Developed Thriller

This is a clip of big brother another show where the concept is made publicly acceptable by the way its glamourised. This is a clear example of how people will do anything for quick easy fame. Andy Warhol said 'In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes'.

Character List

This is the actor for the smoker. We picked her because she is a teenager and also conforms to the expectations of how a smoker looks.

This is the actor for the drug adict. We've picked her because she is a creative looking teenager, so she conforms to the dominant ideology of the drug taking types.

This is the actor for the immigrant. We've picked him because he has a nigerian accent and he can play a believable immigrant with in the UK.

This is the actor for the presenter. We've picked her because she is energetic and her attitude represents that of a tv presenter.

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This is the actor for the ex politician, we've picked him because he looks more stern and his age makes the character more believable. Also he can help target a wider range of aged audiences.

Shot Sequence

Shot Type in "Friendly Fire"
First five shot will be a montage of all the contestants. These will all be medium/medium close ups. The next shot will be a long shot of the presenter on stage. After this there will be medium shots and wide shots of the presenter interviewing the contestants in various locations, including a police station and on the street. Then there will be a montage of the winner from last series coming back as a special guest. The montage will include medium shots, wide shot and panning shots of her running around and killing people. This will be followed by the Friendly fire logo.

Props List

Media Props 3

Props List

Media - Props 2

Prop List

Prop List1

Developed Thriller Idea Reasons

We chose the 'Last man standing' idea for our thriller because we thought he captured the zeitgeist of current times and reflect a darker alternate side of society. We changed the name to 'Friendly Fires' because the show is about members of society killing other members of society. We edited it slightly so that its now the outcasts of society who are pitted against each other. Set about 10 years in the future when there is a more facist rule and even bad habits are now considered crimes. For example, smoking, homeless single mother, Immigrant. The show takes after reality tv, its a glamourous cover for actually a much more sickening type of game. The contestants are people that society deems a drain on the economy and society.







 This is a shot from X factor, we used this show for influence in the reality gloss tv that we want to recreate.



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This is a shot of George Takei. This is an example of something that is glamourised for public viewing when the reality is much different.



Thriller Idea Development

Media - Power Point Pitch 2

Developed Thriller Idea

Media the Power Point Pitch[1]

Analysis of Thriller opening sequence

The non diegetic music creates tension and keeps us on edge throughout. We see someone flicking through a book we cant see which makes us edgy because we can't tell what he's doing. When we see the picture of his hands we can see that they look unnatural which makes us fearful because it subverts our expectations of normal hands and a normal person. When he cuts off his fingertips we are made tense because its not an image anyone likes seeing and it reveals the sado-masochism side to his nature. The credits let us know which actors are in the film and are there to help publicise the film with big name actors like Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt.

Initial Thriller Idea

75022810 Media Studies Thriller Ideas

Initial Thriller Character

Media Thriller Character

The Boardwalk Empire Opening Credits

http://youtu.be/A9DCLv_6e5c

At the very beginning we see a full screen HBO logo clearly crediting the whole movie to HBO as the main producers in this film which puts a well known film brand name onto the film. The opening credits of Boardwalk Empire credit the personnel starting with the main character and scaling down through supporting roles. This is done to show off the names of the main characters in the film right away at the beginning of it so the audience can begin getting interested even during the title sequence. After all the actors have been credited in this way all the directors and producers are then credited in ascending order of importance, this allows the audience to start to think about the film they are about to see and wonder what style of film it may be. The credits show a man standing at the seaside wearing traditional early 20^th century American gangster clothing which instantly establishes the film into that era. The bottles of alcohol that litter the sea during this along with the classic American gangster clothing reinforce the film into an American prohibition era. This all matched along with the slightly unnatural colours in the scene make me think the film is going to be a noir style film. The American rock music adds to the character in the scenes rebellious image and also helps to set up location as an American seaside city. As does the shot of the city and the title saying Boardwalk Empire which is in typical American Broadway lights.  

Target Audiences

 The primary target audience for this film is 15-24 year olds, however there is a secondary audience of fans of leonardo dicaprio which would be a predominately female audience and could range in age from women in their 30's who grew up with Leonardo in films such as Romeo and Juiliet or Titantic 17 years ago. We can tell that the film attracts a global audience almost purely from the fact that it is a paramount produced film. With a hollywood conglomerate producing the film they will use the huge funding they have to carry on the formulaic type film that appeals to a global audience and draws in the best rates of return. An example of this with in the film is the director Martin Scorsese who is famous for directing films like Mean Streets 1973, Taxi Driver 1976, Raging Bull 1980 and Goodfellas 1990. This creates another audience for fans of Martin Scorsese cineastees who appreciate the work of Scorsese and are fans of him as an auteer who'd watch the film.

Thrillers

Audiences enjoy thrillers because thrillers create excitement and drama that thrill people and let them experience the action. The target audience for 'The Butterfly Effect' is a younger audience because some concepts are unrealistic and there is a lot of excitement and pace throughout. Also the main character is played by Aston Kutcher which clearly appeals to a younger audience. The target audience for this film is probably about 13 - 19. 'The Silence of the Lambs' targets an older audience as it is more graphic and realistic. The target audience is about late teens onwards. 'Seven' again targets an older audience because of its graphic content and the complexity of the plot.

This is the trailer for 'The Butterfly Effect'. It is a psychological thriller which is made up of false endings but ultimately ends with a compromised ending. It represents a thriller through the key feature of an ever sense of dread that the audience cannot prevent. The pace is also raised extremely high at points and exictement is created through the choices made by the protaganist that we follow. Its target audience would be roughly 14-19 because of the choice of actor as the protaganist and the less realistic themes within the film

This is the trailer for the film 'Seven', a psychological thriller that finishes with a compromised ending. The target audience is a bit older for this thriller as the plot is more complex and its more graphic. However the actor Brad Pitt has been chosen partly due to his appeal to women and so this widens the age range but i would say its roughly 15 onwards.

The Secret In Their Eyes analysis

The trailer creates an enigma that interests the audience about the 'Morales Case', this also categorizes the film into a dectective style film. Within the trailer there is a viewing of a man shooting guns which makes the film seem more action based. The words 'Unwritten Ending' that are displayed within the trailer strengthen the constant theme of mystery of the film. It is a foreign language film which alienates a lot of people who speak a different first language and targets a more art house niche audience.

Thriller Examples

This is a poster for the film Seven. We can tell its a thriller firstly because of the colour scheme, the red writing signifies blood which connotes the gorey themes of this thriller. The black background shows the darkness the film is shrouded in mixed with the lit up faces, Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, it connotes a misguided conception which is a key feature of thrillers.



This is the silence of the lambs poster. The colour scheme signifies that this is a thriller through the darkness enshrouding the face. The red eyes connote unaturalistic ideas within the film, possibly signifying that it is a pyschological thriller.

This is the thriller The butterfly effect. The imagery in this poster signifies death through the use of skulls which in turn connotes key features of a thriller to us. It also uses dark blues as its colour scheme which conforms to our expectations of a thriller, as does the catch phrase. The poster is enshrouded with shadows which represents the mystery and danger, again a key feature in thrillers. The poster is centred round a character which connotes him as the protaganist. The poster subverts our expectations as a regular scene from everyday life which signifies it as a psychological thriller.

Defining Thrillers

Thrillers are generally about the battle for justice. A defining characteristic about them is that here is normally a downside to the finish of the storyline.You can often define them by the point of view they are set in :-
Detective story - The characters solving the crime.
Caper - The characters sustaining the crime.
Film Noir - The strong characters point of view.
Pyschodrama - the view of a psycotherapist.
Court Room Drama - Prosecuters/Lawyers.
Each main character of these types of drama can have both main and lesser roles and a mirror. For example in Se7en Brad Pitt, being major role, and his wife, a minor role and the opposites Kevin Spacey, opposite to Brad Pitt in Se7en.

Defining Thrillers

The film seven is an example of a psychological drama and a detective drama.
The caper in this film is kevin spacey because he is doing the crimes.
The conspirator is an example of a court room drama.
Silence of the Lambs would be an example of a Psychodrama.
Sin City is an example of Film Noir.

Doctor Who editing techniques

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/trailermaker/view/7iykgi


I used flash cuts at the begining of my trailer to try to create tension and drama, each of the shots are only 1 second long in order to create a high pace. I used a haunting soundtrack in the background of the whole trailer to create tension. I left 4 seconds of just a quiet haunting soundtrack to try and give the trailer an eery sense, but broke this with a harsh voice of the dalek emperor. Directly after this i have a clip of the Doctor saying 'good luck' with pauses before and after it, again to build up tension. I then put a title sequence to inform the audience of the characters and programme but kept the haunting track going to keep it eery and tense.

Editing the Preliminary Task

We used final cut pro to edit our footage of the preliminary task. We checked in all our shots and stored the ones we liked in logging bins. When we put all our clips together we realised they didn't fit together effectively so we began cutting and shortening clips to make the sequence flow.

We made sure to cut on action to try and hide editing techniques, we started with a cut from the swish pan shot to a mid shot of him sliding to a stop. We then cut to a match on action of him slamming down the head phones. We made the cuts here fast pace in order to create a high pace through the begining action. The cuts then slow down to keep it at a calm conversational pace switching between all round angle shots to give all aspects of the conversation and letting us see the reactions of both characters. We then cut to a close up of one characters face to give what he says emphasis with a quick cut back to a mid shot for him walking away.

We learnt that editing cuts into action makes them less noticable and that faster cuts increase pace in the scene.

Shooting the Preliminary task

This was the final product of our preliminary task. We set up the camera on the tripod making sure everything was secure and ensuring the spirit bubble was level in order to achieve a steady shot. We ensured the shot was framed correctly each time and made sure the rest of the equipment was in shot. We planned over the shoulder shots and shot reverse shots to show the conversation between the two. We ensured we kept to the 180 degree rule so that continuity wasn't ruined and used the appropriate terminology so that everyone who had a role on set knew what was going. We made sure we had the right exposure, white balance and focus. The first shot was a swish pan close up of the feet under the table, we filmed this by taking the tripod off and filming the whole thing so we had footage to work into in editing. The next angle is a medium two shot because it has two people in it but its only of the head and shoulders, we filmed this on the tripod to secure a steady filming. When we see the headphones get slammed down we had a match on action to draw the audiences attention to the action. After this we see another mid two shot of the pair to secure continuity in our clip and allow the speech to spoken without cuts to angles in the middle of it. Soon after we use an over the shoulder shot cut to medium shot cut to reverse over the shoulder shot, to show that these two are having a conversation and so the viewer can see the reactions of the two. We then see a close up as the last line is said to add emphasis to it and then a still shot as he walks away.

It was all shot in a media classroom at hurtwood house which worked well as a high tech looking workplace. I filmed the swish pan under the table and offered suggestions to what shots to use. We had a dim soft lighting to illuminate the characters without making the scene look too artificial. This worked to help the scene look ominous and was effective in helping the scene look a little mysterious.
I have learnt that the spirit level of the tripod in filming is very important and how to focus a camera for the whole shot. I have also learnt about how important exposure and frames per second are for creating a realistic scene or blurring actions.

Different Camera Shots

In preparation for the preliminary task we've learnt about different camera angles and shots such as high angles, low angles, eyeline match, shot reverse shot, establishing shot, close ups, mid shots, swish pan etc.

This is an example of high and low angles in the programme 'Scrubs'. Here we see a use of high angles looking down on the postman to represent him beneath the nurse. There are low angles looking up at Carla to put her in a posistion of power especially when juxtaposed with the high angles of the postman.

Eyeline matches are used to show what a character is looking at, often a point of interest the directer wants the audience to focus on.

Shot reverse shots are used in conversations to show reactions of other characters to what another character has done.

Establishing shots are used to establish the settings or surroundings of the scene.

Intro to Video Camera

We learnt how to use a video camera in preparation for our preliminary task. We learnt about focusing the camera on a detailed item in the shot then zooming out to the shot we wanted to ensure it was all in focus. We learnt how to white balance the camera by filming something that was true white such as a piece of paper. We learnt about exposure to make sure we can capture a realistic clip and the importance in shutter speed in different types of scenes. We learnt the relevance of all the symbols on screen of the camera e.g. battery, exposure level and learnt the basics to filming with the camera. We split into groups and all had a chance to take the camera on and off a tripod and have a go a filming.

About Myself

My name is Tom and my favourite film is Pan's Labyrinth, I go to Hurtwoodhouse to study Economics, Media, History and Art. My favourite food is pepperoni pizza however i do enjoy pasta with tomato sauce. I play water polo at an amateur level and have appeared on such networks as ITV, Island television. I went to Cordier Hill in Guernsey for reception to year 2, Beechwood for years 3 to 6, Elizabeth College for years 7 - 11 and am currently studying at Hurtwood House. Each year towards the end of the summer holiday period i venture to France by plane for a holiday. My favourite artist at the moment is Rizzle Kicks.