Olivia Burke - Thriller
Thursday 25 February 2016
Wednesday 24 February 2016
Question 7
The preliminary task was set in order for us to be able to teach
ourselves and get to know the equipment that we were going to start using, we had to familiarise ourselves with the
camera and tripod. Our task was to create a short sequence of someone walking
into a room, sitting down and having a conversation with them then walk out. In
this short sequence we had to use a mixture of the following shots; close up,
mid shot, long shot, panning and an over the shoulder shot. There were three
different people in my group. All three of us took a turn at filming so each of
us wood master how to use the equipment. This was highly effective as we all
learned so much through the experience; I was able to go off and start filming
my own thriller sequence through the techniques we had been taught.
In the process of the preliminary task, I learnt that it
would be like to film within a team. We all had to adjust the tripod so that we
were comfortable with it I learnt that the people in the group were able to
grasp the concepts a lot faster than me and then taught me how they had
mastered it. Using Final Cut Pro X in our groups meant that we all had to
decide how we wanted it to be edited. Knowing other people saw a different
vision for our task was hard as we had to use a mixture of different filter
until we could all agree. Although our decisions were made as a team we came up
with something far better than what we could have done individually.
The preliminary task has shown me that it is best to work in
a group where each person specialises in one area this way the process becomes
complete a lot quicker; an example of this would be where Nojus is far more
skilled at editing compared to me and Harry. I took the role of the camera man
as I mastered all the different shots far quicker than the boys. Harry was the
brains behind our narrative before he decided to leave our group. This enabled
Nojus and I to come up with our own ideas. Both of us played in the acting
roles and we both took on the rest of the job roles distributed equally I between
us.
I also learnt how to use Final Cut Pro X, by learning this
in the preliminary task it meant that I was able to apply my existing knowledge
to editing our final sequence, this included already knowing how to import and
export our clips from the SD card to the software. From the preliminary task I
was able to edit my sequence until I felt it was the best that it would be, I was
able to contrast and manipulate the lighting to fit the mood of the scene.
Looking back over the preliminary task I have really seen
how my technical abilities have developed and how much I have learnt throughout
the process, adapting to people leaving our group and having to come up with a
new spontaneous narrative to changing the sequence to fit the target audience.
I have learnt how setting up the camera and tripod differently creates certain
effects and these are the sort of skills I will carry all the way through life.
Sunday 21 February 2016
Thursday 11 February 2016
Question 4
Tuesday 9 February 2016
Question 2
Question 2: Characters
The only two characters in my opening sequence are the
victim and the antagonist, the victim being played by an ordinary teenage
girl. I chose the victim to be a girl as
this is conventional to the thriller genre further her age will appeal to our
target audience who are also of a similar age, she is dressed in normal teenage
clothes for example she Is wearing a short skirt with a white blouse, this means
she does not stand out. The victim is portrayed with innocence which entices
the audience and creates an emotional bond between the characters and the
audience. The only other character in my film is the antagonist, whose identity
is hidden for the first few seconds of the opening sequence; this will make the
audience fear the unknown. The teenage girl follows the typical representation
of victims in thriller films this is because she is oblivious to the stalking
taking place. The fact that the victim is a teenager will enable the audience
to feel an attachment to the events taking place, the similarities between the
eves taking place and real life creates a relatable approach. This creates
emotions for the audience to think how they would handle a situation like this,
the fact that her age is similar creates a bigger relationship with our target
audience. As the victim is female the audience will create a relationship with
the audience, the female viewers will feel empathy towards her as they connect
with her vulnerability and the male audience will feel sympathy towards her as
they know that she is too weak to handle herself.
Our opening sequence starts in a basement setting where we are first introduced to the antagonist. He is portrayed as the antagonist to the audience as his identity is partially hidden. The dark clothes and sketchy manorisms suggests that he could be a killer. As the camera pans the room that the antagonist is sitting in the audience notice a wall where many pictures of the same girl are hanging. The antagonist is often represented stronger of the characters which makes them easily identifiable through their superiority. This representation of the antagonist leads the audience to question his mental state creating an enigma.
The other character is the teenage girl the audience are made aware of from the photos on the basement wall. The audience are unaware of the relationship between them. When the audience is introduced to the female victim she is unaware of the strange man watching her every move. This could be seen as stereotypical as the female victims are portrayed as dumb therefor not noticing his presence and falling right into his trap. The idea that the young girl is unaware is shown by her continuing her route home until she is dragged round the corner. The representation of both my characters follow the way both of the individuals would have been presented in a typical thriller film.
The applicable teenage victim walking home from school is routine that would enable the audience to create a relationship with this character as they an relate to the situation that she has been put in. The similarities between our opening sequence and daily life will make the audience relate to the opening sequence. Our victim is the same age as our target audience which creates more of a connection and causes the audience to question what they would do in a situation where they were being stalked on the way home. The use of a female victim also relates to the audience as female viewers will have an emotional connection with the victim as they will feel just as vulnerable if they were to imagine being there themselves. Boys will fill empathy for the girl as they know she is too weak to look after herself.
Our opening sequence starts in a basement setting where we are first introduced to the antagonist. He is portrayed as the antagonist to the audience as his identity is partially hidden. The dark clothes and sketchy manorisms suggests that he could be a killer. As the camera pans the room that the antagonist is sitting in the audience notice a wall where many pictures of the same girl are hanging. The antagonist is often represented stronger of the characters which makes them easily identifiable through their superiority. This representation of the antagonist leads the audience to question his mental state creating an enigma.
The other character is the teenage girl the audience are made aware of from the photos on the basement wall. The audience are unaware of the relationship between them. When the audience is introduced to the female victim she is unaware of the strange man watching her every move. This could be seen as stereotypical as the female victims are portrayed as dumb therefor not noticing his presence and falling right into his trap. The idea that the young girl is unaware is shown by her continuing her route home until she is dragged round the corner. The representation of both my characters follow the way both of the individuals would have been presented in a typical thriller film.
The applicable teenage victim walking home from school is routine that would enable the audience to create a relationship with this character as they an relate to the situation that she has been put in. The similarities between our opening sequence and daily life will make the audience relate to the opening sequence. Our victim is the same age as our target audience which creates more of a connection and causes the audience to question what they would do in a situation where they were being stalked on the way home. The use of a female victim also relates to the audience as female viewers will have an emotional connection with the victim as they will feel just as vulnerable if they were to imagine being there themselves. Boys will fill empathy for the girl as they know she is too weak to look after herself.
Question 1
In what ways does your thriller use,
challenge or develop forms of conventions of the real media products.
The brief was to create a two minute opening to a thriller that includes all the credits, sounds and conventions of a typical thriller film. I had to ensure that my final product contained all the elements expected in a thriller. The narrative of our film was one we created within our group. The sequence followed the codes and conventions that would appeal to the target audience of the thriller we were producing. There was three memebers in our group a first. Nojus, Harry and myself. Harry left our group before we started the filming process. This left me and Nojus to distribute the different job roles. Or roles included the producer, editor, producer of photography and the director. The roles also included the actors. Our job roles were shared equally between both of us. We decided that t would be beneficial if we both picked the job roles we felt most confident in.
d
Typical conventions of the thriller genre usually include an antagonist and a victim. Typically the victim is played by a female and the identity of the antagonist is often unknown. Other conventions include iconography, such as knives and other murder weapons. Knifes are one of the most conventional murder weapons as seen in Scream and Halloween. Knives immediately create a huge amount of suspense as they are related to the image of death; this makes the audience feel sorry for the victims, thus creating a relationship between the audience and the characters within the film.
The brief was to create a two minute opening to a thriller that includes all the credits, sounds and conventions of a typical thriller film. I had to ensure that my final product contained all the elements expected in a thriller. The narrative of our film was one we created within our group. The sequence followed the codes and conventions that would appeal to the target audience of the thriller we were producing. There was three memebers in our group a first. Nojus, Harry and myself. Harry left our group before we started the filming process. This left me and Nojus to distribute the different job roles. Or roles included the producer, editor, producer of photography and the director. The roles also included the actors. Our job roles were shared equally between both of us. We decided that t would be beneficial if we both picked the job roles we felt most confident in.
d
Typical conventions of the thriller genre usually include an antagonist and a victim. Typically the victim is played by a female and the identity of the antagonist is often unknown. Other conventions include iconography, such as knives and other murder weapons. Knifes are one of the most conventional murder weapons as seen in Scream and Halloween. Knives immediately create a huge amount of suspense as they are related to the image of death; this makes the audience feel sorry for the victims, thus creating a relationship between the audience and the characters within the film.
I took inspiration from other thriller to
make my thriller seem more conventional to the thriller genre, one of the idea
that I took from the film Halloween was the idea to make the antagonist a
teenager, I was also inspired to do this by the film sinister. A child playing
the antagonists is becoming more and more conventional to the thriller genre,
also used in woman in black. From this comes the idea that the child has been
possessed by the devil or an evil spirit and the audience begin to question
their mental state. Through my research
I learnt that thrillers become a lot scarier when the identity of the
antagonist is hidden. This I incorporated into my own thriller right at the beginning
of our sequence when Nojus is walking down the stairs and the lighting is so
dark the audience are unable to identify his face. Low key lighting like this
and the music we enveloped with it made my opening sequence conventional to the
thriller genre. Other convention such as quick pace is typical of the thriller
genre, it is used to build Adrenalin within the audience, this build up is used
to go with the image that will follow. By adding fast pace music alongside, the
pace and excitement of the audience increases.
The title of my thriller is ‘Blacklist’ this
tie in with the narrative of the story and follows the convention of the
thriller genre. The definition of the lexis ‘Blacklist’ is when a person is put
on a list of individuals which have been singled out as deserving some sort of
punishment. The title of our film follows the narrative and explains why the
victim has been chosen in my thriller. The title we chose revels a sinister
element though just one word which incises the audience to watch the film.
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