This year in Maker PLP 9 has had a large focus on the art of storytelling through cinematography. In this project we learned about thrillers and were tasked with creating a 2 minute thriller film, and it was harder than it may seem.

To gain understanding of what a short film thriller is, we watched and reflected on a number of them in order to break them down and evaluate the storytelling, the videography and its effectiveness. A part of this evaluation was the film’s application of the 3 Cs: contract, crucible and clock. Within a thriller the contract is a promise made to the audience, the crucible is the main constraint that forces action, and the clock is an element of time restriction.

In the creation of our thriller, which you can find posted below, I am most proud of our visuals and the angles we chose. The shots and angles progressed naturally creating smooth transition.

There were a number of learnings from the project. If I were to do this project over again, I would focus more time on the audio quality in order to create more suspense. Another learning was the importance of keeping continuity. During the editing process we identified a number of continuity errors and felt compelled to reshoot a number of scenes to keep the viewer immersed in the story. One final learning was centered around preparation. Specifically, in dedicating time and energy into a detailed storyboard, time can be saved in the filming of the thriller.

Now that I have experienced creating a thriller, I find that when I watch shows now I am identifying the shot angles, and considering how the audio effects have been created. As a viewer, I find myself thinking more about the processing of filming, which I had never before considered.

Hope you enjoy my thriller.

Thanks for stopping by!
Kennedy