We started thinking of ideas for our thriller opening when the project was first assigned. However it took many weeks and different ideas until we all agreed on our final plot. In the end it took us two whole weeks to plan and sort out everything that was needed to make our film a success. Although we planned in school we also decided to all meet up outside of school and create a story board that would help our plot evolve along the way. We decided as a group from quite an early stage that we were going to film it in Lily’s house as hers was the most acceptable for our storyline. We worked on the story board for three hours, this helped us to develop our idea until we were happy with it. In the process of planning we also had to decide on what props and equipment we were going to need. As we were going to film outside of the school premises we thought that using the school's equipment may be a bit awkward so I then offered for us to use my camera and tripod, which we did. On the first day of filming we decided to film up to when Lily enters the garage, we thought that this was a good place to stop as it was a specific part in the film that we would remember. On the second day of filming we filmed on from the point we stopped at, this was when myself and Lily were both in the garage. Towards the end of filming our film we knew that we had become a lot more accustomed to the equipment we were using and our storyline was kept on progressing.
Though we had planned our plot to every tiny detail, the main thing that we forgot to focus on a lot was the lighting. We soon realised this whilst filming because some clips were darker than others on the camera which was clearly noticeable. It also sowed up whilst we were editing that the lighting on some clips was a lot different in the darkness than others, this meant that we had to be careful on which clips we used so it didn't look silly.
In my opinion I think that the sound in a film is vital to creating the right theme and atmosphere whether it’s diegetic or non diegetic. As we were planning our thriller we all knew that the sound would play a core part for building anxiety and tension which is what we wanted to achieve. Here I have listed all of the different sounds we used in our thriller opening and have put each sound clip on.
This soundtrack is the first sound that the audience will hear in the film, however it is the last sound that we decided to put into the film as we were debating on whether or not to even put non diegetic sound in before the radio voice over comes on. We wanted something subtle that would unsettle the audience; the track is called ‘Asthenia’ which we thought would fit perfectly at the start. The word itself means lack of strength and energy, this reflects on what our victim character would be feeling as a hostage. The start of the song is very disorientated and has muffled voices, we thought that this was good to use as it contrasts with the victim's emotions and what they're going through.
In the middle of the thriller opening we wanted just a normal radio playing however we wanted the song that came on to have a meaning so that the audience would have a slight suspicion in opposition to a random pointless song. We used the song 'Psycho Killer' by Talking Heads which we chose as it is ironic, this is because the serial killer is a 'Psycho Killer', however the audience don’t actually know that yet.
Whilst we were editing we had to put in diegetic sounds, this included the tuning of the radio. Whilst we were searching for a suitable sound on Youtube we finally found one that we thought was realistic and would make a professional effect. We also found a static radio sound effect which we put on at the same time and overlapped them, this was so that the news report would sound like it was on the radio and not just a voice over.
The main soundtrack that we decided to use in our thriller is the soundtrack from the Saw series. We spent a lot of time on YouTube again trying to find a track that would fit our film perfectly. In spite of that whilst we were watching the film ‘Saw’ in class we were inspired by the soundtrack. Towards the end of the track the tune does crescendo becoming very dramatic and intense which we all grew to like the more we listened to it and we found that it fit our film quite well.
When we started this project we realised none of us had a special expertise in the equipment we used or in the aspect of filming. However we all had the general knowledge of how to basically use the equipment from when we did the continuity piece and also from what we learnt in the past year in GCSE media. Therefore as a group we decided that we wouldn’t assign a certain person to a certain role because we have all learnt that we work well together in the different aspects of making a film and we wanted the project to be worked on as a group. However when we were doing our thriller opening, we were using an older version of iMovie of an Apple Mac laptop and were unable to create any professional credits as we could only use the ones that were on that laptop. Therefore on our thriller, according to the credits we all have an individual role in the film, for example I was in charge of sound. We decided to randomly put a name to a role as we all helped out with everything but we believe that this was the only way that the credits would look acceptable enough.
When discussing the many different camera shots and angles I believe that I do have a basic understanding of them as I did media as a GCSE. However as I am working at a higher level of media, I obviously need to widen my knowledge to have a more open understanding of the wide variety of shots and angles that can be used in many ways. By doing this I can make my final thriller opening more professional and effective that it would have been in GCSE. Revising the different ways a camera can be used well is a good thing to do when filming, the key is to shoot from a wide variety of angles and make sure we had a range of shots that could be portrayed well in each scene. If this could be achieved the film would have successful continuity and will ensure that the audience doesn't loose interest throughout the film.
Here is a video from YouTube that focuses on the most popular camera shots and angles.
Mise-en-scène refers to everything that appears before the camera and its arrangement, composition, sets, props, actors, costumes, and lighting. Mise-en-scène also includes the positioning and movement of actors on the set, which is called blocking.
Together as a group we all thought about the mise-en-scene that we would like for our thriller. We wanted things to look natural and to match up with the storyline so the audience would sense the right atmosphere for each scene. There were several props that were essential, as they narrated the story such as:
The Briefcase: at the start of the film the audience will believe as anybody would, that it has a laptop in it, however it has all of the serial killers weapons in it.
The Radio: this is significant to the story as it reveals to the audience that there has been a mass murder and gives information about the killers distinctive ways.
The Knives: these are several large kitchen knives which show how violent the killer is.
The Tape: this shows the victims have been held hostage and have been bound.
The Notepad: this shows the audience the large list of different people that have been killed, and that the latest victim (myself) has been killed at the end of the film as her name is crossed off the list at the end.
Once we had the whole plot and costumes for our thriller, the next thing we had to do was choose a location to film at. We thought that the main location should be a in an average house, so that the audience would not suspect anything suspicious if it was a more abnormal location. We also wanted a location that the audience could relate to and not feel that the main character was seriously different to them. Our main location was the kitchen, this is a place where the main character does typical things after a day at work. There were no props in the kitchen that stood out or were put there for a particular reason, they were mainly just the average kitchen utensils and other objects that would be found in most kitchens.
As the killer performs all the murders in the house, we thought it would be a good idea to use the garage as it is a quite small and dingy area and contrasts with the killers emotions. The lighting outside the house is very high key and bright which again contrasts against the low key, dark lighting used in the garage. I feel that this reflects on how the audience’s mood would change throughout the thriller opening. It is more optimistic near the start, however the mood turns cold and tense towards the end of our film.
After planning out the main plot for our thriller we then all had to decide on what each character would be wearing. We thought that the costume for the main character played by Lily was quite difficult to decide on. We wanted to dress this character in a normal outfit to make it look like she was just an average woman and not a serial killer. We all thought that smart black trousers, a neat red blouse and smart black heels. We chose to tie her hair up in a neat formal bun so it was all off her face. We decided to do all of this because we wanted the killer to break the conventions of what a stereotypical killer would normally look like. We wanted her costume to portray that she perhaps works in an office and is very professional in her job. We also thought that the colour of the red blouse was very significant and was a good colour to use as it contrasted with the theme of killing and blood.
For my costume as a victim, we decided that it was going to be a very plain and simple one. We thought that a plain vest, blue jacket, jeans and casual trainers. The colours of these clothes used are very bland and dull, this is to emphasise how miserable and weak the character is. Just from the costume that we used the audience can tell that she is a normal teenager which is what we wanted to convey. This highlights that the killer’s victims are selected at random and are just ordinary people. We decided to have my hair down and quite messy, mostly covering my face as I wouldn’t have been able to move it due to my hands being tied behind my back. My make up was similar to the clothes, very dim and toned down due to me being a captured victim.
