This is our finished Thriller opening overall, I think that it was a success because we managed to achieve the storyline we were hoping in achieving. The skills which I think I have improved on is my camera skills, positioning the camera at different angles to make the shot seem better. The process I would have tried to improve was the way we had edited it together, I would try and make it more smoother.  

Questions for after.

We decided as a group to ask people questions after they had watched out Thriller opening. We thought this was a good idea because we would be able to gain some postive or negative feedback about our Thriller opening. Here are the questions we will be asking people after they have watched our Thriller opening: 

1 = How did you feel about our Thriller movie, now that you have watched it?

2 = Does it meet your standards of a Thriller opening? 

3 = What did you like most about our Thriller opening?

4 = What do you feel we need to make our Thriller opening better?    

Questionnaire to Thriller Opening.

How we decided what to include in our Thriller opening, was by getting people to fill out a questionnaire, this was done to help us make the right choices when it came to planning our Thriller opening. I asked 20 people 12 questions where they had to give me detailed answers on what they thought a Thriller should include. Most of them said that a Thriller should include someone being killed/murdered by someone that they didn't know. So when it came to planning our Thriller opening we made sure that we could feel that someone was going to be murdered, but we also decided that we didn't want the audience to know who this murderer was, this added to the tension of the Thriller.

People also said that the setting had a bit impact on making a Thriller, therefore we decided to go somewhere where no one really went and therefore Hayley thought of Morton Fens, where there is a run down barn were no one goes. This added to the tension of our Thriller this is because when it became dark, you could really feel something.. Hayley played the role of the victim and when she screamed at the end you could hear it for miles and this made the scene seem more real.

Why we decided Morton Fens

We decided on Morton Fens because we wanted somewhere where people who be less likely to disturb us when it came to filming, we also wanted to have somewhere which had a eerie feel to it which at the Fens it did. What I though worked the bed when it came to filming was Hayley's scream, it echoed throughout the Fens and i thought this was a very good effect, which hopefully would make the audience feel what she is going through. When it came to filming we wanted to make sure we got different angles of the location, this was because we wanted people to feel as if time has gone by and that the world is still turning even though the Victim's worlds seems to have stopped.

Thriller

What makes a Thriller opening?

When we think of a thriller we feel that they should provide some sense of fear when watching. The Thriller genre is to provide people with but in more of a physiological term. This is because the Thriller genre is meant to provide people with enough information on the situation, but when it comes to the proper truth the audience would seem more shocked then normal. An example of a Thriller film is 'Donnie Darko' this film was designed to tell the story of a boy who appears to have problems which involves a talking bunny called Frank. At the very beginning of the Thriller the music is made to add tension to the film, this is what Thriller genre's are known for doing. The unknown might just happen. They also are made to make the audience ask questions, and when it comes to the opening scene of 'Donnie Darko' he is on his own in the middle of no where in his pyjamas, the audience might want to know why he is there alone. This makes the audience hocked and makes them watch the rest of the film. The sound has a big impact on what makes a Thriller because it is designed to provide people with the unsure emotion that they might be experiencing. The music has to build up and have a dramatic ending, this usually makes the Thriller seem more enticing.

What makes an effective Thriller opening?

What makes an effective opening to a Thriller opening is different camera shots, sound and the emotion which the audience might be experiencing. When it comes to making a Thriller opening, having different camera positions helps the audience to fully experience what the character is feeling. The sound is a good way of building tensions for different people. It is also the sound which makes people more scared, the film 'Jaws' is a good example of this, you know that the shark is coming but the sound makes it more real for the characters. This is how peoples tension is made to rise.

The New Files

Creating the new design for the files was my job, we needed something which would show our names and also the photo of us. When it came to filming these shots again i chose to do 2 different angles. One from the side and a Birds eye view. This means when it comes to editing we can chose the angle we want. I also decided to film just the names aswell this meant when it comes to editing them in they will look better both ways. It also provides us more to edit with.

The only problem i had was when it came to printing, I wanted to have our names in red but when they were printed off they didn't look as red as i would have liked, but they still looked affective.

 

The Rationale behind our Thriller Opening.

When we had presented all of our presentations to the rest of the class the feedback which we got provided us with enough information on what we needed to make our Thriller opening better than we though. We decided to mix Hayley's idea (1) and Jack's idea (2) this was because out of the two theses seemed to be the best ones. This in theory would create a better storyline because we would have more then just one idea to work with, we also had the chance to create different characters then the original ideas. We decided to have the flashbacks to help show that time has moved on since the murder took place, and it will also make the Thriller look more effective when it comes filming. We got the inspiration from 'The Strangers' to have a mask which we thought would hid the identity of the killer and keep the audience hocked. And having the detective's trying to solve the murder shows that we were still keeping it real.  

Audience Research.

Camera

In any film there is a number of shots that can be used, however some are more effective than others. A close up of a person normally means their face, it would show the emotion of someone. A point of view shot shows a view from a subjects perspective and is mostly edited in a way so it is obvious whose POV it is. A high angle shot is taken above the subject looking down at it, it gives the subject lack of power, it makes them feel small. Whereas, a low angle shot it taken below the subject looking up at it, it gives the subject a sense of size and power.The 180' rule is a way in which it doesn't cause confusion on the audience, it states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes the imaginary axis is called crossing the line. In our thriller we have used a variety of shots such as, long shot, POV shot, mid shot, pan shot.

Editing

There are so many different types of editing techniques you can use in a film, and some are more effective depending on the type of film. For example, a thriller. One effect that can be used in a thriller film is dissolve. This is when one shot fades into another which can help show a move from one location to the next or from one person to the next. Another effect that can be used is fade to black/white, one shot fades in or out to, or from black or white. If done quickly enough it can create a sense of flashbacks and can create a sense of time passing. One more effect is a jump cut which is an abrupt cut between shots. It's effective as it's dramatic and can begin/end action. Using different editing techniques increases the tension of the film and can become really dramatic. In our thriller we have used the dissolve effect to show the flashbacks.

Narrative

Narrative can happen any time in a thriller opening, either on top of dramatic music or the music stops to create more tension. It can be used in someone telling the story from their point of view or the audience hearing someone's thoughts and feelings. The narrative is normally being played over pictures/filming so you don't see the actually character talking. This creates a sense of mystery to the audience. In our thriller we have a script which is used for the detectives, we all came up with the script.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene basically means anything in the shot. It can consist of location, costume, props and lighting. The mise-en-scene location is where the film/TV programme is set. The mise-en-scene costume can suggest a characters role, age, status and the time period in which the film is set. The mise-en-scene props are important objects that relate to the story, action, time or setting of a film. They may give the audience extra information about a character or time period. The mise-en-scene lighting can create atmosphere and highlight important actors/objects.

Sound

The two sounds that can be used in a thriller film/opening are diegetic and non-diegetic. Diegetic sound is heard on and recorded from the location of the film. For example, speech. Non-diegetic sound is added when the film is edited to ass to the atmosphere. For example, sound effects and music. We used voice overs in our thriller as the sounding didn't sound right due to the wind. We also used a backing track which worked well with our fit of the opening.

Shooting our Thriller Opening.

On the day of shooting our thriller, we all agreed to meet at a reasonable time of 11.00am at an easy place so we could get some practice shots in before filming the actual thing. It also gave us time to walk to our location. As we all live pretty near each other no one had any trouble in getting to the location in time.

Before we left we made sure we had all the camera equipment, props and costumes that we needed as we wouldn't have time to walk back. When we arrived at the location we had a look around and started discussing where the camera would be best placed and how much space was needed for our acting. We also had to make sure we didn't break the 180' rule in filming. As we wanted our thriller to be filmed in dark we had plenty of time to run through the position of the camera, the acting roles making sure we got everything perfect, ready for the real thing. Before we started filming i we made little dents in the ground, this showed me and Hayley were the cameras would be standing each time.

This also gave us a rough idea in how long it would take the film, making sure we had extra footage for backup. As we had our story board with us, we had the clear shots in which we needed to use and how they would look on camera. We also used our shooting script which gave us guidance through filming. With extra time we had it gave us the chance to change shots, or add shots as we could see how effective they would look. We took some pictures to show the location and how the actors looked through filming.

These pictures are our practice shots just to show where the killer could stand. It also gave us a chance to show how he could stand and how he appears to the audience. We decided to take these images in the daylight so we had a better look at what the audience would be seeing.

These shots were took while filming, just to show how the darkness makes the film more scary and a thriller genre. The white mask really shows up in the dark when close up. The only problem  is in the first picture, the mask could be easily missed as he only pops out for a second. We tried to resolve this problem by zooming in and editing the picture but it didn't really make much difference. But we thought this made it better because it made to audience think twice about whether they saw something or not. 

When Jack stood in the corner of the abandoned farm, i thought it provided more tension for the film, and having just the right amount of light which made the mask stand out.

Credits and Title.

We had quite a few idea's of how our credits could be set out and if they would look right when editing. As we have files opening in our thriller we were happy to stick with having the credits revealed when each page was opened. We would edit the credits in using the macs to make them fit together better. We had a back up in case it didn't work, We got chalk and coloured card and wrote our credits out and then we could overlap the image onto the files. When editing we have to make sure we got the right angle in which the files are, otherwise it won't look right.

When it came to editing we realised that we couldnt move an image on top of another image so Hayley and me thought we might have to think of another way for doing our credits. I decided to create a book and print of our names and who we were onto the pieces of paper (Files).

After a bit of development we came up with a new design which  we all agreed on.

We thought having the title slightly dark would give out thriller a scarier look to it. As we used red paint it stood out on the black background so the audiences eyes suddenly draw to it. Having the hand smudged would show that the victim is slowly dying.

For our first design we thought of having the word 'Pestilence' on a black piece of paper in the colour of blood. Using the red writing would connote to blood as the girl has been killed. We brainstormed in what other signs/symbols would make it look more realistic and came up with having a hand print smudged, which would look like blood from the victims hand. And as she is dying the audience knows and begins to feel her pain.