Graphic Match Alterations

As discussed previously, we initially wanted to use a graphic match of the moon that could dissolve into a pearl on Daisy's necklace. However, we experienced a few ramifications with this technique, and we were forced to abandon the idea. In order to trial the idea, we found a still image of the moon that we used against a midnight blue background in order to act as a dummy run. The trial delivered great results, and therefore we proceeded with this idea and felt we should record real life footage (a house and sky) to add verisimilitude to the scene. However, three days later when we head out to film this seen, adverse weather conditions meant that we were unable to achieve the desired effect. The moon was barely visible due to cloud, so we instead opted to represent time lapsing and show the lighting become gradually darker. We simply placed the camera on the tripod, and filmed Prentice's house from 19:30-20:00. Although we didn't initially plan this, the footage delivered a desirable effect, and when played in conjunction with some horror sound effects, we were able to achieve a trademark thriller/horror effect.

Above shows how filming the house in the evening, and adding colour correction/effects on premier can create a 'haunted' effect that typefies horror/thriller films. As it has been highlighted, dark lighting is imperative in a horror because black/dark light renders some objects in the frame with shadow and obscures parts of the environment - building uncertainty.


The picture above manifests why dark lighting is so effective in thriller/horror films, dark lighting used in conjunction with black clothing/attire (Mise en Scene) has obscured the subject's identity and light is projected from a single source.

Thriller Conventions

Camera

Tracking Shots and Pan Shots are most commonly used in the opening scenes of thrillers, this is to ensure that we engage with a certain character/group of people that are important and relevant to the narrative. The framing used in the shot is also extrremely important as is evident in Se7en and Kill Bill vol. 1 - close ups seem to be extremeley popular amongst these features to capture the intensity of the character's expressions. Long shots are also used frequently to allow the audience to observe the environment in which the action will take place. There are also a vast variety of camera angles used to meet the conventions of thrillers, such as the high angled/low angled shot to represent superiority and inferiority, for example in Terminator to suggest that a character is superior to those around him.

Mise en Scene

Lighting is a key part of a thriller, as it impacts the ambience of the audience and must stay relevant to the themes in the film, for example, in Terminator lighting is reflected off of machinery as robots/androids are a key feature in the film and so they adapt the lighting to the key themes in their feature.

Editing

Jump Cuts are used very freuently throughout thriller films to maintain intrensity, a set of sequential jump cuts often culminate into something important that happens in the narrative. Jump cuts often fill in the audience with events that they are not aware of and therefore retain continuity. Essentially, a jump cut is when two sequential shots are taken of the same subject at pace and from slightly varied angles.

Sound

Non-Diegetic sound is used in every single thriller film, no question. This is because without the use of short sharp sounds that build tension before the scene culminates, there would be no suspense built. However, silence can also be used to build suspense in thrillers: moments before the murder takes place in the famous shower scene in "Psycho" (1960), there is complete silence until the shower curtain is drawn and the murder takes place.

Props

Today was a process of contemplating props to use to create a sense of verisimilitude within our feature, that creates a sense of realism to disturb the audience. We understand that props are essential in building meaning as it forms part of the mise en scene. We decided that a chair was an essential prop, as  the pinnacle of our feature centres on the scene in which Daisy is tied to a chair, portraying a 'damsel in distress' with a sinister twist. We intend to use a chain to anchor Daisy to the chair, fulfilling a sense of verisimilitude - a piece of cloth/string would seem easy to break free from, whereas a chain suggests completely the opposite. It was also suggested that Daisy should wear a pearl necklace (which we plan to use to create a graphic match with the moon) in order to create a clear binary opposition: the white pearl will signify innocence and purity, which contrasts the dark, sinister environment she finds herself surrounded in. As a more subsidiary prop, it seemed appropriate to use a dog lead when shooting the scene in the woods/park to provide the environment with a purpose/reason - we felt this would still be a contributing factor in building a sense of verisimilitude and realism into the narrative. Guns and hammers where thrown into the equation, however, we didn't feel this would create the right ambience when taking into account the title of our production: "Dinner for Two". We had filmed a scene in which Dan places the chair, some rope and a rifle into the room Daisy would be held, however, we felt that since there was no gun shown in our opening scene (revealing Daisy being held as a kidknapp victim), it was pretty irrelevant to include a gun in this scene. We created a relistic design for our chloroform bottle, and glued it around a hairspray can to add realism and verisimilitude, using colours that made it clear to the audience that the substance I was handling was indeed very dangerous.

Above: Our self-made chloroform bottle.

final opening 2 minute sequence

This is our final two minute opening, after weeks of shooting and editing this is our final product. An evaluation will be carried out to assess the good/bad bits of the video and discuss what we would have done differently.

Sounds in Thrillers

Thrillers often use a combination of fast paced compositions combined with sharp music that sends shivers down the spine. For example, the iconic "JAWS" soundtrack is comprised of only two notes alternating very quickly to build suspense and generate a sense of uncertainty. We feel this style of music would benefit our production greatly, as it has proved successful in building suspense. Therein, it is clear that non-diegetic sounds are effective in adhering to the codes and conventions of a thriller: we will be using a combination of short sharp sounds with sounds that seem quite at first, but become faster and louder in conjunction with the events in the scene, eventually culminating.

Alfred Hitchcock's 1960's thriller "Psycho" also manifests why sound effects are so important in contributing to what is on screen: in an iconic shower scene, no music is deployed until seconds before the murder takes place, a series of short sharp high pitched sounds are played in conjunction with the rhythm/pace at which the victim is stabbed. We have employed this technique in our production, as we feel that if we can keep the audience in suspense until the scene climaxes, it more likely the audience will invest a sustained interest in the feature.

Non-Diegetic Sounds are essential in thriller films, it is these sounds that create the ambience required to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. We intend to omit the use of ambient sound, as this refers to sounds in the background such as traffic in a scene filmed on the pavement, whereas we want the audience to assume that the location is obscure and free from interference.

We have obtained our music from a source that provides non copyrighted sounds/audio effects for an array of different genres/topics.

Editing Processes

After collating footage in premiere, I decided to tweak the colour/contrast of the film we had collected in order to make it relevant to our task and maintain some thriller conventions. After cutting the footage using the slice tool, we used the colour and contrast button to lower the brightness to add a sinister tone to the clip, dark lighting is an archetypical feature in any thriller that centres around horror/disturbing themes and so I felt this was adeqaute.

By turning the brightness down but toning the contrast up, we were able to acheive a desirable effect, as we have specifically refrained from adding high key lighting that may come across as vibrant, and mask shadows that contribute to the horror/thriller effect. My research has shown that low key lightning is far more popular in thriller films, as this technique relies on one light source - it may cast light over one object whilst leaving others in darkness/shadows. Although I opted for more low key lighting, I understood that the brightness tool should not be neglected and that it was important to maintain some balance throughout the feature, we didn't want our feature to seem as if it was poor quality. Depicted below is an example of low key lighting.

As is evident, the light is cast from one particular source whilst other objects in the frame are shadowed, this adds a sense of verisimilitude to the feature whilst maintaining the codes and conventions of thriller films. By casting light over one side of an object whilst the other remains in shadow, it creates an ambiguity, an uncertainty that is absolutely essential in a thriller/horror production.

Depicted above: This shows the alterations I made to the brightness/contrast after editing our footage, I also added a hint of blue to the colour balance - again, decreasing the brightness of the shot and applying some typical conventions of thriller films. The blue added to the footage also makes the clip appear less dull and engages with the audience more, whilst the brightness/contrast adds an element of shadow to certain objects in the frame, for example, the chloroform bottle - a key feature of this scene, which is why we felt it was relevant to place emphasis on it.

Title Sequence: First Edit

The first thing we noticed about the first cut of our title sequence is the lack of music/sounds. This makes our title sequence less appealing and fails to create any significant suspense throughout the audience. Since formulating the title sequence we have also agreed that the title enters far to early, and does not give the audience a chance to process the activity in the background. However we feel the distorted background is fitting for a thriller as it is extremely difficult to decipher what is happening in the background, which creates uncertainty and we managed to draw comparisons between our title sequence and the 'SAW'  title sequence. In addition to this, we also feel that the typography does not encapsulate the essential features of a thriller/horror and we feel it is therefore misleading. The sequence is also far too short, it fails to build suspense as it seems rushed and there is a sense of urgency about the sequence. We have recognised there is a correlation between thriller title sequences: they all centre on the theme of distorted and abstract images - as these create an uncertainty that provokes a reaction from the consumer, forcing them to question whats going on, and continuing to watch the feature out of shear curiosity. The colours employed in our title sequence excentuate the themes (codes and conventions) of our selected genre: black, most obviously signifies darkness and impurity, whilst red symbolises danger, caution and blood.