Plot Synopsis

Sound

I have chosen this sample of sound as it builds of perhaps for something to happen? This music could also be playing when the protagonist is present which could imply that this character could be quite creepy and unusual. This sound also gives us a sense of quite a dangerous atmosphere and vibe to the opening sequence.
This soundtrack could link to the character's paranoia or illness (schizophrenia). The soundtrack could suggest the voices inside the character's head and the audience do not know whether to judge him as weird (Which is what we stereotype for these types of illnesses) or whether to feel sympathetic towards him. It would be interesting for the audience the see how the character will react to these 'voices' inside of his head. Will he go crazy? Or is he just used to it?
This soundtrack would give an eerie vibe to the opening sequence. This soundtrack doesn't sound friendly which could reflect on the character's personality. It also suggests that is something unusual about this character. The soundtrack could also be played when the setting is shown which could imply something about the neighbourhood/setting. Perhaps it could be an unfriendly neighbourhood? It also could give a creepy feel about the setting so it could build up fear in the audience.


Soundtracks that we will be using We have chosen two of my own researched sounds. The first and second have been talked about but to clarify the first one is a sound that can build up to tension. The second one can link to the character's illness where it shows the diegetic sound of the voices in the character's head. The last track is a dubstep wobble. This can be playing when the character has completely lost it and is breaking down.

Key Frames

Key Shots

 This is an extreme long shot of the house and a person walking past on their phone. In the distance you can see the figure looking out of the curtains. During this shot the camera will track towards the figure looking out of the curtains. The audience would feel that this character, who we establish during the sequence as the protagonist, could be paranoid as he is cautious of what kind of people walk past. Or the audience could feel that this character is a bit unusual as he is just watching people walking past his house. The person walking past costume is quite serious and formal and perhaps he could be on his way to an interview or his job. The character looks 'business like' and we ask questions like why would the protagonist be looking out of the curtains at this person? This shot would be roughly around the middle of the opening sequence.

This is an over the shoulder shot of the protagonist shows that his table is very messy as there is notes scattered everywhere, an empty pizza box, and photos of people. The empty pizza box implies that this character doesn't go out very much so he could of possibly ordered a take away, hence the empty pizza box. This character's hair is scruffy so we get the impression that he is quite dirty. His costume is dark which could imply that he is quite a twisted character. The photos of the people could show to the audience that this character is up to something or that this character is weird. The empty beer cancan show that this character is an alcoholic. It could reveal that he is stressed about something or has had a bad past time experience so he could have alcohol to settle his nerves. This shot takes place after he looks out of the curtains. It shows that he is making notes of what he has seen outside. The audience could take into account that this character isn't a normal person as it is not usual that people take notes when someone walks past their house.

This is a close up of the pictures of people who have walked passed the main character's house. This will be a good shot as the audience can immediately judge the character as being unusual. It will also be an effective shot in terms of the audience asking questions. They would ask questions as to why he has taken the photos of these people? What is he going to do with these people?

This shot is a close up of an arm. This shot takes place after the character looks at a picture of a woman who the audience would assume as his mother. So this shot will act as a flashback and shows that his mother has been murdered. Perhaps this could be one of the reasons to why the character is mentally unstable which is what the audience assumes.

This is a close up of a note. This shows us the information that the character has written about who walks past his house and what happens outside his house. The audience could get the impression that this character is paranoid about something.

The shot then tracks out to show a noticeboard full of notes. The audience could get the impression that the character has no life and implies that he writes notes about his surroundings outside all the time. The audience would ask questions such as why has he taken so many notes?

Audience Research Vox Pops

These are my vox pops and this is where I can get feedback from specified questions about a thriller opening sequence.

For the first question most of the audience responded with a form of weapon to commit a crime or a murder. We could reflect on this when doing our opening sequence as we could have a close up of a murder weapon like a knife which could have a meaning. Or we could challenge this by not having any weapon and show that not all thrillers have to have a weapon to create suspense.

The second question shows us that the majority of the audience expects quite a slow pace in thriller opening sequence to create suspense. We can reflect on this when doing our practical work and consider doing slow paced editing to build up the tension and excite the audience.

For the third question the responses that we got were that the male is usually the antagonist for thriller movies stereotypically. When doing our practical work we will likely to go ahead with having a male antagonist so it is up to the audience's expectations.

The responses for the fourth question are that they get drawn into the film and makes them want to watch it. Whilst looking at this feedback we discussed as a group to make the opening sequence effective so that the audience wanting to know more about the film.

For the last we wanted to get an understanding whether an a thriller opening sequence should be action packed. Most of the audience felt that it doesn't have to be action packed and one person stated that it should be more about the plot. When doing our practical work we can look back on this and could focus more on the plot rather than the action.

Initial Ideas

Brainstorm

This is a brainstorm of initial ideas of what could be in our opening sequence for a thriller. Also it talks about where we go from here and why we chose to do a thriller.

Audience Research 2

Here are the numbers of the people's responses displayed in an excel document. From this we can create pie charts and other graphs.

The pie chart shows the data for the first question which was 'What is your gender?' from this pie chart we can see that there are a lot more males than there were girls. Over 3/4 of the people who filled in the questionnaire were males.

 This pie chart shows that out of all the other age categories all of them were 16 to 24 who took the questionnaire which is good as it is in the bracket for our target audience, so all of the other questions that they responded to will be useful as they are our target audience.

This bar chart shows us the data for the third question 'What do you enjoy about thrillers?' It shows the number of people who gave the same or similar response. We can see that they like the build up of a thriller film and thinking about the plot. We can reflect on this when doing our practical work as we can produce an opening sequence where tension builds up but then the opening sequence would end after two minutes which leaves the audience to make them want to watch the film and leaves them thinking about what the plot could be.

The next graph shows us the data for 'How many thriller films do you watch a month?' As we can see quite a few people don't watch thriller films or find it rare to watch thriller films. This doesn't help us as those people don't seem to watch thrillers and could imply they don't like them so some of their responses could be irrelevant for us. However there are loads of people that watch a few thriller films a month, implying that they enjoy them so their responses could be useful so we can reflect on their other responses for our practical task.

 This pie chart shows us what our target audience thinks is the most important element in a opening sequence for a thriller. Most people seem to think that low key lighting is the most important feature in an opening sequence for a thriller. We can reflect on this and use a lot of key lighting for our practical work when needed. Low key lighting can represent the character's personality. However, we can use the other conventions of an opening sequence for a thriller as well. Close ups would be a good way of withholding information.

 The bar chart shows the number of people who stated different locations of where they would expect a thriller film to be set. Most people said a creepy building like and abandoned house or creepy church etc. This information may not be useful to us as when we are doing our practical it will be on the genre of a thriller. Creepy building may tend too much towards horror as creepy buildings can be quite frightening. However a lot of people said a street, this can be more relative with a thriller as a crime could be committed and their could be a case where the roads are all taped off.

 This graph shows us the number of responses for the question 'What gender and ethnicity do you expect the protagonist to be?' The data shows that the majority of the people said a white may which is a stereotype of what the protagonist should be in the film. We can reflect on this by getting a character of this gender and ethnicity so it is up to the audience's expectations.

 This pie chart shows us the responses to the question 'What do you think should be in an opening sequence for a thriller?' As we can see from the data that all of the responses are equal. We can take this data into consideration when doing our practical work so it is up to the audience's expectations and pleases them so they enjoy the opening sequence.

 This pie chart shows us how the protagonist should be behaving. Most people feel that the protagonist should be behaving seriously. We can reflect on this when doing our practical work as we can have a serious character in our opening sequence. 

This data shows that more people have said yes to an opening sequence is important. However some people said no. We can look back on this during our practical work and create an effective opening sequence on a thriller to make it look important for everyone.

Audience Research 1

These are the questionnaires that we designed were handed out to 30 people. We wanted to gain responses from our target audience. Our target audience is people who are quite young who are still in their teens and people who could be in their mid 20s. We wanted to find out some of their interests and what they would expect in opening sequences specifically a thriller. Also we wanted to find some sort of idea of what they expect the protagonist to be and what sort of setting would be in a thriller. We did this primary research as we can reflect on it and take in consideration with some of the target audience responses when we proceed to our practical work so we can produce a successful opening sequence of a thriller. The first questionnaire was filled out by a female who is in the age category of 16-24 this is good as she is in our target audience section. However, judging from her response to the fourth question she rarely watches thrillers but when she does she said that she liked the build up. She feels that the main feature in an opening sequence for a thriller is to reveal hints of information. This person also expects the location to be in an office like a police office so we could get the idea of it being a thriller on crime for our practical work. She expects the protagonist to be white and male which is a stereotype for film and she thinks that he should be serious about what he is doing. Moreover, she thinks that there should be weapons in an opening sequence so this could hint that there should be some form of violence in an opening sequence of a thriller. There are some other filled in questionnaires that have been posted on this blog which we can use to reflect on when doing our practical work. 

These results will then be input into an excel document where pie charts can be produced and presented on my blog showing the data.

Conventions of a thriller

There are many conventions of an opening sequence that is a thriller. There are going to be some examples of  conventions that make an effective opening sequence of a thriller.

There should be the use of eyeline matches in thrillers to show that they are looking at something traumatic and they are left stunned, shocked or regretting. This is used in Brick where the teenager looks at this dead woman in an isolated location and it cuts back to his facial expressions and it shows that he is shocked of what has happened. It makes the audience ask questions about the relationship between the two and they do not know whether he murdered this person.

Moreover, in The Silence of the Lambs it uses eyeline matches to show the horrific cases on the board and it tracks towards the character's face showing that she is left stunned and shocked of what she is seeing and reading. It introduces information about the antagonist revealing that he is a very violent man shown in the pictures on the board. When it cuts to the character's face it could imply that she could be quite scared about these cases. The audience would be disgusted of what the antagonist is done and would ask why he did what he did.

 Another convention of an opneing thriller is to have low key lighting. This is effective in The Inside Man as it implies that the character has an evil personality; shows that he is twisted and is set out to cause trouble. Low key lighting is usually used to reveal the antagonist in the film.

Low angle shots are conventions of thrillers as it gives the idea that the character is either the protagonist or the antagonist. It gives us an idea about the character for instance in Momento we get the idea that this character is quite dominant and powerful in the opening sequence.

Also another convention of a thriller in an opening sequence is the use of close ups effictively. For example in Se7en there are a range of close ups of the character's hands and the actions that he is doing. It is used throughout the opening sequence so it constanly doesn't reveal the character's identity, making the audience wanting to know who this person is and what he is set out to do. Furthermore, the sound in opening sequences for thrillers doesn't seem to be friendly and sounds unconventional, this is used in Se7en as well, revealing that there could be some twisted characters in the film.

The use of dis-equiibrium in the The Silence of the Lambs shows that there is some sort of psycopath on the loose and he is going around skinning victims creating fear in the audience making them feel that someone should stop this from happening. It also makes the audience ask questions such as why he is doing this.

Also dis-equilibrium is used in The Sixth Sense showing a character that is mentally challenged or mentally depressed who has lost the plot and shoots the protagonist and then shoots himself. This leaves the audience in shock as it was so unexpected and leaves the audience in suspense. The audience would most likely want to know what was wrong with the suicidal character and why did he go to the conclusion of shooting the protagonist, then shooting himself?

The Silence of the Lambs (1991, UK, Jonathan Demme)

Camerawork

This longshot shows the woman climbing as well as showing the location of where she is at. The location is quite an eerie place where no one would like to be and it is foggy and we associate fog with danger so perhaps she could be trying to get away from something or someone. The audience would immediately feel that she is in danger. This is also a high angle shot would suggest that she is quite vulnerable especially when in the frame she is on her own.

 The medium close up shows her facial expressions and she looks to us as tired and exhausted. She looks back as if the thing she getting from is quite far away. However her clothes could suggest that she is just exercising or training and her facial expressions emphasises the pain and agony she is going through the audience could ask what is she training for?

 This two shot shows that there is some form of relationship between these two detectives. Perhaps it could show a special partnership together and they work on cases with each other to solve crime.

 This longshot shows the character running away from something. She is heading towards the fog in this shot and we immediately think that she is running straight into danger. Also this shot could act as a point of view shot of something that could be following her this builds up tension for the audience as we feel something may happen to this character so we also feel protective towards her.

Mise en Scene

This establishing shot shows the setting. It is in a deep dark forest with fog surrounding it. The leaves have fallen off the trees and shows that it is around autumn time. Leaves die in autumn which could symbolise the theme of this film which could be about death. The deep, dark forest foreshadows mystery in the film and may hint to future events.



There is only one woman in the shot and she is the only one that is standing apart from the men. This could reinforce the fact that she is vulnerable. Moreover, her costume is different from all the other men and could suggest that females are different from men and does not promote equality.

There are obstacles courses which she gets over in order to pass and continue with the exercise which could imply that this woman is a hard worker, motivated and determined to finish her course. Her costume is gym wear showing that she is most likely on a training exercise.



Editing

There is an eye line match showing her looking at these horrific pictures of victims. There is no obvious expression on her face which could suggest that she is left shocked of what she is seeing in these pictures and could be hiding that she is scared of what she is seeing.










There is quite slow paced editing which fixes on the trainer's face after says that someone wants to see her in his office. This suggests that he is thinking what for and shows curiosity or almost disbelief that this woman has been called to be spoken to.













Sound


There is diegetic sound the character breathing. This could suggest that she could be frightened and running away from danger therefore she has just had an adrenaline rush, hence the heavy breathing. Or the character could be just pushing herself to the limit and is working very hard which is causing her to breath heavily.











The diegetic, hyperbolic sound of the leaves crushing underneath her feet shows that she is running at quite a fair speed. This creates tension for the audience as they do not know why she is running in this scene. Moreover, the non diegetic, incidental sound creates a sense of fear and mystery which could be signs of negative things to come and danger lurking ahead in the film.

The Inside Man (UK, 2006, Spike Lee)

Mise en Scene

There is direct address used, and it shows that the character is quite confident as he uses eye contact. It also gives him an evil look to him and the audience could get the idea that this character is the antagonist in the film. His evil look is reinforced by the black background. We associate that colour with fear and death which could symbolise that this character could be a criminal. Also it withholds information to where about this character is. The audience are most like to ask questions about his location.

There is low key lightning used to emphasise the fact that this character could be a twisted, dark character in the film. We get the impression that he is in an isolated location as there is just a solid brick wall behind this could suggest that he is shut off from society. Furthermore his costume is dark, as well as his hair, we associate dark clothes as being the 'villain' in the film and in this case all of these clues through the use of mise en scene has implied that. Also there is no expression on his face this could imply that he is hiding something and can be quite sneaking. So mise en scene has put negative thoughts about this character for the audience.

Cinematography

 The medium close up reveals a glimpse of the costume that he is wearing and shows that there is no expression on his face, so it foreshadows this character as being the antagonist in the film and it reinforces the fact that he could be crafting and hiding something or his true personality.

There are a series of shots of this vehicle. The first long shot shows us the van parked waiting for something. We also are able to see the setting in the background, so we can see the type of location it is. The background shows us big, tall skyscrapers so perhaps this van is on the outskirts of the big city. But would ask questions such as what is it this van is waiting for?

The director has chosen this shot deliberately as this person looks as if he is waiting for the van and is out of focus to hide his identity. It has the van in focus, and the opening sequence keeps wanting us to keep attention on this van. It implies to the audience that this van could be suspicious. The audience asks questions such as where is this van going to?

Sound

The character uses dialogue of 'executing the perfect bank robbery', revealing that he is the antagonist in the film and has set out an evil plot. It shows that he is a confident character but for the wrong reasons, the audience go against the character as what he is planning on doing is unacceptable.

There is a backing track which is non diegetic of quite a cultural atmosphere. This could reveal that it is a cultural film or in a cultural setting. 

The non diegetic sound starts of as a sting which shows it's introducing a character. It then becomes incidental music which is slowly building up implying that this character could be mischievous and is it builds up we would expect something quite threatening at then of the incidental sound.









Editing
There is a cut from the character using direct address to him in the tiny prison cell. We do not know as an audience why he is in a prison. The tiny cell shows that he is isolated and looks as if he has been there for a long time. There is jump cuts from him reading a book to writing and then to doing push ups, showing that there is limited things to do in that cell which could show that this character is looking forward to be getting out of prison.


There are jump cuts from the one area where a vehicle is to the next on a motorway and cuts from a person getting in a vehicle. This shows that it wants us the focus on this vehicle and implies that there is something not right with this van and could be suspicious. We as an audience begin to ask why is the van picking up these people and why does the director want us to focus on this van?

Locations for Genres

Thriller

I have gone to this location as it is a place where people can confess their sins and pray. Perhaps a person has committed a crime and has done something wrong and can go to this place of worship praying for forgiveness.

                                                                 I have taken a picture of this location as it looks abandoned and no one has been here and this shed has been neglected. Perhaps this could be for psychological reasons as the shed looks quite haunting and threatening. You can also imagine that this shed would be quite intimidating during the night.

This location of just an isolated building looks quite scary and suspicious especially when there are a couple of gravestones in front of it. It could suggest a warning for people to stay away.

This location we can see gravestones and we associate gravestones with death. This acts as a warning and wouldn't be a place where anyone would want to hang around for a while.

 Action/Adventure

This location shows quite a narrow area where perhaps a victim cannot escape from people who are chasing them and is therefore forced to turn and try and fend of the attackers.

 This location is a place where a character can explore and see what lies the other side of the gate perhaps a completely new environment different from the green leaves and plants.

 This location shows another place where the gate is bolted tightly and is unable to be open this leaves a barrier for the character who is trying to get to the other side depending on the situation is in such as running away or just exploring this gate will cause trouble for them and will have to find a way to deal with it.

This location shows the outside world and environment where a character can explore and investigate and it looks as if there is a never ending path. There is just darkness which is ahead, perhaps this could lead to danger and threat?

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Romantic Comedy

 This location would be a nice place where a couple could sit under a tree enjoying the sunshine and have a conversation and have a laugh.

 This location is a peaceful, quiet place where a couple could talk about stuff privately, they are away from all of their worries and no one can bother them as they are shut off from people from downstairs.

This location is a romantic place where a couple can walk along the river embracing the peaceful, pleasant atmosphere and can have a chat along the pathway.

This location is a place where couples can have a picnic under the willow tree and just chill and relax with nothing to worry about and share jokes and have a laugh with each other.