Monday 30 January 2012

Heavenly creatures

Heavenly creatures is film based on a true story about two young girls Pauline and Juliet , who both plan to murder Pauline's mother as she is trying to end their valued relationship.Throughout the final scenes there are a lot of close up scenes of watches and a clock to emphasize the importance of time and the intricate deatil of their plan.The use of time is exploited the feeling of suspense with clocks and watches. This a generic thriller convention.The close up of the clock also corresponds to the police investigation where he asks suspects where the girls were at the time of the murder.This notifies the audience that the crime is going to take place .








When the three women walk down the rural pathway , the audience notice the mother is inbetween the two girls.This exploits the thriller convention of claustrophobia and makes the audience feel uneasy as they fear the worst for the mother.It also connotes she is in the middle and intercepting their plan for the future.The centre of their problems.




Wednesday 25 January 2012

Essex Boys analysis


Made in 2000 Essex Boys is based on the murdering of drug dealers in 1995.The whole of the opening scene is full of generic thriller conventions . Firstly the title screen is creates a quite eerie effect , the white lines trickle  down the screen like blood and this lends to the creation of suspense.

The first shot shows a young man (Billy) entering into a dark gloomy garage with an old car in it.Chiaroscuro lighting is used in this scene to create the feeling of suspense and nightmare. Chiaroscuro lighting is used in the same way in the very famous thriller The Third Man.The dingy old garage is rather small witch producers a somewhat claustrophobic effect witch adds to the grimness of the scene.The first bit of dialogue comes from Billy. This allows the audience to establish the Essex accent and learn a bit about him and start to relate to him. The Essex accent is also a cultural signifier .

This point of view shot of the notorious criminal Jason is fantastic at portraying his significance  and personality .   Jason is being looked at through a dirty car windscreen, this represents his distorted nature as the windscreen is unclear of dirt. The audience can also learn there is a sense of arrogance about Jason due to his attire. The vibrant shirt is rather similar to that of Bill from Kill Bill who also is a 'bad guy' who is arrogant. The use of the small light adds to the significance of Jason as it has the effect of a spotlight which makes him stick out in the shot.






The shot of the Dartford tunnel is a cultural signifier which creates the typical thriller convention of the vanishing point. It builds suspense as usually in thrillers the vanishing point leads to a significant event.This is seen in the 1985 film Witness, as the young boy heads to the public toilet where a murder consequently takes place. The tunnel also resembles a barrel of a gun , which links in with thriller genre. 'STAY IN LINE' painted on the road is a sign that Billy should take notice of as he's being influenced by criminal Jason.






This medium shot of Billy and Jason in the car together is cleverly crafted to appear that they are both in jail. The reflection of lights in the tunnel onto the windscreen makes lines that look incredibly  like prison cell bars,and the to characters are behind them. Jason appears to have his hands behind his head relaxing witch looks like he is relaxing in his cell. The also shows that Jason has been in prison before as he looks unfazed.








How do institutions target specific audiences in the film industry? essay

How do institutions target specific audiences in the film industry?
               
             Over recent years, competition in the film industry has increased enormously. Therefore various institutions have had to change their methods of targeting specific audiences. The way in which films are now distributed has changed massively. Institutions such as Love Film have benefited enormously due to the on-going partnership with StudioCanal. Love Film distributes films either, via post or streamed to Play Staion3 games consoles. This varied distribution of films is very effective as it is targeted at a younger and older generation. The older generation can have their selected films posted to them and the younger, have them streamed to their games consoles. Research shows that the age demographic of online streaming of films is 16-24.

             Marketing strategies have also enhanced the targeting of specific audiences. Animal Kingdom was an independently made Australian film, which had an astonishing marketing success. Firstly the film has a fantastic enticing trailor which sold everything about the movie in a few minutes. The plot of the film is also sold exceptionally well which is very useful at gaining the audiences interest .It also has a very famous soundtrack, Air Supply 'All out of love’. This is a very poignant song and it added to the drama of the trailor. Marketing Animal Kingdom was also helped by the use of social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. Campaigns and profiles were made up on these sites to inform people of the greatness of the film and its success of winning the 2010 Sun Dance award. On the other hand ,mainstream big budget film Battleships uses new technology such as CGI and computer generated images in the trailor of the film. This sort of marketing is created to appeal to a worldwide mainstream audience. The appearance of pop star Rihanna making her debut in acting is also very captivating to a mainstream audience as she is a mainstream ‘musician’ , and the A-list actor Liam Neeson is also sold in the trailor.

             The distribution of films has changed the way in which various institutions target specific audiences a great deal. Cinema companies such as VUE and Odeon focus on appealing worldwide with their choice of films to screen. Whereas smaller companies such as Cinema City focus on targeting local audiences. Hollywood block busters are not always shown at these smaller cinemas . Independently made films, foreign language films and locally made films are shown at these smaller more sophisticated cinemas. Which tend to offer more variety of elements to attract customers such as a greater choice of snacks than popcorn and hot dogs , mostly sold in the ‘mainstream’ cinemas . There is also films shown for the deaf at Cinema City , where someone will stand to the side of the screen performing sign language whilst the film plays.






Target audience of thriller (unfinished)

Due to the young age of our characters appearing in the thriller, our target audience is 16-24 year olds. This age demographic will be easy to appeal to because of the easy to understand plot and other conventions such as the costume choice, which is contemporary high street fashion.

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Thriller locations

We chose an elevator to be a location of our thriller as they produce a feeling of confinement and vulnerability for the character.The confinement of an elevator is exploited in Fight Club directed by David Fincher.

This set of flats in Norwich is where we will be filming the thriller opening .We liked the idea of an ordinary urban setting to add a sense of realism . The flats aren't exactly glamorous which will add the brutallity of the chosen setting.This type of setting is seen in the film and series This is England.




The final loaction of our thriller shall be a corridor.This location will be useful at exploiting the thriller convention of a vanashing point . The corridor shall also be empty , which will create tension as the character shall be vulnerable to any unexpected occurances














Thriller costume ideas

Woman Character - Tiffany Wise


Contemporary high street fashion to add realism to the thriller and appeal to audience. Tiffany's naivety will also be exploited with this choice of outfit, as she is a victim in the thriller.

Skinny Jeans







This choice of jewellery is going to be extremely important in our thriller.It's going to be used as a signifier for Tiffany as she will be seen wearing it in the picture taken of her and ex boyfriend .She will also be wearing it when they confront each other at the end of our shoot.






Dark womens Jacket
The ccoice of a dark colour of clothing is to connote a sad solemn character, instead of happy and lively.









Vans trainers






Male character- Blake Haven

Also contemproary high street fashion.With leather jacket and vibrant shirt which is a representation of 'Jason' from Essex Boys.Like Jason of Essex Boys , Blakes attire is chosen to portray arrogance . Attire is used in this way also in Kill Bill. Bill also dresses to impress.






 Mens dark jeans

Rigger Boots
Leather Jacket



Vibrant T-shirt

Jackie Brown analysis

Made in 1997 by Quentin Tarentino , Jackie Brown instantly became recognisable due to its challenging of stereotype created by the main character, Jackie Brown.The title opening starts of with a tracking shot of Jackie , whilst she's on a people mover in an airport .The people mover makes Jackie appear to be gliding , this portrays to the audience a feeling of elegance towards Jackie ,Which couldn't be a more different word to describe her , as she is the deveiant woman of the film.Tarentino has done this for an irony effect.





The next shot shows Jackie walking through the airport.It's a slight low angle shot to show her power and domenance.Jackie is walking with her head held high and striding faster than the general public.This shows her independance and confidence which also challenges the stereotypical view of women in films at the time.Her quickness also portrays she's ahead of everyone in the scene and ahead of her time,which represents the films challenging of stereotypes.
The soudtrack of the film is called 'Across 110th street'.The song refrences life on the streets, which demonstrate  elments such as pimps and drug pushers, this forshadows and gives a subtle clue to what the film is about just in the opening scene.

Extra shots our group thought we could Incorporate into our thriller

-There could be a mirror shot where the camera just focuses on her reflection in the mirror, making the character seem more isolated and shows the intimacy's of being alone. It also allows the audience to see her emotions and get to know this character more.
- A point of view shot could also be used when the female character is hiding from the other leaving a tense atmosphere as your left unsure as to what will happen to this girl.
-When in the lift the girl may have dropped something that you see on her beforehand, for example a ring or a bracelet, she could be wearing a ring when she presses the button the lift but then suddenly after seeing the ambiguous figure the ring is on the floor in the cubicle which could be the last shot.

Shot list for thriller

Shot one- Over shoulder shot of Sarah looking at a photo of her and the male character who is called Jon. Diegetic sound of Sarah crying will be shown enabling the audience to feel for the character.

Shot two- Cuts to a close up shot of Sarah crying to establish a sense of drama.

Shot three-Cut to a close up shot of Sarah hand pressing the button on a lift, you see a distinctive bracelet round her wrist. Diegetic sound is played of the lift coming down.

Shot four- Cut to a close up shot of Sarah looking happier, however that happiness slowly deteriorates as the scene goes on.

Shot five- Cut to a long shot of the elevator doors opening and then Sarah walks out of the elevator.

Shot six- Cut to a long shot of Sarah opening a door to enter room.

Shot seven- Cut to a tracking shot of Sarah walking along a corridor in her house, and then she opens a door to the bathroom.

Shot eight-Cut to Sarah turning on a tap in the bath and then she sits down and gets the photo out that she was looking at at the start.

Shot nine- Cut to a point of view shot of Sarah looking at the original picture from earlier.

Shot ten-Cut to a point of view shot of Sarah holding the photo whilst the male character Jon is standing over her, however you only see his body, not his head.