Planning: Mise en scene

The  mise en scene i plan to use in my thriller consists of the following:

• Lighting:

My thriller is split into 3 sections. The first section has natural lighting; this is so the opening is calm which will make the build up of tension more effective.
The second section has low key lighting. This is because it is set in a forest at night time to create more fear.
The third section has high key lighting. This is to make the audience see how venerable she is and also to catch them by surprise.

• Setting:

The first section of my thriller is a montage set in 2 places; on a street next to a car and in a children's park.
The second section is set in a forest. This is where the real thrill starts to occur and tension starts to build up.
The third section is set in a bathroom. This is somewhere that should be safe and the fact that her privacy is invaded in such a place should cause fear amongst the audience.

• Iconography:

The iconography used in my thriller is firstly the car that is used to show the audience the link between the 2 characters.
The little girls doll is a key piece of iconography. This is what alerts the older girl that the little girl is still around haunting her.

• Costume:

Older girl: Light blue jeans, white,pink or cream top
Little girl:  Pink dress in the first section. White hospital looking dress in the 2nd and 3rd section.

• Body Language and Facial Expression:

The victim is the older girl. She is in her late teens, she's girly and behaves very girly showing how venerable and weak she is. She acts very scared and defenceless throughout the thriller.

The younger girl is around 10 years old. She originally behaves very childish so the audience thinks shes innocent and cute. However; her character slightly changes and she becomes very scary. She moves very slow and emotionless to create slight discomfort and fear into the audience.

Planning: Cinematography, Sound & Editing

Cinematography is important because it helps to highlight important features of the film we want the audience to focus on and helps the audience to understand and build and interpretation of the narrative and the characters.

Some examples I plan to use are as follows:

1) A close-up and an extreme close-up will be used to near the end of the montage in the first scene when the news reporter announces that the little girl has died; we see a camera zoom and a close up of the little girls face so show the change in her facial expression as she starts to look sad. The camera then zooms in more into an extreme close-up. We are going to use this to show the change in atmosphere as originally the film is made to look like it has a positive narrative but as the news reporter reports bad news the change in the little girls facial expression should indicate a negative narrative. We are hoping the audience will respond by becoming anxious about where the narrative will go and feel sorry for the little girl who they now know has died.

2) A high angle will be used during the montage in the first scene when the little girl is playing in the park. As she is playing she looks up at the camera and smiles and waves several times. We are going to use this to make the little girl come across small and vulnerable to the audience. This will hopefully make them believe she is sweet and innocent and incapable of becoming the antagonist.

3)We will use another close up on the older girls face when she is walking through the park and starts suspecting someone is following her. This will be used to make it clear that the narrative is now definitely becoming negative and we are hoping the audience will start to becoming even more anxious and start to worry for the older girl.

4)One very important close up will be used when the older girl finds the little girls doll in her pathway as she is walking through the park. This will be used to show that there is a twist to the narrative and we're hoping the audience will start to question just how innocent the little girl is.

5) We will use a point of view shot of the doll when she finds the doll. This is so the audience is anxious about what it is she is looking at as well as it being a close up.

6) We will use a point of view shot from someone behind a tree watching the older girl walk home. This is to put forward the idea of her being haunted and she is being watched by something the audience cannot see.

7)Lastly, we will film the older girl possessed in the bath from a high angle, this is to make her seem inferior and show that although she is evil and possessed she is the victim in the narrative.


Sound is important because it can help determine the atmosphere and help create the emotions and feelings we would like to audience to feel. It can also help with how the audience interpret the characters and build tension.

Some examples I plan to use are as follows:

1)We plan to use non - diegetic sound in the opening scene as a news reporter is reporting through a voice over the home video montage. This will be used to fit the information we  need the audience we know in and also we are hoping it will have an effect in making it a strong opening. This should set the scene with the audience feelings slightly confused and definitely anxious with several questions about what might be about to occur.

2)At the end  of the home video montage scene we are planning to edit non - diegetic siren sounds followed by a car crash sound. We are using this as we think it will make the first scene very strong and should leave the audience anxious and with a lot of questions. We are hoping these sounds along with the cinematography will help the audience to understand the narrative so far and that it was in fact that was driving the car that killed the little girl.

3) In the park scene we are planning on using diegetic heavy breathing along with point of view shots from behind the bushes to allow the audience to identify that she is being watched. This should build up tension and suspense amongst the audience.

Editing is important because it is the final piece to making the production. The right editing can cause a huge effect on the audience as it pulls the whole production together.

Some examples of editing I plan to use are as follows:

1) A home movie effect on the home movie montage to make it clear to the audience that they are in fact home movies of the characters. This will help the audience have an understanding of what is going on in the film.

2) Straight cuts will be used in the middle section to prevent confusion amongst the audience and to make sure they have a clear understanding of the narrative so far. Also, it will be slow editing to create tension amongst the audience.

3)In the bathroom seen the contrast will be edited to make the lighting look more high key. This is to create excitement and fear in the audience. This allows us to stay conventional as we show the ghost child but at the same time have a twist and do something the audience wouldn't expect and make the scene look high key instead of low key and dim.

4)In the last scene we will use a number of jump cuts and fast paced editing. This is to create as much excitement and fear in the audience as possible.

Planning: Preliminary task

The purpose of the preliminary task was to practise and learn how to use the camera, film using different types of cinematography, practise working in a group with the assigned group roles and learning how to edit a scene.

Here we learnt how to use the camera properly and  film from different angles, as well as editing different shots into one full fluent scene.


The scenario that was used was a that I had dropped my bracelet from the middle floor to the bottom floor and Lashane runs to go get it back for me. This was because we could then be filmed walking down the stairs from a low angle, film our conversation using a 180 degree rule and we could film Lashane going to get it from a point of view shot and end it with a zoom close up on the bracelet.

Difficulties whilst filming:
We struggled using the camera at first as it was our first time using this type of camera. It took a while to come familiar with what buttons to press and how to film from certain angles.




Difficulties whilst editing:



I overcame these problems by experimenting with the camera and finding out what different buttons are for and practising using the camera on the tripod as well as hand held.


Overall, this preliminary task was beneficial because it allowed my group to identify our strengths and weaknesses. We now know who is the best person for each role; for example, Lashane would be the best person to be the camera operator and whenever Jordan got stuck with how to oporate it Lashane helped and became familiar with the camera quicker than Jordan did. Also, that Jordan would be the best person to edit as he took the lead on teh editing and became more comfortable using the software than me and Lashane did. Lastly, we identified that I would be the best person to take on the rold of director and I took the lead in organising the group, putting forward our narrative and often put forward my ideas for different types of shots and editing.

Planning: Character representation

Name: Amber (Older girl)

Character role: Victim

Age: 18

Gender stereotype of role: Girly

Costume: Light blue jeans, Cream/white/pink top

Hair and make up: Neat long hair, tidy make up, pink lip stick

Body language: Feminine, walks like a model, very girly

Facial expression: in the first scene she's very happy and always smiling. In the other scenes she looks confused and worried.

Role within the narrative: Victim

Represented as: Very girly, innocent despite her being the cause of the little girls death. A bit clueless, naïve, vulnerable.



Name: Poppy (little girl)

Character role: Antagonist

Age: 8

Gender stereotype of role: Girly, childish, cute

Costume: school uniform, pink cardigan

Hair and make up: slightly messy at first. After extremely messy and big.

Body language: At first she's very active and full of energy running around and waving at the camera. After she moves slow and creepy.

Facial expression: At first she is happy and is smiling. After she shows no emotion.

Role within the narrative: Antagonist

Represented as: She comes across very innocent and sweet but then after she dies her spirt comes back evil and as a villain.

Planning: storyboard

Making a storyboard is an important part of planning. It was extremely helpful to my group as it allowed us to record key camera shots and key edits that we will be planning to use in each scene.


Our storyboard maps out each scene in more detail helping us keep track of what camera and editing techniques we need to use, where each section is set, where each character needs to be and what they need to be doing; as well as what sounds need to be used at each point. This drawings in the storyboard help us to remember where and when characters needs to be situated.

Planning: Opening scene narration

Opening Thriller Narration:

Our thriller starts off with a time frame using home videos footage of a little girl. (iconography of the little girls doll has to be emphasised so the audience remember it and are able to identify it). We also see home video footage of an older girl who is getting into her new car; (iconography of the car has to also be empathised for the audiences understanding).  In the background we can hear a news reporting saying that a young girl has died from being ran over by a car. As the news reporter says this the camera starts to zoom onto the little girls face into a close up; her face begins to look sad. The scene ends with a white flash and a car crash sound. This scene should make the audience understand the association between the 2 girls; which is that it was the older girl who ran over the little girl.

Next, the older girl is walking through a park at night (the lighting is low key) and she starts walking past a swing park. She is talking on the phone and as she is walking the camera starts to track her from behind. When the older girl finishes her phone conversation she drops her phone, goes to pick it up, slowly looks around and then gets back up. We then start to see a point of view shot from behind some bushes and we can hear light breathing (this lets the audience know that she is being watched). The camera then keeps switching from tracking the older girl, to the point of view of her being watched (it is the little girl who is dead that is watching her). The girl continues walking but then she starts hearing a child giggling and freezes. We see a close up of her facial expression and the camera then rotates around her head. She says "who's there?" in a panicked voice and then continues to walk in panic. She then steps on something; when she looks down to see what it is, it is the little girls doll. We see a 3 part zoom into a close up of the doll and the older girls start panicking even more and runs home.

When she gets home she runs into the bathroom and starts to wash her face with water in panic. She eventually starts to calm down and when she is fully calm she slowly looks up and in the mirror in front of her she sees the little girls ghost behind her and screams. The scene blacks out and straight cuts back in and the camera swiftly zooms in on the now possessed older girl and blacks out again. Finally it straight cuts back in and we see a pan of the little girl walking away from the side and the last thing we see is the doll which she is dragging along with with her as she walks of scene.

Planning: Production Roles

Camera Operator:
Jordan - We chose Jordan to be the camera operator as he has past experience operating a camera which makes him most suitable for the role.

 Producer:
Lashane - We chose Lashane as he is the most organised and will be the be the best person to make sure everything is on track.

Director:
Chardelle - I was chosen for the director role as I am dominant and able to keep the team together and make key decisions on making the thriller opening.

Lighting Operator:
Lashane - Lashane was chosen as he has past experience controlling the lighting of a production.

Location Manager:
Chardelle - I was chosen as I travel a lot and have a range of locations we can use in mind.

Costume, Hair and Make up:
Chardelle - I was chosen for this role as I have a lot of experience doing hair and make up which makes me the most suitable person for the role.

Storyboarding:
Jordan - We chose Jordan as he is the most artistic and we think it would be more convenient if he does this role.

Editor:
Jordan - Jordan has the most expericence in editing so again we thought he would be best for this role.

Sound editor:
Lashane - He has studied music gcse so has the most experience in sound editing.

Planning: Developing ideas

IDEA 1 -

Narrative:

Girl is walking through down an alleyway when a ghost child keeps appearing warning her to not walk any further down the alley way and she is in danger. She gets scared and ends up running through the anyway in panic. At the end of the alleyway she is then attacked and stabbed to death by a male antagonist.

Title: Watch Out

Sub-genre: Psychological, supernatural

Characters: Young girl with blond hair, Young ghost girl, male antagonist dressed in black with a black hoodie.

Narrative structure: Todorov because it has a clear start, middle and end.

MES: set in an alleyway at night with low key lighting to create a thrilling response.  Victim is wearing pale pink and natural colours to fit stereotype.  Ghost child is wearing a white, baggy dress with white powder on her face and messy hair to represent that although she is innocent as well as thrilling.  Antagonist is wearing all black and a black hoodie and is holding a knife to fit the stereotype of a criminal.

Advantages of this idea: The storyline is quite simple which should make it easier to put together while being effective. 

Disadvantages of this idea: It may be difficult to present the illusion of the child appearing and re appearing in a realistic but ghostly way.

 

IDEA 2 –

Narrative:

A girl is walking home on an empty street. As she is walking home she finds a child standing alone she asks the child if he is lost or needs help. He turns away and starts to run away. The girl is concerned for the child and chases after him. The child then enters an abandoned house; she then follows him into the house. She then sees the child holding a man’s hand; she cannot see him clearly as the lighting is low key. All she can see is his half his arm and his hand holding the Childs hand. The door behind her then shuts the screen fades to black and the Child says “Did I make you happy daddy” and the last thing you hear is the door lock.

Title: Follow Me.

Sub-Genre: Psychological Thriller.

Characters: Antagonist (Dad), Child Antagonist (Lost Child), Female Victim (Girl Walking Home).

Narrative Structure: Aristotle’s Theory (Beginning, Middle and End).

MES:

Settings: Dark streets, Abandoned Home

Iconography: Child

Costume: Antagonist dark black clothing, Child cute children’s clothing and Female victim Dress that is a light colour e.g. white.

IDEA 3-

Narrative

An 11 year old child comes home to find her parents dead and everyone she loves gone. She finds the killer hidden in the house who then tries to kill her. After being chased around the flat she goes out side where she is brutally murdered and pushed of the blocks.  She wakes up to find out it was a dream.

Title: A red dream

Sub-genre: Psychological thriller

Characters: the girl, antagonist, dead mum and dad.

Mes:  Antagonist is wearing a black suit and you cannot see his face very clearly this makes the audience fearful of him.

The girl has blonde hair and is wearing a white dress to fit stereotype of an innocent victim

It is set in a flat dark and the flickering of street lights low key lighting.

Advantages of this idea: the story line intrigues the audience and leaves them guessing.

Disadvantages of this idea: it will be hard to use a block of flats at night when residents could be sleeping. Finding a girl to play that role might be hard for them to imitate death.

Planning: Final ideas and planning

Final Idea
Title: Beyond The Grave

Narrative:
Our thriller starts off with a time frame using home videos footage of a little girl. (iconography of the little girls doll has to be emphasised so the audience remember it and are able to identify it). We also see home video footage of an older girl who is getting into her new car; (iconography of the car has to also be empathised for the audiences understanding).  In the background we can hear a news reporting saying that a young girl has died from being ran over by a car. As the news reporter says this the camera starts to zoom onto the little girls face into a close up; her face begins to look sad. The scene ends with a white flash and a car crash sound. This scene should make the audience understand the association between the 2 girls; which is that it was the older girl who ran over the little girl.

Next, the older girl is walking through a park at night (the lighting is low key) and she starts walking past a swing park. She is talking on the phone and as she is walking the camera starts to track her from behind. When the older girl finishes her phone conversation she drops her phone, goes to pick it up, slowly looks around and then gets back up. We then start to see a point of view shot from behind some bushes and we can hear light breathing (this lets the audience know that she is being watched). The camera then keeps switching from tracking the older girl, to the point of view of her being watched (it is the little girl who is dead that is watching her). Throughout this scene the girl starts to realise she is being watched as she starts hearing noises that sound child like, she sees a swing moving on its own and then she finds the little girls doll on the floor in front of her. She then runs home in a panic.

When she gets home she runs into the bathroom and starts to wash her face with water in panic. She eventually starts to calm down and when she is fully calm she slowly looks up and in the mirror in front of her she sees the little girls ghost behind her and screams. The scene blacks out and straight cuts back in and the camera swiftly zooms in on the now possessed older girl and blacks out again. Finally it straight cuts back in and we see a pan of the little girl walking away from the side and the last thing we see is the doll which she is dragging along with with her as she walks of scene.

Narrative structure:
Todrov

Themes:
Revenge
Supernatural (Ghosts)

Characters:
Older girl
Little girl

Costume: 
Older girl - Light blue jeans, pink, white or cream top; this is conventional a thriller as it is a typical victim's costume.
Little girl - (in time frame) pink or cream dress, long hair with bows. (In the antagonist role) Long messy hair, white powder make up, white over sized hospital looking clothing.

Location:
(Time frame) In a swing park and outside a car on the street.
(Second scene) In a park near a swing park. This is conventional to a thriller as being alone in a dark park while being followed will create tension and suspense.
(Last scene) In a bathroom. This will create fear into the audience as a home is somewhere people feel safe and a bathroom is somewhere people feel safe and have their own privacy.

Lighting:9
(Time frame) Natural lighting
(Second scene) Low key, silhouettes from the trees.

Iconography:
Car, Doll, Swing, blood

Film influences: 
Paranormal activity, Insidious, Unborn, 6th sense

Our thriller opening is conventional because we use conventional thriller themes like revenge and supernatural themes and Our thriller opening is partly in a dark park with low key lighting which is a typical thriller location. We use a child who is initially innocent to be our antagonist as this not so usual antagonist will create alot of fear into the audience.

Research: Opening credits and typography

What are opening credits?

Opening credits are text presented to the audience saying all the production roles and who was starring in the film and what roles they took in the production; this involves who directed it, who acted in it, who edited it and any other roles. Opening credits are where people who took part in the production of the film get credited for their work. This can be used to promote the film as people may recognise famous actors, actresses, directors and so on; encouraging them to watch the film.  This is often accompanied by sound which is used to create tension amongst the audience. The opening credits should give some inside of what the film is about but not too much; this keeps the  audience guessing. The audience may be introduced to a character in the opening credits but question who exactly they are. Opening credits should allow the audience to familiarise themselves with the film and the characters but not give away too much information so that I encourages them to watch the full film.

What is typography?

Typography is the style writing is presented to the audience. This involves font, size and colour of text. Thrillers normally use edgy font. They also use black an red colouring to signify blood and danger. This creates anxiety amongst the audience and allows them to prepare for the fear they expect to feel throughout the film.

The opening credit for 'Se7en' uses chilling typography on its opening credits. This allows the audience to clearly identify that the film is a thriller right from the beginning. The typography makes the audience feel slightly uncomfortable which informs them that they might find the film slightly disturbing. From learning about typography I am now able to think about what to use in my own thriller. I know that I would like to use black and red and font that resembles blood.

Research: Age certificates

The BBFC
They are  there to decide whether films can be released or should be banned or censored; they also decide what age certificate it can be in order to protect the audience from anything harmful or upsetting. They are important because they protect adults and more importantly children. With age certificates parents are able to identify what film is and is not approcriate for their child to watch.

Here are a list of age certificates in the uk:

• U - The film is open to all ages to watch; for example 'Ice Age'

• PG - open to all ages from about 8 years old, but parents are advised to decide whether it is suitable for a younger child; for example 'Diary of a wimpy kid'

• 12 - No one younger than 12 must watch this film
• 12A - No one younger than 12 must watch this movie unless accompanied by and adult; for example 'Batman Begins'

• 15 - No one under 15 must watch a 15 rated film; for example 'Final Destination 5'

• 18 - No one under the age of 18 must watch an 18 rated film; for example 'Texas chain saw massacre 2013'

The 12A certificate came across when people complained about super hero films such as 'Spiderman' being too violent for children to watch. But at the same time they thought it was wrong for children who are fans of teh characters to not be able to watch the film. They then decided to compramise and made a new age certificate '12A' so that it was left in the hands of parents to decide whether or not that think it is okay for thair child to watch it.

Thrillers or often given a 15 age rating because it contains content that is not suitable for people younger than 15 but thrillers tend to be less disturbing than horror films which are ofen given an 18 age rating. Because of this I am considering giving my own thriller a 15 age rating.

research: censorship

What is censorship?

Censorhsip is when a film is revised due to the content it shows.

What does it mean when a film is banned?

The film is taken away from cinema viewing completely due to idecent, harmful or offensive material.

What does it mean when a film is cut?

The film is edited and parts have been taken out.

Who are the 'BBFC'?


The 'BBFC' stands for the 'British Board of Film Classification'. There are there to decide whether films can be released or should be banned or censored; they also decide what age certificate it can be. Their role is important because they protect the public from anything offensive or anything that can cause harm.

Why do things get censored?

Things get censored because they are harmful and offensive to the public. this involves:

• Extreme violence
• Child exposure
• sexual violence
• sexual content
• torture scenes
• strong language
• offending culture, face, religion or true events
• nudity
• drug abuse
• bad influence on children
• graphic representation and realism
• shock

There is a difference between a film being cut and banned. When a film is cut it has indecent parts edited out and is then able to be released; whereas when it is banned the whole film is rejected from the board and cannot be released.

An example of a banned film is 'The human centipede 2'. It was banned for its indecency and not even the trailer can be viewed.

An example of a cut film was 'The exorist' which was labelled the scariest movie of all time. This film involved religion which was controversial and after being banned it was then censored and released in 1990; 17 years after it was made.

There is a debate between Forna and Kermode about whether or not films should be censored. Forna is for censorship and believes that without censorship films can influence negative behaviour in the audience. For example, using racial words and themes may influence racism in the audience. Also, social stereotypes may offend social groups and illegal acts presented in film can enourage the audience to behave this way.
Kermode, on the other hand, disagrees with censorship. He believes that people should be able to figure out whats right for wrong and not be influenced by anything negative they view. He also argues that people should be able to tell whats real from whats not and should have no reason to feel anything bad about a film that is not real.

I now know what types of content is not be used in my thriller, such as; extreme violence, sexual content and strong language. This will now provent me using any inappropriate footage in my own thriller.