Thriller Conventions

Target Audience for Horor

          The target market for a horror film is usually teenagers starting at around 15 and young adults. The target market starts at teens as anyone younger wouldn't be able to view the film because they are too young and most horror films have a lot of blood and violence which would scare a child. Adults are not targeted as they are mature and may not find these films scary anymore and may not find them as interesting anymore. Typically in horror films the protagonist are teens and young adults. They have the protagonists be this age as it attract an audience of the same age as they will feel as they can relate to the characters also they could imagine selves in that situation making the film more scary and enjoyable.

         To some  horror films are perceived as being targeted just at men with the gore, violence and terror but this is wrong. Horror films may be a targeted a little more to men but women are targeted too. Although the stereo typically women are a lot more scared of horror films but this may give a rush to some which other genres do not. Another reason both genders are targeted is because are usually one of the genre chosen to go watch on a 'date' if not a rom-com as the man can provide comfort to the female during the film and get an opportunity to snuggle up.

Horror Conventions

Actor Interview #2

We chose to use this actor as he has previous acting experience through his drama work at school and also appeals to our teenage target audience as he is a teenager himself. He also fits the character we have written for him quite well so should hopefully make the film more realistic.

Actor Interview #1

We chose this actor as he fits in with our target audience of teenagers and young people in general and also has an interest in media and films so should be a good helping hand production-wise. He also fits our antagonist character description well which will add realism to the characters and the scene overall.

Film Brief

         We settled on a action genre for our 2 minute opening scene. The beginning of the scene we will introduce our unnamed protagonist and feature him getting off a train. He will be wearing a suit, tie and smart shoes. By having him dress in this it connots that he is a professional character. The character will be holding a briefcase that has quite a few close-up shots so the audiance knows it is important in scene. The protagonist will walk through the barriers of the train station which is when we have the first front-on shot of the character.

         We'll then have a few establishing shots of a forest or woodland area and a tracking shot of the characters movements through the location. A mysterious figure will be shown watching the character through the trees, shown in soft focus at first sothe audiance connot make out what he looks like, increasing thension. A close-up of the character will be shown as he hears the sound of the twig snapping behind him and turns to see what caused it. An extreme close-up of the man tightening his grip on the briefcasdewill be shown to reinforce to the audiance that his briefcase is important.

          After a few seconds of siolence, the focus pull of the shot will switch from the background (where the character is) to the foreground to show a crossbow bolt fired into a near by tree. The focus pull will rever back to the background amd show the character fearful expression before he beings to run away.As he runs several shots of the mans attacker will be shown, but never focus or always abscured be trees to increase the idea of the attacker operating in the shadows, not wanting to be seen. An over the sholder shot will show the attacker aiming and firing at the the man and will quickly cut to a mid-shot of the man falling ashe runs with an arrow sticking out of his leg.

         The man will shout  out in pain and willlie against a tree. A point of view shot of the mans perspective showing his wound and the otherman stealing the briefcase. The shots willinterchanged between the man trying to open the briefcase and the injured man. When the attacker cant open the briefcase he threatens the man, He eventualy gives in and tell the code. The attacker shots the man and uses his phone to call and says "the package as been delivered".

Initial Film Ideas

Research and Planning Targets

Some very good analysis Peter - but you need to blog much more regularly and manage your time effectively. For your analysis of opening two minutes make sure you comment on the following things to show a broad understanding and appreciation: Target Audience Narrative Characters Use of titles Pace of editing Mise en Scene Camera Composition Use of sound Genre conventions A really good start - you now need to begin to evidence detailed planning for your production, which needs to be detailed and thorough.

Preliminary Task

This is our preliminary task. We had to film and edit a short scene that showed match on action and featured a short piece of dialogue whilst keeping to the 180 rule. While we're pleased with our editing of the door opening shots it is clear we have room for improvement. Specifically, what is most dissapointing with the clip is the lack of continuity, as the 2 characters eyelines do not not line up correctly. This takes away from the realism of the scene and makes it look amatuerish. We will keep this mistake in mind in future filming and editing and make sure that continuity is kept throughout the scene. We are still happy with our use of match on action with the door being opened and our understanding of the 180 rule, which hopefully will mean our audience is not confused and know where our characters are in relation eachother.

Children of men: opening scene analysis

           The clip starts with a pitch black screen and a sound bridge voice of  two news reporters telling the news about the youngest person in the world being killed and how they are closing British borders. White titles with the names of well known film distributors show on screen. The next shot is of a bunch of people standing in what looks to be a cafe watching TV this shot is filmed from a high angle as if the audience is looking at the crowed of people from the TV's point of view. A man comes in to the cafe and makes his was though the crowed of people watching the news, This draws attention to him. As he orders his coffee and looks up and the camera angle switches and shows the TV this is called an eye line match. He doesn't show much emotion to the news about the youngest person in the world being shot where as the people around him look upset and some even crying.The lighting in this first scene is quite dull and and has a slight grey-ish filter and the room is filled with sorrow and sadness that goes along with what we hear on the TV.  As he starts leaving the cafe the camera starts following him. This suggests that his may be a main character in this film, whether he is an antagonist or a protagonist its unknown at this point in the film.

         As the man walks out side the camera continues following him in one continues clip so far there has been no cuts or editing this is called a tracking shot. Outside the same grey-ish effect is used  giving a gloomy atmosphere. The camera pans around the street to show the vehicles and location he film is set. The audience will be able to recognize the well known red buses being from London and will know that the film is set in England. The electronic adverts on the side of the buses is the audiences first hint that the film is set in the future. A white title on the bottom left corner appears so the people who couldn't figure it out will know where the location is. The audiance will also start to notice that their are no children about and the new reel about the youngest person on earth being killed will confuse the audience and create  enigmas. The diegetic sound of  the cars, motorbikes and general city life adds a sense of realism. We follow the character as he pours alcohol in to his coffee he just bought and not much seems to be happening.  Suddenly there is a large explosion that should shock the audience. The general view of it being set in the future and being large explosions that shock the audience suggests that this film may be a sci-fi thriller of some sort.

        I enjoyed this opening scene as they use a tracking shot which isn't very commonly used, show London in a very different way to how it is now and gripped the audiance by following the character and getting them thinking about many different things.  

     

Shawshank Redemption: opening scene

          The film starts with a black background and a with white title writing displaying the name of the film and the names of two well known actors "Tim Robinson" and "Morgan Freeman" which lets the audiance this is a big budget film and will probably make the audience have high expectations and increase the popularity of the film. As the names are showing there is non-diegetic sound in the back ground of slow old calm music, suggesting to the audience that the film may be set in the past. The dark background slowly fades and we can see the front of the house, the diegetic sound of crickets in the background  and the large trees suggest to the audience that the loaction of this house in which this scene is set is in quite a isolated maybe a suburban area. The long shot of the house pans round giving the audience a good view of the location slowly zooms to a mid shot of the main characters sitting in his car. The man sitting in the dark car looks upset and gloomy this starts to create some enigmas, why is he sitting in his car on his own? what is he doing?

         The next shot is an extreme close up of the main character hand reaching and pulling out an object wrapped in a white cloth. The non-diegetic sound becomes quieter and muffled this creates tension. As the man unwraps the cloth a gun is reveled this creates more enigmas in the audience, this also the first insight to what the film may be about. As we see the man drinks his vodka suggests that he is trying to get him self to do something stupid, something he may not be able to do in a sober state. This gets the audience thinking what he is going to do next. This also suggests that he is probably think of doing something with the gun which means that the film is likely to be about crime.

        It then cuts to the same character in court. When a second character off screen asks about what happened between him and his wife the night she was murdered. The audience then release that he most likely killed his wife with the gun.  

Editing and representation.

Match on action - When you follow a character and the camera angle changes during a scene but allows the scene the scene to continue to flow. (sometimes used to heighten parallel/ contrasts between to characters.

Eye line match - Provides insight to character personal thoughts.  We see the character look at something then camera angle changes to show what the character is looking at from there prospective.

Final shot - In any scene which characters are shown in the final shot of the sequence. Normally this is the character which the audience should relate to.

Crosscutting - Showing two different shots with parallel story lines.

Jump cuts - Jump cuts though rarely used is when a scene goes on like normally but the background changes. When they are used they tend to suggest either A) chaos and disorder B) self conscious ellipsis or C) a disector who likes breaking the rules.

Motivation - A motivation edit is when a character talks about something we haven't seen happen it cuts to a scene of what they are talking about.

Pace of editing - The speed of the editing (how long each clip in a scene is) the quicker the clips the normally means there is some sort of action going on longer clips normally means its build suspense and/or trying to create drama.

Prevalence - How much screen time a character gets can show how important their role is. Genrally the more screen time the more important they are.

Selection : to show or not to show - What the directer picks to show the audience. (always picking the most important bits hoping that the audience can fill the gaps which he has missed )

Shot/reverse shot - When having a conversation editing between the two people so the camera is facing who is talking or the emotion on someones face when being told something.

Tracking shot - A continues shot that follows a character.

World War Z: Opening scene analysis

      This film is about a new virus that turning people into zombies and it is Brad Pits jobs to find a cure and stop the virus from spreading and wiping out man kind.

      The first shot as the film starts is a short clip of cars stuck in traffic, the diagetic sounds of the cars horns but then it goes in to a sound bridge of the mother playing a game with her kids in her car. We get to meet the  family in what seems to be an ordinary drive to work and school. We get so see typical family two young girls a mother and a father. The audience can tell that the family are going to be main characters in this film as they get a lot of screen time. The family is playing a game looking happy which is a big contrast to what is about to happen. The bad weather and the gloominess of the day suggests to the audience that something bad may happen.
     
       Suddenly things start to pick up. People are running and a police officer on his motorbike hits the wind mirror of the main characters car giving a hint to the audience that more danger is to come. This creates some enigmas, why are people running away? where was the officer rushing to? The father gets out of his car to see whats going on this shows the audience that this film is going to  have the typical male dominance and have him protecting the women. As he gets out there is a large explosion down the road, the shot cuts start to speed up and the camera is shaken giving a sense of chaos and shows grips the audience as they want to find out whats going on. The non-diagetic sound starts picking up getting faster as do the clips, trying to show how the characters may feel, the urgency of them getting and the despair of them wanting to get out of there. When they get hit by the car  the music stops and a loud buzzing sound trying to making the audience feel as if they just got hit too, but the antagonists (the father and mother) check if everyone is okay and its straight back into the action.

     The next shot is a birds eye view of the city. In this shot you can see the mass of people running so the audience get a feel for the scale in which this is happening. It cuts back to the family and the father protecting them, the mother points out one of the zoombies and the audiance get to see one for the first time. poo. The fast cuts, fast car rides and big explosions indicate to the audience this may be a action thriller but when the zombies are introduced this makes the audience feel as if they're in the action.


   I really like this opening as it gets the audiance hooked straight away it also creats a lot of enigmas for the audiance.
    

   

   

   

 

Saw 1: Opening Scence Analysis

     
           The title opening of the film is in quite bold blue writing not conforming to the typical horror film titles with red blood dripping down. They do this to set up the audience to think an feel that  this film is going to be more seriously and the isn't going to be to gory so they are more shocked when they watch the film.

       As the film starts the location is dark and is not revealed to the audience we hear loud screams and crying suggesting they are in danger. This causes mystery and intrigue within the audience. As the light turns we get a can see where the location is. A large, old, dirty bathroom is the location in which this scene is set. The bathroom they are in looks like it may be a room with in an abandoned  house or warehouse suggesting a perfect place to commit a crime which is another indicator to the audience that the characters we are introduced to may be in danger. The abandoned bathroom they are in also is a genre indicator towards a horror film, this is because horror films are normally set in old dark places much like the one in this clip.  The presents of a dead man in the  middle of the room heightens the sense of danger and mystery. This also creates a lot of enigmas among the audience, who is he? why did he kill himself? ect.

        As the lights turn on and we see who is behind the mystery voices we get to have a look at the two main characters, the audience can tell by the way they are acting and speaking that the two men are handling the situation very differently. The one who had just woken up in the bath tub is very distressed and worried for his life, were as the one who was awake has already come to terms with what is going on. By meeting these two characters it creates more enigmas, who are they? why are they chained up? with out being told much about the characters the audience can already identified the two men to be the two protagonists as they seem to be helpless and not doing anything wrong.

        I think this is a very interesting start to a film as it strait away gets the audience hooked and thinking of many different things that may be going on. It keeps the audience wanting to find out more about the characters and why they are there, creating many enigmas. It also easily identified its self as being a horror film with out being too stereo typical and making it tacky.

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