The purpose of a narrative in a film is to set the scene and plot for the audience. As well as this it engages the audience by usually containing the main elements needed in a thriller; suspense, shock, surprise and tension. It would usually include and enigma to draw the audience in, such as having a masked antagonist with hidden identity in the opening sequence and so the audience stay watching the film to find out who the antagonist is. If there was no narrative then there would be no storyline of the audience to follow and the audience would not be engaged in the film and so they would loose interest resulting in the thriller film being unsuccessful.
My idea for my opening two minute thriller sequence is to have a mentally disturbed man sitting on his computer obsessing over a young pretty girl. Over time his obsession increases and he starts to follow her around taking pictures of her. The audience do not know the antagonists true motive for the girl, which then causes an enigma for the audience keeping them engaged as they want to find out more.
In my two minute opening sequence i will include all 5 elements of miss-en-scene. The setting and iconography i will use include having the antagonist sitting in his room and the sitting at his computer. The iconography will be the weapon he will use towards the end on the scene, which will be a knife. This is because the iconography of a knife is conventional to thrillers as it symbolises blood and death, which are themes that usually run throughout thrillers. For the costume, hair and makeup in my opening sequence the female victim will be wearing pale neutral colours such as white this is because they then represent her innocence and purity in comparison to the antagonist. This is because he will be dressed in dark colours such as black as they demonstrate his power over the girl to the audience and that he is the antagonist also, the four black symbolise death and mystery. Therefore, the colours of the clothing will foreshadow what will happen to the victim and the antagonist to the audience. Ad a result this creates suspense which will engage the audience. Lighting and colour used at the stat will be bright as there is only a small harmful obsession the man has over the young girl but as his obsession grows and he starts to come up with twisted ideas to kidnap her and harm her, low key lighting will start to be used. This will foreshadow that something bad is going to eventually happen to the young girl, the victim, and that it is him who is going to harm her. Which is conventional to the thriller genre and low key lighting is usually used to represent that something bad is going to occur. The way i will position characters and objects within the frame is so that the antagonists face is never revealed. This is so that neither the victim her herself or the audience know who he is causing the audience to build a better relationship for the victim as they can sympathise for her. Therefore when showing the antagonist obsessing over the victim on his computer i can use a over the shoulder shot which will show what he is looking at but will not reveal his identity.
My opening sequence contains only two characters, the antagonist and the victim. The antagonist is a mentally disturbed man who starts to grow an obsession over a young pretty girl, the victim. The antagonists identity is hidden throughout the whole sequence and so his emotions will have to be shown through his body language and his actions instead of facial expressions which contrasts with the victim. This is because the the audience will know the victims identity and will be able to clearly see her emotions and how she is feeling through her facial expressions, i can also show her facial expressions by doing close ups on her face at certain points in the sequence. The thriller conventions i will use within my opening sequence include; death, hidden identity, defenceless female victim, mentally disturbed antagonist, low key lighting, iconography - knife, timing of shots, kidnapping as well as the main elements needed in a thriller, which are shock, surprise, suspense, tension and an enigma.In conclusion, my sequence will appeal to my target audience, which is age 15 and above. It will appeal to them because it includes modern elements such as obsessing over someone through a computer and not by following them around. Therefore, the audience are able to relate to the victims situation as most people ages 15 and above use social networking sites, which is what the antagonist in my sequence will use to obsess over the girl. I will share my individual narrative idea with my group by telling them what it is about and what events will occur within the two minute opening sequence. Me and my group will then combine all of our ideas, this will be our group narrative and i finale idea.
I have a conventional narrative to the thriller genre as it is a psychological thriller and contains the traditional female victim with a unknown antagonist. Additionally, the unknown antagonist causes and enigma which is conventional to thrillers as it creates suspense and tension and keeps the audience engaged as they want to find out who the antagonist is.
My opening sequence contains only two characters, the antagonist and the victim. The antagonist is a mentally disturbed man who starts to grow an obsession over a young pretty girl, the victim. The antagonists identity is hidden throughout the whole sequence and so his emotions will have to be shown through his body language and his actions instead of facial expressions which contrasts with the victim. This is because the the audience will know the victims identity and will be able to clearly see her emotions and how she is feeling through her facial expressions, i can also show her facial expressions by doing close ups on her face at certain points in the sequence. The thriller conventions i will use within my opening sequence include; death, hidden identity, defenceless female victim, mentally disturbed antagonist, low key lighting, iconography - knife, timing of shots, kidnapping as well as the main elements needed in a thriller, which are shock, surprise, suspense, tension and an enigma.In conclusion, my sequence will appeal to my target audience, which is age 15 and above. It will appeal to them because it includes modern elements such as obsessing over someone through a computer and not by following them around. Therefore, the audience are able to relate to the victims situation as most people ages 15 and above use social networking sites, which is what the antagonist in my sequence will use to obsess over the girl. I will share my individual narrative idea with my group by telling them what it is about and what events will occur within the two minute opening sequence. Me and my group will then combine all of our ideas, this will be our group narrative and i finale idea.
I have a conventional narrative to the thriller genre as it is a psychological thriller and contains the traditional female victim with a unknown antagonist. Additionally, the unknown antagonist causes and enigma which is conventional to thrillers as it creates suspense and tension and keeps the audience engaged as they want to find out who the antagonist is.
This post demonstrates an imaginative idea for a new thriller sequence. It is clear to see your knowledge and understanding of what the conventions of a thriller are, as you have considered a conventional narrative.
ReplyDeleteAim-
1) Elaborate on the points that you have included on the themes that you would like to include and discuss these points in more detail