Character Discussion - Miss Miller

Character Discussion

Introduction

 Carrying out a group discussion regarding the characters we will include in our thriller opening sequence was an important process that was essential my group and I took part in. During our group discussion we were able to decide on various personal traits of each character such as age, gender and a general background overview. For each or the characters we will include we  each put forward our own ideas on traits we wish each character to posses. 

Victim One

The first character to be killed in our thriller opening sequence is Gemma. She is the character seen driving the car before it breaks down. Gemma is a young blonde female in her late teens. She is portrayed to the audience as bubbly, outgoing and not so intelligent. The character traits that we gave to this character make her a convention of the thriller genre as it would be considered typical to use a young blonde female as they are stereotypically seen as stupid and vulnerable, a combination which ultimately leads to the character becoming a victim. Gemma is portrayed as bubbly and outgoing as it gives her a reason for getting herself into a dangerous situation as she doesn't appear afraid of possible threats either due to her lack of intelligence or outgoing personality. Therefore she ends up alone in a forest being followed and then killed by the antagonist whereas her friend who is portrayed as slightly more timid remains in the car, in an area which is more so less dangerous due to the dull but still apparent street lighting.

Victim Two

Holly is Gemma's friend who has accompanied her to go to a party. Holly is also a female in her late teens. She is brunette and dressed in smart/casual party clothing to highlight the girls are on their way to a party. Holly  is Gemma’s best friend and the passenger in the car that breaks down. She also is a young female who is in her teens. She is a conventional character of the thriller genre because she also will be portrayed as  a vulnerable female victim that tends to be typically found within thriller films.  Even though Holly is not murdered in the opening sequence, she is remains one of the main victims because she, in addition to Gemma, is being stalked by the antagonist. Furthermore, the character will be seen wearing smart/casual party clothing to make it clear to the audience what the girls are up to driving around late at night which again depicts her as vulnerable. Her gender would be conventional of the thriller genre, taking into consideration she's a victim, however unlike Gemma, Holly doesn't go off into the forest foolishly on her own. She's presented to the audience as an intelligent to contrast Gemma's character. Gemma is stereotypically presented as blonde, fun, and slightly unintelligent whereas Holly is portrayed as the smart brunette, which is why she waits in car for Gemma to return.

Antagonist: Unknown Identity

As a group, myself, Chloe and Miranda thought it would be a good idea to incorporate the theme of hidden identity within our thriller opening sequence. Therefore the identity of the antagonist is not revealed during the entire sequence.  The audience will be unaware of who the antagonist is throughout the opening sequence and will not know what his  intentions or motives are but they will be able to establish a relationship with the antagonist as they will view parts of the sequence through his perspective using P.O.V. shots.  The gender of the antagonist is male which is usually very typical of the thriller genre. The audience will not be aware that the antagonist  is a male which will generate enigma as the audience find themselves asking yet another question which is the gender. However, towards the end of the opening sequence the audience will see the back of the antagonist as he walks away from the scene of the crime. He will be wearing a black hoodie and dark clothing. We chose black clothing as it would be considered conventional to the thriller genre because black connotes death and darkness. Furthermore, hiding the antagonists identity from the audience and from the characters would be  typical of the thriller genre as this creates the conventional thriller audience response of suspense for the audience.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the characters that the group and myself  have decided to include in our opening thriller sequence are conventional to the thriller genre because the antagonist has a conventional hidden identity and there are two young female victims who are blatantly portrayed as vulnerable prior to the first attack which therefore causes the genre of our opening sequence to become obvious to the audience. Using time to plan the characters we will include in our thriller opening sequence has helped us, as a group to generate imagery regarding what the characters are going to be like and how we are going to present them on screen when we come to filming.

Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

Planning Cinematography

Introduction

Myself, Chloe and Miranda have decided on  the camera shots and angles that we will use within our opening sequence of our thriller film. Cinematography is really important within a film, as it can affect the way an audience feels about a film scene and if there was not a variety of different shots then the film would dull and uninteresting and it would not attract an audience for the film or the sequence. Planning these shots and angles are important in order to create a good opening sequence because if they are planned then you know exactly what shots you want to use and what effect they will have on the audience. In our group we have chosen a variety of different camera angles and shots knowing how we would want the audience to 
react to the opening sequence. Sometimes the techniques of cinematography can be very obvious e.g. cinematography often seen in Tarantino films have led to his movies being known for being notably distinct in a visual sense. However, some films use very subtle and natural looking effects, so much so, that the audience does not notice the manipulation.
Quentin Tarantino has trademarked the trunk shot camera angle and has used it in every movie he has directed. He also uses reverse trunk shots with characters being watched from outside the trunk. 

e.g. Kill Bill : Volume 1

Mid Shot 

One of several camera shots  that my group and I have decided to include in our opening sequence is a mid shot. A mid The mid shot shows some part of the person in more detail, while still showing enough for the audience to feel as if they were looking at the whole person. This is an generally  how you would see a person in real life if you were having a casual conversation. You wouldn't pay attention the lower part of their body, so that part of the picture is unnecessary. We will use this camera shot in our sequence when the two girls Gemma and Holly (the two main victims) are in the car. Hopefully this will enable the audience get a feel for who the characters are and warm to them before realising that something bad is likely to happen. Therefore, this will make the audience question what it is that is going to happen next to Gemma and Holly and makes the audience apprehensive. The audience will be able to build a relationship with these characters because they can see clearly from a mid shot the two characters in the car and it will feel almost if the characters are involved within the two girls conversation. Due to the two girls being on there way to a party, a situation considered by most as an ordinary situation, the audience are fooled into assuming that everything is fine, therefore it is shocking and surprising when things start to take a turn for a worst, leaving the audience horrified. This would be considered a convention of a thriller as the audience are introduced to the victims in a positive way and are able to establish a relationship characters and once they are brutally killed the audience are left in shock which is conventional to the thriller genre as producing shock keeps the audience sitting on the edge of their seat anticipating what happens next. 

Point of View

We also decided that we are going to use a Point of View shot. This shot is used to show the audience the same image as the character and makes the audience wonder why we are seeing what he is seeing and not him. With a Point of View shot the audience feel like they are the character as they are seeing what they are seeing and makes them tense about what is going to happen. This will be used as the antagonist is watching the girls from behind there car and whenever it is the antagonists perspective, also when her follows one of the victims into the forest and kills her, again the camera will still be front the antagonists Point of View. The antagonist is never revealed throughout the opening sequence he is always hidden behind the camera. This is conventional of a thriller film because the identity of the antagonist is hidden and makes the audience question who he/it is and what they want to do and what there motives are. For the audience it generates enigma and makes the audience wonder what his motives are. The fact that the identity of the antagonist is hidden makes this conventional to a thriller because it creates tension for the audience and makes them feel nervous for the characters as the hidden identity makes the audience wonder what the antagonist has to do with the girls and why he wants to harm them. 

Panning

Also, myself, Chloe and Miranda decided that we will use panning in our opening sequence when the car breaks down the camera will pan and follow the car along the road. Panning is when the camera left and right from a central axis to follow a specific object or person. The effect of this technique is to bring out all the aspects within the frame however we will be focusing on the car. We decided to include panning to create a tension and a state of panic for the audience as they question might happen next. This is a convention of the thriller genre as the panning of the camera creates tension for the audience and allows the audience to build a relationship with the characters and gather an insight on their actions. Once the car comes to a stop the audience will begin to wonder why this has happened and whats going to happen next for both Gemma and Holly. 

Long shot

Long shot is another shot that our group deiced we wanted to use in our thriller opening sequence. In the long shot, the subject takes up the full frame. The subject's feet should be almost at the bottom of frame and their head, almost at the top. Long shot's show all of a large object for example the subject and a fair bit of background. We will use a long shot in our thriller opening sequence when the antagonist walks away from the the scene of the crime where he has killed Gemma and the camera will catch  a long shot of him walk away, therefore the audience will see a full shot  of the antagonist from behind but they will not see him from the front as we are including a hidden identity theme which is conventional to the thriller genre because the hiding the antagonists identity generates lots of mystery and enigma which is typical of a thriller. This lack of a relationship the the audience has with the character leaves them wanting to know all about the character, why he is hiding his identity and his reason for committing the horrific acts. 

Hand Held 

Due to deciding that most of our camera shots in our opening sequence would be from the antagonists point of view our group has decided that we will be using mainly hand held camera shooting because this is the best way to film p.o.v shots. This is conventional of the thriller genre as often in thriller films you see events unravel from either the antagonists or other characters point of view and so the use of handheld gives the audience an insight into the characters perspective. Through the use of the handheld cameras the audience are audience are enabled to develop a relationship with the characters.

Conclusion

In conclusion myself, Chloe and Miranda have decided to use these camera angles and shots within our thriller opening sequence due to their effect on the audience, how they effectively portray the characters and fit conventions of the thriller genre. This research and preparation which my group and I have carried out has helped me and my group with the focusing in on what shots and camera positions we are going to use when filming. This planning has been a productive use of time for our group as we have discovered during our preliminary task that making use of the right camera angles for the particular moments is more challenging than first perceived. Due to planning we now have a checklist of shots that we are definitely going to use, meaning that we can prepare for filming and produce audience responses we are aiming for; shock, horror, enigma, suspension and tension. 

Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Planning Sound

Introduction

 Film is generally thought of as an essentially visual experience, however, the importance of sound within films is underestimated. An effective sound track is often as complex as the image on the screen. The entire sound track within films is comprised of three essential things. They are the human voice, sound effects and music. All aspects of sound used within film are used to manipulate the emotions of the audience. As we are producing an opening sequence for a thriller, my group and I are using specific sound techniques to produce specific effects such as the conventional audience responses of the thriller genre which include; shock, fear, apprehension, enigma and tension.  Therefore in order to produce an excellent opening sequence of a thriller, the planning of sound is an essential process for my group and I to take part in.

Sound Techniques

Non-Diegetic Sound -

My group and I have chosen to include non-diegetic fast paced eerie music in our thriller opening sequence towards the end as the antagonist's back is turned from the camera and he is seen by the audience calmly walking away from the scene of the murder. The effect of the fast paced music will cause the audience to feel tension and become in a heightened state of shock. Also, the use of the fast pace of the music will cause the audience to feel as if they have to keep up wight the quickly developing storyline. 

Diegetic Sound - 

Myself, Chloe and Miranda have decided that we will include the diegetic sound of upbeat music playing on the car radio in addition to having the two female characters singing along just prior to the car breaking down on an empty isolated road late at night. The effect of including this diegetic sound of upbeat music and singing is that it will  trick the audience into thinking that everything is okay so when the car does eventually break down the audience are surprised and feel sorry for the characters as they see they're enjoyable friday night quickly come to an end. In addition, the audience are also given an insight into both of the girls night quickly spiralling out of control.  Due to the use of this diegetic sound they are then portrayed as vulnerable and therefore the audience produce sympathy for them and when something bad and unexpected suddenly takes place they feel sorry for them and what has happened. This would be conventional of the thriller genre because as diegetic sound is typically found in thriller films and using the diegetic sound of the radio playing makes the audience feel more tense and shocked at whats happening, when it does suddenly occur.

Parallel Sound - 

We have planned to use the parallel sound of the antagonist walking through the forest stalking the girls prior to the murder as it is sound that the audience will expect to hear in the scene (which is what parallel sound is). This use of sound also informs the audience that the antagonist is hiding and stalking the girls like a hunter the audience will see the antagonists feet walking and then expect the noise of crunching leaves which leaves the audience feeling tense and apprehensive about the events that are yet to take place within the thriller opening sequence. During the camera shot of the antagonists feet as he is walking, following the girls, will be where the audience can only see and hear the antagonist's feet as it is from the antagonists point of view. This would fit conventions of the thriller genre as this would cause the audience to feel nervous for outcome of the two victims. When the audience hear the sound of the leaves crunching in addition with the dark surroundings they will begin to feel more and more anxious for the two girls which will help the audience to establish a relationship with the characters as they feel sorry for them as they know the girls are being stalked even though the girls don't. The effect that the use of parallel sound has is that it produces a vast amount of tension for the audience as they question his whereabouts in the forest and his purpose for being there. It makes the audience question whether the characters will encounter each other and if the antagonist is a danger to the girls.

On Screen Sound -
We also decided to include on screen sound in our thriller opening sequence. On screen sound is heard when the audience can see where exactly the sound is coming from in the scene. On screen sound will be used in our thriller opening sequence when the car engine starts to make noises when the car breaks down and the audience can see the car come to a halt, as the engine makes strange noises when the car comes to a unexpected stop. This would be considered typical of the thriller genre and would fit conventions as the sound being heard and seen by the audience of the car breaking down suggests that the girls are going to find themselves in a predicament. The effect of this is that the audience are made to feel nervous and tense. Furthermore this then causes the audience to question why this has happened and how the girls are going to find their way out of their sticky situation. This enables the audience to initiate a relationship with the characters because the noise of the car breaking down prior to a silence highlights that something bad is likely to happen to Gemma and Holly which causes the audience to feel apprehensive.

Conclusion

In conclusion, planning the sound which we wish to use in our thriller opening sequence  is important as it has allowed to discuss and analyse how the use of various sounds will be  effective. We have to decided to include the above sounds as we believe it is important important that they are included in our thriller film as it indicates the direction of the storyline and makes the thriller openings sequence more intriguing for the audience to watch and holds their attention. We have chosen to use the sounds The sounds above as we believe they will be effective in regards to fitting conventions of the thriller genre as they will produce typical thriller audience responses such as tension and shock. The planning of sound is essential as it  will enable us to have a plan to use prior to our filming and give us a rough idea of a timeline of what to include and when.

Planning Editing Styles - Miss Georgiou

Planning Editing Styles

Introduction

Editing styles are important to include within a thriller film as various editing styles produce various effects. For example; a fade out, which is where the screen fades to black, is often used to represent the end of the narrative or scene whereas the Kuleshov effect, which is when two shots are put together, would be used to give the audience a third meaning.  The inclusion of editing styles within a film sequence aids in the production of conventional audience responses such as shock, surprise, suspense and assist in engaging the audience and establishing a relationship with the audience. 

Editing Styles

Jump Cut -
A jump cut is "an abrupt transition from one scene to another." Within our group we have decided to use a jump cut in our opening sequence when Gemma (the driver and 1st victim) has walked off on her own to find help while her friend Holly is left alone in the car. The camera will jump from one character to the next even though they are both in different locations. The effect of this editing style is to highlight to the audience that the girls have separated from each other and are now both on their own and therefore vulnerable. This causes the audience to feel tension as they are able to presume its a bad idea for the girls to split up as they are aware of a third presence following the them whereas the girls are not. This we hope will create suspense, a conventional audience response of the thriller genre. 

Reaction Shot -
 A reaction shot is "a portrayal of a person's response to an event or to a statement made by another." My group and I have decided to use this editing style within our thriller opening sequence when the first victim, Gemma, is murdered. The reaction shot will depict the characters facial expressions as she is being attacked by the antagonist. The effect of using this editing style is to produce an audience response of shock and horror as the audience witness the character being murdered. We, as a group, wanted to include this as we felt it was conventional of a thriller and it would cause the audience to feel sympathetic towards the character as through showing the characters facial expressions it is made explicit that she has been stabbed by the antagonist. 

Slow Editing - 

Slow editing or slow cutting is "a film editing technique which uses shots of long duration." Myself, Chloe and Miranda have decided to include this technique in our thriller opening sequence when the antagonist is seen by the audience walking away from the murder he/she has just committed. The effect of using this editing technique is that it highlights how the antagonist is calmly and slowly walking away and indicates to the audience that the antagonist probably has mental health issues as he/she is able to act so relaxed after carrying out such a brutal act. This would be conventional to the thriller genre and produces shock and suspense as this is the first time the antagonist is actually shown in the sequence. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, as a group we have decided on using these 3 particualr editing styles because we believe that they are effective in fitting the conventions of the thriller genre. The use of including editing steles within films is to make the film interesting and exciting for the audience without any editing styles the story would  possibly not make sense and become dull and boring for the audience to watch. Editing is highly important in thriller films, especially, because its the editing styles in addition with other aspects of film such as iconography and sound that enable the film to emit shock, tension, enigma and suspense. We have decided to use these three editing styles together in order to accumulate apprehension and shock throughout as well as to keep the audience on the edge of their seat anticipating what it is that will happen next.

Group Planning - Miss Georgiou

Group Planning

The group I'm working in consists of myself, Chloe Eustace and Miranda Simpson. My group and I have meetings regularly to discuss our progress with producing our thriller opening sequence. During meetings we talk though what we as a group need to to do produce our opening sequence, we record each others ideas and planning and each contribute our own ideas and debate the pros and cons. 

In our first group meeting we discussed narrative ideas and inspirations. Myself, Chloe and Miranda all had different ideas for a narrative. 

My narrative idea was  about a group of friends who go on a camping trip for a Alice Morgan's (the main character) 18th birthday and little does she know the females in her family have been plagued by a curse since the 1800s. Every once in a while, a female in the Morgan family on their 18th birthday, usually of good nature and innocence, are said to have been taunted by a young ghostly figure before mysteriously vanishing and said to be claimed by an demoniacal being. Alice is unaware that during the 1800s, William Morgan, a relative of Alice, broke the heart of a beautiful young woman named Elise Elliot, she was a young maid working for William and his wife Anna. Elise and William had a whirlwind affair, and eventually called their relationship off, explaining to Elise he never loved her, only his wife. Unknown to William, Elise was of Romany decent, she was in fact a gypsy. Elise was riddled with  unbearable heartache, excruciating grief and anger, so much so she cursed William before taking her own life. She cursed the whole Morgan family because she wanted William to pay for the pain he had caused her and wanted her suffering to be remembered for all eternity. Alice, leading up to her 18th had been having what she considered of odd dreams, she had been vividly dreaming of a young woman weeping over a man she had loved and lost, a woman eventually revealed to be Elise Elliot. Alice reveals to her friends the strange dreams she has been having while camping in the woods by her house, shortly before the ghostly taunting's commence.

The group and I thought it would be easier to decide on a narrative if we weighed up the pros and cons of each. We decided that an advantage of my narrative idea is that the location (a forest) would be convenient to film and still remain within the conventions of a thriller as the setting would be remote, eery and dark which would be typical of a thriller film setting. Another advantage would be the use of a female victim, this would again fit conventions of a thriller and enable the audience to sympathise with the character as she's portrayed as young, innocent and vulnerable. Also we came to the conclusion that a sub-theme of supernatural activity in regards to a curse, demons and hauntings; would produce excitement, apprehension and fear. These are three audience reactions which would be typical of the thriller genre. The main disadvantage of my narrative that my group and i decided was  that its far too detailed and would be challenging to portray in just a short opening sequence therefore the part filmed may not make sense and confuse the audience.  Also, It may be unrealistic to expect to film a portion of the opening sequence as if it were set in the past in addition to generation a convincing atmosphere of an 1800's time period.

Chloe's narrative idea was about a girl (One of the Victims), whose parents are away for the weekend and decides that she could have a party with friends. She lives in a pretty abandoned place in the town where there is only the neighbours. The party gets out of hand when everyone starts bringing there own friends and there is actually a murderer been brought to the party.  They try to work out who is the killer (antagonist) but people keep dying one by one leaving only the females alive, the males at the party are being killed first. As the group and we thought it would be easier to decide on a narrative if we weighed up the pros and cons of each we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of Chloe's narrative idea. We decided that an advantage of Chloe's narrative idea was that there is the use of a female victim, this would be typical of the thriller genre. Also, The victims parents are away and she lives in an abandoned area, instantaneously the victim is seen a vulnerable and the audience are likely to sympathise with her. Another advantage would be that a murder occurs at the party, this would be conventional of a thriller and would be effective in generating shock, fear and apprehension We as a group came to the conlusion that the final advantage of Chloe's narrative was that only a group of females survive, the advantage of this would be the audience feeling sorry for them as they are portrayed as vulnerable as all the men have already been murdered so they are left to fight off the killer on their own. My group and I decided that some disadvantages of Chloe's narrative idea is that the may not be realistic to film as to find a location that is in a secluded area would be challenging. Another disadvantage would be that it would be difficult to find enough people to partake in filming the party scene, which would be necessary to make the film realistic. We decided that it would also be challenging to fit the main points of the narrative into 2-3 of an opening sequence. 

Miranda's narrative idea was about a house in the middle of the Countryside. She decided there would be 3 female victims who wake up locked in  different rooms scattered around the basement of the house, banging on the doors screaming trying to find a way to escape thinking that it is abandoned. However, with out them knowing the antagonists family are living in the house, not aware of the victims being there as all the walls are sound proof. Miranda wanted the audience to question whether  the victims escape before it is too late or if one of the family members become suspicious as the antagonist keeps heading down to the basement? The group and I found three advantages to Miranda's narrative idea, they were; the location, as is presumed to be in a isolated area, this would be conventional of a thriller as it makes the characters within the sequence that much more vulnerable as help is too far to reach, again this would be deemed as a convention of the thriller genre. Also, the use of 3 female victims is also a convention of the thriller genre as the the audience feel sorry for them when things go wrong, generating sympathy for female victims is very typical of a thriller. Finally, theme of being trapped if used would make and effect opening sequence for a thriller as this would generate a lot of enigma and excitement from the audience and fit conventions of a thriller. Two disadvantages we found when discussing Miranda's narrative idea were that would probably be unrealistic to find a isolated location, with a house that has a segregated basement to film and it would be challenging to be able to film both parts of the narrative i.e. the antagonist playing 'happy families' and the ordeal the victims go through.

Following our group discussion regarding a narrative for our thriller opening sequence, Chloe, Miranda and Myself concluded that, possibly, writing a narrative together after discussing all the advantages and disadvantages of our own single narratives may actually help us to produce a narrative with a many little disadvantages as possible and that we could all have some input into.
Therefore after brainstorming various ideas, My group and I came up with our final narrative.
Our narrative is about two girls on the way to a party, who had were being followed by someone, and they didn't notice, so when they break down on the way to the party the stalker is behind them, (the stalker of which is the main antagonist and has a hidden identity from the audience and the girls, no body knows who this antagonist is as the scenes with him in we will use the camera shot Point of View.) which creates tension for the audience and dramatic irony because the audience know that they are being followed but the characters (girls themselves: Holly is the driver and the story bases around her. Gemma dies in the forest when she walks away from Holly at the car and she gets murdered by the hidden antagonist) are unaware of this. One of the girls gets out of the car and wanders off away from the forest to get signal, and the other girl stays behind and freaks out when she hears her friend get murdered in the forest, the camera will jump back to her and her reaction to this moment. It would be set in an abandoned street where there is no one around and in the middle of the forest.

Once we had decided our narrative as a group we diverted our attention to the planning of mise-en-scene, sound, editing and cinematography. Collectively as a group we came up with the key elements of our mise-en-scene and what we wish to include within our thriller opening sequence, these included a conventional use of iconography - knife, low key lighting, a forest setting, costume and makeup, props we wish to include  e.g. car and radio, and the facial expression and body language we wish to convey. Below is a copy of the brief plan we made on miss-en-scene, sound, editing and cinematography.

While discussing sound with Chloe and Miranda, we came to the conclusion that we would all like to include non-diegetic fast paced eerie music in our thriller opening sequence towards the end as the antagonist's back is turned from the camera and he is seen by the audience calmly walking away from the scene of the murder, diegetic sound of upbeat music playing on the car radio in addition to having the two female characters singing along just prior to the car breaking down on an empty isolated road late at night, parallel sound of the antagonist walking through the forest stalking the girls prior to the murder and on screen sound will be used in our thriller opening sequence when the car engine starts to make noises when the car breaks down and the audience can see the car come to a halt, as the engine makes strange noises when the car comes to a unexpected stop.

Myself, Chloe and Miranda while discussing the cinematography of our thriller opening sequence all suggested that we include a mid shot in our sequence when the two girls Gemma and Holly (the two main victims) are in the car, a P.O.V.  shot which will be used as the antagonist is watching the girls from behind there car and whenever it is the antagonists perspective, also when her follows one of the victims into the forest and kills her, again the camera will still be front the antagonists point of view, we will use panning in our opening sequence when the car breaks down the camera will pan and follow the car along the road and a long shot in our thriller opening sequence when the antagonist walks away from the the scene of the crime where he has killed Gemma and the camera will catch  a long shot of him walk away.

When discussing editing we decided as a group that we would like to include a jump cut in our opening sequence when Gemma (the driver and 1st victim) has walked off on her own to find help while her friend Holly is left alone in the car, a reaction shot when the first victim, Gemma, is murdered and slow editing when the antagonist is seen by the audience walking away from the murder he/she has just committed.

Planning Mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Planning Mise-en-scene

Setting and Iconography

My group and I have decided that we would like to incorporate a forest setting into our thriller opening sequence. We think this setting would be most appropriate and effective if we film during the evening as we believe this will generate a eery atmosphere which will cause the audience to feel anxious and unnerved which would fit conventions of the thriller genre. 

As a group we also have decided that we wish to use the iconic image of a knife within the murder scene as we believe that the use of this iconography is a classic convention of the thriller genre. The effect of using this iconography we hope will produce typical audience responses such as shock and fear. 

Also, myself, Chloe and Miranda have decided that we will include iconography of a car that breaks down, a mobile phone with no signal and a radio that produces static noises. We have decided to use these three aspects of iconography as all together they present the audience with an insight that events have taken a sudden turn for the worst and the unlikelihood of the situation getting any better for the two characters Holly and Gemma.  All three accumulate tension as the opening sequences progresses and highlights that the girls are vulnerable as they are stranded in an unfamiliar place making them susceptible to any danger that may be lurking, this produces a build up in apprehension prior to the the dramatic climax where Gemma is killed.

Costume and Hair & Makeup

My group and I have decided that the character Holly who is the driver will be dressed similarly to Gemma, they will both be wearing party clothing as in the opening sequence they reveal to the audience they are making their way to a friends house party. This will remind the audience that the girls are on their way to a party, making the girls intention of driving about clear for the audience. The girls will also have typical make up party e.g. red lipstick and sparkly eyeshadow to again reinforce the idea that the girls are on their way to a party.

The identity of the antagonist in our opening sequence will remain hidden. Therefore the antagonist is never shown from the front. The only time the audience see the antagonist is after he/she has killed Gemma. He/she will be seen from the back, slowly walking away from the crime scene. He/she will be wearing a long dark trench coat with a hoodie underneath (hood worn), grey jogging bottoms and black army boots. The use of dark clothing that doesn't reveal any aspect of the killers identity produces enigma, the audience are left wanting to know who the killer is and why he/she has murdered Gemma, this is a very typical convention of the thriller genre. 

Positioning

My group and I have decided on the  positioning of the characters that we will use. Taking into account our antagonist has a hidden identity and will not be seen by the audience, the position of him will be technically behind the camera as if the audience are literally looking through his eyes for some of the scene. The positioning of the antagonist will behind the girls and places where he can't be seen lurking around. This would be conventional to the thriller genre because the identity of the antagonist is hidden.  The purpose of positioning  the antagonist in areas where he can not be seen makes it easy for the audience to feel apprehensive and in a shocked state in regards to questioning  whats going to or what might happen next.  Therefore, the audience are enabled to create a relationship with the antagonist as they are viewing things from his perspective.

Lighting and Colour

We as a group thought that it would be a good idea when the car breaks down on the abandoned road to use low key lighting through the settings natural lighting e.g. lamp posts and the headlights of the car will beam on surrounding objects to create shadows and make the audience feel tense, as they feel uneasy not being able to view the whole picture due to the lack of lighting. The use of shadows within the scene, we hope, will make the audience feel nervous for the characters as it will be dark and and quiet in a secluded area, highlighting the girls vulnerability. 
As my group and I have decided to film in a forest during early evening, there will be limited lighting. The lighting will become darker once Gemma enters the forest. The use of dark shadows and shades of black that will be seen in the forest we hope will produce suspense for the audience and the use of limited lighting, dark shadows and shades of black will highlight the idea that anything or anyone that may be there in the forest with Gemma which is unknown to both Gemma and the audience generating enigma.

Facial Expressions and Body Language

There is a range of various facial expressions that are going to be used within our thriller opening sequence. At the beginning of our opening sequence where Gemma's car has broken down, both girls facial expressions will be depicted as annoyed, angry, upset and scared about the situation as they soon become aware that they are on an abandoned road in the dark, late at night and that they could be in danger. This would be conventional of a thriller  because the two girls are clearly portrayed as being vulnerable as they usually are in thriller films. Also, they are shown to be stuck on an abandoned road which would also be conventional to a thinner film.  These use of facial expressions within our opening sequence will help the audience to establish a relationship with the two female victims as the audience feel sympathy towards them as  they are  shown as feeling scared and as the audience are informed that the antagonist that is stalking them to the party the audience question whats going to happen, therefore suspense is generated. 

Preliminary Task - Miss Miller

Preliminary Task

Introduction 

The members in my group that I created the preliminary task with are Miranda Simpson and Chloe Eustace . The purpose of the preliminary task was to become familiar with equipment such as the camera we will be using and how we are meant to use it appropriately, we carried out this preliminary task so that we would have had some practise for when we are ready to film our thriller opening sequence . Additionally carrying out this preliminary task has also enables our group to get to grips with various camera angles and practise them and decide which we believe will be the most effective if used in our opening sequence and and the ones that we prefer the most we can consider using. We had to film a small 30 second scene about anything as long as it allowed us to use the camera techniques and shots to practise them as we might use them in our opening sequence. We had to quickly edit the sequence together in order to see how they were shot and for them to give the best effect. It also gave us the opportunity to get to learn some of the simple editing techniques such as cutting parts out.

Camera and Camera Shots

 We used different camera techniques during our preliminary, these included a two shot where our group had to make sure that there were two people in the shot and in the camera's focus at the same time. We managed to do this however a two shot generally includes  two people in the camera focus from the waist up and ours was more like a close up on the two people's faces. We also used the zoom, this is for zooming in on faces or and objects. Our small 30 second sequence consisted of two people having a conversation.  We also used a panning shot which we used when one of us in the scene walked into the room this we felt this technique was quite effective as the camera followed the person. When we were filming we managed to work the camera and had it set up functioning properly. Therefore we achieved all the shots needed for our preliminary. Something that we as a group felt that we need to work on is timing because when we filmed there were times when we hadn't discussed when the next person would move into the scene and we would forget to pause in some places which is why when we went back through it there was a lot of shots we didn't even need so we had to cut a lot out. There was also times during filming when we would not have ended the conversation properly and would have jumped to the next part of the scene, this is something that we need to practise and make sure is up to scratch before we start filming our thriller opening sequence. Watching the footage back has helped us to see what mistakes we made as we got to see exactly what bits we had missed out or what things we need to make sure are in our final opening sequence. Before we film our final sequence I think that we need to make sure we know exactly what we want to achieve and how we are going to achieve it. 

Conclusion

From this preliminary task my group and I have learned that we need to make decisions on things a  before we jump into them, for example; the story line and how we are going to make sure that we generate  the effects that we need in order to produce and make the opening sequence to our thriller film. This task has helped me prepare for filming the opening sequence to our thriller film because it has allowed us to gain some experience with using the camera including experimenting with various angles.