....Charlotte's Media studies Blog....: 2010

As part of our AS media studies coursework, we were required to produce a two minute opening sequence to a thriller movie in our groups. We needed to plan, shoot and edit our thriller carefully and to good effect.

In order to make our thriller a success we were aware that we needed to include various generic conventions and enigmas in our thriller. We had previously, completed some research on Roland Barthes’ theory of enigma codes. We knew that enigma codes would be crucial to our thriller in order to grab the audience’s attention from beginning to end and to keep them in suspense and wanting to know what’s going to happen next. Enigma codes are caused by unanswered questions produced in the audience’s mind. We incorporated enigma codes in our narrative effectively. For instance, when the antagonist (Lucifer) is sitting in his office watching the protagonist, (Lily), walk past, the audience question why he is watching her so intently. Other enigmas created are; why is he stalking her home and what is going to happen to Lily when he reaches her? Our narrative structure would be that of an open narrative including a villain and victim. We chose the characters’ names through the technique of signifiers. A sense of meaning is conveyed through the characters as Lily, means innocence. We chose the name Lucifer for our antagonist, as it is one of the names in reference to the devil (fallen angel) which is obviously a symbol of evil. Both character’s natures are revealed through the meaning of the names.

Our thriller is a psychosomatic thriller, which is a sub type genre from Charles Derry’s list of six in his theory about classification division of suspense thrillers. It classifies in this sub type as it is about the antagonist and protagonist affected by a psychotic obsession and its effects.
We have partly applied Todorov’s theory of equilibrium to our thriller in the sense that there is equilibrium as it is set in an every day normal working environment. The fact that, the actions (stalking) carried out at the start by the antagonist are unusual and weird and show that the thriller does not portray the same order of sequence of events as shown in the theory.
The conventions of our thriller are built around the protagonist being obsessively stalked by the antagonist. We used gloomy settings (quiet roads and alleys) to set the scene and cause suspense as the protagonist makes her way home. When Lucifer is standing outside Lily’s house watching her, there is an ominous sense that a crime will be carried out by the antagonist to which the protagonist will fall victim to.

As well as research of important theorists and their theories, we completed research of other thrillers in preparation of making our thriller and to aid our planning. Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘North by Northwest’ revealed a scene to which the protagonist is in danger, and we wanted to replicate this idea in the last scene of our thriller too. Lucifer stalks Lily all the way home, and he watching her outside her house as she is home alone. The danger is created through the enigma code, of what is he going to do to her?
We were also very inspired by another famous Hitchcock film, ‘Vertigo’ where there is a theme of eyes in the opening sequence. Eyes are of huge significance to our film as Lucifer is constantly watching Lily, and we use close ups in the beginning of our sequence and at the very end as his eyes are faded over the top of the last scene, where he is outside her house, to show he is always watching her.

We planned our plot through the use of storyboards and we also wrote down a plot list, and shot list and locations where we would film and at what time of day. We filmed at about 4.30pm when it was relatively quiet with not many people around in the area and it was darker.

The social groups represented in our thriller are young, working males and females. In terms of race it targets a multi cultural social group as the characters in our thriller are of different races. This links to our target audience as we have targeted quite a wide audience of young men and women of approximately the age 15+ as we believe this audience is likely to go to the cinema most often.
Gender can be seen as quite stereotypical in our opening sequence because the male, Lucifer is most dominant. It is filmed often through his perspective as a stalker, and he has more control over what will happen later on in the thriller, hence as the antagonist has more control than the weaker female protagonist. It gives the impression that he will also be largely influential in Lily’s fate.

We think, instead of our thriller being distributed by a major Hollywood studio company, that it would be better suited to a small independent production company. Although our film targets a wide audience, we don’t think that it would be suited to a mass market as a low budget would not permit this. Instead it would be released by a small company such as Coffee Films, which is a small independent British film company, which produces thrillers and also a range of films from other different genres.
Distribution via the internet would also be quite feasible for our film as this is how lots of low budget films are released, which allows it to gain popularity or advertisement at a slightly staggered release to create awareness before being launched at cinemas. However, our thriller wouldn’t really offer opportunities for merchandise.
Our film doesn’t fulfil a need for expenses of big companies and studios in regards to the cost to creating mise en scene. We would not need a huge set to be built or fancy costumes to be made as costume and setting is normal and relevant to a working environment. Lighting can be controlled efficiently without huge effects and our film doesn’t require expensive props either. Make up would only possibly come in later at a minimal cost.

We decided that the demographic for our thriller would be aimed at young males and females as the characters in our film are male and female and are young too. The target audience is 15+ because we believe that viewers from the age of fifteen and above are mature enough to understand and relate to our film in terms of that it is set in a working environment, there is a complicated theme of love, there is an issue of relationships and overall because the plot would possibly confuse anyone below the age of fifteen, as well as the reason that it could be unsuitable as it may be too frightening for a younger audience. Our demographic was decided on due to the results of our questionnaire which was part of our audience research.

Addressing the audience was key in our thriller, we wanted to grab their attention from the start right through to the end, so we used an establishing shot of the office, so that people could relate to an office like, working environment. The close up of Lucifer’s eyes is a major shot in the film, as enigma codes are raised and we realise that he has an interest in Lily. Mise en scene is also vital in our film- costume plays an important part in our film to define the characters. The only props used was a handbag carried by Lily and, as mentioned before setting is also important and relevant, as it represents Lily’s journey home as she is stalked. Body movement is also a key part of mise en scene in our thriller as it shows Lucifer in pursuit of Lily running desperately trying to catch up with her.
Positioning with in the frame was also a key element in our film as we see Lily walking toward her house with Lucifer coming out of the alley behind her. It allows us to see the two characters and the setting. It is creepy because she is unaware and he has practically caught up with her.
The main point in our film which is focused on scaring the audience is when Lucifer is outside Lily’s house watching her through the window. An over the shoulder shot is used and the earlier close up image of his eyes fades over the scene, which is meant to be quite chilling.

Early on in our planning we had carefully considered the camerawork to be used. Close ups on the eyes were inspired and a key theme, and we also used close ups on both characters to reveal a bit more about their identity and character. With permission we used an office, with a window which looks onto the corridor which was perfect for the office seen when Lucifer watches Lily walk past. We tried to put the audience in the position of the stalker so that particular scenes were shown through his perception, such as when watching Lily walk past, a pan shot in the car park to show him looking for her. On her way home, we could only see the back of Lily as we would as a stalker following her. This has quite a creepy impact as we notice him closing the gap and catching up with her. Camera movement and angles were also vital in our thriller; we used shots from a variety of angles- high up looking down on Lily to make her appear more vulnerable, and mid shots of Lucifer to make him appear more in control.

The only problem was because we were using a hand held camera; many shots were shaky and out of focus which meant we had to re-shoot quite a few shots, but as a positive it meant we had plenty of variety in camera shots, movement and angles included in our film. Other problems faced when filming was weaknesses in the plot, which was realised during filming, which meant a lot of time had to be spent re-planning and shooting. This proved difficult as it was difficult for the whole group to be available at the same time so this proved to be quite a long process, but by making improvements in the plot and continuity it definitely improved our film overall. Jobs were delegated fairly so we managed to work as a group and get the work done.

I found the editing process rather interesting. We used final cut express, which was quite easy to use once you got the hang of it. We wanted to edit the film to good effect so we used techniques such as cross dissolve to show the passing of time. I was most proud of the foreshadowing eyes we placed in one scene, when editing which proved very effective. We decided to have subtle titles for our film with bold colours with the title of our film fading in at the beginning, however we used a very lively animated effect to introduce our production name, Fallen Angel Productions.

We used Garageband to produce quite a high pitched soundtrack which was effective. We originally used classical music but decided to change it to a more electric sound to make it more thrilling and creepy, the sounds were non-digetic. Creating the soundtrack was the most enjoyable part of the editing process for me.

Looking back, to when we first began filming with our preliminary task, I think we have shown a vast improvement in our media skills, through a more varied exciting range of shots, creating mise en scene and also through more creative and effective editing. Individually and as a group confidence has grown with using the equipment, allowing us to be more creative with our ideas and meaning we can develop new advanced skills.
I think our thriller suspense-wise ticks the right boxes and I am pleased with the end result.