Group Narrative- Mr.Georgiou

I am currently working with Samantha Apperley and Tyler Fullerton.

Group member 1- Samantha Apperley

My idea of a narrative for a new thriller film is a teenage girl has an argument with her boyfriend, causing him to walk off to go a get his car from the car park so he can go home. The girl goes after him but is too late. The car park is dark and deserted with no one around. As she stands in the middle of the car park alone, crying, she notices a tall figure standing in the way of the exit. She soon realises that it is a man who she often sees looking at her regularly; like a stalker. She starts to become panicked as there is no exit apart from the one he stands in. She pulls out her phone to call for help but has no service, leaving her unable to reach anyone. She decides to risk walking out to one of the exits and notices that the strange man behind starts to follow, she gradually starts to increase the pace of her walking as she starts to panic.Eventually when the pressure and suspense builds up she decides to start running with the killer behind her holding a knife, there is an entrance to the forest which she decides to enter in order to try and escape. The chase carries on within the forest however the female trips and tries to hide although the killer sees her and runs at her but then the scene cuts.

advantages:

• The narrative fits the number of characters and genders so it will be easy to film as we do not need anyone else to par take.
• Enigma is incorporated into the scenes.
• There is use of iconography for example there is a knife being used.
• Many conventions have been used

Disadvantages:

• The torture scene may be hard to replicate as we do not have the skills.

Tyler Osman:
 

A thriller in which the family that mysteriously went missing in a secluded farmhouse, in which a group of sixth form students (aged 16-17) go out to investigate the structure to see if they can find the origins of the disappearance. The protagonist of the film would be one of the group members, who will receive the most screen time (antagonist undecided)

Advantages:

• Enigma is present in this narrative as we do not know who that antagonist is. 
• The setting is quite unique.
• Typical narrative of a thriller film.

Disadvantages:

• Setting may be difficult to use.
• No decided antagonist
• Vague narrative
• Not very conventional of a thriller

Mikaeel Khaliq:

• Forest
• low key lighting
• killer might have a mask
• urban myth that a killer lives in the forest
• group of teenagers
• wanting to explore the urban myth
• all sneak out of house at night 
• decide to meet at forest 
• all explore the forest
• they think its not true 
• they hear some rustling 
• start to get a little scared but brush it off
• then killer comes running out 
• briefly show him with the handheld camera
• they all start to run back 
• screaming and shouting
• end  

Advantages:

• Incorporated quite a few conventions
• Typical thriller narrative
• Enigma is used

Disdvantages:

• A little too vague
• Might be difficult during the night in a forest

The final group narrative is mainly based on the idea of group member 1 as it contained many of the conventions that are used in the thriller and was generally a better narrative.We discussed each narrative and whether we should could create an entirely new one however based on the point i discussed before hand we felt that we should use group member 1's narrative which is could be altered if need be.

Our narrative is based on the teory of todorov as it contains both an equilbrium and disequilibrium.We have chosen this theory as it best fits the narrative as it contains a state of disequilbrium at the beginning, A continued state of disequilbrium by some action, a recognition that that there has been a disruption, an attempt to repair the disruption and a reinstatement of the equilbrium.

Our narrative contains many convention of a thriller, we have decided to incorporate a female victim so we can convey the three elements better, we have also used a killer who has a hidden identity in order to create more enigma and shock.The setting of our narrative is also very conventional as it is set in dark mysterious places like a forest and an abandoned car park.We made to sure to use iconography as based on our survey we found that many people liked the use of knifes in thriller films as it made the scenes more shocking. This narrative appeals to our taregt audience as we incorporated a few of the ideas used in the surveys as many of the people asked in our survey were in our target market which is primerily teenagers.

Research into conventions- Miss.Miller

A convention of a thriller are elements that are common with different film genres or patterns that can be seen/used in different films from the same category. The most common conventions of a a thriller film are shock,suspense, surprise and tense as they all as they all create a successful thriller film. I chose to use scream 4 as it is a typical thriller so i will be able to conduct more research in regards to the conventions that it contains.

The scene i have chosen contains one of the most typical conventions of all thriller films which is an antagonist (killer) and a victim which is primarily of the female gender however is it occasionally of the male gender too.Female victims are often used as audiences feel more sympathetic as they are portrayed as helpless. The antagonist also have a pattern in all thriller films as they all tend to be male this maybe to make the killer look more powering and daunting as the women in thriller are never able to escape as the killer are always too dominant. The vulnerability of the female character makes the audience feel more attached to the character so when they do eventually die there is greater shock and surprise. As i previously mentioned this is arguably the most typical convention of all thriller films as female victims always create more shock and surprise once they are killed.

Iconography has also been used in this scene when the killer comes out of the cupboard as he is holding a knife. This is a very common use of iconography in all films as it something that all the audience can relate with as it is very trivial in all households which adds to the authenticity of the scene as it set in a house.The use of a knife also makes the scene more frightening and shocking for the audience as they are able to see it repeatedly go in and out of the body adding some gore to the scene.The fact that character is only using a knife to kill his victims makes him seem some what more powerful then using any other type of weapon which add more influence to him in the eyes of the audience. This type of iconography is conventional of a thriller as knifes are used in almost all thrillers to create more shock and surprise as the audience are able to relate more to this method of killing.

Enigma or otherwise known as mystery is also used in this scene in regards to the killer as it he is masked. The hidden identity of the killer makes the character seem more daunting and frightening as the audience are only able to see a mask which is already relatively intimidating. To create even more enigma about the character he is wearing a clothing which is already black in color and does not give any sense of the physical features. The fact the audience have no knowledge of the physical feature of the killer it makes the character look scarier when they are trying to kill the unsuspecting female victim. Hidden identity are often conventional in thriller as they make the killer seem a lot more frightening making the audience feel more scared and shocked when they see the killer.

Low key lighting is used when the killer calls one of the characters, the lighting is focused mostly on the face of the character, the reason for this is because the audience need to focus on the facial expressions of the character. We can see that she is very disturbed and distraught has she starts to realize that the phone call may not be hoax but instead a reality. This change lighting create more suspense for the audience as they can also sense along with the character that the phone call is in fact real, this could also create a little tension as they start to see the females face change to look more dissatisfied. Low key lighting is conventional of most thriller when they want the scene to seem more dark which will make the audience feel more tense about the situation as they are not able to see what is happening clearly, it can be used as a tool to focus on something like for example in this case the characters face.

As the scene starts to progress further towards the killing we notice that the timing of shots slowly start to increase.It starts to happen when the female character picks up the phone and the male character starts to talk about about what they are watching even though he was no where to be seen, the slow timing shots were used to create suspense and shock within the audience as the male character mentions many disturbing things.As we got to the scene of the killing the timing of the shots become very quick, this shocks the audience further as they have less time to absorb the situation. The timing of shots are conventional of all thriller as they are always used in thriller to help create more suspense, shock and surprise as it can either leave the audience more to absorb the situation or less.

In conclusion i would say that the scene i have chosen was successful in terms of creating a conventional sequence as it contained conventions that were used in many other thriller films such as the blonde female character and typical use of a knife as iconography.When i create my own sequence i will most probably try to use all the conventions used in this scene however i will focus on using a variation on the timing of shots and good use of iconography.

Opening sequence analysis.- Miss.Georgiou

"How does the opening sequence of the film Halloween inform the audience of the conventions of a thriller?"

The purpose of an opening sequence is to prepare the audience into watching the film as it this is often where the main themes of the film are revealed to the audience, so they are able to get a brief insight into what type of film they are watching.Quiet often the directors or producers decide to introduce the antagonist in the very first few scenes so the audience can possibly feel more shocked as they have already been exposed to the main killer.

Cinematography 

At the end of the scene there is a zoom out which is when the camera moves away to create an emotional distance.In this zoom out the audience have an extremely big shock as they see that the killer that was previously concealed was in fact a child who later find out to be the brother of the victim. To create more tension and shock the zoom out is quite slow so the audience are able to completely absorb the situation, as the killer is a child it adds to the shock. This conventional to a thriller as quite often a slow zoom out is used to create the emotional distance and allows the audience to take in more of the situation and what surrounds it again adding more tension,suspense and shock to the scene. During the scene of the kill a POV camera show was used which is used to show the audience the point of view from the character or in this case the killer. The main point of this particular camera begin used is to conceal the identity of the killer creating a larger enigma about the killer and the whole scene in general.This camera can also help add shock and suspense when the audience are eventually able to see the identity of the killer. POV camera angles are relatively conventional as quite often the identity of the killer is completely concealed or revealed later on in the scene. Another camera angle was used during the kill which was a high angle, this is when the camera is position above the object, making it look smaller.The use of this angle allows the audience to interpret that the antagonist is a lot more powerful as he is looking over the female character who is laying on the floor dead, which was the main purpose of this camera angle.Overall all of the camera angles mentioned can be classified as conventional as they help to shock the audience and allow them to have a better understanding of what is happening in the scene.


Editing 

During the scene where the killer walks up the stairs to the victim there is a use of slow editing which is when the clip are juxtaposed together at a slower pace.The purpose of the editing technique being used here is add a large amount of suspense of the scene. This editing style was used when the killer was walking up the stairs, this allows the audience to absorb more of the scene as the scene doesn't not cut as often which results in more tension created also.This editing  editing style is conventional as many thriller films use this technique in order to add both suspense and tension to the scene . A reaction shot was used when the camera shows the face of the boy and the mask is ripped off, a reaction shot is any shot in which a subject reacts to a previous shot.This shot was used as when the mask was taken off the audience would have a big shock as it the killer is revealed as a little boy which the audience will most probably find hard too believe.This is quite conventional of of a thriller as slow editing and reaction shots are often used to create suspense,shock and surprise.

Sound

At the beginning of the scene there is a silence used as the character was watching one of the character from outside in the darkness trying not to be seen.Silence is specifically used to create tension within the scene as it allows the audience to focus further on what is happening in the scene which in this case is the a character stalking to others by watching them from the outside window.Some digetic sound was also used when the killer started to stab the female characters. Digetic sound is music or sound that belongs within a frame which can be considered to be a natural part of the narrative.This sound is often emphasized as the directer want the audience to clearly hear the sound as this will shock them even more if they are able to hear the actual stabbing. Non digetic is also incorporated in the scene when the killer walks up the stairs. Non digetic sound is sound of music that is added on after such as in the editing stage. In this scene eerie high pitched music was added in order to create more suspense when the character is walking up the stairs are the audience are oblivious to action the character is about to commit.These techniques used within sound are conventional to thrillers as they help enhance the three elements of a thriller and engage the audience.

Conventions

A large amount of low key lighting has been used throughout the scene this makes everything seem more mysterious and also keeps the audience more vulnerable to shock,surprise and suspense.When the antagonist is walking towards the house this style of lighting helps to conceal his identity further or what he is about to do. A blonde female victim was also used in this film which is very typical of a thriller films, they use blonde females as the audience often see them as vulnerable however we also have the conventional male antagonist which is always portrayed as very strong and powerful.A kitchen knife has been used as the main iconography which always seems to be quiet common when the scene is set in a house, once the audience see a knife they are able to assume that a killing is a bout to happen.Overall every point mentioned is very conventional of a thriller as they all seem to be used in almost every thriller films to create more suspense and possibly set up further shock later on in the scenes.

Narrative

The film was based on the night of Halloween which is associated with death and enigma, it is also set in a house which is conventional of most thrillers as a house is something that all the audience members can relate to which makes the experience a little more personal.The killer like i have mentioned before has a sealed identity, this was done with the use of POV which did not reveal any physical features of the killer, we later find out that the killer was in fact was a little when the parents lift off his mask while he has the bloody knife in his hand. When the camera focuses on the boy we can see that he has been stricken with fear almost as if something had control of him. The realization that killer was a little boy shocks the audience leaving them feeling a little confused as to why he would commit an action like this.


Characters

At the beginning of the scene we see two teenagers who seem to be be very oblivious to the killer who is standing outside watching them from the shadows. The victim here was the female which is very conventional of a thriller as they are often used due to female characters seeming more vulnerable in comparison to the powerful male killer. The nature of the two teenagers at the begging gives the audience an implication that either of the teenagers may become victims.The little boy becoming the thriller is not as conventional as they are often seen as older men who are able to over power there victims but in this case it leaves the audience questioning how a small boy could murder which adds to the shock once the mask had been taken off the killers head.When the parents take off the mask they have a very similar reaction to the audience as they are both shocked at figure that was holding a bloody knife.

In conclusion the opening sequence to "Halloween" informs the audience of the conventions of a thriller as it successfully engages with the audience making them feel the suspense, shock and surprise.This analysis will help me determine what  conventions work best for my thriller film for example i am almost certain that i will have a theme of enigma as it constantly leaves the audience in suspense.

Research into editing styles-Miss.Georgiou

Editing is essential in thriller genre as it helps create the three elements of a thriller film which are needed in order to create a successful thriller film, the three elements are shock,surprise and suspense. The different types of scene cuts and shots all allow the director of the film to achieve these elements.So it can be argued that editing is a powerful tool when it comes to producing a film as if the scene is not edited correctly the situation may be portrayed poorly therefore not allowing the right emotions to be transmitted to the audience which would classify the film unsuccessful.

At the beginning of the scene we see a shot reverse shot has been used as the director wanted to show the facial expressions of both characters as it is obvious that have they both just woken up and are shocked to find that they are tied to bed and most probably think their lives are in danger. The body language is also shown in this scene and the audience can see that they are both panicked as they are frantically trying to get out of the bed. The shot reverse shot makes the audience feel sympathetic for both characters as well as panicked for them as they know more about the situation and what might happened next. This is conventional of a thriller as both the victims in this case are of the female gender which seems is a common occurrence in most thriller films as they seem to be more helpless in certain situations like this as they are completely unable to escape as they are tied which immediately builds remorse for them from the audience as they are able to see how vulnerable the women are. 

At 0:25 the producer decides to introduce reaction shots when the character is being injected by the doctor as she starts to scream in agony, this specific type of shot has been used as it shows the audience the pain on the characters face and her body language.This is conventional to a thriller as the male is quite often portrayed as the antagonist as male characters are often seen as more superior and capable in comparison to a female character which seen to be the case here as the male antagonist has complete control  of the situation whereas the female victim is helpless.The audience already have great sympathy for the female victims due to the previous scene as they can see victim has no way of escaping the situation which can be clearly seen in the restrictive body language and hysteric facial expression as the victim frantically tries to move, so the audience are in full favour of female character, per se.

The timing of shots starts to get faster once the female character leaves the bed and fleas from the professor who is injecting some sort of lethal liquid into the other character. The increased timing of shots is supposed to mirror how scared and panicked the character is and that she may have a slim chance of escaping.The faster timing of shots makes the audience feel hopeful for the character however at the same time it also creates suspense as the audience begin to wonder if she going to escape in time.At one point the timing of the shots slows down this is done to show the audience that she may have a chance to escape however she also begins to become scared and vulnerable which is easier for the audience to see when the timing is slowed down.This specific style of editing would be considered as conventional as the use of these two techniques is relatively common in films and even more so individually however the use of both here seems perfectly relate to situation by both emphasising to the audience emotions of panic,hope and suspense. 


A jump cut has also been incorporated into the film as we can see the facial expressions of both characters and their body language. At this state they are still both very unsure of what is happening, the audience are able to see how frightened and disturbed the character are from their faces and the struggling nature of their body language. Cuts like this create more suspense to a scene as we are able to see how the characters are reacting. This style of editing would be considered conventional as it allows the audience to see the facial expressions of both characters which is an important element of mise-en-scene this is not used too often in this context but when there is a similar situation in other thriller films they will most probably decided to use this particular style of editing in order for the audience to capture the emotions of the character which in this case is a state of panic.


The research have conducted will ultimately be used to help me when produce my own scene or opening sequence so based on this post i will hopefully be inspired to incorporate similar techniques into my own sequence which will therefore make my sequence more conventional as the techniques used here have perfectly executed their main purpose which differs from showing the facial expressions of the female victims to the hope for an escape.