Location Reece - 'House'

Prepared by
Joey Alderson
Date - 08/11/11
Location Details - N/A
Scene/Purpose of filming - Get a good shot of the surrounds and give us a place the shoot the scene.

  

Site Contact  Name - Joey Alderson
Address
23 Fair Holme View
Armthorpe
Doncaster
South Yorkshire
Contact telephone - 01302 834154
Permissions - Will have to ask the owner of the house.
Access - Key and door
Electricity Supply - Camera battery plus recharger
Availability - 2-3 times a week
Food - There is a kitchen down stairs with a fridge that is regularly filled.
Parking - Small parking area outside to fit two cars.
Points of Interest - The room has a good environment and the estate is a nice surrounding.
Toilets - One
Sunlight - Limited however there is a light in the room which provides a good amount of light.
Suitability/Possible shots - A few but there isn’t room for lots of equipment but it could fit in a few tripods.
Windows - One large one which provides extra light for the room.
Flooring/ground - Carpet.

Opening of a Thriller - `Swordfish`

In the opening scene of the action thriller “Swordfish”, we see Gabriel Shear (John Travolta) giving a monologue to the camera. The camera switches between mid-shot to close up, to an extreme close up. The scene starts with a quick flash up of Travolta in a close up as he starts his monologue. The camera angles, changing between many different angles rapidly, all focusing on different sides of his face. This links in with the thriller genre of quick, rapid editing. The camera seems to be very handheld, as it uses a close up to focus on the cigar that Travolta lights. The angle then rapidly switches to a long shot in which you see two silhouetted men that Travolta is talking to. This adds tension to the audience as they want to know who these people are. Every so often there is a slight blur of the Travolta speaking which gives us, the audience a slight glimpse of the back round, which leaves the audience to try and piece together where he is sat. The way Travolta constantly is waving his hand using gestures and his eye contact is away from the camera shows he is talking to somebody else and not us.

In conclusion, I would believe we, as a group we could use the aspect of the quick flashy editing, rapidly changing angles to give tension to the audience our thriller is based for. We may also use the close up of certain objects, like the cigar used in Swordfish. Also, use the blur too or keep the background to a minimal in the shots to keep the audience guessing where we are and why are we here.

Opening of a Thriller - 'Se7en'

Production Budget

BUDGET PREPARED BY:  Joey Alderson

Expense
Cost
Location Hire- Site 1- 30p/day   x 2 days = 60.00
Site 2 - 80p/day   x 2 days = 160.00
Sub Total  =  240.00
Equipment Hire (video camera, tripod, tape)
Camera - 50p/day  x 2days = 100.00
Tripod - 30p/day  x 2days = 60.00
Lighting - 35p/day  x 2days = 70.00
Sub Total  =  220.00
Talent
Actors (rehearsal) - 50p/day                 =  50.00

Actors (shooting) - 125p/day  x 2days = 250.00
Sub Total  = 300.00

Props/Costume
Phone - 10.00p/day  x 2days = 20.00
Dead Face - £ 160.00
Others - 85.00
Sub Total  =   265.00
Crew/Post Production
Camera operator - 80p/day  x 2days = 160.00
Editor - 60p/day  x 3days = 180.00
Crew - 35p/day  x 2days = 70.00
Sub Total  = 310.00
Other
Transport - 220.00
Catering - 80.00
Sub Total  =  300.00
SUB TOTALS - £1635.00
Contingency @ 10% of budget - £327.00
GRAND TOTAL - £1962.00

Production Schedule

PROJECT TITLE: Working title                                          

Scene Number	Date & Time	Director	Location
1	4/12/11	All	23 Fair Holme View Armthorpe Doncaster South Yorkshire
Crew	Props/Costume req	Health & Safety	Other
Joe, Lewis, Will, Tom	All	Wires around and expensive equipment.

Scene Number	Date & Time	Director	Location
2	11/12/11	All	Abandoned warehouse near 23 Fair Holme View Armthorpe Doncaster South Yorkshire
Crew	Props/Costume req	Health & Safety	Other
Joe, Lewis, Will, Tom	All	Broken glass

Audience Research - Questionnaire

1) What age bracket are you in?

a. 16-18
b. 18-24
c. 24-40
d. 40-60
e. 60+

2) What is your preferred genre of film?
a. Horror
b. Thriller
c. Romance
d. Comedy
e. Action/Adventure
f. Historical
g. Sci-fi/ Fantasy
h. Documentary
i. Western

3) On average, how often do you watch a thriller film?

a. Once a fortnight or less
b. Once a month
c. Every 3 months
d. Every 6 months
e. Once a year
f. Never

4) On a scale of 1 – 10, how would you rate the thriller genre in terms of entertainment? (10 being the highest, 1 being the lowest)

____________________________

5) Which sub genre of thriller would you find most interesting to watch?
a. Disaster: A thriller story about mass peril, where the protagonist's job is to both survive, and to save many other people from a grim fate.


b. Psychological: A thriller that emphasizes the psychological condition of the hero that presents obstacles to his objective, rather than the action.

c. Crime: A thriller story that revolves around the life of detectives, mobs, or other groups associated with criminal events in the story.


d. Techno: A thriller story whose theme is usually technology, or the danger behind the technology people use, including the threat of cyber terrorism.

6) What type of narrative do you prefer in a psychological thriller?
a. Plot twists
b. Time distortion
c. Crossing narrative strands/characters being intertwined
d. Conspiracy

7) Do you prefer the film to either:
a. Challenge your thoughts actively?
b. Have a clear/strong storyline?

8) What appeals to you in a trailer of a thriller?

a. quick snappy editing

b. use of low key lighting

c. strong storyline

d. the use of actors

Technical Aspects of the Thriller Genre

The primary aim of a thriller is to thrill and entertain its audience; keep them on the edge of their seats, so to speak, throughout the duration of the motion picture. There are many in-camera and out-of-camera tools and techniques that can contribute to the pace and/or tension of a good thriller that meets its need to be established within this category/genre.

Most of these technical aspects take place during the post production stages, through the use of editing and of sound (both effects and musical score). But during production, the director of photography and the director have the job of placing the camera and their actors within specific locations. Certain camera angles like long shots of empty corridors provoke feeling within the audience that establishes a sense of fear or tension by creating the feel of ‘what is going to happen next?’ A silence or a long period of waiting creates fear within the audience as they wait for the next possible scare.

Also, by using shots on actors such as extreme close ups, creates the idea of claustrophobia between the character and the setting- therefore the audience gains a sense of claustrophobia. A good example of this is (towards the end) of the Ridley Scott film ‘Alien’ when we see Sigourney Weaver’s character Ellen Ripley as she attempts to avoid the creature within the spaceship and make her escape. As an audience member, I personally felt very claustrophobic within the setting as you could really feel the fear of the character, waiting to be attacked by the alien.

Another example of a (moving) shot type to provoke fear within audience is the shaky-cam; but this is more of a tool designed for a purpose. The shaky-cam is a moving handheld, fast moving, shot. The shaky-cam is designed to give an impression of intense action within the setting and around the camera, when it isn’t always there. It is usually designed to cloud the fact that there isn’t really that much going on in terms of surrounding action, but when used properly, the feeling can be extremely effective. A good example of this is around the middle and the very of the David Fincher film ‘Se7en’, when Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman’s characters give chase to an unnamed suspect through a run down apartment block and into the street, in a brilliantly crafted sequence. The reality is that nothing much really happens other than at the beginning and the end of the chase, but this is sheer proof of excellent direction by David Fincher and clever use of the camera by the director of photography and the cameraman himself.

In chronological order, the sequences goes as follows: ‘Detective Mills’ (Brad Pitt) and ‘Detective Somerset’ (Morgan Freeman) knock on the apartment door of murder suspect ‘John Doe’ (Kevin Spacey), there is no answer, they see ‘Doe’ down the corridor (but they can’t see his face due to his attire), he opens fire on them but misses and he runs down the stairwell, ‘Mills’ gives chase with his gun at the ready. ‘Mills’ basically chases ‘Doe‘ through the stairwell and through a different apartment building (via a fire escape), during this the much older ‘Somerset’ takes a short cut through various buildings (trying to cut off ‘Doe’), and eventually ‘Doe’ manages to get to the street with ‘Mills’ swiftly behind him, ‘Doe’ then attacks ‘Mills’ with a crowbar, ‘Somerset’ finds ‘Mills’ with a broken arm and a head wound; ‘John Doe’ escapes. The use of the shaky-cam (used mostly when we see ‘Somerset’ running through the apartment blocks), really intensifies the action portrayed on stage, despite there not really being that much at all.

These two camera angles/shot types are just two great examples of technical qualities during the production process, when working with cameras and actors during the stages of filming.

As well as technical factors that construct a genre during the production process, probably the more important factors come later on during the post-production stages of the movie-making process. Sound effects, editing, colour grading and the musical score are absolutely essential when crafting together a final sequence that will be categorised as a thriller.

A good example of sound effects in a film is ‘Speed’; the sound of the vehicles in the action sequences, the ticking of the bomb, the beep of the detonator, the crashing and clanging of the bus, the sound of the explosions, etc. It’s relatively hard to describe the sound effects within any film, never mind this one, because it’s so subtle and it’s mostly fed into our subconscious; we never really decipher the sound effects because they seem so believable and we rarely ever question them.

A good example of editing in a film is David Fincher’s ‘Fight Club’. The film is extremely well fast paced, and it constantly switches in time, back and forth. In my opinion, it contains some of the best editing in any film. ‘Fight Club’ doesn’t come just under the genre of thriller, but under many including: Drama, (what Fincher describes as an) ‘Urban horror’, Black Comedy and a thriller. Regardless of how you or others may categorise this film, you could never deny the sheer master class in editing that this film displays.

Colour grading is ridiculously subtle. It’s extremely hard to spot because it mostly feeds on our subconscious. In ‘Se7en’, the colour of the screen is very de-saturated to help portray the mood and provoke it within the audience. Despite its brilliance, the film doesn’t feel particularly pleasant, and the colour grading is an essential factor in creating this feeling/mood.

Finally to come in the post-production process is the musical score. Now when it comes to music to create tension or horror in the film, one film stands tall above all the others, and that’s Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’. This is the ultimate example, with the terrifying shower sequence, the re-crafted the very foundations of the cinema- even today. It terrified audiences for a reason. And the Bernard Herman score was probably the main factor.

All of these pre-production, production and post production technical aspects and techniques thoroughly help to construct an enjoyable, pulse pounding thrill ride.      

Primary Elements and Narrative Aspects of the Thriller Genre

• The central protagonist/s faces death; either their own or somebody else's, (e.g-‘Se7en’, ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, ‘Speed’ and ‘Phone Booth’).
  
• The force/s of the antagonist must initially be clever and/or stronger than the protagonist, (e.g-‘Phone Booth’, ‘Speed’, ‘Cape Fear’ and ‘No Country For Old Men’).
  
• The main storyline for the protagonist is usually a quest, or the character that cannot be put down, (e.g-‘Speed’, ‘Inception’, ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Memento’).
  
• The main plot usually focuses on a mystery that must be solved, (e.g- ‘Insomnia’, ‘Se7en’, ‘Zodiac’ and ‘Shutter Island’).
  
• The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist's point of view and the story is portrayed through ‘the eyes’ or viewpoint of the character, (e.g- ‘Shutter Island’, ‘Speed’, ‘Phone Booth’, and ‘Memento’).
  
• All action and characters must be credibly realistic/natural in their representation on screen in order for the product to justify the story ad meet the needs of the genre, (e.g- Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘Shutter Island’, Colin Farrell in ‘Phone Booth’ and James Caan and Kathy Bates in ‘Misery’).
  
• The two major themes that underpin the thriller are the desire for justice and the morality of particular individuals (e.g- ‘Se7en’, ‘Speed’ and ‘Shutter Island’).
  
• One small but significant aspect of a great thriller is the presence of innocence in what is seen as an essentially corrupt world (e.g- ‘JFK’, ‘LA Confidential’ and ‘Shutter Island’).

The Thriller Genre

The thriller genre, unlike horror, is not necessarily purposely designed to scare audiences, rather suspense, tension and even excitement is primarily used to ultimately stimulate the viewer’s mood; these mood stimulations can vary extensively.

Thrillers are primarily driven by creating and building upon anticipation, as a result the viewer creates their own sense of tension and anxiety. Thrillers call upon the viewer’s own imagination to drive the, most often, fear within the story. The content is designed to entice the viewer’s creativity, often the most imaginative of which shall connect with the film the most.

There are a variety of sub genres within thriller:

Psychological Thriller

One of, if not, the most popular sub genre is the psychological thriller. This of which often incorporates aspects of the mystery and drama genre, as well as this elements of horror may also be included. Unlike the case in an action-thriller, where the characters often must overcome their threat, in psychological thrillers the characters must be reliant on their mental resources. The suspense is created often as a result of two or more characters preying upon each others minds, via techniques such as deceptive games. Some themes that reoccur consistently within the genre include;

Reality – the quality of being real, as characters often try and determine what is true and what is not.
Perception – an individuals own interpretation of the world.
Mind – the human consciousness, of which is often used for a location of narrative conflict.
Existence/purpose – a characters purpose or goal.
Identity – the definition of one’s self, as characters may doubt themselves or be filled with confusion, as a result they often set out to discover their own identity.
Death – often characters fear or have a fascination with death.

Action Thriller

In recent years the action sub genre has taken a step-down in popularity, in comparison to other thriller sub genres. Although in some instances the arguable rise in the popularity of the sub genre could be a result of audiences adapting, seeking more than just standard action sequences, the addition of a thriller type narrative deepens an audience’s immersion within a film.  Simply put, action thrillers incorporate a hybrid of elements from both action and thriller films. Action films in question often feature big-budget physical stunts, such as car chases and explosions, as well as a protagonist, in many cases flawed by lacking emotional depth. This is where the addition of a thriller aspect can benefit action, of which feature psychologically deep characters and can emphasise action by including a high level of tension and anxiety.

Codes and Conventions of the Thriller Genre

Menacing atmosphere, almost creepy, with a sudden out burst of violence such as crime or murder, these technicalities make up thrillers. Looking at thriller, there are many sub genres such as “psychological thriller” and “political thriller”. Black and white creates atmospheric tension by emphasising shadows. Mirrors also are used as a metaphorical tool along with stairs. The use of quick cuts to create tension and flashbacks to give a sense of the characters background.

The use of low key lighting leaves a lot to the imagination and forces certain thoughts on to the audience to turn their attention from what is actually about to commence. The use of sound is an important element in thrillers to create an atmosphere using orchestral instrument stabs such as screeches, ambience and surround.

The use of props is an important factor such as weapons e.g. knives, glass ETC… Also, in the film Train-spotting the use of needles, drugs and cigarettes. Location is also an important factor, setting a thriller in a gloomy warehouse instead of a right super market would really give an eerie and an atmospherically dark impact on the audience by giving it a sense of mystery.

More Codes and Conventions of the Thriller Genre

The main aim of a thriller is to make the audience ask questions about it which makes it mysterious.  The genre of thriller is to do with the parts of the movie that uses sound. The music in the movie will add tension and tells the audience that something is going to happen which scares the audience as they know that something is going to jump out at them and scare them. It is made to be jumpy and scary at the same time. The music that is played is usually strings and other low sounds that changes the mood of the audience instantly. Sometimes they will use high pitched sounds such as screams; this technique is used in “Psycho” when the woman is getting stabbed in the shower. This is a prime example of how it is used and shows how it adds suspense and emphasize that something bad is happening.

The camera angles and movement within a thriller are very important as it conveys the feelings and emotions of the characters; it shows their body language and shows us how they are dealing with a situation. For example, if they’re calm or if they‘re panicking. The moving shots are usually used for when someone running away from someone else which adds movement to the scene and makes it seem as something dramatic is happening. This make the audiences know that something is going to happen at fast pace and makes them tense. The movement sometimes mimics the characters breathing and by listening to the heavy breathing this is done in The Bourne Supremacy when the character wakes from a nightmare. This shows the audience that something is wrong as people only breathe heavily after stress or a struggle of some kind. The camera is also used for close ups which shows the facial expression of the character and gives tension to the scene. Some camera shots make it tense and makes them feel like it is happening to them and something might jump out at them even in the comfort of their own home, which makes the audience uneasy and scared.

Editing is another huge part of making a thriller a good product. The short cuts make it exciting a fast paced to make the audience take in lots of information at once. Some of which the editor doesn’t want them to remember until they are reminded of it. This keeps it mysterious and gives details that aren’t needed to try and confuse the audience so they don’t see the plain picture of what is happening until it is explained. By using the fast paced cuts it makes it tenser and gives the film some sort and thrill. This is good as you don’t know what is going to happen next and it means the audience stay on edge.

Development

Genre:

Psychological Thriller

We have each discussed our favoured genre and we unanimously came to the conclusion, considering budget, time and resources, that the genre of Thriller would have the greatest effect upon an audience.

Of which we quickly deemed that the sub-genre of Psychological Thriller, would engage audience’s the most, as well as this, this the most popular sub-genre within Thrillers.

Examples of Psychological Thrillers include: David Fincher’s Se7en, Alfred Hitchcocks’s Rear Window and Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island.

Target Audience:

16+ interested and engaged by Psychological Thrillers

We heavily discussed target audience, despite being somewhat self explanatory.

We concluded that our target audience would be directed towards people fond and familiar with the Thriller genre, particular Psychological Thrillers. In such, audiences expect high levels of tension and anxiety throughout. Due to the nature of which we foresee and tailor our film, we specifically target 16+, we do no cap our targeted age as we believe there is no particular reference to modern popular culture.

Initial Ideas:

Early on were struck with the perplexing (and somewhat worrying) image of a human head inside a birthday cake box. With this we focused on the development of the events that would lead up to this, of which consumed some time.

We we’re inspired by a number of Thriller films, most notably Se7en, Phone Booth, Speed and Memento.

Welcome...

Welcome to our group production blog.


On here we shall upload our work and document our progress throughout the project.
At the end of which we shall of created a two minute opening to a film.


Thank you. 


Lewis, Joe, Will & Tom.