Thriller Evaluation

As we were instructed to create an opening to a thriller movie using specific devices and techniques from conventional thriller films, our group took influence from a few well known thriller films. We first created a digital story board and a ‘dry run’ of our initial ideas for our thriller ‘DeathWalk’ and views on how we want the finished product to look.
The final look of the main character looked similar to The Ring (2002):Thriller films usually contain certain factors that increase tension and suspense, some of these factors include; isolation, a hostile atmosphere and unpredictable events to ‘shake’ the audience and keep them interested. Some examples of thriller openings that contributed to our film idea include; 28 days later and Arlington road. In the opening to 28 days later the feeling of isolation and seclusion from reality is highlighted, for example when the main character finds that there is no one in the hospital, he then leaves and walks around London to find nobody. I wanted to produce the strong sense of isolation as our piece is a suicidal dream sequence.

However re-creating this environment was difficult when there is no sufficient financing. We decided that a big park would be the best location to try and re-create the impact of seclusion. Some devices used in the opening sequence to Arlington Road were useful techniques and ideas that we included in our work. This included a low ankle shot of abrupt walking and foot movements.
We found this technique abstract and unique and as we were portraying a dream sequence, it was vital that we took and abstract and ‘strange’ approach toward this project to fulfil this effect.We chose to use conventional ‘thriller’ film techniques so that we could merge and develop elements from successful thriller films to create a memorable and hostile atmosphere.
The sound in our final piece was also similar to many conventional thriller films, it consisted of a simple piano melody but was high pitched and minimalistic. The unpredictable events and tension was heightened by the music and added extra hostility and anxiety to the overall sequence. An example of a similar style but with string instruments is the opening sound track to the shining.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDR4OJUPG6A
The product shows the protagonist to be a young female and the piece represents typical subconscious teenage issues of trying to find identity, feelings of isolation and misunderstanding. We decided to use a female as the protagonist because many thriller films use females so that the audience can empathise with their fears and worries. Stereotypical characteristics of a female protagonist in a thriller films are - vulnerability, emotional instability, restlessness and anxiety. These characteristics are mainly used in thriller films, as they are stereotypical connotations of females thus making females be seen to deliver more sentiment to the audience and highlight the tense atmosphere that is being created.Some examples of female protagonists that influenced our work into proving that a female could perfectly portray the role created for our thriller opening are; What Lies Beneath (2000, Michelle Pfeiffer), The Others (2001, Nicole Kidman) and The ring (2002, Daveigh Chase).

We didn’t want our main female to represent a particular race or for the audience to be able to pinpoint a specific social class. When deciding how to represent our views on the protagonist not belonging to a specific social classification we conferred ideas on costume and make-up. Our final idea was a girl to be dressed in a dressing gown and have her face covered up by hair we took a few test shots to see if it would work and we all felt that it looked appropriate for the narrative.

The overall social group I feel that our work represents is teenagers focussing mainly on females and aiming to toward the target audience of working class to middle-class teenage girls.
Our media product is more likely to be a mid-budget Hollywood blockbuster as it follows the conventions of typical thriller movies and uses many elements of previous successful thriller movies. As our thriller includes many intertextual references to other films mentioned previously (28 days later, Arlington Road and The ring), these films were mainly mid-budget blockbusters resulting in our piece being of a similar financial criteria. However 28 days later and The Ring’s production costs would be higher than what the budget we would aim to have due to these film using busy and well known locations to film. By using these locations it creates more financial dilemma as roads may have to be blocked off and police officers to guard the area causing traffic. Possible distributors of the film may be Warner Brothers with the specification being Domestic Theatrical Distributor. Warner Brothers is a successfully established distributor and contributed with Domestic Theatrical distributor to distribute The Shining (1980).

The release of the film would either come out around a specific occasion (e.g. Halloween or Friday 13th) or a school holiday period where teenagers over the age of fifteen will be able to go and see it. The film will also only be showing after 21:00 in the cinema and special late night showings would also be available to increase the ‘thrill’ of going to view it at the cinema.
The main target audience for our media product would be teenage girls as the film idea as a whole covers many teenage issues of depression and isolation. We chose this as a target audience as it is our age group and therefore we decided to create something that would appeal to us. Raising teen suicide rates a turning to be an increasingly big issue amongst society so tackling such a sensitive subject for people around our age group was hard but yet in some senses mentally and emotionally fulfilling.

To attract my target audience I would use a range of promotional campaigns starting with traditional techniques and leading to modern ways of advertising and promoting the film ;(e.g. the internet). Starting with the traditional ways of marketing our film I would promote through:
• Paid trailers on television- Trailers showing on mainly terrestrial channels between popular programmes within an adolescent audience such as; Desperate Housewives (Channel 4), Skins (E4), Shameless (E4),Gossip Girl (ITV2). These programmes are aired after 21:00 in the evening and by using the advertisement breaks between parts of the programme it will capture the attention of the audience. A full trailer may also be debuted after midnight on a terrestrial channel (preferably Channel 4).
• Paid trailers on radio - Radio trailers will air after 20:00 so the audience will be aware of the genre. The voice over will be of a deep male voice making the trailer sound gritty and thrilling. A few sound effects could be used to represent the unpredictable events that occur in the film.
A recent television trailer; http://www.theunbornmovie.net/
Some modern ways to promote the film towards my selected audience:
• Viral Marketing – As young adults have evolved with technology and become accustom to using the internet as a source for entertainment the trailer will be available on film specialist websites and cinema websites. A few cinema websites that the plot and full trailer could be viewed at are; http://www.odeon.co.uk/ , http://www.showcasecinemas.co.uk/ and http://www.empirecinemas.co.uk/. Leaks from film websites may be put onto such sites as www.youtube.com are still a means of free advertising and can only have a positive outcome in the lead up to the release date.
Other ways in which the film could be promoted in the run up to the release date:
• Billboards – This would include advertisements on buses, in the tunnel of trains/subways and on the side of roads and motorways.
• Short flashes of a certain memorable detail from the full trailor in-between programmes on television.


Although we had been briefly introduced to the software used to construct our final piece, I felt that when using the software and trying to perfect a specific detail I had trouble witch tackling the intricacies. However after taking another hour to familiarise myself with the uses and features of the software (Final Cut Pro and Soundtrack Pro) I felt much more confident within the group and was able to help in trying to portray our work and deliver the intentional effect and devices.
I found that once I had created a basic structure or a ‘rough cut’ of our two minute opening sequence it made it a lot easier to change, perfect and make use of the roll range of shots and clips that we had.

In hindsight I feel that as a group and personally, the finished product has exceeded my expectations and yearns to create a successful final piece. Sometimes when you are trying to think of creative ways in which you manipulate your shots when editing, you feel as though you have a ‘mental block’ which can be frustrating.
Although I feel that the end product was successful if I was to re-do or for future reference toward this type of work, I would definitely stick to a more vigorously planned and precise schedule prior to filming dates and start editing before we have got all the shots as it would have been easier to add and perfect once all the shots were done instead of starting once all the filming had been done.