Audience Research

I asked 25 people in my audience what they would like to see in a thriller opening scene. Here are the questions and results;

1) What would you rather see at the beginning of a thriller movie?
A - a beginning of a chase 
B - unsolved case 
C - Suspicious character

These results show that most people would like to see an unsolved case at the start of a thriller, when asked why they would prefer to see this, their response was that they have not seen that sort of thing in a while, and it would be most thrilling to watch as they do not know who or what the case is about, sparking narrative enigmas from the very beginning. 







2) Would you like there to be music straight away, or open up the scene without music and a different sound effect?

These results show that 18 out of 25 people I asked wanted to see a start with something other than music. For my thriller, I was thinking about opening my scene with a voicemail from the victim on the last night she was 'alive'. This will add to thriller conventions as it will put the audience on the edge of their seats awaiting the thicker plot.









3) What colour scheme would you like to see in a thriller movie?

Dull colours - 8 votes 
Vibrant colours - 3 votes 
A mixture of both - 14 votes

This shows that a lot of people like a mixture of colour within footage. This is helpful for me as my audience will not be put off by the colour scheme within the short film and can then concentrate on the narrative. I will not have to worry that much about filming with high or low key lighting, and natural colours produced will add depth to the piece.

4) Do you find my thriller idea engaging and would you continue to watch. 





My results show that people liked my idea for my thriller,however they said in order to keep watching the film they would have to first be hooked by the thriller first, and so cannot say for sure until after they have seen the opening credits. This being said, they found my initial ideas to be thoughtful and interesting. 


5) What do you associate with thrillers the most?
A - Creepy music 
B - Suspense 
C - A villain 

The replies I got for this question were relatively mixed, with just over half of the people saying they associate suspense with thrillers the most. However when I was asking this question, a lot of people found it difficult choosing just one option, therefore it might be a good idea to add a fragment of all into my thriller in order to please the audience widely.

Sound Research

For my thriller, I want a eerie yet fast pace music type, but one that will keep the audience on their toes and keep the scene together. As my narrative contains police work, I want my music choices to match, otherwise my piece could falter if I do not find the right music to fit. 
This music choice is taken from the well known movie Donnie Darko, I really like the spooky effect it has, the low, but fast paced undertone, is complimented by the high pitched metalic sounds and makes the piece sound dark and different. This is the type of music I want to include in my thriller, as I find that I will be able to work well with a music choice other than low tones.




Another music choice I liked was the American Horror Story theme tune. This particular music choice is very weird, and contains different sound effects that definitely contribute to the genre of the film. If I was to listen to this music choice without knowing where it is from, this music choice would scare me and make me anxious. There is a repetitive cracking sound throughout the song, that contrasts against the low sounds that also follow all the way through the piece. The harsh tones used help to create a mysterious and eery feel to the song, which is something I want to use in my thriller.

 


I like this music choice as it is very fast pace and would help keep my thriller intriguing and the audience interested, it is very thriller based, which is what is needed in my piece, and contains low and high tones.

 

This music choice is copyright free which means I could use this in my final piece. I like this piece because it also contains cracky, high pitched noises as well as dark, low tones, which is perfect for my thriller. The piece is quite slow however, but I could edit this and maybe even mix two pieces of music together when editing my final piece in order to get the best possible sound for my thriller. 



As well as musical choices, I would also like to include non diegetic sounds such as news reports of the crime, from multiple people, and a voice mail from the victim at the time of her death. I would like to make these pieces as professional as possible, and would use the suitable equipment available to achieve this. This will add to the suspense and could illicit narrative enigma questions from the audience which is what I want. To create the news reporter sound effects I will use effects available on editing software, with the already recorded script I will have provided. With the voicemail, I will record the sound with a professional mic in order to get the clearest version of the sound as possible.

Analysis of students thriller - 'SCAPEGOAT'

This thriller is one I found online whilst researching thriller opening sequences, I decided to analyse this one inparticular as it holds certain editing techniques I would like to recreate in order to add into my own thriller. 
This particular thriller starts with stating the location as 'Sorrow Falls' and the date 'November 28, 2007', this sets the scene and gives the audience minimal information about the whereabouts of the scene.
There is then a close up of an eye, and the camera gradually moves out so you are able to see the whole of the characters face, who's facial features are very bleak and as if they have seen a ghost, they are very distant and confused looking, creating suspense and tension. The camera continues to move backwards slowly, and then all of a sudden rapidly moves back, this is done in the editing software, as all the footage will have been cut down and joined together to make the scene jumpy and add to the conventions of a thriller. When the camera moves rapidly backwards, the piece incorperates sound effects that help add to the suspense, there is the dull, aching sound when the camera is moving slowly, and a sharp cracking sound when the camera moves faster. 

The camera then jolts slightly to the left, revealing a body amongst the leaves, this is clearly what the male character was staring at at the start of the piece. When the camera jolts, the music plummets to a very low base tone, like the sound of dropping something into the bottom of an empty metal bin. This scares the audience, along with the montage of images of this body that follows, these images are shown in black and white, and are accompanied by a scratching sound. The use of scratching and high pitched sounds when showing images/footage in fast pace adds to the suspense and keeps the audience not only wanting more information, but they will start asking questions, like who this man in the woods is, or what he is doing there. 
The male character who was previously sat on the tree stump starts to walk into the woods, the camera shows a side shot, a close up of his feet, and a mid shot of him walking from one direction, and then the camera shakes again, revealing him to be further into the forest than the last shot suggested. If this type of editing was not used, and the correct sound type was not used, this could be seen as a continuity mistake. However the candidate has carefully constructed the jump cut to show the characters fear and anxiety as he moves further through the forest, and away from the body. The camera continues to do this throughout the entire piece, however when introduced to other characters, the same effect is used on them. The sound of wind is present in this piece, however it seems to be a prerecorded sound instead of sound picked up whilst recording, this helps add to the professionalism of the piece, as if the sound of the wind recorded on the camera was present this could effect the mystery and prevent the audience from connecting with the scene and the characters.
The music then starts to get higher and much more prominant in the piece, as we get further towards the ending. Throughout the scene you see multiple bodies slumped up river banks and in graveyards, which continues to produce narrative enigmas for the audience, as the bodie count continues to grow, so will the concern of the audience. The male character walking through the woods and into the building continues to pull a straight, intimidating face which keeps the audience watching as they start to wonder what he is doing and where he is going.
The thriller uses lots of different shot types, including mid shots, close ups, birds eye views and long shots, each creating and adding to the overall suspense of the scene. Helping the audience to connect and see the scene from multiple angles and get a range of perspectives.

Analysis of C grade thriller - 'THE SEARCH'

This thriller starts by stating the production company that distributed the film, and then moves onto show footage filmed from a video camera, displaying the 'record' sign, the frame, and everything else you would see on a video recorder. The music is very one note based for a while, and you are able to hear diegetic dialogue from the person who is recording the small child. The titles to this thriller sweep on from the right hand side first, then the left of the screen, slowing down momentarily allowing the audience to see who is featured in this film. The titles also display great graphology, as the start of each name is designed to look like a child's play brick, indicating what sort of thriller movie this may be and sparks questions about what the narrative may include. 
Another home video is shown and the child and family sound and look very happy, this, with the off putting music could suggest that something bad is going to happen, and the fact that this footage is taken from a video camera maybe could suggest that the little girl who features in the footage is not here anymore, and if you carry on watching you may find out clues or pointers as to what may have happened.
The music dies down as the dialogue starts from the female character, however you can still hear the music as it is not cut off completely, creating a base for the scenes to follow.
The editing between shots fades in and out in order to proceed to the next shot, this gives the piece a creepy effect as the slowly fading of the previous scene could intrigue the audience into what could happen next. There is a voice over of a female voice explaining how she doesn't know what she is waiting for anymore, the sound is not coming from the character directly, and is a voice over that has been recorded seperately and then edited on in an editing software to make the piece look and sound clean.
The thriller has a very dark lighting to it, when the women is placing images and stuffed toys on her bed, she is bathed in a dark light, which is stereotypical to thrillers and fits the conventions perfectly, it keeps the audience on the edge of their seats as they watch and listen, eager to know what happens next.
The sound of the hoover interupts the flow of the piece, which I see as a weakness, the sound is very loud and high pitched and could distract the audience from their growing concern, maybe detatching them from the piece completely. However the sound is not on for long, and is replaced again by the voice over and eerie music instead. In the scene in the living room, there is a slow motion shot of someone throwing a piece of paper into a baby seat. This could indicate the audience to start thinking of narrative enigmas, wondering where the scene will take them to.
The character then starts to dress in an all black costume, and the camera uses multiple shot types in order to show the audience the scene from multiple angles, this is aided by the rising voice over of the female character, who seems to be agitated about something (which is currently unknown). It is suggested that the character is going out to do something that maybe she should not be doing, again sparking narrative enigma for the audience as they will start to wonder where she is going and what has pushed her to take action.
This thriller uses a range of shot types, including pans, close ups, low angles and also a tracking shot, following the character out of the room and down the stairs. All these shots are used in a way to create suspense and keep the audience interested. The voice over stops at the same time the music stops, which signals to the audience something is about to happen, or the scene is leading up to something exciting. 
In this part of the piece, the sound is not that great, it is muffled and sounds as if it is underwater. Of course it would be impossible to have no sound, but the sound available could have been made clearer by having a seperate recording of each sound ,and placed over the top when editing.
At the end of the piece there is a shot in which the camera turns completely, following the character as she walks out the door and down the street, this shot is useful as you are able to see where the character is going..
The opening sequence ends with the character speaking to someone unknown on the phone claiming 'shes ready, let's do this'. This holds the audience in place, wondering what is she doing? What is she ready to do? The character walks out the frame of the camera, signalling the start of the thriller after the opening scene. The piece fades out with the sound of action music, which is where the full thriller would carry on. This makes the piece much more realistic.