House at the End of the Street - Opening Analysis

Question 7

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These low angle shots of feet have improved, since the prelim the steadiness of the camera has changed. There is less wobble and it looks more professional. Also like most of these the quality has improved after using a better camera to the prelim you can see the difference in footage.



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The over the shoulder is also much steadier than the first as it doesn’t follow the character it is a still over the shoulder. It looks more professional whereas the one filmed in the preliminary looks lazy and effortless.




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The medium shot of the character has also improved due to editing techniques because unlike the prelim shot where the character walks forward, again with an unsteady hand filming. The shots have improved due to editing as the shots now jump cut and subvert the rule of continuity. This editing technique only works well with this character as he is the antagonist and as it is a thriller it fits well but could look strange in any other genre or situation.



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Lastly the low angle mid shot has been used more effectively because it shows that the character is looking at something significant and the repetition justifies this.

Question 6

Question 6 by Grace Ilett on Scribd

Question 5

Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

When we were completing the research we had to carry out a questionnaire for our audience in the style of VoxPops. VoxPops are used to learn opinions, in this case we used it to understand what our audience knows and thinks about thrillers.

We asked a set of 6 questions including

;

 

When filming our VoxPops we aimed to approach both genders equally and mainly teenagers, we asked only 15-16 year olds.

When filming doing the VoxPops, we asked everyone what conventions you would expect in a thriller. This question is important to know because it tell us what our target audiences can pick out from a thriller and what they notice and remember about them, from this info we have gathered it tells us what works best as they have remembered these conventions for a reason

                               

 

What conventions would you expect in a thriller?	Sound	Lighting	High tension scenes	Jump scares
How many answers.	4	4	4	4

 

These factors were the four main answers and from this data we know what we had to focus on to target our audience best.

 

This ECU of on eye is unidentified as to who it is because it is the first glimpse you get of any character. The ECU doesn’t give any real details of the face and you don’t know who this person is. However the audience may guess that it is the antagonist from the sinister smirk you can faintly see in the eye. The bloodshot eyes may also connote that this person is the antagonist as it makes it look evil and adds a suspense thrill. The indirect gaze of the character shows that the character is preoccupied and focused on something else. This indirect gaze may appear more chilling and look evil as it give the effect that the character may be up to something.  Using an extreme close-up near the beginning is effective as it immediately creates enigmas for the audience and they will more likely want to carry on watching it. The mysterious eye makes the audience question whose eye it is and is it significant to the plot. The extreme close up of the eye connotes a claustrophobic feel and sets the scene of it being a thriller as this type of shot is conventional of a thriller and creates a suspenseful atmosphere right at the start of the opening.

 

From this shot we have used low key lighting portraying that this is the antagonist. From our VoxPops we found out that our target audience would mostly expect low key lighting so we delivered on their expectations to make our product effective.

This shot of the grave is the most clear and visible enough to read, this makes the audience notice it and they are most likely to read it meaning that it has some significance to the opening and narrative. This shot is repeated a few times throughout the opening to prove its significance and so that the audience will remember the name. Using short glimpse of the shot a couple of times in a product means that the audience are more likely to see it and take notice of it. When editing our thriller we needed to ensure that it was clear to the audience that the protagonist was laying on his own grave but was not yet dead. We used a time stamp at the beginning of the sequence to signify that the date was prior to the gravestone date. We hoped that this would be evident to the audience and that they would notice this element. We also created this understanding through the editing by cross cutting the protagonist stepping towards the grave and the gravestone. This would hopefully make it clear to the audience by the repetitive flashing of the gravestone shot so it would stay in their mind and prove its significance in the sequence.  And finally we made the prop significant to the character through the cinematography. We shot a close up of the protagonist brushing is fingers over the gravestones letters. We did this to create a sense of realism and show the audience the emotional side to the thriller and plot.

This shot creates a sense of realism because after the protagonist wakes up on the grave it may not be evident to the audience but it make it more understandable and realistic when he touches the letters as it portrays that he is trying to grasp hold of the idea and come to terms that it is his grave he has woken up on. The way he touches the letters makes the audience feel sympathy and portrays how he can’t believe that it’s real so he touches it for reassurance. After the shot of the full grave it makes the audience understand more how significant this grave is over all and it is the key prop in the whole product.

This shot shows the confused and dazed protagonist in the background as the sinister antagonist looks on and watches him struggle with confusion. This shot is significant because it proves to the audience that the ECU of the eye at the beginning is the antagonist and he is the culprit of the incident. It shows that he is the one that has done it because he is the only one there and then and watches on and does not help the victim. This over the shoulder shot also shows the action unravelling as it begins to get interesting and more suspenseful. Using an over the shoulder shot was important at this part because it pulls the narrative together and shows that the unidentified eye in the beginning is something to do with the protagonist and the dual narrative of the corkboard.

Lastly this shot from the opening product is important because it continues with the dual narrative. This shot is of the corkboard almost complete and full up which shows that the antagonist has been working on the board for a long time and it makes it more significant to the narrative. The lighting I this shot reflects the atmosphere as it is dark and proves to be a chilling and eerie thing that the antagonist does this in his time.

Throughout the opening we used the same soundtrack which kept the theme, Using the same sound track kept the theme of the thriller by the repetition which reflected the protagonist’s emotions as he was confused and the sound really matched his as it quite tedious and mind numbing which reflects the mood we wanted to create as it is a thriller. However we wanted to avoid it getting repetitive so the music we chose crescendos in the middle, the sound track reflects what the audience said they expect in a thriller film. The audience said that they expect an audio that creates and builds tension, they also said that they would expect a catchy soundtrack that you may remember as it makes it effective. We found this information from the VoxPops we carried out on our target audience, we also found from other research that you would typically expect uncomforting sounds in an opening and I would class the beats in our soundtrack as uncomforting as it may reflects a beating heart which adds tension to the product.

From the VoxPops we also found out that the target audience would expect fast pace editing, editing and the sound track fit hand in hand therefore at the beginning of our opening it was quite slow however when the soundtrack began to crescendo the pace of editing began to get faster matching the beats and the flow of the music. Using a fast paced sequence is effective as it always makes the audience on edge and never know when something is about to happen, fast pace action also moves the story along quickly so it is easier to grasp hold of the storyline. This is effective as it keeps the pace going. A faster paced thriller is more interesting to watch than a slow one as it would get boring and the audience wouldn’t feel tension or have a suspense feel to it.