Production roles - Miss Miller

Before filming we had to allocate production role to the members in our group. We done this because every person would then be able to focus there attention on specific parts of the production process which will allow the areas to be watched in detail, this will result in everyone making there areas the best that they could be. The roles would include a producer, this person is in charge of the location of the filming. Also we have the director, who is in charge of changing and adapting original ideas to make the sequence run smoothly and they also position the characters. Then we have the actors, who act out the narrative to show the storyline of the sequence. Following this, we have the dieter of photography, this person is in charge of the camera and enforcing the shots and camera angles that we chose to have in our sequence. Next we had the music producers who is in charge of what music/sound is layered over the different frames. Then we have a screenplay writer, who is in charge of the narrative and deciding if it needs changing or adapting. We also have the MES co-ordinator who's is in charge if the hair/make up and iconography in the sequence. Finally we have the editor who is in charge of putting the sequence together and making it run smoothly.

In our group we decided who was going to do the roles by looking at the strengths and weaknesses of each person so that everybody was allocated roles that best suit them. 


 I am  responsible for being the director of photography, we chose me for this role because i was the one who filmed our sequence for the preliminary task and isn't one of the actors. I is also responsible for being the director as the other members of the group are actors so i can give an over view of how everything looks and how it is coming out on the camera. My final role is the mise-en-scene co-ordinator because I'm not an actor so will be able to see everyones costumes clearly and did photography at school so knows what type of materials and colours look best on camera. The tasks that I have done within these roles are to make sure that the camera is charged and works, made sure that the correct things are seen on the camera and telling the actors where to stand so that the camera captures them well.

Kerry is responsible for being the screen play writer because a lot of her individual storyboard was included in the group storyboard and she has a clear understanding of what she wants the narrative to include as  she has helped create a narrative for an opening sequence before because my friend had to do it for his media at gcse level. She is also responsible for editing because i was the person who edited our preliminary task due to the other group members not being in and she found it fairly simple so have a better knowledge of how to edit on the mac computers and because she has the same computer at home so She is more familiar to it. The tasks she has done so far with these responsibilities is to adapt the story board slightly so that the antagonist looks more threatening, start editing the opening sequence by making the opacity of the picture darker so it imitated the low key lighting we wanted and making sure that the credits don't cover the min parts of the sequence.

Meghan is responsible for being the producer as she has a wide knowledge of our local area because she has lived here the longest so knows where different locations that we can use are. She is also responsible for the actors because she knows the character roles well so will know who is best suited and can help advise them on what they need to do to make the sequence more successful and realistic. Her final role is the music producer because she has seen many thriller films and when we were creating our group storyboard she was able to describe certain sounds from films that she had previously seen that would be effective to use in our sequence. So far Meghan has changed the location of filming so that we could all get to it easier and said who would be best suited for the acting roles.

Opening scene narration - Miss miller

Our opening sequence will start with a establishing/long shot of the house.  We will layer natural/low key lighting over this. And there will be an eerie whistling sound of the wind, which is a non-diegetic sound. We will then begin to zoom into the house, then use a straight cut to change into zooming down a hall way of the house. We will see conventional iconography on the walls such as a knife and blood. Again low key lighting will be used, however we will have brighter lights of the main iconography. None of our characters will be seen yet. We aim to use contrapuntal sound of this frame of creepy but happy music. A wipe editing technique will be used to go to the next frame which is a point of view, going towards a door as if they are the antagonist going into the door. A non-diegetic sound will be used for this and that sound will be the creaking of a door. A dissolve shot will be used to go into the next frame which is a stedicam shot of the sideboard in the house. The iconography seen will be a broken picture of the killer and his mother when they was younger with blood on it. Non-diegetic sound will be layered over this of child hood music and playing sounds. A spot light will be on this photo to highlight it from the rest of the frame.
Following this, a jump cut will be used switch to a long shot of the antagonist, in a room in his house, looking at polaroid photos of presents and previous victims on the wall. We are going to layer low key lighting over this frame. One of our characters, the antagonist, is going to be in this shot. He will be wearing all black and dark clothing with gloves on. Mumbled speech is going to be layered over this frame which is a off screen sound. Furthermore, we will use a linking shot to go to an over the shoulder shot of the antagonist looking at the  images and circling the last photo. This will be in the same room as the previous frame. The screeching of the pen will be heard in this shot, which is a non-diegetic sound. Another linking shot will be used as the camera begins to zoom into the photo of the current victim. Obviously, the photo is the iconography that is seen in this frame is the photo. The danger for the victim will be show be low-key lighting being layered over this frame. A whoosh noise of non-diegetic sound will be used over this frame. A jump cut will quickly change the frame to a close up of the victims face and this will slowly begin to zoom out to reveal more of the victims circumstances. It will go from the photo of her to her in real life. The iconography used will be duck tape over the victims mouth. Harsh lighting will be used above the head of the victim, looking down onto her. Our victim character will be seen in this frame. We decided that we was going to use no sound over this, complete silence. A dissolve editing technique will then be used to go to the next frame.
Which will be a long shot to show the room and surroundings of the victim, it is also going to reveal blood/previous victims clothing/photos, which is going to show the audience that the killer has killed before. We decided to use bright harsh lighting to expose the victim, the lighting will be similar to that in an operating room. Also we will use an on-screen sound of breathing over this frame. To follow this the long shot will remain the same to show the victim escaping from the rope she was tied with. The same iconography will be seen as in the frame before as it is going to be in the same room. And the lighting will remain bright and harsh. Then it will fade into a long shot of the girl tiptoeing out of the killers house. No iconography will be seen in this shot. Also the lighting will be low key as the girl is trying not to get caught. We will use a non-diegetic sound of a floor creaking in this frame. We will then use linking of a section to go into another long shot of the girl opening the door in the abandoned house so that she can escape. The lighting will remain low key.
Then we will use a mid shot of the antagonist just after he has realised that the victim has escaped, he will be wearing a mask and dark/black clothing. In the background the polaroid iconography will be seen. To show the darkness of the situation will are going to layer low key lighting over this frame. The sound will go from silence to a high pitch screeching noise to show the panic rising of the antagonist. We will then use a jump cut to go to the next frame. We are going to use panning to show the victim running out of the house and through the forest, as this will show her situation. We are going to layer low key lighting over the frame. The music that we are going to layer over this frame is going to be face and slow pace to represent the victim and the antagonist. Similarly to this we are going to use a straight cut to show the antagonist walking quickly through the forest. No iconography is going to be seen in this frame, apart from the antagonist himself who will be wearing dark clothing and a white mask. We are going to continue the fast and slow pace music in the frame. Another straight cut in going to be used to change to a point of view/handheld to show the scene from the victims perspective. From this shot we will see what the victim would be seeing and too add to the effect of this frame we are going to layer heavy breathing and footsteps as the sound in this frame as this would be the sound that they would hear.
Similarly to the following frame we will the switch to a point of view/handheld from the antagonists perspective, which will show the victim running in front of him. This frame will be set in the forest. Natural and low key lighting is going to be used in this frame. And we will be hear the footsteps and heart beat of the antagonist, which will be considerably slower then the victims. A straight cut will then be used to switch to a long shot of the victim falling over a stump in the forest. The lighting will be low key and dark in this shot to show the danger for the victim. We will hear a gasp and screaming in this shot. A reaction shot will then be used to switch then frame to a close up of the girls face showing her reaction to falling over in the forest. The lighting will remain low key and dark. Also the sounds will remain similar of heavy breathing, gasping and crying. Following this a jump cut is going to be used to switch to a mid shot/ over the shoulder shot of the girl getting dragged backwards in the forest. The lighting will remain dark and low key as like in the frames before. No iconography is going to be seen in the frame. Both of our actors will be seen in the frame the victim and the antagonist, however not all of the antagonist. We will only hear a scream from the antagonist.
Our final frame is going to be similar to the first frame which is a long shot of the killers house, it will start zoomed in and slowly zoom out. No iconography will be seen in the frame. We will have natural low key lighting. The sound that we will layer over this frame is going to be an eerie whistling of the wind.

Risk assessment- Miss Georgiou

It is important that we consider all possible risks when filming our opening sequence to ensure the safety of us and the surrounding public. Therefore while writing up our risk assessment we covered any possible risks for us and the public. The risk assessment has also given us some guidelines of what will be appropriate to do when filming and what is to dangerous to do. The risks if not identified could lead to injury of our actors and the public. As a result it is vital we consider everything that could go wrong. An example of a hazard that we considered is that is going to becoming dark very quickly and as a result of this our actors could fall and hurt themselves or run into things which would result in injury. The prevention that we decided on for this hazard it to become familiar with our surroundings before it gets back and then when it is dark be extra cautious of tour surroundings.  

Filming schedule- Miss Georgiou

The purpose of the filming schedule is to make sure that our group is organised, and that we know exactly what and when we are going to film. Also it is important because it gives us guidelines to follow therefore we would have a good idea of how long it is going to take us to film and what is going to be filmed when. As a result of this we can insure that we have all of the iconography we need which will make us more organised. Additionally, we will know where we are going for the location, that will stop any arguments that could delay  our filming. We will also have guidelines of what shots types we are going to use, as a result we will have a good idea of what each frame should look like.
We also wrote what costume/hair/make up we want to use, this is ensure that whoever is in charge of this will no what the the scene should look like. Which will make our filming run smoother.
By doing the filming schedule we also have a list of the different iconography and equipment we are planning to use and as a result of this we can make sure that we have everything we need.

Unfortunately, the first date that we planned to filmed did not go to plan, as Kerry forgot to collect the camera from our teacher. Therefore we could not start our filming. Also kerry was ill as well on the day we planned to filmed, therefore we have altered this day to the following wednesday.

Individual story board - Miss Miller

Everybody in my group made an individual story board, by doing this we was able to all follow the same story line but use different shots and effects to create tension and suspense. By doing this story board we are able to plan out our ideas which will give us a clearer vision when filming. Altogether in my story board I have 20 different frames. After everybody in my group has created an individual story board we will combine all of our ideas to create a group one in order to collaborate all of our ideas and create the best possible sequence. My story board includes an introduction to the scene and the characters. It also shows the victim escaping and a chase scene in the forest.


My first frame was an establishing shot of the isolated house that the victim is trapped in. I have decided to do this as my first shot because it introduces the scene to the audience and allows them to see the setting is isolated, which will build up tension. I was inspired to do this shot as in the film Halloween as it uses an establishing shot to introduce the scene like I want to. I wanted to use low key lighting in this frame as it will suggest to the audience that dark occurrences happen inside the house, it also suggests that the antagonist is trouble and a dark person which will increase the tension within the frame. I also wanted to play eerie music as because this is the first frame that people will hear, therefore the audience will be given the impression that this eerie theme will continue through out the sequence. Overall, this frame is going to introduce the sequence and show the main location.

One frame that includes lots of different elements is frame 4, this is going to be a close up/zooming in of the polaroid photo of the current victim. This photo will be on the wall in the room where the killer is seen. I have decided to use low key lighting for this frame as it will show the girls fate as dark, which would be up tension as the audience would be given the impression that the girl is going to be killed. The iconography the will be used in the frame will be the polaroid photo. To add to the tension I have decided to play eerie music that builds up to show the audience that something bad is going to happen to the girl, thus building up tension. At the end of the frame it will fade into another similar frame. The purpose of this frame is to introduce the current victim, I would expect the audience to build up tension when this frame appears as the will question where the girl currently is and if she is safe.

Frame 9 is a panning shot of the girl running into the forest after she has escaped from the house. I decided to use a panning shot for this frame as I think it will show that the victim has got a long way to run, which could make the audience fear for her safety. The lighting in the frame is going to be low key and the only actor that is going to be seen will be the victim. I think the low key lighting will show the forest as a dangerous place which will increase the tension as the girl is running into it. I want to use diegetic sound for this frame, the sounds that I aim to use are foot steps and crunching of the leaves while the girl is running, also heavy breathing. The audience will  be able to relate to this as their breathing would have increased from watching the clip. Overall this frame will show the victim escaping into the forest.

Frame 15 is going to be an over the shoulder shot of the victim getting dragged back by the killer, this is one of the limited frames where the victim and the killer are seen in the same frame. As result of this the tension will be at its maximum, as it would have been built up through the escape and chase scene. The location of this frame is going to be the forest which the chase scene took place. The lighting is going to be low key, this is because I wanted the lighting in the forest to remain the same through out to make the sequence appear more professional. I am going to use contrapuntal sound of happy music when the girl Is getting dragged back as it will add to the tension. In the frame I want the tension to be at it's maximum as the audience won't no what is going to happen to the killer. As all they will be able to see is the girl getting dragged.

To conclude, I made an individual story board so that I can visualise my groups narrative, which will make it easier when filming as we will no what out frames should look like. By watching thriller sequences while researching I have adopted some techniques used in these to help me build up maximum suspense.

Group story boards - Miss Miller

At first we all done individual story boards of our own ideas for the sequence, however after this we combined all  of our ideas so that we could create a group story board. We have created a group story board so that we can have a clear idea when filming of what different thriller conventions and shots are going to be in each shot. Also it will make it quicker to film as we will be able to see what different shots are needed to be filmed in the different locations, therefore we will be able to plan what we are going to do. From doing our group story board we have been able to discuss and evaluate all of our individual story boards and look at what features of each we like in the all. Therefore we have combined them all to create a story board we all agree on and all think will help to create the most suspense and tension.

We have created the story board to plan  out exactly what is going to happen in each shot. Altogether we have 21 different shots that we are going to included in our sequence, however i think this could expand slightly when we begin to film as we will realise that the sequence doesn't flow as well as we thought. We have elements in a group story board from each of our individual boards and elements that we came up with when doing the story boards as a group.

Our first shot is a long/establishing shot of the house, this will allow the audience to see the location and see that there is nothing around, so is quite isolated. This will set the scene for the sequence. This first frame was taken from my individual story board, i was inspired to use this shot when i watched the thriller film Halloween. The film used a establishing shot to introduce the scene and show that it was based in an ordinary neighbourhood, which adds to the enigma of the sequence. For this first frame we said that we was going to play a non-diegetic sound of eerie whistling of the wind, which will add to the suspense of the frame. A summary of the next 3 frames on the story board page is the camera showing around the killers house, we will use three different camera shots to show this. These are zooming in, point of view and steadicam. The location will remain the same through out three other frames, which is the killers house. The iconography that will be seen is a cross on the door, a knife hanging up clothing on the wall and there will also be a picture of the killer and his mother smashed up on the floor. These three frames were inspired by Meghan's story board, she had seen the conventional iconography in most of the thriller films that we watched while doing our research therefore thought it would be vital to include.

Frame five includes a long shot of the antagonist looking at polaroid photos of his current and previous victims. We decided this frame is going to last for 3 seconds. The location of this frame is a room in the killers house. The iconography we have decided to use are the polaroid photos of the wall, this was an idea that we all come up with together as we thought it would show the killer psychotic nature. We opted for low key lighting over this frame as it will emphasise the dangerous personality of the killer and will show him as an unstable person. The unstable personality will be increased as the sound we have chosen to use is an off screen sound of mumbled talking. This will let the audience relate as this is a common sound for people to hear but the mumbling will make the speech sound unstable. For the next three shots there will still be a focus of the polaroid photos and the victims. We will have an over the should mid shot of the killer looking at the photos, which will the being to zoom in at the current victims photos. We will then with to the actual victims face, using a close up and zooming out. For  frames 6 and 7 we will have low key lighting but for frame 8 we will have bright lighting to highlight the innocence and vulnerability of the girl. Additionally we will use non-diegetic sounds for frames 6 and 7 but for frame 8 we will use silence to show the realness of the scene. The editing techniques that we are going to use are a linking shot, a jump cut and dissolve.

Frame 11 is a long shot of the victim escaping from the killers house. We decided to use a long shot for this frame as it allows the audience to be aware of everything that is happening, which will add to the tension as they will be able to see that the killer hasn't noticed she is trying to escape yet and as a result of this there heart beat would increase as there hopeful for her escape. We also have decided that we are going to have low key lighting as it will show that the victim is trying to hide and the low key lighting will help her to do this.

The next set of frames is the build up and chase scene through the forest of the victim getting caught. We use shots such as panning and handheld to create suspense and tension as the audience will be able to see the antagonist catching up with the victim. These frames will be filmed in the forest therefore we will uses noises such a leaves crunching. We will layer heavy breathing on top of the frame as we think it will increase intensity and this will make it relatable for the audience as their heart rate will be increasing like the victims.

The last fours frames are the most intense of the sequence as this is the climax of the sequence. We can see the antagonist has nearly caught up with the victim so it is like a waiting game for her to get caught. As before these four frames will be filmed in the forest. We decided to use a long shot of the girl falling over to show the audience the whole situation which will make the frame appear real. Then we are going to use a close up of the victims faces to show her emotion, this will increase the intensity. Following this we will use a jump cut to show the victim being dragged backwards, this will maximise the tension within the scene as the frames will change dramatically quickly.

Planning opening credits- Miss Georgiou

Opening credits are used within films to tell the audience about the film and it creation. It tells them the film title and who is starring in it. Additionally, it introduces the style of the film by using particular fonts, texts sizes and colours. It also shows the different job roles within the film and who does them.

 We looked at the opening sequence to seven so that we could see the style adopted by the film, also what colours are used, what thriller conventions are used in the sequence and the order in which the writing appears. By doing this we gained inspiration and a professional view of how the credits should look.

Firstly we focused on the colours that we used in the opening sequence. There was mainly a sepia filtered across the scene which gave it a eery feel.  The main colours used where black and white. The  black could represent the antagonist, which conveys death and mystery. This supports the theme of the film. The white could represent the innocence of the victim, which is conventional to the genre. Therefore the black and white will symbolise the relationship between the characters.

The second feature of the Seven opening credits that we focused on was the style adopted. The font style used represented child like hand writing, this could reflect that the killer has a child like mentality, as we no the killer is not a child it suggest them as quite psychotic. Which can be supported as we see hands cutting up photos and highlighting, this implies possessiveness, this is a common feature of someone psychotic. Through out the opening credits there is flickering and flashes of light, this show the sequence as unstable and unbalanced and gives the audience an idea of what the film is going to be like. This will create suspense as it will build up there is enigma straight away. Parts of the film are shown in the credits and some parts and sped up and some slowed down, this shows the film will have lots of shock and surprise that will keep the audience always unaware of what is going to happen next.

The third feature that we looked at was the use of thriller conventions through out the credits. Thriller conventions are important in the credits as it shows the audience the genre of the film and it is how the genre is recognised. The is lots of enigma through the credits as parts of the film are shown and peoples hands are shown but we cant see who they belong to and no clues are given about what is going to happen in the film. Also the fact that we can only see sharp objects and other weapons instead of why they are being used also builds suspense. The unbalanced effect of the credits is also conventional to the thriller genre as is shows the instability of the killer.

The final feature that we looked at in the seven opening credits is the order of the words. This is one of the thing we focused on because we wanted to mirror this order in our credits to make them appear more professional. The order is as follows:

1. Company name

2. Directors name (the directors name is put before actors if they are more well known then the actors)

3. Actors names

4. Title (normally in a bigger font to make it stand out)

5. Rest of actors

6. Casting

7. Music

8. Sound

9. Costumes

10. Editors

11. Director of photography (camera)

12. Producers

13. Written

14. Producers again

After watching the Seven opening credits it helped me to develop my idea of what i wanted my credits to look like. And I have seen some features of their credits that i would like to mirror. Firstly, i wanted my credits to not be too over the top and wanted clear, bold and easy to read writing. And I wanted black and white only as I think the other colours can make the credits look quite unprofessional. Individually in my group we all went onto a software called final cut pro X, and we all made what we thought were good opening credits. We done this individually first instead of as a group so that we could compare them all and look and the positives and negatives of them. One major thing the had to be considered when I was doing my individual opening credits was the actual font style and writing. As mentioned before I wanted bold and easy to read writing so that once it is layered over our sequence the audience will still be able to see it. I choose quite a small font at first as the audience still need to be able to see the sequence behind, however the more important credits such as the title, main actors and directors names I put into a bigger font so they stood out more. I picked a theme where the letters in the words fall onto the screen and fall out of the screen individually, I think this was a good theme as it shows the unsuitability of the sequence and characters in it.

My opening credits                                                                                                                         

I think that the strengths of my work is that it is very conventional to the thriller genre as the writing is bold and clear therefore it will be easy to see over any background we out in. Also the writing is slightly off centre so is portrays the film is unstable. Also the black and white colour i have used as this gives the credits a professional look. I also like that the writing appears gradually in an irregular pattern to show what the film is going to be like. One thing that i would alter in my credits is the size of the font as the text might take up a bit to much of the screen.

Meghan's opening credits

 The strengths of Meghan's opening credits work is that part way through the writing glow red which has connotations of blood showing the audience what might occur in our film. Also, i like the core colours of black and white because like mine they show the contrast and are simple to look at and understand. However, if i was to suggest improvements i would make the writing larger as it may be hard to see over the opening sequence and i would change the font because its very basic and doesn't have many connotations such as it looking like a child's wrote it or that the film will be a thriller because it doesn't look creepy. I don't personally think we should use these credits because they need a lot of work but if the other members of my group think we should then i will suggest the improvements so that they are more effective at portraying what our film will be about.

Kerry's opening credits
The strengths of Kerry's opening credits are that the writing is bold therefore it is clear to read. Also the black and white colours that she has used for the font and background are conventional to the thriller genre as they imply evil VS innocence. I think that the glow behind the writing is ok as it could suggest there will be lots of enigma in the sequence however it could also make the sequence appear unprofessional. Another weakness of these opening credits is that the writing appears as one block so it doesn't connote that the audience will be scared by what appears gradually in the film and there are no aspects of red which have connotations of danger and blood.

As  group we have decided we are going to use my opening credits as they look the most professional and are the most conventional to the thriller genre. The irregular appearance of the words on the screen connote an irregular pattern in the film, which could increase the suspense. Although i may have chosen a more basic theme then the other people in my group, it looks better as the text will be clear for the audience to read. Also the other two opening credits would have both needed altering and changing as they was not very conventional, whereas mine needed the less altering. Like in sevens opening credits we have decided that we will mirror the order of the text that they use and make the text appear all around the screen, depending on what is in the background so that everything can be seen. The credits will remain on the screen for 1-4 seconds and will show the production rolls within the sequence. The credits will say:
Signal cinema presents (the company name)
Targeted. (name of the film)
We are then going to list the actors names - Kerry Boyne, Eddie Woodley (who was in the sequence)
Casted by Holly Herbert (who choose who was in the sequence)
Music and sound by Sarah Smith ( choose what sound and music is going to be used and layered in the sequence)
Costumes by Meghan Stone (decided what the actors wore and looked like)
Edited by Jessica Mccullagh (put the different frames within the sequence together)
Director of photography Annabelle Winters (filmed the sequence)
Written by Ed Davis (chose the story line of the sequence)
Directed by Jonathan Craig (was in charge of the overall running and appearance of the sequence)

Planning sound - Miss Miller

Sound is important in thriller film as it helps to build up tension and suspense within the audience. Generally, when the sound increases pace there is danger for the films victim, and when the sound goes silent it resembles a victim being killed and their life ending. Additionally, it is used to create a response from the audience and engage them in what they are watching. The sounds create an understanding for the audience and creates more meaning about the characters and their emotions. There are different types of sound in films, diegetic sound is sound which is part of the film for example diologue or music and this can be on or off the screen. Non-diegetic sound is sound which is not part of the scene for example a soundtrack or sound effects. There is also on-screen sound which is where you can hear sound and see where it is coming from. Opposite to this there is off-screen sound which is sound that you can hear but you cannot see where it is coming from. However this sound, makes sense to the film. Furthermore, there is parallel sound which is sound that you hear in a film that is expected. And there is contrapuntal sound, which is sound that doesn't match what is in
the scene. All of these help thriller films to achieve its over all goal of creating tension and suspense for the audience.

The first sound that my group and I have decide we want to use is diegetic sound. The diegetic sounds that we have dicided we are going to are screaming, heavy breathing and footsteps, which are all going to be included in the chase scene through the forest. These are common sounds that people hear in everyday life, however due to the seriousness of the situation is will show panic from the victim and that she is scared. As mentioned before these every day sounds will make the opening sequence more relatable to the audience and will help them to build up a relationship with the victim. Also because the tension would have built up within the audience from watching the sequence, their heart beat will also be quite fast, again making it more relatable. These sounds are conventional sounds to the thriller gener as they are used to show the fear from the victim, which builds up the tension and suspense.

The next sound we are going to use is off screen sound. Off screen sound is sound that matches the content of the scene but is not visiable within the camera shot. We will use this when the floor bloards are creeking as the girl is trying to escape and the audience will hear a door shuting when there is a focus on the killer and he realises that the girl has escaped. The creeking floor boards will show that the victim is trying to not get caught and that she is in fear of getting caught. The door shuting will show that the girl has successfully got out of the house but it also will show the realsiation of the killer that the girl got out. It is the start of chain of events that lead to the death of the victim, from this point the heart rates and tension levels within the audience will continue to rise. This helps to build a relationship as the audience dont no if the girl is going to fully escape from the killer and not get caught, which creates fear for the victims life. Our aim with this sound is to increase the tension of the sequence by creating a sense of enigma as to whether the victim will survive or not. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it shows the audience what is going on and makes the scene clear, which creates suspense as they find out what is happening before or at the same time as the victim.

Following this the next sound that we are going to use is non-diegetic. We are going to edit in the non-diegetic sound effect of a heart beat, during the chase scene in the forest. We are going to use this sound technique to portray the vicitms fear and panic. It also shows that they are exhausted as well as frightened, from running. This would build up the panic and she might slow down making herself easier for the killer to catch up to. We are going to enusre that the audience will build up a relationship with the victim through this sound effect as a heart beat is a very common sound that everybody is well associated with. The audiences heart be would be copying the one layered over the sequnece through the suspense built up. This will allow the audience to compare and put themselves into the situation of the vicitm making it more relateable. They will also be able to understand the emotions that the victim is feeling and this will cause them to feel symapthetic towards them. This is conventional to the thriller genre as enigma of whether the killer is going to catch up to the vicitm or not creates tension and suspense.

The last sound technique that my group and I have planned to use is contrapuntal sound. Contrapuntal sound is sound that does not match the content of the sequnece. We have decided to use contrapuntal sound when the girl is getting dragged back by the killer as we have decided that we are going to layer happy/positive music over this. The music and the content will juxtapose eachother, as although the music is postive, the girl is getting dragged back to her death. The happy music could symblise the happiness of the killer that he has recapted the victm and overpowered her. This would make the audeince feel anger and resentment towards the killer as they would be confused at how someone could be happy they have recaputred someone. It also shows little hope for another escape of the victim as the killer is dictating the action in the sceen and his emotions are also dictating the sound being used and the music is going to be quite over powering. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates an unnatural feel to the scene and implys uncertainty, which helps to build up the suspense.

Planning editing- Miss Georgiou

Editing is important as the different techniques are what increases the suspense, shock, tension and surprise by changing the order of shots, colour or speed. This makes scenes more jumpy as the techniques help the tension to build up through out the sequence. Editing also helps to show the emotions of the characters and different filters and speeds are used to imply a sub-meaning. Additionally, editing helps to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and trying to guess what is going to happen next, which adds to the suspense. 

The first editing technique that my group and I have decided to use are filters. Filters are colours that are layered over the scene to create effects. We have decided that we are going to use a red filter when the victim is trying to escape in the forest. We have chosen to use it here as it will portray danger for the victim. This is supported as the colour red also has connotations of blood and death, which will increase the tension within the audience as it suggests the victim will die. The audience will be able to build a relationship with the victim as they will be able to see the red filter whereas the victim can't. As a result of this they will feel empathy and helpless. This is conventional to the thriller as the victim does not know that they are going to die, whereas the audience can see they are going to. Additionally, it is conventional as the red filter connotes danger and blood which are typical thriller themes. As a group we want the audience to guess that the girl is going to be killed by using the red filter, but this will increase the tension as they wont no when they are going to be killed.

The second editing technique that we are going to use is a reaction shot. A reaction shot is any shot in when a subject reacts to a previous shot. We are going to use this when the antagonist realises the victim is trying to escape and we will show his reaction to this. This will be one of the only times his very calm and confident personality shows panic. We will show panic by sharp movement, the antagonist will be panicking as he doesn't feel in control of this situation.The audience will be able to relate to this, as the victim trying to escape would only make the killer angrier therefore the audience will fear for the victims life. This is conventional as it helps to show the character representation of the killer by showing their reactions. This would build up tension and suspense within the sequence. 

Following this, the next editing technique we have decided we want to use is the kulveshov effect. This is when two shots are put together to give the audience a third meaning.  We are going to use this shot when we first show the Polaroid pictures of the previous victims with crosses over them and the second shot being of the victim that is tied up in a room in the abandoned house. This will imply that the girl is going end up with the same fate as the other girls in the polaroids. Which will expose her as being vulnerable. This will help the audience to build a relationship with both characters as they will begin to understand the antagonist and his intentions, as the bunch of polaroid photos suggest he is a serial killer. This will further imply that the girl tied up in the room is the next victim. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it shows the killer has psychotic characteristics such as extensive planning and attention to detail which will add tension within the audience.

The final editing technique that my group and I have decided to use is the timing of shots. This is in the editing stage some shots are either slower or quicker to add to the emotional impact or to create suspense. We will use this when the victim is trying to escape from the house/ropes everything will be slow. However, once she has escaped everything will speed up. The speeding up of the sequence implies panic and chaos, this will also resemble the panic that the killer feels as he thinks the victim is getting away. This change in pace will help the audience build a relationship with the victim as it creates fear for them, which will increase the tension as their heart beat will increase with anxiousness. This is conventional as it keeps the audience guessing which heightens the suspense.

Thriller Inspirations- Miss Georgiou

Inspiration is something that mentally stimulates the minds and leads to a sudden idea. Before we can create things we have to have inspirations so that we have ideas about what we are going to do and make our work effective. It also allows us to know what things work and what doesn't. We can take inspiration from anywhere, for example movie clips, posters, adverts, music or books.  Anything that stimulates our minds we can use as inspiration. For my thriller opening sequence i have got inspiration from looking at different thriller clips online so i could see how successful thriller films create shock, suspense, surprise and tension.

Research into the BBFC
The first piece of research i done to gain inspiration, was research into the BBFC age classifications. From this i have been able to see what content is allowed in each age classification, thus enabling me to chose an appropriate age classification for my thriller opening sequence. This is helpful as i will not harm or disturb people by them watching inappropriate content. I now think that my opening sequence will be rated 15 or 18 because the content within a thriller sequence is tense and strong language and violent scenes are common. I think that i will most likely choose a 15 age classification as the only restrictions are that there is no detail on sexual activity or encouragement of drugs. All of the film themes that i would be able to do would fit into the 15 age classification.  During the making of my thriller opening sequence i will have to continuously consider the restrictions the age classifications that i choose, so that the content is appropriate. While doing this research i looked at clips from the film Lucy. I really loved the plot twist within this sequence, and would like to incorporate this into my film because it will add to the enigma of the film.
From this research I know that I would like to include a plot twist within my opening sequence as i this it helps to build up tension within the audience, it also helps to keep the audience engaged in the sequence. This will mean that they will be able to relate to the sequence as the will be engaged in the sequence and paying attention.

Research into cinematography

I also researched into cinematography. From this is found out about the different angles and shots used within thrillers.  I analysed case 39 for this post, and from this i now no a plethora of different angles and shots that i want to include. Some of these are a high angle, it is used in the clip to show the families vulnerability. Therefore i have also decide i want to use it to show the vulnerability of my victim and show that they are the victim. Which will also makes the audience feel more involved with the characters. Also i will defiantly use a extreme close up to show the raw emotion of my characters and to show the seriousnesses of the situations. I would most likely do a extreme close up of a face unlike the cooker flames like in case 39. This will also help the audience to relate to the victim in the close up that i am going to do as they would of most likely shared this emotion. I really like how this scene keeps the audience on the edge of their seats right till the end thinking that the girl is going to be killed, and i aim to mirror this sense of mystery and keep the audience guessing in my thriller opening sequence. Case 39 do this really well as as an audience we are not sure who the antagonist is, which keeps us engaged as we want to find out. However I would use a mask to show hidden identity, unlike in Case 39.

Research into sound

Following this, i researched into sound. From this i learnt how sound is used to help the audience feel more part of  the scene and build up suspense to shock the audience. This research has helped me to find out what all the different sound devices are used for. In my thriller, I would like to use music at different paces to create intensity in a scene and make the audience feel suspense. The music played in the clip is from the CD player, the music doesn't match what is happening in the scene therefore is also contrapuntal sound. I would like to use this in a chase scene as i think it would help to add to the tension and fear of if the victim will survive.  I would also use diegetic sound to add normality to my scene and make sure the audience is following the story, such as speech, foot steps and radio.  These sounds can be used through my clip as it allows the audience to follow the story line better. Additionally, I would use silence, it is used in the strangers clip to build up tension as she is waiting to see who is coming towards her. However, i would like to use it to emphasise death of characters and to build up tension.

Research into mise-en-scene

Following this, i researched into mise-en-scene. I have learnt that there are five different factors that make it up, these are setting and iconography, the costumes, hair and makeup, the facial expressions and body language, the lighting and colour and the positioning of the characters.  While researching this i analysed a clip from scream 3 called the cutting room. From this i now know how to show the vulnerability of the protagonist, and that they always cower away from the antagonist. Also that a common setting for thrillers is abandoned places so i will highly consider this when choosing the location for my thriller sequence. Normally they are hard to escape from, so the protagonist is stuck in without an escape route. I also know no that the protagonist (usually women) wear flattering clothing and are attractive.  Therefore, i think that the victim in my opening sequence will be a young attractive female. Additionally, i know that the body language and facial expressions change when the victim thinks they are not in trouble to when they are in trouble. This has inspired me to make sure there is a definite change in expression and body language in my clip. To emphasise the innocence of my victim,  i can used lighting and colour to create shadows and highlight that victims try to hide. The positioning of characters show the authority of particular people in the scene and how to creates tension by making others appear weaker. From analysing this clip i have been inspired to keep the identity of my antagonist hidden to create a sense of mystery. I will use low key lighting to imply that protagonists are trying to hide and create shadows to give an eery feel to the sequence. After this research i have decided to include many of the features that i have seen in the saw clip, as they will help me to create a conventional thriller. 

Research into editing style 

Then i researched editing styles used in thrillers. For this i researched into a clip from the strangers. From this researched i discovered lots of different editing techniques and styles that are used in films, including thrillers. One main editing technique that this has inspired me to use is a reaction shot. I love the sudden change on screen and i think it will engage the audience well and this will increase the tension. We see a reaction shot in the strangers clip when, the killer walks up behind the mans wife and he reacts to this. I think that i could incorporate this into my clip when the the killer realises that the girl is escaping as this would be where there the biggest on screen reaction would take place.

Research into thriller conventions

The next thing i researched was common  thriller conventions. While looking inot thriller conventions i watched a clip from the film The Shining. Throughout this clip i saw many important thriller conventions that made the sequence easily identifiable as a thriller. One of the common conventions that i spotted in this thriller was the female victim and male antagonist. This is commonly used because it adds to the tension. The man is clearly stronger then the woman, he walks very dominantly and this makes him appear like an over powering person. Whereas the woman is cowering away, this makes the audience feel tense as we know that if the man gets to the woman that he could easily over power her. This is a common convention to a thriller as the audience are normally hopeful that the victim will get away but we always know realistically that the antagonist will be able to over power them easily. This creates suspense as its a waiting game for when the killer is going to strike. As a result of this i have chosen to use a male antagonist and female victim.  A piece of iconography that is very common to the thriller genre is a knife. We see this in The Shinning  when the lady grabs the knife from the bath room sink. This creates hope for the victim as she has a weapon. However, it also shows her vulnerability as she looks reluctant to use the knife. This also portrays innocence as a result of this we still fear the safety of the girl. As soon as a knife is seen on screen in thriller we know that someone is going to be killed this creates tension within an audience as they won't find out who the person being killed is until it happens. Therefore for these reasons i have decided to use a knife as the weapon in my thriller.

Through researching into thrillers i have found out what i should use in my own opening sequence to make sure that i have the maximum tension, suspense, shock and surprise. The use of enigma and hidden identity is something that i saw commonly is used in thrillers and they are some of the main conventions, 

Planning characters - Miss Miller

The purpose of having characters in our opening sequence is so that they can act out our narrative and to help the audience relate to the sequence. Therefore increasing the tension. And it will allow them to follow the narrative easier, which will make it more understandable for the audience.

The first character that we are going to include in our opening sequence is a victim. The victim is going to be played by Kerry Boyne, who is a member in our group, as she will be able to understand the narrative which will make it easier when filming and also she has the correct look for the role. She will be a 16 year old female, with dark hair and pale skin. She will be wearing a white dress and no shoes, this will emphasise her innocence which is a common convention in thrillers.She orginally would not have bee wearing the white dress but the killer would have changed her into as this is what he kills all of his victims in. The audience will be able to see this common dress between the victims when the polaroid photos are show, as all of the victims will be wearing it.  She will have a very normal background, this will make her relatable to our target audience as she will share many similarities with them. Therefore they will put themselves into her place. Which will increase the tension and suspense throughout the sequence. She is your stereotypical victim as she is unaware that she is going to be killed and just happens to find herself in a bad situation. The audience will be able to relate to this as this is something that commonly happens to people when they find themselves in the wrong situtation at the wrong time. However not to the extent of them being killed.

Our antagonist (being played by Eddie Woodley) is going to be a male in his 20's. He will have a large, over powering body build, this will show his physical advantage over the victim. The clothing that we have chosen for him to wear will be a black tracksuit, this will cover his body completely and the black colour will symbolise morbidness. He also will be wearing latex gloves, these gloves are worn during operations, so this could symbolise that he is planning to kill her. Which will increase the tension. The most key part of his costume will be the mask that the killer is going to wear. This will conceal his identity through out the sequence, which will build up the sense of enigma, this will increase the suspense. A mask is a common convention used in thrillers, the killer identity is normally never revealed or left until the last minute to reveal the killer identity. It is very rare within thrillers that the victim will find out the identity of a killer wearing a mask. The key characteristics that our killer is going to have are his dominant and obsessiveness over young females. And his scary psychotic nature. This is all due to his abusive childhood, where his mother use to abuse him and he lived in horrendous circumstances. This all lead to him being a wanted child serial killer. We are going to portray him as your stereotypical thriller killer as when he is chasing the victim through the forest he is going to be walking slowly and confidently, this will show his dominance and that he is sure he will re-capture the victim. This builds up the tension as the audience do not know when he is going to catch up with her but they no he does at some point. The audience are going to be able to build a relationship with the killer as we will be sharing his deeply troubled past which will make the audience feel sympathetic but it will also make the killer dominant over the audience as he will use there sympathy to his advantage to create tension. Therefore the audience will feel fear towards the killer.

There will be some Polaroid photos of past victims hanging up on the wall that the killer is looking at. These past victims will all be young females around the same age as the current victim (16). The fact they are all the same age group as our target audience will mean that the audience will be able to relate more with them and put themselves and there friends into the places of the girls that have been killed. Which will allow them to build up a relationship with them. They will all have dark hair as this is how the killer choses who he is going to kill. He choses the girls that most resemble his abusive mother, as he is taking out all of the hatred for his mother on other young girls. All of the girls will have a very average background and there will not be anything specific (apart from looking like his mother) that makes the killer chose them as his victims. These are very stereotypical victims as firstly they are young females, which emphasises that the killer will be physically stronger. Also they are all unaware that they are going to be killed.

The characters that my group and I have chosen to use in our opening sequence are very conventional to the thriller genre as they share features of the killers and victims we have seen while researching into the genre. Some of these features are the dominant nature of the killer and the concealed identity of him. As this creates a sense of fear and enigma. Also the innocence and vulnerability of the current and past victims and how they was not expecting the killing. By using these common conventions that we saw when researching the thriller genre, we hope that the sequence will be easily recognisable as a thriller. It is helpful that we planned our characters prior to filming our opening sequence as we were able to go into great detail about what the characteristics are of the characters are going to be and what they are going to wear. This will make it easier when filming out opening sequence as we will know what we wanted our characters to look like, therefore we will have more direction when filming.

Planning mise-en-scene- Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene is important within a thriller as this includes everything that is seen in the frames. Therefore without any of this the thrillers would be very boring with little content. It focuses on all things in the sequence, some obvious but some not so much. For example, background iconography and facial expressions. All of this helps to build up suspense and tension within the thriller making it conventional to the genre. Planning all of this is important otherwise we would not have as clear a vision of what we want our opening sequence to look like. 

Through out our sequence we will use mainly low key lighting. During the day to create this effect we will cover some of the natural light that comes through the windows by covering them with black plastic bags; however, we will aim to film most of our sequence during the period of day when it's just starting to get dark. Before we film we are going to go to our location as a group and take some practise videos to test out different times of day and what looks the most conventional to the thriller genre.The audience will relate to the low key lighting because they are used to seeing this everyday so they will put themselves in the victims position and will remember the film when they are walking at this time during real life. Additionally, they will relate because it is harder to see certain objects at this time and shadows are formed, which builds tension as the audience don't know whether the shadows are actually people that could jump out at them. This will create enigma as they can't fully see so they are focusing on what is going on which will lead to a greater shock element. Low key lighting is conventional in thriller films because it creates a dark and uneasy atmosphere which will build suspense as the audience are waiting for something to jump out at them and because its unlikely that many people will be around at night to be able to save her so she will be deemed as isolated.


We then brainstormed what colour aspects we wish to use and see within our thriller sequence. We all agreed that our victim will wear a white dress which is conventional as it portrays innocence and a ghostly attire which will mirror that she is going to die. The audience will build a relationship with the victim as she starts of by wearing casual clothing,  our target audience are going to around the same as the victim, so will be wearing similar clothing. Therefore will be able to picture themselves in the situation. Then she is changed into the white dress by the antagonist which the audience, this will show her innocence. The colour white is commonly worn to show purity for example of wedding days, this will add to the tension the audience feel. Our antagonist will wear all black to show how dark his personality is and how he doesn't feel any emotion for his victims, which is conventional as it helps the antagonist hide not only his feelings but also help him physically hide due to the dark low-key lighting which shows that he doesn't want to seen or known by what he does. This also builds tension as the audience never know when to expect to see him so are constantly engaged trying to spot him. The audience will relate due to the dark clothing because it will tell them what the characters personality is like so they can easily judge him. We will also use red filters and red pen to cross out his previous victims on the walls as red has connotations of blood, danger and anger, which the audience will relate to as red is ell known for these connotations so they will feel helpless which will help the, sympathise with the victim. Red is also conventional as the antagonist usually has a built up anger that has lead him to what he does and it also denotes death, which symbolise the outcome for the victim.

The sequence will take part in an isolated setting; an abandoned house in the middle of the forest. As a result of this there will be nobody around to help the victim, which showed she was trapped. This increased the suspense as the audience knew there was no escape. Which will make the audience feel helpless, this helps them to build a relationship as they would have been in a situation  before where they felt helpless, therefore relate it to this. An isolated setting is a common convention we found when researching into the thriller genre. This is because it increases the victims feeling of being alone and frightened as there is no one around to help them. This uncertainty and aloneness helps to build up a strong sense of suspense. The iconography used in our opening sequence is going to include a knife, which is a common weapon used in thrillers.  This is the chosen weapon for our killer as it suggests murder, danger and as soon as the audience see this the tension within the scene will massively increase. Also we will use a mask, this conceals the identity of the killer. This increases the sense of enigma.  It is conventional for the killer to conceal their identity from their victims and the audience, this builds up the surprise and suspense within the scene. 

From our researching into the characters within the thriller genre, we have seen that they adopt particular facial expressions and body language. The victim will have very emotional facial expressions, the emotions that will be shown are fear, confusion and sadness. We will use close ups of the victims face to emphasise the victims emotions. The audience will be able to relate to this as they would have shared these emotions at some point. They will also have very timid and submissive body language. They will do this by crouching down and backing away from danger. This will allow the audience to build a relationship with the victim as they could compare this situation to a pet and owner relationship, which most people are common with. This is conventional to the thriller genre as victims are usually timid and the killers more dominant, which increases the tension. The killer will be a very calm person with little emotion shown. This is mainly due to the mask worn by him. This would confuse the audience as he is killing innocent people so they would think he would show emotion. 

Group planning - Miss Miller

My group consists of me, Meghan Stone and Kerry Boyne. Every week as a group we meet up so that  we can discuss the our ideas and figure out how we are going to create a successful thriller. We have to have these meetings every week so that we all know what we are planning to do and we can make sure that we all agree with what is going to happen within our opening sequence. Additionally, meeting up as a group will make it easier when filming as we will be more organised and we can discuss and evaluate what we are going to do as a group. Furthermore, we can develop our ideas to make sure we have maximum surprise, shock, suspense and tension. For example we was able to combine all of our individual narrative ideas to make a group narrative that we all agree on.

In our first group meeting we discussed what we wanted our narrative to be. Firstly, we discussed what our individual narratives where and where we all got our inspirations from. We done this as we wanted to consider everybody's ideas. We looked at the positive and negative parts of everybody's ideas so that we could choose parts of all of them we want to include as we wanted to use parts of everybody's narratives. We all share the similar aspect of an abandoned location therefore this was definitely going to be included in our opening sequence. Additionally, we all shared the same idea of a masked antagonist, therefore we are going to include this as well. As this adds to the enigma of the sequence and creates suspense. Our final narrative idea was a psychotic serial killer, who was abused as a child by his mother, and kills girls that looks like her to get revenge.

In the second group meeting we discussed all of the different miss-en-scene, editing, conventions, representation of characters, inspirations, cinematography and sound we are going to include in our opening sequence. We did not going into immense detail, however we did outline the everything we was going to include. We done one section at a time and we wanted to discuss it all as a group so that all of ours ideas are included and we agree on the content.
We had to consider all of these factors as these are all highly important when producing our opening sequence. We found it quite hard to decided on all of the features as we do have different opinions on what would create the best thriller. Therefore sometimes we would have disagreements on what should be included but in the end we tired to included everybody's ideas but as long as they was suited to the narrative.  In this meeting we also discussed the group name and company name. For our company name we wanted it to be something simple as it is not the main focus. We wanted our film title to give the audience a good idea of whats happening but it had to be short and something people could easily remember. Therefore we chose targeted. The conventions was easy to decided on as a group as blood, chase scenes, low key lighting etc. are all common within thrillers therefore we all knew what to include. Also the representation of the charters was easy to decided on as we all was agreed on the narrative

Our next group discussion was regarding MES, we discussed the setting, iconography, costume, hair and make up, facial expressions and body language, lighting and colour and positioning of characters we are going to use. All members in our group went away after a discussion and wrote up our ideas, then afterwards we colaberated them. Our main ideas were to have low key lighting, the antagonist wearing black scruffy clothing, the victim wearing white, an abandoned house and forest setting with photos and broken objects as iconography.
During this we also looked into character planning, Within the discussion we decided what our characters were going to wear and how they would act and look. We also decided who was going to play the character and what there background would be. 



Our next group discussion we had was on the sound we wanted to use. We got an A3 piece of paper and folded it to make four section whereby we listed each section with a different sound technique such as diegetic and contrapuntal. Then under the headings we wrote what sounds we wanted such as heavy breathing and footsteps and where we want to include them in our opening sequence. Then we went on to discuss how this would help the audience relate and how these types of sounds are conventional. An example was that when the antagonist catches his victim and drags her back to the house contrapuntal music will play over the top which is happy music as this juxtaposes the idea of what is going to happen to the victim and puts the audience on edge because the scene becomes very unnatural and creepy

This is our group planning scedual: