Dystopia Thriller Evaluation

In a group of four we were asked to produce an opening to a thriller film including titles which had to last around two minutes long. There are many types of thriller sub genres;sci-fi thriller ,murderous passion, action ,political and crime thrillers are just some of the ones we reviewed in class. With efficient resources available our initial response was create a thriller based around the theme of kidnapping. After our first session of filming we realized that the idea that we had was too complicated. After rethinking our idea our second 

response was to construct physcological thriller consisting of only two actors synopsis being: A young male (protagonist)running through a forest who is being followed by an unknown male.

DYSTOPIA

     

This seemed like a very simple idea but shot with the right camera angles and editing skills we realized that this could be a very effective thriller opening. Thrillers are high stake crime stories in which a protagonist is generally in danger. 

Film openings are very important as it the first scene the audience will see to decide whether to watch it or not. This influenced me to start with an unusual setting a forest, which is unconventional of the thriller films that we had studied; As thrillers can often take place in setting that are typical to everyday life i.e. ‘28 Days Later’ is set in London this is familiar to us as we see recognizable buildings that are known to us as a British audience by doing this I would say that this film appeals less to an audience that is not predominantly British. Making the forest a good location to set our film as it could be anywhere .

By setting our thriller here we feel isolated and almost uneasy as an audience.It also creates the question of where and why this person is here and creates a tense atmosphere

In class we analyzed several different clips by doing this we were able to identify the type of camera angles and shots used in this type of film. Generally close up were used to show the emotions on a actors face. Fast cuts were used to create build tension and long frames were used to create suspense.

 

My favourite opening was the ‘Arlington Road’ due to the editing and use of camera it was very fast paced which caught the eye of the audience straight away, I think this had a very big influence on my thriller opening. Our opening is very fast paste with loads of match cuts and different use of camera angles. Another idea of our film that challenged the convention of a real thriller is that it starts with action with out giving away to much information ,one way we did this is by using no dialogue which added tension to the film .I think this helped gradual build up by doing this the audience will not be able to predict easily what will happen next. Also the music in Arlington road had an impact on my own production it was a simple drum beat with a fast tempo melody for the background. We used the natural found sound from our footage this added a sense of realness and professionalism to the movie you can hear sounds of footsteps, running, breathing and even the sound of leafs crunching underneath the feet of the actors which is also a simple idea. In a sound tutorial we learnt that adding the right sound effects in at the right time makes it more interesting. Another way we used the conventions of a real film was finding an interesting way to use titles we filmed our titles and as if they were running with the actor making them original this also gave less of a disruption to our film as it is meant to be a continuous as with the running. Also the scene of the off focus was influenced by Arlington road this creates a big question

 on who is this man.

              

I would say Dystopia doesn’t represent one particular social group because it has very versatile opening. But may appeal to a younger audience which is predominantly male,As research showed that in 2007 a majority of films watched in the cinema by males were Thrillers. Also the actors used in our thriller were young males this could also broaden the target audience making it appeal to young females as they would like to watch young popular actors on the big screen. Another factor that could make this film appeal to a particular social group is the race of the actor him being Chinese could mean that he would have a fan base that is around this race.

My target audience will be both sexes, age 15-35.They will be young and out going. They love surfing the net going to the cinema to watch different genres of film especially horror and thrillers; the type to rent out a DVD and spend Friday night in with friends. Their lifestyle will be of spontaneous so watching films that are original will meet there needs as it will be something that they haven’t seen before. Things such as tension suspense mystery will please them as they are daring and would want things to keep them engaged. My film has characters the audience can emphasise with and appeals to my target audience by starting with action and feeling sorry for the protagonist straight away.I would say that this film would be a small independent UK release due to the low budget of the film ;distributed around a small number of UK ‘art house’ cinemas to gain recognition for the production team behind it as it is our first film I would say Dystopia doesn’t represent one particular social group because it has very versatile opening. But may appeal to a younger audience which is predominantly male. As research showed that in 2007 a majority of films watched in the cinema by males were Thrillers. Also the actors used in our thriller were young males this could also broaden the target audience making it appeal to young females as they would like to watch young popular actors on the big screen. Another factor that could make this film appeal to a particular social group is the race of the actor him being Chinese could mean that he would have a fan base that is around this race.

I would also use internet as a way of addressing my audience Social networking sites such as ‘myspace’ and ‘facebook’ could be used to watch trailer and to get coverage for our film. By showing trailers and giving information about our film will make my film well known to its target audience as the would use sites like these from day to day. Also the film would be released onto DVD to make profit and to give more time for the movie to be distributed.

On the other hand I think my thriller has the potential to be a Hollywood blockbuster due to the storyline not being based on British social culture also the fact that it is not based of the theme of realism.

How I Will Attract My Target Audience

My film will be advertised at Bustops on posters train stations and as I pointed out earlier over the Internet. This will attract my audience also through word of mouth as people would have heard about this new original film. Also by releasing trailers on the Internet could attract a global audience as user all over the world could view them. The lead star is a person easily recognisable to my target audience a young handsome up and coming actor who is seen as a good role model in the public eye. He would have already appeared on TV in TV dramas such as ‘The Bill’, ‘Doctor Who’ etc.

What I have learnt through out the process of making this film

Through filming I have learnt that it is a time consuming process. We had to shoot a number of various shot types even though we may have not needed them but it just meant that we had a wider range of shots to choose from during our editing.In our first filming session we experimented loads through camera angles placing members of a group up on a tree to try and find an interesting camera angle. By playing around with camera angles we managed to get a lot of different shots. By having practice session filming previously I’ve learnt that using close ups, point of view shots medium show and high and low angles and the use of focus are very useful in terms of creating a thriller feel. The use of close ups show a characters emotions. In terms of editing and finalizing our film we assigned ourselves different roles to help speed up the process. Wing and Addil had the task of editing on a program called final cut pro in this program you could add special effects slow down and speed frames add transitions create match cuts ect,Niquita and I were also part of this by giving our input into the effects that sold be used and the order of how we wanted it.Niquita and I were in charge of making the sound track on A program Sound Track Pro 

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 I enjoyed using this program as we had a chance to experiment with different sounds.we thought that distorted sound and simple sounds went particularly well with the footage. Also the Internet was a big part of research for this project. We used the Internet to find information about thriller films.By being able to upload our video on sites like Vimeo and Blogger could widen the potential audience for our product. Web sites like blogger gave me the chance to keep an online of what has been going on. Overall I think that my thriller was a success in terms of creating atmosphere and delivering a feeling of a thriller film. The different use of shots created interest and helped the simple storyline. It is exiting as it has an impact on the audience due to the being hooked from the beginning through tension build up. My film follows the codes and convention of a film introduction by not giving away too much information, which makes it a good opening. However if this film was to be made again I would be more involved in the editing process and have more of a say in to how my ideas could be inputted into my thriller. The shot lengths mis-en-scene music and storyline all contribute to the success of the thriller opening.