1) why is audience feedback essential to carry out?
Audience feedback is essential as it denotes to the film company whether or not the film has been successful or not. This also allows us to analyze what the strengths and weaknesses of our film were and if our thriller was an overall success or could have had some improvements to be better.
2+3) where did you screen your production? How was this helpful?
We uploaded our thriller opening onto youtube. this was a good social network and helped us allot as it allowed us to easily share our thriller and export our video.
4) What feedback did you receive?
We received a variety of positive feedback, as well as some constructive critisisism which helped us improve our thriller. people said it was Interesting, realistic narrative, which was easy to follow.
The first part of the narrative draws the audience in and makes them want to continue to watch. -Kira Reynolds
The sound went very well with the narrative of the film and the actors were very convincing and engaging. -Reggie Clark
Constructive Comments;
Use a wider variety of camera angles. -Jade Warden
More variety in the sound that is used. -Eren Sadik
These comments allowed me to learn about the different aspects of a thriller film.
I have also learned about the improvements that could be made in order to make my thriller even more successful. If I could do this again, I would make changes such as making sure I used a wider variety of camera angles in order to keep the audience interested and engaged in the thriller. I would also use more than one type of soundtrack, which would guide the audiences emotions and change as the narrative gets more and less tense and sometimes cut out sound all together in order to build the suspense even further.
The purpose of carrying out meetings was to convey different ideas about including a variety of aspects in our thriller film. These meetings were logged and we wrote about what we discussed as a group. The meetings was helpful because it let out group get to know each-others ideas and what style of thriller we wanted to create. IT kept our ideas organized and gave us clear aims of what we needed to do and what we have done as a group.
I think our group worked exceptionally well together and we all were able to help and support each-other and fairly talk about each-others ideas and include as many for each member of the group as possible.
Sounds are one of the most important aspects of a thriller film because it helps build tension and gives the audience a sense of foreboding. The sounds generally go along with the narrative of a thriller film and manipulate an audience and show how they should be feeling whether it be happy, sad, scared in suspense ect. Sound can give meaning to a scene, and explain what action cant. This produces emotions and feelings through the atmosphere it creates.
In our thriller Film: The sounds and soundtrack in our own thriller film 'torment' will have a variety of different conventional sounds. The start of the film will have low and quite which builds up the enigma of our scene. The audience will respond to this by wondering what is going on in the film and the non diegetic sounds will really build tension and suspense so when the plot unfolds the audience will be shocked and scared at the jumpier parts of our thriller. This is conventional to a thriller film because it builds up tension and makes the audience feel emotionally fragile and susceptible to the plot of the film and taken in with the events of the scene. When the young weak female character is running through the forest the sounds and music will drop dramatically in order to build up to the climax of the scene. This is a good idea, as we can play heavy breathing sounds to portray the characters emotions and make her seem scared this diegetic sound technique is a common feature of thriller films, as it can slowly build up with great effect. The low non diegetic music will be building and building in order to show that danger will occur then when the man grabs the girl the audience will be shocked and jump. Furthermore, the climax will suddenly drop, creating a scared and frantic mood in which the audience will be on the edge of their seats. Diegetic sounds will also be a feature in other parts of our thriller film. This is too portray raw emotions and give the audience a real sense of whats going on a make the film seem real and scary. For example, screams and dialogue are suggestive and impact the audience with great effect. This is common in a thriller film as these conventions really help the audience make sense of the narrative and have a better understanding of whats going on. This also lets the audience feel empathy for the characters, without sounds in a thriller film the scenes will be dull and drab, the manipulation aspect of sounds is really effective and allows the director to create the desired feel for his or her film and lets them completely control how the audience is feeling throughout the film. This is used in all thriller films and we have taken on these conventions in order to make our own thriller a great success.
The preliminary task was to make a 30 second/1 minute film clip which used a variety of filming techniques. We filmed 2 members of the group who spoke a short bit of dialogue which we could then edit in order to practice for the real thing. The task was helpful because it allowed us to experiment and get to grips with the filming conventions of a thriller film. We had to make sure our clip would build tension and flow well. we could improve this by using even more techniques and experimenting further.
My individual story board reflects what i think would be an ideal opening scene to a thriller film.
The conventions of a thriller film are being followed in my story board, the dark landscape covered in trees is perfect for scary things to happen. The long sweeping shots of the forest will build tension for the audience and allow them to picture a small girl running through the woods where no-one will be able to find her.
Dark, lonely places like this are very conventional to thriller because it makes the thriller more suspenseful as a dark, empty place could he hiding any number of dangers.
The dark abandoned room is another key convention of a thriller film, it follows the enigma of a thriller because it is an unknown scary place in which a young female victim would be trapped in and tortured by a tall mysterious man. All these features in my story board follow the conventions of a thriller and will have the best impact on any audience. Furthermore they instantly feels sympathy for the vulnerable female character which leads them to fear the antagonist even more as they worry about the fate of the victim.
I also chose to use low key lighting because most thriller films are set at night in darkness, which creates mystery, fear and suspense. The iconogrpahy I chose is also very conventional of a modern thriller. Knifes ropes and all types of weapons impact an audience and look dangerous as scary, building up suspense and a sense of foreboding as the male antagonist is in power. The use of the iconogrpahy used in the opening scene will cereate fear and suspense from the audience which is soemthing that the audience would expect to see in a thriller.
The more conventions i include the more successful the thriller will be. After this my group looked at each story board and decided which features we would like to include to make our thriller the best it possibly can be.
Editing plays a vitally important part within filmmaking and its role has grown and grown throughout the history of cinema. This started with editing just one shot back when cinema was beginning, this is nothing compared to modern hollywood style films who have about 100 to 2000 shots. This is largely down to the advances of technology, editing allows the film to flow better and one can cut out and crop film footage that either contains mistakes or could be editing to make a better fast paced impact on the audience. Editing should always compliment the film and let in achieve its full potential.
In our own thriller we will use a variety of editing techniques.
These will include:
Slow Editing: We decided to use slow editing because it builds suspense and draws the audience in because it causes the film to be more dramatic. We will use slow editing when the female character is sitting in the chair crying. This will show her as vulnerable and let the audience take in fully what is happening to her and feel empathy for her. this will also allow the scene of horror to have the most impact on the audience. This is conventional to a thriller film because it builds tension and makes the enigma of the scene stay in the audiences heads, this will make our film more of a success.
Fade: we chose to use fade at the end of our opening sequence because the end shot involved the female character sitting in the chair and the male protagonist sitting on the floor near her legs. He drags the knife over the leg and the audience can see blood on her leg. He then begins to play with the knife provoking her fear and making her scared as to what he will do with the knife next. The screen then fades to black, again this is conventional as it builds tension and shows a clear enigma. This will then make the audience want to watch on and know what will happen in the actual film. This is all conventions of any thriller film, as it builds tension and makes the film more enjoyable to watched and allows the audience to grip with the scene and be enticed by what's going on.
Jump Cut: The next editing technique that will be a key feature in our thriller will be the jump cut. This will be used when the camera is focussing on her from behind and the sadistic antagonist grabs her. At this point, the camera focusses on the male character. At this point the camera will suddenly focus on the male character. This is a very well known convention of a thriller film as it reveals a part of the enigma and build the suspense. Once the audience has seen some of the characters identity there own mind will question where and why he is doing what he's doing.
An important aspect for any film is the opening credits, In a thriller film it is extra important to have good credits, so they don't distract from the tension building and draw the audiences attention away from the action taking place on screen. The crew members that are featured in the opening credits are members such as the director and others that have a massive contribution to the production of the film. General chronological order of Opening Credits:
NAME OF THE STUDIO)
(NAME OF THE PRODUCTION COMPANY)
(PRODUCER NAME) PRODUCTION or/and (director only) A FILM BY (DIRECTOR NAME)
STARRING
(FILM'S TITLE)
FEATURING
CASTING or CASTING BY
MUSIC or MUSIC COMPOSED BY or ORIGINAL SCORE BY
PRODUCTION DESIGN or PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Opening Credits of the Film Se7en
Looking at the opening credits from this film opening there are a number of conventions and characteristics that meet the eye. The credits jump in a shaky eerie way with non diegetic sound playing in the background. This is to build suspense and let the audience focus on the screen and see the narrative unfolding. This is conventional to a thriller film, as-well as the camera being-zoomed in to a key focus point to show an enigma of mystery within the scene.
The colours used are high contrasting with white words on a black background, this gives the audience a sense of foreboding and has connotations with death and dark terror. There are also hints of blood red which have connotations of murder and death, again fitting in with the conventions of a thriller film. the font looks like scribbled hand writing which also shows the characters persona. The credits have low opacity levels so the audience can focus on the plot of the scene and show the events occurring on screen.
Conventions of a thriller film show the credits to fit in with the narrative of the film when a pen is being used on screen the non diegetic sound makes the credits feel as if they are being scribbled. The credits are edgy and unpredictable, much like the plot of the thriller film. This is conventional to all thriller films as the opening scene has to fit in with whats going on a build tension in order to captivate the audience.
The order of appearance is as follows:
production company
director
actor
title of film
actors continued
casting
music costumes
editors
production
camera operator
co-production
producer
writing
director
The order of the film credits goes in oder of the mist important, The name of the director is last as it is conventional to David Flincher films, this is because he is known for making thrillers and has a good reputation.
American Psycho Opening Scene.
This opening scene also uses the key conventions of a thriller film. The colours used are dark and mysterious as the audience is shown a false sense of security. The non diegetic sound heard is a key convention of a thriller film and and is heard throughout the opening sequence. The credits shown across the screen are very bright which give the impression of eerie non suspect lights in high contrast against the light background.
the conventions of a thriller film give tell tale signs and clues as to the enigma of the film. The way the actor is screaming psychotic phrases builds tension and makes the audience sense foreboding. The credits are bold and spaced far apart this makes them significant but also not taking up too much room on screen
The non diegetic music also follows the conventions of a thriller, and the loud people in the background have annotations of anarchy and gives clues about the future narrative and what is to come.
The order of credit appearance:
co-producers
executive producers
produced
'based on'
screenplay
directed by
Again this follows the conventions of a thriller film, with the most important shown last.
Our Thriller 'T o r m e n t'
As a group we looked some different types of thriller films and the credits they used. We believed that se7en as was had the best opening credits they were suspenseful and very conventional to thriller films. The use of font, style, images and sound all went well together and followed key conventions of a thriller film. The elements caused the audience to feel shocked and surprised and built tension throughout the film. As a group we were inspired to make credits for our own thriller film. The font style in the opening sequence is conventional to a thriller and we will be using a similar font and style. The sound effects used will create suspense and give the audience a thrill and build tension. Our credits and sound effects will fit in well with the conventions of a thriller film and we will use sounds to startle the audience of our own thriller.
As a group we decided on the following: Size: small and subtle Colour: grey white glow around the edge Order in which they will appear: Production name, direct colours or, actor, editor, title. Font: grey white glow, title carved on a tree. bold but also small and scribbly.
These examples of fonts from famous films five good examples of what we can use in our thriller film. These fonts are iconic and the audience associate this style of writing with the individual film.
