Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

The importance of cinematography within thriller films is to create tension for the audience. As well as this is helps in creating camera techniques, which help to tell the story of the film in the most effective way possible. Also, from the use of different angles it helps in not only focusing on something that could foreshadow something else tat will happen later on in the narrative, but it also helps in portraying to the audience who the antagonist and who the victim are. Planning is required to produce a good sequence as we are then organised before filming and know what we are going to film and so it saves time when we come to film. For example we can plan as a group what types of shots, angles and movements we are going to use and where to create the biggest effect for the audience.

My Groups Cinematography Planning Sheet

The first camera shot i want to use is an over the shoulder shot combined with a shallow focus. This will be used when the male antagonist is getting ready to go out and is looking in the mirror, although he will have a mask on already so his identity is keep hidden to the audience while standing looking into the mirror he will pull his hood up. Additionally, this builds a negative relationship between the audience and the antagonists character as they audience are now know he is the antagonist and they know what his motives are for the victim. As a result of the antagonists identity being hidden it creates and enigma for the audience, which is conventional to the thriller genre and keeps the audience engaged. 

Over The Shoulder/Shallow Focus Example

The next type of shot i will use is a deep focus shot, which is when the foreground, middle-ground and background are all in focus. It will be used when the antagonist is watching the female victim this is because it will portray to the audience that she is the victim. As well as this it will show her vulnerability and weakness. This causes the audience to be scared for her safety, which is conventional to a thriller as it also causes the audience to question what is going to happen next. As they carry on watching hoping for the better outcome that the antagonist won't cause any harm to the girl. 

Deep Focus Shot

A panning shot is often used in films to allow the audience to follow the scene and see more within a shot. In my opening thriller sequence it will be used during a chase scene when the victim is running, trying to escape from the antagonist. It infers to the audience how she is frightened, vulnerable and innocent this makes the audience question the antagonist motives for the victim. Which creates and enigma as well as tension and shock causing the audience to stay focused and engaged as they want to find out why the antagonist has chosen her and his victim. The audience can then relate to how the victim is feeling as they have sympathy for her. As a result this type of shot is conventional to the thriller as it creates suspense for the audience. 

Panning Shot

In the sequence I'm also going to use a close up shot, this type of shot is initially used to focus of facial reactions and emotions. The close up will be used when the victim is running away from the antagonist but then looks back at him, to see where he is. By using a close up shot the audience will be able to see her true facial expressions and will know exactly how she feels at this moment in time. Allowing the audience to then feel sympathy towards her, which is conventional as it creates suspense. This is because the audience do not know what is going to happen next as they do not know if the victim is going to manage to escape from the antagonist. 

Close Up

The last type of camera shot i will use is a high angle combined with a point of view shot. It will be used when the victim falls over when she is running from the antagonist. The antagonist is then looking over her which demonstrates to the audience his power he has over her. This causes the audience to have fear for the victim as they forebode death. Furthermore, this is conventional to a thriller as it creates tension, which keeps the audience engaged as they want to keep watching and find out what happens to the innocent victim. This is because they have now built a relationship with the victims character and they has a lot of sympathy towards how she must be feeling. 

High Angle/Point Of View

Overall, i have found planning my cinematography before starting filming of my opening sequence helpful. This is because it means that we are more organise and know the type of shots and angles we are going to include and when we will include them. If we had not planned out cinematography then we might not of been as aware of what types of shot we was using and might of re-used the same type of shot many times and so we wouldn't have as wide a variety. Therefore, i think it will be more effective now as know what the audience should be feeling in every shot and so it will help the actors portray a particular emotion that will help to create this response. The use of specific cinematography is conventional to thrillers, as the type of shots used help to create tension and suspense for the audience and get a response from them. This response is ten what makes the shots am camera techniques conventional to the genre.

Research Into Target Audience - Miss Miller

My research was carried out in the form of a questionnaire, I done this so that I know what I should include in my own thriller opening sequence also, so that I know what attracts the audience and what will keep them engaged. Additionally, I asked 40 people so that we have a wider range of answers to help me with creating my own thriller sequence but also so that the results are more accurate. I will use my results to help in the creation of my sequence to include what the audience want to see within a thriller.

My Questionnaire

Firstly, we asked what gender the person was, my results for this are equal between the amount of males and females we asked. Me and my group done this on purpose so that I had a fair and accurate answers to my questionnaire. This is because females may have different ideas as to what they would expect or want to see in a thriller film, as they might want to see a happy outcomes and see less violence throughout the film. Compared to males who might want to see more blood and death. Therefore, by asking the same amount of people from each gender we can make our thriller opening sequence suitable for both genders and not just one. 

The next question we asked was 'how old are you?', we asked this because thriller age certificates are usually either 15 or 18 depending on the content. Therefore, we wanted to find out what age certificate would be suitable for my thriller and what age has a wider target audience. By asking this question we found out that most people were ages between 15-17 years old, which helpful as this age group are more likely to watch thrillers than 12-14 year old. Furthermore, we will make out thriller, age certificate 15. So we will follow the BBFC guidelines as to what we can include violence and other convention themes such as blood and gore, which you could find in a thriller film. 

We asked this next question to find out whether the people answering my questionnaire watch thrillers or not as if they did there results might be biased towards there favourite thriller film. On the other hand, if they don't watch thriller films they might not of been able to answer the questions properly, which could of effected my questionnaire results. Therefore, this question was important in finding out how many people watch thriller films.

We also asked what thrillers were peoples favourites out of a list me and my group chose. We asked this so that we could see what type of theme they prefer and what type of narrative they like the film to be based on. From asking this question we can see that 'other' was the most popular choice, this is because there is a wide range of thriller films and we had only listed four. However, out of the four we had listed 'scream' was the most popular this could be because it is a conventional thriller containing a masked antagonist so that it has a hidden identity but also the antagonist uses a knife as it weapon and has mainly female victims. Although, all films we have chosen have antagonists with hidden identities, 'woman in black' was the second most popular. This could be because the victims are children, which causes tension as well as shock for the audience keeping them interested and engaged in the film. This question helped my group and I decided on how we wanted to show the antagonist and that we wanted him to be mysterious by not giving much away to the audience about what his true identity is. 

We then asked and open question about what type of weapon they prefer the antagonist to use and why. Most people we asked said that they would prefer to see a knife being used. They then answered that they would prefer a knife to a gun or saw as it is a more realistic weapon. Me and my group expected this as knifes are conventional to the thriller genre as it not only shows that the antagonist is in control over the victim but that they intend to kill. Also, a knife is a everyday item in comparison to a gun or saw so it builds the suspense for the audience as it makes them fear more for the victim as they can relate to the victims situation more. This is why we will use a knife as the weapon in our opening sequence.

We then asked if 'you prefer the antagonist to have a hidden identity'. My group asked this so that we could see whether the audience like having and antagonist, which is unpredictable and unknown or whether they like to see and know who the person is throughout the film. Although, 30% of people said no, the majority of people (70%) said yes, that they would prefer to have an unknown antagonist. Therefore, me and my group will have a antagonist with a hidden identity, by wearing a mask at all times when he is shown on camera. This creates more mystery and suspense for the audience, keeping g them more interested and engaged in the thriller.

After asking about what type of antagonist they would like to see we asked about whether they prefer a male or female victim in thriller films. However, this time we also asked why, so that we could get there feedback on there answers. Most people said they preferred to have a female victim over a male victim. This is because they said that a female victim is more easy to relate to and is portrayed as being weak, innocent and defenceless, in comparison to a male victim who is usually portrayed as being strong and able to defend himself. My group and i have therefore decided to stick with the stereotypical female victim as we can then present the character as being a easy target for the antagonist, as well as being weak and innocent. This then follows the thriller genres codes and conventions. 

Next we asked about what type of setting they would like the film to be based in and why. The setting is very crucial in thriller films, as its what helps set the mood and atmosphere for the audience. The stereotypical setting in a thriller film is a isolated location as the victim then find it more difficult to call for help or escape. My results showed that out of a forest, abandoned house, graveyard and hospital, most being would prefer to see the film set is a abandoned house. When they answered the 'why' bit of this question they said that they have chose the abandoned house because it is a isolated location and they also mentioned that if it was to be set around a forest as well it would build on the suspense as the location would then become more isolated. This is conventional to the thriller genre, and so me and my group will use an isolated location such as an abandoned house for the setting of our sequence.

Me and my group also asked whether they would like to see and enigma (mystery) through out the film, this could link in with the antagonist having a hidden identity or why the antagonist has chose that particular victim. Moreover, 90% of people said that they would like the thriller to include an enigma. Therefore, me and my group have decided we will include one in our sequence. Our main enigma in our thriller sequence is going tone the about the antagonist and who he is and neither the victim or the audience will know. This enigma is conventional to the thriller genre and it creates suspense for the audience, as a result it keeps them interested and engaged in the film.

The final question on our questionnaire, was what element they are most likely expect to see when watching a thriller. The most popular answer was tension followed by suspense with only 1% less. These two elements are very similar to one another, but they are both equally as important into making the thriller interesting as well as conventional. Also, to keeping the audience engaged, wanting to find out more and carry on watching. We will include tension and suspense within our sequence, by keeping the audience questioning what is going to happen next. For example, when our antagonist is gown holding a knife this will cause tension and suspense, because the audience will not know what his intentions are or what his is going to do next.

After the questionnaires I then filmed three vox pops, this was for proof of my questionnaire results and to show the whole questioning process. A vox pop is simply the act of filming an interview with someone of the public through a media device. By filming three vox pops it helped to see what people were really thinking also, it allowed the participant to extend more on the why section for the open questions. This primary data then meant that my research was more valid and reliable for me to analyse. Furthermore, by creating these vox pops it allowed me to know what the audience would like to see in my thriller sequence and so I can make sure i include what they say to make the film more interesting and more suited to my target audience. 

My research into target audience was helpful for planning mine and my groups opening sequence as it has helped us on deciding what we should include in the sequence based on peoples answers from the questionnaire. For example, it has helped us to decide on using a female victim and to use a masked antagonist so his identity is hidden from the audience as well as from the victim. Also, we now know that we will make our thriller age certificate 15 as this means that we can still include many similar thriller aspects than if it was a 18 and we will have a larger tater audience because more people will be able to watch it. Moreover, it has helped us understand what types of codes and conventions the audience would want to see in the thriller and so we don't just include what is expected as it might be stereotypical to the genre. If me and my group was to carry out our research again, I would change some of the questions asked. I would do this so that the audience would have to answer the questions in more depth. Additionally, I would make some questions relating to my narrative to find out whether it is a good and interesting narrative or not. 

Group Narrative - Miss Georgiou

My group members are me, Samara Stevenson and Leo Ly.

Group member 1: Layla Boudaboussa
Idea: 
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.
Strengths:
The strengths of my individual narrative are that it includes and enigma  this is conventional to the thriller genre as it helps in creating suspense as well as this it keeps the audience questioning what is going to happen next, which keeps them engaged. Another strength of my narrative is that it has the theme of obsession, which is a common theme throughout thrillers and is conventional to the genre and it links in with psychological thrillers. As well as this my narrative includes a female victim, this is conventional to thrillers as it it creates tension also the audience can relate to a female victim and feel more sympathy than if the victim was male.
Weaknesses:
My weaknesses of my narrative are that i have not wrote about the setting in which my sequence will take place. I have also not stated whether the antagonist is going to wear a mask or if they have a hidden identity or not. Furthermore, i have also not identified if shock, surprise, suspense and tension are going to be shown within the sequence and if they are then where. 

Group Member 2: Samara Stevenson

Idea: 
My idea for a two minute opening sequence will be about obsession. There will be a male that has an obsession with a young female. She lives on her own and he goes into her house and watches her sleep, takes her possessions, cuts off some hair and smells her perfume. He has this obsession because he thinks she is beautiful and he knows that he is a freak so will never have a chance with her.

Strengths: 
In my opinion her work includes many strengths such as including an enigma as the antagonist is unknown to the audience as well as the victim. Additionally, she has included a young female victim, this is conventional and as she is young it demonstrates to the audience that she is weak. Also, she has set her location as a abandoned house, which is conventional to thrillers as they are usually set in isolated locations. 

Weaknesses:
Samara's narrative also has some weaknesses to her work, for example her narrative is too vague and doesn't go into much detail. As well as this it doesn't include many thriller themes other than the theme of obsession as so it might not have much suspense to it keeping the audience interested in the film. Furthermore, she does not include a murder within her sequence and so the audience might not be as interested or engaged in the film, as they haven't witnesses anything interesting happening within the first couple minutes.

Group member 3: Leo Ly

Idea: 
My opening sequence idea is about, a psychopath who dresses as a clown. He does this because he has a split personality which shows the audience how unstable he is as he hides his personality behind the mask and costume which he wears. This also creates an enigma as the audience do not know who is behind the mask. His idea for fun is inflicting pain among the citizens, however when he targets a former marines daughter, a huge conflict arises. 

Strengths: 
Strengths of Leo's narrative are that he has included whether the antagonist has a known or unknown identity also, the theme of his sequence is a psychological thriller. This type of thriller makes the audience keep questioning and thinking throughout the film about who the antagonist is and the reason for there motives, as a result it keeps them engaged. Moreover, his antagonist is a clown, which is a unique idea as well as being conventional as it scares the audience this is because many people have phobias of clowns.

Weaknesses:
Leo has not stated where shock, surprise, suspense and tension come in and whether there is any throughout his sequence. His sequence includes gory scenes, which the female audience might not like to watch or be as interested in watching compared to males, this could narrow the target audience. Furthermore, Leo has not stated the iconography of the weapon that the antagonist will use though our his sequence to carry out the murder of the victim.

Group Narrative Idea: 
The group narrative we have decided on is that there is going to be a clown with a hidden identity, he will be getting ready in the mirror, where we will use as shallow focus/over the shoulder shot. He will then go out watching his victim, a young female, whom he has a secret obsession over. She will notice him and will run and trip. Once he has caught up with her the audience will see him standing over her, which shows that he is dominant. He will then pull out his murder weapon, a knife and will kill her. However, the audience will not see the murder take place causing a kuleshov effect, which will keep the audience engaged and wanting to know what will happen next.

Me and my groups narrative is mostly based on Leo's idea however, we have included some elements from both mine and Samara's ideas as well. This is because we liked the idea of the antagonist having an obsession withe the victim, which is taken from Samara's narrative, and we thought that using the clown as the antagonist from Leo's idea would bring a unique theme to out sequence. We also thought that by using the female victim from my idea would be good as it is conventional to the thriller genre.

The theory we have followed with out group narrative is Aristole's theory. This is because Aristole's theory states that there should be and inciting incident, which we have as the clown kills the young female. The audience is also constantly wondering throughout the sequence who the antagonist is as there identity is hidden. As well as this, both the antagonist and the victim are introduced to the audience as the antagonist is the clown and the victim is the female. The stake within our sequence is that there is a sense of death as the antagonist kills the victim. Although, our resolution won't be shown within our opening sequence, it will be that the antagonist is found and identified, this will then answer the audience questions, this solves the enigma. Furthermore, sympathy comes from the audience as they feel sympathy towards the female victim as she is killed.

The Todorov theory does not fit in with our narrative, as we do not have a equilibrium at the beginning of our sequence or at the end. This is because we have a clown who is obsessed with young females and is about to go after his next victim at the start of our sequence. Therefore, there is only a disequilibrium in our opening sequence this is due to the reason that the female dies and because there is a dangerous masked antagonist. Moreover, Propp's theory also does not fir in with our narrative this is because this theory is usually based around fairy tales. For example, it states that there should be a hero, a princess as well as a donor which we do not have in our sequence.

Planning Individual Narrative - Miss Georgiou

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. 

Preliminary Task - Miss Miller

The members in my group include Leo Ly and Samara Stevenson. The purpose of the preliminary task is to help us in gaining an understanding of the various types of camera shots and angles we can use as well as how to use the camera, this is so that when we go to make our opening sequence we know how to use the equipment. We had to film two people walking into a room and sitting down, they then had to have a conversation before getting up and leaving. The conversation could be based on any scenario we wanted and so my group chose to talk about someone with a drug addiction also, our clip had to be under a minute long. Furthermore, we used final cut pro to edit the clip together, combining the different types of shots used however, my group didn't use any transitions or special effects.

Mid Shot

The different camera techniques we had to use included; mid shot, long shot, panning and a over the shoulder shot. To set up the mid shot we did not use a tripod and instead we held the camera ourselves, compared to the panning and over the shoulder shot, as we used a tripod to set up these shots. This is because it is easier to use a tripod for a panning shot as you can then use the handle on the tripod to move the camera round and with the long shot it is easier to use the tripod to keep the camera straight and to make sure you are getting everyone and everything in the shot. As well as this we didn't use a tripod for the over the shoulder the shot however, it would of been better if we did because then we would of been able to make this part of the scene more clear and the image less jerky. These camera angles are conventional to the thriller genre and they are used to show facial expressions as well as body language. 

Panning

I think me and my group did particularly well in  the use of the over the shoulder shot as well as the close up this is because you can clearly see the persons facial expressions while they explain what they are going through. We also done well in the use of a close up as we used the tripod to set the camera up on and then used the zoom on the camera.

Over The Shoulder Shot

However, I think my group struggled with the use of the editing software this is because it was all our first time using any type of editing software and so it took us time to learn how to use and understand it. Additionally, we also struggled with adjusting the height of he tripod for when we was using different shots as well as this we struggled with keeping the camera steady when we was not using the tripod this meant that our footage was very shaky.

Long Shot

To solve this before filming our opening thriller sequence my group and me can learn how to properly set up the tripod and adjust it as well as making sure the camera is always attached to the tripod to endure that our footage is not shaky or rigid. Moreover, I feel that if we was to of had more time to film our preliminary task then we would of had a longer time experimenting with the camera and tripod, learning how to use it.

From watching my groups footage back my group and me where able to identify the mistakes we made during filming. Such as at certain points during the clip, the camera is slightly tilted as we had not set up the tripod correctly. This affected the overall outlook of the clip however, we did not notice it until editing on the computer and so we had no time left to re-record this camera shot. As a result without watching our clip back properly on the computer we would not have noticed these mistakes made during filming.

To conclude, by carrying out the preliminary task it has helped in preparing for our opening thriller sequence as me and my group will now know how to properly use the camera and tripod when we start filming our opening thriller sequence. This will mean that as a group we will not waste time learning how to set up the camera as we will already know how to do this. As well as this we know how to now use the editing software, final cur pro and so we will be able to successfully edit our opening sequence and include transitions to make the overall look of the sequence more smooth and look less edited and more realistic. Also, it will help in cutting out any mistakes we might make in our filming. Moreover, when filming our opening thriller sequence we need to ensure that we have correctly set up the tripod and camera before filming and that everyone in the group knows their role and what they are doing. Also, we know that we should use the tripod for each shot and it makes the overall look of the shot much more professional and keeps the camera steady, unless you want the shot to be unsteady of effect.  Moreover, i learned how different shots are used to create different effects for example, a close up would be used to show the characters facial expressions and hidden emotions. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPApZziDqMU

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. 

Research Into Conventions - Miss Miller

Conventions in a film are the elements that are typical to films throughout its particular genre. I will be looking at the thriller genres conventions. 

These include:

• Suspense, surprise, shock and tension

• Antagonist

• Victim which are usually female

• Iconography - weapons

• Enigma

• Low key lighting

• Timing of shots - slow/fast

• Hand held camera

• Chase scenes

• Death

• Blood

In this essay, I will analyse what conventions of thrillers are used in a scene from Scream 4 released in 2011 as it includes many of the thriller conventions such as having a masked antagonist and the traditional female victims.

Scene From Scream (2011)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHmed3LWrzs

The first thriller convention used in this scene from scream is low key lighting. It occurs when one of the girls gets up and heads towards the door after hearing a strange noise. It is used to foreshadow that she shouldn't open the door and that if she does then something bad could occur. Furthermore, the darkness created by the low key lighting causes an eerie atmosphere as well as a sense of danger and tension for the audience. The audience also feel scared for the character as the low key lighting infers to them the danger which is about to occur as thrillers can be sometimes be obvious about danger in the way that the frame is arranged and presented (dark and mysterious). 

Another conventions used is female victims, it is evident once we see the three girls by the front door screaming after seeing their dead friend. Also, the audience can tell who the victims are from watching this scene as it is a traditional convention for thrillers to have a female victims and the audience can relate to the three female victims as they are normal people and so the film makes it seem like this could happen to anyone and not only them. Moreover, by using a stereotypical female victim the audience can start to build a relationship with the characters as they can sense their vulnerability. Which, makes the audience want them to be saved and and when they are in danger makes the audience feel nervous for them. Furthermore, it builds tension for when the three female victims are in danger and by having conventional female victims its causes the audience to understand the the film more easily.

In this scene the antagonist/killer has a hidden identity as they wear a mask. Which is shown when we first see the antagonist running into the house through the front door. The hidden identity of the antagonist creates an enigma for the audience, this is because they don't specifically know who is under the mask or what their intentions are for wanting to kill the victims. A killer with a hidden identity is a common convention in thriller films as it adds tension and suspense to the scene which makes the audience more in engaged. As well as this, it means that the audience can connect to the victim and other characters in involves as neither the audience or the character know who the antagonist is.

Chase scene's are another convention which is used in this scene from Scream 4, it's shown when the girls run up the stairs trying to escape from the masked antagonist which is chasing them with an intention to kill them. They know this, as just a couple seconds before they witness their friend clasp on their door step after being stabbed. The use of the chase scene implies the anxiousness of the victims as they are running for their lives, this builds suspense for the audience as they don't know whether the victim will escape or not. Additionally, the audience can also relate to how the victims must be feeling as they must be feeling very scared and vulnerable at this time which also creates sympathy from the audience. This is conventional to the thriller genre as thriller films usually have a chase scene where by the victim tries to escape and it creates the themes of suspense and tension, keeping the audience engaged as they want to know how the chase scene ends and if the victim magnates to escape.

The main prop/piece of iconography in this scene is the knife used by the antagonist. We see it being used when one of the girls are hanging of the roof and he gets the knife out and looks as if he is about to chops her hand off so she will fall. The weapon looks extremely dangerous and harmful, which creates a sense of fear within the audience. It also increases the bond between the audience and the victim because we are scared for the victim. This kind of weaponry is common in the thriller genre also it makes the scene more realistic as it is a everyday object which is used compared to a gun. Furthermore, the iconography of the knife is conventional because a knife enhances the gore and violence in the film, thereby shocking the audience more which is one of the main theme throughout out the thriller genre.  

In conclusion, there are many conventions of thrillers which help in creating the frightening, gory, intense and suspenseful atmosphere and successful thrillers like Scream 4 contain most of these conventions. By analysing this scene from Scream 4 i now know why each convention is used and what effect it has on the audience which will help me to choose what conventions i will use in my opening sequence. For example, i have noticed that a female victim allows the audience to connect with the character and by using realistic everyday weapons as well as scenery it creates more suspense and tension for the audience as they can relate to the conventions more, so i will use this when making my own sequence.