Embedded Files
FILM CONVENTIONS
( FIRST IDEA )
Roles and event
The murderer is the evil nun
This nun will solve the mystery in beating the evil nun and this nun is the main character
There is another nun and this nun is the victim
Setting
The Church
Character stereotyping:
The murderer ( Antagonist ) - Has a deformed face and she wants to kill the nuns
Victim - Weak, Clueless
Main character ( Protagonist ) - The detective, problem solver
Story Plot:
There is a detective who disguised up as a nun in order to save the people of the church from the evil nun however the detective doesn't know what the evil nun looks like and who to trust. The people of the church help the detective and the murderer and detective will have a cat and mouse chase with each other all throughout the movie. In the end, the detective defeated the evil nun and it vanishes into thin air.
Lighting:
• Low lighting - since it is a horror movie, there should be a sort of dark/scary vibe to the movie
Cinematography:
High angle: gives a sense of how powerful the murderer is over the victims
Long shot: it shows the scenery of the church
Close up shot: makes the audience focus on the raw emotions of the victim/murderer
*( We decided to abandon this idea since we didn't really know how to execute the story of the nun and we couldn't get permission from the church to shoot the scenes. )*
FILM CONVENTIONS #2
( FINAL IDEA )
Roles and event
The murderer is a gun man
There is a girl in the background at that start who will become the one of first victims of the school shooter
There is a main victim in the story who went to the bathroom during the party at school.
Setting
The bathroom of a school
Character stereotyping:
Gunman ( Antagonist ) - No face, only gun shots are heard
Background victim - Conventional soft girl 'aesthetic' that can be differentiated from the main character
Main character ( Protagonist ) - Conventional to male gaze
Story Plot:
There was a party that was hosted at school with students dressing up by wearing formal outfits/dresses/suits. The main character went to the bathroom during the party and in the bathroom there was this other student talking to her friend on the phone. When the main character went to the bathroom stall , she sat down and started to fiddle around with her phone. After a while, gun shots are heard. The main character looked scared and confused with what's happening. Suddenly she looked down, blood started entering the bathroom stall. The main character suddenly got the realization of what was happening and started to panic. She closed her mouth, not wanting the killer to her her when suddenly the screen immediately went to black.
Lighting:
Low lighting - since it is a thriller movie, there should be a sort of scary/suspenseful vibe to the movie so the viewer can get a sense of the opening's theme from first glance.
Cinematography:
Close up shot: makes the audience focus on the raw emotions of the victim and how scared she is from dying
Medium shot: showcases the victim's outfit
Panning right: highlights the background character and makes the audience focus on her
Tilt down: to reveal the blood coming into the main character's cubicle
MOODBOARD
( FIRST IDEA )
LINK TO THE MOOD BOARD: https://pin.it/6scmmXN
KNIFE
This is used by the prisoner as a form of weapon of defense in case the victim found out what was happening to them and tries to contact the authorities.
SIGNS OF LOSING THEMSELF
I wanted to put this in this mood board how the prisoner already lost themselves and without realizing that they are also spreading this to their victims.
HALLOWEEN
It is the time when the prisoner will get out of the prison and the start of the film opening. Some horror movies include starting the film/having the film be during halloween time i.e Scream
PRISON
Since the murderer is the prisoner, I wanted to show the point of view of prison in the murderer's eyes and how daunting the place is but the prisoner still wants to continue their crimes deep inside.
EYES
The eyes depict how the victim will feel like someone is always watching them no matter what because of the murderer and this will evoke a sense of anxiety and paranoia.
SEEING SOMEONE IN THE DARK
This is the victim's point of view and how they keep on seeing a person in the dark with no face which makes it scarier since the victim doesn't know who the person is.
CRYING
Crying will convey sadness and happiness in this film opening since the prisoner will be crying since they have finally been let out of jail.
LOOKING AT SOMEONE IN THE DARK
This is the murderer's point of view so I wanted to include both of the victim and the murderer's point of view in the film opening to show both perspectives. This shows how the murderer is always behind their victims and how the murderer looks at their victims.
( We didn't use this theme because we need a lot of time for the film opening to establish that it is a prisoner and what he/she is going through including the halloween setting. This cannot be achieved well with only 2 minutes. )
MOODBOARD #2
( FINAL IDEA )
LINK TO THE MOOD BOARD: https://pin.it/40Ms5O1
BATHROOM
The film opening takes place in the bathroom since during many shootings, the killers will usually target the bathroom first therefore it can make the film opening give the point of view of the victim in the story as she happened to be in the bathroom as the shooting started
BLOOD
This is used to show that the girl the audience sees at the start is dead since the blood is flows inside the main victim's cubicle
SCARED TO DEATH
The victim's expression is being scared to death seeing that the victim is stuck in the cubicle with no where to go because the gunman is right outside of the cubicle with the gun so the victim cannot run out.
RED LIPSTICK
The victim will wear red lipstick to emphasize her lips since she is the main character of this film opening and this will make her be different from the background characters.
PARTY
A party takes place before the main victim decides to go inside the bathroom to explain the choice of outfits the characters excluding the antagonist has on since they have party outfits and this can be deemed as more realistic as this situation could happen in real life.
SCHOOL
The setting of the party is in a school which will indicate that the premise at the start of the film is a school shooting which can make the tone of the movie more realistic as there are many cases of school shootings from the past few years.
TEARS WELLING UP
The tears in the eyes of the victim will show how the victim is really scared and doesn't know what to do so the audience can see the raw emotion of the victim and would be able to know how the victim is reacting to the situation.
GUN SHOTS
The gun shot is signified in this film opening to show that the victims are dead without showing that they are dead. Since gun shots can indicate that meaning to the viewers so the viewers can understand what happened.
PHONE
The phone is used as a prop for the main character just so she can be distracted with her phone and look as she feels at ease before the shooting started
HORROR FILM CONVENTIONS
VISUAL CODES
SET DESIGN
The set design tends to happen in dark locations and places that are deserted, where no one can be found or seen so that it focuses on the main character which is mainly the victim. This is to create suspense or a sense of fear in the viewers. This also could be utilized to make the character lost in the films.
COSTUME DESIGN
The costume designs in horror are mainly in dark colors or that the character has some form of blood on them. Dark colors are to display that the character should be able to blend into the shadows so the audience can feel more uneasy with knowing that the character could be anywhere in the dark. Blood is made in films to portray that the character has done violence/received violence.
(Carrie)
PROPS
Props that most notable in films are weapons which are knifes, chainsaws and axes and these are used for the characters to use against each other. These props are used to create a terrifyingly slow and painful wound/death. This is for generating a reaction from the viewers so the viewers can get more immersed in the movie.
(Scream)
LIGHTING
Lighting mainly in horror films is low key lighting. Low key lighting consumes high contrast, rough shadows, and small highlights to create a dark or ominous mood with a dark color. This is attained by using small amounts of light in shooting the film.
(Lights out)
COLOR SYMBOLISM
BLACK
Black is mainly used to generate the darkness and fear in the movie since horror movies tend to happen at night and their murderers usually can’t be seen during the daylight. Black can also represent evil, depression or shadows that are in the dark.
(Room 13)
RED
Red creates a meaning of danger telling the viewers that the victims is going to face some form of danger so the viewers can expected something to happen just from the color. Red can also illustrate violence since the color of blood is red and blood in horror movies routinely comes from violence.
(Scary stories to watch in the dark)
BLUE
Blue is a color that can represent lots of different kinds of associated with emotions including coldness and tension that the directors want to build up since the directors want the viewers feel unwell.
(Halloween)
GREEN
Green can be used to make a sense of anxiety in the viewers because it recommends how there is something threatening is lurking/hiding.
(Saw)
WHITE
White happens to be exercised for indication that movies also contain white to symbolize death including an impression of abandonment.
(The Witch)
TECHNICAL CODES
CAMERA
Horror films mostly uses a lot of distinct shots to indicate how it is a horror movie such as wide shots, closeup shots and extremely close up shots. Wide shot sets up the scary thing that is going to happen to the victim to build up suspense for the viewers. Closeup shots shows the victims/murderer's reaction to what happened/is happening to them to show the viewers the emotions that are going through the victim's face. Lastly, extremely closeup shots are used to further display the victim's expression. As for the angles, the genre generally gives an oblique angle. That is when the director films the scene sideways or to a particular side. This can make out the scene to become an off putting scene.
(Get out)
EXAMPLES:-
(Maligant)
(Incantion)
(Shut in)
(Scream IV)
(The nun)
(Chucky)
(Megan)
(The shining)
SOUND
Sound effects are the most notable thing to a horror film. The sound effects used are typically for jump scares or for the viewers to feel startled/scared. The movie tends to build up suspense leading up to that moment to generate a good reaction from the viewers. For my film opening, I decided to use a screaming effect for the viewers for the viewers to be startled and think about what happened to the victim.
EDITING
Editing frequently has the transition of the screen fading to black so the viewers can be anticipating to what is going to happen in the next scene since there is nothing in the screen for the viewers to take into.
DIALOUGE
A lot dialogue isn't generally wanted in horror films since it can ruin the suspense/atmosphere of the film given that the directors want their scenes to be more impactful so the dialogue can be spoken out in a small voice/whisper considering the jump scares/noises are supposed to be loud for the sake of a big reaction for the audiences.
( We didn't use this theme because our final idea that me and my team member Ara finalized turns out to be more on the side of thriller than horror so we decided to change the theme to thriller since it suited out taste more. )
THRILLER FILM CONVENTIONS
VISUAL CODES
SET DESIGN
The set design sets the tone of a film and for thriller, most thriller movies happen to take part in locations that are deserted or isolated so it can indicate how the victim has a less chance of survival due to the circumstances and this can create more suspense in the movie and generate a better reaction to the viewers.
( The Call )
COSTUME DESIGN
Costumes are represent character/personality of the character so costumes are really important for the film to have more life. For thrillers, the antagonist frequently is dressed in black/all black to show the viewers that they are the antagonist. For the protagonist, they would usually be dressed in lighter colors such as white to again show the viewers that they are the protagonist.
( Thriller )
PROPS
The props that are most often used in thrillers are weapons. An example of the weapons used are knifes/guns which are used for the characters to use against each other. For thriller, these weapons are used to create suspense because of the danger it indicates which often appears in thriller. This is also for the audiences to understand and differentiate the protagonist and the antagonist. Another example of props used in thriller is blood. Blood can convey that the victim is dead or is in pain.
( Se7en )
LIGHTING
For the lighting, the thriller is similar to horror as they both use low key lighting to build suspense and fear seeing that the dark is a lot of people's fears so the lighting should be dark to make shadows of objects/people to indicate to the audience that the character is actually not alone or there is someone that is following them. Therefore it will create a suspenseful vibe to be able to garner a better reaction from the audiences.
( Quiet place )
COLOR SYMBOLISM
BLACK
Black can be used to represent darkness in thriller and black can be used for evoking fear in the audiences because of the dark/suspenseful vibes it creates for the vibe of the movie. Seeing that thriller mainly focuses on suspense for the movie.
( The Fugitive )
BLUE
Blue can be shown for symbolizing depression or coldness as blue is a cold tone so the viewers can get a sense of what the film directors are trying to convey in the movie. Blue can be also shown for representing technology such that is used in thriller movies.
( Oxygen )
( The visual codes that are in thriller are very similar to horror since both genres are to make the viewers feel tense/scared. )
TECHNICAL CODES
CAMERA SHOTS
CLose up shots
This shot will mostly focus on the facial expressions of the character for the audience to see the emotion of the character. In addition, the close up of the characters faces will force the audience to pay attention to the character that the film director is focusing on which includes their reactions and behavior of the characters. The directors can also highlight particular elements that provide context and improve how the audience perceives the story.
( The Platform )
MEDIUM shots
For the medium shot, the shot will pan from the area around the waist or in some instances, the knees, of an object/subject to the top of their body/their head. This will make the subject have the same focus on them and on the background and this has a tendency of allowing the film makers to concentrate on a whole scene while maintaining crucial levels of detail.
( Now you see me )
LONG shots
Long shots or wide shots are usually used at time to make an establishing shot in a thriller film because it helps showcase and set the scene of the setting. With this camera shot, it shows the entirety of the scenery.
( The Platform )
CAMERA MOVEMENTS
ZOOM IN
Zooming in is when the camera will force the audience's attention along to the subject of the frame.
Zooming in is used to showcase the tension of the scene or to show the emotions of the characters face to highlight what the directors want to show.
PANNING RIGHT
Panning right is when the camera will do a horizontal sweep from a fixed position and it will transition to left to right.
Panning in is used to demonstrate the locations and the subject that the film director is focusing on. This is to show the audience what the character's perspective.
TRUCK RIGHT
Trucking right is when the camera will follow the character's movement to the right side.
TILT DOWN
Tilt down is when the camera will follow a vertical axis that is fixed from the top to the bottom.
SOUND
DIEGETIC
A sound which can be heard by the characters in the scene or sound in the world of the film i.e A girl screaming due to something frightening her and this sound can be heard from the other characters in the movie which makes that a diegetic sound.
NON DIEGETIC
A sound that cannot be heard by the characters in the film or sound in the world of the film and this is the opposite of diegetic sound. i.e the soundtrack of the film as the characters cannot hear unless the character acknowledges the soundtrack.
STING
Music that is considered scary or jumpy that is played in each scene since it sets the mood or the setting of the film and this can be used to add thrill or suspense to the scene to further give the scene more impact.
( The Jaws)
THE REST
SOUND
Sound effects are the most notable thing to a thriller film. The sound effects used are typically for jump scares or for the viewers to feel startled/scared. The movie tends to build up suspense leading up to that moment to generate a good reaction from the viewers. For my film opening, I decided to use the gun shot effect that would make it notable that there is a school shooting happening in the opening.
EDITING
With editing in thriller, the editing often consists of the transition of the screen fading into black for the scene to be more suspenseful for the audience to anticipate what's going to happen next. It also helps the film makers to transition into a new setting.
DIALOUGE
Dialogue is barely used in thriller films to help make the tension and suspense because a thriller movie mainly focuses on building suspense for the viewers and with a lot of dialogue, the tension will be broken. The dialogue will usually be in a low pitch and high pitched so the dialogue can have more impact on the viewers with the volume of noise that is in the movie.
STORYBOARD
HOW TO MAKE A STORYBOARD?
For the storyboard, first, we have to think about the things we should shoot for the film opening such as contrasting shots, movements and angles. There are some examples that I will further research which is dolly zoom, wide shot, long shot, low angle and much more. After that, we should plan the storyboard thoroughly containing drawings of the movements, shots and angles of the film opening so we can further improve on our film opening.
SOME PRACTICES
With making a storyboard, we should have some practices that we should do to ensure we can make a good storyboard. A practice that we can use is making a storyboard checklist. In the checklist, you can plan the entire process of the storyboard from generating up ideas to building/shaping the panels and important/essential details to the story. This is used to give the maker of the storyboard confidence and assurance with their work so they wouldn’t spend time fixing things they are unsatisfied with and they can use this time to further improve their work.
ROUGH DRAFT
FINAL DRAFT
SCRIPT
HOW TO MAKE A SCRIPT FOR FILM OPENING?
The script has to be able to make the audience interested in the film just from the film opening and it has to fit with the genre that the film. For a horror opening film, it usually doesn't really on dialogue and instead it starts to introduce the story such as the setting, the characters/actor that is not related to the actual plot but is there for the film opening, and lastly, the plot. The dialogue that is made for the film opening needs to be known/structured as the film opening, not in the middle of the film/ending to highlight specifically the vibes/atmosphere of the movie.
SOME PRACTICES
There are many various types of horror films, therefore watching a lot of horror film openings can be the first practice we should do before writing a script so we can have a gist of what a horror film opening is and how to make a good horror film opening. Another practice that we can use is reading some horror movie scripts. The examples can also help the directors plan out the minimal dialogue/what the film opening will contain.
(This is when we haven't changed the genre to thriller)
SOME PRACTICES
Some practices that we can use for making a script is watching thriller film openings so we can understand how the genre is structured and what conventions they have in the film opening. This is for us to understand how to make a script that fits with what the genre is. Another practice is reading the genre's script which will further help the writer of the script on how to write the script including what the script will contain.
ROUGH DRAFT
FINAL DRAFT
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GAGFAHNYfJ7lzXbs3Do7Rekq40_L389gbyWsk1CIxnI/edit?usp=sharing
(clink the link above to see my final script)
LOCATION & PROPS
LOCATION
The situation that will take place is a shooting/stalking that the antagonist will do for the main character therefore the location should be a location that shootings that can potentially take place in. Some examples are the mall, school and other public places if the antagonist wants to murder a stranger however for lone victim's, it could take place in their homes, bathrooms or other places that are not considered as crowded. So the victim's wouldn't have a place to run to or the antagonist wants the protagonists to be lost/stuck therefore the victim couldn't get out of the situation.
PROPS
Props that thriller usually contains is weapons and other objects such as electronics, money and fake blood and this can be used to set the tone of the movie or make the movie seem more realistic so it will not mislead the audience. For weapons, the most used weapon in thriller are guns because guns can a common weapon in movies and most characters which are in thriller movies ( police officers, detectives ) use the weapons even in real life. The weapon can also add tension to the scene and make it more suspenseful for the viewers.
COSTUME
VICTIM
MALE GAZE
The male gaze is when women are portrayed in a sexualized manner and with the male gaze, women are looked at in a way that they are looked down upon. This can make it seem like the woman seems more desirable in men's eyes with the male gaze that they have 'put themselves upon'. This may lead to reinforcing gender stereotypes to women which can lead to women being shamed or they can feel like they are less superior.
The costume/outfits that fit the men's gaze the most are dresses or outfits that are revealing since it catches the male gaze the most because most men find it appealing when women wear those outfits. Moving on, the color that most men find most attractive on women is black since it can convey boldness or attractiveness with that color so most men can feel more drawn into women when they wear that color.
BACKGROUND CHARACTERS
IN THE BACKGROUND
Background characters are characters that are in the background of the movie. This includes the fact that they are there to make the movie seem more realistic and to bring life to a movie. Therefore with this, the background characters doesn't typically wear outfits that will outshine the main character so the main character can stand out from the crowd.
Colors that are mostly seen on background characters are colorful or neutral seeing that the movie can be seen as more realistic due to everyone usually wearing different/similar colors everyday however the background character should still avoid outshining the main character.
MURDERER
SHADOW
Murderers in thriller usually wear black or all black so the viewers can understand that they are the antagonist. Black is mainly used for blending in the surroundings or the dark. Another thing that are frequent for the antagonist to have which are shadows can also be used to typically show the audience the presence of the antagonist or a glimpse of the antagonist to create suspense to the viewers.
However, in other thriller movies, they might not use black and they might use other colors to not reveal that they are the antagonist as a result for the surprise villain to come up in the story.
RESEARCHING MISE-EN-SCÈNE
There are lots of different kinds of mise-en-scène such as:-
COSTUME DESIGN
The clothing, makeup, and hairdo of a character.
Used for conveying the character's personality, social class, social group, setting, and time period.
PROP
A moveable object used on by the character on screen.
Used for conveying setting, time period, and atmosphere.
LIGHTING
( Barbie )
HIGH KEY LIGHTING
A lighting that brightly illuminates a subject
Used for conveying positive moods.
LOW KEY LIGHTING
A lighting that dimly illuminates a subject
Used for conveying mystery, drama, or negative moods.
( Joker )
COLOUR
( Moonrise Kingdom )
WARM TONE
The use of warm colour palette (yellow, orange, red)
Used for conveying warmth or positive emotions.
COOL TONE
The use of cold colour palette (blue, green, purple).
Used for conveying coldness or negative emotions.
( Fight Club )
COLOUR SYMBOLISM
The use of specific colours as a symbol in a moving image.
Used for conveying certain ideas or emotions tied to certain colors.
RESEARCHING CAMERA WORKS
There are lots of different kinds of camera works/shots/movements such as:-
SHOTS
CLOSE UP SHOT
A camera shot taken from head to shoulder or the whole object filling 80% of the frame
used to show a character's facial expressions or an object's details.
( Midsommar )
( Avatar )
EXTREMELY CLOSE UP SHOT
A camera shot taken very closely with a specific part of the character or object filling the whole frame.
used to show a great amount of details of a character or an object.
MEDIUM SHOT
A camera shot taken from head to torso
used to show both a character's facial expressions and upper-body language.
( Titanic )
( Days of Heaven )
LONG SHOT
A camera shot taken from head to toe
used to show a character's body language and their relationship with the environment they're in.
OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT
A camera shot of a character taken from behind the shoulder of another character
used for conversation scene and to show the relationship between them.
( Mean girls )
ANGLES
( The Matrix )
LOW ANGLE
A camera angle taken from below with the character higher than the camera
used to portray a character as someone of high status, strong, or powerful.
( The Avengers )
HIGH ANGLE
A camera angle taken from above with the character lower than the camera
used to portray a character as someone of low status, weak, or powerless.
ZOOM
ZOOM IN
A camera movement that magnifies a subject
used to make audiences gain focus on the subject.
ZOOM OUT
A camera movement that shrinks a subject
used to make audiences lose focus on the subject.
RESEARCHING CAMERA MOVEMENTS
There are lots of different kinds of camera movements used in media such as:-
PANNING
A camera movement that sweeps horizontally, used to give a wider view of subject or scenery.
TILTING
A camera movement that sweeps vertically, used to give a taller view of subject or scenery.
TRUCK
A camera movement that moves horizontally or side to side, used to give a dynamic view of a subject or scenery.
TRACKING
A camera movement that follows a subject in the same direction as them, used to make the audience feel involved in the subject's journey.
RESEARCHING SOUND
There are lots of different kinds of sounds such as:-
DIALOGUE
Sound from the characters in a film speaking or conversing using verbal language.
Used for conveying characterization or representation of certain characters, and/or relationships between characters.
SOUND EFFECTS
Sound other than music or speech that is enhanced or artificially created & added in post production.
Used for emphasising certain sounds in relation to the actions done.
AMBIENT SOUND
Sound that contains the natural background noise of a setting in which a scene takes place.
Used for enhancing the atmosphere of the scene, making it more realistic.
SOUND BRIDGE
Sound that carries over from one scene to the next scene, or vice versa.
Used for connecting different scenes and show the relationship between them.
SOUND MIXING
The process which combines and adjusts all the elements of sounds & soundtracks.
Used for creating a believable soundscape.
DIEGETIC & NON DIEGETIC
DIEGETIC SOUND
Sound that occurs naturally within a film's world and implied to originate from a source there. Both the character and the audience are able to hear it.
Used for conveying the natural atmosphere, to make it more believable.
NON DIEGETIC SOUND
Sound that does not occur naturally within a film's world, but instead is added through post-production. Only the audience are able to hear it.
Usually used for building exaggerated emotions or atmosphere that cannot be achieved by diegetic sounds only.
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