Research & Planning: Progression Podcast

Here is a podcast I produced to show you my work so far which includes my chase sequence, genre research and interviews. 

Research & Planning: Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire Results
After getting our target audience to complete our questionnaire these are the results:

1. Are you: Male or Female?
5 Males  5 Females.

2. How old are you?
All 17-19

3.What character age range would appeal to you?
1 3-5
6 17-19
3 25-30

4. Would you prefer a more ambiguous character or unambiguous?
7 Ambiguous
3 Unambiguous

If unambiguous, what type?
Masked Mysterious
Person with something distinctive like a tattoo or scar
Person

5. What colours do you associate with Thrillers?
9 Black
5 White
8 Red
2 Grey
2 Blue
1 Dark Purple 
1 Pink
1 Purple
1 Glitter

6. Would you prefer a more enclosed area or an open busy environment?
5 Enclosed
Examples
Attic
Church
2xHouse
Warehouse

5 Open
Examples
3xWoods
Forest
Flowery Field

7. Would you prefer mood music to make it more dramatic or diegetic sounds?
6 Mixed
3 Mood Music
1 Diegetic

8. Would you prefer slow or fast paced editing?
7 Fast
3 Slow

9. Would you prefer a handheld camera or stable?
7 Handheld
3 Stable

Research & Planning: Questionnaire

Questionnaire: Questions

Here are the questions we created for our questionnaire:

1.Are you: Male or Female?

 Male_  Female_

2.How old are you? 

 17-19  20-24  24+

In a thriller trailer: 

3.What character age range would appeal to you?

3-5  17-19  25-30  40-60  Mixed 

4.Would you prefer a more ambiguous (Unclear) character or unambiguous? e.g. In Scream, we know the murderer is behind the mask 

Ambiguous_  Unambiguous (obvious)_

If unambiguous, what type? e.g. mask or person 

5.What colours do you associate with thrillers? Write 3

6.Would you prefer a more enclosed area e.g. a house or an open, busy environment e.g. a city? 

Enclosed_  example__

Open_  example__ 

7.Would you prefer mood music to make it more dramatic or diegetic sounds?

Mood_  Music_  Diegetic_  Mixed_

8.Would you prefer slow or fast paced editing?

Fast_  Slow_

9.Would you prefer a handheld camera or stable?

Handheld_  Stable_

Research & Planning: Good & Bad Trailers

The Blair Witch Project would be considered a good trailer as it includes factors that we would easily be able to recreate as they use hand-held cameras, relatively common settings and a small cast.



American Psycho would be a difficult trailer to recreate as it uses a variety of characters and we also don't have the equipment available to create the more graphic areas, such as the axe-throw.  They also use high quality cameras that create an effect our handhelds cameras can't match.

Research & Planning: What is a Teaser Trailer/Trailer?

What is a Teaser Trailer/Trailer

A teaser trailer should consist of a combination of various factors which are:

• A Montage: A grouping of various clips that include areas from the equilibrium, the disruption and various peaks that occur throughout the narrative.  However, the new equilibrium shouldn't be included in the trailer as the main problem should only be revealed to the audience.
• Voice Over / Titles: Depending on the genre of the film being advertised, voice overs and titles are an effective way to sell a film.  Genres such as comedies use voice overs as they can provide a humorous feel.  Whereas other genres, such as horror, rely on titles to build up tension and project their theme.
• Production Company: Before any of the film content is shown, the production company is revealed to the audience.  This is a good selling feature as people prefer productions by particular companies and know to expect on whether they'll enjoy the film or not this is backed up with the age certificate being included with it or just before.
• Title of the film: This normally occurs at the end of the trailer to show their audience what to look out for.
• Release Date: This also occurs at the end of the film along with websites and areas their audience can visit.

Research & Planning: Top 10 Thriller Films

Here are the top 10 most popular thriller films on the IMDB website,  this will help me pick a theme for my film and get some general ideas on what to include in my trailer.

Research & Planning: Target Audience Prezi

Target Audience on Prezi

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Target Audience on Prezi

Here is a Prezi presentation of what I expect my target audience to be like so I can tailor my trailer to their needs 

Research & Planning: Group Meeting

I have met with Abbie, who I am making my film trailer with, and we decided that we should both have an input into all of the factors of the trailer.  This will give the trailer a more varied feel as it will have a wider input.  We will register who does certain aspects of our trailer on our blogs as we individually upload them. 

However, if this plan begins to fail, we have decided to split the jobs between us and work on them individually.  However, we feel that our original idea will be more effective as we both have ideas for mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound.

Research & Planning: Trailer Analysis 2

Genre
The genre of The Strangers is a psychological thriller/ horror.  We can tell this with the combination of mise-en-scene, sound, editing and cinematography which projects the genre to its audience and sells the film.  Liv Tyler's character links well to the theory of Carol Glover as she is the last protagonists voice heard in the trailer, indicating that she may in fact be the female character that is terrorised throughout the film. Andrew Sarris' theory that "genre is the idea that it has a recognisable style that draws on an existing audience" works well with this trailer as there are many different factors that all point towards a Psychological Thriller. Violence is also included in this trailer which may point to the film having certain aspects that would be included in a horror due to the use of the axe through the door and the use of the protagonists being captured by the villains.

Representation
There are various representations of character throughout the films such as male characters taking a dominant role.  We see the husband character on many occasions looking around for danger and covering his wife.  This gives off the stereotypical views of the modern day male, giving him an almost heroic characteristic.  The "princess" featured in the trailer is Liv Tyler's character as she seems to be the most vulnerable character featured in the trailer.  This is shown through scenes such as her curled up in the bath and being protected by her husband.  The villainous male character also is a stereotypical male villain as he is the only character seen using a weapon, the axe, he also is shown as the strongest character as he stalks Liv Tyler's character and is shown taller than his two female accomplices. This increases the feel of panic throughout the trailer as the married couple are both out numbered and overpowered by the trio of villains.

Narrative
We open with the equilibrium of the film, introducing us to the married couple who are also our victims in the trailer.  As the trailer progresses we witness the disruption and introduction to the trio when we hear a large bang and then see the swing.  The trailer then shows the three individually throughout the montage, implying various peaks featured in the film.  We then see a flash of the three characters together when they have caught the married couple which could be a small glimpse of the climax of the film.

Audience
There are many different messages and values the audience can gain from this trailer.  By using tighter framing on the couple we instantly know they're together.  We know that they're the victims featured in the story due to them being overpowered by the masked figures.  This causes the audience to take the side of the couple and sympathising with them throughout the trailer.
     The message that go straight into the minds of the audience is the clear divide between the masked figures and the couple as well as the fact that there is no body else present to help them.
     As you can see, this trailer will cause the audience to stay active through the film due to the suspense created as well as the fact the audience will have to concentrate to link together different aspects of the plot.







Media Language
     Cinematography:

• This trailer uses a mixture of high and low angles to show the imbalance of power spread between the two groups.  This helps the audience to understand the conflicts featured in the film and who are the victims.
• It also shows part of the couple on an eye line match with the audience, showing that we are on their side.  This helps us, as the audience, relate well to the couple and take their side.
• The mixture of long shots and close ups shows the sheer size of the house as well as the confusion created by the masked figures, making the audience feel uneasy throughout the trailer.

     Editing:

• There is a clear mixture of slow and fast editing that shows the variety in both fast-paced action and the slow building of suspense.  This makes the audience panic due to the large variety in editing speed.
• There are very little editing transitions as most of them are straight cuts.  However, there is one fade at the beginning to imply the equilibrium in the narrative.

     Sound:

• The trailer focuses mostly on diegetic sounds in order to add realism to the picture.  This works well with the title "Based of True Events"  making the film even scarier as people believe it.

     Mise-en-Scene:

• The use of the masks helps to distance the villains from reality as well as make them more scary.  This also creates an un-human feature in which the audience relate to evil characters.
• The clothing featured in the film is also a key piece of mise-en-scene.  Notice how the couple are wearing relatively casual clothing whereas the masked figures are seen in suits and old-fashioned clothing to add to their sinister edge.

Reasearch & Planning: Facebook Trailer Suggestions

In order for me to select my next trailer to analyse, I decided to as some of my friends on the social networking site www.Facebook.com and as you can see I now have lots of ideas of films I will be able to look at and gain a further understanding of my genre.

Research & Planning: Trailer Analysis

Genre

Silence of the Lambs is a psychological thriller. We can tell this due to the different factors of the trailer that all work together to project the psychological aspects of the film such as the use of various themes and stings to highlight the jump cuts to Hannibal Lectre's face, adding to the thriller feel by shocking the audience.  Notice also how the themes and stings are a similar sound to that of the jail door,  causing viewers to associate that particular sound and the character Hannibal Lectre, to being trapped both a physical and a mental state.  Notice how Jodie Foster's character Clarice Starling links well to the theory of Carol Glover as she is the female character that is terrorised throughout the film, yet survives the overall situation featured in the narrative.  Another theory linking to this film is that of Andrew Sarris who claims that "genre is the idea that it has a recognisable style that draws on an existing audience." This ties in well as the trailer works with many psychological aspects that work well with the overall feel of a thriller,  providing for the existing audience of the genre.  The trailer also suggests violence as we see a variety of weapons, such as guns and knives, however they are shown as both weapons and methods of self defence implying the who the conflict is going to occur between throughout the film.

Representation

There are various representations of people throughout the trailer, including a role reversal in the female character of Jodie Foster, who has some dependancy on the male character Hannibal Lectre.  However, she is also seen holding a gun and explaining how she doesn't "scare easily" showing how she can take a more active role in the narrative.  Anthony Hopkins' character Hannibal Lectre has an almost father-like approach towards Clarice, giving her hints on how to catch "him".  However, Hannibal Lectre is also considered as a villainous character as we can clearly see him locked up which makes him sort .  This ads to the fear factor of the trailer as Hannibal is an evil character that is helping Clarice, the heroic character in the film according to Propp's theory.  

     We also see a diverse view on women as we see Clarice Starling, a strong woman who is only tormented by Hannibal Lectre's mind games.  We also see the victims of Buffalo Bill who are passive characters as they rely on others to rescue them.

    

Narrative

Throughout the trailer, we see the equilibrium in which we establish the main conflicts featured in the film showing that our trailer needs to be informative and enable our audience to understand a rough storyline that they'll be able to follow.  We also see part of the disruption, showing the audience the main problem in the film in which the protagonists Clarice Starling/Hannibal Lectre are trying to solve.  There are also various peaks featured in the film which create a suspense about the film that attracts the existing fans of the psychological thriller genre.  

    

Audience

There are many different meanings and values the audience can gain from this trailer.  The audience are confused to Lectre's character as his diverse personality projects an intelligent character that uses his knowledge for good and for his own personal gain.  This causes viewers to trust the character, yet fear him at exactly the same time adding to the psychological thrill brought to the film.  

     This also links well to what the audience take from the trailer as we instantly side with Clarice Starling as she is an FBI agent, yet she consults with Hannibal Lectre and eventually start some kind of friendship.  This causes the audience to feel uneasy around the pair as they are both on opposite ends of the spectrum, yet work together to establish a new equilibrium.

      The messages that go straight into the audiences minds are the conflicts between Lectre, Starling and Buffalo Bill.  This tells us who to side with and influences our ideas onto how the film will unfold.

     As you can see, this trailer will cause the audience to stay active throughout the film as they show many diverse characters along with a multi-strand narrative that the viewers will have to concentrate on whilst they watch.

Media Language

     Cinematography:

• The trailer features jump cuts that cause viewers to feel uneasy as they are easy to notice and extremely fast.  Notice also how these jump cuts only show the features of the villainous characters, Hannibal Lectre's face and features of Buffalo Bill.  This shows us a quick summary of who the heroes in the film are trying to stop and allows the audience to establish the conflicts that occur within the film.
• The trailer also shows eye line matches in which we, as the audience, feel like the characters are addressing us.  These occur at the very beginning of the trailer, with the police officer asking Clarice if she "Spooks easily" implying to the audience that the film is a thriller.  Another eye line match also occurs at the end of the trailer when Anthony Hopkins' character, during an extreme close up, says "Thank you Clarice, thank you."  This adds to the fear factor of the overall trailer as it shows Hannibal's twisted nature with his eerie voice and emotionless features.
• The use of POV shots are used to show the close up of certain character's faces throughout the trailer, such as close ups on the police officer's face when he says "you don't want Hannibal Lectre inside your head" this makes a connection with the audience causing us to trust what he says, as he's a police officer, and taking a weary approach towards Hannibal Lectre.  We also see that all of these shots are from the point of view of Clarice Starling, this makes us feel like we're on her side and experiencing the film through her eyes.

     Editing:

• Notice how, at the very beginning of the trailer, we see the Orion production theme jump to and from a flash of Hannibal Lectre's face.  This instantly makes the audience aware that the character that is Hannibal Lectre is considered a threat and is a character we need to concentrate on throughout the film.  We also see jump cuts on the main villains character Buffalo Bill, highlighting the main villains in the film without revealing too much to us.
• Editing around Clarice Starling is mostly straight cuts.  This gives us a feel of normality around her especially when it's combined with the POV shots from her perspective.
• The straight cuts featured in the trailer tend to speed up as it progresses.  This adds a state of panic to the trailer which, when combined with the variety of characters shown, creates a trailer that has to be watched several times in order to gain all of the information available.

     Sound:

• Notice in the opening of the trailer, we hear themes and stings as we jump to and from the face of Hannibal Lectre.  This also occurs in the jump cuts for Buffalo Bill, helping the audience to realise these two characters are the main threats featured in the film.  Notice also how the particular sting used matches the sound of the jailhouse door slamming in the asylum.  This may be to emphasise how these two characters, especially Lectre, trap their victims.
• Lectre's voice is also a key aspect to the film as it is one of the most recognisable assets to this particular film.  The voice has an emotionless yet eerie tone, suggesting how Lectre doesn't care about the events that are unfolding throughout the film, making the audience feel even more uneasy.

     Mise-en-scene:

•  Throughout the jump cuts of Buffalo Bill, we see a small insight to his life.  Factors such as a feminine necklace, a shot of him putting on make up and a "Love" tattoo shows that he maybe confused with his sexuality or searching for an identity.
• Each time we sea Lectre, the background is either empty or a blur.  This shows us how people are completely clueless to his past and he masks this well with his personality adding a mystery factor to the film.
• There is also a large amount of low-key lighting to add to the stereotypical expectations of a thriller.  This helps to highlight each character as an individual as they react to the different areas of the trailer.

Research & Planning: Audience Poll

Research & Planning: Interviews

Here is a video we made interviewing some members of our target audience using the questions included in "Research & Planning: Interview Questions".  This was so we could get a rough idea of what people want to see from a psychological thriller.

Reasearch & Planning: Interview Questions

Here are the questions we've selected for our interview:

• What would you expect from a psychological thriller?
• If one thriller was given a 15 rating and another an 18, which one would you be more inclined to go for?
• Why?
• Would you expect a thriller's gore factor to be on the same level as a horror?
• Would you prefer a realistic - style thriller or a fantasy thriller?
• Would you be more attracted to a film with younger characters in it?
• What areas would you expect a thriller to be set?
• What sounds would you expect to be included in a thriller?

Research & Planning: Photoshop Challenge

To reintroduce ourselves to Photoshop, we were set a challenge to create a film poster that suits the genre we picked for our trailer.  For this I used a photograph of Bruce Willis as the main subject of my poster,  a BBFC-style "18" and various fonts to suit the different factors of my poster.  I used Helvetica for the areas that need to be read easily such as "October 2012",  Steel Tongs for the production list at the bottom and another font that suited my genre for my title.
     I think this poster suits my genre well as it sticks to the psychological aspect of my chosen genre by using a photograph that makes direct eye contact with the viewers along with the slogan "What's in your mind?", suggesting the main subject has some sort of mental illness.  I also used red in my image which could suggest a horror factor to my psychological thriller.  This also highlights areas of the poster I want my audience to look at.
     The image I decided to use was effective for my chosen genre as it was crisp and easy to manipulate into a more sinister style.  I did this by taking the photograph of Bruce Willis, covering it with a black rectangle and, using a very soft eraser on a low opacity, removing small amounts of the screen to reveal his face.  I then desaturated the image of its colour and added red eyes so that he seemed a much darker character than he did in the original image.

Research & Planning: The Pitch

Research & Planning: Regulation & Censorship

       

I am planning to film a psychological thriller and therefore, I feel it would be appropriate to give my trailer at a 15 rating as it will be shown later on television (9:00 onwards) and at the cinema before other 15 rated films.  This will attract our target market effectively as it will be shown to people who my film would appeal to the most.

 

My actual film, however, will be rated 18.  We decided on this certificate because it fits out genre of psychological thriller well and also gives us more freedom due to it being the highest level certificate and therefore the easiest to work with.  We will be able to show certain scenes instead of just implying them.

Research & Planning: The Pitch

Research & Planning: Genre Research

Horror

Most people associate horror with large amounts of violence, blood and gore.  However, there are many layers to a horror film to help influence the audience's reaction towards the picture.  Factors such as music, colour, lighting and sound all work together to make the audience feel uneasy, heightening the overall scare-factor of a film.  Films such as the SAW series rely heavily on gore and suspense to shock their audience, creating their own unique atmosphere and developing their own fan base.  Other films like The Exorcist use factors such as the paranormal and small children as the focus of the narrative.  The use of the paranormal and a vulnerable child causes the audience to panic over the child's fate, yet they still fear the child as they are the manifestation of the threat.

Thriller

Thrillers use psychological aspects to access the minds of the audience.  This causes them to play a more active roll within the film as they have to think about how the plot fits together.  Films such as Shutter Island use mental illnesses to add the psychological thrill to the film.  This is also put to use by adding a huge twist shocking the audience and turning the entire plot upside down.  Silence of the Lambs is another extremely popular psychological thriller that uses the character's mentality to add tension to the film.  Hannibal Lectre, the main character of the film, is a very misunderstood character as he comes across an extremely intelligent man, yet is treated like a mad man.

Comedy

Comedy uses different types of humorous situations and characters to appeal to their audience.  Some comedies, such as The Inbetweeners had an existing fan base that was developed from the television series whereas The Hangover Part II gained their audience from their popular prequel The Hangover.  The use of character in both of the films shown above are mainly male yet the people who are shown to have some sort of stability or order throughout the film are females.  This appeals to audiences of both genders as it shows a clear divide between the two.

 

Fantasy

Research & Planning: The Chase