Main Task - Thriller Opening Sequence

This is our main task, we had problems uploading it onto our blogs however we have finally succumb them and here it is! Enjoy!

Bibliography

These are the links to the websites I used that helped me with my research:
http://www.answers.com/topic/thriller-genre
http://www.answers.com/psychological%20thriller
http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_thriller
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/c_15.php

My Evaluation

Evaluation

My group and I were given a brief by our teacher to create the titles and opening scenes of a new fiction film. The genre of this film had to be a thriller that would have to last up to two minutes. As the genre of ‘thriller’ is so diverse, we decided to focus on one particular area, this was the sub-genre; psychological thriller. With a psychological thriller there is an emphasis on the characters just as much, if not more so, than the plot. The main element in a psychological thriller is to create suspense through the use of two characters or more preying upon one another’s minds, to ‘demolish the other’s mental state’. Therefore to effectively show this we focused on a case of domestic violence, where a woman was being abused by a man. This enabled us to centre on the male character preying on the female characters mind forcing her to think that her only escape was to take her own life. Due to the extent of connotations of violence that can be made from the action and dialogue in our film we decided to certify it 15, according to the BBFC criteria.

We challenged the forms and conventions of the psychological thriller genre in the sense that the second character isn’t developed, therefore it is almost like the protagonist is tormenting her own mind, with only a scene at the beginning of the piece giving away implications about the plot. We developed the forms and conventions of a psychological thriller through use of suspense; with tension building music creating an atmosphere, along with the variety of camera shots and editing transitions all adding to the anticipation of the piece.

Due to the fact that we decided to base our psychological thriller on domestic violence we had to target an audience that could relate to this. Therefore the protagonist in the piece is female and has blonde hair to make her seem innocent and not stereotypically ditsy as we wanted to avoid stereotypes. This made the audience feel sorry for her and want to tell her what she is doing is not the only way out. We wanted young females to feel this and relate to the troubles she faces. We developed these characteristics further through the use of mis-en-scene, editing and sound. Costume helped highlight her mental state, as her hair was messy and clothes were baggy, which showed that she doesn’t care about her appearance anymore as she is intent on taking her own life, therefore nothing matters anymore. Makeup helped portray the narrative, in highlighting the bruises she had got from her abusive partner. The incidental music we used helped establish continuity as it built up suspense causing the audience to be tense. It did this by keeping a constant rhythm, with soft sounds and then when the rhythm developed big bass lines were added in, the audience then knew that something was about to happen. The relation with the music and the audience is the fact that the music is a song by a well renowned singer that was recently in the charts, in a drum and bass remix. This meant that young people would be aware of the song which would create a false sense of comfort for the audience, allowing us to shock them towards the end where we have edited the music to make it stop abruptly.

The media institutions that might distribute our product are ones that are prepared to show content that may be disturbing to some viewers. The fact that it is a film and we would not want the narrative to be broken up by commercials means that the best suited institution for the distribution of our product is a public service broadcaster such as the BBC or Channel 4. One company that may produce our product is Film four, it would be appropriate as they target our potential audience (young adults) and are renowned for British made films, and most of their productions use a low budget.

Our target audience is young people; consequently we had to take into account several factors that would help in addressing this audience. We thought the main way to attract a young adult audience was through the use of suspense and the creation of an almost mysterious atmosphere, we did this from the start with only the audio being able to be heard at the beginning, of an argument, which left the audience wondering who these characters were and being able to make connotations about the plot. Due to the inappropriate language, imitable techniques of threat and suicide we decided people under the age of 15 would not be able to watch our film, and that we would aim at a young audience of 16 and above as they would be able to cope with the theme of suicide and domestic violence without being disturbed by it. The protagonist of our piece also helped attract the audience as she was a young female of the same age of the audience we were trying to aim at. We used a range of products to address the audience. Firstly we decided that we would use mis-en-scene to shock the audience and did so through use of makeup highlighting cuts and bruises on the protagonist, this also helped represent the narrative. We didn’t want the costume to be too complex, therefore we used casual baggy clothes that are of present day fashion, and this helped with the relation to the audience as they understand that it is set in the present.

The editing transitions we used were to either break continuity or help it flow. We used a series of jump cuts, cuts, and fades. The fade transition created a eerie feel for the scene, this is evident in the scene when the protagonist is walking up to the bridge, as at one point there are two images of the character, one faded into another. The faint image almost looks like a ghost, allowing the audience to make certain assumptions that this ghost will shortly actually be, this character. The jump cuts we used broke continuity and made the audience startled this is apparent in the scene where the character is walking up the bridge, and then it cuts to a shot of the character on the bridge looking at the traffic below. Finally we used simple cuts to help the narrative flow, with one clip flowing into the next.

We did not experiment with lighting much compared with the other elements of editing and sound. In one scene the character is running a bath, the lighting is low key with a greyish tint to suggest that even though the bathroom is often a place related with purity in the sense of washing, the lighting says different; that the character cannot get rid of her mental state no matter how hard she washes. Overall all different elements were incorporated into the addressing and the attracting of the target audience.

From constructing this product I have learnt several things about the technologies I used during the process. Firstly I have never edited a piece of film before, therefore I was not sure of what programme to use that would be most appropriate. After experimenting with the programme Adobe premiere pro CS3 I experience several problems as my group and I could not spilt audio from our film, therefore we decided to use a simpler editing programme which was windows movie maker, we were able to spilt the audio from the film placing a image over the top. When extracting the film from the video camera onto the computer we found that we was not able to put it on any other portable devices such as USB sticks once it was saved onto the computer. Therefore we had to keep coming back to the editing suite to finish our product. This caused problems for us as the media editing suite is available to every media student within the school; therefore it was not always free to use. We overcame these problems when we decided to spend a whole day in the suite finishing off whatever we had not done. Whilst constructing the product we decided to get rid of most of the ambient sounds and have incidental music playing in the background. The track we used was called ‘Hometown Glory’ remixed by High Contrast; it was a copyright free sound, from a copyright free source. As I experimented with the software I used I gained more confidence and was able to chop and change pieces of the incidental music we used and blend it together to make sure it fitted in well with the narrative of the film.

We were given a preliminary task to complete at the beginning of the task. It had to include certain shots, these were: shot reverse shot, 180 degree rule, match on action. As we were amateur at the filming process we found it hard to keep the camera steady and include all the shots effectively. As a result of this when constructing our product we had to make sure we had the correct equipment (tripod) to help us keep the camera movement steady. When creating a storyboard for the piece we had to think thoroughly about what shot would be suitable and efficient, as we could not do a bird’s eye view shot of cars when on a bridge if we did not have the right equipment for it to be shot safely with.

Another issue that conjured up when filming our preliminary task was the setting. We could not a find an effective setting that helped with the development of the narrative, moreover when filming our main task we made sure the location was appropriate and helped the narrative of our piece. After visiting various locations where we could have set our product we came to the conclusion of incorporating two different ones. Due to the fact we had cars to transport us around we were able to find a desolate bridge that we thought would be effective for our suicidal scene. As well as one of our production teams house that a middle class audience could relate with due to the furniture and decor inside. We finally decided on these locations as we wanted there to be a contrast between the way the protagonist’s life should be and the way it eventually ends up. This contrast was also created through use of mise-en-scene especially at the end when a picture is shown of the protagonists together looking happy, with implications that the female character has jumped off the bridge. Overall our preliminary task encountered numerous problems and issues that we were able to learn from and overcome in our main task, therefore it was worthwhile producing a preliminary task.

To conclude I can see that me and my group have developed our filming skills a long way since the preliminary task. The main task we produced was edited together effectively with each editing transition there for a purpose. It had non-diegetic sound that had a point of building tension and anticipation. It also had camera shots that were steady and at alternate angles to interest the viewer. Overall I am proud of our film and feel that we took all of the mistakes made in the preliminary task into account to create a successful opening and titles of a thriller film.

Preliminary Task Video

Our preliminary task video:

The Brief For The Main Task:

To create, the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

Script

Characters in scene:

Lilly

Bruce




Act 1, Scene 2

Bruce opens the door and looks at Lilly in disgust as she walks up their driveway. It is 12am all that can be heard is ambient sounds of traffic from the road opposite the house.

Lilly: whats wrong?

Bruce: you know whats wrong

Lilly: look, [pause] there is really no need to get like this, I only went out with my mates

Bruce: shut up

Lilly: why? what have I done wrong?

Bruce: shut the fuck up!

Lilly: I'm sorry

Bruce: get inside now

Lilly: but//

//Bruce: get the fuck in now!

Lilly: I'm sorry [pause] I'm sorry

Bruce pulls Lilly inside the door by her hair, then grabs her by the throat against the wall. You can hear sounds of Lilly screaming as well as her feet tapping against the wall.

Planning and Research

Chosen sub genre of 'Thriller' film.
Psychological thriller: Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the wide-ranging thriller genre. However, this genre often incorporates elements from the mystery genre in addition to the typical traits of the thriller genre. Generally, thrillers focus on plot over character, and thus emphasize intense, physical action over the character's psyche. Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this formula to a certain degree, emphasizing the characters just as much, if not more so, than the plot. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state. Sometimes the suspense comes from within one solitary character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them. These conflicts are made more vivid with physical expressions of the conflict in the means of either physical manifestations, or physical torsions of the characters at play. Films we will be analysing to find out their target audience: Stigmata, Blue Velvet, Sixth Sense

Target Audience
After researching into who thriller films target we have decided what audience we want to aim out film at; this decision was made on a number of things. Firstly the sub genre of psychological thriller we have deiced to interpret into our film plays a big part into which audience we should aim our film at. Children may not understand the connotations laid out about the plot in the beginning and may not appreciate the clever and complex storyline. However the nature of our film is not explicit and does not contain strong violence this is why we have decided to certify it a 15.

Certificate 15 according to the BBFC '15'
Suitable only for 15 years and over No-one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema.
No-one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video or DVD.
Theme No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year old. Language There may be frequent use of strong language (eg 'fuck'). But the strongest terms (eg 'cunt') will be acceptable only where justified by the context. Continued aggressive use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. Sex Sexual activity may be portrayed but without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.

Violence Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief. Imitable techniques Dangerous techniques (eg combat, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on imitable detail. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Horror Strong threat and menace are permitted. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Drugs Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/c_15.php