Question 7.: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Question 7.: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

By Jessica Doran

Camera Skills

In terms of how I have developed my camera skills from my preliminary task to my thriller, there has been an immense improvement. I have developed my understanding of how to apply camera techniques such as shots style and editing techniques in order to both appeal to the style of genre, and appear aesthetically pleasing. For instance, within our thriller 'Death at No. 52', it became imperative to discover different ways of creating suspense, as opposed to using perhaps just one style of shot; we had to vary the ways in which we could develop the conventions of the genre. Whereas previously during the preliminary task where my aim was to use multiple shots to suggest sophistication to the film, filming our thriller became much more of a challenge as to how I could develop both this and enigma. For example; I now understand that by contrasting the shots from high angle to low angle or extreme shot to long shot, I can disorientate my audience more than I can with a mid-shot. In the opening of the thriller, where Maria walks into the room, I specifically used a low angle shot of the two characters feet instead of choosing to use a high angle shot which viewed the whole room. This was for the reason that by simply seeing their feet, you couldn't yet see their faces and in specific, the audience had no idea who The Man in the chair was. This was a prime way of holding suspense and conforming to the unknown aspects of the genre which I hadn't before considered when filming the preliminary task.

CAMERA skills

Additionally, since my preliminary task I have found new ways of using camera within the mise en scene and to use inter-textual references in order to appeal to my target audience. These all added to refining the film, making the concept realistic and the style aesthetically pleasing. For example; we used an artificial single key light throughout the film in order to add to the idea that the setting is somewhere unknown; hence using an artificial single key light to suggest that there is no natural light to be seen. When planning our thriller, the use of inter- textual references in order to create specific conventions of the thriller genre, became imperative when considering camera. Where previously I hadn't considered making references to other films in my preliminary task, making shot references in my thriller film was essential. This was because it referenced successful films or films with a similar plot or concept that our audience would find appealing and be able to identify. Consequently, these shot references also suggested a similar sophistication that of previous thriller films, ensuring that in our case, Psycho, One upon a time in America and Kill Bill (to name a few) fans would perhaps enjoy our own thriller.

Research and Audience Feedback

In comparison to my preliminary task, research for my thriller was particularly essential to then deliver a sophisticated and appealing thriller film to my target audience. To explore what appealed to my target, I used a set of questionnaires. I gave half to my target audience of adults/teenagers 16 25 people who go to the multiplex, and the other half to the exact opposite (people above this age who prefer art-house cinemas such as Cinema City). By doing so, I managed to successfully find out what type of thriller appealed to whom and whether I had hit the right target audience and if not why. In addition to this, as previously said, inter- textual references were a significant factor in engaging the right target audience. Therefore, audience research and thriller research helped to actually personalise and develop the product into something they represented the same style of a thriller. Research into media texts, the background of thrillers and how mise en scene adds to identifying the genre all improved the overall product where with my preliminary task I hadn't included it. Specifically, research on how Hitchcock presents women in his films was a useful way of how we developed our concept, how to challenge it yet still maintain his thriller conventions. I mention the article in my case study of how Marion Crane is represented in comparison to Lisbeth Salander.

Article: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/21/alfred-hitchcock-women-psycho-the-birds-bidisha

Soundtrack

The choice to add a soundtrack to my thriller film was the most significant and beneficial difference between the way I edited my preliminary task to how I have edited my thriller. With soundtrack being an integral way of conforming to not only the genre, but asserting your own concept of the thriller and the intentions of the character, it was essential. As previously said, the soundtrack Ava Maria was able to coincide with our anti-hero Maria to successfully develop conventions of the thriller genre, the soundtrack contrasting purity from corruption. The way in which the operatic sound developed a calm atmosphere over a tense situation conformed to the genre as a means of insanity. Similar to the soundtrack in Heavenly Creatures, the Intermezzo from Puccini's opera "Madam Butterfly". Peter Jackson also uses the operatic, purity of the song to contrast against the deranged girls beating their mother to death. Using the soundtrack as a means of complimenting the concept hadn't stood out to me previously as a way of asserting the genre in the preliminary task. Here, with the additional use of an heavy rock soundtrack at the end, it maintained the idea of Maria not caring, and her anti-hero persona being bloodthirsty and revenge filled.

Heavenly Creatures link death scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1_dBCjnVfQ

Cliffhanger

With the task only to create an opening to a thriller, it was evident from the start that the cliff-hanger would be the most poignant moment in the film. For the purpose that it is what will make your audience want to know more, we felt we needed a shot that was recognisable. This was completely different to the way we did this for our preliminary task which was focussed on how the narrative would create the cliff-hanger. The effect of using a shot as opposed to relying on the narrative, gave our thriller more sophistication to the intended thriller genre with the aspect of the unknown. We used the inter-textual reference of using the extreme close-up shot in Psycho to suggest that The Man is in fact not dead. Then cutting to a shot of Maria leaving the house in order to reveal how she is unaware, and that The Man could escape. I found this a much better technique of not using a script to suggest enigma as opposed to relying on the narrative to inform the audience that you intend to create a cliff-hanger.