Planning - Creating own storyboard - Ms Begum

Creating own storyboard

Before the production of our actual thriller product, we had to create our own storyboard. We had previous experience about storyboards as we found out what a storyboard was and looked at different types of storyboards  and now we had to put what we learnt into practice. The storyboard had helped me and my group because it made our production process have a structure and it was more organised as the back-bone of what the filming was going to be about was set by using the storyboard.

The order our storyboard was completed in:

Conclusion:

Significant amount of time was spent on creating our storyboard and deciding on the micro-elements, shot duration and other factors. However, the time spent on our storyboard had paid off because the storyboard had saved us time in our production process. Furthermore, the shot duration was essential because it made us aware of the total time that should be spent on the shots in order to get it the final product around two minutes.

Research -Mise en scene/Costume - Ms Heath

Costume

costume is the type of clothing a character wears. it is also one of the main elements in which a character is represented in a film. The typical antagonist is represented as wearing the colour black or dark colours. However, the typical protagonist is portrayed as wearing the colour white or relatively light colours compared to the antagonist.

From this image from ‘Halloween’ we can clearly address that this character is the antagonist by the costume he is wearing. The jumper and jacket is shown as being dirty, ripped and worn out which clarifies the character as being ruthless and rough. it also causes other characters to feel frightened towards him and shows the evil nature of the character. The dark gloves also is used to represent that the antagonist is trying to hide his identity along with the mask.  

On the other hand, we see that a potential victim which is a young body lady wearing a white plain jumper. The white jumper represents her as being pure and innocent. The white jumper is plain and does not consist of any form of defence for the victim, which outlines that she is defenceless against a attack from the protagonist and significantly weaker which would result in her being in trouble.

To conclude, looking into costumes has helped me gather significant amount of ideas for my own thriller. I'am now also aware of the conventional costumes different characters in thrillers wear. more importantly I now know the type of costume that an antagonist tends to wear and the type of costumes a victim wears. The colour also plays a key role in representing costumes as I'am now aware of the light clothing associated by a victim and a protagonist and dark colours being associated for an antagonist.

Research - Mise en scene/Iconography- Ms Heath

Iconography

What is iconography?

Iconography is an element of Mise en scene. It refers to the objects that you can see in a specific scene and the meaning that these objects have on the scene. For example the iconography that is conventional to thriller tend to be knives, large scissors hammers and other various objects that can cause harm and build tension within the audience.

Conventional iconography from thrillers:

Our research included looking into various amount of thrillers that convey the use of iconography in an effective way. Moreover we were also knowledgeable of the specific meaning that they had. In this specific scene from the 'Scream' franchise, there is iconography used as we can see the antagonist ‘ghost face’ holding a knife which is covered in blood. This gives the image that the antagonist is ready to use this weapon again as its been used before by the blood on the knife. His approach with his hand held high with the weapon on his hand implies that his ready to cause harm at any moment. Likewise, the other image from the thriller ‘unknown’ there is also a knife that’s been used as a form of iconography to imply to the audience that the blonde lady is in trouble.

During the opening credits of ‘se7en’ we can see scissors, needles and books that have been shown as forms of iconography. This has been used to create the sense that the film is based on mystery and to cause confusion and interest within the audience at the start of the film.

To conclude, the iconography element of Mise en scene is essential in thriller films because the objects themselves can cause tension within the audience such as a knife that has been shown. The audience is left having thoughts about what would happen with the knife or the other objects. Moreover, this research into iconography has gave me a broad idea on the iconography I could use in my thriller, and the specific iconography which are relevant to use in specific scenes. 

Planning - Preliminary Task - Ms Begum

Preliminary Task

Intro:

The Preliminary task is learning how to operate and use a camera. I gained experience and had a first feel on how to operate a camera. I captured different cinematography, Including angles, sizes and movements. This had helped me gain significant experience before shooting my actual film. the preliminary task was significant to do because it gave us an idea about who in our group was and wasn't comfortable behind the camera. Another factor which makes the preliminary task important is that it make us familiar with the editing stage in which we edited our footage.



What took place in our footage:

 We chose to base the preliminary task on a student in school who was trying to get away and hide from a bully.  In a group we discussed how the actor should feel and how he should act throughout the preliminary and we agreed on the actor which was being Kay feeling frightened and wanted to get away as far as possible. In which it also included dialogue in which he was talking to himself and questioning what he should do. We also acknowledged that there would be a variety of editing techniques in which we could add to the footage.

What we learned:

The preliminary task had taught us a number of essentials that we had to consider for our own footage. The first thing was that we were familiar with after the preliminary task was the different shots and effects that they had. As shown in the example, we had used a high angle shot to portray the actor as being defenceless and weak. In which we understood that this would imply that character as being the victim in the scene. Another shot we put into practise was the Poing Of View shot. This was where the victim character was walking in the corridor with steady steps anxious about being spotted. Therefore we learnt that the Point Of View shot could be conventional to use in our thriller specific opening. 

Another factor that we had learned from the preliminary task was that we should always film extra footage. This was because that the more footage we had increases the chances of having a better end product. Moreover in the editing stage some irrelevant parts in scenes get edited and deleted so we should be completely sure that the amount of footage is enough to use.

Difficulties:

There were some aspects of the preliminary task that we found challenging. A factor that we found difficult was the relationship between the character that’s acting and camera operator. At times the camera operator would start the scene too late or early, or the character would respond too late or too early which resulted in taking the scene again. However, after couple of times this did not occur as the relationship between the operator and the actor improved.

Next factor that we found challenging was the external factors such as people that were not part of the footage crossing the scene. We had to be patient and had to concentrate on timing while taking the shots, this was because we done the preliminary task in school. This problem would not have much relevance to our actual footage because when we take our actual footage it would be planned and we would make sure that these external factors would not have an impact on it.

After we took the footage:

After filming we had to edit our shots. We had used the ‘Final cut pro’ programme to do so. As this was our first feel on editing, as a group we had face some problems such as getting used to using the programme as well as the mac. However, out of our group the role of the editor was shared between me and Kay because were able to use the programme. Moreover, we also determined the camera operator as being Jessica because she was the best skilled member of the group during filming the footage.

Conclusion:

This task has been essential in creating my actual thriller because of a number of reasons. Most importantly it made me aware of what we had to do and the steps we had to go through to make our footage successful. Furthermore it made me aware of the cinematography techniques that we could use to make a conventional thriller such as the high angle shots and the Point Of View shots. We were also able to determined the role of who the editor and the camera operator would be within our group. The task also enhanced our group work and the relationship between all the members in our group because it made us aware of our strengths and weaknesses within the group

Research - Questionnaire - Ms Gibbings

Questionnaires

Intro:
In the Questionnaire task i had to create a set of questions in which i had to give out to people in which they would answer using their own preference and then this would give me an idea about what i should include in my thriller, also I would be aware of the target audience of the thriller genre and what the target audience would require to see in the film. The questions consisted of open or closed answers.

Questions:

What is your gender? Male/Female


What is your age group? 11-14    15-17   18-25   25+











Do you enjoy watching thrillers? please state below.











Roughly, how many thriller films have you watched? 0-3    4-8    9-12   13+


What sub-genre do you enjoy most? 

• Crime thriller
• Action thriller
• Psychological thriller
• Science fiction thriller
• Religious thriller

What is your favourite thriller film? please state below.


would the trailer of a thriller make you decide if you should watch the film or not? Yes/No


What is the most appealing factor of a thriller film?

• storyline
• director
• actors/actresses
• tittle

What do you think is the most significant factor that makes a successful thriller?


How significant would the opening of a thriller be in reference to the whole thriller? Please chose one.

• Very significant
• Significant
• Not so significant
• Not significant at all

Conclusion:
After conducting my questionnaire I had drawn out some significant factors about how different people feel about the thriller genre. The first point that I was able to see was that the higher the age of the person was  the larger amount of thriller films they had watched. Therefore, the thriller genre is not popular amongst under the age of 15. Therfore, i knew that I should aim my thriller product to audience who is 15 or over. In the favourite thriller film question the films ' se7en ' and ' Taken ' were the most popular thriller films that were watched. I should consider following the conventions of the two films in constructing my thriller opening. This task helped me with my thriller opening research because it made me familiar with the demands of the audience and i was knowledgeable about what the audience would expect from a thriller. Also factors such as what appeals to the audience and the sub genres were points that i needed to take into consideration because if I follow the guidelines of what the audience expect and prefer this would enhance the popularity and success of my thriller opening.