a 2 minute opening sequence to a thriller. We kept to the time frame and also included many thriller conventions such as low key lighting, setting in a forest and tension building music etc to make our sequence as conventional as possible. We kept to the time frame by carefully planning and researching everything from mise-en-scene to character representations, as well as having a film schedule and time log sheets to ensure our progression each week. We stuck to the brief and have made a good thriller opening sequence that our target audience can relate to. 

AS Evaluation- Question 7

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When looking back at my preliminary task, I feel I have definitely improved and progressed in the skills involved in filming. The purpose of the preliminary task was to show my understanding in what I had learnt from the research stage so far, mainly focusing on the cinematography and editing aspects.

Using the camera and tripod for the first time, we had to create a short clip, no longer than 1 minute in length, which we would then edit using the Final Cut pro X software available. During my preliminary task, I learnt how to carry out a high angled shot, a zooming in shot, an over the shoulder shot, a close up and a tracking shot.

                                 High Angles -

  

                   Over the shoulder shots - 
                                                      

Close up shots - 

 As well as getting familiar with the camera, tripod and editing software. I learnt how to upload my footage, preview it, select it etc, and then how to trim any unwanted parts. This helped me when completing the filming for my thriller, as it meant I had some experience with completing certain shots, meaning the filming didn’t take as long. Also, I felt that during my preliminary task, my knowledge on using the editing software was very limited to just trimming. However, now I have completed the editing stage of my thriller, my skills have developed as I used a lot more than a ‘trim’ in the finished product, and I feel that the preliminary task enabled this to happen. It gave me some experience on how to do the basic things on Final Cut Pro X, which I have been able to progress on. My preliminary task made me realise how important the planning stage was, and this helped me as we planned in detail, and so finished the thriller opening within the deadline. 

AS Evaluation- Question 6

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Throughout the making of my thriller opening,I used a variety of technology to help me in the research, planning and evaluating stages. I mainly used ‘blogger’ to present and keep all my research and planning posts etc. I used ‘free sound’ to find copyright free sound effects etc, such as 'Girl laugh2' (0:37 in the clip), 'breathing sounds' (1:15 in the clip) and 'splash.wav' (1:22 in the clip), which I could then add into my thriller opening.
 I used Final Cut Pro X to edit my thriller footage, and add in transitions, such as the Gaussian effect used in the flashback scenes. I also used a camera and a tripod when filming. I learnt how to use the camera and tripod through the experience of the preliminary task. Before this task, we went through how to extend the tripod, how to pivot it, and how to attach the camera to it, as well as how to use the camera properly. However, most of this came with the practicing of the filming. When filming there were a few shots I struggled to film, such as the aerial shot we wanted to show the little girl dead at the end of the thriller. There was no way we could get carry out an aerial shot at our location, and I didn't realise this until the day of the filming. To overcome this problem, I improvised and chose to film it from a very high angle, with the tripod fully extended, looking down on the little girl. I think this worked better than the aerial shot as it portrayed her to be the victim one last time, and showed she was dead, building suspense. Other than this, we managed well when filming the other shots; it was simply a case of trial and error to see what worked, as we had never done this before.

The editing software I used (Final Cut Pro X), helped me in the editing stage of my thriller. It involved me uploading my footage onto the computer, and then selecting the best ones by being able to preview them first, before dragging those I wanted to include onto the timeline. Once this was done, I could put the clips in order and cut or trim any parts which I didn’t want to use. I then learnt how to add transitions into my footage, such as the Gaussian effect used in the flashback scenes, how to change the lighting to make it low-key, add sound from 'free-sound' and how to create and add credits etc. I would say that my strengths in editing my thriller are that I can trim and cut down the footage easily, to ensure it was under 2 minutes long, as well as adding transitions into the thriller and confidently un-matching the original sound from the footage, so that we could add a particular sound effect on top. For my weaknesses, I felt that as the software we were using was reasonably new, we couldn't use it to its full potential, such as making a particular edit the way we wanted to, because we were not experienced with the software.To create the credits for my thriller, we used Final Cut Pro X, and for the evaluation, we used Blogger, Prezi and videos to show a variety of technology.

One area of my opening thriller film that reflects my editing skills are during the first flashback, shown between 0:25 to 0:33 seconds into my thriller. Firstly, I wanted to make the audience focus on the tree which was being zoomed in on and so changed the lighting and saturation etc, so the darks and mid tones were lower, which gave the tree a dark luminous effect, making it look intriguing, so the audience would wonder what would happen next. This is followed by the transition of a fade into the first flashback showing the two sisters playing around a tree. For this flashback, I changed the lighting and saturation's etc again, but this time increased the midtones and whites to make it look like high key lighting, so the audience would be able to distinguish between the flashbacks and normality in the clip. I added a Gaussian blur effect on top of this, and adjusted the levels of blurring, so that the audience could still determine what was happening, but it still minimised the detail, creating a sense of confusion which will build suspense. As well as this, we played around with the soundtrack, so that it matched to the images, building tension.

AS Evaluation- Question 5

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

The research helped me during the planning stages for my thriller opening such as planning mise-en-scene, characters, cinematography, sound, editing styles and opening credits, as it told me what my audience wanted to see. The various films I analysed to help me in my research inspired me; For mise-en-scene, I learnt that you don’t need a variety of settings or iconography as by keeping everything relatively simple, you can build the most suspense (Asylum clip). For cinematography, I learnt there are a variety of ways to portray a specific character, such as by using a high angled shot to present the killer, making him look weak (Red Eye clip). For editing, the jump cuts and slow editing used in the clip ‘Here’s Johnny’ from the film The shining, inspired me as to how effective and engaging they made the scene, as well as how nervous they made the audience feel from the build of tension. As well as this it helped me to decide on my target audience and age certificate; 15. It told me how important sound is to an audience as this is what adds meaning and suspense to a scene. and It also taught me the conventions my audience think are most important, such as using a canted angle or handheld footage to build suspense. This research was helpful as it allowed me and my group to gather our thoughts and decide on which elements worked best. It helped me to understand how to make my thriller opening more conventional and also unique. 

Overall, the primary research I carried out, such as the questionnaire results helped me to understand what my target audience wanted in a thriller opening sequence. The secondary research I carried out, such as the research into mise-en-scene etc, allowed me to understand the micro-elements better, which assisted me in the making of my thriller opening. 

AS Evaluation- Question 4

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

My thriller film appeals to my target audience in many different ways, mainly through it being relatable. The characters in my narrative are ordinary people, who are presented very naturally, such as through the everyday clothing of the two sisters, which allows the audience to see them as one of them and so can relate to them and believe their emotions etc.
The narrative unfortunately is also reasonably believable, due to stories of children being snatched etc. This may make the film quite personal to some viewers, meaning they will be able to relate and emphasise with the victim and what is going on truthfully. 
The different aspects of mise-en-scene such as the iconography used; the scarf and the rose, as well as the setting in a forest are all easily accessible, which makes them realistic and believable. This may make viewers feel that the scenario happening on screen can happen to them-self, and so will make them nervous for what may happen next and will also build suspense and help the audience feel the full effect of the thriller. 
The soundtrack and cinematography used will also appeal to my target audience as they help to build suspense, and will make the viewers feel something, which is the reason our audience are watching the film. For example, the use of the high angle continually used to portray the young girl shows her to be the victim as she looks vulnerable and smaller. Also, the non-diegetic soundtrack is quite eerie and also matches the images on screen, making the thriller have a bigger effect on viewers, through the tension built. 
The edits were completed so that it looked like the images on screen motivated the edit taking place, and specific camera angles such as a high angle, made it clearer to the audience who specific characters were. 

AS Evaluation- Question 3

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

AS Evaluation- Question 2

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My opening sequence consists of 3 main characters, but two of them could be played by the same person. These are; the little sister, the older sister and the killer. We didn't want to have too many characters as we wanted out narrative to be focused, and not have several back stories etc, and so decided on these characters. 

The little sister is portrayed as being innocent through her body language and facial expressions which will make her look sad and lonely, making it obvious to the audience that she is the victim. This character will appeal to the audience because of this, as they will believe she is innocent and is the victim, which is made clear through the use of high angled shots when portraying the little girl. They will therefore sympathise with her, which will mean they are emotionally attached to her throughout the clip. Gender is represented in a stereotypical way, as in thrillers, the victim is stereotypically always a female, and so by using a female in our clip, makes it clearer to the audience that she is the victim. By presenting her in everyday, young clothes such as the pink dress and the pretty pink scarf, it shows her youth, meaning anyone who is a parent or has young friends etc will be able to relate to the little girl, meaning they will feel even more sorry and nervous for her, and will be more shocked when they find out she is dead.

The older sister will help to confuse the audience. They will begin liking her as she is close with her sister, but may feel a sense of betrayal against her because the audience will wonder why she didn't help save her sister. She is used to help create an enigma which is conventional to thrillers as it leaves the audience unsure of what has happened and so they question it and continue to watch to see what happens. We dressed her in jeans and a black coat as this is a normal example of everyday clothing for a teenager. Teenagers of a similar age will be able to relate to this character by what she is wearing and how she feels. They may also sympathise with her when we see her place the rose down as viewers will never want to lose their little brother or sister, no matter how much they argue, and so will connect very easily with this character. 

The killer is the main enigma in my thriller opening as his identity is kept hidden, which is very conventional to the thriller genre as it makes the audience eager to know who the killer is which keeps them engaged with the clip. The audience should react to the killer in a negative way. He/she should make them feel uncomfortable and should be responsible for creating all of the bad emotions the audience feel. 

We wanted to have a relatable, realistic narrative that was still stereotypical to the thriller genre and so we had the enigma of the killer which built suspense. We also had the 2 sisters to show the realistic bond siblings can have, sometimes arguing and not getting along, to the eldest being protective over the younger sister or them happily playing and laughing. This bond would be something the audience can relate to, meaning that when the little sister dies, the audience will feel the pain and heartache the sister may have felt. It makes the entire narrative seem like it can happen in real life which will make viewers be able to relate to the characters easily and sympathise with them.

AS Evaluation- Question 1

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real media products?

For most thriller films, the generic conventions are mainly about creating an effect for the audience. Most will incorporate the 3S’s; Suspense, Surprise & Shock, as well as building tension to help keep the audience engaged with the film. More specifically, the conventions which help to create these effects are; Low-key lighting, Specific characters, Setting, Iconography, Cinematography, Editing, Sound and the use of enigmas.

The use of low key lighting acts as an immediate indicator to the viewers, that they are watching a film from the thriller genre. It helps to show the contrast between the light and dark areas on screen, which can help viewers to focus their attention on a specific element. Low key lighting is used in this way in the basement scene from the film ‘House at the end of the street’.

 It is used to cast shadows and areas of darkness, so a mysterious atmosphere is created, thus building tension. In this scene, the audience witness the female character walk down into a basement which is unknown to herself and the viewers. The low key lighting therefore hides most of the detail in the frames, so the audience can only focus on the emotions on the girls face. This helps to build a sense of confusion as viewers will question what they think they are seeing with what may actually be happening, which will emphasise the shock they will feel later in the scene, which is conventional.

In all thriller films, there is usually always a protagonist and an antagonist; whether this is two separate characters or simply one, such as in a psychological thriller where it is a battle between the characters mental and emotional state. In thrillers, the victim is stereotypically always a female who is oblivious to what is going on or is too gullible to do anything about it. It is important for the audience to relate to the victim so they will feel sorry for her, and so will feel the full effect of all the scenes. The victim therefore needs to be believable, and this can be achieved through certain aspects of mise-en-scene. An example of a believable stereotypical victim can be seen in the ‘Trying to kill me’ scene from the film ‘Red Eye’. 

In this scene, the female is in her bedroom and bathroom, holding a hockey stick, nervously looking round for the man in her house who is trying to kill her. She is dressed in a white top, which could connote her innocence, and a black skirt, which are both of an everyday style. This along with normal setting in the house, allows the audience to relate to her as being a normal person, just like themselves, which helps to create suspense as they realise that the scene they are watching could happen to them too. 

However, the scene called ‘Here’s Johnny’ from the film ‘The Shining’, shows the same elements as the ‘Trying to kill me clip’, but doesn't have the same effect. The female has locked herself in a bathroom, in a house which has been snowed in, making the audience aware that she has no way of escaping and is trapped. They therefore begin to feel sorry for her as, like the other victim, she seems like a normal person and so viewers will think this could happen to them too. However, when the killer axes down the door, all we hear is constant screams from the victim, and her facial expressions seem slightly pathetic as she is simply standing there waiting, instead of doing something about it. This along with the psychotic looking killer makes the scene become comical, and this means it doesn't build as much suspense as it could of. These are the stereotypical characteristics of a victim, and will leave viewers shouting at the screen to do something. It doesn't make the film any less conventional, but it simply doesn't build the suspense in the immediately effective way as the victim in Red Eye.

The setting in a thriller film informs the audience vital information about the scene, and can be used to provoke a response from the audience in the first frame shown. It is also a good indicator as to the genre of the film. For example, if the film is set in a public place such as a park or a restaurant in the middle of the day, then viewers are going to think the film is a romantic comedy, for example, and so will expect to see a couple etc. However, if the film is set in a dark abandoned house or in the middle of the forest, the audience may feel nervous, and guess that something bad will happen, which is common in thriller films. 
An example of a conventional setting is shown in the basement scene from the film ‘House at the end of the street’, where we see the female victim open a hatch on the floor, and walks down into a dark hallway of some sort. This immediately informs the audience there is only one way to escape if there is any danger, and as the female is literally walking into danger, it seems unlikely she will have time to escape if she needs to. This makes viewers sit on edge and feel very nervous for the victim as they know something is going to happen to her.

Iconography is essential in thriller films as it can be a good way to quickly build tension and can help foreshadow what will happen in the scene. It also makes it clear to the audience that they are watching a thriller film, as the iconography could be the murder weapon. For example, if the iconography is a gun, then viewers may think that it will be used, and so would create a nervous atmosphere as well as creating a sense of danger. The most common piece of iconography used as a murder weapon in thrillers is a knife, as shown in the opening scene of the film ‘Halloween’.

As soon as the audience see the unknown killer pick up the knife, viewers will guess that he is going to use it on the girl upstairs, as this would be the most stereotypical thing to happen. This helps to build suspense and viewers will begin to sympathise with the girl they have just met, because she doesn't know what is happening.

Cinematography is very important as it can help to provoke a response from the audience. Particular camera angles are more conventional to thrillers than others, these are; Handheld camerawork, canted angles and high angles. Handheld camerawork and the canted angle are both used in the film ‘House at the end of the street’, when the victim is walking along the dark hallway in the basement. The canted angle shows the situation as unusual which suggests a bad outcome. This helps to show the female as being distressed which is a common theme in thrillers and so helps to build suspense. It makes the audience feel unstable as they are no longer sure of what the girl is doing. It also makes them feel confused and nervous as this shot helps to build tension. The use of high angles is typically used to portray victims, as it makes them look small and weak. An example of a high angle used to portray a female victim is in the film ‘The Strangers’, where the girl is sat on the floor against the wall, scared and alone as there is someone at the door. This helps the audience to identify her as the victim and to sympathise with her.

Editing styles are harder to identify as they help the film to run smoothly. However, they can also help to build suspense, increase the pace of the film or create a tense atmosphere etc. For example, there is a jump cut used in the scene ‘Here’s Johnny’, from the film ‘The Shining’, which is very conventional. This is when the film suddenly focuses on something, which in this clip is the killer preparing to axe down the door, which is protecting the victim. They are usually used in thrillers when multiple things are going on that the audience may be unaware of, and so these jump cuts fill them in and allow viewers to make their own assumptions on what the narrative will be like. They can also be used to speed the footage up, such as showing a character walking down a path; it is not necessary to show the whole length of the footage and so jump cuts save time and fasten the pace of the film, building suspense. The jump cut is used to follow the path of the axe going into the door, which draws our attention to the axe. This jump cut increases the pace of the scene, so that when the axe hits the door, the audience jump. Using a jump cut is a very traditional trait to thriller films, which is conventional as it builds tension for the audience and keeps them engaged.

The use of sound is very important as it helps to tell the story by defining an image more clearly and also helps to provoke a response from the audience. In thriller films, sound is used to build tension and suspense, in order to engage the audience and make them feel certain emotions and responses.  Sound can help to create an understanding of the scene for the audience, and also adds meaning to an image which without sound would not have the same effect. It helps the audience to connect with certain characters by putting them into the mind-set of that character which can help viewers to respond emotionally. Sound has to be carefully planned so that it matches up with the image on screen. I therefore think that the most conventional type of sound to thrillers is parallel sound, which is used well in the film ‘The Panic Room’.  The parallel sound came from the diegetic on screen sound of footsteps which matched the suspense building soundtrack playing. This helped to increase the pace of the scene, building tension, and also reminds the audience that this is a chase scene. This creates a ‘jumpy’ atmosphere for the audience, which heightens the emotions they feel. A chase scene is also conventional to thrillers, and so by using all these elements together, not only builds tension, but also reminds viewers that this is a thriller film.

The last generic convention I think is essential to include in a thriller film is the use of enigmas. Enigmas can help to build suspense and create a confusing atmosphere. A good example of this is in the opening sequence of the film ‘Halloween’, such as who the killer is and what his intentions are. This is conventional to thrillers as it creates the 3S’s which are surprise, shock & suspense. For example, one of the enigmas is of the boy being the killer. The dialogue is what is misleading as the couple say the little brother is around the house somewhere, but if he is the killer then why would he enter through the open back door of his own house? Also, the killers POV shots look too tall for the little boy to be the killer. It leaves the audience deliberately confused and questioning what they have just seen, and also helps them to build up their own evidence as they want the boy to be innocent as he is only a child.

When planning my thriller opening, my group and I decided we wanted to include as many of the generic conventions as possible, but adapt them to our narrative, to help make it unique. We therefore used low-key lighting in all scenes except from the flashbacks scenes, to minimise the amount of detail that could be seen, thus creating a mysterious atmosphere that would help to build tension. In the flashbacks, I wanted to clearly show the transition from normality into the flashback, and so decided that every flashback should be bright and possibly blurry, minimising the audiences’ confusion.

My group decided to set our thriller opening in a forest that has a river in it as this is a setting that the audience could relate to. It informs the audience firstly that it is a thriller film, and secondly reminds them that the characters are nowhere near anything or anyone and so won’t be able to reach help if they need it. This would make the audience sit on edge from the very beginning of the thriller film, and so would build the tension as viewers will feel nervous for the little girl and will easily sympathise with her.

Originally, we had planned to include a knife, a scarf and a rose for our Iconography, but due to health and safety reasons, could no longer use the knife acting as the murder weapon. I think this worked to our advantage as the audience can now only assume that the girl died by drowning or strangulation. This would build suspense as the audience will realise that murder can still happen without the use of a murder weapon, meaning it could happen at any time. This would be a bit surreal for viewers and so they would be shocked when witnessing this underwater scene, which would build more suspense. The white rose is used to symbolise the little

sisters’ death; the white will connote her purity and innocence, so that when she dies the audience will feel even more sorry for her. The scarf is what triggers the second flashback showing the two sisters, and so helps to emphasise my title of our opening, Nostalgia. The use of the chosen Iconography is not necessarily what the audience would expect to see in a thriller film, but we chose them due to them being easily relatable to. Although viewers may not understand or notice their purpose in the thriller, either way it will build suspense through the confusion created.

My group used various types of cinematography in the thriller sequence, which I think will help to keep the audience engaged. The shots used such as the high angle, help to indicate who the characters are; the victim is always portrayed using a high angle and so the audience will immediately know to be sympathetic towards her. Using the same shot frequently to present a particular character will mean the audience always act in the same way, emotionally towards her, creating a strong connection. The use of specific cinematography is conventional to thrillers, as the majority of shots help to create/build tension and suspense, confuse the audience and/or provoke a response from them. It is this response from the audience which makes our shots conventional.

I think the different styles of editing used, makes my thriller opening more interesting, which will keep the viewers engaged and interested. The use of the montage and the jump cut, help to fasten the pace of the clip, which automatically builds tension as the audience don't have time to think about what they have just seen. This makes it conventional as the audience will feel overwhelmed and nervous as to what will happen next, and so builds suspense.

Sound is very important in thrillers, and it helped to make my thriller more conventional as the images matched all sounds, meaning tension was built. The use of parallel sound at the beginning of my thriller opening; the sound of leaves crunching beneath her feet as the little girl walks, matches the non-diegetic music that is playing, makes it conventional as everything the audience hears, will make them feel nervous and think something bad is going to happen, which is typical in thriller films. It helps viewers connect to the little girl and also draws our attention on her. We decided to layer the sounds on top of each other, meaning we have the same soundtrack playing, with other sounds added on top to create a crescendo and to help build suspense.

The one generic convention that my group have included throughout the opening is the use of enigmas. The main enigma used is the mystery of who the killer is, and what his motives were. Also, what happens to the older sister, how does the younger sister lose her scarf and end up alone. As well as ending with how can the younger sister be looking at her dead self? All of these enigmas are there to confuse the audience to make them continue watching the film. Even if at the end of the opening, viewers don’t understand everything that went on; as discovered from our rough cut research, it does not necessarily matter as they would still have felt something and this should be enough to make them continue to watch, which is the main purpose of an opening to any film.

My opening sequence is not a stereotypical thriller narrative, as the audience do not witness the killing of the girl, but simply infer from the hints given that it does happen. My opening therefore defines the thriller genre as being more about what you feel and think after watching the scene, instead of the typical fights scene and gullible victim etc. All the elements that I have analysed above; Cinematography, enigmas etc, all incorporate the 3S’s (Surprise, Shock & Suspense) into my thriller narrative. The credits my group and I chose are of a child’s style, as we thought this should be conventional. It suggests to the audience that the little girl in our thriller has written them herself, and so has written this narrative too, which creates another enigma as to how she can write this story, if she is dead. Everything that is included in my thriller opening has a purpose to make the audience feel confused, as this will build the most suspense.

To show my understanding of the generic conventions and developing a real thriller, I have compared my thriller opening to the film ‘The Sixth Sense’. The film is about a young boy who can communicate with spirits that don’t know they are dead, who seeks the help of a child psychologist, played by Bruce Willis. Just like most thrillers, the film uses low key lighting in certain scenes in the film; these scenes are usually when Cole (the little boy) is communicating with a dead person. For example, the scene where he shows Malcolm the dead people who hung themselves at his school and when he talks to a woman in the kitchen. It is in these scenes where the suspense is built, and so the low key lighting, tension building music, the use of montage to put the images together etc, are all used to show viewers how scared the little boy is and to help the audience feel scared too. This film, like my thriller opening is not a very stereotypical thriller, as the sixth sense focuses on the journey of the boy and how Malcolm helps him deal with his ‘gift’. There is a fight scene, but instead of taking up the entire narrative of the film, happens at the beginning and is forgotten right until the end of the film. The film has various settings such as Cole’s house, school, local hospital and the area he lives in. These settings are not conventional as they do not make the audience feel nervous by the victim being trapped etc, but simply tell viewers more information. The fact that this is an entire film and not just a two minute opening means that the effects used are going to be better. Whereas my group and I allocated several different roles between us, there would have been a team of people on each job; they would've had a bigger budget etc, and so there are obviously some major differences between the two. Both thrillers do have a similar element, as both create the enigma of finding out the main character is dead; Malcolm finds out he died at the beginning of the film and the entire film has been building up the tension so that the audience feel very shocked at the end of the film, which makes the film conventional as it had used the common 3S’s in it. However, in my thriller, I only had 2 minutes to create a similar effect. The main character, who is the victim, unlike in the sixth sense, finds out she is dead at the very end of the opening, which would also surprise the audience in the hope they will continue watching. I therefore had to build suspense in a different way as I didn't have the length of an entire film. I therefore chose the stereotypical setting in a forest, with the victim dying at the end, as well as the conventional looking credits added in.

AS Thriller Evaluation

For my AS Media, I had to create a two minute opening to a thriller film, after carrying out some essential research and planning. My group consisted of myself, Ayesha Bhatti and Lilian Amaning. In order to complete this task we had to allocate the following production roles between the three of us in our group;

Actors – to be filmed

Director - the person who is in charge of the making of the film.  

Producer - responsible for the 'financial and managerial aspects of making a film'. 

Director of photography - controls the camera and films everything.

Sound technicians - plans the sound used.

Screenplay Writer - writes the script for the film.

Mise-en-scene Coordinators - plans & prepares lighting, hair & make-up & Iconography etc. 

Editors - Edits the footage filmed, to finish the film and to create an effect for the audience. 

 Out of all of the above roles, I was appointed the roles of director of photography and the main editor. I was responsible for following the filming schedule and filming a specific shot, whilst guiding the actors into place and advising them what to do and portray. As well as carrying out the editing with my group by suggesting and completing different ideas to make the footage more conventional. Having completed the tasks required for both of these roles I learnt how to use the editing software ‘Final Cut Pro X’ more confidently, helping my group with cutting our footage as well as putting in the transitions and credits well. As my role of director of photography involved me filming both in the forest and underwater, I found the two experiences very different, but interesting. I learnt how to produce steady shots with or without the tripod and this helped the filming on the day go faster.   

I think my group worked well together, as we each listened to each other’s opinions and tried any suggestions we each had, so that everyone was happy with the end product. We helped each other in making decisions, which helped our thriller to be successful, and this is because our thriller film is conventional, but is also unique.