We used a GoPro to film all of our thriller because it allowed us to film in 1080p which is much better quality than the cameras given to us by the College and colours will be much more vibrant when needed and the scenes where we filmed at night should be much crisper. The specific model is a GoPro Hero 3+ with a variety of accessories, for example a waterproof case, extendable arm, chest mount and tripod. These allowed us to film using a variety of camera angles and movements which the normal cameras could not achieve.
Being able to use the GoPro in the sea was very important as we could create a sequence of POV shots under the surface of the water and then bring the camera above it to create the effect of drowning. Also, a wave crahses into the camera and then fades to black to emphasise the end of the sequence which couldn't of been done with a normal camera. These scenes make our thriller opening sequence unique compared with the other groups and the ocean theme is popular in many thriller films for example Jaws (see setting inspiration) which is explained in a different post.
We have used a variety of themes, props and costume from other thriller films to insure that our opening sequence is as good as it can be and our audience are going to enjoy it. By doing this, our thriller opening scene looks more professional and more people are going to want to watch it. Firstly, we used the coast as one of our two main settings which is surprisingly common in thriller films. For example, in Inception, the main protagonist washes up on the beach out of no where showing how the ocean is mysterious and uncontrollable. Also, it shows the edge of land and if you look out to sea, you can see nothing. This links to how it is mysterious but it could be argued that the ocean is a force out of our control and it cannot be tamed. Another reason we used the coast was because it is common in thrillers to have a dead body wash up on the beach and we attempted to replicate part of this by having our victim thrown into the sea.
Another film which uses the ocean as a main setting is Shutter Island but this is due to it enclosing the characters and trapping them onto the island with no escape. The high cliffs and large waves are seen with long shots out to sea showing how there is no escape and no life around. By showing the waves lapping over the camera and it then dipping under waves, our audience feel the same entrapment as the camera angle could be a POV of the victim drowning. Also, a long shot pans across the beach showing the high cliffs and this makes the audience feel scared as they are much taller than the characters, trapping them in with no escape due to the sea being on one side and the cliffs being on the other.
The last thriller film which encouraged us to use the coast and mainly the sea as a setting was the film Jaws, made in 1975. Basing parts of our thriller around older, classic thrillers widens our audience and classic thrillers such as Jaws and Psycho contain very different, simplified themes compared to the modern thriller films. Also, they are filmed in a very different way which is interesting as it allows the audience to compare these films of different times. In Jaws, the antagonist is a shark which is non-stereotypical yet works very well as you never really fully see it yet the audience can sense its presence due to factors such as sound and lighting. But more specifically, they have used the ocean as a main theme as the antagonist is hidden in it linking to how there are hidden dangers and evil things lurking below the surface. In our thriller, we have attempted to give the ocean connotations of mystery and incredible power as the victim is drowning on show to the audience who can do nothing about it. One of the scenes in Jaws shows loads of children running out of the sea as someone has been bitten by a shark. The audience feel the urge to help all of the struggling children who could die however it is physically possible.
Inspiration: This is the soundtrack we created for our thriller opening sequence which was influenced by music from Batman the Dark Knight composed by Hans Zimmer. We used Garageband to compose what we believe is a typical thriller backing track. We based it on the Bank Heist music from The Dark Knight because it was a very eery and added tension to the scene in certain areas. For example, the camera zooms to a glass building and the audience are expecting something to happen and then one of the windows smashes. Even, when you watch it again you are trying to locate the right window. My music is very similar throughout, as different sounds have been combined to create a constant droning with some added sci-fi themed noises to break the tension. The soundtrack is the only sound that is apparent in my film and this makes it very effective as there is a party going on, however the music is very tense and mysterious to foreshadow evil and death.
Other sound effects including the car boot slam and the waves at the beach were also done on Garageband. We found lots of different sounds which fitted into our opening sequence and then applied them. It allows the audience to feel like they are more engrossed in the sequence and due to the non-existent dialogue, these new sound effects are a welcome break from the backing track. For example, the tension is broken when the boot is slammed shut and the antagonist walks away, which is the first time you see his face fully. Also, the addition of the sounds from the coast add to the realism of the sequence as the audience think it is more believeable. Use of sound:
Non-diegetic sound is important in our thriller opening sequence because it builds tension throughout the duration of the scenes with added emphasis on specific shots which are more important than others. For example, when the boot shuts on the victim there is a deep echoing 'thump' that conveys the protagonists entrapment. Also, another use of emphasis is the medium shot where shadows are used to denote the victims capture. It sounds similar to water being sucked away as the antagonist approaches the victim and this adds tension to the scene, meaning the audience know that it is important to the storyline. Then, after the credits have appeared, a sudden distorted synth sounds which is quite unnerving as the audience see the victim drop below the surface of the water for a final time conveying her death and the end of the sequence.
Diegetic sound is also important in our thriller due to it being significant sounds which the characters can hear. A good example of this is the noise of the sea which is paramount to the rest of the title sequence. Secondly, the tension is at its highest point during the POV shot of the victim drowning amongst the waves because it shows her struggle and the fact that the audience are unsure if she is dead or not. Furthermore, the music ends abruptly presenting the disturbance of the equilibrium and her possible death.
In addition to primary data which I collected and analysed from my questionnaire analysis and research I have also decided to do some secondary research on the BFI regarding the Thriller genre. This research is collected from the BFI website statistical data. This is a use of secondary data to see which films genres are most popular as recorded by the BFI themselves. Going first of all by gender I have fount from the BFI's statistics that "A wide range of genres appealed to women, whereas action films, comedies and thrillers were popular with men". Therefore this suggests that for a thriller movie opening it would pay off to be more male orientated since it is one of the top 3 most popular genres for males. In Figure 11.4 it shows you the overall breakdown for the percentage of sales collected by each genre as a whole. The most popular genres (as expected) are Action/ Adventure, Comedy and Dramas with over 60% of the total sales for 2013. Thriller is the 5th most popular genre in the table with 8.3% of sales in terms of movies released for that year. My second screenshot in Figure 4.1 we are looking at specifically 'films in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre' (2013) gross by the box office. In this table thriller and thriller movies are ranked much lower than the sales breakdown. Most popular films in this instance were animation films (Despicable Me 2) making £246.6 million that year. For the UK box office thrillers were ranked place 12 with a gross profit of £29.1 million and the top performing film as Prisoners. This is because genres such as animation, action and comedies have alot more appeal to the younger and family groups, they are a much more 'all round' genre which everyone will enjoy as oppose to the thriller genre which is stereotypically more of a masculine genre.
Screenshot from the point at which the audience can see the figure of the murderer in the shower curtain.
Most noticeable is the effective use of non-deigetic sound for this scene i.e. the backing track which characters cannot hear. To begin with the sound is calm and in a state of equilibrium when the woman is writing a letter. This then starts to change and distort when she enters the shower, it continues to change as the viewer can begin to see the shadow of the murderer in the shower curtain. The sound completely changes when the curtain opens and villain is shown, it goes to a sharp high pitched striking sound, it is the audio representation of the knife which the murderer is using. The use of this non-diegetic sound is to keep the audience in suspense for the whole scene making them feel unsettled and convey a sense of disequilibrium (Todorov's Narrative Theory). Once the murderer had killed the victim and left the apartment the music then begins to return to the original state of equilibrium as the tension has passed. Since there is no dialogue in the scene the clip relies totally on sounds & it's famous backing track.
The use of the weapon (knife) adds to the effect of the scene. With it being a manual weapon it gives more effect to the scene by adding suspense, 'will the character manage to fight back?' It also gives us the silhouette of the murder from when he opens the shower curtain, shocking the audience, this would not have the same dramatic climax if the weapon of choice was a gun.
Close up shot of the villain, his face is hidden in the shadows to add mystery to the scene.
There is also a use of black and white to connotate who is good and evil. It is clear from the use of shadows who is the villain character (according to Propp's Character Types). It is clear from the scene that the woman is the victim. Even when he pulls the shower curtain you cannot see his true identity as his face is hidden from the light, by doing this is gives him an element of mystery, it allows the viewers to be held in suspense as to who he could be.
Close up shot typically used to convey emotion of the character.
The use of camera angles is additionally a key aspect of the scene. The use of the high angle of the woman when she is in the shower signifies her as the victim. A high angle shot is used to make the character in view appear vulnerable, it can also foreshadow that there will be a disturbance of the narrative. The other camera angle which is significant is towards the end of the scene where there is a use of an extreme close up as the camera then pans away to show her face. This use of a close up is to convey emotion (i.e. fear) to the audience, it suggests to them that the character is dead without actually saying or showing any gore.
