synopsis

Are working title is: Lost but Never Found

Lost but never found is a story about a boy called thomas who manages to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. To start, he innocently goes for a walk with his dog, they play and walk down the misty track towards the beach, he realises after a while that he has come along way and its getting later and darker. Once the boy and dog reach the outskirts of the beach the dog runs off, excited by the beach and soon Thomas can't find him and starts to panic, he looks around but the dog is no where to be found. Eventually he finds the dogs collar and lead on the floor, understandably he gets panicked by the sense of being alone and without his beloved companion. The scene ends with the boy looking out towards the woods behind is the siluote of a man but he doesn't know that the man is there.

Survey

This is my survey for Thriller research, please help by filling in this short Questionnaire.

<a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8PMLKSB">Click here to take survey</a>

How can I make my Thriller appealing to my audience?

I have done research looking into the people who watch thrillers, where thy watch them and how much the thriller genre make. In this post I will be looking at these areas to grasp an understanding to how my thriller will grab the widest variety of viewers so it is appealing and within their interest.

This table was produced by the BFI 2012 showing where the percentage of films have been viewed in the UK last year. It tells me that releasing our thriller online means that 2% more people are more likely to watch it than the percentage of people that would see it if we were to pay to screen it in a cinema. It also shows that a huge percentage of people would rather watch a film once or twice and not pay for it, by watching it on television rather than paying for the DVD or going to the cinema. The estimated size of the audience for online viewing was 277 million in 2011 in the UK meaning there is a vast spectrum of viewers that can watch our thriller via the Internet. We will release our film on the Internet as this seems the cheapest, widely viewed option.


This graph shows us that if we target our film to the age group of 15-34 years old then we are grabbing the attention of over half of the people that go to the cinema. It shows that if we make our thriller appealing to these age groups then the majority of people that go to the cinema will see our thriller, this is also good as we are in this age group so we can relate to them and if we make it appealing to ourselves then we have made a thriller attractive to a huge audience of people.

This table shows that two thrillers with an above average audience were in the 15-24 age group, which is the majority of our target age group, proving that thrillers are attractive to the audience we want to catch the attention of. Therefore backing up other research that we are targeting the right ages for our thriller.

These tables show the which gender preferred the top 20 films in 2011, I'm looking at thrillers so 'Black Swan','127 Hours' and 'Tinker,Tailor,Soldier,Spy' were in my interest to research. This shows that 22% more females saw Black Swan than males and interestingly 36% more males saw 127 hours in 2011. This may not seem that important into my research however it tells me whether this is by coincidence or not Black Swans lead role was female and 127 hours lead role was male and therefore appealing to the same sex as the actor. This is something I will discuss with my group while planning our thriller and is something that we will consider when choosing our actors as it seems viewers can relate to the same sex actors better then the opposite sex. The table shows that 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' has an insignificant percentage difference between male and female viewers meaning to appeal to my audience it is important to get the right balance to encourage both male and female viewers. This is also interesting as the lead roles for this film were balanced between male and female actors which is also something I will consider with our actors.

This table shows how much money the thriller genre made from the amount of films released in that category in 2011. It shows that even though the thriller genre isn't making as much as other genres, there is still an audience watching them and there is still a market to producing them. It is also making a significant amount more then the lower grossing genres for example the genre below,Drama, made 9,494 but thrillers made 13,161 which is a huge leap making thrillers the lowest in the bigger grossing genres but also considerably more than those under 10,000. This has proved to me that thrillers still appeal to the population and there is a gap for more, and more money to be made from their popularity.

This table shows what socio-economic background people are from and which top 20 films they watched last year. This shows that people from an AB audience watched more thrillers that those from a DE audience. We ideally would like our thriller to appeal to both the DE and AB audience, therefore we will to cater for the needs of both. An idea to do this would to not you clever language or anything that would be hard for someone to understand, or feel uncomfortable to watch, as this could result in a loss of viewers if a scene was to complicated or hard to follow, meaning we will limit the speech to create the atmosphere. Something that may not appeal to those in the DE audience is flash backs as they can be hard to follow and understand if not explained well, we were planning on using them at first but after this we may consider cutting them or using them in a way that is appealing to both audiences.

This research has helped me to think more about the audience and to those whom I will target our thriller for. I now know how to make it appealing to the viewers through this research, all the graphs and information came from the BFI website, I also discovered interesting facts about the thriller genre and how attractive it is to the population, how much money it makes and what type of people watch films with the genre. I will use all of this information to help me and my group make the most appealing thriller for our target age group.

Film titles

This title is for the film se7en, the writing looks 'slap-dash' as if its been encrypted onto the background. The letters look like they’re not finished or broken; suggesting something or someone in the film is represented in this way. The background is dark suggesting a sense of space and loneliness, to the viewer as if they are alone and nothing is there to save them. The word has a shadow make the letters seem like they have been printed many times to suggest that the plot line of the film has happened many times or is being repeated, maybe the characters are repeating the same thing over and over. The letter 'v' has been replaced with the number '7' this possibly is to emphasise the time, that whatever is going to happen will happen seven times and no more, at a glance the word reads 'seven' like normal but once you take a better look it becomes clear that it looks and sounds different, but the way it has replaced without people noticing may read into the film as though the happenings and the story line is taking place without people noticing. I think the title for se7en is effective as it gives clues to the film about the seven repetitions.

This is the title for the film The Hunter it is minimalistic suggesting that the film may use simple techniques to create suspense and other mediums of the thriller genre. the writing is clear in white against a black background, this use of white and black is represented as good and evil, meaning 'the hunter' is represented as good but the surroundings and happenings are bad. The scale of black around the spaced white letters may suggest there is no escape from the dark black background and 'The Hunter' is small compared to the evil it is faced against. The Hunter letters are simplistic and use a readable font with no fancy lettering, exactly in the middle of the picture signifying that this is the topic of the film and that there is little around to refer to through the film. I think this title is simple and to the point, creating suspense for the viewer as there is no further indication to the film or what you are about to watch.

Setting

This is the setting for the opening of our thriller ideally we would like it to be a misty day to emphasize the mysterious suspense factor of not knowing what lies ahead for our character. The opening for A Mothers Son came to mind when we chose this setting as further along the track is the beach and the open waters giving a sense of vast open space so our character feels alone with nothing around to save him.

This is where we plan to set our thriller opening, we will film here in half term, underneath is a mind map of our ideas for the thriller, we haven't definitely decided on one yet but we will discuss it in class.

As media project 'Monster chase'

Body of Lies

"How does the location and use of light and dark depict the emotional landscape of a character?"

 In this picture we can see that the antagonist is dressed with white colours, showing stereotypically that he should be the protagonist, as good is represented in white, this may show that his actions are what he thinks are the right ones but to the viewer isn't. He is in shadow on the left side showing he is behind the scenes and not the front man of the operation, there is light beaming through behind to represent hope for him or to show he has a way out before he is to be in total darkness, by doing the wrong thing.

In this image like the one above we can see his character choosing between light and darkness, good and bad, his face is directed towards the dark but his body is in the light, possibly showing that he could make the right decision but he's already made up his mind and he is being directed towards the wrong ones. He is asleep but appears to have been reading showing he is intellectual and thoughtful. The translations are in the colour yellow to show light, another symbol of escape, and better or right choices.

I chose to include this image because you can see the man is dressed in white and his milk float is white, showing that he is the protagonist and is working for good. It is clear that he is working with the forces against the other men above, however he is clearly being depicted in white and the forces are in black. The street is empty and has been blocked off to other residents, of Manchester it shows an emptiness of feeling and dehumanization for the characters as if they have no souls and they are just mechanical workers.

This image shows one of the men from the forces moving into the terrorist's house, the house is dark showing someone from the good light moving into the bad. The forces are dressed all in black and have masks to cover their face which originally would show they are the antagonist however that wouldn't seem to be the case once the scene is over. Again this image shows no character to the men dressed in black however the use of dark and natural light would lead us to believe they are good and the men in the house are bad, showing there is no real good or bad its all the same, that there is no right or wrong answer.

Title Sequences

Se7en

The title sequence for the thriller, Se7en fits well into the the thriller genre convention, using black and white, dark and shadows it shows brings out the sinister early on, setting the scene for the begging of the film.It uses close shots showing the intimacy between you and the character, and what he is to endeavor later on. The title sequence shows his planning for murder, showing reasoning and a form of rationalization for what he's going to do. To start it is slow showing book pages then the camera moves quickly between each picture almost to keep it hidden as if a secret is being kept from you.

It then shows him cutting the skin off his fingers, as if its old and hes been working such a long time on his plans and hes becoming dead, it also could signify him cutting away his fingerprints to hide from the future deaths. Parts remain hidden throughout the title showing a darkness as if to show his dark thoughts without letting you in to his mind.

This image shows his pen and writing movements being overlapped, with a change in opacity levels, this shows repetition  to give the impression that his actions are being repeated and he has done this before or he is going to do this again. It refers back to the title and what it means, that things will happen seven times, showing again that repetition of seven in this sequence.

The music throughout is robotic and mechanical, its fast symbolizing his thoughts and how his actions are like a machine, processed and thought about but repetitive. overall the title sequence fits well into the thriller convention as it creates a dark and methodical atmosphere to start off the film, with fast and slow pace shots, creating a tempo for the rest of the film.

Thriller posters

This is the poster for Leon, the font and bold letters of the word Leon running down the left hand side of the poster seems to represent a support system for the man, its structured like the buildings reflected in his glasses, possibly the building holds a form of sentimental value to him and that's why the bold lettering stands out when looking at the poster. The man is looking up at the skyscraper that is reflected in his glasses, possibly this is because he is looking towards hope, or a target. The man in the poster looks scruffy and not wealthy, he is wearing a hat and glasses which represent a form of disguise, possibly he is hiding or he is the aggressor. There is an orange glow across the cityscape and his face this colour can be represented as danger or fire, maybe this means he is danger or the city will bring him dangerous events. There is light beaming on his face from the sun showing that the city will bring hope and that there is light at the end of the tunnel for him.

This poster was designed to look like a magazine cover, it looks used and mass produced, suggesting the woman on the front is used. The woman doesn't seem to care about the fact there is a gun resting in front of her showing she doesn't care and shes used to that, and that she is dangerous herself and isn't bothered by the consequences. her hand is covering a magazine cover showing she is controlling, also that she is hiding the content of the magazine. This hiding is reflected in the dark shadows to the left of the page showing there is a light and dark side to her or that she is being hidden from the truth. She is dressed all in black suggesting she is bad and not working with morals. In the background the blinds seem to look like bars, meaning the woman is trapped in this situation and cant escape from it, even though she looks comfortable in her surroundings, the image depicted could show a false side of her personality and that she is being made to look this way but she doesn't want to be. Overall the poster is effective and bold, making you look further into the reasons behind the representation of her character.

This is the poster for the film taken starring Liam Neeson, it shows him running down a cobbled street towards the darkness this shows how he is moving toward the bad people and towards a dark place. He is dressed all in black showing he is a bad person or does bad things. His shadow is bold and dark moving closer and faster towards the dark as if he is closer to danger and the unknown thank he thinks. There is a girl in the light behind him showing that she is his support and the light at the end of the darkness. The Eiffel Tower is very faintly in the background in the light, this may be because it shows where the film is set or where the ghost like girl is. The word taken is in red and is bold showing danger and red can represent blood.The girl is very opaque and ghost like and dressed in white showing her innocence, he is running away from her possibly because he has to go through the darkness to get to her. overall the poster uses shadows, white and dark to show meanings and to represent the characters.

No Country for Old Men

No country for old men was directed by Ethan and Joel Coen, it received many awards such as an academy award for best picture and a BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography. The film is based on the novel written by Cormac McCarthy in 2005.

A man stumbles upon a bloody crime scene, a pickup truck full of heroin and two million dollars, he decides to give in to temptation and take the money causing a domino effect of violent actions which seem unstoppable, meaning west Texas law cant control the events that occur.the cast is lead by Tommy Lee Jones who won an award for best supporting actor for the San Diego Film critics society.