Thriller film inspirations (Miss Miller)

Why do we need inspiration before we can create something?
We need inspiration to give us direction on what to create and help form our ideas. Inspiration can help transform an idea into something more complex and guided as gives us a clearer picture on what is reasonable to create. By closely looking at a range of different thrillers with different sucess rates we can see what elements make a thriller sucessful and so we can try and replicate the sucessful thriller as opposed to the ones which were not as effective.

Where can we take inspirations from?
There are many different places we can look towards for inspirations the main being previous thriller films. Other than thriller films we can also look at regular films which are categorised under different film genres to see what mise-en-scene and settings are sucessful and effective. Apart from this other inspirational sources iclude books, tv programmes and other forms of media. For a very effective and relatable narrative we could also take inspirations from real life thriller scenarios which may be avaliable to us through the news and stories.

Where have you taken your inspirations from in relation to your thriller?
I have mainly taken inspiration for the films narrative from thriller films that we have watched over the last few weeks.

What sequences have you looked at from various previous posts and what inspirations have you taken from them?
For my blog posts we have looked 5 different micro elements including mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound, conventions, editing styles and characters. In each post we looked at a clip, which relates to the thriller genre, and analysed their use of the element we were investigating.

MISE-EN-SCENE: Hair and make-up

In terms of hair in this scene Carolyn's hair has been left to look un-brushed as well as wild and ragged. This may be used as the stylist way of emphasising the feelings being experienced by Carolyn as inside she may be feeling shaken and indeed ragged as she has not managed to have a good nights sleep. On the other hand Carolyn's hair may have been left un kept to suggest the actress just waking up and experiencing 'bed head' to make the scene seem as natural and realistic as possible. Leaving the main characters initial look to fall apart is very stereotypical of a thriller film as in order to emphasis the effect of the paranormal presence has had on the character suggesting they are no longer able to function as they normally would as their life has been turned upside down. This gave me the idea to mess up our main actors hair when the paranormal activity started to show how it is beginning to take effect on him.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Close up and point of view

For this element I looked at the film sixth sense. In this film a close up is used to show the boy’s face once the lady has walked past him in the bathroom. By showing his face is portrays the central characters immediate reaction in detail which conveys his fears and emotions to the audience more affectively. By emphasising the boy’s emotions and facial expression it helps convey the fear down the lens to the audience making them more engaged. This is important in thrillers as not only do the audiences need to be particularly engaged in the genre in order to make the scenes effective the audience must also be fearful but also feel fear for the boy and close ups create this relationship. This creates a sense of empathy from the audience towards the boy as they are aware how he is feeling and so can relate to a situation where they felt the same making a mutual feeling and bond between the audience and the boy.

A point of view angle is also used when he’s walking down the corridor to the kitchen. In this frame we can the hall way which shows the boy getting closer to the door frame with every step creating more suspense and tension to build as he walks closer to the door and inevitably to the lady. By following the boy into the kitchen and by showing his point of view in the situation it relates back to the audience as it looks how it would from their point of view too therefore making them feel the same too. Thrillers tend to use point of view camera movements when the character is approaching the ghost, demon or paranormal creature. This shows the audience what the character is seeing and allows them to relate more to the film as they are more included. This also creates suspense as you know you don’t know when you’re going to see the ghost as you are not in control of the situation and therefore cannot run in the other direction.

CONVENTIONS: Weapons
A weapon is used in the form of a workshops knife. A metal cutter is also used as a potential weapon as when the man is sharpening it up we imagine that he is planning to use it. This adds to the scene and makes it seem more realistic as it is a tool you would find just as you would find another type of knife in a kitchen. This allows the audience to put themselves into the scene and grabbing the knife as it happens to be the one familiar object available. As well as this through most people in their life having held a knife before through watching her stab him they can again imagine what that sensation must feel like which allows them to relate to not only the scene but victim which helps build a relationship between them both. As well as this as the villain begins to sharpen his tool as the sparks fly off it add to the intimidation to both the victim and the audience as it almost seems as though he’s trying to make a show of it which seems unusual. As well as this it adds to the desperation and fear as we know she doesn’t stand a chance. A weapon and in particular a knife is very conventional to the thriller genre as they allow the villain and victim to have more contact during their fight scene. This means in order for an incident to happen they have to be very close together which makes chase scenes more tense as they appear to close the distance between the victim and villain. A knife is also more commonly used as it creates a more gory death as multiple wounds are usually achieved as a result. As well as this through using a knife it also allows there to be a momentary struggle where the victim has to fight with all their will power to get the knife away from them and aimed towards the villain. This allows there to be more suspense as the scene can be dragged out as a death by knife is slower and more theatrical then the other more action conventional methods of a gun. 

How was your research useful in terms of getting ideas for your narrative?I found the research I carried out very useful as it help give my ideas direction and allowed me to see what looked effective on screen and added to the films narrative.