Conventions of Film Noir

This is a piece of research where we looked at different noir movies and commented on the shot types/angles, costume, lighting, mise en scene, etc.

Question 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Websites/Blog
Before starting media as an AS I had never been near any software involving film editing, sound, font types or anything media related so coming into the AS I was nervous to say the least. The first thing I tackled was my blog. My first view of blogspot.com was frightening, it was all very new and daunting to look at, however once I got started, I found the blog to be the easiest thing to handle. What I like about the blog aspect is that it's very modern, you get a sense of community as you can share information to anyone and through cnsmedia.blogspot.com you can look at other previous AS media examples as well as your own classmates. Not only this but it's relevant to the industry as, as the world of technology is progressing more and more information is being publicised over the internet as, unlike books, this can be updated all the time to fit with the constant change that days bring.
Firstly, I started by copying and pasting pictures and using text for a blogpost. From this I progressed into converting Youtube videos onto my blog by taking the embed HTML code from the site and converting it onto my blog. Progressing further I experimented with different websites to strengthen my blog posts and make them more interesting to look at. From this I used sites such as: scribd.com, prezi.com, screenr.com, photopeach.com, beeclip.com, dafont.com etc. 

The two sites that I have use the most within the making of my thriller opening are: prezi and scribd. Prezi is a really intricate and exciting way of making a power point presentation much more diverse. It allows you to be free with creativity making video, images and text all combine together with different paths of looking at them. I find prezi quite simple and effective to work with as by making different levels within the prezi (for example starting with one picture, zooming in to a section and we have text, zooming further out and we are introduced to a different image etc.) you make a simple presentation more pleasurable to watch so to speak. 

The editing process of prezi

With the use of scribd.com I was able to embed powerpoint presentations and word documents in particular to my blog to show multimedia uses within one blogpost. So for example in one blogpost I could use a word document, with a few images and text, powerpoint and a prezi to combine all together the strengthen my multimedia aspect. 


However, during the evaluation section of my thriller project I started to tire of using the same websites for my blogpost's and wanted to stretch my knowledge further and challenge myself with different software's. This is when I experimented with the websites: photopeach.com, beeclip.com, dafont.com and screenr.com. Photopeach.com was an aspect completely new to me as it was a website that made a video that you could edit with text and image, similar to edit like my thriller opening however a lot more simplistic. Beeclip.com was a updated/progressed/different version of a powerpoint, I used this to show the aspects of the character of Edward and this came as a useful presentation technique. I used dafont.com to research the fonts that I was going to use within the titles and opening title sequence for the thriller opening and this was a easy and simple website that I would use again as it has multiple choices on different styles of writing. Finally, screenr.com was a website that allowed you to add a voice over to a section of your screen. I elaborated this by making a prezi and then adding a voice over to expand the bullet points that I had on the prezi and allowing more in depth analysis (micro analysis). 

Shooting/Editing Thriller

Research Resources

Question 5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Examples within thrillers

Here we have the opening of the first Saw film. This is a great example of enigma which was commonly used within my own thriller: 
What I like about this clip is that it uses the same sort of technique that we used within our own thriller. Although we don't have a half dead man, with two strapped up to the wall, we used a less extravagant starting. With the same concept of what's in the bag? why is Edward there? to Saw as we are asking: What's on the tape? Why are the men there? The same sort of shock at the beginning to the situation the people are in is used and to effect.


Next we have a film which grabs us with a hook at the very beginning, and one which we took a lot of influence from when planning our own thriller: 
 Here we have a great example of an opening with a hook. In this opening we have the introduction of the whole movie, an introduction to the mysterious cube that many people will soon be trapped in. The importance of the hook is to make the audience want to watch the rest of the movie, and with this opening it introduces a unique concept for a movie. We took the same approach with our own, trying to make a unique starting so that the audience will be more than intrigued to see where the movie will take this idea.


A film that could be used as an example in reference to cinematography and costume, one in which took specific detail in doing so is Zero Dark Thirty:


Not taking a direct copy of the costume used, taking notice of the detail they made helped us within our own thriller. With lots of rich settings, the surroundings help to bring the film alive with a lot of the settings in foreign countries. The use of different colours with the sharp images is something we incorporated into our own thriller. I think by paying attention to little details such as costume can make a rather big impact upon the outcome of the whole movie. This could be further explained with the help of macro and micro analysis. In the context that the macro side of the picture (the wider look) is intensified by the micro attention to detail (the finer details).


A modern gangster film that was previously released in 2012 relates most to our own in terms of the gangster genre. This film is Looper:


This is a more modern take on the gangster genre and is the approach that we were going for on our own thriller. Within this movie you still have the classic 'mob' and gangster like characters however the costume choices and dialogue is a lot more updated and original. This is a unique take on the gangster genre and was definitely a starting point to look at when constructing our own thriller. 

Question 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Question 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Question 4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our thriller is a potential mainstream project, covering many of the conventions of thrillers. However, the target audience is very male orientated (due to the heavily male population throughout the movie); shows a lot of violence; quite fast moving and has lots of things going on. In the graph below we can see how Grip contrasts to a movie that's very female orientated like Sex in the city, although not in the thriller genre we can see just how much it varies in a demographics sense. 

Where we can see that Sex and the City is very large, indicating that it is very mainstream as it's celebrated a lot among the older women category as we see it is placed high within the age line. However with grip, it's on the complete other end of the scale contrasting significantly to that of a 'chick flick'. Not quite as mainstream as Sex and the City, it still however has potential and therefore the circle is of a medium size. On account to age, Grip is aimed more at teenager/early twenties, more for youths than an older market. This is because the older the market the more specific and niche the movies become, with the exception of Sex and the city however the reason that Sex and the City movie sold so well was because it had a number of series behind it.
In a more psychographic sense, the story line can be generalised among the teenage population therefore is why it has the possibility of becoming quite mainstream.

Question 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Question 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Part 1:




Part 2:

Thriller Opening - Final Cut

Thriller - Rough Cut

The end product of the editing I am very much pleased with. Through the use of different angles/shots/editing transitions, the opening looks professional, smooth and very effective. Shots through the movie that I like are: 0:24 the close up of the eyes with the actors name works well as we're getting the reaction of the character of the movie as well as revealing the name at the same time; 0:43 this is the shot where we have a mid shot of Edward with an over the shoulder long shot of Steve, this is a lot like shots in The Bourne Ultimatum where we have revealed a second character chasing the first;


0:54 this is the tilt, blurred shot which is supposed to echo the vision that Edward has of Steve and not being able to see him is why we used the blurred effect. This is my favourite shot because it's the most symbolic of what we're trying to portray and as well as showing the character it also gives a sense of confusion and claustrophobia with the tightness of the shot and the tilt. 

1:11-1:26 this is the shadow sequence as I like to call it, this is where there is a very clear and sharp shadow across Edwards face adding moral ambiguity as well as across the floor. This is a very noir technique and could be identified in Harry's sewer scene in The Third Man. My last shot which I like is at 1:30, where again we have the strong shadows across the floor, however this time we have the character Edward in mid run with the name of Director and Editor (Joe Murray) on the left hand corner, this is effective as we have the whole setting, action as well as the name so that the audience don't know what to focus on or where to look adding to the confusion of the sequence. 


The two things that we decided needed drawing attention to were: The credits for Ollie and how they just appear on the screen and the length of time the character Edward takes to run up the stairs.
The issue with the credits is at the time of 1:39. This doesn't fit in well with the whole 'character revealing name' recurring theme we had within the thriller  however this unfortunately cannot be solved due to there being no room for there to be another action that reveals a credit. Through seeing this we also discovered that the shot was a bit too wide for our liking. Within editing we may try and make this shot look more closed and claustrophobic so that it compliments the rest of the shots that we had been using.
The other issue was the length of time that Edward takes to run up the stairs. This is at 0:56-0:59. The shots we have used are quick and sharp and almost to the point of the action, metaphorically speaking. This shot however just seems to linger a bit too long and therefore in the final cut this may be cut by just a second, or sped up just a little bit so that he isn't lingering on the steps for too long and the next shot can be placed.

Possible Fonts

A range of fonts are used within thrillers varying from: bold, helvetica, arial etc. The chosen font can help identify the style of the movie, what genre the movie may be and even how the movie is going to fair (an awful font will ruin the movie at the outset). For example, Noir movies all have the same big, bold, defined font that when used instantly labels the movie to have the conventions of every stereotypical noir movie out there. For example in 2012, an advert was televised for a new movie 'Gangster Squad' and instantly from the font that was shown in the titles, without any of the action following you could identify it was a modern noir making. I have drawn a couple of examples from leading thrillers below to compare and take notes from for choosing the font for my own thriller.

In most of the titles (apart from 'The Impossible' and 'Da Vinci Code') the writing is styled in big, bold, clear lettering. This is effective in that it's not  making you focus more on the colours around it and the actions that may be going on, it's standing out among all these different aspects to the mise en scene and giving a clear, bold statement of the movie title. This in effect will make the audience remember the name as t's been brought out as clear as day for them to see. The two alternatives of more styled writing from 'The Impossible' and 'DaVinci Code' is used due to two things: 1. One of them is already an acclaimed novel and therefore the same font that was used on the book has been replicated for the motion picture and 2. The Impossible is based on true, gripping events that shook the world. In accordance to the movies, the title is perfect. However, these thrillers also differ from others because it has a harsh reality to the plot, and one that maybe has a deeper meaning, hense why the styled writing may work better.

In relation to colour codes, the colours used are all quite dark and dim. This is showing the events that may come in this movie isn't going to be the nicest. For 'The Dark Knight Rises' we already know the ins and outs of the storyline as it is one of many batman movies made over the many years. However, the use of black replicates the bat that the whole movies originated and focus around. By making a relation to the colours used and the characters, this creates a logo in which audiences can relate the movie too. 'The Impossible', contrastingly uses the opposite effect of black writing and a white background. This could be used for the harsh reality that the film portrays, the black and white represents the good and bad and by using the white in the background it forsees that the movie will have a happy ending, or as happy as you can get from a tsunami.

For my own thriller, the style of font is inspired very much like 'The Bourne Ultimatum' just as some of the filming techniques and ideas also originated from. It's a very classic font, simple, however when contrasted against a dark background the writing will become very sharp and defined and one that will catch the viewers eye. With the help of dafont.com I have chosen a few samples for the title of the movie as well as the credits to use within the thriller. Each have their strengths and weaknesses however there is a definite style that has occured through the process.

1. This is a font called 'Mouse Deco' by Steve Ferrera. It is bold, simple with the noir edge to it, with the styling of the B and the R in particular. A reason why we may end up not choosing this font is because of that noir style it brings to it, as by using this it could contrast a lot with the plot of the story. Also this font suggests a 1930's/40's style about it and our thriller is very much set in modern day society and therefore wouldn't fit right with it. However, I do like the tall, lean style of the writing and would look to use something similair but maybe with a less styled effect.

 

2. This font is called 'Belgrad' by Vinzent Britz. This, just as the previous font I showcased is very tall and bold which I like about it. The spacing between the letters in this font I don't like as much as the one before as it had a lot more space between and doesn't fit well with our thriller. I think with tight spacing we could use it for a metaphor for Edward and the tight awkward situation he is facing, and with close letters, it also gives the image of everything being very claustrophobic and tight. This will then be accompanied by the thrillers shots. The issue with the style on the B and R have occured again, however this one is very much mroe dramatised than the previous shown. This doesn't really fit with the thriller as like I said before, we aren't looking for a classic, vintage look; we are looking for a clear, plain, modern look that can compliment the characters and story that it's describing.

3. This font is called 'Bebas' by Flat-It. This font is not very different from the previous two however it does have some recognisable features that differentiate. The first, the spacing is very much closer than the other two, and I like this because it makes the writing look claustrophobic, in a metaphorical sense ofcourse. However, I would like the writing that we use to be closer together than this but ofcourse we can tweek if necessary. This font is very simple with the B and the R not styled in the slightest. This is giving a modern look and not styled like the previous two which suit the characters as well as the footage we have used. This would (if used) be used for the title of the thriller due to the spacing issues. As this is introducing the movie it is essential that it is perfect and giving the image of what we are looking for. This font will be put against the thriller to test and see whether this will work well with the contrasted background we were hoping to put it against.

4. This font is called 'Tall Dark and Handsome' by QuickStick. This is a suitable font for the thriller as it has all the aspects which we were looking for: Tall, letters spaced close together, no styling on the letters, simple, effective against a contrasting background. The only difficulty with this font that I would find is that the boxing on the B and the R doesn't look quite right, and I would want it to be more rounded as it seems more simple that way. The boxing makes it look like it should belong to a science fiction movie rather than a thriller. However the height of the letters works well with the spacing, they compliment each other to make the word seem quite overpowering and looming, with this sense of claustrophobia with the letters being so close together. This could be related to Edward, and even to Barry (the other character) in a sense that Barry is looming over Edward and watching his every move, whilst closing in on him at every second getting closer and closer creating this claustrophobic effect i've been talking about.

Shot list

Before we went out to shoot for the day for our final piece, we constructed a list of things to remember for the day. This included: shot types, equipment, costume etc. everything that in the list of 'Things that could go wrong' could be tackled through extra planning. This picture shows the notes we made about the different types of shots that we needed to include, the different scenes that we needed to depict and so on.
Through writing these extra notes, the day went far more smoothly due to us being able to tick away all the different shots as we went along.

Possible sounds/soundtrack

To go with our movie, the right soundtrack needed to be picked. The music within our thriller, has to go perfectly with the movement and acting otherwise it could give the effect of being tacky and unprofessional  Because of this, we created a list of criteria that the different sounds needed to meet, this consisted of: Heartbeat, ambient, metal across the floor, tension building and constant beat sounds. The idea for the music was to overlap the constant heartbeat sound to music that would in the end create an ambient mood for the entire thriller.  The music is one of the essential parts of the thriller, and one of the first things we are introduced to as we had planned.
In the storyboard we had decided to overlap the music with the opening titles so that we get the sound of cars passing by with the title of the thriller. This was to set the mood for the thriller, and to open up the scene before we actually see the actors so that the background noise could give us some background knowledge of the surroundings the actors are in.
The websites I used to find the different sounds were:
www.freesound.org
www.youtube.com
From these, I have split the sounds into different groups and collaborated them together to create a comparison to choose which would be the most suitable for our thriller, and whether the original sounds that we were hoping to use fit the concept of our movie at all.


Heartbeat sounds
The heartbeat sound will be used in context for Edwards heart. Through this sound it will help to represent the rise in tension within the actions that are taking place and also to act as a warning that something bad is going to happen. With a increasing heart rate it gives the whole setting and scene more drama and thrill to it. It could also be used for the character of Steve. For we could show the change in the calm beat that he has in seeing Edward, to the sudden increase he gets as a thrill goes through his body and he wants to get him and teach him a lesson.


This first sound that we have is a typical heartbeat sound. Not the first one that I came across, but quite effective. What I like about this sound is that it's quite a subtle heartbeat, its very quiet and therefore within our thriller would be easy to overlap with music but still be heard. It's a constant beat, however this sort of heartbeat may be too quiet for music to overlap and therefore may fade out without our original intention. Not only this but the heartbeat sounds too real, and we want maybe a more fake sounding heartbeat which sounds more like a beat so we get a metaphorical idea that Edward is anxious.


This is another classic heartbeat sound. A little faster than the one before and at a more constant speed than the other too. This could be a strength in accordance to the music we may overlap the heartbeat as we could have a speedier song to help the flow of the thriller. However, this beat could be a little too quick and with a constant flow throughout it doesn't portray the heart as well as we had hoped for as the heart isn't always constant, sometimes it is irregular and not perfect all the time. Taking the effect of the raising heart rate out of the character Edward. 




This piece of music sort of combines music with the heart beat sound. This is the sound that overall we want to be heading for, if not a bit different. The beat is good, as it is constant, however only slightly varies which portrays a heart beat very well and could be used in context with Edward and even Steve as well as his heart would also be racing at the prospect of giving Edward what he deserves. However, the backing track to the beat is a bit more science fiction than what we had hoped for. This doesn't really mesh well with the story line of our thriller or any thriller in general. This, if used, would hinder the image we have for the opening as it doesn't compliment the actions well enough.



Tension Building Music
This will be used to overlap the heartbeat sounds. It gives the movie a basis to which it could evolve on for the rest of the movie. It allows the action to be complimented and emphasised with the increasing beat of the track. Rather contrastingly, the constant beat could be a metaphor for the constant pressure that Edward seems to be under throughout the whole sequence. Music is a vital part and therefore this track will set the mood, tone, and atmosphere to the rest of the movie so we want low sounds, quite a constant loud beat that can increase and decrease and vary as we please. One that can be easily manipulated, so that we can cut and change it as we please to suit the cuts of our thriller. 


This song is quite famously used in the movie of Drive. A thriller all about a guy that is the drive guy for different criminal missions. This song is very useful for our thriller. As you can hear, it starts off with a very constant and quiet beat, this increasingly gets louder until it stops at a loud constant beat. This would work well with the start of our thriller when Edward is standing all alone, with the quiet constant beat and then as it increases he starts to see Steve and starts to run which is where the loud pace music comes into place. The actions that happen within these scenes would work in sync with the music as the running is very continuous and so is the beat. However, on top of a heart beat sound it wouldn't work too well as it already has a significant beat. In accordance to this, although the volume varies the beat doesn't get any faster or slower and therefore maybe won't be used for our thriller. However, something along the lines of this song would work well with the conventions of our story line.



This song is very famously used in a variety of thriller movies, drama movies, TV shows, very common in the use of a tense moment. This works fantastic with our thriller in the sense that we have a constant tension within the sequence as we don't know what's going to happen, will Edward survive etc. There is a constant beat within the music, which gets quicker as the song progresses. In relation to our thriller, the increase in beat just like the song before would work well with the running scene. As it's been used for so many other programmes it may make our thriller too common. The whole aspect of our thriller is for it to be unique and something other people haven't done and therefore maybe won't use this song.




Comparison to other Thrillers

Other thrillers that use the same sort of beat/music that we are looking to use for our thriller are: 'Bourne Ultimatum' and 'Collateral'. Already from the Bourne Ultimatum we have been influenced by the camera shots, the style of the movie and now the sound. The Bourne trilogy is a classic thriller showing lots of the conventions. Collateral on the other hand also has a similair plot, for in the opening we see a briefcase being pulled focus on and in our own thriller the focus is on a bag, and what may be in the bag.


The first clip I have is from The Bourne Ultimatum.


In this clip in the opening we see the use of a steady beat, increasing as the action does. We also have the rural music from the background, of trains, people talking etc. This is something we are looking to use in the start, so that the viewers can get a sense of the background and the setting. At the time of 1:05 we get the use of his breathing. This is an effective technique as you can get a sense of the situation. For example: if the breathing is very fast and paced, then we can tell that the situation is very tense. However if the breathing is slow and heavy then we can tell that it may be a more calm situation. For our thriller we are looking for a more tense and fast situation so the breathing will be more quick and sharp. At 0:57 we hear the sound of him ripping a bag, similair to this in our thriller we would like the sound of grabbing a bag as it makes the action a lot more dramatised. This then draws attention to the bag and helps to make it the main focus to the scene. At the time of 1:22-1:26 we hear the sound of a helicopter/heartbeat which helps give the sense of tension, this is a technique that we want to use in order to build the enigma and tension to our own opening.


The next clip is from the opening of Collateral.



At the start of this clip we hear the sounds of people walking and talking and just background noise of the environment. This is effective as it gives a sense of how busy the area is, what the character is surrounded by etc. This will be used within our thriller just as pointed out in the clip of 'Bourne Ultimatum' (see above). At the time of 0:11-0:17 we get the contrasting sounds of two footsteps. One, quite quick and paced with a sharp intake of breath with it and the other slow and confined with no breathing overlay. This helps us to get a feel of what the characters may be like: one cool and confined and the other quite uncomfortable about the situation he may be in. This could work well with the opening of our thriller as we also have two characters, Edward the uncomfortable scared individual who the quick steps and sharp breathing would work well with and the other, Steve is quite cool and confined at the prospect of catching Edward. This contrast of movement eccentuates the situation. At the time of 0:31, we here a quick sound of a heartbeat as the two characters meet eyes. This is quite a realistic heartbeat and definitely something that we will be using within our thriller.
From the time of 0:47 we then get constant beat overlayed with background music. The beat is something we will be using to help keep the tempo of the opening and by increasing the beat we can create an enigma around the situation and help to keep the interest up.

Chosen Actors

In the original plan we were planning on using three brutes to beat up poor Edward. However, through the process of elimination and due to inconveniences of actors not being able to make it, or being ill, we decided on only using one. This at first seemed as a hinder however by the end of the shooting, it worked better with the use of only one character as it made the character of Edward seem more feeble and helpless. For the people that we chose to act out our movie, fitted the brief perfectly.

Edward

This is Sam Todd. 17 years of age, current A level drama student, with out of school acting lessons and an aspiring actor. Although not our original choice, he fared a lot better than our previous engagement. Incredibly reliable, Sam was there on set on time and as a starting actor was very professional  The brief for the character of Edward was: feeble, timid, quite young looking (teenager), lanky etc. As you can see from the photo above he has a feeble look about him, his features in his face are quite small and almost delicate. When we made the character of Edward we weren't looking for specific facial features and structure however when we came across Sam we started to see all the different aspects that could make this character. Along with the structure of him, he's: very small in height and shape, his acting is quite dramatic however instead of looking tacky, he emphasised small movements to enhance the feeble and needy look that we were looking for when we first came up with the movie. Not only this, but the controlled but loose hairstyle also gives off the image that this boy may be some sort of ''clean teen'' that doesn't do anything like this and probably won't again.

In content to the movie, Sam was perfect for the role. On set he brought great energy and worked quickly and effectively, he listened to everything we had to say and worked well with directions. In accordance to our directions he also brought something of his own and gave his own personal twist to the movie with his acting style which accompanied the movie thoroughly. Not only this, but in accordance to working with the other actor, the acting styles gelled completely and through acting we believed that Edward really was threatened by the thug.

This is Danny Morley. 17 Years old, A Level Student and current Rugby Player. Although we had the image of having three thugs, the use of one turned out to be effective as well as less time consuming and more efficient. The character of Steve had the brief of: big built, threatening, thug and intimidating. Danny is a very lovely guy however in appearance (when pulling the right facial expression) holds all of these aspiring qualities. Being a rugby player, we knew that he would be well built and so was at first an obvious choice for one of the original three characters we were looking to use. As well as being well built he was obviously very athletic which fared well when a lot of running came into the movie. With no acting before this movie he was brilliant. Subtle acting techniques with not an over 'Phil Mitchell' vision of a character, Danny was perfect for the role! On set he listened to our direction, doing everything we asked at an excellent standard. He was quiet when needed and didn't shy away from pulling an intimidating face or two, or running in public to more than observant passers by. The reliability of Danny was amazing! Although we did stress if it was an issue with his training that we would try find someone else, but he worked round his training to be there for our filming and didn't complain once.
In relation to a thug, or intimidating character, I would cast Danny every time!

Possible Production Names

Animatic

This animatic is to show a rough version through drawings of what the thriller opening will look like. The transitions aren't exact, and the timing will need to be adjusted to fit the movements of the actors. By putting all the different pictures together we can evaluate whether there is enough shot types, whether the shot will compliment the movements that will go with the scene and whether we need to adjust the shots.
From making the animatic we decided that maybe we needed a few more varied shots. We saw that we had a lot of straight mid shots with the characters, therefore maybe turn it into a wide shot or into a extreme close up. We also got a feel for the timing that it will take for each scene and how we might edit the time to suit the concept. This meant longer shots on the running and quite quick sharp shots when the character of Edward is looking nervously around for the character Steve.
Also, from the animatic we have seen that the setting/location we have chosen for the opening is perfect for the concept and the shot types, everything that we need. The animatic is suited around the chosen location and this strengthens our thriller as when it comes to shooting the film we know whereabouts each shot is going to take place.

Problems within shooting

Shooting schedule

Possible Location Photos

Chosen Location

Chosen Location

The location that we have decided to shoot our thriller is in Anglia Square. Not only is this location very accessible it also offers a lot to work with. Due to the storyboard of our thriller, a gate and passing vehicles was essential. Not only this but due to a chase scene leading to a dead end, the specifics the location needed to fill were: large runways, small claustrophobic spaces, lots of room to shoot running, a dead end, maybe a tunnel and lots of stairs. Due to Anglia Square holding a multi-story car park, the stairs were easy enough to find as was the dead end. Below is a collection of pictures, experimenting not only with whereabouts in the location we might use but also different shot types. 

In the storyboard we have a shot of this fragile teenager (Edward) standing in front of a crossed gate with cars passing by. This is the shot that is probably the most specific vision that we had. This long road, with a gate running down, and cars passing by to hide away Edward so that we could vary our shots with his posture. Successfully Anglia Square offers an excellent location for this. 

These three pictures show the gate location with a long shot, close up and extreme close up. This is echoing the shots that will be used for Edward. This is positioned right next to a car park and so quite conveniently, a constant flow of cars will be at our service to fill our shots need. The population surrounding this location is very few so the risk of unwanted guests entering the video is at a very minimum as well. All in all this is a perfect fit to the image that we had in mind for the first shot. To compliment the setting even more, the road that follows this gate is quite a long one and is welcomed by corners at both ends. This could be used in great effect with the starting of the chase scene as Edward first notices the brutes coming round the corner from his right side as he turns to run to his left. The accessibility to lots of different small roads, and tight corners aids the chase scene immensely as we can manipulate the shots to confuse the audience and make the film a lot more interesting to watch.

On the left we see the view that will be used for Steve, Barry and Dave enter into the thriller, and on the right side we see the exit to which Edward will flee when he catches a glimpse of the men.

The next crucial element that needed to come into context and what really decided for us what place to choose is the shots for the chase sequence. In Anglia Square we gathered a collection of shots from alleyways, to stair cases, to small winding streets that, with the beauty of editing will slot together quite nicely and create a complex and diverse chase scene with what seems like lots of twisting turning corners. The collection of images for these ideas are shown below. What's great about these is that you get the contrast in difference as in some we have quite wide open spaces which shows the vulnerability that Edward seems to be in, three against one and all. But as we look at the reverse we see tight claustrophobic spaces which show the trapped feeling of the situation and the concept of no escape for our poor Edward. 

The different angles used in these pictures can be used in the chase scene to create disorientation, make the setting look a lot more exposed or contrastingly claustrophobic.

Being a multi story car park a factor that will most obviously be there is stairs, and with stairs comes a possible dead end to which we have used to much advantage. With the account of the many many stairs that the car park holds, comes the top floor of the car park and effectively our dead end. We will quite literally leave him on a cliff hanger. Nevertheless, the stairs offer a great build up as we can manipulate the shots to seem like the three 'gangsters' are catching Edward, and then we lead Edward on to a tall car park, deeming his fate as not so bright for the rest of the movie. Using a birds eye view shot from the top we can use this to show Edwards point of view, and then switching to a worms eye view we can intensify the situation by making the building a lot bigger and menacing than it so seems in your average long shot/mid shot. However the usage of the top roof is not as open to pedestrians as we would have hoped, but for obvious reasons of course. However, with a quick chat to the security guards we can gain access and the show can go on!

The different shots for the stairs (mostly tilted, with a straight long shot and  the end shot where the focus is on the stairs and the sub focus on the rails) are there to make the chase scene more exciting and confusing to keep up with. With the use of the technique of disorientation, it will be easier to edit the stair scene so that it all looks fluid.

Consider the dirty alleys of Lock Stock or the staircases of noir.

Finally we have the building shots. These are serving the purpose for the dead end and to make a jump from the top seem very unlikely unless Edward wants to be serving the rest of the film in a coffin. The top right picture shows the view point from Edward as he reaches his dead end and looks over the top of the building. This is where the camera becomes his view point and the mood is intensified by the realisation he has to face these three men.

Links to other thrillers

TV drama openings - How are genre conventions used?

TV drama offers a wide range of genres to work from. The definition of a TV drama is: 'Television content that is scripted and (normally) fictional. This excludes, for example; news, reality, sport etc.' There are many sub genres within TV drama, some of these are: soap operas, reality -real life and constructed, medical and crime. These are just some of the sub genres that TV dramas are subdivided into. The general knowledge about TV dramas is that they focus on the stereotypes of people and play on them to create a programme. For example, in Eastenders they really pull across the cockney accents, the costume on say a teenage mum. The genre that I am going to be focusing on is reality drama, real life in specific. 
The definition of a reality TV show is: 'A genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents etc.' I have chosen three openings to focus my attention on: The only way is Essex, Geordie Shore and The Real Housewives of New York City. What these all have in common is a great feature that reality TV shows hold, they all focus their time on a number of people all interconnected with each other. The fact they all know and see each other all the time is the factor that may have been scripted. The first programme that I'm going to analyse is 'The Only Way is Essex' 

Below, is a video of the opening to The Only Way is Essex:



The first thing we see is a statement. 
'This programme contains flash cars, big watches and extreme posing. the tans you see might be fake, but the people are all real though some of what they do has been set up purely for your entertainment.' This is complimented with a voice over and is the only part of speech we here through the whole opening. It offers humour, enlightenment into what the programme may contain and also warns us that all the people are real and what they say isn't scripted, however some of what they have been told to do has been set up, but only to make sure that the programme isn't boring and that it keeps us entertained. The whole reason for this statement, although putting across a vital point at the end is to keep the film light hearted and entertain us.
Behind the moving images we have a very catchy soundtrack. As soon as we hear this track, we will now associate it with The Only Way is Essex. This is a vital part of a TV drama as the soundtrack is what helps the audience to recognise the programme.
We are then introduced to all of the characters that will be featured in the programme. As you can see most of them are very stereotypical. All of the women and men have bright fake tans, heavy make up, all well dressed and hair perfect. They are trying to sell the image of Essex as being constantly well dressed and done up for an average day. Later on do we find out that the Essex accent is pulled through nice and strong to compliment the image. 

The last image we are graced with is the final title and the whole cast together. The title itself is also staged in a way that will make us associate the font and colours with the programme.

Next we have Geordie Shore. Unlike The Only Way is Essex, it doesn't have a statement at the start of the show as it's a little different. In this show, we have a number of 'geordies' put in a house together to work together for a period of time. However, they get up to a lot more than work. Nevertheless, quite similar to TOWIE we have an introduction to each character. This time, the voice over from the characters are telling us something about them. From this, we get a stereotypical geordie, up for a laugh, quite boisterous, not afraid to say what they feel and ready for a party.

From the introduction of people we can see that they are very superficial. This is the director playing on the stereotypes and making sure all the boys are with fake tans, eyebrows perfect, hair perfect, and all with good physique. The ladies: hair done up, full face of make up, fake tan. All of this is drawing a specific type of audience in. Mostly teenagers, fascinated how people can look, well, fake all the time. However this sort of entertainment is the best sort of entertainment as it's just so humerous to watch.

There isn't much of a soundtrack, just music to fill the silence as they want us to focus more on what the characters are saying as they are building these people in the video for us to be interested and want to know what these people get up to in their day to day lives.

Lastly we have The Real Housewives of New York. This already in the title tells us it's a reality TV show as we have the word 'real' in the title. We can tell that this may be aimed at an older audience as mums want to watch and either envy over the simple lives that these women have or hate that these women have the life and they don't. 
Just like the other two programmes we are introduced to all the different characters one by one. This programme combines the two above in the sense that it uses the music and the characters voices to introduce the programme. The voice overs however are giving across the image of sophistication, snobbery and 'look at us we have it all'. The women are fake in looks, as plastic surgery has undoubtedly been used, however they are fake in a rather classy way. Everything about the opening is very prim and proper unlike the other two which are more down and gritty. 
The last image we are left with is a spin off the Desperate Housewives image with all the ladies holding a golden apple and all dressed in black. This gives us a sense that these are real women living the real life of the fictional characters in the soap Desperate Housewives. This is using the fan base from that programme to transfer to this reality TV drama.

Characters, costumes, props

There will be three more characters within the story, these are:

Dave

Barry

Steve

These are three 'thugs' as such, that will be on the prowl for poor, poor Edward. The very names of these characters were chosen because they have a common twang about them. The very association of the names with the image that pops into your head (being critically stereotypical in your thoughts) the image of three bulky men, maybe hard up come to mind. With the inspiration of a teenage phil mitchell, we have forth three very sturdy characters. Their costume will nearly be identical to that of Edwards however, a lot more loos fitting, and maybe with a tad more colour as we see more confidence come from these three than we do from Edward. By having looser clothes, we see a lot more movement from the three, it shows they are not constrained in the situation and have a lot more freedom in their actions. From this, without words or a narrative we can take from the outfits and appearance that they have the power within the situation and not that of Edward.

Analysis of Psychological thriller - What is the lasting impression created on the viewer?

Psychological films in general are there to make an impression. They're the films that focus on the in depth details that get your thought process in a muddle, and really impact the way that you look at things. The thriller genre in general isn't really one to make you stop and think, it's primary purpose is more to entertain and, well, thrill. However as we delve into the sub genres of thrillers we can start to decifer the inter-textual outline of the secondary purpose. Looking into the sub genre of psychology  in thrillers we tread across films such as: Silence of the Lambs (1991), Fatal Attraction (1987), Memento (2000) and Taxi Driver (1976). Having seen psychological thrillers before, I wasn't that much affected by them, however after seeing a few (mostly made in the 20th century) I could conclude it's because I couldn't relate to them. I'm not sure that many people could relate to such thrills that were conjured up in these movies, however with a new century comes along new, fresh ideas that will cause more of an impact than before. The fact that people can now relate and understand the aspects of psychological thrillers make them seem a lot more real. The cross between fiction and non-fiction is misty through the eyes of a psychological movie as everything seems to be a lot more possible than before. Although always respecting the early made thrillers I have chosen to focus my time on  more recent psychological thriller. Chatroom.

Chatroom
Made in 2010, this british movie was distributed. This movie holds a rather gripping context and one in which a lot of people can relate. To give a bit of insight in what the movie is about, I have taken the synopsis from IMDB and the trailer to accompany it:
'When jaded teens Jim, Eva, Emily and Mo meet William online, they're seduced by his charisma. But William isn't what he seems. He's calculating and manipulative and doesn't have time for people in the real world. Jim is vulnerable and he has no idea how dangerous his new friendship with William will be. When Jim confesses he's on anti-depressants, William knows he's found a victim. he vows to help Jim off his drugs, and the rest of the group fall in line. What begins as friendly advice to help Jim becomes twisted and Eva and Mo realise the deadly game William's playing, but the wheels are in motion. Jim is set on a path of self-destruction, and is going to do the unthinkable. As Eva, Emily and Mo try to save Jim, William begins a terrifying game of cat and mouse chasing them across the internet, shutting down their systems, and cutting them off from his victim. Fantasy meets reality when William and Jim are face to face in rush hour on the underground. Without the faceless security of the online world, everything becomes real. It's now a race against time to save Jim, but the clock is ticking...and we fear someone must die.'

This movie's target audience seems to be for teenagers and young adults, in accordance to this it's for the people that can relate to it the most. For thirty, fourty years ago we didn't have the vast amount of technology that we do now, and chatrooms were that of a myth. However, in modern day society the amount of online chatrooms that almost anyone can get their way into, they've become dangerous. This film exploits the idea that, when in a chatroom, you can be whoever you want to be, and no one will ever find out because your identity can be as hidden as you want to be. To explore this further we must first look at the characters. 

Mise en scene

The mise en scene of this film is very clever. It takes the virtual world and then represents it with real life rooms and corridors. This enables every change they make into the blog change the room itself. The first images we are shown as the movie starts is this sequence where William is walking through a corridor of doors, looking for an empty room that he can make his death trap. This shot is repeatedly switched with a shot of him searching the web as we see this connection between the two representing each other. 

For example within this movie, William allows the girls to virtually decorate the chatroom and we are shown in real life as they make the room pink, with fluffy bunnies and balloons and confetti etc. This realisiation that the virtual world can cross into real life is a huge message being put across to the audience and really the representation of this is extroadinary as by watching the film we are being pulled into this view of the virtual world happening in real life. By seeing it so literal it really makes you think what we are saying online may not be so acceptable as if it were in real life.

Throughout the film, we are introduced to different rooms that offer different things to people. One room is a sex line where the character goes in to experience an older woman so that he can get his mind off of someone a bit younger. This sort of action clearly would not happen in real life, well, not in a respectable area anyway. The movie is objectifying what acceptable behaviour on the internet, clearly in real life is signified as anything less than wrong. However, the most disturbing and sick room that is shown within this movie is the one that will undoubtedly have the most affect upon any viewer. This room is the room that William takes Jim to. It's a room where someone convinces people to commit suicide by telling them that their life isn't worth living anymore and that instead of going on they should just end it whilst they're ahead. In a film, this is probably normal in the fact that weird and dangerous things happen, however when we step away from the fact that this is a film production and start to realise that this is echoing real life events, as rooms like this do exist virtually and do convince poor souls that they're worthless and they should take their lives. This, above everything else throughout the movie, personally affected me the most as I couldnt bare to think that a person could sit on an online chatroom and convince people to kill themselves. However, the shocking reality of this is that it does happen. By the use of a white room and quite empty room, the mise en scene decieves the audience by projecting this room as pure and angelic, however deeds that take place are far from this.