Q1

Thriller evaluation

Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The Thriller genre is a broad genre of film that uses suspense, tension, excitement and mystery to convey ‘Thrills’ in films.  Unlike other film genres, Thrillers stimulate audiences more, either through uncertainty, fear, surprise, anxiety or terror. As well as certain shot types and editing techniques, Thrillers often use music and sound effects to build suspense and fear. This often includes fast paced music, deep toned music and high pitched supernatural sounds.

There are many thriller sub genres such as crime, spy, comedy, sci – fi, political, psychological, religious, action, conspiracy and espionage. Our Thriller is a mix of dystopia and spy. We believed that this mix would be something different than other thrillers and our availability of props and location were a large influence in choosing our idea. Audiences of espionage thrillers expect intense and high suspense, they are thrillers that captivate the audience more than other sub genres as they often involve a complex plot. We were influenced heavily by films such as ‘Inglorious bastards’ (2009) ‘The Departed’ (2006) ‘Where Eagles Dare’ (1968) and ‘Munich’ (2005).  All of which are spy, espionage, crime and action thrillers.  

Many sub genre’s of Thrillers use violence in their films, such as; Crime, Noir, spy, action and espionage. This is mainly because several of the main elements of the thriller genre include the main protagonist facing possible death and at some point of the production, being put in a dangerous situation that they are not prepared to resolve. For example the ‘Taken’ films and ‘District 9’, these sub genres of Thrillers often include these elements. As our production is an espionage/spy thriller we felt we also needed to include them. 

One of our shots in Le monde whislt using fast-cutting editing to build tension

We mainly used elements of thrillers in our production, for example we used a lot of fast cut editing in order to keep the pace throughout our film whilst at the same time showing our range of shots. One of the main conventions of Thrillers are close ups and a variety of shots in a small scene, We used a number of close ups and extreme close ups to express emotions of the main character and to build tension In our production. We also used a lot of different shot types in the scene to build tension whilst also keeping the pace of our production and showing our variety of shots. 

Inglorious Basterds had a graphic ending scene with a non dramatic sountrack

Dstrict 9 featured a common element of the thriller genre

Our Music choices were a key part of our Thriller. We chose ‘Ticking of the Clock’ by Chromatics to create a build up to our killing scene. We thought the track suited the Thriller genre perfectly as it was deep and continuous. Our second track was ‘Non, Je Ne Regrette Rein’ by Edith Piaf. We believed this track was perfect as it fit our setting of our Thriller of a 1950’s Paris. We drew inspiration from Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Inglorious Bastards’, In the ending scene there is similar use of music combined with a violent act that is similar to our production.

We also developed certain aspects of Thrillers in our production. One of which was the non-dramatic music we used ‘Non, Je Ne Regrette Rein’ for our killing section. As I have previously mentioned, it is common for thrillers to have fast paced deep toned music leading up to an event (which we used) but also to then have a high pitched piece of music during the killing, ‘Psycho’ is an excellent example of this. We drew inspiration from Quentin Tarantino’s ‘inglorious Bastards’ (2009) which has a violent ending scene coupled with non dramatic music, other Tarantino productions have used similar techniques (Resevoir dogs) however we felt this scene was more similar to our own than his other films. Using non-dramatic music could also be challenging the conventions of other media products. Seeing as it is not common to have music such as ours over scenes of violence in thrillers, our use of music completely challenges the conventions of a thriller.

We also developed a mystery element to our thriller with the kiss on the protagonist neck suggests that there could be a relationship between the killer and the protagonist. As this is an opening to a thriller, this is aimed to capture the audience and encourage them to continue watching the rest of the film as well as providing some sort of link between the two characters in the opening which could be further explained in the rest of the film.

Conventions of Thrillers vary between sub – genre’s however a lot of them have similar narrative, Cinematography, mise-en-scene and sound techniques. Narrative can be one of the most important parts of a thriller, a unique narrative can be the determining factor as the whether or not the audience want to carry on watching the rest of the film. Typical narratives of a thriller will set up the rest of the film for the audience and create questions, mystery, suspense and excitement for them at the same time. This is done in a number of ways, for example, two typical narratives used are flashbacks and dual narratives. Flashbacks can vary between being a violent killing or attack, which affects the main character in some sort of way, or it can be something to do with the current position of the character in the film. A dual narrative can be effective as it shows two different perspectives of the story of the film. It could also be used to suggest a possible future/current relationship between the two in the film.

Close-ups show character emotion in Thrillers

Camera shots are one way that thrillers present emotion and setting of films. Long shots and extreme long shots can be used to present the characters and locations in the opening of a thriller. Close-ups of characters can create mood and express the emotions of that character, they can also connect with the audience as they can share the same emotions as the characters in certain sections of thrillers by using close-ups. They can also highlight important parts of mise-en-scene in a scene or significant characters. Long shots and extreme long shots can set up the location of a thriller and inform the audience more of the time/setting.

This scene in Drive uses non-diegetic sound to create serious tension

 Sound is an incredibly important part of a thriller opening. Opening credits combined with a certain soundtrack can set the tone of the film and whether it’s a supernatural, crime, comedy or action thriller for example. The soundtrack can be used to create emotions within the audience, this is Non – diegetic sound, which is typically much more prominent in thriller openings than diegetic sound (natural sounds). Drive (2011) uses a lot of non-diegetic sound to create an atmosphere during certain scenes.

 

 Mise-en-scene can also be used to captivate the audience in a thriller, and with certain cinematography techniques, can be used to highlight significant objects in a scene. Well placed mise-en-scene combined with cinematography can be extremely effective in a thriller opening by creating tension or mystery for example. This is a common feature of Noir thrillers such as Sin city (2005) which is in mainly in black and white but certain objects or part of a the characters are in colour. This is to highlight significant aspects of the story. We used this technique in several shots of our thriller. Such as the shot where Harry turns the key, the camera is focused and zoomed in onto his hand in order to highlight 

 

Q2

Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our main protagonist is a ‘lone-wolf’ hero type, he would be similar to characters such as Tuvia from ‘Defiance’ (2008) or Jason Bourne from the ‘Bourne Identity’ films.

They are similar in the way that you cannot tell straight away whether or not they are a hero or a villain. They all have a sense of mystery to them, giving a first impression of mystery and not really knowing what kind of character they are at a first glance. They are all also under threat throughout most of the film and have people who would want to kill them.

They are different in that our character clearly has a femme fatale who wanted him dead, as we can see from the kiss on the neck. We drew inspiration from the film ‘Holes’ (2003) in which there is a character named ‘Kissing Kate Barlow’ who leaves a kiss behind on her victims. Other differences we can see is that our protagonist clearly was not someone who could ‘shoot to kill’ if he was attacked, unlike Jason Bourne for example. We can see this by his body language before he gets into the car and his helplessness as he is attacked.

We were very specific with how we wanted to him to look. We chose the jacket and the shirt look to make him look like a spy or a hero. However this could suggest he is a villain as well. His car and the location of the scene is filmed in a nice location, possibly telling us he is quite well off and not lower class.

 

We used certain cinematography techniques for Harry as he is walking towards the car in order to show him as the victim. For example we have a shot of Harry looking over both shoulders as he is getting into the car and the sequence of still shots during the silence also suggests that he is the victim. 

Q3

Q3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

We decided that our production company name would be ‘Yellow Gun Productions’. We got the name from our preliminary in which the killer has a banana as a gun. A Production company company is responsible for most aspects of a film. They will take the responsibilities of finding a director and finding the actors to be in the production. The director will pitch an idea to the production company and it is up to the production company whether or not to take it on and make it real. The production company will then set budgets, manage scripts and sort out schedules.

We decided that Universal Studios would be our distribution company for Le Monde.  Universal Studios Home Entertainment is one of the sub divisions of Universal Studios and has an impressive list of Thrillers including the ‘Double Indemnity’ and Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’. Universal pictures are the 4^th oldest production company in the world and the oldest in America. This gives the experience, expertise and money that would be need to fund our film that we need. Universal pictures had a revenue of $4.2 billion in 2011 clearly showing that they are one of the most successful production company’s in the world.

As a producer Qeuntin Tarantino has actually used his Hollywood power and status to give smaller and foreign films more attention than they might have received otherwise. Therefore our film would be something that he may produce as we are small and have created a foreign film influenced heavily by his work. Films similar to ours that Tarantino has produced are ‘Chungking Express’ (1994) and ‘The Beyond’ (1981). Chungking Express was a Chinese drama and The Beyond was an Italian horror.

Q4

Q4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

We believe our target audience would be the typical thriller enthusiast. They would have to be interested in film and not someone who watches the occasional film with friends. This is because thrillers normally have a complex storyline and we believe that ours is one of these. In comparison our film would be something along the lines of ‘The Departed’ as it takes a lot of attention to follow the plot and has some unexpected twists along the way. The age group we were aiming for was young adults and middle age film enthusiasts. 

 

This is a common example of our target audience. A male in his early 20’s/30’s who is very active In social networking and the media. He would probably watch Tv series that are drama based or action based. Other film genres apart from thriller would be Action/adventure and comedy.

 

During our research and planning phase of Le Monde, we conducted a survey and asked people their favourite genre of thriller. As we can see from the pie chart a majority of people liked a psychological thriller and the joint second most were supernatural and crime. This influenced our decision to cut the opening to just the car scene in order to create far more mystery to Le Monde overall and create a mix between a psychological and crime thriller.

The age rating for out Thriller would have to be a BBFC rating of 18. This is because our thriller would contain the following;

 

·      Use of drugs

·      Very strong violence

·      Strong language

·      Discriminatory language and behavior

Q5

Q5: How did you address/attract your audience?

The first section of our thriller was the most important part of the opening, as it had to grab the attention of the audience straight away in order for the build up to have an affect. 








 

Firstly I believe this shot will attract the audience’s attention straight away as they spot it is something unique. As the camera starts to move over the newspaper the audience will then realise that it is a significant piece of mise-en-scene and as it is also French, this will again attract them as it is something different and unusual. This shot is also when the music starts to become louder and more prominent in the opening, this combined with the camera starting to pan down the paper, grabs the attention of the audience.

 

This shot is significant to the audience as we can see the shot has largely cut out the character and the car in order to focus on the door being unlocked. This creates an element of mystery to the audience, why is that significant? Why is there nothing else in the shot?  It also the shot just before we see Harry turning his head looking over his shoulders looking nervous. This foreshadows danger and vulnerability, creating tension.

 

This shot is the first time we see Harry’s nervousness in the current situation he’s in. From this shot the audience can gather that he is wary of his surroundings and could possibly feel as though someone or something is watching him. It also raises more questions for the audience to ponder on; has he just done something wrong? Is he being hunted or is he a target for someone? The audience could also guess that something is about to happen to him or that he needs to leave the area quickly as he is in danger. The shot again is a medium close up of Harry, however, like the previous shot the framing has left out everything in the surrounding area. This again is putting the audiences attention onto Harry.

  This shot is during the eary silence of the opening and is one of several shots in quick succession of the outside of the car. Because this shot is during the silence it builds up tension amongst the audience and again feels as though it is building up to something.

  This shot is very significant as it focuses on Harry turning the key and starting the music after the silence. After the tension builds up during the silence the audience could of possibly been expecting something such as an explosion etc. However when the music starts the audience will be surprised or shocked as it was not what they expected, again grabbing their attention as it is something unique.

Q6

Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Throughout research, planning and shooting I have learnt a lot about the way the media industry works and how other productions are filmed and planned out. As well as this I have learnt a lot about how to shoot effectively and the amount of planning required to pull off a successful shoot.

Even though half of the group were already experienced with editing we knew that the Editing side of our production was going to be the hardest part of producing it. If we could edit it with cuts and music having a significant effect then we knew we could produce something really good.

The sound of our production was a big part of the tension building and bringing something knew to the conventions of typical thrillers. We learnt that music in certain places could have such a large impact on the attention of the audience and build up tension brilliantly. Therefore we spent a lot of time on imovie testing where the sound fits best with sections of Le Monde. When and where the music should cut off and start again and so on. We also learnt a lot about the effects of editing techniques, how certain transitions create mystery effects and build tension in the production. For example we decided on using straight cuts as transitions in between shots in order to captivate the audience and maintain there attention throughout.

Camerawork was very new to all of us and we all came away with a lot learnt after filming. We had limited experience with camerawork with our preliminary being our only source of experience with planning and then going out to shoot a film.

The tripod is probably the most important piece of equipment when filming, apart from the camera of course. The tripod can give the film a very professional feel to it as well as giving you perfect still steady shots. Our use of the tripod was very prominent in our prelim however more than half of our shots in our thriller were filmed by hand.

Q7

Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at our preliminary task, you can easily see the confidence we have gained since then, in shooting, acting, editing and planning. We have also learned along the way with our preliminary task. Such as what went well and what didn’t  work.  For example we felt our editing of our prelim was too slow and slightly boring. We focused on changing this in Le Monde as you can see, we have used straight cuts throughout and used non diegetic sound much more effectively compared to our prelim. In order to create more pace and maintain the audiences attention throughout.

We focused on continuity this time much more than our prelim. We knew this would make it much more professional and look much better overall.  We also knew we had to keep to the 180 degree wall throughout. We also planned so much more and in much more detail than we did for our prelim and we felt this paid off in Le Monde. We had a structured set of shots to follow and it made us much more efficient.

Our planning to our opening was extensive, we made a hand drawn storyboard, a detailed shot list of every single shot we would use, researched multiple possible locations and searched thoroughly for appropriate props. However we found that during our filming day we did not stick to our pre prepared shot list. As well as this we also decided to experiment with several different locations that we had not planned to go to before hand.

After editing the footage for over a week we decided that we did not have enough footage to show off our range of shot types. We eventually decided to cut down the idea to just the killing scene at the end. We thought we could use our cinematography skills to much more if we did a simpler opening and did it well. Instead of having our original idea; ‘Running through field,  running into town, walks through town’ etc. The original idea gave us a lot to get right and the cut down version was a gamble for us but we felt it was the right decision as we were able to show all of cinematography skills.

I feel our opening was very good overall, however changes could have been made. For example, at the shot when the camera follows the rope we could of added something significant at the end, such as a tube of lipstick or a glove that the killer was wearing.