for a blog

3.  Demographic questions:
1. What gender are you?
2. How old are you?
3. What social background are you from?

4. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Female Male
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
A B C1 C2 D
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
16 17 18 19 20
What gender are you? How old are you?
What social class
background are you
from?

5.  Psychographic questions:
1) Do you value representations of women as:
- A damsel in distress
- Strong and independent
2) Do you value representations of men as:
- Strong and heroic
- Submissive
3) Do you prefer films that entertain you or make a
point and make you think?
4) Which celebrities do you look up to?
5) What is your favourite genre of film?

6. 6) How often do you watch films?
7) How important are films in your life?
8) How often do you go to the cinema?
9) Are you a fan of any specific film makers?
10) Do you go to film festivals?
 Psychographic Questions continued:

7. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Damsel in Distress Strong and
Independent
Both
Do you value representations of women as
a damsel in distress or strong and
independent?
•Why: leading female
•Shows: shows that our target
audience prefer to see strong and
independent women.
•Due to this result we will not show
our leading lady as a vulnerable
person.

8. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Entertains You Make A Point Both
Do you prefer films that entertain
you or makes a point and makes
you think?
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Stong and Heroic Submissive Both
Do you value representations of men as
strong and heroic or submissive?
•Why: To see whether people want
a moral point to their films.
•Shows: That more people want a
film to make a point then to
entertain them.
•Why: Leading male
•Shows: That most of our target
audience don’t like to see men as
submissive.

9. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Every Week A Couple Of
Times A
Month
Once A Month Every So
Often
Never
How often do you go to the cinema?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Thriller Romatic
Comedy
Horror Action Life
Drama
Comedy Historical
Action
What is your favourite genre of
film?
•Why: To see if people are watching
movies regularly or not.
•Shows: People aren't really
watching movies very much
•Why: We wanted to find out what
genres people want to watch the
most.
•Shows: More people want to watch
a thriller movie

10. Research Into Similar Texts

11. Content:-
• Restricted narration: the audience does not know any more
than the main characters - sympathetic - adds tension
• The use of phone calls is a focus in this film. a key part to films
that include stalkers; fear of unknown –disconcerting.
• Complex story: there are a number of story lines makes more
interesting

12. Form:-
• Shot types: a lot of obscured shots (Bree being stalked?).
Camera frequently shows perspective of stalker e.g. stalker’s
hand on a fence. These types of shots are stereotypical of
thriller films
• Lighting: lots of low key lighting - shadows – this stereotypically
creates a tense and mysterious atmosphere
• Editing: in scenes where she has intercourse it fades into the
next shot showing how easy it is for her to do. This conforms to
ideologies about prostitutes
• Non-diagetic music: same music plays:
- haunting – suspense - tension - creates tone. This kind of
music is stereotypical in thriller films

13. Content:-
• Narrative devices: flash forward/backwards show different parts of story
• Narrative questions: viewer does not know what type of person Jake really
is (expect that he drinks, doesn’t see daughter much, looks ‘rough’).
• Stereotype: stereotypical American in content as news and films from
America often include random shootings.
• Ambiguous ending: ending of film is ambiguous as the viewer is not given
answers.
• Ideology + representation: It challenges the ideology that criminals are
always going against the law and do not care about anything other than
money; while the viewer can see that Jake has a criminal past, during the
heist he is shown to stop the robbers and help the police in order to protect
his daughter

14. Form:-
• Mise-en-scene: colouring is soft, dull and muted in past scenes
and bright in present scenes
• Mise-en-scene: Jake Green is all grey (shirt, car, flask) could
show middle of good and evil (true later in film)
• Sound: diegetic sound during gun fight is muffled expect girl’s
screams and gunshots (focus on the impact on little girl)
• Camera shots: a lot of close ups of girl screaming during the
gunfight, viewers’ sympathy to be with her and not anyone
else.
• Camera movement: the camera is never still.

15. Content:-
 Narrative device: Phone calls are used as a
focus point in this movie – it is the symbol of
Alex invading Dan’s private space; first his
office and then his home
 Narrative device: Throughout the film there
is a lot of stories told to Dan about men who
have had an affair and his favourite opera,
‘Madam Butterfly’, is about the same thing –
ironic

16. Form:-
 Mise-en-scene: beginning of the film all main characters are dressed
in white (stereotypically showing innocence), however, after a
weekend with Dan, Alex is shown in black (stereotypically suggesting
that she is the enemy).
 Camera shots: Many of the shots used make the audience feel like
they are the behind the camera (part of the action/drama). An example
- walking down the garden path.
 Mise-en-scene: contrast between Alex, wearing dark clothes and is
outside in the dark, and the family in the house, wearing white clothes
and are sitting by a warm fire (soft lighting) this shows the stereotypical
ideology of a happy family. Dan is wearing black - less innocent
compared to the rest of the family.
 Sound: While the mother is frantically searching for her child there is
an unsettling non-diagetic soundtrack - tense atmosphere. This is
stereotypical of thriller films There is also a use of canted and point of
view shots which shows her panic.

17. There are a couple of things that are used in this film that
we could use in our short film:
 The use of obscured shots in this film gives the feeling
that Bree is being watched by someone unknown to her;
this what we want to create in our film during the
stalking scenes
 The use of low key lighting adds to the atmosphere of
suspense as the viewer cannot see everything in the
scene; this is the atmosphere that we want to create in
our film

18. There are a couple of things that are used in this film
that we could use in our short film
 As our story is also told in retrospect we could use
the idea of making the parts of the story that are in
the past a different, more faded colour
 We liked how they made only certain sounds come
through in the action scenes during the drive
through robbery as it adds suspense and a sense
of action. Not only this, but it directs the audience’s
attention to where you want it

19. There are also a couple of things that are used in this film
that we could use in our short film
 This film uses colour a lot to symbolise what is
happening and the changes that characters go through.
We could use this in our film to make the distinction
between the ‘good’ characters and the ‘bad’ characters
 Lighting is used a lot to create different atmospheres eg.
Soft lighting to show peace and hard lighting to show
disturbance. We could use this in our film to create
contrasts

21. Marketing Techniques
One of the present day types of
marketing is using social
networking sites on the internet.
Articles/reviews are a
cheap and easy way
of creating hype about
the film and the
potential audience are
able to see whether or
not others think the
film is good.

22. The use of posters for physiological
thrillers seems to have a common theme
of split characters. The use of broken
pictures such as the title of Psycho, the rip
in FA, the phone cord splitting the picture
in Klute and the knife like shape dividing
the page in Abandon.
In both the Psycho and Abandon
posters the ‘baddy’ is shown as a black
silhouette.
Posters of Psychological
Thrillers
All of these posters tell you about the
genre of these films. They also tell the
viewer a bit about the movie itself. For
example in Klute the use of phone calls
is a key part of the story line.

23. Ancillary project: Poster
This research will help with our ancillary project as it is showing how films of
our genres are marketed.
General conventions:
•Eye catching
•Some kind of tagline that draws you in.
•Able to see the genre of the film.
•Title should be clear and easy to read.
Themes in posters:
•Use of either bold colours
(mainly red) or mainly black.
•Actors/characters split in
half
What could we use in our ancillary projects?
•The use of splitting the characters/page in half showing the thriller
genre and the philological complexes.
•The colour schemes seem to be mainly two colours, with red and
black being the main themes.

24. What features are included in the review:
• One big image from the film –
gives feel of the film – iconic image
• Star rating
• Release date
• Predicted interest curve – going
through the whole film and saying
how engaging it is
• One quote from the review
• If you liked this film you’ll like this
one section
• Reviewers verdict
• Certificate
• Who is starring in the film
• Who the screenplay is by
• Who the director was
• Running time of the film
• Fun fat about the film
Predicated
interest curve

25. Style of writing used:
 Quite informal – the review feels like a conversation
 There are a couple uses of slang eg. ‘this is the real MaCoy’ ‘Pretty
Damn well’ ‘Ham it up’
 There are a few uses rhetorical questions which draw the reader in
eg. ‘who could blame him?
 They use quotes from the film – this gives the reader a feel of the
film
 This review does not use technical language which means that the
reader does not have to be literate in film language in order to be
able to understand the review
 There is not much use of complex sentences which helps with the
informal feel

26. Content:
 As ‘True Grit’ is a remake of an old film it discusses the old film and
where it fell short and where it excelled
 The review describes the plot line
 It compares the old and new actor’s representations of the same
characters
 It describes the type of language used in the film ‘It’s the richness f
language, often with formality’
 It talks about how the directors bring their signature humour to the
movie – fans of these particular directors will be interested in this
and it may make the reader want to go and see the film
 The verdict shows the reviewer’s view of the film – in this case it is
a positive verdict ‘It’s the first great film of 2011’

27.  We liked the informal use of language in this review as it is easy to
read and keeps the readers attention as it’s tone is conversational –
we would like to create this effect in our review
 We will use some of the same features eg. Certification, release
date, starring and so on
 The review only used two colours throughout (not including the
image) this creates a simple yet effective layout and it makes the
review look professional – we will also use this technique and make
sure that we do not use too many different colours as this could
look unprofessional and messy
 The use of one main image is effective as it immediately draws the
reader’s eye to the review and causes them to be interested in
what it has to say – we will also use images in this way

28. What features are included in the review
(shown in appendix 2)
• One image from the film
• The release year
• A list of the whole cast and crew
• 3 columns of writing
•Title of the film

29. Style of writing used:
• The type of language used in this shows that the article is not aimed
at teenagers, but rather people who want to know what the movie has
in it, what it is influenced by and what it portrays.
• Very formal
• There are uses of complex words eg. ‘imperious’ which reflects the
readership base
• Use of technical language such as ‘screenwriter’ shows that the
target audience are people who have an existing knowledge of film
terms

30. Content:
• This article includes two columns stating who did what i.e. actors,
producers and directors. This shows that this review is aimed at people
who are interested in the specific workings of the film rather than just the
storyline
This article gives a mixture of positive and negative points about the film.
This shows that ‘Sight & Sound’ is the sort of publication
That does not just promote the film but gives a critical analysis of it.
• The layout of this review uses 4 columns and one picture. This makes it
quite text heavy which makes it a bit difficult to read
•The basic storyline is included
•The image included is a classic ‘Mean girls’ scene showing two of the
main characters – gives the reader a feel of the film

31. • The way in which they include a basic storyline means that the people
reading this review are more interested in the background and ideas the film
portrays rather then wanting to watch it. In our review we would want people to
be interested in watching our film therefore we wouldn’t tell the whole storyline
as the film will not have the desired affect on the viewer.
• In our film review we would not use as much text in small font as our target
audience would easily lose interest and get bored. This is why we would also
use more then one picture and a more interesting layout.
• We will use the idea of having one main image of the film showing an
important scene in order to give the reader a feel of the film

32. Appendix 1
Total Film – True Grit’

33. Sight and Sound – Mean Girls’
Appendix 2

34. Appendix 3
‘Empire – The King’s Speech’

35. Appendix 3 cont.
‘Empire – The King’s Speech’

37.  Psychological thriller – ‘In which (until the
often violent resolution) the conflict between
the main characters is mental and emotional’
 Thriller – The film progresses with a growing
sense of threat or danger and the excitement
of pursuit.”

38.  Narrative – Thriller films are normally shown from two
characters’ points of view. They can sometimes have a
narrative ‘voice’ throughout the film. This makes the viewer
more involved with the characters themselves, and are
able to understand the mechanics of the characters'
minds.
 Sound and Editing – Thriller films have quick cuts and
use plenty of different camera angles as well as many
changes. Music that delivers the feeling of tension
 Lighting – Thriller films use low-key lighting with a lot of
shadows to create suspense and a feeling of mystery

39. Alfred Hitchcock is called the master of suspense and after
researching him we have found a number of ways in which he
creates tension and suspense which we could use in our film:
 He manipulates his audience's fears and desires, and ‘taking
viewers into a state of association with the representation of
reality facing the character’
 Hitchcock's films often ‘placed an innocent
victim (an average, responsible person) into a
strange, life-threatening or terrorizing situation’
 “The essential fact is to get real suspense you
must let the audience have information." -
Alfred Hitchcock

40. Interview with Glenn Close:
Some consider Fatal Attraction to
have feminist overtones. Do you
think it's a political film? Nicholas
Wallerstein.
I think Fatal Attraction had a
tremendous effect on this country
when it came out. I think people
brought political baggage to the
film. I was astonished that so many
feminists didn't like Alex Forrest
because they thought it was a
terrible portrayal of a single
working woman. You can't play
somebody that represents all
single women. But she has
become, I think, a symbol of
women fighting back.
- Uses and
gratifications
theory
- Questionnaire

41. Cinema: Killer! Fatal Attraction strikes
gold as a parable of sexual guilt (time
magazine 1987)
"Everybody can identify with obsessive love," says Co-Producer Sherry Lansing.
Adrian Lyne, the film's director, is amazed by its reach: "The movie is almost like
a living thing that feeds off the public and takes on new shape." In other words,
Fatal Attraction is a monster hit.
Says Fatal Attraction's screenwriter James Dearden: "I wanted to take every
situation to the worst-possible-case scenario and see what happened."

42. “The escape that worked best in pulling him gently by the
hand (or sometimes jerking him by the hair) from the
tensions and dangers and dangers of the real world was
that which created tensions and dangers of an imaginary
world.”
“It is not true to say that when you have seen one
you have seen them all. But it is true that when
you have seen one you want to see a thousand
more, and you do not need any definition”

43. Organisation
& Planning

44.  Before we started planning for our shot film we
created a code of conduct document that we all
agreed on:

45.  In order to make sure that we got all our work completed
by the deadlines we have got certain times in the week
where we get together to do work or to make sure that we
all understand what needs to be done.
 We meet every Tuesday and Friday for about 2 hours or
longer in needed.
 If we need to talk to each other during the week beside
these days we contact each other on Facebook or via text
message – as you can see from our code of conduct, if
someone does not answer within 24 hours there will be a
fine!

46. Synopsis
 The main story line of our film is about a man commits murder.
 Starts with an old man in prison, his view of the story (he is one of the
narrators).
 The narrative of the story will switch between criminal and sibling.
 The narrators explain how the criminal ended up in prison (summer -
was in love).
 He used the girls boyfriends’ messaging sites to talk to her.
 He plans to meet the girl and they end up fighting.
 The boyfriend tries to come and find the girl and ends up being killed.

47. Script and Storyboard

48. DraftsScript Storyboard

54. Victim (Kevin) Girlfriend (Heather)
Criminal (Steve) Sibling (Eileen)Group Of Friends
or

55. Costume:
• Yellow shirt
•Jeans
•Red shirt
•Jeans
Costume:
•Black top
•Dark jeans
Victim (Kevin) Criminal (Steve)
He will be
wearing this
when the
friends are
hanging out
This is what he
will be wearing
when he gets
killed
This is what he
will be wearing
throughout our
film

56. Costume:
•Bright coloured top
•Skirt
•White top with blue
scarf
• Jeans
Costume:
• Black coloured top
•Skirt
•Coat
•Glasses
Victim (Heather)
This is what
she will be
wearing when
hanging out
with friends
This is what
she will be
wearing when
she is going to
get killed
Sibling (Eileen)
This is what
she will be
wearing
throughout the
film as there is
no change in
days

57. Grave Yard –Eileen narrates
Other Choice:
Final Choice:
Park – where the friends met
Other Choice:
Final Choice:
Prison- Steve narates
Other Choice:
Final Choice:
Why we
chose this
location?
•Lots of
places for
narrator to be
shown
•Its local
•Stereotypical
grave yard
Why we
chose this
location?
•It has places to sit
down
•It has a basket
ball/tennis court
Why we chose this
location?
Likes:
•Characters free to play/run
around
•Visually appealing
Likes:
•there is a big church
which was very nice
Dislikes:
•Characters don’t
have an activity
to do
•Not many places
to sit
Likes:
•Plain
•Bare
•Could use the
window for shadow
of the bars.
Dislikes:
•Public place (people
will be distracting)
•Not a proper room
•Plan
•Looks like a
prison
•Easy access
Dislikes:
It doesn’t look like a
conventional grave
yard (has not grave
stones)

58. Ally-where the attacks take place
Other Choice:
Final Choice
Computer Room- Steve &Heather agree to met
Hers His
Other Choice:
Final Choice
Why we chose this location?
•Isolated
•Vandalised
•Access to high ground to show CCTV
Why we chose this location?
Likes:
•Able to
use high
angle
shots
•Sister
when dark
Dislikes:
•CCTV doesn’t fit there
•Doesn’t look very dangerous
•Looks like a
stereotypical
girl ‘teens’
bed room
•Looks safe
and
comfortable
•Lots of space for the stalking
photos to be put up – will look
threatening
•Not much personality
Likes:
•Its in a homely
setting
Dislikes:
•It doesn’t look
like a bedroom
•Is very cluttered
Likes:
•it looks like a
desk-style room
Dislikes:
•In front of a
window

59. Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6
-Research
into
potential
audience
-Identifying
outcomes
regarding
audience
tastes
-Research
into similar
texts
- Identify
outcomes
from form
and context
-Brainstormi
ng
-Casting
-Create
Storyboard
- Write the
script
-Rehearsals/r
un through
- Filming
Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12
- Filming
- Editing
- Editing -Audience
feedback
-Re-
shooting
- re-editing - Show to
audience
-Ancillary
projects

60.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_thriller
 http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/149473
 http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/143
 http://www.borgus.com/think/hitch.htm
 http://www.filmsite.org/subgenres.html
 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965968-8,00.html
 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1638431,00.html
Secondary Research
Bibliography: