Editing

We all met up throughout the half term to edit out Thriller opening. Below is the time plan we stuck to when we edited our video:

Tuesday 3rd April 12pm-4pm
Create sound FX and soundtrack

Wednesday 4th April 2pm-4pm

Create chopping sound FX

Friday 6th April 12pm-3pm

Convert, upload, and crop video files

Monday 9th April 12pm-3pm

Create titles and add transitions

Wednesday 11th April 12pm-3pm

Add sounds to project and alter their volumes

Thursday 12th April 12pm-3pm

Adjust the size ratio of the clips, save final project and export as AVI

In total we edited for roughly 18 hours. We used Audacity to record the sound, then edited our project in the film editing programme Pinnacle Studios 10.

Below is a short video of us walking through how we edited:

Evaluation

Our Thriller Opening was created and based on the work of Alfred Hitchcock; we related our work to that of Hitchcock by the use of the characters, we included a ‘Damsel in Distress’ which occurs in the majority of Hitchcock’s existing productions (e.g. Phsyco) along with a mysterious male protagonist. Although, instead of following in the typical conventions of Hitchcock’s productions, we has the ‘tables turned’ as the Damsel in Distress is uncovered to be the possible protagonist, creating tension, mystery and contrasts the typical conventions of a Thriller.

We also followed in Hitchcock’s convention of being included and ‘showing his face’ by using photographs of ourselves as props (near end, when girl polishes frame) which again, contrasts the convention of Hitchcock and mysteriously twists it to our advantage. Hitchcock also tends to use ‘red herring’s’ to miss lead the audience to unnecessary story lines and importance, we interpreted this convention by using a key. This is highlighted to symbolise the storyline of the female character being ‘locked up’ but is of no importance to the narrative and therefore acts as a red herring due to the highlighting throughout the opening.

To keep the Opening a typical Thriller, we decided to keep the innocent vs. dark, mysterious trait that often occurs in Thrillers. We obtained this by the use of costume, lighting and make-up. For example, we had the Teen girl dressed in a bright dress, with pale, young make-up that has her represented as light, happy, young and innocent and we contrasted this by the Protagonist dressed in a deep trench coat, muddy hiking boots and dark clothing along with greased, combed hair, pale make-up and dark, dark eye rings to connote a sly, devious character that would appear as an obvious threat. We also used the lighting to have the young girl appear in the lightened areas the majority of the time to have her represented to the audience as innocent and vulnerable leaving the mysterious protagonist hidden away in the darkened shadows.

We took consideration when finalising our character choices. We chose to have a vulnerable teen girl to act as our Damsel in Distress and a mysterious male to act as our protagonist as this is a typical convention of a thriller and also represents a wide range of social groups and therefore appealing to a widened audience. As already mentioned, this character choice is typical for a thriller and therefore fits the codes and conventions, connoting a successful thriller opening. This convention will also appeal to a typical thriller audience of young-middle aged males as they can be enticed by the young fem-fatal’s dark and twisting narrative and also relate to the similar aged protagonists antics.

Due to us following the typical, dark, eary atmosphere, the opening will also entice typical thriller audiences as the tension is straight away being built as a mystery is brought the screen with the dark establishing close up of the gory cuts of the girl. But due to the character choices, we may also attract a secondary audience of young females as they may be able to relate to this complex character and her eary narrative, as well as the young, eary soundtrack of the twisted nursery rhyme as the edited edition used is new and fresh.

During the creation of Twenty Days, I think that we will all agree that we learnt a great deal, not only of the codes and conventions of Thrillers, but also the studies of other producers that are incredibly inspirational and therefore developing great understanding of the industry and the individual styles and techniques within. For example we developed understanding of The Coen Brother’s technique of empty establishing shots used to create eary atmospheres. To Alfred Hitchcock’s known technique of Red Herrings to grab the attention of the audience along with adding the mysterious tension and feeling of not knowing. And is why we chose to use these contrasting techniques as inspiration when creating our Preliminary task production and Twenty Days opening.

We also developed a full understanding of soundtracks, sound effects and Diegetic features. We used a number of experimentations to show a full understanding. For example, we tried to create our own Sound effects that were used (e.g. camera shutter, soundtrack lyrics, and chopping noises) and also use as many volume variations as we could to show our understanding of the sound on par with the visual aspects (e.g. we faded in, out, suddenly dropped and varied timings and speed to create tension throughout).

We also attempted to use as many relevant camera angles, shots and movements to show our understanding of this as we earlier regained knowledge of this (as in our Early Preliminary Task we actually ‘broke’ the ‘180 degree’ rule that we were unaware of so hesitantly went back and studied this, along with the understanding of other rules and shot-types that we were unaware/unsure about (e.g. spinning and low, 2 shots and different depths and varied focussing)that we attempted  to showcase throughout our opening production).

Looking back, we all agree that our final production is on a whole new level from our Preliminary Task as just by the use of Sound and Camera angles, it is clear that our knowledge and understanding has significantly developed (e.g. before we used camera shots that were simplistic and of no purpose (e.g. simple 2 shots) whereas in our final opening production we used angles to show the relationships, and relevant shot types to add and release tension in relevant situations (e.g. P.O.V shot when tracking the movement of female to explore into her emotions –help audience to relate, and also to add the tension by exadurating the tensing moment.)

Overall, I am very happy with the outcome and, looking back, I feel that our development is clear and appropriate.


By Nadine Parker

Evaluation: Thriller Opening Final Product

We based our final product on techniques used by Alfred Hitchcock. One of which is the McGuffin, in our example the key used could symbolise an ability to escape which the protagonist doesn’t chose to take, but later they key is of no importance at all. Another inspiration which we drew from Hitchcock is the choice to have himself in his films. We couldn’t have any more characters in our performance, but to combat this we placed photos of all the cast on the desk during the window scene.

We kept the typical characters of a general thriller with the concept of a main male protagonist and a young victim. But in our case we created the victim as also the protagonist of the cause, which challenges the typical media narrative.

After a suggestion we changed the ending of product so it is left on a cliff-hanger, with the audience naive to what happened after the protagonist escaped. This allowed us to keep the audience guessing the outcome, which in our case wouldn’t be shown until the end of the film if it carried on.

In many ways we kept to the codes and conventions of Thrillers, especially through the use of costume and makeup. We dressed the antagonist in black and browns, which is typical of a villain as it makes them seem dark and threatening. While the female protagonist is dressed in an airy pink dress which keeps her reserved and gives the impression of innocence. This is typical of thriller due to the general dark versus light illusion.

We based our thriller very much on the more psychological thriller genre to create a very uncomfortable and distasteful nature. We stuck to this genre through the lighting as we used it to create a distorted and confusing effect which is typical of psychological thrillers.

To contradict the usual spooky aspect to psychological thrillers, the setting we chose was an empty room in a normal house, which was used to make the audience uneasy as it is a typical scene in which the frightening acts are happening. At first we wanted to stick to the genre by setting the scene in a rundown building to connote a broken nature of the narrative. 

Our protagonist is portrayed as a young, teenage girl who we tried to make as normal as possible while also presenting her as innocent. The dress and makeup selected was specifically chosen to make her seem as harmless as possible. The pink dress connoted that she could have been from a middle-class and loving background due to the cut and design. This aspect allowed us to keep to the general stereotype of the middle-class, white, female of humble background is perceived as the polar opposite of villainous.

The antagonist on the other hand is shown to use an old disposable camera and the costume used suggests that he is from a rural community which could also suggests that he lives alone and has no social awareness of how to act around ‘normal’ people. Therefor we had the character wear hiking boots and beige. This also suggests that he is a bit nerdy, which would connote insecurity, anti-social behaviour and bizarre actions which aren’t seen as the norm.

We used a lot of low-angle shots while the antagonist is on camera, and high-angle shots while the protagonist is. We chose to use this as it clearly represents the general stereotype of the male control and power over females. The audience is seen to look up at the male and see him as threatening while the female is looked down upon and looks weak and sheepish.

After doing some research into some of the big film distribution companies and we concluded that the company Lionsgate would be the most suitable. This is due to the fact that it is known for disturbing psychological horror/Thrillers such as the Saw films. Most recently they have produced and/or distributed films such as The Cabin in The Woods and The Hunger Games, some of the best sellers of 2012. The fact that it is such a large and well known company would create a lot of advertisement, as trailers would be shown during other similar films produced by the same company. The use of advertisement is extremely important in selling out a film, so the use of such a label would help create interest for the film as it could afford to create posters and sell on its own site which would draw in keen followers. This also means that it could be advertised world-wide and not just in one or two select countries. The concept for our Thriller overall could be shown on television but would be more suited to the big-screen as it could be rated to allow those who wish to watch it to decide whether they are comfortable to watch it or not. This choice could be made through watching trailers on sites such as youtube, twitter and facebook which have links with many of the big production companies who have the funds to pay to advertise. This company could also use web 3.0 to sell as trailers could be advertised to those browsing the internet through Google who had already shown an interest in current films or the company itself.

The audience could be attracted by the dark and uneasy narrative. The story itself can make the audience feel uncomfortable and frightened – typical of a thriller. To create this effect we used many techniques to increase and then decrease the tension to keep the audience on the edge of their seat. We have a soundtrack playing through much of the main action scene, which eventually drowns out to nothing with heavy breathing – at this point we made a loud banging of a door closing. We used this to make the audience jump and keep them anxious for anything else which could alarm them. A technique used through the soundtrack is the contrast between the eerie and childish nursery rhyme and the sinister quick paced music creates an atmosphere which shifts between spine-chilling and thrilling. This could attract the audience as they could be constantly waiting between the change for action and more emotional scenes.

Our target audience for our final product is mature teenagers to young adults, between the ages of 15-25. We think this because the characters in the Thriller are between these ages allowing the audience to relate. While most Thrillers are stereotypically watched by a male audience we believe that our Thriller could be aimed at both genders.  This is because we have a female protagonist as our main character which could contrast with the ‘norm’ of the narrative of a thriller in which the protagonist is a strong male figure. We did not portray the main female as a femme fatal, which could suggest that the Thriller is not aimed at a male audience but that of a young female audience as they can connect and sympathise with her innocence.  But on the other hand the strong male antagonist could allow the male audience to want to protect the younger, delicate protagonist.

I think we have learned a lot about technologies while making this task. Before creating this I knew very little about the effort of creating and then editing a short film which allows me to appreciate the technology given. We used both an HD camera and a SD camera and we were able to contrast how good the quality of the picture appeared, and we could decide which was the most effective. We chose to use the HD camera to film as we could use such big files on the editing software Pinnacle Studios, and the quality was far stronger which allowed us to film smaller details which could otherwise go unnoticed, it also made our final product seem far more professional.

The editing software which we used to create our final product was Pinnacle Studios and we also used Final Cut Express. We found that the HD camera wasn’t compatible with Final Cut Express but was with Pinnacle studios, so we decided to use this instead, though the software wasn’t any stronger or weaker than the Mac’s. Though the software’s were difficult to use at first I found that we became much stronger at using them through practice and are much more confident now then we were before.

To create our soundtrack we used the software Audacity and we used the same software to create the sound effects such as the camera shutter and the ‘chopping’ noise. We used a microphone to get the best results in all these aspects. We found that this was much like the system Garageband which we have used before so it wasn’t hard to get our head around. It was an extremely helpful and simple system to use which had great results, especially while creating the ‘Oranges and Lemons’ soundtrack in which we had to sing for.

After creating our preliminary task during the first months of the year we found and were advised a few improvements to consider when creating our final product. Something which we learned from our preliminary task was the 180 degree rule. In our preliminary task we broke this rule many times and we thought that it affected the flow in our finished product. We made sure not to beak this rule in our full product by storyboarding exactly what we wanted the outcome to look like and thinking of ways to work around the shift if the setting didn’t allow us to film in this way at first glance.

We also found that we needed to work on our technique while building tension; we thought that the Preliminary task didn’t use any techniques to build tension and the results were quite snappy. We took this into account for the final product and used an increase of music, sharp sounds from silence (eg. The door slamming), and increase then decrease of pace and by fooling the audience into believing a character is there. On our first cut of our final product we found that we needed to add more tension by adding appropriate music while would speed up the pace.

We also used the storyboard to keep track of how long our final task was. We found that while filming our Preliminary Task we went over the expected time a lot. And it was till overtime after we had finished by thirty seconds.  To combat this we kept strict measure on how long each scene should be, and with only a slight bit of narrative which we found took up most of the time in our preliminary task we managed to keep each shot as short as possible. The addition of quicker paced scenes also helped combat this.

Though we found that the lighting was very good in our Preliminary task we wanted to make it as strong as possible, this time using a stronger lamp, instead of a torch on a phone. We found that this also lit up the room more so the shadows weren’t as distorting as the first time, but still created shadows and the desired effect.

By Rebecca Gatfield

Evaluation: Thriller Opening

Our thiller opening was inspired by the work of hitchcock so there are a lot of elements that are similar to his work. For example the point of view shots as the protagonist and antagonist, the narrative being based around feelings of being trapped and of course the fact that the whole group show up in the thriller (photos in the frame).With our costumes, makeup, lighting and props we followed common codes and conventions of thrillers. For example, with the costumes, our protagonist was placed in a pale pink dress showing her as feminine, sweet and innocent where as our antagonist was put into dark shirts and dark coats highlighting him as the evil. I think what differed between our thriller and other thrillers was the setting. At first the group and i had discussed setting the narrative in an abandoned building, to give our thriller a darker and more sinister appearance. However we decided a house would be better because in houses we are meant to feel safe and by making a house seem like a prison, we have played with the audiences mind, just like hitchcock. Also we did something unexpected with our protagonist, like what Hitchcock did in his film 'Psycho'. His protagonist was killed off half way through the film and although our main character doesnt die, she ends up going mad which will shock our audience.

Our protagonist is played by Becky and we made sure her character was as normal as possible. We wanted her to represent all teenage girls so we put her in a light, floaty dress and did her makeup so it was dark but not overdone. By doing this we made sure all girls would be able to relate to her and find it easier to be scared for her as she runs from the antagonist. Also we made her seem very plain and very normal, adding to her innocents. Also through our camera angles we put our antagonist in a position of power through low angle shots. This followed certain stereotypes like men are above women and there are men who would relate to that, represtenting men in the film.

After a little research we decided that the film production company Lionsgate would be the institute we choose to produce our thriller because it is famous for a lot of thriller and horror movies, some of them very twisted for example 'Saw'. Since our Thriller is quite psychological and eerie i think it will fit into the Lionsgate films very easily. Also like any other film that is produced we would have movie posters and a website which would allow us to promote our thriller and encourage people to see it. Advertisment is important in the film industry and so i think a website for our thriller is very important since it can be accessed world wide that way. Also have pages on socail networking sites like facebook, twitter, tumbler etc so that we can build up an audience through people telling their friends about it. Also web based advertisment is easy to access and accessable anywhere so by making a website we have the most chance of people seeing our thriller.

Teenagers and young adults, aged 15 to 25, were are target audience for our thriller. Also I think its targeted a lot more at girls than boys because the main character is female and she's not a sexy femme fatale but more of a damsel in distress which wont appeal as much to boys. However the fact that it is a thriller and the narrative is very dark and plays with your mind, i think young men would appriecate it. Also the girl is wearing pretty revealing clothes and shes attractive so they might be enticed by that.

Our thriller meets the audiences want and needs through the point of view shots in some of the scenes. This puts the audience in the characters position and allows them to feel part of the story. Since our narrative is very thrilling and dark it will make the audience feel nervous and a little scared which is what thrillers are known for. Also we build up a lot of tension through our cuts. For example when our protagonist is running and hiding from our antagonist the cuts are very quick and flicker from point of view shots, close ups and angled shots, building up the tension. This would put the audience on the endge of their seat and be more exciting for them. Since we made a thriller one of our improvments we did was with the sound. We added a more faster, sinister soundtrack along with our oranges and lemons song that we made and we alternated between the two for appropraite scenes. Also in the scene where our protagonist is under the bed we turn off the music completely, and only hear her breathing. Suddenly a door slams, making the audience jump. This will attract our audience since the jumps are thrilling and they will make your heart race.

Whilst making the thriller i learnt a lot about camera's through filming and a lot about editing softwares. We used a HD and SD cameras to make sure we got the best shots so i leanrt about both types of cameras and what camera shots work well and which ones dont. Then there was the editing which we did on pinnical studios for our final product. We had aslo used final cut which was very similair to Pinnacle but in the end we found the end result better when using pinnacle. Also we had to make our own soundtrack. So the group and i sang to the tune of oranges and lemons which then had to be recorded using audacity. So not only did i learn about the editing process, i also learnt about recording sounds and music. Also we looked at garage band and used some of the existing music in our thriller called 'dogma'. This music suited our thriller well and it built tension better than the oranges and lemons soundtrack because it was fast paced.

Since doing the preliminary task, we have incorperated a lot of the improvments that i mentioned in my evaluation of our preliminary task. We definitly made a conscious effort not to break the 180 degree rule and in our thriller we havent broken it. Also in our preliminary task the lighting wasnt very good as it didnt create enough shadows. In our thriller we put a lot more focus onto the lighting. We made the spotlight brighter and the setting darker so that the only light would be ours, this way we could position it in any way we wanted to get the desired shadows and to give our film a more overall sinister feel. Also because the lighting was more low key, especially in the bedroom scene and the under the bed scene. This is following common conventions of thrillers and making our film fit more into the thriller genre. We also did more improvments from the first 'draft' of the thriller opening we created. At first the music and sounds didnt fit well enough with the narrative so in order to build more tension we added more fast paced music and sudden cuts and fade outs to make our thriller more jumpy and to add more tension and suspense. Also we added a few ambient sounds like birds singing in the outside scenes to make it seem more realistic.

Feedback
These are a few comments from people who watched out opening...

'I liked the oranges and lemons music in the beggining and end because i thought it fit the story well and the lyrics match up to the scenes. The other music was good too for the running scenes.'

'Loved the cuts at the beggining, they looked really realistic and gruesome and its quite shocking when you first see it. I liked the bit where the girl drags the shovel too as the sound it makes is really loud and scary.'

'I wasnt expecting it to be so jumpy but when the door slammed when the girls under the bed, my heart skipped a beat. It worked well with the creepy music and all the running and hiding from the bad guy makes you very nervous. I love it'

'The camera angles are good but the camera is pretty shaky. Next time you should use a tripod.'

by Bethany Smith

Improvements

We felt that out thriller opening lacked suspense and tension which, a primary aspect of thrillers, and therefore storyboarded a new scene (below) to switch for a previous clip. We used POV shots to position the audience in direct danger, sudden pauses in the soundtrack to create an uncomfortable atmosphere, and to edit one clip to be in slow motion to drag out the suspense.

By Everyone

Makeup: Protagonist

For the Thriller we had to do makeup for our protagonist to make her look like before hand she had been done up and pretty but now looked rough from being in confinement. In the end the makeup looked like this...

In the planning we had wanted to use white eyeliner in the eyes however we decided against it as it didnt show up much on camera. Instead we used brown eye shadows to give our protagonists eyes more depth and we used brown tones to show her as very plain and ordinary in character.

We also did some bruising on the face as planned, using eyeshadows. This turned out to look very realistic and showed up well in the camera. To add a bit more believability we ran some water under the eyes and smeared the mascara to make it look like she had been crying. We kept with the plan of having her with pale lips which made her look very pale and sickly. Also it highlighted her eyes more which had to be the centre of attention when she was looking scared.

by Bethany Smith

Sound Test

We spent an afternoon testing various sound FX to include within our thriller opening. The most important of these was to decide upon the best substance to use to create a chopping sound. We attempted to create the necessary sound using a honeydew melon, butternut squash, lettuce and chicken thighs as we felt that using a dense object would create the most similar sound to a human being whacked in the head by a spade. Below is our findings.

By Everyone

Final Thriller Opening Evaluation

Over the past several weeks we have planned, filmed, and edited an opening of roughly two minutes for a Hitchcock inspired thriller. The foundation of our Thriller was to consist of a storyline exploring the kidnapping of a young girl and her escape from her paedophilic abductor. Using techniques famously linked to and used by the auteur Alfred Hitchcock; these consisted primarily of extreme high and low angle shots, misleading information, voyeurism and dramatic irony.

I feel that our overall thriller opening creates tension, builds suspense and has moments of shock, all due to the placement of the audience through camera shots. Firstly, the use of a low angle shot through banisters whilst the antagonist is crossing the hall positions the audience to feel vulnerable as the position of the antagonist above the audience gives him authority and power. Secondly, a high angle shot of the protagonist running down the stairs makes her appear defenceless and weak, adding to the tension as the audience fear for her well-being as she appears so helpless. This angle also positions the audience as a voyeur, looking down and watching the protagonist, reflecting another of Hitchcock’s techniques. As well, the use of an over the shoulder shot whilst the antagonist is searching for the protagonist positions the audience as this character, making them feel uncomfortable, a common Hitchcock technique in building suspense. After this, an eye level shot of the protagonist hiding under the bed places the audience in the risky position of the protagonist, adding to the tension. An effective use of camera movement is when the camera pans around the antagonist whilst they rotate on the spot in the opposing direction, creating a distorting effect, which in turn confuses the audience and builds on tension as the audience is positioned to be unsure of the events occurring.

Mise en scene has been carefully selected and used in order to create a well thought out thriller opening which I believe effectively creates tension through realism. The antagonist’s costume works well as the trench coat conceals the majority of his body, suggesting him to be a shady suspicious character, creating tension in the audience’s mind. The tears, blood stains and mud on the protagonist’s dress show up well in shots of the protagonist, inviting the audience to become intrigued as to what the protagonist has experienced. The lighting in our thriller opening is very effective, especially through the use of shadows. Whilst the protagonist is rocking in the opening scene a shadow is cast behind her, suggesting a dark event is to occur and is looming close behind. Again, when the protagonist has her back against the wall when hiding, her shadow is cast behind, also suggesting a sinister event is nigh. When the protagonist is hiding under the bed from the antagonist, only her face is lit, this suggests that she is being engulfed and trapped within the darkness. All of these pre-mentioned lighting features create suspense as the audience is expecting something sinister to happen to the protagonist, and are therefore left threating for her well-being. Also, lighting has been used to place shadows on the ceiling above the antagonist which suggests that evil dominates him and that he is subject to the power of darkness. This also builds on the tension as the audience fear for what the antagonist will do under this influence of evil. Another aspect of mise en scene which we focussed on was the make-up; it was key to create bruises and cuts on our protagonist so to influence the audience into sympathising for her as well as assuming her being captive for a long period of time. I feel we portrayed this element of pain and wounds well as the close-up of the cuts on the protagonist’s arms look realistic and shocking to the audience. As well, the make-up on the antagonist was also important as the dark circles under his eyes and defined jaw bone aged him further so to add to the creepy paedophilic atmosphere. An aspect we used to refer to the techniques of Hitchcock was with the props. The focus of the key throughout the film suggested it to have importance yet actually the key was of little relevance to the plot, a misleading factor much like in the Hitchcock film ‘Psycho’ with the use of the money. Another prop used to match that of Hitchcock’s methods were the photos of each of the members of our media group. This is as Hitchcock made a cameo appearance in each of our films, so we did the same. Therefore I feel our use of props help to introduce the Hitchcock theme successfully. The final aspect of mise en scene we took into consideration was the setting. I believe our choice of setting was well decided as the red walls in the running scenes induce panic of danger in the audience’s mind.

We attempted to incorporate each aspect of sounds found in the sound tree diagram: sound FX, voiceover, ambience, soundtrack and dialogue. Firstly, we used many sound FW such as doors opening and closing, heavy breathing, footsteps and a camera shutter. I feel we used suitable sound FX at reasonable volumes so to create realism and not be interpreted as too obvious or exaggerated. The voice over we used also worked well, originally we had the speech end with “I killed him” as an answer to the final question, however we rightfully cut this so to build the tension further. The ambience sound used were birds during the final scene, their cheerful bird song contrasts with the action therefore giving the audience a false sense of security, thus creating shock when the events are realised to be dark and sinister. In my opinion the most effective use of sound is the soundtrack. The opening and closing soundtrack, oranges and lemons, create a creepy atmosphere due to the slow tempo. Then by introducing an upbeat and tense soundtrack during the highest tension moments adds to the suspense. Finally, the dialogue, I feel, was effective as it remained short and didn’t lead astray from the current events, adding to the tension. Overall the sound works well combined and is constantly adding to the tension and suspense.

On the other hand there are some aspects of our production which didn’t work so well. Often the camera shots are shaky due to a lack of a tripod, although this sometimes works to add confusion to the scene, the majority of the time it would be more practical to have a still shot. This could easily be improved for next time by the use of a tripod. As well, the lighting also affected our shots negatively as without the use of filler lights the camera struggled to focus, resulting in blurred images. Next time we would consider using two filler lights as well as our key light so to ensure the shot is always focussed. Another issue with individual shots the angle in which the opening scene is shot. Due to facing the antagonist and protagonist the camera doesn’t see what Anna stabs Mark Radcliff with, therefore this could be interpreted as her merely hitting him which would not cause him to collapse. Next time we would contemplate the camera shots in detail, perhaps adding a close-up of the protagonist stabbing the antagonist so to ensure the audience is not confused by the events. Another negative issue with the production is during the scene in which Anna is hid under the bed. As the camera tracks the antagonist entering the room, glimpses of my own belongings come into shot. This could easily be fixed if we were to re-create our film once more by simply moving these objects. I feel that they impact negatively as they remove the sense of isolation as they are clearly a teenaged girls possessions, and therefore the realism of the film is lost slightly.

I feel that our thriller has conformed to the typical codes and conventions of thrillers by including: a damsel in distress; tension and suspense; dark ominous shadows; quick cuts during the chase scene. However there are aspects of our thriller which successfully challenge some thriller conventions, such as how the audience is made to fear the protagonist and her insanity during the closing scene. This is effective as the audience feels they cannot sympathise or trust either character, causing the audience to feel isolated and scared.

Our project represents two social groups: vulnerable girls, and masculine men. The female protagonist wears a floaty, pink dress which represents youth, as well as having pale skin connoting innocence, both which portray her as a young, naive child. The male antagonist, on the other hand, has a dark defined bone facial bone structure, unshaven face, and a long baggy costume; these cumulate to form a mysterious rugged man, presenting him with a raw masculine authority. However, this stereotype of genders reverses when the female protagonist becomes the dominant character when she carries the shovel. This one prop allows us to convey power onto the protagonist, confusing the audience as to who they should sympathise for and who to fear.

I believe that Lionsgate would be the best production company for our thriller as they often produce horrors and thrillers such as 'American Psycho' and 'Saw'. As well their target audience is similar to that of our thriller, 15-25 year old males, and a secondary audience of females within this same age bracket- often the girlfriends of the primary audience. I feel our thriller addresses our audience by positioning them as the vulnerable protagonist using point of view shots; as well a tense chase sequence when he protagonist just escapes the antagonist.

From creating this thriller I have learnt how to properly operate a camera; to angle, pan, zoom and focus using various settings and techniques. As well I know understand how to use editing software such as Final Cut and Pinnacle Studios. I can now edit film clips by: cutting their length; overlaying sound and adjusting the volume of all sounds- including that picked up by the camera; incorporate title screens; change the size of films shots, and use effective transitions. Finally, I also learnt to use sound software such as Audacity and Garage Band. Audacity allowed us to record and edit sounds, using amplification, echoing and speed tools; whereas on Garage Band we were able to compile vaious pre-recorded sounds to create our soundtrack.

By gathering feedback from those who have viewed our thriller opening I am able to draw a conclusive impression of the film. The majority of those asked, the use of lighting creates a strong impact on the thriller by introducing the suggestion of evil lurking near. As well, the shot looking up at the male antagonist while he searches for the protagonist (who is currently hid under the bed) was the favourite of many of those questioned as the camera angle, make-up and lighting here creates a creepy atmosphere.

Compared to our preliminary task this final thriller opening is far better; we learnt not to break the 180 degree rule, as well as which camera angles worked and those which were too extreme. To conclude I am very proud and pleased with our final thriller opening as we successfully included all aspect of mise en scene, a multitude of camera angles as well as movements, various sounds, and an effective through narrative. All of which compile to create the building of tension and moments of shock. Though there are mistakes and improvements possible to be made I feel our production was to our highest standard with numerous hours spent planning, filming and editing to ensure just so.

By Elli Smart

Possible Setting: Prison/Bedroom

For the first three sheets of our storyboard we planned to have the main protagonist in an empty prison-like room. We decided that this room should be empty, dusty and diminutive. The room would also have to offer many chances to experiment with camera angles which can reflect Hitchcock’s style of film.

We thought that this room would be a good choice as it is confined and almost completely empty. Though the size of the room could cause some issues while filming, for example would be far too small to fit a tripod in from certain angles. 

A good point about the room is that the walls are completely bare and are a very pale cream colour. This emphasises just how empty the room is, leaving the protagonist secluded and giving an abandoned feel. The white walls also connote hospitals and perhaps psychiatric hospitals which could reflect on her mental well-being at the time. 

There is also a matching bed and black desk in the room, which could imply that while the room is empty there are still the general luxuries. This would help emphasise that while the protagonist has kidnapped her, he believes that he is protecting her. 

There are also thick red curtains in the room which are good for keeping the light out of the room effectively, allowing us a chance to experiment with different lighting techniques which could help make the scene more ominous. The colour could also symbolise dark and carnal intentions, red being the colour of love and also lust. But the curtains could also lessen the confined ambience as it means there is a window behind it, and then a connection to the outside world. But we could easily position the camera so this isn’t in shot.

By, Rebecca Gatfield.

Female Protagonist Costume

By Rebecca Gatfield

Making the Female Protagonist's Costume

By Everyone

Oranges and Lemons Soundtrack

Firstly is the unedited soundtrack. We overlaid our voices so to create a thickening texture and add volume throughout the soundtrack, this creates tension and suspense.

Below is an edited version where echoing has been used on our voices to add to the eerie atmosphere.

By Everyone