Font for Credit Sequence

We researched into what fonts would be suitable for our opening credits. As our film is based around Twitter, we researched what font Twitter uses and we found that the social network site uses either Arial or Georgia,  therefore we have decided to experiment with both fonts.

Here is an example of our title written in the two fonts-
#followed which is written in Arial
#followed which is written in Georgia

After consulting with the group we decided to use the font Georgia because it looks more traditional for a computer and links in with the Twitter font.

Availability for Second filming day

We are filming on the 31st January because on this day we all have at least a three hour free slot in the day we hope to get the second half of our filming done. Everybody will be available for this day because one of the production team is going to be the actor.
Timetables

Risk Assessment

A risk assessment is the identification, evaluation and estimation of the levels of risk involved in a situation. We need to complete a risk assessment for our filming as we can be aware of them before any damage occurs. The two different risks that may occur in our Thriller opening is technological risks and physical risks. 

This is a grid of our Technological Risks-

Item	Risk	Risk Level	When	How to Avoid
iPhone	-When chucking onto the desk, risk of smashing, breaking phone and possibly glass. -Running out of charge.	- High as glass may be dangerous. - Less of a danger .	- Occurs at the start of the opening.	- Phone can have a case so less chance of breaking. Possibly not throwing down as fiercely. -Put on charge.
iPad	- Running out of charge.	-Less of a danger.	- After iPhone clip.	-In scene the iPad is on charge therefore will not run out.
Laptop	- Risk of laptop falling off bed as she sits down, or gets up. It possibly may break, and glass will shatter. -Running out of charge.	- Risk is at a medium level as laptop is more durable but still may fall and break. - Not a big risk.	- As she gets up and checks her iPhone.	- Put laptop securely in the centre of the bed and make sure, lead attachment does not get pulled and drag it off. -On charge during scene.
Camera	- Risk of camera falling off tripod. -Running out of charge. - Compact area, risk of tripod and therefore camera falling over.	- This is a medium risk as nobody is in danger, camera may just be damaged. -Low risk. - Medium as camera may get damaged.	- Throughout the whole of our Opening.	- Attach camera to tripod and make sure it is securely on. - Put camera on charge early morning till filming. - Make sure the camera is in an area with more space. Only one person around the camera at one time.

This is our Physical Risks-

Item	Risk	Risk Level	When	How to Avoid
Man’s Risk	-Trailing Wires from equipment, chair could get stuck and fall and male might be injured from the fall.	-High risk as it can cause injury to actor.	-Office scene that male appear in at the near end of the Opening.	- Make sure trailing wires are not placed around the chair legs and tucked away where the wires can be less risk.
Female’s Risk	- Furniture in bedroom, may cause injury by tripping female or falling in and breaking furniture.	-High as it can cause an injury to the actress, and also if broken furniture may cause debris on the floor.	- Bedroom scene. Before males scene.	-Make sure there is enough space for the actress to move around freely so no chance of a trip or fall.

Availability for First filming day

We decided to film our first day of filming on the 22nd January, due to the fact that we as a production company all have a free 4 hour slot in our day. In this first day of filming we hope to have the first 50% of our filming complete due to on this day we will have our actress available to be in the opening.
Timetables

Our Thriller Opening- Voice Overlay Storyboard

This is our final plan of our thriller opening including timing of scenes, descriptions of the different shots, and arrangement of credits. We plan to use this as a guideline for when we are filming our opening.

Shotlist

Shotlist for the opening of #Followed which will guide our scenes on set.

1. A shot of the Iphone vibrating on the table/desk. Notification pops up saying: "New message from @Ryannsmithh123: Hello Xx" Lasting 2 seconds.
2. A close up of the same notification appearing on an Ipad lasting 2 seconds.
3. Close up on the laptop screen showing Twitter and direct messages changes to (1) new message. -Lasting 2 seconds.
4. Shot showing Girl walking to pick up the Iphone from the desk lasting 5 seconds.
5. Camera pans to show the reaction shot of the girl when reading the direct message. -Lasting 2 seconds.
6. Over the shoulder shot of the girl throwing her phone forcefully back onto the desk with frustration. -Lasting 2 seconds.
7. Scene cuts to the male character showing another over the shoulder shot of him at his desk with an older laptop/computer.
8. Previous clip merges into this shot using a zoom to show the close up of the man typing and sending another message in reply. -Lasting 5 seconds.
9. A pan is used to show the chat between the characters - lasting 3 seconds.
10. Shot of documents/files shown on the computer screen, which includes various folders relating to the female - Lasting 4 seconds.
11. Ident of Tsunami Studios appears on a blank screen - Lasting 4 seconds.
12. Cursor clicks on a file, which shows different dates relating to the stalked girl - Lasting 3 seconds.
13. Name of Female Actress being typed on the screen on a white background
14. Female actress' name gets deleted by backspace and Actors name gets typed on a white background and getting deleted - Altogether lasting 7 seconds.
15. A close up of an open file on the computer screen displaying photos of the girl and chats on twitter - Lasting 4 seconds.
16. White screen showing 3 other actors being typed out and the deleted using backspace - Lasting 7 seconds.
17. The producers are then presented and typed on the screen, and again being deleted - Lasting 6 Seconds.
18. Director gets typed out and deleted on a white background - Lasting 6 Seconds.
19.  A twitter styled message pops up on the screen saying ' Leave me alone' for the girl - Lasting 3 seconds.
20. Final clip showing a fade in after the previous clip fades out, showing the title #Followed - Lasting 5 seconds.

Our Credit Sequence

In our credit sequence we will create a technological feel by having the partakers names that helped in the making of the film typed out onto a white screen and then deleted using a backspace delete. The font will relate to that used on twitter or a social networking site to link in to the technological aspect of our Thriller.

This is the order of our Credit Sequence-
Main Actress- Savannah Bradshaw
Main Actor- Sam Clark
Actors that appear in the rest of the film- Santiago Lopez, Jill Simpson, Nicholas Dryden
Producers- Aimee Kemp, Anna Higginson
Directed By- Danny Buckley

Analysis of Credits

To help with our planning of our opening credits, I have decided to watch and analyse the opening sequence of Psycho, a 1960 American thriller/suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin and Janet Leigh. By analysing this thriller, it will help give ideas as to how to present our thriller opening credits, for example how long a certain actor or the title of the film should be held on the screen for. Also by looking at a much older thriller, it will present different ideas in contrast to modern day films.
The film, Psycho depicts the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Leigh), who goes to a secluded motel after embezzling money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner and manager, Norman Bates (Perkins), and the aftermath of their encounter.
In the opening credits of Psycho, names form on the screen from horizontal bars and then violently split. The splitting and the cutting of the image continue throughout the title sequence, which relies on the power of the line as a graphic element. The shape, direction, thickness, formation and length of a line can express a variety of moods. It is haunting to see the horizontal and vertical bars sweeping across the screen in a manic, a mirror motif at the beginning of the film.

When looking at the amount of time an important name is presented on the screen, the director, Alfred Hitchcock, is the first to be shown on screen after various lines appear beforehand turn the grey background into black, his name lasts on screen for only 3 seconds in which only after is the title of the film portrayed. By only showing Hitchcock's name at the beginning for 3 seconds suggests that he may be presented again later on in the sequence, in which he does. 'Psycho' is shown on the screen for roughly 6 seconds due to the importance of this presentation, however if when looking at The Silence of the Lambs, the title of the film in the opening credits is shown the longest after a few of the main actors, directors and producers are presented. This clarifies to Tsunami Studios that we can portray our opening credits in not a certain order however we still need to think about the length of appearance.

The use of sound is another element which is very conspicuous and effective in the sequence to Psycho. Bernard Herrmann's score for a string orchestra compliments the staccato nature of this title sequence and reflects Norman Bates' fractured psyche. The piercing sounds used throughout the opening credits are similar to the sound effects used in the famous shower scene later in the film. The lines cutting through the text is also reminiscent of the stabbing action. When focusing on those, it demonstrates that they give a clue to the audience what genre the film is what with the high pitch music and the presentation of lines linking to later on in the film.

From analysing Psycho, I depicted that in our opening credits we should focus highly on the amount of time shown of the actors, title of our film and directors/producers. We should aim to spend longer presenting the title of the film on screen and preferably after some other titles are shown as it is the most important part and adds suspense to the opening, perhaps showing '#Followed' for 6 seconds in contrast to the actors, directors etc. being showed for example, 3 seconds. When presenting our production company, we should aim to present out ident on the screen for more than 3 seconds, as the production company is an important aspect of the making of the film.

Analysis of Credit Sequence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwmCXWiq_mE - Link of the Credit Sequence for The Talented Mr. Ripley

In order to gain my knowledge of what creates an effective and great credit sequence I decided to analyse the opening to Anthony Minghella's film - The Talented Mr. Ripley. 'The Talented Mr. Ripley is a Thriller and Crime film which was release in 1999. I am initially interested in this particular films credit sequence as I feel it sets the mood out perfectly for the remainder of the film as well as, at the same time, creating a sense of an edginess and troubled nature for the main character and portraying it to the audience which makes them uneasy and in doubt of what is going to happen. I thought it would be helpful to look at what this Thriller film sequence contained because it would assist us when doing our own opening sequence by adding elements into the credit sequence to portray a deeper more disturbing Thriller genre. 

The credits also give an insight to what the film might possibly contain as the picture below, taken from the opening scene suggest:                                            

The Opening Credit sequence involves, as shown, black strips falling down onto the screen and the identity of the main character being revealed. These edited in black strips shows the real identity of this character is hidden, therefore the character may be isolated as they don't want to show their true character, which is a popular attribute of a credit sequence as a lot of Thriller Openings are based on the isolation of the character. Additionally the techniques such as arousing peoples superstitions was commonly used by Alfred Hitchcock.

However as the credit sequence carries on, the revelation of the character become clearer but only as the black strips are becoming more frequent, therefore giving an indication that his true  personality will be identified throughout the film. As the black strips reveal that character the camera revolves around him giving the impression that he is not free and feels isolated in himself.


Throughout the Opening Sequence the credits appear until the black strip that exposes the identity of the character catches up with them. The order of the credits are as followed: The production company, The distribution company, The director, The main actors and actresses, The Title and then the additional actors and actresses. The credits are presented on a black screen and the font in a white colour which stands out and is also in an old typewriters font, which I think is a classic and effective font to use.. However, the font, is not implying great threat because it allows the main focus to then be appointed onto 'Mr.Ripley'. The additional characters therefore are shown less important as they are superimposed on the first scene, when we see the character playing the piano and the credit music 'Destined to the Dark' being sung by a women.  All these credits last on the screen for 3 seconds, whereas the main title lasts double that time.

The Main Title of the film is superimposed onto the clip of him behind and is done effectively to show the different personalities and traits of the character by just showing how to present him. 'The, Mr. and Ripley' is all written in a bold white font whereas 'Talented' is written in an orange after a series of words to describe him are all being suggested to fit into the title.

This example of editing could possibly be useful in our opening. I believe that the font and the way it was presented on a black screen was effective and that of a revelation was a creative way to start a Thriller.

Credits

Style is key in the credits for the opening of thrillers in the opening credits that I looked at "watchmen" all of the credits are written in the same font. The font that is used is the same as that of what is used in a comic book. So this links the credits to that of the thrillers sub-genre of a comic book genre. This also shows to the audience that it's a superhero movie.

The credits in this opening are super imposed over scenes and pictures this is key because the credits for the actors introduce who plays who to give the audience previous knowledge before the film starts. Also because its super imposed the credits can show a very brief overview of the storyline and what each characters does.

The ordering and timing in "watchmen" starts off with the production companies first. the main production company is up for three seconds then one of the smaller companies involved gets two seconds. Then up next comes the producers and directors names who also get around 2/3 seconds each. Following this is the title of the film for 4.5 seconds, this being longer then any of the other credits, shows that this is the most important thing they wanted to get across in the credits. Then finally is the actors and they order it by doing just single actors per shot, this shows what actor plays what character with each actor being on screen for around 3 seconds.

The main characters are the only people in the credits. This is to establish that these are the lead roles in the film, and not to over complicate the opening they only put in a phew characters.

Dialogue in Our Thriller

In our thriller opening, we have decided not to include dialogue as we believe that it will be more effective and it will help build up the sense of mystery. We think there is no need for irrelevant dialogue because there is more important aspects of the 2 minutes such as showing the male's obsession and in contrast the victim's emotions. 






We've decided to look at Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window to show an example of an opening without dialogue and show how affective it can be without it. Without the need for dialogue Rear Window presents a descriptive and an informative first 2 minutes by setting the scene, introducing the main characters and giving an implication of what other actors will be presented in the film and why.
This opening is a good film to relate to our opening as they both have elements of voyeurism and watching particular people, this is why i feel our opening will be as effective as Rear Window without the dialogue.

Music Ideas

We are looking at finding a royalty free track to go behind our opening this is because if using popular music the song will be copyrighted meaning we will have to pay to use it. Music has a key importance in our thriller opening due to us not having dialogue its all about the movement of the camera and the music which will create the unnerving feeling in the scenes.

We have found a selection of copyright free tracks on the website, http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/ , by selecting various 'feels' to find the appropriate and most effective for our Thriller Opening. We usually chose, eerie, unnerving, dark and suspenseful, and with the right combination we found a few tracks to consider.

The selection we have found are-
Impromptu in Blue- Kevin MacLeod
Sunset at Glengorm- Kevin MacLeod
Quinn's Song: The Dance Begins- Kevin MacLeod
Long Note Two- Kevin MacLeod
Awkward Meeting- Kevin MacLeod

It is obvious that Kevin MacLeod's compositions are alike, and all the most relevant genre of Music for our Opening. We are going to take great consideration as to which track, or tracks we will use for our Thriller when we have furthered our Editing Process.

Lighting- Anna

As part of Mise en scene, lighting is important in any movie, it helps identify the scene and contributes to the genre of the film. In thrillers, we tend to see dark, gloomy lighting in scenes such as Se7en as in that particular film it not only features dim lighting at the beginning when the characters are looking at the murder scene, but also bad, miserable weather when outside the crime investigation. In this case, it shows that lighting will also include the weather surrounding the location however we won't be able to control that element. I think we should attempt in the scenes to involve not so bright and happy scenes as it will portray to the audience incorrectly.
For example, when we film the main male character in his room or study, we will probably just have a small lamp on the desk where he is sitting at to show the creepy side to the film. However when the young girl is getting ready to meet some friends, we will film this part in her bedroom where many lights will be on to show the bubbly side of a teenage girl.

Location-Danny

Location

Location is very key to any thriller so we thought long and hard, where to set our thriller. Its very important because it sets the scene to the film.
The first scene location in our thriller opening #Followed will be the girls bedroom. We chose this room because it was of quite a big size we could get a lot of light in through the big window (This was key for our binary opposition due to our light and dark aspect of the two characters setting). Also the room due to it being quite big showed the social class of the victim it showed that she was quite high in middle class, also due to the size we could fit in many props and different areas for the tripod to go to get different angles for the cameras shots.

The second location of filming is in a very small study. This shows that our stalker is at the very lowest levels of middle class due to the room being so small. Also the room has no natural light this helped for the use of binary opposition to show that he is the antagonist by the comparison of light and dark between the two characters. The lack of light is going to help us hide the identity of the stalker.

Lighting- Aimee

For a Thriller one of the main sections of Mise-en-Scene is lighting as will build up tension and create different atmospheres for our opening. Our opening scene is set inside, firstly in the victim girls bedroom and secondly in the male stalkers room.We would like the girls scene to be at a mid-key brightness and open as it is a lighter situation than the male characters as she is in a safer area but it is not a completely upbeat scene. Whereas I believe the stalker should be in a darker area that looks more compact and unsafe so the locations show they have very different meanings and events. The males location should be in a low-key brightness for an overall darker picture to show the slow and edgy situation, parts of the low-key image should be brightened at the area of his work for the audience to be able to see it. The hue of the victims bedroom shot should be cooler colours because of the situation she is in and the warmer colours would created a more comforting and welcoming effect.

Location- Anna

The location of our thriller is an important aspect to think about. I think we should situate the story in two separate houses to demonstrate the contrast between the two main characters therefore in the rooms being portrayed, they need to be different for instance light and dark rooms.


When thinking about the female character's personality and role in the film, I think we should aim to present her in her bedroom which will look feminine and young to help present her lifestyle and how well off she is. The bedroom will be light and innocent with the pale walls against the purple features in the room to help show the vulnerability of the teenage girl. I would like to represent the girl in a typical teenage bedroom to portray her personality to the audience.

Whereas when the camera focuses on the male character's image, I would like the scene to be situated in a dark, small room to show the contrast between the two roles. This would help show the binary opposition between the two characters as well. By placing the antagonist in a dark, enclosed room it will help identify to the audience that he is the stalker and how mysterious and dangerous he is.

Location- Aimee

The Location of the Thriller is potentially one of the most important aspects along side the main plan and narrative of the film because it sets the scene. The key locations of our Thriller will be the Victims bedroom where we will see her computer, laptop and phone and the Stalkers room which will be a darker room with an old laptop/computer in it, very simple and murky.

We want to put the girl in her bedroom to show her lifestyle and how she is well off and in a nice looking environment  We also want her to be in her bedroom to show that the stalker can access and reach  her whilst she is in her safe environment, which makes her feel as if she is not a safe any more.

I would like the males room to be a smaller darker area to show the binary opposition between the two characters. I also think that the main focus should be on his laptop with his information about the girl all recorded on it. With the darker smaller room also it shows that the man is much more alone and possibly unable to cope. Which may be a reason for him approaching the girl.

I believe that finding a location to film the victims bedroom will be easy as there is two girls in our group, which will be a simple girls bedroom but quite well done and clean.

The Stalkers room can be in a study or a smaller room that you can block light out of.
This image is a representation of what I want the desk and area to look like, above is an image of the location we have chose for the antagonist, and the bottom right the protagonists bedroom.

Props- Anna

Props play a big part in Mise En Scene as they help identify the character's personality and the environment surrounding them. In our thriller opening, the scenes will feature a teenage girl's bedroom therefore we need to make her, as the protagonist, look innocent, young and kind-hearted. In the bedroom, we will make sure the outlook is feminine by selecting a purple duvet cover, placing mirrors around the room and scattering make up and magazines on the table.
However by including the technology aspect into our opening, it will be difficult to portray to the audience that the pieces of the technology shown like the Iphone, Ipad and the Laptop are hers in the sense that they are not someone else's. When showing the iphone and ipad on the camera, we will make sure to use ones that are white not black as for example the white ipads are known today as more feminine than masculine. We are also aiming to place the iphone on a woman's magazine to show it is hers.
We have decided to include modern day technology in the first few scenes to show to the audience that the protagonist is a young, modern girl and the thriller is produced in the 21st century due to the ipads and iphones being created at that time.

When the camera focuses more on the antagonist's point of view, the scene will show him at a computer typing through Twitter to the young girl. However the lighting will be very dim to identify the danger of that character and give an eerie effect to the audience, therefore the scene won't uncover much of the props situated in the room. the camera will hope to see the outline of the male character but from behind and show that the room he is in is very enclosed and mysterious.

The use of the smartphones and computers will give us the access to portray the main, most important aspect of the film, social networking. We will use to twitter conversations to help establish to the audience that this is a modern day film which will help attract our target audience. By not having music and a tv in the background will help focus the audience and camera on how the use of social networking has been used.

Props- Aimee

Props in our Thriller will help bring together the main theme of our film, Stalking. This will be done over social networking sites which without the props could not be done, or if the props were not in the scene it would illuminate the audiences knowledge of how the victim is being stalked.

The key props for the girl in our Thriller will be a smart phone, laptop and possibly other electronic devices such as a tablet. I think it is good for the girl to have many different electronic devices because it could mean that it would be harder for her to get away from the stalker, this then incorporates the convention of antagonist ensnaring the protagonist as she feels trapped by him. I believe that the girl having the expensive props will also show that she is of a higher class and possibly well off and treated well by her family, which will be an opposite to what we see with the antagonist. The props around the girl such as in her house or her bedroom will be neat and clean to show her happy content, well taken care of life. There will also be elements of a typical girls bedroom in there to show the extraordinary event in a ordinary situation also.

The key props for the male will be much more minimal to show that he isn't as lucky and looked after as the victim. An obvious prop for the male in this situation would be an electronic device which for him will only be a laptop and a  phone. The phone will be appropriate for him to have as he can take pictures of the girl on it and send it to her straight away. This will give a sense of voyeurism with the phone but also make the girl feel more trapped like he is all around. The laptop will be an important element as that is where all his main work will be done from whilst stalking her at his home, it is also an important element as we see his collection of sightings and messages from the girl that he has on his laptop in files. This will show how long he has stalked the victim for and how serious it is.

Props- Danny

The Man

The man will have a Laptop because technology is key in our storyline because it is a social networking stalker, also a laptop because this is how he is contacting the girl. The man will use a laptop because chatting to her is his main focus he wont have a tv on or music on he will just focus on their conversation because that is all that matters to him because he is obssessed by her. Another prop that he will have is his notebook, this will be used because he will use it to scribble down every little bit of infomation in which she tells him, the main effect we are hoping this will give to the audience is to the extent of how much he knows about her, by showing how full the notebook is and the dates showing how long it has been going on for. The pen he uses will just be a standard biro, this shows that he doesnt care of the quality of what hes writing as long as he has all of his information.

The Girl

One of her props will be her smartphone, we have chosen a smart phone because these give access to everything from social netowrking to a high quality camera everywhere and is easy to use and with them you can multi task. We chose her to be using a phone and not a laptop or computer because the conversation with himis not her key focus,she is getting ready to go out. Another prop that she will have is a hand bang and make up bag (filled to the top with makeup) this will give across the effect that she cares about how she looks and that she wears alot to try and give across that she is older. Also she will have boyband posters on her walls to show that she is a stereotypical teenage girl.

Costume- Anna

In our thriller opening, there are two main characters; a male and a young  female. The male character is the stalker of the story and the villain however we would like to disguise his personality and age to the young female by dressing him in trustworthy clothes. The female on the other hand will be dressed in clothes that present her vulnerability and innocence to the audience and make them feel sorry for her.

The girl's possible clothes:

                      
Navy/black skinny jeans.               A casual knitted jumper to                Ugg boots to show the innocence in
                                                     give the sense that it isn't                   the young female.
                                                     that warm in that location.              


The male's possible clothes:

                                          
I think a casual shirt and tie                    Perhaps a more scruffy                   Converses will show the normal
but presented in not the                         looking pair of jeans to                    side to the male character.
smartest of ways is appropriate            show the creepy side to him.
for the male lead as it will show
a sense of trust in him.



These ideas for clothing will help represent their personality in the opening and get the audience interested. The male clothing will show that he is a cunning man because he will be able to creep out the teenager in a smart way whilst the girl's clothing will show her personality in an innocent way but sophisticated at the same time.

Costume- Aimee

There are two main characters that are in our opening scene, in both we would like to portray the characteristics of the characters by their costume and show their distinctive and different personalities from each other.

The 2 characters are-

- The innocent Girl Victim who is being stalked.

- The second the Antagonist Male stalker.

The Girl-
With the teenage girl I want to incorporate a convention of a Thriller by creating the sense of an extraordinary event in an ordinary situation. I believe this can be done by the girl wearing clothes that a girl at that age would, to give the impression she leads a normal life but has her own personality. I don't want her through her clothing, to come across as rebellious or as acting to old for her age, I want to create an impression that she is nice and friendly and kind, and that she does not deserve what happens to her. I think the clothes looking clean and new gives an impression she is also the protagonist and is well looked after.

I want her in average teenager clothing such as-
Plain Jeans-                                                  And a Printed young T-shirt or Shirt-            
                                                                                

The Male Stalker-
For the stalker I think that to show he is the antagonist he would be more appropriate in darker tones such as greys or blacks to show he is the antagonist. The clothes would also look much better if they looked worn to show that he isn't in a very good state himself, which reflects what his personality and health is like. We also don't want the character to be too obvious to the people and situations around him and without the pop of colour they may not be as aware of him.

I would like the man in-
Grey Baggy T-shirt-                                                               Black Jeans-
                                                                                                                              

Costume- Danny

The Girl

The teenage girl will be getting ready for a night out so she will trying to make herself look as attractive as possible and also try to make herself look older then she is :

Make up- she will be putting on bright red lipstick and putting on mascara also she will be spraying hair spray and other cosmetics.

Clothing- the girl will be putting on high heels, putting onn ear rings and jewellery whilst wearing a short dress

The Man

It will be very dark in the scene in the scenes in which you see the man so you will not get to see much clothing :

Clothing: he will be wearing just normal everday clothing e.g a hoodie and shirt or jumper and shirt this is because he is viewed to be seen as very secrative in the opening we dont want to give much way to the audience yet

Our Thriller Conventions- Anna

Choosing the thriller conventions in our thriller opening is an important aspect of the planning. At the beginning of our thriller opening, the audience will view the introduction of characters, location and various other conventions. We will make the opening built up on suspense and avoid loosing the viewer's attention.

The first thriller convention to be included in our opening is themes of identity which will introduce the audience to the characters and the plot of the thriller. It will introduce the vulnerability of the teenage girl by portraying shots of her getting ready whilst the stalker is talking to her which makes her feel uncomfortable. The personality of the stalker will help be identified through the social network, Twitter, by showing the direct messages sent by him to the girl. This helps present to the audience about the male character's views upon the teenage girl.

Another convention I think we should use is Voyeurism. Voyeurism captures the viewer's attention as it builds up hype because the audience are interested in who the voyeur is and why they are watching that character. I think it will help the audience see through the male character's perspective and see two sides to the plot. By using Voyeurism in the opening, it will establish the obsession the male character has on the teenager and show what the character wants to watch in her.


The third convention I would like to include in our thriller opening is definitely Mise en Scene. It will identify the costumes, props which will establish to the audience the location and the personality of the characters by portraying what they tend to wear which will show their occupation. Mise en scene also involves the lighting in the scene and as the general lighting in thrillers tend to be quite dark and dim so I think in our opening we should aim to make the scenes and shots look gloomy and mysterious which will help give an eerie feel to the audience. In the opening we will use certain props to give a feel to the audience of what for example the male character is capable of, such as, we will present a notebook in the scene to demonstrate the obsession he has with the teenage girl.

The Conventions of Our Thriller- Aimee

There are four conventions of a Thriller that I would like to incorporate into our opening, these are just four of the many Thriller conventions that there are.

The first convention is Voyeurism. Voyeurism is a situation when someone is oblivious they are being watched  and the voyeur does not relate directly with the subject of his interest.  It is one of the top conventions I would like to see in our Thriller opening because our Thriller is about a girl who is being stalked but is unsure of it and the element of voyeurism will give the opening an eerie effect as the male character is spying upon her. A Thriller that I have previously looked at that incorporates Voyeurism is Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. This is a Thriller about a man who ends up with a broken leg and cannot leave his building so he spies on his neighbours through his window (making you an accomplice in his voyeuristic self-assurance, which I would like our Thriller to do) and unravels some private secrets of neighbours.

A convention that will be in our Thriller is Crime which is the main foundation of our film, the micro element will be mystery as I want the audience to keep guessing throughout the start of the film why the man is stalking the teenage girl. I think that featuring crime into the storyline will excite the audience as they know what is happening to the characters but they want to wait and see what will occur which keeps there attention drawn. The Thriller will start with a girl being stalked over a social networking site the police are then involved to reveal whoever is doing this. The audience know who the stalker is, they just don't know if the police will find him, so they carry on watching to find out.

A convention which I believe is an important aspect of our Thriller must be Mise-en-scene which involves lighting, costume, location and props. The situations that the protagonist is in will reflect how the Mise en-scene is and build up the scene to show the audience what is going to happen and if that scene is going to be positive or negative. In the start of our Thriller without the protagonist knowing the antagonist is watching and creating a book of the times he has stalked the female character, this will be a dark setting with a murky location and specific props to show us the situation is unsafe . The scene previous to this though will be the girl in her normal situation which will be a happier setting as the audience do not know the dangerous and dodgy situation she will be in. The different situations contrast each other reflecting the contrasts the protagonist is in.

Idea of the antagonist ensnaring the protagonist is another last convention that I believe will be a strong element to the Thriller. As the antagonist's stalking motives get stronger the character getting stalked starts feeling more trapped and feeling as if the stalker is catching her until she feels isolated and helpless. This will incorporate a side to the Thriller which makes people worried about the girl and creates a feeling of hatred towards the stalker.The hatred towards the stalker will make the audience feel snared as they are an accomplice in his voyeurism, and want to watch on to make sure that he is caught.

Thriller Conventions- Danny

One convention that is used in many thrillers is that of a binary opposition these are two similar things but which are opposite in meaning. One binary opposite would be a protagonist against an antagonist (good guy against bad guy). One example of this would be the conflict between Batman and Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, this is stereo typically shown by the Antagonist having the upper hand at the start of the film, but then as the film goes on the Protagonist starts to find the antagonists Achilles heel or weakness and then in the end scuppers their plan or ends their wrong doing. Another binary opposite would be that of law enforcement v’s crime as shown in The Dark Knight Rises and in another film that we studied Se7en. This is use in the film Se7en by, detectives have to find out whom and why someone is committing all the murders.

Another Convention that is used in thrillers is that of Editing. Editing is normally key for thrillers because it sets the mood for the thriller it can add to intensity with the use of a fast cutting rate or can get your mind thinking with cross cutting to show you two things that are going on at the same time. Also lighting is very important in editing because this adds to the mood of the scene for example in the chase scene in the opening of The Da Vinci code everything was dark in the gallery this added to the mystery of the scene and made viewers be on the edge of their seats.

Mise en scene is another convention which is very important. The costume/make up in which each character wears can add to the effect and persona in which they give off to the audience, for example the priest in The Da Vinci Code he wears a traditional and old fashioned monks uniform which gives the across the effect that he is not a normal character as that is not the normal costume of somebody from modern times. To add to this his pale white skin and white hair with scars covering him shows he’s some sort of an extremist. Also props are very important in a thriller because they can tell you things about a person for example in the opening to seven there is a chess board laid out on the table what this shows in this scene is that this character is very lonely, so lonely that he is playing chess on his own.

Location is a convention in which is important to a thriller. Where in which something is going on is key to the storyline and plot of a thriller. In the film One Hour Photo the location of the man’s work helps him to stalk a family, it aids him in getting everything he needs to find out things like what they look like and where they live for example. Location is also important because some locations may be able to hide things from the audience due to lighting or proximity of actors this can add to the mystery of a scene.