Planning mise - en - scene - Miss Georgiou

Lighting/Colour 
-Lighting is mainly low key, creating harsh shadows on faces, bodies and props. It sets the scene for thrillers being dark, mysterious and sinister. Low key lighting is usually used during the mysterious and sinister scenes, emphasising the suspense and tension. As well as creating an unsettling atmosphere.  

-Colour is a key convention for mise-en-scene in Thrillers, as we associate emotions and thoughts with different colours. For example blacks can we used to symbolize death, immediately creating tension and leaving the audience feeling on edge. As well as reds can be associated with blood, again linking in with death. Overall the colour and lighting link together, helping to create a sinister mood. The characters being in dark colours suggest that they are evil, killers etc, as well as the setting being dark, which help to mask the characters and their actions.  

There will be low key lighting throughtout most of the openeing sequence as you are therefore able to see what time of day this is set, as this will be over a period of a few days where the victim will feel that she is constantly being watched. 
It will be pitch black dark on the last scene when the victim is actually being followed through the woods. 

Costumes
-The use of costumes within Thrillers are very important, they must be life like to the audience, as how the characters are presented is how the audience perceive them. Therefore the more life like and believable the characters are the better the storyline for the audience. Typically in Thrillers the murderer, villain etc will wear dark clothes to enhance the mystery and evilness of them, as well creating tension. However the victims usually wear ripped, dirty, blood stained clothes, reinforcing their weakness and vulnerability, as well as connoting that they have been chased, are unable to fight back etc.
The costume for the victim will be very relaxed such as jeans and a t-shirt  and a jumper, the villain would be wearing all black, as it hides the identity of the killer. The hair will be very natural and not too extravagant as the thriller will not look normal or realistic which is our aim. 

Setting/Props 
-The setting is the location, where the scene is taken place or where it is set. Examples of typical Thriller settings would be dark alleys, haunted houses, mental wards, urban city etc. Usually only a small range of colours will be used in the setting, being blacks and greys. This can be used to show how normal and plain life is, contrasting with the villains in the film as they create a dramatic and fearful atmosphere. The setting we intend to use is a girls bedroom and a forest as they are the two most well known thriller settings because you can change the lighting in the room making it more scary and intense. 
The iconography we intend to use is a phone as it will be used when the victim receives a text message from this unknown mystery man. 
-Props are any movable articles or objects used on the set of a film. In Thriller films props often determine the narrative, identity of the characters and genre. A range of props can be used such as police, mobile phones etc. However typically weapons are used by the villains to reinforce the violence and fear overall, being knifes, guns etc 

Facial expressions & Body Language
Facial expressions that will be used for the victim will moslty be: 

• confused expression
• scared expression
• frightened expression

These expressions will be able to show the audience exactly how the character is feeling and what is going on inside their head while they encounter mysterious goings on that is happening. 
The body language used for the victim will show that she is frigthened and vunerable as she is chased through the forest by a mysterious man. 

Planning editing styles - Miss Georgiou

Editing styles are very useful and important in an opening sequence as it creates lots of suspense and tension. This will create an effect to scare the audience, this will be shown in thrillers mostly. In my thriller we will intend to use the following editing styles, Slow editing, reaction shot, dissolve to jump cut and jump cut. Everyone of these styles create suspense and tension and this will then keep the audience engaged within the clip an keep them on the edge of their seat.

Slow editing is a very common editing style because it is very effective when used. It creates suspense for the audience because it creates a slow build up to a scene, we intend to use the slow editing when the girl is in her bedroom as she receives the message, by using the slow editing at this point the audience may think that a big attack may be about to happen because of the slow build up to the scene This will also keep the audience engaged in the clip because they begin to think what could be forthcoming. This should appeal to the audience because they will see the scenes move slowly as you see the victim creating suspense and tension withing the opening sequence to grab the attention of the audience. 

Also in our clip we are hoping to use the Reaction shot, this is important to use as it shows the reaction of a character once something has happened, for example if a gun is shot in a scene a camera may cut to a reaction shot to see either the reaction of the shooter or the character being shot. We are going to use the reaction shot when the girl is walking home through the forest and notices the shrine, by using this then you are able to see the confusion and the instant fear in the girls eyes as she realise somebody is watching her. By doing this the audience can then relate to the character as they now know what she is feeling.

We will use a dissolve to jump cut when the scene changes from the girls bedroom tot the forest. We will do this to create suspense for the audience as you are not sure what the next scene could be, because of the slow build up to it. We are going to use this style at this point because it is a interesting previous scene with the phone ringing and not knowing what will happen next.

The final editing style we are going to use is the jump cut, this is important for our thriller because it separates each scene and creates a slight suspense and shock as you do not know what the next scene will be based on this will then be unexpected for the audience. This will mainly be used when the girl is being followed by the villain this is because it is quite a faced paced scene and to keep switching camera angles it is good to use the jump cut as it is fast and efficient. This should appeal to the audience because they should feel as though they are the victim and feeling how they feel and what is it like getting followed, chased after and maybe even captured. 

These editing styles are conventional to a thriller because they make the thriller seem slow and steady creating tension showing the victim, villain and the eerie setting that they are in, this allows the audience to follow along with the film as if they were in the film then suddenly something happens which creates a disequilibrium. This should appeal to the audience as this can create confusion within a thriller as at first everything is normal which may capture the audiences attention then suddenly the whole scenery changes and there is a huge problem, or scary scene that suddenly occurs.

These editing styles are conventional to a thriller because they all create suspense and fear for the audience in there own way and makes the thriller seem slow and and steady creating tension, by doing this it keeps the audience engaged in the thriller clip and follow along with it. 

Preliminary Task - Miss Georgiou

In our group we have Myself, Nathaliah Makki and Leandra Saunders. I was the camera man because i was sure thats what my job would be in the thriller clip as that is my strength. Nathaliah and Leandra were the two main characters exchanging dialogue, with Leandra being the character walking into the room and leaving as well.

The purpose of the preliminary task is to experiment with the camera with different camera angles to try and film a short 1minute film on someone walking into a room and leaving the room and exchanging a short dialogue. I believe it is good to do a preliminary task because it will help with the thriller clip, because we will become familiar with acting in front of a camera and i will become more familiar with using the camera. Also because the group was randomly put together we had never met before, so by doing the preliminary task we was able to get to know each other better and become more comfortable with each other, so when it comes to the actual thriller we will be able to act better and feel more comfortable acting in front of each other.

Before we started filming we had to discuss what we was going to talk about. We made a small spider diagram to give us some ideas, because the clip wasn't very long it did not take long for us to decide what to talk about. In the clip the two girls are talking about what they are having for lunch. Once the conversation is over Leandra walks out the room.

We had to use a variety of camera angles, so when the scene starts Leandra walks in the room and i used a panning shot to follow her as she walks into the room and to show the surroundings. As they both sit down a mid - shot is used so you can see both actors when they are in conversation. 

Once we had finished filming we had to edit the clip, there was a lot of parts were it was not filmed correctly or the camera was left running for to long so we had to cut parts of the clip. This will also help when we come to film the thriller because we are more familiar with Final Cut Pro, so when it comes to editing our thriller clip we will know what we are doing and wont have to waste time trying to figure out parts of it or getting our teacher to explain how to use it.

Evaluation Post - Miss georgiou

In my group there was three people, they was myself, Leandra Saunders and Nathaliah Makki. We was all given specific roles that we thought was our personal strenghts and the was as follow:

Leandra: Actress/sound technicians/screenplay writer/producer

Nathaliah: Editor/mise-en-scene coordinator/screenplay writer/producer

James: Director/director of photography/screenplay writer/producer

We decided who would take on what role by the amount of responsibility that we can handle and the abilities that we possess because each one of us have our own abilities and we use them in different ways as we have different ideas and plans to make something. 

I was assigned the role of director because I have the ability to take control in difficult situations so for me to overlook the whole project. The director and has numerous amount of abilities to make the film a lot better and believable. I also have the responsibility as director of photography because I am the only one with the ability to work a camera and be able to use it to create character representation by using different camera angles in the scene and to know how to introduce a character or scene. I was also given the role of screenplay writer as well because if we incorporate the three of us in our group we can create a good piece of script that will be interesting but not too complicated that it will confuse the audience.  What i learnt from being the director was to be more assertive when i'm trying to prove a point, as director your decision was final and in the beginning i let the whole group make decisions that i should of been doing myself.

We assigned all three of us the role of producer because we each have the ability to set up the scene and not apply it to one specific person because they may not have an idea that will make the scene better, instead someone else in the group may have a better idea therefore it would be best to assign all three of us the role of producer.     
                     
Having specific roles and jobs in a film/opening sequence is better because it means that we are each able to focus on our own jobs and then feedback to the group instead of there being no organisation and there being a problem and a lack of communication or there may be a disagreement in the group and may leave one of the group members unhappy and not satisfied with the end result of the opening sequence.

I believe our group worked very well together in many ways, firstly i believe we was very organised in a way that we knew what our job was and we wouldn't be getting in each others way.

Question 1 

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 analysed 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 wouldn't 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 analysed is a 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 film 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 final Convention that i analysed 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 violence which is also conventional to a thriller. By using guns it makes you 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

One convention of a thriller we used was a female victim, This is conventional to a thriller because a female victim are deceived as being vulnerable and scared when out in a scary situation. in our film the girl is getting watched by a mysterious killer, and by the end of the clip she is attacked by him and was believed to be killed. During the clip we used a lot of close up shots on the Female to show how she was feeling and to see that she was scared by what was happening. 

We also used low key Lighting, which is conventional to a thriller because it creates suspense and and spookiness about the scene. If you was to film a clip in daytime it wouldn't be as scary for the viewers where as when you film it at night it keeps the viewers on edge as it is difficult to see the surroundings. We used this in our clip throughout especially when the victim discovers a shrine that to Killer had made. we used candles to light up the pictures and the rest of the surroundings were blacked out 

Question 2 

There are two main characters in out film, they are the female Victim and the Killer. We included a killer because within every thriller film there is always a killer/ bad guy nobody knows who the killer is which is what we wanted to happen because it makes him seem mysterious and creepy. So to meet a convention of a thriller we decided to encorporate a killer. The second character we had was a female victim, this was because we had already thought of a killer so we had to have a victim that he could go after, we first come up with the idea of having a make victim but after thinking about it we decided to use a female victim because it is conventional to a thriller and she will seem more vulnerable and make it more scary by making her scream louder and make more of a scene.

The gender of the two characters is represented in a stereotypical way because the killer is a boysterious male which is stereotypical because they are seen as the more aggressive and dangerous gender. Using a female victim is stereotypical also because they are perceived as a vulnerable person and will worry in situations , and also that they will be targeted by men.

Our charecters will appeal to our audience because they are very conventional to a thriller genre so when they read up about the clip they will instantly want to see it because of the type of clip it is going to be.

Question 3 

A media institution is important to consider when distributing your thriller film because, different company's produce different types of films. For example if you was top choose Walt Disney for a scary thriller clip, that would not be the best decision  because they produce more child films e.g Toy story. 

I believe the film company that would be best to distribute our film is Lionsgate, after i had researched them they usually produce in the same genre of films especially thrillers. The main film they have produced is the Saw films. This what made me make the final decision on who would be best to distribute our film because our clip is similar to the saw films in relation to female victims and a killer. This is also why i believe if Lionsgate was to produce our film it would be successful because they are well known for producing great films in the thriller genre.

Question 4 

In the commercial industry of film making it is important to distinguish your target audience. The motive why it is so important to know your target audience is because it will help when determining what content is to be included. For example, older viewers may favour a dissimilar editing style to a younger audience. This means that there must be a certain understanding of your target audience i.e what film genres they like, type of filming style, editing style etc. This understanding will eventually mean a better revenue than if you came up with a story and tried to advertise without any awareness of your target audience.

The target audience for our is between the ages of 16-25, we have chosen this age range because they are the ages that are most likely to enjoy thriller films and the adrenalin rush they get from it. If we was to make the target audience younger this would not be a good decision because they can get scared a lot easier and it may not be as successful as if we was to aim it at this range.

Our film appeals to an audience because of our narrative, it is ver mysterious so therefore people will want to know what happens in the film. Also the soundtrack also links in with the mysteriousness of the film as it is very quiet and there is a strange eerie noise in the background, which give you the feeling that something big is about to happen, so it keeps the audience on the edge of there seat.

Question 5 

Question 6 

There was a variety of technology that we used throughout the time we spent filming, one of these was Blogger. This was internet based, whenever we had to make a post about certain areas within media we would do the post on Blogger and upload it to the internet where our teachers would then read it and mark it. I had never used blogger before but know i have been introduced to it i believe i will use more in the future not just with media but with other bits of work i have to do wether it be for school work, or work based.

We also used a camera and tripod to film our clip. In the past i had never used a tripod or camera to film, so this was also a new experience for me, it took time getting used to both of them but after a couple of attempts i was able to use it well. The tripod was a big help when having to keep the camera steady and it was very easy to use if you had to move the camera around whilst keeping it in the same position e.g for when your panning round to show the scene. 

A shot that i found difficult to film was the over shoulder shot, we found this difficult because at first it was to blurry and we could see the shoulder clearly but outside the window was not clear enough. We overcome this by focussing the camera which made the whole scene more clearer, sharper, and more focused. 

The editing software that we used was final cut pro X, i had never used this before so instead of me editing the clips i was assigned to making the credits, after my teacher had explained where everything was it was easy to use, i thought the variety of syles and fonts they offered was good. So it was easier to find the perfect style for our clip, for example the first style i tried would of been better for a action film as it was very bold and was in block letters. So after i had looked at all the styles i decided to use the one that looked like somebody had wrote the credits by hand, we also made the font white as it stood out from the darker background from the scene, this made it seem more mysterious. 

Question 7  

Our group done a preliminary task before our main task, the point of this was to aid us in getting used to the equipment and feel to get an idea of the atmosphere in a filming environment. By doing the preliminary task we learnt that when acting we need to feel more comfotable and not be so uptight