Final

Georgia's thriller evalutation

The film we produced was called “false suspect” it is not only a thriller but a physcologicial thriller. A physiological thriller is a sub –genre of thriller. A physiological thriller relates to processes of the mind. In order to help me learn more about the thriller genre I watched a movie named “The secret Window” this is a physiological thriller starring the well-known actor Johnny Depp .By watching this film I was able to have a deeper look into what made a successful physiological thriller and the conventions of a thriller in general. The movie showed me that in order to create a good thriller editing and sound were extremely important. The music gives tension to the film when it’s appropriate and the  editing   creates lighting and shadows  which is very effective. The story is often kept hidden from the audience this creates mystery and suspense. A physiological thriller focuses on the mind ,at the start of the film there are a number of establishing shots which we then blurred and made darker on final cut pro.These shots were used so that the audience could see how Megan felt and how life was from her perspective at that point. We filmed these shots with Megan looking out the window of her car again looking into Megan’s mind. The Establishing shots were filmed at different angles as we wanted to be experimental and create more distorted and abstract images to show how lost Megan felt.

We filmed our thriller on Boundary Road ,on one side of the road the street appears to be  beautiful,quiet with residential housing. However on the other  side of the road are urban gritty flats and houses. This street was an interesting place to film, and the differences between the two streets proved to be a nice contrast. We decided to film on the urban and gritty side of the street, we chose to film there because we felt that this side of the street represented how Megan felt, slightly on edge. Also because Megan was just beginning Uni and is only eighteen she is unable to afford expensive accommodation.

Luckily it was the perfect day for filming our thriller the weather was perfect it was cold, damp and slightly windy. The atmosphere was perfect a faint fog was cast over the street; this helped immensely in terms of sticking to our thriller conventions, as the atmosphere was dark and dramatic.

When filming Megan inside the flat we filmed at different angles  to see how different we could make Megan and Jemma look to the audience. In order to create shadows we used the mirror which we put under Megan’s face when she was sat down this cast different shades of shadow on her face. This gave a dramatic and tense effect. When filming we tried to stick to as many thriller conventions as possible.

The social group we represented through our film was early teens to young adults. Megan and Jemma are both eighteen year olds ,we felt this was the perfect age to cast them as because they are old enough to have responsibility’s however are still young and naïve in some aspects. Therefor e it was an easy age for younger teens to relate to and young adults. Teenagers are the main consumers of film and television therefore appealing to them would prove a successful in terms of marketing our movie. Both teenage girls are attractive and wear nice clothing in particular Jemma whose fashion sense is a mix of bright colour and edge,teenage girls could aspire to dress or be like Megan or Jemma. Megan is about to begin her first term at Uni ,she feels scared and nervous which many teenagers feel when having to leave their homes ,therefore we are representing teenagers in society today that feel the pressure and anxiety of education.

The Media institution that might distribute our Media product is the Uk film council as this is a British film which also uses British actress’s. The Uk film council is a Government backed agency for only Uk films ensuring that the economic, cultural and educational aspects of film are effectively represented at home and abroad. The Uk film council wants to make sure that the Uk enjoy watching their films. The company I have chosen to produce my film is DreamWorks .DreamWorks Studios produces and distributes films, video games and television programming. It has produced and distributed more than ten films with box office grosses totalling more than one hundred million each. Dreamworks began in 1994 as an ambitious attempt by Steven Spielbeg and Jeffrey Katzenberg. I think this would be a good company to use for distributing our film because it is very successful well known and does not only distribute film showing it appeals to a wide audience of many different ages.

In order to attract and address our audience we chose the thriller genre ,there were many aspects we had to take into consideration such as music and editting. We also had to follow the traditionial thriller conventions such as effective editting and music. For example Jemma who plays Megan's best friend wore brightly coloured and fashionable clothing inspired by Alexa Chung. This made her stand out and appeal to young people and teenagers.We added a number of effects to our film ,such as blur and darkening some shots. This made the scenes appear more dramatic and creepy.

To make our product we used a HD Sanyo Xacti camera, this is a good quality camera. We also used final cut pro to edit our film. Final cut pro is used by many successful industries using it was sometimes a difficult but all interesting experience. We used final cut pro to cut out different parts of our film also to add sound or music over the top or under the dialogue. Using Final cut pro was sometimes a difficult but we used shortcuts in order to make using it an easier process. We also added to affects to our film from the editing tool. Overall I enjoyed my experience with using Final Cut pro and learnt a lot of interesting techniques. We also used BlogSpot a site where you could create your own Blog ,we wrote about our process of filming on the blog we created and also uploaded pictures of the film to show the viewers the progress we were making in filming. We also uploaded slideshows ,our storyboard  and pictures. This sometimes proved challenging working out how to upload our work onto the Blog. We posted our film on Youtube ,the creation of the Blog and uploading our film to Youtube was so that we could attract viewers to look and become interested in our project.

Hollys Thriller Evaluation

Our Media product is a Thriller film called 'False Suspect' being produced in the UK by a UK production team. All the actors starring in the film are British, even though they are from diverse parts of Britain. We want this film to fit all the criteria needed for a UK film council backing, as we need their money in order to properly finance it. Our Media product is not just a thriller but a psychological thriller, this means there are certain codes and conventions that we need to stick to but also put our own twist.
Psychological Thriller is a sub genre of the Thriller. In a film of this genre it will often incorporate elements from the mystery and drama genre, in addition to the typical traits of the thriller genre. 

Before we even began thinking of our storyline we watched films such as Rear Window by Hitchcock and Psycho by Stephen King. Its important that you acknowledge and appreciate the original masters of any craft. I soon realised from watching these films that in order to effectively grip the audience from the beginning of your film is to not reveal too much. There is no point telling the audience the whole story in the first two minutes, however on the opposite side of the scale you don't want to tell them too little. Its important that the audience are hooked enough to want to watch more.

We started brainstorming ideas which were all too bold, too wordy to be openings. We needed to find some inspiration from a modern film, since our audience aren't going to be like they were when Hitchcock was around. Todays audience are far more sophisticated when it comes to technology, and can spot a hook when it in put on front of them. Our opening had to be subtle and focus on location and character, more then story. I watched the film Donnie Darko which is a psychological thriller much like our own. I noticed that the beginning focused on a single character sat just watching the sunset for 3 minutes, while i liked the style of it, i wanted something more. 

When we had reached a compromise on our opening we began to storyboard it, then put it into motion. Filming our opening wasn't a long process but it was a difficult one, some of our storyboard shots had to be altered in order to create a more fluid pace. The codes and conventions of thriller in terms of camera angles and shots, is that they can be obscure. Watching the opening of 39 steps by Hitchcock showed me that you can just film feet and shadows to set up a storyline. In this way we wanted to be experimental with our  shots, I tried filming Reannas character Megans face with a mirror underneath it

This created shadows, and made her face look ghost like, however we couldn't use it because it didnt fit in with our storyboard. So we filmed her holding the mirror up instead which is what we originally planned, because it showed her split personality. Using a mirror is very much a convention of the psychological thriller genre and also the horror genre. We used a lot of canted angles to convey this.

Our characters also stick much to the convention of the thriller convention, our main protagonist Megan being much like a female Donnie Darko. She is disturbed, doesn't ever wear a readable expression, you never know what is going on with her. Whereas her friend Jemma is the relief of the film with a happy go lucky nature, her acting style is much more light hearted comedy then thriller. Its important though that we had this contrast in character and acting style as this film is all about contrasts.

Our media product has to represent different social groups in order to hook our target audience which is people from ages 15-25.  To do this we have two caucasian actresses with two very different personalitys. One of the characters fits in with society and the other is an outcast, we wanted people in the audience to relate with them. The setting of this project also reflects different social group with a clear divide between rich and poor. Our film highlights the struggle going on in parts of London where the rich live amongst the lower class, and fear them. Big houses putting up large iron gates to keep there house like a fortress where no one can get in. The underlying theme of the social divide in London, brings another dimension to our piece and stops it from being just another pyscological thriller, it gives it depth.
We are appealing to late teens to early adults because they are the biggest consumers today of all things digital. To appeal to this audience we used two young british acrtesses who girls would be inspired by and guys could be attracted to, we know the importance of image in films today. Having a certain actor or actress in your project will sell more films then having an unknown. However our film is British and we wanted our actresses to be British, it wasnt just about image for us but also about talent. Also our film  has themes and addresses issue that all modern young adults can relate to. Leaving home for the first time, struggling to fit in and the pressures of society. 


As we are hopefully to recieve funding from the UK film council, we need a film distrubution company that will be able to take our film to the next level and market it appropriatly. Instead of the usual large distribution corporations like Universal, Warner Brothers or Paramount, we need someone who is use to handling small independent films. A company that will be able to not only get our film attention in Britain but also hopefully in America. The best distribution company for this would be IFC films, an American film distribution company based in New York, owned by Rainbow Media. It distributes independent films and documentaries. In 2009 it released Fishtank a British film funded by the UK film council much like ours, it was shown at Cannes and eventually wont the BAFTA for best British Film. This film went in the direction that we would like our film to go. IFC understand a modern audience and how to target them with a range of techniques including distributing films to Itunes. IFC understand that the best way to sell films is not at the cinema anymore, its all about being online which is where the majority of the world now consumes films and TV. 


To construct our film we had to use a wide of range of different technologies from cameras to computers.  
Before we even made our film we had to put all our ideas and developments on a blog. Usually whenever we do any sort of writing its on paper or word, not on a website. Media is about being current in terms of technology, technology is always changing and everything is online now. It makes sense then that our work should be online. Using Blogspot was straightforward, as it is much like Facebook or twitter where you put up your updates. However unlike those sites our posts had to be detailed, including pictures,slideshows and videos. It was difficult at first to get to grips with how to add in those files, eventually we worked out how to incorporate those factors. This gave our blog an added visual element, that shows tells the reader not just what we did but also shows them. 


After our pre production was complete we began to film our Thriller using a HD Sanyo Xacti camera. Its important that our camera is HD as this film will be shown at the theatres and needs to be a good quality. Plus with all the HD channels on the TV nowadays its important our film is adaptable to that. In order to keep our camera still while filming we used a tripod when panning or zooming in on a subject. It also helped when just filming ordinary shots to just keep the camera still. With the tri-pod you can make it higher or lower to change the angles of what your filming, it was tricky at first to work it all out but after the initial hesitations it became a useful and effective tool to have.
To edit and refine our final product we used Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro is a professional industry tool created by apple and used mainly by independent film makers, like ourselves. Most recently Final Cut Pro has been used to make award winning films such as 'The Social Network' and 'True Grit'. It is not an easy programme to use with many advanced options such as video,audio and editing transitions. With so many options its easy to feel overwhelmed of what to add to particular shots and easy to get carried away. Its important that if you add any transitions it looks natural to the action going on. learning how to un-link clips was also a challenge, as certain shots required the sound to be taken away and replaced with different audio. Also whenever a transition is added to a clip it had to be rendered which was a long process but a vital one. Learning how to use Final Cut Pro was extremely difficult but once we discovered short-cuts it became a lot quicker and easier to naivgate. Being able to use Final Cut Pro if definitely a useful skill, that we can put into practice again and again.

Editing Analysis

The process of editing was an exciting challenge, having never used Final Cut Pro before, we were given the chance to learn a new and useful skill. This software is usually only used by industry professionals, it isn't designed to be easy with lots of audio, video and editing transitions. To begin with i made three bins and split our clips into either 'location,interior exterior' shots. This made it easier to decide which clips to use at certain points. I began with using the locations shots to set up our film and let the audience know where our film is set. As our film is of the phycological thriller genre we needed to create a sense of mystery and building tension at the beginning. It also needs to come across that this character isn't normal in terms of fitting in with society. In terms of editing what we did to set up the story was to desaturate the colours of the clips of the inside of the car with Megan looking outside, this is because we are looking at Megan from our perspective (audience perspective) We wanted the audience to see that Megan's whole existence is mundane. We were going to make it black and white, but black and white suggests an air of glamour, that this character does not have. Instead we set the desaturation amount to 38 which means that some colours still come through, there just diluted which is what life is like for Megan. We then change perspective to looking out the window, we are seeing Megan's point of view.  In the editing we had to show that there was a clear difference between what we see and what Megan sees.  We experimented using video transitions such as blur, glow and stylise. However these all seemed too chaotic and took away from what we were seeing. So instead we decided that the best idea was to contrast with the desaturated perspective the audience have of Megan, making everything she sees overly saturated. We wanted her to look outside and see the road withe flats on it like everything is too bright, too harsh. By editing it this way we are showing the audience that Megan will not be able to cope with the outside world, she is not properly equipped to cope with it.

From this we then move on to the exterior shots of the flat where they are meant to live, from this point it began to get sufficiently more difficult. We had to create a flow of movement, its very easy to edit clips together but to make it naturalistic when switching angles/ perspectives is difficult. The first few times we edited the exterior shots together didn't work because the cuts were too quick in between clips which took away from the suspense of the film. The audience had to be taken in slowly. I tried making the clips longer and even that didn't work, it was still too quick. We found a solution to this problem by slowing the clips down by about 60-70 percent. This made a more natural flow, however some shots still looked misplaced. Going from long shots to close ups were a particular issue, as it looked fake and stilted. What we did on shots like this was added in a short cross dissolve which is the most commonly used transition as it looks naturalistic and is just a way to gloss over sharp jolts in between clips. Through editing these clips, we soon discovered how hard it is to stick to your original storyboard. When you plan your storyboard, the images are just still on the page, you just plan what in your mind will make sense. However once these images are on screen and moving, you soon realise that certain shots wont work in relation to others and will not describe the characters psyche explicitly. Some changes had to be made such as adding in more shots of the flats to show more of Megan's perspective, how she feels overwhelmed. In the editing we showed an image of Megan looking up at the flats then cut to a shot of her perspective looking up at them. We also realised we had too many exterior shots, and theres no way we could use them all, as we only have two minutes to set up our story. We decided we had to pick only the most vital shots, setting up our characters and setting up the plot.  For example in the exterior shots we knew that it was important to show the audience Jemma getting the box out the car, with the sticker 'fragile' on it. This is because the box is important, not only does it symbolise Megan's fragile state of mind, its also used later in the film when Megan takes the mirror out of the box. To show that this scene is important we didn't edit it at all, we left the whole clip as it was. It is quite a long clip in comparison with others. This also builds up the tension as it delays the impending action. We then showed Jemma and Megan walking towards the flats, we edited this so we see them from behind, as if someone else is watching them, then cut it to where we see a side shot of them walking to it. By editing it this way we wanted to show how worried Megan is about moving into these flats. She is feeling so many emotions right now and the audience need to be aware of this in order to sympathise with her character.

We had a lot of interior shots as this is where the main bulk of action takes place. We had already decided at this point in the editing that the whole film was going to be slightly desaturated to create a mundane appearance. This desaturation shows that there is no hope in the film of prosperity. In the interior shots we experimented with showing lots of extreme close up as an intertextuality to Hitchcock films. The first shot you see is a hand turning a door handle, creating suspense, we then see Megan's face and her hand turn on the light switch. Hands are claimed to tell you everything about a person, there past and there future. Megan's past is bleak and her future is looking bleak too.  In our editing we wanted the hands to stand out, to show Megan's cautiousness at opening the door, at turning the lights on and what is to happen. One particular scene that we filmed in the room that was difficult to film was Megan sat on the bed looking at herself in the mirror, then cutting to Jemma talking and finally Megan's reaction to what Jemma's said. This is an important clue into what happens later, the girl who lived theres clothes are still in the wardrobe, which is a key plot point. We couldn't afford to cut or miss any dialogue out. We first show Megan looking in the mirror looking at her reflection, we wanted to show the difference between what we see and what she sees. We added a video transition to this clip of an echo, glow and blur, which creates a disorientation effect. This tells the audience that she is losing grip of herself, she is confused about who she is. Then we see Jemma looking in the wardrobe which has no video transition added, she is opposite to Megan in the way that she is has a normal state of mind, she has a firm grip on reality. When Jemma speaks we then cut to a reaction shot of Megan, she pulls the mirror away from her and is back in reality, forced to now deal with her current situation. Most people would question why those clothes are in the wardrobe but Megan decides to go look out the window, still clutching the mirror like it holds answers to questions. Megan looks out the window and sees the stalker, this was the hardest part to edit because it involved shot reverse shot. We had to show Megan looking out the window, seeing the stalker and then a reaction shot. We first showed a side shot of Megan looking out and then cut to a shot of the stalker. With reaction shots its important that you keep everything at eye level, otherwise it will lose the effect you want to create. These shot reverse shots are meant to be quick and act as a crescendo of tension and panic. We added a video transition onto the clip of the stalker where it begins to go shaky, so it feels like Megan is shaking in panic at what she is seeing (add in what effect you put to achieve this) After this Megan drops the mirror which is significant as it shows that her questions will go unanswered and also that bad luck is around the corner. When we filmed the dropping of the mirror we experimented with lots of angles to try and get it right. We couldn't actually drop the mirror and let it smash, so we improvised. When editing what we did was first show a side shot of Megan holding the mirror and then dropping it, we then unlinked the audio from the clip and added in the audio of a previously recorded sound of the mirror hitting the ground. At no point do you see Megan actually drop the mirror, but you know that she has. 

The final part of the film is Megan showing Jemma that there is someone at the window which again involves a shot reverse shot. We edited so that we first see Megan looking out the window then showed her perspective of the outside which like before is shaky and blurred, however there is no stalker there. We then cut to Jemma looking out the window and her perspective of the outside, which unlike Megan's is not shaky and blurred. Once again we wanted to show the contrast between the twos perspective of life.  The final image we see is the stalker looking up at the window. Showing he was there all along, we didnt add any transitions to this, we wanted it to be still and show the poignancy of it.

awnsers of focus group

These are the questions that we asked our focus group.

1. What genre would you place my movie in and why?
2. Give a brief explanation of your interpretation of the narrative.
3. What did you like and dislike?
4. What would you change?
5. Who do you think the target audience would be?


1. The majority of my focus group (ages ranged from 14-18) felt the first 2 minutes of my thriller, felt that it applied to the conventions of the thriller/horror/mystery genre.  As the colours are desaturated, lighting is low key and the setting is mundane creating a sinister environment. Most of them agreed that they liked the ambiguity of the figure at the window, as it not only makes the audience feel involved by the dramatic irony used in the audience seeing the figure and jemma's character not seeing it. Not only is it haunting but it also makes you want to find out who the figure is. Which is a key part of Thriller genre.


2. The group explained that they thought the narrative was about two girls moving into a new house and then one of them sees a strange stalker outside the window. While this is effectively the plot, underneath it is a subplot of the protagonist Megan suffering from a mental illness which makes her believe she is being stalked. We tried to make this subtly noticeable in the opening by distorting Megan point of view shots. Some of the focus group didn't understand why we had used these shots as the reason for them wont develop till towards the end of the film.


3. Everyone liked the slow moving pace of the introduction, they didn't feel as if they were being rushed into any of the action. They said that the beginning of the film set up the narrative of for the rest of the film with lucidity. However they thought that perhaps there could have been more dialogue to set up characters and character relationships.


4.  The general response to our opening was positive, the focus group suggested it might have been interesting if we explored the stalkers point of view, perhaps film it from his perspective spying on the girls. As this would create even more suspense and tension as to his identity, which is critical to any thriller film.


5. Our target audience for this film is boys and girls ages 15-24. Who are one of the largest consumer groups of films. The film has a wide appeal with its young cast, exciting storyline and relatable locations to people in the UK. As an independent film filmed locally, it is likely to have a better response from a British audience but with the right marketing, distributor and buzz it could transcend to America and other countries. 

Music Analysis

For our opening to fully take the viewer into this world and to set up the impending action, it was critical that we found the appropriate music. We searched through a lot of music, all of it instrumental as music with singing in it, would distract from our images. However we soon discovered how difficult it was to find the right piece of music that fitted our film. However we did choose Christophe Beck's Main Titles a soundtrack from the well known thriller named the Sentinel we used the soundtrack named "Main Titles" we thought this was the perfect choice for our movie because it is quite slow however quickens up its pace halfway.The music is exciting ,thrilling and slightly eerie. The piece of music is instrumental ,"Main Titles" is the perfect piece for our film because it creates a good amount of tension.The music helped our film to run smoothly and created atmoshpere for our scenes. We used the music mainly at the begining of the film when Megan is looking out of the window and you can see the world from her perspective ,the music helped to makeher perception of the world more distorted and blurred.The music helped to make the establishing shots more  exciting and interesting for the viewer.The music used was conventional for our thriller it created suspensce and was fast in the right moments. Christophe Beckc created a long list of soundtracks for the film the "Sentinel" but what attracted us to "Main titles" was that it was a good fit to Megan's character and her personality. Overall when we watched the film back the music fit perfectly and helped to make the film more viewable and interesting.

The changed Storyboard.

This our changed storyboard after we finished completeing our film.We noticed we had to make some changes to our story during the filming so we re-did the storyboard after we had finished filming.