Target Audience Description

Our target audience, is between the ages of 13 and 18. This is because it may seem scary or too violent for a younger audience. As there is a scene where it implies a murder, it may be distressing for an audience under 14. With our survey results showing most people around 16 to 24 watch thrillers, it made more sense to have this as our target audience. An older audience may not grasp the concept of a mistaken identity, as the hit man gets the wrong target, but is not hugely explained so may not be that clear for an older audience and they may miss the concept.

Extended Step Outline

Shot List

Storyboard Long

Storyboard

My Role

For our production, I was in charge of editing the production after we had filmed it. This was different to anything we had done previously in the making of our film, as it used technology such as Adobe Premiere Pro which I hadn't used before. As well as editing, I wrote question 4 on the evaluation. The way we did this worked as everybody had a different role, and worked together to create the film

Propp's Character Roles

Vladimir Propp studied hundreds of traditional folk tales to establish character types

He decided these were split into:

·      Hero

·      Villain

·      Dispatcher

·      Donor

·      Princess

·      Sidekick

Narrative Theories

NARRATIVE THEORIES
Theory 1: Bordwell	David Bordwell made a formalist approach based on the distinction between story and plot. He said that the story is a chronological sequence of events, but that the plot was the sequence of events in which the audience experiences them. According to Bordwell, all films function using a cause and effect chain of events. He thought that filmmakers make narratives more mysterious or suspenseful by altering the plot from the story
Theory 2: Todorov	Tzvetan Todorov was a famous narratologist who argued that all stories have a similar structure. He said that you have ·      Equilibrium ·      Significant Event ·      Recognition by Hero ·      Attempt to Repair ·      New Equilibrium The new equilibrium is often different and better to the old equilibrium
Theory 3: Propp	Vladimir Propp studied hundreds of traditional folk tales to establish character types He decided these were split into: ·      Hero ·      Villain ·      Dispatcher ·      Donor ·      Princess ·      Sidekick
Theory 4: Levi-Strauss	Claude Levi-Strauss argues that there were Binary Oppositions in every narrative. These reflect the culture from which they emerge. They are neutral oppositions that are loaded positively or negatively in a way that reflects a cultures dominant ideology
Theory 5: Pam Cooke	Pam Cook argues that films contained their own kinds of narrative. Filmic/cinematic narratives are defined by ·      Goal Orientated characters ·      A cause and effect narrative trajectory ·      A clear resolution ·      A high degree of narrative closure

Institutional Research

Thrillers have always been a popular movie genre. However, as you can see from the graph above, it doesn't hold a large percentage of the market share.

'Get Out' was a hugely popular film made in 2017. It showed that the thriller genre is far from dead, especially after winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

It is also the highest-grossing original debut ever, as well as being the third highest grossing R-rated horror film ever.

The table above shows budget and profits of the top films produced by Blumhouse Productions. It shows that Get Out, although not having the highest budget, but made the most at the box office and made the most profit.

A thriller/suspense that didn't make as much as 'Get Out' was 'The Snowman'. Produced by Universal Studios, it made a little over $6.5 million at the box office, compared to its $35 million budget. This demonstrates some of the aspects needed in order to make a thriller successful. 

Get Out was full of suspense, appealing to audiences worldwide which contributed to its success. The Snowman, however, had very little of any of these aspects and performed very poorly, ensuring that it wouldn't be successful at all 

Possible Story Ideas

Hired hitman kills wrong target. He goes through phone to find out he is a government agent and ends up running from the government.

• Pros
• No External funding needed
• Easy to film
• Leave a good cliffhanger for the rest of the film
• Cons
• Cant use imitation weapons in public 
• Difficult to shoot a killing

Kidnapping of small child. Bad mother leaves house with child unattended. Kidnapping opens up the rest of the story

• Pros
• Not an overused story, kind of original
•  Already have the child to use
• Cons
• Baby will have to act
• Would have to work around her timings
• Where does the story go - not much content in a kidnapping

Storyline for Hitman:

• Short over-the-phone dialogue between hitman and his employer
• We dont see the employer
• He starts picking the lock of a house
• Goes in and kills person living in the house
• Checks the ID. Finds out it was the wrong person and turns out it was a government agent
• Short dialogue

Credit Sequence Analysis

James Bond films are well known for their long and complex opening credit sequence, and Daniel Craig's fourth appearance in the series, Spectre (2015) is no exception. As a sequence, it lasts 3:40, much longer than most opening credits

As audiences are already judging the film by the opening credits, its important to get them just right. This sequence starts and ends with a close up shot of a ring, leading the audience to believe that this will play a major part of the film.

• The font used is small and simple, placed in various parts of the screen as the sequence continues. It's small enough that it doesn't distract the viewer from the main action, however its still noticeable enough to be seen. 
• It uses plain white for the font colour. Again, this isn't distracting, but it stands out from the background in order to stay easy to read.
• The text moves around different parts of the screen as the action goes on, drawing the audiences attention each time it moves
• Most of the graphics behind the credits are computer generated. It involved lots of different images, such as snakes, and lots of gold colours. It shifts to a silhouette of a woman, being covered by snakes, seen in the image above.

Former Student Thriller Opening Analysis

Snatched
'Snatched' starts with a short dialogue between a middle aged man, and what the audience presumes to be his daughter. The scene is set in a well furnished, most likely very expensive house. The dialogue suggests that the older man has established his enemies, and that their money has most likely come from some form of ill-gotten gains.

The dialogue is interrupted by a phone call. A distorted voice tells the man to follow his orders. The lady ushers the daughter out into a car, and starts to message someone on her phone. The twist comes as we see the messages being sent from the older lady to the person on the phone with the old man. The exchange suggests that the man on the other side of the phone and the older lady are working together. This engages the audience for what would happen in the rest of the film, had it been made.

American Beauty Homework

The first thing we see in this scene are the two characters, a man and a woman, lying in bed together. We can hear rain falling outside of the building, giving a soothing feeling to the atmosphere. Because both characters can hear this, the sound is diegetic. The non-diegetic sound in this scene is part of the sound track. There is a melancholy tone to this, adding to the soothing and sad atmosphere.

It moves to a mid shot of the face of the woman and the back of the man. The scene progresses until we see the same distance shot, but the face of the man and the back of the woman as he hugs her.

The next shot establishes a new character. She is sitting in a car, and the audience sees her face in the mirror, next to the rain pouring down the windshield. As she turns her head and lowers the car window, the camera focuses in on the red door and light in the centre of the frame, surrounded by rain. This is a balanced composition.

The scene moves back inside, with the camera swapping views between the man and the woman. There is an exchange of dialogue between the two, before the woman moves off set. The scene ends with the man looking at a photo of his family and smiling, as the music fades out and the camera fades to black

Half-Term Homework

Rear Window Opening

























Rear Window starts with an extreme long shot of a housing estate, panning from left to right giving the viewer a sense of the spacing of the setting of the film. It is an establishing shot, showing the main characters, props (e.g. the camera) and the area that the beginning of the film will take place

The Shawshank Redemption Ending















The Shawshank Redemption ends with a pull-out shot of the beach at Zihuatanejo, showing the reunion of Andy and Red. There is a contrast of the colours of the sand and the Pacific Ocean, with the boat being centered at the frame. This goes from a medium long shot to an extreme long shot of the two men, ending the film on an emotional reunion.

The Sting - A Game of Jacks



















In this scene there is a game of poker being played against two men. The cameras were set on a tripod facing each player. The cards are framed so that the viewer is able to see them, although they are being held very close to the mens chest. At the end of the scene when the cards are revealed, it becomes apparent that the person in the stills has cheated, and the camera zooms in on the cards with a pull-in shot

Lady in the Water - Healing Scene













This scene is a close up shot of the mans face. There is a close up of the mans face at the beginning, after a close up of the woman's scarred legs. After some speech from the man, all the other characters in the scene place their arms on him. Then there is some more speech, and another close up of the woman's leg shows that the scars have healed.

Superman Returns - Lifting a Ship





















In this scene, the camera is on a tripod in the sinking ship. The shot is a close up of all the characters faces, and the ship is still sinking until the main character, Superman, rescues it. There is a long shot of Superman and an extreme long shot of the ship, whilst there is a pull-out shot from the camera zooming out.

The Dark Knight