Thriller evaluation by siju

Thriller Evaluation

When developing our thriller opening, we want to create a something that was interesting and creative, something that could match thriller movies of today. In order to create this we looked at films that already existed, we watched films like ‘The Shining’ directed by Stanley Vivian Kubrick and ‘Arlington Road’ in class, to gain an understanding of the genre ‘Thriller’. We really liked the opening of ‘Arlington road’, the way they used effects like solarisation, interested us and we decide to incorporate it in our thriller opening. I had previously watched ‘The Hole (2001)’ directed by Nick Hamm, and really liked the plot of the opening scene. The use camera shot and angles to create such and intense and uneasy atmosphere was very effective. We applied these conventions in the plot of our Thriller by using similar techniques e.g. low angle shots, ex long shots, and close ups. Using ex long shots in my thriller created isolation of the character and her vulnerability, close ups allowed the audience to see the expressions and emotions of the character. It also allowed the audience to see detail in the scene (the attack) and long shots showed the mise en scene, which allowed the audience to see the urban surroundings.

We had two characters in our film, one was a teenage girl, and the other was a male attacker. We took advantage of the social groups represented to gain more of the audience’s interest, and also allowing them to relate to the characters. The girl in our film represent black teenage girls, the working class because she uses public transport and lives in a council estate. She also represents people who live inner city London; she is dress in a provocative way which may represent the young female attitudes of the 21st century. The other character of the film is a male attacker, he wears a black hoodie, and attackers the girl in an alley way in London. This character represents the stereotype of young inner city males of today, ‘trouble makers and criminals’.

The media institution that would distribute our media product would most likely be TV film, Channel 4, because our film would be a thriller drama created and directed in the UK, and Channel 4 shows a lot of UK films. Our film would also be very low budgeted, so we would try and sell or DVDs online (internet) and we wouldn’t have to pay any distributors to sell our film. We also wouldn’t be able to afford to put it up in a cinema, so channel 4 would be more affordable to distribute our film.

A typical person who would fit into our target audience for our film would be a teenage male or female, aged 16 - 24, goes to college and loves going out in their share time to cinemas or parties. Lives in London, works part – time and shops in high street clothing stores. They love socialising and internet social network like facebook and myspace.

I would attract my audience through advertisements in colleges and six forms, using posters and handouts, I would address my audience by having the characters pictures on the handouts, so they could relate to them because they are teenager and also gain a little knowledge on the kind of film it is. We would also have a short trailer on channel 4 so people would be reminded of the film and when it going to show. I would create a website for my thriller advertising the film, and showing the trailer, this would able a wider global audience to see the film.

During the process of constructing my thriller I found I learnt about technologies in media. I enjoyed filming a lot, playing with angles and shots. At first it was hard trying to be creative without looking too amateur, but once we got the hang of it we was able to manipulate different angle to create good match cuts and clips to put together out thriller. However the weather made it difficult to film sometimes with it being too cold or raining. I learnt how when filming its important to pay attention to detail to make the film flow like the 360 rule.

Using final cut pro was the hardest and longest part of creating our thriller. It was difficult cutting scenes and matching them to other ones. It took a lot of patients when using final cut pro because we had to get used to the controls and techniques but once we got some help and fully understood the basics of the program, it was easy. We had captured a lot of footage so we found it easy to match scenes together. We used effects like fading one scene to another to able scene to able the film to flow better.

When we had finished editing we went on to create a soundtrack. This was quite fun, we learnt how to use sound in certain areas of our film to create different moods and atmospheres; we started off with a mellow strings to create a light atmosphere while the character wasn’t in danger. Then when we would cut into another scene where the ‘attack’ would happen, we used a creepy sound to show something is going to happen and deep bass which created tension within the audience. It was fun to play around with the sound, and matching the sound effects to the film.

When making the credits we used Livetype this again was interesting and new to us because we had never used the software, we learnt how to turn simple text into and creative colours and movement. Because there was so much effects to choose form we struggle a little in finding the best one to reflect our film, also their was many difference in opinions within the group. However we did come to an agreement on the final text, but when I watched our final finished film I didn’t like the choice of text it looked cheap and tacky.

When we finished the thriller we put it up on the internet for a wider audience. We used social networking sites like vimeo, blogs and facebook so all our friends and networks could see it. Using the internet is a great way of gaining a bigger audience easily by a click of button. This is also a way of recording and saving our product with easy access to it when we need. It wasn’t difficult putting our product on the internet but it did take a long time to load.

Looking back on my preliminary task I feel that it helped to prepare me for my thriller project. It gave me and understanding of how media technology works, and how to develop film. It taught me how to ‘match cut’ and the importance of it, how to create and develop a storyboard which is a very important when creating a film; it’s a way of planning, so u know where to start form and what needs to be done. Our preliminary task didn’t turn out that good because we lacked planning, we just filmed what we thought we would need, but when it came to editing we realised we didn’t have enough footage to ‘match cut’ properly and create a good production. We realise after this task that to create a good thriller product we need to plan properly before we beginning and kept track of what we our filming.

Thriller Evaluation & Blogs by Farida

AS Media Studies
Thriller Evaluation

For our media coursework we was given a brief of producing a two-minute thriller opening.

Wikipedia Thriller Definition: Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains. Literary devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively.

From watching different openings of films that convey thriller in different ways helped us decide what type of thriller we wanted to do. While watching other opening sequences it looked difficult to try some of the techniques of certain films, as we are not professionals. When we first got our brief my group members and myself had numerous ideas of what we could do, however when we watched Arlington road (1999) we started to have a clear understand of what we want our audience to see and feel. The first images you see in the opening of Arlington road are solorised shots of a neighbourhood in America. Unlike some of the other openings music was not used, the use of deep suspenseful sound gave it more of a thriller effect. Some shots where also blurred. We got some of these ideas and adapted it to our thriller. Our two-minute plot was a girl coming back from a night out, getting on a bus, going through an estate. While she is walking though the estate there is cross cuts of flashes that may happen. We decided the first shot would be out focused at first like Arlington Road at one point before she enters the estate there would be a pan shot of the area.





Again Similar to Arlington Road the cross cut scenes would be solorised and quick, to show it is not yet happening to prevent confusion in the audience, plus the sound would be creepy. We preferred t use sound rather then music like Arlington road because we think it is more effective. We used a loud string sound as the image established, then throughout the being while the girl was waiting for the bus and wanting was a low string sound that was used as a background and mostly diegetic sounds was used at this point like cars and footsteps as our film is a reality thriller. As soon as the girl reaches the alleyway the sound instantly increases in volume, the cross cut clips are diegetic to hear the scuffle and screams. When she gets to about mid way of the alley we add slow middle pitched notes of a piano to create a suspenseful feeling and while she enters the lift the piano played fast paced on one note to represent how everyone’s heartbeats should be in this stage including the actress. This is in slow motion to enhance the unexpected hand stopping the lift door, which then we used a loud thrilling sound that successfully made the audience jump and the deep base sound played throughout the two minutes quietly now played on its own when the title is shown. These elements are conventions of Thriller plus the lighting of our setting was red that connotes danger, we left the ending on a cliff hanger seeing that the cross cuts may be the future, past or just in the characters head but when she reaches the lift a hand stops the lift door from closing, which is when the title (Earlstoke Estate) is shown. This makes people want to know what happens next that builds ambiguity. Pulling the audience in like this is a common device used to keep audience engaged.

Thriller Evaluation: Earlstoke Estate

Thriller Evaluation: Earlstoke Estate

We were given the task to create an opening of a film using a thriller genre. We started using a storyboard and a basic plan, but by the end of the film we really began to feed into the conventions of a real thriller production.
We studied a few thriller films to gather ideas, for example Arlington Road helped to give us the idea of the solarised flash scenes. We used this idea but changed the theme to make the real purpose of the flash scenes a mystery.




We also looked at The Shining, this film was an older film but the opening still helped to inspire us when making our opening. For example we noticed that using simple music in the beginning then gradually building to a heavier music can really help to build tension. We applied this technique to our film, as the film started with an establishing shot with the name of the estate where the action will take place up until the bus stop scenes. But when the character reached her point of danger this was signified by the change of depth and tone in the music. This really helped to create the tension that we were going for.

We also used small techniques that relate to conventions of a real thriller opening. The alley way was a dark red, which usually symbolises danger; this really helped in creating atmosphere. The location was naturally lighted red and this was our main reason for choosing this particular location.
The solarised attacks created a sense of ambiguity. The audience is left wondering whether the attacks are a flashback, whether they are premonitions or whether the girl is hallucinating. We were able to create this effect by continuously flashing back to the normal settings so the audience are left wondering “is this really happening?”.
We also used a technique towards the end of the film. As she begins to get on the lift it is in slow motion, the door continues to start closing in sow motion, then when the ‘man’ starts pulling the lift open it returns to a regular faster speed. In contrast with the sound change, and the characters facial expression it creates suspense as the audience wonders what happens next. This also is a convention as it is a climax and many film openings end in a climax in order to get the audience started.
The isolated estate, the red bus, the roads are all a sense of representation of London and help to connote danger.







When creating the characters we decided to have one main character instead of confuse the audience with many different characters. The main purpose of having one character, was to create a sense of isolation which helped by using a sequence of long and medium shots.
The character was a female, young adult aged about 18. The use of this character fit in to the usual stereotype of female characters. They are usually vulnerable which we can see because of the body language, and the fact that she was alone helped fulfil the stereotype. The fact that she was young, which we could tell by her clothing (which is again stereotypical), also helped make the audience feel more scared for the character and made her look even more vulnerable.



If our film was to be successful, I think it would be more national than Hollywood, this is because of the characters and storyline. I think it would appeal more to British consumers as a ‘made for TV’ type film, maybe being shown on Channel 4 or BBC3 as a short film. This is because i feel that this is the type of film that would have a low budget and its audience would probably be TV consumers instead of "DVD buyers". If It were to become successful on TV then maybe a sequel would be released in cinema as it would attract more funding and it would already be popular.
For this reason I think that our film would appeal more to young (16-25’s) aspiring film makers or artists, rather than an upper class business audience. I think our audience would consist of both males and females because the opening is not just about the fact that it’s a female, but it’s more concerned about the suspense and tension that is being created, meaning that it is not gender biased. But it may appeal to boys more than girls as the main character is a female and she fits the stereotypical attractive female description. Our ideal consumer would probably be ‘Tasha or Justin, 16 and 19, in college or university, loves shopping or football, goes clubbing quite often, shops in Topshop or Primark’ Our ideal audience normally spends their free time watching their favourite soaps and dramas, and would therefore come across our film. The reason i think this audience would be attracted to our film is because i think they would like to see the films resolution.

Because of our target audience, we would have to be particular when attracting the correct consumers. We would probably include a well-known underground music artist in the cast that would attract our audience to the film. We would probably target bus stop billboards and advertisements on buses. This is because a large portion of our target audience travel by bus and this would be an effective way of advertising. Another effective way would be by using trailers to give the audience a taste of what they could expect, But the trailers would be passed around through mobile phones by using Bluetooth, I think this would be an effective way of attracting our younger target audience as they are Familiar with using Bluetooth to send music and other miscellaneous things.

During the process of the project, I think I have really progressed and have a better insight into using the technologies. At the start of the Unit, I was not very confident in filming and the different angles to use, I am also better at knowing how to set up a shot. I have also learnt how to frame shots and to time the shot before the character enters the shot. I have learned a great deal of techniques using Final cut pro. We were all taught how to first log and capture our work which is very time consuming but learning how to edit using the system, I think was very complex but in the end we were able to learn how to use it correctly and as I became more used to it, I found it much easier to use. Learning to soundtrack was very successful, as we were taught the basics first. After we were confident, in using it we were able to improve our soundtrack and it really helped to add emotion and helped the film to conform to the thriller genre.
When we started the coursework we were introduce to blogging and as we continued using this system I really started getting better at using it and being able to upload videos to our blog. It is also really interesting getting to know how far other groups are getting and looking at their work.

I believe that we have really progressed since our preliminary filming session. In our match cut exercise, we found it hard to get the scenes to switch smoothly. The match cuts were very noticeable. But since then we have really gotten much better at using final cut and filming. We also took a lot more time to storyboard our film and plan locations and filming days. This really helped as it allowed us to spare time and prevented us from missing out vital shots. Most of all it really helped that all of the members in our group worked together, as all of our knowledge was put together to help make every step successful.

Update: sound editing

We had finished forming our film, now we needed sound to make it complete, and to have the full "thriller effect" . In the beginning it was very hard to try and make a soundtrack for the film. Because we had to start from scratch and obviously had no experience it made it even worse. We started off listening to all of the different instruments. After we had listened to most of them we started trying out different sounds, for different events in the film. For example with the opening we wanted a sound that was not to complex but still that the film was supposed to be a thriller. We used more complex music for the walk down the alleyway and the attacks, only to build tension, but still kept it a minimum in order to prevent it from looking amateur. when we started to get used to using soundtrack, we started adding little sounds to create a different sound that would not be that easy to copy. by the end of the session we ended up completing the whole soundtrack and it really made the film look and sound alot better, and also made it look quite thrilling!

Update: Editing contd.

After we had the structure, it became easier to start forming all of the extra details. We began to insert the attacks (premenitions) into the charecters walk down the alleyway. After we inserted the attacks we used solarization to add effect and also to let the viewer know that the attack is at a different time (or not actually happening?) . We made the clips very short in order to build tension. We made it a sequence (had various attack clips), then at the end when the girl made it to the end of the alleyway she began to make her way on to the lift, we did this in slow motion in order to add effect and create suspense and then when she finally makes it onto the lift....... We used many match cuts in order to show the different angles but we still tryed our best to make them look smooth. We all had to come in at different times depending on how convienient it was for us. then in the end we all contributed to the editing in order to ensure that no one was left out.

Update : day 2 of Editing

When we returned to college we really began to meet up whenever we had free time in order to meet our deadline. On the first day back from half term we started puting together most of the film and managed to at least form a basic outline of the film. We started with the establishing shot, then we added some bustop scenes and afterwards we continued with the alleyway scenes. We left it at that and decided to leave the rest until the next time we had free.

Updates: first day of editing

In our first day of editing, me and my group decided to come in on the half term and get some extra work done. We first began by logging and capturing all of our work. This took a very long period of time as we had many clips. We decided to group the clips up into sections in order to make it easier when we started putting the film together. by the end of the session we started putting the pieces together. At first we were finding it difficult to make sense of it. But after moving the shots around we started to get an idea of what we wanted the outcome to be. By the end of the day we only managed to put together the very beginning of the film and decided to leave the rest until we returned to college.