Things to improve

We showed our teacher our thriller title sequence so far, and there were some things we need to improve on and changes we need to make:

• Such as more dramatic shots, including distortion and amplified images to convey the tension we want to create and make the audience feel
• Instead of text, we are to use hand-written writing on a whiteboard, in a neat, gothic hand-writing. When we add this to our project, we will add effects over the top, such as a red tint to make it more interesting and to create suspense
• Also, we are short of our time limit, so we need to get more footage to add, which we can do in our own time with our own cameras

These things will hopefully improve our project and bring the grade it's worth at the moment up.

Vertigo TS

Vertigo is an Alfred Hitchcock movie, of which I watched the opening title sequence to:

• Uses CUs of woman's face
• Panning up her face, moving from her lips, to nose, to her eyes and then finally to one of her eyes
• Music is mostly strings, crescendo when text appears, build tension
• Text flies in and fades out, makes a smooth transition between each text
• Text is outlined in white, and is gothic style
• After half a minute, the image changes into a red tint and the text flies in again, but this time out of her eye and flies out, getting bigger
• After this sort of introduction, the text and images change to a black background with bright shapes with white text
• The text changes to block white and it quite gothic and old-fashioned
• Towards end of title sequence, goes back to womans eye and the shape fades into her eye instead of fading out of it

I think this is a good example of a thriller title sequence as it creates and builds tension throughout the whole sequence. The different images and the editing included in the Vertigo title sequence are inspirational and good ideas to try and experiment with in our media project.

Our Thriller TS, editing and text

Instead of using text from a computer, my group and I have decided to have written text on a whiteboard which I will film at home. I have taken into account the gothic, creepy type text and applied it to my own handwriting, which has hopefully come across. I have experimented with light and how the text will appear. I have tried panning the light across the text, so it starts in complete darkness and the light pans across to reveal the text, and I have tries just filming it appearing instantly. I will show the two shots to my group ad we will decide which one is better.

 

Our Thriller TS

In my group, we didn't create a storyboard as our title sequnce doesn't really show our narrative, even though we do have one. Instead, we created a storyboard which shows our inspirations for camera shots and angles, and lighting:

Our storyboard shows the films we got inspiration from and also just some shots we found interesting and maybe want to try filming ourselves to put into our thriller title sequence.

Editing

For our thriller, we are now thinking about editing. For example, we have decided to have each shot fade in and out and have them all black and white. We want our text to be red, to create a striking contrast between the background and the text. We got our inspiration from trailers off Youtube from films like Sinister and The Devil Inside etc...
Here are some screen shots of what sort of font we want to create for our text:

This screen shot shows the letters appearing, we liked this idea.

The gothic type font is the font my group have decided to go for as it is creepy and gets the audience's attention.

Test shots

     In our groups, we have started to film our thriller opening and title sequences. My group are starting to experiment with lighting in different shots. We have focused on creating silhouettes and lots of shadows to convey tension and suspicion for the audience. Low-key lighting is going to be used and we are going to experiment with different camera shots and angles.

Our Thriller Title Sequence

Ideas and Inspiration

For our thriller title sequence, my group and I have decided to do a psychological thriller. We will include lots of shadows and silhouettes to create the tense atmosphere that a thriller creates. The camera shots will we include are CUs, MCUs and some high or low angle shots. Our inspiration comes from films such as:

• Paranormal Activity
• Insidious
• Sinister
• The Woman in Black

These films include lots of shadows and silhouetttes and he music used is very atmospheric and tense, creating that edge-of-your-seat feeling. We would like to create that in our thriller title sequence by using some of the techniques used in these films.

Music

The music we would like to use isn't really music but a soundtrack of a low droning or maybe using silence to make it tense as silence can be very effective. We don't want our music to be over-powering as it would distract from what is happening on the screen.

Editing

We have decided to use slow pace editing to give the audience time to really look at the images on screen. It will be images of shadows and silhouettes because we want to make the audience feel as if there is someone/something always watching you. 

 

Lighting

In our production, we are going to use low-key lighting, as it is common in a thriller as it creates lots of tension and suspense. The low-key lighting will create lots of shadows and silhouettes which is what we want in our thriller.

Creating tension in a Thriller

Cutting:

Cutting scenes can be very important as it can be used to create suspense and tension in a thriller film. Such as when a cut is done between characters to see what each of the characters can see. This technique is used in films such as the 1920's film Nosferatu:






This editing shows that you don't have to film everything and that cutting can create tension.


Music is a very important part in creating tension and suspense in thrillers. The use of instruments such as screeching violins and/or a low droning sound creates this suspense. In Nosferatu, an organ was used, which in the early days of film, was used a lot in thrillers.

Camera sizes such as Close-up/Medium Close-up are used often and sometimes, Extreme Close-up is used. CU/MCU shots shows facial expressions and emotions which is essential in a thriller as it shows how the audience should feel at a particular moment in the film.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991):

The Silence of the Lambs is a very good example of the different techniques used in a thriller:

• Heavy breathing-makes the audience feel scared and feels as if they are actually there.
• POV shot also makes the audience feel as if they are there.
• 'Peaks and Valleys' are used in the film, which is where the music and scene builds up to a peak(crucial point in the film), such as when she opens the door to find the killer but he isn't there, which is a valley (low point in the film).
• Lots of CUs used to show emotion
• There is a scene where the camera is at the POV of the killer and it is dark, the killer is wearing night-vision goggles. This makes the audience feel on the edge-of-the-seat feeling. The thought of not being able to see in the dark is scary but the thought of someone who can see you and you can't see them is even scarier.
• No long shots were used in the extract as they are used more for setting the scene. But LS can be effective if used right. Such as in Nosferatu and for silhouettes.