Inspirations - Miss Georgiou

Inspirations

Before we can create something, we need inspiration to give us the drive and motivation to complete it and make the finished product the best that it can be. Through researching and analysing different thriller films we have been inspired by the way different elements are used within the sequence, and the way suspense and tension are created in different ways. Shutter Island, for example, used dark colours and an isolated location to build tension within the narrative. In relation to our thriller, we have taken inspiration from many of the films that we have looked at in the build up to finalising our opening sequence.


Inspirational thriller films

One of the most inspirational thriller films of all time was Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock who was the creator of some of the most well know and influential thriller films. We were inspired by the main characters, Marion Crane and Norman Bates. Marion portrays the typical thriller film victim; female, young and blonde. In our group narrative both of the victims in the sequence will be female and will portray the innocent, unknowing victim similar to Marion. Also, Norman killed Marion using a knife during the shower sequence, and as a group we were inspired by the way the film editors were able to emphasise the sound that the knife made when it was stabbing her skin. The mother in our sequence will be killed with a knife, and then during the editing stage our group will add in sound effects to make the scene more brutal and shocking. However, we were especially inspired by Norman Bates, the antagonist in Psycho who on occasions pretended to be his dead mother. In our sequence, our antagonist has a split personality, a decision that was inspired by the way Norman Bates was portrayed as sane until they very end when the audience find out that he was the one killing people while pretending to be his own mother. The character of Norman Bates was interesting to watch from the audiences point of view as his characteristics made him appear to be an unlikely antagonist, which emphasised the audiences shock when they found out that it was him.

Another film that has inspired the planning for our final group narrative is Shutter Island. Similarly to Psycho, the main character in film, Teddy, portrays both the protagonist and antagonist. He was sent to an island to find a missing prisoner who had recently escaped from one of the centres, however by the end of the film the audience find out that the prisoner that Teddy was trying to find was actually himself. The idea of the main character having a split personality inspired our group to portray our antagonist as mentally unstable due to his split personality. We believe this will make the narrative more interesting and will help the audience to build a sympathetic relationship with the character. Also, Shutter Island is set in an isolated and dark location, that together help to build tension within the sequence and provide better jump scares within the narrative. For example, when Teddy is walking through the prison cells after the inmates have escaped, the audience are led to believe that he is alone. However, as he walks further into the building, some of the inmates who did not escape jump out at him and start shouting as he walks past. This is unexpected and therefore scares the audience as well as the character in the scene.

The film The Silence of the Lambs was an inspiration when it came to creating our own opening sequence as it showed us another way to build tension through the use of close ups. During the scene where Hannibal Lector is alone in his cell, the camera shows a close up of his face to give the audience a better view of what he is doing. This creates tension as the audience can only see his face, and not what is happening in the background. In our opening sequence we are going to use a close up during the suicide scene to show the audience Cameron's face before he hangs himself. The audience will not be able to see the rope around his neck and therefore they will be shocked by the events that follow.

Another film that was inspirational to my group in the build up to the creation of our opening sequence was Insidious, due to its use of a contrapuntal sound which comes across as creepy and unnerving. The song that our group has chosen to play alongside our film title "Disturbia" when it appears on screen is "tiptoe through the tulips", a joyful, cheery song that we believe will make the audience feel on edge due to it following the brutal death of our first victim, the antagonists mother. The use of this contrapuntal song will imply that the character is mentally unstable, which he is, and

The Woman in Black was an inspirational film in the build up to creating our opening sequence due to the way that it continuously builds up suspense and shock, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats from the beginning to the end.
 The film begins with the audience watching as three young girls sit playing with their dolls in the middle of the room. They then abruptly stop playing, stand up and walk towards the window, out of which they jump. The camera then zooms away from the window allowing the audience to see the silhouette of a woman standing, hidden in the corner of the room. This creates an enigma as the audience will want to know why the three girls jumped and the story being the woman. This was an inspiration to our group due to the idea that we had come up with to begin our opening sequence with the suicide of our antagonist, as we saw an enigma as the best way to hook the audience. Another way in which The Woman in Black has inspired the creation of our opening sequence is through the use of low key lighting to create dark colours and shadows, particularly in the scenes where the woman in black is present. 
low key lighting - suspense
lead to jump scares
her face screaming at the window
rocking chair

During our opening sequence we have planned to use low key lighting when our antagonist switches from being innocent and guilty, to becoming a brutal killer. This will help to build suspense as the audience will
see what's coming


Overall, through researching various inspirations our group has been able to improve our opening sequence by presenting our characters in a way that is more conventional to the thriller genre. For example, one of the victims in our opening sequence is going to be portrayed as young and naïve, which the audience will see as an easy target for the antagonist. This will help the audience to build a relationship with her character as they will view her as being innocent and clueless, therefore they will feel protective over her in the way that they won't want anything to happen to her. Also, the inspirational films have shown us

focus on micro elements
Mise-en-scene
Cinematography
Editing
Sound
consider the films the inspiration that you have gained in planning your production - relate back to post on group planning, group narrative, opening scene narration