Evaluation

Evaluation

 

Target audience is important because it allows film creators to create a film that includes all the conventions relevant to that particular age group. It can help the creators differentiate between what would make an appropriate film for a child to watch or a for an adult to watch.
   We carried out a different variety of research to try and get different information from a group of people. we did this because we feel that it was the best way to make sure that we could get as much information as possible from different sources. When we got the information together that we had got it gave us a clear understanding as to what is expected in a thriller film from a range of different ages. It gave us an insight to the difference between the age groups and what is appropriate in the films. We gave out a questionnaire which gave us clear information as what they want 

One form of research we carried out was a questionnaire. This research particularly helped us to identify the different age groups in thrillers. this helped us to decide on a target audience for our own thriller. We chose to use the age group of a '15' because we feel that this is the best age to target as this can have very scary elements but not make it too disturbing, also the amount of blood and gore that is shown within the thriller must be limited. this aspect helps us in a way as it may be hard to re create without advanced props and lighting. by using the age group '15' we can still convey a scary story line with strange paranormal activity minus the violence.


another form of research we carried out was the vox pops . This was a very affective way to collect various information and display it in a way that is clear for us to see the results. By doing the vox pops the most useful information that we found out was what ages would like to see what in their thrillers. From our results we could see that the younger generation would much more prefer a more subtle take on our thriller, with very little blood and gory, the story line for this age group was to be scary however it could not be to disturbing. The older the ages got the more blood, gore and violence they were willing to watch. Their story lines were to be more disturbing and twisted as they preferred to have a story line which involved a mystery of some form which they could really get involved with when watching the thriller.

By doing this researh helped our group to understand what aspects of thrillers are essential to include. It gave us a clearer view of how to interpret the different points correctly in order to create a good thriller fullfilling everyones exectations of what a good thriller should be.

Production roles

Production Roles

During the making of a thriller film there are many different roles and responsibilitys that need to be filled. Some of these are the camera man, the actors, the editors and directors.

Each of these roles have a number of responsibilites, the camera man has to ensure that they know the different shots which are going to be needed to create a good thriller film. We have chosed Will to be  our camera man as we feel that he has had the most experience with filming and using the camera and also he is aware of the shots that are going to be used to create the tense atmosphere for out thriller.

The Actors responsibilies is to make sure that when they are acting they are playing their role properly and sensibly. They have to ensure that they are talking clearly throughout so the camera can pick up the sound. The actors have to be able to put themselves into the situation in which they can make it as realistic and belivable as possible. Me, Brittany and Tayler are the actors in our thriller. We have chosen our charachters carefully as we feel that by me ans Brittany both being girls we are almost immediatly seen as vulnerable charachters in the thriller. Tayler at the end is playing the part of the demon, we feel that Tay is the best person for this role as he comes across domineering in the thriller and that was the perception we was trying to give off.

The editors of the films are there to select the best bits of all the shots to make it the best it can be. They can edit all the different scenes to make it as belivable and realistic as it can be. We have decided that within our group we will all fullfill the role of the editors as we can put all of our ideas together to hopefully achieve the best outcome.

The directors job is to tell the actors what to do. They do this as they are watching from the audiences perspectives and can see what works well and what doesnt. They have complete control over everything that is involved in the making of the film. Our director is Will again. As he is the one who is incharge of the camera he can see what the final product is going to look like therefore this way we will be able to change any acting techniques or the use of props when needed.

this research into the production roles has helped me to establish the difference in resposibilties for each individual role.



History of thrillers

History Of Thrillers

 

 

The main aim of all thriller films is to create a rush of  emotions, fear,panic and excitement for the audience and keep them on the edge of their seats at all times. Thrillers are always scary and tense, however there tends to be a less amount of blood and violence in them, they are more based around strange things, for example, pshycological thrillers, crime thrillers and mystery thrillers. The political  thriller was made popular after the assaination of the American president Kennedy.

 

 

 The earliest thrillers were by Alfred Hitchcock. In 1926, the first thriller that he made was a silent film called 'The Lodger.' a suspensful story of jack the ripper, which was qucikly followed by 'Blackmail.' in 1929. Black mail was Hitchcock and Britians first sound film.

 

 

A thriller film that has been banned was 'Natural Born Killer.' It was released in 1994, directed by Oliver Stone. The film stars two charachters who had both suffered from very traumatic childhoods, had fallen inlove and together they became mass murderers. The film start Woody Harrelson and Julliette Lewis. The film was seen as being unnapropriate as it is seen to glorify murdering and give of the impression that to do so is the correct thing to do. The film also created 'Copycat Crimes.' From the moment of the release, the film has been repeatedly accused of being the cause of numerous murders in North America. Including the Columbine High School Massacre. This was a school shooting in 1999. During the massacre a total of 12 students were shot and 1 teacher. A further 21 students were injured. This event was seen as being inspired by the 'Natural Born Killers' thriller.

The fil was banned from theatrical distribution in Ireland, however it has since been unbanned. It was banned in the USA due to the amount of violence within the film.

 

 

Se7en is a 1995 American thriller filmm written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It stars Bradd Pitt and Morgan Freeman. The two actors play the parts of 2 homocide detectives who become heavily involved in the case of a serial killer whose precisly planned murders harmonize with the seven deadly sins; gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, lust and envy. This thriller will create an atmosphere of suspense troughout the entire film as the audience are engaged and involved with the case themselces.

 

Another thriller that i will look at is 'The Strangers.' This is another American thriller film written and firected by Bryan Bertino, starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman. This film is about a young couple who are terrorized by 3 masked strangers who decide to intrude in the couples remote summer home where they are both staying. This film particurlary leaves the audience on the edge of their seat at all times as they can really relate to what is happening in the film. Nearly everyone has had to stay somewhere on their own and become paranoid of someone or something being in there with them.

 

By doing this research it will help me to uderstand the best conventions of a thriller film and also how thriller films have developed over the years. Also this will help me to differentiate between the conventions of a thriller and a horror and how they are different.

 

 

                                                                  The Strangers trailer

 



 

 

Seven trailer

 

 

 



Opening scene narrative

Opening scene narrative

We will start the opening scene by having me and brit sitting together having a normal converstaion with a ouija board next to us considering weather to do one or not.

  Once we decide to do it it show me and brittany sitting there with the glass and calling in all good spirits, after a couple of seconds brittany starts to move the glass around the table and and complain that its not working. Brittany gets impatient with the ouija board and removes her finger from the top of the glass, I say to her that she cant do that as by doing this it allows any bad spirits into the room with us.

  Me and Brit put our fingers back on to the glass and wait for a momen, once the glass begins to move it scares both of us and we both think that one another is playing a trick on us. However, once we realise that the glass is moving completly by its self, we both take our fingers off and jump back from the table. A few minutes later the lights start to flicker in the room and things fall over and there are strange noises. Me and Brittany jump up and start to run around the room. When we are turned round Tayler (the demon) is standing by the window behind us but me and brit cant see him. the fact that we cant see tayler in the shot creates a sense of panic and engages the audiece in the thriller as they will feel the need to interact with the charachters and tell them to get out of the room.
 The room is left in complete darkness for a few moments, when the lights turn back on both me and Brit have been tied together on two chairs back to back. Tayler the demon is now in the room and standing above Brittany. He is holding a knife to her and Brittay screams and the opening sequence cuts there. The props we have used are conventional for a thriller film as we have used a knife which is assosiated with danger and murder in the correct context, we have used socks to tie round our mouths and ropes round our wrists to keep us together. The fact that we are both tied up and i am facing away from the window where tayler is still unaware that he is in the room and that he is standing over brittany creates suspense and tension of what is going to happen next.

Planning editing styles

Editing Styles

Editing is important in trillers because it can create the atmosphere and sets the scene for the audience. With the same types of editing through out the film it can make it look like its flowing through out the film, this can help the creators to show the genre more clearly by using sharp edits and jump cuts can show that the film is meant to be scary and make the audience jump.


The first edit that we are going to include will be a slow edit, this will be used after the ouija board has all gone wrong and me and Brittany are running around the room trying to find out what is going on. At this point Tayler (the demon) has walked into the room behind us and me and brit slowly turn round and see tayler and scream at this point is where the opening scene ends leaving the audience on a cliff hanger. This particular edits creates a tension for the audience as they have seen what is behind us and are wondering what is going to happen to us before we turn round and see the demon.


Another edit that we are using involves linking shots, this is where a number of all our shots are qucikly put together to create a paniked atmosphere. We are using this edit because i think it will work best after me and Brittany have done the ouija board and it has gone wrong. There are many different events happening at one time in the room including objects falling over and lights flickering and strange noises, so this edit would be the best for us to show the different concequences of the ouija board. This edit is good for out thriller because it is so busy and theres many different things happening at once that it keeps the audience on edge throughout the scene.


We will also use jump cuts, this is when the demon is appearing behind us and it is going from our facial expressions, then back into the room where taylor can be seen behind us. This edit will also create a sense of panic and worry for the audience as they can see something that us girls cant and may feel they need to interact with us and tell us to get out. Also having tayler appear behind us and we cant see him makes the audience think what is going to happen next, that is when the opening scene ends and the girls turn to see the demon.


These edits are conventional to thrillers as all of them involve panic and fear throughout. They are leaving the audience on the edge of their seats and are paniked by whats happening. The edits creates suspence and tension.

opening credits

Opening credits for a thriller film are important because they are the very first thing in the film seen by the audience and they can give the first impression of a film, it can also show what type of genre the film is which gives the audience an insight of what they are going to be watching. .

The opening credits of Se7en

These opening credits are very well done because they relate to the thriller and instantly creates a suspense about the thriller.

the credits are mainly black and white but occasionally flashes of red. The white writing contrasts the black mysterious background, the flashes of red represent danger and blood which creates a sense of fear through out the credits.
The credits are shown small and flickery, this shows how were their similar to flickering lights which are associated with panic or anything to do with danger.
the music that goes with the credits is very eery and mysterious, the non diegetic sound matches what's in the scene, where there is a marker pen the noises are matching the image.



The sixth sense opening credits

This opening credit sequence is similar to the other one because it has flickering writing as well and music that is very mystical and eery this music matches the film as it is a sixth sense, the music sounds twinkly which would associate the music with a child. The main character of the thriller is a young boy who is able to see dead people.




Our credits for our thriller film have been inspired by se7en. We chosen these particular credits because we feel that the whole idea of our credits are similar to what we have seen in se7en.

This is the final font that we have chosen to use for our thriller. We feel that because the font is unclear and its blurry, it reflects the story line of our thriller. Our thriller includes a spirit that has come from the ouija board that we are playing tha goes wrong. Throughout the thriller the demon is unclear and all that is seen of him is an outline standing behind the doors. this is similar to the font as you can only see the outline of the letters and the rest is blurred.

filming schedule

Filming Schedule

A filming schedule is important to consider as it helps the actors to keep in the right timings and ensure everything is done how they have palnned it originally. It can keep in order all the scenes and show a clearer understanding of what will need to happen.

Risk assesment

Risk Assesment

It is important for us consider a risk assessment before filming to ensure that it is completely safe for us to do so.  There are many different hazards that can cause harm to the actors involved in the filming. It is also important to have these safety points in mind during filming because if something goes wrong it can ruin the whole scene and everything has to be re done. This can be an inconvenience as the whole scene will have to be re filmed but also the actor can be hurt or injured.

Carrying out a risk assessment can help us to determine when and where would be the safest place to film and the safest time to film with the least chance of any risk of injury.

preliminary task

We used our priminarily task to improve our skills of editing and using appropriate camera shots that would be used in a thriller film. Our preliminary task widened our understanding of what different aspects there are for the creation of a thriller. We were able to experiment using the tripod and also free hand shots. We also now understand how many different shots are needed to allow the clip to be edited properly and to make the clip make sense.

 Here is our preliminary task me, Brittany, Taylor and Will made ;

Planning Cinematography

Planning Cinematography

Camera shots are  important in any film because they can create the scene and the atmosphere. If there are jerky or fast moving shots can show that it could be a thriller film. If there is slow motion shots or slow panning shots that can show that it is a romantic film.

One of the camera shots that are used in films is high angle, this is when the camera is positioned above the object and this makes the image look a lot smaller. We will use this shot when when me and Brittany are on the floor and thinking of planning the  ouija board.

Another shot which will be used is zooming in- this is when the camera moves in and out of an object to create importance and to draw the audiences into closer relationship with the subject. We are using this shot when the movie comes to an end when taylor appears outside as the ghost and he is behind me and brittany and we have no idea he is there.

hand held shot is used to produce a jerky, jumpy and unsteady shots which can create a sense of uncertainty or chaos. We are going to use this shot when me and brittany first start to realise that strange things are starting to occur in the room, using this shot in our thriller will create a sense of pandemonium. this is when we decide to do a ouija board and there is an element of panic in the room.

Another shot that we are using is a panning shot when the ghost starts to move around the room and then the camera is trying to pick up the ghost and the audience can be involved in the thriller by seeing what is going on and seeing what the ghost is doing.

Overall my target audience will build a relationship with the actors from how the camera shots interact with the actors and

character representation

Charachter Representation

Characters in thrillers include posessed people, demons, devil, ghosts, convicts, criminals, stalkers, assassins, down-on-their-luck losers, innocent victims , prison inmates, menaced women, characters with dark pasts, psychotic individuals, terrorists, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends, and more. The themes of thrillers frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder. 

  It is important for thriller films to include a few of these characters as these are the people that the audience are scared of in the real world. these people are seen as feared individuals in society therefore they are always used in thrillers as the audience is able to relate to the fear of the innocent victims in the film. It is also important to include a variety of different charachters within a film because they keep the audience hooked on the film and keep it interesting or it is most likely the audience will get bored.


Tayler Coe
16
Male
White
White British
he is the demon in the play that is haunting the girls at the sleepover
he will not appeal to the audience as he is the 'evil' one that is haunting a 16 year old girl at a sleepover.

Will Stacey
16
Male
White
White British
Will is the director and camera man in the narrative
Will is not applicable to appeal to the audience as he will not be viewed in the thriller scene.

Brittany Terrelonge
17
Female
Brown
White British
Brittany is one of the girls in the sleepover that does the Ouija board but dosen't end up getting haunted.
I think brittany will appeal to the audience at the start but as it gets later in the scene they will realise how loud and annoying she is and will grow sick of her.

Katie O'Shaughnessy
16
Female
White
White British
I am the same as brittany playing a girl at the sleepover but i am the one haunted by the demon.
I think i will completely appeal to the audience as she is innocent but not quiet enough to annoy the audience the fact that the innocent one and am being targeted will allow the audience to feel for her and connect to her emotions.

mise en scene

mise-en-scene


iconography- we will be bedroom including a bed lighting  desk chair and bathroom, this links with our thriller idea as our title is paranormal sleepover which in the title suggests would most likely have to be staged in a bedroom and therefore that is the idea we are going for. Extra props included will be an Ouija board which links in with the paranormal aspect of our title, this all intwines to make our opening scene relevant to our group narrative. This is conventional to thriller films as the set of the bedroom will be relevant to our title and can be staged easily with space.

facial expressions and body language - our facial expressions and body language at the start of the scene will be happy and joyful as anyone young teenager is when there with their friends at a sleepover telling secrets etc, but towards the end of the scene when the mishaps start to occur it will change completely and the expressions will turn into scared and shocked. This will link into thriller films as the face will change showing shock and horror towards the audience which will allow the audience to be able feel the emotions the cast are going through.

location - We will be using a premier inn in Buckhurst Hill as we need a bedroom with space to use and the room at this hotel matches our exact requirements for our opening scene.

costumes -  We will be using 'lazy' clothing such as tracksuits and pyjamas as we are at a sleepover however the demon will be dressed in all black with a hood so the face in concealed creating an enigma towards our scene.

lighting- Our lighting will start fairly light with secondary lighting surrounding the room but with the plot and when the demon comes the room will become smokey with the back light shining through the window which will give the effect of something scary happening which links in completely with thriller films.

colours -

position of characters - The main cast consisting of the girls will be in the centre of the camera throughout the whole of the scene however when the demon arrives he will be able to be seen in the background of the shot, this will link in to the thriller genre as the demon is behind the main cast showing how he may be haunting them and it was be seen by the audience as creepy or eery.