Evaluative Report

Our brief was to plan and film an opening sequence to a thriller film in small groups of about 3 or 4. We were allowed to choose a sub-genre of our choice. The planning included making a storyboard and planning things such as shot types and duration and camera angles.
The research we did was doing things such as looking at several different crime thriller openings (such as Taken) and stating how they use the usual thriller conventions and/or how they used their own original effects. When researching these thriller openings I also paid attention to things such as the age ratings on the films to see what the age of the audience is meant to be. From research I have also discovered that some thrillers make it quite difficult to recognise the sub-genre of a film in the opening scene, and it's possible that (for example) they may be a crime thriller, or a psychological thriller, but you can't tell until you watch further into the film. The two film openings I looked at were James Bond-Skyfall and Sherlock Holmes. I chose these because they are both very well known thriller films and they have won many awards so I felt like I could learn a lot from analysing their techniques they have used. In class we also watched the first 15 minutes to a thriller film to identify what usual thriller conventions were being used and how the thriller was different. This all developed on how we can start our own thriller and make it clear that it is a thriller but also make it original at the same time. We also had a trip to the cinema to watch 'LA Confidential' a classic thriller film that involves a detective/detectives looking into different crimes such as murders and prostitution. We then wrote a 500 word essay on the way the scenes have been shot and different characters have been presented and lighting has been used to create the different effects (for example, low key lighting and shadows may create a serious and tense mood for the audience and a high key scene may be used to make a face look softer and more attractive and present a character in a good way).
I would say that my target audience would probably be teenagers and above. This is because to make the product more interesting, if it was a real film, it may involve things such as violence to build up tension and make it more action packed. After I decided on this age group I then asked a different range of people in that specific group to answer some questions on what they like the most about crime thrillers. I think I have attracted them to my product by using interesting features such as tense music and sophisticated lighting to make the production seem a lot more professional and worth watching. I also think that as there may be a hint of mystery and someone being taken it may attract them as it is very unclear what has happened and they may want to find out what happens next.
The elements of my research that were useful in forming the pre-production process were definitely reflecting on other crime thrillers and watching their openings and seeing how they all differ yet all use the same kind of techniques to create the tense and dramatic mood that thrillers are meant to have. It also helped a lot asking my target audience what they most enjoy about thrillers as that way I got to see what people like and what I should include in my own to keep it interesting and enjoyable for the audience. Watching 'LA Confidential' also helped me a lot, mainly because it uses such a variety of different techniques yet still is a very classic and clear thriller. For example, it taught me about how you can use it to make two characters appear very different to the audience just by using a harsher or softer lighting on them.

Evaluative Report

Section 1
For my project the brief was to film an opening sequence to a thriller which will last around 3 minutes and will include film titles and an ident at the beginning. This will be done in a small group of 3 people and the thriller will be specified to a sub-genre of our choice. As part of my pre-production task, I chose a sub-genre of crime thriller and carried out some primary and secondary research to establish the conventions of this sub-genre and what kind of audience this sub-genre will appeal to.

In class we carried out various exercises into looking at thrillers and thriller subgenres before starting our project. At first we made a list of all of the characteristics of a thriller which included suspense, mystery, film noir, tension and a hero with a flaw or secret past. We also looked at the iconography used in thrillers and created a short storyboard for a thriller opening sequence to help us practice for our project. As a class we watched L.A confidential as this is a well-known thriller which includes many typical thriller conventions as well as the use of film noir including femme fatale within the main female character.

As part of my secondary research, I watched the opening sequences of two crime thrillers to see how they meet or contrast the expected conventions of this sub-genre. I chose to look at The Godfather as it was a highly successful film in its time, winning a great amount of awards such as 3 Academy awards and 5 Golden Globe awards such as Best Motion Picture and Best Director. I also used Heat as an example as it is another classic crime thriller which was released 20 years later than the Godfather so I thought it would be interesting to look at two opening sequences from different eras to see how they compared and contrasted. I carried out this secondary research to look at the uses of crime thriller conventions to see how well they represented the genre and to help me decide what elements I should use in my product which will represent my sub-genre well.

For my primary research, I asked 5 people from my target market which aspects of crime thrillers they most enjoy. I carried out this to gain some understanding of what kind of features appeal to my target market in a crime thriller as well as what they will hope for in my product and which elements I should use to ensure that my product is as successful as possible. I decided that my target audience should be people aged 15 years and above as this allows my group to use more thrilling elements in our product which will enable our product to excite the audience as it will not be restricted to the themes only suitable for young children, however it will still be suitable for most teenagers.

Section 2

I think that watching L.A confidential was very useful for my research as it allowed me to discover popular conventions used in a highly successful thriller, which I can consider using when creating ideas for my project. Finding out what aspects of crime thrillers my target audience enjoy the most was also very useful in informing the pre-production process of my thriller opening. This is because it allowed me to work out which elements I will need to include in my final product in order for it to be as successful as possible and in order for it to appeal to my target audience. Also, looking at all of the different features and conventions used in the opening sequences of two different successful crime thrillers was useful as it helped me to have an understanding of what kind of conventions I will need to include for my product to represent my sub-genre well.

I received useful feedback from my market testing as my target audience identified specific features of crime thrillers in which they enjoy the most and so this allowed me to discover what interests and excites my target audience and what attracts their attention the most. From this research I learned that my target market enjoy interesting storylines with a surprising twist, the build-up of tension, the amount of action which is used in the film, a hidden story between characters and they also enjoy the way the scenes excite them and draw their attention. From this research I gathered a variety of responses and so this gives me a range of elements which I should consider when creating ideas for my product. I can use this reliable evidence to make a successful opening scene which will intrigue my target audience and it will draw them in and so they will want to know what will happen next.

The research which I carried out influenced the development to my ideas by allowing me to create ideas of an opening scene involving a victim of a young girl which follows the conventions of a lot of thrillers of involving a young, vulnerable victim. When thinking of ideas to use for my product, I followed the feedback which I received from my market testing and decided that my opening sequence should involve the disappearance of this victim as this will create suspense and should draw the attention of my audience into wanting to find out where and how she disappeared. I decided that I should also use the typical convention specifically used in Heat and The Godfather of dark lighting to create an uneasy atmosphere and this should represent a crime thriller well. My ideas also involve using flashbacks to the scenes of the events which led to the disappearance of the young girl and also flashbacks of her getting ready to leave her house in a happy lighting, with tense music, to show that something bad is going to happen to her. Much like the opening sequence of Heat, there could be quiet, mysterious music playing in the background to add to the suspense.

Gemma Barham

Test shots

During one of our lessons we decided to test out some camera shots which we were planning on using for our opening sequence to make sure we are able to film our shots as well as we can for our final piece.

This is a mid shot of the main character (victim) looking in the mirror which will be set in a bedroom and will show that she is getting ready to go out. It will be a flashback of before she disappeared.

This is a long shot of a car driving past from the distance.

This is a panning shot which pans across the corridor from one end to the other which we will include but instead it will be set in the street in which the victim lives, of the houses around  hers.

This is another panning shot of houses down a road which is more realistic to how the final shot will look.

This is a tracking point of view shot of going up the stairs, which will be used in the victims house leading up to her bedroom before we discover that she has disappeared.

This is a tracking shot of doors opening which we will use near the start of our opening sequence of the front door of the victim's house.

Risk Assessment

We have to be careful when filming near/in the road incase of oncoming vehicles. To avoid this we will have one person checking the road to make sure that we are safe and not obstructing traffic.

We will be careful when we are filming the broken glass as there is a risk we may harm ourselves and may slip over on the slippery surface. In this shot there will also be water used so we have to be careful that it doesn't spill on any of our equipment or electrical devices around.

Also we need to make sure we don't trip over any of the equipment eg. tripod and dolly

We have to be careful filming whilst walking up the stairs and make sure we don't trip.

Individual roles for our product

As a group we assigned individual roles of which we felt were most suitable to each person in the group. The roles include:

• Director
• Camera operator
• Editor
• Performer
• Sound
• Cinematographer
• Lighting

For our project I will be in charge of operating the camera as well as lighting. A camera operator is the operator of a film or video camera. The camera operator is responsible for physically operating the camera, maintaining composition and camera angles throughout a given scene or shot and capturing the scenes in the film the way it is anticipated. Important camera operator skills include choreographing and framing shots, as well as knowledge of and the ability to select appropriate camera lenses and other equipment to portray dramatic scenes. The way the camera seamlessly moves with ease is a key responsibility of the camera operator as it is essential to the narrative flow of films. Camera operators are also usually the first to use the eye piece and therefore assess how all the elements of the scene will come together to create a substantial cinematic experience.

In thriller films the camera operator tends to use various shot types, such as Point of View shots, close-ups, birds eye view shot and worms eye view shot, to draw in the attention of the audience and create a tense atmosphere. In The Godfather, which I used as part of my secondary research in my pre-production task, the point of view shot is used extensively, especially during the opening scene when Don Corleone is listening to requests from wedding guests.

Gemma Barham

Film Roles

There are several different roles that need doing when producing our thriller opening. These roles include:

• Director
• Camera operator
• Editor
• Performer
• Sound
• Cinematographer
• Lighting

We decided as a group which roles we would do to make the product the best that we can. I am going to be in charge of directing and the sound. 

The Wikipedia definition of a film directer: A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, and visualizes the script while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. Examples of a good film directors are people such as Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock and Woody Allen. People said that what made Steven Spielberg such a good director is that he had such a big imagination, and he knew exactly what he wanted from each scene and how to do it. Tom Cruise stated that he liked the way Steven Spielberg listened to what his actors/actresses wanted and respected that too. Steven Spielberg directed films such as Jaws, Lincoln, Jurassic Park and War Horse. 

Being in charge of sound means I am responsible for all of the foley sound effects, voice overs etc. Usually in films there is a lot of different people helping with each aspect of the sound as there are so many.

Storyboard decision

On mondays lesson we decided to use a storyboard based around the disappearance of a young girl from her home. We decided on this storyboard because its easy to film and there are more sources available. We can also experiment with lighting by filming outside and inside. This storyboard features scenes in a girls house which means when filming we are able to use resources available in the house and we can use last minute props.


We also decided on our roles in the group:
Director: Anna May
Sound: Anna May
Filmer: Gemma
Actress: Tegan
Editor: Tegan
Cinematographer: Anna May
Lighting: Gemma

Mise-en-scene 
We will make sure that the mise-en-scene suits the thriller genre.  For this we will use props such as a broken glass.

Shot list:
1- Ident (5 seconds)
2- Panning shot of houses (5 seconds)
3-  Long shot of house (4 seconds)
4- Door opening (3 seconds)
5- Shot walking up to the bedroom (10 seconds)
6- Bedroom door opening (3 seconds)
7- Panning bedroom shot (7 seconds)
8- Bed shot from birds eye view (3 seconds)
9- Drink knocked over (2 seconds)
10- Close up of drink with dripping (5 seconds)
11- Phone on side (3 seconds)
12-Shot from behind girl doing makeup in the mirror (10 seconds)
13- Shot of her putting coat on (6 seconds)
14- Gets a text and puts phone down (8 seconds)
15- Shot followed down the stairs (15 seconds)
16- Gets to front door (3 seconds)
17- Hand to pocket (4 seconds)
18- Door left open while she gets keys (3 seconds)
19- Zooms into car in distance through front door (8 seconds)
20- Shot from man in cars point of view (6 seconds)
21- She leaves house (5 seconds)
22- Shot from behind her walking down street (5 seconds)
23- Car door opening (2 seconds)
24- Film title (5 seconds)

Evaluation Report

Our brief was to plan and film an opening sequence to a thriller film in small groups of about 3 or 4. We were allowed to chose a sub genre of our choice. The planning included making a storyboard and planning things such as shot types and duration and camera angles.

The research we did was doing things such as looking at several different crime thriller openings and stating how they use the usual thriller conventions and/or how they used their own original effects. When researching these thriller openings I also payed attention to things such as the age ratings of film to see what kind of age the films audience was meant to be. From research I have also discovered that some thrillers make it quite difficult to recognise the sub genre of the film in the opening scene, and it's possible that they could be crime thrillers or psychological thrillers, for example, but you don't recognise this unless you watch more of the film. The two film openings I looked at were James Bond- Skyfall and Sherlock Holmes. I chose these because they are both very well known thriller films and they have won many award so I felt like I could learn a lot from analysing the techniques they have used.

I would say that my target audience would probably be teenagers and above. This is because to make the product more interesting, if it was a real film, it may involve things such as violence to build up tension and make it more action packed. After I decided on this age group I then asked a different range of people in that specific group to answer some questions on what they like the most about crime thrillers. The answers varied quite a lot from this such as how the characters contrast and how suspense is built up. This helped me as it gave me an idea as to what I should aim for with my own crime thriller/final project to make it more interesting and enjoyable for the audience.

Research into the subgenre of crime thrillers and preparation for the beginning work on my storyboard

Opening scenes...

Heat
The opening sequence of Heat follows the expected conventions of most crime thrillers by starting off with a dark scene at night with the main light coming from a train in the background and smoke drifting over the train to immediately create tension and to draw the attention of the audience. It also uses tense music which becomes louder and therefore more dramatic as the train travels closer to the camera, and the pitch of the music becomes higher which gives the impression to the audience that something bad could happen. It also uses sound effects which are created to make the audience feel uneasy like most thrillers use, for example the sound of the train become louder as the train travels closer towards the camera and the train screeches very abruptly as it stops. There is a wide variation of camera angles used in the opening scene of Heat once one of the main characters is introduced, starting with a close up shot when he is getting off the train which then changes to the view from behind the character to a close up of his feet which gives the feeling of the audience following him to find out where he is going. Overall this opening uses a lot of typical crime thriller conventions including the lighting and music as it is a very mysterious scene and creates tension for the audience.

The Godfather
The music in the opening sequence of The Godfather creates tension straight away by using a violin during the opening credits to build up to the scene. It then stop\s just before the first line 'I believe in America' which is followed by a gradual fade in to the close up shot of a main character. This shot is in a very dark setting with the light creating shadows down the characters face as he is explaining to someone about an attack on his daughter. The camera then very gradually zooms out to show the hand and silhouette of someone sitting at a desk this suggests that the man is speaking to some sort of private investigator. The sound effects in the background of birds chirping isn't a very typical convention used in a crime thriller however the music and lighting represents a crime thriller very well. Also, the iconography in the scene of the blinds in the background and a tall office chair with a large desk shows that this is an office in which will symbolise the investigating of a crime which has occurred in the film.

Target Audience
I think that the target audience for our product should be those aged 15 years and above as this allows us to use a lot more thrilling elements in our product which will excite the audience as it will not be restricted to the themes only suitable for young children, however it will still be suitable for most teenagers. I asked 5 people from this social group which aspects of crime thrillers they most enjoy and the results were:

• Interesting storylines with a surprising twist
• The build up of tension
• The way the scenes excite them and draw their attention
• The amount of action which is used in the film
• A hidden story between characters

Ideas for our opening sequence:

• Based on the disappearance of a victim (a teenage girl)
• The opening could show flashbacks of the events which led to the disappearance
• The first shot would be of the girls bedroom in a dark light, the way it was left before she disappeared as if nothing has moved since her disappearance, and there could be a flashback of her getting ready to leave the house in a happy lighting with tense music to show that something bad is going to happen to her
• Then we could see her parents at the door looking into the room with disbelief and explaining to a police officer that she couldn't have ran away as she was leaving for a normal day
• The titles will show when the camera is panning across the girls bedroom
• The girls mum is explaining that she isn't the type of girl to get into trouble and so adds to the mystery of her disappearance.
• There will be quiet, mysterious music playing in the background to add to the suspense

Gemma Barham

Research into crime thrillers and preparation for beginning work on my story board

Sherlock Holmes opening scene
The opening scene of Sherlock Holmes does use some expected crime thriller conventions for example it uses quite dramatic and tense music to make the reader instantly hooked and on the edge of their seat. Its also very dark, gloomy and shadowy right from the beginning which is also a factor of most crime thrillers. It uses sound effects of horses as you see them go past the camera and the noises are quite loud and sudden which may make the audience quite anxious, just as a thriller should do. The camera technique also changes as it goes from quite a smooth panning technique to speeding up and getting quite shaky which again adds to the tension. You are also introduced to a few characters but at this early stage you cant be certain whether they are protagonists or antagonists for example. In general its a very tense and mysterious opening and does use quite a lot of the usual crime thriller conventions.

James Bond- Skyfall
The opening scene shows James Bond (the protagonist and main character) in a car chase. Its not particularly like a usual thriller film as there are no shadows or dark images at first, but once the characters get into the car and they are filmed from behind silhouettes are used to create a specific tense mood. The music starts off seeming quite happy but it slowly gets faster and a lot more tense as the scene goes on. You can also tell straight away the genre of the film and specific iconography is used that you can immediately identity, for example the gun in his hand makes it quite obvious it will be a thriller, and although the gun means it may be a horror you don't get that kind impression as it is quite bright and fast paced.


The target audience for our own product would probably be the age of 15 and above. This is because a lot more action could be involved to make it a lot more exciting if its just aimed at teenagers and adults and not young children.

I asked 5 people from this social group what they most enjoy about crime thrillers and the answers were

• How exciting and tense they can be
• How they build up suspense
• How action packed and thrilling they can be
• The way the characters usually very different and contrast a lot compared to each other
• How good the story lines usually are and how interesting they can be  

Ideas for opening sequence:

• Somebody (probably a teenage girl) has vanished
• The opening sequence would be lots of different images flashing up, such as an empty bed, a full wardrobe (to show she hadn't run away), a glass on the table next to her bed that had been knocked over and maybe the water still dripping off the side and the sound of the drops of water on the floor?(to show it had recently been knocked) etc
• While these images are flashing up there is voices over the top of a detective interviewing her parents about when she was last scene and if there was a good explanation to why she was missing etc
• The titles will be shown whilst the pictures are flashing up
• The girls room may give the audience a image of the girl and the voices over the top will introduce them to the detective (who will be a main character) and the girls parents/mum. 
• Mysterious sounding music playing in the background quietly?
• Maybe some slow panning shots of the bedroom

Anna May Duddridge