Planning Characters - Miss Miller

The purpose of characters in a film is to help the audience relate to the narrative and to help them stay engaged in the film by using characters they can relate to. Additionally, if there were no characters in a film then the narrative would not make sense ad there would not be a plot for the audience to follow. Therefore, planning our characters is important to do before filming our sequence so that we know what we want the characters to look like as well as how we want them to be portrayed.

My Groups Characters Planning Sheet

Our first character is a female victim, she is age 17 and her name is Jenny. She is a sixth form student who does well in school, achieving the highest grades. In our thriller sequence she will be wearing a dress, which is white. By her wearing a dress it fits in with her being clever as it is a smart outfit for a young women to wear. Additionally, by her wearing the colour white it symbolises to the audience her purity and her innocence, which lets the audience know she is the victim and that she is vulnerable. Jenny’s figure and structure is quite small and petite, this emphasises that compared to her the antagonist is stronger and more dominant and as a result she wont be able to fight back. Moreover, Jenny’s character is stereotypical to the thriller genre as she is presented as being weak, vulnerable, hopeless and innocent because of this she is then an antagonist’s obvious target within a thriller. Furthermore, this then causes the audience to build a strong relationship with Jenny’s character as they feel sorry for her and fear for her life knowing she is the victim and that she is going to be killed at some point by the antagonist.

My other character for our thriller sequence is the male antagonist, age 32 and because he is unknown the victim and the audience he does not have a name. In comparison to the victims clothing, the antagonist will be wear a black tracksuit with his hood up, this is intimidating towards the victim and the audience. Also, the colour black resembles dark, power, evil and death. This is conventional to the thriller genre and the antagonist as he has a twisted evil and dark mind, this leads him to carry out a murder as well as this he also has power over his victims. Moreover, he will wear a clown mask to keep his identity hidden so neither the audience nor the victim knows who the antagonist is throughout the sequence. This creates and enigma for the audience as they want to know who he is and what his motives are, which is conventional to the genre. The antagonist’s character is mentally unstable this is due to the fact he did not have a good up bringing as he did not have a father figure to look up to when he was a young child. This leads to why he’s victims and all females and as to why he has many pictures of women in his room because when he was young he was always around females. Furthermore, the antagonist is a stereotypical character to the thriller genre as his murder weapon is a knife, this is a common weapon used by antagonist throughout thrillers. Also, he will be portrayed to the audience as a stereotypical character as when he knocks out and kidnaps the young women or when he kills her he does not hesitate, as he is not afraid to her hurt and actually enjoys doing this. In addition, his character wears a mask, this creates tension for the audience as they don’t know his true identity and so it keeps the audience engaged, as they want to watch and find out more.

In conclusion, I think that our two characters in our thriller sequence are stereotypical to the thriller genre as they are what the audience would expect to see. This is due to the way they are dressed and presented to the audience and their role within the sequence is obvious. Both the victim and the antagonist will emphasise the genre of the sequence as the victim is a young, vulnerable female and the antagonist wears a mask and also carries a knife. These main aspects of the characters help in creating the main conventional elements in a thriller, which are shock, surprise, suspense and tension. In addition, the audience will stay interested and engaged in the thriller because of this. Moreover, I found planning the characters before filming helpful, as it has helped me and my group to think about the characters individual personalities and make character profiles on them. Also, with the female victim we can imagine she is like outside of the situation she is put in once she has been kidnapped and with the antagonist, we now know his reason for killing young women, as we know more about his person life. As well as this by planning our characters before we can also now imagine what the characters will look like and how they will act.

Planning Editing Styles - Miss Georgiou

Editing styles are important in thriller films this is because they help to create shock, surprise, suspense, tension and a enigma. These elements are conventional to the genre as they help in keeping the audience keeping the audience interested and engaged. Furthermore, by using different types of editing style it helps the audience in building a relationship with each character as the editing styles help to show the individuals characters emotions, which the audience can then relate to. 

My Groups Editing Planning Sheet

The first editing style me and my group are going to use in our sequence is timing of shots. This will be used when the female victim is walking through the alley by herself on her way to meet the unknown person who left her a note. At first the timing of shots will be slow as she is alone as she is walking slowly until she notices her pictures on the walls all around her in the alley. Then the antagonist will grab her and knock her out as this happens the timing of shots will change from slow to fast. The slow timing of shots at the start of this scene build up tension and suspense implying to the audience that something bad is about to happen to the innocent young girl. This helps in building a relationship between the audience and the victims character as they sympathise for her. However, once it then changes to fast timing of shots, there is the element of surprise because the audience did not know the antagonist has followed her down the alley. Therefore, this use of timing of shots is conventional to the thriller genre and out sequence as it helps in creating the elements tension, suspense and surprise by the scene suddenly becoming more dangerous. Additionally, the audience are then questioning what is going to happen next and so there is also and enigma, all this helps in keeping the audience engaged.

Timing Of Shots

Fade In/Fade Out Shot

The next editing style we all use is a fade out followed by a fade in shot. We will use this when the antagonist knocks out the victim in the alley way and so the image on the screen will fade to black. This is to represent the victim becoming unconscious and her eyes closing, showing that the antagonist has hurt her. Therefore, the audience know that the antagonist does not care what he does to her and that she is weak and vulnerable. The fade in shot will then be used when the victim wakes up from being unconscious and she is tied up and helpless in a dark room. The use of the fade in shot straight after the fade out shot is to show her now waking up. It will be from her point of view as if her eyes are now opening. These two shots helps the audience build a relationship with the victim as they are scared for her and her safety while she is unconscious and even once she has woken up. Also, they know that she must be feeling confused and unaware of what is going on similar to how they would be feeling while watching. This is because neither the audience or the victims character know who the antagonist is or what his motives are for the female victim. Moreover, this is conventional as it builds up tension for the audience. This is due to the fact they don't know what is going to happen next to the young women and if she is going to escape from the unknown antagonist. 

Reaction Shot

Another type of editing technique we will use is a reaction shot. This will be used when the antagonist enters the dark room where the victim ins tied up hopelessly in the corner and he slowly walks towards the victim, scraping the knife along the wall. We are going to use the victims point of view shot as the antagonist first enters before then changing to the reaction shot of the victim. The audience will then be able to see the victim crying and screaming. This will show that she is frightened and although she doesn't know what will happen next, she knows that she is in great danger. The audience can relate to this and they don't know either what is going to happen, however, they can guess that the antagonist is most likely going to kill her with the knife. Furthermore, the audience build a negative relationship with the antagonist as they now realise his motives for the young girl. Whereas the audience's relationship with the victim is the opposite to there relationship with the antagonist as they feel sympathetic, frightened and fear for her the females victims life as they desperately hope that she manages to get out alive. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it build up suspense for the audience because they don't know for sure what is going to happen next and so it keeps them engaged as they want to find out the ending. 

Kuleshov Effect

The final editing technique me and my group will use is the kuleshov effect. We will use this when the antagonist murders the victim, using his knife. However, the audience will not see this murder take place. Instead we will show the victims facial expressions of being scared, frightened and worried as the antagonist approaches her. The shot will then change to the antagonist holding his knife before changing back to the young female victim lying on the floor dead. Therefore, the audience will feel sorry for the vicim as she has been killed, they also can infer from the third meaning of this kuleshov effect that it was the masked clown antagonist that has killed her. Moreover, this is conventional to the genre thriller as it shocks the audience, this is because they don't expect the antagonist to kill her.

In conclusion, by planning our editing styles me and my group will use this is because it has helped us to understand where shock, surprise, suspense and tension will be found within out opening thriller sequence. Additionally, we can make our sequence more conventional to the genre as the type of editing styles we have decided on using creates different effects elements for the audience also, the editing styles we are going to use are stereotypical to the genre. Therefore, our editing will appeal to out target audience which is age 15 and over, this is people the techniques we have used create  lot os suspense and enigmas, which make the film more interesting to watch and help in keeping the audience engaged. 

Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Sound is a important within thriller films, this is because without it the there would not be much tension or suspense and so the audience would not be able to stay engage in the film as well and would lose interest easily as the film would then be less scary. Therefore, planning is required to help us in producing our sequence as it mean we know what sounds will go where before filing our sequence, and so we know what sounds will create shock, surprise, suspense and tension. The sounds used need to link in with images seen by the audience on screen as if they don't this could cause the audience to become confused. Additionally, it could effect the suspense which has been creates from the previous sound, which could result in the audience losing interest and no longer benign engaged in what they are watching.

My Groups Sound Planning Sheet

The first sound me and my group have decided to use is on-screen sound. This is going to be used at the start of the sequence when the antagonist is in his room getting ready and is listening to the radio. We will then use a radio voice over to announce how young women have been going missing, this will then imply to the audience that he is the antagonist and that he is up to something and the camera will be on him when the voice over occurs. This is because the audience can infer that he is involved with the warning said on the radio and so the audience fear for his next female victim. The impact this has on the audience is that they feel sympathetic towards the victim also they build a negative relationship with the antagonist as they start to understand his motives for his next victim. This type of on-screen sound is conventional as it forebodes that something bad is about to happen.

The second type of sound we will use is silence, we will use silence when the victim is alone in the a dark alley way on her way to meet whoever left her the secret admirer note. She then notices pictures of herself hanging all around her in the alley. This shows that she is frightened and vulnerable as she does not know what is going on and that she is in danger. When the silence occurs it makes he audience feel sympathetic towards the victim as the silence can foreshadow her silence once the antagonist kills her. Additionally, this also causes a closer relationship to form between the victim and the audience as they fear for the innocent young woman's life. Silence is conventional in a thriller as it builds up suspense and as a result keeps the audience engaged.

The next sound we will use is diegetic sound, this will be used when the victim is sitting alone tied up in the corner of a dark room and she has just woken up from when she had been knocked out in the alley. The antagonist then enters and while slowly walking towards the victim he scrapes his weapon, the knife, along the wall. This diegetic sound highlights to the audience that the antagonist has power over the victim, which makes the audience fear for the victim life as they do not know what is going to do to her. Also, as the audience does not know who the antagonist is it makes them question what he might do next as he could do anything. This sound is conventional as it demonstrates to the audience that the antagonist is more dominant compared to the victim, which creates suspense and keeps the audience engaged wanting to find out more about the antagonists motives and wondering what he will do to the victim. 

The last sound technique we will use is contrapuntal sound, this will also be used when the antagonist is scraping the knife against the wall walking towards the victim, who is tied up in the corner and appeared to at the audience as being hopeless and vulnerable. The contrapuntal sound we will use is happy circus music, this will play in the background. This relate's to the theme of having a clown antagonist however, it contrasts with the fact he is preparing to kill the innocent victim. It shows that the antagonist enjoys killing and kidnapping females after obsessing over them and that he gets a thrill from it. This use of contrapuntal sound builds a negative relationship between the audience and antagonist, as they know what his motives are for the victim and what is about to happen to her The use on contrapuntal sound creates tension for the audience, making this conventional to the thriller genre.

To conclude, i think that the type of sound techniques me and my group have decided to use will be effective in our sequence as they will help to build suspense. This will help in keeping the audience engaged and wanting to watch more to find out what will happen. The sounds we are using are conventional the the genre thriller, this is because they create the main elements: shock, surprise, suspense and tension as well as an enigma. I found it helpful in planning the sounds we are going to use in our sequence, this is because we now know what sounds we are going to use. Therefore, we know what element will be created by the sound, also, the characters will know how they should act to fit in with what sound is being used. 

Planning Mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

After me and my group analysed our narrative we decided on what elements of mise-en-scene we will use within our opening sequence. Mise-en-scene is important as it helps the audience in understanding the conventions of a thriller and consists of everything, which is put into the frame. The five elements are setting, iconography, costume, hair and makeup, facial expressions and body language, lighting and colour and positioning of characters/objects within the frame.

My Groups Mise-en-scene Planning Sheet

There are many types of setting and iconography my group and me will use within out thriller sequence. For example, the first use of setting will be in the antagonist’s room while he is getting ready however, he will already be wearing his clown mask this is to keep his identity hidden. By using the antagonists room it will show to the audience what type of person his character is as we will have pictures of young women around his mirror while he is getting ready this is to show the audience that he has an obsession over young pretty women. Furthermore, in his room we will also have make up on the antagonists dressing table this is to link in with that he dresses up as a clown as so he has clown makeup but also it is to confuse the audience and create and enigma make them think whether the antagonist is the stereotypical male or is the antagonist is female. As well as this we will see a radio in the corner of his room, which will be playing a news update about young women going missing. Another setting we will use is the alley the female victim will walk through on her way to meet whoever sent her the secret admirer note, she then notices pictures of herself up around the alley, soon after she is then grabbed and knocked out by the antagonist before he takes her to an unknown location, which consists of a dark room. Once, the sequence moves onto the girl being in the dark room tied up in the corner the antagonist will enter with his murder weapon, a knife, this use of iconography is conventional to the thriller genre as most antagonist use a knife this is because the audience can easily relate to how the victim must be feeling when they have seen the knife and it is a dangerous and sharp, everyday object.

The costumes, hair and makeup we will use for the antagonist will be different to the victims. This is because the antagonist is a clown and so he will be wearing a clown mask this is to represent the theme of him being a clown but to also keep his identity hidden from the audience and the victim’s character. He will be dressed in all black this represents to the audience power, death and mystery. These are all relevant as the antagonist has power over the victim, he is going to commit a murder, which will be the death of his victim Also, because his identity is hidden this creates a mystery and we don’t know who he is, we also don’t know why he is doing what he is doing. This contrasts with the female victim, as she is going to be dressed in all white. By dressing her in all white it infers to the audience her innocence, purity as well as her being young. This then makes the audience build a better relationship with her character as they fear for her as they know what is going to happen to her later on in the sequence, also, they can relate to what she must be feeling and going through. Additionally, it is better for the antagonist to wear dark colours and for the victim to wear white, pale or neutral colours as it portrays who there characters are within the sequence.

We will use different facial expressions and body language of the characters during different situations during our thriller sequence, this will help in giving the audience a better understanding of how the characters are feeling. Throughout our thriller sequence the antagonist will never had facial expressions. This is because he is a masked antagonist and so the audience don't ever see the antagonists face, and only see the clown mask he wears. This is conventional as it creates tension, anticipation and an enigma as the audience cannot see the antagonists facial expressions as see how he is feeling. On the other hand, we can easily see the victims facial expressions and body language as she does not wear a mask and so her identity is not kept hidden from the audience. The type of facial expressions we will mainly see on the victim are her being shocked and scared this is because she knows that someone, the antagonist, is after her. As a result this is conventional to the thriller genre as it portrays the elements of shock for the audience. As well as this is causes suspense for the audience as they can see how the victim is feeling throughout the sequence and so they fear for her, this is because neither the audience or the victims character know what is going to happen next.

The types of lighting and colour me and my group have deciding on using is mostly low key lighting and dark colours this is because it is conventional to the genre and it can foreshadow that something bad is going to happen later on in the sequence. Therefore, when the antagonist is in his room we will use low-key lighting to infer to the audience that he is the one who will carry out the murder and that his motives for the young women are bad. Although, we will have a lamp, which will be the back lighting. This back lighting will produce sharp contrasts of light and dark areas and so deep distinct shadows and silhouettes are formed. In comparison, to when we film the alley scene we will use natural lighting. However, as it will be dark out when we film there will be many shadows and so there will be a sense of mystery for audience, as they don’t know what is lurking in the shadows. Our target audience for our thriller sequence can relate to these types of light and colours being used as the setting we are using them in are places, which they can relate to. Therefore, they know how the antagonists or victims character will be feeling when the different types of lighting are being used.

Positioning of characters/object within the frame will change depending on the setting and characters being used in the particular section of the sequence. The first use of positioning will be used with the clown antagonist character at the beginning of our sequence, when the clown is getting ready standing in front of the mirror. This will infer the audience that he is the antagonist as he is masked and so his identity is unknown. Also, by positioning him in his bedroom the audience can start to piece together who the antagonist could be and what his motives are. This is because they can see pictures of young girls around the mirror, which are his next targets and they can also see makeup around, this could imply that the antagonist is female and not male. As a result this is conventional as it creates an enigma as to who the antagonist truly is. Another use of positioning on characters within the frame will be towards the end of our sequence when the young female victim is tied up in the corner of a dark room. By positing her in the corner and tied up it portrays to the audience her weakness and vulnerability, which causes the audience to fear for her life as they can predict that the antagonist is responsible for this. Therefore, this is conventional as it not only represents the victim in the stereotypical way of being hopeless and vulnerable but also, creates suspense for the audience.

To conclude, by planning mise-en-scene it helps to create a conventional opening thriller sequence. This is because we can look at out target audience, which is age 15 and above and then see what type of elements we will use within our sequence in order to create the themes of shock, surprise, suspense and tension for the audience, which are appropriate for our age certificate and which fit in with our narrative. 
Furthermore, by planning our miss-en-scene we was able to adapt our narrative to make i better and more interesting for the audience. For example, when planning we wrote down in the positing section that when the clown is chasing the victim they will be running along the street but we have now got rid of the chase scene. Instead of this chase scene we are now going to have the victim brought to the antagonist by a note. The antagonist would of put this note in the victims bag wit jour her realism later on and so when se find it she thinks it from a secret admirer. The reason for us changing the chase scene is because we wanted our narrative to be more unique as less stereotypical to the thriller genre.