My Two Thriller Ideas

Idea One - Mirror

This thriller film is about a man who has done something terrible in his past and he has never been able to live with it. So now, whenever he looks in the mirror all he can see is a 'demonised' version of his own face and a representation of the bad thing that he has done in the past. The story ends with the man dieing the same way that the subject that he destoryed in the past died after he has been tormented till the end by his own mentality.

Idea Two - Haunting in Hammersmith

The plot for this film revolves around the 'possesion' of a young girl aftrer her and her mother have moved into a new home. The film is about how this innocent youn g girl is tormented by a spirit from beyond the grave everynight whilst she tries to sleep. Eventually towards the end of the film the mother believes the girl after a shocking encounter of her own. The hero of this film is the crazy neighbourgh, who in the end saves the mother and daughter. The reason why there is no father is because he had died to desease the same year the girl was born.

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock is still one of the best ever directors of thriller films and is the master of suspense.



He says that the difference between mystery and suspense is that the answer is never given to the audience with suspense, leaving them angry and frustrated because of all the tension that is built up, whilst with mystery the audience finds out. Despite there being suspense in a mystery the answer is provided, making it less exciting.

Genres & Subgenres

These Are Some Thriller Subgenres



There are three sub-genres of thriller; ‘political thriller’, ‘supernatural thriller’ and ‘crime thriller’. I will now explain to you what you’d typically expect to find in each genre of thriller.

Political/Conspiracy Thriller:

Characters – Government/Federal Characters (possibly as the main protagonists).

-       The ‘victim’ of the conspiracy.

-       The ‘good guys’, who are trying to stop the plan in the film taking place.

Settings – Government Buildings, ‘secret locations’ (caves, van etc), the place where all the action takes place (old house, big old warehouse, etc.)

This type of thriller would contain more action and adventure than the other two sub-genres of thriller.

Examples are ‘Flight 93’ and ‘Flight plan’.

Ending from ‘Flight 93’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3X_KyqGf3w

Supernatural Thriller:

            Characters – Ghosts

-       Zombies

-       Aliens

-       Demons/Devils

-       Vampires

-       Witches

-       Goblins and Trolls

Settings – Shopping mall (large public area), old ‘haunted’ house, New York City, fields/woods, dark cold isolated places where no one can help you.   

Great examples of this type of thriller are ‘I am Legend’ starring Will Smith and ‘Dawn of the Dead’.

I am Legend Trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewpYq9rgg3w

Crime Thriller:

Characters – Police

-       Criminals

-       Victims

Settings – Estate homes, prison, ‘grime’ life of London and other major urban cities. Examples, ‘Kidulthood’, ‘Adulthood’, ‘Shank’.

Kidulthood Trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdoKD4gTQ2c

What is a 'Thriller'?

A thriller is a book or film that is designed to keep the reader or audience on the edge of their seats. Thrillers involve common themes, main ones are tension and suspense. Thrillers are made to create suspense in the audience. In the past many brilliant thriller films have been made in the past. Two of my favourite examples are; ‘The Exorcist’, and ‘The Blair Witch Project.’ In these two films the common characteristics of thriller films are present. The two main ones are shown throughout the whole of both films.

Here is a great example of a 'Thriller':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA&ob=av2n

Analysing A 'Thriller'

THRILLERS

I find a great example of a thriller is, 'The Blair Witch Project'. But within this there is one scene that I believe is the most thrilling. I have found a link on YouTube of the end scene from the film. There are a number of factors that make this ending to a film so chilling.

The Blair Witch Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z66RpatHajQ

The camerawork in this sequence isn't what you'd expect to find in a normal film. This part of the film seems as though it has been filmed on a hand held camera. This makes the scene more 'thrilling' because it gives the audience the impression that they're there in the same situation as the protagonist. Making the audience feel involved with this technique can create a much more chilling atmosphere instead of using a more familar technique such as a 'well edited' shot.

In this sequence there is no music, and there are no non-diegetic sounds. This makes the atmosphere a lot more realistic for the audience because in real life, you don't walk around with an orchestra playing a dramatic song behind you! The only sounds avaliable to the audience are the diegetic sounds to the actor.The diegetic sounds are ones of 'wimpering' and 'crying'. These reflect a dark, negative and scary atmosphere to the audience.

There is very little mise-en-scene or editing required for this scene. The characters props, make-up and the background are very limited. The editing is hardly noticeable. I believe the light may have been tweaked the slightest bit possibly and the quality of the film may have been upgraded, but overall very little in comparison to other thriller films to improve it. I believe the realness of this sequence is what makes it the most terrifying.  

The Wave - German Thriller

There are two types of sound in this sequence; diegetic and non-diegetic. A good example of a non-diegetic sound that builds tension in this clip is the heartbeat sound effect. This sound signifies life and how at any point it can stop. The music is also a very low toned, dark and suspenseful creating a more chilling sequence. The diegetic sounds which the actors can hear do less to make the sequence thrilling however they're all quite 'alarming' and 'distressing' sounds.

The editing of this sequence is in time to the sounds so the storyline seems like it is flowing smoother. The titles that are put into this sequence also change in time with the music, making the moment seem more suspenseful and dramatic.

The mise-en-scene of the film seems very stereotypical of a modern day classroom at first, however the scenery and the lighting becomes darker the this makes the storyline seem more suspenseful. The props that the actors have at times would stereotypically be viewed as 'dangerous' or threatening.

The camerawork. In this sequence it is a mix of wide angled shots and close ups. It is what I would expect to find in a high budget well thought out film. There are also point of view shots where the camera moves or is 'running' with the characters which may be done in order to make the character feel as though they're moving with and part of the film.

Editing My Prelim

Editing My Prelim

When editing the prelim for Media Studies last week, I knew what I was doing for most of the short simple tasks because I had lots of previous experience with Final Cut. I also found however that more could have been done with it than first expect.

Instead of just putting the clips together I also edited the colours of the shots, the sounds and the clarity of the image. I did this to make the film seem a lot more realistic and entertaining to the audience whilst becoming more flowing too!!

Learning to Use Final Cut Pro

I found learning to use Final Cut Pro really easy! I've had previous experience with other kinds of Final Cut so I really knew what I was doing. I love doing the editing not only because we are taught by the master himself Phil, but also because I inspire to be aFilm Director/Editor when I'm older.

I found that some of the techniques I used to editing the short film we were doing could be improved in various different way, especially with the sound. I found that I could do other sound effects to keep it flowing instead of just cross fading it. :)

In my first year of Hurtwood Media Studies I have to learn how to use www.blogger.com. I was new to this site and so the learning process was slow, but after a while the more simple it seemed. I now have a fully completed blog as the picture below shows. I had to create my own account under my e-amil, choose the design that I preferred and finally learn how to create my first blog. 

This is a screenshot of my blogger account. The picture shows that I have successfully completed my blog and am ready to post. 

Recently in Media I was put into a team that consisted of my classmates Chuffy Clarke and Will Barlow. We were given the task of shooting a short sequence that allowed us to use a camera and tripod of one character walking into a room, exchanging words with another and leaving. 


The 180 Degree Rule is where all the shots in the sequence must be taken on one side of an imaginary line that runs between the characters. This rule is used frequently to stop the audience getting a confused perspective on where the characters are standing, or the location of a scene. 


This rule was applied to our sequence for precisely that reason. 

Moving swiftly on with my Media Studies course learning how to use a camera and a tripod became essential.


The Camera


The camera has many different functions that need to be looked at carefully before you can start shooting a project.
Key elements include
- White Balance
- The Focus
- Aperture 
- How you frame your shot

This is the type of camera we use in Hurtwood House Media Studies.

The Tripod


The tripod is a lot simpler to set up than the camera. Some main elements for the tripod are: 
- How to balance the tripod. You do this by - 'bubbling it.' Making sure the bubble is in the centre of the circle. 
- How to put the camera onto the tripod without it dropping or being damaged. 
- How to loosen and tighten the movement of the tripod. 
- How to handle it correctly. 
- Fold it away and put it up.

This is an example of the kind of tripod that we are using to shoot with at school.