evaluation.

Evaluation
For our group thriller, we created an opening scene to introduce a unstable man who has recently lose his family in a tragic accident and fatally loses his daughter which sends him looking for replacement. This is a film of realism as it explores the psychological problems this man faces and the lengths his victim has to go through. This gives the audience empathy for the victim as the story unveils.
Q1. We specialised our film to perform the codes and conventions. We use concealment and protraction to keep suspense through our film. We did this by keeping our killers identity hidden and also by places the audience in a situation where they didn’t know the whole story line. This also links to the question and answer module, the audience are always left guessing and questioning the storyline; who is the man? Why is she tied up? How did she get there? We have also used partial vision, blocking the view of path so the audience feel on edge, making the things they can’t see just as important as what they can. For Example, when the killer walks down the stairs we can see from behind and cannot see where he disappears off to and when he will be approaching the victim. We have challenged the stereotypical hero; instead of the usual male victim who save the day, it’s a vulnerable young girl is our main focus in the story. Also the convention of transformed city has been challenged as we have set our film in a rural street area to keep it more naturalistic to for our audience so they can relate to it in everyday life.

We also used relevant screen shots in our opening which are also seen commonly in thriller films.

Point of view shots; This gives the shot from the audience’s perspective being in the killers shoes. This will trigger emotions for the audience like fear for the safety of the young girl as he gets closer and also uneasy in the scene because the killer is still not be shown and they do not know who he is. This shot is commonly used in thriller to illustrate the dangers and creates tension of the audiences view between the attacker and the victim.
Close-ups: These are used commonly in our film. It allows us to make the audience focus on important events such as picking up the scissors and as the pace of the editing quickens, it shows the intensity is also increasing. Close-ups are also used to portray our characters emotions as Kelly’s face in the first close-up shows a scared and venerable child which the viewers will the empathize with.







Q2. In our film we use young actors to make our audience empathise more with the characters. Our films is also about kidnapping, it relates to many films involving children. Man on fire shows a nine-year-old Pita Ramos being kidnapped and how she escapes danger. She is the similar age to Kelly in our film, as she in vulnerable it makes us emphasise more and want her to escape. For this role it challenges the typical hero by having through gender; being female she seems more vunerable and also her age; being alot younger than imagined in a hero it makes the audience emphasise with the character and want her to suceed more.
Our killer is seen later in the film to have mental problems; he is trying to latch on to children in an effort to be with his own dead daughter again. His actions relate to the character in ‘Changling’ who shows strange behaviours with his obsession of kidnapping and brutally torturing children. They show similar characteristics as it is only later in the film we discover our own killers problems. He conveys the stereotypical villian in this film, being male again a young girl it shows his power over her and that he has higher authority which makes the veiwers think her escape will be harder.

Q3. If our film was to be produced, a likely option would be for ‘Film Four Productions’, which has produced a number of British small scale film productions. Films include In Bruges, Train Spotting and Slumdog Millionaire. Through using this corporation, it would give a bigger chance of spread to countries like the US. However our film would be small scale and it would screen in just a few cinemas before being produced for copy were we would make most of our profits. However our film would be on a much lower budget and do not think it would be suitable for a bigger market industry like the US.
http://www.film4.com/


Q4. Our target audience would be aimed for over 15’s which is our certificate.For example Strong threat and menace are shown from the begginging of the film aswel as imatable behaviour, violence and a frequent use of strong language which will be used in the rest of the film.These criterias make our film a 15 and unsuitable for anyone under this age.

It will still be aimed to a generation possible to middle age males and females and below. Someone of this age could relate to the film maybe having children of their own as well as adolescent as the victim is close to their age range. The psychological aspects of this would be more challenging however, and would therefore also interest more mature adults of around 25-35’s. Younger people we feel would be interested in the maises and labrythins in the film and there is a bigger market for thriller/horror films for this age generation.
Here are a few people that would be interested in our film.




Q5.To understand what our audience wanted, we handed out questionnaires to young people fitting our age certificate. From questions like the type of music to use, fonts and lighting. One of the main questions we asked on the questionnaires was whether our killer should be shown in the film or for his identity to be kept secret. They voted for it to be kept secret for reasons like to keep the tension in the film and to follow the convention of concealment and protraction. Also it would keep the killer more hidden and leave the audience guessing and wanting to have something to wait for in the film. From our questionnaires we used the data to make the film reflect on what they wanted to see.


Q6.our film we used Premier Pro. It was a fairly simple and easy program to use once we got used to the different tools on the program. From this, we managed to edit our films in more detail to give us closer and smoother cuts and an array of effects to add to our film to promote the film.

For the making our film we used a lot of equipment like the camera. The cameras were easy to function with a focus lens to allow us close-up on our film.
We also used the tripod to help keep the camera steady in longer takes and to access more angles like the low and high angle shots we used in the opening scene.

For editing we also used 'premier pro' which helped us to cut out parts of our film aswel as creating sound and making visual effects which could not just be done ont he camera equipment.

appendix 8.

appendix 9.

appendix 7.

appendix 12.

Our thriller had a linear narrative structure. It shows chronologically, the two points of view from the killer and our victim in the basement and in the house above. We chose to do this because it creates more tension and links with partial vision; we do not see everything clearly but get an insight from both perspectives, making us emphasise with the girl as we know he is getting closer.

Thriller Codes and Conventions.
In our film we use the Question and answer module. We use this innitially to keep the audience interested in the delayed suspense of the opening and also to question the plot and try to think for themselves what might happen, making them likely to want to see what really will happen. Questions like'Why is she trapped?' 'Where is she?' 'What is the man going to do to her next?' 'Why is the killer so calm?'. We also used (partial visual/ concealment and portraction?)as the camera shots we use cover our killers face and we cannot see the full picture of the opening with two different perspectives slowly colliding. We challenged the 'transformed ciy convention'. Instead of basing it in exotic city or a foreign country, we have used a normal house thought from the outside to be normal and safe, yet turning it into a voilent crime scene. another convention we challenged was that of the hero. This useually potrayed as a man of authority or a fighter. However our hero in the film is firstly young and also female. We did this because we felt it was more appropriate for our audience as it is for a ounger audience and being vunerable, we feel for the character and enjoy more to see her suceed later in the film.


Camera work.
For our camera work we started of with a close up of a record player, the effect of this was to balnace with the non-digetic music used to create an eery effect, aswel in the editting we cvhanged this first shot to black and white. The purpose of this was to mirror the ideaology of darkness and unknown from the music and image as the audience now are on edge wanting to know what this signifies. The camera turns to a mid shot were we take an establishing shot of our main charatcter. This shot it used simply to show her bounded hands and cellotaped so the audience know her possition.We also use several close-ups. This is usually used ont he vitctims face; to show her emotion, her body features; to show her struggle to escape. Extreme close-ups are used, for example on her eyes; her fear is clearly displayed looking around for an escape. From the killers point of view, we used many low angle shot to give the impression of power which he has as he he is above the girl in the cellar and on another level beause he has control of the situation. This makes us side with the victim as we are willing to hurry, knowing he is soon approaching. A tracking shot it also used. From ths we see his cool, calm manner as he slowly walks up to the house. An over the sholder shot is also used as he approaches the cellar door.this is to relate the audience to the film, to put them in the scene.

Mise-en-scene .
We used the basement for our location. It is down away from the light as though hidden fromt he outside world which would be a perfect place to hdie someone. Also the idea of being locked away in a cellar is similar to in other films useing dungeons etc. Dark, insect ridden and un-useable. This creates the atmosphere of fear and scary. It also signifies that this man is quite untidy, with boxes in the room as though his life is messy nd unresolved. The lighting in room is very dim which a contrast to the light on the vitcims faces. This has connotation of good and evil between the two characters. The ducktape used signifies her vunerability in the film, helpless to the situation.

Graphics,
For the graphics we decided to keep our writing bold and red to show connotations of blood and also to make the writing bold so as to stand out to the audience. To introduce ourselves we use the composition.
Sound.
We used none digetic tones for our music. At first we used the digetic background noise for a film but felt it didn’t receive the same amount of tension. We have instead used a dark and eerie sound track. It adds more mystery to the opening and links in with our concealment and protraction, keeping the characters voices hidden makes us more curious as we can’t relate to them as easily.

appendix five.

Treatment.
Beginning: In the beginning, we use a close up shot of a young female. The close up is used to show the emotion of her facial expression.This is the introduction to our main character in the novel. She is scared and unaware of what is happening to her as she has woke up to be tied to a chair in a dark, dusty room and completly alone. The shot changes to a tracking shot as we then see how she has been captured and secured to the chair. A side view is also used to show her from another angle, it looks at her shadown to imitate her movements as she struggles to get free. She is oblivious that her killer is approaching upstairs. She hears the loud bang of a car door and gets nervous as footsteps approach what she thinks is a door to where she is. The camera turns to the killer as he gets out of the car, calmly moving towards the house via tracking shot. A close side shot is used to shot his feet passing as he gets closer to the house. An over the sholder shot is used from behind as he looks at himself in the mirror for a moment, as though questiong himself but moves away to carry on his path towards the girl. Still upstairs, a low shot is used from the stairs to see him walking past towards the cellar door. He is carrying a bag in his hand with something inside which the audience cannot see yet they do not know that it is only food but appears to us to be a weapon of some sort from the ideology that he wants to hurt her. A close up is used on the door handle which the killer places his hand on and turns slowly as he enters to see the top of the stairs. Another close up is used to show his hand on the banister before he goes to walk down it. Close ups are also used on his feet as he is walking down which add suspense and has concealment and portraction as we cannot see where he is going. The tension builds up as shot reverse shots are used as they get closer to each other. Kelly is panicing as he gets closer



Middle.
Girl has escaped from this man yet He still manages to keep following her. Her parents move her house yet he still finds a way to track her down, taking pictures and manipulating them to look like his own daughter. As he is following her he starts to find other girls that remind him of his daughter, starts to become an obsession,Young girls, blond hair, brown eyes etc. Police become involved trying to protect Kelly. He finds these other girls, captures them and tries to tell them they are his daughter. Child obviously get disturbed,refusing to believe this mentalist. This frustrates him more that he can't get her back and he ends up locking them up, depriving them of food and when they try to escape he strangles them or simple attacks them. The case of Kelly is so fascinating and hard to deal with because she is his first victim and he never managed to keep her. He is still on the hunt for her and won't stop.
Kelly has moved house 3 times, changed her hair to try and shake off her stalker. She has not heard from her obsess for over 3 month and as the police haven't been able to track him down. They start to assume its over and she starts to go out again. She has gone the corner shop about 5 minutes from her house to spend her money. Stalker snatches her and takes her back to a warehouse...

End.
The ending is about her last moments. He thinks this is his chance to get back his daughter and won't let anything get in his way. He takes her miles from were she lives as he knows it won't take long for the police to be informed. Chase is on as police are searching for her and he has her tied up and is showing her pictures of his memories, telling her of his old memories and refereeing to Kelly and Millie his daughter. eery music to be used as he talks calmy about how happy they all were and that now they will all be back together. Finds out he lost his family in a car accident when he was driving too tired and swerved the car into the river which ironically is right outside the warehouse.He was the only one to survive and he blames himself for their death, has never got over it and She tells him that she will never be his daughter. He remains calm and says he cannot live without her. His plan is to use the car he brought her in and drivie the car into the river again so they can die together. big struggle and police arrive just as car goes into water. The girl is rescued but police can't get to the man. ends on his face- peacful as he dies.

Synopsis.
An obsessive stalker is tracking young victims, kidnapping them and using them for his own desires. Kelly is normal- shes too young to know the dangers that face her today. As she notices a figured man, waiting on street corners, lurcking and carefully watching into her small world , knowing her routine and path to school. He’s fixated, a void that needs feeling since the death of his own daughter who died after a tragic car crash which he has never recorvered from. In this psychocological thriller fixations could be deathly, kidnapping Kelly to replace his the empty shell that his daughter once filled, why Kelly? Why now? Only time will reveal why. She thought escaping would be hard? Now she has to fight to stay alive, on therun from this tangled web shes become trapped in.

appendix four.

From the questionaire we roughly asked anequal number of the same sex; 15 Males and 16 females. It makes our questionaire higher in validity and doesn't biast it on a one sexed opinion.

The most colour chosen for our beggingin graphics was red. This would be a good idea for our tittle as the colour shows conitations of blood. Hwoever this could have been a better question if we had involved some more obivously cokours like black or white.

our third question asked our participant when they felt a death was best; either in the beggingin, middle or end of a film. 6 said the end, 12 voted the middle and 13 people said they prefered to see a death to palce in the beggingin of a film which we would want to include in our introduction possibly.

Our next question asked our audience if they felt that big and central graphics got in the way of the film. 16 answered yes. We feel this is an erea that needs to be looked into as we want our film to appeal to the audience and have chosen to either keep our graphics to the side of the screen annd not have them so large, or to use the graphics earlier on before our film starts.

1) Are you Male or Female?

We appeared top ask more males therefore our results will be more biased to males.



2) What is your favourite colour?

In Question two the answers to this question are necessary because we now know the colours that people like most, we are going to use this information to create the end credits of our piece. Therefore our credits will need to be red.


3) Do you prefer death in the: Beginning, middle or end?

Question three helped a lot because it got us the knowledge to know were our audience would like to see a death, this is now helpful to us as we know that our audience would like to see this at the beginning so we need to consider this.

5) When credits are big and central, do you feel they get in the way?

These results are quite even so what we do would be up to us.


6) Should the killer be revealed in the beginning?

This question had a choice. We will not reveal the killer as this is what the audience want.

7) Do you prefer none-linear or linear? (Chronological or mixed order)

More people prefer to have a linear thriller so therefore we should take this into consideration.

8) Do you prefer sound effects, music or both?

The audience would prefer both so we will have to take this into consideration.

10) Do you prefer male or female protagonists?

The audience like both but more male. Therefore we should consider this in our thriller.

11) Does graphic violence put you off?

By this we meant any gore or harsh violent scenes that become hazardly dangerous, would these put you off watching the film? We can see by the graph that it would not affect the majority of the audience. As it does not put the audience off we should consider this.

12) Do you prefer 15 or 18 certificates?

Onto question twelve where we asked “do you prefer an 18 or 15 rated certificate film?” and as you can see by our results the majority would prefer a 15, yet this is only 1 more person that the 18 rated certificate. We would have to think about this and put the answer into consideration.

13) What is your favourite thriller?

For question 13, we gave a multiple choice question, this is crucial to our research as we can find out now more about the thrillers will give us knowledge about the kinds of things people would like to see in a thriller film. Seven was the favourite choice so we should model our thriller on seven.

14) What is your least favourite thriller?

We must make sure that we do not base our thriller on things such as things that are in Angels and demons as this is the least favourite thriller.

15) Do you prefer a film that slowly builds suspense like jaws or one that has a lot of frequent jumps in it like Halloween?

We had a two answer question and as we can see by the majority vote on the graph people would prefer a suspense building thriller to one that is frequently jumpy. We will have to try to build suspense like this.

16) Do you prefer seeing what the characters see through point of view shots?
We will try to consider filming what the character sees as our audience likes this.


17) Do you prefer to be sympathetic to the killer, or do you like the killer to be sadistic?

As you can see on our graph of question 17, more people would rather have a sadistic killer than sympathetic. This allows us to create more ideas onto our thriller and also make it better to what the audience want to see during our film. We will consider this when we are creating our thriller.

18) Are swear words appropriate?

We asked this because in our planning we wondered why swear words would be used, and what effect would they create along with the eerie music etc we had in our film. As you can tell, the audience would rather have swear words in; as yes is the favourite answer we must consider this in our thriller.

19) Are weapons necessary?

As these results are close to each other, we shall have to make this decision.

20) Do you like flashbacks during the thriller to allow you to see what has happened previously?

Finally, question 20 we asked “do you like flashbacks at the beginning of a thriller to allow you to see what has happened previously?” Our audience mostly picked yes, therefore we will consider flashbacks.