Individual narrative - miss georgiou

What is the purpose of a narrative?

The purpose of narrative is to engage the audience and inform them about the story.

I planned my ideas by brainstorming different thriller conventions and what I would like to see within a thriller clip. I also looked at what scares the audiences the most during films and from that we began forming an idea on what the thriller will be based about.

The advantages of a narrative are that it expresses your point of you which enables the audience to gain different perspectives into your story. You can base your narrative on a real life event either way it will sound impressive. An advantage to this is it has loads of good codes and convention like low key lighting from the stated settings. A Disadvantage to this is it would be hard to film the scenes without getting unwanted people in the background or noises the will distracted the viewers.

Storyline

The storyline that I decided to use was, a young girl would be in bed one night reading a book and she would hear which sounds like stones hitting her window, she then receives a mysterious text saying "I'm watching", and then as she turns round a man is standing behind her door waiting to kill her.

Characters

The characters I brainstormed were a mysterious killer who you cant see the identity of and also dressed in dark colours.

The second character was the victim who would be an innocent looking girl and she would be dressed in pyjamas as the scene is set at night and in her bedroom.

Setting

The setting of the scene would be in the victims bedroom, i used this because it is conventional to thriller films as a lot of murders are carried out in bedrooms or in a house. Also the audience could then relate to the film because they too would be watching the film from inside and it gives it the extra bit of fright to the film. 

Rating

This film will be rated a 15 because it will have scenes of a sexual nature and maybe some use of drugs and violence.

Codes and Conventions

- Low key lighting

- Shock

- Surprise

- Suspence

- Tention

- Stalking

- Chase

- Background music

Everyone in my group wrote up and individual narrative saying what will happen in each scene what types of character, camera shots, edit etc we could use. We looked at the advantages and disadvantages of each idea and created a narrative to use in our thriller clip. 

The people who are part of my group narrative are : James Edwards, Nathaliah Makki and Leandra Saunders.

theory miss Georgiou

Vladimir Plopp 

Vladimir plopp, a Russian critic from the 1920's

about basic struggles - identified a theory about characters and actions as narrative functions.

Narrative provides structure to text

Characters who perform a function (seen in fantasy films)

• Hero - a character that seeks something 
• the villain - who opposes/blocks hero's quest
• Donar - provides magical powers
• Dispather - sent the hero on his/her quest
• False Hero - disrupts hero quest - false claims 
• Helper - who aids the hero
• Princess - acts as reward for hero - the object of the villain's plot
• Father - acts to reward the hero for his efforts.

Todorov's theory

Tzvetan Todorov - simplified narrative theory more complex interpretations - theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium

• Equilibrium - everything as it should be (everything day life)
• Disequilibrium suffers some disruption

Aristotle 

headings that are used by some producers/screenwriters include:

• inciting incident
• dramatic question
• character goals
• antagonist/protagonist
• stakes

Analysis Of Sound - Miss Miller

Sound Analysis

In the thriller genre, sound is often referred to as one of the most important aspects, it is used to set the scene, create suspense, tension and also to portray certain emotions across to the audience. There are many different sound techniques that are used in thriller films, in this blog I am going to analyse the sound techniques used in the following clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3lSvJ5RXKA&feature=player_embedded


The use of dialogue in this scene is used to create an affect. The dialogue used by the man on the phone (Scream) is somewhat calm and relaxed compared to the victim. This is called diegetic sound as it is apart of the frame. The effect of this use of diegetic sound is that it makes the antagonist look superior compared to the victim, as he is so calm and not phased by the fact he is about to murder someone, this tells the audience that he may be a stone cold killer. Also the diegetic sound used in this scene is hidden behind a phone (we cant see the source of the voice) this creates a sense of mystery amongst the audience as they are curious as to whom the voice belongs to.

There is also non diegetic sound used in this clip, this is when the antagonist tells the victim to turn on the patio lights, here the audience hears a loud and sudden sound repeated. This piece of non diegetic sound is used to represent the fear that has just struck the victim and also to represent her heartbeat. The effect on the audience is that their attention is drawn to the screen because the sound is so sudden and loud and it also strikes fear into them as well as the character.

Parallel sound is used in this clip when the victim is rushing to lock her doors. The parallel sound used here is very fast, loud and chaotic. This sound is parallel to the scene as it is what the audience would expect to hear; the victim is in a state of panic as she rushes to lock her doors, and this sudden chaotic sound is representing her emotions. This parallel sound also allows a relationship to be made between the audience and the victim as it strikes a sense of panic into the audience and they can now relate to how the victim is feeling.

Halloween Opening - Miss Georgiou

Opening Scene Analysis

A purpose of an opening scene lets the audience engage more with with the main characters. It introduces us viewers to many different elements including; the genre, loaction, time-frame and different sounds. The opening scenequence tries to make the audience ask themselves questions about the plot and what's going to happen next

In Halloween (1973) film, many different ways for the film to be analysed. In cinematography there were many camera angles used to make the audienence more engaged with the opening scene. A camera angle used in the film is 'zooming in'. This is first used in the opening credits when showing the pumpkin. The camer aangle makes the pumpkin bigger and more effectie as the larger it becomes the more anxious the audience is towards the first scene of the film, making them suspect lots of different things.
Opening sequence

Another cinematography technique used is handheld. This camera angle shows jerky movements creating a sense of the unknown, urgency and uncertainty. This is used when we are seen to be moving towards the house, like somebody is holding the camera on purpose to create an uneven amount of tension and suspension. The camera angle is used to make the audience feel like they are the person moving towards the house. Here we cannot see who the person is, but this connotes that it could be he killer which is conventional to a thriller film as their identity is always hidden to make the audience suspect different things.

Point of View is another cinematography technique used in the scene and is evident when the killer is picking up the knife. We see the character use this weapon to kill the young girl, but the audience here feel as if they are the murderer due to the camera angle. This rates a relationship with the audience as they believe that they are unstoppable been though they are not actually in the film. They get too see the killing through the eyes of the killer. It is also used when the killer puts the mask on and then murders the young girl. Again this makes he audience feel responsible for the killing of this girl as they feel like they are in the position of the killer at this point in time,this is conventional to a thriller as a commonly used weapon is a knife and also the identity is hidden by the mask, which create the suspense on to shortie murderer is.


Finally, the last cinematography element used is the camera angle of Zooming Out. This creates an emotional distance once the boy in Halloween has been seen with blood and a knife in his hands. The emotional distance is created as he realises he has killed his sister and the zooming out makes the house now look vulnerable making everything more dramatic, giving the audience the tension and suspense needed to make them panic and question whether of bit the boy is really the killer.


The sound in a opening scenes crucial into making the scene a lot more dramatic and intensifying. A sound technique used is Non-Diegetic. This is used in the soundtrack in the opening credits and it is also at the beginning of the scene as it blends in with chanting which is off-screen. This adds to the drama of the suspense thats building in the opening scene as we do not know who is walking towards the house. The music adds that extra tension to make us as the audience more uptight and scared about what is going to happen next. This is conventional as it creates the suspense of the scene and makes the audience more frightened.

Secondly, another sound technique used is high pitch. This sound is used when the hidden killer is walking up the stairs. This creates a lot of tension as the audience now start to focus onto the murderer which makes the audience feel more on edge and nervous about what is to happen next. This is conventional to a thriller as it makes the killer look a lot more terrifying and makes the identity of the killer more scary as the scarier the music the more scary the killer. It emphasises the killers actions.

Diegetic sound is also used in the opening scene when the clock is ticking. This is crucial into understand the scene as the clock ticking emphasises her life slowly coming to an end like her life is only a matter of seconds away to being ended and it is showing the sound emphasising it. This creates a relationship with the audience as we sympathise for the girl as her life is coming to an end and we feel helpless towards her. This is conventional to a thriller as the female victim usually always gets murdered in a thriller film so it is cleshae to a thriller.

The final sound technique used is parallel sound. This is used when the piano is playing and it matches the killers footsteps. This creates suspense and tension as we as the audience start to feel scared about the incident about to happen. This is conventional to a thriller as the sound creates the mood of the scene emphasising the panic and suspense in the scene.



The couple were oblivious to the murder being in the house and the parents looked very confused when the little boy was dressed as a clown covered in blood. The boy dressed in the clown outfit is a stereotypical outfit for his age at Halloween.

Narrative.

The narrative of Halloween consists of the stereotypical Halloween thriller genre. The detached house  shows the reality of the film as it's an everyday scenario. The girl and boy kissing on the couch makes us assume that they are unaware of the events to come and make the assume nothing is going to happen. This adds to the suspense to whether the boyfriend is the killer or whether he is in it with somebody else. This is all conventional to a thriller as all seems well at first until the murder happens which makes the thriller a lot more entertaining and dramatic.

The conventions of a thriller include the hidden identity of the the killer. The intentions of the killer shows obsession and how the hidden identity hides who the killer really is leaving the audience in suspense. The iconography used in Halloween is a knife, this is conventional to a thriller as all murderers usually have a weapon which makes the opening scene more realistic. The low key lighting creates the suspense due to the dark shadows which gives the scene a more eerie feel to it. This makes the audience have a great deal of tension in front of them. Another convention is that the female victim dies, this makes the thriller more obvious as when you associate a filler victim you initially think of a young girl, and she in Halloween gets killed first.

By analysing this clip, it will help me with my own thriller film because it gives me ideas of what I could use, for example Iconography and cinematography. Also it will be able to aid me on what keeps people on the edge of there seat throughout a scene, by watching Halloween it showed me that to keep them on edge you have to build up the scene slowly with the background music gradually getting louder and quicker.

Conventions in Thrillers - Mrs Miller

In this blog I am going to be writing about conventions in a thriller film. Conventions are the elements that are common within different film genres.

I am analysing a clip from the film Taken. The part when they capture the man and tie him to a pole in a unknown place.

The first convention i notice is Fighting, the evidence of this is when the man is tied up the villans are beating him up by kicking and punching him. This is usual because fighting is a convention in a thriller film as they contain action and fighting a lot of the time. This helps the viewers relate to the film because you feel sorry for the man tied up and you want him to get free and find his daughter.

The second convention i am going to analyse is that there is a female victim. The mans wife was taken captive as well as him. This allows the Man to have something to fight for as he loves his family and wouldnt want to see his wife die in front of him. by doing this it make the man seem hero by saving her first. This is conventional to a thriller film because there is usually a female victim who is then saved by a male who wants to be the the hero.

The third Convention I am analysing is the high angle camera shot. This was used when you first saw the man tied up. This makes him seem like the victim in the film. It puts the audience on edge because they know he could be killed but they don't know at what point. This is conventional to a thriller fim because by using a high angle camera shot it allows the audience to see what is around the area and what dangers there could be.

The fianl Convention that im analysing are the guns that were used. They was seen being used by the men who had taken captive of the Family. Guns are conventional to a thriller film because they create a feel of danger and voilence which is also conventioanl to a thriller. By using guns it makes tyou feel as though the man has no chance of living because if he breaks free which is unlikely he will just be shot by them anyway

Research into the History of thriller films - Miss Georgiou

Research into the History of thriller films

1940

Johnny Aysgarth is a handsome gambler who seems to live by borrowing money from friends. He

meets shy Lina McLaidlaw on a train whilst trying to travel in a first class carriage with a third class

ticket. He begins to court Lina and before long they are married. It is only after the honeymoon that

she discovers his true character and she starts to become suspicious when Johnny's friend and business

 partner, Beaky is killed mysteriously.               

Another film called "Psycho" which is directed by Alfred Hitchcock was released 11 years

after in 1960. This film is about a phoenix office worker Marion Crane who is fed up with the

way her life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot

get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday

Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money

and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam's California store. Tired

after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The

Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be

dominated by his mother. This film contains many conventions of thriller films, the director of

the film does break the 180 rule which isn't conventional but does use iconography, the knife,

and does use low key lighting to create suspense. Although the film does not involve violent

scenes to a gruesome extent, for example when the women is in the shower we do not see

the women actually being stabbed or come in contact with the knife. 

A later film, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is directed by Tobe Hooper was released in

1974. En route to visit their grandfather's grave, five teenagers drive past a slaughterhouse,

pick up a sinister hitch-hiker, eat some delicious home-cured meat at a roadside gas station,

before ending up at the old family home... where they're plunged into a never-ending nightmare 

as they meet a family of cannibals who more than make up in power tools what they lack in social skills. 

This film also uses many conventions throughout the film, the film is different to the previous films as we 

see the man killing the people and looks as though they are in contact with the weapon. In addition this film 

also includes lots of editing which is similar to the previous films I have spoken about.

This film also uses Low key lighting to create shadows and thus create tension and suspense for the viewers. 

Final Destination, a film made in 2000, is directed by James Wong and is about a boy named

Alex who is boarding his plane to France on a school trip, when he suddenly gets a

premonition that the plane will explode. When Alex and a group of students are thrown off

the plane, to their horror, the plane does in fact explode. Alex must now work out Death's

plan, as each of the surviving students falls victim. Whilst preventing the worst from

happening, Alex must also dodge the FBI, which believes Alex caused the explosion. This

film uses many different conventions throughout the film. It mostly uses Low key lighting to

create suspense and tension for the audience. It also uses many different camera angles

and editing styles to show different characters perspective and to create suspense.

The last film i will be talking about is a film which was release in 2013, The Purge, which is directed by James

 DeMonaco. In an America wracked by crime and overcrowded prisons, the government has sanctioned an

annual 12-hour period in which any and all criminal activity-including murder-becomes legal. The podsxlice

can't be called. Hospitals suspend help. It's one night when the citizenry regulates itself without thought of

punishment. On this night plagued by violence and an epidemic of crime, one family wrestles with the decision

of who they will become when a stranger comes knocking. When an intruder breaks into James Sandin's (Ethan

Hawke) gated community during the yearly lock down, he begins a sequence of events that threatens to tear a

family apart. Now, it is up to James, his wife, Mary (Lena Headey), and their kids to make it through the night

without turning into the monsters from whom they hide. This film uses a huge amount of things conventional to

the thriller genre, for example there are many knifes used (iconography) and there is also lots of low key lighting

to make the audience unable to see whats in the scene and gets them scared. It also includes many different

camera angles to represent how inferior or superior the character is. 

In this table it shows the top 17 Thriller films. 

Hannibal (2001) was voted the best film which also made $58,003,121 on its opening weekend. This may be because Hannibal includes all the conventions that you would find in a thriller like a; villain, victim, low key lighting, creepy setting etc. 

This may of caught many peoples attention because of the way that the setting has been set out and the way the story line is about a child molester which is what most people may have to face because of past experiences. 

The Bone Collector (1999) is a film about a man who is a quadriplegic homicide detective, who him and his female partner track down a serial killer.The diabolical killer whose brutal slayings leave a trail of cryptic messages hidden at the scene of the crime is loose on the streets of Manhattan. As the city lies in fear, a gifted but disabled detective teams with a rookie street cop take to the streets to beat him at his own game. This film made $16,712,020 on its opening weekend. This film has all the conventions that you would usually find in a thriller film such as as villain, victim, low key lighting and a creepy setting, etc. This may have been a really good film but it is also a mystery thriller because of the way they try and figure out where the serial killer will strike next. 

Psycho II (1983) is an American psychological horror slasher film directed by Richard Franklin

and written by Tom Holland. It is the first sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and second film 

in the Psycho series. This film was made 20years after the origanal Psycho by Alfred 

Hitchcock was made, technology had become a lot more advance in the filming industry which

allows the director to explore with the different technology and to make the film a lot more 

scary and interesting. On the opening weekend this film only made $8,310,244 which is a lot 

less than The Bone Collector and Hannibal because Psycho II is a sequal to a thriller film from

 the 60s which was a good thriller at the time and it is hard to follow on a popular film as it is 

difficult to make the film better as you can never beat the first film made. This film includes all 

the conventions that you would find in a thriller, villain, victim, eerie setting, low key lighing, 

etc.

The differeces between these films are the years that these films came out in the cinema which

 are all different as Hannibal came out in (2001), The Bone Collector came out in (1999) and 

Psycho II came out in (1983) these different eras that these films came out show the 

advancement of technology and how they may connect with the audience. In 1983 there was 

less technology and advancement for murder scenes for example when the knife goes 

through someones flesh you don't see it fully like you do nowadays. In 1999 when The Bone 

Collector came out technonlogy became a lot more advanced which is shown in the bedroom 

of the detective and all the machines around him that able him to identify certain places and 

objects. In 2001 when Hannibal came out the technogoly was still very advanced because 

they managed to create a very sucessful thriller film that abled the audience to connect with 

the film