Intro + Question 1

The brief I was given was to create a two minute opening sequence that was conventional to the thriller genre, my group members were Me, Amy Sowerby and Alfie Harris. The production roles in film are the producer, who prepares and supervises filming throughout and decides what should be added, removed or re-shot, the role of the director is to focus on the dramatic aspect of filming, create a filming schedule and make sure everyone sticks to it and finally to make sure the film stays within the limits of the pre-planned age rating. The actors role is to play out the script/narrative and essentially create the directors vision of the film, the role of the director of photography is to be the 'chief' over the camera and lighting crew and make sure the filming is of a high standard, also the director of photography must decide on the filter and lens that should be used, this is an important factor when trying to create shock, surprise and suspense. The role of the music producer is to prepare and select appropriate sounds/soundtrack used to create a desired effect on the audience within a scene,. the role of the script writer is to basically create the narrative in the vision of the director, the role of the mise en scene co-ordinator is to decide on the intensity of lighting, costumes for each character, make up and hairstyles and the setting used, all key when trying to create shock, surprise or suspense, the final role is the editor, this role requires the editor to prepare and select visual and audible clips and piece them together to create scenes a the final product as a film.

My role was, as director, to create a filming schedule and make sure everyone stuck to it, also I had to position the actors during filming. During this role I learnt how to make a film schedule and about age ratings and what makes certain films certain age certificates, in my role as an actor I just played out my part in the narrative, I learnt how to use facial or body expressions to create shock, su
rprise or suspense, in my role as director of photography I had to make sure I filmed the scenes using the correct shots and timings, I learnt how to use different shots, angles and movements to create shock, suspense and surprise, in my role as editor I had to piece together scenes to create the film, during this I learnt how to attach and detach sounds from clips.
I feel we worked well as a group as we created a whole opening sequence by the deadline given to us and the opening sequence we made was successful as it recieved positive feedback during the screening, it also used conventions of the thriller genre effectively to create suspense, shock and surprise within the audience, engaging them into watching the film.

Example of male antagonist

Example of low key lighting and female victim

Example of knife

Example of isolated area

The conventions of the thriller genre are the low key lighting which is used throughout the sequence when she has entered the forest (like in se7en during the final scene), eerie soundtrack is used whenever the antagonist is in shot, signifying his danger and that the audience should be weary (like in the shining as he is walking up to the bathroom with the victim in), shock when the antagonist appears from behind the female victim, suspense is created when she looks at the picture of her pinned onto the tree and the music builds up tension, surprise is created when the picture of her is found pinned on the tree (these three conventions are a key aspect in every thriller), the knife is used to attack the victim toward the end where the screen blacks out (like in Halloween it is the antagonists key weapon throughout whilst attacking his victims), male antagonist is Marius (big convention, used in the majority of thrillers, one film it is used in is the shining, the male antagonist is the major character in the film and the narrative is based around him), female victim is Chloe (big convention, used in the majority of thrillers, one film it is used in is the shining, wife of male antagonist in shining, constantly running from the antagonist and is helpless throughout, similar to our protagonist) and an isolated area which is the forest (se7en use this in the final scene). I used many of the conventions of the thriller genre to engage the audience, low key lighting was used throughout once the victim has entered the forest to create an enigma as the audiences view is slightly restricted, the knife was used to portray the dominance of the antagonist. The fact he was male also portrayed his power over the innocent, helpless, female victim, finally the isolated forest created suspense as the audience wonder what is going to happen to the victim as they know it is unlikely that someone will be able to save the victim or that the victim will escape as she is in the middle of nowhere. I would compare my film to Halloween : resurrection, this film had a male antagonist who was attacking a female character, portraying who has the dominance, also a knife is used to show dominance as well, these are both used in the thriller sequence my group has created, also the use of low key lighting helped create enigma and suspense extremely well, this inspired us to use it as we wanted to create these effects and this film proved that it worked. Overall, my groups thriller was extremely conventional due to having a lot of characteristics of a thriller film, the title we used, Injurious, was conventional as it is an interesting name which draws the audiences attention and has an enigma around it as the audience wonder what it means, the meaning is to cause harm, this makes it, again, conventional to the thriller genre as you'd expect violence

Rough cut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxGxKTMcP30

Audience feedback is extremely important to a production, it allows you to see what you have done well and what needs improving within the film, with this you can make changes to the film and help improve the narrative, the feedback from the audience is extremely important as they are the people that will be watching the film, if they do not enjoy certain parts then it should be taken out as it is made for the target audience, also if there are certain parts the audience enjoy then this should specifically be kept in, if this is done the film will be much more successful.

We received feedback from the audience by screening the film in class, the class then told us what they thought went well and what needed to be improved, this was perfect as it fits the age range we had as the target audience so could see what our audience wanted in the film and what they enjoyed, we can now change our film to suit the target audience as they have told us what is needed, as this is face to face so the audience can explain their reasoning for their disliking or liking of certain aspects (we could not use youtube as our video did not upload).

This benefited us as we could change our film to suit the preferences of our target audience, making it much more successful and enjoyable for the audience due to us being able to change parts the audience say they dislike or keep parts they particularly enjoy, this improves the production and makes this could also be helpful for it much more engaging for the audience. The film industry are benefited as they can get a much wider opinion from their target audience as they have much more resources, they can get the same benefits as us, but from a much wider range of the target audience and get more improvements and more detailed feedback, overall this is useful for both, us and the film industry as it helps us realise what we need to create conventions of the thriller genre as well as making it enjoyable and engaging on the audience.

We received numerous positive comments from the audience after the screening of our film, the first was a comment on our use of dim filter and that it creates suspense and tension extremely well, also saying it is conventional to the thriller genre, this was a great comment as it showed we produced what we attempted to, we wanted to create suspense with this filter and it clearly worked. The next comment was that the constant changing of shots keeps the film interesting, again this was what we wanted, we wanted the audience to be engaged within the films and the changing of shots clearly does this, we changed the shots throughout and tried not to stay on one shot for too long to keep the audience on their toes and not let them get comfortable with one shot, this is great for creating shock and surprise. The final comment was about how the credits appear over the first few shots yet do not restrict the view for the audience, this is good feedback as I was unsure whether the credits were correct and whether they took the focus off of the narrative, but the audience clearly thought it was a good balance, we planned before hand the beginning shots so that there would be space for the credits to fit in, this clearly worked well and will be used in the final product.

Along with the positive comments there was criticisms as well, which is needed if we want to improve our product, the first was about the absence of a soundtrack throughout, we did have soundtrack and sounds but they were not constantly present within the film, this was a problem that we noticed before we screened the rough cut, this was a problem as it was meant to be there to create suspense but we will add it to the final product, the constant soundtrack is a well known key convention and will be a main addition to our final product. Another criticism was that two antagonists were confusing to the narrative, we agreed with this and can see the problem, we want the narrative to be as simple, yet effective as possible on the audience, engaging them into watching and enjoying the film, being able to create suspense, surprise and shock. The final comment was about the part where the victim blacks out, the member of the audience explained that the black out was too long and the audience may think this is the ending, and that it loses the attention of the audience, when this was pointed out our group could see where this was coming from and agreed, we do not want the audience to lose attention and not be engaged but we do want to create the effect of a black out, this creates shock and suspense but when used too long becomes boring and the audience will become disinterested in the narrative.

Based on the comments we received we know what to change, we agree with all the points given so completely understand what to change and why we are changing it, firstly we will add a soundtrack that will linger throughout the sequence, this will help create suspense, shock, surprise throughout and will keep the audience engaged, this soundtrack will accompany the other sounds in the sequence like the heart beats, etc. The next improvement will be the removing of my character as an antagonist, this became confusing to the audience and did not make sense with the narrative, my character was unneeded and will not be used in the final product making it easier for the audience to follow keeping them engaged, therefore more appealing to the target audience, we will also make the black out effect a lot shorter so that it keeps the audience engaged as well as creating the effect we want from it, shock and suspense. One final thing that I would like to add which was not mentioned in the criticisms is that the antagonist should be wearing a mask, this creates a sense of enigma as to who the killer is, therefore creating suspense within the audience and surprise when this is revealed.

Group meeting

Meeting discussions are extremely important, these are essential to creating a good thriller sequence, it allows all members of the group to have an input on the different aspects of the thriller, from costumes to editing, the fact that everyone can voice their opinions allows us to decide as a group which ideas would create conventions of a thriller/engage the audience the most and suit our theme, by doing this we can get the best ideas from our group and not just an individual deciding the whole narrative by themselves, the group can also air concerns on aspects of the film and explain why they feel it isn't suitable and give a suitable replacement, the rest of the group can listen and spot their mistake and correct it or explain why something has been done if the majority still feel it is the correct thing to do.

Our group worked extremely well together, we worked as a team well and discussed ideas within the group with everyone before making it a definite decision, everyone had an effect/input on the final product and contributed toward improving it, we all happily took the roles we were given and filled them well, all of us have taken this seriously and got on with the work, although we have had trouble due to timetables being different we had trouble deciding days to film on, the main problem was that it became dark very early due to it being winter, also everyone was available to film on different days at different times, we got around this and done some shots during school time, other shots were done at weekends, the whole group was fully committed to the task and put all the effort they could in, I feel everyone had a positive influence on the final product.

Film schedule

The filming schedule is important to our opening sequence as it allows us to pre plan filming days and not spontaneously decide on the day, this allows us to make sure everyone is available and lets us get plenty of shots done, it also allows us to see what shots we will be doing on the day and not just decide there and then what we feel like doing and get iconography and mise en scene ready before hand, also we can get the camera ready and charge it, the fact that the filming schedule has the scenes we are going to shoot set out allows us to decide what to bring and know where to shoot the film and meet, this saves a lot of time and confusion allowing for more efficient filming.

Some days where changed due to inevitable plans arising during filming times, we changed these to other days, also we had to change what shots we could do due to it being so dark, this made it impossible to film some shots as we could not see what was going on and the camera could not pick up the actors so it ended up just filming pitch black, we countered this by filming shots there were in the street, using the street lights to assist us with light, this was successful so we filmed the other scenes on brighter days/earlier times, it also allows us to know where we will be filming next so we can all go there ready to set up our equipment at the scene.

Production roles

It is important for people to be allocated to specific roles as it allows people to focus solely on their roles, allowing for greater execution, if one person is responsible for two or three jobs then they will do them to a better quality compared to if they had more roles to do, also if something goes wrong there is one person designated to the job that can take the blame.

Producers - Alfie Harris

Director - Danny Wheeler

Actors - Amy Sowerby, Danny Wheeler and Alfie Harris

Director of photography - Danny Wheeler

Music producer - Amy Sowerby

Screenplay writer - Danny Wheeler

MES co-ordinator - Alfie Harris

Editor - Amy Sowerby

During a group meeting we discussed the roles each of us would take, the first role, the producer, was given to Alfie Harris, we believed that he would suit this role extremely well due to his great organisation of equipment, good knowledge of the area of filming and due to his previous involvement in GCSE media, all of theses combined made us decide that he could fulfil the role of the producer, due to me and Amy being new to the media course. Alfie has to make sure that all equipment is ready for filming during agreed times on our filming schedule, he also has to decide on the setting we shall use, this is important as it takes a big part of filming off of me and Amy and allows one designated person to decide this with some input from the other group members if needed, he filled this role very well, his brilliant organisation of equipment, etc helped him partake in this role and his knowledge of the area was a big asset as well.

I was chosen to be director due to it being convenient, firstly I had a vision in my head of what I wanted and how I wanted it done, due to me being the director of photography as well it was easier for me to do this as I could place all the actors where I wanted them and help create conventions of the thriller in the scenes we wanted, also I knew where to position characters where the audience would focus on them, all of this made filming a lot more efficient as we did not have to keep retaking shots due to it being a poor shot, I feel I completed this role successfully as our scenes were successful in what we wanted to create and the narrative was followed correctly.

Me, Alfie Harris and Amy Sowerby were all actors in the thriller sequence, we have all created our own characters to fit into the sequence, this allows us to know our characters inside and out, therefore we can act out our characters extremely well and due to all of us being actors we do not rely on one person being available to shoot scenes, if one actor is busy then the others can still proceed with filming, also it creates, suspense, surprise, shock and enigma due to having more characters and variety, we all fulfilled our roles successfully and created these conventions where needed.

I was the director of photography, this was linked with my other roles, also I have previous experience with the camera so it was decided I was best for the job, also my character rarely features in the sequence so we decided that I should be the director of photography, I filled this role well and used the camera successfully, creating different angles, shots and movements effectively, I got used to the camera quickly and created suspense, surprise, shock and enigma well.

Amy was given the role of music producer, she had a clear idea of what sounds she wanted along with the scenes we were creating, this allowed us to quickly get sound editing done as we knew exactly what we wanted, me and Alfie put in input if we felt another sound would be more suited or effective for the scene but this was rare, Amy also took music GCSE so was experienced in this aspect, she knew exactly what to do and how to download sound/where to download it from, she was successful in her role and I have no complaints, she used sound very effectively and knew the exact points that would cause suspense, shock, surprise and enigma, engaging the audience successfully.

The group decided I should be screenplay writer, this was because of my clear idea of what I wanted the sequence to look like, I had the idea set out in my head, I knew when I wanted to create suspense, shock, surprise and enigma, I also knew the characters if everyone well, this allowed me to demonstrate each characters characteristics well in the shots and help the audience build a relationship with them, by doing this we can engage the audience into watching the sequence, I feel I fulfilled this role well, I knew what I wanted from the narrative and got it.

Alfie was the MES co-ordinator we decided to give him this role due to his superb organisation and his knowledge of the area we were filming in, it was his idea to film where we filmed the sequence and it was a great setting to film in and had everything we needed fir our filming, this allowed for a better quality of filming as it became more realistic and engaging due to the setting being what the audience imagined it to be like, also our target audience claimed that a forest is the most desirable place to film a thriller and the forest we filmed at matched the description, Alfie done this role extremely well and  helped improve the quality of filming massively by sorting out all of the mise en scene.

The final role of editing was given to Amy, she knows how to edit far better than me and Alfie, although we are capable of editing during her absense, she is the main editor and knows what effects to use in which shots to make it as effective on the audience as possible, me and Alfie have an input on this as well and have mostly agreed with Amys decisions, although some we have decided to use a different editing style as it creates a different effect that we think is needed, also some of the effects are used to create a relationship between the audience and the character as well as suspense, shock, surprise and enigma, I feel she has fulfilled this role successfully and knows what she is doing, she has created effects within the audience successfully in scenes we wanted to do this.

I feel I was successful with my roles of director, director of photography and screenplay writer, I positioned the others well, this was easy for me as I was behind the camera so could see where the best positioning for the actors to be was, I also done well with the role of director of photography, due to my experience with cameras I was the best man for the job and carried it out well, creating some great shots and angles, I feel like my role as an actor was not as good as the other roles, I was not sure what to do and due to being behind the camera the majority of the time, was unsure where to stand.

Amy also fulfilled her role as actor, music producer and editor successfully, she completed these roles exceptionally well during filming, as an actor she done well, due to the camera constantly being on her it was hard but she acted well and created the effects needed, she done well as music producer as she knew exactly what she wanted and where to find it, she also knew what was needed to create certain effects on the audience which was important, finally as an editor she knew exactly what was needed for each shot and where it was and how it created the desired effect on the audience, she was much better at editing than me and alfie so it made sense for her to take this role.

Alfie was very good in his roles of producer, MES coordinator and actor, alfie was a great producer and MES coordinator, he knew the area we were filming well so knew the best places for each scene, also he knew exactly what costumes everyone needed and where to find them, he was also a very good actor, when on screen he done what was asked and created shock, surprise, suspense and enigma well.

Overall our filming was extremely successful, we finished our sequence and edited it, it did not turn out fully as planned as all of us had different schedules it was difficult to film, we managed to finish it just in time but could not get everything done, for example we struggled to get a soundtrack to use throughout the sequence, also we did not have a mask during the time we filmed so the enigma was much more difficult to create, we created a lot of shock, surprise and suspense in our sequence and engaged the audience, I feel like I should not be an actor for the real thing as it is slightly confusing for the audience as it is unclear how my character links in.

Opening scene narration - miss Miller

Our opening narrative begins with Chloe walking toward the forest after saying goodbye to her friends this will be done at a mid shot with high key lighting, she crosses the road (close up), as she is walking toward the forest she spots something, the audience cannot see what she has noticed due to it being off screen (eerie soundtrack played), she walks over to it and the audience cannot quite make out what it is (timing of shots-slow), the protagonist is clearly intrigued by it though, there is then a close up shot of the picture, the audience realise it is a CCTV image of Chloe, causing suspense in the audience as well as enigma as to how it got there and why it is there (high pitched noise), now there is a close up/reaction shot (heart beat), then it goes to a long shot as Chloe walks away, eerie music to build suspense is used in the background as she walks away you can see a mysterious man whose identity is unknown, he then walks off, she then enters the forest passing Tony (long shot used) (eerie sound track), Chloe then enters the forest (low key lighting), we then get a POV from the antagonists view, you can see him hiding behind a tree stalking her (heavy panting used), the protagonist is clearly unaware of the antagonists presence, the next scene is a low angle showing the sole of the protagonists shoes as she walks into the forest, she then wanders through the woods, as she walks through a POV shot from the antagonist is shown, it shows another CCTV image of Chloe being burnt (eerie soundtrack used), she sees a man in the forest holding a knife (high pitched screech noise), this frightens her so she takes a different route through the forest there is then more of her walking through the forest panicking (high angle), then a longshot, you can see a man waving toward the victim, holding a knife, a reaction shot is used and it shows her panicking and her fear (heart beat), then there is a montage of all of the things that have happened previously(different lighting used to show flashbacks) and she realises what is happening now and knows she is in extreme danger, a two shot is used and it shows both of them opposite each other(eerie soundtrack), she then runs and fast timing of shots is used to show fear and panic, there is then a POV shot of the victim, then a POV from the antagonists with the knife in his hand, she trips and he stabs her as it cuts to black, she then realises she is heavily bleeding she props herself up against a tree (close up), the screen begins to go blurry and wobble, then she faints, the screen then cuts to black, as she wakes up (eerie soundtrack) she turns (panning) (POV) to see the antagonist standing above, then there is a scream and it cuts to black.

Group storyboard

The purpose of the group storyboard is to gather all the group members best ideas and put them into one storyboard, collecting the best possible storyboard, every member of the group shared their storyboard with the others and as a group we decided whether it should make the final cut or not, sometimes we didn't use the exact idea but took parts of it, e.g an over the shoulder shot.







We have created a group storyboard so that we can have one set narrative to follow while filming, it makes it easier to understand what we will be shooting next and we will have our best possible narrative as a group, in the seventh shot, POV is used, in the bottom of the screen you can see the antagonists weapon, this sets the tone for the rest of the opening sequence, this idea came from me and Amy, we both had this idea and I feel it works very well, this would be effective at creating suspense as the audience can just see the weapon, also the audience build a relationship with the antagonist due to fearing him.

The next shot is the over the shoulder shot, this is the tenth shot and is used to create surprise, also an enigma as to how these pictures have been gotten hold of as well as why they are in the forest, the audience fear for the protagonist due to the situation she is in, this idea was in me, Amy and Alfie's storyboard, it is extremely effective at intriguing and engaging the audience, making them watch on, due to the restricted view it creates suspense within the audience, also the fact that the antagonist could be lurking anywhere in the unknown helps the audience build a relationship with him, fearing him.

The third shot is the reaction shot in the 12 th shot, this idea was Amy's, it creates suspense and shock effectively, the audience are in suspense as they see that she is in danger and fear for her, wondering what is going to happen to her next, the are shocked as to how she has reacted, they hoped for a brave hero as the protagonist but from this reaction you can see the fear of the protagonist, this makes them realise the danger she is in and that it is extremely unlikely that she will overpower the antagonist, this makes the audience sympathetic toward her situation.

The fourth is a long shot, this is used in the twenty first shot, this is used to show the antagonist teasing the protagonist, this was Amy's idea, it creates suspense as to what the antagonist will do after this as he is in clear control of the situation, there is also shock as to how calm he is considering he is holding a knife threatening the protagonist, the audience fear the antagonist as this shows his clear dominance, superiority and calmness in such a nerve racking situation.

I feel like our storyboard is a good opening sequence for a thriller, it involves plenty of shock, surprise and suspense as well as a constant enigma as to who the antagonist is and why he is stalking the protagonist, we managed to encorparate everyone in the groups ideas in one way or another, everyone had an input and added some of their own story, coming together as one idea 

The first micro element is mise en scene, we will use a forest as the setting as it is great for creating shock, surprise and suspense it is an area that people see in their everyday life's and see it as a normal thing, the fact that such horror happens within the forest will create shock and surprise within the audience helping to engage them into the film, it is also conventional to a thriller as it it an isolated area, there are lots of places to hide and it is almost cut off from civilisation, creating suspense as when the victim is in danger they know it will be extremely difficult to escape, also iconography used such as the knife is used to show the power and superiority of the antagonist over the victim, the dark clothing of the antagonist represents the danger and enigma surrounding, showing the audience he is an evil character, the light clothing of the victim shows the innocence and harmlessness of her and helps the audience relate and sympathise with her.

The second micro element is cinematography, we will be using different shots, angles and movements with the camera,the use of long shot allows the audience to see the setting behind the character, getting a feel of the mood of the setting, helping create suspense within the audience, the use of this helps engage the audience, this shot also allows the audience to see the characters full body and facial expressions, helping the audience relate to the character, a movement we will use is handheld, this is used to represent the panic and urgency of the victim to try to escape from the antagonist, it also shows the audience the dominance and superiority of the antagonist compared to the victim, creating shock and surprise as well as helping the audience build a relationship with the antagonist as they fear him, this is conventional as it helps engage the audience as they feel like they are part of the film, helping create shock, surprise and suspense to maximum effect. The angle we will use is the low angle, this will be used to show the power of the antagonist and make the audience fear him, it will be used to create shock and surprise as it portrays to the audience how powerful and dominant the antagonist really is, helping the audience sympathise toward the victim.

The third micro element used in our thriller sequence is sound, we used both diegetic and non diegetic, An example of diegetic sound being used was the screams of the victim while on screen, this was used to show the superiority of the antagonist and helped create suspense and shock as the screen cuts to black as she screams, this helps engage the audience as the audience wonder what has happened to the victim, also helping create a relationship between the audience and victim as they sympathise toward her as they realise that her life is in serious danger, the fact it is clearly not edited in helps the audience become more engaged within the film as it becomes realistic, helping create more shock, surprise and suspense within the audience. The non diegetic sound used will be the soundtrack and edited sounds like the heart beat, the soundtrack will help create a sense of enigma and also create suspense, in shocking parts the soundtrack can help emphasise the shock, the use of this will help engage the audience and the audience will create a relationship with the antagonist as the eerie soundtrack used in his presence will warn the audience of his danger

We was inspired to use low key lighting by the film Halloween, this is evident throughout the sequence and was extremely effective at creating enigma, shock and suspense, all these were used to keep the audience engaged into the film, it was also used to represent the dark and eerie mood of the scene, engaging the audience into watching the film. Panning was inspired from silence of the lambs, this will be used to pan across to the antagonist, creating suspense and shock when it finally gets to him, this will be engage the audience into watching the film as well as helping the audience create a relationship with the antagonist, due to fearing him. we took the idea of high and low angles from silence of the lambs, this was used very effectively in this film and created shock as well as fear toward the antagonist within the audience, these all helped engage the audience into watching  the film, this will  be used when the antagonist is attacking the victim