The purpose of a group meeting is to organise the outstanding work in which the group need to complete, set within a due date. This is very important and essential to the group because it helps us become more organised, thus making it easier for the group to have work done by. This helped construct our production because it allowed us to figure out what was done and what needed to be, this helped because only after we finished our posts were we ready to start filming, therefore it gave us a date to when we were able to start filming. This gave us a visual on how much time we had and it made us plan in advanced. The strengths of the group meetings table was that it kept everyone organised, which made the work a lot easier. However, if i could change something about it, it would be the due dates, they were sometimes too little and thus made our work rushed and not to the full potential.
To conclude, What I have leant from carrying our group meetings are that it is essential on order to organise the group, otherwise work will not be handed in on time, thus leaving the group in different stages. I think that the group and I worked exceptionally well together, although we had mixed thoughts while in the editing stage, we worked through it and all contributed equally towards the film. If I could do something differently next time it would be to rearrange the planning and research posts, I would have preferred to have filming in between the posts so that the research and planning will still be fresh in our minds and we could incorporate it into our opening sequence.
The reason people are allocated to specific roles in film making is because, one person can't be in charge of every role, this is because it will become too much and the film will then not be as expected/up to standard. Thus people are assigned different roles so that everyone can have something to be in charge of but also there will be more ideas as it is not only one person in charge of everything. The main roles in film making is, the producer, director, actors and editors. Although there are a lot more roles to consider, these are the main roles in which helps the film the most. How we decided on assigning everyone roles is by firstly separating roles evenly, so that no one would have a lot more roles to be in charge of than others. Secondly, we went went through the roles one by one and asked who would like to be in charge of them, although sometimes we would clash we had to sort it out so that the next roles would surely be theres. However, we ended up with roles which no one wanted to be assigned to, therefore we came up upon an idea to make everyone in charge of it, thus everyone had a little to do and it would be fair. Everyone had an assigned role at the end of this, These roles were: Producer - Samara Co-producer - Leo Actors - Rhiannon and Leo Director - Layla Director of photography - Samara MES Co-ordinator - Layla Editors - Leo Music producer - Leo Screenplay writer - Everyone
I was assigned the roles of, Co-producer, Actor, Editor and Music producer. I was assigned to these production roles because I think that the group decided I was best fit to act as the main antagonist because it would be more conventional to have a male antagonist than a female. I was also the co producer, music producer and editor, this is because I was the only one in the group to have previously studied media, thus giving me the advantage to knowing what is conventional and what could be changed. Samara was the producer and director of photography. The reason Samara was only in charge of two roles is because she plays a big role in being the producer, this is because she is excellent at overlooking everything and making sure everything is okay and up to standard. Layla was the director and MES co ordinator, this is because she has a good vision on what the scene should look like and can make smart changes with my help, making the opening sequence more conventional to the thriller genre. Having assigned roles made filming a lot easier because we trusted everyone in the group to take it seriously and thus we were only focussed on the roles which we were assigned. This meant that everyone can give it their all into the roles, which meant that the opening sequence would be from the best of our combined abilities. Also because we trusted each other it meant that we didn't have to worry if anyone wasn't doing their job right, it also made it quicker for us because no one was repeating a role, everyone had their own thing to be in charge of, which also meant everyone was important, there was no hierarchy. I think that I managed my roles well because the editing was challenging, however it looked conventional. Samara did her roles very well as the opening sequence was filmed and edited on time, which followed the schedule. Layla played her role excellent as the opening sequence was conventional but also looked professional. I think that if we could have done something differently about our opening sequence it would be to change a few settings in some scenes. An example of this is when we filmed in the drama studio, I think that if we filmed it elsewhere we wouldn't have problems such as electrical sockets being seen in some shots of our scene, which we had to edit out. Apart form that I think our opening sequence was done well and was conventional. However, I think that I could have been more of a persuasive actor as at times I looked like I was slacking, which then made the scene look unnatural and very staged. This could be prevented next time if the group and I watched over the scenes to see if the acting was up to scratch and if it wasn't then we would retake the shots. Samara could have done her role a little better because as a producer we expected her to pick up on things such as my acting to criticise and point out in order for the group to make a conventional opening sequence. Layla could have explored more camera shots and movements in order to manipulate the audiences' expectations and macro meanings from the micro elements. To conclude, I think that the production roles were chosen carefully and precise because the group and I took a long time finding out our strong suits, which helped us to pick roles. I think that if we were to change roles we would do worse or on par with what we already have because the roles we chose best suited our strongest attributes .
A filming schedule is important to have because it helps the group and I plan out what we want to film, it is also very convenient to have because it helps us to be prepared before we start to shoot anything and it keeps us up to date on what shot we have done and what we have to do next. This helps save us a lot of time because we will not be experimenting a lot with all the camera techniques as we will already have them written down. We had followed the filming schedule for the most part of it, until we had to shoot the scene in the dark room. What we did is that we experimented with many different camera angles and movements until we got the right technique, this was the panning shot of when the antagonist walks into the dark room. We thought that the addition of this would make the opening sequence more dramatic and exciting. The reason we decided to add this in is because when we started to film it from the schedule we saw that it got dragged on and started to become boring, thus we added the camera moment, panning to make things shorter and more exciting. Another shot we had included is a close up of the antagonists clown mask, this was because only after we started editing the footage, we saw that the scene wasn't quite conventional and it was hard for the audience to see the mask. Therefore we decided to add a close up of the antagonist looking through the door, we hope that this scares the audience and helps them to build a negative relationship with the antagonist because they fear him. We had followed the schedule mostly, however, we thought we should change a few shots because we thought they didn't portray the thriller conventions. These shots, for example are the shots we took in the classroom, we had to retake them because our female victim was wearing different clothes in the previous shots we had taken the day before. Another scene we had to retake was the hallway scene, this is because our female victim had her hair tied up in the scene of her walking into school, but when she opens her locker he hair is down. We needed to change this because if the audience were to notice this it would make the scene look weird and unprofessional. An additional scene we had chosen to shoot is the scene of the female victim walking into the school. We decided to shoot this scene because we thought it would make more sense, rather then her already being in the school. This would not have made sense because the audience would not have known where the female victim was, thus we created a previous scene of her walking into into the school.
The group and I had firstly made individual narratives because it allowed us to all visualise what we wanted our opening sequence to be, we then came together and picked the strongest parts of all three of our storyboards, thus creating the most conventional and exciting group storyboard. Our opening sequence starts with a close up, showing the antagonist turning on the radio. The location of this scene is in the antagonists bedroom, iconography which will be used is the radio which is positioned on the table and make up which is scattered around the table to show that this could possibly be a female antagonist. The lighting in which we will use is high key lighting, the actors which are present in this scene is inly the antagonist. We will have non diegetic sound and we will edit a radio voice over of a crime scene. Our narrative description is, "Antagonist getting ready and turns on the radio of news report of a missing girl". In our second frame we will have an over the shoulder shot in the antagonists room of the antagonist looking into the mirror with their mask on. The iconography in this scene is the clown mask and the picture of the women framed along the mirror. We will use high key lighting and the only actor present is the antagonist. The radio will still be playing, thus still having non diegetic sound, in the editing stage we will have the transition of the basic straight cut. Our narrative description is, "The clown is getting ready looking in the mirror, pictures of girls around his mirror". Frame three will start with an extreme close up, still in the antagonists bedroom of the antagonist looking at a picture of his next female victim. The only iconography present is the picture, which the antagonist is holding, in this frame we will use low key lighting and still only have the antagonist present. The sound we have decided to use it silence as the camera zooms into the picture and fades to black. Our narrative description is, "Flashback to when the clown leaves the note in the girls bag" In frame four, we will have a long shot in the female victim's school of the antagonist leaving the note in the victims bag. The iconography which will be used is her bag and the note, we have decided to combine both high key and natural lighting for our lighting used. The actors in this frame are the antagonist and the female victim, We have also decided to use suspenseful music, thus diegetic sound in this frame, the editing we will use is a fade/zoom out. Our narrative description is, "Clown sneaks up behind the girl and leaves a note in her bag telling her to meet them in an alleyway at 4pm". In frame five, we will have an extreme close up of the antagonist holding up the picture of the female victim, in the antagonists bedroom. The iconography used in this frame is the picture of the female victim. The lighting we used was high key, the actors used was just the antagonist. The sound we decided to use was off screen sound of the radio playing in the background. We will zoom out into the over the shoulder shot of the next frame. Narrative description: The antagonist finishes having a flashback. In frame six, we will have an over the shoulder shot in the antagonists bedroom. The iconography used in this frame will be the radio and the pictures around the mirror. We have decided to use high key lighting and the only actor present is the antagonist. The sound will be a voice over and the editing into the next frame will be a wipe cut. Narrative description: The antagonist starts to put the picture back. In frame seven, we will have another over the shoulder shot, however this time it will be on the other shoulder, near the front of the house. The iconography used in this frame is just the knife, the lighting used will be high key. The only actor present is the antagonist, we will use non diegetic sound of suspenseful background music. The editing we will use to change it into the next frame is linking of shots. Narrative description: The antagonist picked up a knife and is headed towards the front door. In frame eight, we will use a close up shot of the female victim picking up the note from her bag, in the school. The iconography used in this frame is the bad and the note, the lighting is high key. The actors in this frame is only the female victim, the sound used in this is silence, and the editing is a straight cut. Narrative description: She finds the note in her bag. In frame nine, we will have an extreme close up of the female victim looking at the note in her school. The iconography is the note, the lighting used is high key. The actors present in this frame is just the female victim, the lighting we will use is high key. The actors used in this frame is just the female victim, the sound we will use is silence and the editing will be a straight cut. Narrative description: She reads the note then the camera zooms in, to come out of the flashback. In frame ten, we will have a long shot of the female victim walking to the alleyway, along the street. The iconography is her bag, the lighting we will use it a mixture of high key and natural lighting. The actors in this frame is only the female victim, the sound we will use is diegetic sound go people talking in the background, a natural environment. We will use linking of shots in the editing section. Narrative description: She starts walking to meet whoever left the note. In frame eleven, we will use a long shot of the female victim walking into the alleyway. The iconography used will be the photos of the female victim. The lighting we will be using is low key. The actors we will use is only the female victim. The sound we will use is non diegetic sound of tension filled music. The editing we will use is slow paced editing. Narrative description: The victim is walking down the alleyway ready to meet the antagonist. In frame twelve, we will use a high angle of the female victim walking into the alleyway. The iconography used will be the photos of the female victim. The lighting we will be using is natural lighting. The actors we will use is only the female victim. The sound we will use is non diegetic sound of suspenseful music. The editing we will use is slow paced editing. Narrative description: Victim spots the pictures on the wall and investigates them. In frame thirteen, we will use a close up of the female victim picking up the picture. The iconography used will be the photos of the female victim. The lighting we will be using is low key lighting. The actors we will use is only the female victim. The sound we will use is non diegetic sound of suspenseful music. The editing we will use is slow paced editing. Narrative description: She finds photos of herself hung up along the alleyway wall. In frame fourteen, we will use a mid shot of the antagonist looking at the female victim. The iconography used will be the photos of the female victim. The lighting we will be using is natural lighting. The actors we will use is both the female victim and the antagonist. The sound we will use is non diegetic sound of suspenseful music, the music is slowly dimming. The editing we will use is slow paced editing. Narrative description: The clown sneaks up behind the female victim and grabs her. In frame fifteen, we will use a close up of the antagonist covering the female victims mouth. There will be no iconography used in this frame. The lighting we will be using is low key lighting. The actors we will be both the female victim and the antagonist. The sound we will use is non diegetic sound of suspenseful music, which will slowly quieten. The editing we will use is slow paced editing. Narrative description: The female victim is being held by the antagonist. In frame sixteen, we will use a high angle of the female victim on the floor of a dark room. The iconography used will be the rope, which the victim is tied to. The lighting we will be using is low key lighting. The actors we will use is only the female victim. The sound we will use is diegetic sound of the female victim heavily breathing. The editing we will use is a wipe cut. Narrative description: The victim is tied up on the floor of an unknown dark room. In frame seventeen, we will use a close up of the victim waking up from being knocked out. There will be no iconography used in this frame. The lighting we will be using is low key lighting. The actors we will use is only the female victim. The sound we will use is silence. The editing we will use is a fade from black. Narrative description: The victim wakes from being knocked out by the antagonist. In frame eighteen, we will use the victims point of view looking at the antagonist scraping his knife along the wall. The iconography used will be the knife in which the antagonist holds. The lighting we will be using is low key lighting. The actors we will use is only the antagonist. The sound we will use is contrapuntal sound of clown/circus music. The editing we will use is slow timing of shots. Narrative description: The antagonist enters slowly walking towards the victim while scaring his knife along the wall. In frame nineteen, we will use a close up of the female victim screaming. There will be no iconography used in this frame. The lighting we will be using is low key lighting. The actors we will use is only the female victim. The sound we will use is non diegetic sound of suspenseful music. The editing we will use is linking of shots and the kuleshov effect. Narrative description: The victim is screaming after being stabbed. In frame twenty, we will use a shallow focus of the antagonist looking at the knife. The iconography used will be the knife in which the antagonist is holding. The lighting we will be using is low key lighting. The actors we will use is only the antagonist. The sound we will use is contrapuntal sound of a clown/circus music. The editing we will use is the kuleshov effect. Narrative description: The antagonist is looking at the knife he used to kill the female victim. In frame twenty-one, we will use a mid shot of the female victim on the floor dead. There will be no iconography used in this frame. The lighting we will be using is low key lighting. The actors we will use is only the female victim. The sound we will use is on screen sound of the antagonist laughing. The editing we will use is zoom in and kuleshov effect. Narrative description: Turns back to female victim lying on the floor dead. In frame twenty-two, we will use a long shot of the antagonist walking out of the room. The iconography used will be the bloody knife. The lighting we will be using is low key lighting. The actors we will use is only the antagonist. The sound we will use is silence. The editing we will use is slow paced editing. Narrative description: The antagonist is leaving the room with the knife, which he killed the female victim with. Planning a group storyboard and helped the group and I a lot because it helps us to visualise what we want the scene to look like before we start filming. This is helpful because we can change things we don't like in the storyboard and not waste time hen we are filming the opening sequence.
The purpose of a risk assessment is to allow the members to view all the possible risks that could happen while filming. This will then help them to prevent the mistakes and save them from hurting themselves.
The group and I didn't encounter any risks while filming our opening sequence, this might be because our risk assessment was very detailed and easy to follow. For example, the group and I left the trailing lead at home because we fully charged the camera the night before, this made it so that the group and I would not slip and trip over the lead. The group and I followed the risk assessment thoroughly and thus had no injuries and risks for example we also avoided filming in the rain as it would damage the camera, thus we scheduled filming for a different day if it rained. What I have learnt about the role of a risk assessment is that it is essential to keep all the crew members safe as without it things could get out of hand and it will not follow a structure. Furthermore, it is also very convenient because if there were to be any risks while we were filming, we would know what it is and how to avoid it, this will help prevent any injuries and risks which could be caused.
The purpose of opening credits are to introduce the narrative, allow the audience to know what type of film they're expecting to see by the director shown, for the audience to know information about a film - the directors and actors. Lastly, the font and style of writing can allow the audience to know what genre they are watching.
We had then analysed the film "Se7en" and saw that the opening sequence incorporated conventional fonts and credits. These were slender and in white handwriting style which gave it its sinister look, this is effective because the audience can connote that the font mirrors the antagonist's personality of being sinister and having a slender physique. The font that they used were made to look sharp and edgy, this gives it the effect that the letters represent and mirror the main antagonist's personality. This is conventional to the thriller genre because the antagonists are commonly represented as being sinister and edgy, which are portrayed through the font styles they use. This also helps the audience build a negative relationship with the antagonist before even seeing him as they can forebode his personality. It also displayed the actors and directors names in the order of most famous, for example Samuel L Jackson's name appeared first before anyone else, then followed on by Brad Pitt. This is done to engage the audience into the film because they are seeing well known names first, which helps them to become attached to the film only due to the actors and directors, this also allows the fans of the actors to want to watch the film due to their large fanbase, thus they will want to see how well the actor act in the film. Furthermore, it continued with the camera crew and co producers, these came up after the others because they are less important and known to the audience, however they still needed to be included as they are part of the cast and crew. Group member 1 - Leo
Strengths: I think that the strengths of my opening credits is that it includes the generic conventional colours of red, black and white. This can symbolise the purity of the colour white, which is associated with the female victim and the colour red can symbolise blood and death in association with the clown antagonist. I also think that my style of writing is conventional to the thriller genre because it is long and slender, which the audience can infer it mirrors the antagonist. Weakness: I think that my weakness is that I need to slightly brighten the red colour for "New Line Cinema Productions", this is because i don't think that the audience are able to see it clearly, thus it will make it stand out more. Group member 2 - Samara
Strengths: The strength of Samara's design is that she has chosen to use a glow effect which helps to make her title stand out against the black background. It is also in white, which could symbolise the female victim and the background is black which symbolises the antagonist. Weakness:Samaras weakness in her design is that she could use a brighter red so that it contrasts more with the black background as the light and dark colours complement each other. Additionally, she used an unconventional font 'Birch Std'. This is not very sharp and does not symbolise the unstable mind of the antagonist or the type of rigid/dangerous weapons the antagonist might use, thus making this unconventional and not engaging towards the audience. Group member 3 - Layla
Strengths: The strengths of Layla's design ideas are that it is conventional to the thriller genre, this is because the title implements the colour red, which connotes death and blood as well as anger. Also the white contrasts with the black symbolising the victim (white writing) and the antagonist (black background) showing how the antagonist is bigger, stronger and has more power over the innocent victim leaving her defenceless. Weakness: The weakness of Layla's design is that the font colour that she has chosen isn't very conventional to the thriller genre, she should change her colour to bright red so it stands out against the black background. This will also make the main title stand out against the others. To conclude, the design that the group and I will work on will be based off my own, this is because we will use my slender font, however incorporate Samara's white glow and Layla's red shadow effect. We think that this will work best because all of our ideas are implemented to create the most conventional, appealing title which grabs the audiences attention while they watch our opening sequence. We have decided to put the Production company first then following on with the director, actors, title of film and lastly the production crew e.g; camera crew, writers, producer etc. We have decided to put it in this order because the audience will be more engaged if they were to see more well known names and production companies first rather than the unknown names such as the camera crew. Production company - Peach Tree Productions Director - Layla Actors - Leo, Rhiannon Title of film - The Clown Casting - Fred Music - Charles Costumes - Sarah Editors - Leo, Layla and Samara Camera operator - Samara Co-producer - Leo Producer - Samara Writers - Leo, Layla and Samara
The purpose of using a storyboard in film planning is to help the people producing the film to roughly plan out what they want a specific scene to go. This is done so that they know what the scene might look like and helps them to change things to make the scene more conventional to the audience in order to engage them. The reason the group and I have create individual posts and not one combined one is because, we hope that we can gather the storyboards and select the best parts of all three of our work. We have decided to do this because we think that it will make the opening sequence as conventional as possible because it will be the best of all of our storyboards. We chose to plan an individual storyboard before the group one because we wanted everyone to state their ideas so that we can try to implement the best ones. Therefore making the best possible opening sequence out of the three ideas.
In the first page of this storyboard the antagonist is getting ready and has a flashback when he sees the picture of him slipping in a note in her bag anonymously.
On the second page of the storyboard, the antagonist comes back into reality, picks up a knife and begins to walk outside the house, intending to kill his victim.
On the third page of my storyboard, the victim walks into the alleyway and stumbles across her picture on the wall. The antagonist then jumps out at the victim.
On the fourth page of my storyboard, the antagonist begins to slowly choke the victim, ensuring that she passes out and doesn't die. In order to keep her hostage in a dark room.
Lastly, on the last page of my storyboard, the victim wakes up in a dark room and finds the antagonist scraping his knife along the wall in order to scare her. Then the antagonist kills her, however the audience do not see this creating a kuleshov effect.
I have decided to include a reaction shot, this is evident when the audience see on page 4, the female victim's facial expression is being shown to the audience because of the previous shot where the antagonist is about to kill her. This creates suspense because the audience are unsure on whether the female victim will survive or not. I have also included low key lighting in the dark room scene, where the victim is struggling to escape from the chair she is tied to. I chose to use low key lighting here because it keeps the antagonist hidden while also the darkness mirrors the antagonists personality. This creates tension because the audience are waiting to see what sinister thing the antagonist might inflict upon the victim. Finally, I have decided to include silence, this is evident when the suspenseful music slowly turns into silence while the female victim is being choked. This is to symbolise her life, as the music quietens, her life slowly ends. This is effective because it helps the audience to build a relationship with the female victim as they worry for her safety. Some of my inspirations come from other previous posts, such as the silence that I have included in my opening sequence was based off scream 2 when silence is used at the start of the scene as the audience see the female victim brutally stabbed to death. I plan that the audience will feel shocked and surprised while watching my opening sequence as there will be many conventional elements implemented in order to engage the audience. We will need to incorporate all of our ideas equally in order for all of us to achieve a high grade as a group, I hope that the group decides to use my idea of the silence mirroring her life as I think it is very conventional, which will easily help engage the audience.
Overall, I think that my storyboard is good enough for the group to analyse and pick out what specific scenes they like best, however I think that I should work harder on making my description more detailed so that my group can fully understand what my scene presents. I will remove this however, by explaining the scene myself while the group analyse it instead of just them reading it as I can then fully explain what I mean and can show them my hidden meanings. This task has helped me a lot as it has saved the group and I a lot of time as we already know what we will be doing for each scene. It also helped us in terms of making it conventional because drawing it out helped us realise what we needed to add to make it more entertaining.
The purpose of characters in a film is to allow the narrative to become more interesting and it also allows the audience to build a relationship with the characters keeping them more engaged into the film. We had planned the characters before hand because it gave us a brief idea about what we wanted our characters to look like and make them as conventional as possible, by doing this it has made it a lot easier for us because we do not have to think about what the characters will be wearing on the day of the shoot as we would most likely not make them conventional and include the symbolisation of colour.
Our first character that we have decided to include in our opening sequence is the female victim aged 17. The female will be wearing a white dress, we have decided to make her wear this because it allows the audience to symbolise the colour white of being pure and innocent, the audience can infer from this that the symbolisation of her white dress mirrors her personality. Our victim is in sixth form, whom is a straight A grade student and is well behaved in school. We decided to make her a smart and well mannered student because it makes it easier for the audience to build a relationship with the female character as she has a likeable personality. We will ensure that our female victim is a stereotypical victim as we will portray her to the audience as being young, innocent, weak and vulnerable. This will help the audience build a relationship with the female victim because they will sympathise for her as they know someone is after her, making them worry for her safety. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it builds up suspense about whether the female victim will live or be killed by the antagonist.
The second character that the group and I decided to include in our opening sequence is the Male antagonist aged 32. The antagonist will be wearing a black tracksuit with his hood up and also a clown mask. The reason the group and I chose to have the antagonist wear black is for the audience to realise that the colour black symbolises death, pain and sinister behaviour, this also mirrors the antagonists personality, thus allowing the audience to foreshadow death upon someone. We chose to make the antagonist wear the mask so that he is hidden from the audience, thus creating an enigma as the audience question who is under the mask. This then builds up suspense and tension because they audience are dying to see who the antagonist really is therefore engaging them. The antagonist has a background of being mentally unstable because he didn't have a good up bringing as he didn't have a fatherly figure whilst growing up. This is conventional because the antagonist is mentally unstable, which is common in most thriller genres because there is a reason behind the killing. His character is stereotypical because he uses a knife as his main weapon, which the audience see as the most common weapon to use in the thriller genre therefore making the audience easily build a negative relationship towards him as they fear what he might do to some of his victims.
To conclude, I think that the characters that the group and I have created are very conventional because they follow the generic conventions of the thriller genre, hopefully they will emphasise the thriller genre so that when the audience start to watch the film they instantly know what genre they're watching. This planning has helped the group and I a lot as it has saved us a lot of time thinking about what makes our characters conventional, this is useful because then we have more time to film, we are also going in already knowing that our characters are as conventional as possible, thus appealing and engaging the teenage audience it is aimed at.
Sound is vital in thriller films because it helps the audience to feel different arrays of emotions, which is effective because it keeps the audience engaged and hooked. Planning is required to ensure an excellent sequence because it helps visualise what the scene will look like in your mind, this is useful because it will make it easier to decide if the sequences are conventional enough for the audience to enjoy it. It is important that the sound which is being played matches the images being shown on the screen because if it doesn't then the audience will become confused thus also making the scene unconventional. However when using contrapuntal sound, this rule is being broken because the sound doesn't match the images being shown because of dramatic use.
The group and I have chosen to use "On Screen Sound" when the audience can hear and see the radio voice over which occurs at the star of our opening sequence. This shows the audience that he is the main antagonist and that he is up to cause trouble. The audience know this because the on screen sound is a news report, reporting about a murder scene which the audience can infer that he did it. This allows the audience to build a negative relationship with the antagonist because they feel threatened and are petrified of him. This is conventional because the audience are able to forebode something sinister to happen in the future. This then creates suspense as the audience are waiting to see what the antagonist might do next. Contrapuntal sound is evident in our opening sequence when the audience hear clown/carnival music whilst being played over the antagonist scraping his knife on the wall right before he murders her, the contrapuntal music will contrast with what the antagonist is about to do to the victim. This shows the audience that he enjoys inflicting pain and fear among young females and gets joy from doing so. This builds a negative relationship between the audience and the antagonist because they fear the antagonist which makes them also feel angered towards him, this is conventional as it creates tension because the audience are unsure of what might happen to the female victim. The group and I used Diegetic sound when the antagonist is scraping his knife along the wall, while slowly walking towards the female victim. This shows the audience that ht antagonist is more powerful than the female victim and is the one in charge as the diegetic sound of the knife exaggerates the anger and violence of the antagonist. This helps the audience to build a negative relationship with the antagonist because they are frightened of him because he has shown his evil twisted side. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it shows the audience that the antagonist is more dominant thus creating suspense as the audience are unsure what he might do with all that power. This engages the audience because the build up of suspense allows the audience to become hooked onto the film. Lastly, the group and I have decided to use silence in our opening sequence, this is evident when the audience hear complete silence as the female victim is walking through the alley way glancing over the pictures which are hung on the wall. The silence represents her life because as there is no sound it mirrors her vulnerability and weakness, allowing the audience to forebode death upon her. The audience then able to build a relationship with the female victim as they are left feeling sympathetic towards her because death may be upon her. This is conventional to the thriller genre because the silence builds up suspense as the audience are pondering whether the female victim will live or die, thus keeping them engaged. To conclude, this task has helped the group and I to make our opening sequence more effective in terms of making the audience feel an array of different mixed emotions, which allow them to become attached and hooked onto the film. The task has also helped us to understand what sounds incorporated will make our opening sequence as conventional as possible while also making the audience feel the main emotions of shock, surprise and suspense through sound.
To include all 5 elements of mise-en-scene in a film os vital as it allows the audience to feel mixed emotions as they become engaged into the film. Also if the mise-en-scene elements are portrayed successfully then it will also allow the audience to build a relationship with the characters. The audience are also able to feel shock, surprise and suspense, which is vital in the thriller genre as they are the main elements, which engage the audience.
The group and I have decided to use setting and iconography, this is evident when the audience see that the scene is set in a house, then goes to an empty street and a black small room. The group and I have decided to use a small black room because it allows the audience to foreshadow something sinister to happen in the near future due to the sinister dark room, which favours the antagonist. The audience can see that the iconography is a knife which the antagonist uses. We chose the antagonist to use a knife as it is conventional to the thriller genre and the audience expect to see this type of weaponry. Another prop we had was the mask, which that antagonist wears. The group and I have decided to make the antagonist wear a mask because it hides their identity which creates an enigma, this creates tension, which engages the audience. An enigma is important to see in a thriller genre because it allows the audience to question what might happen next, which will engage and excite them. Lastly, we have a radio and pictures on the wall. These will help to set the tone to the film/narrative as the setting and iconography we chose made the atmosphere of the film eerie and uncomfortable, all in which is conventional to the thriller genre and allows the audience to become frightened and engaged. Through the iconography of the knife, the audience are able to build a negative relationship with the antagonist as they forbade death upon an innocent. Lighting and colour; this can be manipulated in a way to have meaning and symbolisation from which the audience can infer. In our opening sequence we will have an array of different lighting techniques such as low key lighting in the antagonists room and natural lighting while the antagonist is following the female victim. We have chosen to use low key lighting in the antagonists room as it creates a scary unpredictable atmosphere which makes the audience feel tense as the suspense builds. This is conventional to the thriller genre because the lighting creates tension and suspense which leaves the audience pondering what might happen next. The group and I have chosen to use natural lighting while the antagonist is following the female victim because it creates shadows which form what the audience can infer from the colour black is death. This allows the audience to foreshadow somthing sinister to happen to the female victim. This helps the audience to build a relationship with the female victim as they sympathise for her because she has been wrongfully murdered. Facial expression and body language will be seen by the audience when the female victim helplessly falls on the floor and the antagonist stands over her. This plays a vital role in helping tell the narrative as the audience can infer from the female victims facial expressions that she is the targeted victim whom is portrayed as being weak and vulnerable. However the antagonist will be wearing a mask to hide his identity thus not having any facial expressions, this exaggerates the fact that he wants to be unknown to the audience which creates an enigma, engaging the audience. The facial expression and body language will help make our opening sequence conventional because the audience are used to seeing a stereotypically weak and vulnerable female victim and an overpowering antagonist whom seeks to kill. The audience can build a relationship with the female victim as they fear for her safety because the suspense builds which leaves them wondering what might happen to the female victim, ultimately engaging and exciting them. Positioning of characters will be seen by the audience when they watch the clown antagonist standing in front of the female victim whom is tied up on the floor. The group and I have decided to do this because it shows the audience that the clown antagonist is more powerful and overwhelming than the weak vulnerable female victim. This helps tell the narrative because from this the audience are already able to infer that the victim is the female hopelessly crying on the floor and the antagonist is the powerful clown standing over her. This will help my opening sequence conventional to the thriller genre because the audience will feel frightened and shocked to the fact that the female victim is on the verge of death, this is a very common emotion to be felt while watching the thriller genre, thus it will help the audience to be more engaged into the film. The audience are then able to build a relationship with the female victim as they are frightened for her well being and if she will make it out alive, thus building suspense. Lastly, costume, hair and make-up will be seen by the audience ash they see that the clown antagonist will be dressed in all black with a clown mask to hide his identity. We have chosen to make the antagonist wear all black because we thought that the colour black would symbolise death and pain which the audience can then foreshadow from this that something sinister will happen as the film continues. We chose to use a mask to keep the identity of the antagonist unknown to the audience so that it creates an enigma. However the female victim on the other hand will be dressed in white which symbolises purity and innocence, thus the audience are able to infer that she is an innocent harmless female. This helps to explain the narrative because the colour symbolisation and connotation alone will help the audience to figure out who the antagonist and victim are within the first few minutes of the film. This is conventional to the thriller genre because from the clothing the audience are able to tell a lot about the characters, for example in thrillers the audience are used to seeing the antagonist dressed in all black as it helps to keep them hidden in the darkness. This helps the audience build a relationship with the antagonist because they are scared and frightened of him as they feel a build up of tension and suspense. This planning task has helped me in making our opening sequence as it has helped us further understand how important miss-en-scene is in creating a conventional opening sequence which caters for the thriller genre. This task has also helped us because we have already planned out what we think we should do within our opening sequence, which allows us to waste less time thinking about what we should do in order to make the scene as conventional as possible. Ultimately, this task has helped me to gain more knowledge, which I can hopefully use to make my thriller engaging, suspenseful and full of tension; all in hopes to appeal to my audience and keep them satisfied.
The group and I decided to use the Kuleshov effect when the antagonist stabs the victim, however the audience do not see this thus giving it the effect. This will show the victims facial expression which will be scared, frightened and worried which is conventional and shows the audience the power that the antagonist has. The audience will be able to build a relationship with the female victim as they will sympathies for her because he has been wrongfully murdered. This is conventional as it shocks the audience as they don't expect the antagonist to actually kill the victim so early on in the film, thus engaging the audience and making them feel mixed emotions towards the female victim. We decided to use this effect because it creates an enigma and leaves the audience questioning whether the female victim died. We then decided to use a fade out to fade in effect. The audience will see this when the camera fades out to black and fades back into the victims POV. This shows that she is unconscious and that the antagonist has inflicted pain upon her. This allows the audience to instantly feel sorry for the female victim. This shows the audience that he doesn't care about what he will do to her and what the consequences might be. This shows the audience that he is reckless and unforgiving, which is conventional to the thriller genre because the antagonist is hated amongst the audience. This helps the audience to build a relationship with the victim as they are scared for the female victims safety. This is conventional as it builds up tension as the audience do not know what might happen next, ultimately engaging them. The reason we decided to use this is because it also incorporates continuity editing, this is because the fade in and out makes the audience feel as if they are actually the female victim. We then chose to use a reaction shot, this is evident when the audience watch the antagonist scrape the knife along the wall then the camera looks at the female victim crying. This will show the audience that the female victim is frightened and doesn't know what will happen next, helping the audience relate to her as they feel the same. This then creates an enigma because the audience do not know what might happen to the victim, which makes the audience worry for her. This is conventional as it builds up suspense because no one knows what will happen, this also engages the audience because it keeps them hooked onto the film. The group and I decided to use this shot because we thought the shot would be conventional as it shows the female victim being weak and vulnerable because she is scared and it shows that she is inferior to the antagonist. The group and I have chosen to use timing of shots because it is conventional and the slow editing creates many different possibilities, which could happen to the female victim. This is evident when the audience see the victim walking through the alley looking at the photos of herself. The audience will see slow editing at this point as they see the female victim walking slowly to create tension. Then when the antagonist grabs the female victim, the scene will speed up and the audience will be introduced to a montage editing of the female victim struggling to escape from the antagonist. This shows the audience that something bad will happen because they can forebode death to come due to the timing of shots. This helps the audience to build a relationship with the victim as they sympathise for her as she is being hurt and injured. This is conventional as it builds up suspense by the tone of the scene suddenly being dangerous. To conclude, planing this has helped us to create a conventional opening sequence because it has helped us to realise what editing styles will suit the scene. This planning was useful because it helps us to visualise if the editing style will suit the scene, this also saves us a lot of time when filming because we already know what we want to do and we know that it is conventional and suitable. It also saves us a lot of time because we already know what we want to include in our opening sequence before we start editing the footage.
