Props.

The props we will be using include;

- Parka coat; we used this because it appeals to certain social groups. Older generations can associate with it and so can our generation. It is scruffy but at the same time a nice coat. It creates mystery about the type of person wearing it.

- Ropes; ropes add to the mise-en-scene as they are something that is associated with sadistic rituals and torture.

- Cigarettes; We used the cigarettes as a prop because it shows ritual, the audience can make there own assumptions as to what it means however we intended it to show a routine, to show that he is someone that plots and cleverly plans rather than just a random attacks. Also it builds up tension because the audience will associate the drop of the cigarette with the abduction of someone.

Location.

For our location we chose an abandoned airbase about 3 miles inside Twford woods. We chose this for multiple reasons, these being;


- It was unlikely to have been seen before in media projects. Many people choose locations that have been used in other productions, usually around the local area. We wanted to ensure that ours was unique in this sense.


- It let light in from the sides we wanted, the windows were to the right side to create this low lighting effect.


- It was big enough for us to do our credits on. We wanted to incorporate our credits in with our main location in order to keep the opening fluid. We sprayed on the walls and the titles did not get in the way of any of the filming that we did so they are not noticeable in any ways but the titles themselves are very good.


- It sticks to the conventions of a thriller location and also creates a suitable Mise-en-scene. It is gloomy and abandoned, it is claustrophobic in the sense that it is only a small bunker, however it is also rather open. From various shots you can see that it is miles away from any forms of civilisation.

Storyboards!

These are our storyboards of our Media Production. We tried to do a walkthrough of exactly what shots we wanted. 

This is an initial idea of the type of music we would have in the Media Production. This is Non-diegetic as we chose not to have diegetic sound in our production to go against conventions for more dramatic purposes.

These are the ideas for the correct type of lighting. The arrows indicate where we would ideally like the light to come in from in order to create this low-key lighting.

Results of questionnaire

1. What gender are you?             Male                  Female 

For this question the results came back that 13 out of 20 that we questioned were male. This tells us we could possibly looking at a predominately male audience.

2. What age group do you represent?          15-20           21-30           31-45+

17 out of 20 were between 15 and 20 and 100% of people we questioned were between 15 and 30. This gave us a good indication that we should have our target audience as this, but also aim to fit inside the BBFC guidelines of the 15 age rating.

3. Please list a few of your favourite thrillers?

Shutter Island was mentioned 6 times and was the most mentioned film. This indicates that people like a more psychological thriller. The second most mentioned film was Inception with 5 votes, this also being a hybrid psychological adventure thriller only emphisises the point that we should be looking to make our film within this hybrid genre.

4. What do you consider to make a good thriller? (please Circle)

• Impressive non-diegetic sound
• Special effects
• Good camera work
• high-quality acting
• good quality lighting

The most circled answer was interestingly high quality acting. Obviously we will not have hollywood actors, but it seems important to the audience, regardless of budget, that the acting is of a certain quality.

5. How many times during a month would you watch a thriller movie

14 out of 20 said they watched at least one Thriller a month. This means that we will have to get something eye catching, possibly something that breaks regular conventions in order to catch the eye of our target audience.

6. Are you currently in further education at school?

14 out of the 20 people we questionnaire were in full time education, this again gives us a good idea of our target audience.

No

Yes

7. What non diegetic sound do you believe to be effective (please tick)

Sombre

Intense

Dramatic

Eerie

Mysterious

People agreed that in the thriller genre it was important for the non-diegetic sound to be intense and dramatic with all 20 going for one or the other. This gives us a solid idea of the type of non-diegetic soundtrack to have over our media production in order to attract our target audience.

8. Who would be someone you would likely to watch a thriller movie with?

Boyfriend/Girlfriend 

Family 

Friend’s 

Grandmother 

It was mainly friends or family that people watch thrillers with. This gave us information as we understood that there could be nothing to intense or graphic in our opening as if families are watching thrillers together we dont want to loose out on a massive potential audience because we have made things too graphic or crude.

9. Where would you expect a thriller movie to be set?

Town

City

Forest

Countryside

Other ________________________

The genreal agreement was that it should either be a City or somewhere like a forest. This corresponds with my previous post about Mise-en-scene. People like the eeriness of sparse locations but also like to see something they can recognise and relate too.

10. What other conventions do you think a thriller should contain?

Sense of mystery

Anticipation

Hero /heroine and villain

It was said that a thriller should ideally contain all of these things, the vote was almost evenly split when it came to choosing one so this tells us these are all conventions of other thrillers that the audience are enjoying.

11. What is your favourite type of thriller genre??

Action thriller

Conspiracy thriller

Crime thriller

Erotic thriller

Legal thriller

 Political thriller

Rape and Revenge films

Supernatural thriller

People enjoyed the idea of a conspiracy thriller. This again plays on the idea of suspense and mystery found in a psychological thriller.

12. What is the average rating of film you would watch?

18 and 15 were the most popular films watched. However in order to widen our target audience 15 seems like the most logical age rating to try and aim our media production at.

12 

12A 

15 

18 

R rated 

Looking at our feedback obtained from the questionnaire we decide to try and create a phycological thriller. We chose this because people seem to prefer a more intelligent watch. We also decided to aim our thriller at 15 and over whilst not excluding it from being a family film by being too graphic. Also we got good feedback about types of location and sound people enjoy too.

Questionnaire time!

We sent out a questionnaire in order to try and get feedback on what type of media production to produce. This is a copy of our questionnaire; 

1. What gender are you?             Male                  Female 

2. What age group do you represent?          15-20           21-30           31-45+

3. Please list a few of your favourite thrillers?

4. What do you consider to make a good thriller? (please Circle)

• Impressive non-diegetic sound
• Special effects
• Good camera work
• high-quality acting
• good quality lighting

5. How many times during a month would you watch a thriller movie?

6. Are you currently in further education at school?

No

Yes

7. What non diegetic sound do you believe to be effective (please tick)

Sombre

Intense

Dramatic

Eerie

Mysterious

8. Who would be someone you would likely to watch a thriller movie with?

Boyfriend/Girlfriend 

Family 

Friend’s 

Grandmother 

9. Where would you expect a thriller movie to be set?

Town

City

Forest

Countryside

Other ________________________

10. What other conventions do you think a thriller should contain?

Sense of mystery

Anticipation

Hero /heroine and villain

11. What is your favourite type of thriller genre??

Action thriller

Conspiracy thriller

Crime thriller

Erotic thriller

Legal thriller

 Political thriller

Rape and Revenge films

Supernatural thriller

12. What is the average rating of film you would watch?

12 

12A 

15 

18 

R rated 

13. Which location do you believe to best setting for a thriller

Woods

Abandoned building

Village

Alleyway

Castle

School

Urban centre 

Film Institutions.

Sony Pictures Entertainment is one of the biggest film institutions and is part of the Motion Picture Association of America, even though it is a Japanese company. Sony own Tri-Star and Columbia pictures after buying the rights to them from The Coca-Cola Company back in 1989. Sony have produces blockbuster films over the years including Spiderman, Underworld and The Karate Kid. 

Sony also own a subsidiary company called screen gems. I think these would be ideal for producing our media production as they have made thrillers and tend to take bigger risk than other film institutions. They have produced movies like Resident Evil, Quarantine and Hostage. These films are of a similar genre to the type of media production I have produced. 

Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Entertainment have also produced television programs as well as their well know films.

Mise-En-Scene in thrillers!

Throughout all thriller movies there are certain elements of the mise-en-scene that remains the same. This can include use of similar props (weapon, rope), or a similarity of the locations used and things like lighting.


Weapons
Common use of props is found throughout thrillers. The use of of a weapon would be found in either a criminal thriller or an adventure thriller. In films like psycho there is the knife, possibly the biggest prop in the film. This adds a lot to the mise-en-scene as not only is there the prop itself, the knife is also kept in the shadow, which is another common element of mise-en-scene found in thrillers.

However use of other weapons can be found in differend sub genres of thrillers. In action adventure thrillers the use of a gun is more likely. This can be seen throughout films like James Bond and Mission impossible. The gun suggest a less sadistic attack than a knife, however in its own right brings a certain element of mise-en-scene. I gives of the vibe of recklessness of an attack.

Location.
Certain types of location will be used commonly throughout thrillers. It is key that the location is not too obvious to the audience. Usually it will be somewhere open and somewhere that the audience is unlikely to recognise with. The openness of certain locations give a sense of vulnerability. This can be seen in The Happening.

However most action in a thriller will take place in confined spaces, this will give the audience a sense of claustrophobia. The location element of the mise-en-scene of thrillers is used cleverly to represent different events, closed in locations suggest a more immanent danger, however a more open location suggest a more subtle danger.


Lighting.
Lighting in thrillers is described as low key lighting. This brings contrast to the colours more obviously and also casts heavier shadows. This is shown in more Noir style films. It can also be seen in films like Donnie Darko and The Woman in Black.