Opening To A Thriller

By Christina Low 12.10

The Ways In Which My Media Product Uses, Develops Or Challenges Forms And Conventions Of Real Media

ProductsDuring the pre-production of my thriller, I spent a lot of time working to ensure that my thriller, ‘Entity,’ meets the some of conventions of a thriller film. To do this I concentrated on both the conventions learnt during the lesson and also through studying a wider range of thriller films to collect ideas and for inspiration on suitable plot lines. The main films that I looked at were: Jumanji, Witchboard and Final Destination 3.

I have incorporated the conventions in as many ways possible, here is a breakdown of the scenes and the conventions that it challenges:

When you first see the flash of this doctor, you do not know who he is or how he will affect the protagonists. Creating enigmas is one of the conventions of a thriller.

Another convention is that the titles reflect the protagonists psychological state. The opening credits for ‘Entity’ show flashes of Ward signs and doctors doors which are supposedly from inside a mental home, suggesting that the protagonist is no longer of sound mind

As soon as Jack finds the Ouija board and it is decided that they will play it, they are immediately dis-empowered by the protagonist and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist.

There are themes of voyeurism as you as the viewer see the characters playing the Ouija board from above (high angle shot) making you feel superior and making them look inferior.

One could say that all the protagonists have some form of flaw that has lead to them getting in the situation to start off with. Jack is very intimidating, and pressures Lauren and Seb into playing the game, and Lauren and Seb are too submissive towards Jack.

More enigmas are established in regards to the antagonist. The audience would be asking what made the slamming noise? What caused it to slam? Is there some one else there? Who is the antagonist? Is it a ghost/spirit? Is it related to the Ouija board?

All the characters have there own identity and character traits. Jack starts off as the fearless leader but then proves himself to be a coward when he runs off at the first sign of trouble. Lauren seems to be the most emotional and also submissive towards Jack. Seb seems to be the quietest and most willing to simply follow the crowd.

When Jack runs off it creates yet more enigmas, was there something going on between her and Jack that made her so upset? Where has Jack run to? Why aren’t they following him?

When Lauren finds Jacks jacket with the bracelet round it it creates the enigmas: How did the bracelet get there? Where is Jack? Why is only his jacket there? What happened to him?

When we see Jack inside it creates the enigmas: why is his jacket down stairs? Is that really him? It also brings up the enigma is it just the ghost of Jack? In which case that would involve yet another convention of a crime at the centre of the narrative.

From my use of conventions in ‘Entity’ it suggests that it is a psychological thriller as there are many enigmas created and it concentrates on the psychological aspects of the characters especially Seb who is first seen in a mental hospital. It could also in some ways be considered as a crime thriller depending on how you interpret what has happened to Jack and whether you believe he has being murdered or whether he had just hidden in the building. There are also aspects of a drama thriller in there as the characters develop through the story and their real traits come out, e.g. at the beginning Jack is portrayed as the brave and confident one but he is the first to run at the first sign of trouble.

My use of conventions does in some ways mirror the other thrillers that I have used in my work. This applies mostly to ‘Final Destination 3’ as many enigmas surrounding the antagonist are created also in regards to the convention ‘themes of identity’ like in ‘Final Destination’ the characters emotions and personalities do change slightly throughout the film.

The way that my media product represents particular social groups

The three main protagonists, Seb, Lauren and Jack are a group of youths around the ages of sixteen/seventeen. When creating the characters I knew that I needed a higher ratio of boys to girls. My reasoning behind this is stereotypically boys are more pushy and dominant and also they can be seen as intimidating. This was important in relation to the storyline as ‘Lauren,’ the female character, was seemingly forced into playing the Ouija board in the first place. Also as thriller films are stereotypically aimed more at men, my research surrounding this topic suggests that men prefer watching films in which men are dominant and portray the stereotypical masculine traits. The age of the characters conform to typical view presented by the press of teenagers in the 21st century being alcoholic crime committing youths, which although not true, creates a more interesting plot as it gives a wider range of personality to work with. In regards to race, Seb, played by Reece Maycock has darker toned skin compared to the rest of the characters however his character was not represented any differently. The reason for this was that I do not know a lot about different cultures and I didn’t want to risk causing offence. Overall in regards to gender I think that, there is a clash of stereotypical traits portrayed. At the beginning, the two male characters, especially Jack, are shown to be the ‘brave’ ones who are willing and wanting to play the game, this conforms to the stereotype. However Lauren still shows signs of dominance as she stands up to Jack and says no, this is not stereotypical of a woman. I chose for her to have this type of personality as women watching the film would want to see the woman stand up for herself as it gives out a positive message to women that they can stand up for themselves.

The different kinds of media institutions that I might distribute my product to and why

In regards to media institutions, as it is, at the moment, only a two and a half minute film, it would obviously need a lot more development before even debating sending it off to major Hollywood studios such as Universal or Warner Brothers, not just in presentation but in development of ideas and script. Hypothetically, if the idea was taken on, it would be down to the fact that the company believes that it would bring in a lot of revenue and would get high ratings and movie sales therefore boosting peoples opinions of the company bringing them both money and positive publicity. This film is quite similar to films that have being produced before in regards to the genre of the film, as many thriller films have being produced before, especially those investigating the happenings of the paranormal, one prime example being ‘Paranormal Activity’. Also one feature that seems to be becoming more and more popular is the use of younger actors, this in my opinion concentrates the film primarily on a teenage audience and I think it can be a big risk as the production companies need to be confident that they do not narrow down the viewing audience too much. One film that comes to mind is ‘Chatroom’ which is in post-production at the moment; this film is based on a group of teens being controlled by another teen over the Internet. Whether the thriller was taken into cinemas or not would depend on its popularity and whether the company considered the final product a success. If it was not good enough to make it into cinema it would most likely go straight onto DVD and it would maybe be advertised on television as being released on DVD, then maybe a few months later it would be televised.However as it is at the moment, only a two and a bit minute film. It could be entered into short film competitions such as those run by ‘BAFTA’ or smaller companies. It could also be showcased at festivals such as the ‘Cannes film festival’. As a short film it could be released on the Internet such as on the BBC’s short film website, which contains thousands of short films from successful short film directors such as Vanessa Caswill.

‘Entity’ would not be an arthouse film as it is aimed at a mass audience instead of small niche markets, and also given the opportunity I would be more concentrated on getting a lot of financial backing and a lot of commercial attention in order to both bring in revenue and also to advertise the actors and crew involved.

It would be released primarily to gain revenue from the film but also to advertise the cast and crew involved. Due to the nature of the film I can not envisage there being any merchandising opportunities, however I think due to the nature of the film it could, depending on the reception of the first film, lead to a sequel in which the Ouija board appears in a different situation with different people being affected by it.

The audience for your media product

When creating my film I had to be very aware of my target audience. I decided that I would concentrate on an audience of youths from the age of fifteen to the around of the age of twenty-one. I chose this age span because due to the nature of the film, and what is involved in the film, I would imagine that it would be given an age restriction of fifteen and over. Also my primary research suggests that the younger generations prefer watching films in which the characters are at a similar age to them, as in their opinion; they find the characters easier to relate to. This corresponds to ‘Entity’ as the three main protagonists are around the age of 15-17, however they could be construed as slightly older. I tried to link in other aspects which are becoming a more prominent issue in the news- mainly youth crime and drinking, which although I did not highlight in a more obvious sense, the presence of the beer bottles still almost justifies why the characters are in this compromising situation in the first place.In regards to the narrative the films that I felt were similar to mine were ‘Jumanji’ which is more of a family friendly film with a comedy twist. The reason that I felt that this film was similar was because it involved a game, which although it was not a Ouija board, still caused a lot of trouble and destruction, also the way in which the game was discovered was not a co-incidence, it was more like it was fate. The second film that I looked at was ‘Witchboard,’ a horror film, which I believe is the most similar to mine. It was given a rating a fifteen in the UK which is the same as what I would imagine mine would be given. The cast in the film are also of a similar age to the cast in ‘Entity’, maybe slightly older. But the film is still aimed at the same target audience. The final film that I thought was similar was ‘Final Destination 3’. The main component of the film that I found to be similar was the idea of an unknown and unseen antagonist, and also the idea that ‘Death’ was personified and became the antagonist, instead of being the result of the antagonist. This film, like ‘Witchboard,’ contained characters of a similar age and also was aimed at a similar target audience with the same age restriction.

The ways in which I have tried to attract/address my audience

During my primary research I discovered that the majority my target audience (fifteen to twenty-one years olds) prefer watching a film in which the characters are of a similar age to them which is addressed in my thriller as apart from ‘Dr. Thead’s’ the characters are all of an age that is within the target audience. In regards to gender, horror/thriller films are stereotypically directed more at males. However I did not want to narrow down my film completely to concentrate on a male audience, therefore I used the characters personality’s to try and relate to the gender of the audience. I carried out research in regards to the different genders via analyzing films aimed at a solely male audience, and films aimed at a solely female audience. From the research I then informed the actors about certain character traits that their characters would entail.

‘Entity’ is not so much a thriller that is designed to ‘terrify’ the viewer. It is more a psychological thriller that sets an eerie atmosphere. Although there are certain points such as when the characters hear the slam, which could cause the viewers to jump, but it could also be seen as quite predictable. I think that my thriller is designed more to make unbelievable believable, as in the idea that Ouijas boards do in fact work, and that there are ‘unexplained’ happenings.

The camera work contains a lot of reaction shots and also long shots, I chose this mixture as the reaction shots allow you to connect with the characters and understand what they are going through, and the long shots show to the audience that no one else is there with them.

The audience in this piece can see almost everything, they see all of the action with the Ouija board, and they see Seb and Lauren throughout the whole film. However they do not witness what happens to Jack, therefore creating multiple enigmas surrounding what happened to him and how. Also it does not reveal the antagonist either. It also creates a lot of suspense as the audience debate whether the same is going to happen to Seb and Lauren as well.

What I have learnt about technologies from the process of constructing my finished product

While constructing my final product I feel like I have become a lot more aware of the technologies surrounding both the editing and filming. The camera that I used was one of the school’s camera’s which I found very different to the video camera that I have at home; This is mainly because I had to be aware of taping over previous footage and also I had to be aware of the amount of film that I could fit on the tape. The camera used did produce a good standard of footage, however it was difficult to keep it in focus at some points, especially when zooming in to various objects/people. Other than the camera I also used a tri-pod, which was very useful as it allowed me to keep the camera steady during shots. However one downside of the tripod was that it was quite jumpy when moving it from side to side and also clicked when moving it.

During the filming process I came across many problems. The first being the weather; due to the icy conditions at the time of filming I had to change the location, therefore having to re-think the logistics of how I was going to film it. Also the new location presented a lot more to think about in regards to both health and safety and aspects of continuity. The only way that I could solve these issues was through simply taking the time to analyze the surroundings, consider the dangers and avoid them, and also I just had to concentrate to ensure that the continuity was kept at all times.

Apart from a video camera and tri-pod, I did not have any advanced equipment such as dolly or a steady-cam. However I did tend to improvise a lot with what was in the factory. For example, as I didn’t have a crane to use, I sat on the top of the forklift with the tri-pod and camera in order to get the shots from above.

Personally I found the most beneficial part of this experience was being able to develop and experiment more with ‘Final Cut Express’. Although I used other editing suites such as iMovie and Text edit. I relied mainly on Final cut express for a lot of the effects as one of the key factors that I had to deal with was adjusting the contrast to make some scenes look darker as due to the filming schedule, half of it was filmed during the day and half of it was filmed at night. I feel a lot more confident using this editing suite now and I feel that I have a better understanding of the various different effects that you can use and also the different transitions on offer.

What I feel I have learnt in the progression from the preliminary task to the full

productCompared to the preliminary task that I completed with two of my classmates at the beginning of the

year, I think that the change and improvement has being quite considerable. There are many reasons why I think this, firstly, when creating the preliminary task, we were given minimal time in which to complete it, and it was all off of the top of our head, in comparison to being given the time to storyboard and consider various different ways to shoot it. Also unlike the preliminary task we got to conduct some primary research to receive some feedback and advice on the ideas. I think that personally I have come quite a long way since the preliminary task, as at first, I was taking more of a backseat role and was going with the flow, but now I feel more assertive and I feel like now I have a much better knowledge of the process of creating a film. I have also learnt a lot about adding certain effects during editing and also about creating the effects in the first place such as getting the Ouija board to move on its own via taking pictures of its movement step by step. Also through the planning at the beginning my knowledge of various different shot types, and the effect that each shot has, has also improved. I definitely feel a lot more confident with the equipment, as during the preliminary task I did not get the opportunity to use the camera properly as I was the one being filmed, but now, after having used it for both the sound project and my final opening to the thriller I feel confident using it and I understand the different setting and functions on it.

In conclusion, I am fairly pleased with my final project in regards to fulfilling the conventions of a thriller, however I still feel like there is a lot that I could improve if for example, I knew more about Final Cut Express.