Evaluation Activity 1

The title of the film:The title of our film is in bold red writing, and makes it easier to read, especially over a dark background. Our editor decided to use this so that it flows in with our story; red meaning anger, frustration, danger. This type of colour fits in with our antagonist, especially when he's getting his own back.

The setting/location:

Our opening sequence takes place in the Ardleigh Green College grounds, where a mixture of locations are introduced. One of which is in a computer room right at the very start, to the outside of the college, and then to the college staff car park.

We decided to use the computer room at the very beginning, because it gives the idea that teenagers are still working late at night, and it fit in with what our film was going to be like. The idea of the deaths in this room with just one door, gives the experience that there is only one way to escape, and that is through there. The characters near the door would be able to escape first so they will not get caught, whereas those near the windows are nonetheless dead.

After the fleers get outside the college building, they run to the car park in the back, because they are not thinking straight as they are so scared. This gives an idea that they want to escape from the grips of the murderer, and think that they can lose him. A typical thing you would find in a horror/thriller movie, is the time setting. We had agreed to film only at night time, because at that time, you would usually see deaths. This is why the car park is dark, because this is where another death might occur, especially to give the audience a taste of tension and fear.

The costumes and the props:

The costumes and the props we used, are typical of the thriller, but also the horror, with the mask that we used. This mask is relentless to the usage of the type in the horror movie Jason; that's where we got the idea from. However, the knife and the blue overalls makes it look like a thriller, because they make more of the tension. As well as this, we have the typical chase convention, which is usually found in thrillers. The director's original idea was the antagonist running to kill, but because of the overalls, it was impossible to have this idea, so we changed it to walking. Becasue of this walking though, more of the tension was created, so we kept it.

The other costumes that were introduced, were the casual clothing types that teenagers would usually wear, which makes you think that it is just a normal evening, with teenagers working on their college work, whereas the film says different.

The camerawork and editing:

The cinematography that we used was carefully chosen and decided by first the director, and then the camerawomen and the editor. We all agreed on most of the shots found within the film. A typical idea was a ponit of view shot, where the antagonist was looking for his victims, to kill them. This makes the audience feel like they are part of the action, and in the antagonist's shoes, which is one of our targets. Compared with the editing though, from the many shots we used, only a fair amount was carefully chosen by the editor, in order to make the finished product, and give the continuity and the narrative of the story.

The title font and style:

The type of font we used, was ariel, which many people can easily read and understand. The idea of the red font outlying the black background, makes people think that danger, anger and frustration overtly rules over normality, which you can clearly see in the film.

The story and how our opening sets it up:

In the beginning, you see a masked delinquent heading over to a girl and killing her. Straight away, you know that the film is about murders, especially with the next killing of a young teenage boy, working on a computer. The murderer then heads on to kill more people, and we immediately think he's on a killing spree and deranged. The story progresses on with two characters escaping from him, and the murderer trying to kill them. The opening then progresses to a scene in the car park, where Alex, (our antagonist) is looking for the fleers. He spots them and goes to kill them, but getting hit by a car, he fails. Our twist however, is like Jason and Freddie, where they always come back from the dead. When Toby checks his pulse, he is grabbed.

The Genre and how our opening suggests it:

Our film is of two genres, thriller and horror. Our opening suggests it because, the usage of the knife and the overalls, makes it seem like a thriller because knives are usually used in thrillers. To add on to this, you would usually find chase scenes in thrillers, and the usage of the PoV shot, also makes it seem like a thriller. In contrast to this though, the usage of the mask from Jason, and the convention of killing as you go along, makes it seem like the horror. Just to make this point even further, the scene where Alex is hit by the car, you would immediately think he's dead, but he comes back to life. This tiny thing makes it like a horror because they are usually to do with the dead, fantasy creatures, monsters and spirits.

How our characters are introduced:

Throughout our film, each of our characters are introduced randomly, from the ones who die working on the computers, to two characters that escape, and then to a new character going to evening class from the library. This new character is killed also. Our fleers however, manage to get outside, and we sympathise with those characters as they are frightened and scared. The audience wouldn't want them to get caught as well, and so our characters are the main diet of our product.

The special effects:

Special effects are things that you wouldn't expect to happen. In our film, we have Alex getting hit by a car, to create more of the tension and fear. We could've made it look better, but we still have the main tension that is created. This is up to the point where we end our film, as once Alex crashes on the floor, Toby goes to check his pulse but then gets caught as Alex is back from the dead. This creates the fear, which is what we want our audience to feel.

Evaluation Activity 2

Above centre, we have a picture of our antagonist Alex, wearing a mask and blue overalls. This is different to the picture above left, which is of Jason from the Friday the 13th sequel. The similarities between them both is their personality, that they both kill as they go along, that they wear a mask, and that they wear blue overalls. They both have a grand stature as well, which makes people run from them. There is a difference in appearence between them both because, Alex is just a teenager wearing a mask and blue overalls, but Jason is an adult, and he carries a machette, not a knife, which makes him look more scary. He is also already dead, whereas Alex is not.
The role in the film between them both, is that they go around killing people, but a difference is that Jason just kills for no reason, whereas Alex is killing those who bullied him in the past. This is the same as 20 years ago, when Edward Wolfe was bullied, he killed those who bullied him, unable to control his anger. Alex is like the reincarnation of Edward, but he is trying to fight off Edward, who is trying to take over his body. This is totally different to Jason, as there is less of a storyline to Legacy.
The lighting however, between the two pictures is different. This is because Jason kills outside only, whereas Alex kills inside and out, as he was originally inside the college building. Jason has high key lighting in the picture, because he's highlighted by bright light, which is why we don't feel as much tension as we do in Alex's picture. Alex is in a sort of low key lighting, with artificial light around him, which gives more of the tension and fear.
The character positioning is different as well, as we see Alex more over to the right of frame, and Jason in the centre of the frame. This also gives the tension because Alex is a stronger character, as Jason looks quite weak.

Evaluation Activity 3

Script for the Director's Commentary

A production company is directly responsible for the funding of films, and are responsible for the development and production of new media products. The production company we are part of is called GFM Productions. We decided to have this name because it fits in with our names, so that people know who created the film. A distributor is what helps with the marketing of films, and we could use cinemas to help with the distribution, as well as what a distributor will do, a.k.a, spreading posters and billboards about etc. This has been used for many films in the past, but also word of mouth could be used.

Our film Legacy belongs to the horror/thriller genre, and the funding for such a film as ours would have to come from us, as we are a small independent company. We could get help from other production companies, and maybe from a small group of viewers typical of our target audience. We might have help from them, because free tickets could be given out to this small group of people, possibly free refreshments for after and then we could ask them for criticisms about our film. What they liked about it, what they feel could be changed, and what they didn’t like about it. As well as this, we could get help from the national lottery, if we want our film to be globalised.

The names of various people are in our film because we used them as part of our cast. We carefully chose them because they have had experience of acting before, and it gives us the result for our film. As well as this, some of the various people had allocated jobs given. I was the director, and Faraz was the editor. The next stage of the pre-credit sequence shows the order of the allocated jobs for filming. The director comes first, then the camera person, which was Marian, and then the editor. This relates to many films in any genre, because the given order is what’s usually seen in any Hollywood film.

Our film is similar to the Jason films like Friday the 13th, who is a typical horror character in movies, and as you can see in our film. The antagonist is wearing a mask like Jason, and blue overalls to help hide his identity. This traditional hockey mask is also seen in the Halloween movies, consisting of the character Michael Myers. The opening of our film is unlike other opening sequences in the horror/thriller genre, because of the amount of deaths that you see. Thriller programmes do not have this many deaths in the opening either, especially in Silent Witness, which is also a crime drama.

A typical distributor for our film could be Vue or IMax cinemas, as we feel these could well suit the opening. Our typical target audience is that of 15’s and above because of the context of the film. This is how we can get a fair range of people to watch this type of film, as they would understand it more than those younger.

Evaluation Activity 4

Our film Legacy, has 2 typical genres in one, Horror and Thriller. This is what makes our target audience begin from 15 onwards, as our whole film contains scenes that are suitable for this type of audience only. The results for our questionnaire contain different percentages for the age range. 14-17 is 40%, 18-21 is 80%, and 22+ is 20%. This is good for our film because we have reached our target of having those aged 15 and above to watch it.

For this evaluation task, I will be talking about our target audience's preferences, what TV programmes they would watch, the type of music they might listen to, where they would shop and how they're appearence might be; but this might not refer to everyone.

TV programmes that typical thriller/horror fans might watch, may consist of Fringe, Vampire Diaries, Animes like Wolf's Rain, Hira Hira Yoshima and Death Note. Other programmes could be Being Human, The Hunger, Mononoke and Deadset. All of these are either horrors, thrillers or both, and the typical fan would watch these as they enjoy them.
As well as this, there are typical types of music that different types of fans would listen to, which consists of Horror Metal, Punk Horror, Screamo etc. Most of these are the same as normal rock music that everyday people listen to, but it might not refer to everyone.
These types of fans might also shop for clothes, make-up, costumes for what they like maybe. They might shop in clothes stores, costume shops, superstores etc, and they're personal appearence might be baggy clothing, black clothing, eye-liner, eye-shadow etc, if they were emos or goths. Again, this is not referring to all stereotypes. This is what makes a horror fan a fan, but it might not refer to a thriller fan.

Evaluation Activity 5

Evaluation Activity 6

Evaluation Activity 7

These pictures above are from our preliminary task. They are in the order from bottom to top. For the first two pictures, you can see a match on action taking place, which is Faraz opening the door and walking through it. This is usually seen mainly in action movies, where two or more cuts continue on the action, like jumping off a bridge and landing in a river, then the current taking you further on, and then a waterfall.
The next three pictures have shot/reverse shot involved, which would ususally be found in dramas and soaps. This is to show the acting and the drama that our audience would want to see. As well as this, with shot/reverse shot, you must not break the 180 degree rule, unless you show the camera crossing the imaginary line. This imaginary line crossing, is usually found in dramas and thrillers.
In the final picture, you can see a two shot of our two characters, which is also found in dramas and soaps.













The pictures above are from our film Legacy. They are also in the order from bottom to top. The very first picture is of our production logo. We didn't put our production company name in our pre-credit sequence, but the picture shows an editing technique. This editing technique is a fade out of the production logo, and a coloured picture fading in from a black and white image. This could be found in some kinds of pre-credit sequences, of either a film or a TV programme.
The second picture gives the location of the film, taking place in a college building. This is so we can understand where the film is going to take place, what the characters are going to be like, and who is involved in the story line. Some films of all genres take place somewhere at a college or school.
The next picture shows a medium shot of the second killing in the movie. It is in a medium shot because, it gives a sense of tension and suspense of what is going to happen next in the action. This would usually be found in thrillers, not so much horrors, and certain audiences like to see this.
The fourth picture is in a medium long shot of two characters running. The high angle that you see in the picture, gives a sense that they are weak, weak over what just happened in a room with just one door. All they could do was run. The audience would like to see this in films, as they do enjoy a bit of fear.
The fifth picture is in a low angle shot, where our antagonist Alex is walking down the stairs, trying to catch the fleers that escaped him. A low angle shot of a character, shows the audience that they are strong, and overtly powerful over other characters, especially in thrillers, horrors and action movies. Literally every single genre of film has some sort of low angle shot on the antagonist, which is what the audience like to see.
The sixth picture shows an MLS at eye level, of a poor unfortunate character in our film. The MLS of the shoes, shows one, advertising of a typical brand of trainers teenagers would most likely wear everyday, and two, it gives a sense of fear and knowledge, that this character was killed by someone. The idea of the shoes getting stuck in the lift doors, also shows fear, but at the same time gives a sense of sympathisation for the character who was just killed. Many directors want to see this sudden reaction change in their audience, as it means they have succeeded.
The seventh picture shows a highish angle on the two fleers, which also gives the sense of weakness, as they are hiding from the antagonist, they don't want to get caught or even seen. This is also in a medium shot, where you can see the facial expressions, the body language, and the scenery around them. The audience would wnat to see thias becauise, they want to feel the sympathy to the characters, and get a sense of where they are, and what is happening in that part of the scene.
The eighth picture shows a point of view shot of the antagonist, looking for his next victims. The point of view shot is what our audience would want to look for. This type of shot is mainly used in thrillers and dramas, not so much horrors. It gives a feeling of being in the characters shoes, which most audiences would like to see in films. It also gives a sense of tension and suspense, which any director wanting to show this, would aim for.
The last three pictures show a series of events that occur in order. The picture of the car is a kind of special effect that gives tension, especially when it hits the antagonist and knocks him down. Our audience would immediately think, "he's not going to wake", but the twist in the last picture shows that he did come back to life. This would scare most people and make them want to watch more, which also gives in to the horror of our film.

Textual Analysis

Textual Analysis on a thriller Red Eye

This textual analysis is about the thriller film 'Red Eye', which is about a main protagonist Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams), and a main antagonist Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy). Rippner is a terrorist operative, which you find out later in the narrative, who is working alongside a group that are intending to assassinate the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Charles Keefe (Jack Scalia), as well as his family. This assassination is taking place in Miami, at a hotel Lisa is acting manager of, the Lux Atlantic Hotel, trying to prevent the assassination from taking place.

Characters
Clearly we see the acting role of Lisa Reisert, as a protagonist, the moment she boards her flight back to Miami, even though she is terrified of flying, and when Rippner reveals that he's a terrorist operative, working alongside a group of people wanting Keefe dead. She tries all she can to stop them, being careful not to get caught by Rippner, especially with the messages she tried to give to people, so that they know what is happening, but she failed. A clear antagonist is Rippner, who has been threatening Lisa to do his dirty work, one threat is a deal. If Lisa did what he asked her, then he wouldn't deploy a hitman to kill her father Joe (Brian Cox). But if she doesn't then her father will be killed. One other threat is the part in the bathroom, where Lisa made a message out of soap on the mirror. Rippner found out and well, pushed her back in and threatened her like you see in the picture. He also cleared the message from the mirror, and took her back in to where they are seated.

Narrative
The narrative of Red Eye is a straight flow of continuous events from start to finish. This is what helps the audience to understand what the film is going to be like, and the enigma that is set up is, How come Rippner is a bad guy? This would suddenly confuse the audience because, from the very beginning, you haven't a clue that Rippner is a bad guy because his actions are none other than a kind way to Lisa, when her flight is delayed. There is also suspense in the film, with the threats on Lisa, and the chase in her fathers house.

Cinematography
In terms of the use of cinematography, the director has decided to use quite a lot of medium shots, and a fair few medium close ups. These medium shots help to show the suspense and the reactions of some of the surroundings. The medium close ups help to give more of the suspense, and the facial and body expressions as well. An example of a medium shot is a part of a scene in Lisa's fathers home, where she is thrown down the stairs by Rippner, a hard stunt to pull through.












Location
The film Red Eye is a mixture of locations, from an airport to a plane, a hotel near a lake, Lisa's fathers home, and other places. This gives an idea of the thriller genre with these locations. These locations are realistic locations because many of us can understand what they are.

Enigma
The enigma is set up near the beginning of the film. It is basically when Lisa's flight is delayed until the next morning, and when she meets up with Rippner. To start with, you would think Rippner is a good guy, especially when he talks to Lisa and other things. Later in the story, when Lisa finally gets on her flight, she is glad to be seated next to Rippner. The only thing is, the moment the plane leaves the runway, Rippner reveals to her that he is a terrorist operator, working alongside a group who are going to assassinate Keefe, the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, and that he needs Lisa to help him with it, otherwise he'll deploy a hitman to kill her father. This is what the narrative of the film will flow from, start to finish.

(Some of this is taken from wikipedia.org)

Textual Analysis

Textual Analysis on a thriller Silent Witness

How does the thriller programme Silent Witness show similarities and differences between our 2 minute thriller The Legacy of Edward Wolfe/Deranged, through the use of Cinematography, Sound, Mise-en-scène, and Editing?

This Textual Analysis is about the thriller programme Silent Witness, and how it is compared with our film, The Legacy of Edward Wolfe/Deranged. It will show the similarities and differences between the two, talk about the Cinematography, (the camera shots, angles and movements), the Mise-en-scène, the Sound, and the Editing that's involved. Each point will be explained throughout this analysis.

Firstly, at the beginning of the episode 'Run', there is a scene with a 23 year old woman, Ruth Gardner. At first she is acting all mad, crying and stressing, pulling photos off the wall and chucking them on the floor in anger. She then picks up a tape and starts pulling that apart then chucking it on the floor, in a block of flats, on a rainy night. This explains that she is kind of deranged. There is also a cut to a man with a cigarette, walking and listening to music, outside on the concrete; who became shocked when this woman crashes on the concrete, dead. At the beginning of our opening 2 minutes, there is also a death, but this was done by butcher's knife, which is different to the beginning of Silent Witness. After this death, 2 characters run out of the room that it occurred in, shocked, and a chase occurs after the murderer comes out of the room. The chase is different to what happened to the 23 year old woman before she was murdered.

The cinematography shown at the beginning of Silent Witness, series 13, Run, part 1; includes a hand-held camera shot, at the point when Ruth is trying to find who it is she heard. The director would've decided that this cinematography is to be here, to make his target audience feel tension, and wanting to watch more. However, in our 2 minute thriller, there isn't a hand-held camera shot present, to try and get the audiences attention.
Also, there is a mixture of tracking and panning in the opening sequence of the programme, which the director would have also used to grab his audience's attention, and also to show the tension of his idea. There is also a high angle shot on Ruth Gardner, when she sits on her bed, reading her bible. This shows that something is going to happen to her, and that she is quite a weak character, which would have been carefully decided by the director, to help keep the narrative flowing. However, in our 2 minute opening, there is a tracking shot when Carla and Toby are running away from a deranged student. There is also a low angle shot on the deranged student, when Carla trips up. This low angle shot is seen through Carla's eyes, which shows the tension between the two characters.

Secondly, within 'Run' and our 2 minute thriller, there is the element of Mise-en-scène. There is the use of costume in each, but they both show something totally different. In 'Run', the opening of the episode, Ruth Gardner is seen wearing old clothing, a blue t-shirt, and a dull-green pair of trousers. This connotes her being poor, as she's squatting in a flat, and quite vulnerable to what's about to happen to her. However, in our 2 minute thriller, Alex is wearing casual clothing before he murders someone, as he has blood-stained clothing after the murder. This shows that he's like a psycho wanting revenge, but the characters he's after, are wearing their own casual clothes, connoting to the audience that they're teenagers and quite vulnerable to death. The make-up differs in each piece as well, where Ruth isn't wearing any make-up, just a dusty face, and where the teens in our 2 minute thriller are wearing either make-up or gel on their hair. This clearly shows the difference in how rich or poor these characters are.
Another difference is the location, where Ruth is set in a flat, but the teens are set in a college computer room. You can clearly see that the teens are working class, as they are using computers to do their work, but you can't see clearly what class Ruth is in, because she's not doing anything that can be used to disembowel the answer.