Filming update- Day 2

Here we are filming the chase scene for the first flashback of our opening thriller sequence. We chose to shoot this scene in a dark alleyway because they are a commonly used location for stereotypical chase scenes, because of the connotations they have. Dark alleyways have connotations of crime, fear and threat.
We decided that protagonist would be wearing jeans and a coat, to make them seem like any other young adult, so our target audience can associate with them, and relate to them. In addition, we decided that the antagonist would wear a black coat, which signifies evil and death, and a red bandanna that signifies danger and violence, as red is the colour of blood.
We kept really close to our shooting script, although we did add a few shots which we thought would improve our film.

Filming update- Day 1

Here we are filming the longest scene in our film, where the protagonist wakes up in a field. We also filmed the flashback where the protagonist is given the parcel and the scene where the antagonist is tortured. In these scenes the protagonist is wearing black trousers and a white t-shirt to represent the divide between good and evil in the film. The colour white indicates that the protagonist is innocent and helpless, like a child.
We kept all of the scenes as close to the shooting script as we could, and only added an extreme close up of the gunshot wound, as it looked really realistic, and we added a midshot of a shadow of a man stabbing the protagonist, because shadows are a key part of thriller movies, and conform to the genre stereotypes.

Ident developed ideas- Moral Multi-Media

Ident preliminary ideas

My ident ideas

Will's ident ideas

For our Moral Multi-Media ident, we wanted to highlight the divide between good and evil, and this is reflected through the colours white and black. Whilst white has positive connotations, black has negative connotations. Nearly all thrillers centre around the relationship between the protagonist(s) and the antagonist(s), hence why our ident uses two colours with opposite connotations. The colour white represents the protagonist and the black represents the antagonist, and they are both come together in the ident to reflect how the antagonist and protagonist always face each other at some point in a thriller film, and usually fight. The choice of colours also reflects the name of our company, 'Moral multi-media'. The word 'moral' is all about right and wrong, hence why our logo used white and black.

Our Puzzle Productions ident is supposed to reflect how thrillers are like jigsaws. The audience do not see the full picture until near the end of the film, where the last pieces fall into place. Thrillers are often based around mystery, with the audience being given small clues throughout the movie as to what is happening and why it is happening. It is not until they receive all of the clues and see most of the movie that the whole plot makes sense, like how you can't see the full picture of a jigsaw until the last piece is put into place. In addition, thrillers are usually puzzling and confusing, with lots of intricate plot points that all add up to form the plot. The audience don't know what is happening and are confused by what they are being shown, and have to try to solve the mystery of what is going on, like a puzzle.

Detailed Planning

Photo storyboard

Storyboard

Shooting Script

Final ideas

Thriller age rating

Age Classification:

Our thriller film has been rated a 15, due to violence, gore and a torture scene. 15 rated films are allowed to contain moderate violence, language and threat, which my thriller film contains.

Other similar films to ours, such as Limitless are also rated as a 15.



Draft shooting script + feedback

Feedback summary:
Some shots were too short to show emotion and what's happening- Our shots were designed to be very short to reflect snapshots of memory and to mirror the chase

Some of our shots were not very detailed

Some shots were too long- They were designed to be very long to create contrast between the long relaxed shots in reality and the short frantic shots in the flashbacks.

Good range of techniques used

Effective amount of shot types

Overview of target audience feedback (Survey and Pitch)

From our survey and pitch feedback, we have discovered that the build up of tension and suspense throughout our opening sequence is extremely important, and is what makes a thriller film so exciting. The plot is also a key area which the audience look at in a thriller, as it is what keeps them entertained. From our pitch feedback, we were told that our film was very detailed, and that the opening was suspenseful and interesting. We were also told that we had used the thriller conventions well.
Although, according to our pitch feedback, our plot was too open and was quite confusing. We designed the plot to be confusing,to meet the expectations and the demands from our survey audience, who said they expect mystery in a thriller.However we are going to add flashbacks of how the protagonist got into the field in the middle of nowhere in a jumbled order, to reflect memories and his own confusion. These flashbacks will give the audience clues on how he got there without giving away too much. We are aiming to put the audience in the protagonist's shoes so that they can share his emotions of fear, confusion and suspicion.
We have learnt so much from this research, such as what our target audience look for in a thriller, the themes that they expect, and the importance of the plot and rising tension. Key themes that are expected in a thriller film include mystery, rising tension and suspense. We were advised that our film needs a good storyline, with only necessary violence. Violence for the sake of it ruins the film and can detract from the suspense. The audience wanted to feel empathy for the victim and they wanted their imaginations to run whilst watching the film, so that they become engrossed in the plot.

Survey Feedback Research

From our survey feedback, we have discovered that the most popular sub-genre for our thriller film is a psychological thriller, as 52% of those that answered our survey would prefer to watch a psychological thriller than a horror, action or espionage thriller (46 people out of 87.) Action thrillers were the second most popular thriller subgenre with 22% of those that answered our survey preferring to watch an action thriller. Therefore we decided to make a hybrid thriller: an psychological/action thriller.
Following on from the psychological thriller idea, the majority of our survey audience wanted to see a quiet and mysterious protagonist, which is a stereotype of psychological thrillers. To meet the demand from our target audience, we decided that the protagonist would not speak throughout the opening scene, to build up the tension and the suspense.
The most popular setting for our thriller film was a dark alleyway, with 54% of the audience wanting to see a thriller set here. After hearing the consensus from our survey audience, we decided to set our film opening in multiple locations, with the use of flashbacks. This creates confusion and conforms to the thriller genre stereotypes.
From this research, we also discovered that the preferred gender for the protagonist was male, as 48% (42 people) decided that they thought a male protagonist would fit the film better. Due to this input, we decided to use a male actor for the protagonist, and this enabled us to portray anti stereotypical dominant values, that males are weak and vulnerable. We did also take into account the 28% of the audience that wanted a protagonist where their gender is unknown, by using an antagonist who the audience never find out what their gender is.
According to our audience research, mystery is the most important theme in a thriller film, as 82% of our survey audience wanted to see lots of mystery. This enables us to meet their demands that rising tension is one of the most important parts of making a thriller film enjoyable, after the storyline.

Our audience for this survey was mainly female, at 64% to 36%, and mainly aged between 15 and 20, at 28%. However, this was shared by me on my Facebook profile, and the majority of my friends are my age, which is why the age group of 15-20 had the highest response rate.

Survey Monkey responses

Class feedback

Positives- Suspenseful and interesting opening sequence - Contains lots of conventions: tension, low key lighting, - Prompts questions - Detailed plot - Thoughtful plot - Good ident idea - Unusual and original idea - Interesting plot - Good attention to detail

 Negatives- Too confusing - Needs more detail - Too much info - The plot is too open - The plot twist is not much of a twist - Needs more thought on the setting

 Improvements- Too open so i need to include short flashbacks of how the character got into this position to answer a few questions - I need to make the audience ask the right questions by including short scenes from previous action scenes - My plot doesn't seem to match up with the plot of the opening narrative. I need to use certain shots to link them

Initial Ideas

Potential Initial ideas

Thriller Survey

Idents

Inception analysis

Jaws title analysis

I like this intro because of how it lulls the audience into a false sense of security, when the film cross- cuts from the sharks point of view to the shot of the beach. This anti climax really helps to add an ominous feel to the film and builds up the tension. I think this works really well.

Se7en analysis- Titles

The art of titles

Idents and titles

Movie Comparison- Flight plan, Limitless, Don't breathe

To conclude, Limitless is much more aggressive, faster paced and dangerous that Flight Plan and Don't Breath, as there are dead bodies strewn around the hotel and loud diegetic banging of the protagonist's door, as the antagonists try to break in. In my opinion, Limitless is more tense, due to how volatile the situation is. The film opening has much more action and is faster paced than Flight Plan. I would say that limitless is more of an action thriller, as it has the conventions of violence, weapon and fast paced action.

  Flight plan feels much more like a mystery thriller. This is due to the various flashbacks, which make this opening scene very confusing, and this reflects the protagonist's mental state. This film opening leaves the audience asking lots of questions from the start, and this is a key convention of mystery thrillers.

Don't Breathe starts with one of the last scenes, and cross cuts to the start of the story, which creates confusion, as well as letting the audience discover what will happen near the end of the film, to help them to create questions so they want to watch the rest of the film. This movie feels like a hybrid of thriller and horror, as it includes many of the conventions from both genres, such as fast paced editing,the contrast of good and evil, and the building up of suspense and tension,

  All three thrillers use the four media language techniques to create questions and to introduce the characters, the background to the story and the setting of the film.

In the three films sound is used to build tension and suspense, but in different ways. Limitless uses action, weapons and loud noises (such as bangs and shouting) to build the tension. The director wants the audience to feel worried on behalf of the protagonist, as he teetered on the top of his apartment. Flight plan however, uses eerie silence, distorted sounds and a soundtrack played on a violin, which are designed to create emotional responses from the audience. The director wants the audience to empathise with the protagonist and feel sorry for her. The eerie silence gives the movie an unnatural feel, which makes the audience feel worried and captivates them. Don't  breathe uses a mixture of eerie sounds as well as a fast paced backing track to build up the tension, and this mirrors the fact that is is a hybrid of a thriller and a horror.

Limitless and Flight Plan use the thriller conventions of low key lighting, death, tension and muddling around with time. Don't breathe uses high key lighting to relax the audience into a false sense of security, to make what happens next all the more shocking. It does however muddle around with time, as it starts with one of the final scenes, and jump cuts to the start of the story.

Existing movie analysis-3- Don't breathe

Dont Breathe Powerpoint by ol on Scribd

Existing movie analysis 2- Flight Plan

Existing movie analysis-Limitless

Genre Research- Sub-genres

Thriller genre research

Research

Thriller is a genre of films or texts that uses tension, suspense and excitement to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Thrillers are usually very fast paced and include chase scenes, and are designed to create feelings of anxt, fear and anticipation. During the film, the protagonist is set against a problem in the form of a daring escape,  a mission or a mystery, which is caused by the antagonist, which is usually the protagonists arch enemy. The tension increases through the film, and reaches a climax at the end of the film. A good example of a thriller series is the Jason Bourne trilogy.

Generic conventions of thrillers:

• Cliff hangers- create feelings of suspense
• Drama- makes the film interesting and captivates the audience
• Danger- grips the audience and creates tension and suspense
• Fast paced editing- builds the tension
• Suspicion- leaves the audience asking questions
• Mystery- leaves the audience wanting to watch the rest of the film to find the answers
• Crime
• Chase scenes- Create fear and anxt
• Weapons and violence- grips the audience
• Low key lighting- connotations of crime, danger, evil
• Urban settings
• Building tension- keeps the audience on the edge of their seats
• Canted angles- distorted reality
• Hand held camera- makes the film more realistic, and helps the audience to empathise with the characters and their situation
• Point of view- more realistic and helps the audience to put themselves into the characters shoes
• Close ups- shows emotions of characters to help the audience empathise with the charachters
• Tracking shots- sets the scene

How has the genre developed over time?

Over time, the special effects of movies have changed dramatically, which has allowed directors to produce more realistic thrillers. The evolution of our culture and our technology also helped to change the thriller genre. Earlier thrillers were based on actual fears, and there were no sub-genre's, such as psychological thrillers, or spy thrillers.

In the 1920's-1930's, thrillers were silent, and were in black and white. The first ever thriller was made in 1923, and was called, 'Safety Last,' and was based on the life of a serial killer Peter Kurten. Englishman, Alfred Hitchcock, directed many thriller movies, and helped to shape the modern day thriller genre, through films such as, 'The Lodger,' and, 'The Man Who Knew Too Much.' Hitchcock's thrillers usually placed innocent victims into dangerous and life-threatening situations, through no fault of their own.

Throughout the 1940's and 1950's, the genre of thriller kept developing. Alfred Hitchcock first used Technicolor in the 1950's to make history. The introduction of blonde actors made his films more sexually interesting. Famous thrillers from this era are, 'Rebecca,' 'Gaslight,' and 'Niagra,' which were directed by well known directors, Henry Hathaway, Alfred Hitchcock and George Cukor.

During the 1960's, thrillers became more like horrors, and included more deaths and violent scenes. In addition. crime thrillers, such as James Bond became popular. During this period, Alfred Hitchcock released one of the first ever psychological thrillers, called 'Psycho,' in 1960.

The 1970's and 80 became a time of violent, gory films, which reflected the gang violence in the 1960s. Audiences started to expect more violent scenes, and so the directors started to include more violence in their films. Hitchcock released the film, 'frenzy,' in 1972, which was R rated due to an explicit strangling scene. The movie, 'Jaws,' was released shortly after, in 1975, and was directed by Steven Spielberg. Gang violence helped to inspire the adaption of the book, 'The Godfather.'

From the 1990's to the present, thrillers, more focus has been put on mental illness, violence, obsession, and conspiracy theories. There also has been a much greater use of natural disasters and terrorism used in thillers during this period. Recently, there has been more emphasis on sub genres of thrillers, including disaster thrillers, mystery thrillers and pschologicl thrillers, and most thrillers incorporate quite a few horror conventions. This could be due to advancements in technology, which has allowed directors to make films scarier and build up tension through special effects, editing, sound effects (usually non-diegetic) and soundtrack's. 

Group for media AS thriller task

Initial response to AS media main task

AS Media main task

Preliminary task overview

The preliminary media task helped me to decide who I will work with for the main task, as it showed that I will work well with the person I worked with for the preliminary task. Also, it highlighted the mistakes I need to watch out for when planning and filming my main task. I learnt that i need to check the footage through for mistakes before I come to edit the footage, and I learnt that I need to make sure that I always film in landscape.


Here's my preliminary task blog: http://oliverwatsonaspreliminarytask.blogspot.co.uk/