Individual Storyboard - Miss Miller

Individual Storyboard

The purpose of a storyboard is to ensure organisation, structure and order. Having a storyboard makes each stage of the film a lot more clearer with knowledge of how each scene progresses to the next. Storyboards are used in film planning so that everyone involved in the making of the film can see clearly what their film is going to be like and how it is going to be set out and what is the content of each frame. Filming time is then extended as, there is no time wasted on trying to organise what needs to be filmed and how from the way a storyboard would have already been previously created.

We have created individual storyboard's before creating a group one to allow each individual the opportunity to express their own ideas. Then, we can incorporate these different ideas together to make sure that every group member's ideas are inputted and a best possible sequence can be make as a result. The combination of all group members' ideas merged together makes the thriller a lot more stronger conventionally, for example, one individual could suggest a good idea the others hadn't thought of, and so can share this idea which can be inputted into the sequence. I hope that my individual post will help when planning my group one as I believe some of my ideas are worthy of sharing likewise with my other group members' ideas. I hope I can serve a good contribution to our final group storyboard combined with my other group members' ideas to create a more successful and effective thriller sequence.

This is my individual storyboard:

My storyboard consists of 36 frames. It shows how a girl is walking home with two friends and they have to go their separate ways (the two friends together and the girl left on her own). The girl finds herself walking through the forest and begins to hear many strange noises - voices to be specific. She continues her journey, however, still is frequently hearing these noises as she carries on. She calls her mum in panic who doesn't pick up and a shot of the girl and a masked man is shown on screen, however, the girl is not aware of his presence. She carries on walking and hears the noise again to turn around to a masked man blocking her path. She runs away and finds him out of sight only to see him once again. This time she runs but he catches her arm with a knife. She carries on running but her knife wound begins to bleed quite heavily and as she notices this, she slows down. The antagonist is no longer in sight and the girl is left staring at her arm. She becomes drowsy and lost at the sights of her wound and faints. The screen then blacks out and this is the end of the sequence. Low-key lighting is an element shown throughout to create this unknowing atmosphere and suspense from the lack of view in which the audience have. This will leave them feeling on edge and tense as they are unable to view the scene as it really is with everything distinctively in sight. There will be extreme close up shots included for example in frames 10 and 25. This allows the audience to relate to the character a lot more as they are able to see their emotions in much more close up detail. Because of the screen covered by the extreme close up of the character, it restricts the view of the rest of the scene and so creates suspicion within the audience. Furthermore, violent iconography is included and introduced in frame 29. Audiences will feel on edge as they will clearly be able to see the use of iconography used, a knife. It is also not revealed until near the end of the sequence, so, there is a whole build up of tension throughout the sequence until finally when the knife is revealed. This creates a climax and more of an impact on the audience making them feel worried for the victim. The audience are expected to be surprised, shocked and feel suspense towards the sequence from the sudden appearance of the antagonist for example. They are expected to feel what a thriller intends to make them feel which is those 3 elements as stated because it is what they expect and want to feel. I have taken inspirations from films for example Se7en. Throughout the opening sequence of Se7en, the antagonist's identity is not revealed and I think this is very effective and is what I have taken into account when creating my storyboard. 

Each of our individual ideas will need to be taken on and this will be done by each reviewing and analysing each other's work, finding which parts in each individual sequence is most effective. I hope that my ideas are taken onboard such as the shot where the antagonist is stood behind the victim - visible to the audience but invisible to the victim. I think this shot is really effective because once the shot changes to another one then back to that same shot the antagonist is then gone, creating suspense from the fact that the audience were able to witness him there and then gone unknowing as to where he has disappeared to. 

Overall, I believe that my storyboard is fairly good. There are elements that work well and elements that don't. For example, the reaction/medium shots work well as their specific positioning compliment the scene well in order to create suspense. However, at the beginning my storyboard shows a slight drag of the shots which was intended to build up tension, however, when actually coming to film could be difficult to do so. The final group storyboard will probably have many more frames than my individual one as. I left part of our narrative out as, I found it was difficult to create a variation in shots for some parts, particularly the beginning. This will be resolved however, by complying all of our ideas together to ensure that lack of variation doesn't occur.

I have found this post helpful with regards to filming our sequence because it has allowed me to express my own individual ideas before discussing with my group. This then allows my ideas as well as my group members' to be taken into account in order to create the most successful thriller possible. 

Planning Opening Credits - Miss Georgiou

Planning Opening Credits

The purpose to opening credits is to give the film a proper opening and an introduction. The actors, directors, producers etc are introduced and this may attract members of the audience from their knowing of a person that has had an input in the film. This gives the audience a better feel for the film and gives them an idea as to if they are likely to enjoy it. From the particular use of font and colour for example, the audience can also make inferences as to what they can expect from the film from these particular aspects of the opening credits as these factors create specific intended moods and atmospheres. 

To help plan for our opening credits we analysed the opening credits from the thriller 'Se7en'. The colours that it uses is black and white which is effective as it's conventional to the thriller genre because white connotes innocence and purity, demonstrating the victim whereas black connotes death which could illustrate the antagonist/killer. As a whole, the colours are dark and murky throughout with low-key lighting which creates a enigmatic atmosphere - which is conventional to the thriller genre, as mystery needs to be created to ensure it is successful. The style of the credits shows the flashing up of the names which is unbalanced and makes the audience feel on edge as it isn't exactly pleasant for the eye. The font is also quite odd and looks as if someone has written it themselves, which demonstrates quite a mental, unstable and psychopathic image. This is conventional to the thriller genre as there is always a character that isn't 100% mentally stable, therefore, this use of style presents this character clearly. The only time in which the credits blur out to a black scene is when the title appears which creates emphasis on the title. The flashes of the credits compliment the tempo and rhythm of the eerie soundtrack played in the background which means it is conventional to the thriller genre. The jerky movements create suspense and discomfort as you are not quite sure what is going to happen next. Therefore, it is conventional to the thriller genre as suspense is one of the main key elements that a thriller needs to create. There are also sharp objects shown throughout such as a needle, which is conventional as these objects could be used in order to kill. Furthermore, you do not see who's hands the credits feature is, so as an audience we infer that is is the antagonist hatching a plan from the progressions of shots that are portrayed gradually. This is conventional as hidden identity of a character is a typical convention featured in a thriller. The order of appearance is as follows: the production company, director, actor, title of film, actors continued, casting, music, costumes, editors, production, camera operator, co-producer, producer, writers and then director. From this particular order of appearance, it allows the most known people involved to be first and last as they are the names that the audience pay most attention to and so will attract them to the film.

The image below is my opening credits design which I have tried to ensure is conventional to the thriller genre - through the characteristics I have considered. 

I have used red and black in colour as red connotes danger, while back connoted death. I felt this was appropriate for our film as danger and death are very much part of it and what happens in the narrative. Both colours are used quite boldly in my opening credits design and the black trickles out across the screen to reveal the title. This black trickling gives the image of blood and because of how dark and much there is on screen, the audience feel on edge as it can be inferred that there may be a brutal death included in the film. This use of black and red and the vision of blood is conventional to the thriller genre because they all symbolise danger and hurt as well as death, which are all things that are included in pretty much every thriller. This has to somehow be illustrated and so having this for opening credits does demonstrate this, giving the audience what they are expecting to see. I have positioned the title in the centre of the screen as I believe that the centre is the focus point. This is the part of the screen where the eyes seem to naturally draw to, so having the title eye-catching and central makes the title easily visible and have more of an impact from it's instant recognisable position. The title is in capitals making it more bold and definite, as well as intense. The way that the title's font is unevenly sketchy creates more a rough look to the title, it doesn't portray an immaculate, clean image which shows that the film may have lots of rough sorts of scenes. This is conventional to the thriller genre as with a straight-forward font title, you may not get the boldness yet sketchy look that you want to create. This use of font creates a sense of enigma from the unusual, interesting characteristics of it which is key in a thriller film. The black edge of the screen creates a sense of entrapment from the way it fades into the middle. This is conventional to the thriller genre as may characters are in fact trapped in some sort of way in a thriller and so this reflects the situation in which the characters are in.

This is the opening credits design of one of my group members, Alfie. There are many strengths to his design for example, the interesting, unique way in which it has a date, time and camera type shown. This creates a sense of realism and makes the credits create more of an impact because it's as if a character is filming what is on the screen. This is also appropriate for our narrative as the antagonist is stalking someone, and this use of camera is as if it's from the antagonist's point of view. He has also used red and black, likewise with my design so this use of colour is clearly a shared preference within our group. The font used is also a strength from the way it is blurred and is captivating to the eye, it's interesting and different so attracts the audience. The only weakness that I could say is that it is quite plain, which isn't conventional to the thriller genre because it doesn't create suspense but other than this, Alfie's design is conventional to the thriller genre and would be appropriate for our thriller. 

This is the opening credits design of one of my group members, Danny. His design is similar to mine from the use of colour - black and red but also from the fact that he has this image of blood, however his is red on black and mine is black on red. Danny's portrays the image of blood more clearly than mine so this is a strength as the colour is the same as what blood would be, so creates a sense of realism, which means the audience can relate a lot more - therefore, this is conventional to the thriller genre. Also, his use of font is quite eerie and the sharp, pointed ends of the letters give an intense, edgy look that could symbolise the sharpness of knives used in our thriller. This is conventional to the thriller genre as knives are violent, typical iconography featured in thrillers as a killing weapon. The only weakness I could say is that Danny's design is also quite plain and the majority of black has no texture to the colour. If something was around the edge it may be more eye-catching and unique. Apart from this, his design is very much conventional to the thriller genre.

As all of our individual designs are very much similar, we are most likely to merge all of our designs together until we're happy with a final collaborated result. Our credits will firstly show the actors included in our film and then followed by he directors, producers, editors and sound. This will therefore, allow the audience to see which names they recognise and attract them to watch the film. Short scene clips will be shown throughout so it is introducing the film's narrative at the same time as the people behind all the work. 

Planning Editing - Miss Georgiou

Planning Editing

Editing styles are important to include within a thriller film because the editing is one of the key elements that help to create suspense, shock and surprise in a thriller - which is important as it makes a film more successful. These 3 elements alone engage the audience and make them build a relationship with the characters in the film. Therefore, the different uses of editing make the film more interesting as using a filter for example, is different and not what an audience is used to viewing. This makes them want to watch more, keeping then engaged and captivated in what they are watching.

Within my group, we made sure than we planned the editing for our sequence carefully as this is an element that will cause great impact to the audience. This is evidence of our planning:

One type of editing in which we will use is a montage. We will use this style of editing in our sequence when the protagonist is having flashbacks from previous times in the sequence and also when the protagonist discovers pictures of herself that the antagonist has been taking (without her realising). We will use it in these places to - particularly the flashbacks as they are included to represent character's feelings and thoughts and so, create a build up of suspense and tension from the quick speed of the shots juxtaposed together - which is what we intend. This speed will reflect the victim's emotions - the flush of panic that immediately overcomes her. It will allow the audience to feel hooked as they have to pay more attention to the close detail that is in the scene. This creates a relationship between the victim and audience especially in the discovering of these 'stalked' photographs as the audience feel sympathetic towards Chloe. Audiences also sense foreboding they feel weary of the character who has been taking the pictures of Chloe. A montage is conventional to the thriller genre as it is a great way to create variation, and build suspense and surprise. Also, it can be used to build up to a climax which will create more of an impact as more shock will be created. Moreover, it emphasises the panic that the victim is feeling and this then creates more of an impact on the audience as this feeling is reflected onto them, making them empathise with the character more. It's important to have this relationship between the characters and the audience as it keeps them gripped to the scenes that roll on screen - this is why it is conventional to the thriller genre.

Another use of editing in our sequence will be filters. This will be used throughout to make the scene appear darker than it actually is. Having the scene darker, makes things in the scene such as characters more unrecognisable and restricts the view of certain objects. This creates a tense atmosphere and makes the audience fear the unknown as their view is slightly distorted, leaving them in suspense - exactly what we want them to feel. This will help to make our thriller conventional as from the unknowing of what may be lurking, a tense, suspenseful atmosphere is created which makes the audience feel on edge. Furthermore, the audience will feel more empathetic towards the characters (the victim in-particular) as they are witnessing the same as the characters themselves. Therefore, they are in the same situation and feel the fear that the characters feel too. The audience also get that feeling where they get a sense of foreboding but don't know whether to look at the screen or not - this is a typical convention in a thriller as to how the audience are intended to react. 

Reaction shots will also be used throughout our sequence. They will be evident when the protagonist/victim sees the antagonist properly for the first time. We will use it here to represent accurate expressions of the victim and so build a relationship between the audience and the victim. The use of a reaction shot allows the audience to see the expression of a particular character in reaction to an event that has just occurred. Therefore, the audience feel tense as they won't know what the victim has seen specifically (which creates suspense), they have to infer and judge from the victim's facial expressions. Reaction shots will help to make our sequence conventional to the thriller genre as in many thrillers, numerous and frequent events occur. With this in mind, reaction shots allow the expression of every character affected to be auctioned into the limelight. The audience then have a feel for every character affected and especially from a tragic, scary sight, the character's are demonstrated as weak and fearful which makes the audience feel sympathetic towards them. This makes a relationship between the characters and audience easily formed as they are able to witness the character in a more direct way, seeing what makes the react in certain ways. Furthermore, reactions of the characters may shock, surprise or cause the audience to feel suspenseful - 3 main elements that should be created to ensure a thriller is successful.

A rewind sequence will also be evident in our sequence. This will be when the flashback occurs - the rewinding of certain parts in the sequence will make up this rewind sequence. We will use it here as it allows the audience to see what the victim is feeling leaving them hooked on the scene but also empathetic towards this character. Moreover, there is a better understanding of the character from the audience's point of view because they feel more personal to them. This rewind sequence will also be fast-paced which will cause a tense atmosphere and represent the quick build up of the emotion of panic that the victim is feeling. The way that the sequence is being visibly rewound escapes the sense of normality and so the audience feel hooked as it's unusual and different. However, it is still conventional to the thriller genre as many thrillers are psychological and show rewind sequences in flashbacks as it shows a great insight into the complex mind of a complex character. Furthermore, it allows the audience to reflect on previous events in the sequence that they may not have payed attention to as intricately after the first viewing. Therefore, what is in the rewind sequence or what the rewind sequence compliments in the scene may shock or surprise viewers which is important because these elements are conventional to the thriller genre. 

I have found planning our editing very helpful as it will prepare us for the actual editing of our sequence, giving us direct insight as to what we need to make sure we do. As well as this, we are able to recognise the reasons for why we are including each chosen editing technique and what effects and impacts on the audience in which they will have.

Planning Characters - Miss Miller

Planning Characters

The purpose of the including of characters is important as it people need to build relationships with the audience to make them enjoy the film a lot more and be more intrigued in what they are watching. Planning them needs to be done carefully as each character needs to play a specific role in the sequence. The more planning done, the more accurate the characters are and closer to what they are intended to be like. 

This is evidence of my group planning our characters:

The antagonist (played by Alfie) is a male character named Marius. This is quite a foreign sounding name and suits the way he acts as an antagonist, making him more suspicious. He has dark hair, dark eyes and is about 5'11 with an age of 26. However, this will not be visible in our sequence as his identity is going to be hidden throughout, to create more suspense and tension for the audience to feel. He does have a scar across his face which is  very distinctive to his character and suggests the rough way of life in which he leads - this will make the audience weary of him, giving them an insight as to what he could be like. He is a mentally challenged individual who has recently lost both parents and put on the psychopath register. He's out for revenge against anyone who has ever offended him - eve from childhood days. He will be stalking the protagonist and seeks her death among him. Marius is stereotypical to the thriller genre as most antagonists in thrillers have some kind of mental instability. Therefore, the actions that he commits may not be accounted for as his fault, but it creates controversial opinions between audiences asking if the actions he takes are really him. Mental individuals are extremely unpredictable and don't give much in the way of clues as to how they are going to act next. This makes the narrative unexpected and full of surprise, shock and suspense, further supporting it being conventional to the thriller genre. 

In our sequence the protagonist is an innocent, female student named Chloe (played by myself). Chloe is 25, has dark hair, blue eyes and is roughly 5'5. She appears to have no enemies of her knowing, with a stereotypical nuclear family making her unpredictable for the antagonist to want to kill - creating suspicion and wonder. She is around the same age as our target audience meaning that the audience can relate a lot easier to her as she is so alike to them, which makes the relationship between the two, stronger. Moreover, they can imagine themselves in her position and so feel worried and sympathetic but also empathetic towards her. Chloe is a typical vulnerable female victim and throughout portrays her lack of hope in getting out of a heart-rendering situation. She is conventional because of these reasons and the fact that there needs to be a weak character, who happens to be the victim so that the audience can feel sympathetic towards a character and also that a sense of foreboding is created. Her innocent and vulnerable ways could make the audience feel more of an impact as they may get frustrated with the way she goes about situations as they may have done differently. This is from the way the audience can witness more than the character themselves, so want to try and help the character the best they can but know that something bad is going to happen anyway, simply because of Chloe's nature. 

There is also the antagonist's assistant (played by Danny) named Tony who is a male, aged 36. He has dark hair, brown eyes and is roughly 5'10 and owns a dog which is with him throughout the sequence. Tony is very much known in the town for his reputation of being 'the local drunk' who is rarely out of the pub. Furthermore, he doesn't have much in the way of family with no wife or kids, or evidence of any other apart from his dog (as mentioned). Tony is also unemployed and his age and background suggests he may be reckless as he doesn't have much to loose which makes the audience weary and suspicious of his character. He will be in the forest throughout our sequence, helping Marius to stalk Chloe and from the frequent appearances of his the audience feel extremely suspicious and so begin to take notice of him. Chloe will be able to see Tony, however, his full identity is hidden. Tony is conventional to the thriller genre as there is always a shady character in a thriller that appears to have no significance when in fact is part of the reason as to why some events occur. Without Tony, Marius may not be able to commit some of the actions he undertakes. A relationship is built between Tony and the audience, as Tony just appears as a normal man walking his dog in the forest when in fact he isn't. When the audience recognise this they are worried for what's to come as they realise he isn't normal.

All of our characters are conventional to the thriller genre in different ways from their specific characteristics as mentioned. Therefore, they will emphasise the genre of the sequence as audiences will be able to recognise each particular character and begin to notice how they work and their way of thinking. The planning for the characters has been helpful, as it has made it clear what way in which the characters will be acted in our filming and also has created a more accurate, true and genuine picture of what we intended each character to be like. 

Mise-En-Scene Planning - Miss Georgiou

Mise-En-Scene Planning

Mise-en-scene is vital to plan when creating a film as it is everything that is put in the scene. This needs to be planned as it is what is most noticeable throughout and to make an opening sequence capitvating and successful, this needs to be thoroughly thought out.

Setting & Iconography
Firstly, the setting throughout our opening sequence is going to be in the forest, with not much in the way of surroundings. This illustrates an isolated area and helps create suspense as it gives a lack of hope for the victim to seek any help that they may need. Furthermore, the forest is a setting in which everyone is aware of aswell as the stories that come with them. This will add a sense of normality but also weariness for the audience as many tragic stories are created in the presence of a forest. Therefore, the audience feel more empathetic towards the characters that appear here as it gives them the feeling that the character could be them and the viewer could in fact be unwillingly in their position. The forest having so many trees surrounding the footpath also creates a sense on entrapment as it's like the trees are closing in on the characters and there is no escape. Having this setting is conventional to the thriller genre as it is isolated, in the middle of nowhere and so creates a sense of foreboding. In the forest, some view may be restricted and there is lots of space for something to be lurking and so creates suspense as the audience are unknowing as to what is in the forest with the other characters - especially the victim. As well as this, it is what our target audience want to see as this setting proved popular when we carried out our questionnaire for research.

Iconography in which we will use will be a knife. This will be used against the protagonist by the antagonist in an unskillful manner. The audience know that a knife in the wrong hands can cause all sorts of harm, so the fact that this knife is placed is the hands of a mentally unstable psychopath gets them on the edge of their seat. A knife is an everyday object, meaning that the audience know of its capabilities and so, a sense of foreboding is created from the way they know that the knife is in the wrong hands. From the emphasis in which we will make through the use of cinematography for example, it will be a reoccuring image that will show its significance in the sequence. This use of iconography is conventional to the thriller genre as is it violent and makes a more personal and gory murder as apposed to a gun, for example. The killer has to be up close with their victim in order to cause any kind of harm, however, with a gun you can still kill someone but with much further distance. Using a knife gives the impression that the killer is a lot more reckless and cold-hearted as they make the death a lot more brutal. These reasons are why the use of a knife is conventional to the thriller genre.

Lighting & Colour
The lighting and colour in our sequence is going to be low-key throughout. This will create a tense atmosphere because low-key lighting restricts certain views and so, the audience are unknowing of some of the aspects/characters that may lurk. The dimness of the lighting makes the identities of the characters a lot more unidentifiable too and therefore, the audience feel on edge. Furthermore, it suggests a lateness in the time of day and the later the time of day, the less people there are around which creates suspense especially when Tony is seen walking around in the forest. The colour will also be altered to make the scenes appear darker and less tonal, making the colours that may appear resplendant to become dull and murky which will compliment the atmosphere and situation in the scene. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it contributes to helping the 3 main elements to a successful thriller in being portrayed - suspense, shock and surprise. Low-key lighting is present in most thrillers as it also supports many audiences fear of the dark.

Costume, Hair & Makeup
The costume for each character will be relatively similar as a whole. Colours will be black or dark in the tones of black so, grey for example. Chloe will be wearing normal clothes however, this will be the only kind of colour that should be evident between the 3 characters. Tony will be in some sort of tracksuit in a shade of black and likewise with Marius - dark clothing. This will demonstrate their dangerous character, as black connotes danger or hazard which will leave the audience feeling weary of both of them. The way Chloe will be in normal clothes and even some white, will show her pureness and innocence, which is what we intend to try and get across to the audience. This is important as, in a thriller it is conventional to have a vulnerable and innocent victim which is what Chloe is - this makes her costume conventional to the thriller genre. Tony and Marius' costumes are also conventional to the thriller genre as they are dark and dull which portrays their dangerous, negative character which every thriller has to contain. This gives the audiences hints as to what they are like as antagonists. Tony and Marius will also have a mask on so that their identity is hidden which is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates suspense and wodner as to who this mysterious character may be.

Hair for Chloe is going to be normal and casual - down and straight, as we want to give the impression that she is a victim entering a situation off-guard. Making her appearance seem casual allows this sense of normality to be felt by the audience and so creates more of a shock and surprise when something does happen to her. Tony is also going to have a relatively casual hairstyle as he is suppsoed to be represented as a normal everyday person in the forest with no motive apart from walking his dog. It may however, be party scruffy to show his lack of care and the fact that he needs not to impress anyone. Finally Marius' hair will also be casual, however, this will not be visible so it is not as important as the other characters.

Not much makeup will be used in the way of makeup for our sequence. To create this sense of normality, we didn't want to go mad so that it made the sequence seem unrealistic. Chloe will be wearing the makeup of an everyday female, Tony will not be wearing any makeup and Marius will just be wearing makeup to give the illusion that he has a scar on his face. This needs to be created because the actor (Alfie) does not have this feature.

Facial Expressions & Body Language
The facial expressions and body language will be different depending on which character is portraying them. Firstly, Chloe's facial expressions will show panic and the fear in which she feels from the presence of the antagonist. Her body language will show fragility, however, will show effort when attempting to escape the antagonist. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the vulnerability of this character has to be portrayed to the audience for them to be able to identify her as the female victim. Tony's facial expressions will be fairly natural and his body language will be slightly shifty (looking around, distinctive way of walking). This creates a suspicious feel for his character therefore, making him conventional to the thriller genre. Marius, as the antagonist will have forceful body language and his facial expressions will not be seen as they will be hidden. The violent way in which his body language is shows his lack of care, demonstrating his cold-hearted nature - conventional to the thriller genre.

Positioning of Characters/Objects
The positioning of characters/objects will not be in any sort of particular form. Chloe's encounter with Marius causes the fluctuation of distance between the two characters. Having this is conventional to the thriller genre, as the victim and antagonist in a thriller have to get close in order to cause suspense, tension and a sense of foreboding. Tony will be fairly close to Chloe from the frequent passings by of her. Pictures of Chloe may also be pinned to trees that will cause a scare to Chloe as they will be positioned in her path. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates the shock and surprise element intended, from the way that a negative, dangerous character manages to get so close to the innocent victim.

Planning the mise-en-scene for our sequence has been helpful as it has given us a much better idea of how we are going to film and what we need to make sure is included. Our planning for mise-en-scene is conventional to the thriller genre in may different ways, as mentioned above.

Group Planning - Miss Georgiou

Group Planning

My group consists of Danny Wheeler, Alfie Harris and myself. Group meetings are essential to have because it helps in planning our sequence and ensuring that each person's individual ideas are put across. This way, more ideas are developed and better ideas become a result of this and a final idea is agreed. Furthermore, it helps the group be more organised with a clear idea of what needs to be filmed and why. 

In our first group meeting we discussed our different individual narrative ideas. We then combined all three narratives to create a narrative we were all happy and content with. By combining our ideas, we were able to create a narrative which was a lot stronger conventionally than our original individual ones. Therefore, this will increase the success of our thriller sequence as it has more than one viewpoint of it. With all of us being happy with our sequence, it will increase the percentage of people that will enjoy it and like it themselves. After thorough discussion, we decided on a narrative that consists of a girl who is being stalked by a craze man who's intention is to kill her. 

For our next meeting, we came together and had discussions on the following elements: 
Mise-en-scene
Cinematography
Soundtrack
Editing
Target Audience/Age Certificate
Codes and Conventions of a Thriller Film
Research Carried Out/Thriller Film Inspirations
Representation of Characters
We then wrote all of our ideas down to plan for our own sequence and ensure that all individual ideas were taking into account and inputted into our group planning. We aimed to get as many ideas down as possible so that we could narrow them down to our best ones
Here is evidence of our planning of these elements:

We will follow the codes and conventions of a thriller through our planning as we know that we have to in order to make our sequence the best it can be and as successful as possible. Each element has been planned from inspirations from each of our research from previous posts. Therefore, having inspiration from existent thrillers will mean that our thriller opening will be stronger conventionally as we have more knowledge and research on what is expected to be included in a thriller. 

Our next group meeting was to plan editing styles, opening credits and the characters in which we were to include in our sequence. For planning our editing, we constructed a table to list all of the different ideas we had individually came up with. This means that, our ideas were clear and set out in an orderly, organised manner allowing for easy analysis. After looking upon the ideas, we discussed which ones would strengthen the conventionality to the thriller genre and decided which ones would be most appropriate and effective. We decided to go with the use of a dim filter throughout the sequence to create a consistent dark and eerie atmosphere all the way through the sequence. As well as this, we had to think about how we were going to create a tense effect for our montage and so we decided that we would use fast editing by speeding up the clips and also using flashes between clips within the montage as this illustrates clearly that it is a montage of what she is thinking and flashing back to previous events in the sequence. With opening credits, we discussed what font and colour we would like our title to be shown as. This is the most important credit as it is the one that is supposed to attract the audience the most. After some thorough discussion we decided that keeping the credits simple with a black screen for the title was most effective and common within thriller films. We decided to have a sound aswell to emphasise the presence of the title on screen and more impactable on the audience. With the production roles, we decided to graduate them into the sequence in the different shots where a gap for them was existent. The characters in our thriller had to be discussed in detail and so our 3 characters all had to be distinctive to their individual personalities. We created a brainstorm for each character as to how we would like them to be portrayed and how we would achieve this through different characteristics such as body language and costume. For example, Chloe, our student character is dressed in smart uniform to display this occupation.

The next group meeting in which we have was to discuss and plan our group storyboard. To complete the group storyboard we combined our individual storyboard ideas to create a strong conventional storyboard that succeeds the expectation of a typical thriller storyboard. We developed a detailed storyboard that clearly demonstrated the contents of each frame including the actors, editing and sound. For each frame we also drew a sketch of what generally we wanted the scene to look like.

Our next group meeting was to plan our filming schedule and risk assessment. For the filming schedule we discussed the days in which we would all be available to film and planned what we would film on particular days. We resulted in a table that is organised in a way that we all clearly knew the agenda for each filming day. We then discussed what we would do for our risk assessment, and discussed the different risks that are possible to occur. We noted these possible risks down and then wrote how we could resolve and prevent these risks from occurring. This ensures that our filming process would be as safe as possible.     

After this, we filmed our sequence and created an opening sequence rough cut after editing.

Below is a table demonstrating the various group meetings in which we had to ensure that group planning was being kept consistent and up to date:

Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Planning Sound

Sound is important in films as it creates the atmosphere intended. Without sound, everything including the narrative would not make sense and would be extremely difficult for an audience to follow. Planning sound is required in order to produce excellent sequences because each sound inputted or existent in a sequence has to have a purpose and planning these sounds ensures that the purpose is achieved. Sound is vital to compliment what is on screen at the time, so that parallel sound is created - which makes the scenes a lot easier to follow and understand. 

This is evidence from my group's planning of sound:

One sound technique in which we will use in our opening sequence will be a non-diegetic soundtrack. This will be eerie and dark to create a sense of discomfort and an unpleasant feeling from the audience's point of view, as it will compliment the distressing scenes of the victim being stalked/chased - this is the reason why we will be using this type of sound. It will be used when the antagonist is in shot and also the build up of a 'jump' scene where the antagonist pops up unexpectedly. We are aiming to make the audience feel the same as the victim (fearful, weary and on edge) from the use of this eerie soundtrack. The slow tempo of the soundtrack at the beginning reflects the calm emotions in which the victim is feeling. However, when the victim realises she is being followed, her emotions start to demonstrate panic and stress which is mirrored in the soundtrack from the quicker tempo and the crescendo build up. The soundtrack emphasises the situation currently in the scene and what the vicim is experiencing so makes a relationship between the audience and the victim to develop more easily as they feel empathetic towards the victim. Our non-diegetic eerie soundtrack is conventional to the thriller genre as it's not a natural sounding soundtrack that is nice to listen to. It's unpleasant and uncomfortable to listen to, making the audience feel a sense of foreboding from the dark and dreary atmosphere in which the soundtrack creates. In thrillers, it is conventional to have the audience feeling on edge and empathetic towards characters and this is what our soundtrack achieves.

Another use of sound included in our sequence will be off screen sound. We will use it in numerous ways, one of them being for the frequent hearing of the voice of the antagonist and the crunching of the leaves from the footsteps of the antagonist. We will use it here as it gives a hint that the antagonist is present in the scene but nobody is sure whereabouts as there he is not visibly in shot. Therefore, this creates a build up of tension and suspense as well as causing a relationship to be built between the audience and the victim as the audience feel sympathetic towards her, making them feel worried for her and thinking about how they would feel in her position and what they would do. The way the voices and leaves crunching is sound that doesn't have the support of a cause shown visibly, it makes the audience also feel on edge and surprises them as at certain places, these sounds are unexpected. The voices in-particular demonstrate the emotions of the antagonist from the tone of the voices in which are heard. This ives the audience a better feel for the antagonist, giving them more insight to their identity, however, this increases their suspense as they feel they want to find out more about this mysterious character. Off screen sounds show no primary source as to where they are coming from which is a great way to build suspense as you have to make inferences as an audience as to where they are coming from. Creating suspense, surprise and shock is vital in making a thriller successful and so this is why our off screen sounds are conventional to the thriller genre. 

Non-diegetic sound effects will also be included in our thriller sequence. For example, we will be using a heartbeat that will be representing the heartbeat of the victim. We will use this to emphasise her panic and distress which will be easier to get across to the audience. The audience are then able to build a relationship with the victim through this non-diegetic sound effect, as the emotion is portrayed clearly and they feel as if they know the victim a lot more. Therefore, the heartbeat will also reflect onto how the audience feels. The quick tempo of the heartbeat will also build up tension and will build up to a climax where the antagonist will experience shock and surprise as a result, which will also mirror onto the audience. Therefore, this use of non-diegetic sound effect is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates suspense and surprise with also creating more of an impact once the result of the climax has occurred. 

A further sound technique that will be used in our sequence is diegetic sound effects. For example, from the sounds of panicking, heavy breathing and screams from the victim, it will express the fearful situation in which the victim is in. This will therefore create a more empathetic feel towards the character and get across the specific emotions that this character is expressing - this is what we intend. It creates a sense of realism from the fact that the sounds are diegetic, so they are not edited into the scene. The audience are able to build a relationship between the victim and themselves as they feel as if they know the victim a lot more and have more of an in-depth knowing of how they really feel. Furthermore, the panicking, heavy breathing and screams created a distressing feeling making the audience feel uneasy as the victim's fear is shown through these particular sounds. Screams specifically are conventional to the thriller genre as there is always a victim in danger and a scream is a typical, recognisable way to illustrate this. The audience are familiar with a scream's purpose and cause and so this therefore gives them a better understanding of how the victim is feeling. Therefore, with this in mind, this is why our diegetic sound effects are conventional to the thriller genre.

Our sequence will be effective through the way it will engage the audience making them empathise a lot more with the characters. This means that they will impact more when certain events occur as the connection with the scene and characters is a lot stronger, so they are affected a lot more personally. Planning sound has helped me as it has given me and my group a good idea as to what we will need to edit it in, what we need to make sure is included and why each sound is going to be used and so why certain sounds need to be emphasised. 

Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

Planning Cinematography

Cinematography is extremely important within films as each shot, angle and movement creates variation and simply has to be existent in order to create a film. Every aspect in cinematography is used in order to make a film successful by complying with the conventions of a film's particular genre. Planning cinematography is required in order to produce excellent sequences because each cinematography aspect needs to be thought of gingerly before included in a film. Different cinematography techniques create different feelings and images for the film, this is why it is vital to have in mind when trying to portray the genre clearly.

This is evidence of my group planning cinematography:

Firstly, one of the camera shots we are going to include in our sequence is a long shot - an example is shown to the left. A long shot ensures that as well as the characters (full body length), a wide view of the setting is also shown on screen. In our sequence, this shot will be used on various occasions but mostly when the protagonist is walking in the forest. We have chosen to use this type of cinematography because it allows not just the facial expressions and hand gestures to be seen, but also body language too. Therefore, the character's personality is portrayed more clearly and signature movements of their own become realisable. Furthermore, a large proportion of the screen in a long shot is taken up by the surrounding setting, which will allow the audience to feel more aware of the surroundings and situation in which the character(s) is in. In addition, you can experiment allowing a focussing feature to be emphasised through positioning in this shot - the example emphasises the character shown slightly to the right, making the audience focus on this part of the screen. These are the reasons as to why we have chosen to include this shot. Through the way that more of a character is visible, it allows the audience to build a relationship with them as they can witness characteristics of the character that other types of shot may not be able to illustrate. This will mean that they are more knowing of the character and also make the audience feel as if they are in the scene with the character's in the setting on screen. This connection will help build more suspense, shock and surprise in our sequence as there will be more of an impact created when something bad happens to a character. From the relationship that the audience has built and developed with a character, they feel more worried and hurt genuinely affecting them more when this character is harmed in some way. These reasons are as to why this type of shot is conventional to the thriller genre. Furthermore, the setting in a thriller is vital as it contributes to the elements of suspense, shock and surprise. With this shot, the setting is able to be shown therefore, this is a further reason as to why it is conventional. 

Another shot we will be using in our thriller sequence will be an over the shoulder shot. This shows what is in front of the character but also keeping them in shot, reassuring the audience of their presence. It can be of more than one character, for example in the screenshot to the left, however is most commonly used just over the shoulder of one character. We will be using this shot in our sequence where the antagonist is behind the protagonist but the protagonist is unaware of the antagonist's presence. We have chosen to use this type of cinematography because a more tense atmosphere is created through it as the way in which we will be using it, the audience sees more than the protagonist does. This creates a sense of foreboding as the audience will know that the antagonist isn't far from the protagonist and so know that something bad is going to happen - especially as the protagonist is unaware. The audience also feel sympathetic towards the protagonist as inferiority of the victim is portrayed. This type of cinematography is conventional to the thriller genre as it builds tension from the way the shoulder's restrict some view but the main focus is what is in-front of the character. Therefore, this unknowing feeling creates suspense and then shock and surprise when something finally emerges from the unknown. 


Thirdly, a handheld movement will also be used in our opening sequence. This particular movement makes the camera appear precarious and is literally named as the way it is carried out - hand held. We will use this shot when the protagonist is running through the forest, so the sense of panic created through this shot is reflected onto the viewers. Therefore, this shot has been chosen to be used in our sequence as it's jerky movements will mirror the emotion of the protagonist. This will then mean that the audience feel more empathetic towards the protagonist and the situation they are in. When anything bad happens to the protagonist after these shots, the impact is greater as there is more of a relationship built between the audience and the protagonist and so the audience are more worried and attentive to what happens to the character. Viewers also feel as if they are in the scene giving the illusion tat they are holding the camera. The shot then is conventional to the thriller genre as somehow the shock and surprise elements are supposed to get across to the audience. Through the use of this shot, the emotions of the character's are a lot easier to read along with the atmosphere of the scene being a lot clearer too. Therefore, shock, surprise AND suspense is created - key elements of a successful thriller. 

A panning movement will also be used in our opening sequence. Panning shots are where the camera is moving left, right, up or down, which is difficult to show through a screenshot, but to the left demonstrates a panning shot screen-shotted. We will use this movement as the protagonist runs and the antagonist follows and also when the protagonist is looking around suspiciously. This will compliment the actions within the scene and therefore make the sequence more clear and easy to follow. The use of panning also allows for more of the setting to be witnessed through the use of just one shot. Moreover, the way this shot is used makes them feel as if they are part of the scene following the characters intricately and are able to witness every detail in the scene. This builds a relationship between the audience and the characters as they feel more knowing of the characters and quite personal at this point. Therefore, this is conventional to the thriller genre as the setting is key and through use of this shot a lot is visible in the shot. It also represents movement clearly and in thrillers, viewers need to be able to keep up with the narrative and what's going on to make it as clear as possible. The speed of panning also determines the atmosphere and so the quicker the pan, the greater build up of tension and suspense created - another reason as to why it is conventional to the thriller genre. 

A further shot that will be included in our opening sequence will be a point of view shot. This literally allows for the view of a particular character to be portrayed on screen. In the example to the left, the shot is from the view of the character looking out the back window of a car in rainy weather. We will use it when the protagonist is frantically looking about her surroundings of the forest. It will portray a lack of hope as when she will be looking around there will be nothing in her sight, therefore, the audience are witnessing exactly as she is. A relationship is built between the protagonist and the audience as the audience feel extremely empathetic towards the character through the use of this shot. The audience are able to witness the current scene and situation through the character's own eyes and so feel as if they are a part of the scene. Therefore, this shot is conventional to the thriller genre , because suspense, shock and surprise are created, as elements in the scene that the character may not be aware of - the fact that something could 'jump out', also makes the audience unaware. This also makes the scene unpredictable which is exactly what you want a thriller to be like so that when the climax of suspense occurs, it has a greatest impact possible. 

A close up shot will also be used in our opening sequence. This is basically just a shot of something really close up - exactly how it is named. We will use this to demonstrate the protagonist's facial expressions but also when filming iconography such as a knife and as well as this, parts of the antagonists face to keep the identity hidden. A connection will be created between the characters and the audience from the way a close up emphasises a particular something and so causes this to be the focus of the shot. This makes whatever is in the shot to be memorable, such as a knife for example. It also creates a sense of foreboding as a lot of one particular thing is in shot and so the audience are oblivious to whats going on outside of this shot in the scene at this time. Certain elements need to be emphasised in thrillers as they are symbolic or play a vital role in what's to come. Taking the knife for example, dedicating a close up shot to this object alone emphasises its presence and so creates a sense of foreboding as it is assumed that it will be used soon after the shot. This is why this shot is conventional to the thriller genre - elements need to be emphasised and this shot allows this to happen. 


One of the angles we will be using in our sequence is a low angle. This is where the camera is positioned at a low angle to whatever is being filmed. Using this type of cinematography makes whatever is being filmed appear larger and can be used to show variation in dominance and status. In the example screenshot to the left, the two males appear larger which suggests a high amount of dominance. This is how we will use this angle in our sequence - to portray levels of dominance. We will use this angle when the antagonist is seen chasing the protagonist and also on some of our rewinds. This will ensure that the lack of dominance of the victim is clearly portrayed, compared to the highly dominated antagonist, reflected from the narrative. This will help to build a relationship between the audience and the protagonist particularly because they are more familiar with their status at this point in the sequence. Therefore, they will feel sympathetic towards the character from the lack of dominance they possess. This shot is conventional to the thriller genre as there are many characters in thrillers, many with a variation in dominance levels between them. This shot helps distinguish each status of a particular character, helping the audience to feel suspenseful towards certain characters wondering as to how and why they have their level of dominance. 

Through the use of cinematography, I think our sequence will be more effective as it will help to create the atmosphere's in which we intend to create. Moreover, the personalities of our particular characters are more clearly reflected onto the audience making them connect not only with the characters but the sequence as a whole, keeping them on edge for the majority of viewing. All the cinematography can be used to demonstrate conventionality of the thriller genre through the different ways it can be complimented with other features such as lighting, for example. I have found this planning extremely helpful in preparation for filming as it is clear what we want to film, why and how we are using certain cinematography in certain ways to keep to the thriller genre.