What is our task?
Filed under
by
Emma Phillips
on
04:50
The task given to us was to create a two minute opening (approx) for a thriller film. For inspiration, we looked and studied other thriller openings, in order to give us ideas on all aspects of a thriller- such as conventions, camera angles, sounds etc. Thriller conventions suggest that thriller's should contain, a dark and gloomy atmosphere with no shortage of suspense and tension, both a villain and a hero, very fast paced with frequent action, and possibly with an eminent death. As well as this, we have to take into consideration the age rating our thriller opening would be shown to. Age rating is important because if we were to film for a PG rated film, it would limit the amount of violence, blood and gore that can be shown in the film- decreasing its characteristics as a thriller. On the other hand however, if we were to film for a BBFC rating of 15, we would be able to show the adequate levels of violence, blood and gore required. This way we can easily keep up with the thriller genre, as well as making it appealing and suitable for the largest audience possible.
The aim of the first 2 minutes of a thriller should be to establish what the story will possibly be about, as well as givng the audience an opportunity to meet the main character/characters. As well as this, it will inform the audience of the actor’s names and personal qualities of whom are starring in the film. Thriller films conventionally start with either a crime, murder or chase, giving some idea to the plot and rest of the film, yet still keeping the main points secret. The editing is nomally slow paced at first, but when action scenes occur, the editing and shooting quickens in pace in order to create/increase dramatic tension. Instrumental music will also crescendo in order to emphasise the event in question. Usually, thriller films consist of mainly power shots. This means, to show weakness of a character, the camera would be positioned high angled down and to show the importance or power of the character, the camera would be positioned low angled upwards. Long shots often appear at the start of the film or scene, to establish location, time and setting, and close ups are used to show great detail in facial expressions or reaction shots in a character or detail of an object.
The sound effects and music used in a thriller film is often added in during the editing process with the exception of dialogue- unless narrative speech or voice over is being used. Using music in the background gives an element of excitement, building up the overall affect for the viewer and eliminating boredom. Sound effects also help the film seem more life like and realistic, by amplifying ordinary sounds you would hear naturally on set, so the audience pays more attention to them. Sound effects, such as door squeaks, creaky floorboards, wind howling and gunshots are imported during the editing process. Folio artists will record sound effects for films, which make them seem realistic.
During the making of a thriller, mise-en-scene is taken into great consideration, as every detail needs to be outstanding in order to portray a believable thriller opening. Continuity is very important in any film, as good continuity makes a film believable, and therefore to eliminate any chance of having continuity errors, we will record each shot several times and attempt to film everything on our one filming day.By doing this, weather will remain the same and also the general appearance of the actors and extras.
To further research, we studied and analysed several thriller openings, such as "Momento", "Psycho", "Donnie Darko" and "Jagged Edge", giving us a wide range of ideas of what a professional thriller opening should look like, and just how professional our thriller needs to be in order to be believeable. This reseach material gave us no choice but to take into consideration aspects such as camera shots i.e. long shot, mid shot and close up, sound i.e. diegetic and non diegetic, mise-en-scene i.e. what is seen in the shot and how exactly we can gain neccessary affects needed. We also learnt about different thriller conventions, but often some directors may break these conventions in one of the many sub-genres to thriller, such as romance, black comedy, horror and psychological.
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