Synopsis , Filming and Editing

Similar to my previous AS thriller opening, I have decided that my opening will be a psychological thriller. Although elements of the product will be similar, there will also be elements that are very different.

                                                                      Synopsis
My thriller opening entails, a teenage girl who 'appears' to be getting followed by 'the unknown' The lead protagonist has a history of mental health issues, just recently being released from the hospital for severe self harm, will anyone believe her suspicions? Was it all in her imagination ? We'll just have to wait and see. 


Filming 
LOCATION:- Beckton/City Airport  
DATE:- 29/03/2014
TIME:- 13:30 - 17:00

I filmed my establishing shot of the lead protagonist walking from City airport, in Beckton to her home 5 minutes away. I have filmed all scenes today successfully. A total of 7 takes were done as expected, not everything can be perfect on the first try. I had a few problems with lighting and the rain but this was sorted out by changing the location of the camera by a few meters and waiting patiently for the weather to co-operate. To improve this, I could have done a trial scene beforehand to see which angles were most suitable and check the weather on the day of filming beforehand.

A further issue that I had was timing, originally I had scheduled to start filming at 12:30, this could have be prevented if I had communicated better with my brother who drove me and the cast to the location. 



WWW - What Went Well
I managed to film what I needed to in a small amount of time

EBI- Even better if
I communicated better with those helping me to get there and being more efficient in planning trial scenes.

Above are some scenery shots that I took on my iphone, of the various locations that were shot.

Codes and conventions of a thriller

Like other genres such as horrors, action and comedies, thrillers have generic codes and conventions. They are used to break down films and identify key features that are used to make it a specific genre.

Common conventions or a thriller are as following :

Mirrors, low key lighting, shadows, obstructive editing, quick cuts, changes in camera angle, tension music, flashbacks ,black and white and montages.

Editing:The use of quick cuts. It is common for thrillers to use quick cuts, to create tension and quicken the pace. This allows the audience to make assumptions and create climax for viewers. Another editing technique is fading to black. This is used in thriller films usually when someone is unconscious or dying. Fade also adds suspense to a thriller, as the audience are unaware of what is about to happen next.

Sound:Non-diagetic/diagetic sounds are often used in thrillers to create suspense and tension. As well as music and voice overs.

Camera shots/movement: Tracking, zoom and Pan Shots are used camera movements in a Thriller; it gives a sense of suspense and builds climax for viewers.

Mis en scene:conventional mis en scene, would be low key lighting since there isn't a generic location. However, props that would be expected would be things like: Sharp objects, letters, mirrors etc.

Camera Angles:Low angle and the high angles are mainly used to show who is the victim or villain. 

Preliminary task

I have previously, done the preliminary task before, as you can see below ...

These are the storyboards for my preliminary task.

I am going to use what I have previously done, to guide me in the creation of my text.

Opening thriller analysis.

The Good Doctor(2011)

The Good Doctor is a 2011 American thriller film directed by Lance Daly, and starring Orlando Bloom as the eponymous "good doctor" A young doctor goes to unconscionable extremes in order to remain in the service of a female patient with a kidney disorder.

The opening clip to ' The Good Doctor', is unconventional to most thriller openings/trailers. It does not appear to be within the genre, as it does not start with jumpy quick edits and low lighting. Instead there is dialogue, it is only towards the end of the opening sequence that the pace of the edits begin to pick up and and the non-diagetics start to fade in. 

Obsessed(2009) 

A successful asset manager, who has just received a huge promotion, is blissfully happy in his career and in his marriage. But when a temp worker starts stalking him, all the things he's worked so hard for are placed in jeopardy.

The opening clip embodies conventional codes and conventions of an opening thriller. Fast overlapping edits, eerie diagetics. After every edit a font banner overlaps with text that contradicts what is going to happen or a character, for example "Innocent", was used overlapping the office temp, which the audience eventually find out after watching the sequence that the office temp is anything but that. The sound throughout the sequence is both diagetic (Dialogue between characters) and non-diagetic ( Eerie music). The pace of the music denotes the sequences genre while connoting the actual contents of the film.

Black Swan(2010)

A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan.

A picture is being drawn in black pastel on a white surface. , black  font is used to present all the actors. After the picture of the swan is completed, background changes to black, and a white font slowly fades in, titling 'Black Swan' being the last text to appear.

During the opening, all the music heard is a non-diegetic sound of classical music. As the text starts to show, the music is very slow placed and gentle.

Throughout this opening sequence the setting stays very much the same, being simple and plain. The main colours that are used are blacks and whites, denoting the battle of good vs evil in the film. 

What do the audiences think ?

Research.

I have, decided to use some of my previous AS research to help me understand what audiences want and expect of a thriller opening, since it was not to long ago. Below is some data that I collected previously.

The table outlines that people are most interested
in the psychological sub-genre.

I have still decided to use social networking in order to gather more recent primary data, that is specific to my media product in terms of the narrative. 

Below are some images of the information I have gathered.

Codes and conventions of an opening sequence

What are the codes and conventions of a thriller opening ?

I found that when watching various thriller openings that three key  areas are concentrated on. Such as: Camera movement and angles of the shot, and the types of editing used to create a specific atmosphere, in this instance it would be a nervous or tense one. Next is the use of diagetics and how that works with the action, and finally the mise-en-scene, what actually happens in the scenes.

In my text, I will include the following, to make sure that the genre is identifiable with audiences: 

Low lighting 

Swift edits/Quick cuts 

Eerie diagetics e.g. A heart beating or creepy music 

Black and White