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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This post shows more evidence of group planning and this is because you have considered the advantages and disadvantages of each group member.
ReplyDeleteJust consider your spacing, as this post is difficult to read