Laura Walton

Thriller Evaluation : 

Thriller Evaluation By Laura Walton

Conventions of thriller films found within our piece: : 

Conventions of thriller films found within our piece: When editing our piece, we decided on tense piano music in the beginning to set the tone of the film. We also used typical music which is found in thriller films – Strings, orchestras etc. Our opening has a climax of tension, (which is intensified with our use of shots and music) and this then follows through to a cliff hanger before the main credits, to keep our audience on the edge of their seats. We tried to use a vary of shots which would create an eerie and unusual feeling for our opening.

Slide 3: 

We used of lighting and shadow to literally keep the audience in the dark about our villain. We also made the beginning of our piece quite bright to contrast with the darkness that the stalker brought into the house. Our group agreed early on in the project that we would conceal the identity of the stalker throughout the piece. We wanted the audience to feel unsafe and curious at the same time. We also made the situation realistic so that the audience could relate to the characters, and be able to put themselves into the characters mind frame. We wanted our opening to have a hint of a psychological thriller, so we made the stalker do creepy things such as inspecting the cleanliness of the girls kitchen, and sniff her hairbrush. To maintain the audience’s fear of the stalker, we included him taking a knife from the kitchen.

Prelim Task : 

Prelim Task Planning Doing the prelim task showed me how much work has to go into the planning before you film. Even though we discussed our idea beforehand, and wrote a rough shot list, we found that during filming it would have been easier if we had developed our idea more and drawn up a detailed storyboard. Our ideas changed a few times during filming, which made it difficult for us to match up continuity. We had to re-film a few parts, so the prelim experience definitely taught me the necessity of thorough planning. Production The prelim definitely got us comfortable using the cameras. We experimented with different types of shots and using the zoom in and out button to make our piece interesting, which later inspired me to suggest and choose many of the shots included in our thriller opening. The prelim also gave us a chance to start editing with Final Cut Pro, and explore how to use Soundtrack Pro. Even though our prelim was only short, it gave us the experience of transferring footage on tape to footage on the computer, showed us how to cut up clips and put effects on them, and how to add/take away soundtracks along with other editing skills. This prepared us so that we felt comfortable using Final Cut and Soundtrack Pro when editing our Thriller openings.

Audience feedback : 

Audience feedback Positives  “Concealing the identity of the stalker made the atmosphere a lot tenser.” “The silent clips, and then dripping of the tap was a good contrast to the piano music in the beginning. It set the atmosphere for the villains entrance.” “Leaving the opening on a cliff-hanger made me eager to know what was going to happen next.” “The use of indirect continuity kept me on my toes, I didn’t grow bored for even a second.” The positive feedback made us feel good about our piece, and we felt like we had made good decisions and had chosen a solid storyline which everyone understood.

Audience feedback : 

Negatives  “There were too many pieces of music, it stopped the piece flowing perfectly.” Audience feedback

Use of new media technology : 

Use of new media technology Research I used Google and Youtube to do all of my research. I embedded videos from YouTube onto my blog to back up my research with visual evidence. I also watched DVDs of thriller films and typed up notes whilst doing so, to add personal reflections to my research. Planning My group watched YouTube clips of ‘One Hour Photo’ and ‘Dexter’ to get inspiration, and used our blogs to write about this. We brainstormed ideas and sent videos to each other over Facebook.

Use of new media technology : 

Use of new media technology Construction We used HD cameras to capture our thriller openings, and final cut and soundtrack pro to produce our final videos. Evaluation We used print screens of our videos, which are on Vimeo and Youtube, and pasted these into PowerPoint for our evaluations. We also posted our videos on Facebook to get audience feedback from our friends.