Planning editing styles- Miss Georgiou

Editing styles are important within a thriller as it alows the scenes to flow fully and to be connected in ways that entice and draw in the audience. A particular style can change the transition of a scene and thus have a huge impact so, as a group our planning process for this had to be discussed fully.

The first editing style we have decided to use is timing of shots. This will be used throughout our clip but as a group we highlighted it as to be used mostly at the beginning of the clip and at the end. This is so the audience can view the contrast of when the character is safe (at the beginning) and when the character is in danger (towards the end). This is conventional to a thriller genre as it creates a pase for the film. This pase can mirror how we want/expect our audiences heart rate to be at the beginning; slow and at the end fast passed due to the suspense and excitement. This means that the shots will be slower at the beginning and faster at the end to allow the audience to compare and contrast and therefore make the ending more effective.

The second editing style we have decided to use is a reaction shot. This was inspired to us by other films such as scream, Halloween etc as it allows the audience to see exactly how the characters are feeling. By allowing the audience to see this we create a relationship between audience and character meaning whatever then happens to the character is more important to that audience as they have developed care and sympathy towards them. The reaction shot will be used to show both the focal victims reaction to the killer and the by standing victims reaction to the killer. This alows the audience to see both reactions and to be able to compare and contrast these to create their own picture of how the characters are feeling. This alows the audience a front row view of exactly what emotions and what feelings the characters are undergoing which means as a group we have more chance of having our audience undergo these feelings too alongside them.

The third editing style we have decided to use are jump cuts. This is one of the first editing styles we concluded as a group we would use as it makes the character think about what's going to happen next which creates an interest in the film. A jump cut draws the audience attention to a particular focal point which in our case will be  when the main character is in danger and then it will jump to the main character waking up as if she is safe. This jump will create suspense and shock as the audience will not expect it to happen. The fast pase will increase the  time this happens making it all very quick and free flowing. By using this it is conventional to the thriller genre as the purpose is to thrill and excite which by using a jump cut we can accomplish.

To conclude a selection of editing styles will allow our thriller to flow freely and to obtain a sense of ease. It will appear as if it is all connected so that the it is viewed as a sequence and not a series of shots. Particular shots will allow us to create relationships with the audience which means we have a more effective and more impactable clip.  Therefore, by using the editing styles we have chosen above we will be able to a achieve this and thus a better thriller opening.

Group Story Board- Miss Miller

(Not completed)



As a group we had a meeting regarding our whole storyboard. We looked and discussed eachothers personal story boards and took the best parts to include in our own group one. For example: Sophie's opening scene appeared as the most powerful and as a group we concluded that this is the one that should be used and encorporated. There were points where, we would combined all our ideas for one scene and place it into one; for example; I could have a camera angle that works well with one of the other members narrative choice. Overall we had to compromise and agree on what we thought was best for our thriller opening outcome.

Our storyboard includes:      




These are all the things that are needed within a thriller. The layout allows us to see both the visualisation of what we are saying and the technical. This shows as a group that we can have an idea and encorporate it fully. It also allows us to show and see how it will look on the screen, so we can see if it fits the conventions, looks effective, fits our target audience and that we are displaying what we want to in the best way possible for our thriller.

As we can see from an example from our storyboards the use of it enabled us to put our ideas down on paper and see if they would work where as the group storyboard allowed us to finalise these ideas as a group and use for our planning. As a group this storyboard will be able to be used as a visual aid to base and follow our whole thriller filming on.






Overall the usage of the group storyboard in comparison to our own personal ones will allow us to know what direction our thriller is going in and overall will benefit and impact us well as we now have something to follow and something to direct us when we go through our filming process.

Planning mise-en-scene- Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene

Why is mise-en-scene important within a thriller film? 
Mise En Scene is a french word that originates from the theatre. It means to literally put on scene. In film however, it has a broader meaning and refers to almost everything that is in composition of a shot. Mise En Scene is important within a thriller film as it encompasses the most recognisable attributes of a film. This includes, setting&iconography, costume hair& make up, facial expressions & body language, positioning of characters and objects within a frame and the colour and lighting.

What is the mise-en-scene of my thriller and why? 

Setting

Our setting is based on a train. By basing our thriller in such a realistic setting it allows our audience to relate to the victim who undergoes her thriller scare there. This is conventional to the thriller genre as a realistic setting is usually set in order to create comparison and linkage between viewer and the actor in the film. By our audience being able to relate to the character a relationship is created and built meaning, whatever happens to them is more impactable on the audience making it more effective and thus gaining a bigger reaction from them. The setting itself also allows us to create effects such as the sound and the girl going through the dark tunnel. By choosing this setting as part of our mise-en-scene for our thriller we can 

Costume

The costumes of our characters fit in with both the plotline and our target audience. The plot of the story is that the characters are coming home from a party so, their clothing then mirrors this. By making the clothing apart of the plotline, the audience can draw connections of where the characters have been without them physically saying it. The clothing also links in with the teen age group of these young people. As our target audience is 15+ this also means out audience would wear/obtain clothes of a similar nature. By doing this we can create a relationship between the audience and the characters. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it is usual that the clothing in a thriller is relaistic to the audience as it makes them adapt more to the scene as things appear more 'normal' meaning whatever happens is a surprise which, is also conventional to a thriller film. We also choose to use a mask for the villain which hides his/her identity. This too is conventional to a thriller as it is iconography and creates dramatic irony as we can tell what's going to happen when this mask is worn as it is not associated with things of a positive nature. This once again draws lines and makes connections for the audience making our relationship with them stronger.


Facial expressions 

We have chosen to use two shots where facial expressions are shown closely using a close up. This is so we can focal how import at our characters facial expressions are. An example of when we do this is when the girl has first seen the masked man and we see her initial reaction to this. By showing our audience our characters reaction as soon as it happens it alows them to feel like they are witnessing it first off and are invoked within our thriller. This is conventional to a thriller as the audience can feed of from a characters facial expression what has happened, what will happen next and how they are currently feeling. 


The postioning of characters

The postioning of characters within the frame in our thriller opening will always be that the killer looks more powerful than the victims. For example at the beginning of our thriller the killer is standing on a bridge looking down at the victims (this is done by using a high angle shot). This shows that the killer has more authority than the victims and that the victims are inferior to him as he has an appeared higher status. This is conventional to a thriller as the audience will them fear him more and will also feel weak in comparison to him thus, expressing the victims fear more and gaining the audiences sympathy.

Lighting 

At the beginning of the thriller the lighting is high key to create a sense of normality. The light is immediately is associated with happiness and security where as the dark is associated with fear as vison is not as clear. As the thriller deepens we move into this to create a scary atmosphere and to add suspense. This is done to show a contrast between the beginning and the ending of our opening and it makes the ending seem more frightening as they have witnessed a happy scene not long before. Low key lighting is conventional to the thriller genre as it highlights and presents the atmosphere and situation of what is happening and makes it appear a lot more scarier than it would in say high key lighting which is used at the very beginning.

My mise-en-scene in regards of my target audience will create a relationship between them and the characters within the opening scene. For instance; the hey key lighting will alow my audience to get to know the character within in a normal state so that when the events happen to them and the lighting darkens, they will be able to view a contrast. By using mise-en-scene the relationship between audience and the aspects of the thriller film become greater. This is the purpose of why mise-en-scene is used within our clip and why it will be used in every thriller prior and after.

Character Planning- Miss Georgiou

Characters within any film are essential in the telling, presentation and binding of the story/plot line. When planning characters as a group it was shown as important that we looked into the conventions, past thriller film history and the characterisation of them.

Victim:
Although there are actually three victims within our thriller, there is one main focal victim. We chose her to be a young, blonde, stereotypical teen female. We did this as it is conventional to the thriller genre as, her persona and appearance will give off a sense of vulnerability and naivety. This will then make the audience feel sorry for the girl and want to sympathise with the character.

Killer:
The killers perspective is in which we have chosen to have our thriller told from (survey results). This expresses to the audience from the offset just how important the killer is in our thriller and in any thriller film. At the very beginning (0-1:00minutes) the killers identity is not shown at all as we view everything from their eyes. This creates a fear of the unknown for the audience as they continue to wonder who the killer is and want to continue watching in order to see if their quieries will be answered. As the opening progresses we are enlightened some more into our chosen killers identity but, it is still however covered by a mask. We have chosen to do this so we can still obtain the fear of the unknown but, can also give the audience a feel of what the girl victim will be seeing. The mask is a conventional thriller mask which, we was inspired by from 'Scream'. This is iconography being used within our thriller which is one of the conventions, and it is to show our audience that the person behind it is of a bad nature.


By standers:
We chose to incorporate by standers in our thriller in order to create a realistic atmosphere. By using the bystanders as accompanied of the young girl travelling on the train to her destination it makes our target audience (15+) be able to relate to the situation as they too would have once travelled along with their friends. By doing this we create a relationship between the victims and the audience meaning whatever happens to them becomes more impactable on the audience as they have sympathy for the characters. A supporting point as well to having bystanders in our thriller is to show how powerful the killer is, as normally three against one would be intimidating but, by our killer being capable of having an effect on them all it shows just how ferrior he is and how inferior our victims are.

To conclude our character creating process was one of importance as the relationship between audience and character is essential to us in our thriller making. If we can get the audience to understand and have emotions towards the characters then the plot line and events that happen will be more interesting and effective to them. The use of our specific characters will make our sequence more interesting due to the aspects they add and the relationship our audeince can create with them. The conventions of the chracters give off certain impressions such as vunerability and insecurity that will effect the audience as they will be create a sense of sympathy towards the character, thus making whatever happens to them more impactable and important to the viewer.

Cinematography Planning- Miss Miller

Cinematography Planning

Cinematography is the art or science of motion picture photography. The importance of cinematography in films is to both shoot and develop the film. Planning cinematography is required in order to produce excellent sequences, as different camera shots and angles can potray different feelings and emotions to the audience. For example: A low angle shot, would represent to the audience that the person in the shot is ferrior and is of a matter of importance as they look bigger and dominate the shot. One simple shot can tell this to the audience and can create a realtionship between what is on screen and who is watching it.

We have chosen to use a long shot of the train carriage once the girls have boarded the train. We have made this decsion so that the viewer can see the whole content of the carriage and therefore everything that happens inside it. We hope that this shot will potray to the audience who are the main characters of the film, who its about and will establish the setting of which, the film is set. This is conventional to a thriller as the setting is always quickly established so that, the audience can be aware of the situatuon and place their victim/victims are. For example: by establishing our setting which is the train setting, automatically the audience can relate to our setting as its somewhere that they would have once been themselves which, to is conventional to a thriller. By using this shot we are acknowledging our audience of what will be taking place, and giving them a chance to think and wonder about the situations ahead.

As the girls get on the train there is an over the shoulder shot. We have made this decsion to give off the impression that the killer is behind them and that we are seeing this from his point of view. We hope that this shot will potray to the audience, how the story will be told and from whos view point. This is conventional to a thriller as it is always told from a peception; the killer or the victim. By using this shot we fall into this conventional thriller aspect as we are displaying to the audience that we are telling this from the killers point of view; which creates suspense, tension and a sense of fear as the face of the killer is not revealed.

When the victim is attacked we use a close up. We have made this decsion in order to show the audience her reaction of to which has happened. We hope from this shot that the audience will sympathise with the victim as they will see her intital reaction imdiately when it happens. This is conventional to a thriller film as, it creates a realtionship between the audience and the victim which, then makes whatever happens to them thus more effective. By using this shot, we will be highlighting this realtionship that the audience should make.

High angle shot is used from the bridge of the station looking down at the girls on the platform. We have made this decison in order to show who is ferrior and who is inferrior. This angle makes the girls look smaller, highlighting and emphaisieing the fact they are the victims, and as it is from the killers point of view it appears him as high up and therefore, in a higher more ferrior position than them. This is conventional to a thriller as the killer is always more powerful and has more capability than the victim as the victim is normally (and is this case) sterotypically, blonde, female and less at an advantage.

To conclude by using cinematography my sequence will be more effective in terms of creating certain emotions/reactions and displaying them to the audience well. By using selective cinematography we can fall into the conventions of a thriller genre for example: using high angles to make characters look inferrior, long shots to establish scary settings and

Individual Storyboard- Miss Miller

What's a storyboard?

Storyboards are graphic designers consisting of a combination of  images and descriptions of scenes.  They are a series of photos, drawings or clip art that outline the sequence of scenes and the main changes or events in a video or production.

What is the purpose of a storyboard?

A main purpose of a storyboard is to illustrate to others how the final product is to be seen. As well as this, it's helps to present and clarify a vision to the rest of the production team and gives a basic outline of the whole production scene by scene.

What does it include?

A storyboard includes a graphic revealing main action of the scene, a scene description, camera techniques and audio. The audio can consist of narration, dialogue, voice over, sound effects and/or music.

How is my storyboard going to help me?

My storyboard allows me to create a clear presentation of how I would like my thriller sequence to be. It includes all the main features and main aspects  and conventions of a thriller that I want to obtain and include. My other two members of my group have also created a storyboard, which allows us to compare and use the best ideas to format a final storyboard that will be the basis of our thriller opening. A storyboard is an efficient way of doing this and combining our ideas.

My storyboard

As we can see from an example of a scene from my storyboard, I have included all the features listed above in order to create it too it's full purpose. I've made the layout clear and have drawn images/graphics above to support my ideas and show that I can present to the viewer how my idea will appear. In conclusion, to evaluate my storyboard, we can take the ideas we like from mine and the ideas we like from my fellow group members in order to create as good an opening as we can. This format, allows us to see each other's ideas more clearly, and the graphics above our ideas allow us to paint a bigger picture of how it will appear on screen and more importantly how it will appear to our target audience.

Preliminary task- Miss Georgiou

Our premliminary task was to film a short clip that would help us with the creation of our opening thriller and demonstrate our camera work. This was a Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. We were told that this task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule and should last around one minute in length. By baring these in mind we created the task which, is displayed below:

Analysis: 



My group members were myself, Sophie and Guneet. As a group we briefly outlined what we were going to do and were all quick to conclude that we felt we should recruite people to be in our task so, that we could focus on the camera work and making sure the shot was executed correctly. We asked the permisson of both Bobby and Anna to be included within our task and they performed the dialogue and the rest of the task under our direction. By doing this it allowed us a group to work together and really focus on what we were trying to achieve and how we were going to achieve it. By having eachother on hand we could give eachother advice and consultance on ideas and suggestions that we had which, all ultimately led to the task running smoothly and efficiently.

The purpose of the task ultimately was to prepare ourselves for our thriller opening. We were able to test and use the equipment we may choose to use in our thriller, such as the camera and the tripod to make sure we could use them correctly. We were also able to edit our videos afterwards which, insited us as a group into what our editing stages of our thriller may be like. For example: We found that Sophie was very good at editing and could do it correctly and well in this task, so, as a group we concluded that when we are to film our main task perhaps, Sophie would be a good choice of person to asign the role of editing to. Alongside this, the point of the task was also to demonstrate that we could film a clip and produce one well.

Our task involved a series of things. It involved us working together as group and coming up with sensible informed decisons, it involved us fitting the brief we were given, finding characters, using the camera correctly and ultimately, producing the clip to the correct standard. All these involvements in our task has set us up for our future work together and has also made us create a clip that we feel as a group is a good starting point to our group work together. It was important that we were all involved in the creation of this task, and that we were all working hard to make it as free flowing as it could possibly be. A way we did this was by asiging roles but also, shadowing eachother while we did these roles so, we felt like we had support the whole way through.

By putting together this clip we also learnt how to manage our time correctly, how to work as a group, what our strengths and weakness' are and how to listen to eachothers ideas and choices as they may have an important impact on our ending outcome. We learnt how to use the equipment efficently as, we hadn't yet used the tripod or camera before. Now that we know how to use these when it comes to our own thriller opening creation, we will find that we can get into the task a lot quicker as, we have now learnt how to do all the things needed on the device. Overall, the task was a real eye opener and learning curfew for us all as to when we do our own thriller.

Like any task, you find things that went well imediately and things we struggled with. We found it quite hard at first to figure out how to use the camera but, with a bit of time and care and some outside advice we managed to figure out that issue relatively quickly which, as a group I feel is a strength of ours. The main issue that stood out to myself and the rest of the group was fitting in with the time allocated, our clip had gone slightly over the mark it should have done and in the editing stages we were to fix this. Luckily, as said previously, we found that Sophie took a flare to editing, where as I was more efficent at the camera work and Guneet was skilled at keeping up our time allocations.

If we were to complete this task again there are things we would carry out differently after having learnt what went well and what didn't when carrying it out first time round. For example: as stated above as a group we had an issue with timing and was saved by Sophie's editing, but, if we were to carry it out again perhaps we could have taken out some planning so we knew how long each shot would be. This would then allow us to have a clip that is of the correct timing and would also make Sophie's job of an easier nature as she wouldn't have to cut as much as she did before. By identifying improvements we can apply them to our next task. 


To conclude, overall the prelimiary task was succesful for us as a group although, it was a learning lesson for us all as it was new and un-touched before hand. We all agreed as a group at the end that the task will deffiantly help us when formating our own thriller opening as we felt we had, had a true taster of what was to come. Had we have not been set this task, I think that our creation of our thriller wouldn't perhaps run as smoothly as it will, as we would have had to get to know everything to do and would have had to taken a lot of steps back so, we could learn all the requirements.