Research into target audience - Miss Miller

My research was carried out to help me and my group understand more about what the audience enjoys and what they want to see within a thriller film. It helped us figure out what is useful to have in our film sequence in order to get the audience interested. We carried out our questionnaire on 40 different people to get a good variety of opinions and interests, so that our results give a wide range of the audiences preferences. Our results are going to help us decide on the main codes and conventions that we are going to use, and what elements can boost in our narrative to make out opening sequence even more effective and exciting. Below is the questionnaire we used in our research and a few examples of the results we got through vox pops.








My Vox pops included a few of the people I interviewed for my questionnaire, I made them so that I could give an example of the whole questioning process. They also allow the viewer to see the full answer from the participants especially of the open questions that we gave them to elaborate on so that we could get a good detailed answer on questions that needed to be explained. The Vox pops are also evidence that I researched my questions and is a record of some results we collected.

Questionnaire

Q1:  What is your gender?  Male    Female

Q2:  How old are you?      11-14      15-18      19-22      23+

Q3: What is your favourite thriller film and why?  

Se7en     Shutter Island       Fight club        The Shining        Zodiac       Other

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Q4: What is your favourite thriller subgenre?    Psychological    Action   Crime    Other      

Q5: What gender do you prefer your victims to be?    Male    Female

Q6: What do you like about thriller films?

Hidden Identities     Victims     Suspense     Shock    Surprise    Other

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Q7: Where do you prefer your thrillers to be set?    Rural    Urban   Space    Creepy houses    Creepy forests

Q8: Do you prefer gory thrillers?    Yes    No

Q9: What’s your favourite type of murder weapon and why?

Knife     Axe     Gun     Rope    Other

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Q10: Do you prefer the antagonist’s identity to be secret?     Yes     No 

The first question we asked was the gender of the participants, we asked this so that we could get an idea about the differences between males and females, like and dislikes in a thriller film. From this question we do not get and particular ideas for our film but it did help us improve on the target audiences desires as the other questions showed us which gender prefers what. 55% of the participants we asked were male and 45% were female this show that men were more willing to take about thriller and therefore could possibly enjoy them more.

Finding out the age of the participants was useful in a similar way to the gender as it helped us understand which ages preferred too see what in the thriller films. It helped us to decided which conventions to use that would be most effective with out target audience and which would intrigue them the most. Over all the most people to fill out our questionnaire were aged 23+ (shown in purple) but there wasn't much difference between them and the participants over 14. The age group 11-14 (shown in blue) had the least amount of participants. we took this on board and have aimed our target audience to be 15+ as it is targeting the most appropriate ages who will want to watch our film.

In our questionnaire we asked which was the participants favourites film out of a list we chose. We asked this so that we could get a feel of which theme they liked and what they preferred the narrative to be based on. From the research into this question it is clear that the 'Fighter Club' was the most popular (shown in green) and in second was 'Shutter Island (shown in red). Both of these films have a strange narrative where the characters have some sort of mental weakness, and an unknown element about the antagonist. This helped my group and I decided on how we wanted to show the antagonist and that we wanted him to be mysterious by not giving much away to the audience. We asked why they liked their chosen film so that we could incorporate their opinions in with the rest of our information.

As well as asking the audience to select a certain film we also asked them to select their favourite sub-genre. This was so that we could analyse what other elements they like to have in the narrative as well as the thriller side. The sub genres they could choose are listed above, the most popular was the psychological, 45% of the audience selected this as their preferred sub genre. From this we chose to have a psychological section in the narrative to gain more interest from the audience, we did this so that they would be more intrigued and the film would be more effective and particular to what they want to see.

The next question was about the victim, we asked if they preferred to see a male or female victim in the thriller films they watch. Most of the audience said they preferred to have a female victim rather and a male victim which only got 15%. We presumed we was going to be using a female victim because we thought it would be the most effective, the stereotypical female in a thriller film is weak and an easy target for the antagonist so we are going to stick with that so that our film follows the codes and conventions.

Codes and conventions were also asked about in our questionnaire, we asked the audience what they liked about thriller films from the list above and why they enjoyed it. The most popular answers were shock and victims. One of the participants said she enjoys being shocked because "it excites" her, this showed us how the audience feel about some elements in film, which helped us understand what they like and want to see in a thriller. We associated some of the ideas from our results in with ours so that our opening sequence was intriguing and effective.

In the research we also asked which setting they preferred the thriller to be located out the list above. The abandoned house option was the most chosen (shown in green) meaning the audience like to have the film set in an unknown mysterious place which and possibly isolated and deserted. The results from this question are one of the most useful because deciding on the location or setting a film is the most important part if it isn't right the whole film could be much less effective and scary. Although Abandoned houses was the most popular we chose the second most which was abandoned forest, we thought we could use a forest better with our narrative and it would also be easy for us to make.

One of the short questions was "do you enjoy gory thrillers". This is a simple closed questions which they could answer with yes or no. We asked this to find out if the audience liked to see blood and gore in the film or whether they like it to be covered and clean. 70% of the participants liked to see gore whilst watching a thriller, they liked to see lost of blood and violence. In our opening sequence our victim get kidnapped so because of these result we have decided to make it very brutal and violent. Having the gore and disturbance in out film will intrigue the audience to watch on as they like having that element within a thriller film.

One of the open questions asked was about the murder weapons used in a thriller genre. We asked "what is your favourite type of murder and why?" they participants had a list to chose from which they could then elaborate one. We asked this particular question so that we could get an idea about the smaller detail in the film and what they liked to see. The top three were axe, knife and gun, the most seen murder weapons used. One of the participants said that she liked to see a knife being used because it is "exciting, quick and powerful". Having the answers so tight together made it hard to decide on what we were going to use because all three were popular and conventional, we chose to go with a knife in the end because we thought it was the most stereotypical of a thriller film, which would make ours even more conventional and exciting.

The last questions was "Do you like the antagonist to have a hidden identity.", the was another simple closed question which they could answer with yes or no. my group asked this so that we could see what the audience like about the antagonists involvement with the film. It showed us whether they like them to be more unpredictable and unknown or whether they like to see who they are and what they are like. 90% of the audience like the antagonist to have a hidden identity so that it leaves them with more mystery and suspense. So we chose to have the antagonist hidden, we want them to be unpredictable, so that tension is built for the audience.

My research was helpful when planning the groups opening sequence it helped us decide on sections of our film some minor details and some important. For example it helped us decide on the murder weapon we wanted to use and on he gender of the victim, another would be the identity of the antagonists and how we wanted the audience see them. All of these are codes and conventions that need to be considered and decided on carefully. The research helped us understand what the audience prefer to see not just what is stereotypical, it let us see what they wanted and what their preferences were. We will involve the results in with our ideas to make our film the best it can be, we are going to use some of the information we collected to make our film what they audience want and to help us decide on assets which are important to the narrative and effects of the film. If we could carry out or research again I would changed some the questions so the audience would have to think in more depth about the small details of the film that could be more effective, so that we could make ours more emotional and relatable for the target audience.

Group narrative - Miss Georgiou

I am going to be working with Charlie Stewart and Ryan Samuels to make a thriller opening sequence.

Me - The opening sequence for this narrative would be of the friends walking through the forest, when their friend goes missing and getting the text from the antagonist, the focus would go back and forth from the characters and pictures of the chalk circles and weapons, that could possibly be used. The credits would be written in text font like the phone to show some of the narrative about the antagonist sends them messages. The rules could be being read out so that the audience are aware straight away that there is some sort of game involved.
      Advantages - It builds up suspense which is a main convention of thriller,  it has a good understanding of what is needed to make a thriller film to build the right emotions. This is good because the audience are allowed to relate to the characters and their situtations.
      Disadvantages - Its brief and needs more information about what is happening in the scene. It could be in more depth so that the story line include more details about how it ends or what leads up to the ending.

Ryan Samuels - Boy and a girl are having a lunch picnic. Girl comments on how glad she is that the boy forgave her for the terrible thing she did. Boy looks away and we see that he looks menacing. Cut to flashback of the boy walking to the edge of the platform at a train station, about to jump but deciding not to at the last minute. Cut back to the present, the boy's girlfriend asks him to pass her the apple juice. Then we see the hamper and as the boy moves the apple juice we see a knife. Boy grabs it, screen fades to black, girl screams.
     Advantages - Easy to produce and the audience can understand the antagonist clearly. Although it is simple is shows good uses of the stereotypical shock and surprise that we want to build. This narrative would be easy to work because the portrayal of emotions are simple.
     Disadvantages - But this narrative doesn't build much tension or show many conventions of a thriller. It is brief and has been rushed, the codes and conventions need to be work on in order to make this film a thriller as it is not partially scary and it doesn't create enough emotion.

Charlie Stewart - For my thriller film I am going to be base it around a wife who is in a room on her own. The audience see her facial expressions seem depressed at the beginning and she hears noises outside of the room that she is in. The woman opens the door to investigate the noise but doesn't see anything so as she sits back down she sees a silhouette of someone standing there. Then it cuts to black as he walks in the door, we hear struggling noises and then finally silence. Then we see a silhouette walk out then the camera pans to the woman's desk and we see blood all over it.
     Advantages - good narrative, and good use of conventional thriller elements. This narrative leaves a strong enigma and has been given the right emotions, it builds shock, suspense and surprise. This would be good for our group narrtive because it is extremly conventional.
     Disadvantages - This narrative would be hard to make it has so much detail which would need to be change in order to make it possible. It could have a bit more detailed plot so that we understand how it's ends and how the woman came to be alone.

                                                        Group narrative

We are going to be using my idea for the opening sequence but are going to be changing some parts. We are going to be using the same base narrative but instead of having it from the view of the friend group we are going to be haveing it from the perspective of the victim when they are kidnapped, to make create more symapthy from the audience. The game element is also going to be removed so that we can focus more on the victim being taken, it would also be to much to fit into the opening sequence.  The audience and the character will not know much about the who the antagonist is or their intentions so that the audience are intrigued to find out more in the rest of the film. Our new, changed narrative is about a group of girls on their way home through the forest, when they come too a spilt path. One of the girls has to leave the group and go a different route, but as she goes out of sight from her friends she sees an unknown figure. But as she turns away she realises that is was not a real person in front of her and that there is a man standing behind her. She gets so panicked and blacks out, as she wakes up she is being dragged though the forest by the mysterious man. This is where the sequence ends it leaves suspense and a need to know whats going to happen. We all agreed that this narrative is soemthing we could create and that it build the right feel for a thriller opening sequence. The changes we have made have given the narrative has made it to a much high standard, linking it in with more conventions and emtions needed when watching a thriller film.
    
Our group have decided that it follows the Todorov theory, this is when the narrative has a equilibrium and a disequillibrum to put the antagonist and protagonist into full action in the film, to prove who they are. Our film isnt following the normal schedule of Todorov's theory because the disequilibrium comes first as the audience can see at the beginning that the charcter is in a bad situation and needs help. We have chosen this theory because it allows the audience to see clearly what the characters are doing and how the narrative goes. It shows the issues in the film and how they are resolved by giving a clear image of the disequilibrium and equilibrium for the audience to follow.

Individual narrative ideas - Miss Georgiou

Narrative is this most important part of a film because it is what the whole film is based on. The film is built around the narrative linking in with it and showing it in the most effective way. with out a narrative the film would be confusing and unprofessional.

My idea for a thriller narrative is about a group of friends on the way back from a house party late at night, they come to a circular opening made from trees in the forest and then one of them get taken by the antagonist so their friends try and find them. They get a text from the him with an address and saying that this is where their friend is. when they go to house it is a big, old three story house which looks scary from the outside. When they enter the front door a voice over starts saying "welcome to the circle" and say rules about the game. They try and find there friend and search all over the house. In each room theres is a chalk circle drawn with different murder elements inside them. At the end they find their friend but are confused about what to do next. The voice over starts again saying that now they have their friend they need to go back to original circle, none of them know what this is and go back through each room in the house trying to find it but one by one they get killed. The last friend ends up running away, and lands himself in the forest opening from the beginning of the film. he looks up in panic and sees the circular opening from the trees. then gets a text form the Antagonist saying they have found the original circle and therefore have won the game.
   The opening sequence for this narrative would be of the friends walking through the forest, when there friend goes missing and getting the text from the antagonist, the focus would go back and forth from the characters and pictures of the chalk circles and weapons, that could possible be used. The credits would be written in text font like the phone to show some of the narrative about the antagonist sending them messages. The rules could be being read out so that the audience are aware straight away that there is some sort of game involved.
   The conventions of this narrative would be the victims and weapons used in each room as the friends are searching the house. The lighting would be low key to create more mystery and suspense, and the characters are going to be normal teenagers having fun, to show there vulnerability and innocence. All of these assets are good to have within a thriller film to make it more effective, the audience know how to react to these things as they are expected to be seen in the genre, the conventions are important to have as they build to narrative to make it more effective and intense. They target audience would be ages 15 + I have chosen this age because there will not be a lot of violence but it will scary and not appropriate for any younger ages, the will be blood and gore involved which could disturb younger people.

I will share this information with my groups but explain he game which characters are in and what they have to do. I will explain that the game is called 'The Circle' and how the antagonist captures one of the friends. I will explain my ideas to the group and how the opening sequence could be planned out without giving to much information away about the film, but allowing some understanding of the narrative to be invovled.

Inspirations - Miss Georgiou

To plan a thriller film you need to have inspirations in order to create a successful product, inspirations can be taken from anything within the thriller genre, it could be a book or film.

Shutter Island

My first inspiration is from the Shutter island sequence which was watched in class, I was focused on the non diegetic sound used of Leonardo Dicaprios heart beating. The Shutter island clip was a very tense scene when Leo had to walk past the cells in the dark not knowing if anyone was in them, he was on his own and potentially vulnerable. The sound of his heart beat was one of the only sounds used in this section in the film it stood out against the silence and made the tension build as it changed pace to with his reactions. I want to use a sound like this in my film to help with the suspense needed. The way the sound was used was effective to the characters feelings and made the audience feel what he was feeling , I want to use a sound like this in my film to give the same effect and let the audience relate to the way the characters are feeling. I am going to use a non diegetic sound like this for example a dripping tap or wind, so that the temp can be built along with the suspense. My idea for my own opening sequence was to have heavy breathing whilst the victim is running away, this will emphasise that the character is feeeling panic. This is similar to the Shutter island clip because they both allow the audience to understand what the audience is going through.

Scream

Another technique that has inspired me is the iconography used in the 'scream' sequence which we also watched in class. The section we saw was leading up to the victims murder as she is cooking the kitchen and talking to the antagonist on the phone. As she is standing in the kitchen she starts fiddling with a large sharp cooking knife, this shows a macro meaning that it could possibly be used against her and resulting in suspense building for the audience. I want to have something like this in my work that teases the audience, I want to show the murder weapon before it is used to build tension for the audience in order for the shock of the murder to be even more effective. It has helped me plan how i am going to portray my iconography to the audience and it has shown me how to foreshadow things in a ways that help my film build shock suspense and surprise. In my opening sequence i am going to do this by have the antagonist standing with the knife in his hand so that the audience can see he is a threat to whoever is being targeted.

Also in the 'scream' clip we watch in class i saw an editing technique that i thought was inspiring to have in a thriller film, and that i want to include in mine this was slow editing.  For most of the clip slow editing was used, I thought that it built the correct conventional emotions for example tension and worry which i need in my opening sequence in order to make it exciting for the audience. I think this editing would be good to have when my victim being stalked by the antagonist because it builds suspense for the audience about the outcome of the scene. Having slow editing makes the lead up to the murder more thrilling and scary which results in the assult of the victim being dramatic and exciting.

Scream 2

For my research into cinematography I watched a clip from scream 2. In this I had to analyse the different movements, angles and positions that are used. In the clip the camera is used to allow the audience to relate and make the characters conventional. One of the element I thought was most effective in the sequence was a shallow focus used on the two main characters. I think having one character blurred out highlights a less hopeful future, and being in focus means they are being targeted or are powerful. In my opening sequence I am thinking of using this on my victim, by having her blurred and the antagonist focussed. The aim of having this it to make it clear that she is the easy target of evil and that she is a vulnerable character. It would also be good to portray the antagonist as the stereotypical mysterious character who is powerful and a threat the others in the film. I want this shallow focus in my opening sequence because it allows me to create the right personaltiy of the characters to make the audience aware of their aims and futures. 

Mama

I also found an inspiration from my Mise-en-scene research of Mama. Throughout the whole of the sequence I watched, the lighting was low key, I think this is the best type of lighting to have in a thriller film, it is conventional and creates emotions needed to make it effective. In the Mama clip it was inspiring because it related to the emotions I want to create in my work, and it was used extremely well. I want to have low key lighting through all of my film so that it mysterious and builds the suspense in order for my characters and their situations to be intriguing. The darkness of the opening sequence will make the suspense and build, add to the shock and surprise elements in order to leave the audience with an enigma. My idea for my film was to have the setting in a forest just as it is getting dark so that the lighing is low but main figures and shadows are still visible.

In my research about the different micro elements, conventions and target audience I found lots of inspiring assets which I would like to incorporate into my film. I found lots of different ways to portray characters for example with the cinematography you can use it to explain their positions with other characters and they can foreshadow their future. I also found out lots of ways to create emotions for the audience and to allow them to relate for example the non diegetic sound of Leos heart beating in the shutter island sequence, this showed my how sound can be used to build tension and suspense. All of these well extremely helpful when gaining ideas for my narrative, the research gave me inspiration for all different categories of the a film creation. These have improved my narrative by adding to the effectives needed in order to make the film conventional, for example how the characters are represented and how the future of the film is foreshadowed.

Research into conventions - Miss Miller

The conventions a thriller film are what they audience expect to see in the film, the are all things that link in with the genre and match the theme of the film. Conventions can be anything from and particular scene to the camera angle. It could be lighting or the narrative involved with the film. some very popular conventions of a thriller film is having a victim or having a mysterious character, the antagonist. All the codes and conventions help make the film even more effective and they add to the emotions trying to be made for the audience. the clip i have chosen to analyse is a sequence from Dont be afraid of the dark, i have chosen it because it has lots of conventional elements that i can research into.

Sally is the main victim in the clip and as she is female it makes her conventional to the genre because there is always normally a female victim within a thriller film. The audience can see that she is the victim of the film immediately as she is against the ground and a point of view shot shows her vision is slightly blurred, and that she has just woken up, this shows that she could have been hurt by the antagonist. The fact that she is female is because women are seen as vulnerable and innocent which makes them an easy target for the antagonist. Sally is already weak from her previous injuries caused and which mean she is now an even better target as she cannot fight back to her full strength, it creates sympathy for her and knowledge that she is in danger. The audience can tell that she is in trouble and the stereotypical female victim that needs help. The suspense builds through this section of the clip because the audience know she is weak and the antagonist is at an advantage, they are waiting for the actions to take place. The female victim is conventional because using a female is more effective than a male, they are less able to fight for themselves and they usually need saving, the women not being as strong as the men creates more tension because the audience know they have less chance of suing in the film.

The next convention is also as character, this time it is the antagonist's. In my chosen film they are creatures not people, they unknown animals that the family hasn't seen before or know anything about. There isn't just one of them there are over one hundred, they are the size of a rat and look very dirty and feral, they have lots of sharp teeth and have some human like features. In thriller films the antagonist can be human or creature of some kind but they always very secret and no one understand a lot about them. In this case they are unknown animals who could potentially be dangerous. The audience bcome wary of the straight away as they havnt seen them before, but they also what to find out what they are going to do. These characters are conventional because they are stereotypical, they are unknown, mysterious animals, these two thing are what the audience like to see because it build suspense about what they are capable and it build up to a possible surprise.

The slow editing in the sequence is used to let the audience relate to Sally's emotions. The camera shots last for longer than the average sequence and they don't change as often, in this case it is used when Sally is walking down the hallway trying to find Kim and her dad. She know that the creatures are in the house and that they only come out in the dark to she is aware that they are normally out at the time that she is wondering around. The editing is slow here to show Sally's slow movements and her precaution as she searches for them. The audience can see that she is going as slow and quiet as possible because she is scared of what has happened to them and what could happen to her. This slow editing allows the audience to feel what Sally is feeling and how nervous she is about the surroundings in the house. The slow editing is conventional because it emphasises Sally's anxiety by using the same movements she does, the fact the tension is built because of her nervousness make it typical of the thiller genre.

The lighting is also conventional in my chosen sequence because it adds to the main effects that are wanted to make it realistic. The lighting is low key the colours used are dark browns and blacks to create shadows and mystery. The dark lighting helps add to the tension because it makes it harder for the audience to see what could be hidden in the shadows, it makes them nervous for the characters and the wary of the antagonists actions. The low lighting is a convention to a thriller film, it adds to emotions needed to make the it effective and it is typical to have the colours dark and mysterious to help build the suspense that the audience want. Low key lighting is conventional because the emotions it creates and adds to, the mystery and suspense build on the shock and surprise element of the film which give the audience the stereotypical feelings needed to make it scary and thrilling.

The sounds used are also seen as a covention of a thriller because they add to the actions in films. The sound used in 'don't be afraid of the dark' that stood out was when Sally and Kim are being smothered in the antagonists, Sally screams as the image goes black. The scream is powerful because it shows the fear she feeling in a very dramatic way so that it is clear she is scared and in danger. The audience worry for her well being as the scream allows them to know she is upset, they feel sympathetic for her and link her into being the victim. It is conventional to have a victim and as this particular sound elaborates on her fear it gives the typical sound of panik and distress normally included with in a thriller film.

My research of the conventions of the thriller genre has helped my understand what make the film scary and what makes tension build. It has showed me what the stereotypical elements of a thriller film are and what would be useful to have mine. I now know how to create the shock, suspense and surprise needed to create the realistic thriller that the audience want to see. I have found out that lots of things can be conventional not just props and characters but the micro elements used to edit the shots. I intend to use lots of thriller conventions to make my film more realistic for the audience and to engage them by allowing them to relate with the characters and situations.          

Opening sequence analysis - Miss Georgiou

                                       How does the opening sequence of the thriller film
                       halloween, inform the audience of the conventions of the thriller film

The purpose of an opening sequence is to introduce the narrative to the audience and the type of thriller genre it is, for example a crime thriller. The opening sequence also normally introduces the antagonist in the film, it can foreshadow what the rest of the film it going to be about or who the victims may be. It should include credits and clues about the rest of the film, it shouldn't give to much away about the film, but it should still intrigue the audience to continue watching. Cinematography, sound, editing and mise-en-scene should be used in the opening sequence to make the small amount of information given away more effective.

Cinematography is used effectively throughout the Halloween sequence, it involves various angles, movements and positions to make the audience react to the film. An example of a cinematography element is the zoom out  movement at the end of the clip. When the antagonist leaves the house he is greeted by his parents who removes his mask, as it shows Michaels face and that he is just child the camera backs away from him. This shows his threat to the other characters and that the audience should be cauious of him. This Zooming out shows surprise and shock of the audience, that he is not an adult instead someone so young and fragile they do not expect that he could murder his own sister.  In this section the camera is also positioned at a high angle looking down on the house as it zooms out. This shows the audience Michaels innocence even the he is killed his sister he is still a young boy who is scared about what he has done. It could also show his parents possible danger as they are in the shot too, it could portray them vulnerable to his next actions, or foreshadow that they could be in danger later on in the film. The is also a point of view shot (P.O.V) which is through Michaels eyes. This is when he puts on the mask and begins to walk up the stairs, The audience can see though the eyes cut out of the mask and they can see what the characters sees as he is moving round the house. The audience can feel part of the character because they are seeing his P.O.V, they almost feel asif they are in the film making it more realistic. All of these examples relate to how the audience as they add to the emotions already being created, the zooming out adds the shock and surprise off Michaels hidden identity being revealed. The high angle allows the audience to relate to micheals innocence, but they are still aware that he is dangerous and unpredictable. And the last cinematography that demonstrates emotions is the P.O.V of Micheal it gives the audience and insight of what Michael is feeling, they can understand his movements asif the were actulaly him.

Another micro element which adds to the effctiveness of the thriller genre is the editing, its about how the camera shots change on to the next and the pace at which they move. The Halloween sequence uses the editing techniques extremly well they make the audience understand the fillm in more depth. One of the styles used is slow editing this means the shots last for longer before changing onto the next on and so on, it keeps doing this continuosly to create slow editing. The is used when the antagonist his making his way up the stairs, the shots dont change often to show the pace of Michael whislt he is on his way too kill his sister. The slow editing being placed here prolongs the sequence just at the right time to let the suspense build and make the normally boring part of someone walking up the stair actually useful and effctive. This is so that the audiecne can see how descreat Michael is trying to be when he is preparing to murder, it shows his slow walking and sly movements. Another editing element used effectively is a reaction shot. This is when he shot changes to emphasise an important part of the film or one of the characters actions or their reaction. The audience can see the reaction shot when Michaels mask is take of by his parents out in the front garden and the camera starts to zoom out. This used here to show the shock when the antagonists identity is revealed. His parents are shocked to see that is Michael under the mask and that he has the bloody knife in his hand, it also is there to show the audiences shock when they find out it is him. As they learn that it is Michael who has killed his sister the camera change to zoom out from Michael and his parents. It makes the moment more intense and makes the shock even more dramatic for the audience. The tempo also increase in parts of the film, which could be known as a timing shot because it gets faster. One time the audience see this is when the antagonist is trying to escape from the murder scene, he start to make his way the front door after he has killed his sister,. During this scene the tempo builds and everything gets bit faster to show his panic when he is trying to get out of the house. The editing technique creates excitement for the audience as they want to see what happens when Michael gets out of the house, they want to know what happens next. All of the editing techniques build the suspense, shock and surprise with in the opening sequence they all make the audience feel more involved with characters and how they are feeling. The editing styles make the emotions more intense and they emphasise on the actions taking place in the film.

Sound is also used in the opening sequence to show the emotions throughout. The sound can the in the film world or out of the film world e.g. music. The first sound right at the beginning of the sequence is off screen sound , which means the audience cannot see the source of the sound. There is faint kids laughter when the house is being zoomed in on. The is off screen sound because there are no children to be seen in the shot, they are not visible to the audience so therefore are off screen. This sound informs the audience the  possible age of the antagonist as he is the main focus at this throughout the sequence. The antagonist much be very young in contrast to the typical thriller antagonist. This make the audience intrigued into what he is going to do and why he is watching his sister though the window. The other effective sound technique used is then silence, it used when Michael is watching through the window at his sister and her boyfriend, it is very quiet and slow. There is very little sound at all to make the scene more eery and unpredictable, it emphasises the antagonists stalking and his hidden identity.  The silence hooks the audience into watching the rest of the film as they want to find out who the antagonist , it cause suspense for them as they are intrigued about the outcome of Michaels actions. Diegetic sound and parallel sound are also used in the Halloween sequence, which means the sound is in the film world and is expected to be heard by audience an example would be car engine, the car would be visible and the audience relate the sound to the object, making it diegetic and parallel. These sounds are heard when Michael stabs his sister the knife is heard when it hits her. The knife is being seen so it makes it diegetic and the fact that the antagonist placed on front of the victim the audience automatically assume that it is going to be used so the expect to hear the knife stabbing her. These sounds are used to emphasise on the antagonists sister being injured, it make the situations actions more obvious to the audience even through they do  not see the knife getting her they can hear that it has. The sound of her getting stabbed makes the audience feel sympathetic for and makes them want her to be okay. The different sounds are effective because they add to the actions in film, they intensify the reactions of the sound and make the shock surprise and suspense effective and strong.

Representations of characters are important in a thriller film to make the narrative more exciting. There are two characters in the opening sequence which make the film more effective when they audience are watching, they are Michael and his sister. Michael is the antagonist with the stereotypical hidden identity, he is drees in a fancy dress  clown outfit with the mask on. Having the antagonist with a hidden identity and the shot through his P.O.V makes the audience want to find out who they are, he remains a secret until the end of the scene to make it more dramatic when he gets revealed. It creates an enigma for the whole opening sequence and a shock when the audience find out that it was Michael who killed his sister. The audience are shocked to find out that a little boy is capable of killing his own sister and it makes them want to find out why he did it and what his consequences will be. They other character of Michaels sister is good to having in film as she represents the stereotypical female victim. Having a female as a victim is stereotypical especially as she is blonde, these assets both show the innocence and weakness of the character, the male usually meant to rescue them woman as he is powerful and she weaker.o having her as the victim allows the audience relate to her position with other film that have stereotypical characters. The representations of both these characters suspense as they can predict that they victim os going to be killed and they will surprised how the identity of the antagonist. They can feel the suspense and tension being built and expect bad things to happen and shcok them.

The narrative of the opening sequence shows that it is based on the night halloween. Halloween is based on costumes and evil, which relates to the thriller genre because of the hidden identities, antagonist, evil and murder. The opening sequence shows the murder of the Michaels sister and and his costume relating hime to the night the film is set on. The audience immediately expect for something bad to happen involving  the halloween theme. The murder narrative is stereotypical for films genre, there is normally some sort of killing in a thriller film to show the power of the antagonist. The murder of Michaels sister gives the opening sequence a element of shock. As the sequence ends in surprise it make the audience excited to continue watching the film, they want to find out what happens in the rest of the film. Halloween has a target audience of 18+ because of the gore of the murder and the death, which could be harmful to anyone of a younger age. There is also nudity involved when Michael walks into his sister room she is naked, so ages younger are not aloud to view the film. The audience watching the film should expect it to be intense, they will feel tension throughout the opening sequence because they know what sort of things are going to happen. The narratives are the most important part of the film because it is what the whole film based on an built around, it needs to be effective and easy for the audience to relate to.

The opening sequence for Halloween informs the audience of the conventions of thrillers through all the different elements i researched in the film, editing, cinematography, sound, representations of characters, narrative and conventions. They all show different conventional assets of the film by using stereotypical thing such as a death in the narrative or the female victim character. Informs the audience by having lots of conventions linking in with the 6 different sections i analysed.

All the sections i analysed are used to emphasise on the three main emotions needed to be created when making a thriller film Shock, Suspense and Surprise. These three are needed to make the film more effective for the audience and to make situations more intense. I am going to be using the same sort of conventions in my thriller film to create the emotions it needs to be effective, i want to have the stereotypical female victim and the hidden identity of the antagonist to make my film intense and to make the suspense and tension build. If i achieve this the audience will want to continue to watch and find out what the rest of the film has in store. The halloween sequence has given me some inspirations about what i am going to use in my film to make it effective and conventional. I am going to be using non diegetic sound, like music which builds tempo so that that tension is increased. I am also going to use slow editing so that some sections are prolonged to cause suspense. The analysis has helped me to plan my thriller by showing me what actually makes the film realistic and what adds shock suspense and surprise. It has helped me understand what assets are needed to actually make the film look professional and what lets the target audience relate to the film.