Media Questionaire

Media Questionnaire

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This was made by a member of our team called Hannah.

Thriller Questionaire

This is the original questionnaire the team created before the viewings of our rough cut.
Thriller opening q's results

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Rough Cut Thriller Results

This is a questionnaire and results we created and had filled in by students at our college who view our rough cut on the big screen at college. 
Thriller questionnaire

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The Slideshare was created by member of our team called Caitlin

Labels

G321 Thriller planning, G321 Audience research, G321 Thriller research, G321 Thriller evaluation, G321 Thriller construction, Coursework G322A TV drama, G322B Film industry, Induction unit, G321 Preliminary task, Exam

Case Study

Research in aspects of the Thriller Genre

i) Institutions

Name of film: The Usual Suspects

Director: Brian Singer

Production Company: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Spelling Films International

Starring:  Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Bryne, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak.

Filming Dates:  19 June 1994 – 29 July 1994

Release Date: 16 August 1995 (USA)

                          25 August 1995 (UK)

Box Office Returns: Budget: $6,000,000

                                    Gross:    $23,272,306 (USA)

                                                   £  2, 503,343 (UK) (12 September 1995)

ii) Audience

Target Audience:  This film is a thriller with Crime and Mystery; this also has action and drugs involved. It is certificated as an 18 so therefore it has restricted the viewing group from the start.  This is a film which is easy to hook on to if you enjoy films with crime and questions that need answering. The wanting to know who is actually involved in this murder. Although the rating is an 18, the highest rating of views is males under 18. on the other hand all the ratings on this graph are at a very high level male and female.

Users Ratings:  Looking at the ratings on IMDB it is rated at 8.7 average out of 273,795. One User quotes the film with not enough good things to say. He rated it at 10/10. Another rated it as 5/10 with It loves itself too much.

iii) Technology

This film was made in 1995, the same time as Se7en. They therefore advertised and promoted similar ways. For example TV advertisement was used to promote the film as well as news paper and internet. How ever there was also another was technology advertised the films. And that was when people went to see other films it was tradition to see adverts for upcoming films in the cinema whilst you were seeing one already. This was a good way to advertise new films as you never forget what’s new and it tempts you to come back to that cinema and watch that film.

IV) Codes/forms and Conventions of the Thriller Genre

This is from a scene in The Usual Suspect. This is when the five usual suspects are pinned up against the wall to have their photos taken on file for the police. This is when the main characters, or known as the usual suspects, are taken in by the detectives and police for photo’s as they are questioned about a boat being blown up with several killings. This is very different to my other thriller case study as I wanted to cover other areas of the thriller genre. Firstly looking at the lighting and shading in this picture. The white background brings you main attention on the five characters more than anything else. As your focus is on the characters you notice their different height and clothing. This is key for this shot as it brings in variation. The way they are standing also reveals their characteristics as well as their surety they haven’t done anything wrong. The shot is positioned as if you were looking through a camera. This is a shot which doesn’t feed off many concepts of a Thriller, however through this film there are certain elements which keep popping up. Examples of these are the street lamps and the running water. The music plays a role in this thriller as well. The use of diegetic sound makes the thriller more tense and enduring with the sound of gunfire and pressure in certain characters voices. Also the sound of explosions and mysterious creaks work for this thriller as it makes the audience think what’s happening now and what is going to happen next, almost like being on the edge of your seat in suspense, keeping the audience guessing. Non Diegetic music helps the audience feel the suspense and mystery within the thriller. Camera Angles play a key part for this film as when you watching the thriller the change of POV make the storyline alter each time when a suspect tells of their version of this explosion / killing.

                                  

Case Study

Research in aspects of the Thriller Genre

(My personal Comments will be in Italic and in brackets)

i) Institutions

Name of film: Se7en

Director: David Fincher

Production Company: New Line Cinema

Starring: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman,

Filming Dates:  12 December 1994 – 10 March 1995

Release Date: 22 September 1995 (USA)

                           05 January 1995 (UK)

Box Office Returns: Budget: $30,000,000

                                 Gross: $316,400,000 (worldwide including USA)

                                            $100,125,000 (USA)

                                            £  19, 234,230 (UK)

(These BOR’s show just how big this film has become. Within just 3 months the Gross for the UK rose from £11,434,343 to £19,234,230. This shows how quickly this film grew and how it was wanted to be seen by everyone in the UK over the age of 18)

ii) Audience

Target Audience:  This film is a thriller with Crime, Mystery and Drama, the target audience are those who like to solve crimes and enjoy the mystery. However many people ages 18+ can easily be attached to their sofas whilst watching this film! The certification for Se7en in the UK was an 18. Most males and females between the ages of 18 and 29 gave a high rating for this movie. As the age range increases, Se7en got a lower rating.

(Although these statistics show the preferred target audience for Se7en, but this film was very popular and it was common that many people under the age of 18 found a way to see this film)

Users Ratings: Looking on IMDB, most have rated this film 10/10. One user believes this film is a modern masterpiece. His opening quote is ‘Gothic, shocking, suspenseful, disturbing and clever’. Another user on IMDB quoted "Se7en is well crafted and ingeniously clever, making it one of the greatest films of the 90's" A User on YouTube quoted this film as ‘One of the best movies! One of my favourites!’

iii) Technology

This film was made in the 90’s where technology wasn’t relied on to advertise and promote this film as much as it does in this period of time and technology. However with advertisement most films with money to spend paid up to fill in slots on TV to promote this blockbuster. Another way in which they used technology to promote the film is by advertising the film on the internet. They set up a website for people to look at all the information on the film, synopsis, the characters and sneak peeks at clips from the film. this was when the internet had exploded throughout the world and everyone was beginning to use it, so it was a good move for the film to get advertised on the internet.

Codes/forms and Conventions of the Thriller Genre

This is from a scene in SEVEN. This is when the two detectives find one of the victims in his room chained to the bed.  They discover this man has been chained to this bed for over a year, to symbolise the sin of Sloth. We can see from this shot key thriller conventions are included. The different shades of light in this shot show the darkness and horror which has been locked away and hidden from the world. The Wording on the wall is in red and in capitals. This stands out when looking at the shot and grabs the attention of the audience once they are lead into the room. The angle of the camera is at eye level but slanted down to focus on the bed. This is a great effect for the thriller as in makes you as the audience feel as if you are the person in the room witnessing the horrors in front of you. Another sign of a thriller is the lamps. In this shot the lamp is producing light for the room and it bleeds down on to the bed which is the key of this scene. The Car fresheners dangling from the roof of the room shows mystery of purpose. You have a sense of the smell in that room is repulsive.  Sound is another key in the thriller genre. The diegetic sound used in the film builds tension as you can hear the panic and shock in characters voices, as well as hearing victims scream, struggle and cry for help.  The non diegetic music builds on the tension of the scenes by increasing the pace, using beats as if to represent the heart and the sudden silence for the audience to take in the horror of the film. The main structure of this film is the 7 deadly sins and how all of them can cause a normal person into a sin themselves. This happens to the main character as you follow him and his partner as they try to solve the case. The use of camera angles and music make the thriller theme rise to the standards a thriller should be set at. The audience are glued to the screen right from the start with it cleverly planned plot and elements, of a thriller, which stands out in this film throughout.

Cast

Looking on my blog I realised I have introduced the characters and there purpose and the actors who have taken up these roles.

There are 4 characters at the start of our film.  The Killer, The Missing Girl, The Missing Girls Friend (victim) and her Boyfriend,

We made the girls similar to trick the audience at the start to think that the girl on the photo in the darkroom scene isn’t the girl who walk into the house. The Boyfriend becomes the main character as it brings up the theme of revenge and mystery.

The killer is made to be a normal person who looks like a normal neighbour where actually he is a syco killer in a quiet town. We made the character tall and intimidating as he looks down on most things due to his height as well as age.

Cast:

Killer: Tamas Ward
The Missing Girl: Claire
The Victim: Grace Birchal
The Boyfriend: Jonathan Gale : Originally was Callum but was unavailable for Shooting on the set dates.

These pieces are different to each other due to the instruments they use. The opening music is from free play and its called abandoned which relates to the film for the way it is about something lost or isolated. The piano in this song sets the scene with calmness and a sense of there’s something strange but still it’s unrecognised. The second piece was used for the build in tension and panic. The instruments make the pace of the scene rise and theatre of cruelty on the audience rise. Meaning, in non acting terms, that the audience feel uncomfortable whilst watching it.  The heart beat in this song also brings in a beat which aides this feature of tension and pace.