Final film

Continuity film

Media film evaluation

Our film revolves around a revenge story. Instead of showing the back story on why the main character seeks out revenge we decided to throw the audience right into the action. We used the reason behind the main characters parents’ death being a mystery to attract our audience. We made our film into an action thriller because it was the most interesting type to film and edit as there were so many possible continuity errors that could occur. We also chose this type of thriller based on our selected audience.

The conventions of the film differ from real media products as the audience can’t see the protagonists face and could be shown as him hiding a burn, scar or his identity in general. The protagonist also wears all black which connotes death and relates to his emotions/thoughts throughout the film. The main villain wears a gas mask covering his face and hiding him from the audience. This could be to hide a scar or burn like the protagonist (Number 5). The protagonist is named number 5 to create a form of enigma code for the audience. The name was thought of so that the audience could think throughout the film of what his original name was, where he came from, why he doesn't use his real name and if there are others like him.

Social classes are represented differently to other media products and change thriller conventions. The protagonist wears black jeans, black trainers, a black face mask and black hoodie with the hood up over his head. These clothes show the protagonist to be a teenager/young adult. The villain wears black jeans, a black waist coat, white shirt and a gas mask. The clothes he wears represent him as being an adult roughly 25 years old and also as being somewhat more intelligent than the protagonist which is also show through the characters voice and actions. Although the film is mainly aimed at men, girls can also be attracted to the film by the grave yard scene where the protagonist grieves over his parents grave. The shots in this scene can also be described as a two shot because it shows the protagonist crying and the cause of his tears in the same shot.

When choosing a media institution to distribute our film I chose Warner Brothers Studios. This mainly being because of the studios’ popularity, success and that it releases a wide range of action, thriller and comedy films e.g.: Chernobyl Diaries, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hangover part I,II and III. The institution also has a reputation for the quality of films it releases and the editing used to make the film more realistic and very detailed. Because of Warner Brothers global reorganization since its opening in April 4 1923, the films it releases are greatly watched regardless of who made them just because of the use of the Warner Brothers name when advertising the film.

Our film is aimed at 15-25 year olds because of the content included and story line being too graphic for a younger audience but not graphic enough to be rate 18+. Our film was also aimed more towards a male audience because of it being an action thriller. This also being because men stereo-typically tend to like more action in films rather than a complex or extensive story line.

We attracted our audience by adding fight scenes, having the story about revenge and making the story look very dark and gritty. This was done mainly because our film was aimed at young men who stereo-typically like action and intense story lines  The audience could be addressed through internet and social media websites e.g.: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This use of the internet can widen our audience and allow the film to be viewed all around the world in what is best described as globalization.

During the process of researching and planning the film to making the final film I've learnt a variety of techniques and methods as to how to create a successful short film using the sixth forms resources and how to distribute the film successfully. During filming we used technologies such as Song Vegas for manipulating and editing the film, a camera to shoot the film and a tripod to change the height of camera shots to create certain affects for the audience or to. During editing we added a black and white filter to add a mellow and gritty affect to some shots. This can be used as an example of German expressionism used in our film to show the gritty violence in the film and the story.

Looking back at my preliminary task I feel that I've learnt a variety of methods as to how to create a successful film using the resources available. How to research similar films to the one I was creating and what films I should gain influence from. How to plan the shooting of a film, who’s going to be in it and where it is going to be shot. During filming I learnt how to use a camera to show meaning in a shot and also how to put across a certain emotion or mood to the audience e.g.; we used a POV shot of the villain standing above the protagonist in a shot reverse shot sequence. These shots were filmed to show a convosation between the two main characters and that the villain is of higher power and more dangerous than the protagonist. When researching similar films I learnt methods of addressing the audience like what audiences of certain ages liked and favored and what men and women looked for in films. Also looking at similar films showed editing methods we could use to increase tension and create a certain atmosphere e.g.: fading out and between shots, quick shots and slow shots. Looking back on creating the film we could have added a female character and made the story line a little bit more complex to attract a female audience, older audience and an overall wider audience. When editing the fight sequence near the end of the film between the protagonist and villain we could of added a slow motion shot to emphasize the damage be exchanged between characters. We could have also added a high and wide shot from the corner of the room after the camera pans across the villain and his accomplice to give the audience a different view of the surroundings and a different perspective of the upcoming event. 

Film title analyses

 The  Girl With The Dragon Tattoo -

In the opening title sequence for the girl with the dragon tattoo it show various images and short animations in relation to the characters actions or personalities. The sequence is majorly black and white with little use of colour. The main colour used in the sequence and is used to emphasize the heat of the fire shown and is used in contrast to the rest of the clip.

The use of animals in the sequence can be used to describe some of the characters animalistic-like nature. This title sequence influence ours by the way it uses the absence of colour to create a sense of mystery and intrigue the audience.
 

 28 Weeks Later -

 The 28 Weeks Later title is made up of mainly red and black. The red background shows the film to be dangerous, gory by the shade of red being similar to blood. The background also has black cracks which could represent that the film will take place in a populated, industrious area. The black hazard sign symbolizes the film being about an infection or some sort of medical emergency. This film title influenced our film because of the way it uses different colours to put across danger/ fear and make it relate to a particular environment.


30 Days Of Night -

 The opening title sequence to 30 Days Of Night shows birds eye views of the area where the film is going to take place. This adds a sense of scale and due to the film being set in Antartica, isolation. The shots show information about the city and how it relates to the film title before fading to a black screen with the title. The sudden fade to a black screen can put across the absence of life in the film. This film title sequence influenced our film by showing that birds eye view shots can show a films location and the meaning behind the film by only showing a certain location, e.g.: the use of birds eye view shots in the sequence are used to emphasize isolation.

storyboards

 

 

Film ideas

 

Example of Todorov's narrative theory shown in a film

Film: Inception


Equalibrium: The first equalibrium starts with Cobb (Leonardo Dicaprio) doing a simple extaction job on Saito's (Ken Watanabe) mind through one of his dreams.


Disequalibrium: Saito realises he's in one of his dreams through the failure of Cobb's architect and drives Cobb back into reality, fleeing his mission/job.


Recognition: Cobb tries to escape the reality that he failed his job and flee's to Paris in search of a new architect (Ariadne/ Ellen Page) to sculpt the dreams they implant into their hosts.


Attempt to repair the damage: Saito manages to find Cobb and his team, offers them a job of incepting information into Robert Fischer's (Cillian Murphy) mind. Unaware of the dangers Cobb agrees and follows through with the mission, gathering a team together and incepting deeper and deeper into Fischers mind to plant an idea to destroy his fathers company.


New Equalibrium: Cobb succeeds witht he mission and returns to America to find his kids with their grandfather and continues to leave a peaceful life.

Todorov's narrative theory

Analysis of a similar product

The thriller Scream isn’t shown in chronological order as the last scene of the film is shown at the beginning. This allows the audience to guess the build-up to the scene throughout the rest of the film. The first shot is built up to by a non-diegetic heart beat sound getting faster and faster. The camera tilts to show Casey (Drew Barrymore) pick up the house phone to a mystery caller. Throughout the scene she is wearing all white and has short blonde hair. Casey represents the typical young, teenage victim of a thriller through her clothing. Characters wearing white are seen as an icon of purity and righteousness. Her blonde hair shows her age and also that she might lack intelligence, leading to her imminent death at the end of the scene. She also portrays the typical, young, dumb teenager stereotype with her overly joyful and irrational actions.

One of the early shots in the scene pans across the kitchen, following Casey on the phone with a fish lens on the camera. The fish lens is used to make the audience feel as if they are the killer, stalking the victim. Her facial expressions throughout several medium close up shots in the scene show the change of emotion on her face towards the mysterious person on the phone from happy and inviting to terrified and fearful. As the villain enters the scene he is shown masked and wearing all black. Black symbolizes death in most film genres including film and the mask hides his identity. As the killer wears the mask throughout the rest of the film it creates an enigma code leaving the audience intrigued as to who the killer is and why they are committing these murders.

The opening to the film influenced our film because we want to use the diegetic/non-diegetic sound and camerawork to show the emotion displayed by characters and explain there actions. The sound used in the opening scene of the film influenced us as to how we will use our sound to build up tension in our film.

Sound used in our film

The sound used in our film will be mostly non-diegetic. The absence of diegetic sound will allow us to show the characters emotion and actions through camerawork and mise-en-scene. The non-diegetic sound added will not be copyrighted and will not need permission to use. A non-diegetic high pitched score will be used at the start of the film to show emotion in addition with the montage shots on the protagonists face and important props. After the camera fades from black the music will be tense, fast and bassy to add a fast pace to the scene and give the audience an 'on the edge of their seat' feeling. The only diegetic sound in the film will be the viscus cut and stabbing sounds during action sequences.

Characters

Here is a list of characters that add up to create our thriller film opening.

Name: Hiro
Role: Protagonist
Gender: Male
Acted by: Ryan Brand
Clothing: Black hoodie, black jeans, black boots, black half face mask.
Representations: His dark clothing represents an anti-hero role and his anti-social nature. The clothing he wears is not typical for a middle-class citezen as it is less formal. One of the shots is an extreme close-up of Hiro's eyes which shows the lifelessness and lack of emotion the character has. The weapons he uses in the film also represents and mix of western and traditional culture in the modern age.


Name: Mr. 'Danny' Smith
Role: Villian
Gender: Male
Acted by: Will Willis
Clothing: Black gas mask, white shirt, black waistcoat, red tie, black skinny trousers/jeans, black boots, black trench coat.
Representations: The black gas mask can connote him hiding a burn on his face or hiding away from society. He wears smart clothes which conflicts with where he lives because working class citizens aren't portrayed as intelligent and fashionable. With Mr. Smith's henchman wearing more working class style clothes like tracksuit bottoms and hoodies Mr. Smith is made to look like a leader of the broken group by his clothes being more formal.


Name: Hiros dad (deceased)
Role: Hiros dad (deceased) allthough Hiros father is deceased he is also the donor when it comes to Propp's character theory as he provides his son with a weapon in which to pursue his revenge.
Gender: Male
Acted by: Tafadzwa Hove
Clothing: Shirt, black trousers, black tie, black shoes.
Representations: Smart, middle class deceased man. This is shown by him wearing a suit and only being seen in the form of a family photo and not as a moving character.


Name: Henchman 1
Role: Protect and serve Mr. Smith. Villains assistant. Helps the main villian to complete their role in the film.
Gender: Male
Acted by: Dale Stow
Clothing: Black jeans, black combat boots, black hoodie, grey trench coat.
Representations: Mix of smart and casual clothes shows him being a higher form of power in the group but still beneath Mr. Smith, or some form of right hand man.


Name: Henchman 2
Role: Protect and serve Mr. Smith. Villains assistant. Helps the main villian to complete their role in the film.
Gender: Male
Acted by: Tom White
Clothing: Black jeans, black hoodie, black boots, balaclava (possibility)
Representations: The characters dark clothing represents his nature and actions. With the henchmen wearing the same clothes it shows a sense of equalism but less diversity.


Name: Henchman 3
Role: Protect and serve Mr. Smith. Villains assistant. Helps the main villian to complete their role in the film.
Gender: Male
Acted by: Cameron Malone
Clothing: Black jeans, black hoodie, black boots, balaclava (possibility)
Representations: The characters dark clothes represents his nature and actions and also his social class as most working class citizens are portrayed to wear casual clothes. Again this shows a sense of equalism to the other henchmen wearing the same clothes but not a sense of diversity.

Propp's Character Theory

Propp created a character theory in which most films have the same seven character types. He did this by studying over 100 films. More than one character type be assigned to a character or character types can be assigned to more than one character.

The hero/protagonist: Main character in the story and usually the one sent to solve the problem.
The princess: Gets saved by the hero.
The helper: Helps the hero on his/her quest.
The donor: Provides the hero with an item to help them on their quest.
The false hero: Claims to be the hero and take the heros reward when they're not the hero.
The princess' father: Rewards the hero for his actions/efforts.
The dispatcher: Gives the hero the quest.
The villian: Strives to stop the hero from completing the quest.

Target audience

The target audience varies on the sub-genre of the thriller. The target audience is split into three parts which is gender, age and social class. These three help to define the target audience of the film along with the content. All thrillers are either 12/12A, 15, or 18+ due to the content being violent or use of cursive language.

Active audience: This is when the audience gets involved with the film. An audience usually becomes active when montage editing is used because the audience has to interpret their view of what happened as they only got a glimpse from the film itself.

12/12A films:

Films that are rated 12 or 12A aren't suitable for people under the age of 12. 

• Moderate language is allowed.
• Dangerous behaviour or actions shouldn't be dwelled upon in the film or able to be copied by members of the audience.
• Use of drugs must me minimal or infrequent.
• Moderate violence is allowed but not allowed to be shown in detail.
• Moderate psychological threat is allowed but not allowed to be extensive.

15 films: 

Films that are rated 15 aren't suitable for people under the age of 15.

• Frequent strong language is allowed unlike age twelve films.
• Accessible weapons can be shown but not dwelled upon.
• Drugs may be shown but not promoted.
• Violence is allowed but shouldn't focus on pain or injury.
• Strong threats are allowed but not if they're sexualised.

18 films: Films that are rated 18 aren't suitable for people under the age of 18.

Not much content isn't allowed in eighteen rated movies due to its adult rating other than the following:

• Material in breach of criminal law or created through criminal offence isn't permitted.
• Detailed violent or dangerous acts, illegal drug use, or anything which may cause harm to public health or morals isn't permitted.

All information was gathered from the BBFC, displaying their guidelines towards film ratings. All films must be sent off and rated by the BBFC before public release.

Camera shots

Extreme close up:
Extreme close up shots are often used in thriller movies to convey fear to the audience or show fear on particular characters face/eyes.

In this shot in Sherlock Holmes it shows the characters mentallity, relating the way he cross-dresses.

Close up: This shot is used to show emotion on a characters face in reaction to another's characters dialogue or actions. In this shot it emphasises on the importance of an item in the scene from Sherlock Holmes. this item can relate to a character in the film as an item of possession or a key item in the plot.

Two shot: A two shot shows the relationship between two characters of a film. You can also compare both characters in this shot on their similarities and differences e.g.: dialogue and costume. This shot shows the contrast between two characters in Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock being less well dressed than the other character shows his reckless nature and anti-con-formative attitude.

Low angle shot: Low angle shots can be used in thriller films to make a character look bigger and more threatening. This shot is usually used on the villian in the film and emphasizes their importance/power over their victim. In this shot the low angle shows Sherlock to be the strong male protagonist in the story.

High angle shot:

This type of shot is used to make a character look small and inferior to other characters or their surroundings.  This shot is usually used in a thriller film on the victim in a moment of despair.

This shot shows how lifeless Sherlock is as he's swallowed by a crowd of people.

Extreme long shot: These shots are used to show the audience the environment the characters are in or make the characters look small. Extreme long shots can make the environment look harsh or welcoming to the characters within it. This shot shows the beauty of nature in the scene and also gives the audience an idea of what time in history the film is set in by the inclusion of an early make of car.

Thriller conventions

The conventions of the thriller genre are based on sound, editing, lighting, mise-en-scene and cinematography. .

The codes and conventions are mainly what the audiences expect to see within a thriller this includes all types of thrillers, including its sub-genres, (psychological, action, etc.). The codes and conventions in a thriller always includes a victim, which most of the time is a vulnerable female protagonist and a dominant male character. This lets the audiences relate with the stereotypes and therefore this produces more audience appeal and realism.

Psychological thrillers usually play with audiences minds by giving a false sense of security, using red herrings, or manipulating a character keep audiences guessing. Sound is a large factor in creating tension in a thriller sequence. High pitched strings are usually used to heighten suspense, eventually the suspense is released with a loud diegetic noise.

If the theme of the film is water or ice for instance, the sound used may be similar to the noise you get when circling a finger round a glass, this is a convention of a thriller because the image and sound are contrapuntal (synchronous). 

Camera shots also play a key role in expressing a characters emotion. A close up shot with the background blurred out may suggest psychological introspection, meaning the character is oblivious to the world around him, unaware of any hidden danger.

thriller genres

thriller films are designed to give the audience the "edge of their seat" feeling. all thrillers do this by adding suspense and/or mystery to their film. all the small foci of the film add up to do this, e.g.: the lighting used in a scene can be really low or shinning from a certain source and leaving the room pitch black eslewhere. This element alone can leave the audience feeling fearful, panicy or wondering what the camera's hiding in the dark. thriller can also be split into many different sub-genres that specialize in scaring the audience a certain way.

Conspiracy thriller:
This sub-genre focusing around the protagonist confronting a large orginazation on their evil doing, although he/she are the only person that's able to see it. Conspiracy thrillers usually play around the secretivity of government organizations. An example is The Bourne Ultimatum. In this film the young protagonist (Jason Bourne) must fight against a secret government organization set on destroying innoccent lives.

Crime thriller:
Crime thriller are a mix of both crime and thriller. They usually focus more on the criminals and their actions leading to their crimes more than what their crimes are. An example is the film Se7en starring Bradd Pitt and Morgan Freeman as the chase down the mysterious John Doe.

Disaster thriller:
Disaster films focus on a group of survivors and their survival after a catastrophic artificial or natural disaster. There are many extreme long shots and long shots in these films to show the scale of damage that the survivors have to deal with. examples of disaster movies are 2012, The Day After Tomorrow and Deep Impact.

Mystery thriller:
These films usually relate closely to crime thrillers in terms of narrative. They also focus on a detective or private investigator which also closely relates to the crime thriller sub-genre. The plots revolve around   the protagonist searching for clues in order to uncover a mystery or criminal. An example is Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. This film is also a period drama as it is based on an iconic British figure at a point in history.

Psychological thriller:

Plot

Our film will begin with a series of short, montage shots showing key information about the events leading up to the scene and an idea of Hiro's family background. The shots show him paying respect and tribute to his dead parents and grabbing traditional & western weapons for his pursuit to avenge their deaths. The following shots show Hiro venturing towards his parents murdered Mr. Smith for revenge. Knowing that Mr. Smith is guarded, Hiro proceeds to slaughter some his henchman in order to reach him. Upon first contact with Mr. Smith he notices a resemblence and finds out they are related by family but not fully. Even though he has this knowledge of Mr. Smith, he continues his act of revenge and tries to attack Mr. Smith. The next few shots show a brief fight sequence between the two brothers and Mr. Smiths physical superiority over Hiro, leading to his inevitable downfall. The scene ends on a tilted shot showing Mr. Smith walking away from the scene, leaving Hiro broken on the ground and on the verge of passing out. Scene finishes and title takes the screen, followed by credits of cast and crew. This opening scene of our film only shows the equilibrium and start of the disequalibrium in relation to Todorov's narrative theory.

If the film was to continue beyond the three minute limit and into a full length film it would show Hiros struggle against Mr. Smith and his attempts to gain the satisfaction of revenge or some sort of solace. The full length film would show Hiro going through disequalibrium, being beaten down by his rival and left for dead. Hiros recongnition of the problem he's facing and what he has to do. His journey to avenge his parents death at the hands of the merci-less Mr. Smith. The new equalibrium would consist of Hiro having his revenge against Mr. Smith and returning to lead a peaceful life some sort.