Changeling

Changeling
I noticed that the recently released film Changeling, contains some thriller elements. It is set in 1920's America, a time in which gender was still an issue and women didn't have much of a say. The women in question goes against the typical representation of women in that time, as she is a single mother and divorce then was much rarer than it is now. She decides to go against the norm by releasing women from the horrific conditions of a psychological institution and taking a stand against the corrupt police system.
The setting of some scenes are in unglamarous, dark, deserted farmland and housing estates, and although they aren't strictly urban, they do contain thriller elements. They use chiaroscuro lighting, claustrophobic spaces (e.g. chicken coop) and many close ups.
The crime at the core of the narration is firstly kidnapping, but later discovered, the kidnapping, molesting and murder of several young boys. It is a shocking concept, as it is based on real events.
The main character, the single mother has quite a dark, mysterious exterior, her red lipstick is something that stands out against her sometimes dull and pale appearance. She could be seen as the femme fatale on appearance alone, as seen in the picture, however she is actually the victim, a single mother targeted for her son.

Preliminary Task: Continuity Filming

For out preliminary task, we were asked to film a piece that consisted of three techniques:
Match on Action shots
Shot Reverse Shot and
The 180 Degree Rule.

Here is the video we produced:




Match on Action:
This is where the action begins in one shot, and is continued in the next, showing the movement from different points of view. For example, Shot 1: a girl walking toward a door. Shot2: the girl coming through the other side of the door.

Shot Reverse Shot:
This is a technique used where it shows one characters face and immediately after shows their view, who or what they are looking at. This can be very effective within the drama genre.




180 Degree Rule:
The 180 degree rule is what must be followed when filming two people on screen. when the people are being filmed from one direction, they must always be filmed from that same direction between them on that side of the line,unless it is shown that the line is being crossed.





For our short film, we decided to film quite a dramatic piece between a mother and her apparent daughter, where the daughter finds out she is adopted and that the other character is her mother.

I was to play the mother, Lauren the daughter and Matt would do the filming. We wanted to film in a cafe, however there are limited cafe's that allow filming or camera's. So instead we filmed in the school canteen, to keep things easy and simple.
Here is the script we made:

Characters:



Emily- Lauren’s mother



Lauren- Daughter of Emily, adopted by someone else, Emily’s her real mother.



Emily: Hello

Lauren: Hey

Emily: [nervous] I got you a drink…

Lauren: Oh thanks, what did you want to talk to me about?

Emily: [nervous, faltering] Well, this isn’t easy for me…

Lauren: I don’t have long, I’m meeting mum in about 20minutes.

Emily: [exasperated, slightly shaky] That's the thing, she’s not your mother... I am!



[Cut]

Although we managed to include each of the previous features, I don't think we did so, very well. We only used one match on action sequence, of Lauren coming through the door, and then used it slightly when she sat down at the table. We kept to the 180 degree rule throughout the film, however didn't cross the line and just kept the camera on one side. We use a few shot reaction shots, to show the conversation progress and the reactions to the information that is given. We inserted a few transitions during editing as many of our cuts were very sharp and needed to be made much smoother. I think our film could have been slightly longer, with more match on action and shot reaction shot, perhaps we could have had Lauren leaving the room as well.

Case Study: Fight Club

Fight Club

Institutional Information:

Director: David Fincher

Release Date: 12 November 1999

Country where made: USA

USA Awards won: Won OFCS Award 2001, for Best DVD,

Nominated for an Oscar, 2000.

Genre: Action/Thriller

Certificate: 18

Production Company: Fox 2000 Pictures,

Art Linson Productions

Audience Response:

User Comment: "a dangerously brilliant film that entertains as well as enlightens".

External Reviews
User Ratings:

Case Study: Training Day

Training Day

Case Study: Lucky Number Slevin

Lucky Number Slevin

Institutional Information:

Director: Paul McGuigan
Release Date: 24 February 2006
Country where made: USA
Awards won: Best Film, Best Editing, Best actor (Josh Hartnett). 2006
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Certificate: 18

Production Company: Capitol Films

Audience Response:

User Comments:

"In the film noir tradition, but with the intense and graphic violence of the Lock Stock and Layer Cake genre, Slevin is really a caper movie, and frankly reminded me more of The Sting than anything else. It dances nimbly from grisly stomach-churning action to clever and light-hearted banter"

I agree with this comment, however I haven't seen The Sting, I like the way the film includes concepts from other genres, its an interesting mix.

External Review:

Phillip French, The Guardian:

Lucky Number Slevin is an artful confection, directed by Scottish filmmaker Paul McGuigan, best known for the superior British crime movie Gangster No 1. It's a revenge drama in which a seemingly innocent young man (Josh Hartnett) apparently becomes involved in a battle between two rival New York gangsters, the Boss (Morgan Freeman) and the Rabbi (Ben Kingsley), who live across the road from each other in identical penthouses.

I say 'apparently' because nothing in this slick movie is as it appears. The ingenious plot is borrowed from The Sting. Like The Usual Suspects, there are deliberately misleading flashbacks. The dialogue is an odd mixture of Runyon, Pinter and Mamet. From Tarantino comes the discussion of earlier movies (e.g. the Bond films, North by Northwest), an affinity further signalled by the casting of two actors whose careers Tarantino helped revive - Bruce Willis (suave hit man) and Robert Forster (dogged cop). It's not unenjoyable.

User Ratings:

Again, with this film, there was no distinct difference in the male/female ratings. Males rated it at an average of 7.9 and females 8.0. This is quite suprising, as stereotypically, more men would have been expected to enjoy the film, as it has action in it, however I think with Josh Hartnett playing the lead role, this attracted a larger female audience. It was also rated higher by people aged under 18, and aged 18-29. This could be because the film isn't as relevant to the older generation or they just don't find it as entertaining.

Codes and Conventions:

The location of this mise en scene, is outside a penthouse building in the city. It is a public place, in quite an unglamourous, dirty setting,

Case Study: Along Came A Spider

Along Came A Spider

Institutional Information:

Director: Lee Tamahori
Release Date: 4 May 2001
Country where made: USA
Awards won: BMI Film Music Award 2002
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Certificate: 15

Production Company: Paramount Pictures

Audience Response:
User Comment "Does What A Thriller Should, No More, No Less". I agree with this comment however, it is a good thriller, but it's not a great thriller. It has all the right twists and conventions, but it wasn't one that will be memorable. It could have been made better, by incorporating perhaps some conventions from other genres or cross- referencing to another film.
External Reviews
Tiscali UK:

'After the worldwide success of the grisly yet superb Seven in 1995, Morgan Freeman obviously decided that he hadn't had enough of chasing serial killers and promptly made the much less satisfactory Kiss The Girls. Based on a James Paterson book, it somehow captured the public imagination and became a modest success. Now Freeman returns in another adaptation of a Paterson novel, playing the same character and chasing another psychokiller. Co-produced by Freeman and directed by Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors), this is a much more successful venture than Kiss The Girls and will, with luck, be the beginning of a respectable franchise for one of the world's greatest living actors.

Based on the first Paterson novel to feature criminal profiler Alex Cross (Freeman), the film opens with a police trap that goes catastrophically wrong and forces Cross into early retirement. He spends his days mulling over what might have been and making model boats. Being the screen presence he is, watching Freeman making model boats for two hours would probably make a bearable movie in itself, but Hollywood needs must and soon enough he is back at the day job. At a local school for kids of the rich and famous, a teacher has kidnapped one of the prodigious pupils and begins sending Dr. Cross evidence of the abduction in the post. Not only does the kidnapper want to commit the crime of the century but he also wants to play mindgames with the successfully published psychologist.

If thrillers with plots that twist and turn every ten minutes are your bag then you could do a lot worse than going to see Along Came A Spider. While it initially appears that we will have yet another drawn out battle of wills between criminal and cop, there are more than enough unexpected gear changes to keep the audience happy. Some of them are admittedly ludicrous but most of them are genuinely clever. And none of them can be revealed here. Suffice to say that it becomes pretty clear pretty quickly that nothing should be taken for granted and very little is as it seems.'

User Ratings: There is very little difference, in the gender ratings of Along Came a Spider, merely 0.1% more females watched it than males, which is a suprising figure for the thriller genre, as it is usually the men who enjoy them more, due to the action and 'scare factor'. This film was also rated more by an older audience, over 45's had a 6.5% rating, whereas 5.6% were under 18. This could be due to the confusing plot, or simply the lack of action and relevance.

I found the film quite entertaining, the plot twists kept me watching, however there were one too many, and it was easy to get lost. It was quite slow paced and although it complied with thriller codes, wasn't very exciting or scary, it had a few shock factors, however I don't think this is the best thriller I've seen.

Codes and Conventions:

The location of the mise en scene, as seen above, is on a carriage on a train. It is a claustrophobic space, in an urban setting, which may not always be deserted but can still be threatening, as it is a moving vehicle. It is also an everyday method of transport, so the audience will find it relevant and therefore more realistic. Trains can also be quite cramped, which makes people suspect each other more. In the mise en scene it is also daylight outside the train, which would make it more obvious, if a crime took place.

The costume that the character Alex Crosse is wearing is more typical of the crime genre, with the long beige trenchcoat, however the jeans and shirt underneath make it less formal, and make him look like an everyday character. The long coat, shows he could be hiding something, which makes him quite mysterious but also quite proffesional as it is quite formal. Formal and proffesional costume makes the character come across as more trustworthy, as you know he is doing his job.

The only props used in this mise en scene, are a gun, which is common to the thriller genre, and what looks to be a drinks flask more relevather everyday object to make the scene more relevant to the audience. The gun brings crime and the idea of death into the scene, it is a powerful tool, and the fact that the character has one, makes him a powerful man in this situation.

The character's positioning is vital, having him at the left of the scene, with his arm coming across, opposite a large clear window, not only shows his vulnerability, at being seen or attacked through the window, but also shows his confidence and power, having a gun in his hand and holding it out ready to shoot. The other character in the scene is bent over, for protection, gaurding himself from any attack, he may be seen as the victim in the scene. The characters name in this scene, doesn't seem to have any connotations, Alex Crosse, however, one girl in the file last name rose is actually the victim, having the last name rose, could be resembling her to the gentle, delicate flower, making her seem more vulnerable, and therefore making it more shocking when she is kidnapped.

This scene uses natural, ambient lighting to, again, reinforce the idea of an everyday location on a train. The light is only shining slightly onto the bottom of the characters coat, perhaps showing that he may not be seen from the outside, from outside the window. The other lighting is from the train, this is not seen very clearly however.

The sound within the scene is mostly diagetic, the sound of the train moving,the window shattering and the people screaming, although the gunshot may have been added post production. This makes it seem natural and more realistic, the screaming adds an element of terror to the scene and the train moving reminds the audience that they are on a moving vehicle, making it harder to escape.

The camera tracks round to see what Alex Crosse is looking at, a point of view shot, out of the window. This provides tension, as it is a slow camera movement, it makes the audience want to know what will be seen out of the window.

There are no CGI's or inter textual references used during this scene.

The male character is represented as the powerful figure in this scene, as he is the one shooting at the criminal. This reinforces the idea of the alpha male, protecting the other people and taking control. The young girl is the victim of the kidnapping, she is seen as more vulnerable, in the way that most young females are represented.

Planning for Thriller Opening

Brief synopsis of plot:

-Two immigrants arrive at the docks, with bags, documents etc, waiting to be picked up. Brother and sister.
-Three men appear: Boss man and his two henchmen, to escort immigrants to vehicles and into city.
-Boss man greets immigrants, checks documents, and nods towards henchmen.
-Henchmen escort immigrants towards road where vehicles are waiting.
-Immigrants realise there are two vehicles and they’re going to be separated, panic and confusion.
-Scuffle breaks out between male immigrant and one of the henchmen.
-Female immigrant is forced into van.
-Splash is heard as one of the men fighting falls off the docks.
-Girl is driven off in van.
-Male body on beach on next morning; can’t see which one.

-Person has seen whole thing, now in danger. Van follows them walking down the road.

[Similar to 'Dirty Pretty Things', with immigration idea]

Storyboards:

Location:

Great Yarmouth docks, at night.

Generic unglamourous, dodgy setting.

Casting:

Immigrant girl: Sarinka - A young white girl, with dark hair, aged about 16/17, who has finished school and worked in a factory, but was made redundant. She comes from Eastern Europe. She is Raphael's sister, they came over to England for money and a better life. They have a deal with Ben to provide illegal documents. She relies on her brother quite a lot, but is a strong minded girl.


Sara Novak. For this character, we have casted Sara Novak, a young 16 year-old Slovakian girl who moved over to England two years ago with her family. She fits the image we are looking for.

Immigrant guy: Rapheal - Slightly older guy, in his early twenties, Sarinka's brother. He had no job and was desperate to support his sister. They have no mother and their father left them. He is also from Eastern Europe, he cares a lot about his sister and is quite strong and physically fit.

Andy Drane. We casted Andy Drane for Rapheal. He is British, but can look quite foreign with costume and props. He is also in his early twenties.

Boss man: Ben - The boss is a well built, wealthy 'business' man. He is helping the immigrants for money, he is slightly dodgy. Drives a very nice Beemer. Ben Howard, just wait till you see the picture. He fits.

Henchman 1: Joe - Both henchman have to be well built, threatening-looking men. They work for Ben, don't talk much, but do his dirty work for him. -Richard Jordan
Henchman 2: Tyrell -Tyrell.

Witness: Lauren Jordan, we decided anyone could be the witness, although it had to be someone who wouldn't react to what they were seeing, therefore someone young or elderly, and also, stereotypically, a girl, as they're probably less likely to act if they see a fight between some older, beefy men. So we're using Lauren, as she's in our group.

(pictures needed)

Props:

Car - BMW, with 'B3N' in numberplate, Bossman's car.

Rucksack and shoulder bag for immigrants to carry.

Flashlight, for Henchmen.

Dog? For witness to be walking.

Objects:

boats, crates.

Costume:

Female immigrant:

Male immigrant: jeans, light t-shirt, trainers.

Boss man: dark jeans, t-shirt, suit jacket, smart shoes, chain around wrist or neck.

Hench One: similar to boss man's.

Hench Two: similar to boss man's.

Witness: jeans, coat, scarf.

Ideas for title of film:

Division, Divided, Seperation, Seperated. Along came an Immigrant.

Tags: Beach, immigration, docks, death.

Sound:

Diegetic: footsteps, sound of waves, splash, sound of cars driving up, away, woman screaming.

Non-diagetic: [Ideas of sound track still to come.]

Thriller Film Research

I compiled a questionnaire, to find out people's thriller preferences and use this information towards my own thriller film:

Here are my results,

Perfume Advert

This is my perfume advert, it's called Minuit which is french for Midnight. My original name for it was Intimacy, however the pictures i took, didn't quite represent it well enough. I think it would have been aimed at an older target audience, as it seems more mature. I also tried Amore, Jeune Coeurs (young hearts) and Jeune Amour(young love), but these could all have been taken out of context and seemed unsuitable. I decided on Midnight at the last moment, i couldn't really think of anything better, but i'm still not entirely happy with that name. It would need to be a lot darker, and have less pink and reds to fit in with this name. I chose something french because it seems a lot of perfumes come from France or celebrities.

I chose the heart shape, because my perfume is supposed to be a feminine product, aimed at young girls. I also chose to have a picture of a couple holding hands, under a streetlight as this is a cliché look for young couples in relationships or in love. Love or being in relationships is something most young girls can relate with and i think perfumes can represent it quite well. It may make the consumer think they can have this, if they buy and wear the perfume. I tried to make the heart shape look wispy and floating, as if it were a thought or a dream, and to make it look like it had come out of the bottle. I did this using the 'smudge' and 'blur' tools on Photoshop.

My target audience is young girls, probably over 14, but under 20. Which is quite a short gap, but i think it is quite young, because of the colours, the age of the couple I'm using and the hearts. I think this advert would be seen in a girls magazine like 'Sugar' or 'TeenVogue' perhaps, as this is where I see most perfume adverts and one like this would be more suitably placed in a younger magazine.



Here is the original picture I chose to use, I chose it because i liked the effect of the streetlamp and the lighting on the couple. I also like the old brick house in the background.
I altered the picture by making it slightly red/pink, which i did by adjusting the hue,just in the heart.
I also, obviously just cut out a small section of the picture to use in the heart. I wanted to get the couple and the house in, i would have also liked to get the streetlamp in, but it was too high, and didn't look right when i tried lowering it on Photoshop.




I originally had a white background, however decided that a light shade of pink would add to the feminity and the atmosphere i wanted to create. Although I wasn't sure if it would make it too young and girly, I wanted to be aimed at slightly older girls.

I wanted to have a bottle in the advert to show it is a perfume. I had a few to choose from, I decided to use the heart one as it was well coordinated with the other images. Although I wasn't sure if two hearts were too many. I used the stamp to paste the bottle in as it was easier than just copy and pasting. I also took the little cork lid out, to again support the image of the heart floating out of the bottle, almost like smoke or a fragrance.








The font I used is called 'Pristina', I used this one because it is quite smooth and simple, almost like caligraphy. I made it bold and quite large so it would stand out. I used a different, more elegant font for the name Jean De Mont, as this is the company name. I think I could have improved with this, but found it really difficult to come up with one, I kept it French for the style factor and I find many perfume companies that aren't well known English celebrities are usually french names, like L'Oreal or Lancome.
I wanted it black to stand out against all the reds and pinks, I think if may have been a bit too busy, if the font was also pink or red.

In conclusion, although I have worked hard on my advert, I am still not entirely satsified with it. I would have liked a different name, more appropriate to the setting, picture and target audience. I am also not so sure about all the pinks and reds as I think this is what makes it younger than who I originally aimed it at. I think the heart and bottle smoky idea works quite well however the picture is not entirely clear. There could be more detail in it, although I sharpened it on Photoshop, I think it would involve taking another picture.
I think it advertises a fragrance well though, with the heart and bottle.

Second Opinion Needed.

For my advert, I have taken pictures of 'couples', as it's advertising a young girls perfume. However I have a few pictures, and I'm not sure which to use or whether to use any of them at all?

The first is a long shot, by a main road, with a fence in the background.




The second is another long shot, taken at a slightly different location.






The last photo is a closer shot of the above.





However, i think they will all need editing.
Also, the name of my perfume was originally 'Intimacy', but it think that might be too mature for the pictures I have and my target audience. So I was thinking perhaps something like Young Love in french, which is 'Jeune Amour'?

Any comments much appreciated.

Media Studies Questionnaire

This questionnaire was taken as part of our Media Studies Film Research. I asked 15 people about the last films they had seen, where they had seen them, what nationality the films were and how they found out about them. My questionnaire was quite simple, and I think it could have had more questions.

Here are the results of my questionnaire:












The results of my questionnaire show that the majority of the films seen were American, bar two British films which were 'Notting Hill' and 'Music and Lyrics'. This suprised as I hadn't realised what a lack of British films there were, or anything other than American. The most popular films viewed were at the cinema, these were 'Pineapple Express' and 'Step Brothers' 3 people had seen each of these, all other films seen were different.

9/15 of the people interviewed last watched a film at the Cinema, however I didn't find out which one which could have been helpful. 6 people had watched a film at home on DVD and just one had watched the film as it was shown on television. This shows the cinema is quite popular today, as are buying or renting DVD's. Noone had watched any videos, I think these have been phased out. People have said the cinema is much better for watching films as you can go with a large group of friends and the film is shown in better quality, however for the people who prefer the comfort of their own home, DVD's are better.

The film-viewers had found out about the film through television adverts, family/friends/Word of mouth, magazine adverts and cinema trailers. 46% had found out watching television adverts for the film, and decided to go and see it. 20% via friends and family, the film had been recommended or viewers were persuaded to go and watch it by people who had already seen it, or had heard about it and passed information on. Another 20% had seen adverts in magazines advertising the film, and lastly 14% had seen trailers having been to the cinema previously quite recently. I think this is the lowest because these people view films at the cinema frequently as not very many people do.

Here's a little about me.

Name: Emily Mullender
Age: 16
Hometown: Norwich
Sixth Form: CNS (City of Norwich School)
Subjects: Media Studies, Psychology, English Combined and German.
Interests: Music, Gigs/Concerts, Dancing, Church, Art, Meeting new people, Trampolining.

I shall finish this later...