Analysis of past student work

• At (0:17) , the title of the thriller appears. It's called 'Pulse' and is written in a bold red font which is very effective because it stands out. The red symbolises blood which the heart pumps around the body, and your pulse is something used to check the rate of your heartbeat. So already the audience is getting the idea that something bad will happen that will affect the pulse rate.

• In the next scene, a close up shot is used on the newspaper, meaning it has some sort of significance in the plot. Also a newspaper carries information, therefore it must hold some sort of information which has relevance to the plot etc. We then get a long shot of a girl running, whose feet touches the newspaper. This tells us that they'll be linked together somehow.

• The camera then zooms in for an extreme close up of an article inside the newspaper which said 'Police release image of schoolgirl attacker' so know we know who the antagonist is. This gives us a hint that the antagonist is around and the protagonist might be his next victim due to previous scenes. It also tells us what kind of person the antagonist is, so we're aware of his actions.

• Following on from that scene, a medium long shot is used again at (1:11) showing the antagonist on the swings in the park, which connotes that he has a thing for young children. He might be a paedophile but the audience aren't certain. At (1:08) there's a medium long shot of the park name, giving us the location.

• And looking in the background, you can see a forest area which looks scary. The audience know something bad will happen because the area is isolated as shown at (1:46), & low key lighting is used to make the location seem unsafe and the antagonist who's following close behind look untrustworthy.

Sound

• Diegetic- protagoinist' *gasp* when she saw the antagonist in the park
• Diegetic- Leaves crunching, footsteps (running), hear kids playing/shouting in the park (adds a sense of realism)
• Non-Diegetic- eerie music when the newspapers is shown or when they show the antagonist

Mise-en-scene

• Protagonist- Wearing a pink jumper- vulnerability, innocence
• Antagonist- Dark clothing- bad, shady, danger

Lighting

• High key lighting when she was jogging around the area - made it look safe
• Low key lighting when they entered the forest area- made it seem unsafe

Camera shots

• POV- when she was jogging by the park, let us know she saw the antagonist
• One or two quick edits during the short chase scene- he's always one step ahead of her

Comments: I feel this is a good piece due to the variety of shots used and the music went in time with everything, not much fault in it except for the ending scene which i would say they should of let fade out to black, not cut off.

First shot is an establishing shot of a house (verisimilitude). In the next scene we get a medium close up of the characters exchanging a few lines (diegetic sound), there's also the diegetic sound of the T.V and music playing from a system (adds realism). In the next few scenes when she goes in the bedroom and sees the antagonist, a close up shot is used to show the antagonist face and the protagonist' facial expressions.

Finally at the end the title comes up in bold red font and it's called ' Behind the Mask'. The red as we know, symbolises blood, danger, death etc and because two people died we know it's definitely symbolising death.

There's some high key lighting used on the protagonist as she walks out the living room to go upstairs. This makes the house look like a safe location to be and she obviously feels that it is. On the other hand there is use of Low key lighting on the characters while they're in the living room. Maybe it's trying to show that the house is not safe, but personally i think they didn't get a good shot for that scene because the dim light in the living room.

Comments: Over all i didn't feel this thriller was good at all, it seemed rushed and not enough thought and planning went into it.