Thriller Evaluation – Tom Kemp
The typical genre of a thriller gives the audience thrills and keeps viewers on 'the edge of their seats' this is due to the building of a climax of main characters being put in a menacing place of mystery.
The plots of thrillers involve characters which are being conflicted by other people or which is sometimes shown as abstract or shadowy. Once the character realises they are a victim an escapeor a dangerous mission seems impossible as their life is being threatened by an antagonist which is sometimes knowingly or unknowingly.
In our thriller our conventions do not directly indicate what sub-genre our thriller is as we used horror conventions e.g. murder, however, it is shown as a thriller as we don't include blood and gore as this is what you would tend to see in horror films, and we did not want to confuse our audience about the genre of our opening film.
Our thriller incorporates many generic conventions such as; the blind man walking alone this creates a sense of vulnerability. Also, the cutting out of newspaper images by the antagonist shows the obsession of killing. Another of our scenes which incorporates generic conventions by the antagonist posing with the weapon which can kill, this also highlights the weapon may be used again, a close up shot portrays this. Similarly we produced a shot of blind peoples sticks to show that there had been previous victims. This indicates that the killer is likely to strike again. Sharpening of the knife signifies that the antagonist is preparing for the weapon to be used, this scene also created a good diagetic sound from the knife being sharpened. Finally, the shot of the driver leaving in the darkness and getting closer to the victim is a classic generic convention as it creates suspense and mystery. We had this dark shot in a deserted area as darkness can be related to danger and crime. A long shot of the car was used when the car was driving down a rural country road in the dark to portray that the antagonist is on his way to the victim.
The thriller we produced challenged some of our conventions as we amplified some of them, for example: the drawing of the knife followed by the sharpening of the knife gives the impression that the weapon is going to be used. We also used a nursery rhyme that is traditionally thought to be cheery and innocent as they are normally sung by young children the nursery rhyme was 'three blind mice' but we juxtaposed this stereotypical image by using it in a sinister way to hint that the victim could be in danger. After listening to the soundtrack we thought it would be more effective to add minor keys as it creates a menacing sound which could add suspense to our thriller.
In our thriller our conventions do not directly indicate what sub-genre our thriller is as we used horror conventions e.g. murder, however, it is shown as a thriller as we don't include blood and gore as this is what you would tend to see in horror films, and we did not want to confuse our audience about the genre of our Opening film.
One of our conventions which was the cutting up of the newspaper pictures and placing them in a book was influenced by the film 'seven' with the hands putting a file together, diary book, pictures. We used this as we believed it showed strong obsession for the antagonist to kill and by only seeing the antagonists hands in an extreme close up shot it creates tension as you do not see the identity of the potential killer. We got this inspiration from the film 'seven' as you do not see the antagonists identity in that either.
Gender isn't necessarily being shown in a stereotypical way as they both male, however, the antagonist is dominant over the victim as he has a disability which also makes him more vulnerable and can be easily targeted. However, gender is represented in a stereotypical way as we chose the antagonist to be a male as generally they have more strength which would enable them to carry out this attack.
Due to the age of actors we used in our film we believe it would be suitable for young people over the age of fifteen. Due to the certificate rating I feel older people would also be interested in our thriller. Females may find this thriller to be quite scary therefore we expect that more males would watch it as generally males enjoy action clips.
Our thriller could potentially be produced by major Hollywood studios, 'see how they run' has been particularly influenced by the Hollywood film 'seven', seeing as this was an extremely successful thriller this may imply that our film could be popular as well. Our thriller would be a one off production as the way we planned the story line meant that it is conclusive at the end and does not need a follow on for the audience to understand the storyline. We did consider if there could be a second film. However we decided against this as it could work to our disadvantage as it could ruin the intensity of our first film.
The thriller we produced was set in an eerie country village to portray the vulnerability of the blind man. For our main prop the weapon was a knife as this signifies danger and this indicates that something is going to occur. Then we also used a stick for the blind man to make it clear to the audience of his disability.
A car was used in our film as the lights were effective in some of our shots in the dark. The car also produced many effective diagetic sounds such as; doors shutting and the use of a radio, the purpose of all these features help to signify that the antagonist is coming which also builds tension. The main lighting we used in our film was a red light above the knife being pulled out and being sharpened this created a sense of mystery. Also, the red lights are stereotypically related to danger and this could imply that something is going to happen.
Another aspect of our lighting was using the cars headlights to show the antagonist leaving. We used a variety of shot types ranging from a long shot of the car driving up the lane as this shows that the antagonist is on his way. We also used a close up of the knife to highlight the weapon which may potentially be used. A close up was also used when the photos were being cut out, as this shows the audience a clear view of what is being done. 
A point of view shot was used when the blind man was walking past the tree, this indicated that the man was being watched and followed. The costumes used in our thriller were all casual clothes because it was showing every day life and the antagonist was watching the blind man in what seemed like his daily routine.
If our thriller was to be played at home, younger children under fifteen may access it and may be scared by the knife scenes as they are stereotypically related to murders. We attracted our audience by using a close up and adjusting the lighting to emphasise the sharpening of the knife indicated it is going to be used. Our thriller could make our audience feel anxious that they have or could have been watched and targeted in public places in everyday life, but not necessarily to the scale we have done in our film. This may make our audience feel threatened as they are putting themselves in that position.
In our first filming session we were unhappy with some of our shots as they were a bit shaky as they were hand held due to us not using a tripod, so we re-filmed them using a tripod to capture a steady shot. The strengths of a hand held shot gives the impression that audience is watching and eye witness account, so they feel like they are there. We cut our shots individually so we could post the ones we weren't happy with on our blog and analyse what went wrong with them.
The effects that we used in our thriller using 'Final Cut Express' were dissolved and black and white shots. We used dissolving shots as they blend the scenes together and this prevents the change over between shots being jumpy. We used black and white shots as it helped create an eerie atmosphere. We also used a programme called 'Garageband' which was useful for creating a suspenseful soundtrack. We managed to save an UN-copyrighted version of 'three blind mice' and were able to move it to itunes and then transferred it to Garageband where we added minor keys to create suspense and a sense of danger.
The planning stages for our thriller obviously had a lot more thought and ideas put into them and more time spent on the story board than the preliminary task to ensure that we did not forget our story line and we managed to stick to it. Doing a detailed plan benefited us as we knew exactly what we needed to film and how it needed to be like and where it was to be done. However, we could also make changes whilst filming if it was necessary. We also knew exactly what shots we needed to capture that would make our thriller full of suspense and tension. This helped our editing process.
I believe my knowledge has improved dramatically about different shot types as I am more aware of each shot actually looks like in production and what it creates. I also feel more confident with the equipment as I have used it therefore gaining some experience and understanding. From filming I have learnt a great deal about the equipment and the filming process. From deciding the best angle of the shot to whether we should use the tripod or handheld techniques. The equipment we had was adequate but had its faults. The battery lasted an hour or so which was suitable for most of our filming, but some of our filming had to be done with the camera plugged into the mains. The camera ran on tapes and making sure the tape was in the right place before and after filming was an inconvenience.
To conclude I feel that our thriller has been successful in fulfilling the task as we have used many generic thriller conventions and have been careful not to litter the piece with them. We also we careful not to turn the film into a horror as we could have easily created blood and gore as our weapon was a knife.
This is a shot in daylight of where we filmed a long shot of the car driving down the road. This was a straight narrow road and perfect for this type of shot.
This was where we filmed the victim sleeping in his house and where the antagonist came to.
This is the door that the antagonist came out of and into his car as he was leaving.
This is a shot of where the blind man was being watched walking down this pavement
Due to the difficulties we faced with the weather condition as we filmed our first session in snowy conditions. This resulted in us not being able to do any outside filming. We adapted to this accordingly and parked the car in this garge and shut all doors so it was pitch black so it looked exactly the same as being outside in the dark. We also needed to film the antagonist entering the victims house, an interal garge door enabled us to do this as we could create the correct lighting conditions.
Again this is where we filmed the blind man being watched by the antagonist as we walked through the park. Being able to film from the top of a climbing frame allowed us to film a high angle shot, this has the effect that the blindman is smaller/less important.
