This is our initial idea for our opening sequence, although we have not finalized what we want to do.
Thrillers typically use a lot of diegetic sound. Noise like bangs and screams build up tension in the film, as the audience can tell that something is happening. Rain, for example, connotes sadness, but slow rain could mean a long wait or tension. Thunder can also be used to show the mood of the scene, and creates a scarier atmosphere. Thrillers also use non-diegetic music, such as a crescendo building up to something and fast music to create suspense. We plan on using music that only one character and the audience can hear, but the rest of the characters cannot hear the music. We will show the character reacting to the music, but have wide shots showing the rest of the people in the playground are continuing to play as if nothing has happened. The main problem may be that the audience will non understand that only the one character can hear the music. If we had other people in the park we could show them not reacting to the music, as they couldn't hear it. However we planned on filming with no one in the park, to create the sense of him being alone. To us, it is more important that the audience understand he is alone, than them understanding that only he can hear the music. We had it so that he can only hear the music to add to the mystery of our piece, but if the audience don't realise that that is the case, it is ok, as it is not vital to the storyline.
Today we did a theory lesson on different types of narrative. Narrative is the way that the story has been told which can be structured in three different ways.
The first structure is circular, this is when the beginning is the same as the end. This structure involves flashbacks which are common in thrillers. The next structure is episodic, this is when there are little episodes which show the characters life. An example of this would be Forrest Gump. The last structure is Linear, this is common with most films and it doesn't involve any flashbacks. As a group we discussed which structure we would like to include in our film. We originally had some ideas of including flashbacks in our thriller opening scene so we have decided to use the circular narrative.
Detention is a Comedy Thriller about a murderer who dresses up as a character from the fictional film "Cinderhella" and tries to kill the main character. In the opening scene, Taylor Fisher, the school "bitch" is getting ready for school and showing us her guide to not being a total reject. At the end of the scene, Cinderhella murders her.
After, the scene cuts to a wide shot/birds eye shot with writing on the screen. The fact that we have an acronym of the word "bitch" tells us immediately that this is a comedy film. In the mise en scene, most of the surroundings are pink which connotes femininity and a young female. The camera then pans up to show the poster of the band she is talking about that is above her head. The poster contrasts in the mise en scene because while most other objects are pink, the poster is dark and gloomy. Now we have the shot switching and is seen panning down to the alarm, and she is seen hitting the alarm. Most of the surround colours are purple and pink and again connotes young femininity.
The opening of a film is supposed to draw the audience in without giving too much of the story line away. They usually have tense music to get the audience in the right mood for the film. They usually create suspense and uncertainty. Many Thrillers use flashbacks and sometimes these are used in the opening sequence. They sometimes show a person or object that will haunt the character throughout the film. They have to be interesting and grab the audiences attention so that they will continue watching.
Codes and conventions of a horror are objects like a knife, which is featured in Psycho. The connotations of a knife are violence, murder, aggression and death. Another code and convention of horror films is blood. The connotations of blood are death and violence. Another code and convention which we will be definitely using are children's toys like a swing and teddy bear which connotes lost and innocence.
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