Evaluation - Question (5)

5) How did you attract/address your audience? - Evaluation

Now we understood what was requested and expected from our audience, we now needed to put this into practice. I provided a survey, which was handed out in various places to understand what the audience was expecting. I created over twenty questionnaires and handed them out in school, the workplace and also on the streets to strangers. This would give me a broad basis on which to our film on. In the survey certain heading included, lighting, sound, and storyline. But ultimately I left the questionnaire very open so people are not put off about answering it, and are also more keen to offer their own suggestions, rather than just answering what was placed in front of them. The part of the survey was:

This picture is one made on the computer rather than the original which I did by hand and then photocopied.

As you can clearly see by the image, only a few headings were offered and then the rest was open for suggestions. A large box was placed for suggestions and this was because I already knew in general terms about what people expected from a thriller film, but what I really wanted to know was personal opinions rather than forced ones from the questionnaire. The results were phenomenal and helped in almost every aspect when filming. The results are as followed (excluding the “Other suggestions…” which I will mention later):

Below shows the results of the 20 questionnaires in tally form. Some may add up to the number handed out due to some people ticking more than one box:

Lighting - Dark = IIII¤ IIII¤ IIII¤ II (17) Bright = (0) Both = III (3)

Sound - Fast = IIII¤ (5) Unusual = IIII¤ (5)
Slow = II (2) All = II (2)
Eerie = IIII¤ IIII¤ (9) Other = I (1)

Storyline - Tension building = IIII¤ (5) Crime orientated = IIII¤ II (7)
Action packed = I (1) Futuristic = II (2)
Unusual = IIII (4) Technologically based = IIII (4)
Gruesome = II (2) Other = II (2)

The results that are featured in bolt are the most highly ticked answers. These are what I will be basing my film around but other results will also be taken into account. Some of these results are what I was expecting including the dark lighting and the eerie music. But one result that I found slightly unusual was how the “Storyline” heading received various results. Most importantly a crime orientated thriller film has received the most “ticks”. As this is so broad and diverse on the ticks, several of these storylines will be collected together to reach out to a larger audience.

Next was focusing on the results from the “Other suggestions…” box, whereby people personally left suggestions on what they thought should be added into the film which I did not mention. This was a purposeful tactic, to try and find out what my audience really wanted to see. A selection of people actually decided to leave other suggestions but many were just adding on extra information from the recent headings. But three questionnaires caught my attention to what the viewer was suggesting and were very beneficial to me and my production. These next pictures are the other suggestions parts of the questionnaire that have been divided from the rest of the surveys:

　

　

Firstly, this suggestion is extremely important and gives our group a great idea to help base our film around. We need to feature enigmas through the film which will make the audience think! If they have to think about all the different outcomes, then they will be more involved and captured by the production.

With this suggestion, the basic importance is that I need to think of an idea, that nobody has done before which will be able to capture the audiences interest. If they have seen a similar film before, they will not want to see it again so we have to think of an entirely new idea.

The importance of this suggestion is that to be able to make a good film we have to think of an idea that will be able to make the audience relate to the production. If we do this, then the audience will obviously enjoy the film more, when experiences in their lives relate to what is happening within the film. This does not have to be exact reference to their lives, but should be able to cover a large audience and to make them think “what if this happened to me!?”.

Finally, I need to state how what I have researched has managed to wrought my ideas to create the best possible outcomes for the audience. I have created a Prezi to show the ideas that have been noted down to try and capture this audience:
http://prezi.com/4ayx0aa8adol/as-media-evaluation-how-my-ideas-incorporate-what-a-future-audience-suggested/

This link is my full Prezi document and is very revealing on the ideas I have received from the questionnaires.

This shows a screen shot of the Prezi:

Evaluation - Question (4)

4) Who would be the audience for your media product? - Evaluation
To create my audience profile I have analysed “Die Hard 4.0” which is in the same genre as the production we are going to create, an action/crime thriller. I took notes from what people were saying about this film because I can then link it to our similar thriller introduction. When I was analysing this film I understood before hand that the target audience was going to be separated by many factors including, age, gender and social class. When I was questioning friends and others, I noticed that the majority of people that were interested and enjoyed the film were of the age 15 - 24. This was then divided again into gender and it was clear that over 60% of people that said this film appealed to them were male, typically fitting the traditional convention that males prefer action thrillers rather than females. But with a 40% divide of gender, it clearly shows that women also enjoy action thrillers so they should not be ruled out of our final target audience when filming. Social class was less obviously divided with people from all different parts of the spectrum, enjoying the film.

Popularity of similar film - (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337978/)

But I didn’t focus singularly on “Die Hard 4.0” but also on the future production. By this I mean I asked questions based on what our final production would be like and what people would expect and enjoy. An example of a question included was “What makes you want to see a film, what will draw you in?” and one of the answers was very beneficial to our final production, “Action and enigmas! Everyone likes to be in a tension building film, keeping us interested. Some films I’ve seen lately have just not been up to the mark”. From this we can establish that we need a film that will make the viewer think and confuse them. If they think and are confused, then they are more likely to be interested, an example of highly prestigious, but confusing film, is “Inception”.

This screen shot shows an action thriller film, "Night Watch", and the percentage to baits to attendance. Squared with red shows how nearly half of the 158 people surveyed would attend it due to the genre/type of film. This shows the popularity that a movie like this can achieve, especially when there are 35 different answers they could of picked from. This helps our group to be 100% certain that we have picked the perfect sub-genre to base our final production on.

(http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/exitpolls)

I was also very observant of what the people were doing, wearing, eating and drinking when I was talking to them. This was solely for the reason that understanding our audience profile, will understand what they enjoy and then this can be used to our advantage by implementing it into the final production. I noticed that several people I asked were drinking “Red Bull” or similar energy drinks and from this you can identify that they are energetic and have a fast paced lifestyle. This shows that an action thriller would be a perfect film to draw in an audience because of its fast pace. Another thing that I picked up on was the groups they were in when I asked the questions. This shows how they are very friend orientated and love a social lifestyle. Another feature I noticed was how some of the people questioned were actually wearing clothing from particular movies, showing how some members of this particular audience have gone past the "FILM AS ENTERTAINMENT" (see below) stage but have moved on to the "FILM AS IDENTITY" stage. Are audience is avid and enthusiastic enough to be influenced to what films are presenting, showing their true love for films.

This shows the journey of interest of films.

(http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/media/pdf/7/j/Avids_report.pdf)

In conclusion, my production will be based on the audiences that are similar to that of “Die Hard 4.0” due to its close connection with the basis of the introduction of our final production. From that I am aiming for my target audience to be people ages 15-24, mostly male with the basis of appealing to females too. I will also make sure that our production doesn’t single out specific social classes and make it appeal to all people from different social classes so that the purpose of my production is effective. The questions asked about our final production will also help us to create a more vibrant and interesting environment for our target audience. These will include many different things including what I studied with what they were doing, drinking, eating and wearing. All of these can, and will be used to our advantage because understanding what they do and love will help us to draw them in further to our production. But we must remember as a group that "Avid identities are no more fixed than any other, and lifestyle changes…can have profound implications” (http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/media/pdf/7/j/Avids_report.pdf) . Analysing this statement in more detail shows that an avid thriller viewer can easily shift their opinions, helping us to realise that we are not restricted to our audience. But more and less people, from different ages, genders, social classes may become interested in what we our offering from what is affecting their daily lives. Putting it more simply is, we are not restricted to a specific audience. Below shows our typical target audience:

20th April 2012 - Media lesson.

Back after the Easter holidays, we have gone into our film project with full throttle, progressing excellently in today's lesson and managing to place all of our filming together. It is nearly complete, we are just adding the finishing touches and then we would have finished! These finishing touches include, editing and managing the soundtrack. Personally, in today's lesson, I edited and blogged our documentary from the last lesson, and started to use "Garage Band" on the Macs to try and create music for the film, but this is only in its early stages and we believe that the music I made at home, is probably going to be more useful.

Easter Holidays Update.

I thought I would make a small, yet important update throughout the holidays to sum up what I have been doing. Firstly, we finally managed to create and finish the last scene. We did not film this in Francois conservatory, we just used my dining area. There was also many changes to the script and storyboard but we will create a post on our group blog to show the changes. I also managed to create the music. It was a difficult process but I used my keyboard and guitar to make some unusual sounds which I personally believe, would be great for our production. We will be deciding as a group if the music I have created is worthy. I would attach it to this blog update but there is a problem with the recording and transferring it to blogger.

30th March 2012 - Media lesson.

During today's lesson we progressed further on the filming rather than editing that we had recently been doing. We understood that some shots had been left out of filming as we were going through the editing and we decided to film them today. We also carried on filming the documentary, and what we have filmed will make a great contribution to our project so far. The remaining shots to film are only the retirement party scene at Francois house. This will be filmed in the coming weeks as it is now the holidays!

23th March 2012 - Media lesson.

In today's lesson, as a group, we collectively researched what specific type of music we will be using for our final production. We looked at various films that we have studied before, such as "The Shining" and The Silence of the Lambs, to help with this research, but we also studied other media AS students blogs to find out what they used, and the effect of the music used. All three of us decided on using both diegetic and non-diegetic sound, for different effects.

The use of non-diegetic sound in the opening scene of "The Shining", creates a sudden involvement with the viewer and the film. The viewer feels engaged and already they understand that this film follows the thriller genre with eerie and unusual music, creating a unique atmosphere.

Then in "The Silence of the Lambs" with one of the last scenes whereby Clarice kills Buffalo Bill, with the use of diegetic sound. This is then exaggerated with the current events on screen, but overall it truly creates a tense and suspense filled moment for the viewer.

This video shows another media students coursework that we have been taking notes off and have really loved the use of music. The eerie non-diegetic sound links with that of "The Shining" and due to copyright issues, the music featured actually fits in incredibly well. We will use this to structure further our advancement in this field, and using a piano to create music, looks like the best possibility.

15th March 2012 - Media lesson.

Today, due to me being on my own, I had to continue with more editing and other projects that did not involve filming. I finished creating our new and improved costume board, with our new changes and also I edited all the film work we have produced so far. Overall the final production is looking very promising and I am pleased with what we have created. I also continued with the 'documentary' style blog, editing and then posting the video update produced yesterday, and also creating a further blog update for today. This will be placed onto the group blog.

14th March 2012 - Media lesson.

Due to the rest of my group being away, I have had to further our advancements in other fields rather than the filming side. Today, as I could not film, I organised all our filming work so far, editing it and placing it within different folders. I have also started to create new documents outlining the changes that have been made so far with our production, an example being the costumes and props we have changed. I tried to continue with the video blog for our group blog, and with difficulty, I managed to film several parts of the process solely on my own.

9th March 2012 - Media lesson.

During today's lesson we progressed thoroughly through many shots. There are only several shots to go and we are hitting our deadline currently with what we hoped to achieve within a certain time period. Today we completed all scenes between Michael Thornton and **** but with a change of actors playing the characters. With Michael we stayed with Francois playing that part but with **** we had Ed playing the part due to the difficulties trying to obtain the actor we would of hoped for and because Ed did not have a significant role, acting, in the production. We will create a blog in the near future showing our changes to characters and props after filming has been completed.

Francois (Left) as Michael Thornton and Ed (Right) as ****



7th March 2012 - Media lesson.

Ed filming Francois in one of the shots.

So today we have had a very successful session, filming many shots. All the shots filmed today were of one location, the computer room where Michael receives a mysterious call from an unknown number. We changed a few of our shots to what was featured in the storyboard, but all to help improve our production. We will make a blog on the group blog later on, explaining the changes we have made, but we expect to change other shots so we will do that after the completion of our final production. Also today we continued with the video blog, Ed being the documentarist today. We are changing our documentarist each lesson as we believe as a group that it would be best for all of us to take part in the video blog. So next time we expect Francois to be the documentarist.

2nd March 2012 - Media lesson

During today's lesson we progressed extremely well into our final production. We shot many of our scenes quickly, and efficiently with great techniques used. Another idea that we came up with, was as we need our blog to be in different formats, we have started to create a documentary showing the assessor what we have done that day. So we bring the video camera with us at all times, and every landmark of our production, we will film it to give the assessor an idea on our project. We also decided that we will make an "Extras" part on our blog which shows outtakes of our filming, which wont be too serious, but which will show the assessor on how we filmed our production, even if some humour is included unintentionally.

29th February 2012, Media lesson.

In today's lesson we all seperated and cooperated by sharing the work load with all of us doing different parts that helped the group. While I began on writing about the locations of our shots, Francois continued with the script and Ed began researching into a production logo. Team work will help us to create the best possible product.

Ed focusing on his research.

Costume for final filming - Secretary position

Blog entry after todays lesson.

During our media lesson today, as a group we continued to finish more of our animatic story board. We did this by writing a script on a word document and then from iMovie we recorded our voices over the on screen, still images of our story boards. In our script we wrote about what effect we are trying to create from the shot types and what editing we will use. To make it fair, all three members of our group are setting a routine for who will speak at certain shots for a collective, joint effort in creating it. Being united and working together also helps us to become more involved with the task in hand and the storyline that we are basing our filming on. We have worked well and we will be finishing it, swiftly tomorrow.

Audience profile.

To create my audience profile I have analysed “Die Hard 4.0” which is in the same genre as the production we are going to create, an action/crime thriller. I took notes from what people were saying about this film because I can then link it to our similar thriller introduction. When I was analysing this film I understood before hand that the target audience was going to be separated by many factors including, age, gender and social class. When I was questioning friends and others, I noticed that the majority of people that were interested and enjoyed the film were of the age 15 - 24. This was then divided again into gender and it was clear that over 60% of people that said this film appealed to them were male, typically fitting the traditional convention that males prefer action thrillers rather than females. But with a 40% divide of gender, it clearly shows that women also enjoy action thrillers so they should not be ruled out of our final target audience when filming. Social class was less obviously divided with people from all different parts of the spectrum, enjoying the film.

Popularity of similar film.
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337978/)

 But I didn’t focus singularly on “Die Hard 4.0” but also on the future production. By this I mean I asked questions based on what our final production would be like and what people would expect and enjoy. An example of a question included was “What makes you want to see a film, what will draw you in?” and one of the answers was very beneficial to our final production, “Action and enigmas! Everyone likes to be in a tension building film, keeping us interested. Some films I’ve seen lately have just not been up to the mark”. From this we can establish that we need a film that will make the viewer think and confuse them. If they think and are confused, then they are more likely to be interested, an example of highly prestigious, but confusing film, is “Inception”.

This screen shot shows an action thriller film, "Night Watch", and the percentage to baits to attendance. Squared with red shows how nearly half of the 158 people surveyed would attend it due to the genre/type of film. This shows the popularity that a movie like this can achieve, especially when there are 35 different answers they could of picked from. This helps our group to be 100% certain that we have picked the perfect sub-genre to base our final production on.

(http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/exitpolls)








I was also very observant of what the people were doing, wearing, eating and drinking when I was talking to them. This was solely for the reason that understanding our audience profile, will understand what they enjoy and then this can be used to our advantage by implementing it into the final production. I noticed that several people I asked were drinking “Red Bull” or similar energy drinks and from this you can identify that they are energetic and have a fast paced lifestyle. This shows that an action thriller would be a perfect film to draw in an audience because of its fast pace. Another thing that I picked up on was the groups they were in when I asked the questions. This shows how they are very friend orientated and love a social lifestyle. Another feature I noticed was how some of the people questioned were actually wearing clothing from particular movies, showing how some members of this particular audience have gone past the "FILM AS ENTERTAINMENT" (see below) stage but have moved on to the "FILM AS IDENTITY" stage. Are audience is avid and enthusiastic enough to be influenced to what films are presenting, showing their true love for films. 

This shows the journey of interest of films.
(http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/media/pdf/7/j/Avids_report.pdf)

In conclusion, my production will be based on the audiences that are similar to that of “Die Hard 4.0” due to its close connection with the basis of the introduction of our final production. From that I am aiming for my target audience to be people ages 15-24, mostly male with the basis of appealing to females too. I will also make sure that our production doesn’t single out specific social classes and make it appeal to all people from different social classes so that the purpose of my production is effective. The questions asked about our final production will also help us to create a more vibrant and interesting environment for our target audience. These will include many different things including what I studied with what they were doing, drinking, eating and wearing. All of these can, and will be used to our advantage because understanding what they do and love will help us to draw them in further to our production. But we must remember as a group that "Avid identities are no more fixed than any other, and lifestyle changes…can have profound implications” (http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/media/pdf/7/j/Avids_report.pdf) . Analysing this statement in more detail shows that an avid thriller viewer can easily shift their opinions, helping us to realise that we are not restricted to our audience. But more and less people, from different ages, genders, social classes may become interested in what we our offering from what is affecting their daily lives. Putting it more simply is, we are not restricted to a specific audience. Below shows our typical target audience:

Blog about pitch.

As a group we created a pitch to present to the rest of our media class explaining our research and ideas, and conveying a draft which would collectively come together and create our final preliminary. We had several lessons, and using are time effectively we created a “prezi” presentation which helped to portray our ideas across in a more creative and attractive manner. Although it may have been time consuming, the final “prezi” product was definitely worth it, forming a happier and more interesting environment for the other pupils.
We received a lot of positive comments about our “prezi” including the layout, the theme and the general presentation. We had also set out different headings, grouping the different categories, making it easier for other class mates to understand our ideas, which we also received positive comments about.

But we also received negative comments, which in our eyes are still seen as positive because we can use these to improve, but these included how we had very sparse ideas on what our final preliminary was going to be. We did not have a heading for our final product so our ideas were not grouped, making it difficult for the audience to understand what we were actually trying to achieve with the ideas that we were presenting.

Overall, through the questions we received from the class, we hope to improve on our next pitch and final preliminary as we take their valued criticism on board and we will use it to our advantage.

Thriller film analysis.

In our media lesson today we studied the beginnings of various thriller films in more detail, highlighting thriller factors that effect the audience. We studied two films including, Die Hard 4.0 and The Interpreter.

Die Hard 4.0.

This is a technological thriller which is easily distinguishable from the first scene whereas everything relates to technology. The large use of technology including the computers and headsets suggest a difficult, confusing process. The sounds all have a technological vibe created from the electro/techno effects. This linked with the constant cutaways focusing on technological codes creates a disillusionment for the audience. The diegetic background music has a slow orchestral feel helping to create tension. Contrasting with this is the camera movements focusing on the coding on the computers which are fast paced and used with a hand-held camera. The slow close up tilts of the characters are contrasted in the following shot with the explosion of a house. This creates an enigma for the audience.

A screen shot of the coding from the computer on Die Hard 4.0.

The Interpreter.

The clip that we looked at for this film also followed many thriller conventions and effective techniques ultimately leading to a more impacting experience for the audience. The establishing shot of the location shows the eerie atmosphere with the lack of light. This is then followed with a long shot of an empty corridor with the character walking towards the camera. The non-diegetic sound of her shoes creates an echo emphasising the lack of people. When entering the room she has to use a card to gain entry, showing the importance of her job. The flicker of the light in the next room creates a frightening experience for the audience and they feel the characters emotion when she breathes heavily. The eerie music played in the background creates a sense of mystery and disillusions the audience.

This is a shot of the dark room entered after gaining access from the use of her authorisation card.

Technology thriller story generation.

"Man gets promoted only to find a secret world of crime"


The head of the police force retires after a long career fighting crime. He decides to give his position to a faithful officer, Daniel Craig, who finds out after he's taken the job that this job comes with many hidden features. He logs into the recent managers log of crimes committed in the last 10 years and finds that a man under the name of "Miguel Nunes" is actually an underworld lord of crime and he's been paying off the recent head of the police force in return for privileges. 


The storyline revolves around how the new head of police will not take money from this underworld lord and so tries to present his cause, that this man is a criminal. The whole of the police force are corrupt and connected with "Miguel Nunes" so try to kill Daniel Craig. 


An action thriller from the perspective of Daniel Craig presented to be the protagonist who is in a constant struggle to fight the underworld, physically, outside of the law. He may be seen as the good guy, but he takes this case into is own hands after the lack of contribution from the rest of the police force. 

Nine shot analysis.

The first two shots featured were that of match on action. Shot number 1. is opening a door while shot number 2. is a shot showing the door opening and then the characters coming into the shot. The effect of this is to emphasise the continuity of space and time by matching the action of the preceding shot with the continuation of the action.

In shots 3., 4., 5. And 6. the mise en scene in these shots how this clip is going to be in a typical thriller or horror genre. This is because of the shabby and discoloured walls, the pipes featured on the top of corridors link together to create a creepy atmosphere. In shot 5., 7., 8., and 9. the mise en scene featured in the background are help to create a frightening atmosphere. All the objects scattered around the room are random and intriguing creating an uneasy vibe.

In shots 7. And 8. the characters are featured inside an 180 degree arc so the audience can
understand where the characters are in the scene when they are constantly placed in the same left/right relationship to each other.

Finally, in shot 9. is a shot of the protagonist character in a mid shot. This is one shot of many shots which add to the shot/reverse/shot rule. It makes the characters seem like they are looking at one another. This helps the audience to understand what is happening as all characters are being shown in close proximity with one another in different shots

How do these certain thriller films create suspense?

Cape Fear, 1962

The antagonist, the convict, seems to have a sly and mischievous atmosphere surrounding him and he constantly seems uneasy. An example of this is when he is constantly looking over his shoulder. He also seems frightening and creepy when during the court case he takes a seat at the back making him seem sly and devious. He also wears a bright white suit which completely disorientates the viewer as normally the “bad guy” is placed in a darker and colder colour. But the colours have been reversed which adds to the viewers uneasiness.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, 1962

The slowly increasing pace of the music when Blanche is about to reveal her food hit’s a climax when the food is shown makes the viewer placed in a position where we become further startled by what the close up shot of the “food”. This shot is gruesome and you really feel the emotions of Blanche. Then to add to this Jane’s shrieking laugh in the background is menacing and impacts the viewer because of this.

Fatal Attraction, 1987

From 0:14
This scene is suspense filled straight away because you can hear the noise of the pot boiling. The viewer can already distinguish that something is going to be in the pot so its suspense filled until the viewer finds out what it is. The parallel editing featured shows the connection between the boy going to see the rabbit and his reaction with that of the woman finding the rabbit in the pot and her reaction. The woman shrieks with terror while also the boy cries due to losing his rabbit. Emotional stuff.

The Silence of the Lambs, 1991

This scene is filled with suspense throughout. Through the majority of it you are placed in “Buffalo Bill’s” perspective viewing Clarence. This adds to the feeling that you are almost featured in the film. Also when he reaches for her and is extremely close with night vision goggles on you are shown how close he really is to Clarence. You can clearly see how frightening it is for Clarence because of how she is unable to see and is frantically trying to feel around herself so she can have a hint of where to go. She is breathing extremely heavily showing how frightened she is. No music is featured which adds to almost being in the film. It constantly builds up tension until finally “Buffalo Bill” is featured in a slow motion shot where Clarence shoots him several times. It is extremely tense because “Buffalo Bill” shoots at the same time and the viewer is left to await who has been killed.

The setting for our preliminary task

We have found a perfect place to film our task in the school. Perfectly set-out in a basement, we all started to think of a thriller introduction almost straight away. I took several pictures which will help the group as a whole to think about when deciding on a plot and storyline for our thriller introduction. All the photos I've taken show in more detail how perfect the design is for a thriller intro and we will use it to the best of our ability. The pictures below show the setting of where our introduction will take place.

Preliminary research

In today's lesson as a group we researched other media students projects and took many ideas from them. We understood what to avoid and what to include from the other students for the best possible outcome of our task. Many groups we researched used match on action with the turning the handle of the door and then seeing them walk through the door. Many have used his and we are going to try and move away from this and make ours more exciting and unique. A technique we saw which we are going to try and avoid is that of people wearing school uniforms. We want to make our preliminary task seem more professional and we are going to make more of an effort with the mise-en-scene of the costumes we use. Also we need to find a place in the school whereas it is hardly noticeable that we are in a school environment. This will also make are project stand out from other students and show the effort we have placed into the task to help it to be a larger success. 

The Shining - A psychological thriller

The Shining relates in many ways to other psychological thrillers. A psychological thriller is a sub genre of a thriller whereby the director uses elements that relates to the mind or the processes of the mind. They are mental rather than physical in nature. The main characters are usually more reliant on mental resources instead of physical strength to overcome their issues. There are many different conventions featured in “The Shining” that relate to the thriller genre and help make the film a more tense and suspense filled great. A film that is extremely disturbing but yet compels the viewer to see more. Kubrick made sure that this film would be perfect in all respects and made no mistakes. He understood how to capture the audience and how to really disturb them with chilling and menacing moments. The whole film including the camera movement, shots, angles and sounds all combined together with such perfection that the audience is completely inhaled in the intense, exhilarating madness that is “The Shining”.

The soundtrack in this film relates to other psychological thrillers such as Alfred Hitchcock’s, “Psycho”. The music in “The Shining” seems to have a huge effect on the audience due to the constant music playing and the overall constant disturbing scenes. The extremely eerie atmosphere that the non-diegetic sound creates is discordant. It completely controls the viewer and they feel disturbed by the weird and generally frightening sounds that are being created. While the music is being played the audience can hear the strange sounding music and it is completely unique. No other film is created with such perfect timing of music and just generally perfect music for the scenes. The scenes are completely changed (for the better) with the music as it is used collectively with the scene making the scene have a larger impact on the already disturbed audience.

The whole setting of the “The Shining” may not be in a confined space. But a claustrophobic feel is created as a result of how the characters are completely isolated from the rest of society in a huge hotel in harsh weather conditions. There is no possible way for the family to escape and they have to live with each other peacefully for many months. But obviously this is not the case and there emotions and psychological consciousnesses really make the audience feel the characters struggle to escape and even the audience feel claustrophobic as a result. You feel completely involved with the film and feel disturbed and horrified at such instances when Jack tries to kill his wife (Wendy) as she has tried to escape from the mentally insane Jack but finds there’s no way out. The audience are completely distraught with what Wendy must be feeling and her emotions in the film rub off on the audience. The feeling of confined spaces is a typical convention of a thriller genre.

How the camera is used throughout the film is spectacular, it manipulates the audience with quick zooms, tilted angles and a hand held camera to create tension and visual distortion. The sense of danger and panic was conveyed by the camera as much as it was my the narrative elements in “The Shining” showing how all the different devices work collectively with such impact onto the audience. Kubrick uses the stedicam shots throughout the film creating a elegant and fluid sense of menace. This contrasts with the majority of thrillers which use a more distorted and frantic style of filming so confuses the audience when Kubrick uses this technique. Confusing the audience helps them to feel even more disturbed as it is out of context to the scenes. An example of this is when Danny is riding his tricycle around the hotel and then he acknowledges the two twins. A truly terrific visual scene. Kubrick’s editing in both the classical and montage style heightens suspense, creates dramatic tension, and suggests Danny’s psychological state.

In conclusion to this highly prestigious psychological thriller, all the different techniques Kubrick uses are all to enhance the audiences emotions and general uneasiness. Without the perfectionism is Stanley Kubrick and the constant takes of the film to make it just right are all beneficial to the final product which leaves the viewer constantly anticipating and in a unusual position of suspense. A lot of the typical thriller conventions are used but in a completely unique style making the audience feel like they are controlled emotionally by the scene taking place. The eeriness of the film creates a disturbing and frightening atmosphere which helps to makes the audience feel more involved and psychologically thrilled.

Group blog.

On 21/10/2011 we decided on a group and made a group blog. This group includes Ed Smith, Francois and myself. We are considering changing our name but at the moment it is called "The Fellowship". The group blog was set-up due to the fact that we are starting to focus on our practical assignment

Understanding some of the main camera techniques

Match on action

This refers to film editing and video editing when the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action. This emphasises continuity of space and time by matching the action of the preceding shot with the continuation of the action. The audience can easily distinguish what is happening in the scene through this continuity editing technique. So an example of this is in the film, "The Lord Of The Rings The Two Towers" when the archer fires his arrow in one shot and then in the next shot it shows where the arrow has ended up.

Shot/reverse shot

When the camera switches between one character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. It makes the characters seem like they are looking at one another. This helps the audience to understand what is happening as all characters are being shown in close proximity with one another in different shots. My example in the film "Snatch" shows this continuous dialog between both the "pikeys" and "tommy" and "turkish".

The 180-degree rule 

This is when two individuals in one scene filmed within 180 degree arc. This helps the audience to understand where the characters are in the scene when they are constantly placed in the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle. This can cause confusion from the audience as they may not be able to understand where the characters actually are in relation to one another. The 180-degree rule is shown in this example on "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones".

Gollum has a debate with his good half, Smeagol, about the Ring and the hobbits, which ends with Smeagol sending Gollum "away".

Thriller sub-genres

What are the sub-genres of thriller films?

• Conspiracy thriller

Character confronts a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent only he/she recognizes. An example of this is the film 'The Da Vinci Code'.

Crime thriller
This Consists of both a crime film and a thriller film. It offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes which normally focus on the crimals. Crime thrillers are usually more action that psychological aspects which is the opposite compared to psychological thrillers.Central topics include serial killers/murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge and kidnappings.

An example of this is the film 'Reservoir Dogs'.

Erotic thriller
Consists of both erotica and thriller. An example of this is the film 'Dressed to Kill'.

Legal thriller

A sub-genre where everything revolves around the courtroom, whether it be in or outside. An example of this is the film 'The Runaway Jury'.

Political thriller

In which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him. An example of this is the film 'Seven Days in May'.

Psychological thriller

In which the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. Characters usually become involved in a conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve. Suspense is usually created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds. An example of this is the film 'Taxi Driver'.

• Rape and Revenge films
  
  Focuses on thriller elements such as suspense, tension, some action and fast-paced scenes. An example of this is the film 'The Last House on the Left'.
• Supernatural thriller
  
  In which the film brings in an otherworldly element mixed with tension, suspense and plot twists. Sometimes the hero and/or villain has some psychic ability. An example of this is the film 'The Sixth Sense'.

North by northwest commentary

We created the narrative on North by Northwest by selecting the scene we wanted to use with the narrative and then removing the original sound from the movie and exchanging it with my own voice explaining the conventions of a thriller genre that are used in the scene. The research we made on thriller conventions helped us to use our recently gained knowledge on the commentary we placed over the top of the scene. Thriller conventions are becoming almost obvious to see now, due to the research we have done. This helped us to create the narrative easily and quickly as the conventions were easy to spot.

 We did this whole process by using iMovie which helps you to remove the sound and upload your own sound to the scene. Even if you make mistakes you can edit them out by using the program easily and we had no problem creating the narrative. We didn't seem to have any problems with the editing and re-creating the narrative over certain parts due to background noises and distractions. We also had a word document open at the same time with notes on the scene that we had collected which helped us to speak elegantly and fluently throughout the time period of the scene without forgetting any key conventions.

Analysing three different title sequences of thriller films.

The audience never really give any credit to the title sequences of a film even though some are spectacular and actually have a large effect on the audience even if they don't realise or appreciate it. In this blog I will be taking you through two great title sequences.

The opening titles of "Rear Window" are based in two colours, black and white. Both of these colours have a large impact on the audience as they contrast with one another. The bland and dull colours create a mood, which a film using other colours cannot achieve as well for the simple reason that colour can tend to overwhelm the viewer. These colours linked with the music played in the background adapts very well with one another and from the beginning of the film you can already acknowledge what sort of film it is going to be. It has a lasting effect on the viewers as that linking with the colours helps set the mood even further.

Another Alfred Hitchcock movie, "Psycho" also uses the same effect on the audience to help them to get into the mood of what is to come. The fast paced orchestral music makes the viewer already controlled and sets the mood. The audience become aware of how this film is going to be from the title sequence and the contrast of colours and music. Its just generally wild and frantic. The text is coming down randomly and moving around constantly which shows instability. This could relate to Norman Bates split personality later on. The music is also unpredictable with a heavy dramatic effect of the string instruments being played at a very fast pace. It is dark, discordant and full of suspense.

Typical conventions in the thriller genre.

There are many typical conventions featured in many thriller films for many reasons. A thriller film consists of creating tension, suspense and shock to the audience. This is created in many different ways including camera positions, angles, movements, shots, music and lighting.

 

Alfred Hitchcock is considered one of the most highly rated film directors of all time due to understanding how to create such suspense. For example in the film "Psycho". From this clip you can see many ways of creating tension in a short period of time which has a larger impact on the audience.

 

 

• Music : Fast paced and normally orchestral.
• Silhouettes and shadows : Are what give a thriller the enigma and mystery for the audience. It creates eeriness and tension.
• Knives : Typical weapon used in thrillers. When you see a knife you immediately associate it with somebody about to get brutally killed.
• Confined spaces : This leads for the audience to feel the characters struggle and you feel chlostrophobic as a result. You really feel the characters emotion as they try to escape.
  
•  Obtrustive editing and quick shots : Accentuates the feelings of suspense and tension.



"Psycho"



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Timeline research