Inspirations - Miss Georgiou

An inspiration is anything which you thought was good and gave you some ideas; it can be anything. We need inspiration before we can create our clip as it helps us to think about everything that has inspired us so far from watching thriller clips and combine them together to create my own opening thriller sequence. Also, it helps you to gather your ideas, and expand on some ideas of your own to make sure they fit in well with the others and to make sure they create the themes found in a thriller such as shock, surprise and suspense. We can take our inspirations from anything, such as other thriller films. For example, i have taken my inspirations from the thriller film series Scream 4, Woman In Black, Se7en, Scream, Orphan and Halloween. 

My first inspiration is from when i research into cinematography and i analysed the cinematography used in the thriller Se7en, I found that hand help camera shots are good i creating rigid and jerky movements, i could incorporate this type of shot in my own opening thriller sequence by using it in a chase scene. In the film Se7ven it is used to emphasise how angry Brad Pitts character is feeling at that moment in time. However, in my thriller i could use it to demonstrate how either the antagonist or victim feels in a chase scene. This is because if the camera was showing the victim during the chase scene it could represent and imply to the audience that they are scared and running for their life which results in he audience feeling sympathy towards the victim as the must also be feeling vulnerable at this time. Whereas, by using this type of shot with the anatomist it could demonstrates to the audience the antagonists anger, rage and determination to catch the victim during the chase scene. This is all conventional to a thriller as it causes suspense for the audience as well as tension which is needed to create a successful thriller which will keep the audience engaged.

Final Scene From Se7en (1995)


My next inspiration I got from looking into mise-en-scene, is low key lighting this is because lighting and colours can be used in an opening sequence to foreshadow that something bad is going to happen. For example, in Woman In Black the use of lighting infers to the audience that the children have been possessed and that the person that has possessed them is inside the room. This is shown through the low key lighting however, the back high key lighting outside the children's window then contrasts with the low key lighting implying to the audience that once the children have jumped and died they are set free from what has possessed them, it also symbolises the children's innocence and purity. Furthermore, this use of low key and high key lighting causes the audience to have sympathy towards the characters it also build on the suspense and tension created by the low key lighting which can help in foreshadowing a murder, which is conventional to the thriller genre.

Woman In Black (2012) Opening Scene

When researching into sound i found the inspiration of a female victim it is used in most thrillers but i noticed it in the film scream (1996). The use of a female victim is conventional to the thriller genre and causes the audience to build a better relationship with the character as they can sense the characters vulnerability more easily, In the thriller genre it is conventional for the victim to be a young blonde female as it causes the audience to have a better relationship to the character as they feel more sympathy towards the character and can sense the characters vulnerability. In comparison to if the victim was a male as the audience would then not feel as worried and would have less sympathy towards a male victim as they are thought as being strong as courageous unlike a female victim which is usually thought as being defenceless. 

Opening Scene From Scream (1996)

Another inspiration i got from my research into editing styles post was using the kuleshov effect, which is when two shots have and equal meaning.  I got this inspiration from the thriller film Orphan when the orphan girl is shown to be walking down the hospital hallway, she go's from have a happy look on her face to it being quite sinister. The shot then changes to the young boy in the bed fighting for his life but a unknown person then unplugs him from the life support machine and suffocates him till he dies. The third meaning of this shot is then implied to the audience that the young orphan must be the one who has killed even though the audience has not directly witnessed this happen. This time of shot is conventional t to the thriller genre as it causes an enigma this results in the audience becoming more engaged into what they are watching as they want to know if the third meaning which is implied throughout then two short is true. I want to try and incorporate this into my opening sequence as the enigma it causes for the audience keeps them engaged also it builds up the suspense and tension leading tot the surprise and shock to when the audience find out the third meaning of the kuleshov effect used. This type of shot in conventional as it can help in the creation of the important elements needed in a thriller to keep the audience interested and engaged.

Scene From Orphan (2009)

I found this inspiration when researching into the different thriller conventions and i analysed i scene from Scream 4. The antagonist has a hidden identity due to the fact they wear a mask throughout the film. This convention of the antagonists identity being kept hidden from the rest of the characters in the film as well as the audience creates suspense, tension and an enigma, which causes the audiences to be more engaged. This is why i would like to include this convention in my own opening sequence, also it causes the audience to be able to relate to how the characters are feeling as they to do not know the true identity of the killer themselves and so they have sympathy for the characters and understand what they must be feeling. Moreover, it makes the audience want to keep watching the film to find out who the antagonist is and what their motives are for doing what they have done. I will try and incorporate this in my own opening sequence by keeping my antagonists identity a secret whether i do this by the antagonist wearing a mask or i could do this by never showing their face in the camera, for example by using different camera shots and angles. 

Scene From Scream (2011)

My last inspiration which i want to include in my thriller opening sequence is the representation of characters. This inspiration i got when analysing the opening sequence of the thriller Halloween. I want my female victim to be dressed in white clothing as this with symbolise to the audience that the victim is innocent, pure. Also, this shows the audience the vulnerability of the victim and causes the audience to build a better relationship with the character causing more suspense for the audience as they then don't want any harm to come to the victim. Additionally, i want the antagonist to be dressed in dark clothing as this represents evil, death, power and mystery. This not only foreshadows to the audience that this character is the antagonist but that he will be the one to cause death upon the victim and that a enigma will be involved. As a result the audience can see through the use of colour in the representation of characters, which character plays what role in the film and helps the audience in knowing what to expect to the film.

Opening Scene From Halloween (1978)

In conclusion, this post was helpful as it helps me to combine all my inspirations from previous research posts. Although, each thriller film has a similar narrative i was able to pick out particular conventions and elements from each film which have inspired me in my own idea for my opening thriller sequence. Looking at these conventions gave me ideas on how i can make my thriller more conventional to its genre also, by using a range of inspirations i can make my thriller film unique, which will cause it to have a better appeal to the audience as it will be more interesting.