Planning soundtrack

Planning soundtrack

The soundtrack to a film is extremely important in order to connote a mood or atmosphere to the audience, helping them to put themselves in the same situation as the character and therefore enabling them to experience the same feelings of tension, suspense and anxiety as the main protagonist in a thriller film. It also enables the director to connote different ideas about the upcoming events of the film to the audience, for example deep, dark, suspenseful music played whilst a man dressed in dark clothing walks alone will foreshadow a sinister future for this character in the rest of the film. 

For the soundtrack of our group thriller film, we discussed the type of music that we would like to include. We know, that in order to create thick tension within our narrative the music needs to convey a dark atmosphere, as though something terrible is about to happen. The clip below is a perfect example of the type of music we would like to include within our film. The tense sounds would be perfect for a foreboding atmosphere that we are aiming to create within the opening sequence, causing the audience to be in a state of suspense as they wait for the sinister actions that they know will take place soon. 

http://ccmixter.org/files/nickleus/28581

Another example of sound that we aim to include in the film is natural sound. This creates a sense of realism, as the audience can identify with the events taking place and realise that there is a possibility, no matter how small, that these events could take place in real life. This creates an even more terrifying feel to the narrative as the audience puts themselves so vividly into the shoes of the character.

We also found a short clip of four voices whispering in a sinister, yet unintelligible manner. We discussed as a group, where this music could best be used, and we came up with the idea that it would sound best in the scenes where the attacker is stalking his victim, while she walks home unaware of his presence. Through the use of this sound we intend to create an especially spooky atmosphere as the voices could be representative of the dark voices which haunt his mind, spurring him on.
http://www.freesound.org/people/geoneo0/sounds/143902/

The three examples of music above will enable us to create a tense, yet electrifying atmosphere as the audience watches the events unfold. It will add huge dramatic impact to our film, as music is the key to making a scene even more suspenseful than it would have been otherwise. 

Group storyboards

Group storyboards

Once we had written our group narrative, myself and Amy designed the group storyboards. By drawing out the narrative scene by scene, we were able to plan how we would like the different events to appear and be presented to the audience, what close up shots we would use, and where the different flashbacks should be shown. We were also able to decide how long we would like each scene to last for, in order to ensure that the opening sequence didn't run longer than we needed it to, two or three minutes at the most.

In order to form our group narrative, and then draw out our group storyboards, we had a group discussion about the ideas and scenes we each felt were most important to include. This meant that we were able to use the best ideas from every member of the group to make our narrative as effective as possible. Once we had discussed these ideas in detail, myself and Amy spent time putting them together in chronological order, making sure that the scenes made sense where we had placed them, in terms of the whole narrative.

Our storyboards then took on the role of a plan for us, while we shot the scenes, enabling us to ensure that we had included everything that we needed to. We did however, make some changes to the order of the scenes within these storyboards during editing, as we realised that different scenes worked better together than others. 

 

Planning editing styles

Planning editing styles

When creating a film it is important to consider the style of editing that will be used in order to link the scenes together. Different types of editing styles will have various effects on the audience and their interpretation on the events taking place in the film. For example, a straight cut aims to remain unnoticed and natural, making the film appear as realistic as possible to the audience.

In our group thriller, we aim to include four different types of editing styles, in order to have the best, and most tense impact on our audience.

The first type of editing style we aim to use is a jump cut, which will be used to link together the scenes whilst the attacker is stalking his victim. This style of editing keeps the pace of the film as fast as possible, ensuring that the audience's attention is fully captivated and drawn into the story. To the audience, this editing style will also seem more realistic than a fade or dissolve, as the scenes simply jump from one to the next, without any visible editing effect on the images seen, whereas a dissolve would see the images fall apart, unnaturally. A jump cut is conventional of a thriller film as typically, the pace of films in this genre are kept fast, in order to keep the events appearing as dramatic and out of control as possible.

The second editing style we would like to use in our film is a dissolve, as although this style of editing may appear vaguely unrealistic to the audience, it will enable us to connote different meanings to the audience. As the image 'dissolves' it appears to break down and disintegrate, before reforming as a flashback scene which focuses on our attacker. The way in which the images break down connote to the audience the instability of the mind of the attacker, and the fragmented way in which his thoughts are formed. Dissolve editing will enable us to make the thriller conventional as it highlights the instability of the attacker's mind, a stereotype which is manipulated and focused on in many different films of this genre, one of the most famous of which is Psycho.

As the flashback scene comes to an end, the images will fade back into the present time, highlighting to the audience that the events taking place in the flashback occurred in the past. The audience sees the brooding nature of the attacker, and, through knowing the victim is being stalked by him in the present scenes, will begin to worry about her. Feelings of empathy and suspense will be formed within members of the audience as they wonder what dangerous actions the attacker will carry out to avenge his anger. The use of a flashback scene is conventional to a thriller film as it provides the audience with key information about the motives of the attacker, yet enables the director to keep the narrative enigmatic and full of suspense, as the audience is unaware of what will take place.

Our narrative will focus on two different times, the past, or 'flashback' scenes, and the present, the scenes where our victim is being stalked by the mentally deranged attacker. Through the use of these two different scenes and the time that they are set, we are able to connote a third meaning to the audience: that the man in the flashbacks is the same man stalking the young girl. This style of editing is known as the kuleshov effect, and is conventional to thriller films. Many films use the kuleshov effect to connote a third meaning to the audience, yet keeping this meaning enigmatic is it is just an assumption made by the audience. This meaning hasn't been confirmed in the form of an actual scene.

Overall, these four different types of editing styles will work together in order to create a conventional thriller film. The jump cuts enable us to keep a fast pace in the present day scenes, while the kuleshov effect allows the audience to draw their own conclusions about the motives of the attacker, whilst keeping the real motives hidden and enigmatic. 

Opening credits

Opening credits

The opening credits create audience expectations about what is to come within the film. For example an upbeat, happy opening credits sequence will convey to the audience that the film will be lighthearted, fun and uplifting, whereas a darker, more brooding opening sequence with dramatic music will convey a much more serious atmosphere within the scene highlighting to the audience that the film will not be lighthearted and fun, but one which is packed with suspense and drama. 

The soundtrack is vital to the opening credits as they further enhance the audience's expectations as to the pace of the film, as well as the atmosphere. 

The different type of text, as well as the colour used to display the names of the director, actors and other members of the production can also be used to connote different meanings to the audience. For example a blood red colour font will connote danger, violence and bloodshed within the plot of the film, building up audience expectations and drawing in their attention to the film. 

A fun, girly font with swirls on every letter will connote a fun feel to the film, conveying to the audience what target audience the film is targeted at, appealing to their interests and drawing their attention into the film.

An example of a thriller film which uses the opening credits to create intense amounts of drama and suspense, manipulating the audience's emotions is Se7en, the 1995 film directed by David Fincher.

As the scene opens, the main protagonist is introduced to the audience, yet at the same time their identity remains hidden. The audience watches as the character cuts up pictures, un-developed film, and scribbles out the faces of unidentified individuals in black pen. These actions build up the suspense and expectations of the audience, forming the generic conventions of a thriller film through their enigmatic connotations.

The soundtrack to these opening credits is dramatic, drawing in the audience's attention as they listen to the tension which this non-diagetic sound creates, as they attempt to find meaning within the enigma and try to form expectations as to what will happen in the rest of the film.
Natural sound is also featured within the credits, however all of these sounds are enhanced, made more sharp and dramatic to highlight their importance and sinister nature to the audience. The enhanced sound of a blade being sharpened is amplified to the audience in order to convey the danger of this individual and their violent intentions. As well as this, the intensified sound of the character highlighting words in a book is so magnified that it is reminiscent of the high pitched sound of nails on a chalkboard, a sound which will set many members of the audience on edge, making them feel uncomfortable in their anticipation to discover the identity of the individual.

The font used in order to display the names of the production team is a key part of these opening credits, as the flickering, fragmented nature of the writing clearly connotes the unhinged and dangerously volatile nature of the protagonist's mind. This is another key convention of a thriller film as the audience will be able to recognise the psychotic nature of a traditional triller attacker.

The opening credit also informs the audience of who was responsible for creating the different areas of the film within production, such as the director, actors and camera operator. The director's name (David Fincher) appears within the opening credits twice as he is an acclaimed director of films within the thriller genre, whose name would be recognisable to members of the audience. For audience members who recognise his name and are a fan of his work the anticipation for the film to begin will increase, as they are keen to discover what will take place within his latest film.

Another example of a thriller film with inconic opening credits is Hitchcock's 1960's classic Psycho. Using only black and white images, the audience watches as horizontal and vertical rectangles move across the screen in different patterns. These rectangles are similar to the cell bars which keep dangerous criminals away from the rest of society, and in the case of these opening credits, they are representative of the way in which the twisted mind of the attacker Norman Bates, (whose identity at this time is unidentified) is kept hidden from the public as he hides behind the persona of his mother, blaming her for the murders that he has in fact committed.

The fragmented way in which the title is formed connotes to the audience ideas about the warped mind of the main protagonist and attacker, as he cannot form a straight idea or motive as to his actions. His mind is so splintered that his thoughts are out of place from the ideals of society and turning him into a monster.

  

 

The use of black and white images also holds strong connotations which are interpreted by the audience. Good and evil are two characteristics which are usually represented through black and white, and this is what Hitchcock is aiming to connote through the use of black and white film, rather than using colour. The black background is a huge contrast to the white title and other text on screen, highlighting to the audience the contrast between the characters which hold these traits within his film. However, aswell as using these two colours, Hitchcock also uses the colour grey, as this is an middle ground between the two different extremes, and the connotation that is formed through the use of the grey bars in this scene is that good and evil can both exist within an individual, that there is a duality within human nature. 

The soundtrack used for this opening credits sequence is critically acclaimed for the suspense and tension that it builds within the audience members. The music is packed with various different dramatic notes, foreshadowing the future drama that will take place in the upcoming scenes. 

order of appearence, director, title, actors, screenplay, members of production, editor, costume, make up, assistant director, composer, director

Similarly to the opening credits of Se7en, Psycho also features the names of different members of the production team within the opening credits, and, just like Se7en, the credits feature the name of the director twice. As such a well known director with a reputation for creating well recieved thriller films, the use of Hitchcock' s name will draw in the audience's attention, and for some people simply the fact that he directed the film will cause them to watch it.

For the opening credits of our group thriller film, we collectively discussed our ideas for the text size, colour and the font style. 

Using different films as our inspiration, we decided that we would want the font to appear fragmented (as it does in Psycho) or to flicker, (as in Se7en) as though the mind of the attacker is mentally unstable. 

We also decided that the size of the font for our title should be the biggest, as this is one of the most important elements within this opening credits sequence. The size of the font will gradually decrease as the different names appear on the screen, to connote both the importance of the members of the production team, and also hold connotations about the fading sanity of the attacker, as the unstable and twisted part of his mind consumes him, just like the size of the font decreases. For the font style that we will use in the opening credits, I have found some examples of different fonts which I will suggest to the other members of the group. The font shown in the image below is an example of a font that I think will be a good choice of font that we could use in our opening credits. The font appears to be distorted. This will prove to be a good signifier of the instability and fragmentation within the mind of the attacker, and the way in which his sanity is slowly fading. This will enable us to link the font to the thriller convention of the warped and unstable mind of the attacker. The cracked appearance highlights how the conscious thoughts that the individual holds. This factor makes this font much more convention than the second example below. 

I believe a font like the one above, will be much more effective on our opening credits than the example font shown below. This font does not provide the audience with any signs about what will take place in the film as it is plain and uninteresting. Therefore, I believe the best choice for our font, will be one similar to the font shown above, which appears to be disintegrating (just like the poisonous and rotten mind of our stalker). 

Thriller Film

The order of appearance that we will use is:

• Production company
• Director
• Editors
• Music
• Actors
• Casting
• Storyboards / screenplay
• Costume / make up
• Location manager
• Safety manager
• Director

We will also use a mixture of natural sounds and dramatic music as the soundtrack for our opening credits. As in Se7en, the natural sounds will be enhanced, and play over the top of the dramatic music. This will enable us to make the film appear as realistic, and therefore as threatening as possible.

Film schedule

Film schedule

It is important to have a filming schedule to ensure that there is enough time to film all scenes, while also allowing time to re film any scenes that aren't perfect. 

We did follow our initial filming schedule, however we may need to carry out further filming in order to perfect some scenes where the filming is interrupted by cars in the background, or the actors glance at the camera.

Risk assessment

Risk assessment

It is important to consider the risks when filming in order to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the production. 

By considering all of the risks through an assessment, we will be prepared for these obstacles and be able to come up with a way of overcoming them, and ensuring the safety of the group.

For our risk assessment, we completed a health and safety table which listed all of the problems we may encounter, and the ways which we will overcome these problems, in order to ensure safety.

For example, the uneven surfaces in our main location of the forest and field could pose several obstacles for us to deal with. As well as being dangerous to walk on, the uneven surfaces could mean that the tripod our camera is on will not film an even picture, with the scene potentially appearing wonky. This would take away from the effects of our different camera shots, as the images would appear unprofessional and amateur in comparison to successful thrillers.

As well as the uneven surfaces being a danger to actors, and affecting our camera shots, they could also cause damage to our equipment. Uneven surfaces could make the tripod unstable, meaning it could easily fall should it be left unattended. 

The dark clothing and sinister appearance of our attacker may make members of the public uncomfortable, especially as to the scenes that we will be shooting in public. We will have to carefully consider how our actions impact the public, making sure that we don't cause any damage to land (grassy areas) whilst filming, and ensuring that background noise is kept to a minimum, i.e. cars and lorries which may be passing by on the main road. 

We will also have to ensure the safety of the actors, as they will be taking part in scenes, on, and near the main road, which can be extremely busy at times. To ensure the safety of everyone in the group we will make sure that the area is clear of traffic, ensuring that we film during the day, when the amount of cars on the road is at a minimum. 

Planning cinematography

Planning cinematography

The cinematography of a scene is the camera shots which are used to create the film. The director uses different shots in order to create a story which can be watched and understood by the audience. 

Different camera shots can be used to connote and denote things to the audience about the film, and the hidden meanings behind the characters actions.

When creating a thriller film, camera shots are a useful device to create tension and a sinister atmosphere.
Close up shots clearly convey the feelings of the character to the audience, highlighting their intense fear or maybe happiness, before they know that anything is wrong.
A low angle shot can be used to convey the power of a certain character within a scene, as they appear dominant and threatening, in comparison to the weak and vulnerable victim, who may be filmed with a high angle shot.

In our group thriller film, we decided to include an over the shoulder shot from the point of view of the attacker, in order to highlight to the audience how close they were in relation to the victim, standing only meters behind her. This will create a sense of sinister foreboding for the audience as they know that her fate is inevitable now he is slow close to her and she remains unaware of his presence.
It isn't conventional to show the scene from the point of view of an attacker, however by using this type of shot, the face of the attacker will remain a mystery as you will only be able to see the side, or back, of his head. This effectively creates an enigma within the opening scene, an element which is conventional to thriller films.

We also decided to use close up shots of the face of the victim. This will enable us to clearly convey her feelings to the audience, allowing them to empathise with her.
When she finally sees the face of the attacker we plan to use a close up shot which will display the fear that is radiating through her as she sets her sights on the mystery male.
The use of a close up shot is a common convention of thriller films, as directors like to create feelings of empathy for the character, in order to draw the audience's attention into the film completely, compelling them to watch it for the duration, in order to discover the fate of the character they have built these empathetic feelings towards.

A panning shot is another type of camera shot which we plan to include in our film in order to follow the steps of the girls as they walk down the street. This will make the film appear more realistic to the audience, as they feel as though they could be in the scene with the characters too. Realism is a common convention of thriller films, as the director aims to create a situation which scares the audience through the idea that the images taking place on screen, could easily happen to them in real life.

Rather than deciding to use an establishing shot as our first shot, we instead decided on using a long shot which focuses on the group of girls walking home from school. This will act as an establishing shot, as the target audience (who are in the same age range of the girls) will recognise the walk home from school from their own personal experience, and understand straight away the context of the opening sequence.
It is conventional for thriller films to leave out the use of an establishing shot within the first scenes, as it creates a much for enigmatic opening if the audience has no idea when or where these events are taking place.

I believe that our target audience will be able to form a relationship with the characters in our thriller through our choice of camera shots.
The close up shots will clearly convey the feelings of the character, for example her pain or fear, to the audience, enabling them to feel empathy for her and the situation she is in, therefore forming a relationship between the audience and the female protagonist.
The panning shot will enable to the audience to feel as if the film is real, and they too could be there with the characters, and making the scarier scenes appear more sinister.

Opening scene narration

Opening scene narration

The opening sequence of my thriller film will begin with a long shot, clearly showing a group of 4 girls walking home from school. This will act as an establishing shot, as the audience will recognise the familiar walk home from school that they (the target audience) are all familiar with as they are close to the age of the character. 

In order to link this shot to the following over the shoulder shot, I plan to use a straight cut, as the next part of the scene is from the point of view of the attacker. Filmed over his shoulder, the scene will follow on the girls as they walk home talking and laughing, focusing particularly on one of the girls more than the others. The audience will realise that, from this focus, that she may be the reason the mystery man is hiding out of sight.

This shot will be followed by a dissolve, with the way the image fades and breaks away into the new scene representing the unstable and fragmented mind of the attacker, as he watches the girl. 
As the new shot becomes clear, the audience will watch as the girl says good bye to her friends and walks through a metal gate into the field on her own. This will use a mid shot so that enough detail is included in the scene to make it appear realistic. The audience will clearly be able to recognise the youthful innocence and vulnerability of the female protagonist. The shot will feature the use of natural sound, heavy breathing from the male creating a sinister atmosphere as he watches the group of girls. 

The next shot will be introduced via invisible editing, as the female victim walks through the field on her own, earphones in and music blasting so that it is audible to the audience, even though it is muffled. A shallow focus will also be used in this scene, to blur out the background and keep the character in main focus. The audience will however be able to recognise a dark shadow in the background, and therefore make the connection between this figure, moving closer to the female, and the figure who was watching her as she talked with her friends. This will create a sinister atmosphere as well as dramatic irony within this scene, as the audience knows that the outcome for the victim is not looking good, yet she is still in the state of equilibrium (as proposed by Todorov's theory) before she even knows that anything is wrong. 

This shot will then change to the next, again using a dissolve to highlight the unbalanced mind of the mystery attacker. The location of this shot will be different to the previous location of the empty field, with the scene now being set in a darkened room, with a man sitting at a desk, facing away from the camera, cutting up pictures. The audience will recognise the girl in the pictures to be the same girl who is walking home from school, through the field on her own. 
All of the scenes so far will feature natural sound and as will this one, with the sound of female laughter seemingly echoing through the room. 

The scene will then dissolve back into the previous scene, as the female looks over her shoulder, as if she is conscious that someone is there. The shallow focus will be removed, and the audience will clearly be able to see that there is no one there. This adds a sense of ambiguity to the scene as the audience wonders how the man could have disappeared so quickly. As well as the ambiguity this creates, it also makes the male appear more powerful, as the audience has no idea how he could have got out of the shot so quickly, and remain unnoticed. 

Yet another dissolve will follow the mid shot in the previous part of the scene, changing the location back the same darkened room as before. This time however, the male stands up, grabbing a balaclava and baseball bat, dragging this behind him carelessly as he leaves the room. 
This scene foreshadows what is about to happen to the victim, further enhancing the dramatic irony which is present throughout the opening scene. 

This scene will dissolve back into the previous shot, as the female continues to look over her shoulder, before turning back to face the camera. The audience will watch as her expression changes to fear, as a man in dark clothing walks into the scene in front of her, balaclava over his head.

A jump cut will then be used to merge the next scene with this one, and the audience will watch the mid shot as she begins to back away from the attacker, frozen with fear. 

Another jump cut will then feature, as the camera pans downwards and focuses on the baseball bat, swinging in the man's hand, as he holds it loosely at his side. 

Planning the mise en scene

Planning the mise en scene

The mise en scene of a film has five different sections:

• Setting and iconography
• Facial expressions and body language
• Costume, hair and make up
• Lighting and colour
• Positioning of characters

All of these different areas form the overall scene that the audience sees on screen, and enables the director to create an effective and successful film. 

The first area, setting and location is one if the most important areas of film making, setting the scene for the audience and helping them to understand the plot of the film. 

For our group thriller film, we decided on the isolated location of an empty field as we felt that it would create an appropriately thrilling location for the events to take place, having a scary effect on the audience. 

*** picture of location ***

The second area of mise en scene is facial expressions and body language. This is a key convention which displays to the audience clearly how the characters are feeling in the different situations. The actor is able to show the audience how scared their character is feeling through worried or horrified facial expressions which have a powerful effect on the audience, as they too experience these feelings as empathy. To clearly convey facial expressions we decided to use close up shots on the face of the victim to highlight her fear at her unfortunate situation. 

Costume, hair and make up is the third area of mise en scene creation. This convention allows the director to connote facts about the individual characters to the audience, enabling them to create expectations as to what will take place within the film.
Our attacker will be dressed in dark colours to connote to the audience the evil that controls his mind, and the dark plans that he is forming regarding the female victim.
The victim, however, will be contrastingly dressed in light school uniform to convey her youthful innocence in comparison to the dark and brooding mind of the attacker.

*** picture of attacker's clothing ***

The fourth area of mise en scene creation is lighting and colour. Using different colours within in a scene can create strong connotations and denotations for the audience to recognise. For example the colour red can be used to represent danger and violence, foreshadowing these elements later on in the film.
Lighting can be used to create shadows and effect the atmosphere within a certain scene, emphasising the effect the scene has on the audience, i.e. a scene shot in low key lighting will appear more sinister and threatening to the audience than a scene shot in bright, high key lighting.
As we are filming our thriller film during the day, as the girls are walking home from school it is difficult to use low key lighting to create a sinister atmosphere. However, as we are filming our thriller in November / December, the lighting will naturally be more low key than if we were filming in the middle of summer.
The audience will recognise the darkening streets as a sign of the early nights that come with winter and anticipate the danger associated with the total darkness that will engulf her as she walks through the empty field.

*** picture from one of the scenes using low key lighting ***

The fifth and last area of mise en scene is the positioning of characters within the frame, in order to convey importance or high status. It can also be used to draw the audience's attention towards certain things.
In our thriller, we plan to use close up shots in order to display the female victim's emotions, but also to highlight her importance to the plot line. Before she is attacked, and is still walking with her friends, a close up shot could be used in order to convey her specific importance, out of all of her friends, within the rest of the plot.

*** example of a close up shot ***

Representation of characters

Representation of characters

It is important to have a variety of different characters within a thriller film in order to create diversity within the story line and allows the audience to understand the narrative. Different characters have different roles within the plot, creating the complicated and entertaining story line for the audience to watch.

The main protagonist in the film is our female victim, Caroline, who appears to be around the age of 16. Her age is connoted through her school uniform, as the audience will recognise she is still of school age. Her age matches that of our target audience, allowing them to easily identify, and empathise with them. 'Caroline' will meet the stereotype of a young, white, female victim, a character type which is commonly found in thriller films, such as the Scream film series.
She will have a normal background, coming from a middle class family and good school education, however a past relationship that went sour has caused a series of events that lead to her demise.
'Caroline' is the main protagonist within the narrative as she is the focus of the scene, and the target of the attacker. The audience is intended to sympathise with her and fear for the situation that she is in.

Our main protagonist will be the target of a violent attack by a mystery killer. Our 'attacker' will have a hidden identity in order to create ambiguity and uncertainty surrounding his motives.
As a rejection of the Caroline's affection, the audience will be unaware of his all consuming obsession with her, or the fact that her rejection motivates his violent plans.
His name, age and motives will be hidden to the audience, creating an instant enigma to draw the attention of the audience, as they wonder what is motivating him to stalk this seemingly innocent victim.

The opening sequence will also feature three extras who will play the part of Caroline's friends. They will be seen walking home with her, talking about their plans for the weekend before she leaves them to take the lonely and isolated shortcut home. The audience will not know much information about these characters as they are not important to the plot line, apart from the way in which their absence endangers Caroline's life. The audience knows that if they had walked with her, then Caroline may have found a way to survive the violent situation that she finds herself in. 

Production roles

Production roles

When creating a film, there are different roles that individuals need to take on, in order to be organised, and successful in making the film. 

The main roles within film production are camera operator, actors, film director, location manager and storyboard organiser. 

The role of the film director is to direct and manage the actors and film crew when creating the production. They control the dramatic and artistic factors within the production, making important decisions on how the film will be displayed on screen, and how each character will be portrayed. As a group, we decided that Amy will take on this role, as she has a clear vision of how the film should appear as a final product, and how each character should be portrayed to the audience. 

The role of camera operator, usually referred to as a cinematographer, controls the part of the film production involved in actually filming the different shots, ensuring that they are all shot perfectly, or if any changes need to be made making sure that these shots are filmed again. The group decision was that I would take on this role within the film production, as I will ensure that all scenes are shot perfectly in order to create an effectively dramatic, and suspenseful thriller film. 

The actors within the film play the roles of the different characters. Their job is to make the film and events taking place appear as realistic as possible, ensuring that the audience is drawn into the film, believing that these events could actually take place. We decided that George would take on the role of the masked attacker, as he would be able to give a believable performance that would have the audience on the edge of their seats. 

Location manager is a role that requires the individual to find the different locations for the film to be shot in, and ensuring that the environment will be suitable for the setting of the scene, i.e. ensuring that the usually busy Oxford Street in London is deserted for a post apocalyptic zombie film, or a crowded beach for an upbeat chick flick. This was a role that we all took on, as it was decided by all of our group members where we should film. This allowed us to look at all possible locations and select the best one for our film. 

The storyboard organiser is responsible for deciding the order in which the different frames will appear within the film, and making sure that they are in a believable, yet creative or artistic fashion. They will draw out every frame to be included, in the correct order to clearly see the flow of the film, and give a visual presentation of what the final film will look like, and aid the director in making any changes to the way in which the film will be presented. 

The storyboards for our group narrative were created by myself and Amy. This helped us to put all of our ideas down on paper and ensure that each of us had a creative influence over the final product. This helped us to ensure that we had the best, and most dramatic ideas possible. 

As well as the group roles of location manager and storyboard organiser, as a group we decided to take on the role of film editor, as this would further enable us to have maximum positive creative influence over the film. The role of a film editor is to take the raw footage, and put it together in a way which will create the final finished product. An editor is able to add computer generated effects to the raw footage such as a shallow focus, or computer generated images (CGI) of fantasy characters. For our thriller, we will edit the scenes together in an appropriate order, before adding in visual effects such as shallow focus. 

Individual storyboards

Individual storyboards for the group narrative



Once we had decided on a group narrative, putting elements of our different ideas together, we individually created storyboards, visually displaying what we believe the final thriller will look like.

My first storyboard displays scenes one to four, idenityfing the way in which I intend to frequently interrupt the images of the young girl walking home, which split second images of the attacker, or clues about his location in comparison to the girl. An examle of this is shown in scene 3, which will focus on the footsteps of the attacker, as he is in quick pursuit of his victim.

The second storyboard which I completed displays the attack scene, and the way that I would like to end the scene, with a close up shot of the baseball bat in the hand of the attacker, foreshadowing future violence rather than showing it.

Through planning out the narrative visually on the storyboard, I was able to see how the scenes would fit together and create an effective final narrative which would build thick tension and suspense for the audience. 



Preliminary task

Preliminary task

As a group, we carried out a preliminary task filming a two minute clip of someone walking into a room, sitting down, and then having a conversation.

Through filming this short clip, we found what difficulties we may face when making our final thrillers, and found ways to make the filming a sucess.

We were able to learn how to film withe certain camera shots, which shots were most effective and appropriate to use within the scene, and we were also able to identify how best to frame the scene, cutting out anything unimportant from the images.

A difficulty which we identified was the barrier of background noise, as members of staff repeatedly walked past the hall as we were filming, muffling the noise that the audience was intended to hear, the conversation between the two characters. We learnt that filming is a drawn out process and it is necessary to re shoot the scenes in which background noise takes over, and blocks out speech.

We also learnt that in order to film a steady shot, a tripod is necessary. When filming with a hand held camera the shot will appear shaky and unprofessional, taking away from suspense that we aim to create in our final thriller film.

While shooting the different parts of the scene, we also found that it is vital to watch the individual shots through once they have been filmed, to ensure that they are the best quality and are appropriate to include in our final sequence.

Appropriate locations are also a key part of the scene, we found. For the sequence to appear realistic the actions and speech taking place must fit the location, and make sense to the audience. For example the converation we filmed for this task was between two students, and in order to match their identity, we filmed the scene in the school hall, as if they had met up for a chat before lessons. If we had filmed this casual conversation in the middle of a field it wouldn't have made sense as a realistic scene to the audience.

While filming the scene, we got to grips with the complicated equipment, learning gradually how to use it. This means that when we come to film our thriller we will not have to waste any time in figuring out how to use the camera and tripod, we will simply be able to spend all of our time filming, focusing on creating the most effective opening sequence that we can.

The lessons that we have learnt in filming the preliminary task will aid us as a group when we are filming our final thriller film. We will know which camera shots are most appropriate, which location is appropriate to the narrative, and to look for ways to combat the barrier of background noise, in order to create the most professional and effective thriller film that we can.
Any of the basic mistakes that we came across will be amended and changed before filming our thriller, and we will also have a better understanding of the way the equipment works.

How thriller films have changed and developed over time

How thriller films have changed and developed over time

The genre 'thriller' can be defined as films which creates and uses suspense, fear and excitement to entertain the audience. They are intended to have intense effects on their viewers, causing them to feel anything from uncertainty and surprise to extreme terror. 

When looking back at the history of thriller films, there is one director who stands out as one of the most critically acclaimed, and successful directors of this genre, commanding recognition as a pioneer of the way for thriller films. From the years of 1921 to 1976, Alfred Hitchcock directed around 60 films throughout his lifetime, in both the British film industry, then later moving to Hollywood to continue his career.

Alfred Hitchcock

His first thriller was a silent film called 'The Lodger', made in 1926, a suspenseful recreation of the infamous tale of Jack the Ripper, and this was the first of many iconic thriller films created by Hitchcock. Undoubtedly the most famous film to be directed by Hitchcock is the 1960's classic, Psycho. As the first film of its kind, Hitchcock pioneered the way of 'slasher' films, where the victim was attacked, and killed by the use of a knife. 

Psycho features one of the most well known scenes in all of cinematic history, 'The Shower Scene,' were lead female protagonist Marion Crane is attacked and murdered. This one scene features 77 different camera angles, and 50 different cuts. Due to the lack of editing technology available to Hitchcock in the 60's, the scene required this many camera angles and shots in order to make the scene seem realistic and threatening to the audience, as it disguised the fact that no images of actual violence were included in the sequence.

An image from Hitchcock's 1960's classic, Psycho, in The Shower Scene where Marion Crane is attacked.

During the 1950's (pre Hitchcock's Psycho, but the time period thought to be the peak of his career) the genre of thriller films began to take off, with megastars such as Marilyn Monroe being cast in them. Starring in Henry Hathaway's 1953 thriller Niagra, Monroe played the part of a femme fatale who plans to murder her psychotic husband. 

The 1970's saw the creation of Hitchcock's first British film in 20 years, which received a rated "R" certification due to an extreme strangulation scene. Steven Spielberg also directed a low budget TV film during this era which appealed to a specific target audience and gained a cult-like following. 

The 1990's saw the rise of the Scream film series, directed by Wes Craven, which centres around main protagonist and targeted victim Sydney Prescott, who is stalked by a number of attackers dressed in the formidable, yet iconic, ghostface costume. 

Many thrillers feature sub genres which enable the director to develop the plot further, and appeal to an even wider target audience. 

For example, psychological thrillers - films in which the main conflict between characters is emotional or mental, until the resolution (usually a violent one) is found. An example of a psychological thriller is Hitchcock's Psycho, in which the mentally deranged Norman Bates murders a number of innocent victims dressed as his mother. The strange acts committed in this film cause it to fit exactly into the sub-genre of 'psychological thriller'.
Another sub-genre, conspiracy thriller, the innocent victim discovers the hidden intentions of the enemy and attempts to confront them, foiling their plans. An example of a conspiracy thriller is The Da Vinci Code in which a professor of religious iconography and symbology from Harvard University is the prime suspect in a violent murder. 

Evaluation

Evaluation

The research which we conducted was focused around identifying our target audience, and looking at the conventional ideas within a thriller which were most important to them.

It is important to identify your target audience when undertaking a project like this as it isn't the type of film which would appeal to everyone. 

From my knowledge of other successful thriller films, I know that they are usually given a certification of either 15, or 18. This therefore means that there is a specific audience for these types of film, and in order to create my own ideas which would appeal to the same audience, primary research was carried out to identify them. 

If we were to create a film which wasn't directed at a specific audience, there is a possibility that no one would find the film interesting enough to watch, therefore causing the film to be a failure. By clearly identifying the audience to aim the film at, you are guaranteed to have people who would be interested in watching the film. 

In order to find the target audience our group carried out two types of research; questionnaires and face to face interviews which were recorded. 

These two different types of research were carefully tailored so that the questions quickly and clearly identified to us who our target demographic is, and what key conventional ideas they would prefer to see in a thriller film. 

The two different types of research were chosen for different reasons. The questionnaires could be handed out to 40 people easily, and were quick to complete. This data was then easy to analyse a the questions had multiple choice answers, so we were able to put the responses into bar charts and pie charts. From this data we were able to form early ideas of what sort of thing we should feature in our thrillers. 

We chose to survey 40 people, as we believed that it would provide us with a range of opinions and ideas about what people would like to see, therefore when we formed our final ideas, they would include features which appealed to as many people as possible. 

The interviews were conducted to enable us to consolidate the information we had found from the questionnaires, and form definite ideas about the nature of our narrative. We were also able to ask people to take part who were more fitting with out identified target audience in order to provide the most accurate information possible. 

These interviews were very successful as the responses given were clear and concise, although it may have helped to interview more than 5 people to provide us with more detailed information.

An example of a question that was asked in our survey is 'how old are you?'. The response to this question, combined with the participant's further response to the question 'do you like watching thriller films?' showed us who our target audience was, as we could easily identify their age and gender (with the question 'which gender are you?'. 

A question from our interviews 'which conventions of a thriller are most important to you?' provided us with an idea of what things were most important to include in our narrative, i.e. we found that a vulnerable female victim was essential to the idea. 

We carefully considered which questions we were going to ask in each piece of research in order to find out the information which we required to design our narrative. This also meant that we didn't need to re consider any of our questions, or re collect any data. 

Vox pops

Vox pops

In order to collect more research into what people like to see in a thriller film, we conducted, and recorded interviews with different people, analysing their views. We were able to ask questions which we felt we had left out of our questionnaire, and were able to make sure that all possible questions that we could've asked were featured in either our questionnaire or interview clips.

We were also able to target people we believed were likely to fit into our target audience. For example, we asked a 15 year old girl, and two 17 year old boys, as well as a 21 year old male. Their views were especially important for us in forming ideas on what we should or shouldn't include in our thriller film, and what films we could take inspiration from. 

This use of interviewing our target demographic enabled us to create a narrative idea which was tailored specifically to their opinions, as it is these people that we aim to impress with our thriller film. 

The question 'what convention of a thriller film is most important to you?' highlighted us which aspects of a thriller were most important for us to include. From the responses given we were able to conclude that a vulnerable female victim was the key convention which we must include in our own thriller.

It was however, difficult to ask many people who fit into our target demographic, as many of them were too shy to answer the questions whilst being filmed. This therefore limited the amount of people we were able to ask who fitted into our target audience, meaning the information gathered wasn't as detailed as it could've otherwise have been. 

Questionnaire results - pie charts & bar charts

Questionnaire results - pie charts & bar charts

Once we had collected the results of our quetionnaire, my group decided to represent the results as different charts, either pie charts or bar charts, to enable us to clearly interpret our results, and quickly identify what our target audience was looking for.

For example, for question two; "how old are you?" we found that we had asked a large majority of 17 to 20 year olds to complete the questionnaire, with 9 females and 8 males completeing the questionnaire that fit into this age range. This therefore forms the target audience age range of our thriller film. This information has enabled us to see that we need to produce a film which would be certified 15, as an 18 certification would be too high for some members of our target audience, which we cannot exclude from being able to watch the film. 

The use of a 15 certification was further enforced through our questionnaire when we saw from the results that the majority of people who responded to the questionnaire preferred to watch films which were certificated 15. 

From further research we found that the best location for our thriller film would be an empty field, creating the feeling of isolation and escapism for the audience. This was a positive piece of research for our group as this location is readily available to us, meaning we can produce a film which meets the needs of our target audience. 

As well as using bar charts to represent our results, we also chose to use pie charts, as using a range of data representation will ensure that we have clearly understood and interpreted our results as a group. 

The results were very effective in helping us form our group narrative, as we decided to use the popular location of an empty field, matched the age of our target audience to the age of our main character to enable empathy and identification, as well as aiming to meet the preferred certification of a 15. 



Questionnaires

Questionnaires

Questionnaires are important when considering creating a thriller film, as it is vital to quickly identify your target audience, as well as the key conventions and ideas they are looking for within the film.
If the right questions are asked, you are quickly able to highlight the key conventions which are most important to the audience, carefully customising the film to what is most interesting to them.

Examples of questions asked could be:

A question inquiring into the age of participants will highlight what the key target age group is when creating a thriller film, therefore identifying which certification the film should aim to achieve, and whether any scenes which may be unsuitable for viewers under a certain age should be left out (to avoid missing the target audience) or left in, to achieve a rating such as a 15 or 18 which is more likely to appeal to an older target audience.

Key decisions about initial setting and location can also be decided through the responses given in questionnaires. For example, the question: "in your opinion, which of these locations would be most suitable for the opening sequence of a thriller film? A dark forest, an abandoned warehouse, or an eerie, isolated, empty field," would highlight what location would be best for the film in order to appeal most to the target audience.

As a group, we decided to ask 40 participants to complete our questionnaire. Out of these 40, we decided that to get the best overall representation of who our target audience is, and what they are looking for, 20 of the participants should be male, and 20 should be female. This would therefore provide us with a clear view of whether our target audience conisists more of males or females, and which of these two we should target our film at more.

We handed out 10 questionnaires each, making sure that they were completed thoroughly and honestly to enable us to draw maximum amounts of useful information from the answers. Out of the 10 handed out by each member, we ensured that 5 were answered by males, and 5 by females, to overall ensure the 20 male and 20 females who have answered.

Narrative theory

Narrative theory

A narrative theory aims to explain how the plot line of a film works, the conventions which make it most effective and the way in which it is structured. There are three different types of narrative theory, Propp's theory, Todorov's theory and a theory proposed by Aristotle.

Vladimir Propp proposed a theory which explains the structure which a fairytale film follows. He believed that the actual narrative of the film was irrelevant, what made a successful film was the characters which featured in the plot, all of which perform a function.

The characters that he listed were:

• Hero: the character which seeks something in the film, trying to reach a goal or target. 
• The Villain: who opposes and attempts to block the hero's quest.
• Donor: provides an object with magical qualities.
• The Dispatcher: sends the hero on his/her quest via message
• The False Hero: disrupts the hero's success by making false claims.
• The Helper: aids the hero.
• The Princess: acts as the reward for the hero and is the key to the villain's motives.
• Her father: rewards the hero for his effort in defeating the villain.

As well as these character types there are certain conditions which must apply to the storyline for it to follow Propp's theory:

• A family, kingdom or community is in a state of order and everything is the way it should be.
• A member of this family, kingdom or community must leave home.
• A warning will then be given to the leaders of the community, or the hero receives a rule to follow. 
• The villain will attempt to discover something about the victim of the broken rule. 
• The villain will try to deceive the victim to gain their advantage towards the goal.
• The victim will unknowingly aid the villain in their quest.

There will also always be some kind of complication which will prevent the hero from completing their quest. For example:

• A state of disorder
• The villain harms a member of the community
• One of the members of the community desires something/aims to reach a goal
• The hero embarks on a quest to reach their goal, or get what they desire.
• The hero also plans actions against the villain, to disrupt them and prevent them from getting to the target first. 

However, this narrative theory can only be applied to fairytale like films, such as Shrek, where there is character roles which meet all of Propp's criteria. This is the case as it would be impossible to apply the role of the Donor to a typical romantic comedy, as these are set in every day life, where magical objects are simply things of fantasy and childhood imagination.

The second narrative theory was proposed by Tzvetan Todorov, in which the theory of narrative was simplified, and stating that character types were irrelevant, instead what made a successful narrative was decided by the state of equilibrium and disequilibrium within the film. 

At the beginning of the film, the characters will be in a state of equilibrium, everything is the way it should be, for example Sidney Prescott, the main protagonist from the 1996 thriller Scream is laying comfortably on her sofa before even realising that she may be the next target of the mystery killer of two students from her school.
This calm state of equilibrium is then disrupted by an event which changes the state to that of a disequilibrium, where things are not the way they should be, and in thriller films, the character becoming distressed. As in the example of Scream, Sidney's equilibrium is disrupted when she realises that she is the next intended victim of the attacker, as she receives mysterious phone calls and fights for her life in a violent pursuit from the masked attacker.
The state of disequilibrium is rectified when the identity of the attacker is revealed, their motives exposed and they are brought to justice, either in death, or arrest.
In the case of Scream, Sidney's attackers Billy Loomis and Stu Macher reveal themselves and their twisted motives to Sidney, before they are finally stopped as she kills them both. 

The third, and last narrative theory was proposed by Aristotle, who said that what was important to films was not the characters or state of equilibrium, it was in fact different themes which appear throughout the film.
These themes include:

• An indicating incident: the cause of all the drama in the film
• A dramatic question
• A character goal: what the main protagonist is working towards throughout the film, i.e. justice in the face of the attacker.
• An antagonist and protagonist
• Stakes
• Resolution
• Sympathy and empathy

Aristotle suggested that a successful film would feature all, or most of these themes, and that they were more important to the film and narrative than the characters or equilibrium. 

My thriller film will follow the narrative theory proposed by Todorov. From the narrative ideas I have compiled so far, I aim to begin my opening sequence in a state of equilibrium, where the female victim does not know that anything is wrong, or have any clue what is about to happen to her, as she sits doing her homework alone.
This state of equilibrium will be interrupted when the victim is confronted by the attacker for the first time, meeting an early, and violent demise. As the attacker enters the room and the victim realises that she is in danger, the disequilibrium is formed.
Although the opening sequence will not feature the resolution, and therefore new found state of equilibrium, the audience will be left assuming that this will take place, through public general knowledge surrounding the nature of thriller films. My narrative idea would be left in the state of disequilibrium, causing the audience feel eager to see the end of the film, and find out the resolution. 

Group narrative

Group narrative

My narrative idea is a young girl in her room, or even a classroom getting ready to go out, or doing her homework. This scene will be constantly interrupted by shots of someone picking up a knife, their feet as they leave the room, the door closing and them moving ever closer to the innocent victim. I would like to exclude all shots of actual violence, replacing them with close up shots focusing on facial expression, and the blood as it drips onto the floor.
I think that this would make an even more ambiguous, enigmatic opening scene as the audience would have no idea about the identity of the attacker.
I would also like to use natural sound to make the scene appear realistic and even more threatening to the audience, building tension and anxiety as the scene unfolds.

A positive of my narrative idea is that, like all successful thriller films, the identity of the attacker will remain a mystery. As I will only be filming the opening scene, the identity of the attacker will not be revealed, to create a mysterious plot line which will leave the audience wanting to watch more. It will leave open ended questions which, if it was a full length film, the audience would be keen to find out the answers to.
However, the lack of actual images of violent scenes may take away from the tension and anxiety which is built from the enigma.
Although Hitchcock's Psycho was terrifying to audiences during the 60's, now computer generated technology has advanced the lack of violence makes the film less scary to the audience. The tension built throughout the opening may result in an anti-climax due to the lack of violence which is shown on screen.

After discussion with the other members of my group we have exchanged ideas in order to create a final plot line which will be most effective.
George's idea is that of two people camping in a forest or open field, with the attacker's shadow consistently appearing on the walls of the tent. The attacker would be seeing observing his victim for a few hours before finally trying to attacker her. Once the victim is aware of her pursuer, he would seemingly make the decision to act instantly, chasing her deeper into the forest, where the scene would ambiguously reach its ending.

Positive aspects of George's thriller is that there is the clear victim and attacker (good and evil) roles, which are conventional to thriller films.

He also chose a forest setting, which, as an isolated location is also conventional to a thriller film, as it enforces a sense of escapism when there is no clear way out for the victim.

As well as these two conventions, he chose natural sound to enforce the sense of realism, making the audience believe that the events they are watching on screen could realistically take place in everyday life, making them scarier and more effective on the audience.
The ambiguous ending would also be a very positive aspect of the opening sequence as the audience would be left wanting to see more, on the edge of their seat, immersed in the suspense which has been created through the enigmatic opening scene. 

However, realistically the idea may be very difficult to film, as dark shadows on the face of the attacker could be difficult when filming outside, and would require lighting in other parts of the shot which may be difficult to create. 
As well as this, it may be difficult to make the sequence seem realistic to the audience, as a typical camping trip in every day life doesn't turn into a violent bloodbath. 

Amy's narrative idea focuses on a young girl, who chooses to take a short-cut home though a forest or an empty field. This meets the convention of an isolated location, as the character is completely alone and, if anything was to happen, no one would even hear her scream. 
As she is walking down the path, the girl hears an eerie rustling from the trees and light footsteps, as though she is being followed by someone who doesn't want to be seen. This sound will be created through natural sound, to make the scene seem as realistic as possible, however non-diagetic sound will also be considered in order to effectively build suspense.
As the narrative continues, the girl attempts to make her way home without focusing on the eerie noises which are haunting her. 
While she is walking through the field the scene will be featured with frequent, short, camera shots showing the back of an unidentified male figure, watching a young girl, also unidentified walk home alone. This adds a further enigma to the scene as you are unsure of who the two figures are, and whether the girl being watched is the same person as the girl walking home alone.
As the she gets closer to the end of the field and back to a populated street, the attacker makes his appearance, but he is not alone. Other attackers also emerge slowly from bushes, completely surrounding her and leaving her no way to escape. None of the scenes will feature actual images of violence, with the images instead consisting of close up camera shots of facial expressions in order to convey to the audience how the victim is feeling at this point in the narrative.
The young girl will be dressed in school uniform in order to highlight her innocence and vulnerability at this stage in her life. Contrastingly, the attacker/attackers will be dressed in all black connoting to the audience the evil, psychotic side to their nature. 
Iconography may also be used in the form of a knife or baseball bat, however no scenes of these being used will feature in the narrative. 

Positives of Amy's narrative are that it contains many of the conventions of thriller films, such as an enigma; the identity of the attacker remains hidden, therefore leaving the audience wondering who they are, and why they are pursuing the apparently innocent, young girl. This will create a sense of anticipation within the audience to watch the rest of the scene unfold. 

As well as this, the narrative features clear representation of good and bad characters, which are easily identifiable to the audience. 

The enigmatic location is also conventional, building up the audiences anxiety while the attacker is stalking the victim as the audience knows that no one is around to save her.

Negatives of this narrative include the fact that as the scene will be set around 3.30, when the girl is walking home from school. At this time of the day, the location will still be in daylight, meaning that low key lighting will be very hard to feature in the scene. This will also mean the film may be less scary and threatening to the audience.

As well as this, our target audience is used to seeing films which feature graphic scenes of violence, which we are unable to feature within this narrative. Due to the high standards the target audience holds as to what is 'scary,' the film may not meet the requirements of the target audience, losing their interest. 

Robert's narrative idea features an enigmatic location of an old abandoned warehouse, shot using low key lighting in order to create eerie shadows providing a sinister aura to the scene from the onset. 

The scene will also exclude any actual shots of the killer, simply showing images of their shadow, and natural sounds that they create. This will add to the enigma of the opening scene, drawing the audience in, captivating them by the mystery. 

The scene will only feature images of the killer once they have attacked the victim, giving the character more substance as a threatening attacker. Before the killer is actually featured, the scene will focus on the innocent victims, young teenagers who look for shelter from torrential rain when they are lost in a forest. 

As the narrative continues, the audience would be provided with small pieces of information about the attacker, and their motives. This could be done through small flashback scenes, which would frequently interrupt the action taking place. 

The iconography featured would be in the form of the long, black, flowing clothing which the attacker is dressed in. The dark colours convey the evil nature of the attacker, and the dark thoughts which consume his mind. 

The film will also include shots focusing on the body language of the victims. One of the group appears confident and not overly concerned by their situation, connoting to the audience that it may be one of the group of friends who is actually the attacker. This adds more suspense to the opening scene as the audience is anxious to discover the answer to this mystery. 

Positive aspects of Robert's narrative idea include the enigmatic location, the clever use of iconography to hint at the evil mind of the attacker, and confusing body language which connotes a mysterious meaning to the audience.

All of these features are ways of drawing the audience's attention into the film instantly, as well as creating tension and suspense as the rest of the film unfolds. 

However, a negative aspect of the narrative comes in the form of the flashback clips which provide information about the past of the killer, explaining the motives before the film has reached its climax. This may cause audience members to lose interest, as they know the ending of the film will be an anti climax in comparison to the opening sequence.

After long discussion about the positive and negative aspects of each group members narrative idea, we collectively decided on a group narrative which included as many of the positive aspects of each idea as possible.
The narrative begins with a young girl, at school, or sixth form age walking home from school with a group of her friends. We decided on this age group as it matches our target audience, enabling them to identify with the character, more easily being able to understand the emotions she may be going through during the attack.
As she nears the shortcut home, she says goodbye to her friends and carries on on her own, walking down an empty path leading to an eerily quiet field.
It is obvious to the audience that she is completely alone, connoting that during the attack no one will be around to save her.
This scene will also feature the kuleshov effect, as the images of the girl walking home are frequently interrupted by scenes of someone's feet in heavy boots walking along a muddy path, and a shot filmed from over the back of their shoulder as they follow a distant figure home. Together, these shots will form the third meaning which is connoted to the audience; this figure is planning an attack on the girl walking home, therefore building audience suspense and anxiety from the very beginning of the opening scene.
The scenes will not feature any actual shots of the attacker, adding to the ambiguity surrounding the figure, as the audience has no idea who they are, what they look like, whether they are innocent, or in fact planning a murderous attack.
While continuing her journey home, the girl drops her books on the floor, causing her to stop and pick them up. It is at this point, while she is bending down to pick them up, that she hears movement behind her, from the attacker.
The scene will then focus on the baseball bat in the hands of the attacker as he comes to a stop behind her, ending as she turns around, staring up at him in fear.
This element of surprise that the attacker has over the victim conveys the vulnerability of the girl in comparison to her attacker, as well as the obvious age difference, and physical body type; it will be obvious to the audience that he will easily be able to overpower the victim.                                                                                               

The scene will feature no actual images of violence, as these may be difficult to film, appearing unrealistic and unprofessional, a factor which could cause the audience to lose interest. 

One of the positive aspects of our group narrative include the manipulation of the identification of the target audience, by matching the age of the victim to that of the target audience to ensure identification between the audience and the young girl, and empathy for her as events unfold. 
Another positive aspect is the use of the kuleshov effect, as it creates ambiguity within the scene as to whether the young girl shown is the distant figure being stalked by a mystery attacker. This ensures that the audiences attention is always captivated by the suspense. 
The fact that the scene does not feature any full body shots of the attacker is also a positive aspect of the opening sequence as it creates an enigma as to who this person is, and what possible motive he could have, following the distant figure home. 

However, as the scene will feature no actual images of violence, just like Hitchcock's classic Psycho. As with my individual narrative, this lack of actual violence could cause an anti climax to occur within the opening scene, possibly losing the attention of the audience. During the 1960's when Hitchcock's classic was filmed the audience found the images shocking, even though no violence took place, however now the target audience is used to gory images created through CGI, there is a possibility that the audience will feel disappointed and unentertained by the scene.