Initial Responses

Initial Response Questionnaire

When we pitched our initial ideas to the class, we did not get positive feedback. Many people believed that our ideas were quite stereotypical and predictable. At the time, we wanted to bring some elements of horror into our crime thriller, this was because we wanted a unique aspect to it that was different from the usual crime thriller genre.  However, from this feedback we realised that this would distract us from our main goal and would make it hard for our audience to identify what kind of thriller they were watching.

In regards to locations, we initially wanted to film outside. Not only would this be difficult (because of unpredictable weather),but we also got feedback that this does not relate properly to the crime thriller. When filming in forests, there are usually dead bodies found. But because we was filming from before the crime took place, it meant that this location didn't fit in to our story line. Our audience also suggested that this is quite a predictable location for a thriller opening, and so we decided that filming in a house would be more convenient and a bit more unique.

The next aspect of our initial ideas was sounds. When it came to sound effects, we were very careful  as to what ones we wanted to incorporate, as this often has a significant impact on how successful the genre is presented/portrayed. At the beginning, we wanted to incorporate screaming sound effects, but after consideration we decided that this was too similar to the horror genre and is also over-used and predictable. However, one aspect of sound that we wanted to use was silence. We used this within the last part of our thriller opening and it was a good way to build suspense and tension (which I also identified in the thriller, 'The Sixth Sense'). We also used high pitch sounds in order to scare the audience at times of powerful shots.(Such as when the intruders face is shown, and when the victim gets dragged away). When we pitched this idea to our target audience, they believed that it was too typical and predictable. Although the audience believed we should change it, we decided to keep it. This is because it is used in many crime thrillers and we know from our own experience how powerful it is in building tension. Once our thriller was complete, our audience agreed that this worked well.

Lastly, our audience primarily said that the victim hiding inside of a closet is over-used. We agreed with this and decided to bring in an unexpected twist instead. To do this, we made it look like our victim had escaped out of a window, and the intruder would leave the house thinking he had failed his mission. However, we then shocked the audience by panning the camera underneath the bed, where the victim was really hiding. The victim then thinks she is safe, before getting dragged away in a violent manner from under the bed. This made it more unique to other AS crime thrillers.

Overall, although most of our feedback was negative, we were able to use this to make an even better thriller. This was done by both changing our ideas, and keeping them the same. The end result received a lot of positive feedback because of this.