Final Product

Here after months of planning and research is our five minute thriller opening.#

Eye for an Eye

Evaluation Questions-Katherine Smith

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

With regards to the conventions we have used within our thriller we have attempted to create a slow moving thriller opening which can be left open to twists within the greater developed plotline of the remainder of the film to leave the audience guessing. However we have also show the audience action within the opening of our thriller to draw them in. We have also used music with a disturbing quality and a soft underlying tone to lull the audience into the slow pace of our film.

Our use of a handheld camera is a factor that is key to the plotline we have developed although because the audience is given a chance to work out what the developments will be this challenges the thriller genre as it is not so much a mystery but rather an action thriller. Despite this we have kept out much of the plotline but rather imply that it will develop at a later stage so as to avoid telling the entire story in under five minutes as we decided that this would go against many existing media products and especially thrillers.

Another way in which we have used thriller conventions is in using the theme of a disturbed mental state against which our protagonist much struggle. As the audience has already seen his psychological turmoil lead to death it would cause them to feel suspense if he is put into a situation which may cause him to act out of anger.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Whilst we do feature several characters in our film opening, the majority of whom are teenagers of a similar age we did not wish to target any particular social group for representation as we were wary of getting too close to the stereotypical. This was because we felt that it would detract from the serious nature of our film and perhaps alienate certain members of the audience. However we have portrayed a representation of gender that has been used in films and drama’s as the male character is presented as the immediate villain whilst the female characters seem to be more outgoing and vulnerable. And as the only female character with potential to become a villain dose so only to achieve revenge the thriller makes the assumption that males are the more violent of the pair although this is not something which we wished to show to any great degree.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Despite the fact that the task was to create the opening for a thriller this would have eventually developed into a feature length film and as such film companies such as Universal and would be the target institutions to distribute the film. This also includes smaller, independent companies such as Working Title. The film would be distributed in the form of DVD’s or downloads from online stores such as ITunes. We would aim for these methods because they have become the normal method for distributing films along with other media products.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Due to the adult nature of thrillers and scenes of violence we would not be aiming for a younger audience as it would be unsuitable and as such the youngest age group we would encourage to view our film would be fifteen. The main audience therefore would be made up of older teenagers and young adults who are more likely to seek something which will scare and thrill them. We also wanted to aim at adults who do not normally wish to view thrillers through the slow pace of our film which we feel lulls the audience throughout although this would of course depend on the later developments of our film.

How did you attract/address your audience?

During our thriller opening the background music helped to keep the audience’s attention through the slower scenes, such as the sketchbook seen. Also I feel the cuts between the flashback scene and the sketchbook scene helped to maintain the audience’s interest through changes in scenery and tone. We have also tried to maintain the audience’s attention through the storyline which we have presented and the characters which have helped to portray tension and suspense.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the process of filming I have learnt about filming different camera shots such as panning shots, close ups and over shoulder shots with both handheld cameras and tripods. I have also learned how to use a tripod in terms of achieving a variety of different camera angles and height in shots. I have learned how to edit films using iMovie in areas such as cutting the shots down, importing footage and music as well as using transitioning effects and titles.  And during the process of creating this blog I have learned how to import images and YouTube clips as well as learning how to edit my posts.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From the preliminary task I have learned about editing film and as such I feel that this has allowed us to produce a final product to a higher quality. I also feel that our filming has improved as we became more confident with using the cameras and tripods. Also we have learnt to create more imaginative, complex and tense story lines as that in the preliminary task was extremely dull as to entertain was not the point of the exercise.

Feedback

We showed our thriller opening to individuals who were around the age group of our target audience in order to try and improve the overall quality of our film by taking their suggestions on board before burning the film. This turned out to help us a great deal in improving our thriller. Below are two written opinions.

''I think it has the making of a really good thriller. The shots that utilised the setting were really effective in setting the mood and atmosphere of the piece. The natural sounds brought a realistic element, and the dramatic cut of sound in the attack scene with the male character was a particular favourite. The overall length of the film was excellent, not too short, but was long enough to develop a good plot. The only improvement would be to improve the transition between shots. Overall a really successful piece of film making.'' Alex Chong

''This is a very gripping thriller opening. It holds the viewers attention from the start, right to the end, introducing and enticing them into the plot. I found that the acting from all the characters, especially the main male role, was very good and convincing. They helped me to understand the plot and added to the atmosphere of the piece. I thought that the setting was very appropriate and was used well. It made the most of natural surroundings, especially in the shots of the male character among the trees at the beginning: like the acting the choice of setting definitely contributed to the mood of the film. The variety of camera angles were also done very well. If I had to suggest an improvement I would say that perhaps there is a little too much action in such a short space of time, so maybe the plot could be shortened or simplified. However, I understand that an opening sequence must contain enough action to maintain the viewer's attention; I think this film does this very effectively. Ultimately, I think this short film piece is a great success. The storyline is very interesting, and is complemented by the choice of setting.'' Megan Spruce

The feedback we received, as you can see, is extremely polite in nature but what this gave us was that we needed to cut back on the amount of storyline told which we had already been considering as we did not want to tell too much in the opening. This prompted us to remove the monologue among other things which had basically told the audience our entire plot line in an effort to cut back on the amount of information given. Also we tried to improve the transitioning between shots which had before been extremely jerky to distinguish between the two cameras.

Voice Overs

Below is the transcript of Stephen Smith's monologue which we planned to use in our thriller. We went against this in the end because we decided to hint at a plot which would later develop fully rather than trying to tell the entire story in under five minutes.


It was early spring. I'd only just turned eighteen, that's old enough to be sentenced. Molly was two years younger.

I'll never know exactly what happened or what triggered it...only sometimes I have to do things...sometimes it takes over. That was one of those times.

The sister, she caught it all on tape, enough to sentence me anyway. And I didn't do anything to her. I just...walked away.

I served my time but that wasn't enough for her.

Her sister died. Manslaughter. Accidental. It was, I hadn't wished her dead. I hadn't wanted her to die like that but she would have died somehow. The girl was there, she knew the truth. And now it was her turn, to listen to the voices.


Voice Over by Alice Parsons

As mentioned before we were unfortunate in the fact that the girl whom we had enlisted to play the victim's sister was unavailable meaning that the script had to be altered extremely quickly whilst still letting the audience know that someone besides them is watching the murder take place. Therefore Alice Parsons who plays the murder's daughter and who was not present during the filming at Cannock Chase did a series of voice overs after the film had been put together for the dialogue section between the victim and her sister. The downside of this was that in order to record the voice overs in a quiet area they were recorded in a small soundproof round providing an echoey quality to her words.

Thriller Music

The Considered and Final Music Choice for our Thriller


For our Thriller we wanted to create a slow moving opening in order to settle the audience into the rest of the film whilst still maintaining a feeling of dramatic suspense. Due to this we decided against using heavy music for our thriller or at least music which was heavy to start with rather than music which built up gradually. One thing which was discussed was using a Gothic like background music which was an idea that greatly influenced our eventually decision into sticking with a song from the Gothic group, Sirenia, which had already been the generally preferred option.

(The Path to Decay by Sirenia) 

Sirenia's The Path to Decay was the original soundtrack considered for our thriller as we found it to be interesting and somewhat disturbing Gothic music with a modern twist. A concern with this song was that it might overpower the thriller, distracting the audiences focus and another concern was that it far too heavy and electronic, which was something which went against the desired effect for our thriller. Also we wanted to use something with lyrics which were a better fit for our thriller. For these reasons this soundtrack was eventually discarded but because of the somewhat disturbing feel of the music Sirenia was the song which had as searching for music of a more Gothic quality.

(Labyrinth of Dreams by Nox Arcana)

We also considered Nox Arcana's Labyrinth of Dreams for our thriller and it very nearly became the soundtrack which we chose. The music begins extremely softly and this is maintained throughout which we felt fit in with the general idea of having a slow paced thriller opening and also the music still held the Gothic feel that we wanted for our underlying track. Another pull towards this song was the deepening in tone in places which we felt we could use for the tenser moments of our thriller. However we felt that though the music was extremely soft there was too much of an obvious and quick rhythm in the beats that play throughout which contradicted the speed we wanted to create.

There other song by Nox Arcana which we considered during this time was Lullaby which the Gothic tone which we had been looking for. However in comparison to the previous song mentioned the tone was significantly heavier and unfortunately it still had the underlying beat which speeds the music up noticeably contradicting the tone which we wished to create.

(Lullaby by Nox Arcana)



(Running Up That Hill by Placebo)



Placebo's Running Up That Hill, was also considered for our background music partly because that compared to the songs by Nox Arcana there music was slower in pace without being too heavy at the beginning but rather building up to a climax. Also we considered using the heartbeat used in this track in moments of tension within our thriller. However whilst we thought that the music might be suitable for a protagonist whom we wanted to feel regret eventually there music had to soft a feel and we discarded this song because of it's possibly romantic theme.



(Save Me From Myself by Sirenia)

We ended up returning to Sirenia in our final choice of music with Save Me From Myself, which we felt contained everything we were looking for whilst having very few of the negatives we met with the other songs. As with Path to Decay there was a distinctly Gothic feel which we had been looking for at the start and also a softness is maintained throughout the song meaning that it would not overpower our thriller, especially when the percentage of sound was reduced. Another pull towards this piece was the change in the music at certain points which we felt could be useful to show tension or to create a disjointed effect. We also felt that this song was at a slow enough pace to work with the effect we wanted to create within our thriller. For all these reasons we eventually decided to use Save Me From Myself in our thriller.

Mise-en-scene: Props

Props used within our Thriller.


The Scarves

There were two scarves used in our thriller, one we used in the flashback scene whilst the other we used in the sketchbook scene as it was decided that the sketchbook should be often reviewed by the Protagonist as he tried to come to terms with the act of murder which he committed and therefore the scarf with constant handling should have become worn over the years. Therefore the second scarf which we used was frayed and the colours were faded in comparison. Whilst we used the second scarf to give an impression of it being worn the two items were not identical, a fact which we have tried to hide through camera angles and lighting whilst we were filming and later the editing process.

Originally the victim's scarf was to be used as the murder weapon as it was first decided that the boy would strangle her. However the cause of death was almost constantly under debate and as such in flux until we settled on the girl being thrown against a tree which meant that the scarf was no longer needed as such in the murder. Despite this we wanted the killer to have something other than the sketchbook to remind him of his victim and as such it was decided that it should come into his possession somewhere within the fight scene, thereby allowing him to keep it in his possession for the rest of his life.


The Sketchbook

We decided on the sketchbook as a way to show the audience what our killer was thinking as well as to present him as the threat. The book itself was plain and cream in colour so as not to show anything unnerving until the pages were opened, revealing his drawings to the audience. It was decided that the drawings should be made using black biro and graphite to provide a sketchy feel to the drawings as well as a feeling of depression as we felt that someone in his shoes would most likely draw in black without a hint of colour.

 (Katherine Smith preparing the sketchbook for filming)

The Gloves

We ended up using a pair of gloves in our thriller because it was deiced that having committed the murder the killer should use gloves in handling the body. Whilst this in itself would be useless in reality especially as his fingerprints would already cover the corpse after the fight scene we believed that the action might provide some false sense of security which we thought would be welcome after murder. This action was supposed to be done without thinking, as was picking up the scarf at the end and moving the body in an effort to cover the killer's tracks rather than a considered action.

Mise-en-scene: Setting

The Setting for our Thriller


The Farmhouse

It had been decided originally that all of the footage taken should be shot at a local farm, using the house for exterior shots however we eventually had to go against this idea because the area which we would have been able to film in was too open for a murder which was to some extent considered to be committed. Whilst our eventual location was also very public we felt that other people in the forest would not have been able to see any danger clearly as the scene was far more sheltered.


Cannock Chase

As discussed above we decided to use a sheltered setting for the murder scene and for this we used Cannock Chase and a clearing for the actual death scene so as to provide the audience a clear view of the action. A good deal of time had been spent searching for an appropriate clearing and the one we eventually settled upon was overlooking what can only be described as a small valley down which the boy would push the body so as to move it away from the scene. We were very fortunate when we were filming with regards to the weather as it was a cold and misty day which I feel coupled well with our footage because of the soft yet bright lighting which we achieved.

Filming

The Filming Process for Our Thriller


As you can see from our original script we met a wall in the filming process in the fact that the girl we had enlisted to play the victim's friend and film the point of view shots from the second camera became too ill meaning that the script and camera shots had to be changed to get around this problem.

Therefore during the flashback scene much of the filming was alternated between Stephen Smith and Katherine Smith in order to film as much footage as possible with the killer as the audience's focus. For the majority of the scene a handheld camera was used due to the fact that the plot line revolved around the murder being filmed and we wanted the footage to have the shaky quality of being handheld and also having the person move as they filmed. Another use for the handheld camera was the panning shot of Issac Alcock as he walked through the forest, creating noise for the victim to follow as here we did not want the camera to be completely steady.

(Katherine Smith filming the panning shot)

For the rest of the scene a tripod was used so that there was steady footage within the flashback scene, an example of this is the 360 degrees shot just before the murder which we wanted to keep smoother than the majority of our shots.

 (Stephen Smith preparing the camera for filming)

For the majority of the interior shots we used a tripod to hold the camera steady as unlike the flashback scene the plot line here did not revolve around someone filming their observations meaning there was less call for the footage to be possessed of a naturally shaky quality meaning that we wanted to hold the camera as still as possible.

Here is a list of the equipment we used

• Two cameras
• A tripod
• Two tapes
• Spare Batteries
• A Charger

Mise-en-scene Costume for Other Characters

The Costume for the Victim and her Friend





(Katherine Smith as the Victim)

It was decided that the costume for our victim should be lighter than that of the two costumes for the murderers because she was not suppressed by the same degree of mental strain. Yet it was also decided that the costume should be darker than that of the murderer's daughter to show a darker personality in comparison to someone who was quite kind and sweet. Therefore the costume ended up becoming a pair of dark jeans, a black coat and white shirt. The shirt was white because that is the typical colour of innocence, death and victims and although this character may not have been presented as the nicest person in the world when all is said and done she is the victim.

The other character in our thriller was the Victim's friend/sister although complications arouse meaning that we were not able to show this character in the film. This character was originally going to be dressed in pale grey clothes to suggest that she was neither dark or the victim but could in fact become a more threatening character later on in the film.

Research and Planning

Before constructing the opening to a feature length thriller it was necessary that we learned about the typical conventions within a thriller using such things as the characters, lighting, plot line, mise-en-scene, camera angles, sound and editing. To do this we watched several thrillers and thriller openings in class including Psycho among others as well as watching thrillers in our own time, such as The Others, Spellbound, Seven and Panic Room.

We also used several different books within our research one of which Myth and the Movies by Stuart Voytilla was extremely helpful in helping us gain a greater understanding of thriller conventions.

Below are some links to sights concerning some of the films mentioned above if you would like to know more about them.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038109/ Spellbound

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0258000/ Panic Room

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0230600/ The Others

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114369/ Seven

Here are just a few of the thriller conventions that we were able to pick up from watching these films.

• One of these is that the majority of the characters are ordinary people who have been forced into extraordinary and dangerous circumstances.
• There are often red herrings throughout the film as well as clues towards the twists in the plot.
• Thriller's often focus on the psychological state of the characters. 

What these conventions eventually gave us was a revived plot line which revolved around the murder's life years after the murder and a prison sentence although this is is not mentioned in the final product. The idea that the killer would in fact be the hero and protagonist was developed into the eventual plot line that the victim's freind or sister would hunt the daughter to kill her in revenge, from which got the title Eye for a Eye.

The Opening Sequence to Seven

Thriller Conventions used in the Opening Sequence of Seven


The opening sequence for the film Seven directed by Kyle Cooper uses various methods to portray a sense of unease and fear to the audience including editing, mise-en-scene and the sounds used within the opening.

Throughout the opening of Copper’s Seven, the audience views footage which has become broken up by the change in camera positing and perhaps most importantly the credits which give the sequence a disjointed feeling. Whilst in other thrillers where it is in the wishes of the director to settle the audience down at the beginning of the film and thereby lull them into a false sense of security the opening of Seven is, I believe, something that is made to shock and frighten, something that is supplied even by the titles. Although they appear on screen for a very short amount of time they are jolted and shaken or are made to flash in and out of appearance very quickly creating something that unsettles especially when they are punctured by the music which underlies the scene and the sounds of people screaming. Also the footage itself has been highly edited in a way to disturb with fast cuts, sometimes so that you cannot quite make out the previous image show and other edits, some of which provide a ghost trail effect. An example of this is in shots showing the movement of the character’s hand and a later shot where a page of a book is being turned. Other examples of editing in this sequence are the overlapping shots, sometimes several at a time, the change of focus, especially at the begging where the hand is out of focus and the shots where the picture is broken up which again provides a disturbing disjointed feel. The sequence of shots can also be noted here in the fact that from the pages of a book at the begging the images have progressed to images such as someone obscuring the picture of a man’s face as well as other violent things, all of which bring a sense of fear to the audience.

Another method used within the opening sequence of Copper’s Seven to instill fear and discomfort into the audience is mise-en-scene. I greatly believe that the images chosen for the opening sequence were meant to disturb but the first few shots, especially when smell, mechanical items in shot extreme close ups are used making it difficult to make out exactly what the objects are. Items that are used frequently within this sequence are books, either to show highlighted words, collected photographs or an unknown individual’s writing which is in close shots always shown upside down so it is difficult for the audience to read. Reels of film photographs, and drawings of human features are also used to a great extent which may show the person’s past or intended victims, all of these things I feel help Copper to provide the desired reaction in an audience.

A third method used within the opening sequence to Copper’s Seven to create a sense of fear and unease is the sound used. Throughout the opening the same background music is played and it is made up of a series of various instruments and sounds, electrical or otherwise and also of different beats which sound as though they are purposely made so as to create a steady rhythm thereby adding to the disjointed effect which has been maintained throughout the opening. The sounds of typing are also used in this section giving the impression that the person is working towards something which becomes something twisted and unnerving when combined with the images shown. Also as mentioned before the scene is punctured in places with the sounds of people screaming which shows pain producing the desired effect.

In conclusion I believe that the opening sequence of Copper’s Seven has been desired to instill fear into an audience and this it dose effectively using such methods as editing, mise-en scene and sound within the sequence.

Mise-en-scene: Costume-murderer's daughter

Mise-en-scene for our Thriller-Costume for the Murderer's Daughter



Alice Parsons as the murderer's daughter



With regards to the costume for the murderer’s teenage daughter it was decided that she should be dressed prominently in white and bright yellow to provide a contrast between her and the other characters as since the Westerns it has become recognised that the less conflicted characters wear white clothing whilst darker characters dress accordingly. As this character was light and carefree in comparison to the others as she did not to deal with the same degree of physical or mental stress or trauma we decided that she should be dressed in these colours. We also chose these colours because of the meanings they now hold, yellow being a sunny colour whilst white portrays innocence which was important as we wanted to portray her as a kinder person than her father’s victim. It was decided that she should wear neat and complimentary clothing to give the impression that she cares about her appearance and that socialising is still an important part of her life. The same idea was in mind concerning the butterfly necklace and the silver makeup that we applied although the later was unfortunately less noticeable than we intended.  

Katherine Smith applying Alice's makeup

Camera Angles Link

Below is a hyperlink leading to a site that I have used in my research and which I have found highly useful in constructing my thriller. This site lists various camera angles, shots and camera movements and how they are used.

http://www.mediaknowall.com/camangles.html

Mise-en-scene Murderers' Costumes

The Murderers' costume for our Thriller

Isaac Alcock as the murderer

It was decided that this character should wear dark clothing without using too much black as due to the plot line he was not essentially protagonist rather than the antagonist character and therefore in his costume there needed to be the suggestion that though he was a dark character he would have redeemable features. Whilst the actual colour of the clothes mattered less than it might have as it was decided that the footage would be made black and white during the editing the shades of grey had to be considered. We debated using hats and other such items of clothing to hide his face however as we wanted the killing to be a psychological effect it was decided that he should not think about getting caught at the time. However after the murder the pair of black gloves comes into the shot before he moves the body, as it was decided that after the murder he would attempt to cover up his tracks unless he would have to once again resort to violence. It was because of this reason that he retrieves the scarf after it has been thrown aside. The eventual costume therefore involved a pair of jeans, a dark checked shirt and leather jacket that left his head uncovered in order to show those things mentioned.

As with the costume for the murderer in the flashback it was decided that Stephen should wear dark clothing as whilst since the murder his character has become the protagonist in the interest of the plot line it was thought that the murder and its latter effect would press down on his mind causing great mental strain and therefore creating a state of depression. It was also decided that in places his clothes should be creased and worn to create the impression that his outward appearance was no longer a main concern for the character.