Tzvetan Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov was both a novelist and philosopher during the 20^th century. He had a strong influence on the way in which films are written and produced today. Todorovs theory illustrates the layout in which all movies are made. We have tried to incorporate his theories into our production also , to ensure that our thriller keeps the viewer entertained and on the edge of their seats. The following describes how Todorovs theory is used within film narrative.

Equilibrium:

The equilibrium is normally shown in the first few scenes of a film and creates a sense of normality for both the viewer and the main character. In our thriller film , the establishing shot shows normality straight away. An alarm clock features in most peoples morning routines and is symbolic of time and urgency , a concept that most working men/women can relate to. After this, our character follows a simple morning routine (shower , medicine breakfast) which complies with the state of normality.

A Disruption Of That Order:

After the state of normality in Todorovs theory , he describes a disruption of that normality in which an event occurs that both changes and propels the narrative forward. In our story , this event occurs when our main character receives a letter through the post. Inside this prop there is a picture of a hostage with a code on the back. This immediately disrupts any normality previously established and helps evolve the plot into a story that can grip the audience for an entire films length.

An attempt to restore equilibrium:

Once a disruption has been established, our main character needs to attempt to restore order to the narrative. Our plot follows our character as he delves further into a world unknown to him whilst he unearths the mystery of the hostage letter. His attempt to restore order is stemmed by the secondary characters useless and often misleading information which creates an enigma to both the viewer and the characters within the film.

A New Equilibrium:

Todorov stated that although movies tend to end with a restored equilibrium , it is often different to the equilibrium seen at the start of a production. This is because the evolution of the stories plot means that the same equilibrium seen at the start of a film is unable to be sustained once again.

In conclusion , Todorovs theory paved the way for all modern film production and it does not matter whether the narrative is linear or non linear, the establishment of these 4 key features is important within any movie.

The use of Non Linear and Linear narrative in our Thriller film.

For our media thriller , we have decided to adopt a non linear narrative in an attempt to discourage the viewer and place them out of their ‘comfort zone’. Using a non linear narrative can sometimes be unsuccessful because if the sequence of filming isn’t edited precisely , then the viewer may feel disconnected from the film and lose interest. However, when a non linear storyline is portrayed with conviction , it can engage the audience deeper than an linear narrative could.

Some directors are extremely successful with a non linear narrative such as Quentin Tarantino.( This director has been previously studied within Barthes 5 codes). His use of a disjointed storyline in his debut film Reservoir dogs and again in pulp fiction , gave him tremendous respect and success in the film industry. As a result, some of Tarantino’s techniques can be adopted for use in our media film thriller.

As the film opens and the establishing shot of an alarm clock is created, it appears to the viewer that the narrative is following a linear storyline , where every event is played in a chronological order. The plot continues to convince the viewer of this through an average morning scene as our main character awakes and gets ready for work. However, the films plot evolves once our character is eating breakfast. Tension and a fear of the unknown is built here as flashing images of a hostage situation appear on the scene throughout the main characters morning scene. This creates an enigma to the viewer as confusion spreads. The audience do not understand what relevance this scene has to the storyline at this point , as everything seems to be in a state of normality. Relating to a non linear narrative , the viewer is also puzzled as to when this hostage situation takes place. Is it a repressed memory from our main character that constantly plays throughout his mind? Or is it a sign of things to come for our character/ secondary characters? Or does this narrative in fact follow a linear storyline where two events are occurring at once? It was difficult to create a piece of footage that would ask these questions from the viewer, and create a temporary enigma throughout a suspected non linear storyline. However, the enigma becomes partially resolved once our main character receives a letter through his door containing a hostage photo. Now it appears to the viewer that the narrative is playing chronologically. Yet when the photo is flipped , a code appears on the back. This piece of footage creates a symbolic reference to Christopher Nolan’s 2002 film called ‘Memento’. This film is also played in a non linear fashion and the main character uses codes and tattoos on his body to decode a mystery. Viewers that have previously seen both films may connect the symbols between the two and therefore started to suspect that a non linear narrative is likely to play out. There are other lessons to be learn from ‘Memento’ also , through the linking of codes in different scenes in different times frames. This theory can also be adopted in our thriller to both create temporary enigmas that makes the viewer think about the narrative, whilst at the same time using connected symbols and motifs between scenes in an attempted to keep the audience engaged.

In conclusion , the use of a non linear narrative can sometimes be a difficult technique to apply when filming a short media project, and the use of an enigma at the same time increases the likelihood that the audience will disengaged with the narrative. However, we believe that following examples from successful directors such as Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino will help us to create a pieces of footage that both hooks the viewer, but also leaves them clueless about some aspects of the film that are left until later to be revealed.

Mitchell

Filming 2011-04-07

Today was used to add final bits of footage to our already structured piece of media filming. We have analysed the work already edited and decided that a sense of normality in the morning when our character wakes up needs to be established for a longer period of time and at a slower rate to comply with the soundscape inserted. As a result, adding more footage of our character getting up in the morning will create the feeling of an equilibrium , right before the hostage letter appears through the post.

Today we filmed a short yet key aspect of the morning routine, the medicine cabinet. This adds a whole new dimension and depth to the films storyline. In this scene, our actor opens the cabinet door , fumbles through what looks like stashes of much needed medicine , all in an attempt to find an orange pill. This adds an enigma to the scene as the viewer does not know why the main character has to take this pill. Added to the fact that the viewer does not see the actors face throughout this entire scene , it adds a certain sense of confusion and tension as to what kind of man this character is. The next simple shot of our character popping a pill into his hand has connotations of illness and disease , along with the dependency of medicine to keep his life in check. The fact that we have chosen an orange pill as our prop is also important when looking at denotations and connotations of  a symbolic object. During research , it became clear that orange symbolised some of the same connotations that our main character either portrayed or had to deal with whilst the plot evolved. The colour orange has connotations of enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation. A the start of our thriller, these connotations are representative of the normality unfolding as the viewer watches a mans morning routine. These are all positive connotations that reflect the equilibrium our main character wakes up in the morning. However, once the hostage letter is posted and a dis-equilibrium is established , the connotations of the colour change. Now the orange pill represents deceit and distrust. These are key themes in our thriller especially with the secondary characters that our main actor meets along his journey and development of the narrative. For example , the boss is untrustworthy and stems the plot evolution as our character delves deeper into the narrative. This all relates to the colour of our pill and the viewer will sub-consciously indentify with this.

Mitchell



Our production

Our production:

Preliminary task – our first task was to come up with a story line, which we found a challenge making it something interesting and thrilling. The brief said we needed 4 lines of dialogue, with someone walking into a room and sitting at a chair. We decided the best way to go about this would be to come up with a thriller story and find how we could put in the dialogue and chair into the scenario we had come up with. We ended up deciding that someone walking into a room, and the turning of a key. When the key is turn blood appears on the door and on the hand, when walking into a room a flashback of a man held hostage is shown, then bought into the current situation of a deal between 2 men – where the dialogue is transferred. We decided that the use of with flashbacks and jump cuts would be best, as we could have the scene we wanted with the hostage, and then add in the necessary components in order to meet the brief.

Filming of our preliminary – For our filming, we found it difficult to choose a location. We decided on the drama studio because we could use the lighting and effects. We left it quite late to film, so the beginning bit of walking into a room and the turning of a key on a door section didn’t look how we planned it, as we couldn’t find a room with a lock, so ended up using a cupboard which, not surprisingly, looked awful, but had run out of time to re-film. We learned from this to allow more time for filming and try and film quickly so the editing could be done to its best. We found that the lighting setting in the drama studio could be used really effectively and so we could make our hostage section look really thrilling. From this we took that the hostage scenes work well and then we could try and incorporate one into our final piece.

Editing of our preliminary – in the editing we found that it is useful to have extra filming either side of the clip, so you can decide exactly when it best to cut it and use short extra bits of footage if they look good, and so in the our final piece we knew to film 3 seconds before and after each clip. We also found that those scenes where we had lots of shots of the same thing to chose from worked better as we could chose which one looked better, or put more than 1 together. We found it difficult to edit quickly, but getting to know final cut express was useful especially for our final piece. We didn’t incorporate much sound into our preliminary task, as so it seemed a little bare, we could then use this in our final piece as we knew it was important that the soundscape and music choices used were important and could change how the whole filming came across. We also established that even only filming for a 30 second clip takes a lot of shots, and timing in a clip – a lot must happen in a short space of time, and so we then know there was a lot we needed to film and storyboard for.

Final piece – just as it came to coming up with a story for our main piece, unfortunately one group member Harry, became very ill, and so had to have time off school. This was a big issue for us as we had no idea when he would be able to come back to school and had to carry on without him. We found making up a storyline difficult, as there was no brief and could be whatever we wanted, and so allowed freedom. Every idea we came up with, we found a flaw in the plan and it was difficult to elaborate into a bigger story that could last a whole film. We changed our minds a few times, but decided on a basic storyline of a character in the morning waking up and getting ready for work. When the post comes, there’s an image of a captured woman with a code written on the back, following this, the main character goes to work and asks his boss. The boss pretends not to know anything, but being the ‘actual helper’ it was him who put the image through his door in the first place. The female been taken hostage is his boss’s mistress, and the capturer is his wife, however he can’t free the hostage, because he can’t admit to his wife he knows she’s taken her, as he just want to end it with the mistress, and so he gets the completely unaware and unrelated ‘guy from work’ who is then thrown into this abnormal situation. The unexpected twist at the end is that the mistress and the wife have been working together the whole time, and are trying to harm the boss. We then storyboarded this, and after finished storyboarding, it came that harry could come back to school, which was quite good timing.

Planning the filming – we were trying to think of where would be the best place to film, and we decided the best place to start would be the morning sequence. We discovered that Harry’s house would be best as there was a clear view of the post box from where the breakfast area was, which key to our filming.  For the actor we needed an older male, and a ‘icy blond’ female. We decided that Laura would be perfect for the female, and jack would be perfect for the male. We had trouble finding a male the right age, but then thought that whilst through our clips we had decided we didn’t want to see his face, as we thought it would build more tension, and so we decided it would be alright to have jack as our main character. We then decided that the rest could be again filmed in the drama studio to get the hostage shots. We also had a list of props we would need, which included :

·         Bowl/cup

·         Bran flakes

·         Envelope

·         Image of hostage

·         Milk

·         Alarm clock

·         Business books/stationary

·         Empty toilet roll

·         Duct tape

Filming – when we were filming, we filmed initially at harry’s. When were all together, we did as much as we needed. We used the tripod for most of the shots, but for a few we needed a steadi-cam look and so had to be hand held. We then left the camera with harry so he could get and last shots needed of at home and then started editing what we had. Next we filmed the hostage shot, but had a limited time because of availability of the drama studio, however we got the shots we needed and then began editing.

Editing – we then came to editing our piece, and Harry and Mitch added in the typing as well, we used final cut express, which allowed us to add in dissolves and transitions and effects such as black and white for the hostage bit. We found that it was difficult to get the timing right with the sounds and the editing took the longest bit. When editing we found that we only had about a minute and a half of clips and it needed to be 2 minutes and we needed to add more. Here we discussed more morning shots we could incorporate and then we started to film again.

Choosing a name for the thriller – this was a difficult decision and through research found that ‘Stockholm syndrome’ is a noun for a hostage closely connected to its capturer, we found that this was really appropriate and it would also make the audience question. While adding this in, we also put in all the writing onto the clips, adding times to show the time shifts throughout the opening sequence.

Sounds – We tried various soundscape and music choices for our thriller and then decided we wanted a radio clip, and this allowed us to have music playing through the background. We researched different radio stations and decided the style we wanted, choosing a local radio station and a 60’s song – as to be copyright free. We then asked Dom to do the voiceover and sorted out the different volumes and tracks, as well as the radio tuning effects we wanted adding in. When we added this to our main production, we then had to change the volume of the backing of all the clips and change some timing to make it fit, but just adding the sound improved the whole piece dramatically.

More filming and editing – we then decided we still needed more clips, and so filmed more clips of the opening sequence to put in. We also decided that the editing wasn’t right and the order of the shots wasn’t right. Adding the backing and adding the more clips made the whole piece a lot better and we got it up to 2 minutes.

Ellie

Storyboard

This is our story board:

This is the first page of our storyboard. We wanted to fade in from black to a cutting shot of an alarm clock. We had a red table to demonstrate danger and evoke the risks and threats to come. The shot of the alarm clock uses the rule of 3, and positions the alarm clock in the middle of the shot. The analogue clock demonstrates what the character is like and shows his old-fashioned style. The next shot is his legs appearing out of bed. This builds tension as his face isn’t revealed. The shot of the socks shows the 'Tuesday', when the typewriter shows that it’s actually Thursday, also revealing his character being 'dopey' and that he's a bit dense.

This is the next page of our story board; the next shot is a shot of the shower - another quick shot to demonstrate he’s getting ready for work. The next shot we didn’t use, of his spraying deodorant. Instead we used a shot of his trousers on the toilet and his hand reaching for toilet roll. We also used a shot of a toothbrush being put in a glass, the rule of thirds being used and the light through the glass and lighting the shot.  We also then had him tiding up his shoe laces, showing how he’s getting ready for work, the quick editing of the shots and series of jump cuts builds tension and shows his getting ready - evoking how he's not concentrating and could be quite vulnerable, the lack of decisions he needs to make shows how he is in his own little world, and reinforces that he is an 'ordinary person in an extraordinary situation' conforming to Alfred Hitchcock’s theory.



The next shots we used were of the breakfast cereal. We began with an over the shoulder shot of him pouring the cereal, and then a shot of his pouring the milk. The surrounding books and pens show his workaholic character and the choice of cereal of 'bran flakes' we felt represented the type of person he was. We decided to add in the radio shot here as well, allowing him to hear the news and for a song to be played diagetically and off screen. This also allowed him to be shown listening to a local radio station and the 60s song shows more about his personality.

We then had a point of view, over the shoulder shot of the door and letter box. the lighting appearing quite dark to suggest the tension and suspense. We wanted a focus pull, but because of the distance this was hard to establish and so decided to add in short clips of the hostage, to make the audience question and wonder. The letter then appears through the door and the character is seen walking over. There is then an over the shoulder shot, explain in an earlier blog post, in which was had an interesting shot of an envelope. The then reveals the shot of a hostage, with the picture in black and white. There’s then a zoom and a jump cut to the hostage, allowing the audience to be separated from the central character, and the character who doesn’t know what’s going on is then positioned lower than the audience as he is less aware than them, creating a connection between the audience and character.

Finally we then had drastic shots of the hostage, where an icy blond - a typical character featured in Alfred Hitchcock films, appears to be captured. There were different views of the hostage, evoking chaos and there’s a shot directly through her feet, showing another female character walking past, keeping her hostage. We had shots of her hands and different angles, but decided it would be more effective to just have 2 varied shots and cut between them.

Ellie.

Music and soundscape.

For out thriller, we needed a backing track. We decided to have off-screen, diagetic sound. We decided that related to the morning theme, we wanted to use a radio theme. We then decided we didn’t think our character was a ‘morning radio’ type of character, but through watching the opening sequence of I-Robot, I thought that the song was effective and watching this I thought we could bring this technique and contrapuntal music type into our thriller. We could also suggest the type of character he is, through the song choice and radio choice. It also meant that we could include talking through the radio presenter to help set the scene about the missing girl and create tension. We used a 1960’s song called ‘all I want to do’ by the Byrds. We chose this, as it is over 50 years old and therefore copyright free. We used this as we felt the upbeat tempo contrasted with the thrilling atmosphere. We chose our name of our radio station to be ‘Pulse FM’. We felt that our character would listen to a local radio station and then could here the news of the missing female whilst eating his breakfast. The radio presenter starts off upbeat and happy, contrasting to his mood and then cuts through to a serious news story, which the radio presenter casually looks over. The lexis choices that the radio presenter uses, for example ‘lovely crisp feeling in the air’ implies the pleasant feel. The low lexical register connects with the audience and the synthetic personalization of talking to ‘you’ allows a connection with the audience. The collective pronoun ‘us’ shows how the audience are together with the presenter., and how his tone of voice and passion is transferred through and picks up the audience. The contrast through the seriousness of the newsreader shows the importance of the news story and its relevancy. It also reflects that it’s a crucial part of the film and that more formal tone and higher lexical register shows to the audience the seriousness. The radio effects show he’s listening to an older style fashioned ‘tuning’ station, rather than a digital radio, evoking his old fashioned personality and how he’s stuck in the past and his characteristics. 

this is the song we used - All i really wanna do, the byrds.

Our script
Radio presenter:

 Hello and good morning! It’s another sunny day here in Somerset, you’re tuned into pulse FM on 94.3, its 7.28am and a gorgeous 22 degrees with a lovely crisp feeling in the air, and I can tell it’s going to be a good day. Now over the Nigel Thompson who has some breaking news for us...

News Presenter:

        Thank you Chris, welcome to pulse FM news, its 7.29 am and I’m Nigel Thompson. Our main story today is that there has been a development into the whereabouts of Sophie Matthews who was reported missing on Monday 19th February. The police have issued a statement asking anyone who has any information please to come forward immediately to the local authorities. Now back to your scheduled radio broadcast.   

Radio presenter:

        Thank you very much for that Nigel. Now I’m gunna play you a little diddy called all I want to do is water your garden… enjoy.

Ellie.

The Use of Barthes Code by Quentin Tarantino and Alfred Hitchcock

The Use of Barthes Code by Quentin Tarantino and Alfred Hitchcock

Roland Barthes was another influential figure in the narrative and film world. The Frenchman was a renowned philosopher and critic that developed his five narrative codes. These codes can be applied and woven into any narrative structure. As a result we have tried to apply his 20th century philosophical theories on film into our narrative , and I have also decided to relate his ideas to two important directors in the thriller genre , Alfred Hitchcock and Quentin Tarantino.

The Hermeneutic Code (HER)

The Hermeneutic code or Enigma code describes any part of a film that is not fully explained to the viewer. This is adopted throughout most thrillers and is key to entertaining the viewer and withholding tension. The Hermeneutic code is expressed using one or more of the following three techniques:

Snares:  This is when the truth in a production is purposely avoided by either the narrative structure or by how the characters react to certain situations.

Equivocations: This technique is used to give the viewer partial or often incomplete answers as to how the film will end. For example , in Tarantino’s  film ‘Reservoir Dogs’ The narrative is played using a non linear narrative fashion , which impacts on the viewers understanding of the events taking place. This links to using equivocations as the viewer partially understands what is happening after the diamond heist goes wrong , but still leaves them in the dark about many of the issues raised when the film is edited in an unorthodox fashion. Similarly to Reservoir Dogs , our film will use equivocations to engage the viewers and keep them entertained throughout. As our film starts , our main character receives a letter through his door with a hostage picture attached. At this point we have purposely adopted the use of ‘snares’ as this act offers the viewer no reason as to why the event occurred and the narrative structure avoids answering the question until a further point i the movie. However, as the film plot develops and evolves, bringing in new characters such as the main characters boss , who offers unclear and distorted answers to the characters question , equivocations are used. The viewer begins to extend their knowledge of the film slowly , yet are not given a clear answer as to how the hostage situation will be resolved.

Jammings: This is when the narrative structure makes it clear that there is no answer to a problem. Similarly to the uses of snares in our media production we have used jammings in the earlier scenes to convince both the main character and the viewer that no matter what the characters actions are , there will be no clue as to whether the disequilibrium will be resolved , and whether the main character will get any closer to answering the questions raised in the first scene after receiving the hostage letter through the door. It is only until further points in the film , such as meeting the main characters boss, that the use of jammings will be substituted with the use of equivocations as explained previously. The final scenes of the movie will help the viewer understand , and this is also when the plot if tied off and closure on the narrative structure can be attained.

The Proairetic Code (ACT)

Along with the Hermeneutic code, the Proairetic code is also used in film to create tension through the use of actions and activities performed by the main character throughout the film. Barthes described that these two codes work together to build and create tension in a film and keep the viewer interested for the events about to follow. A quote from Barthes about the Proairetic and Hermeneutic codes states:

 ‘Two sequential codes: the revelation of truth and the coordination of the actions represented: there is the same constraint in the gradual order of melody and in the equally gradual order of the narrative sequence.’

In Hitchcock’s production ‘Rope’ the use of actions helps raise tension also. Brandon and Philip murder their friend David Kently and place him inside a chest. This is not the act that builds tension for the viewer as it occurs in the first scene and tension is not built up and released in a traditional Hitchcock style. Yet the action that follows creates suspense for the viewer throughout the rest of the film. Brandon and Philip host a dinner party with the chest inside the same room. The camera angles create suspense as the chest stays in shot for the majority of the film , which makes the audience wonder whether a guest will eventually unearth what is hidden within. Further actions taken by the pair create tension such as placing the food for the party on top of the chest.

Much like Rope , our production aims to use the Proairetic code through the actions taken by the main character and the secondary characters around him. For example, the action in the first scene of the unmarked letter coming through the door will create tension as it leads the viewer into the unknown. The audience are suddenly transformed with he main character from a state of normality into a disequilibrium. Further actions we have adopted for our film for our character to take will create tension also. For example, using the main characters boss as a secondary character that eventually becomes more of a hindrance than a help will be used to create suspense. Our main character will need his help to unearth clues to the narrative , yet the vagueness of his answers will leave the viewer wanting the plot to evolve.

The Semantic Code (SEM)

The semantic code creates tension and suspense in the thriller by the use of connotations of certain features in the narrative such as props and dialogue. The connotation of certain features in the film will delve into greater meaning of different symbols within the production. For our film specific symbols and props will employ connotations that keep the viewer entertained. For example, the letter through the door that disrupts the sense of normality in the first scene will have a number code attached to the back of it. The denotations of this is just sequenced numbers , yet the connotations will fuel and develop the story into further points. For example, these numbers have connotations of such things as:

·         Phone Numbers

·         Map co-ordinates

·         Pin codes

·         Door Codes

·         Bar codes

·         Address

Our main character will need to develop an understanding of what the codes on the back of the photo mean , and there are so many connotations linked to this plot will allows us real freedom when developing a narrative. When the viewer first watches the opening of the letter from a P.O.V shot this also places them in the main character s viewpoint and allows them to feel similar emotions . When the envelope is open ,the hostage picture will have connotations that will evolve the plot also and keep the viewer entertained. The hostage situation seen will give the viewer connotations and feelings of urgency and pressure for the main character to solve the mystery. The fact that the picture can be seen at the moment unforeseen of times follows Hitchcock’s rule of releasing tension at an unexpected moment.

The Symbolic Code (SYM)

The symbolic code is similar to the semantic code. It once again delves into the connotations of what certain features of a film mean , but offers no definite answer as to what certain aspects are meant to connotate to. In fact Roland Barthes often suggested that under the symbolic theory unlike the semantic theory , connotations of props etc can actually mean the opposite to what the viewer expects them to.

For example, in Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘Rope’ the murder Brandon and Philip commit has connotations to the viewer of a wrongful act and being liable by law. However, as the film develops , the pair try to attempt the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party straight afterwards.  During the film , the two seem to have followed their plan and there are looking successful. This uses the symbolic code because murder is does not connotate into punishment here, yet achievement and victory for the two main characters. Using the symbolic code in situations like this plays with the audiences mind as they will expect one thing to happen within the narrative , yet another occurs.

Similarly to Hitchcock’s film ‘Rope’ we will use Barthes’ symbolic code in our production. For example, the scene in which the letter is opened and the hostage picture is recognised , this has connotations of danger and a sense of urgency. However, as the plot and narrative evolves , it tests the viewers understanding of what is occurring in the film. This is because the hostage situation has deeper meaning than just a normal one , as the plot jumps into other territories such as a struggling marriage and a bosses affair. This contradicts the simple connotations of  a hostage situation and helps make our thriller movie intense and dramatic.

The Cultural Code (REF)

The cultural code can also refer to props and symbols within the film. It mostly refers to symbols related to science or religion, although other canons such as magical truths may be used in fantasy stories. When these images are seen in films their connotations are not challenged and only connotate to traditional views.

For example ,  in Quentin Tarantinos production of Pulp Fiction, a religious speech is quoted by Samuel.L.Jacksons hit man character Jules right before he kills another character. The quote is front he bible and is as follows:

‘and I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.’

This quote uses the cultural Barthes cultural code as the words within such as ‘vengeance’ and ‘execute’ only have connotations of violence and death. Jules proceeds to kill the secondary character. What Barthe is trying to explain by the cultural code is that when using symbols from certain areas such as religion or science, only one connotation can be understood and is used within a production.

The 5 codes expressed by Barthe are used in all narrative to build tension and is adopted by directors to influence how much or how little they want the viewer to understand their production.  In our media production we aim to adopt some of these 5 codes as it will enable us to create a tense and suspense filled thriller that viewers will be entertained and hooked by.

Mitchell