Evaluation

Having a target audience in mind when creating a thriller film is very important because it helps you to focus on what needs to be incorporated into the film in order to make it successful. By having a target audience in mind, it makes it easier to question and research what those types of people like, and the data will be more accurate and representative of the target audience. This way, the thriller will be successful within the target audience, as it would include all the conventions they want and expect.

To gather the research, my group asked 40 to fill out questionnaire. We chose this number of people as it would give us a wide range of results. The majority of the people who filled them out were 15-18 (29 people), which is around the age that people start to watch and enjoy thriller films, which means the people who filled out our questionnaires will have some sort of idea about what sort of things are features in thrillers, so our results will be more accurate. However, we did interview 11 people, ages 11-14 so as to get a wider range of opinions. By using a questionnaire, we were able to get a wide range of people's opinions.

Our vox pops were successful because it allowed us to get a slightly deeper insight into people's opinions of thrillers. This was slightly better than using questionnaires because the questionnaires only had a few options and people may not have been able to out what thy really wan to, or may not have been able to elaborate. But when the people were actually interviewed, they were able to express their opinions in more detail. This gave us a deeper insight into what people wanted and expected to see from a thriller film which helped us to realised what we needed to incorporate into our thrillers to make them successful.

One of the questions we asked was 'Which age certificate do you prefer to watch in thrillers?' 28 of the people that answered the questionnaire preferred to watch thrillers with the age certificate of 18. 18's are generally the scarier, more gory thrillers and the fact that most people want to watch that type of thriller shows that we need to include some of the conventions of an aged 18 certificate thriller film. However 9 people would have preferred to watch thrillers with the certificate of 15. This could suggest that although people enjoy thriller films, they don't like them to be too scary or violent. Also, 3 people prefer to watch thriller films that are a 12 age certificate. Through looking at the results from the questionnaire, I have discovered that most of the people who answered would prefer to watch films that are rated 18. This means that in my own thriller film, I have to make it as close to the conventions of an 18 thriller film as I can as this will appeal to more people.

Another question was 'What would you expect to see in a thriller film?'. he most popular thing people expected to see was the convention of villain and victim. 12 people chose this option as the one they expected most. This tells me that in order to stick to the conventions people want to see, my thriller has to have a plot with strong villain and victim characters. Another thing lots of people expect to see is a character with hidden identity and that character is usually the villain. This means that in my thriller, the villain's identity should be hidden, which would create suspense, which is something that the audience would expect to see.  But as this was  very broad question, with only six possible options, these results may not be entirely representative and people may not have been able to answer the way they wanted to.

Another question that we asked was 'What characters do you expect to see in thrillers?' We asked this question because we wanted to know what kind of characters we should include in our thriller to make it the most successful. The results sow that 15 people would expect to see a male villain and only 3 would like to see a female victim. By looking at this, we realised that to keep to the conventions that the majority of people want, so we decided to make our villain a male character. The results also show that 13 people would expect to see a female victim, 8 would expect to see a child victim and only one person would expect to see a male victim. By looking at this we decided to incorporate the conventions of both female and children victims by making our female victim very young, around the age of 15.

By looking at and analysing these questions, it has greatly helped my group to plan our thriller film. Due to the fact that we now know what our target audience would expect to see and would like to see from our thriller, we are able to include all the things that would make our audience enjoy the film. It has also helped us make decisions about the conventions and characters and sounds that we should incorporate into our thriller.

The only thing we had to reconsider was the age certificate of our thriller. Our research shows that our target audience would prefer thriller's with an age certificate of 18, but we wanted our thriller to be a 15. So we then decided to keep the decision to make the thriller a 15, but to make the conventions as close to those of an 18 rated film as we can, so as to keep the audience entertained throughout the film.

Questonnaire

The choice of questions used in this questionnaire were very important. We had to make sure we chose questions that related to the area we wanted to study, and not include any irrelevant questions, as this way, our results would be more valid. As a group, we planned some questions that we would like to include, then selected the ones we believed would be the most relevant and get the best results that would help us the most. We printed out 40 copies of this questionnaire and divided them up between us as equally as we could. We each then asked a variety of different people, of different ages but still within the age of our target audience, to complete our questionnaire. This way, we were guaranteed to get a wide range of results, which would help us to know what most people look for and expect from thriller films, as opposed to a select few people's opinions. By doing this individually, we were able to make sure we surveyed a wider range of people, therefore getting a bigger variety of results and opinions. This is important because although the people surveyed were all around similar ages, they were very different types of people, therefore our results showed us lots of different opinions and we were more easily able to assess what the people from our target audience want and expect from a thriller film. 

Example of my questionnaire:

1) What gender are you?

      Male…..                Female….

2) How old are you?

11-12 …..      13-14….        15-16….     17-18….

3) Which age certificate do you prefer to watch in thrillers?

12 ….                   15….                     18….

4) What caused you to become interested in thriller films?

Adverts……        Film trailers……        Friends recommended them…… Other……

5) What would you expect to see in a thriller film?

Murder……      Villain and victim……    Hidden identities……..   Detective……... Weapons……..     Other……… 

6) Would you like to see a sequel to a thriller film? Why?

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

7) What type of sound would you expect to hear in a thriller film?

Sound effects…….     Tension building sound…….    Soundtrack/background music…….     No sound/natural sounds……...

8) What characters would you expect to see in a thriller film?

Male villain………….. Female villain……….. Male victim……….. Female victim……. Child………

9) What kind of actors would you expect to see in a thriller film?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

10) Where would you expect a thriller film to be set?

Outdoors…….. Abandoned House……… Graveyard……… Forest……….. Other………..

11) What other genres would you expect in a thriller film?

Action……. Gangster…….. Comedy……  Adventure…… Other……..

12) What would you like the purpose of the film to be?

Inform….. Entertain…. Educate…… Instruct…… Other……

Narrative Theory

In media terms, narrative is the organization given to a series of facts. When we look at narratives, we must look at the codes an conventions. These include genre, character, form and time. When looking at narrative theory I looked at three different people and their theories and I discovered that each one was very different. 

The first theory I looked at was Vladimir Propp, who was  a Russian critic essentially interested in the narrative of folk tales. He believed that narrative is not important in a film, but the characters. He believed characters have narrative function and provide structure for the text. He believed there were certain characters the fairy tale films must have, for example;
A princess- who acts as a reward for the hero and the object of the villains plots 
A hero- a character that seeks something (usually the princess)
A villain- who opposes or actively blocks the heroes conquests.
Propps theories only apply to fairy tales and other similar narratives, not all narratives.

Another one was Todorov. He believed that the most important thing was equilibrium and disequilibrium within a narrative. Todorov argues that the narrative involves a transformation within the characters or the situation and they are transformed through the progress of disruption. The usual way a film is set out is; Equilibrium, where everything is as it should be and everything is normal. Then there comes a disequilibrium, where something goes wrong and disrupts the normality, then lastly, there's a new equilibrium, in which everything's sorted out and normal again, but not the same as the beginning of the film. 

The last person I looked at was Aristotle. His beliefs contradict the other because he believes it is not the narrative and characters that are important but the themes of  the film. An example of these themes; Dramatic Question, Antagonist/ Protagonist, Sympathy/Empathy. 

My own film would relate the closest to Aristotle's theory because the themes of our thriller are very important. My own thriller will have the character of a young female which would create the themes and emotions of sympathy and empathy. These themes will be created by the situations the character is in, for example, when she has been captured, the audience will feel sympathy for her as they know she is an innocent, helpless victim.
 My thriller would also evoke dramatic questions, which would keep the audience interested and build the suspense. The dramatic questions, would be, why is she in the room? Who put her there? A further theme would be the theme of antagonist and protagonist which will also be an important theme in my thriller. This is because the clear characters of antagonist (adult male) and protagonist (young, blonde, innocent female) helps the audience to follow the storyline easily. It also helps the audience to create a relationship with the characters; they fear the antagonist and feel sympathy for the protagonist. But as it is the actual characters that bring out the themes of out thriller, our film also related to Propp. Keeping close to Propp's theory, there will be a clear villain that captures the weak, vulnerable female character, who in Propp's theory is referred to as the 'princess'.  

Group Narrative

My Idea;

My film would be the beginning sequence of the thriller film. 

It would start in a dark, dirty room, with nothing in it but a chair, which a young female would be tied to. The windows would be boarded up and there would be one dim lamp near her, so the audience could see the character, but not too clearly. The floorboards would be dark, stained wood.  It would be instantly apparent to the audience that the character is in danger as she would be crying and her mouth would be tied up. She'd also have a trickle of blood running down her cheek from her forehead. 

A man would then walk in, but his identity would be kept hidden and he's be carrying a knife. She would keep quiet and look away from him as she doesn't want to know what he's about to do. 

The rest of the feature film would include this character's life in this house, she'd never be allowed to leave. The man would be convinced that she is his wife, and she would be forced to act as such and would be locked in the empty room and punished when she disobeyed him. She'd also be put locked in the room when he leaves the house, to prevent her from escaping. The film would end with a fight between the male and female, and the audience would knot know whether he killed her or not.  I picked an empty, seemingly abandoned room because it is conventional to a thriller film, because it created an enigma, suspense and tension and these are all things that would be good to include in my own thriller.

Advantages; Simple idea and location. Easy to obtain the iconography. Conventional to thriller films. 

Disadvantages; Could be hard to find an abandoned place with boarded up windows etc.

Sumbal's Idea;

The film with begin with a person with a young man who's identity would be hidden. A young man would walk in a room wearing a hood the hood would create a shadow on his face. This will make it unable for the audience to see the young man's face. The young man would walk into a big room dragging a bag inside the room. As he walks into the room. I will use a pan shot. Where i will pan the entire room. The room would have red spotlights.I will use low key lighting. the room will give a very scary feeling as i would be using red spotlights to give the room a feeling of fear. The colour red would represent blood. In the room there would be kids boys and girls sitting quietly in the corner weeping silently. 

Mise-en-scene

The room would have toys that have a very scary look. A big clown  in one corner of the room. In another corner there would be a messed up barbie doll. The eyes of the barbie are taken out and the hair is messed up. On the shelves the audience will see musical toys. An alarm clock that strikes 12 and a broken bird comes out. It keeps out 12 times to create affect. The young man comes inside with a bag he opens the bag up and there is a  little girl that comes out, The little girl is wearing a dress and has two pigtails. She is clutching onto a necklace. Her head is down. The young man pushes the little girl and gives one of the security guys a hand gesture. The security guy then takes the little girl  and ties her up with the others. The young man then shuts the do behind or him and the opening ends there. As soon as the door closes , the shot is changed to 3 hours earlier which will show hoe the little girl ended up there.
Characters
The young man : The young man's identity would be hidden. He isn't given a name in my opening film. The young man will be dressed in all black and will also be wearing a hood we wouldn't be able to see his face. The hood will create a shadow on the young man's face which will create a scary look.

The little girl : The little girl would be showed weak and vulnerable. Able to stand up for herself. The little girl needs to be shown small compared to the young man. The girl will be wearing a white dress which will show that she is innocent and pure. She would be clutching to a necklace which would show her fearful state. She would have tears running down her face but she wouldn't make a sound and would try not to make any sound.

Advantages; It would be obvious to the audience that it is supposed to be a thriller film. Conventional to thriller films. 
Disadvantages; Location and props may be hard to find. 

Drew's Idea;

Film openings are vitally important as it sets the scene for the whole of the film.  My narrative would begin in a dark forest in the early evening a woman would be seen running towards the camera frantically, her clothes would be ripped and she would look dirty and tear stains and blood would be visible on her face. 2 gun shots would be heard in the background of the forest and the woman's reaction would be to run faster and shriek loudly. She would then start to slow down so she was creeping around a tree trying not to be seen or heard, (this would fit the conventions of a thriller as it would create suspense and foreboding) she would look lost and helpless then suddenly as she steps out from behind the tree a mans gloved hand closes over he mouth she screams and struggles and the man whispers words to her suddenly she passes out and is dragged through the forest.

The rest of the film feature would include the story on the mans psychological ways and the woman's story on how she ended up a prisoner. There would be a dark cabin featured in the film that would have low key lighting to hide his identity and make the scenes seem more dark grimy and mysterious. I would use high key lighting for flash backs and memories that would play-out through-out the film as the audience is informed of the story. The enigma of the film would me the mystery of the woman's stalker keeping her captive and if/how will she get out.

Advantages; Easy location, not complications in using the forest. Conventional to thriller films. 

Disadvantages; It would be hard to put across that it is actually a thriller film. 

Final Group Narrative;

For our final group narrative, we decided to incorporate all three of our ideas. 

A young female victim would start of in a dark, abandoned room inside a lone house in the forest, from where she will later try to escape. She then has flashbacks of her running through the forest. For a while she is alone, which makes the audience feel like she's safe, it lures them into a false sense of security. But out of no where a man catches her, which solves the enigma of why she is on the room at the beginning of the scene. 

In the room, she is tied  up, crying, her clothes ripped and bloody. She looks scared and dishevelled  which would make the audience feel sympathy for the character. The man who earlier caught her walks in, wearing a hood that hides his identity, which creates another enigma.  He is carrying a knife and walks towards the victim. Then the screen fades to black.

We decided to pick the idea of an empty, seemingly abandoned room because it is conventional to a thriller film, because it created an enigma, suspense and tension, which is something the audience expects to see from a thriller film. Our idea is conventional to thriller films because it instantly includes a weak, vulnerable female victim who has been captured which is another feature that will build suspense. 

Another convention that our own thriller includes is the villain being a man, as men are usually the antagonists in thriller films because they are usually stronger and more powerful than women. His identity is also hidden in the film, which again is another convention as it builds fear, anxiety and suspense. Another convention of a thriller film is weapons and blood and we chose to incorporate both these elements into my thriller because, again, they build fear and suspense which engages and captures the interest of the audience. 

The character's will be represented in a very conventional and obvious way; weak, overpowered female victim under the control of a powerful male villain. The target audience will be able to develop a relationship  with the characters because the victim will be young, like the target audience, so they will instantly feel a connection with her. Then when they realise that she is being help captive, against her will, they will start to sympathise with her and fear for what would happen to her. Also, the hidden identity of the villain will evoke fear from the audience, which is another thing that will build the suspense of the film. 

What is a Thriller Film?

Main conventions of thriller films:

The main conventions of films of the thriller genre are such things as an enigma, which is another word for mystery, which are always a main convention in a thriller. Examples of an enigma would be the hidden identity of the killer, the reasons why the characters are victimized and hidden locations, when the audience and sometimes characters don't know what location they're in. Another convention is the representation of characters, such as a weak female character who is the victim and the representation of good vs evil. Violence is also conventional, as the audience expects to see someone being killed and/or tortured in this film, in order to create fear and tension. Sound is another very important convention, because it guides the audiences feelings throughout the film; non-diegetic sounds are the sounds that are not part of the film world and these are used to create and build tension and evokes fear from the audience; it's the same with diegetic sound, which also evokes fear and creates tension but in a different way, because diegetic sound is sound that is part of the film world, something the characters within the film can hear as well as the audience. Another important convention is lighting. Thriller films mainly use low key lighting because it creates a mystery about the character or location and the darkness creates fear, however sometimes high key lighting is used to show the audience everything in the shot, which gives clues to the characters location and portrays exactly what kind of situation the characters are in. Iconography is also a main convention of thriller films because certain props create weakness, like being tied up and gagged; or power, like guns and knives. Mirrors are also used to portray the evil inside of a character, like in the thriller film 'Black Swan'. Settings in thrillers are conventionally in dark, unknown places, which creates mystery and fear from the audience and also the characters.


The opening sequence of the thriller 'Saw' helps to divine the genre because it has many of the conventions of thriller films, such as iconography, which was a gun next to a dead body, which is an indication of how he died. The characters were also chained up, which instantly weakens the characters and gives power to the unknown person who captured them. There is also the enigma of the two characters chained up in a dirty, grimy bathroom. This builds suspense because the audience wonders why the characters are chained up. Both these elements are something the audience would expect from thriller films and they evoke fear and tension from the audience, all things that the audience would expect to see. One of the characters states that its no use screaming, because nobody can hear them, this suggests that the bathroom is abandoned. This leaves the characters and audience wondering about their location, it also shocks the audience as they realise there's no way of the characters getting out and consequently the suspense builds. 

Another convention used in this opening is low key lighting, which prevents the audience from seeing where the victim is, and the audience can't see the him clearly; these both link to enigma because not being able to see the character or location gives the film an element of mystery; again this builds fear and suspense which is something that the audience would expect to feel when they watch a thriller film. Non-diegetic sound is also used in this clip in relation to the background music, which rises and gets more intense and high pitched as the character gets more worked up and frustrated. The music rising like this creates fear and tension, which guides the audiences into feeling how the director wants them to. 

Another convention used is character representation. In this clip, one of the chained up men is covered in sweat and a little bit of blood, this suggests he has been in that room a long time, and that he has been tortured. This creates tension, as the audience wonders just how long he's been there and what has happened to him, which builds suspense. Slow editing is also used when the camera reveals the dead body of a man on the floor and the characters hesitance  to go near him. They slowly go slightly closer but then retreat. This builds tension, as it leaves the audience wondering whether or not the characters will go to the body, and what would happen when they got there. But when they don't go to him, it leaves the body in mystery, which links again to enigma. These are all things the audience would expect from thriller films.



This film can be used to help plan my own thriller films by getting ideas from the micro-elements, such as the effect of the blurry screen, which partially conceals what's in the scene, giving the impression of mystery and confusion, which would be an important element to incorporate into our own thriller film. Slow editing is another micro-element used, and this is used to build tension, which would be a crucial element in my own film because the suspense would draw the audience in and engage them in my film, therefore making the film more enjoyable for the audience. Another element that's used in this film that I could use in my own is the use of low key lighting, which conceals the whereabouts of the character and also his identity, which again creates an enigma. These elements are all very important conventions of thriller films because they are all things that the audience would expect to see and so would need to be incorporated into my own film, to make sure its successful and enjoyable for the target audience. 

Analysis of conventions in my chosen thriller The Amityville Horror (1979)

The first convention in the opening of this film is the low key lighting. Low key lighting creates mystery, which is exactly the effect it has instantly in the opening of The Amityville Horror. The only thing in the scene is a lone house surrounded by tress in the darkness. The house is thrown into light when lightening strikes, lighting up the house, then plunging it into darkness again. This creates a creepy atmosphere straight away, but also creates an enigma because the audience wonders about the significance of the house and what's happening inside it or around it.  The suspense causes the audience to be engages in the film instantly and keeps them interested. The suspense and mystery is conventional to a thriller film and therefore is something the audience would expect to see because the elements of shock and surprise make the film more enjoyable for the audience. 

Another convention is the iconography;  the audience see's the hand of a character holding, then firing a gun. The gun heightens the killer's power and the unknown victims weakness. It also causes the audience to fear him, as you can only see the gun and hand in the darkness. This builds suspense and mystery as the audience wonders who the victim will be. The gun lets the audience know that the person is dangerous, someone who should be feared. This is conventional to a thriller because in thrillers there is always someone mysterious, powerful and deadly. The audience would expect to see iconography such as this because a gun is a very powerful weapon, which coincides with a very powerful villain. Guns evoke fear and tension, elements that are common conventions of thriller films and things the audience would expect to see in order for them too feel more engaged in the film. 

The third convention I noticed when analysing this clip, is diegetic sound. The only sounds the audience hears are sounds that belong in the film world, such as thunder, the sound of the gun shot, the creak of the opening door, sounds that make the audience apprehensive, tense and scared. The sound of the gun shot shocks the audience as before this, the film was very quiet. Events and sounds such as these keep the audience on edge as they never know what to expect next. The lack of soundtrack allows the audience to clearly hear all the noises that are part of the film world, which helps the to engage with the film and feel like a part of the movie. The real sounds build suspense because the audience doesn't know when something's about to happen, so they feel constantly on edge. This feeling of the unknown is something the audience would expect to see from a thriller because it draws the audience in, making them interested and involved in the film. The sounds within the thriller are all eerie, create suspense and connote danger, something very conventional in a thriller  film. 

There is also the convention of slow editing. A man walks into the house, and the slow editing is used to make his journey through the room very slow and deliberate, which builds up the tension and suspense. As the audience has already seen a child being shot, they wonder what will happen to the man walking around the house and they wonder if he is a villain, or another victim. The slowness of his path through the rooms builds suspense as the audience is on edge and apprehensive, waiting for something to happen. This builds the audiences fear that some harm will come to the man which results in the audience feeling more involved and engaged in the movie The sense of mystery, anxiety and hesitation are all important conventions of thriller films and something the audience would expect to see as these elements draw the audience in and involve them further in the film.

Age Certificates

Age Certificates

The BBFC stands for British Board of Film Classification. They rate theatrically released film and also video games. Legally, the local authorities have the power to decide under which circumstances films are shown in cinemas, but they nearly always chose to follow the advice of the BBFC. It is illegal to supply any recording that has not been certified. 

Different age certificates:

Universal (U)

All ages admitted and and everything is suitable for children. Most Disney films are rated 'U'. This is because the content is suitable for ages four and over. For the very young viewers, the BBFC state that the film is 'particularly suitable for pre-school children'. Films rated 'U' should raise no significant issues in terms of drugs, sex, violence etc. 






PG (Parental Guidance)

PG films are made for suitable viewing, however some scenes are may be unsuitable for younger children. This rating should not disturb children around eight years old or older. May contain mild language and sex/drugs references. May contain mild violence if  justified by context. For example, the first Harry Potter film. 

12A

The A stands for 'Accompanied' and 'Advisory'. Films under this category are considered to be unsuitable for very young people. Those aged under 12 years are only admitted if accompanied by an adult, aged at least 18 years. However, it is generally not recommended that children under 12 years should watch the film. Spiderman was the first film to be certified a 12A. This is because there too much violence for it to be allowed to be shown to 12 year olds, yet couldn't be restricted to 15 year olds and above, because it was  intended as a child's film as well as an adults film. So the BBFC decided to make it a 12A, so kids could watch it under adult supervision. 

 12

Home media only since 2002. 12A-rated films are usually given a 12 certificate for the VHS/DVD version unless extra material has been added that requires a higher rating. There may be strong language but it's infrequent. There may also be brief portrayal of sexual scenes. And moderate violence but no emphasis on injuries or blood.
                                      

 15

Only those over 15 years old admitted, not suitable for children under 15 years. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, frequent strong language and limited use of very strong language, strong violence and strong sex references, and nudity without graphic detail. The Inbetweeners Movie is rated a 15, because it has strong language and mild sex scenes, so it is only suitable for people ages 15 and over to watch. 

18

Only adults are admitted. No limit on the language used, violent scenes are permitted, as well as sexual scenes to an extent. May be racist, discriminatory or homophobic language. Films such as Saw are rated 18 because there is a lot of strong language and violence, which would be unsuitable for people younger than 18 years old. For example, The Exorcist. 

Restricted 18

Special and legally restricted classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material for adults. Only be shown at licensed adult cinemas or sold at licensed sex shops, to those aged 18 or over. This category demands more cuts than any other category.

My film would be a 15 because there will be hardly any strong language or sexual scenes, the only thing used would be violence, which would be unsuitable for children under the age of 15. 

Mise-En-Scene

Mise-En-Scene analysis of Prom Night

Mise-En-Scene is a French term for everything in the scene. This includes, settings and iconography; costume hair and make up; facial expression and body language; lighting and colour; positioning of characters/objects. I analysed the mise-en-scene of the thriller film 'Prom Night'. 

The first thing the audience notices is the setting. Settings show the characters location, and some settings build up and certain expectations from the audience. In this clip, the setting is a ballroom in a hotel. This gives the audience an expectation of a joyful party scene where all the characters are engaging with each other and having fun, the audience doesn't expect danger. However, due to the fact that this is a thriller film, the audience feels an underlying sense of suspense, because in most thriller films, something always goes wrong when it's least expected to. The suspense keeps the audience on edge and  helps them to engage with the film. This is conventional to films of the thriller genre because the danger always occurs when the characters least expect it, which makes them vulnerable. This vulnerability causes the audience to build a relationship with the characters as they start to feel sympathy and fear for the characters, which is another convention of a thriller film and something the audience would expect to see. This leads the the audience again becoming more involved and engaged in the film.

Another element used was iconography; this means the props used. In this scene there are quite a few props used, such as a fire extinguisher. As the fire extinguisher is red, a colour the audience would instantly associate with danger, blood and violence, all common conventions and themes of thriller films. The fire extinguisher is used by the killer to smash down a door to get to the female victim inside which shows the audience that the victim is no longer safe in her room and is in a lot of danger. This evokes the audience's sympathy and fear for the character, which leads to them forming a relationship with the character, which consequently leads to the audience feeling more involved with the film. This makes their whole experience of the film so much better as themes such as danger are something they would expect from a thriller film. Another element of iconography used was a knife, held by the killer. This again portrays the killers power and dominance over the weak female  victim due to the fact that he has a weapon and she has nothing. Again, the audience fears for the life of the character and stays engaged in the film, getting more and more attached to the character as the character gets into more and more danger. Both these elements are conventional to a thriller film because they give the killer power, which consequently weakens the victim, building the suspense, fear and tension within the film and causing the audience to create a relationship with the characters, engaging the audience further in the film. 

Costumes, hair and make up are also very important to the scene as it gives the audience an indication of the characters identity, personality, society and culture. In this clip, the costumes the characters are wearing are suits and prom dresses. This show the audience that the characters are attending a formal party which, in the context of this thriller, is prom. Prom is something many of the people watching the film have experienced, so can relate to the characters. This is another technique that causes the audience to form bonds with the characters. The theme of prom misleads the audience because they associate the  tradition of prom with a happy, fun time, and they don't expect danger to occur. The female victim also has blonde hair and a white/ivory prom dress. These plain, pale colours connote innocence,s o the audience is instantly aware that this character is the victim. Another thing the audience realises is the fact that her dress is long and slightly big. This gives her a disadvantage because it makes it harder to run away quickly from the villain, causing her to be in even greater danger. This is again conventional to a thriller film because the victim is shown as innocent and weak and the audience feels sympathy for the character, consequently creating a bond with the character. The audience starts to worry about the character and fear what could happen to her, which in turn builds up the elements of fear and suspense which the audience would expect from this type of film. 

Another element of mise-en-scene used was lighting. The clip features lights which are low key, which created contrasting shadow and light and the same time. This puts half the shot in darkness which creates mystery and suspense. Another light technique used was a flashing light, which flashed white and then black when the killer was on the screen. The audience and character could hardly see who he is because the light hides his identity. But his face is revealed for spilt seconds, which is unconventional for thriller films as it gives the audience and character a slight idea of who the killer is. This confuses the audience as the light is never on long enough to clearly see the killer. It also builds the fear  that the audience themselves are feeling, as they fear for the character and they fear the villain himself. The low key lighting is conventional for a thriller as it creates a sense of darkness and mystery, common themes of thriller films. In the context of this film, the low key lighting is very convetnional because it mostly hides the identity of the killer, leaving an enigma and furthermore, builds up fear and tension.

Facial expressions are also important as it shows the audience exactly how the character is feeling. In this clip, the character is scared and crying, trying to hide from the killer and stay quiet. she looks apprehensive, fearful and tense, which the audience would then mirror because being able to see her facial expressions clearly creates a bon between audience and character; by knowing exactly how the character is feeling the audience is able to feel the way the character feels, so a bond can be easily created. This is conventional to a thriller because the weaker female victim becomes scared and beings to cry, which again portrays her weakness, which leads to the audience feel sympathy for her.