Individual Narrative

A narrative is important to thriller films as all fims have to follow a story line of some kind in order for their audience to engage with the film.

ideas:
. 2 girls walking their dog in a forest
. murderer has just escaped from prison and was last seen by the forest
. girls are captured and taken by murderer
. one girl escapes and the others killed

My thrillers main setting will be in a forest and a basement in a house which no one has lived in for years, i have chosen these setting as they will be dark and deserted making the thriller to be more eerie. The character will originally dressed in normal outwear clothing, then later on in the film when the girls are kid

inspiration from other films last house on the left

Group

The beginning of my thriller will start with two girls walking there dog in a forest in a small town, however hours before a murderer has just escaped from prison and was last spotted by the forest the girls are walking there dogs. whilst on the walk the murderer comes up and takes the girls to a deserted house basement and torches the girls. The murderer leaves the basement and the girls are left. one of the girls has a key in her pocket which she uses to cut through the thin rope slightly to eventually pull it apart. Both girls struggle toward the front door where the murderer is close by. one girl manages to run out of the door but the other one is too weak. As the girl is running away she hears the gunshot of her friend being killed.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scène is a French term and originates in the theatre It means, literally, "put in the scene." For film, it has a broader meaning, and refers to almost everything that goes into the composition of the shot, including the composition itself: framing, movement of the camera and characters, lighting, set design and general visual environment, even sound as it helps elaborate the composition.

The setting for the film prom night was set in a hotel, this type of setting is not usually conventional to a thriller film as the ironic type of settings often feature a ordinary location, to allow the audience to feel a link with certain characters, alot of the setting in thrillers are eerie ones with an eerie past such as old schools, manors or churches, the setting of prom night this gives the audience a false impression as the plot unfolds. Also the fact that the film is set in a hotel with a large number of people miss leads the audience as they don't seem to think its likely for a murder to take place with the vast amount of people. 

Another element of mise-en-scene used in prom night was iconography, the scene at the beginning  of prom nights uses props such as glasses and bottles to represent that everyone is having a good time, later on in the film a fire extinguisher is used by the killer to break down a door to get the victim inside the hotel room, this is used to show the audience the victim is no longer safe in her room. This is conventional to a thriller as it is a weapon used to attack a victim, it also makes the audience feel sympathetic toward the victim and on edge to what is going to happen to them. Another prop used in prom night was a knife held by the killer, this portrays the killers power and dominance over the weak female victim as she has no weapon and is helpless.


Lighting and colour play a major part with highlighting people and objects within a film. Prom night uses low key lighting in this scene to represent a darker atmosphere, which is scary or mysterious.  It  produces a sharper contrast of light in darker areas on screen in order to develop deep shadows and silhouettes formations. in the case of this scene the shadows are of the murderer who is only just behind the victim. This is conventional for a thriller movie as it try's to create mystery so that the audience will be interested and want to try and work out what is going on.

The costumes used in prom night are suites and glamorous prom dresses, the way in which the characters are dressed gives us a clue in that they are very wealthy so therefore could be victims as they have money. A few of the victims in the film are dressed in in white/cream dresses which represents innocence and weakness, where as the murderer is dressed in dark clothing and a hat making him mysterious and giving him a hidden identity which is typically used in thrillers as the audience do not usually know who the killer is till nearer the end of the film.





This analysis has helped me understand mise-en-scene and the different aspects of it and the effects they create. My thriller film will include costumes such as the victim wearing white and the killer wearing black to show the higher status of the killers. I will also use facial expressions to convey emotions so the audience feel sympathetic towards the victim for example. 

Age certificates

BBFC stands for the British board of film classification. It is an independent body which was originally established by the film industry in 1912. Local Authorities were made responsible for what was shown in cinemas and from early on accepted the decisions of the BBFC. The BBFC is important to the film industry as it to helps to protect young viewers and society from viewing unsuitable content while allowing adults to have freedom of choice.

The BBFC currently issues the following certificates. The category logos were introduced in December 2002, replacing the previous ones that had been in place since 1982.

 
Universal

This logo defines that all ages are admitted and that their is nothing unsuitable for children, film with the certificate ‘U’ should be suitable for viewer aged four years and over. An Example of a 'U' certified film is 'Finding Nemo'. This film is rated as a U 





Parental Guidance

Some scenes may not be suitable for young children under the age of 8. Unaccompanied children of any age are allowed to watch. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger children. An Example of a 'PG' certified film is'Hocus Pocus'.










'12A'

Films under this category are considered to be unsuitable for very young people. Those aged under 12 years are only admitted if accompanied by an adult, aged at least 18 years, at all times during the motion picture. However, it is generally not recommended that children under 12 years should watch the film. Films in this category could include things such as mature scenes, soft drugs, and discrimination. An example of a '12A' certified film is 









'15'

Only those over 15 years are admitted. Nobody younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15-rated VHS, DVD, or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category can contain things such as adult themes, hard drugs, frequent strong language and limited use of very strong language, strong violence and strong sex references, and nudity without graphic detail. Sexual activity may be portrayed but without any strong detail. 











'18'

Only adults are admitted. Nobody younger than 18 can rent or buy an 18-rated film or watch a one in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category do not have limitation on the bad language that is used. Hard drugs are generally allowed, and explicit sex references along with detailed sexual activity are also allowed. Scenes of strong real sex may be permitted if justified by the context. Very strong, gory, and/or sadistic violence is usually permitted.







Having thoroughly analysed the set guidelines for each of the levels of certificates available for a moving image, I have come to the conclusion that our thriller piece is going to be  rated a 12 certificate. I have chose this level certificate because I believe that the most suitable list of boundaries lies with the '12' more so than any other certificate, it is also more realistic to achieve similar conventions in our thriller than any other certificate.

What is a thriller film

 A Thriller Film is a genre that revolves around anticipation and suspense. The aim for Thrillers is to keep the audience alert and on the edge of their seats. Good thrillers must include certain codes and conventions to achieve their aim. 

The codes and conventions of a thriller are usually of the following, the representation of the characters especially women are presented as weak this is done in some thriller films by the victim wearing white clothing which symbolizes weakness. The characters are also presented as good vs bad generally in thrillers,   The protagonist in these films is set against a problem, for example an escape, a mission, or a mystery. No matter what sub-genre a Thriller film falls into, it will emphasize the danger that the protagonist will faces. irony is another feature used which creates suspense as the audience know throughout the film that the victim is going to be killed but just not when its going to happen. Intensity of sound is another convention used which creates suspense these are normally parallel to the images. Iconography is always used in thrillers as its the main weapon the killers tend to use. Through out thrillers low key lighting is used to create shadows and a mysterious effect to hide the characters faces. Slow editing is used in thrillers to build tension which keeps the audience interested in the film.

In the opening sequence of saw 1 we can immediately tell that the film is a thriller from that it starts off with being set in a unknown location of a bathroom looking room where two men are tied up by chains which creates enigma and indicates there will be some thrilling action to what is going to happen next to them. Low key lighting is used for about the first minute of the opening sequence of the film to create  mysterious and creepy atmosphere. 



thriller analysis of a thriller film opening


summary of post

Cinematography

Cinematography is the art or technique of making a film with the combination of camera elements and displaying how a scene is shot. The three main elements that make up cinematography are:

Camera movement- camera movement represents audiences view point or perspective, during the course of filming. Movement plays a significant role in the emotional language of films images and audiences reactions to the action on the screen, as the camera itself may be moved to create effect.

Camera angles- The camera angle marks the precise place in which a camera is placed to take a shot. The camera angle provides the audience with the most effective and advantageous view point, and adds a unique perspective which can effect the audience perception of what is happening within a scene.

Camera positions- This is the positing of the camera, and how the scene is shot. camera positions helps the director convey different conventions an audience expects to see throughout a thriller film, and helps show a characters facial expression enabling the audience to understand how they are feeling.




 In scream 4 we see a number of different cinematography elements used throughout the film, for example a close up is used showing us a large surface area of screams face which shows us that he has a hidden identity. This shot relates to the conventions of a thriller film as the killers face is hidden and the audience are in suspense. This convention is commonly used throughout thrillers so that the audience do not know what is going on so therefore continue to watch the film.







Another shot i thought was important to why thrillers include certain camera shots was a mid shot showing a girls body and facial expression it is used to show the girl in more detail  whilst still showing  enough for the audience to feel as if they are looking at the whole of her. In this case from this shot we see the girls fear and anxiety. These types of camera shots are important in thrillers as the audience can feel the characters emotions engaging them more into the film.




A shallow focus shot is another shot used in scream 4 which shows Sydney in focus with her background blurred it is used to demonstrate subjectivity. This is used to hide the killer identity keeping the audience in suspense as they are unaware of what events are going to happen next. The shallow focus shot makes the audience feel uneasy as not knowing when the killer is going to appear.





Cinematography has helped me understand what and when to use cinema shots during my thriller for example i would use a close up to show the facial expressions of the character. It has also helped me understand the different camera shots that can be used in different situations. From this research on cinematography I want to use a shallow focus shot in my thriller as it gives a interesting effect by focuses on the subject and nothing else.

Sound

Sound is used in thriller films to inform the audience of the different situations that the characters are going through. sound used in thrillers are typically noisy  and  a lot of diegetic sound during the course of the film such as bangs and screams which build up to help create suspense and tension.

In scream 2 a variety of different sounds are used, we see and example of off screen sound when a woman is on the phone to the killer and we can hear what he is saying to her. This informs the audience about the conversation between the victim and killer, the audience now finds out slightly more about the killer. This type of sound relates to the conventions of thrillers as we can see and hear how frightened the woman is.


Parallel sound is another type of sound used in scream four when a man is being stabbed by the killer, it informs the audience that the man is being killed and enables us to know how without it actually being shown. The parallel sounds are conventional to a thriller film as it informs the audience that a murder is taking place and this is a typical narrative which the audience would expect to see. This type of sound would make the audience feel sympathetic towards the victim as he has just been killed by his stalker.

Non diegetic sound is used through out scream 2 to build up tension and suspense, it is typically used when the victim is aware the killer is around but cannot been seen by the victim, and example of this is when Randy is in the park on the phone to the killer where he says that he can see Randy where Randy cant see him, diegetic music is played throughout the conversation to bring up the intensity. This relates to the conventions of a thriller film as the build of of suspense is what the audience want to feel to make the film more interesting. this type of sound make the audience more intrigued to find out what will happen next.

Editing

To create tension most thrillers use different editing styles to create different emotions, especially in thriller films style editing are used to create tension, which the audience expect to happen in a thriller film.

In the film strangers slow editing is used when a women is walking to the door while someone bangs loudly, this builds up tension and makes the audience scared as the people are in the middle of nowhere. A reaction shot is used when a woman is checking the person has gone from looking outside from her window after she heard footsteps. This editing focuses on showing she is scared and wanting to know if the girls has gone. This editing style is conventional to a thriller as it creates tension and shows the women scared.

A linking shot is used when the woman looks out the window again to make sure the woman has gone for the second time. The shot shows that the woman is still very frightened and wants to check no one is there even though she knows there is someone. This shot relates to conventions of a thriller because it shows the the character is on her own and very venerable,