Thriller Treatment: Forever Hold Your Piece

Charles Drake, there are many of his kind but, he is the incomparable out of the share. An assassin brought up to live and die by the gun, has had enough. Drake is now on the run to escape from The Initiative, the secrets he carries can annihilate them once and for all. Charles is accompanied by the bullet of his gun, Lola Drake, his wife and childhood love. Their only goal is to rise from the past, and to be on top.

Questionnaire Results!

We printed out thirty copies of our questionnaires to hand out to people for our Audience Research to give us an insight of their opinions. We chose to print thirty copies as we think is a suitable sample size to give us a wide range of the audiences' opinions and a suitable number for ourselves to handle.

I have turned some of the questions into a chart for us to see visually using Microsoft Excel.

Question 5

According to the questionnaire, the majority of the people do not go to the cinema during a month.Which probably means they may not go ever so often maybe because of the cost to watch a movie, maybe they watch it online at home when the movie is released or if the movie itself does not grab their attention.  Most of the audiences' do not have much knowledge of the conventions of films and we need to try and consider this for our Thriller opening. We should consider what will grab the audiences' attention which will allow them to watch the release.

Question 8

Most people who did out questionnaire prefer to watch a thriller movie at home or at a mainstream cinema. Those are the two options which are the most predictable options the audiences' may have chosen. We understand that the audiences' either watch a thriller at home so they are in a comfortable environment, mainstream cinema where they are able to watch a thriller movie with their friends and families. 

Question 10

The majority of the audiences' chose Psychological Thrillers to be the most enjoyable sub-genre. The only problem is that Psychological Thrillers are common so therefore if we do other sub-genres such as action thrillers, we can produce a never seen before opening. This is will allow the audience to have a different choice of thrillers. Making it more appealing to the audience.

Why We Need Audience Research?

The reason why we need audience research is to help us as producers understand what the audience want to see. however, we can not leave it all up to the audience to decide what we produce. we first as a group came up with a specific target audience which we were going to aim our production at.Then we went about looking for the targeted audience we had roughly decided to aim at. We did not strictly stick to the chosen target audience because we wanted to see how different our anonymous audience would react to the production. Out of the three methods of conducting audience research, so far we have successfully completed two. The first one is Questionnaires. The most common way of getting primary data is using questionnaires. Uncut productions took a very technological approach to this. We traditionally handed out questionnaires on paper which consisted of 10 questions which would help us identify who and what the audience are and want. These 10 questions were all based on questions that will give us information about the persons habits and the persons likes and dislikes. The second approach we took to conducting questionnaire research was producing an online questionnaire. We thought there is this service available online for a reason, that reason if for people like us to use this service. So we decided to use it. We started by producing the online questionnaire, After producing it we checked for mistakes and tested it. The questions on this questionnaire were exactly the same as the ones on the paper questionnaires we distributed. This was because we did not want a whole load of information form a whole lot of sources. This would just take forever to put together and get the information we need out of it. The problem with using the online service is that first of all we need to promote it so that people are aware of it and actually take time to complete the questionnaire. The second problem is that, because it is a online survey people tend not to take any interest in it. Reason being that now days it is very common for viruses to attack individuals computers from just one click on a link. That is the reason why using the online service could be a very tough and a time consuming approach. The second method of audience research we have successfully conducted is interviews. Two members from the Uncut production team went around with a camera and interviewed random people. It was vital that they used a camera to record the response of the people because when we put all the results together later on we might need to refer back to the actual responses. Interviews are a good way of conducting research because it is first of all one to one. This way the people can openly express what they want to say, because unlike a questionnaire they know someone is there listening to their response. The data would be more reliable and when asking questions you can be more flexible with the vocabulary you use, to suit all personal. This method can be time consuming too, because you need a set of questions that you can ask fluently to anyone. Also you need to find the correct location. For example if you are going to produce a product that will be aimed at the younger generation, you would presumably go outside a school or play center. You would also need to conduct the research at the right time, for example its no use to just go stand outside a school or play center at anytime. You would go stand outside school before or after school, when pupils will be out. You would go to a play center after school, because pupils would be in school during school hours. So considering all these factors i think this method went very well and we shall be looking forward to the results we collect. To sum up i think the approach to the research we have currently taken is going to help us a lot. we shall be looking forward to the the results so that we can make the perfect product. However notice that we have only conducted primary research so far, hopefully we would soon get some secondary just to make sure that we have taken the right steps towards the goal we are trying to achieve.

Audience Research Survey

Love film?

Please take the time to fill out our survey about your movie preferences, it would be a great help for us!

Just click on the picture below :)

Audience Research Video

I went around using a video camera without a tripod because of the limited time I had to video, edit and upload. This was a very fun task to do with Viven Yap, we interviewed a range of people from different backgrounds, and this has helped us to plan an accurate thriller film.

To take part in our exciting research click on the link below!

http://tinyurl.com/ahzzq3n

Audience Research Update

I typed the questions up, I saved it, I printed 30 copies, I gave five two out to see if they could spot any mistakes because mostly when you are into a project you're passionate about, nothing seems wrong. This was a great opportunity to get feedback.
The next day, I corrected the mistakes, I printed one copy out, I showed it to Media Teacher Ms. Antony who doesn't teach me to get a different opinion from than from those who do know you, she approved.
I rushed back to the computer, I printed 30 copies again, and handed them out.

On this day, me and Viven went around with a video camera without a tripod because we had very limited time, asked people questions, then I later imported them to iMovie, and edited them, I still have a few touches to complete, practicing editing on iMovie is developing my skills for my groups final project.

Product Research: Wuthering Heights - Impact of light, set and sound

I finally got round to watching Andrea Arnold's take on the Emily Bronte classic: Wuthering Heights.

Although this obviously doesn't belong to any of the thriller genre's I was still able to take away some idea's from it and was actually really inspired.

First of all, the lighting in this film was amazing. It really showed me how much of a difference it can make. It were almost as if there was no lighting at all, fully immersed in the atmosphere of each scene it felt like we as the audience were with each character, rather than watching them.

The entire set was portrayed as really minimalistic. With two farm houses, and the great British countryside taking centre stage it proved to me, that with the perfect camera, lighting and sound, you don't need a big fancy set, unlimited resources and a big budget to make an inspiring, and really effective film.

Lastly, Wuthering Heights was a perfect example of how much of an impact sound can have. Although this film had a severe lack of dialogue, it hardly noticed as the audience became engrossed in the atmospheric noise of the country, or the crackling of the fire. This can even be seen in the trailer, as we hear the howling wind, representing Heathcliffe's wildness and the gentle singing of the birds to represent Cathy's innocence.

I loved this film, and although it wasn't a thriller, it still gave me some great ideas for our final piece and showed me that in some ways, less is more, and how effective we could really make our film.

Product Research: The X Files Opening Sequence/Title

The X Files is an American mystery thriller TV series which lasted from 1993 to 2002. It has been largely popular for the mystery that the show has to offer to the audience.

The opening begins with the title of the series shown in a X-ray view which is associated with the title, and also creates a link, the 'X' in the title symbolizing X-ray. This also creates a sub-genre for the series as it may have generic conventions of a scientific thriller. 

At 00:19 we are shown a name tag of a FBI agent in blue only, this is to express power, the colour blue is known for being in authority. The camera is zoomed onto the face of the agent which creates a suspicion for the audience, this is generic in a mystery thriller because it gives the audience the idea of the FBI agent having an undercover personality.

The whole opening is shown in low light with bold colours being shown, this indicates the idea of a journey to discovery.

I am really taken with the idea of importance shown by colour and lighting, I hope to learn from this and maybe include in Uncut Production's thriller project.

Product Research: Suits Opening Sequence/Title

Lately I have been exploring an amount of opening titles to get an understanding for my product research. Today, I bought my first US Weekly magazine and on the back of the magazine was the promotion for US TV series Suits which caught my attention because the poster was black and white, and the title of the show in red, which was very contrasting and challenging the modern theme of colour, and also going back to originality of black and white.

The current running special effects is the tiles blacking out and introducing a new scene that is in the series. I think this could be taken for the opening credits of Uncut Production's final thriller project. This informs the viewers about continuity and also an order not necessarily from: beginning, middle and end. The sense of realism is also created because from scene to scene there is some relevance to the topic of the show, whereas it would be absurd to go from the man going to work then being introduced to pirates on a ship.

Red, blue. The colours of the police car lights, and also danger and safety. Filling the screen with one colour for each character is symbolism of their identity, the red representing: danger, passion and death. Whereas, the colour blue is a representation of: safety, freedom and power.
The two colours coming together is a sign of power and coming to victory but, the colours against each other shows competition.

Product Research: The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle is an American drama thriller which was released in 1992.

Camera
Panning is used a total of times to give the audience an insight into the life of the characters who live in the house, this defines what kind of person or family that live in there. A pan is also used to emphasize what is being shown.

Editing 
Slow editing is used when inside the house is being shown to create a sense of realism, it also allows the audience to think and maybe have a hint of the narrative.

Sound
Non-diegetic sound is shown to put a highlighting on the suburban area being showed, the non-diegetic sound is also smooth and calm, this challenges the genre of a thriller, at the same time it is also a convention that something too pure is never perfect.

Mise-en-scene 
The white suburban house stands out from the other houses shown, this exaggerates the main setting of where everything will be happening.
Furthermore, the person riding a bike we do not see their face nor head this could hint that this person is a villain or an outcast.
The hood worn by the person on the bike tells the audience that this person is not from the neighborhood because they are protecting their identity. 
Protecting your identity is a very popular convention used in thrillers. Protecting identity also covers a number of genres such as western and action, The Legend of Zorro is famous for the mask the main character Zorro wears.

Product Research: Breaking Bad Title Sequence

I was surfing the internet looking for thriller openings and I came across Breaking Bad and I decided to check out the opening title sequence, it had me blown out because of the clarity and mystery used just in an opening sequence.
The letters coming from the periodic table to create the name of the stars is absolute genius, it also makes it clear that it is a scientific thriller. The opening also attracts its main audience science fans and it also engages other types of audiences because the opening sequence is so distracting that it catches your attention instantly.

The colour dark lime puts emphasis on the scientific part of the thriller sub-genre, dark lime is associated with potions, it is also associated with weakness of a hero in superhero films such as Superman, and the fact his weakness is kryptonite.

If Uncut Production decide to do a scientific thriller it would be great to have the credits presented like they are in Breaking Bad.

When A Stranger Calls

Having watched the 1979 classic "When a Stranger Calls" a while ago, I was interested to see what the 2006 remake had to offer.

Surprised I hadn't seen it sooner, I soon became aware of why only 9% of critics on Rotten Tomotoes gave it a positive review.

With unconvincing characters and incredibly mediocre acting this film soon became uninteresting to me and in some ways extremely tedious, in ways that the original wasn't.

However, despite this, I was able to take note of some of the clear conventions they used and gave me some ideas that we can put into our final film.

     Such as:

• Long periods of silence and suspense followed by quick action shots and events.
• Dark/low key lighting 
• Hardly any graphic violence which would take it into the horror genre, but rather packed with suspense and tense moments.
• Orchestral scores which match the action to provide tension and also symbolising dramatic events. 
• Lots of closeups and shadows to provide ambiguity and keep the audience just as unaware as the character.

Product Research: Above Suspicion Opening (TV Crime Thriller)

Product Research: Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko opens with pathetic fallacy of thunder which smoothly turns into birds singing, this is a generic thriller convention of a new day which could be linked to hope, or the past coming back. The new day starting in an isolated place such as a lonely hill represents the danger. The camera pans and we are introduced to a character in the isolated place which is a symbol of no army, no hope.

Alternatively, the sky gets lighter which contrast with the image of no hope, and now there may be hope for the character. Contrasts are rather popular in writing, however, in the opening sequence it makes the audience question what the narrative is. At 02:14, the character we were introduced to is smiling after seeing the atmosphere get brighter, this is very unusual because before when we are first introduced to him he is on the ground in an isolated setting.

This opening sequence personally has left me confused, and don't know whether what has happened to him or about to happen good or bad. This has really inspired me for my final product and to create an opening that confuses my audience but, also makes them want to figure it out. I think Richard Kelly has done an amazing job with the opening sequence which engages the audience with the film.

Product Research: Dexter Opening Sequence

Dexter an American mystery TV series uses a wide majority of thriller conventions in its opening sequence. This opening sequence thrilled me without it being a thriller which I think challenges its own genre.
At 00:20 an over the shoulder shot is used whilst the character is looking in the mirror, however, he is blurred. This is may mark a running theme throughout the series of the character having a split personality, the aspect of a split personality is commonly introduced in physiological thrillers, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde(2008) film uses the convention of a split personality, which is also adapted from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Furthermore, the opening uses an extent of match on cut camera. This attracts the audiences focus, for me personally it made me focus on the sequence as the match on cuts were incredibly great.

I and the Uncut Production team would very much enjoy taking inspiration from Dexter, as it challenges the genre, and the eye of the viewer.

Uncut Production Presents: Preliminary Task

Directed By: Georgia Wright, Hikmat Mohammed, Nasir Ahmad and Vivien Yap

Produced By: Georgia Wright, Hikmat Mohammed, Nasir Ahmad and Vivien Yap

Edited By: Hikmat Mohammed

Actors: Hikmat Mohammed and Nasir Ahmad

Audience research

Today we started our audience research, and planned a draft for our questions.
We also used an online survey maker to make our questionnaires. However, we were unable to use that as it wasn't free.
This being negative, we turned it into a positive by thinking like people in the media think which is the only way to be successful is to make money or experience.

Preliminary Task Editing

Uncut Production takeover the macs as we attempt to piece together our preliminary task.

Editing is going well and assigning individual roles has really helped organise our group and make the creative process smoother.

It has all finally come together, lets hope it's the same for our final piece!

Product Research - Skyfall

Product Research: The Silence of the Lambs opening sequence.

Product Research: The Birds Opening Credits

Alfred Hitchcock starts the sequence of The Birds in a rather unusual way, he uses contrast in his title sequence to confuse the audience which is a common feature of a thriller opening. 
Black birds on a light grey sky with bold turquoise colours. The black is a symbol death and evil, whereas the light grey sky creates a double meaning: it could represent hope from the evil or innocence being destroyed by the evil. The turquoise is a symbol of action as it stands out from the two rather dark colours. It can also be that its two (black and grey) verses one (turquoise). When the credits are finished in the opening sequence it cuts to a blackout from the light grey which hints that the light grey is not a symbol of hope.

The font of the credits is very bold and almost as if it has authority over you because its in capitals. It’s the kind of font which is usually used in a police department.
Alfred Hitchcock uses diegetic and non-diegetic sound to build suspense for the audience. The sound of the birds is diegetic sound, we are given a clue of what the film may include, its also an unpleasant sound of birds which we see at an isolated place, its not the stereotypical sound of birds singing and damsel in distress appearing and singing with them like they do in fairy-tales. The non-diegetic sound is of a piano with other instruments such as the drum, the non-diegetic gives an isolated imagination to the viewers. Hitchcock is trying to make the audience feel like when they do when they go to the kitchen at night without turning the lights on to wake anybody up. 

Product Research: Vertigo Opening Sequence

  

Alfred Hitchcock is famous for his amazing thriller movies, so therefore i decided to research one his movies Vertigo.
The title sequence already tells us that Vertigo is a psychological Thriller from the title "Vertigo", the close up of the woman's facial features and the swirls to makes the feeling come to life. The swirls in the title sequence keeps spinning and changes to a new swirl, this made me feel quite dizzy like an illusion which links to the woman in the film known to have demon like possession.
I really like the way the music fits in with the title sequence to enhance the feeling of the mind acting abnormal.
After researching and reviewing the video, i realised we could use close ups to make the characters ambiguous but also to show their feelings and maybe their personality. For example if the person is nervous i could have a close up of their hands fidgeting with a piece of paper with writing on it, to also create curiousness for the audience.