Evaluation

http://prezi.com/r54os0h5wlej/as-media-film-evaluation/

History of Thriller

The thriller genre origniated from 'Homer's Odyssey' which is thought to be one of the earliest prototypes of the thriller genre. The modern thriller has now branched into other popular sub-genres such as:

Conspiracy, In which the Character recognises enemy e.g 'Flightplan' by Robert Schwentke (2005)
A Crime thriller, which accounts a successful or failed crime, often criminal focus as main character e.g 'Oceans eleven' (2001) Steven Soderbergh, or  'Godfather' by Francis Ford Coppola (1972)  which is considered one of the best thrillers of all time.
A Disaster thriller which can be Natural or Artificial which affects the main character such as 'The Day after tomorrow' (2004) by Roland Emmerich. These can often be popular as exaggerations of real events that have happend recently, for Example '2012' that was also directed by Roland Emmerich (2009).
Legal thriller - lawyer/hero faces enemy in and/or outside a courtroom 'Presumed Innocent' (1990) Alan J. Pakula,
 Medical thrillers involve hero/heroine working to solve a medical problem, such as 'Coma' (1978) Michael Critchton. 
Mystery thrillers involve a main character involved in Problem solving or in a mysterious setting, 'Memento' (2000)  by Chirstopher Nolan. This particular example also used variation in Narritive structure which supported the ideal of mystery by placing the audience at the end of the film and working towards the start.
 Political - Hero/heroine must help maintain government order, 'The Ghost writer' (2010) by Roman Palanski, real life politcal events can also influence thrillers, for example 'JFK' by Oliver Stone (1991) recorded the events that lead up to the assasination of the President of America.
Psychological thrillers that display conflict  that is emotional and psychological, until an often phsyical climax, 'Phone Booth' (2002) by Joel Schumacher
There are other sub-genres that have been formed such as Erotic, Religious, Rape/Revenge,Techno and medical thrillers.
One of the first appearence of a thriller sub-genre was a romantic-comedy film called 'Safety Last' by Harold Lloyd (1923) and other sub-genres followed as a result of it's success.

Mind map - Planning

AS Media Questions

The purpose of an opening shot is to set the scene in which characters are based. This is often done through the use of various shots such as an 'establishing shot' which gives the audience an overall view of the scene for the audience, a famous use of this can be found in Christopher Nolans' 'The Dark Knight' (2008).

A director can use various methods to create suspense within a film. For example sound can create suspense through harsh sounding tones to create an eery feel. Editing can be used to add suspense and suggestion to the audience through various techniques such as a 'fast cut'. The use of a series of short cuts can suggest that the character is in danger through the sudden increase of pace to the film.

A thriller film is defined on the emotions it makes the audience feel. For example a thriller must build suspense and allow the audience to form a relationship with the character. This relationship is often positive, even if the character himself is unsavoury. An example of this is in a film is 'The Magician' (2005) directed and starring Scott Ryan as he plays a hitman that uses dark humour and display the changes  to make his character likeable to the audience.

Films other than those discussed above that would fit into a thriller genre are 'Mr Brooks' (2007) by Bruce A. Evans , Shutter Island (2010) by Martin Scorsese, 'Pulp Fiction' (1991) by Quentin Tarantino and 'The man who knew too much' (1956) by Alfred Hitchcock.

The types of thriller sub-genres that exist are the following:

• Conspiracy thriller - Character recognises enemy e.g 'Flightplan' Robert Schwentke (2005)
• Crime thriller - Account of a successful or failed crime, often criminal focus as main character e.g 'Oceans eleven' (2001) Steven Soderbergh
• Disaster thriller - Natural or Artificial that affects the main character
  'The Day after tomorrow' (2004) Roland Emmerich
• Erotic Thriller - Thriller with erotica, 'Basic Instinct' (1992) Paul Vehoeven
• Legal thriller - lawyer/hero faces enemy in and/or outside a courtroom 'Presumed Innocent' (1990) Alan J. Pakula
• Medical - hero/heroine working to solve a medical problem, 'Coma' (1978) Michael Critchton.
• Mystery - Main character involved in Problem solving or in a mysterious setting, 'Memento' (2000)  by Chirstopher Nolan
• Political - Hero/heroine must help maintain government order, 'The Ghost writer' (2010) by Roman Palanski
• Psychological - conflict is emotional/psychological until an often phsyical climax, 'Phone Booth' (2002) by Joel Schumacher
• Rape/Revenge - Character suffers abuse, and seeks revenge - 'The last house on the left', (1972) by Wes Craven
• Religous - Connections to Religious icons,institutions and questions, 'Angels and Demons' (2009) by Ron Howard
• Supernatural - Otherworldly elements that may include a villian or hero with supernatural abilities - 'Flatliners' (1990) by Joel Schumacher
• Techno-thriller - ' Sophisticated technology play a dominant part in the plot of the film -The Matrix (1999) by Andy and Larry Wachowski

 Characteristics of thriller editing is there is often sudden changes in pace of the action or suggestion of a event about to happen through the use of fast cutting or a long shot often containing the main characters.
The Narritive structure in a thriller can also be different to other genres for example it is possible to change the beginning scene to display the ending and then play back from there.


The narritive difference between horror and thriller is that thriller relies more on suggestion of violence and threat than actually showing it on screen. For example there is much suggestion of violence in Martin Scorsese's thriller 'The Departed' (2006).
There is also editing differences as there will rarely show threat on screen unless part of the climax of the film, whereas horror films will often be graphic in showing violence/gore.
Camera angles can also vary as thriller films will often use low angle shots and long shots to help build up suspense as they provide vivid display of the on screen image. Horror films will often use extreme close ups/close ups to shock the audience.

Of the 'top 20 thriller films' I have watched a majority, possibly due to there fame as being cult classics. This suggests that thriller films that have star attraction, such as 'The Godfather' and 'Pulp Fiction' can create classics for all generations as they are known actors.

Questionaire results

Of the 50 people we asked to complete our questionaire, 35 were male and 15 female.
The majority (32) of people asked were between the ages of 16-20, and 25 had recently seen a thriller genre film.
We then asked the 50 people if they enjoyed films with variation in narritive structure, and of which 34 enjoyed a film that was not a traditonal layout in narritive. It was found that a thriller was the most popular genre of film for the poeple asked as 30 people agreed that thriller would be the type of genre that they would be most likely to watch, with comedy being the least popular. (4)
The next question we asked was specific to the people who felt thriller would be the film they would most likely to watch, as we asked them to name a sub-genre, we had a wide response however mystery and supernatural were both quite frequent.
The title of the film was key in attracting people to watch the film, as it was the most popular answer in the questionaire (26). We asked people what would be the most attractive name for a thriller if they saw the title, and 36 of the 50 people asked agreed that 'Hidden Shadows' was the best.

To conclude, based on our own research the audience age range we will target is 16-20 year old thriller fans, particularly that enjoy mystery or supernatural sub-genres. Our film will have a variation in narritive structure to the norms of other film genres as suggested by the majority of the people asked. The title of this film will be 'Hidden Shadows'.

Questionaire

1. Gender (tick apropriate)

Male

Female

2.  Age:

     12-15       16-20       21-26      27-32      32+

3. Have you seen any films recently that you feel would be defined by genre of thriller?

(If yes please state)

_______________________________________________________________

 4. Do you enjoy films more if they have a different narrative structure* than other films?

(*start/end in different places in time)

Yes       No

5. Which type of film would you be most likely to watch?

Thriller

Comedy

Horror

6. If you chose thriller, is there a particular sub-genre/s that would appeal to you?

_____________________________________________________

7. Which film title sounds the most appealing to you for a thriller?

Hidden Shadows

In the Dark

Attack from the Unknown

8. What feature most attracts you to watch a film?

Title

Images

Star appeal/advertisement

Trailer

Script extract

From Andrew Amphlett & Kyle Gamble & Cameron McIntyre’s : ‘Hidden Shadows’ Script – VI Adaption.

    EXT. WAITING IN THE STREET – NIGHT

    The MYSTERIOUS CHARACTER waits on the side of the street awaiting a person.

The street features a brick wall, which the character leans against, and a lot of open space, emphasising the dim glow of the orange lighting.


In the background there are office buildings, which are brightly lit up. In front of them are various different objects blocking the view from the light.

The only sound in this scene is coming from the backing track playing and the natural background noise of the wind, until the MYSTERIOUS CHARACTER moves around anxiously.

The MYSTERIOUS CHARACTER moves around shiftily as if he is expecting something to happen.

He then begins to walk off away from the camera, making the viewing audience wonder what is happening.

From directors note: There is no dialogue throughout the whole extract as this creates more suspense as the clip plays and so there will be no dialogue annotation.

Story boards

Thriller Film reviews

Reviews of introduction to thriller films

‘Inception’ (2010) by Christopher Nolan

This film uses a variety of techniques to include suspense and mystery and variation in narrative structure to the introduction, this absorbs the audience into the plot, and encourages the audience to watch.

The use of sound within the introduction is key to adding threat and suspense, it is used immediately for starting credits, and the sounds give a dark and ominous feel to the introduction.
The opening scene is of the main character ‘Cobb’ washed up on a beach, this narrative structure creates a sense of mystery for the audience as no reason has been given of how he has arrived there.
There is a mid-shot of a couple of children playing on the beach, which could be reflecting similarities to the audience as they are innocent and unaware of ‘Cobb’.
A formal looking military soldier then appears, and speaks to ‘Cobb’ in a foreign language. This is not subtitled, adding suspense and mystery to the introduction.
Cobb is then seen eating a meal with a businessman; they are placed at opposite ends of a long table. The only props of value to later in the film are a spinning top and a gun. The position of the characters on a long table, one of which displaying a gun may have been done to suggest the mistrust between the two characters.

Another key shot is an extreme close up of a watch and its hands, appearing to count down towards an event which adds suspense. The following scene is of an explosion in building within a busy street, this is to shock the audience, but adds mystery as the audience is left asking why it happened.

‘Silence of the Lambs’ (1991) by Jonathan Demme

The opening scene is set within a forest; the weather is cloudy, creating low on screen visibility and a eerie atmosphere. The appearance of the main character ‘Clarence Starling’ immediately makes the audience ask questions, as she is running through the forest, she is seen running in a tracking shot from a POV of behind her, which possibly suggesting she being chased which adds suspense.

The scene ends as she is told to report to her boss, and it is made clear to the audience that she is training for the FBI.

There is a key scene, in which she enters an elevator wearing a grey top, and all her colleagues are wearing red and are male, possibly suggesting that her profession is male dominant and that she is; a strong, able female. This could be done possibly to send a subtle feminist message that females can do any job men can do.
There is a use of a red light to suggest danger, during an exchange of dialogue about the serial killer ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ Lector.

There is a eerie soundtrack in occupancy to this, which leads into the following shot of Clarence walking down a narrow hallway to Lectors’ cell.
The position of his cell as the last at the end of the hallway, adds to the hallway scenes’ attempt to build suspense to the introduction of Hannibal.

‘The Kingdom’, Peter Berg (2007)

The introduction to ‘The Kingdom’ uses lots of sound in the introduction to build suspense and provide information on the historical facts that the film is based on.
There is fast pace music that is used in the introduction builds suspense to the film. The images and sound that is used gives a journalistic approach to the introduction as it provides a short timeline on the progressing relationship with America and the Arab Emirates on which the film is based on.
There is a strong emphasis within the choice of journalist quotes that focus on the economy and religion within the Arab emirates. The font used in the introduction is black and bold on a white/grey background.  This helps symbolise the divide of opinions of the country about the relations with America. There are key quotes that help summarise the need for a good relation between America to the Arab Emirates such as:

‘Those who control the flow of oil, hold the Western world hostage’.

These help build suspense and presumption to the storyline of the film by the audience. The choice of lexis with the word ‘hostage’ presents a negative image to the audience as it personifies the ‘West’ as helpless,  which contrasts the normal media image of Western countries as powerful and strong.

Summary of Plot

Summary of Plot

Our opening will be for a thriller, specifically a mystery thriller subplot that is based around two characters, one of which appears to be following the other. Both Characters will remain unnamed throughout the introduction to support the theme of mystery and so will be referred to in this document as the ‘main character’ and ‘the chaser’.
The chaser remains facially anonymous throughout adding an element of suspense to the opening, whilst supporting the idea of mystery within the film.
The opening shot will be of the main character standing alone in poorly light area, receiving a text warning him that he is being followed, this will be shown using an extreme close up. The sender will appear anonymous or abbreviated to add an element of mystery to the shot.
There will be a key shot following this, the reaction of the main character will be followed by a glimpse of the follower in the distance, adding dramatic irony within the scene while still remaining largely anonymous, supporting the idea of a thriller, and its mystery subplot.
A medium shot will then be used, allowing the audience to see the character clearly within the scene, followed by a close up of the pursuers lower half walking across the camera’s viewpoint, adding further suspense to the scene as they are not known to the audience.
The penultimate shot will contain a distant viewpoint of the character walking and crossing a bridge, followed by the pursuer. This further supports the idea of suspense and obscurity associated with a mystery thriller.
The final shot will contain a sequence of fast cuts followed by an extreme close up of the chaser who is masked. The use of fast cutting will be used to create the impression the pursuer is moving unnaturally, emphasising the suggestion of mystery.
There will be no use of dialogue within the thriller introduction, in an attempt to draw the audience in to the film, whilst keeping the plot of the film largely unknown. This further supports the idea of mystery that would flow throughout the film.

Film classification

Certificate

The certificate of my group’s film is a 15 rating; I will be listing the elements of a 15 certificate within my group’s film, it goes as follows:

·        This film will have elements of horror like Strong threat, with one of character’s on the run for reasons unknown and we see second character following him and the audience knows he’s a dangerous person.

·        The film will not have drugs within it or suicide behaviour.

·        There no violence also within the film but there might be later on after the intro (if the film was to continued)

·        This film will have two great elements suspense & mystery, are aim is to have the audience wanting to watch more.

I do feel that the film is a 15 certificate and hopefully with as group can proof it by using some of the elements with common thrillers.

Cast/Props list

Cast List

There will only be 2 characters within the film and a cameo character, the cast list follows as:

Andrew Amphlett --- Mystery Character (no name) this person is the second character within the film as we (the audience) will not know who he is?  The person will wear black clothing.

Cameron McIntyre --- Mystery Character #2 this person is the main character within the film as we following him though the events leading up to the intro and he wears a backpack and causal clothiers.

The cameo character --- Mr. Smith this character is used once before the intro and will text mystery character#2, this character will appear through a mobile phone.

Costume and props list

The costume and props is very basic within the film, the list follows as:

·        Mystery Character – will need a black coat with hood.

·        Mystery Character #2 – will need a mobile phone, causal clothiers and a backpack.

All of the costume and props will have ready to use (or wear) for the filming days.

Film Poster Analysis

 Similar colour scheme used throughout, grimy appearance, dark colours, use of black for fade effect. The colour scheme is reminiscent of the papyrus like paper the serial killer uses to record his thoughts.

Uses ‘star appeal’ to help advertise the film as both main characters are played by established movie actors.

No advertising of date release or certificate suggesting this is a ‘Feature’ poster.

Tagline narrative ‘…sins…’ links with religious theme. The Repetition of ‘Seven’ links with the plot of serial killer through repetitive murder.

Basic colour scheme allowing character images to become main focal point of poster. The theme of the poster appears to be based on a ‘Wanted’ poster containing ‘Mug shots’.
It also carriers a hidden message as the audience is unaware that they are both the same person and so can be related to the ‘split personality’ of the main character.

The tagline uses three one word sentences for a bold, masculine appearance.
It appears to be a simplistic summary of the plot to the public which is deceptive as the plot is actually complex, similar to the main characters mixed personality.

The font is overlapping the image possibly suggesting further the ‘overlapping’ of personalities.

Uses ‘star appeal’ to help advertise the film as both main characters are played by established movie actors.

                             No advertising of date release or certificate suggesting this is a ‘Feature’ poster.

This is a teaser poster that uses an Angel to suggest that the thriller has a religious theme.

There is different use font (bold) for ‘Demons’ aids the suggestion that there is a confrontation with good and evil.

There is a use of star appeal to advertise the film as Tom Hanks is a well known Oscar winning actor.
The poster also advertises that it is based on an award winning book which will attract other media audiences.

There is an unspecified release date published that will notify the public of the film.

The colour scheme uses variations on the greyscale to follow religious thriller theme.  The choice of weather for the poster of clouds breaking appears similar to a ‘divine act’ image seen in other religious media forms for example          artwork such as ‘The creation of Adam’ in the Sistine Chapel, Italy.

 

Film Classification

Film Classification
(Specific for Thriller themes)

‘U’ – This certificate is given to films that are aimed at younger children and families, therefore the content of which is suitable for all. Scenes should be suitable for minors and so scenes of threat or menace should be mild and short. Language should be mild and contain no negative imitable behaviour.

PG – This certificate is given to films that are designed for slightly older children, as some of the content may upset young children that are sensitive to less mild on screen violence and fantasy horror. Drug references must be brief and mild, or follow an anti-drug theme.

12a/ 12 – This certificate is given to films that are aimed at young teens that are less sensitive to moderate violence and horror however the sequences must be infrequent. Violence in particular must not be graphic but occasional gory sequences are permitted. Language can contain moderate, infrequent swearing.

15 – This certificate is given to films aimed at mature teenagers and young adults, language may contain strong frequent swearing, however repetitive use of the strongest language is unacceptable unless justified. Violence and horror can be frequent, strong and gory.

18 – This certificate is given to films that contain content that is aimed at adults only. The language can be of the strongest swearing and frequent. Violence and horror scenes are often very graphic, prolonged and frequent.

Equipment List

Equipment List:

·         Camera

·         Tripod

·         Props (clothing, masks, etc)

·         Scripts if we include dialogue

·         Tape for the camera

·         Character/s to act in the clip

·         Mobile Phone

·         Backpack

Location Report

Location Report

The setting for our mystery thriller will require an urban theme with lighting ‘hotspots’ instead of surrounding the scene, and a long straight road/path for our introduction ending shot.
We have decided that Telford town center car park is the best possible place to do our filming as it is also close to the Hollinswood footbridge:

(insert pic)

This will be used in our distant POV shot. We will need permission to film on town center grounds, and despite our filming schedule being after closing times for the shops within town center, there will still be cars around as ASDA closing times are later. This may delay filming due to retakes.

The footbridge also links to a long straight footpath surrounded by high raise buildings and greenery which would be ideal for our ending shot.

(insert pic)

This will be used in a series of fast cuts for our ending sequence. We may need permission to film and notify neighbors nearby that we are filming for a Media project. Possible delays in filming may occur due to frequent use of path by locals, which may cause more retakes.

Film introduction Synopsis

Film introduction Synopsis

Our mystery thriller introduction will contain two main characters; ‘Cam’ and an anonymous character that will be referred to as ‘the chaser’. There will also contain a reference to a third character that aids the main character.

The opening narrative structure will place the audience in the middle of a scene, of which one character is anonymous, and another is abbreviated, to compel the audience to focus and ‘hook’ them onto the storyline, (a similar technique has been used in recent horror/thriller films such as ‘Saw’….)

The type of ‘thriller plot’, (Charles Derry 1988) we have decided to use is a combination of ‘moral confrontation’ and ‘Innocent on the run’. The main character ‘Cam’ is under threat from a dark chasing character that appears to be non-human. Cam is waiting in a poorly light area where he receives a message that he is being watched. He attempts to leave the area, where the follower appears in the distance only to the audience. This piece of dramatic irony will help engage the audience as Cam walks unaware of the follower.

The follower is revealed to the audience as a supernatural being as it appears to teleport towards the camera.
This is followed by the main title and credits.

Production Schedule

Production Schedule

We will be filming our opening to our Thriller after the first week of returning from Half term between the dates of March 8th and March 21st. We need to film in evening between the hours of 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM this is because we will need to film with natural darkness to save time, this will also mean less editing will be needed later adjusting lighting on 'After Effects' etc.
We will book the cameras with Celena on the day that we return from half term. We will not be filming on March 10th or March17th as these nights are both on a Thursday and the Town Centre is open until 8 PM on Thursdays, meaning that there may be a lot of shoppers and more people that will possibly interfere with shots causing unnecessary delays.

Timeplan

8th: 18:00 – 20:00 (filming the first 1-10 shots) Character establishing shots and possible beginning of 'chase scenes'.

11th: 18:00 – 20:00 (filming shots 11-20) ( Filming beginning of 'chase scene', and suspense building shots. 

16th: 18:00 – 20:00 (filming shots 21-30) Filming end of chase scenes and possible ending shots

21st: 18:00 – 19:00 (filming outstanding shots) Filming any additional shots we may need and retakes.

22nd-27th: 11:35 – 1:00 (Editing film)

28th-30th: 11:35 – 1:00 (Editing sound) Using garage band for soundtrack and using after effects for introduction.

31st-7th: 11:35 - 1:00 Evaluating production, re-do any outstanding work, re-draft neccessary work.

Target Audience

Target Audience

Our Thriller opening will be aimed at the 15 and over audience due to the sustained threat and suspense that is often associated with sub-genre of Mystery Thriller / Horror Thriller.

The ideal target audience for our film as we have all agreed, we think will be Males rather than females (in a 70 / 30 ratio) between the ages of 15 – 24 as the younger generation are the people that tend to watch Thriller movies more than older generations. We can demonstrate this chosen target audience should be correct because since our film is in the Thriller / Mystery / Horror genre, younger people generally watch horror films more than elder people. Mystery films are generally watched by young males rather than females as the way the majority of these movies contain violence, suspense and often blood/gore that a female audience may not enjoy.
In conclusion we feel that with these guidelines of what constitutes a thriller, a 15 certificate would be the most appropriate.

Preliminary Task

Our footage was suitable for it's task as it demonstates basic levels of editing skill, through the use of a 'shot reverse shot' that requires cutting footage. There is use of diegetic sound through on screen dialogue and simple camera angles such as a close up of the door handle as it begins to open
.