Props Used In Film

Balaclava: We wanted to use a balaclava to conceal and hide the identity of the victim from the viewers, it helps add to the mysterious nature of the film. The fact that the victim is wearing a balaclava could mean that all is not what it seem (i.e. the victim is actually the bad guy).

Gun: This prop will be used to empower the enemy and make the 'bad guy' seem much more efective. The gun will be key in the perpatrator of the crime taking charge of the situation in which he kills the victim

Mercedes Benz C-Class: The car will be an integral part of the storyline. This is where the murder will take place, and where the victim will be thrown into the boot.

Cigarette: The murderer will be smoking a cigarette after he commits the atrocity that has been aforementioned.

Analysis of Questionnaire 2/Target Audience Research

I can conclude from my questionnaire that everyone I handed out the questionnaire to have some sort of linking of thriller films. To be honest they only had two choices and only one would allow them to complete the questionnaire but I'll come to that later. When asked about their personal favourite thriller film I found that the film with the most admirers was 'Pulp Fiction', and this film was closely followed by 'The Godfather'. Overall the choices chosen were very diverse, some people put down films that were not on the list, they did this in the space that I provided. Some of the other choices included the likes of 'Collateral', 'Strangers on a Train' and 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'.

For my next question I wanted to find out a general personal opinion from everyone who completed the questionnaire on what they thought was the most famous thriller film of all time. The verdict was pretty much unanimous, almost every single person went for 'The Godfather', however three people went for 'The Shining' and one person gave their own suggestion of 'The Third Man'.

For the next question I gave the public six key conventions that are usually seen in thrillers. The options were: Murder, Robbery, Violence, Romance, Criminals and Heroes. The most ticked boxes were murder,violence, criminals and heroes, all with eight ticks respectively. Choices such as robbery, and romance were not as popular, but not by much.

For the next question I asked about famous thriller directors in order for me to find out their reputation and how widespread it is. I was not surprised by the feedback that I received as absolutely everyone knew Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino. Also really well known were Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese. The least well known film director was Michael Mann, I found this quite surprising as I fell that he has made one of the best thrillers ever made in 'Collateral'.

For my final question I asked the public for their opinion of what they thought was the best thriller film of the decade (2000-2010). The choices that they were given were: Gladiator, Donnie Darko, I-Robot, Million Dollar Baby, The Bourne Supremacy or Kill Bill Vol.1 & 2. The most chosen option was 'The Bourne Supremacy', and feedback for this film icluded "A good and accurate representation of the book". I left a line for the public to write any films that they felt were the best, only one person chose to use this line and the film that they wrote down was 'The Good Shepherd'. Looking at the answers for my questionnaire, Donnie Darko seems particularly popular as well. Also someone else chose 'The Departed', stating in the process that "Was an immense movie - Scorsese at his best with a massive cast (until they all died). The Dark Knight is a popular choice but Departed much more my cup of tea"

Possible Drawbacks of the Questionnaire

Unfortunately my questionnaire has been critically panned. There are many reasons to this. It has been claimed that I did not indicate whether the respondants could select more than one option to the question that they were required to answer. It also was not clear as to whether the answer to the first question was 'no' whether the respondants needed to answer any other questions throughout the questionnaire. Some of my questions were considered to be subjected and were based on my own personal opinions. I was criticised  vocally for my views on what is seen as a 'thriller' differed to other people. An example of this criticism "I'm not sure I'd call any of these 'thrillers' (In reference to my sixth and final question) but that is just a personal view". The final criticism was for my listed conventions of the thriller genre. There were apparently not enough options available, I agree with this as I should have include a thriller technique such as suspense, as without suspense a 'thriller' would not be a 'thriller'.

Production and Shooting Scheduling

Saturday 20th November

We will start shooting our film, we know that we are late but this is where we begin to catch up. We will film in Croydon Crematorium, which is just past Thornton Heath Pond. we chose this location because it helps to fit the fundamental codes and conventions of the thriller genre, for example mystery and death.

Questionnaire 2

1) Do you like thriller films?

Yes

No

2) If so, what is your favourite thriller film?

The Silence of the Lambs

Psycho

         Fight Club

The Godfather

Pulp Fiction

The Dark Knight

Any Others

3) Which thriller film do you consider to be the most famous?

The Godfather

Se7en

Terminator 2

The Shining

Inglorious Basterds

Die Hard

Any Others

4) In a thriller what would you expect to see?

Murder

Robbery

Violence

Romance

Criminals

Hero

5) Which of these famous thriller directors do you know?

Alfred Hitchcock

Michael Mann

Steven Spielberg

Quentin Tarantino

Martin Scorsese

6) What is the best thriller film of the decade?

Gladiator

Donnie Darko

I – Robot

Million Dollar Baby

The Bourne Supremacy

Kill Bill Vol.1 & 2

Questionnaire

1). What is your favourite film genre
  Horror
  Thriller
  Action 
  Comedy
  Romance
2). What gender are you?
  Male
  Female
3). How old are you? (Choose an age range)
15-20
  21-25

  26-30
  30 and above
4). Do you rent/buy DVD's
  Yes
  No
5). Do you download films?
  Yes
  No
6). What is your favourite film and why?

Audience Profile for Thriller film

The certificate rating of our film:

We have decided to rate our film as an 18. This has been done because of the fact that our film has a strong feel of horror, and the sub-genre of this would be supernatural/psychological. Obviously because of the fact that a film happens to contain a horror theme, it will contain blood, gore and graphic scenes which would probably without a doubt cause distress amongst younger viewers. Our film also contains blasphemy which is not suitable for youngsters. The narrative of the movie is very awkward with many twists and turns which are also littered with mysterious events. As a consequence the viewers will have to watch the whole movie and actually pay attention (not falling asleep) to understand what is going on. Our film is very similar to usual psychological thrillers, in that it will not have a clear cut ending. The ending will be as mystifying as the rest of the film. In an action thriller for example the conventional ending would be for the good guy (protagonist) to come out on top in every possible situation, even the most absurd turnarounds can occur. Certain scenes in film will be lurid and will without-a-doubt cause cerebral ruin.

Production Logo Research

A production logo is a logo that is used by movie studios and television production companies, it is a way of branding their productions. These are commonly seen at the commencement of a movie and the end of a movie. It is also seen at the end of a television programme or a TV movie. The most famous logos over the years are the 20th Century Fox searchlights, Universal Studio's globe, Paramount's mountain, Warner Bros' shield, Lionsgate's gate/lion, MGM's Leo the Lion, Columbia's Torch Lady and the castle from Sleeping Beauty for Walt Disney. Production Logos have motion and synchronized sound. Production logos have now expanded to programmes like South Park and video games (consoles) have their logos to. Companies such as Sega and Playstation started their own logos in  their firmware.

The famous production logo of 20th Century Fox

Universal's Globe

Paramount's majestic mountain logo

Warner Bros. infamous production logo

Columbia Pictures (Sony) Torch Lady logo

These are probably the most iconic production logos of past and present.



Presentation/Pitch for Thriller Film Thrillerproposalpresentation 101109060526-phpapp01View more presentations from AFL7.

Thriller Conventions

Thrillers have many codes and conventions, which usually are very important to use in order to make a thriller work. However this is not particularly the case, because films such as 'Phone Booth' have bucked the trend. Firstly the main convention of a thriller is that there almost a guarantee of there being some sort of crime involved in the core of the narrative. This is usually used to keep the audience hooked. Next up, thrillers usually have an intrictate narrative structure, with things such as false leads, traces and resolutions. This convention is used to keep the audience inquiring and to make them work their brains, which results in powerful enigmas. This actually leads me up to the next convention, which is. A narrtive pattern of initiating enigmas which the audience will expect to be resolved. This will also keep the viewer engaged as they want to see the possible end result. The next convention of a thriller is that they mostly involve a protagonist who is consistently dis-empowered which leads to them being coaxed into a somewhat difficult web of intrigue by the antagonist. There is a point in every thriller where the protagonist and the antagonist clash (usually in a brawl scene). The protagonist will nearly always have the disadvantage, but will almost always come out victorious.

In my view one of the most important conventions of the thriller genre is the theme of identity. This is used so that the audience can keep an eye on each individual character. Also helps us as the audience to identify the protagonist and the antagonist. Themes of mirroring are used to show that there may be numerous people involved in the same situation. Themes of voyeurism are quite frequently used. Voyeurism involves someone spying on someone without that person knowing. This is usually shown through a POV shot or perhaps through a sniper rifle viewfinder, this makes the audience feel a part of the storyline. In almost every thriller, the protagonist has some sort of flaw which is always exploited by the antagonist. These flaws are plainly obvious for the viewing public to spot, however the antagonist only finds out via a revealtion. Following on from that, it places the antagonist in an imperious position.

The first thing that we usually see in films is the title sequence and the titles often emulate an outlook of the protagonist/antagonist's cerebral welfare. The title sequence usually epitomizes the type of film it also gives the viewer/s an opportunity to view what might happen later on in the film. There is uaually a scene towards the end of the film which places the protagonist in peril. This is used as a climaxing device, it is used to keep the audience hooked up until that moment. This is mostly solved before the ceasing of the film and it leaves the audience feeling good. Finally, this is probably, without a doubt the most important convention of the thriller genre. A thriller need a mise-en-scene that reiterates the protagonist's predicament. This just needs to be relevant to the storyline e.g. if the character is angry they should be placed in an unhappy place, which is dark and gloomy.

Thriller Sub-Genre Case Study

Psychological thriller incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre in addition to the original traits of the thriller genre. This genre can also border into the horror genre. In a psychological thriller, characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies (common in action-thrillers), but they rather rely on their mental resources. There are three literary devices used in psychological thrillers, and these are: stream of consciousness, first-person narrative and a back story. Consistent themes used within the psychological thriller genre include: reality (the quality of being real), perception (a person's own interpretation of the world around them using their senses), mind (the human consciousness) , existence/purpose (the object for something that exists), identity (the definition of one's self) and death (the cessation of life, which really explains everything). Contributers to the psychological thriller sub-genre include the likes of Brad Anderson, David Fincher, the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese.