Research: Mise en scene: body language and facial expressions - Mrs. Quinlan

Body language and facial expression

Body language is the way characters hold themselves or act. Body language will of the show the characters current mood. Facial expression is the way the characters face is portrayed the audience. Facial expression shows the characters emotion and mood.

 The body language of this character shows that she is scared and frightened. This scene if from the purge anarchy when the sergeant help the victims. The facial expression of this character show she’s scared and helpless. This makes the audience feel pity for the character in the scene as they have no hope of being saved.

this scene is from the exorcist. the facial expression of the character shows that she is frightened and scared. This makes the audience have a psycholigical effect as they would be scared because they don’t know why she is frightened and scared so they are scared to see what is going to happen next.

Examples of characters

Protagonist: the body language of an protagonist is normally firm and strong as the audience need to believe they can they can be the hero of the story because if his/her body language looks like he’s scared and wimpy than the audience will not believe that the protagonist can be the hero. The facial expression also is normally serious because in the thriller genre something bad always happens. so the protagonists facial expression can’t be all happy because the audience will think that he/her is serious enough to be the hero of the story.

Antagonist: the body language of the antagonist is normally strong and firm as they are supposed to show a threat to the protagonist and his team. If it was not firm then the audience don’t think that he is an actual threat and rule the character out to harm anyone and cause dangerous. The facial expression of a character in a thriller film is normally evil and deceiving as they normally have a creepy smile on their face as the character is meant to be scary.

Damsel in distress: the body language of the damsel in distress in normally weak and shivery because the damsel in distress is a character that is meant to be saved by the protagonist and not be strong as she is meant to be vulnerable in order for the audience to worry about her. Her facial expression is normally happy and scared because at times such as the beginnings of the movie the damsel in distress is happy and jolly but the at the times of the disequilibrium her facial expression will be scared and frightened this is also for the audience to think that she can’t help herself and needs someone to save her.

Conclusion (what I will use in my thriller opening)

In my own thriller movies I will be using things like strong and firm body language for the protagonist and antagonist as they are supposed to be a threat to each other and the damsel in distress to have an weak body language as she is meant to be the victim and needs to be saved. Facial expression for the protagonist is going to be serious and firm and facial expression of the antagonist is going to be creepy and scary.

Research: Mise en scene: setting and iconography - Mrs. Quinlan

Setting and iconography

Setting is where the scene takes place. The setting is important because it creates different connotations about the scene for example if the setting was in a cold and lifeless forest the audience will expect that something bad is going to happen there or if the setting was in a Springfield full of flowers then of course the audience are going to think something good is going to happen there. Iconography is objects that are significant in the scene for example in a scene where someone gets stabbed to death the iconography would be the knife that was used to stab the person or in a scene where someone is calling the police the iconography would be the phone as it’s an important object.

Example

One example of where setting was important was in the purge anarchy. This was in the scene where the sergeant helps the victims. The setting was important here because it was in an empty street and this shows the audience that they have no hope of getting saved by anyone because no one is there. This makes the audience feel pity for the characters in the show because no one is there to save them.

One example of iconography is in batman begins in the car chase scene. The iconography in the scene is the bat mobile. This iconography was important because he drives away from the police with it in the scene destroying a lot of stuff on the way but the police do not realise he’s trying to do something good. This makes the audience excited to see what is going to happen in the end when the police find out he’s trying to do something good.

Conclusion

Overall All the information above has helped me to develop a deeper understanding of how setting and iconography could create different connotations and denotations towards the audience and why they use different iconography and settings and what they try to show with them. All this information is going to help me create my own thriller trailer.

Research: Sound - Mrs. Quinlan

Sound

Sound is one of the most important things in the film industry. In thriller it helps make the scene more effective and scarier than if you would have no sound. Sound helps create the tension and fear in a thriller film. It is one of the main reasons why thriller films are scary.

Key terms

Digetic sound: sound which is part of the film world e.g. dialogue from a radio or jukebox. The sound can be off screen.

Non-digetic sound: sound which is not part of the film world e.g. narrator commentary, mood music. This is used in order to create more excitement in the scene.

On screen sound: sound that you can see where it’s coming from in the scene such as gunshots car noises.

Off screen sound: you can hear the sound but cannot see where it’s coming from but it makes sense in the film world e.g. if a character was on the beach and the camera is just focusing on him but you can still hear kids laughing and you can still hear waves from the sea.

Parallel sound: is when the sound you can hear in a film is what is expected e.g. a scene with children playing on a beach the parallel sound would be people talking and the sea waves.

Contrapuntal sound: is when the sound doesn’t match the expectations of what you’re viewing, an example of this is in the amazing spider-man, spider-man and the lizard were fighting in a library but classical music was in the background in order to create a funny scene.

An example of Non-digetic sound is in the dark knight rises the Hit me! Scene. Non digetic sound is used when you can hear intimidating music when batman is on the motor cycle trying to approach joker. This is used to create a psychological effect on the audience by making them excited to see what batman is going to do.

An example of parallel sound is from the same scene in the dark knight rises. Parallel sound is used when the joker says Hit me! And you can hear and see the cars in the background. This is used to create a psychological effect on the audience as the feel pity for all the innocents that might get hurt.

Conclusion

In conclusion after doing my research I realised that sound is one of the most important things in film and it’s what creates the thrill and excitement. I also learned how sound affects the audience. This will help me choose what sounds to use in my own thriller trailer.

Research: Mise en scene: lighting and colour - Mrs. Quinlan

Lighting and colour

Lighting is used to show the atmosphere in the scene whether it’s happy or sad this is normally shown through lighting and colour.  Lighting creates the mood in the scene if its light then that normally shows good things are happening if its dark it normally shows something bad is going to happen.

Key terms  

Angles

·        Back lighting: this is when lighting comes from the back of the character and makes the character looks dark. This is used in order to show that the character is a mystery.

·        Top lighting: this is lighting that comes from the top in order to make the character look safe and kind. This shows the character is no threat at all and is a good person.

·         Under lighting: under lighting is used to make a creepy effect on the character. It also makes them look powerful and freighting.

 

Example
An example for backlighting is the shower scene in psycho. This is used when you can’t see the face of the stabber because his identity is a secret. This makes a psychological effect for the audience because the feel suspense and want to know who the killer is.

Colour

Different colours create different effect to a scene. For example black causes the audience to think something bad is going to happen. Yellow creates a positive feel as it’s a bright colour. Red associates with stuff like blood which causes a negative vibe. In thriller they normally use black and red to cause negative vibes.

Conclusion

In conclusion my research helped me with my understanding with why they used different lighting and colours and how they used them. This will help me create my own thriller trailer     

Research: Editing - Miss Begum

What is editing

Editing is the process of manipulating and rearranging video shots to create a good scene. Editing can be used in different ways depending on the scene you’re working on. For example an action scene will have fast paced editing and a talking scene will have slow editing.

Some Key terms

·         Straight cut: a cut from one moving shot to another this is used to keep the scene active and not keep the audience bored.

·         Montage: multiple shots to show a period of time passing

·         Shot reverse shot: shot from one person to another (commonly used in conversations).

·         Reaction shot: shot to show the facial reaction of a person, this is normally used when a close up or a medium close up is used in order to show the face of the character.

·         Slow editing: slow editing is when the scene slows down to emphasise the moment.

·         Fade to black: when the scene goes black then goes to another scene. This is sometimes used to show a bit of time passing or it will be at the same time but it goes to a different location with different characters.

·         Wipe: when one scene moves to the other without going black. This is normally used in sitcoms and comedies.

 Editing examples

In the shower scene of the movie psycho past paced editing is used when the stabber comes in and stabs the women to death. This is used in order to show that there are a lot of things happening at once and that it is hard to follow. This makes the audience have a physiological response to the scene as they could jump or scream from fear

Another example of editing is when reaction shot is used in the purge anarchy. This is used in order to show the fear of the character. This creates a psychological effect for the viewer and the feel pity for the character.

Conclusion

After completing my research I realised how important editing is to the thriller genre and how it’s used to create an effect on the audience. From using fast paced editing to show multiple things happening at once to using a fade to black in order to show scene changing. This will help me do the editing in my own thriller trailer.                                      

      

Research: Cinematography - Miss Begum

Cinematography

Cinematography is how a film used photography and camerawork. Cinematography goes into three sections camera angles camera sizes and camera movement. All these sections each have a different impact to the scene whether it is to show emotion or to make someone look powerful.

Key terms

        Camera angles

·         Low angle: this is when the camera goes below something in order to make the object look powerful and superior.

·         High angle: high angle is the opposite of low angle, it goes above the person in order to make them look weak and subordinate.

         Camera sizes            

·         Establishing shot: this is when the shot is taken from far in order to show the surroundings and setting.

·         Long shot: is when the camera captures a person from head to toe.

·         Medium close up: this shot is from waist to head. This is normally used in a conversations

·         Close up: shoulder to head. Often used in order to show facial expression of a character.

·         Extreme close up: close up to one feature of the face such as eyes in order to show tears. Which can make the audience feel a psychological response to it.

  Camera movement

·         Crane shot: is often used by composers of films to signify the end of a film or scene. The effect is achieved by the camera being put on a crane that can move upwards.

·         Panning: is used to give the viewer a panoramic view of a set or setting. This can be used to establish a scene.

    Examples

Close-up to show facial expression

Low angle- to show superiority

Camera angle example

In the scene of the grudge (no escape) high angle is used when the zombie girl comes down the stairs and the women looks at her. This is used to show that the women is subordinate to the zombie girl. This makes the audience have psychological effect towards the character and feels empathy for the women.

Camera movement example            

In the dark knight rises trailer a panning shot is used when they show the fans of an American football team. This is used to show the reaction of the fans to the pitch breaking down. This has a psychological effect as it makes them feels shocked about the events that had happened in the scene.

Conclusion

This has helped me with my understanding because I now know what to use when I want to show to facial expression of a character or how to make a character look powerful. Researching this topic is now going to help me with me creating my own thriller trailer.

Research: What is a thriller? - Miss Begum

What are genres?

A genre is a type of something. For example genres of music are like pop, rap, RnB jazz etc. Genres of movies are horror, action adventure, romance, thriller etc. Knowing these genres is important because you need to know the specific genre that you are doing and you need to see the difference between genres so you can know the conventions of your genre.

Definition of thriller

Thriller is a similar genre to horror but has more of an exciting plot. Thriller typically involves crime drugs and weapons. Thriller typically has a psychological effect towards the viewer mainly scaring them and surprising them. Thriller also has a lot of plot twist in the story which makes the audience excited and it gives them pleasure.

Thriller movies

Some examples of thrillers include ‘the exorcist’ ‘the dark knight’ ‘paranormal activity’ the purge and many more. The narrative of the dark knight rises is similar to most thriller movies because it is conventional to have a creepy and sociopathic clown as an antagonist because a lot of people are scared of clowns so thriller movies use them as an antagonist in order to scare people especially the ones that are afraid of clowns. The purge anarchy’s narrative is different than other thriller but it still uses thriller themes such as crime death and violence. The narrative still keeps the audience entertained because in the movie all crime is legal which is a scary thought.

Sub genres in thriller

In thriller there are a lot of sub genres such as action crime sci-fi religion and more. There are sub genres because not everyone is interested in all types of thriller movies so sub genres are there in order to have a wider audience for the thriller genres. ‘The purge’ is an crime thriller which consist of themes such as violence and crime it has people doing what they want because all crime is legal in that night which is exciting for the audience to see.  Terminator is a sci-fi thriller which consist of fictional themes. This makes the audience entertained because it is exciting to see things that don’t normally happen in real life.

Common conventions of thriller

One of the common conventions is thriller movies is that there is low key lighting in most scenes. This is used because it shows that something dangerous is going to happen in the scene and it has a scary effect. Another common convention in thriller is first person/point of view shot during a chase this is because the viewer will feel sympathy with the character which creates tension and fear. Some conventional characters in thriller are a protagonist, antagonist, anti-hero, damsel in distress and child. Protagonist is the main character in the story and usually has heroic features. Anti-hero is still the main character but he lacks heroic features. Antagonist is the main villain of the story and is usually evil. Damsel in distress is usually the female love interest of the protagonist and is usually weak and needs to be protected by the protagonist. Thriller movies are often set in places where there aren’t a lot of people such as warehouses churches forests and houses in order to show that people are most likely not going to be saved by other people.

Common themes in thriller

One common theme in thriller is death this is used to create sad and scary theme to the movie because the viewer feels scared and feel sorry for the character at the same time. Another common theme is violence this is used to create fear and tension to the audience in order to show that the villain of the story is dangerous. Another common theme is supernatural things this is used to create fear because things like ghost and devils is not something you see in real life so seeing that on screen would be scary for the audience.

Audience response to thriller

The audience can have two type of responses to thriller, the first response is a psychological response which means that the viewer has a mental response to the film for example fear sympathy and pity.  Another response to thriller movies is physiological response which means they have a physical response to the movie such as when they’re scared they jump or scream. The audience have either one of them or both when watching thriller.

Why is thriller a popular genre?

Thriller is a popular genre because people like seeing scary and freighting stuff with a good story. People get entertained from watching thriller because of stuff like shocking plot twist and the violence and gore in some scenes.  Also the characters go through changes throughout the films and the audience like seeing character development. The audience like action scenes as well which happens a lot in thriller.

Conclusion

This has helped my understanding because in now know the common conventions of thriller and I now the why the thriller genre is popular and how the audience responds to thriller. This will help me create my own thriller trailer.