Evaluation of Thriller Introduction

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Thriller signifiers are certain characteristics that are common in mainly thriller genre films. A few examples of thriller signifiers are: mystery, male protagonists and plot twists. Thriller conventions are sort of templates/formats which thriller films tend to follow. My film has some characteristics of classical thriller conventions, but also challenges them in some areas.
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels by Guy Richie has been a big influence on my film. One way this film links to mine is that they both try to challenge the classic thriller conventions; both films' music is modern rather than jazz, and the purpose of the music (tension building) is the same. Also, the mise en scenes of both films are similar as both films are set in urban, run-down areas. The sub-genres of both films also involve crime and corruption in the UK. Finally, both films enable the British public to relate to them more than Hollywood films do. This is due to the fact they may know the places the films are shot, and also the characters are British. However, my thriller 'Abduction' is not as humorous and relaxed as this film and has a more sinister atmosphere.
Layer Cake by Mattew Vaughn has also played a big role in influencing the style and production of my film. The film links to my film because of the use of a male protagonist and the sub-genre of crime/gangster/drugs. Both films appear to have the objective of showing the audience what the criminal underworld and drug gangs are like in the UK. Also, both films being made in the UK and having British casts helps the audience be more able to relate to the film and feel more involved.
Sin City having a sub-genre of being crime/underworld helps it relate a lot to my thriller, Abduction. They both have the same sort of sinister feel to them, made by the seriousness of the characters, the chiaroscuro lighting, male protagonists and use of violent images; Sin City was a great inspiration for the opening credits to our thriller, as our credits have red and black cartoons of violence as does Sin City. Although our films have different types of music (Sin City has a more classic thriller music style (jazz) whereas Abduction has a modern hip-hop styled soundtrack), they both work in a similar way to build up tension and suspense.
The themes we set out to explore in our film are gang-culture and the criminal underworld. We used the thriller genre to do this by using certain thriller signifiers to portray the atmosphere and representation of the criminal activity of gangs; we used such signifiers as tension building music, chiaroscuro lighting and the use of urban areas to show the seriousness, mystery and danger of the illegal activities carried out by gangs.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My thriller introduction has a 100% male cast and male protagonists; no women at all were used in the making of our film. In this aspect my film has not challenged the classic thriller conventions as many thriller genre films have male protagonists, mostly male casts, and the women that are in the film are commonly shown as sex symbols and marginalised. Also, the whole cast is white/Caucasian. This represents the British public as white males. This is also true for the representation of the drug dealers and gangs in the country; it could be inferred from the film that it is thought that drug dealers/gangs in this country are all white males. Our film has negative representations of British, white males by portraying them as gangsters and drug dealers.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Columbia TriStar Film Distributors, Universal Pictures and Buena Vista International and the film distributors used to distribute Sin City, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and Layer Cake to the UK. As these films are similar to mine, it would be likely that one of these distributors would be most likely to distribute my film. Out of these distributors, Columbia TriStar Film Distributors would be most likely to distribute it. This is because the majority of the films they distribute are thriller, horror or action genre films, whereas the other distributors distribute a wider range of film genres.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for our thriller is white/Caucasian males between the ages of 19 – 25 who may be in the C1/2 social class (according to the social class hierarchy pyramid). It may also appeal to people who like such films as Sin City, Layer Cake, Rock N’ Rolla, V for Vendetta & Panic Room. Here is information on why that the target audience like these thrillers: ‘How audiences consume film and other elements of the media and popular culture (Method 2)’ post:

The results show that both genders had watched and liked the same ‘thrillers’. This suggests that these films are fairly popular with both genders. However, it also shows that men tend to have watched more thrillers than women. This may be due to the facts about why the male participants like thrillers more; thrillers tend to have male protagonists, mostly/all male casts, the plot style, the narrative style or how women are mostly portrayed to be sex icons. The males in the research I conducted helped me determine the age and ‘social classes of our target audience; the males that liked the thriller genre the most were between the ages of 19-25 and had mostly white/blue collar jobs (so they fir into the C1/2 classes in the hierarchy pyramid of social class). Also, the audience would be predominantly British, and could be argued that this is a niche audience on an international scale.

How did you attract/address your audience?

We made our film with characters that the British public may relate to. There are also certain characteristics/thriller signifiers that are in my film that our target audience may like: this is supported in my audience research:
These graphs show what thriller signifiers the participants liked. Both males and females have the same signifiers in their graph which indicates these signifiers are generally liked by both genders. Females tended to like betrayal and internal monologues less than the males. This indicates that some signifiers are in fact more popular with different genders.
Also, I researched thriller posters to see what thriller signifiers were used to attract attention, then incorporated these signifiers into our film.
We used chiaroscuro lighting to add mystery to the film to ‘hook’ the audience, then used violence and tension to keep the audience excited and ‘on the edges of their seats’. Also, the popular use of betrayal was used in our film when the gangsters realise the drugs they were sold were fake. The use of good vs. evil was portrayed in the use of the light and dark lighting, but also in the two groups of people (the con-men and the gangsters); however, there is some moral ambiguity with this as the audience are unsure who is good and who is evil (moral ambiguity is also a common thriller signifier and helps add to the mystery of the film – which is shown to be liked by the audience). We also filmed our thriller film in an urban area; the audience is shown to like thrillers that are based in urban areas. Also, the urban area we used help give our film a certain modern, gritty, gangster atmosphere to our film.
These thriller signifiers we used were used to give the film the ‘feel’ and atmosphere we wanted to portray, which also appears to be what our audience likes.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

We were able to use modern technology to aid us in the planning and making stages of our film; we learnt to use computers to help create shooting maps, design our own templates for the storyboard, and also write the script on. When constructing the thriller we learnt to be able to use digital cameras which were useful as we could upload our footage as soon as we had filmed it.
This also means that we could edit it on the computer straight away using video editing software, Adobe Premiere Element 1.0, which is on the school computers. The software was complicated at first, but after a while we learnt to use it adequately to be able to edit our film. With the software we learnt how to cut out un-needed footage, add special effects and video transitions, and put titles/credits onto our film.
This technology also helped our group produce a film without help from others, even though there were only two of us in the group; this taught us that due to advances in technology, more people are able to construct films (rather than just major film producers) - films are easier to make independently, and films are now also much faster and easier to make.
The technologies available to us were not too advanced in comparison to technologies used by major film production companies; however it gave us everything we needed to fully plan and create our film, and taught us that we can create a successful film with affordable, everyday technologies.
The only serious limitation we had with the technology we used was the availability of it; we could only use one school computer to do our editing on, so a lot of the time that computer was being used by another student. We overcame this limitation by finding a time when most students did not need a computer; we used our lunchtimes to edit.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I feel that I have learnt to mane my time better by using meeting and shooting schedules, whereas, for my preliminary task we did not use such schedules.
Also, I feel that my editing skills have progressed significantly since making the preliminary task. This is due to the fact in my preliminary task all I did was cut the footage down to what we needed, but for my thriller film I learnt to cut the footage, use the ‘time stretch tool’ on the program I was using, add moving titles and add special effects and transitions. Also, I think I helped edit the film well enough so that it looks effective in the final video.
I have learnt that planning is a major part of making a film, as without the scripts, shooting maps, storyboards and other planning work, our film would not be what it is today as we would have severely struggled to produce it successfully.
I have learnt that audience research can be important when making a film as it can give you the information you need to know about what you need to include in your film; we used audience research to see what our target audience would be, what thriller signifiers our target audience likes and how they consume media. Without this information we would not have known what to include in our film to make it successful.
However, the role of researching other thriller films also played a role in helping us know what to include in our film. I studied several different thriller films and poster which gave me an idea of what thriller signifiers I want in our film, what our mise en scene should be like, and what type of shots and video transitions would be effective in a thriller genre film.
Although there was only one other person in my group, I have learnt to work in a group; we had to organize actors which meant we were working with more people than just each other. I also improved my ‘people skills’ when casting as I needed to talk to the potential actors and see whether they were right for our film or not.
The camera work in our thriller introduction is also more skilled than what it was in the preliminary task as we were able to practice holding the camera steady and have effective shot types.

We had our media class fill in ‘peer assessment sheets’ which included different aspects of the film and asked them to put a mark out of 10 to show how good each aspect of our film was (1 being poor, 10 being excellent). On the parts of our film people thought needed improving they put comments on how they thought we could improve it. Some examples of the aspects that were assessed are ‘clear narrative’, ‘mise-en-scene’, ‘thriller signifiers used’ and ‘quality of editing’. For all of the aspects, our film was rated between 6 and 9 out of 10, except one aspect where only one person had put 5/10.
This shows that are film was successful in all aspects and had sufficient thriller signifiers to make it a successful thriller. Having the peer assessments filled in helped us greatly in analysing our thriller then go and make and needed corrections, to make our thriller introduction the best it can be.

Overall, I think we were successful in creating a thriller introduction that met our mission statement satisfactorily. Also, I think the film was of good quality and was made well and effectively, and clearly shows the thriller signifiers we aimed to show.

Peer assesment of our film

We had our media class fill in ‘peer assessment sheets’ which included different aspects of the film and asked them to put a mark out of 10 to show how good each aspect of our film was (1 being poor, 10 being excellent). On the parts of our film people thought needed improving they put comments on how they thought we could improve it.
For ‘holding the camera steady’ all 18 of the people put 7/10 or above. We concluded from this that we did not need to improve our camera holding abilities.
For the framing of shots, all 18 of the people put 6/10 or above. This was not too bad, but showed us that it could still be slightly improved in places, however, no one commented on any shots that needed improving.
For ‘using a variety of shot distances’, all 18 people put 8/10 or above. This showed us that we used a good variety of distances in our film and that this reflected well to the audience.
For ‘shooting material that is appropriate to an opening of a thriller’ all 18 of the people put 7/10 or above which sowed us that we used thriller signifiers well.
For ‘editing is clear so the narrative is readable’ all 18 people put 7/10 or above. From this I an say that this is an area of the film I would like to be improved.
For ‘using a variety of shot transitions and other effects appropriately’ 17 of the people put 8/10 or above, and 1 person put 5/10. However the one person that gave us a low mark wrote as a comment that the transitions were too “dark” for their liking; we chose to ignore this as we had aimed to have a dark styled film.
For ‘using sound with images and editing sound effectively’ all 18 people put 9/10 or above. I was very pleased with this result and think that the music was effective in helping create the sinister/threatening/modern atmosphere to the film; 6 people commented on how they liked the music and that it was used effectively with the credits.
Finally, for ‘using titles effectively’ all 18 put 9/10 or more. Again, I was very pleased with these results and think that they were effective at giving our film a modern feel to it. Several people didn’t comment on the credits, but 9 people wrote that they “loved” “liked” and “adored” the credits and that they “looked great”.

Study of Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (1998) - Guy Richie

The opening shot of this film is of two men selling stolen goods in a back-alley. As soon as the film starts, it already involves crime and corruption; there are illegal activities happening from the start of the film, which indicates there will be crime and corruption throughout the film. Crime and corruption are thriller signifiers and can help create a thriller atmosphere for a film.

The film appears to be about the two men selling the illegal goods; this shows that the main characters are male, and that there are male protagonists in the film. Male protagonists are significant thriller signifier and are common in many thriller genre films. This also indicates that there will be a predominantly male cast throughout the film, which is also a thriller signifier.

The lighting in the opening scene of the film is typical outside lighting, rather than the classic-thriller-signifying chiaroscuro lighting. This shows how Guy Richie has tried to challenge the classic thriller genre conventions. Also, the men are saying humorous comments rather than being serious, which also shows how the film challenges the classic thriller conventions; thrillers tend to have serious plots and characters.

The narrative of the film is shown through both character dialogue and internal monologue. Internal monologues are common thriller signifiers and are commonly used in thriller films. The internal monologue is used in the opening scene to tell the audience about the characters. This helps get the audience 'hooked' and intrigued with the story and make them want to watch more; the internal monologue makes you question the characters and helps create mystery. Mystery is also a very significant thriller signifier.

The location of the opening scene is a run-down, urban city. This is a common thriller signifier and helps emphasise the fact there is crime and corruption present in the film. Also, the film being filmed in the UK and with a British cast, makes the film easier for the British public to relate to (which is what I am my film to be able to do).

The editing in the opening scene consists of the use of slow motion for parts of the film. This helps emphasise the shots that are put in slow motion. Also, the credits are separate to the footage rather than being over-layed onto the shots. This helps build up suspense and intrigue as the audience cannot see what is happening when the credits are on screen.

The music in the opening scene is rock music. This challenges the classic thriller conventions by not using jazz type music which is used in older thriller, especially film-noirs. The music starts half way through the opening scene and indicates something is about to happen; the music builds up tension. Then suddenly the police start chasing to two salesmen, the music speeds up and becomes louder. This helps add a dramatic effect and helps build up excitement for the audience; the music helps keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

This film is one of the influences for my thriller 'Abduction'. One way this film links to mine is that they both try to challenge the classic thriller conventions; both films' music is modern rather than jazz, and the purpose of the music (tension building) is the same. Also, the mise en scene of both films are similar as both films are set in urban, run-down areas. The sub-genres of both films also involve crime and corruption in the UK. Finally, both films enable the British public to relate to them more than Hollywood films do. This is due to the fact they may know the places the films are shot, and also the characters are British. However, my thriller 'Abduction' is not as humorous and relaxed as this film and has a more sinister atmosphere.

How audiences consume film and other elements of the media and popular culture (Method 2)

How audiences consume film and other elements of the media and popular culture (Method 1)

Storyboard for preliminary task (scanned)

Here are the storyboards for our preliminary task that Ben drew up after we discussed the film:

Study of Layer Cake (2004) - Mattew Vaughn

The opening shot of the film is a close up of the back of a car. The shot has been edited to be in slow motion. This helps add dramatic effect to the explosion, as you can see people running to help and hear screaming. Having such an opening shot helps 'hook' the audience as it leaves them intrigued in what happened and why. The shot starts off in black and white, to indicate it was an event that happened in the past. There is then a lot of clever, swift, sharp editing which then makes several different shots look as if they are all one; as the camera pans, it goes through different events and places, however it seems that it is all filmed in one take. This helps give the connotation of the film being professional. The events you see in the opening credits consist of sexual images of half-naked woman, police, and drugs. These can all be seen as thriller signifiers; half-naked woman can be seen as sex symbols, which is common in thriller genre films. There being police and drugs present in the opening scene suggests the film is to do with crime and the criminal underworld. Already the audience gets a feel for how the rest of the film will be, and what it will be about.

There is a shot in the opening scene where there appears to be a range of FCUK products, however the boxes also have the names of recreational drugs on them (e.g. cocaine). A man is looking at all of these products on a set of shelves as if he is browsing to buy some. This implies to the audience that buying drugs is easy for this man, and that it is just like going to the shop to buy toiletries. It may also indicate that peoples' use of drugs at that time was as normal as wearing FCUK perfume; the whole scene may indicate to the audience that in the UK drugs are easy to get hold of and are a regular/normal thing for people.

The opening credits are integrated with the film; rather than being on a black plain background, the credits appear to be written on actual objects in the film. For example, one part of the opening credits were on a closed door, then when the door opened, they moved with the door as if written on it. This too helps give a professional feel to the film, rather than a violent/sinister feel like more classical thrillers.

The film is set in an urban city, which is a thriller signifier. However, unlike other thrillers, the city is not a 'gritty' run down area. Instead, the city looks 'neat and tidy' and crime-free. This helps add to the professional atmosphere of the film. Rather than typical chiaroscuro lighting, typical outside lighting is used. These aspects of the film show how the directors have tried to challenge the classical thriller conventions.

The music in the opening scene is soft rock/pop genre, which also challenges the classic thriller conventions (typical thrillers tend to have jazz music (especially film-noirs)). The music helps towards the professional and relaxed atmosphere rather than the typical sinister feel of other thrillers.

The narrative of the film is shown using an internal monologue. The internal monologue is quite serious, but also humorous at times. There being humour in the internal monologue helps add to the relaxed feel of the film. This was inspirational to my thriller, as I wrote an internal monologue after watching the film, however mine had no humour in it. Internal monologues are a thriller signifier and are used commonly in thriller genre films. The film is shown in a man's point of view, which shows the film has a male protagonist. This is a very important thriller signifier and is common in most thrillers.

The film links to my 'opening to a thriller' because of the use of a male protagonist and the sub-genre of crime/gangster/drugs. Both films appear to have the objective of showing the audience what the criminal underworld and drug gangs are like in the UK. Also, both films being made in the UK and having British casts helps the audience be more able to relate to the film and feel more involved.

Study of Sin City (2005) – Frank Miller/Robert Rodriguez

The opening shot in the film is a tilted down, long shot of a woman overlooking a city from a balcony on the top of a skyscraper. The woman has her back to the camera which gives her the connotation of being venerable. The woman is wearing a red dress that leaves her back uncovered; her back being on show also contributes to the connotation of her being venerable. Her wearing a red dress could be seen her as being a ‘lady in red’ or ‘femme fatal’ which are thriller signifiers; women that are potentially dangerous, and also seen as sex symbols. The red dress could be interoperated as having the connotation of being dangerous, as red can symbolise blood, death and violence. However, the colour red can also symbolise romance and seduction. When you see her face you then see that she is wearing red lipstick. This contributes to the fact she could be a ‘femme fatal’.

In the opening shot you can also see many other tall buildings, cars and lights in the background. This shows the use of chiaroscuro lighting (light and dark). The buildings are all dark, except from the windows why are bright. There being many windows could suggest that she is being watched, which adds mystery and intrigue to the plot; mystery and intrigue are thriller signifiers that are very commonly used in films in the thriller genre.

The non-diegetic sound in the opening sound (music) is soft jazz which is also a common thriller signifier. This also helps give the opening scene a mysterious and sinister feel. As well as the music, sirens and vehicles can be heard in the background; crime is happening in the streets – crime is a thriller signifier and it can represent corruption, violence and even deception.

The narrative of the film in general is shown from different peoples perspectives at different time, than all of the perspectives start to link together. This is to help the audience get involved with the story and how the character see things and feel. In the opening scene it is in the perspective of the male. There is an internal monologue which is poetic, and is said in a calm, emotionless feel; this adds to the connotation of it being 'clod hearted' and sinister. This was an inspiration for my thriller introduction; I wrote an internal monologue, however in the end we were unable to use it due to the time limit (the narrative would have been unreadable using an internal monologue to tell the story in the short amount of time).

The opening scene being in an urban city is also a thriller signifier; the use of run-down, urban, dark, crime-filled cities is used in many thrillers. Also, there is diagonal rain in the scene which is also common in many thrillers, especially film-noirs.

In the opening to the film there is also quite a bit of editing. When the woman smokes a cigarette her eyes flash green, maybe to indicate jealousy or danger. This happens just before she is shot, then when she is shot, the film goes monochromatic; the characters turn into cartoon like silhouettes in black and white. Also, the film is filmed through a grey lens which makes everything appear in black and white, this adds to the chiaroscuro lighting effect and helps the colourful editing stand out more. The use of black and white filming is also a typical film-noir signifier.

The woman getting killed is a small twist in the plot, which is a major thriller signifier. This also helps contribute to the sinister and threatening atmosphere and adds more mystery and intrigue to the film. The man that kills the woman appears to be the dominant character; he is in control and deceives the girl by putting her into a false sense of security and then killing her. This shows betrayal which is also a thriller signifier.The man could be seen as a male protagonist and an anti-hero which are also significant signifiers that a film is a thriller.

When the film is in monochromatic, it appears as if the camera is panning away and upwards from the city, whilst spiralling. The spiralling is an important thriller signifier; spirals can indicate a twisting and turning plot, which are very common in thrillers. The image of the city then spells out the name of the film, ‘Sin City’. The name of the film then goes red as if it were blood which helps give a more sinister feel to the film. Throughout the opening credits there are cartoons of violent images such as guns. Violence and the use of guns can be a common factor in thriller films, however not so much in psychological thrillers. Certain words in the credits, such as “shot” and “cut” are larger than the rest; these words can be seen as violent and can help contribute to the sinister feel of the film. The jazz music in the opening scene gets faster which helps build up tension during the credits. This helps add suspense to the film and can get the audience on the edge of their seats.

Sin City having a sub-genre of being crime/underworld helps it relate a lot to my thriller, Abduction. They both have the same sort of sinister feel to them, made by the seriousness of the characters, the chiaroscuro lighting, male protagonists and use of violent images; Sin City was a great inspiration for the opening credits to our thriller, as our credits have red and black cartoons of violence as does Sin City. Although our films have to different types of music (Sin City has a more classic thriller music style (jazz) whereas Abduction has a modern hip-hop styled soundtrack), they both work in a similar way to build up tension and suspense.

Initial ideas for what makes a successful thriller

Objective - to be able to identify the features of an effective thriller opening.


Initial ideas for what makes a successful thriller:

• Narrative - needs to be readable, maybe have a cliff hanger, plot twists.
• Needs to be able to 'hook' the audience/engage them - mystery and intrigue.
• Origionality/individuality - needs to be different to other films, maybe challenge the conventions of typical thrillers.
• Effective editing - good shot transitions, effective framing, good non-diagetic sound.
• Filming - a veriety of shot types, steady shots, good 'match on actin' (continuity).
• Lighting - needs to be suited to the theme/style of the film.
• Mse en scene - needs to establish settings, themes and styles to develop suited props, costumes and scenery.
• Characters - need to have background stories that suit the film, need to have traits and flaws.

Script for preliminary task

INT. Inside well lit room. A couple of chairs and table are all that’s there. MAX is standing behind a chair facing the window. Ricky walks in and the door slams shut. CLOSE UP ON:

MAX
(anxiously and under his breath)
You got the stuff?

Ricky
(evasively)
That depends … you got the cash?

Max
Yeah … 50 big ones.

Ricky
Good, you’ll get a call when your
Stuff’s ready.

Script for thriller introduction

(Two men are sitting side by side behind a desk with lamp on to one side. There is also another two chairs round the table.)

Scott: “what’s the time?”
Tony: (looks at his watch) 10 past 8

(Two men walk into the room and sit down on the two empty chairs.)

Tony: (aggressive and angry tone) “You’re Late!!”

(The two men choose to ignore Tony, and place a black rucksack onto the table)

Scott: “is that the money”
Gangster 1: (Mullet replies in an aggressive tone) “you get the money when we see the stuff”

(A silver suit case is picked up from under the desk and placed onto the table; Scott opens the suitcase facing him and pulls out a small bag of cocaine and slides it across the table to one of the men. He them turns the suitcase around so the men can see what is in it, but not reach it. One of the gangsters opens the small the bag and dips his finger in and tries it)

Gangster 2: (Ben) “it’s good”

(Passes the small bag to Gangster 1)

Tony: (aggressively) “The money”

(Gangster 2 slide the black rucksack across the table to Tony, Tony opens and checks the bag. Gangster 1 dips his finger into the small bag and tries the stuff)

Gangster 1: “it’s good”

(Scott’s phone goes off, he answer and talks to the person on the phone, hangs up. He pushes the briefcase towards the gangsters and stands up)

Scott: (touches Tony on the shoulder) “We have to go, Good doing business with ya”

(Tony stands and grabs the rucksack; they both head towards the door)

Tony: “Another time”

(Tony and Scott leave locking the door behind them)

Gangster1: (Ben) “check the stuff in the briefcase”

(Gangster 2 pulls out one of the big white bags from the suitcase and tries the stuff in the bag)

Gangster 1: (Mullet angrily and loudly shouts) “FUCK!!”
Gangster 2: (Ben turns and looks at him) “WHAT!!”
Gangster 1: “It’s fucking flour!!”
Gangster 2: “nah, the fuckers!!”

(Both the Gangsters jump up off there seats and run to the door)

Gangster 1: (shouting) “they fucking locked it”

(Gangster 1 bashes the door in with his body, breaking the lock, they run down the corridor and outside)

Preliminary Task Evaluation

Our short video 'The Deal' was made using a variety of different shots ranging from extreme long shots to extreme close ups. We used an over the shoulder shot of the man walking in the room, and then extreme close ups of part of his face, this was to help add mystery to the video as you never get to see who the man actually is.
We also used sound effects for the door opening and closing as the original sounds were distorted. To edit the video we cut out the parts we didn't need so that when all the video extracts go together they look like one scene (match on action). Also, we added music to the video which helps build up tension and suspense. The music starts of calm and quiet, then builds up until the conversation starts. Then it suddenly comes back on, after the conversation (as it cuts suddenly to the credits) but louder and faster.
The 180 degree rule was used in our video to help avoid confusion with what's going on; the 180 degree rule helps keep the narrative readable. When there is dialogue in the film, we used shot/reverse shots; when a person talks they are have the camera facing them, this was to help get the audience involved in the video as it looks a lot like POV (point of view) shot which can get the audience to feel like they are in the film.
In the planning stage of making the video we were able to use technology to aid us; we used computers to help draw up neat, accurate shooting maps, print of templates for the storyboard and write the script on. When constructing the video, we were able to use digital cameras to film with. The digital cameras were useful as we could attach them straight to the computer to upload what we filmed. Then were able to edit our film straight away using video editing software that is on the school computers. Being able to use such technology helped us be more independent on making the video, due to us not having to rely on other people to do such tasks as putting the video onto computer. Also, we were able to digitally cut the video, rather than have to cut the actual physical film - this is a major advantage as if we made a mistake we could undo it, and it is a lot less time consuming.
Our film has both strengths and weaknesses; the main weakness with our video is that we may have cut it down too much so the shot transitions are to quick and 'snappy'. Also, on the over the shoulder shot, the camera is a bit shakey at times. However, we had access to camera tripods, which we then used for all the non-moving shots (this helped keep the camera still).
We had our media class fill in some 'peer assessment forms' from which we were able to determine whether we met the brief correctly. Also, we used them to evaluate the quality of the editing and filming of our video. We used this criticism to help evaluate our video on its strengths and weaknesses, and to back up whether we met the brief or not.
All 18 of the forms we had people fill in showed that they thought: the 180degree rule use was either good or excellent, the match on action was either good or excellent, the editing being smooth was either good or excellent, and the ability to hold the camera still was as good or excellent, except 3 who put limited.
Overall, our film was successful in meeting the 'brief' of the task; we were able to successfully film a character opening a door, walking though it, then having a conversation with someone else. We were able to do this with the 'match on action' being correct/accurate, using the required shot/reverse shots and by sticking to the 180 degree rule.

Leon Poster Analysis

Below is a poster for the film Leon which I have analysed to study the thriller signifiers used.

The poster is mainly in black and red. This helps attract attention to the poster, and may also be to help people remember the poster. The colour red is common in many thrillers; red can symbolise danger, death and blood, which can all be involved in a thriller film. The poster being red tells the audience that the film may include violence and death.
The anchor at the top of the picture helps leave the audience intrigued as it adds mystery to the poster and makes people wonder what it means. Mystery is an important thriller signifier which is in most thriller genre films.
The glasses the man is wearing have a reflection of a large, urban city in them. The city looks large, but also dark. This could be seen as dark meaning evil; the city being darkly coloured may show there is evil going on there. Also, the man has an emotionless expression on his face, and you can't see his eyes which adds to this effect; his emotionless face and the potentially evil city in his glasses may be linked - the city may be the reason for his emotionless look. This helps add a 'cold hearted' feel to the poster, which is common in many thrillers, especially film-noirs.
The poster having a man rather than a woman suggests there is a male protagonist, which is also a main thriller signifier.
Overall, I think the poster attracts the audience well, and it is obvious to most people what the film is about due to the writing (anchor) at the top of the image and the colour red; red showing there will be violence. However, this may attract more males than females due to the violence and male protagonist.

Sin City Poster Analysis 2

Here is another poster for the film Sin City. Below I have analysed the poster to show the thriller signifiers.

One thriller signifier that is noticeable in the poster is the use of chiaroscuro lighting (contrast between light and dark). This is a very important thriller signifier. This can symbolise good and evil; as the female character in the poster is light in a dark place, it could suggest that she is good, but in an evil place.
Like the other poster, the title is in red to stand out from the wrest of the poster. This may be to attract attention, indicate danger, violence, blood or death, or in this case the colour red could symbolise seduction; red can be seen as a seductive colour, like a 'femme fatal' or 'lady in red' which are significant thriller signifiers.
The female in the poster is also a thriller signifier; it could be argued that she is seen as a sex-symbol - women being seen as symbols of sex is a common thriller signifier. The female has a lot of flesh showing and some people may think she is attractive/sexy; this could make men like the film more than women due to this fact. There are also anchors on the poster, which indicate she is a sex symbol and objectify her, "skinny little Nance.... she filled out."
The woman's facial expression on the poster is rather emotionless and suggests that the film may be 'cold hearted'. This could also be argued to be a thriller signifier.
Overall, I think this poster is successful in showing the audience what the film may include, but not as much as the other Sin City poster I wrote about. However, this poster may be more appealing to some men rather than the other poster, but less appealing to women.

Abduction (Thriller Introduction)

Here is our thriller introduction. On some computers it may not load, if so please follow this link to view it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bC833SDwrY

Sin City Poster Analysis 1

Below is a poster for the film Sin City. I have analysed the poster and pointed out all of the thriller signifiers present in it.


The poster very strongly uses a strong contrast between light and dark. This could give several different connotations to the poster. Such as the feel that the film is about good (light) and evil (dark); good vs evil is a common thriller signifier and can be shown in the poster in the use of chiaroscuro lighting. The use of all the black/dark in the poster gives the poster a rather mysterious and sinister feel and could help get the audience intrigued.
Due to the poster being dark, the title stands out as it is red. This could have been done for several reasons; red can symbolise danger, death and blood - these are common aspects of thrillers. Also, it may just have be done to make the title stick out and stick in the audiences mind; it draws attention to the title & poster.
Another thriller signifier in the poster is the use of diagonal rain. This signifier is a very important film-noir signifier. The light reflects off the rain and helps show more of a contrast between light and dark (good and evil).
From the poster you can tell that the film has a male protagonist; a male (Bruce Willis) is standing at the front of a group of people, indication he is the 'leader' and the main character. Also, the shot is a tilted-up shot which makes him appear tall/large, dominant and powerful. Unlike the other characters shown in the poster, he has his eyes shut or looking down to the floor so that his eyes are hidden which makes him look unemotional and cold.
Weapons are also present in the poster which indicate violence and action, which is common in many thrillers (eg. Layer Cake, Leon, Millers Crossing). It is only the men that have guns in the poster, which sugests they are the protagonists and are the more controlling and dominant characters in the film (which is true for most thrillers). This also helps attract their target audience; the presence of guns in the poster may indicate action to the audience, which some people might like, therefore will see the film.
Overall, I think the poster is successful in portraying the film and what it contains; it shows that the film is a thriller and that it contains action, violence and maybe crime.

'Mission Statement' - I wrote for our film.

We believe in showing the public the part of this country which they may not see, such as the crime and corruption on the streets. We believe in the power of film to help open peoples eyes and get them to see how some people live and struggle to get by in this country. We aim to show the people of this country, a film made in this country and all about this country; our film is something people in the UK may be able to relate to. Our film aims to move people emotionally, but also alter the way people live their everyday lives; after watching our film we hope people will see some aspects of life in this country for how it really is, rather than what they think it is. As our film Abduction is about drugs, crime and corruption in the UK, this is what we want people to become aware of and hopefully leave them in a state of shock and awe. The sub-genre of our film being gangster/crime/drugs means that we are showing how the criminal underworld in this country can deal with large amounts of illegal substances; cocaine dealing is in our film and the characters have illegal firearm - in the UK there are thousands of unlicenced weapons and illegal recreational drugs being sold, we aim to show the people of this country this part of life in the UK.

Music Change

We had our media class fill in evaluation sheets for our film, which the teacher gave to us, and after lookibng at the results we decided to change the music once again.
My partner Ben managed to track down a musician with a recording studio that was willing to help us create a soundtrack for our thriller, free of charge.

The new soundtrack is still a modern-hiphop-gangster styled song, but it is longer than the last one and is at different times in our video.

Continuity Task/Preliminary Task Video

Here is our video:



This may not load on slow computers, certainly not the CNS computers, so if so, click on this linkto view the video on YouTube:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=97AVszBn844

Box Office Success Of Thrillers

I have been researching Box Office success of thrillers. I found a table with tinformation on tickett sales and marketshare of thrillers (in US Dollars) on the website: http://www.the-numbers.com/market/Genres/Suspense.php

Here Is the begginning of the table:

As you can see, thrillers take up on average around 10% of the film market.

These lists show every single thriller made, in order of Box Office Success. One of the films I studied as research for my own thriller 'Vertigo' is the 4th most successful thriller in the box office. Some of the thriller signifiers, such as the use of plot twists and crime and corruption are in both Vertigo and our thriller Abduction (although many thriller have these signifiers, hopefully this means our thriller could be popular too).

However, none of our inspirations are in the top listings which means they are not as successful; we are not aiming to make a thriller purely to make it successful. We are aiming ours towards a niche audience and to get a message accross to people and sort of challenge the existing thriller conventions by making a film that is different from the mainstream thrillers. This could negatively effect the popularity and box office success of our thriller.

Chinatown Narrative

I studied the narrative of the thriller Chinatown to help me get a feel of the narrative structure of this particular type of thriller (crime).

Chinatown is a thriller genre film; I have studied te film Chinatown and it's narrative to get an idea of the narrative structure of thrillers.

A narrative is similar to the plot of a story. The plot of the story is the actual story, whereas the narrative is the story and how it is told; the narrative is the plot but in more detail. The narrative of most thriller films is quite similar. Some if not all thriller films have plot twists in them. Plot twists are when there is a sudden change in the plot of the story; when the story changes and goes in a different direction is called a plot twist. A spiral can be used to explain plot twists; spirals twist and turn back on themselves. Spirals are common signifiers of thriller films.

Plot twists are most definitely present in the film Chinatown. Events happen which twist the plot of the story around. For instance, at the beginning of the film Mr Gittes is hired to spy on Mrs Mulwrey’s husband by a woman who he believed to be Mrs Mulwrey, then later on he finds out that someone was trying to give Mr Mulwrey a bad reputation as it was in fact an actress hired to play Mrs Mulwrey, to exploit Mr Mulwrey’s affair. This is a good example of how the story being told through Mr Gittes’ perspective helps add drama to the film. The audience found out about the hired actress at the same time Mr Gittes did; instead of knowing before Mr Gittes, the audience is just as shocked as him as they find out simultaneously.

The narrative of Chinatown is in Mr Gittes’ perspective. He is a private detective who is unravelling certain clues and mysteries in the film, so the story being told from his perspective helps the audience see how the story unravels for him. This helps add excitement, drama and tension to the film as it makes the audience feel as if they are Mr Gittes; when he finds out any interesting or shocking discoveries, the audience does so at the same time through his perspective. Mr Gittes is a ‘flawed hero’ in the story; in many thriller films there is a hero that has a certain flaw that affects his ability to achieve justice, this is another common thriller signifier. In Mr Gittes’ case, he drinks and smokes too much. An example of this in the film Chinatown is when Mr Gittes is nearly caught spying on a suspect as he is smoking whilst trying to watch him. The narrative being through his perspective helps show how close he was to being seen, which helps add tension to the film and keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Another thriller signifier which is used in the film is cliff hangers. These are present in other film genres, but they are commonly used in thrillers to build up tension and keep the audience thinking. At the end of the film there is a major cliff hanger. Noah Cross and his daughter Mrs Mulwrey have a daughter together, yet this girl has no idea Noah Cross is also her father as well as grand father, then when Mrs Mulwrey dies at the end of the film Noah Cross takes the girl away. This is a cliff hanger as it leaves the audience wondering what happens to the girl; the girl could find out her grandfather is actually also her father, and if she did find out, it could have a dramatically devastating affect on her.

The narrative of Chinatown is mysterious and has a lot of secrets that are found out throughout the film. There is also builds up of tension throughout the film which help give the thriller ‘feel’ to the story.

Without the narrative of the film being what it is, the film could not be a thriller; without plot twists, Mr Gittes’ perspective being shown, the use of cliff hangers and other thriller signifiers, the film would have struggled to have been the thriller it turned out to be. The narrative in Chinatown uses different methods to make the atmosphere of the film a thriller and is therefore very important as it makes the film what it is.

Our Meeting Time Table

We made this at the beginning of the project and stuck to it as much as we could (The shooting/filming is not included in this; we had a separate time table for when we filmed).

Music for thriller

The current song we are using for our thriller doesn't sound right for our film soI have been searching for a new one. I think that because our thriller's sub-genres are british-gangster/urban-crime-underworld kind of thing, a modern, urban kind of song would suit it well. For example, Kidulthood and Adulthood both use british rap songs.

I have found a song off a website called http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/. I am able to use this in our thriller film as it says:

"
Download Free Royalty Free Music Loops

You can download and use these free music loops in any any commercial multimedia project but you cannot:

• re-sell individually or as a collection or as a ringtone
• post on a website for download as we are doing here
• mix into your own music and then redistribute it as your own.

You may use these music loops in a Flash animation or in any other commercial multimedia presentation including TV and Film.In return for the use of these free royalty free music loops we only ask that you please give Partners In Rhyme a link on your website or blog with the easy to use html code below. Just copy and paste and your done.Good luck with your multimedia projects!"

Royalty Free Music and Sound Effects Download the music and sound effects you need for your multimedia project today at Partners In Rhyme.

NEW Plot/Synopsis for Thriller

We are keeping in the idea of having a drug deal that goes wrong, but taking out the background story of the men being fired from work, etc.

We have made the changes due to the narrative being unreadable how it was before, so we have simplified it, and also, the mise en scene changed too much in our origional film, so now our film has all the same sort of mise en scene (a dark, gritty, urban theme).

We will still use 4 of the characters, but their background stories are not the same for Scott and Tony.

Characters:
Scott - Friends with Tony. Is one of the two men selling cocaine.
Tony - Friends with Scott. Is one of the two men selling cocaine.
Gangster/Junkie 1 - Friends with Gangster/Junkie 2. Is one of the men buying cocaine.
Gangster/Junkie 2 - Friends with Gangster/Junkie 1. Is one of the men buying cocaine.

Here is our new synopsis:

A car pulls up at the entrance of an abandoned warehouse, two men (Gangster/Junkies 1 & 2) in the car get out; one man gets out with a bag.

Gangster/Junkies 1 & 2 enter the building where Scott and Tony greet them. They all sit down at a table in a small, dark room. Scott gives the Gangster/Junkie 1 a small bag of cocaine to test. Then once it’s agreed the coke is good stuff, they get the big briefcase full of fake cocaine out. Gangster/Junkie 2 pays for the whole briefcase full of cocaine.

Scott calls a higher authority to confirm the money has been recieved. The audience know this but not the Gangster/Junkies 1 & 2, which helps add mystery to the plot as the story unravels. Scott leaves the room, then when Gangster/Junkies 1 & 2 are sniffing more coke he comes and gets Tony to come out to talk on the phone. Gangster/Junkies 1 & 2 think nothing of it as they have the suitcase of cocaine in the room.

Gangster/Junkies 1 & 2 are sitting at the table and decide to sniff the cocaine in the briefcase. Gangster/Junkie 1 sticks his hand in the case and pulls out a bag. He opens it, grabs a pinch of coke and tastes it. He then realises it is fake and they run to the door, but the door has been locked by Scott and Tony. As the cocaine turns out to be fake, this acts as a small plot twist in the plot as the audience and Gangster/Junkies 1 & 2 thought it was real.

As Scott and Tony are walking away from the building, Gangster/Junkies 1 & 2 manage to break out the room earlier than expected. They catch up with Scott and Tony outside and one of them pulls out a gun and fires the gun, but then cuts straight to the opening credits and it is unknown at this point who has been shot. This acts as a cliff hanger and helps add suspense and mystery.

After the credits it goes to a shot of Scott tied up in a small dark room. He struggles to get loose but cannot. The audience are left wondering what happened.

Change To Our Thriller

We recently found out our films must be no more than 2 minutes. Due to this fact we have decided our plot and all of our shots would be too long and complicated. Therefore we have decided to alter our plot and not use some of our footage.

Storyboard for thriller (scanned)