Inspirations - Miss Georgiou

Inspirations can teach us the methods and techniques we can use to make our own successful film. We can take inspiration from the from the films we love and learn what makes us love them. We can then put what we learn into our own films. I have taken inspiration from my favourite film director David Fincher who has made many thriller films, some of which are considered classics like Fight Club, Se7en and Zodiac. I'm inspired by the tension and suspense he creates in his films as well as the way he can manipulate the audience.

The first sequence I analysed was from the film Se7en. I was inspired by how dramatic and tense the ending scene was as well as how scary and smart the antagonist was shown as. The film was unpredictable and the audience were on edge throughout. In my own film I want to be as effective at creating tension and having the audience on edge throughout. When creating my film I will try to make the antagonist as scary as possible. During this end scene the background is simple and out of focus which brings all the audience attention to the characters body language and facial expressions, this is  technique I may end up using myself. The protagonist in the scene is distressed and we see that he is struggling to control his emotions and is unsure what to do. This puts the audience on edge as they sympathise with the protagonist and are also unsure what will happen though they hope the protagonist doesn't "lose" which he inevitable does. When creating my film I want my audience to sympathise with my protagonist which makes them more immersed in the film as they care what happens. 

Another film I took inspiration from is Zodiac, also directed by David Fincher. I took inspiration from the shock and fear the audience feel during this film. The first part of the scene creates a sense of unease as the audience are sure the antagonist is the Zodiac killer and the victim is going to be the attractive female who also has a baby with her. The whole part where the man is fixing the wheel is tense and when he leaves without harming her there's a sense of relief. Then he comes back and the audience fear the worse and are in shock when he exclaims "I'm going to throw your baby out the window". This kind of tension and impact on the audience is what I want to do in my film. The tempo of the soundtrack changes several times during the scene reflecting on how threatening the man is. This has inspired my use of sound in my sequence as I know how I can use the background music to create a sudden sense of panic.

The film my characters take the most inspiration from is Scream. All the killers in the Scream film wear a white mask and black clothing and have their identity hidden. This makes them more unnerving and makes the audience uneasy as they know someone who would go as far as to wear an eerie looking costume must have serious psychological problems and be more the be
 more than willing to cause harm to characters the audience have been made to care about. In my film I decided I wanted the antagonist to be scary and unsettling so I decided to make him wear all dark clothes and keep his identity secret. My character doesn't wear a mask as this would make the film too similar to Scream but my aim is that his identity make the audience feel uncomfortable when he is in the scene. The victims in the Scream films are usually attractive white females presented as innocent and not deserving of death. This makes the audience side with them and get more engaged in the film as they hope for the characters survival. A main part of the mise-en-scene in the Scream films is the knife the antagonist always use as a weapon. It helped me decide that in my film the antagonist would have a knife as they are often associated with death and evil.

My research helped as it helped me become more knowledgeable on thrillers films and the various techniques used to make them successful. I found lots of small tips and details that I can use to make a better, more engaging and more suspenseful sequence.