Storyboard for Our Thriller

Thriller- Final Cut

Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? (UPDATED)

Q7 from Connor Southwell

Q7 screenshots from Connor Southwell

Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? (UPDATED)

Q6 improved from Connor Southwell

Q5: How did you attract/address your audience?

Q5 final from Connor Southwell

Q4: Who would be the audience for your media product and why?

Q3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Q3 from Connor Southwell

Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Q2 by connor southwell on Scribd

Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (UPDATED)

The title of our film was ‘Torpidity’ and our sub-genre of choice was a psychological thriller. In terms of location, we shot our film in a nearby woods (an overhead shot seen), as psychological thrillers use locations such as woods and isolated area’s to test the audience through location. This is achieved because of the intimacy of the woods, as this creates an enclosed area in which the action is taking place in a place of deep mystery and intrigue due to its enclosed nature, also, the clockwork nature of the woods (how everything is manufactured and seems to complement each other, an example of this is a stinging nettle and a doc leaf) grows and develops is similar to human minds, however, for our protagonist, it’s completely different and as a production company, we wanted to reflect this through our use of establishing shot, as the main character overlooks the rest of the woods in a way that is highly metaphorical, this shot symbolises how our main character, Joshua Masterson, is an onlooker to the rest of society and is unsure how to get in amongst society because of his troubled thoughts and feelings in a time of uncertainty and provides connotations of mental fragility and isolation, which are themes we wish to explore in the narrative of our film progressing forwards. Woods or forests, are described here as "Retreating into the forest is symbolic death before initiatory rebirth." Traditionally, in texts such as King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and Snow White, woods are seen to have a special magical power or be a place of protection, however, our film challenges the conventions in which woodlands have been used previously, and is used more in away against the traditional connotations in presented and in a more sinister way much like Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters does, and although our film doesn’t feature the magical aspect of the forest, it is a dark, literally and symbolically and that’s why we chose our location because of the darkness that is present and the way the enclosed nature of it can be used to connote different things, like mental fragility and isolation and that is absolutely our focus in terms of feelings. Another highly important film that inspired our use of location was Silence of the Lambs. This film also features a forest at the beginning in a way which is of a dark undertone and in a way which provoked negative connotations which is similar to our thriller. These two films influenced our decision over location significantly as they are films which we enjoyed as a production team but also they match our intentions that we strike to achieve in our thriller.

Another location we used to film our opening sequence of our thriller was a garage, we chose this space as it was enclosed and fairly dark, with the right light we could manipulate the space to replicate a mental asylum which our protagonist was locked up in due to the issues he explores mentally. The compact nature of this space allowed us to use silhouettes and use natural light sources such as a burning candle to create different atmospheres which created meanings and connotations with in our film, so from a production point of the view, the location achieved everything we wanted it to. This location conforms to the genre of psychological thriller, as it tests the audience on an intellectual level and the use of small, conformed space shows the trapped state of mind felt from our protagonist. Author Wayne Dyer is quoted as saying ‘"The body is the garage where the soul is parked”, we decided to base our location around this quote, and instead of basing our location around film references, this is a quote that inspired location choice and the significance of the body being the garage of the soul is a really interesting concept which we decided to subtly with this locational choice. We drew inspiration from the Dark Knight, where the Interrogation Scene is set in an intimate, naturalistic and dingy setting similar to a mental asylum or a police interrogation room, it was a scene in which we drew great inspiration from, because although Batman is a completely different genre, we decided that the desaturation from the garage created an atmosphere that made our audience think intellectually, which coincides with the convention of our psychological thriller opening.  To summarise, I think our locations conform to the psychological genre where locations are usually isolated, urban areas which is something that is replicated within our opening sequence. 

Mise-en-scene is a significant part of our film. It is highly significant as costume, lighting and props are a huge part of our thriller. It’s highly significant as it adds textured details and reality to our thriller which makes it a higher quality due to these factors, and it was highly important for us to ensure all parts of Mise en Scene were done correctly to our film conformed with the typical conventions of the Psychological thriller. For example, our lighting that is used is predominately dark and this conforms with the idea that psychological thrillers are dark in nature and also in terms of lighting, this is just one example of us conforming to the genre of the film and that was something to high importance for our film to have identity and meaning, as well as being entertaining and coherent. One part of mise-en-scene that was highly important to the complexion and texture of our film was our choice of costume and the connotations that was created by these.

Costume

Costume is an area of mise-en-scene that provoked a range of thought from our production team, as we wanted a costume that reflected the enclosed setting and trapped feeling that is being felt by our protagonist, with all these factors taken into account, we decided to have Josh Masterson (our protagonist) in a coat with a hood, showing how feels trapped and enclosed in a society that he simply doesn’t feel a part of, and the size of the coat and hood reflect a key theme for us which is the idea of how colossal the world is in relation to somebody experiencing mental health illnesses. In terms of colour, Josh’s coat is black to match with the desaturation of the scene to foreshadow the depression and struggle experienced by Masterson throughout the opening but also progressing forwards into the body of the film. This costume does conform to the conventions of the genre as it presents dark connotations and is carried out with the intention of distancing the audience from the character of Masterson by not letting them immerse in his features and facial expressions, and this piece of costume is vital to creating important connotations and also aide characterisation. 

Tom Rush is an interesting character in terms of costume, once again, we thought about what costume Rush could wear and the connotations that his costume provided, and his costume allows us to do several things, including representing young people stereotypically and using regressive attitudes that that been evident in TV, film and written press since the 1950s. The connotations of the jeans present a normality compare to Josh’s grey trousers which have no personality or presence, Rush’s jeans are metaphorical of the normality of society and his inclusion with that, Josh’s is unique and shows how he is at a distance with society. Rush’s ‘chavy’ top shows the audience his age and presents the idea to the audience that he is rough around the edges which connotes violence which gives the audience an anticipation around the antagonist and that is something that we wanted to achieve.  In terms of colour symbolism, generally, Rush wears darker colours, to symbolise that all his future is lifeless and dark; if that is, he is real at all. 

Characters

Characterisation is something that we placed a huge amount of emphasis on throughout the opening sequence of our thriller. Our characters Josh Masterson (antagonist) and Tom Rush (protagonist), are interesting in terms of how they suit our genre and the regressive and progressive attitudes that the characters create. Josh Masterson is a progressive character, as he explores issues of mental illness which isn’t something that fragile attitudes began to form on until arguably, the last 10 years. The vulnerability of Masterson conforms to our genre, as often, innocent victims are involved with in Psychological Thrillers, however, another character type evident in psychological thrillers is psychotic individuals, and Masterson definitely falls into that category, he is a troubled individual and isn’t in a good place mentally. Masterson’s body language is tight and tense, often his shoulders are tightened up which is metaphorical to the weight he feels on his shoulders due to the mental illness he is suffering from. Also, when Masterson is walking through the forest, he is seen itching his face erratically as his panic as to whether he is being chased or whether it is merely fantasy in his own mind. One article that really inspired me to characterise Josh as a mentally ill character was this article featured in the Daily Mail which raises loads of questions over the treatment of mentally ill patients (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-46084/Why-I-killed-daughter.html) in the UK. The girl in this article was extremely influential to how we characterised Josh and ensured our actor (on this occasion, myself) knew the story we were explore but also to provoke an emotional response from the audience in a way that highlighted the lack of support given to people with mental illness and how Josh requires that support, so there is definitely questions asked of the political system alongside mental health attitudes. To ensure the audience are aware of Masterson’s illness, his eyes are erratic and this connotes vulnerability and worry that makes the audience feel sorry for Masterson’s character throughout the opening sequence of Torpidity. The way we portray Masterson is distanced but the audience feel sorry for him and are anticipating what he is walking into, as his fear grows and the itching becomes more frantic and constant, his breathing intensifies to show his unease at the situation unfolding in the forest scene. As the scene develops and the location changes, Masterson is seen to be even more troubled and this is evident as he is seen rolling his head around as thoughts begin to drown him. This is complimented with the panting noises which is manufactured by the production team to amplify it and emphasise it so that it is evident for the audience when watching Torpidity. As the scene progresses into the enclosed institution, Masterson’s movements become slow and almost ritualistic, which is perhaps a more realistic portrayal of mental illness than the fast paced, franticness of the scene beforehand that was more dramatised and exaggerated for the entertainment of our audience. The character of Josh Masterson was influenced by the character of Trevor from the film The Machinist, Trevor suffers with an extreme case of insomnia and is plagued by a mind state that operates poorly due to the mental illness he is suffering from. Another inter textual reference for the character of Josh Masterson is the character of John Nash from the film A Beautiful Mind. The film shows John’s struggle with slow development of paranoid schizophrenia. Nash isn’t depilated as a monster, but merely a flawed human being, and that was something we wanted our film to be about, and this biographic film gave us a character in which we couldn’t help by use strands of in our film. 

Tom Rush's character is a regressive character type who we based around the juvenile delinquent teenage character model which is explored in the TV Drama Skins, where the character of James Cook, a youthful character who is on a path of self-destruction through excessive alcohol and drug taking is highly involved in series 2 of the popular TV Drama. Whilst Rush isn’t involved in drugs and alcohol, his violent nature is something that could lead to self-destruction much like James Cook from Skins. Rush conforms with the genre of a psychological thriller as it is evident that the antagonist has some sort of relationship or connection with the antagonist and exploitation of a character who is vulnerable are key conventions of psychological thriller, not only this, but the theme of reality is also extremely evident throughout the opening of the thriller. Rush’s broad shoulders and forceful walking that we see in the forest sequence of the film, shows the aggressive manner that you would expect from an antagonist in a psychological thriller. Despite his aggressive demeanor and forceful characterisation in this section of the opening alienates the character from the audience as Rush's features aren’t revealed to the audience which again, presents dark connotations. Also, in dreams, scientific studies have proven that you don’t see faces in your dreams, to develop this further and having conducted research on this matter, dreaming of a faceless person can be a reflection of how confused you are about yourself and your direction in life. You might also have this feeling that other people fail to appreciate you.

Props

In terms of props, we kept these quite minimal in order to simplify the scene and not overload the audience in terms of external sources. Our main prop of choice was that of a candle. This is was prominent in the garage part of our scene, as we used it as a diegetic source of lighting as well as in a way that provided symbolism and a sub message distanced from the narrative itself. The candle was seen mainly in use of our antagonist Tom Rush, as he looked to physically torture protagonist Josh Masterson in that particular scene. In terms of metaphorical message, at the end of our sequence, Rush is seen blowing out the candle, which is representational to the juvenile delinquents lifestyle, as he is running out of hope and his life will end up in the darkness of prison. It conforms to the genre of psychological thriller as it provokes thought from the audience and would become a motif throughout the film, if we were to carry it on. The candle is highly significant throughout the garage scene. The candle is a unique prop in our thriller and something that has high metaphoric and symbolic meaning, we decided to include the candle with the idea of making a new convention of psychological thrillers and it gives a unique feel to our film. Also prominent throughout the garage scene is the use of a white chair connotes the purity but vulnerability of Masterson. 

Lighting

As a production team, lighting was something we discussed and put a lot of thought into to ensure it conformed with the genre, but also that it created the right mood and atmosphere to ensure our film created the atmosphere that we wanted to create. In the forest part of our scene, we aimed to ensure that the lighting complimented the narrative structure and atmosphere. We decided to use the diegetic lighting of the forest due to the difficulty of creating artificial lighting in an urban, outdoor environment without risking our own safety. However, the diegetic lighting and the warmness of the sun shows how Josh Masterson's personality away from his illness is warm and gentle which is being shielded by the hood he wears, thus metaphorical of the darkness he feels which is being created by his mental illness. Also, the diegetic lighting from the sun was being blocked out by the enclosed nature of the space we were using to block our actors with in, and so it created an atmosphere where silhouettes could be used, but these seemed more Film Noir than thriller for our production team, and in the end we decided to opt against this created decision to ensure our film had the identity of a psychological thriller. The fragmented specs of light are reflective to that of Masterson’s mental state, finally, it conforms to the cinematography style of naturalism. 

In the scene that transitions into the more enclosed space, we opted to use low key lighting as it doesn’t dominate the screen like high key light does. In using a lamp, we got a hard and crisp hard light which gave the set and characters definition which creates an alienation from the audience as the shadows create a sense of mystery and connotes the dodgy past and imperfectness of Rush, but also how Masterson mental illness is always following him wherever he goes. The hard light created by the hard light gives a more natural and unflattering look to characters which enhances the realism as characters wouldn’t be made up in reality, not only this, it also highlights the imperfections of the characters which is a highly significant reason as to why we chose the non diegetic hard light of the lamp. We are conforming to the genre as low key lighting is a key convention of psychological thrillers as they create tension due to the scene of torture being seen on screen. Side lighting, which we used in this part of the scene, only highlights half the face, which creates a sense of mystery and also creating a shadow upon the face, which in turn, creates a sense of danger and mystery that is present in the film V for Vendetta, where the mysterious and dangerous character of Hugo Weaving is portrayed with a side light and we drew inspiration from this to use. It’s also metaphorical for the battle that Josh Masterson is facing between sanity and insanity, and the ritualistic head movements compliment this metaphoric wonderfully. In terms of the effect it makes for Rush, it creates a sinister effect that connotes violence and toughness, which as previously mentioned, is a big part to his character. This conforms to the genre as it allows us to cast shadows and use metaphors for both characters. The second key lighting choice we made was the diegetic lighting from the burning candle, and this is used by Tom Rush and distorts his face, until giving him real identity as his character is fully introduced to the audience, thus proving he is real and not a figment of mentally ill Masterson fragmented imagination. This sequence features pictorial lighting techniques which are manufactured by ourselves to create an alternative atmosphere than the naturalism style did, and in our research we read good films do both to achieve different atmospheres in different parts of the film. 

Sound

Sound is something that can make or break a film. For us, it was something we planned meticulously our approach on sound and although this plan may have been diverted (i.e. wanting to use sound effects, and then concluding they weren’t relevant) for whatever reason. To comply with the genre of psychological thriller, we concluded that we would use uncopyrighted eerie music to create tension and suspense within our chase sequence in the forest. This underscore creates intrigue for the audience which increases curiosity and from that, suspense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XyW7791kCQ is one piece of music we considered at it is a curious and intriguing piece of music, and would provide the scene with more of a psychological thriller feel and complexion, however, in the end we decided to use a track that is slow in pace but builds up to a climatic part which complements the action on screen as it creates tension and suspense which conforms to the genre of psychological thrillers and is seen in films such as Silence of the Lambs, Inception and Psycho. Intertextually, we make references to a lot of other psychological thrillers, such as Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs, as these are highly successful films in the industry, and studying their soundscapes in great depth and detail we concluded that eerie and tense music was the best way to go about this, however, at the point in the sequence before Masterson gets punched, we use silence to make a climax at this moment in the scene, and it’s this point that it falls to black which increases the audiences suspicions and curiosity as to why this unknown and unidentifiable character is chasing the protagonist, which is highlighted by the silence. The diegetic sound of the stick breaking in the forest provokes a new, more fragmented and paced piece of music become introduced to show that the diegetic sound was something that should cause alarm and panic amongst members of the audience and the transition into the underscore creates a new, quicker paced and more atmospheric sound. We aimed to create a sound motif in the diegetic sound of the protagonist’s heavy breathing and this is repeated in the enclosed space in which the ritualistic movements begin and it helps with characterisation and identification of character from the audiences prospective. When Rush closes the door, a more climatic underscore is matched with the synchronous sound of the door being closed. The door being shut and locked is also metaphoric of how Rush is getting in the mind of Masterson is locking himself firmly into the thoughts of Masterson. The silence is reintroduced as the close up of Rush and he blows out the candle at the end of the scene. 

Camerawork

In the sequence, we use a range of tracking, POV, close ups and extreme close ups. The variety of shots creates an intimacy with the audience and makes them curious, which is ultimately the aim of a psychological thriller. Tracking shots are used to position the audience in a place where they can see nobody is behind the protagonist and thus delve into the character of Masterson deeper. The tracking shot also emphasises Masterson’s persona because of his illness, the tracking shot is Masterson’s healthy self losing the battle of control over his mentally ill persona, and that is the reason we decided to use a tracking shot. The positioning of the audience was something we wanted to think about as well, because we wanted to comply with the 180 degree rule as this was something that wasn’t achieved successfully in our preliminary task. The position of the audience is following the character. This complies with the convention of psychological thrillers, as small details in the background of shot can make a huge impact to the narrative hook of the film. Tracking also keeps the audience guessing, as they can only see where the protagonist has came from and not where they are going, which keeps an air of tension over the film intact.  The use of POV when Rush appears to put his hand upon the shoulder of Masterson forcefully, it ensures the identity of the antagonist isn’t revealed in a dream state, which was important to ensure the theme of the film was kept intact. It positions the audience in the position of the antagonist, which is something we were keen to do as it enhances the realism of that particular character, but once the shot goes back to Masterson, there is nothing there, which provokes the audience into thinking, it’s a good use of shot in my opinion. The use of close ups convey emotion and allow the closer, more delicate movements, such as eye rotation and movement, to be captured in this shot, where as a mid shot wouldn’t of added as much texture or detail to the shot. It also pinpoints Masterson’s vulnerability and mental instability with his erratic and frantic movements, which are repeated in the enclosed space. The close ups and extreme close ups also highlight how intimidated and enclosed Masterson feels by today’s society. The use of eye level shots provides the connotation of a sort of standoff commencing between the two characters. This conforms to the genre of psychological thriller as it builds tension and is used in a series of films such as Psycho and Inception. At points within the opening sequence, Masterson is shown with a slight high angle, to show the pity and empathy that the audience should feel towards a very vulnerable and fractured character who is clearly drowning in his own thoughts, this is conventional in psychological thrillers, as characters are often shown with a slight high angle to show they are being looked down upon by the audience which is metaphorical of society's and most important, the governments viewpoint on mental health. Rush is shown with a slight low angle upon his character, as he is obviously the antagonist, and whilst identification alienates the audience, the angle at which they are position when Rush is featured is significant as it only highlights the aggressive antagonist and his superiority complex due to his juvenile delinquency displayed with in his character. The use of establishing shot at the beginning of the scene sets the scene for the audience, not only this, but Masterson is looking down upon a word of perfectly woven nature, which he simply cannot grasp due to the block of his mental illness, it's a wall in the way of touch to society and realism and that's what we are setting straight away with the use of this shot. Intertextually, we link directly to Inception, by replicating one shot of Leonardo Di Caprio’s character, Cobb, waking up after a sleep, and we replicate this as Masterson wakes up in the same way in the enclosed space. It's a subtle but clever intertextual reference that fans of psychological thrillers and Inception will enjoy. To summarise our use of camerawork, our shots conform with the genre as well as provide unique connotations that correlate with our theme, and it's a highly technical but important part of our film. 

Composition

Complying with the rules of composition was something we found extremely challenging in our preliminary task, and thinking back to that, we caused a huge amount of disorientation by breaking the 180 degree rule, and we wanted to ensure this was complied with in both of our settings. In the establishing shot to begin the film, the rule of thirds is being used as Masterson is placed just right of centre of the shot, this is complimented with a balanced shot that doesn't contain any clutter or mess, it's a clean shot and the different shades of green being provided by the trees creates a beautiful, well composed shot. We cinematographed shots to ensure they were well considered and continuity was evident throughout, we attempted to use things such as leading lines but these simply weren't possible to the irregularity of trees and clear pathways throughout our location. In the enclosed space, we looked to make the shots balanced, to ensure they were lit consistently, complied with the 30 degree and 180 degree rules and agreed with the rule of thirds as these are the basic composition guidelines to ensure a film is of the correct quality. They conform with the genre as they compliment camerawork and give camerawork a foundation to be worked upon, they also provide clarity and for the audience, make the film more aesthetically pleasing to view than if the rules of composition weren't applied. 

Narrative Structure

Narrative is a hugely important part of the filmmaking process and can quite easily make of break a film into being a blockbuster or a complete shambles. Our narrative questions the difference between dream and reality, if there is one, and uses a linear sequence to present things in a chronological order. This isn't conforming to our genre, as films in the psychological thriller genre tend to be unordered to intellectually challenge the audience in a different way, however, we didn't want to over complicate and over think the narrative because of the importance of the technical aspects of film making, for us it was key to strike a balance, and whilst our narrative is clever and successful, it's not our main focus. The narrative begins with a dream sequence which could be argued is a flashback, in this part, Masterson is being chased by someone, or thing. At this point the identity of the antagonist isn't known due to a scientific study claiming that faces are clearly recognisable in dreams, thus providing us with inspiration. As the pair encounter one another in the forest, Rush seemingly puts his hand on the shoulder of Masterson, to which he responds by turning round, as he turns his head back, Rush throws a punch towards Masterson and the sequence cuts to blackness. We then cut to the shot of Masteron ‘waking up’ much like in Inception, and this is followed by collective groaning and ritualistic by schizophrenic Masterson who begins having an episode which is broken up by the arrival of Rush who lights a candle and seemingly begins to both mentally and physically torture Masterson who sits on a chair, helpless and lost in his own thoughts. The scene ends with Rush blowing out a candle before the screen cuts to darkness. It's all centred around the theme of reality, which conforms to our genre as it's something commonly explored by psychologists and psychological thrillers. We drew inspiration from Inception, a film keen to question dream and reality, which is highly evident in our film also, so it's a modern, engaging narrative which is progressive in terms of attitude towards understanding mental illness and how easy it is to be exploited due to suffering from a mental illness. To summarise, the narrative intellectually challenges our audience by questioning the key workings of the human mind, the sun genre of psychological thrillers support this action as a convention and this shows we have conformed to it to ensure our film is easily identifiable as a psychological thriller. 

Titles

Titles are important to films, as they provide a unique brand name and provoke thought from the audience as to what the film is about. Our typeface is Avenir Light, as we felt this was a Sans Serif typeface (due to it not containing no embellishments) that didn't reveal to much about our film, as we wanted our audience to be more engaged by dramatic elements and technical phases of our film, not being able to identify the film through typeography in the opening 10 seconds. I would argue this is probably one of the only parts of our film that doesn't conform to the genre due to the lack of identity compared to films such as Psycho have in their title sequence. Positionally, we placed the font in the centre of our screen as it is vital to be readable to our audience, and the text is all displayed in block capitals, meaning there are no descending or ascending topics which would dominate the typeface should this not be presented in block capitals. This is metaphorical of the equality that should be evident in society, and the colour of the typeface (white) on a black background makes it clear and easy to identify. The line under the typeface gives the typeface boldness and identity which makes it easy to read and neatly presented. The kerning of the typeface is consistent throughout and that's important for presentability and consistency in our typography. The typeface contains vertical stems in characters such as ‘T’ and ‘I’ which is good for clarity and precision but also looks presentable and while simplistic, it's extremely effective. I think if you've seen films such as Seven you'll realise our typeography isn't as flashy but that's due to the low budget of our production and lack of specialism in this area. That's not to say that it isn't effective, the animation that supports the typeography is very effective and keeps the film moving. Does it conform to our genre? No, but it is present, clear and provides good connotations, which is all that's needed

Editing

Our editing conforms to the genre of psychological thriller as it is quick in pace and intellectually challenged the audience. In the opening, Masterson is seen walking and glancing over his shoulder from a variety of angles which is good, simple match on action as continuity is present and match on action is displayed, however, to make these shots of walking more dynamic and better viewing, short, sharp bursts of a character sprinting is played during this moment, which not only makes the scene more tense and exciting, but is reflective of the fragile mental state of Masterson, who is struggling to adjust with his mental illness and that symbolises this moment in particular. The quick paced cuts match the action as it psychological thrillers should be quick in pace both through narrative and editing, and we did debate using a series of jump cuts, however, we didn't want to conform to horror film conventions rather than that of psychological thriller.

We use cross cutting to cut to snippets of a character sprinting. Generally, our shots are immersive and edits quick and leave plenty of intrigue for the audience who want to be left with mystery from this opening sequence. The 30 degree rule allowed us to get a range of perspectives on the same thing at a given time, for example, when Masterson is walking and glancing over his shoulders whilst a tracking shot is being used, as this allows the audience to fully survey the scene but also creates the illusion that the audience are hiding from the unsuspecting Masterson ready to attack him. Short, quick, simple cuts are the main source of cuts evident, as that's is conforming to the genre of our film, and also, using a dream or a flashback is something that happens in a lot of psychological thrillers and that's something we were well aware of when considering editing. 

To summarise this question, I think we have conformed with the genre a huge amount, and that's hugely important when grieving your audience identification and expanding branding opportunities. Also, it is something that has been inspired by a lot of media in all its forms and has been subtlety referenced one way or another in the opening 2 minutes of our film. Conforming to a genres conventions was something we found extremely pleasing and creativity, it gave us a set of easy rules and guidelines to follow in order to make this film a success. 

Pictures that support my q1 response from Connor Southwell

Where I Live

Preliminary Task- Storyboard

Independent Study- How does the camerawork create tension in The Women In Black?

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In a horror thriller, as The Women In Black is, it is important tension and suspense to draw the audience in before using methods of jump cuts, and dark narrative to provide a narrative hook for the audience. The general conventions of horror thrillers are that gore, jump cuts and ghosts, or murders and this sort of relevant to the story of the The Woman In Black. In order to create tension, horror films use many methods, like J cuts, or through the use of sound and editing to make an eerie underscore which builds up to a sudden piece of music that scares the audience. With editing, it can be used to make the scene a quicker pace through match on action, or short cuts to make the scene more frantic, but what about camera work? Is that used to create tension in a horror thriller? Using this montage here, I will analyse how camerawork is used to create tension.

The first piece of camerawork is a piece of movement that surveys the scene. The pan is used because not only does it survey the scene and set the scene, but it also provide connotations that there is something that is lurking in the space off camera, for the audience, it adds tension as the audience are waiting to be shocked and surprised by a moment of scare or horror, and instead, the action cuts to a mid shot of Daniel Radcliffe's character Arthur Kipps enters the room with a candle, and so this moment built up from the slow paced pan complimented with the underscore of a jack in the box creates an eerie atmosphere but this shot shows an anti climatic moment, which engages the audience as they are waiting for a moment of horror or to be made to jump by the action of screen and that is not present at this moment. The next piece of camera work is a close up on a doll, which is agreeing with the connotations of the horror thriller sub genre as a whole, so this shot is summing up the genre and also making this instantly recognisable to the audience that The Women In Black is enticing to consume the film, so it connotes the natural conventions of horror as a subgenre. The doll also foreshadows the youth that are going to be killed by The Woman In Black, as dolls are a toy but in this shot, it stands independently and is lonely, so that's a metaphorical shot foreshadowing the conclusion of the film. An overhead shot follows and shows Arthur Kipps entering the room with a candle, as an audience, we get a wider perspective of the film, and also to show at this point, there is nothing behind Arthur Kipps, so there is nothing to be to be afraid of, although for the audience, this shot lures them into a false sense of security and many may be more tense due to a moment of scaring being imminent. The next moment is a close up of the mirror, with an out of focus black figure to the right of the mirror, this is evidently a moment of high suspense, as the figure wasn't present when we saw an overhead shot with a birds eye view of the room, also, the shot is short and complimented with a sharp, sudden piece of music to build the tension further as the pace of the shot doesn't allow the audience to see this figure in any detail. The music that matches this shot is of a higher volume and this scares the audience, the movement of the figure only builds the tension further as the audience  see the figurine move away from the mirror which connotes the moment that Arthur Kipps feeling of security and safety leaves him as this figure dances away in a fashion that is fearful to the audience. The shots then cut back to the overhead shot seen previously, but this time, the black figure is present with in it, this shows her as a spirt with in the film as she jumps and hangs herself. The darkness and height of the shot shows the distance between the two characters due to the difference of humanity and spirit and how the relationship is distanced and the close up of the hanging shortly after blames humanity for the spirits being left behind on a planet in which they don't belong. Next we see a series of fast paced shots show the frantic mental state that Kipps experiences due to this altercation and also maintains the tension being experienced by the audience as The Women In Black is seen multiple times within a short period which is scary and shocking for the audience which is the objective of the character, also, it is a character seen by bothe the audience and Kipps, so there is a realtion of shared feelings such as anxiousness and feeling fearful regarding the situation. The closing scene goes back to the doll but this time in a change of position to provide the message that things aren't always as they seem, but the close provides intimacy and closeness that is awkward and uncomfortable but also shows the movement in an inanimate object which provides tension as it is clearly being orchestrated by The Woman In Black, which in itself provides tension as it shows power and magical essence. The transition of longer, wider shots into more intimate shots provides the impression that something is brewing and the close ups provide an intimacy with the protagonist.

In the second clip, we start with a mid shot of a bloody Arthur Kipps surveying the scene looking for something/someone, the cuts on his face show the physical suffering he has gone through in this fire, but also the mental torture that The Woman Of Black is putting him through during the film. This cuts to a POV shot, which puts us in the shoes of Arthur Kipps, as the audience, the pan of the camera allows us as an audience to see the scene from the characters perspective, and the tension is unbearable as we already know that there is a girl present in the building, so when we finally get a glimpse of her as the camera pans, that's a tense moment for us an an audience as the fire is blocking Kipps and the young girl, which is a distance being placed by the ghostly figure of The Woman In Black, so for the audience, the tension being built is as we discover the girl and the camera movement allows the location of the girl at the same time as the main character. The series of shot-reverse shot that follows builds tension as the possessed girl looks set to inigite the fire further, much to the agony of Kipps, and this series of shots is a close up to Kipps, to provide intimacy and show emotions are more detailed and interaction with the audience is in a closer proximity than the girl, who is further away in camerawork and this connotes how possessed she is but also how decisive she is in her decision making, this is tense for the audience, as the young girl is vulnerable and The Woman In Black is taking a young girls life and already the deed is already done, the guilt the audience feels is strong due a child being possessed and killed by a spiritual thing.

The third scene starts once more with a close up of Kipps, approaching a corridor of darkness, as is made evident to us as an audience by the POV shot that follows this, and for the audience, this is tense as we think The Woman In Black is lurking around the audience waiting to make us jump and scare the audience, so the tension builds higher and higher the more the camera moves around the corner, the darkness is foreshadowing the conclusion of the film, as no matter how much you face her or fight her, ultimately she will take your life, and that's being shown with the inclusion and emphasis on the dark space with in this shot. As we see the corridor in its entirety, this only cranks up the tension more, as The Woman In Black is nowhere to be seen, so where is she? For the audience this is a very tense moment created by a POV shot complimented with a pan movement. The same shot is kept as a darkness accelerates down the hall, but this time the shot is kept still and motionless, this is symbolic to how Kipps can't stop The Woman In Black getting what she wants, which is the death of children. The close up that follows provides further exclusivity of emotions and adds detail and texture to the sequence, as the lights turn off, only one thing is evitable. The next shot we see is a mid shot, but it complies with the rule of thirds, as Kipps is to left of the picture, and The Woman In Black to the right. With Kipps, although the shadow makes him look scary and intimidating, the fact his human features are visible means the audience don't fear him, as he is mearly mortal, however, The Woman In Black is in the corner and blends in with the darkness with hidden features, with is more intimidating and provides the connotations that her features aren't mortal or human like, it distances her from the audience which adds tension as we are already capable of her she operates and this, with her 1 on 1 in a room with Kipps, seems a sense of definity about it, particularly when she screams and floats towards Kipps, her features become visible and provide tension as she looks to hurt Kipps and enviably bring him to her form. Finally, the close up of Kipps eyes shows the mental torture and strain she is placing on him as a character as he ducks from the spirit, we then cut to a mid shot with the doll iun focus and the background being out of focus, the motif of the doll shows how The Woman In Black wants to capture youth and have it to herself.

To summarise, The Woman In Black uses a variety of shots and movement but ultimately, the shots comply with the conventions mentioned in the opening paragraph of this blog, and that makes it really obvious that horror thriller is the genre of this film and that makes it evident to the audience. In terms of how it creates tension, I think the use of fast editing, underscore and camera work all interlink to create tension and are like clockwork in the sense they all come together to create something greater. I will look to use some of the shots such as POV or close up to capture tension and create it, as we are aiming to create a Psychological Thriller, which is something wherethe creation of tension is vital.

Title Sequence of our Thriller

For our thriller, we decided it was important to play with a variety of fonts to see what best captured and reflected the messages we wanted our thriller to convey. In my research post, I discuss the typeface of Mission Impossible and how that shows the texture and detail, through typography, the sub genre of our film, and for our film, Torpidity, we want to have the same impact on the audience, where you can clearly tell the genre of the film through the typography featured at the start of the opening sequence.

The typography of the film gives it a clear basis in which to build the film upon, and in films such as Star Wars, it allows a whole franchise to be based around it, it becomes recognisable universally and is connected with your film, so in that aspect we had to ensure it was right, also, it has to share the feel and convey your intentions for your films, often the typography is vital in setting the genre of your film, as discussed in my research post, and we needed to get the typeface right as it can make or break an opening of a film. Using the website www.dafont.com, we reviewed a series of typefaces and what the font connotes etc.

Firstly, we looked through the list of 'Newly added fonts' to get a general consensus for the site.
We began by looking at the typeface that is pictured, called 'Infinite Strike'.  We analysed this typeface and decided why it wouldn't be great for our thriller. The cons of the typeface are really simple, it's delicate and elegant, and perhaps better suited to a romantic film, rather than a Psychological Thriller, or a film that uses Film Noir's femme fatale as a character type, as it best conveys key characteristics of this character type. The descenders are deep and finessed, it creates a connotations of femininity and class that is simply not present in Torpidity. Also, the kerning is too compact which would contrast the space shown through our location.

These are the main ideas we didn't select 'Infinite Strike' as our typeface of choice.

Another typeface we considered using for our film was 'Typographica'. This typeface was a candidate for our film, as it matched the intentions we were looking to portray through the typeface we eventually chose to open the film.

In terms of the connotations it has, it is a Sans Serif typeface, and this provides a clarity and intimidation that is required in a psychological thriller, it adds simplicity because of the clarity of each individual letter in the typeface as a whole. For this section, there is an air of clarity and individuality about the film, and it's present right at the beginning of the film, which contrasts the opening scene which is frantic and confusing, this contrast, along with the clarity and intimidating nature of the typeface made it a real strong candidate for our film.

In the end, we selected this font for our film, it is much like the 'Typographica' typeface however, it is more streamlined and more of a serif font. The connotations our font gives is clarity and simplicity to a scene of tension and drama. It plays on the mind as the line is representation of the divide between dream and reality, which is another inter textual reference to the film. The font is called Avenir Light.

Inter-textual References of Our Thriller

Di Caprio in Inception

For our film, we conducted loads of research on Psychological Thrillers and what has been successful, it was imperative for us as a production team to ensure that we drew inspiration for more successful films in this sub genre of film.

The first inter-textual reference of our film comes from the plot itself, as it based around the idea of questioning dream and reality, and with in that, having a reoccurring nightmare. The film Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan, was our inspiration for our narrative, and thus there are elements of that film present in our Thriller opening sequence. In the final scene of Inception, Leonardo Di Caprio is seen waking up and opening his eyes suddenly in this extreme close up, in our opening scene, we will replicate this shot to include an inter-textual reference early on, also, its helpful as it clearly distinguishes what is dream and what is reality and this is a successful piece of camerawork in a very successful film.

Another inter-textual reference in our film is the character of Xavier Martinelli. In the opening sequence, Martinelli is shown without a face, and sometimes he disappears altogether, which questions reality and dream and if it's different. His character is based on the 6ft3 Rabbit in 1950 film Harvey. The rabbit is only seen by the Elwood P. Dowd, the films main character, and the audience, which is qualities shared by Martinelli, because he is only seen by Josh Masterson and the audience, creating an illusion and an illusion between what is reality and what is in the dream being experience by the protagonist. We considered the message of the Rabbit as the protagonists best friend and how his characteristics can be channelled through an antagonist in a different genre of film, in terms of success, I think basing Martinelli on the Rabbit is a complex but clever idea from ourselves.

These inter-textual references allow us to show a knowledge of films through our film, but also can provide texture and understanding for our audience. As keen film lovers, our production team are allowed to add sections from successful films and that helps make the film more successful due to them being recognisable, particularly the reference from Inception.

Written by Connor Southwell

Soundscape of our Thriller

In our thriller, we would use sound to help create suspense and tension in our thriller, a psychological thriller is aimed to provoke the audiences thinking and I think it's important our soundscape replicates this as it would match the convention of a psychological thriller. This would be achieved through the use of different methods of sound, for example, opening the title sequence with a score that sets the scene, for our thriller, it would be a piece of score that could replicate a heart machine at a hospital, or a lullaby that is darkened to match with the theme of torpidity.

This would involve the use of underscore to whack up the tension, which would be present when Tom Rush's character enters a shot, to clearly match the intensity and really get the tension high. This score would be an intense piece of music to compliment the high intensity of this 'chase scene'. This is an underscore which will play when Rush enters a scene, it becomes associated with him as a character and thus provides connotations of him being a tense character who provides negative connotations, which matches the intentions of the character. With the use of an underscore, the character relies on good acting and body language, whereas with it, it creates connotations and a motif.

The diegetic sound of breathing at a range of pace allows us to create tension and suspense as breathing presents the idea that something is going to happen, and the physical action of intense heavy breathing creates tension, as if a character the audience relates to is heavy breathing, there should be cause for concern amongst the audience, it also raises questions and linking back to conventions, works the mind.

Finally, the use of silence also helps creates tension and suspense, often the use of silence gets overlooked as a method of sound, but as a production team, we have carefully considered our use of sound and how to use it to full effect in order to create tension and suspense, also, the use of silence allows over technical aspects such as Mise En Scene and Cinematography to take over and allow that to transform the scene as oppose to relying on the sound to create connotations and imagery, however, silence, especially when combined an extreme close up creates tension and suspense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XyW7791kCQ This is an example of a score we could use in our thriller film.

Written by Connor Southwell

Explanation of Planning Process

Our production team, which consists of Thor, Robert and I, came up with a mind map of initial ideas which gave us a foundation to base the general idea of our film around. As a group, we were always well aware that we wanted to make a Psychological thriller, as this was a sub genre that interested us in terms of technical aspects, for example, how the use of sound can be used to make the audience think? Secondly, it was about formulating a narrative that both engaged and interested our audience, whilst retaining the conventions of a psychological thriller. After developing our narrative through writing a script and making a shot by shot plan, which gave us a general consensus of what we wanted to achieve in the opening 2 minutes of our thriller and the messages we wanted to create. I wrote a script to back up this plan and narrative, and after the production of it, we analysed it as a group and changed sections and added sections, so despite it being constructed and produced by myself, it was very much a group effort. For the majority, decisions were taken as a group despite being led by an individual, and that drove us to a successful plan and foundation to build and craft our film into what we wanted it to be. Overall, as a group, we worked hard and successfully as a group to achieve our initial ideas, we worked together to achieve an objective that started as ideas on a piece of paper and that's credit to our group and how hard we've worked.


Written by Connor Southwell

Selection of Actors

In terms of acting, as a production team, we wanted to ensure that we that the standard of acting was up to a high standard because it improves the overall complexion of the film as it makes it less 'amateur'. Reflecting upon our Preliminary Task, our focus on that task was based solely around narrative and less so the technical components of the film, so for our thriller, we wanted to strike a balance between narrative and technical aspects such as lighting, mise en scene, camerawork and sound.

Connor Southwell- I decided to act in our thriller as alongside my studies of A Level Media Studies, I also study A Level Theatre Studies, which means naturally, I put myself forward for the acting and as a production team, we decided that my experience with acting and study of theatre allowed me to play the role of the main character with flexibility and professionally which doesn't decrease the quality of our film. I play the role of Joshua Masterson, who is the main character in the film, and a character who needs to be presented in a way that shows mystery and illusion towards the opening of our thriller.


Thor Forster- Thor plays the role of the films antagonist in Tom Rush. Thor is excellent for this role, because he is able to characterise really well, which is needed when playing a character who relies solely on body language and movement to play this character, as throughout the opening, his face is completely hidden which is in relation to not being able to see people's faces with in dreams.


Written by Connor Southwell

Shooting Schedule

Explain the title of your film

The title of our film is 'Torpidity'.

Torpidity means 'lethargic' or 'inactive or sluggish', and for us, this really sums up the narrative of our opening scene of our thriller, because our thriller really questions the difference between dream and reality, and 'Torpidity' is a great word that reflects our intentions as a state of inactivity is exactly what we are after in terms of narrative and actual content present with in our film as we delve into questioning what is dream and what is reality. Our aim in choosing this title is that it will relate to the audience as I'm sure a majority of people have felt the feeling of being in a dream state or as the film displays feeling trapped. This feeling of torpidity is something that can happen to any individual and this is something that we really conveyed in the films opening sequence.

The word originates from the Greek word torpidus, which means 'numb' or 'stiffness', this is relevant to feelings that character feels, so in relation to word origin and historical context of language, this is evident with in our film. Also, as a production team, we wanted our characters to experience feelings of being trapped and experiencing panic, we want to present that Josh Masterson is trapped both in reality and in dream, and Torpidity perfectly captures this sense and that is our reasoning behind the title of our film.

Torpidity is a feeling that can be experienced at any time by any individual, whether in a state of dream or not, and this sense of Torpidity is a feeling that can be felt at any time.

Written by Connor Southwell

Preliminary Task Feedback

Costumes (UPDATED)

In terms of costume, we have placed a great quantity of thought into what is being worn by our characters and the characterisation in which costume allows, and how it influences the piece in its entirety.

Josh Masterson-  Wears a hooded coat along with grey jeans and grey shoes. The thought process behind the hooded coat is to reveal the identity of his character slowly, and present him as a character of mystery and shadiness. Despite the audience feeling sympathy for Joshua, there is also an air of wondering what is happening etc. Masterson's face is always made clear, plus, his colours are blue and grey, which are quite neutral in comparison to dark, bland colours worn by Rush. In terms of the meaning behind the denim jeans, Jean designer Yves Saint Laurent spoke in an interview about the meaning behind jeans  “They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity,” sighed the owlish Frenchman. “All I hope for in my clothes.” This was certainly applicable to our thriller, as the use of jeans add simplicity and modesty behind our character, Masterson is a much warmer character in comparison to Rush.The intimacy and commonness of Masterson's costume presents ideas of normality and commonness, as a production team, we wanted Masterson to be quite mysterious but also relatable.


This is the coat worn by Josh Masterson.




Tom Rush- Wears a tracksuit supported with a green coat with a large hood as we don't want his face to be seen throughout the opening as faces aren't ever seen in dreams. It is used to make him seem a tough and hardened character. This is represented through his stereotypical characterisation. The hood also connotes ideas of mystery and illusion around Rush as a character, in many ways, the use of a hood is much like the use of a mask, but more intimate with the audience. Also, in a dream, wearing a coat is to wear the coat of your father, mother, royalty or a beggar is to take on an aspect of that role. All this research concluded our decision to use large coats in different forms, but for these reasons, Rush's coat is used with different intentions than Josh's coat is used to create this idea of mystery and distance between the audience, which is also shown through proxsemics as Rush is also further away from the screen than Masterson is, which helps creates distance literally between this character and the audience.



This is the coat worn by Tom Rush.



Written by Connor Southwell

Fonts in Thriller films

Firstly, the typography is presented in a serif typeface, this is clear as the letters have a slight projection off the stroke of letters, like, for example, Times New Roman. This provides enormous clarity and the use of lowercase letters provides a neat square in which the text has been presented to add simplicity and a nice aesthetic to the typography. This font also has a fixed pitch and as the screenshot shows, it contains a mix of both uppercase and lowercase letters, however, in the words 'Need' and 'Speed', contain uppercase letters which are the same in terms in sizing. The font fades in via a good flutter of specs similar to that of a wielding machine during use, this is a symbolic way to show the mechanics behind how a car is made and give the film a feel and channel the theme of the film in the typography.

The font is a grey colour presented to the audience on a black background which has a gold shining on certain letters. Grey is a neutral colour which often presents connotations and feelings of depression and loss, according to key psychological studies. However, it is also regarded as a sophistication and formality. So the production team is trying to balance this neutrality and sophistication  with the shining of gold which connotes wealth and beauty of the cars used in this action thriller. So the typography of this allows a neutral atmosphere that doesn't give to many hints and surprises regarding the rest of the film. Also, the grey matches the wheels of the cars, so at this stage, it's about reflecting the main theme and focus point of the film, and that's cars, which is also reflected with in this typography.

The placement of the text is interesting in respect that its placed in the centre of the screen on a black background, it is almost an example of reserve type, but the letting of the typeface is placed in a way that makes it stand out and easy to read for the audience. There is a slight rotation as the font is presented and this reflects when grey smoke comes out of the exhaust and this is reflected with in this movement of the font.

In summary, I think this is a cleverly constructed and thought out piece of Typeface, and with all the connotations and atmosphere it creates presents a nice piece of contrast to the film which is a fast paced action thriller involving cars, guns and fights. The typography is simple but effective but also provides connotations which are clever and relevant. It's a wonderful piece of typography.


In the opening sequence to Mission Impossible 4, the audience are shown to two sparks following a piece of rope, which is what is responsible for the orange tinge to this piece of typeface. The typeface itself is in block capitals which are all the same point size. In terms of what type this typeface is, its a Sans Serif font, which is different to the example seen previous as it has no serifs and is easier to read as it has no finishing projection.

Already from the opening title sequence the director, Brad Bird, is already connoting danger through the introduction of two fuse wires complimented with the iconic soundtrack of the Mission Impossible series, so there is a sense of danger from the start as well as a familiar piece of sound to play alongside the fizzing of the fuse wires. These two fuse wires cross each other to reveal the typeface and the orange provides connotations of fire and danger, could this foreshadow an explosive entrance for main character Ethan Hunt? Orange also connotes a fiery atmosphere or a lustful feeling so could Hunt be in lust of something? A psychological study into the colour orange says that orange is relating to danger and adventure, so in that respect, the colour of the typeface matches the intentions and sub genre of the film.

The connotations of the typeface is one that mirrors the sub genre of the film, the fuse wires match the danger and action that is going to be experienced by Ethan Hunt, and the colouring is used to match this. The typography is only presented on screen for a short period of time, as the fast paced title sequence is used to match the fast pace at which the film is going to be set. The involvement of a fuse wire suggests to the audience that there is dynamite somewhere waiting to be blown up, so it's important for introduction but maybe a starter to the narrative of the film.

In summary, this font helps set up the film and lets everybody aware that this is an action film that, although part of a series, stands away as an individual film, and the fast pace matches the sub genre it is being placed in. 

Plot Synopsis

The plot of our film is aimed to raise a simple question; what in our lives is dream and what is reality. This is the story of Josh Masterson, who is subject of this intensive reality. Josh struggles to differentiate between the two. Stuck in between two worlds, Josh encounters Tom Rush, who plays the villain of the film, and as Josh gets in trouble financially, Javier is there to assigned with catching a struggling Josh, is this real? Or is Josh stuck in a dream?

Written by Connor Southwell

Film Pitch (Updated)

Ever felt that your dream is so real it must be true? You're not alone, in our film, Torpidity, we question the difference between dream and reality, and is there one?

Location and Mise En Scene

LOCATIONS & MISE EN SCENE:

Throughout our thriller there will be several possible locations where we'll be filming, such as a bus stop, Ketts Hill and a dark, dead end street or alley.
The opening sequence of our thriller takes place in a location looking over Norwich with an establishing shot. The primary candidate
for where this scene will be filmed is Ketts hill, this is because you can see the whole of Norwich from here and in the winter it looks particularly dark,gloomy and isolated. The atmosphere created in this opening scene would be mysterious and chilling, these are both general conventions of a typical thriller.

The second potential location we have chosen to film in is a bus stop, this is because it gives general conventions of city life and an every day setting. Furthermore, we have a scene in our thriller in which a character is sleeping at a bus stop and the bus stop could be interpreted as the entrapment of his mind. This bus stop could essentially be anywhere, however a preferred location for it would be on a quite desolate road to show he's isolated and alone. When filming in this area we would have to pay careful attention to the lighting as it could be an issue because it is outside and very open. But, to combat this as we are filming in winter and at night there is going to be very little to no diegetic light, except from possibly the moon, allowing us to create our own non diegetic lighting with equipment.

For the chase scene in our thriller we are looking to film down an alleyway. This alley needs to be empty,rough and relatively long. This alley must connote how trapped the character is feeling and how vulnerable he is. As our thriller is a psychological thriller all of our locations, especially for this scene must connote this constant sense of isolation and paranoia. Also, our thriller is about a teenager fighting the concept of reality within his own mind, so the settings are vital in depicting this plot.

Written by Thor Forster

Initial Ideas

How is sound used in thriller movies to create tension?

In thriller movies, sound is an important aspect of emotions being created to portray to the audience, arguably, at times, has a higher influence on the portrayal of emotions than that of the narrative. In certain films, tension is created through the use of sound and sound is an important aspect of the film production process. For example, in Skyfall, the chase scene exchanged between James Bond and Raoul Silva is fantastic in terms of creating tension through the use of sound.




The volume, pace and tone of the soundtrack are very calm and quiet when Bond isn’t chasing Silva, or when he is looking around for him. But, when Bond is (for example) chasing him the volume/pace dramatically increase and the tone becomes a lot more dramatic and threatening. For example, when Bond is unsure of whether to get onto the train or not, the soundtrack’s pace is slower and more quiet. Where as, when Bond is ordered to get onto the train the volume and pace dramatically increase, to create suspense, and to make the audience ask themselves.. “will he make it or not?”.

During the sequence the audience become aware of when things are becoming intense.
By this we mean that as the pace and volume
of the soundtrack increases, the action becomes more intense and as the volume
goes from low to high the audience become aware something major is about to happen. The sound conforms with action-thriller conventions. In all action –thrillers there are always intense chases/pursuits between protagonist and antagonist. And the sound in this sequence conforms with this as like the action, the sound is fast-paced and intense. The sound from this sequence can be described as synchronous sound because it matches what is going on in the scene. Both the action on screen, and the sound are both very intense and suspenseful, combining to make a very intense sequence. The only sort of sound effect is the emphasis of the volume of the train. The sound of the train is emphasised to let the audience know that Bond is in trouble and as it gets louder, obviously, the train is getting closer. Although the audience know Bond will not die, there is still a feeling that he could.

In this final sequence of The Amazing Spider-Man directed by Marc Webb, an underscore is used to create tension. The underscore is played over a wide shot of Spider-Man standing precariously on top of a building overlooking Electro's circuit, an underscore is used as it compliments the camera movement and slight zoom on the shot which presents the connotation that something big is about to take place, and the desaturation of the shot conveys the thoughts that something significant is about to unfold and this is very much the calm before the store. The underscore is used to create tension and suspense for the audience to absorb and engross. The underscore helps the film to a climax, and is often used in the scene that is most significant and this is why an underscore is used. The underscore is a bleak and slow tune, which is quite dull and scary, it commends the colours of the scene beautifully to create this gloomy feel to the film. In conventions of thriller films, dark and eerie sounds are used to create atmosphere and feeling, this use of underscore is no different.

The next piece of sound we hear as an audience is a piece of echoed dialogue from Electro, this is before we see him, this creates the illusion that there is life outside of the scene that is being shown us an audience. The dialogue being echoed creates negative connotations to Electro and by this point of the film, we know, as an audience, Electro is the m
ain antagonist of the film and this is evident by that echoed speech. Dialogue between the two characters helps aid the plotline of the film and develops the audiences understanding of this further. Also, dialogue helps the audience and characterisation of the characters and helps establish clear relationships between characters. There relationship is evidently of one between good and bad, and this is made clear by lines by Electro, however, Spider-Man isn't as worried as the dialogue spoken and his response is fairly sarcastic and composed. Unlike many films, ADR is used in Spider-Man as characters such as Electro are created using CGI and thus require further recording. Although Spider-Man is played by an actor, due to his suit, in places ADR is used, the production company can get away with recording dialogue using this method as it adds clarity to the voice.

When Spider-Man and Electro come to blows, sound effects are used to replicate the sounds being shown in the fight scene, the fizz of the electrics being used by Electro clearly are sounds being created synthetically as it improves the authenticity of the film by making it more immerse through the use of sound effects. As both Spider-Man and Electro through each other to the floor, there is a few seconds of silence as it seems Spider-Man is left seriously hurt, this moment of silence is symbolising the shock and tension felt by the audience as Spidey appears to have been conquered, which would be a shock considering in the franchise of Spider-Man he is usually victorious.

The non diegetic sound of the car smashing into Electro has been exaggerated to really place emphasis on the cars entrance to the scene. It's significant as without it, Spider-Man would be killed by Electro, and so by increasing the non diegetic sound, it makes is clear to the audience that this car has high significance to the plotline and this is emphasised through the use of sound. Another technique used here is that of synchronous sound, as the pictures matches with the sound being heard, this is again to enhance realism. Synchronous sound also is vital for the direction of the film, if done poorly, the scene could be ruined, so it's vital to get this right, especially when its being amplified to increase significance.

When the conclusion of the fight scene is about to occur, an optimistic, more upbeat score is played as it foreshadows the conclusion of the scene, and the upbeat core also provides connotations of goodness and conquering evil towards Spider-Man, which shows the goodness of our superhero protagonist, and this music reflects that. To conclude the scene, this use of score gives the audience some hope and that's needed at points when all hope seems lost for Spider-Man. In terms of creating tension, this film does that terrifically well, with the right balance between shot type, camera movement and sound, its vital to what is being created with characters, plot and symbols. It's imperative to this scene and what makes it tick.

Men In Black scene

An underscore is played as Will Smith's character, Jay, is seen being approached by what looks to us, the audience, as tentacles towards his face, this is shown alongside the sound effects of buzzing. These sound effects present the idea of something flying, and possibly an alien who is looking to be the catalyst of Jay's demise and death. The underscore is upbeat and positive tone,  despite the fight scene occurring, which is quit
e contrapuntal in terms of what is being heard, however, this is successful in building tension, as its quite uneasy as Jay is being attacked by multiple aliens and we've already seen Kay, his co agent, being tortured by a dangerous women.

After being thrown into a wall by the extra terrestrial beings, the sound of scratching is heard as Jay slides down the wall, this is a non diegetic sound that has been amplified by the sound editors to exaggerate the noise that was created to increase the impact of this moment, to make it more dramatic and increase the tension being created by immersing the audience and to make them emotionally connect with Jay which they would do as Jay is the protagonist and thus the audience are willing him to do well and achieve. I
t's after Jay curls off the wall that the underscore changes as it becomes more tense in terms of tone and more aggressive in pitch, this replicates the emotions that are being felt by Jay at the time he begins to approach the aliens, the fun hearted and jokey Jay has been switched and he is now more aggressive and focused Jay, he is still confident, but his approach to the situation has altered and that's evident to the audience.

The sound effect of Jay hitting one copy of the alien has been put in after filming as the CGI aliens wouldn't have been hit, meaning there is no simply no diegetic sound produced. the impact would be minimal, so to humanise the aliens, they require sound effects to ensure they are believable to the audience. This is something that continued throughout the fight scene as Jay takes on numerous copies of the aliens, and the sound effects used improve narrative, characterisation and the authenticity of the film as a whole.

After Jay has fought off the aliens, he falls into a pile of tubing on the floor, here, the diegetic sound of the tubes are amplified for comedic effect. The effect this has on the audience is that it portrays Jay to be a humorous character which instantly makes him more likeable as he is an underdog in the fight scene scenario and the fact he can't release himself from tubing to save the girl who is trapped up is comical and amplifying this sound adds comedy to a scene where tension has been built up, but despite the comedic element to the scene, there is a voiceover of a countdown being heard throughout this shot as Jay try's to free himself from the tubing, so despite this being a comedy moment, tension is being built by the countdown surrounding him.

This clip is another great example of how thrillers use sound to create tension. Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt is the subject of a motorcycle chase, to increase tension, different techniques are used in terms of sound to do this. To start the clip, we see a tracking shot complimented with the noises conventionally associated with a motorcycle, this has been increased in volume and pace, to present the fact that the motorcycle is the main focus of shot, and not that of the vehicles it is sharing the stretch of road with. By editing the sound so that the motorcycle noise is non diegetic really puts emphasis on the motorcycle and that directs the audience, the use of tracking shot puts the audience into the scene, so this combination works effectively for this shot.

As the scene progresses, we hear the sound effects of the gun shots, which are introduced alongside the non diegetic sound of the motorcycles, this is because the fact the production team cannot actually use bullets in fear of killing someone, so adding sound effects in editing enhances the scene and ensure safety whilst maintaining quality with in their film. Although you cannot see the bullets, the sound effects add comfort to the audience and creates the illusion that bullets are being used and this is in fact a real chase in which lives are at stake. The diegetic sound of glass smashing as a bullet shatters it also helps with this illusion, it's cleverly constructed by the production team to ensure this is a chase of the highest quality, and the introduction of bullets and weaponry means lives are at stake and this increases tension massively, also, the use of motorcycles allow more danger to be added to the situation, so tension is built and is helped being built by the use of sound.

As the scene develops, a score is introduced to support the high speed chase. Using an underscore here would be contrasting and not fit with the pictures, so by having a fast paced, intense piece of score being played alongside the pictures, it supports the scene and adds pace to what is an already intense, high risk scene, so this would add tension as it takes the stakes up higher, both men are riding for their lives and the audience are backing their hero, Ethan Hunt, in this chase, so by adding a score that is of quick pace, you add to the danger of the piece, which climaxes when the motorcycles are weaving in and out of cars as the danger is increased and raised beyond belief. It symbolises danger, and as the danger increases, that is matched by the score being played alongside the shot.

We then cross cut to a shot of a girl standing on the edge of a cliff, and the underscore is dramatically changed to that of a slower paced, tense piece of music to accommodate the wide shots of this scene, this is a real change of direction in terms of narrative, as we have cut away from a tense chase to a calming, almost sad setting, it poses a variety of questions to the audience. Who is this girl? Why is she on a cliff? Is she going to kill herself? These are all raised because of that underscore, if an upbeat piece of music was being played, the audience's questions wouldn't be so negative and suspicious, and from the high paced chase to this is an interesting change of direction. This snippet seems to be waiting for something to happen, and cuts back to the loud, monstrous motorcycle, maybe this is what Hunt is defending?

In conclusion, films use numerous methods and techniques to riddle films with connotations of tension and to enhance that emotional connection shared between audience and characters, and the proxemics between these two elements of films, without tweaks and important planning, sound can make or break a film and these are successful elements of when sound is used successfully.