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.