Thriller Evaluation, Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Preliminary Task:

The preliminary task was extremely helpful as it introduced me to the software and equipment we would be using for the thriller and helped me remember several important aspects which would be important in the film. I think the preliminary task went well and it was ultimately achieved with trial and error which made me much more competent in both the planning and production sides of film making.

Research:

Upon researching we decided that we wanted to include some inter-textual references and conventions to our film to make it more relate-able to our audiences. We initially decided on creating a conflict in our scene but prior to researching we didn't know how to achieve it. I suggested that we include a western-style standoff and we looked at 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" and it's use of camera shots, particularly the close-ups on the eyes as way to generate emotional responses such as fear and tension for our audiences:

This Sergio Leone film isn't a thriller as such but being able to look at another film, understand it's conventions and implement those into your own work  was the single most important thing I learnt throughout the preliminary task.

Planning:

The planning for the preliminary task was slightly difficult at first as some members of the group had only just been introduced with each other. It ultimately allowed us to work out how we work best in a group and get to know everybody. The preliminary task was important in establishing this as it served as a task in which we made a group on Facebook in order to contact eachother on social media. 

After this, I discovered my communication skills in a group were more refined and we knew how the technology worked which allowed  us to share ideas which we knew would be achievable. For example, one of us came up with the idea of a dream sequence which through studying the dream featured in "Once Upon a Time in America" and shooting the preliminary task we knew that we would be fully capable in terms of film form capability to do this effectively. 

Briefs and deadlines:

Similarly to how a director would work with a production company and the film crew, we were given a specific brief and deadlines to follow. This improved my ability to work effectively as it ultimately made me a more efficient worker - particularly in a team. 

The brief we followed for the preliminary was simpler than for the thriller but it prepared us and gave us a guage of the flexibility of the course.

Film conventions:

The preliminary introduced us to film conventions such as the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shots and avoiding unwanted direct address of the camera which ultimately made our thriller both more interpolating and more professional than had we not known much about these. 

180 degree rule: 

In the preliminary task, our group learned that some of the film conventions would require adequate planning and some knowledge as to how we could achieve a realistic sequence. The most important one to know is the 180 degree rule as it keeps the audience aware of where objects are situated in the film world - similarly to how somebody would perceive objects in the real world. Furthermore, we learnt that the 180 degree rule could be broken sometimes but it would have to be applied effectively to avoid making it look unprofessional - which we briefly studied in 'The Shining' where Stanley Kubrick deliberately broke it to disorient the viewers.

Thriller Evaluation, Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Blogging:

Personally, I prefer to write everything directly onto the blog as it's in a format that's easy to both operate and read, plus it doesn't require any additional software. I attempted using a website called 'Prezi' a few times but the website always has problems and personally I think it's a waste of time dealing with third-party software when Bloggers in-built word system is more than adequate. Furthermore, Prezis are usually presented in such a way where it makes it harder to read since it has no particular layout and the paragraphs are usually in random places and in seperate squares or bubbles - which make it look unprofessional.

The use of blogging on the internet is great because it allows enhanced communications between students and teachers and allows your progress to be seen in real time from almost any device - which is crucial when a film as good communications plays an important role in the outcome of the sequence.

Social Media:

Facebook was a massive help to our group as it allowed us to communicate with eachother and plan the days we would be filming the sequence. 

Digital Technologies: 

Filming:

For the filming process we used a digital video recorder which is now accepted as the standard means of recording. The benefits of this include:

• As opposed to film, digital files don't degrate
• The files are easily transferable and copy
• Film is harder and more expensive to produce edits of

Overall, It's beneficial to young independent film makers that digital is now more effective than ever as good film cameras and editing tools would have only been available to those who could afford it. We are living in a time where digital cameras are constantly getting better 

Editing:

Premiere Pro:

For the editing process I used Premiere Pro, I had only used this software a few times previously but I learn alot about how to use it through trial and error when making the film. I learnt that it is an incredibly versatile piece of software that allows the user to create as many channels of both video and audio and add as many effects as necessary. Adobe Premiere was extremely helpful in several ways:

• Layering sounds: It was crucial that in Delusion some of the sounds were layered as it created more ambiance within the track and by using panning, create a realistic stereo field that enhances the quality of the mix and the production value of the sequence. At one particular point I had the sound of the car repeated during the death montage and used a delay effect that operated in time with the editing.

• Video Effects: Premiere has a large array of video effects that can be added/removed instantly. This allowed us to change the film to black and white in the editing stage - whereas with film they would have most likely had to use black and white film and be unable to change it. Another effect which was helpful was the brightness/contrast setting which allowed us to get the best definition and viewing experience possible
• Audio Effects: I have some experience with working in a recording environment and mixing so I was delighted to find that Adobe Premiere featured a full range of professional audio effects which could be layered on top of each other. Those include: Delay, Reverb, EQ and lots more.
• It's a very popular program with plenty of resources online that can provide help with certain aspects of the film. This is another aspect of digital technology that is extremely helpful since a vast array of information is available at any given time 

At the end of this I learnt that editing is an extremely important process that can either make or break a film so it's good to spend some time learning to use the software and getting the final cut right.

Thriller Evaluation, Question 5: How did you attract or address your audience?

Cliffhangers:

The sequence is very open ended and basically finishes on a cliffhanger and leaves alot to be explained. For this reason a lot of potentially important details are left out and both the characters featured in the narrative could either be heroes or villains. 

The audience are thrown into a world of completely unexplained chaos and despair which would interpolate the audience as they will be naturally interested in watching the rest to watch the narrative unfold and to understand more about the diegesis in which the film is set in. 

A major cliffhanger also occurs within the sequence and gives the audience a false sense of dread as it would appear the main character Charlie is dead - when it actually occured within a dream. This would be a huge shock and challenges film conventions since it is fairly rare for the main character to supposedly die so early on.

Inter-textual references:

The title sequence is almost directly influenced by that of the hitchcock film Vertigo (1960). I decided that the lines featured running across the screen in vertigo would be interesting as they are extremely recognizable to thriller audiences and would immediately engage with the audiences and throw in some suggestions as to what the narrative would be inspired by and include. 

Furthermore, the title sequence was designed and serves as an intertextual reference to 40s and 50s cinema in itself due to the graphics that are used and the way it's delivered to create a sense of fear and distort the images filmed in live-action.

Narrative: 

The narrative of Delusion is interesting as it isn't entirely linear and contains techniques such as montages and is highly subjective - being from the main character Charlie's dream. This film is more challenging to audiences than what would be seen in films that were directed towards a mainstream audience but the somewhat dis-interpolating techniques require the audience to engage, think about and attempt to unpick the mystery of what is occurring on the screen. 

Stills from the montage

Stills from the montage

Stills from the montage

Provided this was shown in a venue such as picturehouse cinemas it would definitely be likely to engage our target audience as it requires some more participation from audiences. 

Camera:

The camera is highly subjective and takes place from the perspective of Charlie. This is a commonly used way to address audiences as it helps build a relationship to the character as it directly (perhaps uncomfortably) places them inside his position. 

The camera is used to create a sense of entrapment and fear throughout several points in the sequence:

• A Tarantino style trunk shot is used which creates a sense of entrapment as it is a commonly used location for thriller villians to place their victims. Small spaces such as this are also naturally claustrophobic as being inside of a boot would be difficult to get out of and extremely uncomfortable. 
• The character Eve suddenly appears behind Charlie - which was created by using a low angle shot which obscures the ground-level of the mise en scene. This is entrapping as he walks backwards into her (who at this point could be a killer) and dramatic irony is used as there is a brief moment where he doesn't notice her standing there.

Thriller Evaluation, Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product:

Audience:

Age:

The actors performing in our film are 17 which means that our film would mostly appeal to those within the 17-24 age group. It was also composed by 16/17 year olds which means a younger audience would be more likely to watch and engage with a film that has been produced by their age and the characters will most likely have traits they can relate to and the characters are generally wearing classic film noir attire with a trendier, more modern touch which gives this film an appeal particularly to the 17-20 age group.

Ethnicity:

Since our characters do not communicate through verbal means in the narrative it means that there are no language barriers that would make it difficult for an audience to understand. This film would appeal to western audiences in particular as the setting of a multi-story car park is an extremely recognizable feature of urban areas in cities and there would be no confusion as to where it was taking place.

Gender:

Delusion would appeal to both males and females and the main point of the film was to make every character appear weak. The dream sequence is from the subjective of the male character Charlie but the inconsistencies within his dream make him appear to be a weak. 

I doubt anybody would avoid the film due to gender roles as there is nothing that suggests the gender is particularly important to the narrative and with the lack of narration and dialogue it isn't clear who is the most important. 

Audiences Interests:

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: 

This is an old film but it has a cult following and has many similarities to Delusion: It takes place inside the dreams of somebody who supposedly killed his best friend and has blocked out the incident. Due to his insane, irrational thoughts the audience are placed in a world of chaos where everything has a sense of distortion and is displayed within highly symbolic images. To summarise, fans of highly subjective film making would enjoy this.

Essex boys:

The films are somewhat different but both narratives are tied up in a world of chaos, murder and bleakness. Fans of the grittier nature of bullet boy may take a liking to the urban british environment featured in Delusion.

Thriller Evaluation, Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Why it wouldn't be shown to mainstream audiences:

'Delusion' is far too experimental to be considered to be shown to mainstream audiences - instead I suggest it would be more suited to more niche audiences at arthouse and independent venues such as 'Picturehouse' cinemas. To elaborate on this I will discuss the main appeal of mainstream films and why my film wouldn't apply to this:

• High budget, glossy films: Delusion was made with an extremely low budget and doesn't offer much in the way of visual effects
• Simple linear narratives: the narrative begins inside a dream at the start of the sequence and there is no character introduction as such. The outcome of the film also leaves alot to be interpreted.  
• Easy to understand characters: Exactly as the name 'Delusion' implies - the characters in this plot are complicated and it is a very subjective narrative from the dream of the potentially psychopathic character Charlie.

To summarize - mainstream cinemas wouldn't have much interest in this film as the current state of mainstream/hollywood cinema means that a lower budget film probably wouldn't have much of a chance at success without a big enough drawn-in audience from marketing campaigns.

Social Media/Internet distribution

In researching how independent films have been successfully marketed and distributed in the past I found a great interest in The Blair Witch Project which is one of the most successful independent films of all time and was made for a budget of only $22500 but went on to make $2.48m - which proves that it is entirely possible. It was backed by clever marketing and was primarily promoted via the internet. 

It would be of high importance to market the film via social media (facebook, twitter etc.) as it would give the film a chance to reach a wider audience. 

Cinema City/Picturehouse Cinemas:

Darker, more experimental and lower budget films would most likely be considered to be showcased to a more niche audience and given a chance at a venue such as Picturehouse cinemas. Being an independent venue it would be easier to negotiate perhaps a public test screening to see how members of the public would respond.


Furthermore, Cinemacity has a program called Cinemaplus which runs courses particularly for young people in the community - therefore it would likely be willing to offer a chance at screening their films.

Competitions:

"Cinemagic is an award winning festival that embraces the magic of film, television and digital technologies to educate, motivate and inspire young people through film screenings, industry workshops, practical masterclasses, filmmaking projects and outreach activities."

- Quote from Cinemagics website

Upon researching opportunities in film, I discovered a film festival company that offers education for young people and holds competitions for people aged 12-25 years old. It hosts a yearly competition in belfast in which films are submitted and shown at the festival. This would be a great opportunity to get some exposure and perhaps some fans for the film as it is one of the biggest film festivals in the UK.

Thriller Evaluation, Question 2: How does your media represent particular social groups?

Representation of Class:

The characters in our sequence are represented as being upper/upper middle class:


Both the characters are presented as being fairly wealthy and affluent which creates a sense of shock at the events portrayed on the screen. It is a common feature of thriller films to give a sense of disillusionment and chaos occurring within affluent society to give an idea that it could happen to anyone - which evokes fear and confusion within the audience as it "hits closer to home"


The car is very important as it isn't directly associated with wealth or class (such as what a Rolls Royce or Mercades Benz would be) but it is still fairly expensive for a character in his late teens/early 20s to be driving.


The clothes they are wearing are typical of film noir and were used in our narrative to connote a sense of wealth and professionalism. Our main male character is presented as wearing a formal hat, a white shirt and most importantly a grey wool jumper with no tie: which suggests this is casual wear. Upper classes would typically wear expensive clothes more casually as it is economically viable to do so and connotes a sense of wealth.

Gender:

There isn't a clear sense of gender roles in our film and the narrative is generally set out in a way where it isn't quite sure who is the villain in our narrative. However, our female character Eve is only seen alive inside Charlie's dream where she is perhaps presented in a different state to usual and doesn't talk - which gives us an unreliable stance on who she really is.

Due to the complicated nature of our narrative and the fact it's set in modern times we decided that traditional gender roles would be an unnecessary and confusing part of the sequence so gender isn't a huge issue in the narrative.

Thriller Evaluation, Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Title Sequence:

I was directly influenced by 50s and 60s thriller title sequences in my film because they are visually very interesting and generate emotional response in the way that they are presented. I did some research and discovered the key characteristics are:

• Bold white lettering 
• Usually full capitalized
• Unique fonts
• Graphics artistically blended into live action

Two of the main inspirations for my title sequence and how they influenced it are described below:

Vertigo:

One of the most recognized title sequences is that from the film Vertigo (1958)

Vertigo's titles used bold lettering and highly symbolic images to interpolate the viewer and make them question what it was supposed to represent. It cuts from an extreme closeup of an eye to what I interpret as an eyeline match to spinning shapes which give the impression of falling - which foreshadows several themes running throughout the film. It also shares many similarities to the highly symbolic dream sequence later on in the film which is an interesting aspect considering 'Delusion' mostly consists of a dream and contains many similar aspects.

In my film, the main character is mysteriously killed in a dream in which blood suddenly appears on his hand followed by a montage which symbolizes the lead up to his death. 

Shot of blood from 'Delusion'

As a result of this and prior inspiration from vertigo, I decided that a transition which formed the shapes of blood splattering would serve as not only be good aesthetically but it would also carry symbolic meaning from the narrative.

Psycho:

Psycho's title sequence consists of a black background, bold white fonts and a series of lines which serve as transitions in between the titles. I decided that this would be a great thing to use as it not only is a good way to transition from live action to graphical images but also a good way to subtly include an intertextual reference to another thriller film. 

Screen of title sequence in Psycho

As a result of this, I decided I would add a series of horizontal lines which develop over a few seconds along with the film titles in sync with the events in the live action footage. 

Lighting:

'Delusion' relies heavily upon chiaroscuro lighting similarly to Film Noir films of the 40s and 50s as it gives it a very chilling effect. The lighting on the car park was from street lamps and lights on the parking ramp but they were spaced out enough to give the effect of single source and  to provide a high amount of contrast whilst still making it easy to distinguish between objects. Similarly for the drama room there was lighting in one spot of the room which casted expressionist shadows upon our characters.

Mise en scene:

The majority of our film is set on the top floor of a car park and inside a drama room which both conforms and challenges thriller conventions. The floor was wet and shiny which reflected light and gave it a very noir ambience and it was set in a very urban environment which gives it similar aesthetics to films such as 'Essex Boys', 'Snatch' etc.

Empty urban spaces are commonly used in particularly British crime thrillers and gives off the idea that it is happening in plain sight and gives the audience a feeling that it could be happening to anyone anywhere. The key difference in our film is that the sequence is put together in such a way that it appears to be very eerie since the place is fully operational with all the nights turned on but with nobody around - giving it an almost unrealistic quality. Using the idea that 'help is nearby but unaware' is a key feature in thriller films as it gives a sense of false hope that there could be somebody nearby who could save them. An example of this is in 'Scream' when Casey Becker is escaping and subsequently being killed in her garden - the moment her parents arrive home.

The drama room was an interesting space to film as it's a large space but contains very few objects - which similarly, along with the car park creates a very strange sense of space in the film since the characters are very small compared to settings they are in.

Storyline, editing and themes:

Symbolic meaning and foreshadowing is used to convey meaning within the narrative. At the end of our sequence the male character discovers that the girl has been killed following a dream in which he sees himself being killed. I decided to use a very Eisenstein inspired montage to demonstrate his death (in the dream) without actually showing it and the short montage consists of around 5 shots which create a transition between his blood covered hand and him laying dead on the floor. I repeated the sound of car revving over the montage which implies that he got ran over and used reverb and delay in the audio settings in sync with the cuts to give it a very stylistic quality.

Once again, this dream sequence draws inspiration from Vertigo in which following Madeleine death, Scottie places himself in her position and is shown falling off a roof and then into a grave. Prior to being killed, I use an edit in which the opening of a car boot cuts from the inside of the boot to the outside - of which I synchronise perfectly to make it appear as though the camera hasn't moved - after which he sees himself inside the boot of his own car. I feel as though when sequences are set inside a dream certain rules from the real world don't apply so I used aspects of surreal nature which are detailed above to demonstrate to the audience that something is different.

Some inspiration for the themes was taken from German Expressionism, which became popular in berlin post WW1 and detailed many of the horrors the country was facing. The influence films such as 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' is important as Delusion brushes on aspects expressionism explored such as insanity, horror and death.



Thriller Film: Final Cut

Psycho: Case Study

Psycho (1960)

Introduction:

Psycho is an american psychological thriller film starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh. It depicts the story of Marion Crane who is on the run for stealing $40000 in order to marry her boyfriend (Sam Loomis) and the psychopath Norman Bates who is out to get her.

Film Noir:

This film has a very "film noir" aesthetic to it which can be attributed to the chiaroscuro lighting which fills many of the sequences. Early horror films were also heavily influenced by early expressionist films in both their themes: nightmares, death, fear etc. and their styling which usually includes surreal set designs and lighting.

Archetype:

Early in the film, Marion Crane is established as the Femme Fatale when she steals some money that was supposed to be delivered to the bank. This is one of the traditional archetypes of narrative cinema and it usually suggests that something bad will inevitably happen to this character unless they are able to change their ways. We are able to establish some sympathy for her as she is only doing this to gain the affection of her lover Sam Loomis, with whom she is having an affair.

This was concept was adapted into later horror films by using the idea of the "final girl" - which is the character that is typically immune from the killers attacks, whereas the characters considered sinful would be killed off.

A similar character, Eve, in 'Once Upon A Time in America' is among one of the first characters to be killed in the film

Shower Scene:

The shower scene is one of the most notable moments in the film. 

There are many ways in which it creates a sense of fear for the audience:

• The character encloses themselves in a small space which gives a sense of claustrophobia and lack of hope
• Dramatic irony is used: we can see the killer's silhouette through the shower curtain
• The attack happens in a place that is considered private (making her somewhat vunerable to attack) and associated with cleanliness, which makes it much more disturbing to the audience

Thriller: Investigation into the soundtrack

G321 Thriller Soundtrack:

In searching for music to use for the thriller film I found a composer called Matthew Pablo who made several tracks which could be suitable for the film - several of which I will link below with an explanation why.


This here is a composition you would expect to find in a classic noir film. It's quite mysterious but possibly too lighthearted for a film sequence that features a killing.



The above soundtrack is most likely what I will use as the mysterious elements will set the tone for the film sequence and add to the psychological elements of our thriller. The typical thriller elements in this music are clear but it also has quite a modern sound to it.

This music isn't royalty free but I emailed the composer who gave permission for it to be used.

Other thriller soundtracks:

My personal favorite thriller soundtrack is that from Vertigo (1958). It is quite a difficult film to understand (as a first time viewer) since the main character, John Ferguson - along with the audience are lead to believe a narrative which has been made up as part of a murder plot.
The introduction of this soundtrack is quite significant as the unsettling qualities give the impression that something isn't quite right, setting the tone for the film.




The main title track above is from from Halloween (1978) which is actually a horror film but it is worth a mention as it has many similarities with that of 1950's thriller films and clearly draws inspiration from the Vertigo soundtrack. The repeating piano melody's at around 2 minutes in the Vertigo track and 1.30 for Halloween are very similar.

John Carpenter composed this music himself and the film has many references to Psycho (Sam Loomis being a notable character name in both etc.)

Film Noir Test

I did some experimenting with lighting in my house part in preparation for the indoors sequence of our thriller film. In doing this I discovered that taking advantage of lighting and shooting through internal frames makes the shots more effective.

Thriller Planning: First Update

Setting:

St Andrews Car Park:

We chose this car park for several reasons:

• It is located in Norwich which is an easy place for every member of our group to access
• We scripted a car in our scenes which makes it a realistic place for a person to be parking
• There was a nearby lift that could be used 
• It has some lighting so it was possible to film even after-hours during 

The lighting was absolutely ideal as the nearby street lamps were quite modern and cast a white glow over the mise en scene which gave the floor and nearby objects a slick, shiny glow - reminiscent of film noir.

It was important to film during the evening hours for several reasons:

• This area can be busy in the afternoon which would dis-interpolate our audience 
• The darkness helps create a more film noir ambience
• Later in the day is usually a more convenient time to film

Costumes:

Shot from our film

• The main characters are wearing relatively formal attire which connotes wealth
• The main male character is wearing a suit jacket, shirt and hat combination which is typical for thrillers and film noir in particular and helps to establish a sense of professionalism and power. It is also an archetypal costume for professional criminals in thrillers which will make first time viewers question their role in the narrative.

Essex Boys: Case Study

Thriller Planning

One of the most important shots in our thriller will be the "trunk shot" which was popularized by Tarantino and used in several of his films. We have decided to use this shot in our thriller as it is being shot from the perspective of the person who ends up in the boot and can be used to create a connection to him.

Another shot we will use is is inspired by the eye shot which dissolves into the blood going down the drain in Psycho (1960). In our film this will be used to show the eye of our character which subsequently dissolves into a tracking shot of a car wheel. The effect in which this is used will create a connection between reality and the "dream world" of our diegesis and show that the dream is occurring in real time.

After some discussion, our group decided that a shot similar to that in the film Insidious (2010) would allow us to show the potential killer sneaking up behind our victim. This is a classic example of foreshadowing as it gives the audience information that the character isn't aware of and helps generate a feeling of hopelessness - nothing can be done to help them.

 The above shot will be incorporated with a circular tracking shot that does a 360° movement around our main character which subsequently reveals the presence or our potential killer. This can be used similarly to an establishing shot but with more subjectivity as it gives us a view of the subjects surroundings.

Once Upon A Time In America - Case Study

The most promiment locations in crime thriller films are those which are closely associated with underground criminal activities, such as speakeasys and opium dens. Sergio Leone uses an opium den to give us the idea that crime and subsequently corruption is prevalant throughout the city - and isn't limited to certain ethnicities or classes. When we see Noodles smoking opium it demonstrates to us that as a character he has negative aspects and drug use is one of them.

Another generic location particularly in crime thrillers is wet, dark urban streets - this location is heavily used in Noir films and it is very clear the Leone took influence from these. The high contrast lighting which literally reflects as a white shimmer off the streets gives it a slightly surreal edge. In Once Upon A Time in America, the scene occurs in a flashback from Noodles in the opium den, and is therefore presented in a more dream like manner - with slow drifting camera movements and slow cuts - which demonstrates to us further that Noodles is under the influence of opium.

Identify two generic character archetypes:
The 'femme-fatale' archetype is used extensively in crime thrillers (translated in english as deadly woman) and is usually presented as being seductive, manipulative and somewhat evil. In this film, the femme-fatale is played by Eve and is killed off within the first few minutes of the film - which could possibly suggest changing attitudes towards presenting main female characters in this way in comparison to the 50's and 60's where this archetype was used promimently. More contemporary examples of these include Irene Adler in 'Sherlock Holmes' and Kelly Van Ryan in 'Wild Things' - although they are slightly different as expected with social changes in western culture.

Another Archetype used is the 'Anti-hero' who usually has many good qualities but has some significant flaws - such as a lack of confidence, drug use, lack of ambition etc. One example in modern film culture is 'Sherlock Holmes' himself, who I mentioned as similarly to 'Noodles' is known for his drug use.

'God Bless America' is used as an ironic statement as it was written by Irving Berlin who was born in the Russian Empire and the song itself is played before the femme fatale Eve is shot by several policeman- the corrupt nature of this suggests that the values in the song are wrong since america is riddled with corruption. When Noodles is in the opium den a telephone is ringing throughout which adds to a sense of mystery as to who could be calling.