History of Thriller

This is our history of the Thriller genre. We did this to get an idea and an understanding of Thrillers past and present

Impression Second Edit

Music Source

This is the music I used for my film, and where I sourced it from. I looked for royalty free music on Google and I found this site, it had a navigation checklist on which I checked off the 'Horror' option. I was looking for some dark and dramatic music, which would suit the Crime Thriller genre. I selected this track as it has a dark and domineering string section, with some haunting choir music.

Institutional Research

Hammer is a film company formed in the United Kingdom in 1934. It is known for the 'Hammer Horror' films released between the mid 1950s until the 1970s, notably Dracula, Frankenstein and Egyptian Mummy films. Hammer is still in operation today, releasing films such as 'The Woman In Black'. Hammer Horrors were done in a very gothic style, and the trend seems to continue in their releases.

The Asylum is a film company formed in the USA in 1997 which focuses on producing low-budget and straight-to-video films. The films they produce have been called 'mockbusters' due to the nature of the company capitalising on a huge film released around the same time. Notable films from them include 'Sharknado' and 'Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus'. They aren't strictly a horror film company, but their most common releases are horror films (such as Mega Piranha, capitalising on Piranha 3D). The Asylum closely work with the TV channel 'SyFy', who often air their films.

Title Sequence Analysis-Taken

The title sequence consists of a black background with white text stating the main production company name, with no logo. The text comes on in a typewriter style, then fades away in reverse. The next clip shows cityscape on a black background, but the city is coloured red where the title appears, also in red text, then as a red silhouetted plane flies towards the title, it fades away. The names of the stars appear in the same fashion as the production company. Then a blood splatter hits the screen and drips down. This occurs for the remainder of the actors. The red colour has connotations of danger, and with blood splattering across the screen, it implies that there will be violence occurring in the film. I analysed a title sequence of a notable film of a similar genre to mine, to find out what other films utilise, so we can spot any trends or conventions that we can use.

Inspirational Opening Sequences

Criminal Minds

This intro inspired me as the music is fast-paced, but carries a serious and dramatic tone, which is what I want to capture with the film.

 The Walking Dead

This intro inspired me because of the angles the camera uses, the dramatic tone of the music, and having the credits run over the images.

Audience Profile

This is the audience profile for crime thrillers and the most likely parties who will view our film, thus, we will aim our film towards these demographics to achieve the most possible success.

Genre Analysis

Audience Research Survey

Audience Survey Method

After looking into different methods of contacting the audience, I decided on a questionnaire, as they take little time to fill in, and it is easy to distribute and recall results. It can also provide a wide range of answers, which would help decide suitable factors to include.

I also decided to use Google Docs to create the survey, as it is user-friendly, and can be shared easily. It can also be used for a multitude of purposes as well as surveys. 

This is how I would go about contacting my audience. It was a necessary step to ensure that I had an effective way to receive information with ease, whilst still being professional.

The Brief

The Brief

The brief for AS Media Studies: Unit G321 is to create a 2-minute short film which has to be an original idea with original footage, with the exception of music and sound effects, which has to be obtained from a legitimate loyalty-free source. The short film has to include a variety of camera angles and shots, which would add to the tone of the film. The two genres we were able to choose from were the horror or thriller genres. The brief required us to conduct research, surveys and in-depth analysis of existing opening sequences. The brief also contained the following preliminary tasks:

·      Create a one-minute film, which focuses on continuity, which obeys the 180-degree rule.  It must contain a variety of camera angles.

Both the preliminary task may be completed in a group of no more than four members, or individually.

This is a version of the brief in my own words

Opening Sequence Analysis

World War Z
Zombie-Horror Movie

As the opening credits are shown, there is a black screen whilst there is minor key, high-pitched background music playing through. It then cuts to waves crashing on the beach, clouds moving across the sky at an accelerated pace, and the sun rising over the city. This is a staple of the horror genre where it shows everything is calm beforehand. It then cuts to a large flock of birds flying, seemingly in a panic, which would indicate there is something disturbing them. It then cuts to a suburb, with an effect that disjoints the image, it also makes it look like a broken camera lens. As it cuts to a train station, there begins to be non-diegetic audio recordings of multiple newscasters talking at once. It then goes to show different locations such as airports and shopping centres. The intro then shows lots of news reports and talk shows on various topics. Just after, it shows predators eating their prey, which relates to the zombie mythology, and foreshadows what is to come. The cuts get progressively quicker as it zooms out to the title ‘World War Z’ with the clips running through the individual letters. The music plays throughout the clip.

Sucker Punch

Action-Fantasy Movie

As the movie starts, it opens showing a dark room of what looks to be a theatre of some description, with the narrator talking over it. The scene lights up slightly and shows some of the participating companies. After this, the curtains open to reveal a bedroom scene of a play, with a little girl sitting on her bed, with her back to the camera. Underneath the narration, you can hear lightning sound effects, which also add short burst of light into the scene. The camera then gradually zooms in and turns around to reveal the girls face. During this, a rendition of Marilyn Manson’s ‘Sweet Dreams’ is sung eerily, with a soft female singer. The camera then cuts to the side of the girl as she turns her head to face a butler, standing in the doorway. The shot changes to an over-the-shoulder shot to the little girl as she runs out of the room, the camera follows her. It then cuts to a close-up high angle of a body being covered by a plastic sheet, as the camera moves up slightly, you see the girl running towards the room. It then, for a few seconds, cuts to the windowpane as rain falls onto it. It then cuts to a mid shot from under the bed, as you see the girls knees fall to the floor, a cinematic impact sound can be heard. Minor key orchestral music can be heard throughout the scene. It then shows a close-up of the girl’s hand on the cover, and as she pulls it off, it cuts to a reveal of the deceased woman, with a medium close-up shot. It then cuts to a high-angle shot of a smiling man adjusting his tie as the lightning casts light on his face. It then cuts back to the girl, cradling the deceased woman in her arms, looking up towards the man, with tears in her eyes.

Resident Evil: Retribution

Horror-Action-Science Fiction Movie

As the movie begins, we see a body of a woman submersed in water from beneath as she floats towards the light source at the surface. During this sequence, there is some minor key orchestral music, combined with what sounds like an electric guitar. It then cuts to a side-on view of the woman floating, when lots of bubbles and spray hovers above her. She is then sucked out of the water to reveal the title of the movie. It then cuts to show the woman flying through the air among debris and flames. As it cuts to an establishing shot, it reveals that the sequence is played in reverse, and is a future scene in the movie. It shows the explosion on the ship as the debris re-attaches to its source of a helicopter, which would have been chasing her if played forward. She is turned around in reverse and proceeds to shoot at the helicopter (in reverse) and we see the bullets leave the pilots body and the glass repair itself. It then shows another woman firing guns (presumably at the first woman) we also see her execute combat rolls. It shows her being airlifted in from a helicopter and zip lining down. It also shows troopers zip lining down and shooting workers and crewmembers on the boat. It then shows the airstrike on the boat. This is all shown in reverse.

First Live Type Sequence

This is the first design of our Title Screen. We chose this to emphasise the genre, and add some mystery with the foggy background.

Impression Rough Cut

This is the first cut of our film 'Impression'. While there is still some things which could be perfected (such as the fades and text effects), I am particularly pleased with it. I feel the second edit will experiment more with different text and screen effects, whilst keeping the serious tone the film requires.

Audience Survey Results

These are the results we received from the audience.
Ignoring the results which aren't serious, we found that the majority of people preferred Horror and Comedy based films, which is also reflected in the favourite films. 'Jurassic Park' and 'World War Z' are both well-known Thriller films, which aids us in deciding what is best suited for our film.

The majority of people who answered were between the ages of 16 and 18, which also helps us decide our target demographic.

What people like about Thriller films is the suspense that they build up, which means that to receive good audience feedback, we need to include scenes and a story which build up tension. Jumpy parts and 'thrills' were also popular responses. It's a thing to consider adding when we want to widen our audience.

Audience Survey

This is a screenshot of our survey. We selected our questions to find out what the preferred genres are for each gender and age group. This will aid is in finding our key demographic when creating our film, and when finding out who will our film be watched by.

Animatic

This is our animatic, to show which shots will occur where in relation to the story.

Recce Shots

Recce shots from SmilingJackDrummer

These are possible locations for our film to take place. We selected these rooms to mimic a larger police station and the possible rooms that may be in it.

The classroom would emulate a potential boardroom for a department in a police station (i.e. homicide or arson) and could be used effectively in such a manner (if necessary). The tables, computers, files and a board as a focal point could potentially be used in a police situation.

 The photos featuring the common room, corridors and staircase could represent an older section of the building, which police stations often feature. It also adds to the serious tone of the film, and looks professional.

The exterior of the building is a suitable choice as it adds a modern contrast to the the interior, it also has a layout which may be ideal for police officers to operate.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard for our film 'Impression'. These are our ideas of what the scene will look like through the camera.

Our film has changed since then, we have also renamed it 'In The Dark'. After we filmed Impression, we were unsatisfied with the turnout, so we tried adding more footage and scenes to increase the tension, but found that to also be unsuccessful. We ultimately decided to start again on our film and create something new, with more tense scenes and a wider variety of shots and a different location. We feel the new film 'In The Dark' turned out significantly better than our previous one.

Props and Equipment list

Props and Equipment list


Equipment
Canon 1100D
Tripod
Canon EOS1
Panasonic HC-V100

Props
Police Tape
Pens
Notepads
Sticks
Cups

Wardrobe
Detectives-Button shirt, tie, trousers, any choice of shoes, coats are optional
Police Officers-Button shirt, tie, trousers, smart shoes
Maia Fort-Dressed provocatively (short skirt, high heels etc.)
Jayce Yun-Casual clothes
Paul (Dog Walker)-Casual clothes
Elaine Forrest-Casual clothes
Laura Maine-Casual child clothes


This is the equipment, props and clothing required for our film.

Initial Ideas

This is the Prezi presentation displaying our initial ideas and exterior knowledge of the Crime Thriller genre. This also reflects why we chose the options we did and which possibilities we explored.

Impression-Shooting Schedule

Impression

Broken Glass Productions, Inc.

Impression – Production #1337

Shooting Schedule

Producer: Lewis Kendall

Director: Alex Hooks

Production Manager: Alex Hooks

1^st Assistant Director: Lewis Kendall

Film Shoots – 2 Days

Saturday, November 16^th 2013 through Tuesday, November 19^th 2013

Date: 1^st day EXT. Saturday 16/11/13

Set/Scenes: Seaton Carew, day. Man looking for his dog

Cast: Tom Curtis, Tyler Rookes

Location: Seaton Beach

Props: Dog lead

Make-Up: Corpse make-up

EXT. Seaton Beach, sand dunes, day

Police arrive to investigate the crime scene

Lewis Kendall, Tom Whieldon, Doug Macaskill, Tyler Rookes, Mat Appleyard

Seaton Sand Dunes

Police Tape, Sticks, Notepads, Cameras

EXT. Seaton Carew, night

Maia is picked up in a mysterious vehicle by an anonymous character

Mark Lancaster, Tyler Rookes

Seaton Carew Lane

Date: Day 3 INT. Tuesday 19^th November 2013

Set/Scenes: Brinkburn College, Classroom. Two detectives discussing the ongoing investigation

Cast: Lewis Kendall, Tom Whieldon

Props: Photographs of victims, assorted stationary, coffee

Wardrobe: Hair is messy, ties loosened


This is a shooting schedule to show where and when we will shoot the scenes of the film.