9) Planning Mis-en-scene - Ms Georgiou -----------

Mis-en-scene is everything the audience sees on the screen. This includes sets, props, actors, costumes and lighting. Mis-en-scene also includes the positioning and movement of actors on stage including facial expressions. 

Mis-en-scene has 5 different elements;
-Setting/Iconography
-Costume hair and makeup
-Facial expression/Body language
-Lighting and colour
-Positioning of characters

These are important within a thriller film because they can be used to build suspense and create different moods within the film. Low key lighting for example creates a dark atmosphere which can be used to create suspense. The setting and iconography can also be used to create suspense through unknown locations and eerie places like graveyards or deserted houses. The facial expressions and body language of characters can create empathy amongst the audience by showing the fear in there faces which makes the audience not want to be in that position. The body language can also show a lot about a antagonist like in reservoir dogs we see Michael Madsons character is mentally unstable as he cuts someone's ear off while dancing to the radio. The positioning of characters is important for showing which characters are more powerful, for

Mis-en-scene is everything the audience sees on the screen. This includes sets, props, actors, costumes and lighting. Mis-en-scene also includes the positioning and movement of actors on stage including facial expressions. 

The set we used for our Thriller clip is within a regular house. We dressed Lucy in regular work clothes for the clip. We felt that by using the set of a normal house and a normal costume for Lucy that it made the clip more relatable to the audience. Films that we looked at like Halloween and paranormal activity also use the setting of a house and we felt that these are effective in building suspense effectively due to the fact they are in such a common setting.

The majority of the opening will be in low key lighting. We felt that by using low key lighting it would create a dark more eerie atmosphere and effectively build suspense with the audience. We saw low key lighting used in a number of thrillers like the purge. It made me as the audience wonder what was waiting in the dark and created more suspense and mystery.

We will be using a number of props for our Thriller clip including the items in the kitchen like the blender, the microwave, the toaster and the kettle. We are using the microwave to build suspense as the timer acts as a countdown before the suspense begins to build. The other items are used as a climax to the suspense  as once the microwave has stopped buzzing they all begin to go off. This will create fear with the audience and make them jump. This also happens in the film paranormal activity where all the cupboards in the kitchen suddenly open and the kitchen seems to come alive with all of the kitchen utilities turning on.



 

6) Group Storyboard- Ms Miller ---------------

The purpose of a group storyboard is to create a storyboard which contains parts of each of the groups individual storyboards, and by doing this create a final narrative and plan for filming our Thriller opening clip. The storyboard made us all clear of what we wanted to create by taking different elements from each of us so we could agree and be happy with our final piece.

As all of our individual storyboards included a house as the location we agreed that this would be the most suitable place to film. We felt that by using the relatable setting of a house we could build the suspense with more ease and make it more appealing to the audience. The unknown location helps to make the character seem more vulnerable and makes it more relatable for the audience as it is in the house setting.

We also all agreed on the female victim as we felt it was more conventional and made the victim seem more helpless. It also went with the feedback from the questionnaire when a lot of people said they would prefer to see a female as the victim rather than a male. There was also use of a female victim in films like Psycho and Scream.

When looking at the different camera shots to put in our storyboard we all agreed that a wide range of shots was needed. For example when Lucy came in the door there was a high angle shot making it seem like she was being watched.

The group storyboard helped us during our filming because it gave us a structure and helped us to save time as we could methodically work through it and use it as a plan. We each knew what scene had to be filmed next which made us as a group more efficient and quicker.

7) Planning Characters- Ms Miller ------------

When looking at planning our characters we first looked at the conventional characters from multiple Thriller films. Most of these films included female victims and the common theme was that they were all blonde. Our initial idea was to stick to these conventions and use Lucy for the main role as she is blonde and female. However after thinking about it as a group we decided that we would break the codes and conventions by using Reece for the role. By using a male which is more unconventional we made the film less predictable in the hope it would appeal more to an audience as it was something different to what they were used to. When looking at the antagonist we could not decide whether to use a physical creature or monster or go for a spirit or ghostly figure. After discussing it as a group we decided that by using a ghost there would be more things available for us to film. For example we took inspiration from paranormal activity with scenes like the slamming doors and the kitchen utilities turning on, which can be describes as ghostly behaviour. We also felt that if we had a physical antagonist that it may look a bit unprofessional with a mask and make up on and that with a ghost it would look effort without looking tacky or over the top.

10) Planning Editing Styles - Miss Georgiou ----------

 Why is editing important within thriller film?

What editing styles will you include within your sequence and why? What effect will this create?

How are your editing styles conventional to at thriller film? 

How will your editing appeal to your audience? 

Editing is important within a thriller film because it helps create different atmospheres and moods during the film. It is used to link scenes together and dictate the tempo of a scene. Quick timing of shots can quicken the pace and create tension. Slower timing of shots can build suspense and enigma.

Within our sequence we will include both slow and quick timing of shots depending on the mood we wish to create. During the beginning of the scene when things begin to happen in the house we will use a slower timing of shot to create suspense and make the audience wonder what is happening. As Lucy is being chased through the house the timing of shots will quicken as the pace of the clip speeds up. We will be using straight cuts to move between the scenes as this is the most effective, quickest way to change between the scenes.

My editing styles are conventional to a thriller film because in films like Paranormal Activity there are long timing of shots when there is nothing happening throughout the house. This builds suspense as we, the audience are constantly waiting for something to happen. This is what we want to create in our thriller clip and then quicken the shots up during the chase scenes, when there is activity with the spirit in the house. The quicker timing of shots also can act as a climax to the suspense like the killing scene in psycho. Slow timing of shots was used as the killer approaches the shower, but a much quicker timing of shots was used when he was actually killing the woman inside the shower.

My editing will appeal to my audience because when watching a thriller film the audience expect things like suspense and enigma and tension to be created. This is what people want to see when watching a film like mine. So through the editing I have used the audience will find my movie appealing as it is conventional and expected from a film in the thriller genre.

5) Individual story board blog - Ms Miller ------------

The purpose of my individual storyboard is to show the ideas that I had for the opening of my Thriller clip. The other two members of my group also created individual storyboards so that when creating a group storyboard we could take ideas from each of us and use them to create our final piece. I used inspiration from the film paranormal activity to help make my storyboard, and used some of the things in the film like the empty house and the presence of a spirit. The  storyboard starts with the girl in her house alone before hearing noises upstairs. As she goes up all the doors around her slam, and when she goes to the top of the stairs she is pulled by hair, down the stairs where she dies. This is also an idea I took from paranormal activity with the pulling of the hair and the slamming of the doors as they act as a climax to the suspense and they are easy to film but effective. I used the ideas of an empty house as it makes the girl seem more vulnerable. Also the setting of the house is more relatable to the audience and people watching which makes it seem scarier, like it could happen to them.

6) Preliminary task- Miss Georgiou ----------

The task we were set was to film a conversation taking place between two people in a classroom. We showed the character entering the classroom, before having a conversation and then leaving again. It was a good opportunity for us as a group to get to grips with the equipment like the tripod and camera and experiment with different angles and find out the effects that each angle created. For our thriller opening we plan to use a high angle shot when the victim first comes in the house to make it seem as though he is being watched. Our preliminary task gave us an idea of how to use the high angle shot effectively and gave us experience with some other shot types we wish to include in our final piece like mid shots and panning shots.

4) Questionnaire pie chart analysis - Ms Miller ------------

Most of the people that we interviewed

as shown in the pie chart, were aged 

between 15-17. This is because the target 

audience for our opening is 15 to 17 year olds, 

so by asking them we could get a better understanding

of what kind of things they like so we could base our opening 

around that. 

In this question we wanted to aim more for females

as in our opening the victim is a female. This mean females 

will be more likely to empathise with the main character. 

However we would have liked to have made it more of

a balance between males and females to give us a slightly 

better ideas of what males want to see in thriller films. 

In this question it was helpful that the majority of people said 

they like the age group of characters to be teenagers because

in all of our individual narratives there were teenage characters 

involved. It also confirmed that we will be using a teenage character

in our opening clip. 

Throughout our opening clip we have planned lots of conventional

suspense building techniques and as the antagonist is a spirit we will

need to build the suspense in other ways as you can not see the thing

the main character will be battling with. This is why lots of people saying

that suspense is there favourite thing in a thriller helped us make our 

decision. However only 8% of people said that a female victim was

there favourite thing about a thriller which does not support our idea

of having a female victim. 

One of the inspirations for our opening is the film

paranormal activity. In the film there is a great deal

of silence used to create suspense, and the fact 30%

of people said that was most effective, helped us 

make our decision to use a large amount of silence

to help create suspense. 

40% of the people asked said that high pitched music
was there preference in a thriller film. I can use this
information in my thriller by using high pitched noises
as the majority of people said this was most effective.
It was important to my research as we wanted to find out
the different ways we could put the audience on edge.

57% of our target audience said that a deserted house is the

best setting for a thriller so we have decided to use that 

setting for our thriller clip. I believe that a house is a very

relatable setting which increases the fear and empathy the

audience will feel towards the main characters. 

The supernatural thriller is the kind of thriller clip

we have chosen to make. Our choice was backed up

by the majority of people saying that it was the best 

type of thriller . I feel like the supernatural element

plays on peoples minds more and helps to create the 

suspense and fear.