Characters Representation (Hartt)

Characters Representation

The Stalker:

Name: Hidden Identity

Age: 20 years oldGender: Male

Race: White British

Purpose of the narrative: The purpose of the stalker is to kidnap the victim he is obsessed with. He constantly stalks her where ever she goes and at one point in our narrative he texts her off of a unknown number.

How will the character appeal to the audience? The aim of this character was to make the audience dislike the stalker. This was because the he is is seen as the evil character in our narrative and we have used the conventions to create suspense shock and surprise based around this character to make it effective. The audience cannot see the stalkers facial expressions which is conventional as it stops them from building a relationship with the character.

The Victim:
Name: Dipika Sharma
Age: 16Race: Indian
Purpose of the narrative: Dipika is an ordinary teenager who is walking to her friends house to collect some homework when she starts to receive threatening text messages. She ignores them as she thinks it is just someone playing a joke on her until one day she wakes up in a dark room tied up. The stalker kidnapped the victim whilst she was walking through the forest on the way home from her friends house.
How will the character appeal to the audience? The character of the victim appeals to the audience as she is an ordinary 16 year old who is perceived to be vulnerable. Dipika is a female which is a generic convention in thrillers. They are seen to be the weaker gender and this is displayed in our characters. The audience can see her vulnerability though the use of costume. She is wearing white which connotes her innocence. The audience builds up a sympathetic relationship with this character through the mise-en-scene conventions used such as facial expressions. The fearful facial expressions allows the audience to relate and experience the situation the character is in making our thriller effective.


The Victim:
Name:Ayesha AliAge: 16
Purpose of the narrative: Asian British
How will the character appeal to the audience: The victims friend appeals to the audience because like the victim she is seen as a vulnerable character in the situation. She was unable to help prevent her friend from getting kidnapped and therefore the audience feels sorry for her. The relationship with this character and the audience isn't emphasized as much as the other two characters as the role is less important.

Each character representation we used in our thriller was to help create surprise shock and suspense. This will make our thriller successful as the are appealing to our target audience allowing them to relate to our characters.

Preliminary Task (Georgiou)

Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task, in groups we recorded a minute sequence of a simple scene. We decided to go with two girl arguing in the corridors at school. We used a number of camera shots and once we had filmed it, we editied the film to make a contiuous clip.

This is a close up shot showing Ayesha walking down the stairs. It then zooms out revealing the rest of her body. We used a tripod so that when zooming out the camera was ready and smooth. This would be a good camera shot to use in a thriller film as it could hide someones identity of get the audience to focus on a particular thing to highlight importance.

The next camera shot we used was match on action. This showed Ayesha walking from the stair case through to the corridor in the other part of the school. This was effective because i showed her walking towards a door and then using a mid shot it showed her opening the door from the other side. This went well because as the camera turned the tripod kept the camera still. This would be a good camera shot to use in a thriller because it could show character walking into different scenes for example you could use it to show someone breaking and entering a house.

The next camera shot we used was point of view. We place the camera behind dipika as she was picking up her book to make it clear to the audience what she was doing. The camera shot shows the audience the view from the characters perspective. This camera shot would be good to use in a thriller film as you could show two characters exchanging a conversation or use it to show someone watching a victim.

The next camera shot we used was a mid shot. This was effective because it showed Dipika and Ayesha arguing about who walked into who. The camera shot showed some background enough that the audience can see the setting they are in however not too much that shows unwanted people of doors etc. This would be a good camera shot to use in a thriller because it could show the main character they want the audience to focus whilst showing the background without using a long shot.

One thing i thought that went well with the preliminary task was we used a variety of camera angles and managed to not get people walking past. We also manages to minimise unwanted noise as much as we could to make it seem more realistic and focus on what the characters were saying. We mostly had a steady camera however at one point there camera was slightly shaky.

One problem we had when filming our preliminary task was that the corridors were narrow. This meant that it was hard to use the tripod using some camera shots such as point of view. We overcome this by holding the camera ourselves which gave use more room to move however when it come down to filming our thriller, we will have to pick our locations carefully an make sure we have enough room to move around.

Individual Storyboards (Georgiou)

Individual Storyboards

The storyboard above shows the first scene of my thriller narrative. The victim wakes up in a dark room with her hands and feet tied up. The iconography i am going to use ropes and duct tape. This is conventional because it will highlight to the audience that she is unable to move or call for help. This builds suspense for the audience. I am going to use low-key lighting as it will create shadows making the room seem creepy and mysterious and to make the audience question where the victim is. The camera shot i wanted to use was a close up on the victims hands and the rope and then it gradually zooms out revealing the rest of her body. I think this will be effective because when it zooms out the audience will be able to clearly see the victims facial expressions making them empathise for her. It also allows them to look at the costume and make up of the character. The victim will be wearing an item of white to connote that she is innocent and her make will show mascara on her cheeks for her crying. The costume and make is effective because they show the audience that she is the generic victim that is being held hostage. Once the victim wakes up the screen will dissolve into a flashback. This will then show what had happened to her the previous day. The victim and her two friends are walking to school when she receives a text message from an unknown number. The camera will be on a close up so the audience will be able to read what it said. The girl dismisses it and carries on walking to school. In the flashback scenes I want to use high key lighting to make it seem more realistic. It appears to the audience that it is just an ordinary day with ordinary people and they are less likely to suspect anything bad to happen in day light.  I decided that i wanted to use non-diegetic sound in these scenes as it will help surprise the audience with the text, shock them by the fact that they are being watched and it builds suspense as they don't know who it is or where the stalker is.



In this storyboard, the girls have finished at school and they are waiting outside the school for their friend (the victim). The victim doesn't turn up and the girls just assume she walked home early. It will then show the victim walking home when she receives another text message from an unknown number. The close up shot will show the audience what the message says surprising them. I am then going to do another camera shot but this time it will be a point of view of the stalker watching his victim.This is conventional because it shows a victim getting stalked creating suspense for the audience. I am going to use high key lighting so it looks like a normal day after school. In the scene that stalker will be wearing a black hoody with black gloves. This is conventional as the colour black connotes death. This gives the audience a sense of foreboding. The hoody is also conventional as it helps hide the identity of the stalker creating an enigma. I want to used non-diegetic sound as well as diegetic sound in this scene. The noise of the mobile phone will catch the audiences attention whereas the non-diegetic sound will help contribute to the shock and suspense of what is going to happen. In this scene i plan to use a number of different camera shots such as low angle, close up, zoom out to really show the effect of the stalker watching his victims.

This storyboard shows the scene where the two friends meet at a park to talk about their friend and her weird behaviour. The location of the park is conventional because it highlights the fact that that's where vulnerable children go to play during the day however at night no one is ever there making the isolated from a crowd. I am going to use low key lighting to suggest to the audience a passing of time from the beginning of the day to the evening. The two girls are sitting on the swings talking when in unison they both receive a text message from an unknown number. The diegetic sound will surprise and shock the audience as they wont suspect the friend to be watched by the stalker as well as the victim. The camera shot will be a close up on the message which says the stalker has kidnapped their friend and if they want to get her back they have to meet in a forest at a certain time. This is conventional because the use of iconography is used as a weapon. Once the girls go to the forest they are told to dig up a box that contains as key to the room that the victim is kept in. The low key lighting will help create strong shadows creating a creepy mysterious atmosphere.The iconography that will be used is going to be a key and a shovel. This is conventional as it could be seen as weapon the are leading them to their deaths.  Once the girls get the key they are texted an address. The address leads to an old warehouse and the key opens the door. They are confronted with their friend lying tied up on the floor in the dark. I am going to use a long shot showing the two girls untying her from the ropes. However when they attempt to run home they are stopped by the stalker. A close up will reveal the stalkers identity and the screen will fade to black. I will then use non- diegetic sound of three gun shots to highlight to the audience the death of the three girls. This is conventional because it shows a death of the innocent victims (typically females) and also because the iconography is a generic weapon used in thrillers to kill people. I will also super impose a soundtrack to help enhance the shock, surprise and suspense for the audience. The non-diegetic sound will be effective because it will constantly keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

As a group discussion we decided to use certain features of each of our individual narratives to make our final story-line.  From my individual narrative we are going to use the beginning section where the victim is kidnapped and held hostage in a dark room. We are going to stick with the iconography, music, lighting etc and use the flashback however, we are going to change what happens in the flashback and the reason the girl got kidnapped. 

Planning Editing Styles (Georgiou)

Planning Editing Styles

Editing:

Editors job is to organise the footage and arrange individual shot combining them into one continuous sequence. Every scene has dozens of different shots that have to be chosen and assemble from all of the film. The editor's choices about which shots to use and the order in which place them, have a profound effect on the appearance of the overall film.

Why is editing important?

Editing is important because it creates a coherence and continuity to a film. Editing is where you take the best camera shots and arrange them accordingly to create the story-line. It also prevents miscommunication between scenes. Editing is also known as the 'invisible art' because if it is done well, viewers are so engaged in the film they are unaware of the editors work.

What types of editing styles will you include in your thriller and why?

We have decided to use a number of different editing styles in our thriller film to help build suspense, surprise and shock to the audience.

• Fast Editing - We have decided to use fast editing in our thriller film because it can show a large amount of information within a couple of seconds. By using the fast editing it will highlight straight away to the audience who the stalker and the victim is. It straight away creates an enigma of who the stalker is and why he is burning a picture of the girl. We also decided to use fast editing to create a chaotic atmosphere which is conventional to the thriller genre.
• Eye line match - We decided to use eye line match as part of our editing to show the audience what the stalker is looking at. It also make the audience see everything from his perspective almost like its them watching the victim behind not the character themselves.
• Dissolve cut/Flashback - We are going to use this style of editing to show the audience a flash back of what happened to the victim after she woke up in the dark room.

How will your editing styles make your thriller conventional?

Fast editing will make my thriller film conventional because it is at a fast speed. The quicker that pase of the film the increase of anxiety the audience will feel. It is also conventional because it enables us to introduce the stalker without showing his identity. This create an enigma and everything thriller film starts of with an unanswered question.

The eye line match is conventional because it makes the audience see the victim through the stalkers point of view. It allows them to build a relationship with the character which makes the audience empathise for the victim.

The dissolve cut is conventional to the thriller genre as it reveals what happened to the victim and answers how she got in that predicament in the first place. A dissolve cut allows the audience to see the disorientaiton and confusion the victim is expreience as if it is answering the audiences question of what happened.

Film Schedule (Georgiou)

Film Schedule

The table above shows the film schedule we are going to use to help structure us when filming or thriller film. It is important to have a film schedual because it makes it easier when it comes to filming. The film schedule shows you what location you need for each scene, who needs to be acting in it, who needs to be filming it and what camera shot you plan to use. It is a good way of communicating with the rest of the group as it makes it clear what we need to do.
The only changes we made to the film schedual was each person in the group took turning in filming what they thought was the best and we used more camera shots than stated.

Group Storyboards (Georgiou)

Group Storyboards

The storyboard shows the scenes that we are going to use at the beginning of our thriller film. The stalker is sitting at a desk wearing a black hoody and gloves. This is conventional because the colour black connotes death and it helps conceal the identity of the stalker. We decided that we are going to use low-key lighting because it creates strong, bold shadows on the walls making it seem more mysterious and creepy. One of the camera shots is going to show the stalker writing in a diary. The words will highlight threat for the victim showing the audience he has a plan to hurt her. The second camera shot shows the stalker cutting his hand with a knife and dripping the blood on the pages he just wrote on. This is conventional because the iconography is a generic weapon often used in thriller films. We plan to use fake blood which helps make the scene appear more realistic. Another camera shot we are going to use is the stalker lighting a match and burning a picture of his victim. This is effecting because it shows the audience straight away who the victim is. The fire symbolises danger which is a generic theme in thrillers. Each scene is only going to be a few seconds long as we are using fast-editing. We are going to jumble up the scenes whilst playing loud non-diegetic music. The non-diegetic music is effective because it keeps the audience in suspense. The audience are aware that something bad is going to happen to the person in the picture and the music create a level of anticipation. We decided to use non-diegetic music because we believed that because we are using fast editing, the non-diegetic sound would be made to match the speed of the film. It will get louder the quicker the film gets making the audience even more anxious.

The second storyboard shows the victim being tied up in a dark room where the stalker had kidnapped her. We decided that we want to use low-key lighting because we thought it would help hide the background in the room more making the audience question the location. We also used it because it creates shadows which is conventional to the thriller genre. The camera will start of on a close up on her and gradually zoom out revealing that she is tied up. The iconography we plan to use is rope and duck tape. This is used to stop her speaking/yelling for help and tie her up so that she cannot escape. We plan to use different angles such as high angle, low angle when filming the victim wake up and look around the room. We are going to use straight cut, slow editing in this scene to emphasise the disorientation of the victim when she wake up and because it creates a level of anxiety for the audience. In this scene we decided as a group that we are going to use non-diegetic sound to make the audience anxious. We used it in this scene to create surprise, shock and suspense. This scene is where the audience are unaware of what happened to the victim and so the music emphasises importance of the enigma our thriller.At the end of the scene with the girl waking up the camera is going to zoom in on the victims eye and dissolve into a flashback. The film is then going to show what happened the previous day and how the victim got herself in that predicament. The next scene is going to be the victim walking to her friends house. we are using high key lighting to make it appear like an ordinary day. The victim is going to wear a white jumper to connote her innocence. We are going to do a number of different camera shots such as zoom in/out low angles, long shot to make the film more tense.

This storyboard is showing what happened in the flashback. The victim is walking to her friends house to collect some homework. We are going to film her walking towards the house and the two characters exchanging conversation. Whilst the victim is walking to the house we are going to use camera shots such as low angles to show the stalker following her. The camera shot will show the black boots of the stalker. This is conventional because we have used the colour black to connote death. The low angle is conventional to the thriller genre because it hides the identity of the stalker creating an enigma. We are also going to use point of view shot showing the stalker watching the victim from behind. In these scenes we plan to use non-diegetic sound because the deep tone will help build suspense and shock the audience. We are also going to use straight cut editing to show continuity through our thriller film. Once we use the scene where to two characters are talking to each other we are going to use diegetic such as the ringing of the door bell of the conversation. When the friend goes to collect the homework the victim is going to receive a text message from a unknown number. We are going to use birds eye view to show the message. The iconography we plan to use in this particular scene is the mobile phone. The close on the phone highlights the unknown number which will make the audience anxious.

In the storyboard it shows the final scene where the stalker finally kidnaps the victim. It is going to be set in a forest because it is a generic location in thriller and because it highlights the fact that it is an isolated location and no one will be able to hear the victim scream. We are going natural lighting because it starts of light but graudally gets dark. The stalker is going to be following the victim when you hear diegetic sound if a twig snap. This make the victim look behind where she notices the stalker standing behind her. She screams and begins to run. To make it more effective we are going to use a hand held camera shot. This helps emphasis the chaotic situation and help the audience see it from the victims point of view. Eventually the stalker catches the girl and covers her mouth so she cant call for help. This is coventional because it shows the typical victim getting kidnapped. The iconography in the scene is going to be the gloves the stalker is wearing, the book the victim collected from her friends house and the victims mobile phone. The gloves are coventinal because they are black. This is effective because the audience know to associate the stalker with black clothing.The camera will then zoom back in onto her eye to show that the flashback has ended and she is back in the dark room.

Opening Scene Narration (Georgiou)

Opening Scene Narration

For our opening scene we decided to started off using fast editing. We are going to do a number of camera shots showing the stalker either burning pictures of his victim or writing about what he is going to do to her. This is conventional because straight away it introduces the character highlighting to the audience he is a stalker. They will be able to see this through the use of colours and costume. The stalker is going to be dressed in a black hoody, leggings, gloves and black boots. This is conventional because the colour black connotes death which gives the audience a sense of foreboding. We decided to use low-key lighting in this scene so it created strong shadows building a mysterious atmosphere. The non-Diegetic sound will help contribute to the atmosphere making the audience even more anxious.

The next scene is where dipika (victim) is kidnapped and the audience can see she has been held hostage. The camera shot starts off zoomed in on her hands where you can see rope tying them together. This is conventional because the use of iconography shows she is captured and cannot escape. Straight away it highlights to the audience that she is the victim in the thriller. The camera will then start to slowly zoom out revealing more rope tied her feet and arms up. She starts of lying on the floor when she wakes up and remembers what happened to her. The camera shots are effective because the audience we able to see the victims facial expression allowing them to build up a relationship with the character. This is conventional because it make the audience experience the same fear and the victim. We are going to use low-key lighting in this scene because it helps hide details about the room she is in and it shows the shadows of the stalker and her against the wall. Non-Diegetic sound will be super imposed to help build suspense. The speed of the sound will be slow to match the camera shots and gradually build a creepy atmosphere. At the end of the scene the camera is going to zoom back in onto the victim and stops when it only shows dipikas eye. We will edit it to dissolve suggesting to the audience it is going into a flash back to reveal what happened to her the previous day.

In the flashback the victim is walking to her friends how to pick up some homework. The camera starts of zoomed in but zooms out as she walks closer towards the camera. We will use a number of different camera shots to show the victim watching her walking to the house. One camera shot will be a low angle where the camera is place on the floor and the stalker walks past showing only their boots. The other one is a point of view shot behind a tree showing her walk up onto the drive. These camera shots are conventional because it conceals the identity of the stalker creating an enigma and making the audience anxious. Once dipika rang the door bell the camera will show her friend (Ayesha) sitting on her laptop. As she answers the door the cameras will go onto a close up showing the door unlock. Both girls exchange a conversation and the friend leave the victim to collect the book. Dipika then receive a text from an unknown number asking about the book her came to collect. She dismisses it and carrys on. The non-diegetic sound gets louder and harsher as the victim receives the text because it makes the audience think something bad will happen building suspense. The victim was dressed in normal clothes a girl would wear making it seem more realistic. Dipika wore a white jumper which connotes her innocence. This contrasts with the stalkers outfits highlighting the generic character roles.

The next scene will show dipika walking home through the forest. We are going to use angles such as long shots to show her walking with the stalker standing behind her. We will use the location of the forest because it is conventional to the thriller genre. It highlights to the audience that it is an isolated setting and no one would be able to hear her scream. The time we will film it, it will begin to get dark which is conventional to the thriller genre because it creates a mysterious atmosphere. We will use diegetic sound such as the twig snapping to get victim to look behind her. She notices the stalker standing there, screams and starts running. We are going to show this through a hand held camera shot. The camera shot is effective because it makes it appear chaotic and unsettling. The non-diegetic sound will be fast at this point to help contribute to the tense atmosphere. The final camera shot is a close up on the victims face and the stalkers hand over her mouth. It is then going to fade to black and goes back to the scene where the victim wakes up in the black room. The camera shot will zoom back out of her eye and leave on her hearing the stalker walk towards the door.

Risk Assessment (Georgiou)

Hazard	Precaution of hazard
Someone could trip on the trailing wires.	We will use gaffer tape to secure it to the ground.
We are going to use knifes for iconography.	Ensure that we are being careful when using in and have a first aid kit nearby just in case someone cuts themselves.
We are going to go to the forest where we could slip and fall.	We are going to stay in groups so if someone gets hurt we can help.
We are going to tie Dipika’s up with rope and she could fall over.	We are going to make the ropes lose enough for her to release her hands and move any sharp objects out of the way.

In the table above, there is a list of possible hazards whilst filming our thriller opening. I have then wrote how we can take precautions in order to prevent these hazards for happening. I produced this table using Microsoft word and as a group we will use this as a guideline to make sure we are all safe and unharmed.
It is essential to consider the risks before film so we are aware of what could possibly happen and we can be careful avoiding these hazards. The risk assessment will assist my group when filming our thriller opening because we will take precautions such as buying gaffer tape and moving sharp objects aside.

Opening Credits (Hartt)

Opening Credits

The opening credits to the psychological thriller 'Whispers from Within' use mise-en-scene, non diegetic sound and fast editing to build suspense.

In the opening credits, they have used blood which appears to be splatered on the walls where the names of actors are displayed. This is conventional because it suggests to the audience there is a murder of some kind of injury. This is effective because the imagery builds a level of aticipation and keeps the audience in suspense. The colour of the text is red. The connotations to this colour shows evil and bloody making the audience aware of the coming murders and potential evil in the film. This is conventional because thriller use colours to connote meaning that may give a sense of forboding to what might happen in the film.

The name of the production comapany was shown first which allows the audience to build an association with. The logo is of the Oh!man productions is of a man holding a knife. This highlight to the audience the genre of the film. The mise-en-scene of the logo shows the audience igonography that could be used in the film. The knife is conventional to the thriller genre because it is a weapon which is often used to commit a murder. The colours in the logo are black, white and red. The colour red connotes evil and blood/gore, black connotes death, and white connotes purity and innocence. These are all conventions of a thriller. The facial expression of the man in the logo shows his mouth open suggesting anger. This symbolises the generic killers that are portrayed in thriller movies.

Whilst the oopening credit are being played, non-diegetic sound has been superimposed over the top to help build tension. The music is stays at a slow pace throughout the opening credits however half way through the music gets louder. This increases the intensisty which contributes to the audiences level of anticipation. The tones of the music becomes deeper which makes it seem more suspicious.

The size of the title of the film is larger than the names of the people which suggests the difference in importance. The font of the text is effective because it appears to be hand drawn.

Planning the Production (Georgiou)

Planning the Production

Objective: to be able to plan and create the mise-en-scene of your thriller film.

• Research and define the main roles within a film production (camera operator, actors, sound technician, editors, film director, location manager, storyboard manager
• As a group decide on which role each group will be taking a why

Camera Operator - The camera operator is also known as the cinematographer who professionally operates the the film or the video camera. They are usually responsible for operating the camera and maintaining composition and camera angles throughout a scene or shot. Camera operators collaborate with directors, actors and crew members to make creative decisions.

Actors - For the audience, actors are the most visible and tangible part of the production. An actors role  consists of rehearsing and reciting there line and performing them on camera. They act in a dramatic and comical way to entertain the audience and create and effect.

Editor - The editors job is to organise the footage and arranges individual shots into one continuous sequence. Every scene has dozens of different shots that have to be chosen and assembles from all the film. The editor's choices about which shots to use and the order in which to place them have a profound effect on the appearance of the overall film.

Location Manager - The location managers role is to identify and find the ideal locations for a film shoot, the  arranging to film on the property. The role involves negotiating with each locations owners and once the filming has begun they are in charge of managing all aspect of shooting in each location.

Sound Technician - When sound was integrated into the film-making process, music, sound effects and dialogue became essential tools for enhancing a film's visual qualities. The sound is going to be created on garage band and plays over certain screen shots to create effect.
http://myhero.com/natework/AFI_BasicsHandbook.pdf

Storyboard Manager - A storyboard manager organizes and manages timelines to ensure work is completed on time. They plan the shots and camera angles that are going to be filmed and provides an overview plot of the story-line.
mmunicate the core meaning of the project to everyone involved. 

Film Director - The job of the film director is to interpret the script and make it into a film. This can involve planning locations, shots, pacing, acting styles and anything else which affects the feel of the  movie. It also involves them overseeing the cinematography and technical aspects film directs coach and direct the actors toward the required performance whilst coordinating staff on set. They are for directing the shooting timetable and ensuring the deadlines are met.

http://www.mediacollege.com/employment/film/director.html

The roles each person in the group is going to play:
Camera Operator (Lauren, Dipika Ayesha)
Actor (Lauren, Dipika, Ayesha)
Editor (Lauren, Dipika, Ayesha)
Location Manager (Lauren and Ayesha)
Sound Technician (Lauren)
Storyboard Manager (Dipika)
Film Director (Ayesha)

We applied the roles to each person in the group because we thought that they would be the best person for that particular job and would get the best results. We decided to useall three of us to be the camera operater because we all have different ideas for camera shots for each scenes. We believe that we would all be able to achieve good camera shots and so we were going to film different parts. This worked well for us whilst doing the preliminary task so we are going to use the same technique when film our thriller. Ayesha was chosen to be the film director because she has shown creative ideas such as locations and camera angles. She is organised and is good with communicating with everyone. I was chosen to be the sound technician because i have used garage band before and we thought i would have more of an idea on making the music. Storyboard manager is dipika because she is most organised and is aware or the specific scenes and angles that we planned to use.

Planning the Mise-En-Scene (Georgiou)

Planning the Mise-En-Scene

Settings and Iconography:

• Dark abandoned room - We decided to use a dark abandoned room because when the girl wakes up it helps create an enigma to our story line. It hides the details of the surrounding making the victim and audience unaware of where abouts she is.
• Camping - We are going to use a camping scene in our thriller movie because the iconography items such as torches or even camp fires could be our light source. These will act as background and filler lights creating shadows make it seem mysterious. This scene also allows us to use low key lighting that hides peoples facial expressions. This is also a convention to the thriller genre and will be useful for hiding the identity of our stalker.
• Iconography items such as mobile phones - We decided to use a mobile phone in our thriller to highlight to the audience that our victim is being stalked. The girl receives random texts from an unknown number giving a sense of foreboding that something bad is going to happen.
• Iconography items such as ropes - We have chosen to use ropes to tie the victim up when she has been kidnapped and put in an isolated dark room. This is conventional because the audience can she that she is trapped and the antagonist has done this to her.

Lighting and Colour:

• Low-Key lighting - We decided to use low-key lighting in our thriller because it is easy to create shadows which keeps the audience in suspense. It also helps conceal the identity of the stalker which keeps the enigma of who is it.
• Colour black and white - The stalker will wear a black hoody to highlight to the audience the character they play. This is conventional because the colour black connotes bad and death. To show the audience which character is the victim she is going to wear a item of white. This connotes her innocence highlighting that she is the victim in the situation.

Facial Expressions and Body Language:

• Facial expressions of shock, panic, fear - When the victim wakes up and realises what has happened and that she is tied up she begins to panic. The audience will be able to see this through the facial expressions of the character. The victims eyes will be wide open to highlight her fear.
• Body Language - The victims body language shows the audience the hierarchy of power between the characters. This will be done through making the victim curl up with her hands and feet tied giving the impression the victim is smaller than she is. This is conventional because it highlights the fact the she is trapped and has no control.

Positioning of the character and objects in the scene:

• The characters positioning - The Victim will be positioned in the centre of the screen to show her importance and the stalker will be positioned at the side. This make the audience suspicious of the characters and shows who is the protagonist and the antagonist.

Costume and Make-Up:

• The victim - The victim will be dressed in school uniform to make the audience see that she is a student and just an every day teenager. However when the girl wakes up the victim will have dark circle around the eyes to show exhaustion and struggle. This is conventional because women are seen as the typical victims because they are perceived to be the weaker gender.
• The Stalker - The stalker is going to where a black hoody to hide the facial expressions. This is conventional because it prevents the audience from building a relationship with them and shows they are the antagonist.

Overall, i think our groups mise-en-scene is conventional because all five areas have been displayed in our thriller to help keep the audience in suspense. The audience will be able to tell who the antagonist and protagonist is due to the colours they are dressed in and can build a relationship with the victims through their facial expressions. Each code and convention help contribute to the suspense making the film a good thriller.



Narrative Theory (Georgiou)

Narrative Theory

A narrative is a story or account of events/experiences (whether true of fictitious) which has a beginning, middle and end. We understand and construct meaning using our experiences of reality of previous texts. Each text becomes part of the previous and the next through its relationship with the audience.

Each narrative has a series of conventions such as:

• Genre
• Character
• Form
• Time

we use these conventions to help us interpret meanings from the text. The convention time is shown through a slow motion shot or an 80 period of time can be shown through a condensed two hour biopic. There fore we consider "the time of the thing told and the time of the telling."(Christian Metz Notes Towards A Phenomenology of Narrative.) Each event must somehow be linked in order for it to work.

Each narrative has a variety of characters that perform a function which are usually:

• The Hero - a character that seeks something
• The Villain - who opposes or actively blocks the hero's quest
• The Donor - who provides an object with magical properties
• The Dispatcher - who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message
• The False Hero - who disrupts the hero's success by making false claims
• The Helper - Who aids the hero
• The Princess - acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain's plots
• Her Father - who acts to reward the hero for his effort

Theory 1: Tzvetan Todorov

Trzetan Todorov simplified the idea of narrative theory whilst also allowing a more complex interpretation of film texts with his theory of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium.

The theory is that the fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium (everything is as it should be) and then it suffers some disruption (disequilibrium). After a new equilibrium is produced at the the end of the narrative.

There are five stages that the narrative progresses through:

• A state of equilibrium (all is as it should be)
• A disruption of that order by an event
• A recognition that the disorder has occurred
• An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
• A return or restoration of a new equilibrium

Here  narrative is not seen as a linear structure but a circular one. The narrative is driven by the attempts to restore the equilibrium. however, the equilibrium attained at the end of the story is not identical to the initial equilibrium.

Todorov argues that narrative involves a transformation. The characters or the situations transformed through the progress of the disruption. This disruption itself usually takes place outside the normal social framework, outside the 'normal' social events.

Theory 2: Aristotle

Aristotles theory is based on common themes. Headings that are used by some producers and screenwrites include:

• Inciting Incident
• Dramatic Question
• Charaters Goal
• Antagonist/Protagonist
• Stakes
• Resolution
• Sympathy/ Empathy

These headings are very close to thosesuggested by the father of narrative theory, Aristotle

Aristotle's literary criticism is probably most famous for "unities": time, place, and anction. Aristotle's most complete anaylsis is of 'tradgedy', which arguably the basis of more 'serious drama'

Theory 3: Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp was a Russian critic, active in the 1920's published his Morphology of the Folk in 1928. While the soviet cinema was producing excellent films, Propp was essentially interested in the narrative of folk takes.Folk tales were similar in many areas. Theywere about the same basic struggles and they appeared to have stock characters. He identified a theory about characters and actions as narrative functions.

Charaters according to Propp, have a narrative function; they provide a structure for the text. 

• Propp's theory of narrative seems to be based in a male orientated environment (due to his theory actually reflecting early folk tales) and as such critics often dismiss theory with regard to film. However, it may still be applied because the function (rather then gender) of characters is the basis of the theory. E.g. the hero could be a woman; the reward could be a man.
• Critics argue that Propp's strict order of characters and events is restrictive. We should rather apply the functions and events randomly as we meet new narratives. E.g. the hero may kill the villain earlier then Propp expects. Changing the traditional format will change the way the text is received.
• Some critics claim there are many more character types than Propp suggests and we should feel free to identify them. E.g. the stooge in a sci-fi film, who is usually nameless and usually killer early on to suggest the power of the alien force is a typical modern character type.

 It applies to Fairy Stories and to other similar narratives based around 'quests' it doesn't apply to all narratives. 

Which ones apply to the group narrative?

The theory that applies to my group theory is aristotle. It links to his the theory because we have used common themes such as a stalker, antagonist/protagonist, and empathy/Sympathy. In our thriller opening our characters are going to consist of a stalker and a victim. The victim gets kidnapped and it goes into a flash back to reveal what had happened.

Group Narrative (Georgiou)

Group Narrative

Everyone in my group wrote up and individual narrative saying what will happen in each scene what types of character, camera shots, editing etc we could use. We looked at the advantages and disadvantages of each idea and created a narrative to use in our thriller clip.

For my individual narrative, an advantage would be i have used different scenes to connect my event. I could use a variety of conventions such as camera shots, settings and lighting to create suspense, surprise and tension. However a disadvantage would be that it would be hard to find a god location for the scene where the girl wakes up in a dark room like a warehouse to film. This would be ineffective because it wouldn't create the suspense needed.

Dipika Sharma

Individual Narrative

Storyline

My storyline is about a girl called Aisha that has two best friends called Angeline and Louise. They do everything together and they are such a close group of friends. Aisha starts receiving strange text messages from a random number and she keeps it quiet for a while. Soon she decides that she would tell her friend Louise about this stalker. Her friend Louise thinks that Aisha (the girl that gets stalked) is joking and lying about the stalker and doesn't believe her what so ever seeing as Aisha is a top joker and jokes about everything! Soon after Aisha goes missing one day and theres a note on Louise's bed saying "Call Aisha's phone or she dies"
Louise then tells her friend Angeline, the clever one out of the three about what happened, but she gets angry because they didn't tell her in the first place!

Characters

The characters in my story are 3 best friends called Angeline Aisha and Louise.

Angeline is the clever one out of the three, she has an answer for everything and she can easily get out of traps and never gets into trouble because she is so clever.
Aisha is the top joker in the group, she jokes about everything and never takes anything seriously. She has no limits to her jokes no matter how extreme they are she jokes about it.
Then there is Louise that's blonde and thinks everythings a joke and laughs about everything as well. Shes always worried about her looks and makeup.

Settings
In our thriller movie we will use a number of different settings and locations throughout depending on what is going on in that particular scene. The first scene will be set at night on a roadside in public, with just a girl walking home on her way back from a club. In this opening scene i will try to use codes and conventions of a thriller film and the key feature we will use is low key lighting. We will also use background music to suit whats going on at that moment. So when the girl starts getting chased the music will turn into fast pace music etc. Other settings we will use in our thriller opening is one of the girls bedrooms, a club, a car park and a forest.

Target Audience
This film will be rated a 15 because it will have scenes of a sexual nature and maybe some use of drugs and violence.
Codes and Conventions
- Low key lighting
- Shock
- Surprise
- Suspense
- Tension
- Stalking
- Chase
- Background music

An advantage to this is it has loads of good codes and convention like low key lighting from the stated settings. A Disadvantage to this is it would be hard to film the scenes without getting unwanted people in the background or noises the will distracted the viewers.

Ayesha Ali
Individual Narrative:

Narrative:

There is a group of 5 children, they're all on vacation and they're all having a sleepover round onee of the five children's house.. it's 9 o clock and they decide to play hide and seek.. one of the children go upstairs and hide in the loft in one of the cupboards and he finds a box that was tapped up with allot of layers, so the child decides to open the box, once hes opened the box he finds a book.. he starts reading the book, and the book tells a story about 5 characters that all get treats and good things happen to them. What the boy does not realise is that the book is based on the 5 friends life.. so in the book as one character gets a gift, one of the friends get a gift and so on.. so all five friends eventually have good things going for them, when suddenly theres a twist.. one friend in the book has to die, so all five friends argue within themselves as they are worried to find out which friend dies.

Characters:

The characters in my story are 5 best friends called, tom, jake, amy, rose and mike. In my story all five friends go to Tom's house for a sleepover. The character who finds the book is Amy, and amy decides to tell her closest friend Rose. In the story, Jake is the very calm, easy going character who takes everything as a joke and is very rarely serious, so in this situation Jake does not really pay much attention until the twist happens. Finally Mike, Mike is the very clever character who looks into everything into detail, he very rarely takes a joke and makes one, once Mike finds out about this book he creates an argument as he wants to tell his parents as this is something serious, but the other characters do not agree.
Setting:
In the thriller movie we will use many different settings ongoing throughout the movie which all relies on the particular scene. The opening scene will first be set out in the playground of the school where all five friends play together everyday, and that is where all characters decide to have a sleepover round Tom's house. Later the scene will be placed at Tom's house where they play hide and seek and find the book. Many other scenes may be included for e.g: Houses, Park, Cafe or school.
Target audience: 

The target audience for this thriller is 15 because many scenes may include a limitless number of violence or blood.
Codes and conventions:
Shock
emotions
chase
enigma
low key lighting
Background music

An advantage of the narrative is that it has a typical setting in the house which is conventional to the thriller. A disadvantage of this is that in one of the setting it would be hard to not get unwanted noises. An example would be wind or even children that are going to play in the park. Another disadvantage to this narrative would be that it is hard to get five people to act it out.

Synopsis



For our final idea i have used different part of each of our individual narratives to create a new idea.

Our final idea is going to be a stalker obsessing over a school girl. One day the girl meets up with her mates to go to school and receives a threatening  text message from a unknown number. The girl ignores it and refuses to tell her friends whats been going on because she thought it was just someone playing a joke on her. Eventually the girls friends notice her weird behaviour and suspect something was up. When they go to find her they realise she is missing and try to find her.

Settings:
There are going to be number of settings throughout our thriller narrative and the first one will be based in a dark room. This is where the victim wakes up and finds herself tied up with rope against a chair. I am going to use low key lighting to hide the surroundings leaving the victim and the audience unaware of the location. This is conventional because it builds suspense. Our second setting is going to be the friends house. The victim goes to collect homework from her mate and then walkes home. This will include high key lighting so the audience can see the surroundings around her. This is conventional because it misleads them into believing that because it is in day light nothing bad is going to happen. The third setting is going to be based in a forest. It will begin to get dark and this is where the victim gets chased by the stalker. This setting is conventional because it is an isolated location that creates a mysterious atmosphere. The trees make it easy to hide people i.e the stalker.

Beginning:
The beginning of our narrative is going to start off with fast editing. The stalker is going to me cutting pictures out of a girl and her friends to highlight to the audience who the victim is. We are going to use iconography such as knifes and make the stalker but his hand and drip the blood on the picture of the victims face. This is conventional because there is pictures of a victimized girl with blood which connotes her death. It then goes onto the girl waking up in a dark abandoned room with her hands and everything tied up. She soon realises what had happened and she begins to panic. This is conventional because the audience can see the victim struggle to escape. It then goes into a flashback to show the audience what had happened the previous day and how she ended up in that predicament. This is conventional because it starts of with an enigma which is the key feature in a the thriller genre. It leaves the audience questioning what happened which builds suspense because the don't know who did it. We are also using low key lighting which is conventional because it hides the settings so the audience are unaware of where they are just like the victim. This is effective because it builds a level of anxiety. The iconography items such as ropes highlights that's she is trapped and someone did this to her. This convention makes the audience curious and gives them a sense of foreboding that something bad is going to happen. 

Middle:
In the flashback, the girl goes to her friends house to collect some homeworks when the stalker follows her. When the girl gets to the house she knocks and her friends leaves her find the homework she wanted. At this time she gets a phone call from an unknown number and answers it. There is no response from the person on the other end of the phone all the girl can hear is the sound of heavy breathing. The girls friend returns so she puts the phone down and ignores it. This is conventional because the camera shots are going to hide the identity of the stalker so the audience are going to be curious to who it is. It also helps build suspense for the audience.

End:
The girl declines the offer when her friend invites her in and decides to take the short route home which means cutting through the forest. As she is walking she hears footsteps snapping the twigs behind her. She turns around and sees that nobody is there and assumes she is being paranoid. She continues walking and recieves another texts message saying im watching you with a picture of her walking. She begings to speed up which turns into a run and the stalker comes out of no where and grabs her. The screen will then face to black. This is conventional because it highlights and ordinary girl being kidnapped and has an isolated location. We are going to used non diegetic sound and superimpose heavy breathing over the scene to build a level of anxiety.

Target Audience:
The target audience for this thriller is 15 because many scenes may include a limitless number of violence or blood.

Advantages to this narrative is that we are have good settings and the iconography items such as ropes and knives which are all conventional however the disadvantages are that it is hard to not get unwanted noices from our locations for example wind will effect our thriller.

No Country For Old Men Analysis (Hartt)

No Country For Old Men



Settings:

The film is set in Texas in a vast dessert with very little growing. The remote establishing shot reinforces the idea how empty and endless the location is highlighting to the audience that the settings is isolated. The effect of this makes the audience feel alone. This is conventional because there is no where to escape and shows the characters trapped.The settings foreshadows the title, a dessert where only the strongest creatures can survive relates to the title 'No Country For Old Men'. This makes the audience assume that characters are younger because it suggests they are more fitter.

Camera Work:

The camera work used in the film was close ups and low angles when the character was being arrested. The close up focuses on the characters facial expressions allowing the audience to build a relationship with them. However even though they have used a close up, the identity of the character remains hidden so the audience cant see the facial expressions of him getting arrested. This builds suspense for the audience. The low angle also hides the identity of both characters and forces the audience to focus on the iconography items used which were the handcuffs. This creates and enigma becuase the audience want to know whats happened.The camera shots appeal to the target audience of a 15 because it contains violence. Anyone younger watching it may be effected so it is a form of prtection.

Editing:

After the killing, the camera tracks the criminals feet where diegetic sound is used. This enhances the genres conventions because it creates a loud sound of footsteps building tension. This is done by using slow editing which builds suspense because it keeps the audience waiting. This is conventional to the thriller genre.

Characters/ Costumes:

The character is wearing a black out fit which connotes mystery and a hidden agenda. The colour black is also symbolic to death which suggests to the audience that he is violent and a murderer. It is crucial to see the villain immediately in the opening because it gives the audience a taster of his personality and what he is really like. The immediate introduction to the villain indicates a sense of foreboding that he will continue to do wrong and even though the audience knows what his like his victims doesn't. This then creates dramatic irony.From what the audience already knows about that particular character, they can predict that he is going to continue to murder people which unfolds the sequence of events.

This film differs from other thrillers because usually they leave the killers identity hidden which creates an enigma. However this film reveals the killers identity at the beginning to show his personality.

Sequence of events:

Within the first 5 minutes of the opening scene the audience are made aware that the criminal/ killer has murdered two people. These murders occur closely together rather than gradually to create suspense. This engages the audience and sets the narrative based on death. This is conventional because death/murder occurs frequently in the thriller genre. Throughout the opening scene, you can tell that the target audience consists of people who enjoy crime thrillers who are of an older age. The events of the murders may be discomforting to younger people or those who dislike crime thrillers.