Our Moving Image Product - 'Beyond Reflection'

Research Into Existing Thriller Films

Initial Ideas and decisions and what we chose to do:

We were interested in Creating a film with the Supernatural thriller genre, unlike other genres, it allows audience to interact well because they are 'trapped' in a dark cinema with strangers and cannot see anything else. We linked this Uses and gatrisfcations theroy, because an audience can identity with character in perial and escape into their world, safe in their own knowlegde that they can walk out of the cinema and be safe.


Theoretical Influences:

We also looked at the ideas of Syd Field (www.SydField.com), in particular his ideas of the setup, that the first three or four minutes should really engage the audience into the ideas and genre features that they will enjoy characteristic of the thriller genre.

In our case, we set out to realise this through the chilling, sinister and unnerving use of non-diegetic sound, combined with the idea of a female in peril and the constant, increasingly haunting shots of mirrors and of the full moon.


Primary Research Into Existing Media Products:

Considering that we are creating a thriller/horror film opening, we decided to familiarise ourselves with a range of existing films in this genre. Certain codes and conventions are embedded into each film such as: lighting, sound, location and props, all of which feed into the fabric that makes a horror or thriller film recognisable as such. Therefore, by analysing existing thriller/horror films, we will be able to make a more effective and informed decisions on our product, enabling an audience to immediately recognise the genre of the film.In order to make an effective product and inform decision makinm we decided to research a wide range of successful similar products over the last 35years.



Detailed textual analysis of the opening sequence of The Ring - (2002, Gore Verbinski):

Detailed textual analysis of the opening sequence of The Shining:

The opening sequence of the film The Shining shows an aerial shot of a vast landscape which is seemingly unpopulated. The camera moves at a fast pace, switching into a dissolve in which the images cross over one another. In addition, the non-diegetic musical score is dominated by the strident sound of a trumpet, contributing to the creation of a tense and an uncomfortable atmosphere for the audience, in keeping with the generic conventions of the thriller genre. After surveying the landscape, we see a lone vehicle driving along the road, the bleak isolation of the location making the audience share the feeling of remoteness to make them uncomfortable. The atmosphere of unease is reinforced when the camera overtakes the car, which is done to make the audience feel out of control and on edge. The fact that the opening sequence was an overview of a forest area could also suggest the spooky and supernatural natural of the extract, as traditionally in folklore myths, this terrain is associated with the supernatural. The audience feel a sense of foreboding because of the lone car, small and vulnerable in the midst of such a vast, desolate land, this atmosphere enhanced further by the sound of the eerie electronic score.

Throughout the sequence, the viewer is not given the chance to identify with any character to form a bond, which is achieved through the avoidance of close-ups. Additionally, maintaining this detached, distant perspective could suggest the occupants of the car are escaping from something, this is evident with the dislocated shots of various aspects of the landscape, suggesting shifts in time to indicate that their journey is long and a desperate escape.

In conclusion, from the outset, the opening scene of this film is very effective as an example of establishing the generic conventions of a thriller by creating a supernatural and menacing atmosphere which plays on the viewers' nerves, particularly through the use of sound, camera and mis-en-scene.



Detailed textual analysis of the opening sequence of Underworld:



The opening scene of the film Underworld begins with the non-diegetic sound of thunder and rain which uneases the audience and acts as a form of pathetic fallacy, creating a sense of foreboding and impending evil to the audience. It is immediately followed by a flurry of bats flying in front of the camera, an iconographic conventional associated with supernatural and evil. The opening events begin to unfold as the camera drifts slowly to a image of a mysterious character standing on a balcony ledge accompanied by the sound of a slow, deep tone voice-over which begins to relay the narrative to the audience.


The camera cuts to the building in which the character had been located, the building also conforms to the sense of mystery in that it is seen as an ascent with huge symbols and markings on it. The camera then presents a left-side framing of the character, encouraging the audience to question what they are seeing to imply that there is something more to this character and reinforce the uneasy atmosphere.


High-angled, long shots of the public portray them to be tiny and insignificant in contrast with our mysterious character who is shown positioning the audience at a low angle to indicate that she is powerful and in control.


Emotive phrases such as the imperative "Hunt them down and kill them all" is effective in presenting the atmosphere of brutality, conveying to the viewer how intense the film will be and suggesting a lot of violent action. The sequence is edited to achieve continuity which creates the sense of verisimilitude making the situation seem more naturalistic and lifelike, despite the menacing content.


In conclusion, by deploying methods such as non-diegetic sound and pathetic fallacy, the opening sequence of the film Underworld creates an atmosphere of unease and fear for the viewer, anticipating the level of viciousness in the action that follows, therefore making the opening successful in how it exploits the conventions of supernatural thriller.



Detailed textual analysis of the opening sequence of The Others:

The film opens with the title 'Dimension films presents' to create institutional prestige. Suddenly, without warning, the screen cuts to all black and the audience hear a female voice to whom it is not at first known she is speaking, using the conventional story-telling opening of ''Now children are you sitting comfortably then I'll begin''. This is given an insidious, scary twist through its collocation with the black screen, making it mysterious, haunting and ominous, which reinforces the supernatural effect.

Simple pencil drawings appear on the screen suggesting the telling of a little story within the story. It is significant in creating a mood of unease that the situation in this story does not look very happy either. The spine-tingling atmosphere is augmented by the non-diegetic musical score, combining the agitating slow wail of a high-pitched violin playing with the tinkling of high-pitched piano keys. Whilst the plainly drawn, dark, abstruce and confusing drawings continue to evolve, reshape and present themselves, the accompanying score gets louder and quickens in pace, building up an increasingly sinister effect on the viewer, in keeping with the sense of terror characteristic of the genre.

All of a sudden, the audience is shocked as it goes completely quiet, showing a wide shot of a house with trees, very blurry and misty so that not much can be observed clearly to lull the audience who concentrate on watching the screen into a false security, which is suddenly broken by an extreme close-up of a woman's face which pops up screaming, giving the audience a big shock.

It is effective that this opening sequence does not reveal the specific details of the narrative, whilst providing a possible interpretation which will have an even greater effect on the audience retrospectively, fully exploiting the effect of suspense and surprise integral to the supernatural thriller genre.



Detailed textual analysis of the opening sequence of White Noise:



The supernatural thriller White Noise begins with a list of facts and information about deaths and unexplained disasters that have occurred in America. Immediately, in a series of fast cuts, the screen then switches to show symbols of evil and death to suggest that the deaths and disasters are both linked in some sinister way. This is effective in presenting the theme of death and evil to create a sense of foreboding in the viewer about how the story will continue.


The next scene establishes the setting and dynamics of the characters in the film. The audience are shown a family in a suburban setting, connoting that the family are affluent and wealthy. However, the underlying subtle use of non-diagetic sound in the background creates an atmosphere of unease, suggesting that an impending evil is always present. This is followed by the mother character being shown suffering a migraine when she kisses her husband, connoting that something may be evil within their relationship.


The next scene is a fast-paced sequence showing a restaurant in a busy area. In the initial shot, the restaurant building takes up the majority of the shot, which could be a suggestion that this building is an important location in the film in its presentation of the theme of the supernatural. We then see a dark mysterious character entering the restaurant, dressed in black to suggest that he evil, the colour black being a generic convention connoting evil and death. Additionally, he is framed to the right of the screen, reinforcing the suggestion that he is a mysterious character, keeping out of view as he has something to hide.


Inside the restaurant, we see the family sitting down eating, conveying a sense of realism and portraying conventional family values to the audience. Suddenly, the mother and son both suffer a panic attack which disturbs the previously harmonious scene. Accelerating the sense of horror, we then see the dark mysterious character approach both mother and son and, for no apparent reason, shoot them dead, whilst the father watches on helplessly. In terms of generic stereotypes, this is an effective way of subverting the conventional role of men being strong, masculine and the protector of the vulnerable, not least their wife and child. The dark character then turns the gun on himself and, addressing the father, announces "I'm so sorry" before shooting himself dead. This statement raises in the minds of the audience the possibility that he is not killing them of his own free will.


To conclude, the opening sequence to the film White Noise is effective in presenting a normal everday family in a realistic setting that may not be as normal as it first appears, making the audience anticipate the unraveling of secrets and underling evil that possibly dwells within.



Detailed textual analysis of the opening sequence of The Return:



The opening sequence deploys a point of view shot from what appears to be underneath a car, giving the audience the sense of being dangerously close to the road, with the only light being that from the car headlights, set against the surrounding blackness, telling us it is night. By positioning the audience in such an alarming viewpoint, this shot creates an unsettling and disturbing atmosphere. We then hear a male voiceover singing a song ' I wish I was a mole in the ground', followed by the playful response by a little girl, implying that it is his daughter.

Next we are shown what their destination was, a fairground, which conventionally is representative of fun and games. However, the way the camera is slowly circling the little girl and then follows her into the fairground, using a tracking shot, connotes that something bad is about to happen, creating an ominous, sinister feel. We then hear a man whisper 'Sunshine', but we don't see his face, just the little girl's alarmed reaction to this, which adds suspense.


A point of view shot is used as the little girl looks desperately around the fairground, trying to locate the man whose voice she heard. The camera slowly settles on a shot of a man in the shadows, which adds to the sense of threat as we cannot see him clearly. His costume, comprising denim jacket and jeans, both of which give him a shabby and dishevelled appearance, suggesting he is dangerous, causing the audience to fear for the little girl's safety. This cuts to a shot of her reaction as he starts to walk closer towards and witness how she panics, running and hiding underneath a table.


Suddenly thecamera switches to a point of view shot of the girl's perspective looking out from underneath the table cloth. All that can be seen is the man's feet approaching. Putting the audience in the position of the girl is effective in making us identify with her sense of terror. The man's feet are shown getting closer and closer, building up a sense of imminent danger. The accompanying non-diegetic musical score comprising dramatic piano chords adds to the tension, a sound track feature that is characteristic of the conventions of the thriller genre.

Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task we decided to set up a confrontation between two male protagonists, in this case a student and a teacher. We were able to match the camera and sound techniques to create  meaning for the audience. We planned the preliminary task quite carefully before starting,  storyboarding our ideas systematically to ensure the narrative was coherent. In readiness for our filming agenda, we considered the merits of different sorts of camera shots, for instance, using low angle shots connoting sense of power.  We then created a shooting schedule, allowing for actor availablity and room availability, enabling us to film in a linear sequence, which reduced continuity issues at the editing stage. The practical process of filming went quite smoothly due to all the aformentioned planning. We also decided to keep dialogue to a minimum, the thinking behind this being that a story must be told visually.

Our story-line was a child getting kicked out of class and sent to the head-teacher, who then rang his parents. We kept to the narrative of our storyboard; however we made some slight changes to our script as we were unable to hear the mumbling complaint as the student character exits the classroom, changing it to 'God's sake man'.

We included techniques like match-on-action, when Dammy walks through the door, shot/reverse shot using the 180 degree rule, which worked particularly well in the conversation between Mr Hull and Dammy to highlight the power dynamics. We set it in a school because we were able to use it as the perfect mis-en-scène; it was also a location which met our objectives of time efficiency and practicality.

The following lesson we began the editing process of the footage we had recorded for our preliminary task. Using the Mac computer we learnt how to use the editing program, Final Cut. One of our key editing objectives was to ensure continuity. Additionally, it was important to make sure it all made sense, in order to create a sense of realism. We carefully marked the 'ins' and 'outs' at the precise spot on the footage in order to achieve this.This is why our decision to film in a chronological linear order was advantageous, as it made the editing phase more efficient.

We experimented with titling and settled on an informal front, to allow the audience opportunity to identify with the student.  We then did the titles, writing our names over the opening scene so it would more interesting than the more usual fade-in from black. Finally, it was uploaded onto YouTube and hyperlinked to our blog for our class to peruse and provide feedback.

The task allowed us to use a range of equipment and learn how the choice of shot and sound can really impose meaning on the audience. We also had to consider 'reception analysis' as we wanted to our target audience to identify with either the teacher or student, depending on their point of view.   

In conclusion, we believe our preliminary task was extremely successful. Everyone in the group focused on a different area to utilise our time effectively. Although I was also involved in all areas, editing was my priority focal point. We were very conscious of the need to edit for continuity, using the editing system Final Cut, which would give our film a sense of realism. We adhered to the brief we were given. The footage of our final edit flowed smoothly, with no surprising cuts and within a relatively short sequence, we deployed a wide range of filmic techniques.

Plot summary

The initial establishing shot shows Legjenda who is walking home from school.  A quick cut then shows an image of the full moon. There is no need for us to show her arriving at or getting into the house.

The second interior shot will be of her in the downstairs bathroom brushing her teeth. As she is brushing her teeth, the reflection of her face will remain in the mirror; however the protagonist does not see this, it is only visible to the audience.

Legjenda then goes upstairs into her room and lies down in her bed. The camera retreats downstairs back into the bathroom where the light is still on. The same reflection seen earlier is bizarrely still in the mirror. It then emerges out of the two-dimensional mirror and moves towards the camera.

The reflection is then shown moving up the stairs into Legjenda's bedroom. The camera cuts to Legjenda who is lying in bed with the lamp on, her eyes closed. She suddenly opens her eyes and looks around. The camera quickly shifts and zooms into the lamp, which fades into an image of the full moon as seen earlier.

Storyboard

Storyboard:

This is a moving image of our storyboard which we created in pre-production. It clearly establishes the chronological order in which the events in our film Beyond Relaxation take place .

We constantly referred back to our storyboard to remind ourselves of the various shots and angles we had selcected for in our film and to discuss the most effective ways of realising our plans.

Moon research

During our collaborative planning, we felt strongly that having a real shot of the moon for our opening would make our supernatural thriller seem more naturalistic.

We researched when there was going to be a full moon and determined that this would occur at 2:40am on March 11th, necessitating us to have to stay up and record this shot. Although this would be a slight inconvenience, aesthetically we were unanimously resolved to having this shot edited into our film because it would be effective in achieving a spooky, supernatural feel, in keeping with our chosen genre.

Location and costume research

Research - Location, Costume And Film Trailer Influences:

Last weekend, our group met up at Porcester Library to create the storyboard for our film which will help us work out which shot we will be using and when. See storyboard blog for fuller detail.

Location:

We then went to Dammy's house to check if it was suitable for our filming. When we got there, we realised that there was a problem with not having a bathroom downstairs which was required for many of the shots. Another obstacle was that the mirror was not right in front of the sink in the bathroom. Not least, it would be quite far to travel back and forth for filming. Consequently, we decided to change location, selecting Legjenda's house which was much more conveniently located and therefore was much closer for travelling purposes. There was much more space to deploy different camera angles and the stairs leading up to a bedroom were in a position we could use to our advantage to film different shots. The mirror was in front on the sink which was essential for the camera not to be seen. Lastly, for our exterior shots, the area would be relatively quiet at night.

Costume:

The costume design for the one female role was crucial to establish her character in an economical way appropriate for a short sequence. In the exterior shots, Legjenda will wear trousers with a black coat and scarf, together with high heeled shoes which will be worn to make a clicking noise while walking. This gives us the potential to diegetically enhance the sound of her steps to add a sinister effect. For the interior shots in her house, Legjenda will be wearing pink pyjamas, which will make the scene more realistic and therefore add to the ominous impact of the supernatural effects.

Research Influences - Mirrors Trailer:












In the trailer for the film Mirrors, there is a moment at approximately 33 seconds into it where the camera swiftly moves forwards into the darkness. This shot is quite similar to the one we use in our supernatural thriller where the scary, supernatural Legjenda, the reflection of Legjenda from the mirror, walks up the stairs in the dark. Although our idea was inspired by Mirrors, we made it our own by having the camera move up the stairs instead of straight along. Another difference is that our film Beyond Reflection is a bit darker in mood, in keeping with the sense of foreboding of the supernatural genre.

A key moment of our narrative arose from our idea of having the charater Legjenda's reflection still in the mirror after she has gone away. I think in Beyond Reflection, this effect works very well. However, were we to film it again, I feel it would have looked more supernatural if the audience could see a bit of the shoulder moving away in order to make it look more realistic.