Evaluation

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

The Title

the title of the film is presented on the first frame. it is strongly linked with the the remainder of the sequence, through the style and positioning. the style of the font used for the title is made to represent the crime thriller genre,as it is both sophisticated but also luminous. the editing of the title also links to the genre as a common theme of a crime thriller is "chase" and "mystery". as the title is seemingly fleeing it uncovers the start of the sequence. the title resembles a real media product as has the same font running throughout the sequence used for the opening credits.

the style of the title is inspired by a combination of the film 7even and the film Pulp Fiction as the title style in seven is also extremely mysterious and daunting in a way. we also tried to go for the same effect, however, slightly more subtle with the influence of the large, bold font from Pulp Fiction. As both these films are crime thrillers we thought this to be more than suitable.

Inspiration by

Setting

our entire opening sequence is shot in the bedroom of an ordinary, everyday young woman perhaps in her early twenties. the reason we decided to shoot in only one location is that after watching several sequences, again under the influence of Se7en we realised that it is much more effective to keep all the details in one confound space, mainly to maintain the audiences attention. The entire opening sequence of Se7en is in the room of an evil mastermind, where he is plotting his next action, similarly we have our proletariat in her room with her plans and the details for her plot layed out.

Costumes and Props

By simply incorporating costume and props within our piece, we are enforcing the conventions of a real media product, as all films have costume and props. our Proletariat is dressed as an everyday young woman would be dressed, this is because we wanted to challenge the forms and stereotypes of what a terrorist is meant to look like. By simply having a female terrorist, it allows us to toy with her background and the reasons behind her extremist actions/attempts. this also creates a sense of mystery as the audience would be guessing why a normal girl would be thinking of blowing up a plane. this is all done through costume, as costume can present a lot about a character. In the chosen frame, the costume of a red and black checkered shirt, and gray jeans are worn with black boots. the boots give a way a main part of the characters attitude as these boot present rebellion and the confidence to rebel. the main prop in this frame would the mobile she speaks on.

Font and Title Font

the Font as said before is a combination of the film Se7en and Pulp Fiction. we decided to make our font more subtle than Se7en as didn't want the audience to be distracted from the main body of the sequence. it is similar to a real media product as it follows the conventions of the films genre, just as a horror or romantic comedy would.

Story

the story of our opening sequence is strongly inspired by Se7en as the plot is in an almost collage form, this is similar as in Se7en we witness the villain planning and plotting in the same form.

Inspiration:

Genre

The genre of our film is immediately presented in the opening sequence, where the red crosses are marked on the plane blue prints. the audience automatically know that something is going to happen regarding a plane. this is similar to Se7en as we see the villain cutting through pages and books and marking on peoples pictures. by enforcing ideas from other media products that follow the conventions of our genre, we are following the conventions of a real media product.

Camera Work and Editing

the editing in the chosen frame is again similar to Se7en as we also have images that fade in and out of the motion picture. Se7en does this with pictures of previous tortures, whereas we do this with pictures of our terrorists victim.

Special Effects

In terms of special effects in our opening sequence, we are relatively limited. the only special effect would be through editing where the pictures fade in and out of the film.


Question Two
How does your media product represent particular social groups?

the social group our media product represents are terrorists. however, contra to other media products, we have decided to challenge societies stereotypical idea of them. we've done this by firstly, employing a female actress to play the role. the terrorist in our film is also very simple, it allows the audience to question the reasons behind her actions. what our media product does, is challenge stereotypes, this is an enormous risk in the film industry as the audience watch a film to be entertained, they might not appreciate having the ethics and views challenged.

in a sense we are representing our social group positively as we are proving their might be some reasonable explanation behind their extremist views. by doing this we will face criticisms has, the method in which they present their feelings are morally wrong. our idea to challenge stereotypes came from the fact that in most films the terrorist or even the "bad guy" is a male. throughout history, the main villains who are most known are male, eg, Dr Evil, Dracula, Judge Doom etc.
societies idea of a terrorist:

male

masked

armed

disguised

Question Three

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Question Three on Prezi

Question Four

Who would be the target audience for your media product?

Although our media product is suitable for anyone above the age of 18, we aim to attract mainly both males and females between the ages of 18 - 24 otherwise known as the students. the reason we would like to attract mainly this group of people is because we would release the film early April around the time the Easter holidays would start, and this target group would be off from full time education. we think these people would be attracted to our film because these are the sort of people who would be interested in certain controversial subjects, as they might want to link it to their studies. Our film is also a type of film where people would enjoy going in groups, as there might be certain frightening scenes. our chosen target audience would probably be the type to watch our film then go to get something quick and convenient to eat.

Question Five

How did you attract/address your target audience?

In this prezi i've not only expressed how i would address the audience during the media product, but also some ideas about how i would attract my target audience to watch my media product in the first place.

Question Five on Prezi

Question Seven

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

the preliminary task taught us we had to use certain shots and angles. we as a group tried to include all the preliminary tasks into our piece. we added a variety of shots (ECU, CU, midshots and long shots) however because of our slightly small shooting space this also proved a little difficult. we also Incorporated the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot.

Mid Long Shot

Extreme Close up

Close Up

Medium Long shot

Long Shot

Audience Feedback video

Audience Feedback

although we hadn't finished editing, we decided to ask a number of people from other groups to watch our raw material and give us feedback on it. obviously we wasn't expecting to receive great reviews just yet, as our film still lacked sound. however we were told we used a wide range of camera angles and shots. we were also told the footage kept the audience guessing as it kept them at the edge of their seat (what we had aimed for :] ) this could be because the audience would not be expecting a female terrorist.
the main criticism we received was to tidy up our transitions - of which we also agreed on. we were also told parts of the scene seemed too repetitive and lacked momentum. we will aim to rectify these issues in the time left.

To Do

• finalise the length
• overcome the music syncronisation
• finalise editing
• put in credits
• record the radio extract - news report
• finalise on live type

although there is still alot to do, in limited time, as a group we have agreed to stay behind on a number of days to complete everything.

Final Script

Final Script for Flight 777

editing

when editing we came across several problems. firstly, we realised we did not have enough footage as we had to edit out the retakes of scenes. this would not be a problem for larger scale productions as they would have time to re think their ideas, and possibly shoot more footage. secondly, when editing our sound track we came across a number of problems, as we had two very good pieces of music we didn't want to have either/or we wanted both, however this meant they would not be in sync. thirdly, 3 members of the group opted to have a mini black out between the production logo, main titles and the start of the sequence. they also wanted to have the music to cut out during this blackout. however i made a point that having both a blackout and no sound, is unprofessional and we would look armature. they stated it was a way to combat the synchronising of the tracks, however i pointed out that if we were to have the mini blackout we would need to have the music to fade out and start right back in, in order to keep the audience engaged throughout. this matter is still being addressed.

Final Filming

our final filming was completed on tuesday 16th march.
as we decided to cut of the heathrow scene due to complications such as, permission, time and caste shortage. this worked as an advantage as we were able to focus our entire attention on one perticular moment. we decided to hold the filming in the house of the terrorist. we also made some rash decisions regarding our 2minute oppening sequence, as we decided to have a female terrorist rather than male, this way we would be chalanging steryotypes. one other reason we did this was becuase of cast shortage, as we were forced to reshoot several times. of course if this was a production by a large filming company they wouldnt have these problems, as they would have the correct insurence to shoot at high security, public places such as airports. they would also have alternative opptions available if location became a problem. lage companies would also have understudies for the import roles.

sequence

Title theme tune - possibility

Live Type

in todays lesson we were introduced to Live Type, a professional editing software, we took a title sequence and added our own titles.

Final Logo Design

after producing two completely different logo designs: one creative and the other smart and sophisticated, we put the decision to a vote. after the group was torn in two, we decided to ask an independent judge. the final design became the sophisticated design.

Filming

here we announce we have finished filming.....so we thought

Questionnaire Results

Storyboard

Audience Research

logo Design 2

Logo Design

Plot

For our thriller film, the idea of basing it around terrorism and conflict was something that we as a group liked. However we did come across some issues which made us change some of the aspects from the original plot.




The plot of the thriller movie 'Flight 777' is about a young man (Austin) who wants to stand against those who believe in Freemasonry. Another character in the movie is a Freemason (Senator) and so Austin sees that the only way he can solve his anger and frustration is by boarding the same plane as the Senator, and threatening his life.




When brainstorming the plot we had to be careful about who and what we included. An idea was brought up to the table that the young boy (Austin) would be part of the Al Qaeda group. However this could cause unnesesary conflict anad also may offend some people.




Another problem that we encountered when brainstorming the plot was the idea of terrorism. Terrorism is a very sensitive subject to some people and may have a direct link to their life. The fact that different types of war and conflict are going on may raise issues. However we came to the conclusion that by having a terrosit plot, it would engage more of an audience and mroe people would be able to relate to it.

Flight 777 Script

Script for Thriller




Terrorist; Austin Reid

Cop; Sean Williams

Senator; John Bailey

News Reporter; Poppy Falkner


First show Production company's name; Prime-Ace Productions


INT. Living Room, close up on television, which focuses on the News 24


POPPY

Today’s international news, senator John Bailey is to return to the United States after denied allegations of being a free mason. Here is the audio report with Natalie.


C.U on JOHN with text of what he is saying, which will say ‘I am not a Free mason’ in Italics, with the audio playing over. This will also be with his photo on the left, and text on the right.


JOHN (only being heard)

I am not a free mason. (Which will then cut off quickly. There will be some background noise, which will make the interview scruffy)


Actors and Actresses; Jonathon, Zermina Toghey, Payam Edalat


Television screen turns off- fades to black. Where the camera then zooms out from the black television screen


INT. C.U of papers on desk, which shows signs of a terrorist plot. These will include blueprints, airplane pictures, pictures of senator, and the Freemasonry logo.


Costume designer; Zermina Toghey, Sonia Bains


INT. AUSTIN will be getting ready and the back of him be shown whilst the front will be shown in the mirror. He will be in a bedroom, where there will be some lighting however minimal. The bedroom will be a little messy, as he has just finished packing ready to leave for the airport.


Music producer; Amrita Bhogal


INT. XCU of terrorist face showing frustrated emotion, which will still be in the bedroom.


Casting director; Zermina Toghey

Film editors; Prime – Ace Productions


INT. Long shot of SEAN in the mirror whilst he is getting ready to go to the airport. This will also be in the bedroom and will also have some dark lighting. The fact that both shots are like each other, the audience will be able to distinguish the similarities with the two characters.


INT. Extra Close up of the cop’s face, which will be taken in the bedroom as well.


EXT. Heathrow Airport, which will be during the day, some light, the entrance will be very busy. SEAN and AUSTIN will both enter one entrance door from different sides and then merge into the crowds who are also going into Heathrow Airport. Lots of background noise with people talking, sirens, and airplanes taking off.


Director; Prime-Ace Productions

Writers; Amrita Bhogal


EXT. XCU of the flight times, which leave to go to USA.


Name of movie; Flight 777

Title Credits

Director

Assistant director

Producers

Photography directors

set designer

script writer

screenplay writers

casting directors

directors crew

Cast

Props List

for our filming we are going to need several items that will make our film clip look authentic, by adding props that relate to the film it will create a verisimilitude sense.

for the first scene:

TV - for the news report

for the second scene:

terrorism plan items:

blue prints

pictures of the senator

pictures of the plane

bomb creating equipment

letters

notes

research

for the third scene:

mirror

pieces of clothing

average bedroom items

post it notes

for the fourth scene:

(same as previous minus post it notes)

change in bedding

for the 5th scene:

outside the airport

suit cases

luggage

for the 6th scene:

inside the airport

flight chart

Research on Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around 5 million, including just under two million in the United States and around 480,000 in England, Scotland and Ireland.

The various forms all share a constitutional declaration of belief in a Supreme Being

Final Idea

Thriller Final Idea

Shooting Schedule

Filming Schedule of: Flight 777

Research on Logos

The Lovely Bones

by Peter Jackson

many would argue that "The Lovely Bones" is not a thriller, this may be because it does not contain all of the thriller genre conventions or maybe because it was based on a novel. However this film would be a sub genre of thriller in the form of a, crime thriller.

Throughout the film the typical puzzle aspect of a crime thriller was obvious. constantly the proletariat's father was searching for clues within his daughters pictures. Although the police and investigators start to prioritise other cases, the girls father NEVER gives up, even when it lands him hospitalized. As with many crime thrillers, they come close to finding the murderer and fall inches apart.

This novel based film also contained certain gruesome or heart wrenching scenes, this is also typical in these types of films. An example of this is where the murderer is lying in a bath tub, and the young girl realises what has happened, at this moment the girl screams and fades out. After this there is an extreme close up on the girls charm bracelet hanging from the tap.

The weather and lighting could also reflect the thriller genre, as when the girl is lured into the underground den, the weather seems cold and windy. Typically it is late in the afternoon, when the sun is and almost has set.

Tension is made during the film as the audience wait a substantial amount of time before we realise that the girl didn't manage to get away until the very moment the girl her self finds out. this produces tension as the audience grow eager to find out what has happened.

As with many thriller films a Mc Guffin was put in place. this was in the from of the poem of which the girl chases into the hands of the murderer. this is a Mc Guffin as the poem let her to the main event of the film. If this had not occurred it would have been possible for the sequence not to even have occurred. This was also an example of dramatic irony, as the poem was from someone who seemed to care for the girl.

In conclusion The Lovely Bones is a key example of a crime thriller.

Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson

born in New Zealand
film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter
best known for the lord of the rings, however he was the director of a recent crime thriller: The Lovely Bones. (see lovely bones film analysis)

Thriller film directors

Alfred Hitchcock

Born: 13 August 1899

Alfred Hitchcock was an English filmmaker and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood. In 1956 he became an American citizen. Best known for his thriller and suspense films: Rear Window 5th on the imbd best thiller films and Psycho 7th on the imbd best thriller films. Hitchcock has worked for universal fims and has worked along side John Steinbeck

thriller film directors

Quentin Tarantino

born: 26th March 1983

Tarantino is a well know film director, he has directed films such as Pulp Fiction, In Glorious Bastards, Kill Bill and Death Proof. Tarantino first started as an actor and he attended a theatre school at the age of 22. he then went on to becoming a script writter, the first script he sold was True Romance, which is ironic as his most recent films have been thrillers, horrors and actions. However now he is an award winning hollywood director.

Pulp Fiction is voted 3rd on the imbd best thriller films. Tarantino was also voted best director at the Bafta awards for Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction stared actors such as John Travollta and Samuel L Jackson.

7even Film Analysis

the film 7seven could be classed as a "crime Thriller" this is a sub genre of Thriller. Many people claim the title sequence to 7seven is the best in the history of of Thriller films(view 7even title sequence analysis). the film it self is also full of the typical thiller convensions you would expect to find within a thriller.

just as many thrillers there is usually a battle between good and evil. in this case detective summerset and detective mills working together to find the murderer. this is usually in place to engage the audience, this is a key aspect of a crime thriller.

in crime thrillers the story line is often based around a puzzle, and the puzzle pieces are hidden and waiting to be found. each puzzle piece leads to the next. the same was in 7even as after every murder the murderer deliberatly left a clue, as if he is mocking the detectives as he is controling what the do next.

there are often chasing scenes in crime thrillers, this also occurs in 7even, as the detectives on several occassions come very close to finding the murderer. this creates suspence, which is a key aspect of a good thriller film. the suspence leaves the viewer wanting more.

lighting and weather effects are often used to add thriller effect. if you look closely, nearly all the scenes in 7even are at night, and the weather is usually wet and extreme, as it rains non stop. there were moments of thunder and lightening. this is all done on purpose to add a mysterious theme to the film.

Diegetic and non-diegetic sounds all have a negative connotation. Throughout the movie 7even the non-diegetic sounds were very melancholy, which would add to the tense vibes.

there are often deaths and murders in these types of thrillers, in 7even not only throughout the film there were denotations of death but also in the title sequence there were dead bodies. this adds a shock factor, and also supports the idea that the film is based around a puzzle as the death links into the rest of the film.

There was also alot of action in 7even, an example of this would be where the killer sees the detectives standing outside his flat, and takes a shot at them. the detectives then chase the murderer, and ofcourse they come accross some obsticles as detective mills ends up jumping from windows and roof tops. he also ends up injured on the floor once again in the killers control. detective mills ends up in the control of the murder at the end of the film, as he ends up killing the murder, putting himself in trouble.

as a famous theorist said, in films there are typical characters, in 7even the week characters are the murdered people as they are murdered because of their sins. the strong character would be detective summerset as he decides to remain of the case until it is solved. the evil character would be the murderer.

Thriller Conventions Presentation

My group decided to split the presentation up into 4 sections.
an introduction to the Thriller genre
Thriller conventions
an analysis of a thriller title sequence
and a summary of the Thriller genre

Thriller Research Presentation

Saul Bass

Born: 8th May 1920 in New York
Died: 25th April 1996 in California

Saul Bass was an American Academy Award-winning filmmaker, but he is best known for his design on animated motion picture title sequences. Amongst his most famous title sequences are the animated paper cut-out of a heroin addict's arm for Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm.
Bass became notorious in the industry after creating the title sequence for Otto Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). The subject of the film was a jazz musician's struggle to overcome his heroin addiction, a taboo subject in the mid-'50s. Bass decided to create a controversial title sequence to match the film's controversial subject. He chose the arm as the central image, as the arm is a strong image relating to drug addiction. The titles featured an animated, black paper cut-out arm of a heroin addict. As he expected, it caused quite a sensation.

He also produced the title sequences for some of the best known films such as: Psycho and Goodfellas

Thriller title sequence film analysis: Hide And Seek

The title sequence contains many of the thriller conventions.
The viewer witnesses someone going through pictures of woman tied up and hurt. This immediately gets the viewer questioning the innocence of the protagonist shown. This creates a hook on the audience as we want to keep watching to see why this person has these pictures.
The viewer also sees the protagonist holding a blade, supposedly to cut paper, however the we automatically think that the main motive is to harm, due to the actions demonstrated with the blade.
each section is blended through as a use editing. This is done to create a suspicious tone.
Even the most innocent tasks, such as gluing paper is seen as dangerous purely because of the non diegetic music as the music builds up suspense.
We witness extreme close ups of the protagonists forehead and of the blade, this is to keep the audiences attension on these things.
The Non diegetic music helps to build up suspense as it grows louder and louder, which allows the viewer to expected a sudden event.
The credits are brought in swiftly and in time to the music. These are also in a rather fuzzy style.

Introduction to the Macs

On the macs we got into our groups just to familarise our selves with them. we made a number of short clips and edited them together using transitions, text, credits and other gizmos available on the macs.
(video to be uploaded)

Coursework Brief

Coursework Brief from the exam board:

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

In the preliminary exercise we must present a vaeriety of techniques such as the ones listed above.

Our coursework will be split into three sections,
Research - 20 marks
Construction - 60 marks
Evaluation - 20 marks

Introduction to Coursework

In our first coursework lesson we were briefed on what our coursework is about. we learnt that we need to produce a 2minute oppening sequence to a thriller movie. in order to understand thriller movies thoroughly we watched a number of clips on youtube. One being the oppening sequence to "7even", currently known as the best oppening sequence to a thriller movie.



the sequence is successful for a number of reason. these reasons are based around the convensions used throughout.

the sequence is seen to be slightly sinister throughout the clip. for example at 0.17secs the main character is seen to be harming himself, for reasons beyond the viewers knowledge, this also creates a hook, as the viewer wants to watch further to see what happens. at 1.37 we witeness the main charcter draw a needle in and out of his finger, this creates a screamish, slightly groosome feeling.

some camera shots are also expressed within this clip. Extreme close-ups are one example. these are used to create quick and slick effective movements.
These techniques are all extremely usefull in creating a decent opening sequence.