Evaluative
Report
Section
1:
The brief for our production task was
to create an opening sequence for a thriller film. In groups of 3-4 we were to
choose a classic sub-genre for the production and then individually come up
with ideas for the film and to produce a suitable storyboard that showed
exceptional camera movement and clear director instructions. The opening
sequence had to be three minutes long, include the film title and credits,
positively establish the chosen genre/atmosphere/and audience, and fulfil the
expected conventions of a thriller film.
The research that we undertook was to
gain a greater understanding in what is expected of a classic thriller film and
to know the techniques and actions that are taken by the director. A component
of our research was to watch the film L.A. Confidential and then use our
knowledge of the film to write how it uses thriller and film noir conventions,
such as the usage of mistaken identity, a motif for motivation, and the storyline
taking unexpected twists etc. Another piece of research was to choose two
thriller films and analyse their opening scenes to see how they show thriller
conventions. The two film opening sequences I chose were The Shining and
Shutter Island; these both included key conventions from the genre but also
contrasted against classic expectations, creating unique productions. In order
to fully have a grasp of what expected conventions are most popular with our
target audience, we had to take out a survey and ask members of the audience to
see what their favourite convention of a thriller film were; I found quite a
few different results that were interested e.g. the predictable low key colour
scheme in this genre, to the fact the main character usually has a dark
background story. From this research I hoped to use what I found in my actual
opening sequence production to make it as clear as possible to establish the
genre and make it enjoyable for the audience. One task that did help well was
to watch various thriller films in class, all with different sub-genres to see
which genre we would use for our production. I watched the film ‘The Game’,
which was about a businessman haunted by his father’s suicide whose life is
absorbed by an organization called ‘The Game’ that puts his life in jeopardy.
The audience that we chose for our
opening sequence production were male/female teenagers (16 and above) to adults
(35 years old). We chose this age group as the storyline is not suitable for
young children due to the fact that there are scenes with murder and violence
in. Also, because commonly in psychological thrillers, the storyline is quite
complex and we think that the age of sixteen is mature enough to understand
what is happening, although we didn’t want to make the age too old as sometimes
middle aged adults and the elderly do not enjoy complex thrillers as they enjoy
a classically written film. I, personally asked 5 of my teenage friends (16/17
year olds); Brennan, Tommy, Jack, James and Brandon; in which I questioned them
on their favourite conventions in psychological thrillers and what I should
include in my own thriller film to attract them to watch it. I think our
production attracted our target audience as it featured quite dark themes of
murder and suspense, and also featured some key thriller conventions e.g.
mistaken identity. I feel we kept a consistent use of suspense throughout the
film but also did not make it too complex so it wouldn’t be misleading.
Section
2:
From our research during
pre-production I learnt the conventions that are featured in a thriller film
and the different ways in which some directors use the camera to create a sense
of suspense in the atmosphere. ‘NICS’ (narrative, iconography, characters, and
settings) was a term that was very helpful when it came to understanding the
production process as it stated the key topics that go into a film.
The feedback that we gained from the
marketing test was very useful as the group were able to acknowledge what
members of our target audience most enjoyed about our chosen genre. One
candidate for the survey (Brennan) said, “The one thing I like the most about
psychological thrillers are the suspense and tension throughout the whole film,
which could be created by the sound track and lighting”. Other candidates also
said: (Tommy) “(...) the idea of unpredictability and mystery is really
attractive to make me watch the film”. These comments said by people asked in
my market research are obviously useful as they are comments that can be taken
into consideration and used in our production.
The market research influenced the
development of our ideas as it made the group take into consideration what we
should do to improve our production and
make it as attractive to our target audience as possible. The comment about
thriller films being suspenseful has influenced us to use a much more upbeat
yet eerie soundtrack, and also adjust the lighting to low key, e.g. in the
scene on my storyboard that shows a man sitting at a desk writing; the low key
lighting would add to an atmosphere, whereas high key lighting would set a
atmosphere completely wrong to where the film would be heading. We also added
to this convention by adjusting the location to try getting it as traditional
thriller as possible e.g. urban city; using alley ways and dark areas to use in
film. Camera angle and shots were also influenced by comments so we tried to
add quick motion scenes, close ups and canted angle shots to add suspense again
and maybe confusion/disorientation for the audience.
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