Question 1

When researching this area I found that in most cases the lighting used in Thriller's were for

the most part conventionally kept to dark and shadowy colours that didn't give the audience

any hint as to what was about to happen next. I found that this was the case from textual analysis's of 'Momento' and 'Se7en' which along side their lighting used effects to create an even more mysterious scene through low saturation. We challenged this convention initially

as we used a red filtered light to make the kitchen of the murder connote danger and imminent threat. This would also add to the tension being built in the thriller opening, which is important as building tension is one of the

main conventions of thrillers. In the end I

decided that we should scrap this idea and

challenge the convention even more

frivolously by shooting in daylight. This was

done under the logic that our audience

would be more in awe of this murderer that

we are trying to introduce if they see he can

perform a murder in daylight. Nobody thinks of a murder happening in the daytime and i believe by introducing this idea our murderer is made to seem even more intimidating.

Lighting

Sound

During my research i found that sound was used to produce various different effects in the genre of thriller, however the most prominent of which was for the building of tension. This is something that we tried to use during editing at various points, using music to build tension through the slow build of dynamics till a final climax both in audio and in

the video. We tried to do this at the point of the opening when the victim is

attacked, but found that the length that the music played for didn't work

very well so instead we replaced this with the non-digetic whistling motif

throughout the whole piece. This provided less of a climax, but i believe it

greatly contributed to the overall feeling of tension and strange

ambiance during the piece. This is done similar to the thriller 'Se7en',

which uses the monotonous clicking of a metronome to create a tense

atmosphere.

Mise-en-scene: Costume, props and set design

Question 1

Introduction

Another way that i made the killer as intimidating as possible was through the use of intimidating clothing. This also contributed to the theory (Claude Levi Strauss) of binary opposites that is present in my Thriller opening. This is because the costume of the victim is very casual, light, normal and relaxed, whereas the clothing of the 'killer' is serious,

dark and intimidating. I did this to better define the two

contrasting characters which represent good and evil in

lament terms. One with a light blue hoodie and trousers,

the hoodie possibly resembling a young rebel but in my

view is the best choice for a character that is supposed to

be displayed as an average person. While the 'killer' is

wearing a thick black, formal jacket, dark trousers and

leather assault boots. As well as this the blood later coating his hands also adds to this

intimidating figure.

I spent a lot of time on the set in the kitchen scene in

the house. Conventionally from thrillers that i researched into,

the killer was usually someone no one really expected, someone

who was very much right in front of them the whole time. This is also

very common in crime genres as it adds and interesting twist to the

plot when the villain is related to involved in the law(e.g. Dexter,

Breaking Bad). In thrillers i.e. Memento the 'killer' doesn't even know

he's a killer and i tried to use this convention in my thriller. This is the

idea that the 'killer' is an everyday person. I did this by making the

kitchen into a mostly normal room, but of course removing much of it,

then adding the more sinister aspects later to show the sinister side of the 'killer's persona.

From our research we learnt a great deal about the conventions and forms that are typically contained in the genre of thriller. We gathered this vast information from actual real life media products, some highly profitable, and also from research into successful thriller directors who had their own personal innovations which we attempted to reflect in our thriller opening. Although we didn't always completely conform to these various conventions and forms. This is because we came up with our own ideas that challenge them; ideas that appealed to us.

Editing

During my research of other thrillers i found that jump cuts where a commonly abided by convention of thrillers that sought out a feeling of confusion and disorientation to be induced in their audience. This is also a convention of thrillers generally. I chose to use this convention to paint an even more peculiar view of my murderer as well as to create a more disorientating feel on a whole. The way that i accomplished this was by adding in jump cuts during the shots when the killer is on frame and when there are POV shots from the killers point of view. This creates a more disorientated and mentally unstable character in the eyes of the audience which is what i aimed for. As well as this the non-continuity of the thriller opening takes the audience from the feet of the murder to the escape from him in seconds, leaving them intrigued and in wonder and engaging them. This is because the audience that we chose to target will want to question what they have seen.

Mise-en-scene: location

I shot in locations that would connote remoteness and therefore make the victim look more helpless. This is done in many horror films as, if attacks were filmed in busy areas this wouldn't make much sense as people would come to the rescue of the victim and the 'killer' would be apprehended. So avoiding this i first tried to make the back garden of my house as sparse and rugged as possible by removing signs of habitation and i persistently tried to frame shots as to avoid letting any sign of the urban area we were in, seep through.

The second location that i used in the creation of this thriller opening is the woods down by the train tracks near my house. This better contributed to the idea of the helplessness of the victim as we only had natural features on camera at any given time. (i.e. no fences, no building etc.) As this is remote and inhabbited the victim will be helpless at the hands of the murderer, especially in his weakened state and unarmed. This is done similarly to 'Memento'.