CONSTRUCTION: CINEMATIC STORYTELLING

After reading through Jennifer Van Sijll's book, Cinematic Storytelling, we grasped a clearer understanding of powerful film conventions that would make our film stand out from others. 

When reading through the book we focused on shot types and conventions that would work for our Horror/ Thriller film. On on page called 'Film Element: Climate', we learnt how climate is used to create an effect in films and we decided to use this.

The book states that the purpose of climate is to add to a scene/shot and it can raise the volume to create an intense or sinister atmosphere, in both the film and in the audience. This can amplify a character's action by creating physical after effect. The physical world is a great tool to exploit, and using the climate can create an eerie effect. The writer of 'The Sixth Sense', M. Night Shyamalan, uses his climate, especially the cold, to identify a ghost presence and he gives the audience a visual clue with which to track the story progression. In the opening scene, Shyamalan introduces us to the central clue in the film. The protagonist's wife goes down to the cellar to retrieve a bottle of wine. The audience do not suspect anything when the woman breath forms a 'tiny cloud of cold air" and the audience are led to believe that this is happening because the cellar is cold. However, as the movie progresses the audience now realize the importance of the cold and that is connotes the presence of a ghost. The audience then refers back to earlier scenes to grasp a better understanding and are have made the connections ahead of the protagonist. This then builds the tension to the climax, which is the protagonist realising he is the cause of the 'tiny cloud of cold air" and that he is dead. 

We plan to use our climate to create a sinister atmosphere and to do this we are going to use the cold, foggy weather. Similarly to the opening title sequence in 'Silence of the Lambs', we plan to use the fog to show the athlete is alone, or so he thinks he is. Additionally, we are going t use the fog to show the young athletes breathing, when he is tied in a chair, to show his heavy breathing and to allow the audience to see the true meaning behind this. This meaning being the cold air symbolises the cold and bitter feelings from the Serial Killer and that the title of the film is represented through his breathing (His Last mile = His last breath).