Christine Newman - Evaluation

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

A. As my media product is the opening of a Psychological Thriller, and I had watched other psychological thrillers prior to filming my own, I have followed some of the typical conventions you would normallly associate with thrillers.

Firstly the music used is a slow/mid tempo piano piece, that slowing builds up tension and suspense.

Also by using some sort of action so early in a film it keeps the audience quessiong what could be the back story of the film, the motives of a specif character, which is what we did in the opening. Many thriller films start off like this for example 'The Usual Suspects'.

Q2. How does you media product represent particular social groups?

A. In our psychological thriller we originally wanted to use a 15 year old school girl but insted, but instead, down to lack of time and option, we used a 17 year old (sixth former) as our victim.

The actress is presented as a typical modern day school girl, shown by the clothes, not full uniform, and accessories like the handbag and mobile, things typical of young girls in this day and age, also she is presented as being vulnerable because she is being kidnapped. Using this stereotypical representation is key for the film as maybe younger audiences' can relate to her.

The male lead (kidnapper) is shown wearing dark clothing and his face remains a mystery at this point. He is presented as the unknown character because the audience doesn't know the full story behind his actions.

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

A. I would say the film is more Mainstream, so I think Working Title would be a more appropriate distributer of the film with their connection to Universal.

Working Title have distributed a number of successful films over the years, notably the thriller 'The Interpreter' (2005). The film has become Working Title's biggest three day opening weekend ever, with a gross revenue of approximately $172 million and opening at the number 1 spot in over 20 countries including the UK.

Working Title's latest film to be distributed is the thriller 'State of Play' with a gross revenue of $40,667,121. With Working Title's list of successful films, they would be more appropriate distributers.

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

A. As our audience research was aimed at 15 to 24 years olds, this is our prefered age range for our media product. The young actress used would attact in more of the younger audience, whilst also being gripped by the storyline.

Our media product is also aimed at those who enjoy medical thrillers, which was the majority vote in the audience research we conducted. This is why we decided to make our film a medical thriller, with our to male leads, one being a doctor and the other being the unstable kidnapper in the story.

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

A. There were many techniques in which we used to attract our audience, firstly with the kidnap storyline. Although this type of storyline is quite cliched, it can make for an exciting and gripping film.

The action of a school girl being kidnapped by an unstable man happens right at the beginning of the clip to keep the audience hooked by wanting to find out how the story develops.

Not only does this action at the start create tension, the non-diegetic sound of the music in the background which is a piano piece that changes in volume to make the action more effective in building that tension.

Besides the action and music, the role of the characters also attracted the audience because of the position they are in and how they deal with it. You have a vulnerable young girl who gets kidnapped by an unstable man with psychological issues, which draws the audience in to see how the story unfolds.

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

A. When constructing this product i've come to be more familiar when using technologies such as cameras and a Mac computers.

I personally thought that filming the product was quite straight forward, like using functions such as zoom and auto focus aswell as positioning the camera in the desired angle. However I think the most chalenging part was using the Mac computers for the editing. I wasn't familiar with using this particular computer model, so it took a while to learn how to cut scenes etc.

This is the way in which we cut scenes down by 'Split Video Clip at Playhead'.

I have also learnt how to add to our video clips, things like Audio, Transactions and Effects to make the video more effective.

Now it is much easier for me to access and operate iMovies aswell as editing, so I would have any problems in the future.

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

A.

Looking back at the preliminary task it wasn't anything spectacular, just ordinary shot to shots, over the shoulder, that sort of thing, also not that much time was spent on the editing of this task, so it was quite plain.

However moving on to a bigger project has given us the chance to broaden our knowledge of camera angles, shots and techniques like also inserting those transitions and effects to make the clip flow more fluently.

Now when you compare the preliminary task to the final product, you can see the significant steps and changes that were needed to be made in order to successfully film the thriller opening.

Shots were used from different angles, heights etc, and the end product gives us a sense of satisfaction.

Final Product!!!

Evaluation

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

The preliminary task helped in introducing you to the cameras and to iMoive and gave you a basic understanding of the cameras and software. However since the preliminary task and from working on the production of my final product. I have learnt it is important in having storyboards and being well prepared and organised is a key skill and necessity is producing a product. I have developed my camera skills such as using zooms, pans and more technical shots which we did not attempt during the preliminary. Also my editing skills have very much improved i know how to use imovies in more detail now since working on my final product i did not know how to make transitions or add effects on my preliminary task or how to use sound. Overall i think i have made a lot of progress and have learnt a lot about the development, production and editing of a media piece.

Evaluation

What have you learnt about technologies process of constructing this product?

My knowledge and understanding of cameras and the editing software iMovie has improved. I had no real experience using cameras before so it was a little daunting at first but it soon got easier. Using the cameras I found even shots that I thought were going to be simple were quite difficult depending on lighting conditions and location. We encountered problems such as filming in the direction of the sun and traffic in the car scenes. Technical difficulties we had were when trying to achieve close-ups of the mobile phone the camera kept going out of focus if we got to close. As well as you could see the reflections of the camera lens in the screen. However we did have many successful shots such as the tracking shot of the Mr Pratt's legs walking to post a letter. We placed the camera along side where he was going to walk and as he walked we moved the camera along side him. This had the effect of allowing the audience to follow him as he walked and created a sense of mystery and suspense as the viewer could not see his face, or identify him.







Another successful shot was of the father receiving the letter in the bungalow. I had to use the zoom setting and pull the camera up at the same time this made it more of an interesting shot and add diversity to our shots. From using the cameras I have learnt by doing different types of shots such as zooms, pans, using tri-pods and trackers shots it makes the product more visually interesting for the viewer. I now also understand why production of a film takes times and money. The editing software iMovie was also new to me, I found editing to be challenging and exciting as using iMovie you could see your production developing and you could modify it into it final product.








I have learnt how to add and remove transitions and effects such as ghost trail which created more tension in the kidnapping scene. I have learnt how to import files from the camera to a Mac computer, save audio files in iTunes then get them from the audio lists in iMovie and change the setting to audio to see the audio timeline. iMovie allowed us to cut out the diegetic sound which we did not need and place the non-diegetic theme tune on top. Split videos at playhead to cut shots in to two individual shots this was very useful in making shots long shots shorter, editing out mistakes and making our quick cuts scene.

Evaluation

How did you attract/address your audience?

We attracted our audience by quickly building up suspense and getting to the climax of the opening to keep the audience engages and interested. We edited the kidnapping scene to have quick, manic shots to represent the unexpected and to create tension as she gets kidnapped. During one of our editing session we decided to do this as just having a normal shot of her getting kidnapping was not very effective in attracting our audience. We were thinking of have fast rapid shots originally but due to timing and location it was hard to get these shots. It was more practical and easier to cut the shots we had done during editing. This increased our audience appeal as it would appeal to the demographics of some of our target audience who like action trillers, this scene became more exciting and increased the tension and fast paced action of the car scene.








The ending shot was a close up of the daughters mobile phone screen, showing the dad ringing. We used this shot to attract the audience members who like cliffhangers to keep watching as it ending on a cliff hanger, this created suspense and a motive for the audience to continue watching. It also appealed to the age range of our target audience as it used modern technology. As the generation of today is surrounded by new technology they will relate to this and appeal to their interests in technology.

Evaluation

Who would be the audience for your media product?

During the research stage we did questionnaires targeting an audience between 15 and 24 years of age. Our product would appeal to a mainstream target audience through the use of our representation of characters. We portrayed the main protagonist the father to be relatable and the daughter to be a stereotypical teenager. We achieve this through the use of sartorial codes and relatable mise-en-scene such as the school and the house which reflects normality and daily life. Some difficulties we encountered were establishing the characters persona, personalities and relationships. To improve I think we could have used the mise-en-scene better by placing family portraits of the father and daughter in the home, so the audience could make the link easily between daughter and father. This would help further appeal to a wider audience as parents could relate to the relationships and bonds between the family members. The daughter is around 15 and at school this would appeal to viewers of that age. Although are main target audience is a mainstream one our product could also appeal to a niche, independent audience as it require the audience to engage and question what is going on which is typical of a independent thriller it also has a low budget independent feel to it which would appeal to a more independent audience. As well as the sub-theme which is of a medical nature further on into the film and this increased the audience as it would appeal to an audience that liked the medical genre.

Evaluation

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

A mainstream media institution such as Sony Pictures Entertainment would be appropriate for distributing our production.

This is because our media product contains many quality and conventions of a mainstream genre thriller. The thematic concerns of characters such as flawed, and distressed Mr Pratt and the stereotypical school girl. As well as the technical codes such as quick cuts to enhances suspense. Mainstream Institutions have more income and therefore can spend more on distribution of the product so can reach a larger audience. Sony also has many sub-institution such as Sony Picture Classics that specializes in acquiring distribution rights to independent films and also producing low-budget productions. Our product has conventions such a non-linear narrative at the beginning at it start mid-action. It would be quite a low- budget production so Sony Pictures Classics could give it the right support in distributing it to its target audience. It also means that there is still a lot of money going into its distribution as it will be distributed by a organisation attached to the large conglomerate Sony

Evaluation

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Originally the daughter was going to be fifteen years of age however our actress was in fact 17 years old. We were going to use a school girl as the sartorial codes of her uniform would portray her as innocence . However we did not use the uniform in the end, instead we portrayed the school girl in ordinary teenage wear to convey her social group and age. We used a long shot of her walking and standing alone at the school gates to suggest her vulnerability. As the character has blonde/brown hair, this type of characteristic is usually associated with the stereotypical characters of the “blonde women” victims portrayed in thrillers.

The antagonist identity is not revealed until the kidnapping scene in the opening. The ‘villain’ or ‘psycho’ in thrillers often their identity is concealed such as in ‘Urban Legends’ to further enhance suspense and mystery about the character. We chose to use close up shots of the black gloves, his eyes and mid-shots of his waist down to keep his identity a secret. The sartorial codes of the gloves presents him to be more menacing and his dark casual clothing appeals to the audiences primal fears as his appearance is average which makes the kidnapping seem more distressing and out of the ordinary.

Evaluation

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

Our media products conveys many conventions typical of an opening to a psychological thrillers. After researching different ways of approaching how to film openings of psychological thrillers, such as creating a sense of the unknown using extreme close ups or mid-action openings. We decided to use the convention of captures the audiences interest by portraying something ordinary and mundane, that is interrupted by danger or drama. One of the films that I researched that uses this method was Blue Velvet. We began our opening with a character making tea which builds a false sense of security as the character is in the safety of his home. This was disturbed by the arrival of a kidnapping note and the actual kidnapping of the daughter. The beginning of our production is meant to create confusion for the viewer using the convention of suspense and tension. The music typically creates a tense atmosphere which adheres to the conventions of a thriller. There is a non-linear narrative which supports the conventions of an independent thriller as creates confusion, which enhances the suspense and tension. Thrillers often contain motifs which when researching auteur, Alfred Hitchcock we saw he used many motifs such as in the Psycho and The Birds. We used close-ups of black biker gloves so the audience can associate them with danger and distress. However we did not use the convention of extreme closes-ups to create suspense as in our audience research we asked “What do you expects to be in an opening of a Thriller” the answers were establishment of characters, dramatic scenes and the ending. To appeal to our audience we conveyed the convention of drama.

Anam Nasir's Evaluation

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

Our media product does go against the conventions of an archetypal thriller film. This is done by not making the daughter character too typical of what she is meant to be like in the title of the film, “Daddy’s Little Girl”. The daughter is dressed like a normal college girl, but not too girly. The reason for this title is to make the film sound like it is a pleasant film, the title conflicts this. We conveyed the rules and conventions of thriller film by making the film confusing and suspenseful throughout so the audience could be surprised later. To create atmosphere we did not show the kidnappers face throughout till the end of the scene. Using edgy music built up tension to make it more appealing to the audience. We tried to use different types of shots like close-ups and long-shots. When filming the kitchen scene we gradually zoomed into the steam of the tea, this was to create the feel of a fresh morning and new beginning, which contrasts with what, happens later, an end of an era, when the surgeon receives the ransom note.

Question Two:

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We presented different social groups to appeal to our audience; we have the main character that they could relate to. On of the main characters, the daughter, Heidi, is represented as a typical young student in college, this is represented by her non-uniform clothes and a bag she carries to keep her books in. the reason for this was so our audience could relate with Heidi and her outfit. The use of black intimidating gloves, on Mr Pratt was an idea of hiding true identity. Mr Tamworth, the surgeon, is represented as a loving and caring typical dad, who works as a surgeon and keeps his family happy. 

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

Personally I think that 20th Century Fox would be suitable for distributing our product as it has distributed many successful thriller films like Mirrors, Blindness and Max Payne.

This is 20th Century Fox's website where I did my further research. http://www.fox.co.uk/

Question Four:Who would be the audience for your media product?
To find our audience and to fulfil their needs we handed out a questionnaire that would be helpful to us. We handed out 20 questionnaires to teenagers over 15 as our certificate of our product is a 15.

We chose to have a sub genre, medical thriller, as most people from our questionnaire preferred this. The use of a medical thriller genre makes our product appeal to two different audiences which helped make our product more mainstream.
We were inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s work, which we studied in school. We looked at how the opening scenes were in his films like Vertigo, The Birds and all time legend Psycho. Although we had to look at something more modern so I was motivated by the film ‘Awake’ directed by Joby Harold which helped consider the storyline for our product. ‘Awake’ was also a medical thriller.

Question Five:
How did you attract/address your audience?

Too keep our audience engaged with our product we kept continuity editing which made the product look better and professional.
We also kept suspense in the beginning of our product to make sure our audiences attention wasn’t lost and were interested in who the mystery man was in the gloves and what he was trying to do. I think our suspense technique worked very well as we didn’t show the kidnappers full face till end of scene, which kept the film more tense.

Another way to keep our audience engaged we used music that would build up as the film got tense, which made it more appealing to our audience.

Question 6:
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Importing: We had to import the recorded video files from our camera, to a MAC computer using a USB that was connected to the camera and the computer. Importing the files to the MAC computer allowed us to use the 'iMovie' software to edit our media product.
We had saved the music files on a USB which had to be imported on to our MAC computer which was then saved on to iTunes. iMovie allowed us to drag the wanted music files from iTunes which was in the audio list to add to our media product.

Editing:iMovies allowed us to move around separate shots where desired.
Also if we liked a shot but wanted to cut a part of it, we could by clicking on Edit and Split Video at Playhead. We could split the video by using the arrow to split the video at individual shots; this made things much easier to get rid of unwanted scenes.
We decided to keep all the unwanted shots we took just in case we needed them in the future. This was helpful as most shots that we didn’t need at the beginning we needed them later. We were able to keep our shots safe in the clips section of iMovie.
The iMovie software allowed us to add transitions which made our production work look better. We used fades to intercut in between the shots.
iMovie also allowed is to get rid of diegetic sound, as this was unnecessary, this was easily done as we only had to click on one button.

With the help of iMovie our product was coming more to life and looked more professional like an actual film.
Filming: When filming in the kitchen we pulled up the blinds on the window, however this let in too much light. This made the picture quality on the camera less visible, so we adjusted the camera so it was clearer to see.

Question 7:
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Sound: The diegetic sound, when recorded didn’t come out clear. When characters talked it was unclear to understand what they were saying. Also the objects in the background could also be heard, footsteps of camera user walking, sound from classes in other rooms which was quite disturbing. So we decided to use no dialogue in our production piece as this would result in unclear dialogues. However there was another way we could have clear speech, which was to have a voiceover recorded over the video which would have taken up a lot of time. So overall we decide not to do this, and set with not using any diegetic sound except to use non-diegetic.

Characters: As a group we also learnt that not having professional actors would make our production values look low budget and tacky.

Filming: After filming and moving on to editing we realise that we needed to leave a few seconds before the actual acting taking place because if we added a transition it would cut the beginning off of the shot. We also understood that using long shots for our production, made things slow-moving and dreary.

Music and Sound

As music is one of the most important conventions of a film, I began looking for non- diegetic sound that would give a suspense or tense feeling and fit perfectly into the opening of our thriller.



To do this I started searching royalty free music on the internet. One of the websites I went to is http://www.freeplaymusic.com/. This site gives you a list of the type of music you would like to use, which you can also preview and download.

Another site I went on to was www.soundsnap.com . Apparently with this site you need to register/sign up, to get free downloads a month.
Instead, to get the sounds I used the sound recorder on my computer and recorded them off, making sure the quality came out good, which it did.

Another piece of non - diegetic sound that we possibly wanted to use was the heart monitor to flatline sound, since one of the main characters in the opening is a surgeon.
To do this I downloaded various heart monitor and flatline sounds from youtube and recorded some from sites like www.freesound.org and edited them so they would be as long.

Editing

Today me and Anam did some editing. We worked on where would be best to put the titles and credits, where they would come inbetween the shots. Also we edited the music to fit in time better with the atmosphere and pace of the scenes.

Final Days

We only have one shot left to shoot which is a shot inside the car with Mr Pratt. We realised during an editing session that we need to add a linking shot between a shot of Mr Pratt adjusting his mirror and another of him kidnapping Heidi create better continuity shots.

Motifs

A motif is a typical conventions of a thriller, auteur such as Alfred Hitchcock is recognised for his detail and symbolisms. Such as he uses round objects in Psycho like the extreme close up of the eye, the toilet, the shower head, the protagonist’s mouth and the drain. These were to represent and reflect the idea of eyes and being watched. In our Thriller we decide to use a motif of Mr Pratt’s gloves. The gloves are large biker gloves and the audience will recognise them as a symbol of threat and danger as they appear menacing and quite distressing. There are close ups of the gloves such as in the car on the steering wheel, also when he posts the letter. The gloves represent something out of the ordinary, they look surreal and odd as he posts the letter or waits in the car, it appeals to the audience primal fears.

Monday 30th March

On Monday we re-shot the scenes when Dr. Tamworth opens the letter. This time we closed the kitchen door so the chairs and the school table where not visible in the mise-en-scene. This re-shoot went really well and the shots we have produced improved.

I think the beginning of Blue Velvet is very effective openning,
it's setting is in a stereotypical America suburbia. This reflects to the audience a certain type of lifestyle, such as white picket fences and neat, tidy lawns. Blue Velvet uses motifs, in the opening shot it uses white picket fence and beautiful roses which symbolises romance, passion and blossoming families. There is a long shot of the street, to show every day daily life. It almost seems fake and surreal the way everyone appears content such as the waving fireman on the fire engine. The music reflects the
atmosphere of the neighbourhood, it is a 50s style song and in the lyrics it uses the phrase ‘blue velvet’ to reflect the title of the film. It has an upbeat tempo which enhances the surreal atmosphere. There is a shot of a man hosing his garden which then cut to a lady watching television. On the screen there is an image of a gun. The gun connote something bad is going to occur as the audience recognise the gun as a symbol of death. Typically of a thriller the peaceful setting is disrupted by a distressing turns of events. The man hosing his garden gets his hose stuck on a bush and then he has some sort of attack and dies. The hose getting trapped represents his veins or arteries becoming tight or blocked to cause his death. Using music is an important convention of the Thriller genre as it is used to increase tense and suspense. The upbeat tempo and the style of music create a tense and surreal atmosphere. The ending shot was a zoom from a long shot of the man lying on the grass to an extreme close of worms and bugs under the surface of the grass. This is very effective as it keeps the viewer engaged. It makes them curious as to what is happen as it is disturbing and makes the audience uneasy. From the opening conventions the viewer realsies this is not a mainstream production but more of an independent film.

Wednesday 25th March

Me and Anam shot the scenes within the bungalow using Mr Gibbs as Dr. Tamworth. Firstly we shot Dr Tamworth making tea in the kitchen. This shot conveys the conventions of a thriller as usually in an opening of a Thriller they portray the mundane, daily lifestyles and then as the opening continues begin to build up tension and suspense through the use of music, mise-en-scene, narrative etc. We also shot him picking up the letter of the floor, opening it and reading it. This was difficult to achieve as we needed to get an over the shoulder shot of him reading the letter so the audience can read what the letter says as well. We also had to shoot him dialling his phone and making a phone call. This would link to the last scene as it is of him ringing Heidi. This is where the audience makes establishes the relationship between Dr. Tamworth and Heidi.

Editing:
When we were editing we realised that in the mise-en-scene there were two chairs that were not meant to be in shot. This is because they are school chairs and do not match the decor of the rest of the kitchen. So we had to re-shoot the Letter opening shots.

Ideas for the name of our Thriller

-Daugther for a Daugther (As in an eye for an eye)
-An apple a day keeps the docter away
-Daddy's Little Girl
-The Clinic
-The Surgery
-Emergency
-Operation
-Flatline

Ideas for Kidnapping Note

These are some ideas for Mr Pratts Kidnapping Letter
Missing Someone?
Now YOU know how i feel?
i will be in touch.

By now your Precious daughter has been taking by me. You see im going to do to her what you put my daughter through Doctor.
Do not do anything until you hear from me again.

Wednesday 18th More Filming

Finally we shot the last car scenes! Which were an over the shoulder shot of the Mr Pratt sitting in the front of the car tapping the steering wheel. This is to symbolised he is waiting for Heidi to leave from school. Through the front window the audience can see where Heidi is going to leave school and Mr Pratt glances in that direction. The way he is tapping his hand creates a tense atmosphere as it represents him being impatience and re-enforces the idea that he is waiting for someone.

Wednesday 18th Editing

We then spend a period editing what we had done so far and realised that the last shots of the mobile phone screen were not very good. This was because the camera was shaking as we did not use a tripod and also because of the direction of the sun, the light of the camera and the camera itself was reflected in the screen.

Wednesday 18th

Today we began filming our thriller openings. Due to the good weather and timing we began by shooting all of the shots that include the car and Mr Pratt. The first shot was difficult as it required Mr Pratt driving on the main road and parking near by school. This meant not only did we have to make sure we achieved the correct shot with our actors but also had to look out for oncoming traffic. Within this scene we originally was going to have Mr Pratt drag Heidi into the car using a series of fast rapid cut shots to represent unexpected event to create tension for the viewer. However this was a difficult to achieve and as we had limited time and the location of the shot meant we changed to having a cut to a close up of Heidi’s feet being dragged into the car. This was a very effective shot as it portrayed the conventions of a thriller by creating dramatic tension. We then shot a close up to show Heidi’s facial expression to demonstrate her reaction as the kidnapper approaches her.
We then shot a close up of her mobile (which she dropped when she was been kidnapped) the screen showing her dad ringing. This would be are final shot.

Monday 16th

We experimented and explored the best ways to shoot the scenes in the bungalow. We set up the camera at the end of the hallway facing the door and when the character comes out of the kitchen you get a clear long shot of him walking and picking up the letter from the mat. A problem that occurred was how to go from a long shot to a close up of him holding the letter. We tested out different methods such as cuts and also zoom from the long shot to the close up. Also we questioned the position of the character should he walk away from the door and continue to open the letter in the hallway or kitchen or should he remain by the front door?

Storyboards

Extra Shots

We passed a deserted boarded up house. If we were to add any extra shots of the location of where Mr Pratt brings Heidi after he kidnaps her. This would be a possible choice as it has many conventions of the Thriller genre. It is intimidating, alone and empty, the audience will relate to this place as dangerous. Possible Shots could be longs shots at night as darkness creates a sinister and tense atmosphere.

( Pictures by Anam, Natalie and Christine)

Possible Location

We were going to use gate as where Heidi exits from school as the mise-en-scene is more appropriate as you can see the school buildings better. However the cars parked in the front are unnecessary and not needed in the shot. The previous location was a better choice as it is isolated but the viewer might not realise it is school grounds. We solved this problem as there was a school sign on the side of the gate which we included in the mid shots of Heidi waiting so the audience recognises it is school.

Locations

This Location is where Heidi exits from school. At this location we had a long shot of Heidi coming out of the gate and waiting to be picked up from school. Here is where Mr Pratt forces Heidi into his car. Problems with this locations are that it is by the main road and there is oncoming traffic which we had to be aware of.
It is a good location as it is isolated and quite deserted as there is not many people around. This further enhance the suspense as it present Heidi as being completely alone and Vulnerable.

Character Representation

Mr Pratt
Sartorial Codes:
Dark clothing to reflect his shady and sinister persona. Quite casually dressed and normal. His appearance is quite average, it makes his actions seem more horrific to the audience as it appeals to their primal fears as the murder does not stand out and could be anyone.
Personality:
On the outside he presents himself as regular which will be demonstrated in the car scenes when he is waiting for Heidi. The audience doesn’t know he is waiting to kidnap her so we will use non diegetic sound to create suspense. On the inside his rage is all contained and his angry is building up. It comes a climax when he is violently drags Heidi into the car.

Dr Tamworth
Sartorial Codes:
Suit or formal wear to suggest he is getting ready for work and represents he is professional.
Personality:
He is kind loving father and always felt the need to help others so became a surgeon

Heidi
Sartorial Codes:
Either school Uniform to visually suggest she has just finished school or casual wear.
Personality:
Ordinary teenager. However she is going to be portrayed as valuable and scared as the audience only sees her as she is being kidnapped.

Treatment-Final

This is our final Treatment

Dr Tamworth is a highly qualified Surgeon, responsible for saving hundreds of lives throughout his career. Three years ago he was not able to save a girl’s life during a complicated operation. Emily, fifteen years old, dies on the operating table. Emily is the only daughter of Mr. Pratt, who had already lost his wife in a tragic car accident. As a result of the two deaths, Mr. Pratt has a mental breakdown, which leads him to become a patient at Springfield Hospital. Mr. Pratt, grieving the loss of his wife and child he loved, believes Dr Tamworth was the cause of his daughter Emily’s death. Overcome with anger and hatred Mr. Pratt spent his time in Springfield hospital plotting to avenge the death of his daughter. Mr. Pratt knew that Dr Tamworth also had a daughter the same age as his own that went to the local secondary school.

One morning, as Dr Tamworth is at home preparing for his shift at the Hospital, he receives an unmarked threatening letter, through the letter box.

Dr Tamworth’s daughter Heidi is finishing school, waiting by the school gates when a car quickly pulls towards her and she is dragged into the car.

Mr. Pratt has formulated a plan to kidnap Heidi and using a recreated operating theatre in an abandoned house, torments Dr Tamworth’s daughter to satisfy his revenge. Dr Tamworth worried if he gets the police involved then Mr. Pratt would kill his daughter so tried to find out the location of his daughter on his own. Receiving more letters unknowably from Mr. Pratt suggesting the location of his daughter. He finds Heidi and calls the police, but when they reach the abandoned house Mr. Pratt is know where to be found. Dr Tamworth returns home with Heidi safe. However later that evening they receive another letter, “This isn’t over” it reads.

By Natalie

Treatment-Draft

This is the draft I made for our treatment

Mr Tamworth is a highly qualified doctor who a few years ago incidentally wasn’t able to save a young girls life during an operation, Emily, who is the only daughter of Mr Pratt who had already lost his wife in tragic car accident. Mr Pratt went through traumatic incidents which lead him to become a mental patient at Springfield Hospital.
One day Mr Pratt escapes from the hospital, he had spent his entire time at Springfield’s coming up with ideas to get his revenge on Mr Tamworth as he believes was to blame for Emily’s death. Later that day Mr Pratt goes to Mr Tamworth’s house posting a threatening letter. Knowing that Mr Tamworth has a daughter of his own he had had the perfect plan to kidnap his daughter Heidi.
Heidi is a bright young girl who attends Burntwood School. After school that day, not realising, Mr Pratt is waiting outside for Heidi. As he pulls up near the gates and pulls Heidi in the car whilst she picks up her phone call from her dad, but doesn’t get a chance to listen to what he has to say.
Mr Pratt takes Heidi to a deserted building where he threatens to kill her. He makes Heidi call her dad and tell him to come to the deserted building but if the police come he would kill Heidi. However Mr Pratt still wants to kill Heidi in front of Mr Tamworth like he had to watch his daughter die.
Mr Tamworth turns up with the police and medical nurses that take Mr Pratt back to Springfield Hospital.

By Anam Nasir

Audience Research

To help us expand the perceptive of our target audience, we designed and handed out a questionnaire to 20 people asking them psychographic and demographic questions based on the Thriller genre.
Below are the results of the questionnaires we produced to help us gain an understanding of what appeals to our target audience. Our production piece is a certificate 15 so we aimed our questioned at 15 to 24 year olds.



From our results the majority of people we asked considered suspense to be the main element to make a really good thriller. This has shown us that we need to focus on creating suspense as a convention of our thriller to keep our audience engaged.


The outcome of this question has come to a conclusion that the majority of our target audience prefer Medical thrillers. This persuaded us to make our production piece a medical thriller.

We also asked our audience “What was the last Thriller film you watched? If you enjoyed it what kept you interested?” the replies were mostly films that had music and suspense as said by one of our partaker “the suspense and use of music kept me interested and tempting to watch all of it”. We also asked them “What do you expect to be in an opening of a Thriller?” we gave them a list of options and most people chose “Establishment of characters”, “Suspense”, “Dramatic scenes” and “The ending” to be shown before and put together on how the ending takes place.

The questionnaire we put together and handed out to our target audience helped us increase an understanding of our target audience and how we can appeal to them. We are now ready to move towards the story plots and treatment ideas for our Medical Thriller.

Research by Natalie, Anam and Christine

Analysing 'Donnie Darko': Sleepwalking Scene

The clip I analysed is from the Psychological thriller Donnie Darko, directed by Richard Kelly. Donnie is a teenage boy who suffers from paranoid schizoprenia, and finds himself sleepwalking and commiting a series of crimes. This character is typical of the thriller genre because like most lead characters suffer from a psychological or physiological flaw.
When we see Donnie walking towards the camera he is in focus, wheras the rest of the shot behind him is out of focus. This shows he is the main focus in the shot until it dissolves.
The editing, after the crash that sends a shock through the house, is done in slow motion, because it is used to create suspense because we the audience want to know what is happening, so the scene is slowed down.
The non-diegetic sound that plays in the background throughout the scene is like an echo that gradually gets louder, which is used to create suspense in the scene.
The small diegetic sounds you hear, like the slight tremble of the crystal chandelier as well as the opening and closing of the door, are used to explain what else is going on in the scene.
The time of day in the clip i've chosen is at night so the scene is naturally dark, with the occasional light you see from windows and light bulbs. The effect the limited lighting has on the scene is that it points out the significant points of the scene, so the audience can focus more on the main object, that being Donnie.
There is the Mise en-scene of the lamps in the background to add a fraction of light, so we know what's going on.

Analalysing 'The Godfather': Opening Scene

I’ve chosen to analyse is the opening scene from ‘The Godfather’. The reason I have chosen this clip is because it is very typical of a thriller genre. The non-diagetic music starts off immediately from a blank black screen. This makes the audience concentrate on only the music and to get into the mood of the movie. The word ‘father’ is held up by strings like a puppet, this maybe suggests that Gods hand is taking control. Also it gives us an idea about the film, that maybe it is about someone who has a lot of power and controls everyone’s movements like a puppet. The music playing is of a trumpet, the sound and flow of the music is slow and very tense like the blues. The calmness is used to make the audience feel comforted when watching the movie but has a twist and the disturbing atmosphere of the music makes it edgy, which makes it typical of a thriller genre. The blank black screen fades into a close-up of the Italian man. He speaks as if in a dramatic monologue and talking to the audience. We see he is wearing a suit, very smart in black and white. As the close-up of the Italian man zooms out to a mid shot we see his clothes and the mise-en-scene. There is silence in the background, no music or any diagetic sound. This is very typical of a thriller genre as the audience is drawn into what the Italian man has to say and listen to him without any distractions. The scene is very tense like a typical thriller. The audience are still unaware of who the Italian man is talking to. The Italian man is now on the right side of the frame making him less important. Us as an audience read from left to right, so now we are mainly concentrating on the Italian mans surroundings. The audience now discovers who the Italian man is talking to, we see a man’s hand out of focus resting on his face, and we assume that he is resting it on the table or an armchair. The Italian man breaks out this is the first time we see him taking his eyes away from the man he is talking to. The shot we are looking at is a view point shot from behind the man on the table. He is still out of focus and we do not recognise him and he is still a stranger to us as he is hidden. This effect makes us feel as if we are there. The Italian man looks up to the man handing over the glass of water, doesn’t thank him but gives him a gesture of thankfulness. This whole scene is shot in one shot, without any cuts. The scene zooms out throughout the whole scene to create an intense atmosphere and real time effect to make the audience feel they are there, like a typical thriller movie.

Analysing Hitchcock The Birds: School scene

Melanie Daniels is the Protagonist portrayed in The Birds. In the clip she is unaware of what is going on and has her back to the birds. By doing this suggests she is exposed and vulnerable and open to attack as she is unaware of the further gathering of the birds but the audience can see.
The camera shots are used to enhance the still surrounding before the gathering of the birds. The long shot of her walking to the bench to show she is alone and the empty climbing frame in the playground. There is a rural peaceful countryside feel to the environment and she looks alone and vulnerable. The playground connotes a place of innocence so the audience consider it to be not a dangerous place. Typically of a thriller the still and ordinary setting is interrupted by something to create suspense for the audience. In this case it is the arrival of the first bird on the climbing frame. The camera cuts from mid shots of Melanie Daniels smoking to the accumulating birds, to increase suspense. This camera technique is frequently used, the camera goes from subject to subject this creates a sense of panic and urgency.
The mise-en-scene In Hitchcock’s films are very significant because he is well known for being very detailed in not just the camera shots but also the set up of the surroundings. The construction of the scene is vital in thrillers to create an atmosphere. The landscape of the school playground with the hills in the background makes her appear alone and vulnerable as she is in a wide open space open to attack.
There is no non diegetic sound in the clip, typically sound and music is used to create a tension and an atmosphere. However in this clip Hitchcock uses diegetic sound of the children singing a nursery rhyme inside of the school to create an atmosphere. The children are singing repeatedly this further increases the sense of innocence’s as they are unaware of the danger that is building up from the birds gathering outside.
Hitchcock is well known for his use of motifs and symbolism to portray meaning and messages to the audience. By using motifs makes the films more visually interesting and more simulating.

Write this before I realised the clip would not let me upload. sorry

Year 12 Review

From the beginning of year 12 as a class we have been focusing on thriller genre films. We started looking at Mainstream and Independent cinema and the differences. We have been watching thriller films, focusing on the openings. The Birds, Memento, Vertigo and Peeping Tom are many of what we watched. We focused mainly on Alfred Hitchcock and his directing work. We learnt that Hitchcock focused on primal fears such as birds and the fear of heights. We also looked at continuity editing and the effect of it, the effect is classic Hollywood filming. We then did a subsidiary task, which we first planned out on a storyboard. We got to be more familiar with the cameras and the equipment and how to use them. We then started shooting which didn’t take much of our time as we didn’t require to film a lot. However we did have problems with finding actors for our subsidiary task. We started editing using the editing programme on the computer provided from the school, and learnt new techniques on how to edit the clip we made. We have learnt a lot so far and now we are confident enough to start filming our final product.