Research: Assistant Director and Writer: Nicholas Hopkins

In order to gain information and tips regarding the planning and creation of our thriller introduction, I contacted Nicholas Hopkins; and experienced Assistant director/writer.  I interviewed him, asking questions about his time in the film industry, how we should go about creating our thriller opening and what he is working on now.  I also gained very useful information on the subject of filming/ lighting to create suspense, and to how to go about writing scripts/storylines, shot lists and storyboards and maintaining continuity.  Nick Hopkins has worked on films and shows like: Doctor Who, Band Of Brothers, Lost In Space, Mission Impossible 1, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, New Tricks, Oliver Twist and Waterloo Road to name but a few.  Also, working with big names like: Christopher Lee, Tom Hardy, Christopher Eccleston, Gary Oldman, Johnny Depp, Stephen Fry, Tim Burton, Steven Spielberg and many more!

From this interview I learnt the difference between scripts and storylines, the importance of having shot lists and plans for every scene and how continuity is maintained.  As a group, we will use this knowledge in order to create a successful thriller introduction.  Nick talked particularly about the importance of every single element which is involved in creating a suspenseful atmosphere.  We will take this into account whilst filming and ensure that all elements are looked at.  We won't just rely on eerie music, but we'll try to use lighting for effect, maybe with the use of shadows, use of shot angles; for example: super close ups and wide angle shots, editing will also help to bring all these elements together, but also add it's own element of suspense; such as the use of focus effects to distort the audience's view of an enigmatic character (to add an extra element of mystery.)

Research- Directors

Research- Thriller Films

Research: Audience Research

Types of research:

Primary research: It is the research that is carried out by yourself, surveys going out and taking to people.

Secondary research: Is the research carried out by using secondary sources, such as books, the internet and other methods.

Producers need to know:

• If it will offend the target audience (focus group can determine this).
• Age appropriate.
• Cultural viewers (the spoken/written language).
• Will the payer be interested (will the parents pay for a child to see a film etc).
• Engagement with different forms of media.

Audience Categorisation: 

Demographics: groups of people that are arranged by exam scores, gender, age etc. (facts and figures, statistics)

Physchographics: is people grouped by personality, values  attitudes interests, lifestyles etc.

Research: Thriller Film Directors

Thriller Directors:

Audience Research - The Simpsons Grouping

In class we grouped the Simpsons characters into categories based on where we thought they fit in society. We sorted into sub categories using the two terms:

Demographics=Putting people into groups based on facts and statistics.

Psychographics=When People put into groups based on opinions, tastes and 

not on facts/statistics.

 An important aspect of audience research is asking who your film is aimed at, and what part of society the audience fits into. The characters involved in our thriller film will play a big part in showing who are target audience is.  This is because age/social groups such as teenagers, in general will prefer to watch a film that involves characters of similar age.

Also, we learnt that if you know your target audience, you can more easily work out how to distribute and advertise the film.  For example, if your target audience is teenagers, use of social media will be integral in raising awareness due to the very high percentage of teenagers using such websites.  

Research: Audience Research Notes

Audience Research

Primary Research: Research you get yourself

Secondary Research: Research you get off someone else

What do producers need to know about their films?

> Is the content age appropriate?

> Is the content offensive to the audience?

> It it aimed specifically at a certain culture?

> Is it purchaser appropriate i.e if the parents are buying for their children can they watch it too?

> Does it have engagement with different forms of media?

Demographics: Putting people into groups by facts and statistics

Physchographics: People put into groups by opinions, tastes but not statistics

Our Outcomes - what our group wants to achieve with audience research

> What forms of media are available to distribute our Thriller?

> What age range would be appropriate for our story line

> What types of gadgets our audience own

> What scares our audience the most?

> How should we present the titles?

Thriller Journal: The Dark Knight

Thriller Journal

The Dark Knight

Date Produced: 18th July 2008

Director: Christopher Nolan

Writers: Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer

Producer:  Kevin De La Noy

Cinematography: Wally Pfister

Music: James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer

Good storyline, yet confusing in places if you weren’t paying attention

Camera:

Camera On Car: Used at the start, to show action both inside and outside of the car therefore we get both sides of the fight making it more dramatic and making us fear that our hero will not win.

Helicopter Shot: Shot over Gotham, used as an establishing shot. It shows the size of Gotham. 

Sound: 

Symphonic: Used whenever Batman appears at a fight, it emphasizes his appearance and makes him seem much more impressive.

Key Sound Motif: This is also the same part as the symphonic but it’s a very distinctive piece making the audience know that Batman is about to appear.

Sonically Exaggerated: Used when Batman punches and kicks, this makes him seem powerful and that nobody needs to worry about him getting hurt because he is the dominant character in the scene.

Mise en Scene:

Costime: Batmans armour, this is every distinctive making everybody able to identify him

Editing: 

Fast Paced: The fight between Batman and the Scarecrow, it enhances the fight between them, and makes it more impressive.

How does it fit the Thriller genre?

I believe that this fits the thriller genre as it always keeps you on the edge of your seat and requires you to do more than just sit and watch the film. It requires some thinking or sometimes the plot could come across as confusing. The film has suspense and tension throughout which is a common convention of Thriller. 

Research: Thriller Key Words

Research: Key words

I decided that I needed to make something to show the key words of Thrillers. 
I also wanted to used a new piece of media therefore I used worditout.com to create this.

Research: The Third Man

Research: The Third Man

Research: Thriller Journal - Skyfall

Thriller Journal

Skyfall

Date Produced: 23rd October 2012

Director: Sam Mendes

Writers: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan

Producers: Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli

Cinematography: Roger Deakins

James Bond: Daniel Craig

M: Judi Dench

Silva: Javier Bardem

Gareth Mallory: Ralph Fiennes

Q: Ben Whishaw

This film always kept you on the edge of your seat in suspense. The action was always thrilling and exciting

Camera:

Close up: Used as Eve says ‘Man down’ to M. This audience gets to closely see her emotion and to empathise with how she is feeling.

Sound:

Key Sound Motif: The classic James Bond theme tune gets the audience excited at the fact something dramatic and extraordinary is about to go down

Mise en Scene:

Costume: James Bond is known for wearing very suave and very smart suits, this shows him to be very powerful. And he doesn’t mind getting them dirty as this adds to the fact he is a ‘hard man’ e.g. going after the computer hard drive and ending up on top of a train.

Editing: 

Fast Paced: The editing is very fast paced while they are on top of the train used to make everything more dramatic and impressive also makes us fear for Bond as everything is happening so fast

How does it fit the Thriller genre?

Skyfall fits the Thriller genre due to the fact it uses many elements that are popular and define the term ‘Thriller’. For example the film creates suspense, tension and excitement constantly during it. The audience are constantly on the edge of their seat as the plot is very changeable which helps build towards the climax. Therefore I feel skyfall fits the Thriller genre very well.

Research: Thriller Directors

Research into thriller directors:

Research: What Is A Thriller

What defines a thriller?
‘Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as its main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer’s moods giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectations, uncertainty and surprise.’- Wikipedia

To me the thriller genre includes suspense, plot-twisters, red-herrings and anything that leaves you wanting to ask questions. There is often a femme-fatal which pushes the narrative in a direction that the main character is trying to avoid. A good thriller should produce rushes of emotions throughout the entire piece to keep the audience constantly on the ‘edge of their seats’.

What do thrillers include?
Thrillers tend in include common characters for example, criminals, stalkers, detectives, cops, psychotic individuals, innocent victims, spy’s and manipulative individuals.
The common thriller themes include heists, kidnapping, revenge, mind games, ransoms, mental manipulation and traps.

What do common thriller settings include? 

Well known thrillers often have similar settings, this could be due to the themes being related so the conventions happen in places that resemble each other. Some common thriller settings include forests, haunted houses, towns at night, foggy hills, isolated islands, police stations and deserted areas.

What are some common actors that play parts in thriller films?
Top ten thriller actors:

1.        Janet Leigh

2.        Grace Kelly

3.        Harrison Ford

4.        Leonardo DiCaprio

5.        Tom Cruise

6.        Matt Damon

7.        Samuel L. Jackson

8.        Joan Allen

9.        Cary Grant

10.     Jack Lemmon

-TopTenReviews

Effective camera angles for thriller films
Camera angles that blur or conceal identity are often used as it keep the audience in ignorance and asking questions, extreme close ups are also used to keep identity hidden as they only show parts of their faces (for example only seeing an eye from the whole face).  High angles may also be used to show a figure of authority or maybe for the main character, the same goes for low angles shots showing low power and little authority.

Common sound effects used in thriller films
Loud bangs are used to emphasise importance- for example somebody could storm out of a room after an argument, the door slamming on their way out could be enhanced to show how hurt the other person is. Or another example could be when someone is thrown into jail the bolt sliding across locking the door would make a loud metal noise to illuminate how strong the cells are and how hard it would be to escape.

Common weather conditions used in thriller films

It’s often foggy in thriller films as this creates an air of mystery and also hides identity to keep the audience guessing about who is the criminal and villain for example. Rain and thunderstorms are also used as a form pathetic fallacy when someone is crying or angry for example.

Research: Media Thriller Film Journal

Research: Survey Results

We surveyed 27 people and these were the results

How often do you watch thriller films?

What is your favourite thriller film?

Do you think the use of flashbacks are effective in thrillers?

Do you prefer black and white films or colour

Do you prefer simple or complex story lines?

Do you prefer a conclusive or cliffhanger ending

Do you think music is important for a successful thriller film

Do you think a childrens playground is a creepy setting 

Is a young girl dressed in bright colours effective to make her look innocent?

From this research, we concluded that we needed to dress Hannah in bright clothing to show not only innocence but her young and naive nature.  We also learnt that most people preferred more simple storylines; subsequently, we have decided to maintain a clear format, switching between reality and flashbacks in an obvious transition.  We found that many people like the film 'Taken.'  We took this information into account whilst creating the final storyline, we therefore decided to create a film where the girl is lost, and we explore the mysteries surrounding this.

Preliminary Task- Beer Fear Parody & Outtakes

Beer Fear:

Outtakes:

Comments:

Emily Strickland:

I have learned a lot from the preliminary task including editing skills, how to use iMovie, inserting music behind the footage, adding extra sound effects for emphasis, the many different camera angles, and more. I also realised that my organisational skills could be improved for the future, unfortunately this affected our task as I change costume randomly during the footage, I have learned to take down the costume list instead of relying on my unreliable memory so this doesn't happen again. I now understand how difficult it is to use numerous shots and takes for one scene and still make it look flowing and unnoticeable (that it wasn't just one take). All of this will benefit me for our opening of a thriller task. 

Molly Baker:

I also have learnt a lot of the preliminary task. I found it was harder to match lip sync to music than I first thought. We experimented with lots of different shots and angles. One of my favourite is when we're all walking down the corridor and it is a high angle shot which zooms out as we are walking towards it. One thing to improve on is our organisation skills as Emily completely forgot what she was wearing for the first day of filming. Also for the second day of filming I forgot to bring in the sunglasses therefore they completely disappear off my head a I walk through the doors. Luckily I do have some experience of media studies as I did it at GCSE and I had to explain to the others in my group that you cannot just do things in one take. Also although they were confused on how the shots in the first 20 seconds were going to fit together, I made them trust me and when editing and everything came together they understood exactly what I was doing. I feel I am more confident in working with a group of people who haven't done media before as now they have an idea of how much teamwork one of these projects are. 

Eddie Hurren:

Due to the assignment of our preliminary task and the subsequent creation of our short film, i have learnt many techniques on the subject of: editing, camera work and planning that will certainly aid the creation and development of our Thriller film.  More specifically, i learnt the value of filming multiple 'takes' which can later be merged together in order to create an effective scene.  In this case, Molly was seen putting one hand on the door knob, then we see her opening the door from another angle because of the way we repositioned our camera.  I also learnt how to use iMovie, having had previous experience in Adobe Premier Elements and Autodesk Smoke; it didn't take too long to get used to video cutting tools (with help from Molly). Along with video cutting and looping, i learnt how to add title effects and methods used to overlay music and intertwine sound effects across the entirety of our clip.  This task provides a good platform for the development into our Thriller and the eventual use of Final Cut.  Furthermore, it can be used to reflect on what went well and what did not.  I have learnt that next time we should view the footage back a couple of times to make sure it's exactly what we aimed to film.  We should also film each scene at least twice just incase we do not realise a continuity error, or we for example: break the 180 degree rule whilst filming.  Finally, i think we should compose our own music which would make editing and lip syncing a great deal easier because we could time the music to footage.  This also increases the ease of distribution across the web due to the lack of copyright transgressions.  Also, because of my access to garage band at home, an electronic drum kit, piano, bass and guitar i may compose music myself for our thriller film.

Alexander Payne:

Whilst carrying out the set preliminary task, I learnt several things about the process that is carried out when planning a film, and the different types of editing techniques and how they are carried out. Before we could start filming our preliminary task we had to think up an idea that met the certain criteria set for us, after that we made a rough idea of a storyboard that we could follow whilst carrying out the filming. When we started filming I soon discovered that we had not planned the storyboard in enough depth to be able to film efficiently  and effectively as we were constantly trying to work out camera angles that would maintain continuity throughout out the film. The filming for our preliminary task was carried out over two separate days, on two separate weeks, this lead to a major flaw in the continuity of our film with Emily changing clothes half way through the film. Thanks to this I now know that we must try and record much of the film as possible in a short time frame, and if it does take more than one day that outfits, makeup etc must be recorded so that they will be maintained on the next filming day. The second thing I learnt whilst filming was that many different shots can be used with lots of different camera angles whilst still maintaining continuity. Filming with lots of different shots makes effective use of the surroundings and can do several different things for the viewer, such as establishing the location, providing detail etc.

When it came to editing I had to use several techniques that I had used before, but then also other techniques that I was new two. For the editing we used iMove 09 (which is the latest version of iMove that the school has installed on the Macs). The first technique I had to use that I had used before was the inserting of text for the opening credits, and end credits. The second technique that I had used before was cutting down clips to make sure that they are the correct length. The first technique which I hadn't used before was when we were attempting to sync our lips to the music of Lucy Spraggen's Beer Fear, this was a challenge to do because of the 40 different clips and camera angles we had filmed. In the end the lip syncing did work relatively well, but there are parts of the film where the timing is slightly out and no matter what we tried it  wasn't possible to retime these parts without different parts becoming out of time. Overall this new technique that I learnt did work quite effectively.

Research: Thriller Directors

Final Idea Presentation Feedback

Feedback 1
Awesome plot idea! Very well thought out.
Careful that involving too much can make it confusing.
Need to be careful of the casting.

Feedback 2
Very good plot, well thought through.
Suggestions: Kill the girl.

Feedback 3
Brilliant idea!
Be aware of the 2 minute time limit.
Interesting and complex storyline.
Zoom out on wall of faces in final shot.
Good location ideas!

Feedback 4
I like the missing posters on the wall idea, sounds quite familiar though.
Diary is a good idea.
Maybe not use the daughter shouting at the man.
Flashbacks with different colours is a great idea.


Emily Strickland:

The feedback has been very positive and helped us to for-see possible problems to stop them before they become a complication. Three out of four said that they liked the narrative which we were all very pleased about and have decided to use that plot. Feedback one said we need to be careful with casting and I too share this worry as we need our actors to portray the exact emotions we have planned, this will keep the opening looking professional and give it the outcome we are expecting. Feedback two has suggested killing the girl but given no reason why so I personally would like to keep the audience in the unknown about her location and ending, this will allow the audience to formulate their own opinions on her outcome. Feedback three suggested a zoom out on the wall of faces for the final shoot, we will take this into account by filming multiple angles and zooms in and out so we have a large number of shots to choose from. I was very pleased that feedback four liked our diary prop because I think it's individual and can work very well with revealing and concealing information from the audience.

Molly Baker:

All the feedback we have been given is very positive and constructive. Feedback 1 said our idea was very well thought out but to not include too much as it could make it confusing. They also said we need to be careful about what actors to cast from this we have decided both the ages for both our characters. Feedback 2 suggests killing the girl which was in our narrative anyway, not sure if they were paying attention... Feedback 3 also liked our idea however they said to be aware of the 2 minute time limit as we have a lot to pack in. They also suggested zooming out on the faces of the children in the final shot which I think we are going to do. Feedback 4 they said the key focus on the diary is a good idea, but to not use the flashback of the daughter shouting at the man. The use of different colours in the flashback is a good idea to establish the time difference.

Final Thriller Idea Presentation

Final Thriller Idea Presentation:

Molly Baker: 

Presenting our idea to the class was very beneficial as we got feedback of what they personally liked and disliked. All our class liked the narrative idea which was very elating as we didn't know whether they would or not. We also got some constructive criticism which is in an above post. From this we can adapt our thriller film to suit our audience perfectly therefore they will enjoy it more.

Research: Shutter island opening question

1. What does the set up reveal to the audience about setting?
The opening of shutter island reveals to the audience that their destination, a prison, is very isolated conveying a sense of danger and uncertainty. The weather is gloomy and foggy indicating mystery to the audience. The main characters arrive on a boat, the water is a dirty grey colour (as opposed to blue) which is normally found in colder countries, this could have importance later in the narrative as the location is yet to be revealed.

2. What does the set up reveal to the audience about characters?

The set up reveals that the two main characters are likely to be detective partners sent by the same agency as they seemed to know each other. The character Teddy Daniels does very little in the opening yet the audience can tell that he's most likely a serious character - not a happy facial expression in the first 5 minutes, also a character very dedicated to his work - choosing a career that involves ferrying out to isolated places shows really commitment and love for the job, this career choice could also lead us to believe that he is quite a selfish character as loved ones around him would be worrying that he has to carry a gun for self defence, so could easily get hurt and works away from home for long periods of time.
3. What does the set up reveal to the audience about interrelationships between characters?

The producers dressed the two detectives in very similar clothing, this in indicates that they probably have similar goals in the narrative which could lead them to working together to achieve what they came for. The negative facial expressions form Teddy during his welcoming conversation with the main guard suggests that their relationship is unlikely to be smooth or for them to see eye to eye.
4. What is this ‘world’ like?

The world within the narrative is likely to be dark, mysterious and dangerous. The weather is evidence for this as its dark and foggy. The unsettling non-diegetic mood music when still on the boat makes the audience feel uneasy and portrays the destination as strange and unsafe.
5. What possible conflicts or strains are there that will become part of the story later on?

The prison guards could potentially become a problem later on in the narrative as they tend to be stuck in their ways and strict about rules (as they should be), but this could become a problem when the detectives are trying to achieve their goals, the detectives could get deserted on the island and have to find another way to leave other than by boat, they could possibly even uncover something that the guard didn't want them to know leading the to be captured ad have to find an escape route.
6. How does this film opening fit with the codes and conventions of Thriller films?

The setting is a typical thriller setting, a prison because it's dangerous and something is likely to go wrong and twist the plot. Detectives are very common characters to be used in thriller films as they too involve danger and the possibility of misinterpretations leading to plot twisters. Unfortunately from the opening alone we can't tell if there's a 'femme fetale' yet which is a very common thriller character.

Research: Thriller Advertisement

Are you interested in psychos, killers and menacing women? Then this is perfect for you! You must be able to act tall, dark and mysterious. Puzzle solving is essential. Another trait is to have a broad outlook on like but also have a single minded goal. Could potentially end up in tense situation therefore patience is key. APPLY WITHIN