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.