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.
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.
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