Evaluation Question 7

Foundation Production- Evaluation

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

I have developed as a film maker by improving my skills as a camera operator and as an editor. I feel that I have gained confidence by acting again in our thriller and developed a more experienced skill as a film maker. I have learnt how to create professional looking titles into our thriller and add new transition effects such as the fade into our thriller. As I shared the editing of the preliminary, I feel that by editing the whole production I have proven to myself that I was trusted at being able to complete the edit and have support from the rest of the group through our choice of editing techniques.

The strengths of our preliminary were our continuity as we made sure that we had ordered the shots together so that the audience would not get confused. We also made sure to keep to the 180° rule throughout shooting our short film. Our preliminary had a range of consistent and organised shots that ran consistently throughout the footage. We also used various shots types such as mid shots, high angled shots and close up shots, when it came to editing our preliminary we used a few techniques. Compared to our full thriller product we have included a wider variety of shot types in our footage. We also improved the amount of editing techniques we used as we implemented more professional titles and transitions into our full product. By changing the look of the titles in our full thriller product compared to using our lanyards in our preliminary, we made our thriller look more professional and almost like a real media product. We also added a different filter effect compared to our preliminary which looked hazy and old looking. We did not have any diegetic sound in our full product compared to our preliminary as some of the sound in our preliminary was unclear and we thought that by having no diegetic sound in our full product would increase the tension we wanted to create. We did have difficulty manoeuvring the camera steadily in both the preliminary and the thriller however, we managed to stabilise some of the camera movements in our full product better this time.  I have learnt how to construct our thriller on both my iPad and on the iMac as both were different in terms of the versions however, I still managed to work with both of them to create our finished thriller. I have continued to develop my continuity skills. This is due to the fact that when I edited the footage I made sure that I arranged the footage in chronological order, so that the audience would not notice any confusion in the way we shot our scenes. We kept to the 180° rule and ensured that the characters were kept on the same sides of the line at all times. We did use shot reverse shot in our thriller from the shot of Scott being sat down in the corner of the room to him then being behind me. This was useful in making Scott seem quick and mysterious as he vanishes from one place and reforms in another. Finally we developed on match on action to make sure that each shot followed each other from when we cut to another part of the scene. These factors were useful when shooting our thriller because it helped us to be organised in what we were shooting and how we were going to shoot it. It also reminded us to keep to rules of media industry so that we would not make any mistakes in our filming. They also helped us when editing to keep our shots in order of their occurrence and making our footage seem consistent and smooth.

 

We approached our planning a little nervously and at the start we were overwhelmed with the amount of genres route we could pick for our thriller. In the end we finally chose to make a crime thriller film. We thought that this would be the best genre in terms of the costumes we could wear and the props and location we could use. I feel that our thriller had both strengths and weaknesses to it. I feel that our proudest accomplishment was when we had a problem on the day of filming where we had to change our storyboard because of the mistake we made, when we began filming. We talked through how we would amend that mistake and then continued filming with a new idea as to how to implement the new footage onto our storyboard. I felt that we acted very professionally and calmly in that situation and I was proud of our group for what we ended up having as our thriller. I think our range of shot types and the editing techniques we used were appropriate and well put together when we looked back at our finished product. I feel that the filtering effect on our thriller could have been lighter so that the shots could have been clearer. I feel that the soundtrack was used well as it added the tension we were looking for to go with our footage. I feel that our communication skills could have been a little better as we did have some disputes over what we wanted in our thriller however, I was pleased that we agreed on our final piece together and that we were all happy with it. I feel that we got a positive response for our thriller however, I understand that everyone had their own opinions as to which thriller they preferred out of the class. Overall I was very pleased with what we made and I was very happy working with the people in our group as even though we all stressed out a little about the task we had lots of fun creating our final product.

Evaluation Question 6

Foundation Production- Evaluation

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

I have learnt that using a digital video camera has its advantages and its disadvantages. When we filmed our thriller we used schools video recorder that shot 480p SD video. We also used Laura’s 1080p HD camera to film the newspaper shots. Using Laura’s camera compared to the schools 480p SD recorder was significantly different. Laura’s camera had a much better quality and was better in terms of practicality. The schools video recorder was unclear and did not have the best quality to shoot our thriller with. When we used the tripod with the video recorder we found that it sometimes became hard to manoeuver the camera as the tripod sometimes became very stiff therefore, some of the shots were not as stable as we would have liked them to be. By using the video recorder we were able to zoom in and out of shots and to track movements of the characters. We also used close ups, long shots, mid shots and high angled shots to create different perspectives of the scene and the setting we were in. We used specific shots such as close ups and long shots to both withhold parts of the narrative and then also to show main parts of it as well. This was used to impact the audience making them question the surroundings the characters were in when we used close ups and then answering those questions when the long shots revealed more of the scene.

We used iMovie to edit our shots on Becky’s iPad at first and then the iMac to finish the production off. We found this to have many advantages. We were able to trim and cut shots down to the points we needed them to be. We were able to insert transitions into the shots and add fades and jump cuts to the next parts of the footage. We used titles in our thriller so that we could introduce the roles of our group and what each of us took charge in to create the thriller. We did this to make our thriller look realistic and to make it seem like something you would see in the cinema. We used these specific editing techniques to allow each clip to run smoothly and continuously together. We used the fade shots in between shots to cut to a different place in the setting or to cut to another character. We used the jump cuts in the same way. We integrated the white flashes at the end of the production to jump between the pictures of the murder occurrence so that the audience could get quick images of Laura’s murder without giving away too much. We wanted to impact the audience by including these transitions so that we could play with their minds yet make a consistently running thriller. We selected our footage by choosing the shots that would fit together chronologically and that would help to enhance the conventions we wanted to use such as tension, use of weapons and mystery.

I have learnt that using a tripod during my camerawork was difficult to do. This was due to the fact some of the movements we were trying to use with the tripod were hard to maneuverer into position. Also this then meant that when we were trying to create a pan movement, the camera was not moving in a smooth motion. I have learnt that the lighting is also important when using a camera. We had to make sure that we used the correct amount of lighting so that the footage would not be disrupted by the contrast of the light in the room. The location for us was not a problem as we shot most of our footage inside the Red Hall. When we shot the outside scene walking into the house the weather and the lighting did not affect the shoot at all. We knew that when we were filming we would have to stick to having continuity throughout our thriller. We made sure to use our storyboard to help us put each of the shots in order. I learnt that we didn’t have to shoot everything in order on the day that we filmed our footage as when we edited our thriller we could put the footage into order then. I also learnt that using different camera shot types was important so that our thriller would not look like one continuous scene that would bore our audience. I also learnt when the best time was to use them. I understood that by using the correct shot type such as a close up, helped to keep the enigma of the narrative and only reveal some parts of the shot to the audience. I learnt that composition and framing are important as we had some shots that had certain focal points in different places. I learnt that by including elements and excluding elements in our shots would both reveal and hide bits of information about the location, the characters and the setting the characters had around them. For example Scott was in the center of the frame in one of our shots, which made him the main focus in the scene at the time. I learnt that using rule of thirds would help us position the characters and props better for our camera movements and for the audience to see what was going on in that scene. Finally I learnt that by sticking to the golden mean divides up how much of something is shown in the shot. It also helps to increase the amount of tension there is by not revealing as much to the audience. I learnt that by using camera movements in our thriller such as the pan, we would be able to show more of the setting we were in and show more or less of the characters and their appearance.

I have learnt that editing on iMovie can sometimes be a little difficult. I have had recent

experience in iMovie when I did my preliminary task however, I have developed my skills on iMovie a lot more since then. I have learnt that ordering our shots together would be tricky as we did film a lot of scenes on filming day. Therefore we had to decipher what shots we would use and what shots we wouldn’t use. I learnt how to import the footage onto my iPad and arrange them chronologically in the order our storyboard went in. I learnt the importance of editing our footage to the image of the narrative we had set out in our minds. I learnt that by adding visual effects and colourisation to our thriller, this would interest and excite the audiences’ minds. It would look to them that our thriller was a dark and blurry vision that kept the mystery of our thriller at its best. I learnt that we could use transitions and filters to change the look of our thriller and make it look as close to real media products as possible. I understood how to input these effects onto our footage and where the best places were to add them into. I learnt that not having any diegetic sound was the best option for our thriller. This is because it increased the amount of tension our thriller had. By using the non- diegetic soundtrack in our opening it heightened the tension and built up the crescendo of suspense for the audience. I learnt how to input an ident into the start of our thriller. Our ident made our thriller look more professional and seem like we understood the requirements for our thriller to look like a real media product. I learnt how to export our media product when it was finished although I had experience of this when I did my preliminary task however, the process defiantly took longer this time.  Finally I learnt how to upload my finished product on my blog using YouTube which would have shown my further understanding of how to use media technology.

Evaluation Question 2

Foundation Production- Evaluation

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product represents particular social groups by using young actors in our opening to represent the victims and the killer. This suggests to our audience that the film is aimed at young people and they would find it most entertaining. The victim’s character had been murdered in our opening by Scott's character. She was a young victim and played one of the main protagonists in our thriller. Laura's clothing was modern and styled as everyday wear however it was covered in blood from when she was murdered. Laura's role in our thriller was to be the murder victim that the victim would find later on in the opening.  Laura's character is similar to a character such as Red Riding Hood (Amanda Seyfried). This is because both Red Riding Hoods cloak and the blood on Laura's body both represent the danger both characters were in. Red Riding Hood was in danger when she discovered the wolf and

Laura was in danger when she was being murdered. This is something that makes them both similar. Both characters also portray an innocent female role to their films and expand on the female victim stereotype. As both characters were also young this then also shows how victimised they are and how vulnerable they are as there characters.  The status and class of both characters is different as Laura's character was middle class and Red Riding Hoods character was lower class, which suggests although they both come from different backgrounds, they still become the victims in their storylines. We used the victims ripped clothes and red shoes to create danger and to add picture the struggle she must have gone through as she was being killed. We arranged her make up to look rough and as though she’d been crying in the agony of her death.

Becky's character is a friend of Laura's in the narrative and she then becomes the next victim to die. Becky was also a young character in the thriller and furthermore continues to suggest an innocent and vulnerable characteristic. Becky wore simplistic and modern everyday clothing with dull colours to show how current the thriller was and to suggests the dark awakening she’s about to see.  Becky's role in our thriller was also to be a victim and another protagonist in the narrative. Becky's character wanted to find Laura to make sure she was okay however things did not go to plan when she got murdered herself. Becky's character was slightly similar to Hermione (Emma Watson). This is because both characters want to protect their friends. Hermione wanted to protect Harry and Ron and Becky wanted to protect Laura. The difference between the characters is that Becky's character died trying to protect Laura, but Hermione's character didn't. Like Hermione's character they both wore everyday clothing apart from when Hermione wore her Hogwarts school uniform as Becky did not wear a uniform in the thriller. However both characters are very similar in that they were brave and concerned enough to help their friends. Both Hermione and Becky are both middle class so they both come from similar backgrounds however because Hermione's character was a wizard his makes their status different.

Finally Scott's character was the murderer in the thriller.  His role was to kill innocent victims Laura and Becky. His character seemed to portray a powerful, confident man who knew exactly what he was doing. He wore a smart suit which showed how professional he was and that he was experienced in killing victims. Scott appeared to look in control and very focused on the job he had to do. He did not seem fazed about killing both his victims. Scott's character is somewhat similar to The Joker from Batman. This is due to the fact that both the characters use their costume or make-up to mask themselves from the victims. Scott used a coat hood to mask his face and the Joker uses make up paints to look unapproachable and almost psychopathic. The other similarities they have are that they both have a vengeance to kill anyone who gets in their way. In this case Becky’s character was one of those victims who was murdered in the opening. Furthermore although the characters are different ages which defy the stereotype with Scott being so young, it proves that no matter what age the killer is they will still look good on screen.

We used the roles in our thrillers to represent the social groups as the female roles were the protagonist and the victim roles this is typical of a thriller. The male role in our thriller was the antagonist which is the typical stereotype for a thriller film. We wished to stick to this particular stereotype to convey a classic stereotype to our audience. We used that age group for our thriller because we wanted this to appeal to our target audience of 15. Therefore by using young characters in our thriller we would be creating a thrilling and entertaining opening for our own age ranges audience. We used the characters appearances to keep the thriller looking modern and current so that we would not confuse or bore the audience. We wanted to make sure that the female characters looked innocent and vulnerable and the male character to look focused and overpowering. The costumes help to create this by representing colours and there typical representations. For example Laura wore red shoes and a whit top to suggest that danger was in the room and the purity of Laura's character. Also Scott's costume was smart which made his character seem like he was a professional killer. The make up and blood that Laura had on made her body look lifeless and pale. We darkened her eyes and used white foundation on her skin to show how her life had been drained from her body. Also the blood showed how vicious and painful her death must have been. The camera shots we used also helped to convey to a particular group as, close ups and long shots that we used were able to reveal more or less to the audience and allow us to control how much the audience would see in each shot. The props used by the characters also helped to convey social groups as the rope used to strangle Laura continued to make Scott seem in control. The table also represents Laura's resting place which is something the audience would be interested to learn how she got there. The location also helped to convey to our social group as an abandoned house is sometimes common in a thriller which then makes it look more exciting to he audience, as it looks suspicious and creates an enigma. Whilst in that location we used the lighting to our advantage to highlight specific parts on Laura's body and to shadow Scott's character and keep his identity and intentions well hidden.

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 5

Foundation Production- Evaluation

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

This image is the second shot we had and would attract our audience because of the distinctive newspaper letters that have been cut out and separated apart to spell the words 'death'. It would also engage our audience because it’s dark around the edges of the shot. Also the shadowing around the words also creates enigma as you cannot see what is going on around that area. By using a close up it also draws in the audience’s attention to the words and what our thriller has in it. It is almost like a teaser to what is to come. By using the newspaper it also shows how modern our thriller is going to be. It represents what's happening in the world today and references what's going to happen by watching this short opening. Editing has been used here to fade out the shot to the next shot, we felt s group that this would be the best transistor to used. Editing has also been used to add a filter to the original shot which changes the look of the shot to make it seem dark and to highlight the main prop in this scene so the audience can see the murder weapon. The sound in this shot has only just started to build at this point. Therefore the tension will begin to build as the opening carries on.

This image would attract our audience because of the blurry and dark lighting around the figures neck.  The mid shot of Laura’s neck in this shot highlights Becky’s name and darkens the outside of the shot. This would appeal to the audience as it focuses on specific features in the shot that the audience would be intrigued to see. Editing was used in this shot to fade from the zoom in towards Becky’s name. This was done so that the character could be introduced and still continue on to the next shot of the thriller. This would appeal the audience as they need to have an understanding as to what character they will expect to see in the thriller. The mise-en-scene in this shot reveals Laura’s white top and the rope around her neck. The rope symbolises how she dies and connects the narrative to the character. Her white top suggests her innocence and her purity in the film. The setting in this shot is unknown as the picture only highlights Laura’s neck and the rope around it. This would appeal to the audience as it would lead them to question Laura’s death and how she died. The sound at this point continues to build which increases the tension and the suspicion of the narrative.

This image would appeal to our audience as the shot is now leading up to the reveal of Laura’s body being discovered dead. This close up of the door knob, suggests that somebody is about to enter the room where Laura body is resting in and discover the tragedy that happened to her. This builds on the enigma and suspense in the scene already and questions what the victim will expect to find inside the room. The editing here has been used, to shoot the grasping of the door knob and then fading out to the entrance of the room. The audience will soon be able to see the conclusion of Laura’s discovery which would help reveal some of their subconscious questions. The mise-en-scene in this shot again does not reveal as much as the audience would like, withholding the suspicion. The door knob creates a key focus and suggests the old and derelict location the characters are in. The sound at this time is beginning to lead to a crescendo as the reveal to the body in the room shortens to create a tense and suspicious atmosphere to make it feel like something bad is going to happen.

This image would appeal to the audience as it shows a distinctive figure at the back of the shot. The figure is in fact Scott playing in his character role. This shot is a long shot, this is due to the fact that the audience is able to see quite a lot in the image. The shot is used to that the audience is able to see more of the location the scene is shot in and so they can see more of the hidden mysteries that you could not see in close ups. Editing in this scene was used to cross cut to the rope leading to the discovery of Laura’s body. This would appeal to the audience as it look to the audience as though Scott is watching over her body to make sure nobody takes it. Mise-en-scene in this image is minimal. The audience can only see the chairs and table in the setting and Scott in the back of the shot. This means that we are still withholding information about what the location looks like which keeps the mystery in the thriller. The sound at this point is very high pitched and almost screeching. This would appeal to the audience as it would add drama and intensity to the shot.

This shot would appeal to the audience as Becky has just entered the room and is moments away from discovering Laura’s dead body. The shot is a long shot of most of the location and the two figures in the room. This shot now reveals a lot more to the audience which would appeal to them as the conclusion of the thriller is almost at it penultimate stage. The editing has been used to jump cut to the next shot of Laura’s body to see more of her injuries and wounds. Mise-en-scene in this shot shows the chairs and the table that Laura is lying on. The lighting highlights the left hand side of the shot to reflect the light coming into the room. The sound in this shot has become quite now as Becky has just discovered Laura’s body. However this then leads into a loud crescendo leading up to the end of the opening.

We fulfilled our audiences’ expectations by including the main conventions of thriller genres and the vox pop questionnaire we did. One of our questions was, ‘what do you like to see in a thriller?’ and the responses were, “Suspense and tension.”, “Action.”, “Action and some adventure.” and “I like to see a lot of action so it’s a very fast paced movie with a good soundtrack.” We felt that we managed to included action, suspense, tension and fast paced action into our thriller. We wanted to create a thriller that would appeal and meet our audiences’ expectations as much as possible. So we made our narrative action based when Scott grabs Becky from behind. We heightened suspense and tension leading up to the discovery of Laura’s body. Finally we included faced paced edits and scenes towards the end of the thriller. Our opening links to other similar films such as ‘The Woman in Black’ as their opening begins with the three girls playing happily together with the toy china. The scene then heightens in tension when the girls become hypnotised by the woman in black, leading them to jump out of the window causing them to die. We feel that their target audience and our target audience would be similar in that our thriller would attract our audience in the same way. We used sound in our thriller to intensify the action and the enigma that was occurring in each scene. Towards the end of the opening we added another more dramatic sound track to build a crescendo creating more drama and elaborating the faced passed movements. We used editing in our thriller to add a transitional effect such as a fade to each scene so that the shots of different footage would merge together and create one smooth opening. The editing was also used to flash and cut between scenes so that the opening did not seem like one whole piece of filming. The editing also made our thriller look more professional. 

This would appeal to the audience as it would make it look more realistic. Mise-en-scene was used in our thriller through the use of props to give off a message of how dangerous the place we were in and the mystery that is hidden behind them. The props also gave clues to the story of what actually happened so the audience has to work it out for themselves which will keep them interested in watching the thriller. The lighting was used to highlight certain focal points in the shots. This was done so that the audience would not miss any key important features in the thriller. The costume was used to symbolise certain colour representations such as red meaning danger. The costumes were also used to modernise our thriller and the make it look current and up to date with thriller in cinemas today. The location was used to look derelict and suspicious so that the narrative could also do the same by withholding the mystery that happened to the characters. The plot and the sequence were used to tell the story of the characters and to create a new scenario for the audience. The narrative was also created to make the audience ask questions and to give something new to an audience that already expects something from thriller films. We wanted to attract our audience by creating a thriller that would have a younger take on a thriller film and that would have youthful ideas towards it as well. To conclude we attracted our audience to because we listened to our vox pop and our feedback to create an opening that would suit and entertain our audience. Therefore we created our thriller solely for our audience’s pleasure.

Evaluation Question 1

Foundation Production- Evaluation

Question 1: In what ways does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media product?

A thriller narrative involves characters who are in conflict with each other or outside forces and the menace is usually mysterious and dark. Themes and genres of thrillers include mystery, crime, revenge, political conspiracy, or pursuits which lead to murder. The sub-genre we chose to use was crime thriller. We decided to use this sub-genre because we felt that this particular genre would be able to allow each of us to develop our acting roles and our camerawork. This is because in our preliminary we acted out as ourselves instead of playing other roles. Also our camerawork was a little shaky in some parts of our preliminary. Crime is a good choice for a student production as we can over exaggerate parts of scenes by making them look really dramatic. We also have the option of using more props and using more than one character. By using crime as our sub-genre it meant
we could use specific props such as a rope, spade or a gun and settings such as a police station or a house that can make our production look like a realistic and like a real murder scene has just taken place. The audience’s expectations of this genre is for there to be weapons a murder occurring and there is crime to be solved. As we only did a thriller opening it meant we had to try and incorporate the typical conventions into our opening such as the mystery leading up to the revealing of the location and the suspense leading up to the discovery of Laura’s body in the middle of the room. This meant that we were challenging ourselves to meet our audience’s expectations.  The protagonist in thrillers are usually the hero, they are relatable and likeable e.g. 'The Doctor'. The antagonist is usually smart and clever who is stronger than the protagonists. In some cases those people are psychologically disturbed e.g. Claudia Wolf in ‘Silent Hill’. In a typical thriller there would be a varied use of shot types.

These shot types can include close ups which is used to solely focus on one specific thing/object in the shot, extreme close ups which is used to give out a limited amount of detail in the shot, much less than a close up, mid shots which are used to reveal more of the shot than a close up does and a point of view shot which shows what the character is looking at etc. These shots are all typically used in a thriller as they are the shots that would release the most tensions and give the audience a perspective as to what the character is seeing. The way the camera moves whilst using these shots also has an impact as to how the shot will look. Tilts, low and high angled shots and zooming movements can all be used to create an action packed thriller film. Editing in thriller films is used to join the clips together and to change the pace of the shots so that a narrative can be structured to create the film.  Editing is used to structure a narrative by using the shots and then placing them in chronological order in terms of what happens at the beginning and what happens at the end. Fading to black or white and using transitions and jump cuts are some of the editing effects that are typically used in a thriller film as a cut into another scene and to suggest the closing of the scene by using a black fade and a white fade as an opening to the scene. We made the decision to incorporate these editing techniques into our own thriller opening because it would tell the audience when we were introducing the opening and when the scene had ended. Thriller films also have a great deal of mise-en-scene including props. The props we used were things such as the torch to focus on specific parts of the bodies that have been injured. It can also be used to show close ups of the injuries with the torch being the only light seen, creating tension and mystery because of the low lighting. The table for Laura to lie on as this is where she is seen as being dead. The rope to be surrounding the person showing how they are trapped as have no power, use of a high angle shot here to hint how much power the antagonist has. Finally the newspaper to add a modern twist and to create tension by cutting out the letters to spell 'death' and other dark words. Lighting was created by the torch we used and our mysterious location was the Red Hall we were based in. Finally the sound we used was quite dramatic and built up to a crescendo which leads the reveal of Laura’s body. Typically the props in a thriller films would be badges of law, mobile phones etc. However typically weapons are used by the villains for violence and fear overall, these weapons being knives and guns etc as they are the most commonly used props and they represent the genre better. The lighting would be shadowed with some outside lighting, and low key lighting to highlight key conventions in the film and to suggest the type of environment the characters were in.  The location would normally be in abandoned houses or in dark outdoor places as they are the typical settings for a thriller as they are modern and can look run down. The sound in thriller films is usually tense and non-diegetic with some diegetic sound. Increasing in speed and volume of sound works well in thriller films this is because it creates a sense of enigma and tension.

The beginning of a thriller narrative usually starts by introducing the main characters. We  

get given information about them and the location of where the plot will take place. During the beginning we begin to see a problem/situation often an enigma, which would create mystery as to how it would be resolved in the end that the main characters become involved in. It would engage the audiences by making them question the outcome of the narrative. In the end this will need resolving, but we will not notice this until the climax of the film. Mystery such as the reveal of the location can be involved at the beginning of a thriller film and the audience begins to feel tension. We are also introduced to any people who could be dangerous or threatening. The middle part of a thriller narrative is the development of the plot. This is when tension begins to build to a point, which the audience will begin to start figuring out the climax of the film.


The audience will also realise at this part in the film, that the protagonist has been tricked. Finally the conclusion of the film sees the problem resolved or one of the main characters die. This is usually the antagonist. Some films however do create a cliff hanger which could lead to another film being made. Some of the conventions used in a thriller film are tension, suspense, fear of the unknown, danger, mystery and fast paced action scenes. We looked at Psycho and studied how the conventions were used in the opening of the film to create fear and tension right at the start of the film. Psycho was an exceptional example of how the conventions were used in that thriller. Psycho created tension and mystery through the use of its props. The shower curtain provided the mystery as the blurred figure entered the bathroom. The knife represented the danger in the film and the dramatic non-diegetic violins created the fast paced action a thriller film has. Thriller films need to be more realistic because otherwise the audience may not be able to relate to or understand the narrative. They need to be up to date and current with current trends. Psycho, along with Silent Hill: Revelation inspired our thriller opening. This was due to their dramatic and dangerous storylines and their thriller audience. They both influenced our production as they allowed us to see how we could do something better than their films and to see what we needed to include to make an effective opening. Both films allowed us to see how far we could take our opening and what we needed to do to develop our skills further. Psycho allowed us to think about having a murder scene in our opening, however Silent Hill: Revelation allowed us to use the possibility of a villain being disturbed and deadly. Therefore we wanted to combine both of them together to produce the opening we created. We used the thriller conventions in our work by sticking to the main conventions as much as possible. The title of our film ’Innocence’ became the best option for our opening thriller as most thriller films such as ‘Gravity’ are one worded titles. By using the font and style we chose for the title of our thriller, we continued to make our thriller look modern and up to date with real thrillers shown in cinemas today. Both titles are in bold capital letters as a stand out to anything else that is happening behind the word. The setting and the location of our thriller film was also conventional. We used the Red Hall to film our opening thriller as we felt that this would create a derelict and dark atmosphere. Compared to a thriller such as ‘The Woman in Black’ both our location and the films location are very similar because they are both set in a dilapidated house.

 The houses both looked old, rustic and derelict. They both create a mysterious and realistic setting. Therefore this was a good decision to shoot our thriller here as we used reliable sources and recent thriller films to help us film our thriller in the best and most effective location to the audiences’ point of  view. In terms of the shot types used in these pictures, both of the houses in the pictures are in clear view of the shot. Both of the houses are in the center of the shot and both introduce the setting of the film. This shot is conventional as most thriller films would use this so that the audience can see the location.  When it came to the costume and props used in our thriller we looked at using a rope to show how the victim had been strangled, a torch to highlight specific objects in the scene to create a suspicious and nerving response from the audience and the newspaper to again show the dangerous current affairs happening at this time around the world. The cut out and scrunched up newspaper made our opening thriller modern and up to date with thriller films released in cinemas today. We felt that by using these specific props it would show our audience that we planned our murder scene well and showed hints of what had happened in the past to the victim, without revealing too much to the audience. The clothing used in our thriller was casual clothing as we did not feel the need to dress like we were in another time. We ripped the first victims (Laura) clothing apart to show the struggle she must have gone through when she was murdered. The killers (Scott’s) clothing was smart to make his murder look professional and to seem like he knew what he was doing. The second victim’s (Becky) clothing was made to seem as normal and recent as possible Laura’s murder was a recent event, so the clothing needed to be modern and recent. 

The camerawork and editing used in our thriller was used in a variety of different ways. We shot close ups when we zoomed into the killers face, mid shots to get a bigger idea of the surroundings the characters were in, longs shots to include more of the location, high angled shots to look over the victim’s body and extreme close ups on the door handle. We understood that more than likely all of these shot types would be included in our thriller opening. Real thriller films have all of these shots included so we knew that we would combine these shots, with the use of editing to create an opening thriller that would look realistic to real life thriller films. We used editing to add transitions and effects into our shots. We used flashes when we added the pictures into the scene. We used fades when we crossed between different shots and we used jump cuts to swap between shots. The characters are introduced into our opening thriller by having their names written on the victim’s body. This is not as conventional for a thriller film as no other thriller film we found had names written on the victim’s body. The camera slowly moves over her body to reveal the actors in the opening so that the audience knows who to expect in the thriller. We did this to make our thriller different to a real life thriller as we could not find a relevant thriller when we did our research that matched our unique idea. This is why we decided to introduce our characters in this way. The narrative of our opening thriller
sets up the scene that Laura has been murdered and placed in a house that is possibly the murderer (Scott's) home. The victim comes across the house and walks in to have a look round. The victim then discovers the rope leading down the stairs to a door. Becky opens the door to discover her friend’s dead body. The killer then appears behind her and grabs the victim around her mouth. This then leads to the final shot of Scott over Laura’s body leading to the title of the film. This would set up the rest of the film if one was made by making the audience question what is going to happen next in the rest of the film. What was going to happen to Becky? Was Scott going to get caught? Who would Scott’s next victim be? Our opening thriller suggests and portrays the genre very well. The setting is mysterious, the costumes are modern and the eerie and powerful soundtrack accompanies the shots well. The soundtrack is conventional because it sounds similar to other thriller films and matches the action that’s occurring in the footage. Our opening thriller contains the conventions of the genre that the audience will be able to understand and interpret into what they expect the rest of the film to be like if one was made.