Peer Feedback...

1. Describe the type of camerawork which has been used. Do you think it's effective? Why?
There was a good variety of camera shots including; high angle, mid-shots, close ups and zoom in. The close ups help to build tension throughout out opening. The tracking shot helped to convey and establish the location. Our point of view shot was clearly showed from the characters perspective.

2. What type of sounds have been used? Does it work well with the visuals?
The diegetic sound (speech) was at the right volume and was very clear. The soundtrack went well with the visuals and helped to create tension throughout.

3. How has the mise-en-scene been constructed? Does it have an impact on the genre?
Props: you can easily tell what type of character she is! Props included wine, phone, straighteners and the sign. The lighting outside could have been a bit lighter in order to see more. However the inside lighting was said to help convey the thriller genre and make it mysterious.

4. What editing techniques have been used?
Clear credits and good shot transitions. Also fast editing which helped create tension.

5. Can you think of any constructive criticism?
We could have drawn tension a bit more as it lacked it certain places. This would have helped to build up to the main event. There could have been more thought put into the whole editing process eg. credits and title sequence.

6. What was the most effective element of the production?
The use of mise-en-scene worked well eg. props, costume and location.
Also, the sounds and shot types were good!

FINAL VIDEO

Choosing a Soundtrack

This is an important step when creating our final piece, we plan to use a soundtrack to build tension and create atmosphere. This will set the scene for the video while contrasting the visuals as the girl is in normal surroundings at the beginning of the clip. Only at the last few seconds does the audience realise what has happened in the narrative which will explain our choice in music.

We plan to use tense music to emphasise a change in the girls thoughts making the audience expect something is going to happen. The music we will use will quicken with the narrative showing an increase in pace and therefore building tension to contribute to the thriller genre.

We will use YouTube to find a song as it is easy to access and can give us a range of soundtracks to choose from.

External Feedback On Rough Cut

PROS - The video has good continuity throughout while there was a good range of shot types so far.

IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE: 
- The videos sound levels change throughout, we plan to add a soundtrack to aid the transitions, therefore showing better continuity.
- We have yet to add titles and effects and plan to add these at a later stage.
- The group commented that we had no suspense, we put this down to it being a rough cut and we aim to build tense up as the video progresses.

Feedback On Rough Cut

Camerawork - Medium shots when girl is getting ready with a short close up of the phone calling.

Mise En Scene - Props were phone and straighteners while the lighting was dark and mysterious which fits the genre.

Editing - Shot duration and cuts worked well between shots and transitions were good.

Comments - Good use of shot types, can tell the sequence is a thriller even though it is only a rough cut. We could improve the sound by making the speech louder and adding a sound track.

Feedback from group P233 

Font and Colour Research for our Title Sequence

From our research, we have found that the most common used fonts for thriller are blotted, faded and sometimes quite basic. We think that this is because the way it is presented is stereotypical to the thriller genre and automatically indicates to the reader that it is a thriller. 

FONTS...

The more basic styles are used to create an effect more than anything and to contrast the simplicity of the title to the sophisticated thriller genre. For example...

The blotted and faded effects add more of a mysterious element to the title, making it clear to the audience that the genre is thriller. The effectiveness of these elements is that they are visually engaging to the reader, grabbing their attention straight away. The blotting effect, we think most likely is their to represent blood and the faded effects are there to add mystery to the title. For example...

COLOURS...
The colours that we found that are most commonly used in thrillers seem to be quite dull and dark colours. These also help to portray the thriller genre 

Why 'Thrillers' Thrive

Our group have all spent time reading the article "Why 'Thrillers' Thrive", which was featured in the magazine, Picturegoer. We found this was useful to explain how and why thrillers will live on well past horror films in the future.

We tend to have an awareness that we usually watch a film to experience someone else's life "the kind we don't experience ourselves". Thrillers seem to involve "disturbances which, for convenience, we call 'thrills" which as a person we become intrigued by, therefore getting drawn into the film. It is in our nature to "have these shake ups" through a screen instead of real life situations. This enables us to view another life in the safety and security of "an armchair", whilst we watch the "struggle and turmoil of life through a window". Although we do not simply watch or spectate but "participate" in the thriller, the audience becomes very attached to the film and the characters, just by our human nature. In our opinion we agree with this and have found ourselves imagining ourselves as the protagonist and asking how we would react in that situation. 

The most disturbing scenes in thriller and horror films are a result of skilled actors, trained animals along with skillful editing. As students taking a media A-level course we believe we have done well to keep our scenes less disturbing but while still portraying the thriller characteristics due to a lack of these high standard skills. An example of a film that has used these skills is "The Crusades", this did not really feature harm to any of the horses in the production and they were simply "trained to fall". However, horrors are very different in this way,  there meaning is "extreme aversion" which provide emotional jolts that the audience experience. In the film industry these genre of films are referred to as no more than "unnatural excitement". So the conclude, the authentic thriller will live on and be successful, just as the horror film will eventually die.

Our Shooting Schedule...

Day: Wednesday 16th February 2011

• 1.30pm- 2.25pm: Get the bus from college to Charlotte's house
• 2.30pm - 3.30pm: Set up ready for filming eg. organise outfits, hair and make up, get props ready etc.
• 3.30pm - 5.30pm: Film all indoor scenes (scenes 1-11)
• 5.30pm - 7.00pm: Film all outdoor scenes (scenes 12-18) as it will be getting dark! 

We have arranged to film on this day as this is one of the only days in which we are all free. We will be filming from 3.30pm to 7.00pm as this allows us to film and perfect our scenes.

Digital Storyboard

Risk Assessment

Storyboard & Shot List.

STORYBOARD

SHOT LIST

1. Script

A teenage girl is getting ready in the early evening awaiting her friend before a big house party that they are attending together. Despite waiting for her friend she was already part ready listening to music at full volume, sitting applying her makeup in her brand new dress which she had purchased especially for the party and brand new pair of heels with a large cold glass of cranberry and vodka at her side to get her started! She kept checking her phone just to see if her friend had contacted her as she was meant to be there around half an hour ago. She still hadn't. The girl then turned round to just turn the music down so she could phone her friend as she did so she took a large mouth full of her drink and pressed the dial tone. It rings three times and her friend picks up and her friend goes "hello", the girl says "oh hiya, are you nearly here yet", the reply from her friend was "hello??", she clearly couldn't hear her, she raised her voice and asked the question again, "are you nearly here yet?" the reply, again, was "hello?" The line went dead.
Then, there is a knock at the door, the girl quickly puts her drink down onto the dressing table and runs down the stair, trying not to catch her dress and trip in the heels she was in. She opens the door to find that there is no one there, she thought it was her friend. She then goes to close the door when she hears a load of banging and noises coming from the direction of the garage. She turns on the out side light and walks over to the large garage door suspiciously, opens it to find her friend lying there on the floor, covered in blood and cuts, unconscious. All that was there with her, amongst the usual garage clutter, was a torn bloody peice of paper saying ... YOU'RE NEXT.

Planning..

Mise-En-Scene Research

Our thriller opening sequence sub-genre is mystery, and by researching the different areas of Mise-en-scene such as costume, location, lighting and props, we can find out how to create a more professional and believable opening sequence.

PROPS

In our thriller, we have decided to use a number of props which will add realism and help viewers to really understand the storyline. One of the main props which we will be using is a mobile phone. This is because the character is a teenage girl and therefore always has to have her phone around her. The phone will play a large part in the narrative because when character 1 (the girl) is on the phone, the line goes dead and this is most likely to be the point where the scarier music will start. This means the phone is essential for our film to work otherwise there will be no point in which the viewer realises that something is not right. An example of a thriller in which the storyline is centred around a phone is the film 'One Missed Call'. Ours will not be as centred around a phone as this one but the phone will definitely play a significant part. Other small props will include make-up and straightners. This is because character 1 is going to begin the story by getting ready for a party in her bedroom and therefore just doing the normal girlie things such as straightening her hair and putting on her make-up. Finally a prop which we will need to get hold of is a rope. This is quite an important one as most thrillers involve a weapon for harm or threat. We have decided against using any actual violence in our opening sequence however we will need a rope as a prop to use to tie up a victim inside a garage.

LOCATION

We have decided that our main location will be at a house in an urban area. This is because it fits in best with our storyline. We wanted to have the opening sequence start off as normally as possible, with everyday life. In order to make it the thriller genre we wanted to build up tension and also; make it more believable by having an everyday situation turn very badly. The first part of the sequence will begin in the bedroom of the girl getting ready. Then after she receives the mysterious phone call from her friend, a small scene will be shot inside the house, this will include the hallway and the stairs to show that character 1 is leaving her bedroom to go outside because she hears a strange noise. Finally we will be filming just outside the house, outside the front door and also partly in the garage.

COSTUME

We have come to the conclusion for the characters, the costumes will consists of the following; for character 1 who is the main character she will be wearing a short dress in order to show she is getting ready for a night out. She will be heavily made up also. Character 2, which is the friend will be wearing a similar outfit. The difference however will be that because she has just been beaten up her dress will be ripped, and dirty etc and her make up is going to be smudged and messy. Finally character 3 who is the mystery character/murderer may feature in our film, we have not yet decided whether he will yet. If he does his costume will consist of baggy, dark clothes in order to hide the body and face. This will create mystery and questions.

LIGHTING

To begin with, the scene in the bedroom will be different to the other scenes. The lighting will be bright and well-lit in order to create an everyday scene, whilst the girl is getting ready in her bedroom. When she hears the knock at the door the lighting drastically changes because then the audience will realise the change of atmosphere. When she goes outside it will be dark and dim to create more fear, then finally in the garage scene we will try and make the lighting as dark as possible but still light enough to produce good quality filming. By making the lighting become darker throughout the opening sequence, it suggests Thriller conventions because of the build up of tension and fear.

Feedback For Our Opening Sequence Planning.

The main points we received from the group were...

• Our synopsis's were clear and came across well planned and thought out. It has helped us to now decide which genre was best to use and portray in our video, this being mystery. This was mainly because of the questions that the story-line will leave in the audiences heads making them question what might be going on.

• We have also decided that there will be restrictions when wanting to film in a public place so we have chosen to film our opening sequence at a house/rural area, we also need to be more specific about this by deciding who's house we will actually be filming at.

• It was suggested to us what music we may wish to use, basing this on our ideas this could include radio music whilst the filming takes place in the bedroom to convey the character getting ready to go out for the night. When the action of the video then begins the music could change to be come more suspense building in order to create contrast with enough tension to make the audience realise something is to follow. We haven't yet decided on which actual track we are going to use for this part, and therefore this is something we need to consider further. 

Planning...

Narrative Description:

• One of the narratives that we are considering is stalker/victim theme. This will include an obsession from the stalker towards the victim. Maybe following them around a public place - the victim of course unaware, using a camera to film their everyday lives. This would be a psychological genre. 
• Another idea we have is kidnap. This would be set on a normal day with a normal situation. Suspense would then builds up and some kind of kidnap occurs for example, someone getting ready for a night out while waiting for her friend to arrive, they hear unusual noises in the garage, where they then finds their friend unconscious. This would mean it would be of a mystery thriller. 

Sub-Genres:

• Psychological - a character has a problem in the mind, which affects the way they think and act. 
• Action - a fight, characters confront each other.
• Mystery - leaves audience with unanswered questions. 

Characters:

• Stalker/Murderer - as the antagonist, acting against victim.
• Victim - as the protagonist, narrative featured around this character. 

Suggested Locations:

• Abandoned Property - spooky feeling, good for the element of suspense. 
• Public Areas e.g. Grand Arcade shopping mall - for stalker narrative. 
• The Victim's House - for a realistic view on real life. 

Production Logo Evaluation

To make our production logo we used the program Photoshop. At first it was difficult because it was a new program to us, however after experimenting we managed to produce a successful final production logo.

We started off by using an existing image of an eye as our background. We then used the text tool to add our production name which was 'i-spy productions'. This was changed to the colour white, which we thought would look effective against the black, gloomy background, therefore making it stand out to the viewer. We then used the blur tool on the writing to give it a spooky, glowing effect. We also added special effects to the image of the eye, such as yellowing the iris and red eyeliner, this helping to convey something abnormal to the audience; also very eye-catching. To finish we added a grainy texture to the whole image to make it mysterious.

Overall we thought our logo worked well to contribute to the thriller theme, the eye, the writing and the effect all combined to produce a sinister image. 

Our Production Logo

Research Into Production Logos

DreamWorks 
The logo for DreamWorks uses bold, white font on a dark background of clouds. Due to the colour contrast of the background and font, the writing stands out a lot more to the audience. Examples of past and future releases of the thriller genre include 'What Lies Beneath' (2000) which is an American supernatural horror-thriller film. It stars a couple who experience a strange haunting that uncovers secrets about their past. 'I Am Number Four' (2011) has a action as the sub-genre. It is about a man who is a fugitive on the run from ruthless enemies sent to destroy him.





Warner Bros. Pictures 
The main colours of this logo are gold and blue which are very contrasting colours. The bold letters WB feature in the background, these are well-known and recognisable to many people. One thriller from this production company is 'Deathtrap' (1982) which is about a Broadway playwright who puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's script. Also, 'A Perfect Murder' (1998) which is a remake of the Hitchcock classic dial "M" for murder. 





20th Century Fox 
The 20th Century Fox logo is very well-known because of the grand, gold building which is surrounded by spot lights which portray a cinema feel. The writing and font is very large and bold which stands out in the evening sky, this could be to symbolise the way people tend to visit the cinema as an evening activity, therefore being very suited to it's purpose. 'Speed' (1994) is an example of a thriller from this production company, it's sub-genre is action. It is about a young cop who must save the passengers of a bus that has a bomb set to explode if the bus goes below 50 MPH. Another example is 'Hide and Seek' (2005) a psychological thriller about a widower who tries to piece together his life in the wake of his wife's suicide, his daughter finds solace at first in her imaginary friend.

Soundtrack Evaluation

Overall, we think that our soundtrack we produced as a group was fairly successful and we worked well together and produced a good piece of work!

What was successful...
We think that our soundtrack fits really well into the thriller genre and creates a good amount of tension. The tension built from the soundtrack gradually as we started with one beat and added more throughout which we thought worked effectively and gave off the right amount of tension without being too scary! We think that the soundtrack creates a mood which also fits well into the thriller genre.


What could have been better/Improvements...
In order to make our soundtrack better, if we had more time, we could have added more of a dramatic section within or at the end of the soundtrack. This would have added a more dramatic sense of tension and maybe put a bit of a twist into the opening.

Another improvement that would have bettered our soundtrack is if we had a better knowledge of garageband and therefore we could have experimented a little more with the program and added more of a variety and something different rather than using the safe option and keeping it stereotypically to the thriller genre.