Group Planning- Miss Georgiou

My group members are Mikaeel Khaliq and Tyler Osman. Group meetings are essential to have as we can all contribute our ideas towards our narrative of our thriller sequence. Ensuring our planning stages are thorough is essential because without planning, our sequence will not work and will not include everything a thriller sequence needs to.  The meetings allow every member of the group to confirm all of the final decisions made.

In our first group meeting, on the 13.10.14, we discussed our individual narrative ideas and created a a group narative between all three of us. We all contributed suggestions for the final narrative to ensure it made sense, and included a variety of conventions to fit with the thriller genre. We decided to use the general idea of my idividual narrative, with aspects of Mikaeel's and Tyler's, because we thought my idea would be the clearest portrayal of the conventions we needed to include in our sequence.

On the 4.11.14, we planned all the elements of mise-en-scene; settings & iconography, costume, hair & make-up, facial expressions & body language, lighting & colour and positioning of characters/ objects within the frame.

On the 5.11.14, we planned what cinematography we would include in our sequence, for example, POV, close ups, high angle shots, low angle shots, panning, canted, handheld, eye-level and extreme long shot.



 







On the 13.11.14 we planned the sound that we intended to include in the opening sequence.











On the 18.11.14 we planned each character that will be in our opening sequence.

Group Planning Meetings:

Having group meetings and discussions were important when planning our thriller production, because they ensured that the decisions made were finalised and agreed on so that there would be no difficulties or arguments when creating our sequence. The meetings we had consisted of writing down all our ideas and discussing why we would use them to make the events in our sequence conventional to a thriller. These discussions also allowed each individual group member to have their say and to put forward ideas that they think could make the sequence better. The group meetings were useful as they contributed to the planning of the sequence; ensuring that all of the micro-elements were included. Tyler, Mikaeel and I worked well together when planning our opening sequence as we all contributed various ideas and we were quick with deciding what we wanted to involve within the sequence.

Individual storyboard- Miss Georgiou

The purpose of story boards are to help plan and structure a sequence before filming it. The storyboard helps organise the production of the sequence and allows the angles, movements and positions of the camera to be sorted out and given reason behind the choice of each one. We have created inidvidual storyboards before creating a group one so we have a variety of ideas and choices for each single frame. This will ensure that everything we want to include in our sequence is encourparated and reasons for angles, movements and positions can be discussed within the group to ensure we have planned the best possible sequence. I hope my individual post will help when planning our group storyboard as it includes a variety of shots and angles which have reasons for them being used I'm each frame.

In my story board, I started off by using a long shot in the car park, as the couple start their argument  to show that they are the only people around, which emphesises the isolation of the characters. I have said there will be low key lighting and eerie music to make it conventional to a thriller; it creates suspense. I then used the idea of shot reverse shot as the couple's argument starts to comes to an end and they agree to go their separate ways. As the boyfriend drives away, the camera will zoom out to emphasise her standing on her own in a deserted car park. This makes the audience have sympathy for the victims character, creating a relationship between them. The isolation of the victim creates suspense making it conventional to a thriller sequence. I said silence will also be used in this frame as it will create tension and an eerie atmosphere for the audience. Over the shoulder shots will be used in several frames where the antagonist and victim are both in the frame. This demonstrates the distance between the characters; physically and mentally. Non diegetic sound will be included in the sequence, such as a heartbeat, and emphesised footsteps. The heartbeat will be used in the most dramatic parts of the sequence to emphesise the danger the victim faces. For example when the victim tries to contact someone on her phone for help but has no signal, the heartbeat will suggest the panic the victim is experiencing. A POV shot and diegetic sound of heavy breathing, will be used by the antagonist as he is following, and eventually running after the victim as she attempts to get away through the alleyways and the forest. This will build up tension and create surprise and suspense as the sequence plays, making it conventional to a thriller. A low angle shot will be encourporated at the end of the sequence as the victim has fallen over in the forest and the antagonist stands over her, emphasising the power and strength the antagonist has in contrast to the weak victim. This will create sympathy from the audience towards the victim as they anticipate what is going to happen to her I'm the dangerous situation. 

Group Narrative- Miss Georgiou

In my group there is myself, Tyler Osman and Mikaeel Khaliq.

My group narrative:

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 of the dark car park without acknowledging him, however he grabs her and threatens her with a knife and says she is to go with him otherwise she will die.

advantages:

• There are 3 characters, therefore each member of the group would have time on screen.
• Enigma is incorporated into the scenes
• Conventions of a thriller are included

disadvantages:

• the torture scene may be hard to create 
• May give too much away for an opening sequence 

Group member 2: 

Farmhouse into oblivion 

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: 

•  Included conventions of a thriller 

disadvantages: 

• antagonists not specified
• there isn't 3 characters
• Location might be hard to find

Group member 3:

• 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:

• Conventional to a thriller film: for example the location 
• Location would be easy to access 

disadvantages:

• May need more people to fill all characters needed 

Final group narrative 

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.

Planning Opening Credits- Miss Georgiou

The purpose of opening credits is to let the audience know of the different roles, in the making of the film, to introduce the film title, to name the production company and to introduce the mood or style of the film. We analysed the film Se7en to look at the order the credits appeared and to give us some ideas of what opening credits can look like in a thriller production. We discovered that the production name is the first credit that is shown, and the director appears last. The black background has connotations to death, where as the white credits represent innocence. This shows a representation between the victim and the antagonist. There was also hints of red shown throughout the sequence, relating to blood, death and danger; drawing attention to these parts of the sequence.

We then used Final Cut Pro to design our own style of font for our opening credits. When designing my idea for the opening credits, I concidered what would make it conventional to a thriller. I started by chosing a font that I thought looked distorted and then added a blured effect to make it look slightly creepy. I was inspred by the opening credits for the film Se7en, as I thought they created enigma in the sequence. I then added another distorted effect which made the writing change colour as the opening credits appear. I did this to make the credits stand out on the black background, so the audience could clearly see the title of the film. The slight movement of the letters would make the audience feel unsettled as they watched the opening credits unfold the title, cast and production company. This is conventional as the audience are kept on edge and it creates suspense. I chose to put the title in the top left hand corner to demonstrate an unbalanced sequence, to emphesise the disturbed mind of the anatgonist. This creates tension and allows the audience to feel uncomfortable.

Tyler's idea: 

Tyler's design idea consists of a spaced apart, thin, white font which would be good to use in our thriller sequence as it shows a contrast in colours and portrays the idea of the victim being innocent; the colour white, and the black protrays death, emphesising the danger of the antagonist. This design idea would benifit our sequence as it creates enigma as it appears on the screen. However, this design may be a disadvantage to use as it may be seen as bit simple, as it does not have any distaughted features. If this was seen in our sequence it may be considered that the film about to be seen is an action film rather than a thriller.

Mikaeel's idea:

Mikaeel's design will be extremely effective in our thriller sequence as it is clear, big and bold, and the white font stands out on the black background. The distorted effect emphesises that it is a thriller sequence and the blur at the end links to how the antagonist's mind is disturbed. The font of the title will inform the audience of how creepy the antagonist makes the victim feel which creates tension and an eerie atmosphere. Disadvantages for this design are that it appears across the whole screen so any action behind it might be difficult to see. Apart from this, we decided that this will be the best design to use as it is the most conventional to a thriller as it will create surpise and suspense as it appears on the screen.

Planning Characters- Miss Miller

The characters in our thriller sequence will include the anatagonist as a stalker, a female victim and a cheating boyfriend. These characters are all conventional to a thriller sequence and we have chosen them for this reason. 

The antagonist's occupation, age, name, ethnicity and past are all unknown throughout the sequence as the stalker remains with a hidden identity. However, the audience are aware of this characters gender being male and will see the antagonists clothing: black hoodie, with the hood worn up comstantly and dark colored trousers and shoes. This character is stereotypical to the thriller genre as the identity and information about the stalker is unknown, therefore the antagonist's character creates enigma, making this character conventional. 

The victim in the sequence is named Nicole who is a female, white British student who is 17 years old. She will be wearing, jeans, a coloured jumper and a coat to make her look casual and not over dressed. This character is stereotypical because she is a blonde female, immediately making her vunerable, which is conventional to a thriller. This also emphasises how igsigmificant and weak she is in comparison to the antagonist, making the audience anxious to what the antagonist is capable of and what will happen to the victim. 

The last character in our sequence is the cheating boyfriend of the victim: Zak. He is 17 years old and will wear jeans and a coloured top/ jumper to make a clear comparison between the boyfriend and the antagonist. As his character cheats on the victim, the audience automatically have more sympathy for her, therefore building a relationship with her character and allowing them to understand her feelings throughout the sequence. This creates suspense within the sequence which is a typical convention of a thriller film. 

Planning editing- Miss Georgiou

Editing styles are important in a thriller production because they allow the audience to experience the three main elements that a thriller needs to include. These elements; surprise, shock & suspense, create the atmosphere of each scene which engages the audience further into the sequence. Relationships between the characters and the audience can be built through the editing styles that are used, which allows the audience to connect with the narrative of the sequence.

A reaction shot will be used as the victim comes to the realisation that the antagonist is present. This will take place in the dark car park, as her boyfriend has left her standing alone after their argument, allowing the audience to clearly see she is isolated and scared. The reaction shot will be shown as the victim sees the antagonist (stalker), standing in the car park watching her. This shot will emphasise the danger of the stalker which is conventional to a thriller production as it creates shock and surprise. The audience therefore have sympathy for the victim and are anxious to find out what is going to happen; they will want to carry on watching the film.

Montage editing will be used in our opening sequence as the female victim runs through the dark, obscure forest, attempting to escape the antagonist. This style of editing will speed up the segment, creating an eerie atmosphere. Therefore it is conventional to a thriller as it emphasises panic which creates surprise and excitement; engaging the audience further.

Fades will be included at the end of our sequence, at the point where the victim survives. This is used to close the scene as if leaves the audience questioning what is going to happen next to the victim. This creates suspense, which is conventional in a thriller sequence.

Slow editing will be used in our sequence as the victim acknowledges the antagonist, as she stands alone in the dark, isolated car park. This builds tension and it keeps the audience on edge as they anticipate what is going to happen to the victim. Suspense is created making it conventional to a thriller. 

Planning Sound- Miss Miller

Sound is essential in a thriller production as it allows the three elements of a thriller to be shown; surprise, shock and suspense. These elements allow the film to manipulate the audience to have particular emotions which will set a certain atmosphere.

Non-diegetic sound will be used in our sequence when the female victim tries to get away from the antagonist, by running through the alley ways and the forest. This creates suspense as it sets a creepy atmosphere. It is conventional to a thriller as it contributes towards emphesising the three key elements; surprise, shock and suspense.

Dialogue will be included in our sequence, which is an example of diegetic sound. The dialogue will be spoken between the couple as they are arguing in the car park at the beggining of the sequence and also included as the victim is hiding in the forest, anticipating her fate with what the antagonsit will do if he finds her. This creates tension and allows the audience to experience the feelings and emotions of the characters. An example of the dialougue that will be used is screaming from the victm as she is running away from the stalker. This draws attention to the victim, which highlights how frightened she is. It also shocks the audience, making this conventional to a thriller.

Parallel sound will be shown in our sequence as the footsteps of the victim running through the alley ways and the forest will be emhesised so they are heard. The speed of the footsteps demonstartes the panic experienced by the victim allowing the audience to see that the victim is genuinly scared. This makes the audeince anxious and also builds a relationship with the victim as they will want her to get away from the antagonsit. This is conventional to a thriller as it creates suspense and an eerie atmosphere.

Silence will be included in our sequence as the victim stands alone in the dark, isoclated car park. This will be done to create tension and to demonstrate to the audience how alone the victim is; with no one around to help her in the dangerous situation. This emphesises enigma and makes the audience focus on the emotions of the victim; her facial expressions and body language, building a relationship with the victim as they have sympathy for her. This is conventional to a thriller as it emphesises the three elements of surprise, shock and suspense.   

Planning Cinematography- Miss Miller

Cinematography is important in films as it demonstrates a variety of angles and shots, when filming the film. Each angle or shot creates a different effect for the audience to experience and there will be a reasoning behind why each shot or angle is chosen. 

One example of a shot we will use is POV as the victim runs through the forest and alley ways, attempting to escape the anatagonist. This shot shows the perspective of the victim and the stalker allowing the audience to build a relationship with each character; they will have sympathy for the victim as she dramatically tries to get away, whereas they will feel anxious towards the character of the antagonist as they are unaware of what he is capable of and what he will do. This is conventional to a thriller as it creates an eerie atmosphere and the audience anticipate what is going to happen, making them want to watch more of the film. 

A high angle shot will be used just before the female victim is going to be attacked by the antagonist, whilst she is hiding, to demonstrate her vunerablilty and weakness and the power and stregth the antagonist has over her. This angle of the camera will make the victim look insignificant and will allow the audience to see her as a small, scared character, leaving them having sympathy for her. This is conventional to a thriller as it builds a relationship with the audience and the female victim as they will want her to get to safety and not to get hurt. 

Panning will be used in the sequence as the victim runs through the forest, and at the beginning of the sequence when the couple are arguing in the car park. This will show the entire scenery which will emphasise the elements of isolation and danger. This is conventional to a thriller as it will demonstrate to the audience how much danger the victim could potentially be in, creating an eerie atmosphere for them to feel. 

A low angle shot will be use in the sequence, as the antagonist has the encounter with the victim. This will emphasise the power and danger the antagonist has and will make the audience scared of the stalker. This is conventional as it is commonly used in a thriller production to portray the antagonist as a superior character. 

A close up will be used in the sequence to highlight the importance of the victims phone, which shows no signal can be found, demonstrating that she is unable to find help when in the dangerous situation. This creates suspense and an eerie atmosphere, making the audience feel uncomfortable and anxious to what she is going to do. This will make them want to carry on watching the film as they will want to find out if the victim gets to safety or not. 

Planning mise-en-scene- Miss Georgiou

Settings and Iconography:

My group and I have selected to use an abandoned, isolated car park, empty long alley ways and an obscure, dark forest as our settings for our thriller sequence because they are conventional to a thriller film and create enigma and an intense atmosphere. The car park will be the first part of our sequence where, the couple have their argument and the stalker sees the girl and tries to kidnap her. This then leads to the girl running away through the alley ways, eventually ending up in the forest. This will allow the audience to feel on edge and make them wonder what is going to happen to her. This is conventional to a thriller as it creates surprise, shock and suspense throughout the sequence.
The iconography we will include is a knife, because it is a typical convention of a thriller and is easily identifiable as a weapon; it is dangerous and can easily cause harm. The knife will be used by the antagonist ( the stalker) as he threatens to kill the female victim if she does not go with him. This is conventional to a thriller as it makes the audience feel shocked and it creates an eerie atmosphere. A phone will also be included in the sequence, as the victim notices the stalker and attempts to call to inform someone of the situation she is in, and get someone to help her. However, there is no service in the car park, leaving the girl panicked and unsure of what she is to do. This is conventional to a thriller as it creates enigma and the audience anticipate what will happen to her; whether she will escape the dangerous situation.

Facial Expressions and Body Language:

As a group, we decided that the victim should have scared and panicked facial expressions as she is being chased through the alley ways and the forest. This will allow the audience to see how worried she is about getting to safety and make them anticipate what is going to happen to her. This is conventional to a thriller as it allows the audience to experience surprise, shock and suspense when they see this. We discussed the idea of using closed body language, for example: crossed arms, slumped sholders and head down, when the couple are arguing in the car park. This will portray the low emotions that the couple are experiencing  which will allow the audience to understand the characters' perspectives. On the other hand, will want the antagonist to show open body language, such as standing tall and holding his head high to demonstrate the power and authorisation he has over the female victim. However, the antagonists' facial expressions will not be seen throughout any of the sequence, as he remains with a hidden identity; creating enigma and an eerie atmosphere for the audience to experience.

Positioning of characters (objects withing the frame)




Costume, hair and make-up

For the antagonists clothing, we thought that it should be dark colours, for example black or navy, because it will make him stand out as unusual. The antagonist will also remain with a hidden identity, by wearing a hood and a ski mask. This is a typical convention of a thriller as it creates enigma and leaves the audience anxious about whats going to happen, and whether the identity is going to be revealed. As the antagonist will wear dark items of clothing, my group and I thought that the other characters in the sequence should wear casual, colourful clothing to show a contrast between the characters. The female should wear girly colours, such as pink, to demonstrate her innocence and to emphasise her vunerablility. As the antagonist wears a mask, there will be no visible make-up used, and the same for the boyfriend, as there is no need for him to wear it. The female character will wear normal make-up and fake blood will be used to show cuts on her body; from the trees and bushes, as she runs through the forest, escaping the anatagonist.

Lighting and colour

As our sequence is a thriller, my group and I decided that low key lighting will be used throughout the sequence, as it is conventional to a thriller and creates an eerie atmosphere. However there will be exceptions as we want to use high key lighting, as th arugment takes place betweent the couple. This will highlight the importance of this scene as it is a key part of the narrative. This will allow the audience to understand the narrative, which will make them want to want the rest of the film to find out what happens.