In my thriller opening, a lot of conventions such as mise-en-scene, sound and different types of shots are used.
Within mise-en-scene the area in which we filmed was a small wood. We thought this appropriate as other thrillers we watched also used this type of area. We developed this from both Disturbia and The strangers. This was useful as it created a sense of being alone in a dark place where anything could happen. We also developed a part of Hannibal, as they used low key lighting to create a sense of disco
mfort, whereas we used night light for this effect. It is commonly thought that bad things are most likely to happen at night. We challenged the idea of Disturbia as they filmed in the day showing bad things happen at any time. However filming at night was a challenge, as we did not have any lights to help us see a huge amount, but we still managed it. We did this by re-filming some parts of our film on another day when it was a bit lighter.
With regards to make up, we only used it on Ben, the character who got killed. We put a cut on his arm and a few bruises on his face. We had practised with the make up before, on myself. The people who watched the film reacted positively as they showed that they understood Ben was dead and it looked realistic.
For the effect of music and sound we had to add in most things. Whilst walking around the woods, as the girl was being followed, most sounds were produced naturally, like ambient noises of the birds, the wind and snapping of wood on the ground. These types of noises were useful and gave a sense of being more alone and that everything that was happening could be heard, even when being followed, which increases the tension. We had to dub in the song 'Pop Goes The Weasel' as it is a vital part of the film which helps to understand why the title of our film is 'The Weasel' and what the antagonist sings before he kills. We also dubbed in the sound of a snapping twig as this sound represents the antagonist stepping on one whilst watching the teenagers, which makes them look round in fright.
For the background music we had already found some songs on a website - http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/horror.html - which had free un-copywrited music on it. We used two songs and edited them to fit our film. We also thought that one of the songs is similar to one of Disturbia's. When Ben's body is found sad and slow music comes on, making us realize that he's dead.
When thinking about certain camera shots, we thought of some specific ones to use, which connect with these thriller conventions. We decided to use a lot of point of view shots, which is portrayed as the antagonist spying on the protagonists. These types of shots, we used both for the antagonist's and the protagonist's view, the change being shown subtly with a fade and change of music. We also had an establishing shot at the beginning, showing all the characters and setting and that they were in the middle of nowhere, portraying isolation.
It has been noticed that we have developed a sub-genre for our thriller. This is because the setting, lighting and make up used is quite similar to a horror movie, making ours a thriller-horror film. This isn't a bad thing though, as a lot of people are keen on these types of films; they like the scare and excitement given. I feel that the way Ben looks, lying on the ground really connects to what a horror would have, gory dead victims. Also with our chosen plot, a sequel could easily be made and still be popular and get good reviews, as this happens all the time.
Our media product represents young adults, from our research, the chosen target audience for our product would be 15 to 21 year olds, both male and female, connecting our characters to the audience. We had a problem with a lack of actors and the ones we finally could use were white British and of middle class. Using two boys and one girl in our thriller makes it a typical movie, for example, Twilight and Hancock similarly have this feature. We also felt this appropriate as this is what audiences can relate to. A role of dominance from the males is shown where both boys make fun of the girl when she is scared and they leave her in the woods alone.
If our media product were to be released by a major institution it would probably be turned into Mainstream, which means our film could become very successful as it gets released into cinemas and then onto DVD. We hope that, like with any other thriller, our idea would be appreciated as the story line is captivating and the mystery in it could end up with any type of plot twist. Also the fact that our film is a thriller-horror, as people enjoy these genres similar films have done well, for example The Ring, The Shining and Signs.
Our film offers opportunities for merchandise as well as a sequel. For example the girl's hat and Wellington boots are quite attractive and stylish for teenagers at the moment. Also anything could be made with the faces of the characters on them, like posters, calendars and clothes.
From our questionnaire, we discovered who our target audience would be and with this in mind, worked out what people of this age and others would like. There are parts in our thriller that can scare the audience, which can raise adrenaline levels and make them unsure of what could happen. Point of view shots can be terrifying as they put you in position of the character, which is both the antagonist and protagonist. When feeling as if you are being watched or watching someone it makes the audience feel tense. It is also hard to know who is who, as when the camera view is someone running it could be either character. You then realize that it is the victim running and when she looks at a dark figure in the woods, it sends shivers up people’s spines and makes them know she is going to be the next victim.
Most shots in this film are point of view and it really makes the audience feel as if they are taking part in the film themselves. I feel that we have improved since our preliminary task, as we know a lot more about how to film and the meanings of it. There were problems during filming, for example as time went quickly by it became really dark very quickly, making the quality of our filming worsen. So we had to re-film another day. Also because we had a lack of actors, we had to change the storyboard. This could have been a big risk as it could have ruined the film, however fortunately our new idea turned out to be better. One safety problem was that we found a wire on the floor which could not be removed and as it was dark we had to be very careful as to not trip over it, we warned everyone and fortunately no one was hurt.
When editing, we used Final Cut Express. I have learnt a lot more about how to use it, even though I didn't use it as much as Nadine, I learnt by watching her use it. We found new effects to use such as fades, to make our film less jumpy, also when part of our film was too dark we made it brighter.
We also used Garage Band. This was useful as we could cut some of the songs as we didn't need the whole track. It took us a while to find out how to use the programme but once we worked it out, we found it very effective.
Looking back at our preliminary task, I feel that we have improved. Our final product could have been planned a little better, as we did have problems. Our story board was good, as we made it on time and knew what we were going to do. Although the planning of our preliminary made us too complacent for our main task. We knew all the shots and details we needed, but we didn't put them on paper, which was a mistake. From this we realised that we could have improved so much more in a few months since our preliminary, but I think that the pressure from our problems before filming made the practical harder to do.
Over all, taking the audience's reaction and the problems we faced into consideration, we fulfilled our task in thrilling the audience very well.
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