Research: cinematography

Cinematography is looking at the way the shot is framed, the angle it is taken in and the movement of the camera. All these things give the audience a different representation of the character and allow the audience to respond in different ways. this allows the audience to form different opinions about.

Shot sizes

There are different types of shots included in cinematography.

•extreme long shot- show more of the surronding of the scene. the audience can understand whats gong on in the scene more by seeing whats happening around the characters. this is good in a thriller because more can be inffered by the audience.

•long shot- this shot shows just from head to toe and a bit of background. it exposes the character so you can have a clear view of what kind of person the character is. The audiece can now create their own opinions of the characters intentions.

•medium shot- this shot is shown from the waist up. The audience cannot see the legs so their opinions can only come from the upper body. in this case you can see how very powerful and strong batman looks in this scene.

•medium close up-the chest upwards is how this shot should be shown. the audience can see some emotion from the character its used to tell the audience to focus on that particular character at that time.

•close up-the head of a character.
its very intimate and shows the importance of the emotion being seen. the audience will now  gain full understanding of the character and why they have been shown and exposed up close with the shot.

•extreme close up- very close to a body part or an object, making sure it takes up most of the screen. as an audience member you are really close, the fear of a person can be seen in the eyes of the victim thats why this shot is usualy used for the eyes.

•establishing shot- shows the whole setting of where the next scene is about to take place. the audience will see how the setting and the scene might link.

•crane shot-camera movement is flexible 

•point of view-when it looks like its from the person viewing and the audience can imagine what it's like in that situation.

•zoom-capture emotion or to get away from it.

•hand held-when the camera moves with the person filming techniques.
 panning
Angles

There are also angles that are used to enhance a characters status.
The camera angle marks the precise place at which a camera is put to take a shot. It may be shot from various camera angles. This will give / show the audience a different viewpoint to create an effect.

•high angle- is a shot where the camera is above looking down making the focus look small. if a victim wants to be shown in a vulnerable position this shot will be used to emphasise how weak and helpless they are.

•low angle-is when the shot is taken from below looking up making the main object of the camera look big on the screen. Low angles are used to make characters look suoerior or in control, thats why in my thriller I will use it on the antagonist to make the audience fear him more.

zoom
a zoom in is used to capture the woman's emotion so theres knowledge about how the characters feeling and then zoomed out to get away from the emotion not revealing to much.

*at 1:05 after the piece of iconography of the button is shown there is a zoom into an extreme close up to reveal the shock that the girls in. The audience can automatically link the object to the way she has reacted and empathise with her.This makes the scene more interesting and creates more suspence. 
*At 1:24 there is a high angle shot showing the girl on the tracks. its been used to show that she is vulnerable in the situation of being on the train tracks which creates fear in the audience for her.
*there is  a point of view shot from a low angle at 1:35 of her looking at her boyfriend. it seems that the director wanted to put the audience in her position, showing that the boy would of been the last thing she saw before dying. So this is what the audience get anxious thinking what is going to happen to her and they get terrifyed because they imagine themselve in that position of the girl.

conclusion

I will use low angle and high angle shots to show the different statuses between people making the audience know who is more powerful in what situation. In my thriller I will also use different types of shots including extreme close up as a main shot to reveal deep emotion of my female victim.

Research:What is a thriller?

What are genres and why is it important to know this?

 Genres are different forms of films they are groups that any film could fall into depending on the narrative of the film, and the emotional objective. genres are important because you want to know the concept of the film your watching. Also you want to gain an understanding from the directors perspective from the genre they have chosen.

What is a thriller

A thriller is a type of genre that uses tension and suspense to give the audience a lot of anticipation. a thriller always gives a sudden rush of emotions,excitement and exhilaration.

The UNBORN is an example of a horror-thriller this picture is used to appeal to the audience by.....

•the dark cold,pale,misty lighting to show that the theme of the film will be mysterious and overwhelming.

•the protagonist is wearing white which is a pure colour to show she's the victim in the situation and that she is the main character.

•the antagonists facial are hard to make out which gives the audience uncertainty and makes them uncomfortable.

Sub-genres of thrillers

sub-genres are stems of a classic or mainstream genre. They are two genres merged together but mostly showing the classical genre that it comes under. For example thriller is a mainstream genre and a sub genre of a thriller would be an mystery-thriller, action-thriller or a psychological-thriller.

For example a action-thriller 

A psychological thriller 

Common themes of a thriller-
death
religon
kidnapp
stalking
obsession
revenge
 

codes and conventions of a thriller are the common features that are used in thrillers to appeal to the audience and are typically of a thriller film.
 

Cinematography -Thrillers have a wide range of movement, size and camera angles. When a person in a thriller is running the camera is usually in a point of view shot, giving a feeling of being with that person.Also if in a thriller the protagonist is terrified a close up shot would be used to show the emotion. Or at the beginning of the film if the location of where the thriller is based wants to be shown a wide shot is used.

Mise on scene

Lighting- low key lighting is used in thrillers to show when danger is approaching or the feelings of the protagonist. It also creates a feeling of not knowing what's hidding in the dark.

Setting-most settings are in the woods or locked up somewhere away from civilisation. This makes the audience sympathize with the protagonist because if they were in that situation they wouldn't  find help to escape the antagonist.

Costume- the protagonist wears innocent and quiet colours such as white, blue or yellow to present them as vulnerable and helpless. On the other hand  the antagonist would wear colours such as red or black because the colour signify evil, death and bad activity.

Iconography -There are some thrillers such as scream were the antagonist will wear a mask, this keeps the audience engaged into finding out who it may be. Also before a deserter strikes in a film there is a piece of iconography that is show before, there is a build up of anticipation from the moment the audience see it. For example in a thriller a knife could be show but a few seconds later it could be missing. It makes you question where it could have gone and who is going to use it.   

Sound editing-sound is used in thrillers to create tension and to show movement getting bigger.Most of the sounds used would be a creaking door, screams, blowing wind, footsteps and heavy breathing.

Who is the general audience for thrillers?

15 is the age that most thrillers can be show to. Teenagers are at an age where they need something exciting to keep them entertained. Thrillers gives a lot of adrenaline and most teenagers will appreciate that. Also there are some characters in thrillers that teenagers can relate to and it makes them more interested.

Audience response to thrillers.

There are a lot of different responses depending on the age group of people. For instance the majority of teenagers enjoy thrillers because they can handle the adrenaline. Whereas the elderly would find thrillers rather disturbing and uncomfortable to watch because certain scenes could be Heart wrenching.

Conclusion how has it helped my understanding of thrillers and the coursework requirement?

My research has helped my understanding of thrillers because now I know different types of sub-genres from thrillers and how the codes and conventions are used in them. This has given me knowledge for when I create my own thriller using similar camera angles and sounds for different purposes of the film. I have also developed an understanding of the structure of thrillers and what should happen at what stage in the Film creating suspense and fast paced action.