2. Use of Narrative…
Explanation Evidence in our Thriller Evidence in/from existing films
As mentioned throughout my previous blog posts, our
thriller film is based around the theme of “Jealousy”
therefore, we based on narrative around some
inspirations that we had found whilst researching.
Firstly, we took inspiration from films such as, “Double
Jeopardy” to create a ‘staged’ death. We thought this
would create tension and make the audience question
what has happened.
Secondly, another inspiration for our narrative and
introduction to the narrative was taken from the BBC
drama, “The Missing”. This was throughout the use of a
montage opening. When watching “The Missing” we
noticed that the title sequence was a series of images
put together which gave the audience a slight insight
to the programme and made them more curious to
where the settings where and who the people were.
From this, we decided to create a photo montage to
use in our title sequence. We thought it was a good
idea to get the audience thinking about the
relationships between the characters in our film. “The
Missing” continues to be an influence throughout the
narrative of our film as Jazz after all does go, “missing”
as her body is left in the garage out of view.
We conformed to the conventions of Todorov’s narrative theory with creating a equilibrium at the start with the photo montage, followed by the disequilibrium which will be when
the body of Jazz is displayed, then the re-establishment of the equilibrium is not shown but will happen by the end of the film.
3. Use of Mise-En-Scene…
Explanation Evidence in our Thriller Evidence in/from existing films
We decided to use two locations to film our media
opening, these were, a house and a garage. We chose
these two places as on screen the contrasting lighting
and aesthetics create a really interesting image.
This conforms to the typical nature of some thriller
films which use two juxtaposing filming locations. The
two different locations meant we could successfully
achieve the dark, eerie shots which are typically evident
in a thriller film but also create juxtaposing shots which
give the audience different feelings towards the film
and characters.
We decided to go against the typical conventions of a
thriller film whilst we were filming inside the house
throughout the use of props & lighting. In the shots
there were visible household decorations such as
flowers and pictures which created a more relaxed feel,
the lighting was also bright and natural. This slightly
took the thriller element away from the film, however,
the juxtaposing shots in the garage worked really well
& we used them to our advantage. The lighting was
dark & dull which was more typical of a thriller film and
we only used props that would be significant to the
death of Jazz, such as the pills and the phone.
4. Use of Editing…
Explanation Evidence in our Thriller Evidence in/from existing films
We looked at many examples of editing techniques
whilst we were editing our film and thought about how
we could use them. The editing process of our film
took some time as we were being rather critical;
scrutinizing each frame very carefully.
There where a few errors along the way regarding the
continuity editing our thriller opening, however, we
managed to resolve these after a few sessions using
the software efficiently.
We included a 360º shot in our thriller which we
decided to increase the speed by ‘X100’ to create a
tense and almost chaotic atmosphere, conforming to
the conventions of many existing thriller products. The
speed increase of the clip also helped us represent how
the events have erupted around Jazz, who was the
character focused on in the 360º shot. We did
experiment using slow motion for this shot, however,
we felt like it would be more effective and suitable for
a film of the thriller genre.
Considering one of our inspirations, “The Missing”,
shots are increased in speed or time lapses are often
used to reflect the action revolving around one certain
individual. Scenes are also made faster in the thriller
“The Conjuring”.
5. Use of Camera…
Explanation Evidence in our Thriller Evidence in/from existing films
Throughout the filming process we were very aware of
making sure we had a variety of shots we would be
able to use in order to produce our thriller opening.
We primarily used close up shots to reflect fear and to
create tension. The close up shots were many filmed in
the garage, whereas, we used a high angle and
medium shots when we were filming in the house. This
gave the scenes in the house a more natural feeling as
we wanted to then create an opposed, tense feeling
when Jazz’s dead body was shown. This conforms to
the conventions of thriller films, along with panning
shots which draw the audience in to the action that is
happening on screen.
The panning shots used in our opening work well in
creating a juxtaposition of life and good times along
with death and lifelessness of Jazz. This is created by
the photo montage at the begging of the film being
shown through a pan with a fade to black and then a
pan of Jazz’s body lying on the garage floor.
We also zoomed in on the ring on Jazz’s finger going
from a close to, to an extreme close up and then a fade
into the next shot. This worked well as it created the
suspense that is expected from thriller films as you
don’t know what you are going to see next.
6. Use of Special Effects…
Explanation Evidence in our Thriller Evidence in/from existing films
Once again, taking into consideration the ideas of one
of our main inspirations; the drama thriller series of
“The Missing”, influenced us when choosing where and
when our titles would appear.
The choice to put our opening titles, “directed by…,
edited by… & produced by…” before the main title of
our film was inspired by “The Missing”. This lets the
audience consider what the film could be about from
the opening photo montage.
The on-screen positioning of our titles also conform to
the conventions of the BBC series of “The Missing” with
the small opening titles placed in the bottom left and
right corners on the screen and the main title placed
directly in the centre.
We have also added a red shadow behind our titles to
create the ‘sinister’ feel behind our film and to make
the typography stand out.
Most of transitions are fades to black between each
shot which add to thriller element of our film as it is
uncertain what is about to come next.
7. Use of Sound…
Explanation Evidence in our Thriller Evidence in/from existing films
We spent a fair amount of time researching what
sound could be used for our thriller opening and
experimenting with what worked best and which tracks
suited our film.
For the opening photo montage we wanted to choose
sound which challenged the typical conventions of a
thriller and to co-inside with the photos and the whole
feeling of the film at the beginning. We wanted to
choose a track which gave the audience an insight to
the theme and storyline of our thriller film.
After the title sequence, we wanted to choose sound
which would be stereotypical to the genre of thriller to
juxtapose with the first choice of music and to be
parallel to the action screen. However, we were slightly
cautious as we didn’t want to take the same approach
as the iconic shower scene, in Hitchcock’s ‘Physco’ by
using sound which comes across as slightly humorous.
To give the audience that insight we were looking for
we found a song called, “Jealousy” by “Frankie Miller”
In which we decided to use for the photo montage to
open our film. This chosen non-digetic ,sound track
doesn’t necessarily conform to the typical conventions
of a thriller film however, the lyrics do create a slightly
tense and nervy atmosphere.
With our ideas in mind we found a non-digetic track on
YouTube which A level media studies had created as an
option for sound in a thriller film, called, “Thriller
Opening Soundtrack”. We felt that this was best suited
to our film and we liked how the track grew in
intensity, came down and then grew again.
In our inspiration of “The Missing” the sound used
during the opening title sequence is very sinister and
eerie which conforms to the conventions of a thriller.
The second track we decided to use is more typical of a
thriller and this type of sound or similar music is found
in most thriller films.
For both of the tracks we decided to use ,we sought permission to use them due to copyrighting laws. We contacted the uploader of the “Thriller Opening Soundtrack” and had a
quick response giving us permission to use it, this is shown in one of my earlier blog posts. However, we tried to seek contact information for Frankie Miller and his agency but we
couldn’t find any information in order to ask for permission directly. Therefore, we also contacted the YouTube uploader of the track “Jealousy” and at this moment in time, we are
still awaiting a response.
