Influences Towards Our Thriller

Here are examples of three media texts that have influenced us

The Ring influenced our thriller massively in terms to mise en scene, within the area of costume. As a group we decided to have our main character of a young girl dressed in a white gown, this gives our thriller a dated tone which is present in many thrillers. The white colour contrasts the dark persona of the film and its narrative, alongside her long black hair masking her identity. The unknown unsettles the audience which creates a well suspended thriller which we are aiming for. The pale skin represents the detachment from society and the possessive nature of the character. This influenced our thriller as our main character featuring in our opening scenes is one of our groups younger sister, as we believed this would match better towards the connotations of a thriller well. Her younger sister being smaller and more childish like then members of our group creates a more believable character. Being dressed in a white gown we will acquire through purchase and have her walking through a forest at low key lighting for one of the sequences. This will hopefully create a mysterious and odd atmosphere that makes a good thriller.

The women in black influenced our thriller in terms of location. The vastness of the landscape suggests vulnerability and unsafety, creating tension within the audience. Filming in a forest at dusk or night as a current idea as it has much mystery surrounding the narrative of our opening scenes. A forest at a time of day with limited lighting fits the connotations of a thriller well and will hopefully create the atmosphere we are aiming for, the use of editing and sound will manipulate the audience in this way. The Women in Black being set in the 1980’s and in partnership with good prop use, the time period quickly becomes apparent to the audience and leads them viewing the film with much more understanding. With everything corresponding with the time period chosen creates a good thriller and it is more believable therefore proving more appealing towards the audience.

American Horror Story influenced our film in terms of the narrative and deeper meanings behind our film. American Horror Story containing a possessive nature and psychologically challenged characters fits well as this thrills the audience. The inability to understand how the characters think and are unable to predict what will happen keeps the audience on edge, leading them wanting to carry on watching the film. We have adapted this idea as our main character will be psychologically challenged and one idea as a group we are deciding as a possible narrative is to have the character running away or escaping from her mental institution. This urges the audience to think as they don’t just watch it, they need to be able to understand what is actually happening. The absence of explanation to why the character is in the state they are in and how they got there presses the audience to think deeper, separating our film from a typical horror thriller which would heavily consists of murders. This more thought may allow the audience to enjoy our film much more and help us create a successful thriller.