The document discusses the codes and conventions of thriller films, including lighting, sound, and editing techniques. Low key lighting, shadows, tense music, and quick cuts between shots create suspense. For their student film project, the students used dark alleyway footage lit with low light to convey danger. They included unsettling piano music during the opening titles to set an uneasy tone. Throughout the film, they varied shot lengths and employed fast cuts during the climax to increase pace and urgency. Their revised version opened with close-up shots of the protagonist's discomfort and incorporated more music to drive the scenes and heighten tension.

1. By GLASSES

2. (mentioned on a previous blog post)…
The conventions of a thriller come down to sound, lighting,
and editing.
An extract from ask Jeeves explains;
"The codes and conventions of a thriller include mirrors, low
key lighting, shadows, obtrusive editing, quick cuts, changes
in camera angle, tension music, stairs, flashbacks, use of
photographs in black and white, disorientation of time and
space as well as montage editing.The mirrors represent the
darkness within some characters while shadows and low key
lighting represent the inner darkness within beings".

3. When thinking of our media pieces and
how to film and edit it etc. we had to
consider that concept of what makes a
thriller film; the codes and conventions.
In order to make a film thrilling enough,
various things needed to happen, such as
the sound/music used, the lighting and
editing techniques.

4. The sound effects and music used in a film effects the mood and can
make a film funny or suspenseful, depending on the soundtrack.
For our film, one of the big music pieces comes at the beginning of
the film at the opening titles. “An effective opening title sequence
sets the tone of a film and serves to establish rhythm and pacing”,
acting as the first impression of a film.The music we used, called
Horror PianoTheme on youtube, was an eerie pieces we thought
conveyed the unease and discomfort we wanted the audience to
experience whilst watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFZ9g9vEdbE
This pieces create the mood we wanted and
fits in well with the random creepy images we
used for our title sequence.

5. Lighting is very important in creating a specific atmosphere.We
conveyed this in our media piece by the dark alley way where we
meet our protagonist for the first time. Due to the darkness and
time of day, the mood created is dangerous and uneasy. If this
scene had been shot at an earlier time of day, the effect of
danger and seriousness would not have been the same.Thought
the equipment, or therefore lack of resulted in grainy, rather low
quality footage, the effect this has had on the film I think is
positive.
The near complete absence of light
ensures that the scenes are taken
seriously and makes the audience be able
to sympathise with the main character.

6. Editing creates atmosphere and mood, depending on the pacing or length of
shots. In our film we tried to use a variety of editing techniques, such as
fading in, in our main titles, and direct straight cuts from one shot to the
other. Especially in the ending scenes of our film, we tried to shorten the
shots down, resulting in fast paced action to convey the idea of Drew’s
urgency to run away from this ‘dream world’ he is in.The short length shots
cutting to various moments of Drew running help reinforce the idea of his
needed to escape and just how vital his get away is.
We also used rather lengthy shots in the alley way scene.The shots last a long
while and do not show much action, up until the moment when the drunkard
starts to beat up Drew, where the action speeds up.The use of the lengthy
shots however is justifiable by how to reflects the drunken state the thug is
in; he is slow to respond and in movement as well as speech which is drawn
out and slurred.The length of shots, I think, reflects this concept.

7. Our final film piece presented on our blog is a varied, improved
version of the film I have previously mentioned.Thought the
ending scenes are the same, the beginning alley way scenes
has been refilled and changed to a more, what we think,
suitable opening.The starting scene shows our main
character, Drew walking in an alley.Though not dark and no
longer as uneasy and scary as the night alley way scenes we
shot firstly, the close-up shots this time provide us with a
more clear representation of the discomfort and uneasy
Drew is feeling which can be seen on his face.
Though the lighting used now doesn’t have such an impact, this
alteration was needed to be able to watch the film clearly.
This time round, we have used more music to create the mood
and set the scene.The music used helps in increasing the
pace of the shot. At the point where Drew attempts to run
away from the thug, fast techno like music plays, increasing
the thrill and the idea of action and a fast paced pursuit.