Comparison of a thriller

Comparison of a thriller

Alfred Hitchcock’ s psycho is based in the time period of the 1960’s it is presented in black and white which even though they had the technology for colour, they used this to help give the effect of tension build up and give a much broader suspense effect for when it came to key scenes though out the film. We are given many different circumstances within the film which is focused on one of the main characters of the women whom’s story we follow throughout a big part of the film. There is one particular part of this film which I am going to focus on and it is quite possibly one of the most famous scenes. The shower scene in this film is perfectly present by achieving suspense and tension throughout the build up to this particular part. We are given a setting with the women we have followed up to this point to wear she is in a motel talking to the owner in a smaller office having some tea. Throughout this we keep getting a close-up/medium shots of a conversation between the two with these shots we are able to take in the true emotions of each character with one being un-sure of the other when on the other hand the other seems to be I bit of staring into air and not quite clear as to what this conversation will lead to. This particular part helps to build tension between the two characters and dwells this upon the audience. Not long after this we are shown a shot of the woman getting into the shower and little to the audiences awareness she is then attack by a darkened figure which appears to be hooded and in a dress. This adds a sense of mystery to the film as in leave the audience when this high built suspense of not knowing what could have happen to this woman and you haven’t got enough information. This key as it grabs the audience wanting to know more and go into depth with what the outcome could be. A film which is similar and same genre as psycho would be no country for old men, in a way the two films are very similar but however the charactistics and what the director wants you to feel is completely different. In no country for old men (directed by Joel and Ethan Coen) the movie is set in what appears to be a western time period of cowboys or when this time was coming to an end, it starts of by setting the scene with a man being arrested, there is no music though-out this point which helps set the atmosphere to the scene. The man is a tall and dark character that is found with a gas tank and a hand held device attached to the end of it. The next shot we are should is of the police man in a medium shot where he is shown on the phone asking what he should do with this man. We can see as this is going on the dark man doing something we are unaware of this is until he begins to walk towards the police officer, this helps to build tension and it leaves the audience wondering what possibly could happen next. This is perfect as it will automatically  get the audience wanting to know more of the situation because this sets the scene as to what the rest of the movie has in store, however with psycho it does the complete different it takes a lot longer for the story to get a clear view on what is going to happen next and this can lead to the audience weary   as to how long it will take to get to the point, however you can argue the fact on the time both of these films where made as one is quite dated and as to the other it is quite up to date (times change). Taking lives directed by D. J. Caruso is another excellent thriller genre film which easily grabs the audience’s attention in ways which may seem to be disturbing to others. The scene is set with a opening shot on a average male perhaps middle class on his way home, however his train which he was meant to get is cancelled. We are then introduced to what appears to be a soldier of some kind, who tells us he has jumped out from the training program. We are given a panning shot where the two are looking for a car to hire, with the series of close-ups and medium shots we are able to tell that there is something wrong or something is about to happen which in the end gives the atmosphere of suspense. After which we are given a time elapse where there on the open road, with the panning shot of which where there car breaks down, then a close-up is presented of the long haired man and with a a sharp look in his eyes, this build tension as we are un-sure of the situation, this is helped to be put across by the fact the non-diegetic music is one of a low key and low beat it help to dwell on the audience giving the status that something is about to happen and at this moment you get the line ‘this is the end of the road for you my friend’ and the army man is kicked out towards a on coming vehicle. This how scene is a perfect way in the film to show the build up of a thriller while still setting the atmosphere and how this film is going to be (in a way opens it to how the rest of the film may be). In comparison to no country for old men this scene is very similar to one which is in that film but there are still some difference which possibly make one stand out from the other, for example no country for old men has no music through out the whole showing. This can give the appearance that the film is a lot more powerful in what it does and by the various shots given it helps it in the long run as it keeps the audiences focus and concentration on one thing other than on a load of other things such as music and effects. However you can argue that the fact of having non-diegetic sound can help to make the scene or film a lot more interesting as it can also make people relate certain sound tracks to one part.

Probb and Todorov Theory

Here is some research in which i carried out to get a insite on ways others see a story lay out.

Propp's Narrative Theory:
Propp's narrative theory - He said that every character in a story could be put into one of 8 broad character types:

1.The villain - struggles against the hero.

2.The donor - prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.                             
3.The helper - helps the hero in the quest.
4.The princess or prize - the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.
5.her father - gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.                                                                                                              
6.The dispatcher - character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.                
7.The hero or victim/seeker hero - reacts to the donor, weds the princess.                      
8.False hero - takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

Todorov's Narrative Theory:
Todorov's narrative theory claims that each story follows the same structure. It starts with a period of calm, and equilibrium, which is then disrupted. The disequilibrium is then brought to an end by the hero, and the chaos comes to an end. a tipical disney film would follow this theory for example snow white, there a big out rage becuase she is the 'fairest in the land' and the witch or known as the queen cant have it. then it all coes to an end when the hero/prince of the film comes and saves her life from the curses which has been drawn upon her.

Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media productions?
In the process of making our opening to a thriller, our group the thriller genre as a whole and analyse various films so that we would gather a greater understanding to the genre itself. From this we gathered the key elements as to what techniques and conventions are typically found in a thriller film for example tension and suspense. we took this into great consideration for when it came to the four techniques used in the thriller genre, these consist of - Mise-en-scene, editing, camera angles/shots, sound, so due this this we focused on these aspects in great detail.


There were two main conventions which we concentrated on to create the best possible opening to a thriller and these where sound and the editing of the piece. Both of these proved to be key as to what we did next for each part of what we would choose to do. the sound of the piece had to fit in with the shots so that it could set the atmosphere of that particular shot. This would help the audience connect more to the opening and want to know more about what is going on within this showing and hopefully if done right wanting to see more and grabbing that edge of the seat effect which some films can have on people. For the Non-diegetic sound track we had researched for what makes a tension building music and we found that orchestral music was one on the most popular used and was because how successful it was a building up the suspense to something which can be important given in many circumstances. After finding our soundtrack we would then have to fit it in with the various shots in which we had collected from our days of filming. we found that with using windows movie maker it lacked the effects which we wished to produced for our film opening and therefore we had to move to imovie to allow the full potential of our piece to come out and get that cutting edge look. This helped us to show difference in shots as we was able to give different perspectives to various shots for example some POV shots which we captured had a gloom effect to show that where it was set it dark and not the best conditions to be walking in, with this given we felt it would given the audience what he is going though and build up tension as its un-clear as to what may happen.


2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our piece when it came to mapping out never had the intention of having a target social group and it was never the  intention to do so. however with saying this there is a possibility which can suggest to certain audiences there is some aspect to the film which can suggest otherwise, for example the way are characters are dressed could in some case suggest to the older generations that it is intended for the younger generation as you are given a character in a full track suit and with that you think of the stereo typical 'youths'.


3. What type of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Due to our film being independent and not having a large budget which a normal hollywood film would we wouldn't choose a big mainstream company for example Warner brothers. so for these reason it would be more realistic for us to go with a label which gives small budget films the chance. Revolver Entertainment would be perfect for this as they have produced many films at a high quality and on time delivery for when it is to be released and that's despite the lack of funds.


4. Who would be the audience of your media product?
Considering the British board of film classification (BBFC) i would say our film would be the rating of a '15' this meaning that people below the age of 15 aren't allowed to view the context of the film but any ages which are above this guildline can. The reasons for this would be that the rules of a 12/12A state that any violence should be dwell on in detail but with our opening suggesting an act of violence is going to occur and has the dramatic build up to this it does fit in with so therefore this is why it would be best suited in this area. however with the rating being set high it does mean that it will make that target audience will be of a smaller size. This shouldn't be a dramatic effect on the viewing of the film any way as the jump from 12+ to 15+ isn't big as to 15+ to 18+ as it closes of the whole younger generations and can lower the viewing rate by quite a bit.


5. How did you attract/address your audience?
With the development of Web 2.0 and other technology's the way to attract different audiences has changed a great deal. for example if i had the target market of the younger generation it would be best to advertise through the internet and upload the trailer onto a social networking site as this opens up a wide range of an audience not only the one which we want in particular because of how popular the sites are becoming (facebook). The best thing for a thriller would be to list it on IMDB as this site is well known for its massive database of films with detailed content and ratings from the public. Putting it on imdb would allow are audiences to view pictures of our thriller content, actors, covers, director and pretty much everything they will want to know as well as other links which will take them to a certain actors personal page or if they wish to view ratings and comments they can do so and see what others think of it before they decide themselves to go and see the film. Another way to get awareness out for our film would to advertise on the television, as this is already a worldwide used product. however advertising on the correct channel is key as you wouldn't want to advertise a thriller on a channel which is only suitable for kids. So are thriller would be best suited if it was advertise on a channel which is solely meant for film, for example film four, sky movies etc. this way we will be able to target the audience which we want to grab for our thriller and word would be sure to get out as it starts to become a lot more aware and known.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Our group while in the process of contructing our final piece had to come to gribs with the use of different technologies. for example with the editing software we was able to contruct our piece without having to film in cronilogical order meaning that we could come back to any part of our project if we had to at anytime. This proved a very useful tool as we experiance that we was going to have to redo certain shots as we may have wanted it to have a look for a different angle or simple becuase we wanted as much shots to play with when it came down to the final stages of editing. howeverone of the most important technologys is probably the internet as this is worldwidly used and there are many possible advertisement opertunies as well as have it published on a site, for example facebook, my space, twitter are all social networking sites and these are used world wide, facebook alone already has over 500,000 users and for us to put our film up there for others to view would really help with the feedback which we need. with the development of web 2.0 it helped us in more ways than we could have hoped for. with us being able to research everything which we would have been needing through out our production process and we could take on board what we would research and put it into account on the final piece. Youtube itself has been a very importanat site for our thriller opening as it allows us to get our video on a site in which we can also follow with behide the scenes footage is people wished to see more and an overview background on how we came to the finished product.

The camera we used was a Kodak Playsport HD which a a picture quality of 1080p, this was the best quality camera which we had access to and work wonders for when using it. With this high quality camera it really help with getting those all importanat shots especially when it came to getting the charaters emotions and facial expressions for certain scenes/shots.

when it came to editing the final piece Dan was the one that did this, the software we used was imovie 09 on a mac computer. reasons for using the perticular software was due to the many effects it offered that offer software we had access to lacked. for example the speeding of a shot, we was able to make a shot a speed which would be right for a certain part. With this it became a major role with the final piece and many of our shots benefited from this. One of these were the running of the shadow towards Tom in the film opening we recorded in walking along a path and when it came to editing we was able to set it to a speed which we thought would fit.

7. looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
In my opinionour group benefited greatly for the continuity piece, as it opened our eyes as to how much work will be needed and put into our final piece. with the process of our continuity piece we had the lack of research and planning for when we came to film, so it was mor like go and with no aim and real idea on what we was going to film. Which made the piece suffer on detail and that professional look. From this we knew that we had to act fast if we wanted our main piece to be a success so we had set out to looking at all type of thriller films to allow us the insite and get in the mind set for what we was going to produce. each step we took in this process got us a step closer to that all important final piece, however we did come across someof the same problems which we did we our continuity piece. For example we we was coming up to our day of filming we still did n't have a storyboard draw out so that we would have a bases so we knew what we would be filming, this same thing again appeared up when it came near the filming date of our piece. To resolve this we came as a group and gathered the idea and came up with shots in which we would show the true colours of the production. What also helped us along with making our final piece was how we edited our two pieces. With our continuity piece we used windows movie maker which was great at the time for what we wanted to use it fo but it lacked the level of editing which we wanted/needed for our thriller piece, after taking this onto account we decided that the best way forward was to use a much more up to date software and we choose imovie, this proved to be perfect for what we wanted, as it provided all the key elements which we wanted to produce our thriller with which windows movie maker didnt have to offer. Despite all of the problems which we came across with all of the research which we prduced and the new skills which we picked up from making our contiuity it really did make a difference for when we came to make our thriller. With it we managed to get the on the edge of your seat effect and we know this from feedback which we have recieved from viewers of our film. As a whole i feel that our piece did benefit greatly from our continuity as we was alot more focused on the production (sound, editing, research etc) This seemed to have paid of as we are very proud of what we managed to make.

Story board for The Shadow

The following images are from the storyboard we made to base are shots around for are final piece. The story board was key as it allowed us to have some guildlines for when it came to beginning our film. the story board itself doesn't have every shot in it but this is due to the improvisation of the days which we had to film. If we had felt that a shot didn't flow well to the next we would have a discussion as to what we should do and how if we did add a shot if it would benefit the piece as well as not keep it dragging on for to long. (view the be hide the scenes video for more detail on this, can be found on the blog)

The story board was drawn by myself and the ideas of shots were considered as a group.

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Final piece 'The Shadow' Feedback

When finished with our final piece we had to put it on a worldwide site and we decided on Youtube.com. The main reason for using them is because they are the most popular online video site and gather the largest amount of the younger generation, which is perfect as they are target audience. So therefore this was are best choice to get are video seen by others.

Posting our video on a site, will benefit us in various ways. The main of course would to be what people think of what we have done and any improvements they fill could make are thriller opening better. This will help us as we can take it into consideration for when we next film a piece in the future in the later A2 course. After posting the video we had asked friends and family to take a look and tell us what they think and told them not to hold back on any negatives that they may have. Here is some of the comments we received:

 Overall with the feedback that our piece received i am very pleased as to how people found our piece. With many positive comments to our piece and with a few which we can take board from the negitives to help us improve and make sure that if we was to make another piece even better than the first, which has proven to be very successful.

Directors commentary - The Shadow

The following Clip is a discussion of our group going though how we came across to making our piece and what difficulties we came across and how we managed to pull of some of the effects we did while filming. the video focuses on four main areas of which are:
. Sound
. Editing
. Mise en scene
. Camera angles/shots

Behide the scenes - Making of The Shadow

This is our be hide the scenes footage of our group filing the final piece 'The Shadow'. the following footage has been filmed by Callum Reay and contains a viewing of the group having in depth conversations on how we are going to film the piece for different shots and how we will come to edit them in the near future.

Final Piece - The shadow

The following short scene shown above is my groups final filming piece. After a long time of planning and mapping out loads of ideas in group discussions we where able to agree on one idea in particular which we all felt stood out the most. After doing so we drew a story board of the different shots we planned to film. The character fully dressed in black is playing by Dan Summers and the one in a threat is played by Tom oakley. The Filming of our piece was carried out by myself, while Callum Reay filmed the making of our piece with be hind the scene action of various group discussions. Overall i do feel that our group is pleased with what we have managed to produced and had a good time in the process of making and filming it. our intention was to making an opening to a thriller and in time when we get feedback we hope overs will feel that it is.

Camera angles, movement and shots

Before the filming of our final piece i thought it would be best to get a little bit of an understanding to the different shots that there are which i could use with a camera. as well as the many other movements there are. i will also look into the rule of thirds so that i can get a understanding to how i should  things into my shot and how can get the audience to focus on what i want them to see.

Camera shots


Extreme Long Shot
Often used as an establishing shot, the extreme long shot is normally used to shows an exterior e.g a landscape or an outside of a building. there will be very little detail visible in the shot, it's meant to give a general impression rather than specific information.

Long shot
long shots are simular to extreme long shots but they are much more specific and detailed, therefore giving the audience a better idea of the setting. normally shots the setting and surroundings with the whole characters body.

Mid shot
This shot shows a character from the waist and above, is normally used for dialogue scenes or show detail of an action. Variations of this shot are know as a two shot which includes two people in the shot from the waist up or the three shot which contains three from the waist up. any more than this the shot tends to become a long shot as it is quite a distance away to allow the view of all characters.

Close-up
Close-ups contain only the characters face, this allows the audience to see the characters facial expression and emotions, to allow them to feel empathy for the character.

Extreme Close-up
Extreme close-ups normally will only show one part of the characters face and is normally come across in a thriller or horror movie as it normally helps to build tension and suspense given in different circumstances. as it shows characters emotions and gives in great detail what they are feeling.

Over the shoulder shot
This shot is shown from over one characters shoulder over looking another. this shot is normally used to show the difference between a character which is superior or inferior. for example the person on whoms back or shoulder we see would suggest to the audience that they are superior as they would take up most of the shot.

Camera Angles
Camera angles are often thought to be shots but they are not the same thing. Camera shots are used to show the setting and emotions or themes of a scene. when camera angles are used in film to position the viewer in order for them to understand to relationships between different characters.

High Angle
High angle shots look down upon a character/subject, normally used to show that they are inferior, weak or small as if someone was looking down onto them.

Low Angle
Low angles look up on a character/subject in a film. it is the opposite to what a high angle is used for and it is to show that a character is superior, strong status and puts across that they own this shot/angle.

Camera Movement
Camera movement is the main part of the film, it gives it meaning

Panning
Panning is normally used to show a large area (set the scene) and give its meaning.

Tracking Shot
Tracking shots use tracks to move and are mostly used when following a character into a room or if they are pulling away in a car.

Here's an example of a series of panning and tracking shots.

Opening to a thriller - Research

Please Click here for the Video

A nightmare on elm street starts with the non-diegetic sound of a low key sound track with a smooth sound over the top of it. This piece works well with the various shots which we are shown. for example this shots of which appears to be a work surface and then shown to a park where a few children are playing helps to add a question to the viewer as they are still unsure of the situation which is being presented to them.
the various sounds which we are given in this opening are the sounds of banging as we are shown a close-up shot oh a vise which holds a piece of metal, this is presented in a low light so that it gives a build of tension to the scene. This particular part of opening helped me towards the ideas which i had towards my ideas for the final piece, for example the way the credits are shown with a rushed background this in particular really opening my way of thinking towards how i could present the opening titles to my thriller opening which was still under way of being mapped out at the time. though out this piece we are also shown a close-up of what appears to be a hand with a series of blades/knifes, this can suggest to the audience a murder is happened or is going to and with the added effect oh the lighting and cross fading between the shots of the knife hand it adds awareness to the audience to allow them to grasp the situation in hand. This helped me realise that not only does the storyline have to be put across well but also what you want your audience to take in. that came across as a key feature to me and helped me to realise that all shots i want have to capture what i pictured but for over to understand not just myself and my group.
The opening to this film as i whole fits in perfect with our theme of a thriller and really helped with the planing of the final piece, as we were in need of a good idea as time was getting on.

Continuity Piece - The Decoy

This continuity piece called 'The Decoy' was  filmed and produced by myself, Tom, Dan and Callum. The focus of the this film was to open awareness of viewers. Despite the piece being short it still managed to get across an opening to possibly a program on the TV. The main plot of this was that the main character (me/Jon) is stitched up by he so called 'friends' and plants him with class A drugs.
This short piece gave a true feel to how the filming a piece is like and really opened our minds to how far we could take our ideas for the final piece when it would come to producing it. We also gathered very useful skills while in the process of filming The Decoy, such as with filming for when we need a still shot without movement, we would use a tripod to ensure that the shot would be perfect. we also was able to get an idea on why we should use different shots, this allowed us to capture a characters feelings or emotions a lot more effective as we could show it with a close-up or a medium shot of various people/characters. Overall the production of this piece benefits us in many ways as we can act on any mistakes which we may have took in the process of making this short piece. for example in some shots you are able to hear the background noise over the non-diegetic sound track, which when it comes to our main piece we can over come this and look out for it.

BBFC - British

U or Universal:

This BBFC certificate is given to a film if it is suitable for ages 4 and above. The grading of a ‘U’ should be set within the positive area of framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror.

U films are normally seen to be suitable for any age so if a child was left to watch alone they could do so without the child getting scared of what they are watching.

If with a U grading the film shouldn’t have any discrimination of any sort unless it is clearly disagreed with after being stated in the film. It should also not refer to any use or names of illegal drugs, unless of the circumstance of being educational. The most a U graded film can contain sex wise is kissing and the term making love this is to make the film a lot more child friendly and help put parents at ease with leaving it on the television or when viewing in a cinema. So this also means that no strong language will be allowed to be used in the film any swear words will not be used though out the showing apart from the very mild argument between the characters.

PG or Parent Guidance:

This BBFC certificate is given to a film if it is suitable for ages 8 or older unless a child younger than this guideline is accompanied with an adult. This is due to that they need to consider if the film will in any way upset there child.

If with a PG grading the film shouldn’t really contain any sort of discrimination however if it is used in an educational or historical content then it is seen to be ok. Any use of illegal drugs or drug misuse must be innocuous or carry a suitable anti-drug message. This is clearly so that non of the children watching this can think that it is a good idea to do this sort of thing. Language used is mild with no reference the main offenders, as well as that the sexual content will be minimum with at most it being getting close as kissing or together for long periods of time. The PG rating should also only contain small amount of horror as to only argument and a mild build up scene. This also cross with violence as it can only be used if it is then justified after it being used.

12A/12:

This BBFC certificate is more or less the same however it depends where the film in general is suited. Films classified at these categories may upset children under 12 or contain material which many parents will find unsuitable for them.

The ‘12A’ category is only used for cinema films. No one younger than 12 can see a ‘12A’ film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult and films classified ‘12A’ are not recommended for a child below 12. An adult can choose to take a younger child if, in their judgement, the film is suitable for that particular child. Which means the category ‘12’ is only used for a video once the film is released.

If with a 12A/12 grading the film can contain some sort of discrimination, in the language if said aggressively or not in both situations in has to have some reason for it or strongly considered against by another character. Drugs in this rated can be used but must not in any way suggest that it is ‘cool’ or a good thing to be doing this. Any horror used in this rated will be mild for example a threat and not much more than this should be permitted. Any sex or nudity used is allowed but must be discreet and to a minimum. Moderate violence is allowed but mustn’t dwell on content. There can’t be any gory parts or blood being shown with a fight or other similar situations.

15:

This BBFC certificate cannot be seen by anyone under the age of 15 in a cinema, as well as they cant buy or rent it.

The ‘15’ category cannot endorse discriminatory language or behaviour in any way. Also the film can use drugs but not in anyway advertise them or shown the ways in which you choose to use/misuse them. If horror is used strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised. Strong language can be used as up to the main offenders however must be justified if it is used in the context at that time. Sexual context can be used to a lot but without any strong detail, however there can be referred to with character talking about the subject. Violence can be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable; however any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

18:

This BBFC certificate cannot be seen by anyone under the age of 18 in the cinema, as well as they can’t buy or rent it.

The certificate of ‘18’ is met with the human rights act 1998 there for it is up to the view on the personal taste of entertainment weather or not to view the film. The exceptions are most likely to follow these areas:

- Where the material is in breach of the criminal law

- Where material or treatment appears to the BBFC to risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society – for example, any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health or morals. This may include portrayals of sexual or sexualised violence which might, for example, eroticise or endorse sexual assault

- Where there are more explicit images of sexual activity which cannot be justified by context. Such images may be appropriate in ‘R18’ works, and in ‘sex works’ would normally be confined to that category.

R18:

This BBFC certificate is a special and legally restricted classification. This is may due to the content of sex or strong fetish material involving adults. These types of films can only be shown in specially licensed cinemas and can supply to only a licence sex shop.

Some things which are not allowed in the videos of this rated would be, anything which is a criminal act or any content which is likely to encourage sexual abuse. Any sort of infliction of pain set to a person which can be seen as torture. Also any threats are not allowed in the film as is can be seen wrongly by others.