Production Analysis

The opening of our film conforms to typical thriller conventions, typically the suspense that is apparent in films of this kind. Although the audience are not sure about the link between the two girls or scenario, acting, camera angles, and the low key lighting add up to further emphasise the suspense the audience experience, as well as conveying the fear the older girl expresses throughout. The high angle shots of the girl also create an air of vulnerability, making her look powerless. This again adds to the suspense present in the piece. To this, we have added quick cuts in the editing - the fast pace builds tension - again, typical in many thrillers. Other angles we experimented with included panning shots and rotation, as well as low angles, used to give the impression that the girl is being watched or followed, although the viewer doesn't know who or what by. The intermittant flashing lights also creates a sense of mystery and more importantly signifies the girls disorientation, which is important to the running theme throughout the piece.

Another way of viewing is seeing the lights and the younger girl as flashbacks of the older girl - again, we purposely created this confusion to sustain the supense throughout, keeping many possibilities as to where the viewer may think the film is going.

In terms of props, we didn't need a great deal, as we wanted to portray a normal house and a normal girl, although we did use items such as the knife and fake blood, as well as a doll and the choice of the two girls' clothing, with the pyjamas showing that the girl is still relatively young, and the child's dress adding an eery sense to the piece.

In terms of distribution of the film, it would be most effective you use trailers on social sites such as youtube to create a niche following, with perhaps another website showcasing the full film for a small fee, seeing as it is a low budget production and therefore difficult to distribute in masses in DVD form.

looking back to our preliminary exercise, I feel our work has improved, despite still having flaws, which could have been ironed out with sound-merging to give a less obvious 'shift' in location between shots. However, overall I think our production went well, and despite being relatively short, managed to showcase many traits and conventions found in other thriller movies.

Thriller Opening - Final Piece