Key Concepts

With regards to the four key concepts my thriller opening has been inspired by the research tasks that I have carried out and other thriller films that I have watched since beginning the course. In this post I will be explaining the different key concepts and where my ideas stemmed from.

Genre
The genre of my film opening was in the brief that I was given. So I knew that I would be doing a thriller film at the outset. Essentially, to aid me in fitting the thriller genre I completed audience research.

Audience
My thriller research conveyed to one that my main target audience would be teenagers aged 14-17 and adults over 26 years old. However, when thinking about audience I also had to consider how my audience would be viewing my thriller opening. Primarily, I decided that it would be online due to the small scale of my production - thus, my thriller will be uploaded to Youtube once it is finished. I believe the majority of people that watch my thriller opening will already have an interest in thrillers - this is because 71% of my audience said that they enjoyed watching thriller films. I took this into account when producing my thriller as I was able to use more subtle thriller conventions that a keen thriller film audience member will be able to identify. 

Representation
I was inspired by Helmut Nickel's White Hats Black Hats theory when thinking about how I was going to represent the characters in my thriller. I felt that by putting Efa (Heather) in a white top she would be conveyed as innocent, pure and clean - this would be paired with her blonde hair which has stereotypical connotations of angelic behaviour to represent her as the 'good' character. In contrast, I decided to put the Masked Murderer (Sean) in all black clothing to demonstrate the opposite - that he is evil, dark and concealed. Again, this would be paired with his black hair to convey the ultimate evil character. As mentioned in a previous post, I was going to paint the Masked Murderer's mask black but I eventually decided to keep it white as I felt that it emphasized his twisted behaviour by suggesting that he chooses to believe he is a good person (as he chose the mask). In the woods scenes I decided to put Efa into a red coat, this conveys danger, death and violence to the audience. 

Semiology
Semiology is the theory of the functions of signs and symbols. I found it quite difficult to include signs and symbols in my thriller opening as well as the directors did in other thrillers that I watched. One could suggest that the white mask is a symbol of a pure, hidden evil as the white has connotations of purity and the mask is concealing the Masked Murderer's identity. Additionally, the natural setting could be a sign of the of the Masked Murderer's life. The multiple trees that entrap Efa convey his cunning ways of trapping innocent people - this is mirrored by the branches, leaves, ivy and roots all being wrapped around in an almost suffocating way. Additionally, the low lighting signals to the audience that the goodness - represented by the light - has left the Masked Murderer and he is now evil due to the crimes that he has committed. 

Primary Audience Research: How can I make my thriller appealing to my audience?

Primary Audience Research

I have created a survey for a range of people to take in order for me to collect research on what people want to see and prefer. I focused on gender, age, thriller features, thriller characters and questions suitable to my thriller ideas so far.

Click here to take survey

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