Question 1

The brief was to create the opening two minute sequence to a thriller film, making sure it followed all the generic conventions of the genre and included all the necessary credits. In my group was myself, Charlie Stewart and Jessica Day. While we initially had some problems working together we were able to resolve them and eventually we were able to work well in order to create our film. I think our film does a good job of following thriller convention sand meeting what our target audience wants but it suffered slightly from a lack of originality and it wasn't as engaging as I hoped it would be.

1. There are many conventions that thriller films usually follow. They usually focus on an antagonist who has broken the equilibrium and the protagonist fighting to restore it. The antagonist is usually a white male presented as twisted and mentally unstable, for example in the film Se7en the antagonist is played by Kevin Spacey and is a serial killer who meticulously plans his murders to correspond with the seven deadly sins. The protagonist is usually a strong, attractive white male whereas the victims are often white females who are presented as weak, innocent and unable to fight for themselves. Examples of this can also be seen in Se7en where the protagonist is played by Brad Pitt and the final victim is played by Gwyneth Paltrow and it's inferred that she was completely unable to protect herself. The soundtrack to these films are often slow paced and menacing in order to increase tension, this technique was used often throughout the film Zodiac, a mystery thriller film. High angle shots are often used to make the victims appear small and weak whereas low angle shots are often used to make the protagonist and antagonist appear strong and powerful. The speed of editing and shot transitions are used for dramatic effect as slow paced scenes used for building tension are often interjected with sudden fast paced sections in order to create excitement and adrenaline. This occurred often in the movie Scream, the editing would increase in speed whenever a victim was being attacked.  Mise-en-scene plays a big part in thriller films and typical murder weapons include knives and ropes. Knives are a key element in the Scream movie series as the victims are often brutally stabbed to death. These films are often set in isolated locations like abandoned houses and forests. An example of this is the Cabin in The Woods which is set around a cabin hidden deep in an isolated forest.

When creating my sequence I made sure it followed these conventions. My sequence is set in a dark isolated forest as this is a conventional thriller setting due to its isolated and eerie nature. This is a scary location as the audience know the victims are unlikely to find help. Also, the trees and bushes create many moving shadows and mean there are many potential hiding places and things that could be lurking in the shadows, thus increasing tension. The antagonist in my sequence has his identity remain a secret throughout as this is a common thriller technique that makes them appear scarier and makes the audience wonder who they could be. I kept his identity hidden by utilizing over-the-shoulder shots and by making sure his face was obscured by bushes and shadows. The victim in my film is a young female who was walking through the forest with her friends, this is conventional as it presents her as innocent and undeserving of death. The audience are made to sympathise with her and don't want her to die as she is young and innocent. The antagonist's weapon of choice is a knife which is a conventional weapon as killing with it is personal and appears brutal and painful which makes the audience feel sympathetic towards whoever it's used on. Even though there are no stabbings in my sequence, the knife is the focus of some shots, when the knife is in the scene the victim is also seen which makes the intentions of my antagonist clear, this creates tension. Low key lighting is used throughout my sequence as it creates a dark and eerie atmosphere which is matched by the slow paced and eerie soundtrack I chose for the film. The final scene in my sequence utilises very low key lighting where the the focus is on the antagonists knife which appears to menacingly glisten in the dark. I used a low angle shot of the antagonist as it makes him appear bigger and more threatening compared to the small, fragile looking victim. My antagonist reveals he has a knife which is a common murder weapon in thrillers. My film shares many similarities with the Horror/Thriller film Scream. The antagonist in the film always has his identity hidden as he always wears a white mask that conceals his face. The Scream film also has attractive white females as the victims as they are presumed to be innocent and undeserving of death which makes the antagonists crimes more horrific. Knives are used to kill the victims and the Scream series helped make knives a conventional murder weapon in thrillers. The antagonists in Scream are presented as twisted and mentally unstable like the antagonist in my film. Overall I think my sequence is conventional as it borrows elements from the very films that helped define the genre.