Further Audience Feedback

After looking at our audience feedback, we have decided to expand it to gain a better idea of how successful the thriller opening was. We wanted  to use a different form of media to display our findings, and therefore chose to create a small video. Over the next few days, we will be filming several people's opinions of our thriller, and will then be creating a video with the footage.

Audience Feedback

To estimate how successful our thriller was, we asked several people for their opinions on our opening. We will try to show our findings in a variety of ways, as this will allow us to gain an in-depth and detailed response.

After showing our thriller opening to several people, we asked three people to answer some questions for us. The three people were of different ages: 17, 21 and 38. Moreover, two of the participants were female, whilst one was male. Below are the results.

What did you enjoy the most about the thriller?

Female, 17
"I enjoyed the scene where the girl was walking, trying to get a signal and then running back. I liked this because the editing matched the pace of plot, and built up tension."

Male, 21
"I liked the shots of the stalker's eyes, as it made us realise that the stalker was following the girls, and getting closer and closer to them."

Female, 38
"I like the opening, as I could see what was happening with the stalker, whilst the girls were setting off. This made me understand that the two sets of characters were related, and hinted at them meeting at some point in the film."

How do you think we could have improved the opening?

Female, 17
"I would have liked to have seen more of the other two girls, rather than the main one. I didn't really get to know them that much, and then they disappeared."

Male, 21
"The stalker's weapon was a bit unrealistic. I don't see how he managed to attack the two girls with his bare hands and a small piece of rope."

Female, 38
"The section where the girls walk from the house to the camp site is slightly slow. Maybe it would have been better to quicken it a bit."

Would you watch the remainder of the film?

Female, 17
"Yes, I want to see if the main girl dies or not."

Male, 21
"Yes. I want to know who the stalker is, and what happened to the two girls that went missing."

Female, 38
"No. Unfortunately, I don't see how the story could develop and continue for an extra hour or so."

Judging by the response from the three participants, the thriller opening was a success. As suspected, it was least successful with the eldest participant - the thriller was not aimed at her age group, therefore, we believed that she would be least likely to enjoy the thriller.

We asked these participants, and the others that watched the thriller, to state a few words that summed up our thriller. Using these words, I created a wordle, which clearly shows all the words used, and their popularity.

Lost Signal - Our Thriller Opening

Evaluation of Finished Production - Question 7

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

Looking back at our preliminary task, we noticed a lot of errors, and vast amounts of work of a poor quality. When comparing the task to our thriller opening, we can see a big improvement in every aspect of our work.

Our preliminary task was not really prepared that well, as we only had half of our storyboard completed. This meant that when we were going to film, we had to improvise and make the shots up as we went along. This resulted in a lack of variety with regards to the type of shots and angles used. When we prepared our thriller, we made sure the storyboard was completed, so we knew exactly what shots we had to shoot. This helped us later on in the project, as we always had a handful of shots to select from, as we not only filmed the shots on the storyboard, we also added a few spontaneously.

Sound was a major stumbling block during our preliminary project. When we were editing, we were not able to hear the sound properly, so had to guess when to cut the sound. After we uploaded the piece to YouTube, we noticed that the sound lacked continuity, and some of the dialogue was cut off. To prevent this from happening again, we made sure that the computer we were working on had functioning speakers. Moreover, in some scenes, we also used the sound from one of the pieces of footage, and used several different shots. This provided us with the continuity we were after.

One way we could have prevented the sound problems in our preliminary task would have been to add music. We did not use music at the time, which meant that we had to keep the sound we had already. We used music in our thriller opening, however. This created a tense atmosphere, and meant that our thriller wasn't boring, and held the audience's attention.

The quality of our shots was something we wanted to improve drastically. Our two pan shots were of a low standard, which meant that overall, the piece was also of a low standard. We worked hard on our filming technique, and often filmed scenes multiple times to make sure we had the perfect take.

Our editing skills improved drastically, as we began to understand the types of transitions and effects available. This helped our product reach a higher quality.

During the filming process, we also tried to improve our framing, by obeying photographical rules such as the rule of thirds. This would make our thriller more pleasing to the audience's eye, and give the piece a more professional feel.

Evaluation of Finished Production - Question 6

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

Evaluation of Finished Production - Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

We used a variety of thrillers conventions to capture and hold the audience's attention.We included a false build up of tension, hidden identities, suspense and more tension. These, and some others, help to create a tense and interesting build to the climax of the thriller. I also think that the music we used help create a more interesting experience, as it was of a fast pace and matched the editing.

To make sure we were addressing our audience, we referred back to our survey. By casting three females all of similar age to our audience, it allows the viewer to become more attached emotionally with the character. The audience can sympathise and be scared for the characters, and may also be more thrilled as it could happen to them. This was another reason why we chose ordinary-looking girls. We didn't want the characters to seem out of place in the setting - we wanted our thriller to look at real as possible. We believe that the more real something is, then the more likely people are to believe it, and immerse themselves into the world of the film.

As the protagonist and supporting actresses were female, we thought we should cast a male for the role of the antagonist. This would be more daunting for the female audience, as men are generally stronger than women physically, therefore at an instant disadvantage. This would mean that the audience would sympathise further with the female characters, and would be interested in finding out their fate.

The locations we used added to the overall realism of the piece, as they were a house and a park. These places are common in our target audience's lives, and are not out of the ordinary.

Our think that our thriller opening would encourage the viewer to continue watching the remainder of the film. I think this because our opening finishes on a cliffhanger. The protagonist screams as the screen cuts to black, and the audience do not know whether she survives or not. Moreover, there are a number of unanswered questions that will entice the viewer into watching more of the film.
These questions include:

• Who is the antagonist?
• Why are they stalking the protagonist?
• Where have the two friends gone?
• What will the antagonist do the the protagonist?

Evaluation of Finished Production - Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media project?

Before filming our thriller, I created a survey using surveymonkey. From the results, we could easily identify our audience, and what the audience expected from our thriller.

The audience of our thriller would be teenagers and young adults. We believe this is correct as this age range tend to watch a large amount of thriller films. Moreover, the type of thrillers they watch are either horror or disaster. Psychological thrillers came fourth in my survey. From my results, it is easy to see that teenagers are highly interested by the genre. Also, we believe that a large section of our audience will be female, as the survey results indicate a majority of females.

We believe that our target audience would want to watch our thriller as we have catered to them. Our protagonists and antagonist are teenagers, and three out of the four cast members are female. The characters are of a middle or low working class, and are therefore relatable - something which is fundamental in a character.

One question in my survey asked the participants to state three words they associated with 'Thriller'. I would then try to implement the useful ideas into our thriller, to create a film designed exactly for the viewer. The wordle I create at wordle.net is below.

From the wordle, I can easily see that mystery, action and suspense are key elements that must be included. Also, other answers such as 'Michael Jackson' and 'rollercoaster' may seem useless, but they do help us get a better understanding of what the audience wants. When people say 'rollercoaster' they mean a series of high and low points within the film, as well as the theme park ride. From this, we can see that the audience do not wish to be thrilled from start to finish, and do want some parts of the film where they can be more relaxed. The term 'Michael Jackson' also leads me to think of Jackson's 'Thriller' music video. The video was, and still is, iconic and pushed many boundaries. Therefore, I believe that we should be striving to create an iconic scene, or entire film, as well as challenging the limits of thriller films.

Another question asked in my survey was why the participant liked a particular genre the most. One participant stated "Beacuse its so lifelike and it could happen in the future." This indicates that the audience want to witness something that isn't completely ludicrous. I hope to create a balance in our thriller, where something unlikely, yet possible occurs. Moreover, if the victim is just an average individual, the film seems more authentic and real. The film 'The Strangers' for instance, uses two ordinary characters as their protagonists. The antagonists, and their motives are unlikely to be found in the real world, yet it is not completely impossible. This leaves the audience with doubts in their mind during the film, and for a long period after.

Evaluation of Finished Production - Question 3

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

After some research, I have found several different film companies and institutions that could potentially distribute our film. I have researched into companies that have produced psychological thrillers in the past, and also companies that distribute a wide variety of films.

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation would be an obvious choice. They are probably the most well-known film company in the world, and produce many hit films every year. Their success is mind-blowing, and any film produced by them is at an immediate advantage. Some of the films distributed by the company include: 'Avatar', 'The Simpsons Movie' and the classic 'Sound of Music'. The company's success appears set to continue as films such as 'X-Men: First Class' and 'Titanic 3-D' are scheduled for release in the coming years.
A problem with this company, however, is that few low-budget films are produced by them. Many of the films released by Twentieth Century Fox are high-budgeted, visually spectacular blockbusters. As our film would have a low budget, and no Special FX, it would be extremely difficult for us to sell our film to the company. Therefore, Twentieth Century Fox is not the best option for our film.

Universal Studios is another well-known company that could possibly distribute our film. The company has produced many notable films including: 'Dracula', 'Frankenstein', in 1931, and more recently 'Drag Me To Hell' and 'The Fourth Kind'. Moreover, Universal Studios are set to release other thriller movies, which include the tongue-in-cheek 'The Cabin in the Woods', and -thriller-sci-fi-action-romance film "The Adjustment Bureau. This company would be a great choice, as the films they produce span a wide range of budgets and visual effects. However, there would be stiff competition for funding from the company.

Dimension Films are another company that could distribute our film. After being founded in 1992, the company has set upon distributing a number of movie franchises, which include the latter 'Halloween' films, 'Scream' and the horror spoof 'Scary Movie'. If the movie were to be produced with this company, there is a high possibility of a sequel, and 'Lost Signal' could potentially become a franchise, much like the films stated before. Dimension Films work closely with Miramax Films, which means that our film may be backed by two companies, rather than one.

Miramax Films works a lot with Dimension Films. Working with either company would be a great option. However, prior to 2010, the company had not produced a film for five year. Only four films have been released since December 2005, all of those coming in the latter half of 2010. Moreover, only two films have been scheduled for release in 2011. This means that if our film is released by the company, the institution's full attention will be on our movie. On the contrary, though, the lack of releases could indicate a downwards spiral of the company.

Hammer Film Productions is a company that is known for its collection of horror films that dominated the genre from the mid-1950s through to the 1970s. The company was in hibernation from the 80s onwards, but was recently purchased by John De Mol. The company have since made films such as 'Let Me In' and 'The Resident' which is in post-production stages.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a possible option. The company boast films such as the 'Saw' series, 'Dogma' and 'Fahrenheit 9/11'. The company seem to produce a lot of movies, which would indicate that there would be a lot of competition to get our film distributed by them.

Another method of distribution would be using the internet. Hammer Film Productions recently released 'Beyond the Rave'. The film was released in twenty sections, with each section lasting four minutes. The videos were released onto the then popular Myspace, and gain a great deal of attention. This is one possible route we could go down if we were going to create and distribute the entire film.

The same idea could be carried out on other websites too, such as: Youtube, Blogger, Wordpress, Facebook and many other regularly visited sites.

Below are two advertisements for television shows aimed at the same audience our thriller is directed towards. The first video is the 'Skins' trailer for the fifth series, and the second video is for the Christmas Edition of 'Misfits'. Both of these are effective means of propaganda.
The first video is an introduction to the newest series of 'Skins'. This means that the video has to be vague, yet interesting. This is something we could potentially place in our advertising. The second video is just for one episode, so it is slightly more detailed, yet it doesn't provide the audience with any major plot twists. The second video could be used as a guide if we decided to release our film in separate sections, like 'Beyond the Rave'. These trailers could appear both on the internet, or on television or even both. e4 is known to show one trailer on their television channel, and several on their website. This gets the audience to almost research the show, and find out as much as possible about it. This hooks the audience, and creates a fan base - something which is fundamental.

Other forms of propaganda include those that appear on public transport. This is an ideal way of sending a message to large numbers of people. When commuting, the public spends a long time waiting for the arrival of their vehicle. When waiting, the people have nothing to do besides reading the advertisements printed over the walls, on the sides of buses and even in airports. Moreover, even when on their particular mode of transport, the passengers cannot help but look at the large amounts of advertisements printed on the inside of their train, or on the numerous billboards they pass. This form of advertising is very effective, but also very costly, as many companies wish to advertise there.

Below is an example of a poster I made for our film.

Evaluation of Finished Production - Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our thriller opening only contains a limited number of characters - three female and one male. As the male appears to dominate the three females, the females could be perceived as weak and vulnerable. Moreover, the male could be seen as strong and more powerful than the women. Feminists would believe that this is a negative view of women, as they are subsidiary to men.
This was a deliberate choice as we wanted to use three females who were vulnerable We felt that this would make the thriller appear more realistic and believable; thus bringing it closer to the the Hollywood standard. Furthermore, a strong and mentally unstable male would enhance the realism within the film. Due to last minute changes, however, our male character was played by a female. Plus, our original female cast was changed dramatically. As a result, our ideas had to be altered slightly, meaning that the characters would be perceived in a different way than we originally thought.

Original Cast

New Cast

Unfortunately, we did not use any ethnic minorities in our thriller. Three of characters were white, whilst the other was mixed race. We do not feel as though our cast is the most diverse we could have chosen, but due to the limited amount of people who wanted to take part, and the unreliability of the original cast, we settled on choosing our close friends, as we knew they would be comfortable around us. We would have liked to include some actors/actresses from a more ethnic background, and would certainly consider it if we were to do the project again.

Sexuality was not explored in our thriller, as we did not feels it was necessary. The antagonist's obsession was not supposed to be sexual in anyway; the obsession was based around the character of Jed Parry from the book 'Enduring Love'. Parry's obsession was about love, but not about the sexual side of the feeling. We wanted to take this aspect of the book, and instill it into our thriller. We feel this was effective, as the obsession seemed more of a darker topic. Also, the lack of a sexual element in the thriller thus far would allow the audience to feel comfortable with the subject matter.

The class structure is explored, but only on a really shallow level. We show the female characters as a higher class to the male character. The females are well-dressed, and equipped with the items they need for the camping trip. The male character is dressed shabbily, indicating a low income. Also, the room in which he is situated in the opening scenes highlights the poor living conditions the character has.

Overall, I think that young people are shown in both a positive and negative light. The contrast between the protagonist and antagonist highlights the innocence and the deeper side of teenage life. Both the extremities are shown in our thriller, so the audience can identify the good and bad points of young people.

We tried to avoid stereotypes in our thriller, as they can make the film seem rather amateurish. However, when creating the antagonist, we needed to use conventions of the stereotypical 'hoodie'. We decided to dress our character in a hooded sweater, as we wanted his identity to remain hidden. Our character differs from the stereotype through his obsession. A typical 'hoodie' would not have an obsession, and would most definitely not stalk someone to the extent that our character did. Also, a stereotypical 'hoodie' would carry a weapon such as a knife, or baseball bat. Our character's weapon is just a piece of rope.

By using the 'hoodie' stereotype, we are immediately classifying are character as negative. The lack of a weapon makes him appear less threatening, but the dramatic irony (the audience knows of the antagonist's obsession, and know that he is chasing the females, whilst the girls are unaware) reinforces the nasty and vindictive nature of the character.

Our 'hoodie'

A Stereotypical 'hoodie'

Evaluation of Finished Production - Question 1

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

Finishing and Uploading

Today we completed our thriller. I added the music to the film, whilst Ashleigh and Sarah added the music to the ident, which we later placed into the film. We showed a few of our class mates, and then uploaded our video to Youtube. After watching the video on Youtube, we noticed a small glitch in our video. We hope this error occurred when converting/uploading, however we will double check during our lesson tomorrow.
As our thriller is complete, I can now start my final evaluation of the project.

Ident with Music

Below is our final ident along with the music Sarah created. We are very happy with the outcome, and feel as though the ident sets the standard for the rest of the thriller.

Titles and Editing

During my free lesson, I created a set of titles based around the Facebook status used in the thriller.

When I placed a few of the titles into our thriller, but they didn't seem to go well. Each time, the tension began to build, and then the title would destroy the tension. As a result, the thriller didn't flow. I then changed the titles, to a simple, yet scary font, with an ominous effect from LiveType. As the background was black, I faded the title from the previous clip. The thriller seemed to flow better after I did this, and the dark and mysterious titles seemed rather professional.

During our Media lesson today, Sarah put the last few clips into place. This enabled us to spend our after school session adding the effects, and placing all the titles into the film. Below is an example of a graphic match we created.

Editing

Today we managed to piece together the majority of our thriller. We haven't added any effects or music yet, as we are waiting until all the clips were pieced together.
Tomorrow, we will complete putting the clips in order, and then hopefully add the titles.

Uploading Our Footage

Today we uploaded all our footage from the camera onto our iMac. We discovered that we had more than enough footage to create the thriller, and were confident that the variety in shots and angles would give us enough choice and options to put together a thriller of the highest standard.

To celebrate the end of our filming, and Valentine's Day, some of the group and our actresses attended a meal. We now feel closer as a group, and optimistic and excited for the editing process.

Changing Our Actor and More Filming

Today, we went to film the scenes with our actor. However, our actor was unwilling to cooperate for personal reasons. We decided to use Sarah as the stalker, as her tall and lean frame seemed to fit the role better than mine. Additionally, for the eye shots, my eyes will be used, as Sarah's face is too feminine.

We achieved all we needed to today, and are confident for this weekend's filming sessions.

Filming the First Half of Our Graphic Match

After school today, we took Georgia to film the first part of our graphic match. We sat her at the computer screen, and made her type out a status on Facebook. We then zoomed in on her picture.
We feel as though the graphic match will be a success, and that it will enhance our thriller, and make it seem more professional.

New Cast

Below is a photo of our new cast. From left to right they are:

• Georgia Wigley (Protagonist)
• Hannah Sharples (Supporting Actress)
• Sarah Warnock (Antagonist)
• Ashleigh Hay (Supporting Actress)

Revised Opening Credits

Today, Ashleigh re-made the opening credits of our thriller. Sarah and I agreed with Ashleigh on the order of the titles, and we have decided to add some false names to create a sense of realism within the film; Hollywood movies do not repeat names several times.

1: Panoptic Productions present

2: A film by Connor Murray

3: Starring
    Sarah Warnock    Georgia Wigley
 
5: Also starring 
    Hannah Sharples
    Ashleigh Hay

6: Edited by *false name*

6: Music by SilenceFreedom and TheBiocide

7: Cinematography by Hollie Tuvey

8: Produced by *false name*

9: Directed by Connor Murray

10: LOST SIGNAL

Re-Preparing the Room

As we changed actresses, we had to re-prepare the wall of pictures. During lunch time, the group, as well as our other friends, printed out roughly 200 photos of Georgia. After school, Sarah cut them out, and we helped stick them to the wall in the shape of a heart. We then printed out the picture for our graphic match, making sure that it was large enough to been seen clearly.

Filming and a Problem

On the Saturday, we had arranged to film. However, our actress did not show up for a fourth time. After heading home, we decided as a group to change the main actress. We decided on Harley, who was originally our supporting actress. Our friend Hannah would then play the third character. However, on the Sunday, Harley fell ill, meaning we had to change actresses again. We chose Georgia, our other supporting actress, and we had easily access to many pictures of her. We decided that Ashleigh, who was originally helping Sarah and I with the camera work, would play the other character.

We understand that changing our actress at such a late stage is risky, and it may mean that we will not finish in time. However, we now know what the actresses were are using are reliable, and they understand that we will be spending a lot of our own time over the next two weeks filming.
In changing the actress, we will also have to re-prepare the wall of pictures, something which we intend to do tomorrow.

With regards to filming, we filmed a large amount on the Sunday, which eases the pressure slightly. Below are some images from our filming session.

Referring to the Checklist

After looking over the checklist, I realised that certain things were expected to feature in out thrillers. These were:

• Holding a  steady shot
• Using a variety of shot distances
• Framing a shot
• Shooting appropriate material
• Selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figures, lighting, objects and setting appropriately 
• Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer
• Using varied shot transitions and captions
• Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task

As we are re-starting our thriller, I feel as though these would be easy to add to our storyboard if they are currently lacking.

Editing Our Footage

Today we began to edit the footage that we had filmed from the previous weekend. We noted down which shots we had to re-film, what shots we would like to include, and also the shots that worked well.
When piecing the clips together, we tried to achieve a continuos flow, even though we were using a wide variety of shots.

Sound Effects

Today I decided to look at several sound effects. Sound effects can be useful when creating an atmosphere, and for developing suspense and tension. I think that some sound effects would be useful for our thriller, such as the crackling of fire, and the sound of footsteps. I think sound effects would be a useful addition to our thriller opening, and will certainly be a consideration for the future. Below is an example of sound effects I found on Youtube.

Filming

This weekend we began filming. It took a considerable amount of time to get the first few shots set up, but we soon got to grips with our equipments, and began to set up and film the shots quickly.
Half way through filming, we realised that the battery of the camera was extremely low. Consequently, we had to stop filming. This could prove problematic as we need to have continuity throughout our film. Originally, we had hoped to complete all the filming over one or two days. However, we will have a roughly a weeks gap between filming.

On the Saturday, we had organised to film, but our main actress did not show up, meaning that we were unable to film. Instead of wasting time, we set up the camera in various ways, and experimented with angles and shots.
On Sunday, our main actress arrived, but was considerably late. As a result, we only managed to film for roughly an hour, meaning we did not get to film as much as we would have liked. Consequently, we are now behind schedule, as nearly two entire weekends have been wasted.

Scream, 1996.

Scream is a well-known horror movie, that uses tension and suspense extensively. The movie documents Sidney Prescott's attempts to aviod being killed, as well as her personal journey of realising the truth behind her mother's murder in the year prior to the one the movie is set in.The director, Wes Craven, has made a name for himself from his masterful use of tension. Craven also makes several references to other horror movies in the film, which not only help progress the plot, but also make the project feel less detached like other horror films.In my opinion, the best part of the movie is either the beginning, in which Drew Barrymore stars, or the climax. The opening scenes set the tone for the movie, and introduce us to the antagonist. We meet the protagonist later, when the antagonist is already in the middle of his killing habits. I also like the ending, as there is a fast pace carried throughout, and the plot is unravelled. 

The Dark Knight, 2008

The Dark Knight is the latest instalment of the Batman franchise, and is different to the other movies. In my opinion, the main attraction of the film is the character of the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger. The Joker is depicted as a crazed and deadly villain, who is ruthless and detached from sympathy.

I think watching The Dark Knight will help me portray our antagonist better, and will consequently allow us to create a high quality piece of work.

The Dark Knight benefited largely from the character of the Joker, who was seen long before the film through an extensive marketing scheme. The scheme involved posters, newspaper and 'Harvey Dent' support kits, which were released twice; the second time, they were defaced by the Joker. This added an increase degree of realism to the fictional Gotham City and its inhabitants.

Garageband Experimentation

During her free time, a member of our group began to experiment with the application Garageband. Using the software, she wanted to create a piece of music for our ident. She created a piece of music, but we could not transfer it to another computer, meaning that we were unable to use it.
As a result, myself and Sarah created a new piece of music; this piece matched our ident better too. However, the music is eight seconds in length, whilst the ident is only five. Therefore, I will re-create the ident, making it roughly twenty seconds in length. This will allow us to be able to change and alter the music at any time, without any problems or complications.

Art of the Title

Today I visited the website 'Art Of The Title' in order to gain an insight into the making of a title sequence. Whilst there, I began to look at various title sequences, such as 'Days of Heaven' and 'Scott Pilgrim vs the World'. Another title sequence I found interesting was for the movie 'The Dog Problem'.

I thought this sequence was interesting as the graphics used were simple but effective. Moreover, after reading the interview attached with the video, I discovered that Gnarls Barkley's video 'Crazy' is similar.

Titles and Credits Order

Below is the order of the credits. These will be placed over the film, as we only have two minutes of filming time. 

1: Panoptic Productions presents

2: A film by: Connor Murray 
                 and Sarah Warnock

3: Starring: Hollie Tuvey

4: Gera Zaharov

5: Also starring: Georgia Wigley
                      Ashleigh Hay

6: Music by: Connor Murray

                 (possibly mention names of bands used)

7: Edited by: Ashleigh Hay
                 Connor Murray
                 Hollie Tuvey
                 Sarah Warnock

8: Directed by: Connor Murray
                    Sarah Warnock

9: Assistant Directors: Ashleigh Hay
                               Hollie Tuvey

10: NAME OF FILM

Cast

Above is a video showing the actor and actresses will we will be using in our thriller.

Filming

Both today and yesterday, the group had organised to film. Unfortunately, the main actress did not attend both times, meaning that we were unable to film. This makes it crucial for us to begin filming next week at the very latest. Doing so will allow us enough time to edit the film and possibly re-shoot some footage if we need to.

Survey Analysis

Today I decided to check the data from my survey. Below is just an example of the data collected; as you can see, I had 25 people participate in my survey. I think this is a nice, round amount, and will give me a clear indication as to what people would like to see in our thriller opening.

What is your gender?

The majority of our audience is female, meaning that using female characters would be effective, and the audience could relate to the characters on-screen, and will become more immersed in the world of the film.

How old are you?

All of the participants were under twenty years of age, and most of them were between sixteen and twenty. Once again, it would be effective to cast an actress that is around this age, as the audience will find it easier to relate to them.

With regards to movies, do you like the Thriller genre?

88% of participants stated that they do like the thriller genre. This means that the film opening we create should be appealing to many people, especially those within the age range stated above.

Which sub-genres of a thriller do you enjoy the most?

Horror was the most popular option, and is easy to re-create. Therefore, we hope to install horror conventions into our thriller. Another popular option was the disaster genre. However, this would require a lot of Special FX, time and money, all three of which are scarce. Thus, it would be awfully difficult to create a film in this genre. Our film will also include codes and conventions from the psychological sub-genre, which gained seven votes out of a possible twenty-five.

Why do you like the sub-genre(s) you have selected?

Some of the answers for this question included:

• "As they can be both scary and exciting."
• "I like watching things that people have put a lot of thought into, things no one would ever think of."
• "I like the rapid pace associated with the thriller genre, especially in the horror and supernatural sub-genre."

One participant gave a long and interesting answer, which was more specific than the others.

"It's hard to say why I like them. I think they are each interesting for there own reasons. 
Crime: is kind of like a mystery, and you pick up the clues as the movie goes along and makes you want to find out more to solve the mystery. 
Disaster: they often make people think that these things could happen, therefore we watch it and it makes us think of what we would do in this situation. It makes you want to watch on because you want to see their decision. 
Horror: Blood and Gore, enough said. 
Psychological: it's very interesting, and at times confusing, therefore we want to watch it more to figure out what is going on. 
Supernatural: is different to every day life. I like to watch it because it lets you explore a totally different world to your own.
Techno: i like futuristic movies because it's strange and different which makes it even more intriguing."

On average, how many Thriller films do you watch a month?

The majority of people watch two thriller films a month. This indicates that there is stiff competition for the audience's attention, and that our thriller will have to stand out.

What is you favourite component of the Thriller genre? (Suspense, mystery etc.)

Some answers include:

• "Death, and usually the gory ones."
• "I prefer mystery as its something that you can get involved in and try and solve the mystery in some films."
• "The suspense right before a scary bit that you know is going to happen!"

Aside from the word 'Thriller' itself, what 3 words come into your head when you think of the term 'Thriller'?

As there were 75 words/phrases for this question, I decided to make a wordle. As expected, some of the answers were immature, but the vast majority were very useful.

Filming - Preparation

We decided to film during our lesson, but realised we hadn't yet organised and prepared the set. We then headed to print off many images of Hollie (our protagonist) and began cutting and sticking them to the wall in the shape of a heart. Afterwards, we removed the bed from the room, and left the mattress, and scattered around several 'manly' items. The room now looks masculine, and ideal for the character of the stalker.

Script - Discussion

We checked over the script with our cast, and they were all happy with it. We hope to start filming as soon as possible, as we want a large amount of time to edit and have the option of re-shooting.

Script

Below is a small extract of our script, which is now complete and has been given to our actors/actress to look over and be comfortable with. We will be speaking with our cast soon, to make sure they feel comfortable with the script, and that it feels natural to read. The group have also been given a copy of the script, so that they are aware of what will be happening, and are familiar with the events of the thriller opening.

DISSOLVE IN:
MUSIC FADES IN:

MID SHOT
A character is sitting in a chair at a desk. The computer, which is situated on the desk, is switched on and the internet browser is open. There are many cosmetic products around the area the character is in, and a mirror is placed on the left of the computer screen. The character’s back is facing away from the camera, and the mirror shows a reflection of her face. The character is Georgia Wigley, a small figure, and is dressed in an oversized black dressing gown. The only light is coming from the computer screen; Georgia is sitting in shadow. Georgia is typing, and the sound can be heard.

DISSOLVES TO BLACK:
DISSOLVES FROM BLACK:

CLOSE UP: POINT OF VIEW SHOT:
Georgia clicks on her notification and is taken to a picture of herself.

            DISSOLVE TO NEXT SHOT:

WALL OF PICTURES: MID SHOT
The camera is zoomed onto one picture and zooms out, revealing a wall full of pictures of Georgia. The camera begins follows the character that placed the pictures there. The character is Connor Murray, a tall, skinny individual. He is dressed shabbily in a blue hoody, and black jeans.

            DISSOLVES TO BLACK:
            DISSOLVES FROM BLACK:

CONNOR’S ROOM: MID SHOT
Connor is seen standing next to a wardrobe, with a laptop placed on top. The laptop is switched on, and the internet browser is open.

Note: This is the revised and updated version of the script. The script had to be altered to accommodate the new cast.

Location Research

Two of my group members decided to take some photos of our chosen location. As you can see, the area is practically deserted meaning that there will be few disturbances when filming. Moreover, the setting looks ominous, and will create the atmosphere we want for our thriller.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard for our thriller. As you can see, it is very detailed, which allows us to easily set up and film shots.

Se7en, 1995

This is the film opening for 'Se7en'. The font used is very jagged and irregular, and makes it seem as though someone has scribbled the text. Additionally, the text intersects various shots of odd things, such as flicking through a book, and writing. The film itself sometimes blurs, and two images can be seen.

Script Research

A script is needed for our thriller opening, even if the opening only contains a small amount of dialogue. To gain knowledge of how to write a script, I looked at a few examples.

In class, I looked through the script of North by Northwest and was surprised to see an extremely detailed script, with lots of accurate and precise description. I decided to look at other scripts too, to see if there was some sort of trend that would run through out.

I then looked at the script for The Manchurian Candidate, which was laid out in a similar fashion to North by Northwest.

To see if there was any change between animated and non-animated movies, I looked at the script of Toy Story, and that there was very little difference.

As our production is only for the opening two minutes, I decided to look at the script for the pilot episode of Prison Break. The pilot episode would have to catch the attention of the viewer in the opening scenes, as well as introduce the characters. Therefore, I thought it was appropriate to look at the script.

The link to the scripts can be found below.

Manchurian Candidate

Toy Story

Prison Break

Panic Room, 2002

Below is the film opening of 'Panic Room', which was released in 2002. The font used is bold and dense, and looks metallic. It therefore fits its surroundings, as aesthetically, it matches the buildings.
The font is placed in line with the buildings, and looks ominous. This is an effective way of placing the credits into the film, as it sets the scene by using various of landscapes shots, and the text does not detract from the film.

Thrillers - Text

The thriller genre can span many different entities, including both film and text. A recent thriller text I read was 'Enduring Love', by Ian McEwan. The text centers around Joe Rose, and his new found stalker Jed Parry.

Joe tries to find the solution to Jed's obsession, and consequently enters many tense arguments with Jed. Other scenes also include a shooting, and a scene where Joe's girlfriend is taken hostage. Overall, the text is classified as a thriller, even though it ventures into several genre.
The novel has been made into a film, which is also put into the category of a thriller.

Opening Credits

After creating our ident, we will now begin to look at the opening credits of certain films in order to gain an idea as to what we need to include and how to include it.
Some of the films we will look at include 'In The Cut', 'Panic Room', and 'Se7en'.

After filming our thriller opening, and editing it, we will then see how we can place our credits into the film without distracting the viewer from the action happening on screen.

Storyboard

Today we all met up as a group and finished our storyboard. We now have a good idea as to what our thriller opening will consist of, and can work on gaining the licensing of certain music.
Tomorrow, one of us will create the animatic of our storyboard.

Visual Mind Map

Below is a visual mind map we created. We decided to do this to gain inspiration for our thriller, and to help us gain a better understanding of the genre.