Evaluation

Above is our thriller opening which we uploaded to youtube. The number of views and 5 star rating is positive feedback after random people have watched our opening.

Due to the size of the upload, it has cropped the right hand size of our opening off by a little, if this is an inconvenience, then please click on the link below to watch it fully.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWl1LHnw1io

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

As a group, we decided that our thriller film opening, 'The Reprisal' fell into the sub genre of a crime thriller. This is due to the fact that the main events are based around a crime which was the car crash and the young boy played by Ian's eventual revenge would also be a crime. None of the other sub genres suited our film opening particularly well so this one seemed best. We managed to incorporate a few generic conventions of a thriller into our opening such as having a build up of suspense using dark and and ominous drones, the main character has also experienced a close loss, which triggers off his obsession throughout the duration of the film. Our thriller opening also has an intricate plot which creates fear and apprehension for the viewer, as they are unclear as to what the main character (Ian) is going to do because of his loss. Our thriller opening does not particularly develop or challenge these generic conventions of a thriller, but it does stay true to them in order to build up tension and create fear within the view. The sense of enigma keeps the audience watching as they are eager to discover the answer to the mystery by the end of the film.

How does your media product represent particular Social groups?

The main character in our opening 'The Reprisal' is a 17 year old boy traumatised and obsessed with a car crash that claimed his family a short time ago. The opening does not reveal a lot about him, but more about his obsession (as seen with newspaper clippings and pictures of the person he seeks revenge on). He is a caucasian, 17 year old male and that is all that is fully revealed about him, so he does not have any type of stereotype. In some ways, it could be said that he has more dominance over the female he seeks revenge over as he has paid great detail in plotting his revenge. However this could be challenged as she is the one that took his family away from him, even if it was accidental.

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

'The Reprisal' would be the type of film to be produced by a major Hollywood studio as it would need to have a fairly high budget and use of equipment to create a full sense of fear through lighting,sound etc. The car crash scene that often appears throughout the film would be a major focal point of the film as it is the reason for the young boy seeking revenge and so would only be fully successful through being produced by a major studio such as Warner bros. It's main reason for release would be to bring back a type of film that is not predictable or focuses mainly on gore, but to trick the audience and keep them on the edge of their seats and to use their imagination. Many films such as these are hard to find in the media nowadays, and the main point of the film is to bring it back.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for our film does not have a specific gender as we believe both males and females could relate to it. However, we decided that the target age group should be around 15-early 20s, as it is a '15' rated film and the main audience for thriller films are around this age group also. Our questionnaires about our film revealed that almost everybody enjoyed the film which reflects the fact that what we believe our target audience has been well decided. We chose this particular target audience because we know that the main viewers of thriller films are teenagers and young adults, we wanted to create a film that they could enjoy and possibly shock them as it would be something rather different to what they are used to. We believe the thriller appeals to them due to the fact that they are able to relate to the young character, as all will have experienced loss at some point, and all of them have a family so would find it easy to place themselves in the position of the young teenage boy.

How did you attract/address your audience?

We attracted the audience through use of enigma early on in the film, the mystery that is created at the beginning makes the audience want to continue watching until the final crescendo at the end. The aspect that would especially terrify the target audience is the loss of family and to be left alone after watching your family die. This would deeply traumatise anybody of any age, however younger people are more vulnerable and this concept is a terrifying thing. We played on this and combined it with the obsession and theme of revenge so there are two points to the film that scare the audience. On the whole, the audience are not placed in the position of anybody and are merely watching the film, however the flashbacks put them in the main character 'Ian's point of view in order for them to grasp a feeling of the fear and experience what he did. The impact of this is that they feel vulnerable just like he does and are able to watch what he experienced through his point of view, but also watch him from a distance and observe his erratic behaviour.

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

We experienced a few problems as a group when beginning to film our thriller opening for 'The Reprisal'. After discarding our first project 'An Eye for an Eye' we had very little time to re-film and edit this new opening. However, we persisted and as we began to set up the tripod and lighting to begin filming, we found that the second part of the schools camera charger was missing. This meant that we could not use this camera to film and we were now faced with a dilemma - forget filming and focus on our original project which lacked in many areas, or use a camera with poorer quality but create a better film. Of course we settled for the second option. Our final result shows that the camera was of poor quality, however this wasn't helped by extremely dark lighting, but we believe this adds to the suspense and plays on the audience's minds as they cannot properly see what is happening. This opportunity to create a thriller film opening taught me a lot about the iMovie software.

We edited the film entirely on my own personal MacBook, and prior to filming this I had never properly used it, so it was a learning experience for all of us.

I learnt how to overlap sounds and adjust the volume so that one did not overpower the other and two effects can give an effective sound, eg. our opening sequence with the drones,traffic and child's laughter. In addition to this, the use of transmissions and getting each frame to flow was quite a challenge but one i think we managed well. I found the editing on iMovie a lot easier than using the actual camera equipment. I found the tripod fairly tricky to

work with and achieve the right height for the camera. Although, I think i found the camera we filmed 'The Reprisal' on, more difficult to use as it belonged to Ian and was unlike the cameras we used whilst filming our original thriller opening 'An Eye for an Eye', in which we had several weeks to come to terms with and understand.

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

Since the very first preliminary task, I feel my overall knowledge and grasp of the editing facilities and camera angles and equipment has vastly improved. I now find it easy to interpret how to capture the proper lighting and gain the most out of a shot as well as trying out different ideas to see which angle works best. I also found that sometimes small sections of film clipped together are much better than long frames, this is because you can experiment with more angles and become more creative with your film. This is shown in our new thriller opening 'The Reprisal', compared to 'An Eye for an Eye' which consisted of many long pieces of film.

Directors from the Thriller genre

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred, later dubbed - Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, for his extraordinary contribution to the film industry, was an English filmmaker and producer who developed and reveled in psychological and suspense thrillers. His career which spanned over six decades gave him enough experience to direct more than fifty feature films. Hitchcock's approach to film was different, it was narrative and suspicious as he withheld information about characters, keeping twists and surprises for the audience and he loved to engage the emotions of the viewers, reeling them in close.

Hitchcock's first British film with sound was 'Blackmail' released in 1929, produced by British International Pictures was the first British 'talkie', a major success and breakthrough for the film industry in which Hitchcock managed to shine in. Following on from this, Hitchcock was making on average a film a year, his 1935 film 'The 39 Steps' has recently been re-released for cinema and is currently being shown in London.

However, it was not until the 1940s in which Hitchcock broke through to America and even more importantly, Hollywood. He made several successful films, including Rope which was his first technicolour film. After the 1940s, Hitchcock's work in the late 1950s to early 1960s may have been the most important part of his career, with blockbuster successes such as Vertigo, The Birds and world renown Psycho.

3 Film Analysis'

The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank redemption is a gripping, upsetting, heartwarming and clever film. It focuses on a man named Andy Dufresne played by Tim Robbins, after being sentenced to two life sentenes at Shawshank Prison. The beginning of a film shows Andy's court case and flash backs to the night he is convicted of killing his wife and her lover and it is unclear wether he may have killed her or not. However the evidence points towards the fact that he did and after being sentenced, we believe this. The course of the film shows Andy's struggle within the first two years and failure to make any sort of friends, giving a bleak and depressing tone to the film as he struggles with every day prison life. After the first two years, Andy meets 'Red' played by Morgan Freeman who is a man 'who can get things', meaning he is able to smuggle certain items in and out of the prison through his connections. Andy and Red strike up a friendship and the film sees this take course, showing how Andy builds stronger as a character, as well as others he has become acquainted to within the prison. As a popular prisoner, Andy is trusted by the guards and head of Shawshank prison, this trust throughout the film allows Andy to plan his escape which we as an audience are completely unaware of. Near the end of the film, it is revealed that Andy had been executing his escape plan for the entire duration of his prison stay until he broke free, resulting in a heartwarming ending that has been recognised in cinematic history. Frank Darabont, the director of this film, uses a contrast of light and dark lighting to reflect the mood of the film. Often, when Andy is associated with being in a negative state, the dark lighting is used, at other times, like when he first meets Red, natural or soft lighting is used to create a more positive tone. The film uses many birds-eye view shots at the beginning to emphasise the sheer size of the prison and how alone Andy Dufresne feels, however as the film takes its course, this is shown less as he develops closer relations. Darabont uses a variety of close up shots for each character to reveal their true emotions fully but also long shots to show traits of their personality from a distance and how they stand out - such as Andy when he first arrives, he is the character of main focus and is extremely tall compared to other prisoners around him who are fairly short. The effect of this is that the main attention is on him, so the viewer can focus solely on how he is feeling at that precise moment in time.

Enduring Love

Enduring Love is a film adaptation of the book written by author Ian McEwan. It is a romantic thriller based around the homosexual obsession of a man stalking another man. Joe Rose played by Daniel Craig is seen at the beginning of the film enjoying a picnic in the Oxfordshire countryside with girlfriend Claire (Clarissa from the book). The peaceful and quiet afternoon is brought down to earth by a freak balloon accident. Men are seen running from all directions (we assume they all had reason to be there) towards the balloon in hope of stopping it so that the young boy inside is safe. However the combined body weight of the men does not manage to keep the balloon grounded and the men are lifted into the air, one by one they begin to drop off until one man is left hanging on. The camera shows this one man left, Dr Logan, clinging onto one of the ropes before letting go and focuses on him plummeting towards the Earth. Enduring love has two story lines that run through it. The minor one is the death of the doctor, and the guilt surrounding all those involved of 'who let go first', which also entangles Joe in a battle to prove to the doctor's wife that Dr Logan was there on the day by chance, not because he was having an illicit affair which is what she believes. The major story line running through the film, which helps to give the film its thriller genre is the erratic Jed Parry played by Rhys Ifans. Ifans is a loner living off an inheritance whose only main passion in life is God, until he meets Joe. Throughout the film, Jed is seen stalking Joe until it reaches a breaking point for Joe. Jed fails to see that Joe is not a homosexual and does not want to return his love or have anything to do with Parry, however he persists until he feels that the only result is for both of them to die. The ending reaches a dramatic climax as Jed Parry stabs Claire in hope for Joe to love him back, however his paranoid state of mind leads to him getting himself stabbed. The film is slightly confusing and abstract in the sense that it is not generic and unlike other films around today. However, the director 'Roger Michell' uses several techniques to build up suspense and sense of dilemma throughout Enduring Love. The balloon at the beginning of the film was red, and throughout the film the use of this colour is used whenever Joe is present. This reflects his traumatised state of mind but also relates to the constant presence of his stalker Jed Parry. Throughout the film, the camera tends to pan round between Jed and Joe to achieve both of their contrasting emotions in one place, with Jed feeling full of love and desire, and Joe full of dread, disgust and fear. Michell uses a lot of hard light during the course of this film as it is a generally depressing and negative film and the lighting reflects this well.

Taken

This film starring Liam Neeson is about a father's struggle to overcome the news that his daughter is in severe danger somewhere in Europe. The film begins showing a little about his history, that he is a semi-retired body guard, doing minor work from time to time. He allows his daughter to travel to Paris with her friend as he is under the impression it is an educational trip, rather than a fun filled trip around Europe following rock band U2. Once this secret is revealed to him over the phone by his daughter when she is already in Paris, she and her friend come under attack by suspicious men in the apartment they stay in. Whilst on the phone to her experienced father, he explains to his daughter that she is to be taken by these men but he promises to her that he will come to Paris and find her. The course of the film shows Neeson's struggle to identify and trace his daughters captors. The film has a high level of violence and disturbing images as his daughter is revealed to have been sold in a drug and sex trafficking system. The film ends with Neeson finding his daughter and then ends on a positive ending. The director Pierre Morel uses diverse shots and lighting to create the suspense and action in this film. One particular scene where Neeson discovers an almost brothel type establishment on a building site, the camera moves with him, giving a realistic effect of his panic and rushed state as he walks through, the camera pans round at a high speed into each separate booth, giving a quick glimpse as to what is inside. Lighting is also used well in this film and Morel often uses downwards lighting like a spotlight on many of the characters. This is used before the character under the spotlight is to become under immense pressure or pain. eg. the man being tortured by Neeson for information with the electrical wires.

Film openings

The Shawshank Redemption

The beginning of this film begins with a dark shot of a man sitting in a car with light shining just on his face. He is holding a gun and a bottle of alcohol. Behind this we can hear a piece of music from around the 1920s, a piece of music we come to learn comes from the period the film was based in. Following this, the man sitting in the car is now in a court room being questioned by a lawyer about the evening he was in a car. When discussing the evening of the night he was sat in the car, the film goes back and forth between the court room and the car, showing the main actor Tim Robbins. The effect of this establishes the story line that triggers off the rest of the film.

• As a group, we used this sort of idea for our film. The back and forth sequence between past and present to help establish the story is very clever and effective. We placed this idea with Ian in a restless sleep, going back and forth to the images of the day of the car crash.

What Lies Beneath

The credits for the film open with an eerie music on top of a background thats fairly misty. This mist then merges into what we see as water, this ends up to be a river or a lake we as an audience aren't entirely sure. The camera slowly zooms in deeper in the water until an extreme close up of a dead girl's face is seen, the music then stops as the girl opens her eyes and merges into the face of Michelle Pfeifer who is taking a bath. The use of this dead body foreshadows events that later happen in the film.This creates an instant enigma and the eerie music adds to the tension. The camera then slowly zooms in, giving the illusion that somebody is creeping slowly forward into the bathroom as the main actress is taking a bath, there is no sound apart from her heavy breathing. After this, the film skips forward to the main actress using the hair dryer to de-mist the mirror which results in her getting an unexpected electric shock. This immediate shock frightens the viewer and keeps them feeling quite tense.

The Amityville Horror

The first shot of this film, is a black screen with white writing over it that reads 'Based on a true story'. Immediately, the audience are in a state of fear as the chilling events that happen in the film are believed to be true, making it seem more realistic and frightening for them. This then shows a distorted, and slightly blurred image of a man's face discoloured which flashes between images of things that are later explained in the film. The man's face is then shown again and a reflection of a television set is visible in his eyes with a voiceover that says 'kill them'. The frightening looking man, music and ambiguity of the opening all lead to an ongoing tension. The use of pathetic fallacy is present as the heavy thunder and lightening storm is used to portray an element of fear and create suspense, this goes well with the man isolated in the basement of his house, who we then see pick up a large shotgun and begin to make his way upstairs. The lightening flashes are also used to create tension, as one minute the man is visible, then he is not, then is is visible again but a lot closer, making the viewer extremely uneasy as it is unclear when he will next be there and what he will do. The man carrying the shotgun then persists to shoot who we believe to be members of his family within the same household. The clever use of lighting and shots shows him loading the gun and firing, however after murdering each of the people, images of crime scenes are shown. The effect of this shows that the film focuses more on the story rather than the sheer gore and violence.

CGI

• CGI (Computer generated imagery) is used for visual effect and exaggerates the overall film experience. CGI allows those working in film to control what is happening a lot easier than using hundreds of extras in a crowd scene, or constructing miniatures for effects. Almost every film made today will use some aspect of CGI to give their film a more in depth feel.
• CGI was first used in movies in the 1973 film Westworld. It was a science fiction movie, so it was well fitting for advanced visual effects rather than a romantic comedy. The film was based around robots living and working in every day life around humans, a popular theme for films today such as 'I Robot' starring Will Smith.
• CGI took a dramatic step throughout the 1990s and vastly improved from the 1970s films which also used wireframe imagery for 3D effect.
• Jurrasic Park directed by Steven Spielberg, revolutionised the movie industry, as it integrated dinosaurs created by CGI into live action scenes with real actors. This gave an astounding effect and made the movie almost 'come alive'.
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• In addition to this, Robert Zemeckis' oscar winning film, 'Forrest Gump' starring Tom Hanks, used CGI for more than just jaw dropping effects. It was able to place Hanks in historical footage as if he were really there, one particular scene is with him sat beside John Lennon in an interview. As well as this, CGI was used on 'Gary Sinise' to give the impression that his legs had been blown off during the Vietnam War, a shocking and realistic image.

Now, over 30 years since CGI was first introduced, practically every film will use this type of computer based technology at some point, whether it is on a large or small scale. the 2010 film 'Avatar' directed by James Cameron, took almost 48 hours per frame to create the ultimate cinematic experience using CGI.

Sub Genres of the Thriller genre

Crime Thriller

A story full of tension and suspense that most often focuses around the criminal rather than the authoritative figure such as a policeman. These types of thrillers often have certain psychological aspects to them also. Films that fall under this sub genre are films such as the 1995 film 'Se7en' starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt.

Action Thriller

Action thrillers often feature chases or 'race against the clock' situations in which the character has a limited amount of time to complete a certain 'task' before the 'consequences'. Action thrillers most often include a high level of violence revolving round things like guns, explosions and other weapons. The James Bond films fall under this sub genre.

Drama Thriller

Drama thrillers are less fast paced compared to action thrillers and focus more in depth on the character, revealing a lot about their character. Drama thrillers often have a 'twist' at the end of the film about the character, to shock the audience.

Disaster Thriller

These mainly include natural or man-made disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic erruptions or nuclear bombs. These films often suggest a doomsday type of ending. 'The Day After Tomorrow' staring Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhal is a type of film that falls under this sub genre.

Religious Thriller

This type of film has a heavy focus on biblical references and stays close to the themes of religion, often using religious characters and script. 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Angles and Demons' are two films that fall under this sub genre. They were originally two bestselling books written by world renown author 'Dan Brown'.

Preliminary Task

Group

For our preliminary task, I worked in a group with Ian Beattie and Jemma Barclay, the two other people i ended up working with for our final task of filming a thriller opening. The remaining person in the group was Sam Hammond, another boy in our media class.

Point

The point of the preliminary task was to teach us to work in a group and co-operate with each other. It was also to help us understand and learn to properly use the camera equipment, this was highly beneficial as apart from Sam, it was our first time using a tripod and proper camera. The preliminary task was an introduction to using the editing facilities on iMovie also, however because there was 4 of us, it was quite difficult to manage the editing out equally.

Plot

We did not have a long time to plan out our preliminary task as it was merely an introduction to using things, so this meant our plot was not quite in depth as it could have been. However, we ended up with a woman (played by me) suffering from an alcohol addiction which is furthered by her son being taken away by the Social Services. The preliminary task shows myself talking to a psychiatrist (Ian) about my problem.