Logo Design

Jordan designed the logo for our Film Production Company.

Codes and Conventions of a Thriller And Audiences For Thrillers

Codes and Conventions


The conventions of the thriller genre are to do with sound and editing, eg quick cuts and camera angle changes, music that gives tension and is passy when appropriate. It can be to do with lighting, especially the use of shadow. Mirrors and stairs are also conventions of thriller movies.

Phonebooth in particular is a thriller that does not play to the conventions, it avoids darkness and shadow etc. The one way to link it to standard conventions is to say that you hear and see the story from the killers point of view, you are made to feel sorry for the male protagonist and that you are told a story with the use of flashback and quick passed editing, otherwise the this film is unlike most thriller movies and avoids the main conventions and may even not be classed as thriller but psychological thriller as it plays with your mind rather than shows you like a conventional thriller.

Thriller Target Audience

The target audience for many thrillers is 18+ because they include a lot of violence and some psychological issues which can be disturbing for many younger viewers. There are usually warnings on films which state why it is rated as it is e.g. extreme violence or sexual scenes.

The audience which we are aiming to attract with our film is 15+. Our opening sequence will be rated this because the movie will contain aspects of violence, death and a character with psychological issues. Taking all this in account, we thought that it would be unnecessary to rate the film 18+ as it is not overly explicit.

Films with a similar target audience


'Vacancy' Directed by Nimrod Antal
'Silence of the Lambs' Directed by Jonathon Demme
'Se7en' Directed by David Fincher
'Fatal Attraction' Directed by Adrian Lyne
'Rear Window' Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Character Profiles

Stephen Pearce took the role on creating the Character Profiles. 

Geoff Ray Porter

Played By: Aaron Tuck.

Description: Geoff has a job as a delivery boy for the Bridgend branch of Pizza Hut, however recently he has become a very stressed, anxious character because due to company cut backs the security of his low paid job is under threat, he is likely to be made redundant by the end of the month, however having barely any qualifications it would be very unlikely he could get another job anytime soon.

Physical Description
Age: 27
Height: 5 foot 9
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Habits:Wears dark hoodies, smokes

Habits/Traits: He has a habit of looking downwards from all te me he spends textng or having his head between his hands thinking. On better days he is a loud shouty character who often laughs with friends he does have, smoking is a trait of his too.

Main Goal: To attempt to gain security with his job and one day quit smoking for good.

Method to Achieve Goal: To do his job to the best of his ability to tempt the managers into keeping him on, whilst looking into other jobs should the worse come to be.


Family Background: He comes from a broken family in Brackla, where his parents live apart, his father now lives in Sheffield whilst he and his mother still live in Brackla, the split happened when he was 6 he is now 21 but he faces being kicked out as his drinking, gambling and poor money are making her life very difficult.


Education: he attended Brynteg comprehensive age 11-16, he never went to primary as he didn't like the other children and often tried to beat them up (reflecting the anger disspated between his parents failing relationship.)

Personality: Geoff is normally a nice person, though recently he has become an irratable and temperamental character because of stress and facing redundancy, he is easily distracted by his phone. He is quite lonely as he has few friends because he is socially awkward.

Likes: Smoking, his pet hamster (mentioned but not seen in the film), his friends, his car, alcohol, gambling, gaming, eating KFC, lying on his bed not doing anything.


Dislikes: people who dislike his car, not being able to stop drinking/ gambling or smoking, having to do anything that involves a bit of effort.

   

Alice Freener

Played By: Sophie Roderick

Description: Alice is a well spoken person who tries to get on with everyone in her life, she is fond of animals especially dogs.
She lives in a small house with her dog, she is currently in Pencoed College doing her A levels so she has qualifications in case she can't be a hair dresser (being a hairdresser is her dream job.)

Physical Description


Age: 17
Distinguishing Features: Posh Accent
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5 Foot 6


Habits/Vices: She unintentionally has a habit of sounding quite posh.


Main Goal: To become a hairdresser and achieve her A levels and to haunt/ punish people for their       mistakes.

Method to Achieve Goal: N/A she was ran over by Geoff. Return to haunt people as a ghost..


Family Background: Alice has left home a year ago, she now lives in a small house with her dog, she is currently in Pencoed College doing her A levels so she has qualifications in case she can't be a hair dresser.


Habits/Vices: She unintentionally has a habit of sounding quite posh.



Education: 5 years in Coity Primary and 5 years in Pencoed Comprehensive.

Personality: Alice is a pleasant well spoken character who tries to get on with everyone (excpt slobs) she is a believer of a clean world and she absolutely HATES dirty things. As a ghost she is a vigilante who haunts criminals/ wrong doers for their mistakes.


Likes: Dogs, people with good manners, listening to music, hairdressing.


Dislikes: Slobs, people who drive too fast, dirt, fast food.

Storyboard

Stephen took on the role of creating the storyboards. Here are the first 2 sheets.

Filming

As filming has been put off for the last couple of weeks due to weather conditions and other commitments, we are finally filming our second scene tonight!

As one of our actors, Sophie has recently dyed her hair from blonde to brown, we may need to re-film the clips she already appears in.

Shooting Script

Fatal Mistake

by Lauren, Siobhan, Stephen & Jordan

Location: Church Grounds - Exterior

 Weather - Dry

The scene opening in a church yard. Aaron is sitting on the bench in distress, running hands through his hair. He is obviously upset/thinking.  He is holding flowers and starts to rip the petals off.

Location: Road in Pencoed Common – Exterior

Weather - Dry

This is a flash back from Aaron sitting on the bench.  A car is driving down a road, as a school girl is crossing. The driver is texting and doesn’t see the girl. He is too slow to break and hits the girl. Aaron get out the car in a panic but the girl isn’t breathing. He leaves her on the floor and runs away.

Location: Castle Grounds- Exterior

Weather - Dry

It cuts back to Aaron sitting on the bench and then all of the sudden the dead girl appears next to him.  He jumps and falls to the ground in fear. He looks back and she isn’t there. He gets up and runs into the castle grounds, as he is crossing the bridge he think he hears something so turns around. To his surprise there is nothing there he turns back and the dead girl is lying on the floor of the bridge. He stumbles back and she is gone. He runs over the bridge and through the Castle walls. The dead girl appears behind one of the walls but Aaron can’t see her. As he turns round a corner she is there, he falls against a wall and drops his phone by accident. He runs to the Castle tower and starts climbing the steps in a panic. Then the metal gate swings shut and he screams from the tower.

Moodboard

Jordan decided to take the role of creating the mood board. As Olio Board would not work properly, he designed it on Photoshop.

Lesson Fourteen

Me and my group decided the location of the film should be in Coity Castle and Coity Church. Below are some pictures.

Lesson Thirteen

This is the Camera Shot list.

Narrative

Scene 1 – Church

Church grounds

Aaron needed.

Establishing shot of church

Panning of Aaron sitting on bench

Over the shoulder shot of the flower in hands

Ripping up of petals, close up.

Petal falling to ground – close up of feet/floor. –loads of shots.

Panning or close up of face. (tears) – loads of shots

Running hands through hair distressed.. low angle shot.

Scene 2 - Flash Back (car crash)

Car driving down a road. – long shot – from front on.

Side shot car driving past- mid close up

Shot of girl

Over the shoulder the shot of person texting in car- medium close up.

Panning of girl walking across the road.

Close up of what they are texting.

Shot of girl startled in head lights – mid shot from infront of car.

Screech of brakes.

Mid close up of car door opening

Close up of phone falling to the floor. 

Hand held camera movement to girl lying on floor. (checking pulse)- just hands.

Low angle shot if boy running away. – girls outline visible in shot + headlights.

Scene 3 – Haunted- Church/ Castle Grounds

Quick cuts from photo/petals/girls face etc

Quick cut to mid close up- dead girl sitting next to him on bench.

Boy falls to the floor from angle of ghost

From angle of boy looking up at bench, nothing there.

Long shot of boy running way.

High angle shot of Aaron running into church grounds.

Stops, close up of face-   shows fear.

 Hand held camera approach him from behind. – quick.

Aaron turns round. Long shot from infront of him looking back. – nothing there.

Close up of eyes.

Panning of Aaron’s eye perspective turning around.

Mid close up of Sophie lying down.

Then Close up of Sophie’s face.

Mid shot of Aaron stumbling backwards- low angle shot from Sophie.

Over the shoulder shot of Aaron – nothing there. 

Long shot of Aaron running away. – Infront probably.

Panning mid shot of Sophie sitting against wall.. Aaron in background looking around.

Close up of Aarons eyes.

Long shot of Aaron falling back against a wall.

High angle shot of Aaron looking at Sophie on the floor.

Moves, phone falls from pocket- close up.

Runs into staircase.. high angle from the stairs.

mid shot of Aaron looking back out.

low angle close up of feet going up stairs.

Long shot of gate swinging closed.

Extreme long shot, low angle looking up at castle tower (candles go out) scream.

Over the half term..

Over the half term we began filming. On the first day of filming, the battery of the camera was very low, so we were under pressure to get the scenes completed, which we were successful in doing. The second date we arranged to film, our actor, Aaron Tuck cancelled on us last minute so we were unable to film, which was disappointing. On the final arranged day to film, the weather was too bad and we were unable to film in those conditions, for obvious reasons.

However, the shots we filmed on the first day at the church were successful and got us off to a great start.

Starting next week, we will schedule times to film and hopefully all will go to plan this time round!

The roles we have decided to assign eachother are:

Director - Siobhan Cooper

Props Manager - Siobhan Cooper

Script Writer - Siobhan Cooper

Camera Operator - Lauren Coleman/Stephen Pearce

Storyboard - Stephen Pearce

Recci - Stephen Pearce

Editor - Jordan Ore/Lauren Coleman

Producer - Siobhan Cooper
Actor/Actress - Aaron Tuck, Sophie Roderick
Character Profile - Stephen Pearce

The props we will be using include;
Fake blood
Bouquet of flowers
Candles
Car
Phone

Timeplan

Timeplan for G321 – Video Production

	Completion Date	Date Achieved
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
Saul Base Secret Window Analysis	September 30th	Yes
PLANNING
	October 31st	Yes
CONSTRUCTION
EVALUATION

Our Continuity Video :)

Lesson Twelve

Today, we started to brainstorm our ideas for the thriller film we will produce in the half term. We decided on who does what role in the film making.

Lesson Eleven

In todays lesson, we watched a video tutorial on how to create a successful storyboard. I did benefit from this because it shown you how to draw people on different angles.

This is an example of a successful storyboard;

Lesson Ten

In todays lesson, we uploaded our footage to the macs. We edited the film using imovie. I like the outcome of the end result and it has made me excited for recording the Thriller film.

Lesson Nine

In this lesson, we had to re film our continuity piece. We needed o re-do it because it wasn't made under the correct instructions and we made the film too advanced. The footage we now have is correct and I look forward to editing it to see the outcome.

Secret Window Opening Analysis

The title sequence i chose to analyse was Secret Window. The film was directed by David Koepp and was produced by Gavin Polene and Ezra Swerdlow. It was written by Stephen King and David Koepp. The film features a number of Hollywood actors/actresses, some of these include; Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello and Timothy Hutton.


The opening scene begins with the sound of the window wipers from a car, using a sound bridge. This is played when the Columbia picture is on. This creates a mysterious effect and it keeps the viewers on edge wondering what the noise could be.

The screen then goes black, which is then followed by a medium close up of Johnny Depp in a car with the window wipers on. A non-diegetic sound is then played of his voice saying “Turn Around” and “Don’t go back there”. This effect is to show he's not actually talking, it is his thoughts. The scene then cuts to a medium shot and Johnny then decides to drive back and walks into a Motel. This is quite often symbolized as a sleazy place for affairs on films. He takes the keys and drives through the snow to a door of the Motel. A point of view shot is used and the camera is placed on the dashboard so it looks like you are actually in the front seat of the car. This creates a thrilling edge to create tension to what is going to be found in the Motel room.

Johnny then walks into the motel room to find his wife in bed with another man. You can tell by the woman’s body language and facial expressions that she is trying to explain herself but he just looks at the both and shouts ‘NO!’ The noise in the background is quite scary, as there is a windy texture which sounds ghostly and you cannot hear what is being said. The atmosphere of the room is dark and eery and there are bad vibes. 

A piano is then added to the non-diegetic sound which is then followed by strings and a variety of orchestral music. This is being played whilst the camera is zooming out of the scene. This creates a mysterious effect and makes you un aware what could happen next.

In complete contrast, the next scene then begins with eerie music being played whilst the camera is floating above water. this creates an element of being carried by a bird. The title names are also coming up at the bottom of the screen. The camera slowly pans around a typical American cabin which is set by the lake side. The camera then goes through a window which brings it back to the title name ‘Secret Window’. The camera pans through the room which has a dog asleep on a chair and a laptop that is open and in use on a table, with paper surrounding it and a few books. This shows that whoever owns this house is perhaps a writer of some sort.

The camera then pans and zooms in towards a mirror, which has a man asleep on the sofa. All through this, the orchestral music is still being played and the camera zooms into the man, which has his back to the camera. The words ‘Six Months Later’ come up on the screen which is followed by a knock on the door. The music instantly stops when the sound of the knocking is played and the man wakes up and turns around. His dressing gown is ripped and we later realise that this is Johnny Depp, the man at the beginning of the film. He is dressed scruffy. He may have let himself go because of what happened with catching his wife cheating.

The opening sequence of this film creates tension and suspense and makes the viewers hooked and wants to keep watching. The mood the film gives off is that the man is lonely and depressed.

Lesson Eight

We planned our continuity pieces today and began filming. Our film is about a school boy who steals a phone from a cupboard. Siobhan is acting as the Director and is in charge of what happens, I am filming and Stephen is the actor. Everything is coming along smoothly and I hope it continues to stay that way!

Lesson Seven

In todays lesson, we continued filming and uploaded our film to the apple macs. We began editing the clips and plan on taking it in turns to edit so we all get an opportunity on how it goes.

Lesson Six

Today we watched the beginning of the film 'Secret Window'. We are doing an analysis on the start of the film for homework.

Lesson Five

In todays lesson, we studied Saul Bass. He was  jewish-american graphic designer and film maker. He designed animated motion picture title sequences such as Oceans Eleven, Psycho and The Big Knife.

This is a picture of Saul Bass

Lesson Four

Today, we watched a video on language of film and television. It was a recap of the different elements of a film, such as the narrative, sound, editing, mise en scene and camera angles/movement. We also learnt about continuaty editing, which involves shot reverse shot, eyeline match and match on screen.

Lesson Three

In todays lesson, we looked at past pupils blogs to give us a rough idea on what our blog should look like by the end. I changed the layout of my blog by changing the backround and the font to make it look more attractive.

Lesson Two

Today we set up the video cameras and the tri pods. We recorded different type of shots, for example extreme close ups and wide shots. We did this to practise and get used to using the cameras for when we create our own films. So far I am really enjoying Media Studies and look forward to using the cameras in the future.


This is an image I found off google images. It shows different camera shots and angles.

Lesson One

Hello, I am studying A Level Media Studies and will be updating my progress on this blog.

In the first lesson, we studied different camera shots. I did GCSE Media Studies so i knew most of the camera shots and angles.