inspirations

introduction:
Inspirations are a convention or something that happens in a film that when you watch you would like and be inspired to use it in your own clip. By having inspirations you can use other peoples ideas which you know work well in that genre but you would change it to make it your own. this means that your film has a higher chance of being successful as you can find out the best techniques and devices to use. I am going to be analysing thriller film clips and getting inspirations to use in my own thriller film. We need inspirations so we know which is the best techniques to use in that genre of film and in my case thriller the things that relate to it.





at 0.45 in the film se7en the box scene I was inspired by the non diegetic music causing a enigma. The man has just opened the box and from his facial expressions he looks very shocked and surprised. the camera doesn't show you what's in the box but the audience know that it must be something bad and there is a build up with the no diegetic music which makes the atmosphere very tense and builds suspension. This has inspired me as it creates mystery and a enigma and these are good conventions I want to include Into my thriller film. Having a enigma in my film will play with the audience mind and as they want to no what's going to happen as so much mystery has been built then they are going to want to carry on watching till the end.




at 2.02 the close up shot of the antagonist has inspired me to use this too. It was used  after the build up of what was in the box it was the main reveal, the non diegetic sound is still playing and then there is a close up on the man when he says 'I took a souvenir, her pretty head' by the close up shows his remorse and how he doesn't care what he's done and makes the audience shocked and surprise. This has inspired me because I want themes to be created in my scene for thriller conventions. Having themes like this created from shots will entice my audience and make them more interested to carry on watching. By using close up shots in my thriller opening will help to create themes and emotion towards the audience.




at 2.36 The shot reverse shot of brad pitt and the antagonist helps to engage the audience in brads pain. continues on a close up of the antagonist when it goes on him and again shows that he shows no pain which may make the audience angry as brad is so distraught and upset. causes the audience to feel sorry for him and makes them want to carry on watching to see what he's going to do but as its flicking to and from each man its like a waiting game which builds a tense atmosphere. This has inspired me because I want there to be a tense atmosphere for a big reveal in my sequence and by doing so will help attract my target audience to carry on watching which helps with my thriller conventions.




conclusion:
From my research I think it was successful in helping me find inspirations for my thriller opening. I think the clip I used was a good one to use as well as it is a successful thriller film which is known and personally in my film the main things I want is for tense, suspense and shock themes to be created and a built atmosphere and I feel from watching this clip I am inspired in how to re-create this myself.
                                               

Research into conventions

Research into conventions-

Conventions are something that you would expect to see in a certain genre of film. Like thriller for a example you would expect suspense and tension and also may even expect a death and conflict between someone and something. Every film will have many conventions relating to its genre in which puts it in that catergory.It is what defines films from others. A list of some thriller conventions would be:

• enigma
• suspense
• surprise
• death
• blood
• mystery
• tension
• tense music
• masked antagonist

I am going to be analysing the film insidious chapter 2 and explaining 4 different conventions in which the film relates to the thriller genre. I have chosen this film as I have seen it and no that it is a stereotypical thriller film and will be able to identify the conventions easily.

firstly when the wig comes off the boy creates a enigma as audience believed it was a little girl as we could only see her from behind which shows that somewhere in the film there is a plot twist. creates suspense as the audience are confused to what is going on and builds up to the reveal.






secondly The non diagetic sharp sound when the women approaches the boy shouting and accusing the boy of something tells the audience straight away that she is not a nice lady and that she is evil. can show the indication that she is the ghost and as this is in another dimension she could be the reasoning to everything.starts to reveal the plot twist and this is where the audience get more of a understanding of what is happening.would make the audience want to watch more and find out what is going on.




In addition The Ghost lady is Pale white faced which symbolises that she is dead and also she has dark red lipstick on which would symbolise blood and that she is evil. Also her eye makeup is dark and smudged I which makes her look scary to the audience like she has just woken from the dead.You would expect to see characters dressed like this in thriller films and creates more of a impact when it comes to the plot and whats happening in the film rather than if she was dressed neatly and looked like any other women.

When the lady full pelt slaps the little boy round the face when she is supposedly his mother shows there is violence in the film which is stereotypical convention on a thriller film. It is not right for mothers to hit there children and you would not usually see this in a ordinary film with a different genre which when it happens would make the audience angry with the women for doing that for no reason and would create a atmosphere as she's slapping him for thinking he's a boy, links again to the enigma and plot twist of the film.
 
conclusion:
I believe that this was a good clip to analyse. throughout the clip suspense, tension and surprise was created and all of these are the main typical thriller conventions. I have learnt that you need these in your thriller film to create a atmosphere and for your film to be a successful thriller. When I start my opening sequence I will make sure to include what I have found in my research as most successful so mine can be too.

Research into mise en scene-

In this blog post I will be researching mise en scene into thriller films. I will be discussing what it is and how it is used. Mise en scene is visual information in front of the screen and basically everything what you can see in the frame. It is made up of 5 elements which are:

1. costume hair and makeup
2. settings and iconography
3. facial expressions and body language
4. lighting and colour
5. positioning of characters/ objects within the camera frame

I will be analysing the mise en scene in the film old boy 2013 and discussing how mise en scene is used to create impact.



First at 0.08 costume is used as the protagonist is dressed smartly in a suit and the villains are all in there own lounge about clothes portrays the protagonist is higher and has more authority and power than the people he is fighting with. Portrays him as the stronger side even though there's more of them and this is proven when he manages to take all these people out on his own.

at 0.47 the setting is used to create impact as it is a trapping setting in a warehouse and there's no where for the man to run, he must defeat all the people on his own and this would build tension and suspense as the audience don't no if he can manage it as there is so many. would create a atmosphere also as people would think something bad is bound to happen.

At 1.02 the prop of the fence positioned in front of the camera with the fight going on behind it makes the scene more realistic and even like the audience and there when its happening watching from the side. Symbolises the man is trapped and how its a trapping setting which again builds suspense and tension because you still don't no what the outcome is going to be and continues the build up to the end result.

Lastly at 1.24 All the props used in the fight scene from the villains including the hammers, baseball bats crow bars all create a impact. The protagonist is using his bare hands and not only does he have about 15 people on one they all have weapons and he doesn't which puts into contrast for the audience what may happen and continues to build suspense    and tension for the audience.

2.38 the positioning of the camera from a birds eye view of the man laying on the floor with all the villains hovering above him in a circle shows the audience there is no way out for the man. They would think that this really could be it for the man and this would create suspense and build a nervous atmosphere again as well as they all have weapons and are not just using there hands so the consequences can be worse for the man and the audience know this but as they have seen what he is capable of creates a sense of hope that he is going to pull through and defeat the villains.

conclusion: from my research I can tell that mise en scene is essential in thriller films. from the clip I watched I now know that props play a big part in creating tension and suspense depending what scene you are filming and ill definitely be using them in mine now. I have also discovered that the positioning of the  characters plays a big role on the atmosphere of he film as you never no what to expect to happen. From this I will definitely be using at least 3 mise en scene elements in my film as I no that it creates suspense and tension and that is typical conventions of thriller films.

Cinematography - Sinister

In this blog post I will be identifying and analysing how different angles and camera shots are used in thriller films and how they are used to create a impact on the audience. Camera angles and camera shots in media terms is called cinematography. There are many camera angles and positions in films which help the film to build suspense and tension. I will be analysing these in the film Sinister as after watching it I could clearly identify how they was used to create impact.

• When the scene starts the first sign of cinematography is at 0.30 seconds whilst the man is searching around his house with the baseball bat there is a close up on his face in which there is a gap next to his face and one of the children's faces pops up and screams which would make the audience jump and scare them which shows thriller conventions, because it was so close up this would create more of a impact because of the girls image.

•  At 0.37 There is a panning shot and mid shot of the man standing in the front room and the child runs past him and he is completely oblivious to her being there the camera follows her into darkness which symbolises that she is dead and that he wont be able to see them which builds suspense and creates tensions because the audience no what the ghosts are capable of and puts the man in jeopardy and you don't no what's going to happen.

• At 1.32  there is a shallow focus showing the man standing terrified and clueless of what is happening with the little girl behind him blurred so the audience cant see her properly shows that she's not real and she's a ghost and again creates frustration for the audience in which the 'she's behind you'  may be shouted even though the man cant hear them.

•  At 1.54 there is a longshot of a tracking shot of the man walking and the camera moves backwards with him and you see the girl start to run towards the man in a sort of slow motion which makes the audience think she is going to get him which creates tension and builds a atmosphere.

From my research I can now identify clearly why camera shots and angles are used in films. I can see that without them there wouldn't be as much suspense and tension which would make a weaker thriller film. They are put there so you can see things in different perspectives and from different views so someone's you feel like your in the film rather than watching it.

Sound- MAMA

 

In this blog post I will be researching Sound in thriller films and talking about its relevance and signification to make a film that genre. Sound causes a lot of effect and difference in a film and I will be showing this in a clip from the film mama (2013).I have chosen this film as it is a popular thriller film which I have seen and noticed the soundtracks relevance previously.  There are four main types of sound that make up the film these are:

• On screen sound- when you can hear where the sound is coming from 
• Off screen sound-when you can hear the sound but cannot see the source yet it still makes the film dynamic
• Diegetic sound- music or sound that belongs within a frame can be considered to be a natural part of the narrative, not always visible on screen 
• Non diegetic sound-sound or music that is added on after, such as in the editing stage

 

(0:12) The onscreen digetic sound of the door creaking when the woman is looking for the little girl while there is silence builds tension and suspense to the audience as they don't no what to expect is about to happen and what is going to of      happened to the little girl, also makes the audience nervous.

(0:45)The silence and the heavy breathing of the little girl while the lady is holding her as she is staring into a blank space shows the audience she is terrified of whatever is following her and that it is evil, audience sympathises for the girl and this creates a tense atmosphere. makes you want to know what she is looking at and whether its about to strike.

 

(2:03) The non diegetic soundtrack that is parallel is dropped when the girl stops making a fuss and trying to escape the women and it all of a sudden turns the atmosphere calm and creates relief for the audience which makes you start to see a realisation from the girl that she's acting strange and the sound backs this up. The lady starts smiling and the music carries on more jolly and enthusteastic which starts to give the audience a positive look on the situation.

(0:20) The non diegetic sudden high crash parallel sound when the lady is sleeping peacefully in bed would scare the audience and even make them jump. The sound bridge of the image of the bloody hand with the pole symbolises death and that someone wants to hurt them and the music is very deep and this would build a tense atmosphere as the audience see a flash back of the past and get more of a understanding of what the ghost can do and the music exaggerates the terror and its very tense and severe.

conclusion:
from my research I have discovered that that Soundtrack is big importance into thriller films whether its from building suspense and tension to something that's going to happen or changing the atmosphere, thriller films need the music to create more o a impact on the audience and the sound exaggerates the terror which makes it a thriller film.

 

Research into the BBFC -Miss Miller

Introduction
The BBFC (British board of film classification) are a non-govermental highly-expert board which class films with age ratings which suit the film best .The BBFC was brought in in 1912 in order to stop children from watching content which may be found harmful and unsuitable for there age range to watch. The BBFC will watch a film throughout and 2 examiners will use the bbfc criteria and spec to classify a film with a age rating, this happens on new films just before they are released and also the bbfc will watch films that have already been classed and say the age they think if they believe it has been classed wrong. The BBFC stick to 6 age guidelines for there films which are U,PG,12,12A,15 AND 18.

The U symbol stands for Universal.A U symbol means that a film is suitable for ages 4 and over.A U classification would have no bad language in it and if it did would be very mild and not harmful or offensive to the young audience.Sexual references are rare in U films but is common for characters to show mild sexual behaviour like hugging and kissing each over and occasional sexual references are applied but nothing in-approiate and anything a child that age would understand swell as drug use which is also very rare in U classed films.The BBFC try to give a U rating on films where they don't think the behaviour would be copied by the child as some higher rated films have scenes which could be potentially harmful if a young child was to repeat.A U film has a variety and is mainly aimed at children but docent have to be for children if its a U rating.

A example of a U rated film would be toy story. a quick synopsis of the film is that there is a young boy named andy who has a room full of toys that when he's not there come to life.Woody the main protagonist of the toys is in rivalry with a new toy his owner Andy gets.The Space man Buzz actually believes he is a real spaceman and him and woody at first hate each over due to the evil next door neighbour woody and buzz come together to escape there kidnapper and return to there real owner. The story line is about two different people coming together and because this film is aimed at kids they are trying to get a message across to be friends with all types of people.The film has no swearing and no sexual references which is why it is U rated, but does have some references to violence due to the evil next door neighbour but very minimal and hard to detect from a young child's view.

           

PG means parental guidance. This means the film is suitable for young children to view but unlike a U class some scenes may be considered more inappropriate for that young of a age and the BBFC recommend these films to age 8 and over, but the term parental guidance means its on the parents behalf whether they want there child to watch the film or not and whether they think it could be misleading.PG films do not normally have inapporopiate.PG films are known to challenge everyday issues to try make children aware like racism etc.Pg films does have some swearing but is very basic words like bitch or shit etc but is never shown in aggressive tones incase infulenced.The behaviour of the characters in PG films is monitored very carefully just incase anti-social behaviour is copied.Bad things will not be promoted like smoking etc incase the child sees his favourite character doing it and wants to be like him.If anything is put in seen as inapproiate the film will portray its harmfulness and tell the kids its bad to do.

 

A example of a PG rated film is frozen. A quick synopsis of frozen is about 2 princesses that are born one with powers.The land they live on has a winter curse when elsa runs away because of her powers.it is her sisters job to find her to remove the curse from the town. Because its 2 princesses as main protagonists and its a cartoon its going to appeal to a very young audience the story line has no drugs or antisocial behaviour but the narrative of it being evil with a bit of a twisted story line makes it PG and not a U even tough there is a good ending.The ice monster in the film also some children may find scary but snowman olaf is cute and imaginative which he has been made like that to influence the children as everyone does love him.

Films that are rated 12 are not genrally meant to be for viewings of under the age of 12 but due to customer complaints on films that there children would like to watch there became a new classification called 12A,which means anyone under the age of 12 that would like to view this film must be accompanied by a adult in who it is there choice if they want there child to watch the film or not. There is also no lower age limit on 12a films which means that any age under 12 if accompanied by a adult can go watch the film but the BBFC do not recommend children of a very young age going to view the film. Lot of films classed as 12A you would find would be new versions of classic superhero novels which young children do show a interest in. 12 and 12A are both expected to contain strong language with films with more classed as 12. Sexual references are put In these categories but are normally very mild and suitable for young teenage audiences and very brief. Discriminating language is condemned
and made very condemned for the young audience to understand.

A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young

man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. it is
his mission to save the world and protect them from evil. This film was rated a 12 A this down
to the fact that the film only contains a small content of violence and is in moderation to
the age restriction the violence is through super heroes in which a child could not copy as they do not have powers and are not trying to save the earth. Also the language is minimal and as Superman is a child hood hero young children admire and would want to watch it and they cant if its a 12.

 

The 15 rating is not appropriate for anyone under the age of 15. most 15 films are normally horror films  or sexual natured films but in a 15 you would expect to see a lot of things including: frequent strong language or strong violence, discriminating behaviour which is condoned because teenagers or adults watching film and not known to copy scenes like children, also portrays of sexual activity and sexual nudity will be shown as well as some brief scenes of sexual violence and drug taking but will not influence the drugs. Things like nudity and bad language are not very restricted as its the older generation of teens that watch them and they are use to some of the content unless the content is potentially dangerous if a vulnerable teen was to copy .

Shutter island is a film about a man who is assigned a job on a private island to investigate the disappearance of a patient. as the investigation continues he begins to realise that it doesn't all fit together and something's not right. The film is classed as 15 as there is frequent use of discriminative language as well as bad language. There is flashing images and scenes of dead children as well as from a death camp which would be seen as disturbing to a younger age and is very bloody and gore. There are occasional scenes of violence but is very mild. As the film is set in a mental asylum there are disturbing images and themes

 The age rating 18 is not meant for anyone under the age of 18. It is for adults only due to its explicit content. 18 films you would normally find them to be severe horrors that even adults get frightened at and as no theme is prohibited it could be of any sort. Normally in horrors at 18 you should expect strong horror and strong blood and gore  and even some scenes of sexual violence but in other 18 films with different themes you can expect very discriminating language, discriminating behaviour, strong violence as well as in some cases even real sex scenes. There is no limit and extent to what will be shown in a 18 films in which some viewers may find shocking. In some films there is also a very strong use of drugs which could be seen as influencing them which is why the film is seen as 18.Even though there's no boundaries really with this type of film any behaviour that may be a breach of law if copied or risks harm top individuals.           


The wolf of wall street is about a aspiring entrepreneur in the city who is trying to make it in the stock broking industry. His impressive skills eventually lands him working in the city in the wolf of wall street doing what he loves. The film shows the viewer how money can change things and shows his party lifestyle with non stop drugs and drinking and even cheating on his wife with real sex scenes. Due to this this is why this film would be 18 but due to the ending might portray a awarding message to the audience that money is not everything and the drug lifestyle eventually catches up on you so there trying to send the message that it doesn't work trying to do so.  The film contains lots of nudity and sexual references that a child should not be allowed to see but also could help fellow aspiring entrepreneurs in showing that when you want a career you work hard for it.                                                                                                              

1) Make sure you give an example of a 12 film, not just 12A
2) Include a conclusion, stating how this research has enabled you to understand the importance of age certificates, as well as stating which age certificate you will make your thriller, giving examples of content you could/couldn't use as a result
3) Make sure pics are included properly (some have crosses)
4) Check SPAG