Evaluation Activity 1

The Title of the Film

Like most films, we went straight into the action of the opening and left the title until towards the end. This was to create tension and suspense for the audience which generates interest, so they have something to watch as soon as they get into the cinema screen.

Setting/Location

When we thought about location we didn't want to use a forest setting which is typical of student thriller films. There aren't many thrillers set on the beach so we have challenged the setting conventions of the genre in that sense. We thought a bit of variation on setting would be a refreshing twist in the story and enabled us to capture some really effective shots like in the above `screen capture.

Costumes and Props

Our main character's costume was just an ordinary white blouse and black skirt with black tights, regulation uniform for many waitresses in various restaurants. This used the conventions of the thriller genre as the antagonist in many thriller films appears to be just an ordinary person at first.

We didn't use any props at all in our opening, as we were trying to develop the conventions of the genre to a certain extent. 99% of thriller films will contain guns and weapons but we wanted to create a mystery about how Jenny's character inflicted the horrible wound on her victim,  making it more frightening in a way as people are generally scared of the unknown.

Camerawork and Editing 

When we were editing the thriller we wanted to allow the audience to differentiate between timing of the main character in the bath and the flashbacks she is having. We did this by subtly editing the effect on the shots in post-production. We used a posterised effect for the bath shots and then played around with the lighting and colour correction tools on Pinnacle for the flashbacks. This creates a sense of timing without being too harsh (e.g. shooting flashbacks in black and white - we wanted to show the red blood and eyes etc).

We used a head shot for the bath shots because the effect of Jenny's hair in the water was very effective and it showed her surroundings and where she was. Our original idea was to have Jenny put her head under the water and then open her eyes but this proved difficult so we abandoned that idea. In hindsight it would have worked really well if we had used an extreme close up of Jenny's eyes opening and would be something we'll think about when filming for future projects.

Title Font and Style

We used different fonts for the opening credits and the title of the film. This is because when we watched films when doing research for this project we noticed that they are always different. This is to add to the impact and drama of seeing the title for the first time. Instead of keeping the font the same we added a few similarities to tie the two together so they didn't look mismatched. We kept the colours the same (simple black) and faded the edges around the lettering (this looked more professional than blunt edges).

We also continued to use the same font for the film title as when we created the teaser poster which is a stencil type font. Stencilled lettering has connotations with prison and crime which suits the genre of the film.

Story and How The Opening Sets It Up

The main aim of our opening was to introduce the main character - played by Jenny.

Rachel Hunter is a seemingly ordinary girl working as a waitress who was left by her mother at a young age. Through time the stress and heartbreak of the rejection wore her down and caused her to invent a new personality - a serial killer.
Our opening successfully introduces Rachel to the audience whilst still retaining an air of mystery and not giving much away - a common trait in thrillers. Nothing is explained, not even her clothes (although people may guess her occupation from her costume), creating an enigma which would hopefully have the audience glued to their seats and wanting to watch on.

Genre and How The Opening Suggests It

We used fake blood all the way through our opening scene and edited the colours in post-production to make it look more realistic. The screen shot above is of Emily's 'severed arm' and bloody hand. Blood and gore is a common theme in thriller/horrors and we used the conventions of thrillers in this aspect of genre. Although we wanted to be different we had to conform to some of the conventions so the audience knows what it is they are watching.

How Characters Are Introduced

In a way Jenny's character is introduced twice, once as the sane Rachel Hunter in the bath and once as her psycho personality (pictured). This order follows the conventions of most thrillers, as you will almost always be introduced to the victim first, then the villain (e.g. Scream). Rachel is in a way her own victim, as she doesn't realise she's doing these things, she just sees them as elaborate nightmares. When the audience is introduced to the antagonistic personality, they don't see her whole body at first, only her legs. This is also a typical trait of a thriller: to keep the people guessing for a few seconds longer. Another film which follows the same patterns as ours is Scream. The audience is introduced to Drew Barrymore's victim character at first and then to the villain, but you don't see who it is as he is speaking to her on the phone.

We are introduced to Emily's unknown character with this shot. The makeup is effective, and the fact that the shot is a close up of just her arm will create an enigma in the minds of the audience members. "Who is this person? Why did they die? How?"

This way of introducing a character goes against thriller conventions as mostly you are introduced to the victim when they are alive and then you witness their death.