Research into Target Audience - Miss Miller

Intro: I carried out my research to help me understand my audience and find out what my audience like to see in thrillers and if I could use this information to tailor my thriller to want my audience want to see. I asked 40 people as it's a big enough amount to get a range of results and ask a range of different people. It's also a big enough sample size to find out what the majority of people are interested in. Now that I know what the majority of my audience are interested in seeing in thrillers I can make sure my thriller includes these things.

The first question was a simple one asking the gender of the participant. We ended up with more males than females but the difference wasn't large so it's most likely due to males being more willing to answer our questionnaire. In hindsight while this information is useful the results won't have much of an impact on our film.

The second question is more relevant as it will help us define our target audience. The largest age category is 15-18 with the smallest being 11-14. This information helped us decide that we would aim for our film to have a 15+ age rating as we spoke to very few people under 15 and making the film an 18 would alienate a large part of the people who answered our questionnaire and helped us plan the film.

We asked this question to help us find out what type of thrillers our target audience like to watch. We learnt from this that psychological thrillers are by far the most popular. Psychological thrillers usually feature a mentally unstable antagonist. Using this information we decided we wanted to make the antagonist in our film appear mentally unstable and deranged. As we are only filming the opening sequence we won't be able to go share many details about the antagonist but we can make use of POV shots and canted angles to make the audience feel uneasy about him.

By asking this question we found out that abandoned and secluded locations are the most popular. Abandoned houses was the most popular choice but it would be difficult to find a place like that to film in so we decided to go with the second most popular choice which was dark forests. it will be much easier to find a suitable filming location as there are several forests locally and we can film at night.

We asked this question to find out what it is our audience like about thriller films so we could include this in our opening sequence and it will appeal to our audience. Our results show that people like thrillers due to the shock and suspense they create as well as all the victims. We had already decided early on that our opening sequence will include a victim but using this information we decided that it was our top priority to put the audience in suspense and then shock them.  We include suspense after one of the females separates from the rest by using eerie sounds and slow editing to create a sense of unease, we will then shock the audience when the antagonist is shown.

We wanted to know what type of murder weapon people like to see so we could feature a popular choice and not include unpopular choices. The most common answer was gun so we thought about equipping the antagonist with a gun but decided it didn't go with the theme of our film and that we would be better off featuring the second most popular choice which was knives.



This was a simple question designed to help us plan how much gore would be in our thriller. The large majority of people said that they do prefer gory thrillers and we considered making our thriller gory. We then realised that even though we had a camera and editing software, none of us knew how to make realistic looking gore and we had a very limited budget of £0 so we decided to keep our opening sequence gore free.

We asked this question to see what other thrillers our audience enjoy and see what type of thrillers we should be getting inspiration from. The most common answer was Fight Club which is a psychological thriller with drama elements, this confirms the fact that the majority of our audience prefer psychological thrillers.


This was another simple question we asked to help us decide what  gender the victim(s) in our thriller will be. As we expected the majority of people we asked prefer to see females victims so we decided that any victims in our film should be female.

The seventh chart tells us that our target audience would prefer our antagonist to have a hidden identity and remain a mystery. This information helped us decide that we won't reveal the identity of our antagonist in our opening sequence.




Vox Pops

Here are some vox pops I filmed of three people answering my questionnaire on video. These vox pops helped as they allowed me to record more detailed answers for the open questions in my questionnaire. The vox pops are also evidence that I actually got people to answer my questionnaire.

This research helped us with the planning of our opening sequence. It means we know what our audience is interested in seeing and can adapt our sequence to meet this. It helped a lot with the minor details in our sequence, for example we know to make the victim female and to not reveal the identity of the protagonist. If I was to carry out the research again I'd make sure that all of the questions would help me with my planning and I would try and get more detailed responses.

Preliminary Task

My group includes me, Jessica Day and Charlie Stewart. The purpose of this preliminary task was to get us some experience using the filming equipment and making sure we understood how to use it before we started filming our opening scene. It was also an opportunity to experiment with different angles and shots. We had to film a simple conversation that started with a character entering the scene and ended with them leaving. We were told to include a long shot, a closeup, tracking shot and a shot reverse shot. The clip didn't have to be too long it just needed to include all the necessary shots. In class we added everything we had filmed into Final Cut Pro and watched them all back. The majority of the clips were unsuitable as some included unwanted background noise and a couple times we said a line incorrectly.  Once we had chosen the best shots we used the software to connect the shots and create our sequence, we then published it to YouTube. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nK1KqlPBhE)

The first shot we used was a long shot, we did this to show Charlie entering the scene from the sixth form area, we then had a tracking shot following charlie on his way to the bench. To film the longshot we used the tripod to set the camera up a good distance away from the door. For the tracking shot we had Jess slowly rotate the camera on the tripod. We had a closeup shot of me using my phone and shot reverse shots during the conversation. For the close up we used the camera to slowly zoom in and the shot reverse shot was created afterwards in Final Cut Pro. We also learned how to set up and use a tripod properly to help keep the camera steady. We filmed our clip quickly and efficiently and managed to finish within the allotted time unlike other groups which worked slowly and spent too much time planning the conversation even though it was supposed to be simple. We worked efficiently as we didn't waste time planning the conversation and we were able to set up the equipment quickly. What we struggled with was finding the right moment to film as we kept getting interrupted by loud noises coming from near our area. We struggled with this due to our choice to film outside instead of inside as there was more free space outside. While filming indoors would eliminate this problem we would have had less room to work with and would probably have had to rush as classrooms and hallways are usually busy. At first we struggled with getting the cameras on the right settings but we soon figured it out.Watching the footage back helped us understand the mistakes we made as it highlighted how noticeable and distracting background noise can be and also how if random people end up in the background during one of the shots it can create continuity errors if that person disappears in the next shot.

As you can see in the screenshot we ended up with stranger in the background of the shot. We  struggled with finding the right time to start the shot without any disruptions. Next time we will make sure we have the area to ourselves before we start filming.

This task helped prepare us for filming our opening sequence as we now know how to use the filming equipment properly and will have no problems setting it up in the future. We are also more aware of the potential problems we may face when filming and know to find a secluded area where we are less likely to be interrupted. When filming our opening sequence we need to work as efficiently as we did for this while making sure there are no continuity errors or unwanted sounds. We should check the footage on the camera to make sure it's all good before we start editing.

Group Narrative

Group Narrative

In my group is Charlie Stewart and Jessica Day.

Idea 1 - The opening sequence for this narrative would be of the friends walking through the forest, when their friend goes missing and getting the text from the antagonist, the focus would go back and forth from the characters and pictures of the chalk circles and weapons, that could possibly be used. The credits would be written in text font like the phone to show some of the narrative about the antagonist sending them messages. The rules could be being read out so that the audience are aware straight away that there is some sort of game involved.

Advantages - It builds up up suspense which is conventional.
Disadvantages: It's brief and confusing.

Idea 2 -  For my thriller film I am going to be base it around a wife who is in a room on her own. The audience see her facial expressions seem depressed at the beginning and she hears noises outside of the room that she is in. The woman opens the door to investigate the noise but doesn't see anything so as she sits back down she sees a silhouette of someone standing there. Then it cuts to black as he walks in the door, we hear struggling noises and then finally silence. Then we see a silhouette walk out then the camera pans to the woman's desk and we see blood all over it.

Advantages - Good use of conventional thriller elements. Creates and enigma.
Disadvantages - Hardest to make.

Idea 3 -Boy and a girl are having a lunch picnic. Girl comments on how glad she is that the boy forgave her for leaving him when he was depressed. Boy looks away and we see a menacing look on his face. Cut to flashback of the boy walking to the edge of the platform at a train station, about to jump but deciding not to at the last minute and we see the train whiz by. Next shot is of the boy talking to a psychiatrist and we hear that the boy often has "dark thoughts" since his mother was driven to suicide by his father, he also mentions how betrayed he felt when his girlfriend left. Cut back to the present, the boy's girlfriend asks him to pass her the apple juice. Then we see the hamper and as the boy moves the apple juice we see a knife. Boy grabs it, screen fades to black, girl screams. The rest of the film would be about the boy seeking revenge on the people he believes to have caused him harm, mentally or physically with his father being his final target . There would be meetings with the psychiatrist throughout.

Advantages: Easy to produce. Good opening that doesn't give away to many plot details. We understand the antagonists motives.

Disadvantages - Doesn't show enough conventions of a thriller.


Group: Based on idea 1 but it will be changed so that it is from the person who gets kidnapped instead as this was would increase sympathy from the audience to the character. We won't find out much about the antagonists intentions, we will just see the friend being kidnapped. We will get of the game idea as it is cliche and would be too much to fit into a short opening sequence. We may show a bit of the killer but not too much as we don't wan't to give away the antagonists identity so early as when we did our research we discovered that most people prefer the antagonists identity to remain a secret.

This idea follows Todorov's narrative theory as everything is in a state of equilibrium when the girls are walking through the forest happily. This gets disrupted when one of them gets kidnapped. The plot then focuses on the girls attempts to restore the initial state of equilibrium by rescuing their friend without all dying horribly. The characters don't match the examples described in Propp's theory and while the narrative meets some of the themes in Aristotle's theory Todorov's is still the best match.

Individual Narrative Ideas - Miss Georgiou

Narrative is important as important as it builds up the storyline and gets the audience engrossed in the film.

Plot: Boy and a girl are having a lunch picnic. Girl comments on how glad she is that the boy forgave her for leaving him when he was depressed. Boy looks away and we see a menacing look on his face. Cut to flashback of the boy walking to the edge of the platform at a train station, about to jump but deciding not to at the last minute and we see the train whiz by. Next shot is of the boy talking to a psychiatrist and we hear that the boy often has "dark thoughts" since his mother was driven to suicide by his father, he also mentions how betrayed he felt when his girlfriend left. Cut back to the present, the boy's girlfriend asks him to pass her the apple juice. Then we see the hamper and as the boy moves the apple juice we see a knife. Boy grabs it, screen fades to black, girl screams.

The rest of the film would be about the boy seeking revenge on the people he believes to have caused him harm, mentally or physically with his father being his final target . There would be meetings with the psychiatrist throughout.

While all the victims would have done harm to the boy in some way they would not be deserving of death and the audience should sympathise with them. The boy would be presented as not cruel, but broken and while the audience should want him to be stopped they should also sympathise with him.

The main mise-en-scene element that I'd like to include is the knife that is suddenly revealed when the main character is with his girlfriend. I'd also like the train to be a prominent part of the sequence as it highlights the boys suicidal thoughts and psychological issues.While I'd prefer the film was a 15 due to the dark themes it would more likely suit an age rating of 18 and be aimed at young adults 18-35, male and female.

I'll email my group members copies of my idea and then we will discuss the positives and negatives including any potential issues.

Research into conventions - Ms Miller

Conventions in films refer to elements that are common within different film genres and patterns that can be seen in different films from the same category. Some thriller conventions include, attractive female victims, enigma, chase scenes as well as shock, suspense and tension. The film clip I am going to analyse is from Scream, the first of the popular thriller series. I chose this clip as it contains many thriller conventions.




The first notable convention is the use of a female victim. It is common in thrillers for the victims to be female as they usually portrayed as weak and helpless against the male antagonist. Like in this scene, the females are often attractive blondes.This makes the audience care about the victim more than they would if the victim was an ugly male and they end up more engrossed in the film which raises tension. This is typical for thrillers as they aim to create tension and suspense and having the audience care for the characters is an effective way of doing this.

Another convention is the use of a mask to hide the antagonists identity. The antagonist is wearing a scary looking mask the entire scene and his identity is never revealed. Ghost like masks like seen in this clip are usually associated with evil and danger so the audience are scared for the victim as she is trapped with this evil being and the audience know she is in danger. The fact that the killers identity is a secret means that the audience feel like they have no idea what he is capable of which makes him even scarier. The hidden identity of the killer also creates an enigma as the audience are left wondering who is under the mask and what would make them do something so cruel. The enigma created by having the killers identity hidden is the main reason why it so conventional for masks to be used in thriller films.

Another thing I noticed that is conventional to thriller films is the sense of dread and the fear of the inevitable created in the scene. This mainly occurs around 1:45 when the soon-to-be victim is trapped in the dog door. As she is slowly being lifted up we see that she is stuck in the door and we know that her chances of survival are slim. This is what fills the audience with a sense of dread as they want the female to survive but know what is about to happen. As she kicks and screams the audience sympathize with her and are in shock when the inevitable happens. This is conventional to thriller films as they usually aim to shock the audience and gory deaths usually succeed in doing that.

The fight scene and the outcome of the fight scene is conventional to a thriller film. In this scene the victim fights back and almost wins. This along with the increased tempo of the music makes for a suspenseful scene and increases the heart rate of the audience. The audience see that that the victim is fighting back well and get a sense of false hope that she may be able to escape. This action scene excites the audience and the sudden change in tempo keeps the film engaging and stops it becoming boring. The audience will the female to win the fight and are on the edge of their seat as they believe she has a chance. This also emphasises the feelings of dread created when she gets stuck in the dog door as all the audience's hopes are destroyed and they nervously await her inevitable death. Fast paced action scenes are a common way for thriller films to engage the audience and keep them entertained by the film. 

To conclude I think that the film succeeds in creating a conventional thriller sequence and in using different methods to surprise, shock and create suspense and tension. During my research I have learnt how I can use short, fast paced sequences to keep my audience entertained as well as how I create enigma by hiding the identity of my antagonist.

Opening Sequence Analysis - Miss Georgiou

"How does the opening sequence of the film halloween inform the audience of it's conventions of a thriller"

The opening sequence of thrillers sets up the main theme of the film. It introduces the narrative and sets the tone for the rest of the film so the audience know what to expect. The opening sequence often creates a sense of unease and the tension it builds features throughout the rest of the film. It often ends on something mysterious creating an enigma.

Halloween meets the conventions of a thriller film through it's use of cinematography. The use of a point of view (POV) shot in the opening scene is used effectively. We see what is happening from the view of the antagonist which is strange as we usually see the point of view from the victim. This is means that the identity of the antagonist remains secret and when the mask gets put on we can only see through the eyeholes. This is used to make the audience feel uneasy as their vision is restricted and all they see is the female victim about to be killed and they feel scared for her knowing what will most likely happen. When the female is being stabbed the audience feel disgusted as they have been forced into the position of the murderer. While it is not common to have a POV from the antagonist it is common for thrillers to make the audience feel uneasy and sympathetic towards the victims. The use of a handheld camera is also effective in this scene. Handheld is used throughout the clip but becomes more noticeable when the antagonist is walking up the stairs around 2:15.

This use of a handheld camera makes the scene appear unstable which mirrors the antagonists state of mind as well as creating a sense of foreboding. Handheld shots are often used in thrillers to make the audience tense and feel a sense of dread. At the end of the scene the image zooms out into a high angle shot of the house and three characters. This shows how shocked the boys parents are as well as emphasising the sense of enigma the audience are left with as they wonder if the boy is guilty and what could drive him to do something so horrible and unnatural. 


The use of Narrative in Halloween is typical for a thriller film and is effective as it's full of suspense, surprise, shock and ends on an enigma. This is something nearly all thriller films try to do, therefore it's conventional. The scene is set in an old detached house which is typical for a thriller as many people have a fear of having something unwanted in their house house so may be able to share the same fears with the victims in the films and sympathize with them more. The victim in this scene is a young female which is is conventional for a thriller as young females are usually considered innocent and too weak to protect themselves so the audience feel more scared and worried for them then they would if it was a strong male in danger. it is also conventional that the identity of the killer remains secret until the end of the scene (if the boy actually is the killer). This is typical as lots of people have a fear of the unknown and as the antagonist is not seen the audience have no idea what he's capable of which makes him even scarier. Two pieces of iconography are used in this opening scene which are the knife and the mask. Knives are often the weapon of choice in thriller films as they are often associated with murder and kills with them are done with the killer right besides the victim making it more brutal and personal. Masks are typically used to hide the killers identity creating enigma and making them appear more fearful. Low key lighting is used throughout this scene making it creepier and creating shadows.

Editing in thrillers is primarily used to create suspense and build tension which this film succeeds in. Around the two minute mark the editing is slow as the killer is slowly making his way towards his victim. This slow paced editing is used to maximize the feelings of unease created by the use of a handheld camera and POV from the antagonists perspective and the slower it is the more uncomfortable the audience feel. At 3:45 a straight cut is used to change the viewpoint from the killers POV to a shot of the boy removing his mask. This emphasises the enigma created and shocks the audience as a young, innocent looking boy is implicated to have committed that horrible killing and the actions of the antagonist are not something that would usually be associated with a young boy.

The use of sound in Halloween is also conventional. At the start of the scene there is a non diegetic soundtrack being played. It is non-diegetic as it is not part of the film and was added after in the post production stage. After the opening credits we hear children chanting something which sounds evil, like a curse. This almost makes them sound possesed which complements the supernatural theme implied in the title of the film. Most of the scene is quite so the audience focus in what is happening in the scene and become more engrossed. This is typical for thriller films whereas other genres like action feature loud fast paced music.

The way the characters are represented in Halloween are typical for thriller films. The antagonist is presented as mentally unstable and has his identity hidden which makes him scarier as the audience don't know what he's capable of. The victim is a young female who is unable to protect herself making the audience feel sympathetic. The parents are hardly seen in the the scene but their confused reaction at the end mirrors how the audience feel. 

To conclude this opening sequence informs the audience of it's conventions as thriller through the way it succeeds in creating suspense, surprise, shock and tension. My analysis has helped me with my own film as I have learnt how you can use plot twists to create a sense of enigma as well as how POV shots can be used to create tension.

Research into Sound - Ms Miller

I will be researching the use of sound in Thriller films and how it is used for the desired effect. The use of sound is important in films as it makes it easier to understand what is happening as well as help provoke a response from the audience. In thriller films sound is used to build tension and suspense as well as allowing the audience to connect with the characters. The film I have chosen to analyse is The Silence of the Lambs. I chose this as it is the highest grossing thriller film of all time.

Most of music in this scene is actually diegetic or on screen sound as at the start of the scene we see a cassette player playing music cassette player.

This is uncommon but is used to create the contrapuntal sound effect which features near the end of the scene. Throughout the scene music is used to mirror Hannibal's mental state. The music playing from the cassette player is classical which usually indicates calmness and relaxation and matches how Hannibal is feeling at the start of the scene. When Hannibal attacks the prison guards the music changes and becomes louder and faster paced. This illustrates the adrenaline rush Hannibal is feeling as he fights to win his freedom. The increased tempo mirrors Hannibal's increased heart rate. When both guards are dead the music goes back to the calm classical music while we see the guards dead and bloody on the floor, this is the contrapuntal sound effect. The calm relaxing music juxtaposes the brutal sight of the murdered guards. The music mirrors how calm and relaxed Hannibal feels now he is free. This juxtaposition is used to trivialise the brutal deaths and show how murder is normal to Hannibal and even something he enjoys. This shows the audience how sick and twisted he is. The audience see for themselves how cold and emotionless he is and are left in awe. During the attack when the music suddenly increases in tempo it also gives the audience a rush of adrenaline and even excitement.  It is normal for thriller films to present the antagonist as cold and emotionless as it makes them more fearful as the audience are left on edge knowing that the antagonist has no morals or ethics and would have no qualms harming the films protagonist the audience is usually made to care for.

The on screen sound is used to great effect in this scene. All the sounds relating to Hannibal's attacks on the officers are emphasised. We clearly hear the sounds of Hannibal using his mouth to tear one of the guards flesh, the sound of the pepper spray being sprayed into his eyes as well as the thuds from him being beaten with the baton. These exaggerated sounds are used to emphasize the damage and harm Hannibal is doing to these guards.This makes the audience feel uneasy as they are forced to imagine how much damage is being done and how much pain these guards must be suffering. This is typical for thriller films as the antagonist is usually much more powerful than all the characters besides the main protagonist and the emphasis on the damage they cause is used to show the audience how powerful the antagonist is.

The diegetic sound including the dialogue and the screams of the guards are used for a similar effect. At the start of the scene the dialogue between the guards is used to show their relationship with Hannibal and how they feel about him. We see that they consider him a "son of a bitch" but their laughter suggests that they don't see him as any kind of threat. Their underestimation is used to show that Hannibal is much stronger than he looks making him seem more powerful as the audience see that he is much stronger than people who don't even consider him a threat. When they are attacked both guards are constantly screaming in pain which like the on screen sound makes the audience feel sorry for them as they hear how much pain Hannibal is causing. The audience fear Hannibal which is typical for thrillers as they usually attempt to make the antagonist appear as powerful making the audience uneasy as they think the antagonist may be powerful enough to succeed in their plans.

To conclude I think the film was successful in it's attempts to create shock and make the antagonist seem powerful. My research taught me the large effect sound can have on the audience and how engaged they are with the film. I learnt how dialogue can be used to show the relationship between various characters and how certain sounds can be exaggerated to make the antagonist appear more powerful. When creating my own thriller film I may emphasise the sounds of a certain characters pain to make my own audience sympathise them and feel hatred towards my antagonist. I learnt that sound plays an important part in the creation of a successful thriller film.