Our production is now finally finished, and we have successfully made an introduction to a thriller. A thriller uses suspense and tension to create anxiety for the consumers, and causes anticipation and puts the audience at unease. Our brief was to make a thriller introduction, between 2 and 3 minutes. We focus ours around a central character of a middle-age man, getting to work for the day that will change his life eternally. As Alfred Hitchcock stated, a thriller involves placing an ‘ordinary character into and extraordinary situation.’ We did this through placing our main character, just going off to work as normal and forcing his into the situation of having the responsibility to have to free the hostage and becoming a necessity in releasing her to regain the liberty and free will she’s been denied. In thriller there are also the helpers and fake helpers. Our main plot line uses the boss as the helper. This is because the hostage was the boss’s mistress and his wife has taken her hostage, because he can’t face his wife that it’s his mistress, so he plots to a colleague that he must help free the hostage. He can’t however show to the central character that he is involves directly, and so appears to be not of any use, whilst dropping subtle hints and feeding him information anonymously, such as – as shown in out 2 minute clip, delivering the letter photo of the hostage. In the ending, the twist of the story was that the mistress and the wife then turn on the boss, but this doesn’t affect the helper and fake helper idea.
Todrovs theory suggested that there are main stages in any thriller,
These are Equilibrium, Dis-equilibrium, Realisation, Attempt to restore /resolve, resolution, re-equilibrium.
Equilibrium - Firstly we established equilibrium through him getting up in the morning and getting ready for work. We showed his normal everyday life, that he clearing does on a daily basis such as brushing his teeth, eating his branflakes and tying up his shows. This is used to create an equal ground between audience and characters, and set up what is ‘normal’ and a balance.
Dis-equilibrium – this was shown when he received his post, and it appeared through his letterbox. Originally we wanted a focus pull here, and so would draw more attention to the letter. However, when we came to filming we found that the practicalities didn’t work out as the distance was too short to do a focus pull. This is used to show that there’s something not quite right and that the normal balance has been disturbed.
Realisation – this is shown when he opens the letter, and sees the code on the back. It is clear from this moment that something isn’t normal, but it is when he goes off to work and asked his boss that it is realised that he has been put in an ‘extraordinary’ situation. This is used to show the balance created has been disturbed.
Attempt to restore/resolve – this is demonstrated when in the next parts of the film when he takes the photo to work and questions people as to if they know what it’s about. Then when it goes on to him trying to work out when the code is and how he can contract the hostage or help her, he is also trying to find a resolution. This is applied in every film on order to show the struggle.
Resolution – this is when it all comes out that it is the wife and the hostage is free, then when they turn on the boss it is showed how he has been the villain. Our main character is removes himself from the situation and this allows him to return to normal and the situation can be resolved legally, blaming the boss and ending badly for him.
Re-equilibrium – our story finishes with our main character back to normal, possibly further up the company and the boss is being penalized for adultery. The hostage is released and the wife and boss case can be dealt with in a legal way. This is important as it allows the films to re-establish the balance and for the audience to be put at ease.
Our film uses binary opposition between male and female characters, as the main character is a male character and so it the boss - who’s the helper and a villain. However, the other ‘villain’ of the wife, and the ‘damsel in distress’ of the hostage are both female, showing women to be weaker. We also use the binary opposition of light and dark, using clips of the hostage in black and white showing how it is dark and suggesting the sinister tone. The menacing use of lighting shows how the hostage is being threatened. The use of spotlight lighting shows how she has flickers f hope and how she is ‘innocent’ however the light flickering shows how in this particular situation she is innocent, but in the bigger picture she may not be as innocent as she makes out.
In lots of thrillers, especially by the Coen brothers, use semiotics and motifs. We had lots of short shots, one of which was a shot of a letter which we tried to use like the Coen brothers used the guestbook shot in Barton fink. We thought that the letter could be a motif, but we weren’t sure how we could reoccur it throughout the film. Later we went on to film a shot of him with a orange tablet, this was showing an uncertainty of that character and the audience don’t know about him. Throughout the rest of our thriller, we could include several shots of the orange tablets, and the connotations of the tablets could be that he’s slightly ill or depressed, or suffering a mental illness or physical disease and so isn’t quite with it or could be confused of vulnerable.
In our thriller, we tried to incorporate different theories and techniques, however our lack of experience with the camera and the difficulties through the editing prevented us to make the thriller to the standard we had in our heads, some of the shots looked un-professional and messy, the ‘steadi-cam’ affect we wanted in some scenes just looked messy and shots which required movement were more difficult as we had no stable moving platform to rest the camera on.
In real media products, actors and actresses are auditioned and studied, to produce the type of character exactly wanted by the director, however we had a very limited choice of actors and make/up and costume had to be done by ourselves, and just on what we thought might or might not have been appropriate. The lighting was partly out of our control and we had a limited time to film and so the filming was done at different times of the day throughout the whole clip. Things like the type of bedside table, chair, door he might have etc. were all very limited as we only had a small choice and because we needed the door to be in view from the table, the only house we could use was harry’s, we had some control by changing what was on the table and and were quite careful using props such as a Kenco coffee cup and bran flakes cereal to evoke his personality and characteristics.
If we had more time, or the chance to do it again, I would re-shoot some of the hostage scenes as these were quite repetitive and the sound wasn’t very strong and suitable. The heartbeat we added in the background was a decision after filming; we had thought of it as an original idea and decided to take it out, later deciding to put it back in. When we came to putting in back in we had to just use 1 of garage band rather than being able to record a drum beat ourselves, where we could incorporate the beat we wanted. I would also change the sequence following the hostage and so we could’ve put it in our clip, but as it was too confusing to film we had to lengthen the time of his getting ready. The story was a little confusing when we started to film and so the rest of the story needed to be concreted before deciding to film. Also we could only film in Harry’s house once as some of the scenery and props we had used had changed and we would’ve lacked consistency. Some of the shots we wanted to add on to we then couldn’t and had to just work with what we had.
For our final piece, the uses of stereotypes were important, as the connotations that our central character evoked were important. As his face was hidden through the entire shot, it was important his actions and choices showed his personality and character. The social group he fits into is a nerdy, workaholic, business wannabe, who is fairly low down in his company, desperate to impress his boss and work his way up the company. We tried to demonstrate his personality through a variety of things. For example the branflakes cereal shows how he is serious and sensible. He’s someone who has a predictable, stable life style and is in a wanting to stay safe and in a life he knows, the branflakes are Kelloggs which shows that he finds it difficult to trust and only stays with what he knows. He wouldn’t buy a non-branded version of this cereal as he knows he can get this anywhere and so won’t run out and also he can trust that it’s the same every time and use only the trustworthy and dependable. He uses an analogue clock, which demonstrates he is slightly behind the times, and only focused on his work. It shows how he likes something that’s reliable and does exactly what he wants it to do. It also suggests he’s slightly lower class and has a low income, which also shows how he wanted to work his way up the company and increase his income. The first shot shows his alarm, which shows the empty red bedside table. The alarm goes off at 7 am which shows how he is going off to work and it is a normal morning. It shows how a male character of his social level only has work and the empty bed side table shows he is tidy and likes to keep thing in order. The red table suggests blood, danger and passion, suggesting to the audience that it will become dangerous and hazardous. It also suggests how the change in the story will cause opposition and take the character out of his comfort zone and usual social group and putting him in an unknown situation he can’t relate to. The next shot is of of his feet coming out the bed. The clean floor also shows how he’s tidy, orderly and organized. His socks don’t match with the actual day, showing his life is a mismatch, but that he bought them in the first place shows how he tries to be a successful, organized, up-to-date person but has fallen out of organization. The following shots just show his getting ready and then the shot of the breakfast shows his work covering the table.
Wil page said that the music is good and the backing soundtrack is fitting to the film. He likes the way we used text during the film in order to explain the storyline and it makes it look professional and looks more like a real thriller. It could be improved with a more interesting storyline that is clearer to understand, a wider variety of different shot types. Another observer said that he though the credits were good and the transitions between the credits and the clips were smooth and it looked more professional.
It was also said by another viewer that the title was a good choice and added suspense whilst letting the viewer know what the storyline was based on. A final observer said that the voice over was good that the song was infitting with the story.
It was also said by another viewer that the title was a good choice and added suspense whilst letting the viewer know what the storyline was based on. A final observer said that the voice over was good that the song was infitting with the story.
Following the BBFC – British Board of Film Classification, we thought that our thriller should be rated a 15. Even though effectively, lowering the rating should attract a larger audience range as its suitable for more, I think that if it is higher, then more 15 year olds and older will watch it, understanding it will be more thrilling and exciting because it has thing in it that aren’t suitable for younger ages. In order to be classified as a 15, a film has frequent use of strong language, or sexual activities have very little detail, violence is apparent but is discrete and brief. Drugs may be used but not promoted, and horror is allowed but not a detailed infliction of pain, and there can’t be an emphasis on the use of lethal weapons. Our thriller deals with abstract nouns of pain such as adultery and kidnap, and so no killing or pain is inflicted throughout. We felt that a 15 would be a suitable age classification, but a 12 wouldn’t be suitable as our film has clips and emphasis on violence and subtle hints that pain is taking place. For a 12, threat and menacing actions are permitted and in our thriller, threat is a main part. However I believe that an 18 would be too strong for out thriller, as there is no nudity, strong language or drug use, and horror and pain is hinted but not promoted.
Before the release of our film, we would hope there would be lots of advertising to attract them to view our film. There are lots of new ways of advertising to teenagers, adverts in magazines, on the side of buses, posters on the side of roads and TV advertising. A short trailer would include tense music, fast editing to create tension and short clips of the storyline that show the audience part if the plot and make the audience ask questions. Because of the recent raise in social networking, we would use facebook and twitter to promote our film, giving the audience another channel to receive the advertising and be presage to watch it. Throughout the film, in order to attract our audience, we used a variety of techniques to keep the audience on edge and apprehensive. As the clip went through, the clips became shorter and when the turning point of the envelope came through the letter box it was clear this was the key point in the film, as the music went off. We then introduced a heart beat backing which speeds up throughout and builds tension throughout the clip. In the beginning of the clip, short flashes of the hostage are shown causing the audience to question and wonder what they are showing. To address the audience, we would want to position the audience above the characters and separate them, making them more vulnerable and separate.
From the process of constructing our product, I have learnt a lot about new technologies. I learnt to use a camera and how the tripod can help level out the shot. I also learnt how to use garage band in order to make the backing track. I did most of the backing and radio show and so I learnt how the change the temp and pitch of all the different components. Finally I learnt how to use final cut express and import transitions and dissolves between clips, we found the best way was to add cross dissolves as it makes the transition between shots smoother and sleeker. Invisible editing is difficult but effective and we found it was useful for making the shots the best they could be. The transcript and typing needed to be imported separately and the use of the text inputs allowed us to do credits and add the timing in the bottom, by using the different effects we tinted the hostage shots to make them darker and more intimidating and daunting. From keeping our blog throughout, I feel I’ve also learnt how to use blogger and importing videos and images to upload onto the blog.
Finally, looking back at our preliminary task, I feel I have learnt a lot in the transition between the preliminary and the final product. We learnt that it was important to not leave it too late to film, as we underestimated the time we would need to edit. We found that when it came to editing it was important t have more than 1 shot of each thing so we could choose the best 1 and if there was a small problem with each clip we could link them and make the best shot available. We also found that it worked better if we allowed a 3 second wait either side of each clip we filmed in order to allow the camera to adjust to the new light of scene and to find the best clear start and finish to the shot, from watching our preliminary task back we also thought that lighting was important to pay attention to and because in our preliminary we had no music we realised how important the music was. We also decided that it was important to incorporate the music throughout and this would heighten the level of our thriller clip greatly. We also thought that the steadi-cam shots weren’t that effective as they appeared messy very easily, we also saw that over the shoulder shots it was important to choose the amount of shoulder in the shot as in our preliminary we had almost half the shot of the shoulder and it ruined the shot.
Over all I was quite pleased with our thriller clip, and how it all came together. I think the music improved the opening greatly and the choice of music was appropriate for the character type. I think that if we were going to redo it, it would be important to allow more time for filming and ensure consistency throughout in actors, costume, props and setting.
Ellie
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