Storyboard

Link to storyboard

^^^ Link to storyboard is above ^^^

Location Analysis

Font Analysis

Costume And Props

Colour Analysis

Online Tutorials

Preliminary Task

Final Survey Analysis

Final Pitch

Focus Group 2: 35+

B : Tell me your names; First names will be appropriate.

J : My names Jill.

K : And I’m Kevin.

B : Brilliant! OK, im gonna ask you a series of questions, these will just be 5 questions, and they’ll require a bit of open thought, but just give your best opinion, OK? So, in general, do you like films that require more deep thought, so this is more of a plotline thing, where its more detailed than a plot that’s just fed to you.

J : Yes I probably do, as long as ive sat down long enough to concentrate properly.

K : Yeah, same as me.

B : So if you’ve got enough time to really concentrate-

K : If Ive got enough time to concentrate, yes.

J : Its better to think about it.

B : But otherwise it would be better to have a-

J : Yes, if your up down and in between then an easier to read plot would be good.

B : OK that’s perfect, that’s fine, perfect. Right, what is it that makes you, like, feel comfortable or feel content in your- in your home

J: The people and the animals in it.

B : OK, so being around your family, I’m guessing that means, and your pets?

K : Yeah.

J : Yeah.

B : OK, so you agree then, that’s perfect. So, apart from the last answer, since this is a very similar question; what makes you feel safe, what is it that makes you feel secure?

J : Again, probably the people in it.

K : Yeah, it would be the people in it, and the people around it.

J : Yeah, apart from, obviously, having security.

B: Yeah, proper security, so locks and stuff, yeah. Good answers, OK. Right, so its more of an in depth question, but in whatever event, you can think of right now, what would unsettle you the most? Just, straight off of the top of your head, what would be the most unsettling thing?

J : In everyday life?

B : In anything that you could see being used in a short film, or a movie.

J : Oh, so in a film?

B: Yeah, yeah, anything that you can think of. Or in everyday life, as long as it can be made into a short film.

J : Evil spirits, black magic, that type of thing.

B : Black magic, OK, that’s interesting. Yeah, brilliant.

J : Yeah, it terrifies me.

K : I would think more psychopathic killers with me.

B : OK, yeah that’s quite interesting. That’s some interesting answers, that’s all I need, that’s perfect.

The results from this focus group are actually quite useful, since it gives us an insight into how more mature audiences see psychological thrillers. One particularly interesting point i noticed was that they both agreed that for films that require more deep thought than, for example, an action film or a comedy, its better to sit down quietly and go through the film so that the audience can think about the film more. This means that psychological thrillers have to present very well written and directed scenes in order to keep the audience invested. This focus group has also sown us how other people being in a home makes people feel more secure, so we can use this information and play on that sense of security in order to make the film more tense and exciting for the audience. Finally, the idea of using an evil spirit or a group of spirits in the film, probably as the villain (Propps Theory), however i feel like this would be unnecessarily subverting psychological thriller conventions, since supernatural elements are very rarely used in the genre because they make the films narrative feel much less believable, which is important to use for building tension. Other than that, this focus group has given us some good ideas to consider for making the production more appealing to a more mature audience.

Focus Group 1: 16-18 Age Group

Transcript:

[Do you like films that require deep thought? And why? 

Scott: Yes 

Tom:That’s not why 

Chris: and why? 

Harry: Yes because it makes the film worthwhile and rewarding. Yes. 

Scott: Lots of deep deep thought. 

Harry: I do, its worthwhile if you watch a film that's, youve got to think about it. 

Chris: What is it that makes you feel comfortable in your house? 

Scott: Security 

Harry: My house alarm, and the fact that it will call people if someone was breaking in my house 

Chris: And what makes you feel safe? Other than what you’ve said  

Scott: Security 

Harry: Wow okay 

Scott: My house makes me feel safe 

Harry: There you go. Fire. Place. Not just fire. Because its warm and comforting in a cold house 

Chris: What unsettles you the most? 

Scott: In general 

Chris: Yeah just in general 

Harry: Wait what was the question? 

Chris: What unsettles you the most? 

Harry: hmm this quiz 

Scott: yeah it's pretty unsettling  

Harry: yeah cuz i dont actual experience anything that's unsettling Unfortunately, there isn't much to take from this focus group, but some valuable points are made nevertheless. The most important thing mentioned here is that they consider watching films with complex narratives rewarding and worthwhile, meaning that our genre will appeal to teenagers, and students in particular. They also both agreed that a homes features, such as security, fireplaces, furniture and simply being in their homes is what makes them feel safe and comfortable, so we can play on this by having the scene set in someones home, where the psychopath character breaks into someones home and attacks them; this would be following convention since there are quite a few thrillers that involve home invasions and attacks. Whilst we did get some good information for these two points, I feel like we could've gained even more from this focus group if we made the group slightly larger and took more time for asking and answering the questions.

Technical Research

Draft Survey Analysis

Audience Profiling

Work done by Tom Page

Form Analysis

Theoretical Research

Form Research

Progress Report

I believe that my initial ideas have changed a lot from my original concept at the start of this. I have become more aware about conventions of the genre which will form the basis of my ideas. i would like to keep some ideas of mine but it will become something much closer to the conventions of the genre.

Textual Analysis: After Time [Student Work]

After Time [Student Work]

After looking at different student work to look at I have chosen to do After Time by Hayden Woodcock, Hubert Osinski and William guy. I chose this peice as there genre of a horror thriller fits very closely to our own project of doing a psychological thriller and also as this peice is high grade work and therefore a good example of what to do

Shot Analysis

Within the first few moments if the piece, we are shown two shot inside the bathroom we shows to the viewer that some actions occurring are being repeated in an endless cycle and also maybe foreshadowing later events of that scene. 

The following shots occur outside and notice a major change in the tinting of the shots, changing from a sickly green overlay to a much more washed out grey but also has higher contrast, meaning dark colours are more prominent . This gives an impression that in the bathroom, something is off and thus should be taken with caution whereas outside it is seen as a much more darker place and thus events that occur here could be more dangerous and even chances of death. We see a character running into a camera shot, the camera unmoving before he leans against the tree that the camera was focused on and gasps for breathe as the main title of the film appears above said character. This nay be done to show how critical this character is to the plot of the film.

The next scene returns to the bathroom and has longer shots but not much longer, scowling down the pace showing that the character believes he is safe and no longer running from whatever was chasing him. We see closeups of his hand and give the audience a chance to look at his bloody bandages wrapped around his first. This suggests to the audience that this character was recently involved in some sort of conflict, that that he's still here shows he either won or fled when realising he couldn't win. We are given an extreme closeup of his hand before its cuts to what appears to be a flashback scene as shown by the distortion and sudden jump to events occurring outside the bathroom. These shots are used to convey to the audience about how stressed he is and also shows the confusion of the character as the distortion means that his own memory of the event is distorted, meaning the viewer knows just as little as the character. This suggests that he is suffering from some sort of mental condition.

After the flashback has occurred, the character is shown to grip onto the sink to pull himself back up, showing that the flashback has ended and he try to comprehend what he just saw. It can been seen from this as well that this flashback has made him visibly tired and exhausted. All of a sudden, dogs are heard outside and the character frantically try to stuff everything back into his back as quickly as possible to get away. This highlights how concerned he is at the situation but also shows how he takes caution in events like this. It also shows that he is frightened of what happens next and wants to avoid it as much as possible. The event also starts building tension as events begin occurring again with high pace which all builds up to him trying to escape through the air vent and eventually being grabbed and then cutting to black. This gives a very dramatic ending and also leaves the audience wanting more.

Sound

Sound is used throughout the piece and is majorly effective in creating effects in the piece. A low note can be heard playing through most of the opening and is used to create a sense of disorientation and is probably used to express how the character feels and also used to show to the viewer that something is off about this. Crows can be heard which are diegetic and is used at the start of the scene to great effect as crows are used in popular culture as well as often in horror films to symbolise death and fear and is a way of foreshadowing events. This shows that it could hint to the characters death. When the main character bursts frantically into the bathroom and slams shut the door behind him, loud and sharp tones can be heard from it slamming, overpowering everything else that can be heard at that time. It is used to show that the character is conscious of urgency as well as caution. 

When the flashback scene commences, the background music is drowned out and cut by the white noise of the distortion and matches the tone created by the visuals. This adds to the disorientation of the scene and works with the visuals to create a sense of confusion as to what is occurring. 

Digs can be heard Barking and is used as the pivotal moment when the character realises he is no longer safe and begins to panic. The new and more intense background music shows this as the pace is increased and showcases his urgency of wanting to get out of the situation. This also adds to the tension of whether he will be able to escape or not. It also builds suspense quickly of which is realised in dramatic fashion at the end when it suddenly cuts out as it cuts to black.

Mise-en-scene

The bandage worn on the characters hand shows that he has to be in conflict, why or whether he win or fled is neve shown which makes the audience with questions, this draws them in to watch the rest of the film.

Conlusion

Despite the fact that this was creates by just 3 student, the peice is very well done. I love how it uses colour filters to showcase emotions and also information about a location which is something I find interesting.  The effects used in the flashback sequence are very high quality considering the tools they would have used to create something like that. It's is also amazing how well the effect is used to show the character breaking down and how it highlighted his disorientation. One thing I believe let's it down is that the pace of the scene fluctuates alot during the scene, thus making it hard to judge what is occurring. This could also have been used to make the audience feel just as disorientated as the character and if that is the case then that is incredible. In conclusion, this scene was great to analyse and has given me great ideas that I could actually do and include to my own production as it fits in my genre.