Research: Mise en scene: Body language and Facial expression

Body language & facial expressions

Body language is the way the character acts, moves or is positioned in the film or towards the audience. Things to consider when looking for body language are the characters movement whether it’s their whole body or just a part of the body like a hand, the levels they are using whether they are crouching or standing tall and proud and finally and if any prop is included because the reason they are in a position could be due a particular prop involved. Body language helps the audience identify what the character is meant to be representing.

                                

Facial expressions are the emotions the character portrays in the film or to the audience. The use of emotive language can be effective when it comes to finding out how each character is feeling. It could also tell a bit about the character personal life even if the character itself doesn't show or tell the audience about it.

A few examples to describe different types of body language and facial expressions:

This facial expression shows a man putting real effort into pulling the chain. You can tell he is putting real effort in by the strain on his face and the tension he is exerting on his face.

This facial expression is created to strike fear among the other characters as well as the audience. When you first look at it, it creates a reaction from the audience that is meant to scare them.

The body language of this character makes you suggest that he is ready for a fight. you can tell this by the fact that his stance is that of martial arts along with the position of his hands.

The body language and facial expression this character is a calm  but a little stressed. The reason why i felt he was calm was because of the way he was sitting. His arms are rested on the table and his shirt is unbuttoned. The reason why i feel that he is stressed is his facial expressions. His face tells me that he looks drained. Furthermore excluding his face there is a glass of alcohol on his table which makes me suggest that he is trying to drink his troubles away.

Overall, my understanding of facial expressions and body language has improved dramatically and has helped me to guide the actors we are going to use in our thriller trailer so they are able to portray the characters better.

Research: Character Representation Ms Heath

Character representation

Character representation is something that is really important to take into consideration when thinking about films. The reason why is because it allows your actors to act to the characters persona and its clear to the audience the story line of the film and what each character is representing. Furthermore if the personas of each character are clear then the audience is able to build a relationship with the characters.

To create a conventional and successful thriller trailer, It's important for the characters representation is clear and effective in the scene so the target audience can distinguish what each character is meant to be and what exactly they are meant to be doing.

The main characters that are going to appear in my thriller trailer are as follows:

•         1 Protagonist, Female, early 20s
•         1 Antagonist, male, age unknown

The antagonist is the one who is stalking the young woman and ends up killing her. This is conventional to a thriller film because of the character he plays. He gives very little about himself which makes it all the weirder with what he does. His clothes are dull and use dark colours so they can’t be seen by their victims and go give an indication to the audience that he is the evil person. He has an array of murder weapons shown in the beginning just to emphasize that he is a dangerous character and is not to be messed with. We went with using a male as the antagonist as in thriller films antagonists is almost always male and males compared to females look more dominant.

The protagonist is the one that is stalked and killed by the antagonist. This is conventional to a thriller film because she portrays a typical young woman and women are naturally seen in thriller films as easy, vulnerable targets. In the thriller films it shows her coming home from shopping and poring herself a drink. This is the part where the antagonist blindsides her and repeatedly stabs the victim until she's dead. She is then dragged to the table and is put so she's sat down at the table and is handed dinner like it is a date. The clothes she would be wearing would be bright because she is clueless to what is about to happen to here. Also she is very sociable.

Conclusion

To conclude, being able to analyse the characters from other thriller films has helped me and my group to analyse our characters in our thriller trailer more effectively as it has given us an insight to each of the characters personas and what they are meant to represent in the film as well as to the audience. The description for each character is helpful because it tells the actors how they are meant to act and what personas the are meant to take on when acting.

Planning: Opening Credits and Typography Ms Heath

Opening Credits

The reason why opening credits are used to start every film is to show who were the main people involved in the making of the film which includes the main actors of the film, the producers, the writers and the director of the film. The use of opening credits is to inform the audience who had a role in the film and what their role was in the film. This creates suspense as the audience can’t wait for the movie to start. Especially if they read the credits and the see well known people were involved for example Morgan Freeman as an actor or Steven Spielberg as the director.

Typography

Typography is the actual words that appear in the beginning and end of the film. The different fonts that is used in the thriller films if used to a good effect can attract the audience and can give the audience a hint to what type of a film it may be. For example if they used font like this then you may think that this Is a drama set in the 1900's or if you saw font like this then you may thing that this is a scary thriller. The entrance of the typography can also be effective if it zooms in on the screen of if it flickers. 

The film “Seven” was one the films we analysed when It came to opening credits and typography. The audience would be expecting a good film not because they have seen it but they have seen the opening credits and have seen famous actors like Morgan Freeman is in the film. The typography itself is flickering in and out which makes the audience uneasy as they have no clue to what the narrative of the story is and the font is written as it is scary which add to the tension.

This film is one of the most iconic thriller films of all time. “Pulp fiction” uses bold text with their typography so you know exactly who was involved in the film. This again was another high profile film with all the actors involved in the film such as John Travolta and Samuel .L. Jackson. The typography used in the opening scene can tell you that this was going to be a big and bold film.

Overall, the opening credits I have analysed have helped me and my group to decide what typography would be best to use in our thriller trailer. We also have an idea on what effect we what the typography to have on the target audience so they are more intrigued to watch the film. 

Planning: Developing Ideas Ms Heath

Developing Ideas

First Idea:

Narrative
The narrative for the first idea is that the antagonist is on a rampage and is on the hunt for two victims. The antagonist is crazy and his movements are unpredictable but he will stop at nothing until his victims are killed.

Characters:

The characters are as follows:

·         Antagonist: male, serial killer, Quiet but lethal, is usually in dark clothing.

·         Victim 1: young female, bright colours, nice sensible dress, very sociable.

·         Victim 2 : young female, collage wear, smart, casual

Lighting:
The lighting that will be used will mainly be low level lighting. It is going to be used when the antagonist closes in on the proximity between him and the two victims. There will be hints of high key lighting just to define the features and characteristics of the two victims.

Setting:

The setting that we are going to use to film our trailer will be in a couple places. The first location is a basement to play the role of the antagonist’s hideout. The second location that we are going to use is a middle class house where the two protagonists live and socialize together. This is also where the attack is going to happen on one of the victims.

Body Language:

The body language is going to be different for the antagonist to the protagonist. The antagonist body language is going to be tense throughout the trailer because of thrill he gets from killing. The protagonists body language is going to be relaxed because they are unaware of the situation they are gonna end up in. After that it all gets a bit hectic as the protagonists are running all over the place arms flailing while they are getting chased. In the end one of the victims body is going to motionless because she has been killed.

Second Idea

Narrative:
The narrative for the second idea is of  a young man who wants to get revenge on the three people that have bullied him back in secondary school and by doing that he has prepared for years just waiting on the right time to strike

Lighting:
The different lighting we will be using would be sepia lighting to show flashbacks, natural lighting for when we film outside and low key lighting for when the antagonist is in range of the protagonists inside their house.

Characters:

The characters are as follows:

·         Antagonist – very disturbed, organised, has a.d.h.d, clothing would be grey or black, has a mask

·         Victims: three victims. first victim young male, early 20s, very sporty, strong. Second victim young female, early 20s, pretty, very flirtatious, loves to go shopping, very sociable. Third victim young female, early 20s, not as pretty as other female, outcast, wants to fit in with the cool kids so hangs out with them.

Location:
The location we are planning to use in the thriller trailer are a bedroom/loft for where the killings are going to take place, a football pitch for where we first see the male protagonist, an alley way for where the victims are being stalked by the antagonist and the school playground for when the flash back is shown.

Iconography:

The iconography that will be used is a knife as it is one of the tools the antagonist has, a chainsaw because it is a power tool that is used to frighten the antagonist and a football and shopping bags to be associated with each of the victims.

The narrative sounds too complicated which makes me think that the target audience won’t be able to pick it up until it gets to the end

However this is a very conventional idea and a good idea, using some of the ideas taken from the thriller scream

Third Idea

Narrative
A man kidnaps a woman. A gang is trying to retrieve her and a huge chase scene happens where the man and the women are trying to escape the gang. Meanwhile the gang have guns and are shooting at them.

Lighting
There are two main lighting that are gonna be used in this idea. Low Key lighting is gonna be used when the chase scene approached a tunnel. The other one is going to be natural lighting as the trailer will be shot outside.

Characters

1 female late 20s dolled up. 5 males 4 are gang members smartly dressed, fifth male is on his own and looks scruffy.


Setting 
The settings are on the streets of London.

This idea was very vague and needed a lot of more information before it could be considered as the idea we go with.

Post-Production: Audience Feedback Ms Begum

Audience Feedback

Audience feedback is the analysis and review of the thriller trailer we have created from the target audience the thriller trailer was aimed for for. Audience feedback can really be important for everyone involved it the creation of the film because then you are able to go over the reviews and see the positive comments from viewers to see what parts or elements of the film were successful in creating a conventional thriller film trailer. Alternatively the negative criticism is also helpful as it gives us objectives to make our film better.

Before my group did the production of our thriller trailer, we got a glimpse of what audience feedback we may receive. I created a questionnaire consisting of various questions to help with our research on thriller films. The reason I created the questionnaire was to gain the insight into the target audiences mind and to find out what they like about thriller films so their ideas could be taken into consideration so my group is able to produce a successful, conventional thriller trailer that my target audience will enjoy. The results I got from the questionnaire was very beneficial to me as then it was easier for me and my group to retain the research to find out what the target audience look for in thriller films. For example one result I found is that the target audience find that it is the narrative that creates tension best among thriller films although there were other votes for sound, lighting and setting which means we have to take all those factors into consideration when creating a successful thriller trailer.

After the thriller trailer and soundtrack was complete we had to show the trailer among the target audience. The trailer my group created was screened to people aged from 15 to 35 as they fit the target audience. The reason my groups thriller trailer was shown to these particular people is because the target audience im appealing to is of the age range of 15 to 35 so therefore getting constructive criticism from someone outside the age range would not help in gaining knowledge to create a successful trailer since they are probably people who would not normally watch this type of genre. The screening was of aid to my understanding of the production of my film and generic conventions of thriller films because I could then relate some of the results I got from the questionnaire to the feedback I got from the audience and compare the factors of thriller films the target audience enjoy and the factors of my groups thriller trailer they liked or disliked.

Positive Comments

Sean age 22: "The soundtrack really complements the trailer well and it flows perfectly. for example the sound gradually intensifies as the situation for the protagonist becomes more and more dangerous".

This comment is very helpful to our group because it shows that the sound organiser has the skills to analyse different thriller films and look at what makes the soundtrack conventional to thriller films and incorporate those ideas into our soundtrack to help create a successful thriller trailer.

Krystal age 19: "The portrayal of both the antagonist and protagonist is canny to those of original thriller films. the costumes they wear is similar to the characters they resemble from other films and their actions and movement is very conventional to that of a thriller film."

This comment is very beneficial to our group because it shows that my group was able to pick correctly when choosing actors to play the role of the characters. It also shows that the actors were able to portray characters similar to that of thriller films making the trailer more conventional.

Peter age 29: "The lighting used in the thriller film was well positioned and complemented the setting of the film. The use of low level lighting really intensifies the scene and creates tension in the thriller trailer."

This comment is really helpful because it tells me that the location manager knew what setting would be best to use and would complement the use of low level lighting in it. It also shows that we were able produce the right contrast of light so the scene didn't look too luminous.

Constructive Criticism  

Stacey age 23: "Although the protagonist did a great job i felt it would be more effective if she resembled a typical thriller victim who is a young white blonde character."

This is a fair criticism and very understandable. We did in fact consider using a character with those characteristics but at short notice it was hard to find someone. But overall we can still take this into consideration if we was to create another, more successful thriller film

Paul aged 31: "The narrative was something i haven't seen before and maybe it was too original because it was confusing. I didn't understand the plot of the trailer and because of that i felt that the trailer lost some effect."

This criticism is beneficial in helping to create a successful thriller trailer because it has helped us on the understanding to create a conventional narrative that the target audience will enjoy.

Lucy age 26: "The editing could be a bit better. There were times in the trailer where the straight cuts didn't flow well and was a little confusing to keep up with the narrative."

This piece of criticism is very helpful in order to create a successful, conventional thriller trailer. To be fair the software we used to edit was a struggle to get our heads round so we did have a hard time to get all the frames running smooth together.

These are just some of the feedback we received from the target audience we showed the thriller trailer. Thanks to the feedback we are now able to analyse our thriller trailer more critically and take into consideration with what the target audience has said about the trailer. All in all I feel, weighing up the positives and negatives, that my group has created a successful thriller trailer because we were able to follow the generic conventions of a thriller film and incorporated it into our thriller film. We have also done various researches to help us with creating the trailer and used the results we got from the questionnaire to make it appeal to the target audience.

Although we received the audience feedback after the final production was finished, it was still helpful to me and my group as it gives us the satisfaction if we created a successful thriller trailer or not the audience’s point of view.

However the audience feedback received has also helped me to decide if my trailer would be beneficial for my media institution. In my opinion I feel that this will benefit my film company because me and my group has created a successful thriller trailer that is similar to  some of the films  they have released and it is a possibility that there would benefits creating thriller films for the film company “Miramax” for us as well as the film company. The audience feedback was a big step in the development of me and my groups thriller trailer as we now know what factors we need to work on to create that perfect conventional thriller film that the target audience will enjoy.  

Post Production: Soundtrack Ms Begum

Soundtrack

A soundtrack is incredibly important when it comes to creating thrillers because if created succesfully it complements your film well. They follow the storyline of the film and create different atmospheres depending on the situation which gives different indications to the audience. For example if the camera was following the protagonists movements the sound would be slow-paced sound which tells the audience that the situation is calm and the protagonist is not in danger. But if for example the antagonist is spotted the sound may intensify by getting louder or speeding up. This makes the audience suggests that the protagonists life is in danger.

If created to a professional standard, a soundtrack can have multiple effects on the audience depending on the genre of the film and the situations the characters are in the film. Because soundtracks create different atmospheres, you can get certain reactions from the audience. For example if a character who everyone loved died and they played a sad soundtrack, the audience would feel sad. Another example is if an antagonist was chasing the protagonist and they used upbeat, intensified, scary music then the audience would fear for the protagonists life.

A conventional soundtrack in a thriller film consists of different elements  to create the perfect music that complements the film. First the music has got to create tension so the speed of the soundtrack should be gradually be getting faster to emphasis the effect the thriller has on the audience. Thriller soundtracks should also be loud and appear sudden to create a reaction from the audience, to make them "jump out of their seats."


In order to create the soundtrack we used a program on the imac's called Garageband. With garageband we were able to create a profesional, conventional soundtrack that works in cohesion with the thriller trailer. The reason why my group used that particular software is because i had experience in using the software so the tools wasnt exactly new to me. Furthermore the software was easier to use and get around better than others such a Logic Pro.





The soundtrack we have created is very similar if not the same to a original conventional thriller film. We have used dynamic sounds to keep the audience engaged with the film. We have also made our soundtrack get more and more louder, intensifying the scene and therefore creating tension which should get a reaction with the audience. We have used both fast paced and slow paced
sound to get different reactions to different scenes of the thriller trailer. One film that inspired our soundtrack was the film "Scream". Scream is a very conventional thriller film that had a typical soundtrack. For example as the antagonist is chasing the victim the pace of the music increases and becomes more intensified, informing the audience that the protagonist is in danger. We chose to create that type of soundtrack because we wanted our thriller soundtrack to represent a typical, conventional thriller film that includes all the elements that create tension and gets reactinos from the audience.

What made our soundtrack effective is that we analysed a lot of soundtracks from different thriller films which means we have gotten a lot of inspiration for our own thriller soundtrack. We made sure that our soundtrack was able to create tension so we got feedback from other groups to make sure we were on the right lines. We included loud dynamic sounds thats would make the audience jump and we  used different paced sounds to get different reactions from the audience.

Conclusion

Overall the soundtrack has helped my group in the production of our thriller film as it is just one of the many micro-elements that help to create a successful thriller film. With the soundtrack included in our thriller film it has helped our thriller film to become more conventional to a typical thriller film.

Planning: final idea Ms Begum

Final Idea

After loads of research in the film franchise and everything that has to be considered when making a thriller film, my group has finally come up with our final idea. Using our analytic skills, we were able to decide what specific cinematography would be perfect for a thriller film. Critically analyzing different scenes and trailers from thriller films and using our creative minds we have be able to come up with two ideas that was merged together to create a narrative conventional to your typical thriller film. In addition to this we have also concluded on what: setting would be appropriate, what iconography would be included, what lighting and colour would complement the thriller opener, what costume would be suitable and what facial expression and body language our characters be using when actually filming the thriller trailer.

Narrative

The initial narrative was going to be built from fellow group member Treys idea but looking again at the three potential ideas we noticed that mine and Trey had similar ideas so we incorporated some of my idea and merged it with his to create our final narrative. The name was somewhat a struggle to come up with the narrative being quiet complicating. So after many names where thrown around we finally came up with A Dinner To Die For.

The actual narrative takes place in the protagonists house because it is a very original to have antagonists to murder their victims in the victims house. Furthermore it is an ordinary environment, it’s not somewhere where you wouldn't expect something dramatic to happen there which adds to the thrill factor. It begins with an ordinary female in her early 20's who has come home from shopping and is getting ready to relax and socialize with her friends on her mobile phone. Oblivious to her surroundings, she is unaware that a man is stalking her from outside her garden. Ready to make his move, the antagonist makes his way through the unlocked back door and is hiding behind the kitchen door where the protagonist is pouring her self a drink. After taking a sip she is then grabbed by the man. struggling for her life she drops the phone and is stabbed in the chest. She ends up falling on the floor and is trying to crawl to safety. she is pushed over by the antagonist and is then stabbed again until shes dead. Now that her body is lifeless the antagonist drags her to a table and sits her on a chair. He then set the table preparing for what looks like a dinner date hence the title of the trailer. He lights a candle and then sits down for a meal with the dead victim. 

The Characters

There are two characters in this trailer. Both at opposite ends of the spectrum.

The antagonist is male, age unknown, is tall and black. These characteristics are to show dominance in any situation. Males are considered more superior than females which is why in thriller films males are almost always considered to play the antagonist. The colours the costume are going to include dark and dull for example black and grey. These are conventional to a thriller film as the antagonist wears dark clothing so they cant be seen by their victims and go give an indication to the audience that he is the evil person. The antagonist body language is going to be tense throughout because of the adrenaline rush he is getting. His facial expression is going to be serious through most of the film until he has finished killing the victim. After that he is much more relaxed almost smug with himself with what he has done. 

The protagonist is female, early 20s, is shorter in comparison to the antagonist. These characteristics are to show their innocence in all this. They have no idea in what is going on so naturally they are in a vulnerable position and also because females are usually portrayed in thriller films as fragile beings that are weaker to men. The costume that they would be wearing would be causal clothes, something that they would go out with, Something that shows the audience that the victim is clueless to the future events. The victim’s facial expression is going to be calm in the beginning as she doesn't know what is going to happen to her, then she is going to show her being scared when she comes into contact with the antagonist and in the end her face should be motionless as she is dead. Her body language should be relaxed and comfortable in the beginning, then tense and struggling in the middle and again at the end motionless.

Sound

Sound is important in films because it is a micro element that provides atmosphere within a scene, and can cause a desired audience response. I believe it is important to think about the sound, especially in thriller films because it can help to build tension within the film, and provide the audience with an understanding of what is going on in the scene, or what to expect. The sound that is going to be used is going to be gradually built up. its starts of slow-paced to tell the audience that everything is normal for now. Then the music is going to pick up and intensify to warn the audience that something is going to happen. And at the point of murder the sound will cut off instantly to leave that effect behind with the audience. 

Mise en Scene


Iconography

Iconography is important when it comes to thriller films because each prop can be used to symbolize something in a thriller film whether it’s to do with the past of a particular character or it could be the signature weapon of an antagonist. Each prop can also tell a short part of a story and can fill in gaps that may have the audience questioning which will help the audience enjoy the film rather than questioning it. The iconography that we will be using is:

• Fake Blood
• Tools/ Knife
• Mobile phone
• Shopping bags
• Glass
• Candle


Lighting and Colour

lighting and colour is really important in a thriller film as it can set the mood of a film and define the genre as well. For example using bright colours would probably define a cheerful comedy whereas dim dull colours may define a horror film. That is why the lighting my group is going to use for our thriller opening is low key lighting. We are going to use this because low key lighting symbolizes anxiousness and creates a scary atmosphere. Furthermore it complements the theme a thriller creates, intensifying the scenery it lights up.  High key lighting is the other lighting we are going to use to illuminate the rooms so the audience is able to see the build-up to the action instead of using low key all the way through and not being able to see the whole thriller opener.


Setting

The setting is really important and really has to be considered when creating the thriller opener. The location is able to set the mood of the story. For example a playground full of children can portray and happy and playful environment or another example, an old, abandoned warehouse can portray an eerie and isolated atmosphere. The settings we have decided to go with is the protagonist house as it is a very original to have antagonists to murder their victims in the victims house. Furthermore it is an ordinary environment, it’s not somewhere where you wouldn't expect something dramatic to happen there which adds to the thrill factor.

Film Influences

• Scream: Scream is one of your typical conventional thriller film. you have your vulnerable teen victim, you have the masked antagonist that reveals nothing and you have the typical iconography that pops up frequently within the opener. It was hard not to be influenced by this film.