1. 1. Idents: When researching conventional idents used within the thriller genre, I found that the idents used most often have the image displayed within a square or rectangle in the centre of the screen, and the title often sliding in from the side. We conformed to this convention whilst creating our first ident in order to ensure that our film is easily recognisable and can be easily identified as a thriller film ident. We found that the purpose of an ident was to effectively introduce both the genre and the film, therefore in order to mirror the thriller genre, our ident included a glowing silhouette running against a black screen. The running silhouette symbolises suspense and fear; two of the main conventions that run throughout the thriller genre. The colour black has many connotations, so the black screen represents negativity and uncertainty
2. Our second ident is unlike any we found whilst researching idents. This ident pans across a sky full of bear, eerey trees. After a few seconds of the trees being shown, our title "CDM PRODUCTIONS" flashes onto the screen. The title font and style was specially selected as we wanted it to stand out and look dramatic; like in idents such as "touchstone pictures" where the text is large and bold and therefore really stands out. Special effects/editing: we used the "slow motion" feature within this ident to add a mysterious, suspenseful effect, we also lowered the brightness and increased the contrast in order to make the ident look extremely dark and unse
3. Props We felt that it would be effective to include an eerey text message in our film, which would be received by a naïve, unsuspecting girl. The text reads "I haven't forgotten what you did", we included this early on in our opening scene in order to introduce the plot and create mystery and suspense for the viewer immediately - we decided to introduce these conventions immediately as we have seen this technique in use throughout thriller films such as limitless (in which both the plot and the suspense commence instantly). This technique works extremely effectively as the viewer is gripped from the outset and eager to find out more - a common expectation when people sit down to watch a thriller film. We thought that it would be effective to include the use of a phone within our film too - after studying props used throughout thriller films, phones were extremely common and were used as a means of communication in order to build the mystery and tension even further. For example, phones were used in popular thriller films such as taken and speed, in which both were used to communicate, we conformed to this technique as we believed it would help to develop conventions within our film whilst adding an interesting addition to the plot. Stereotype: by using a phone, we could also build on the female stereotype: the woman shown within our film appears confused and unsuspecting after opening the text message, portraying her as naïve and ditsy. We decided to conform to this stereotype and convention as we believed that it would suit the character and our storyline to portray the girl as being helpless as it would add further tension to our film and lead the viewer to empathise with her. The phone within this scene is cracked; suggesting impurity and foreshadowing something negative that is yet to come.
4. Location Shot 4 is used to introduce the main location within our film. We decided to introduce the location by having the camera looking down on a helpless girl, struggling to get up off a cold, dirty forest ground. By introducing the scene this way, we automatically portray the negativity and uncertainty within this scene, the distressed girl struggling on the floor conveys negative connotations, the viewer is immediately gripped and wonders why she is there and what could happen next. The camera angle instantly depicts the girl as weak and possibly inferior to something. Many thriller scenes introduce location with this method; by focusing on a single character within the chosen location. Films such as shutter island and flightplan both use this method to introduce a key location. We decided to conform to this method as we thought it was both an effective way to show the location and also helped to portray the character in our desired light too.
5. Shot 5 shows the girl running... running/chase scenes are popular throughout the thriller genre; characters are often shown running from something as it is an effective way to convey danger within the scene and to build tension for the viewer. Throughout a typical thriller running scene, non-diegetic, dramatic music will often be added in order to dramatize the scene even further, we conformed to this and added suspenseful music throughout which really helped to build our desired atmosphere. Our chosen location was perfect for this running scene, we felt that showing a helpless girl running through a deserted, dark forest would immediately build tension and cause the viewer to ask questions such as "what is she running from?".
6. Identity: Shot 6 shows a mysterious pair of hands tied up with rope, we are unsure who these hands belong to - hidden identity is a key convention of the thriller genre, as seen in the title sequence of "seven", in which we see a mysterious pair of jaded hands, they appear foreboding but we are not aware who they belong to, and the face is never revealed. We used this convention however developed it slightly, the identity of the character is hidden at first within this shot of just the hands, however shortly after this shot we reveal her face, thus revealing the hidden identity. Hidden identity is such a key convention within the thriller genre due to its ability to build mystery and suspense; two essential features within the genre.
7. Within this shot, the girl's identity is revealed. However there is still a significant element of puzzle; a key convention that runs throughout the thriller genre. We chose to reveal the girl's identity whilst still holding on to an element of puzzle; the girl's identity has been revealed however the viewer is still left partially in the dark and is left asking questions such as "why is the girl tied up?"
By revealing this girl's identity, this helps to reveal a small part of the plot and helps the viewer to link certain factors together; making the storyline more interesting.
8. Shot 8 shows a close up of a pair of distressed eyes. We thought that this would be an effective shot to convey the panic and chaos that we needed to portray in this part of the scene. Eyes are a part of the body that are known for conveying emotion, therefore we felt that these eyes would effectively represent the mood of both the girl and the atmosphere within the scene. Through my research of the genre, I have found that close up shots of a pair of eyes are popular throughout thriller films and are used to reflect the atmosphere and convey a certain mood. For example, a close up pair of eyes is used in the film "vertigo" during the opening sequence, the eyes are shown with tears falling from them in order to connote a negative, distressed mood. Whilst the eyes are shown, non-diegetic suspenseful music can be heard playing in the background - we used this convention and added a similar kind of suspenseful music to overlap our shot of the character's eyes also.
9. Shot type: we used a close up shot of the character's face partially buried beneath a dirty cloth as a way to finalise this scene. Close up shots are known for their ability to really focus on an object or a character in order to convey a certain mood or emotion. Close up shots are used throughout the thriller genre for this very reason; to convey something important. Whilst researching the thriller genre, I found that films such as taken and defiance used close up shots towards the end of the film in order to draw the plot to a close; we conformed to this technique as an effective way to commence the opening of our film.
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