Planning opening credits- Miss Georgiou

Planning opening credits

Credits play an important role in a film as they tell their audience who was in the film and give recognition to who contributed in the making of the film. All genres of films include credits and usually include it in the beginning of the film to help set the scene, for example the font of credits can help introducing the genre. It also is used to show the hierarchy in the making of the film, for example the director may put himself first, and then the big actors or actresses be the first to come up in the credits about the actors, as this would attract a larger audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEZK7mJoPLY

The credits in Se7en are introduced into the film once the main part has happened, which sets the scene. The credits help contribute to making the film conventional to a thriller due to the shaking hand writing font, showing unsteadiness, contributing to the thriller genre as it shows the film is not going to run smooth, and there is something going wrong. The font being white on black, and flashing when on the screen making the font seem blurry shows there is an engima within the narrative, also that their is evil going on with the film as the black and white creates a contrast, which may be evil against good.

The credits are conventional to a thriller due to the photos in the background, and the main colours through out being plain colours of beige, black and white with flashings of red, showing the aspect of danger. Where as the dark colours  creates shadows shows the theme of hidden identity and the flashes of white and red create enigma, making it conventional to a thriller and attracts the audience as they want to know what happens.

The importance of each person which contributed in the making of the film are usually shown in where they appear in the credits. For example in the credits of se7en, the production company is shown first, followed by the director then the most famous actors. Followed by the title, more actors and then the director- fincher again. The director being shown first and last shows that the director values what he does and believes he is highly creditable.

My chosen credits to look at are from insidious, I choose these as I believed they would help influence me on the making of my own credits, and I understood how they contributed to making the film relate to the thriller genre. At the opening of the film, the word insidious is highlighted in bold red writing across a black background, immediately alerting the audience of danger. The red writing creates a contrast against the black, also telling us that the main genre to the film is a thriller, so it makes the audience aware of what there going to watch. Not only do the names appear in red, but when they appear of the screen smoke comes off the top of the writing showing danger.

From looking at se7en and insidious, my group and I decided that we think it would be best for our opening sequence to have our credits appear at the start, which a number of different images appearing in the background. We thought that we should have the inside of a clock ticking in the background, showing the audience that it is an indepth narrative and based on time, with font big and small depending on what it says. Also keeping it consistant with the colour theme by having the font in either red black or white, but causing it to contrast with the background.

planning sound- Miss Miller

planning of sound

Sound plays a vitol role within the thriller genre as it empathises' a thrillers main sources to scare its audience, and create suspense, shock and most of all surprise, creating a thrill for the audience and making it conventional to the thriller genre. Usually thrillers are based on the main focus of non-diegtic sounds, such as sound effects and background music as the sound effects will emphasis main scenes making them appeal more to the audience and stand out, where as the music will help build tension.


Within my opening thriller i will use diegetic sound to set the scene, this lack of music and other sound effects also adds suspense as it makes the scene extremely quiet, making the audience watch more closely as they are intriged to know what will happen next, as the scene is set in a deserted location. Causing the audience to only hear the wind or cars passing by.

While this is continuing to happen an off screen diegetic sound will be used, a voice of a girl speaking words. This is off screen as you can not see it in the frame the screen is focused on but can hear it, but you are unaware where it is coming from, meaning you had to add it in in the making of the clip. 

As the narrative comes closer to the end, more off screen diegetic will be used at a faster pace due to the girl in the scene becoming more stressed, creating chaos, hopefully exciting the audience. The fast pace off the music will reflect on the scenario happening in the opening sequence causing the audience to be able to relate as they have become more connected into the film. 

Planning mise-en-scene-Miss Georgiou

Planning mise en scene

Mise en scene plays an important role in thriller films as this factor is what holds the narrative together. Mise en scene includes; setting and iconography, costume, hair and make up, facial expressions and body language, positioning of characters and objects within a frame, colour and lighting. All films include mise en scene but as we are focused on thrillers i am going to explain why its important to thrillers imparticuler. 

Setting and iconography- The setting of my thriller will be based in a deserted street which is lighted by street lights, and in a dark room which will have light seeping through from the window. I have choosen the narrative to be based in a dark location as then we can introduce the theme of hidden idenity, also this will help create suspcion and built tension.

Colour and lighting- Low lighting will be used as this helps keep the theme of hidden identity, as the characters being in the dark will cause the audience not to beable to see there face very clear view of what is happerning, and of the victim or killer. Secondly the victim will be in light coloured clothes showing his innocence, also his blonde hair will show his venerability allowing the audience to understand his the victim.

facial expressions and body language- For this to be included in my opening scene i will show the fear the victim has through his facial expressions, for example showing fear by him crying or showing how much lower he is compared to the murderer by having the victim on the floor showing the hicheracy.

Also i will have the murderer using big body language by swinging there arms about and being rather tall as this will show that they are superior.

Hair and makeup- the victim will have light brown or blonde hair as this will show a vunerable side as light colours are seen to conect with innocents and angels. Also the victim will have fair skin showing also their venerability and childlike features. The murderer will have dark hair as this portrays a dark side to the person, also will have dark circles under their as as this will show that they have a madder side to them and have been plotting this act for a while.

postions of characters and objects in a frame- As were using shadows to show the killing we will emphesise on the killing scence as this will allow the audience to understand what has happened and that it is the main part of the opening sequence.

Planning Editing Skills-Miss Georgiou

Planning editing skills

Editing is crucial to a thriller film as this is what helps build suspence and create a higher fear factor. It plays a pivotal role as this is what helps build enigma and creates a more tense atmosphere for the audience watching.

In my thriller i will include a variety of different editing skills. Starting with a jump cut, i will use a jump cut as this will help the audience understand what the main focus is, allowing them to understand the opening sequence further and get into it more as they know what the main points are and what links together. Another editing terminology i would use in my opening sequence is slow editing. This is when the clips are juxtaposed together at a slower speed then the shots previous, as this helps build suspence and tension because the audience are more aware of what is happening, this will help show the audience what genre our opening sequence is based on. As well as these two i will also use a straight cut, as this will help us change the scene and show the different settings we are using, also it will help the audience identify what is going on. Allowing them to be involved in the film and also create shock and tension as they are unaware of what the next setting or shot is going to be off.

Using these will cause the audience to be more interested in the opening sequence as they are given an in site to different aspects of the film, also it helps build tension and will create a shock factor for the audience when the clip will change to something else. The slow cut will add to the thriller genre as it will build the tension and the best part of the scene, causing the audience to understand whats happening and be shocked, causing it to be applied to a typical thriller.

Planning Characters-Miss Miller

Planning Characters

The purpose of characters in a narrative are that it helps the audience build a relationship with the characters, also having characters in the narrative able the audience to become more interested in the narrative as the characters are more relatable to them. This may be by the characters in the narrative being similar ages to those in the audience or just having the same similarities could help the audience become more involved in the narrative.

My narrative will only involved one character and that is a girl. Amber will be playing the victim in our narrative and is 16 years of age small and has light mousey brown hair. We chose her as she has the main bases of a stereotypical thriller, for example her light hair helps her look vulnerable as light hair generally connects to innocent. Her petite figure helps add to her vulnerability as the audience may be unaware off her age, causing them to relate to her as a child making them become more sympathetic building a bigger relationship between them. This is stereotypical to a thriller as it is a female blonde creating the audience hold an relationship between them as they are able to relate as many may be the same. Having only one character in our narrative helps the audience connect because they have one main focus only.

The conventions that our character hold help keep to the thriller film as the audience will be able to understand her pain as being a similar age to the character in the narrative builds the fear factor further for the audience. This will help emphasise the thriller genre as the audience are aware of what is happening and the features that she holds help connect the audience because off the vulnerability and innocence she gives off.

The planning and preparation that we have completed in order to film the narrative has helped us understand what we want to do in the filming. It us helped us make changes to improve what we are going to film before we have filmed it causing us to have more time to edit our final film and so its less time consuming so we don't film the incorrect thing.

My individual storyboard- Miss Miller

Within the planning process for my thriller opening i had to created a storyboard as this would help me when filming as ill have something to go by to make sure what im doing is correct.The stroyboard included what the camera shot, location, lighting, sound, editing and narrative description would be in each clip, helping me understand what the whole scence would consist off.

For my first frame im using a panning shot which follows a boy walking down a deserted street lit up by street lights. I done this as a deserted street would help add an eery atmosphere allowing the audience to understand something is going to happen, also the low lighting will add suspicion. Also you will hear few cars passing by and the occasion blow of win to add enigma. This will last around 15 seconds and will be a continuos cut as it liniks with the next shot.

For the second frame it will be a zoom in of the boys face, and then slowing zoom out. I have done this as it makes the audience feel like they are the people watching them, creating tension as the audience will feel like they are the people making the boy feel fear. Also the boy will start to turn his head occasionally looking back showing his paranoia as a few voices are mumbled, with the audience not knowing if there are people surrounding the boy or if the boy is hearing the voices, making the audience just as paranoid. This will last a duration of around 25 seconds as the camera angles and what is happerning is a main focus of the opening sequence.

A few more short shots happen while the boy is on the road, then a jump cut is used and we find the boy sitting in his room rocking hearing voices. Allowing the audience to understand that the boy is hearing voices and it is not other people, showing that the boy has a problem. A zooming in will be used showing the boy in a panic as he is unaware of what he is meant to for nor if he is going mad. This will last roughly 20 seconds and a swipe shot wikll also be used showing that the boys head is not normal allowing the audience to feel the same.

Their will then be another jumpcut to the boy being outside in the middle of the street. A long shot of the boy will be used making the audience unaware of who is looking at him, we will then see two shadows and one shadow being stabbed. Icogonarphy o9f a knife will be used and the knife will be dropped on the fllor and this will be the end of an opening sequence. Leaving the audience anware if the boy got stabbed or a ghost of the voices in his head lead him to his own death.

Preliminary task-

The preliminary task consisted of my group members and i creating a clip which involved two people having a basic conversation but showing a variety of different camera angles. For this clip we filmed two people walking into a classroom, having a short conversation then one person leaving. 

Within this short clip we used a variety of different camera angles such as an over the shoulder shot, showing the person who was talking showing that they're the main topic of the conversation and clip. We then switched the camera angle depending on who was talking so we could see their expressions. We also used a panning shot when entering and leaving the room, so the audience will understand what is happening in the short clip.
We then uploaded the clip onto the computer and had to edit it, taking out all outside noises and making sure it was a continuous shot. 

I found that this task had help me have a bigger idea of how i will create my opening scene to a thriller as this has given me an idea of how to do it, and also increased my knowledge making me more aware of what to do and not to do when creating my own thriller.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWSUepGFIdo 

Group Narrative-Miss Georgiou

Group Narrative

The narrative is a story which is written in a constructed format. The purpose of a narrative is to add a theme to a movie, putting it into a specific genre. For example a narrative which involved killing or murder would be put into the thriller genre.

My group and I discussed our individual ideas by each of us explaining what we would like to be involved in our narrative, and why. Explaining how it would contribute to the thriller genre, for example included low key lighting or the narrative being located in a deserted destination as this adds suspense.  

Group Member 1-  Ellie Holt

For my idea i wanted it to be based on a troubled young child, who believes he hears voices in his head but his family think his making it up, this then leads to the death of the child. But the murder is unsolved as it is not a suicide killing. We see the killimg by a shadow stabbing another shawdow, but the audience are unaware if the shawdow was a person nor ghost. So the family begin to research into the child things to resolve the murder, and see weather he did hear voices in his head or it was a ghost.

The advantages of this narrative is that it involves hidden identity, as the audience are unaware to what has killed the child. Also the narrative being based on a young child will cause the audience to engage as they could usually relate, also feel vulnerable for the child. The disadvantages of this narrative is that it is stereotypical for a child to hear voices, as this is what would usually be what happens in a film not an adult, meaning the audience will feel like they have seen it before.

Group Member 2- James Craddock

James' narrative is going to consist of two completely different characters that end up in the same situation and have to find a way out of trouble. My idea is going to show how different peoples abilities can work together to save not just their own lives but those of others as well.

Some advantages of my narrative would be that it includes a hidden identity, this is going to create tension and suspense for the audience as the film progresses. The narrative is going to be based on the two known characters and the one mysterious character that the audience do not know. One disadvantage to the narrative is that the use of the hidden identity may be used in many other films as it is a key convention to a thriller film. 

Group Member 3 - Blessing Dada

Blessings narrative is going to include a main character who is the mysterious character and other characters that are all very similar. The story is that the myterious girl turns up to a sleepover that she's not invited to. The other girls and apprehensive about letting her in, but in the end they are forced to accept her in.

At first they are having fun, everything is fine. Then it gets to the time when the girls have to sleep the lighting becomes dark (dark setting, low-key lighting) To create suspense. And music starts playing to create tension. Then things start to happen, and the uninvited guest is accused of doing all these strange things but It turns out not to actually be her. So a turn in the plot will be shocking and suprising to the audience.

From looking at all of my groups ideas i think it would be best if we including parts of all our narratives as this would mean each person will have their on part in the clip that they created themselves.


Vladimir Propp:

Vladimir Propp was the russian critic that consisted the theory that the characters in the film had to perform functions, for example,  these films had to have a hero, villain, donor, dispatcher, false hero, helper, princess and the princesses father. The films that had these functions were obviously fairy tale films, for example, Shrek. Vladimir Propp used this theory as he believed it informed the audience of the narrative.

Tzvetan Todorov:

Tzvetan Todorov believed that there were five stages of the narrative, these were, all as it should be (equilibrium), the film should have a change of events, disorders then occur, then there is an attempt to fix this problem that has occured and after the problem has been resolved there is a new equilibrium. Todorov also believed that the film was all about the narrative and the equilibrium and disequilibrium involved. 

Aristotle:

Aristotle believed that a film should include an inciting incident, a dramatic question, a goal set for a character, an antagonist/protagonist, stakes, resolution and either sympathy or empathy.