Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

What is a Thriller?

A thriller is a genre of play, film or novel with an exhilarating storyline. It takes the characters/audience on an adventure and will generally involve death or an exploration into someone’s death. A thriller, like many other films, will have a sub-genre. There are many different sub-genres in the world of thrillers. They are the following:

My thriller is based on the psychological but also the undertone of crime. I decided to use these because they were the most effective for my storyline because original idea was for it to be just a psychological thriller but then I thought of having another sub-genre in the thriller so that I could add more layers and go more in depth with the storyline. A psychological thriller consists of an in depth storyline and having something/someone that scares them and makes the audience feel uneasy when watching. It’s an effective sub-genre to use because it has qualities that make the audience feel engrossed in the storyline and want to watch more of the film. A crime thriller is something that you see a lot but you never really see it mixed with another genre.  A crime thriller has an in depth storyline that makes it feel more exciting because it can have lots of different things intertwined throughout making it more interesting and complex to watch.  Having a psychological thriller made it possible for me to make the storyline more complex and more exciting for the audience because you can add different elements in the storyline that will make the audience feel all different emotions. I asked people from the age of 18+ questions that were related to the sub-genre and what aspects of thrillers made them more inclined to see them.  I asked them what things they wanted in a thriller and they wanted things like mystery, suspense, tension and jump scares. I looked at the films that people watched in general and they prefer thrillers that make you think about the characters and the storyline but also have plot twists. Applying  questions to the thriller makes the audience think more about the storyline and I think that from the opening questions need to be asked straight away and this meant that I would need to use this to make it really effective. The questions they would be asking would be things like, why is the girl there? What has Kieran got to do t-with the situation? Why is he alone in a big house? What caused the Girl to be in the house? What is she?

The sub-genre of psychological and crime thrillers are very in depth subjects on their own and I thought that I would make for an interesting piece of film if I included both of the sub-genres and intertwine them within each other to make it more of an interesting storyline. I wanted to add in the psychological art of the thriller throughout as that was a key factor of creating the tension between the characters and the audience. From the crime genre it was more of the detective side and Kieran trying to find out what happened to her and why she is still at the house. I thought that this would be a good hybrid genre to use as it has a lot of in depth plot twists and it will allow me to play about with the storyline. I wanted to confuse the audience on who the villain, hero and victim are. I wanted to do this so that I will deceive the audience into thinking that they know each of the characters but then confuse them by adding in a plot twist or opening up secrets that lead to the final answer which will answer the questions of the characters and also answer the audience’s questions.  

 

 

The camera shots that are used in thrillers are uses to create a dramatic effect. The shots are designed to make the audience see what the director wants them to see which means that it will be easier when it comes up to doing the more dramatic moments because the audience are unaware of what is going on within the world of the thriller. In thrillers you need to use a variety of shots that will make the audience feel more involved with the characters and the storyline. The most common shot that’s used is a close up. A close up allows the audience to see the facial expressions and their reactions. Another key shot that’s used a lot in thrillers are long shots. This gives the audience a chance to see the back ground imaging and also a characters positioning and framing in a shot. I used a panning shot and tracking shots to make the audience feel like they are moving with the actors and experiencing the events that are unfolding with the characters. This meant that the audience would empathise with the characters because they are in the middle of the tension too.

The conventions of a thriller change depending on their sub-genre.

Shot types-

·         Close up- to emphasise someone’s features or an object that plays a specific role in the shot. In my thriller I use this to show my characters faces.

·         Long shot- shows a full figure of a person/ a scenery-Used when Kieran is looking out of the door for the person who knocked on it.

·         Extreme Close Up- put a lot of emphasis on something/ someone’s facial features. Most commonly on eyes and hands to create dramatic effect. Used when unlocking the door.

·         Extreme long shot- used to dramatize a shot. Sets the scene but is mainly used in cities and overcrowded places to show the sheer size of a certain environment.

·         Pan- camera sits I one place and spins. Disorientates the audience and makes them feel uncomfortable.

·         Tracking- camera is moving with the action. This is mainly used in chase sequences so that the audience can move with the action/character. Used when Kieran is going down the stairs and the Girl is following his movements.

Editing

The editing of all thriller films needs to be very fast paced and use a lot of shots to create tension. Using fast editing will help to make the film more dramatic and to make it effective, you need to create higher dramatic moments.  An example of fast paced editing in is 28 Days Later where they are doing the chase scene in the old house and they are cutting from one piece of action to another. I have used this when Kieran is turning around and the shots cut from him turning round to the Girl standing at the door. So you need to do this so that those moments that will make the audience on edge throughout the film.  For example in the Woman In Black had constant eerie moments and this was designed to make the audience feel threatened by her presence and the editing is faster in areas for more dramatic moments but then it slows down and this creates a much bigger dramatic effect as it slowly starts to build up the tension and the audience start to anticipate what is going to happen in the next shot and in some cases the directors choose not to have anyone there so that they deliberately build up the atmosphere and then let the audience relax for a while but they know that that thought is always in the back of their mind. They have done this so that the answer is planted there and it will constantly be there throughout the film even if it’s not the peak of tension.  

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene again depends on what your sub-genre is. My sub-genre is psychological so the audience would expect to see:

·         Costume- dark clothing for the villainous character, lighter tone clothing for the hero and completely different style, shades and fit of clothing for the victim. However you could change aspects of this to deceive the audience into thinking that they know the characters when in fact they don’t. I have used dark costumes with the Girl as he needed to be someone that could be hidden in the shadows and cold blend in with her environments.

·         Set- you would expect to see a big, damp house that has very dark undertones and has a lot of sharp edges. This creates darker atmosphere and allows the director to work more with shadows and shapes because you can conceal a character in them and make them look disorientated so that the audience feel uncomfortable. I have not used this stereotype because I feel that it would benefit from being different. I have used a smaller house however it seems bigger because of the paint. It’s very light which gives the appearance of a bigger house.

·         Props- You wouldn’t expect to see a lot of props in psychological thrillers because they are playing tricks on the mind and it’s something that you don’t need a lot of things like knives or guns for. However this does depend on the sub-genre that you have chosen and also on the storyline because it would not make sense if you were trying to produce a psychological thriller but used all of the props, set and costume etc that people would associate with an action or spy thriller. The only props that I have used are an iPhone, iPad, knife, chopping board and keys. These are all things that you would find in an everyday house and I wanted it to be like that because it would feel more homely and more realistic.  

·         Lighting is vital in a thriller because it can be used to make shadows and shapes which can make the audience feel uncomfortable because they are unsure of what is in the darkness and whether it is a figure or just a shadow. This is what I wanted to create in my thriller, not necessarily the use of shadows with deceiving people and making them believe there is something there, but with things lurking in the shadows and you can see this with the Girl sitting on the stairs. You can only just see her and this was one of the reasons that I wanted her to wear all black; so that she could blend into her surroundings and live in the shadows of the house. Minimal lighting should be used so that the use of shadow is greater and more intense. This also means that the director can position the actress within the shadows in convenient places and times during the film. I have used minimal lighting in my thriller so that the character of the Girl is hidden in the shadows and so that you don’t see her face till the very end of the opening.

·         Actors are the most important thing about any film, play or broadcast because they are the people who are bringing the life to characters. They have a different effect on audiences because of the way they look and act. They can have a general look of someone who could be quite innocent or they could naturally look threatening. It does depend on their look and this is why the casting is really important because if you get the casting wrong then it can make the film go in a completely different direction. This was why I had to choose my actors carefully as I wanted Kieran to look quite manly to make him look like the hero and then the Girl to look villainous but also innocent as this would have been explained throughout the course of the film. I felt that Kieran was the right choice for the character because he had an innocent look about him but he was also someone that could look like a hero too.  Jess was the right choice for the Girl because she has a mysterious look about her that make you feel uneasy and this is what I wanted to create whilst doing the shots with her in.  Both of the actors also had to be quite slim especially the Girl because she needed to look younger and audiences stereotypically expect younger girls in history to be slim figured. Kieran needed to be slightly muscular to make him look more over powering and manlier so that he could look more like the dominant figure.  Also Kieran needed to be relatively good looking for the younger adults that come to see the film as the heroes are normally looked at to be muscular and appealing to the eye and this was why I thought that Kieran would be a good choice for my main man.

·         Sound is again a vital aspect to a thriller because it is the sound that creates the mystery and allows the audience to feel the suspense and tension in the film. The sound ties in all of the aspects of a thriller because the sound works with the picture on screen and the sound picks up at pinnacle moments to match the intensity of the film and the sounds makes it more intense through little flickers of violins and percussion as well as other string instruments. All thriller music in done in a minor key. This is because it creates the deeper notes and creates the more threatening notes and I found this whilst listening to soundtracks like “28 Days Later” and “Kill Bill”. They both are very different types of music as one is on a piano and one is a whistle. For “28 Days Later” they created the music on a piano and added the effects later where as “Kill Bill” is done with just one sound scape.

Narrative

The narrative can depend on the story line. You could set the beginning as a flash back or a dream state and make something dramatic from that. That way the audience will be asking questions from the very beginning and then throughout the film those questions will be answered. Dual narratives will also be interesting because you could see two different sides to the story and this also makes the audience question what was going on to lead up to the events that the audience sees. The narrative at the beginning of a thriller sets up the storyline for the rest of the film. I needs to make the audience ask questions about the reasons why the characters are there and what their motives are.The editing is important to making it look dramatic and to build up the tension. You would create this by making it very fast paced and cutting it to be very quick shots. For example “28 Days Later” during the chase scenes in the house they use a lot of cut away shots to make it look more dramatic and look more abstract as the people who are infected run towards them and chase then around the house. It breaks the 180* rule in a number of places as it makes it look more rustic like the concept of the film. Again the use of sound makes the whole film fit together as it creates the mood and the pace of the film. The music is very dramatic but subtle at the same time. “28 Days Later”, “Woman in Black”, “V for Vendetta” and “Kill Bill” were all films that inspired me to make my thriller. “28 Days Later” inspired me because of the main character being trusted into a situation and he’s not really sure why/ what is going on. Also I found the music really interesting and I thought that it was really effective. “Woman in Black” inspired me because of the setting and the storyline and how she wanted to be reunited with her son. “V for Vendetta” was interesting for me because of the flames and how “V” survived in a fire. And “Kill Bill” inspired the music because I thought that the whistle was so simple but it really created the atmosphere.

As I stated before the films that influenced me to make my thriller were

V for Vendetta

Kill Bill

Woman in Black

28 Days Later

All of these films had elements that make me inclined to use versions of these in my thriller. I found all of these interesting to watch as they were very good thrillers and I made note of the things that they had included for making them so good and mainly it was the editing and the sounds. This made me think about my own thriller and what elements I could incorporate into my own thriller.

 

V for Vendetta

The film “V for Vendetta” (based on the novel by the same name) is about a futuristic Great Britain in a fascist state. A freedom fighter “V” with the help of “Evey Hammond” uses terrorist tactics to overpower the government and do the work that Guy Fawkes never did. This sounded appealing to me and the scene that I took away from this was when “V” was when he is walking out of a burning building before he called himself “V”.  This gave me the inspiration for the burning paper for my titles as this was quite a dramatic moment in the film. It was mainly the back ground that gave me the idea as I thought that it looked like burning paper and I could use this to make my piece more dramatic too. This film influenced me through the use of special effects. The scene in particular that influenced me was the scene where V is walking out of the burning building and parts of the building had been blown away. To me it looked like burning paper.  

 

Kill Bill

The film “Kill Bill” is about a woman’s revenge after the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad killed her fiancée, her friends, his relatives and her baby. The film begins as she wakes from a coma and she is set out to “Kill Bill” and by doing this she needs to kill very member of the DVAP to get to Bill. The reason that I watched this film was mainly for the music as I found it effective and subtle. Then by watching the rest of it I realised that it was more of a gory film rather than a thriller.  However I used the inspiration for the music.

 

Woman in Black

The film “Woman in Black” (based on the novel) is about a man named Arthur Kipps goes to the remote village of Cryphin Gifford to look at the documents of Eel Marsh House after a woman named Mrs. Drablow passed away.  He goes to the house only to find that it is haunted by a woman dressed in black. She seeks revenge for her lost son who drowned in the marsh and she prays on the young children of the village. I used this story as one of the main features of my thriller because when I watched it, it terrified me so I decided that I would use that fear and try and convey that through my thriller. I thought that if I used my own experiences then I would make it seem more believable to the people watching it. I mainly used the plot line from this to influence my thriller because I thought that it was really clever and I thought that I should do my own version of the story.

 

28 Days Later

A laboratory with infected chimps gets raided by animal welfare activists and the infected chimps attack the welfare activists and thus the infection spread to the outside world. 28 days later we meet the protagonist, Jim, who wakes up from a coma, finds that the whole world has been infected and there are only a few of them who have not been infected by the RAGE virus. I found this really interesting because when you watch it you get a feeling of isolation. However it’s an oppressive feeling because even though they were in an urban area they are still being isolated because the outside world is trying to get in their hide out. The shot were Jim is walking on the Westminster bridge and it is completely disserted creates a contrast as we would expect to see it extremely busy as it is one of the busiest bridges in London. I also found the music very intriguing too as the heart of the tune was a piano and this made it more interesting and it had a mellower tune to it however it was still very eerie. In a way it is like being in an old house and an old piano in a room and you suddenly hear it playing even though no one else is in the house.

The Tile

The inspiration to my thriller came from the context of the film. I wanted this to represent the girl burning in a house fire and so I thought that this would be an obvious choice for the title. After watching “V for Vendetta”, the thing that stuck in my head the most was the part in the film where “V” comes out of a burning building and you can see parts of the building had caved in. To me, it looked like holes in a burning piece of paper so I decided to use that as well as linking it to the context of my thriller.      

This is not a conventional thriller opening and I wanted it to look old and like it was written a very long time ago I decided to make it look like it was written by someone who was good at calligraphy or was of a higher class than others at that time. I felt that this was a good thing to use as it was different because it is not a stereotypical convention that you see in a thriller.  

 

Setting/location

 

The location of my thriller was at my own house. I felt that I should do it there as it was in a sub-urban area and it would make it less conventional as you wouldn’t stereotypically expect to see  it in a rural area and I wanted to go away from the normal conventions of a psychological thriller as this would make it more original and more interesting. It is like the Hitchcock film “Psycho”. Its in an ordinary place but bad things happen there so you are twisting the conventions around to make the audience feel invited and welcome but then something horrific happens. Using this also means that it would appeal to my target audience of people from 18+ because it’s a normal looking house that looks quite homely and cared for. Event thought the house is quite light, it’s still good for making shadows and shapes to create effect. This also meant that it would look less like a haunted house that people would normally associate with.

 

Costume and Props

 

The images of the characters that you can see in these pictures are to only two people in my opening. I wanted them to have a difference in the look of their clothing. As you can see the image on the left is of the Girl. She is dressed all in black. I wanted her to wear black because it would make her very dominant and more striking when the audience see her due to her black outline. This would make her look more threatening and more of a villainous character as she gives off a threatening visage. The image on the right is Kieran. I wanted him to be ion a contrasting colour to the Girl so that people could identify him as being the hero/victim. The white represents that he is quite a pure character and is innocent. I wanted to do this so that later on in the film I could deceive the audience into thinking that they know the characters and think they have got the story figured out when in fact they don’t. Kieran’s character is the victim/protagonist.  I wanted him to look this way because he is someone who appears to be confident and I wanted to use that against him and make him look almost like a child which is something that you wouldn’t normally think of when you see someone like Kieran. The Girl is the antagonist. I wanted to play with the conventions so this is why I decided that the antagonist should be a female because that way the audience will get confused on who is supposed to be the victim and the villain. 

Camerawork

The most typical camera shots that I have used are close ups, mid shots, longs shots and point of view shots. I have mainly used close ups because I feel that they help to create the tension and show the more important moments in the thriller. For example the close up on Kieran’s face as he looks to the door when it knocks shows his reaction and this give the audience an insight into what the character is thinking at that point in time.  

        

The most important long shot that I have used is this one where Kieran is walking down the corridor to answer the door. It shows the progression of the character and I have positioned the camera so that you can’t see the door clearly which means that the audience cannot see if there really is someone at the door or if he is imagining it. 

The point of view shot is important in this scene as well because it shows how the character feels and allows the audience to see things through the characters eyes. Using this also allows you to build up the tension and suspense whilst he is walking down the corridor and this means that you can let the audience get emotionally prepared to get scared but then you see that nothing happens.  Also you have a direct view of the door and his means that you can see if anything is outside and you can just slightly see the outline of a figure. Again this makes the audience feel threatened and make them less inclined to look away as they want to see what’s outside. 

 

 

Editing

The editing for the film is key to making it look dramatic. I have used a lot of cut away shots so that I could get a range of shots in whilst keeping it relevant to the storyline. I have also used a lot of fades to white because I feel that it makes the audience feel like when there is a flash of light, the Girl will appear.

The editing also needed to be fast paced to make it look dramatic and also to make it flow better. If you had slow editing it wouldn’t create the same level of tension as it would if you had parts slow and parts fast. If it’s too fast then the audience won’t have time to process what is going on.

 

Narrative

The film is set in modern day to allow the audience to connect with the character and establish their relationship with both of them. I would then proceed into doing flashbacks to show what happened in the past to lead up to this point. I would intertwine the storylines and almost do a dual narrative to show the events leading up to the opening of the thriller. The opening sets up the research into the Girls death and this is where the crime element comes in and Kieran and his girlfriend investigate what happened to her and why she is still there.  It is a conventional opening for a thriller because it makes the audience start to ask questions and wonder about the characters.

 

 

 

Q2: How does your product represent particular social groups?

Q3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My production name came from the inspiration of another production tem that I worked for called image productions. I felt that this name was very simple but effective. I decided to apply my own name to it and call it Symmonds Productions as if felt that way it would be more personal. Companies like Warner Brothers use this as it is personal to them and it is now one of the most recognisable film distributors and production companies in the world. The logo was black and white as I wanted it to keep the theme of the story with it being very dark and mysterious.  I thought that it would tie in with the theme of the film as the storyline is quite dark and it plays tricks with the audience’s eyes.

The role of a production company is to fund the needs of a particular film. It caters to its every need by giving them a budget which the production company provides. It pays for the costume, props, set, staging and if there is any, location shooting. As I said before the production logo I got my inspiration from was a company called image productions. The logo as very simple but it was very effective. I found that this would be something to use and I didn’t want to overwhelm the audience.

A distributor is someone who employs the production company. They are the people who give the money to the production team. Distributors will employ the production team based on the films they are going to make. If you are going to make a romcom you would want a distributor who is well known for doing those types of films. It is the same for doing thrillers; you want a distributor who is well known for doing them for example Hammer Film Productions because they are best known for their work in thrillers that have different exhilarating sub-genres.  This company is the best one for my thriller because it has produced films that are of the same genre and of the same type of thriller. I would have chosen Hammer Film Productions as my production company because they have got a similar background to my thriller and I feel that if they invested in my thriller then it would be similar to the others. The films that Hammer Film Productions have made are things like: The Woman in Black etc and this would be something that my production company would go for because they are the same sub-genre and also this is what I based some of my thriller on so I thought that it would be the right choice as they have done similar films to mine.

 

In any film that is made you will always get credits and these credits inform the audience of the people who made and supported the film. The orders of the credits are important as it tells you who the most important person to make the film was.

Order of the credits:

·         Director

·         Co-director

·         Producer

·         Editor

·         Writer

·         (If it’s based on anything the author of the book/creator)

·         Co-producer

·         Commissioning editor

·         Associate producer

·         Archival researcher

·         Sound designer/ musical director

·         Director of Corporate Communications

·         Creator

·         Executive producer

·         Film Distributor/people who supported the film 

 

My thriller is not really similar to this as the titles are scattered throughout the film however the credits are as I have put the two most important people at the beginning of the titles (my name and Ben Thorogood who did the music)    

 

 

Q4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

 

The people who I identified as my audience are people from the age of 18+. I thought that it would be both men and women as my thriller is something that is interesting for both genders. Doing this means that I will be able to attract a larger audience and it won’t be a film that people associate with only one area of the audience. The type of audience that would be attracted to this film would be people who like to think about the films that they are watching and that want to be thrilled and have an exhilarating time whilst they watch the film. I would imagine that the people who would watch the thriller would be interested in films like the Woman in Black, The Exorcist, Amityville Horror, Insidious, things that are a bit out of the ordinary. I think this because my thriller is something that is a bit out of the ordinary and the films that people will be interested in are the films about the supernatural and the things that are a bit odd.    

To make this film effective I needed to find out what my audience’s expectations were of thrillers. I did this by giving out questionnaires and looking at the results and seeing what it was exactly that they wanted out of a thriller. I found this information really important as it meant that I knew exactly what it was that they wanted out of my thriller and how to edit it in such a way that it would appeal to the target audience. 

They all stated that it was important to have:

·         An interesting storyline because they could get more involved with the film and the characters. 

·         have to have a lot of plot twists in to keep it more interesting

·         Characters that they can connect with to get more emotionally attached

·         Situations that are believable

·         Characters that are believable

All of these factors are important to making a good film because as a filmmaker you need to know what it is the audience is looking for to actually make a good film that will give the distributors back the money that they funded the film with.

Audience profile

o   Gender-male

o   Age- 18+

o   Interests- gaming, watching films of all genres

o   Like a lot of action movies

o   Uses films as an escape

 

 

 

BBFC

Looking at the BBFC’s website I figured that my thriller was going to be about a 12-12a certificate. This is because my thriller has content in it that will frighten people under a certain age. However it does not have the content in there to become a 15 because it requires more gore and more violence.  This is some of the information on the official BBFC’s website:

 

·         12A means that anyone aged 12 or over can go and see the film unaccompanied. The A stands for 'accompanied' and 'advisory'. Children younger than 12 may see the film if they are accompanied by an adult (eg someone over the age of 18), who must watch the film with them.

·         The overall tone of a film or DVD, and the way it makes the audience feel may affect the classification. For example, a work which has a very dark or unsettling tone which could disturb the audience would be less likely to be passed 12A even if the individual issues in the film were considered acceptable under the BBFC guidelines. Similarly, if a work is particularly positive or reassuring this may stop it being pushed up a category from 12A to 15.

·         At 12A, moderate violence is allowed but it should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if they can be justified by their context (for example brief sight of bloody injury in a medical drama).

 

·         Action sequences and weapons may be present at 12 or 12A, and there may be long fight scenes or similar. Weapons which might be easily accessible to 12 year olds should not be glamorised in 12A and 12 works.

 

·         Sexual violence, such as scenes of rape or assault, may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated at 12A. Such scenes must also have a strong contextual justification.

 

Q5: How did you attract/ address your audience

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Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Skills that I have picked up from making my thriller  
1.       Learning how to use a digital camera was vital in making the film. Learning how to use the camera was simple, however I needed to find out what I could do with the camera and what my limitations were so I went around the house and filmed things to see how it would look so that when I started filming I wouldn’t have any issues. I learnt that this was a good way to check the film for any imperfections instead of doing it during the editing
2.       I found that it was important to use different heights in films to get different perspectives on things so I needed to use the tripod in such a way that it would allow me to use different heights so again like the camera movement. For example whilst Kieran was getting cooking utensils out it was at a steady level (eye level) but when he went down to look in the fridge, I moved the tripod up so that it would be a high angle shot which means that I was able to make it look like someone was looking down at him. I went around the house and the areas where I would be shooting and figured out what heights would be the best and where I should position the tripod to get the most out of my time with the equipment.  
3.        Found out quite early on in the shoot that taking time with your shots was really important especially when doing tracking/POV shots as you can have an unsteady hand and it will look bad and rushed if you don’t take your time. Unfortunately I didn’t take my time whist doing this as I wanted to finish shoot and make sure that I had everything filmed. This was my downfall because I realised when I was editing that it looked sloppy and amateur.
4.       Learning how to use the MAC was difficult. Having to edit a 2 minute film sounded easy at the start but then I realised that there was a lot of work that needed to be done for the filming and the editing and I also realised that it would be quite time consuming too so I made sure that I gave myself plenty of time to do this as it was something that I had never done before and I wanted to get it right.
5.       Whilst filming I also realised how different shots show different meanings for example, if I was going to film a character to look innocent I would do a high angle to show someone/something looking down on a someone. I realised that I would need to re-think what I was going to do. This meant that I would need to focus on some more the reasons behind the shots and why I was going to do them and what I wanted the audience to feel when seeing it. For example, I wanted the Girl to look dominant in the last shot of her standing in the kitchen because she was a dark figure in a light room so I wanted the audience to feel threatened by her.
 
Camerawork
1.       To make sure that I was getting all of my shots right I needed to do test shots to make sure that I got the angles right and that they all worked together so I did some test shots to make sure they look alright. This was really important because if the test shots weren’t right then I would need to re-think my shots for my thriller opening to make sure they work. For example I used the shots where Kieran was on the iPad as a test shot because to make that shot work the camera had to be in the exact place to make the right effect.
2.       Because I needed the shoot to be at night, I had to wait for it to get to about 5pm before I started shooting. The reason I wanted it to be dark was so that my thriller wouldn’t be affected if the continuity was off because if it was dark you wouldn’t notice it as much as you would if it was light. To overcome any lighting issues I made sure that the night before I filmed that all the lights were in the right positions and that they worked where the characters were going to stand.  Also the weather depended on the filming too because I didn’t want anything to interfere with filming because there were scenes where we were outside and I didn’t want it start raining as it would mess up the continuity.
3.       The technical things that i had to consider were things like how the tripod was set up and that the camera was secure on the tripod. If these things were off then the whole opening would have been wrong. The tripod legs have to be all the way out or else the camera can look off centre and not accurate. I found this with some of my shots and I only noticed this when I started editing the shots that the angle was off.
4.       The spacing for your camera to be in is really important because if you haven’t got the space for your camera then you not going to get the desired effect in the shot. This is also important when you are setting up your tripod because you sometimes have to put the legs in a certain place for you to get the angle right as well as the spacing. If you are in a cramped area you need to make sure that you position your camera and your tripod in such a way that will allow you to film the shot correctly. Learning how and when to use these specific shots was a big part of making the film as best as it can be because if you don’t fit the shots together in the proper way then the audience are going to get confused with the storyline.
 
 
Editing
1.       When editing a film on the MAC you need to know how to use iMovie. To make it the best quality you can then you need to know how to use iMovie effectively and this will help you to create something that is of a high quality. It will become very difficult if you are unaware of how to use it.
2.       Footage is really important because if you don’t have enough footage then it is not possible for you to create a really in depth piece because you wouldn’t have a wide range of shots to use.  The continuity of the footage is really important because if the continuity is off then it could disorientate your audience because one minute it could be day light and the next it could be dark and this could change throughout the film. For example, you see Kieran walking outside to look out the door. It’s very dark and it is like this when the camera turns around to see the Girl in the house. This again was important for the continuity as it wouldn’t make sense if suddenly it was lighter when they went outside.  This is why it is important to film everything as soon as possible and not waste any time because of stupid errors that you have made from not doing the research and planning.
3.       To make sure that your narrative is on course and makes sense I found it easier to film everything chronologically because then I wouldn’t get confused as to what goes where when you are editing. The narrative if the story has to build suspense and this is why I found that it would be important for me to film things at night than during the day because then you could create a bigger atmosphere.
4.       Adding the diegetic and non-diegetic sound was really important to creating tension in the thriller because it builds up the tension between the characters and the scenes. I was able to have some help with my music for the thriller as I was unaware of how to use garage band. I took off the diegetic sound as I found that it would have interfered with the tension that I wanted to create through the music. The sounds that I used were mainly violins and percussion instruments.  The tone of the music had to be in a minor key because it creates an eerier sound. This would make it more dramatic and feel more like you were in a thriller movie.  
5.       Using the transitions helped me to make the shots smooth and not so static. The main one that I used was the fade to white because I felt that it was very dark any way so I thought that I would make it seem more supernatural by adding a lighter tone to it. I found these transitions really helpful because it allowed me to make the film flow better.
Other technologies that I have learnt to use:
1.       I found that using blogger helped me with my work because it meant that I was able to use different mediums to present things in my work.
2.       Using prezis helped me a lot to present my work because it meant that I could present the work that I had done in a more interactive way. I found it challenging at first to understand how to upload it onto my blogger page but then when I got the hand of it I found it easier to do.
3.       Wordles were very helpful to me because it meant that I wouldn’t have to just put things in bullet points, I could make it look more colourful and more interesting. This would also help me to remember what words go with specific categories in the blogger page.
4.       Youtube helped me to find clips so that I could analyse them and write information about them and use them to help me revise for the exams. It also helped to see what thrillers were out there already and to find out what it was that made them more appealing to the target audience.