Group Responsibilities

Final Group Responsibilites

FINAL PRODUCT

Filming Jurnal- Sam Lee

5th March 2010
On the Friday we started filming our thriller, our original 2 main characters could not make it and as the deadline was approaching on us we had to ask a class member to do it.
Our Filming started midday at havering college, we had no problems filming how ever our actor was not up to scratch for the part we needed her to play. We also fount out after that we had not shot enough footage so a re-shoot was inevitable.
Our location then changed to an alley in Hornchurch where our snatch scene was to be filmed. The director ordered many shots such as long shot, establishing shot and close ups. The acting was of a poor standard so i had to shoot the scene in away that the poor standard of the acting would not be to obvious.
Whilst filming the director and I observed some horizontal grey line going across the screen, thus being the reason why we lost half our footage whilst editing.

15th March 2010
We had to re-shoot our film as the footage we shot was not of a standard we had hoped for. We purchased a new tape and also got two new actors that had some experience in the past . Learning from our mistakes from the last shooting we decided to shoot more shots at the college and explore different angles.
Once at Hornchurch we more or less did use the same techniques as before however I didn’t have to hide the poor acting as the actors were of a better standard than before.
One of the main problems of the day was the cars driving past infront of the video camera and pedestrians wanting to get past. However the main problem of the day was shooting the dialogue as one of the actors kept laughing and smiling, and this did not fit in with their part.
Our best bit of footage that day was the punch scene, we got somebody to stand behing the camera with their hand to the side of it to give the actor a good target to punch at and also created a good sound effect for the punch. Once she had punched the hand we tilted the camera sideways to give the audience the impression that the girl had been knocked out.

18th March 2010
On Wednesday night we were in the middle of editing when we realised the dialogue scene was not to the quality we had hoped for. Therefore we decided to shoot one last time to get it right. Emmanuel Filmed 50% of the shots including the punch scene, Sophie being dragged and also the sequence were Sophie leaves college
We skipped to the scene where the pursuer catches our protagonist, instead of using a over the shoulder shot we decided to use a point of view shot where I would run along side the pursuer catching the moment where he grabs and pulls back our protagonist. We tried this many times as at first it did not work but with practise it looked better and better. It worked well and looked good when we looked back on our footage. We then re-filmed the dialogue scene, but we did this in a different way and different order. For the dialogue scene we first used a point of view shot, and then cut to an over the shoulder shot. Finally we changed the last scene of the thriller. Instead of a car scene we filmed our protagonist being dragged using a cut in. we filmed her legs moving as if she was getting dragged away. Moreover we got our antagonist to go on the phone as if she was on the phone to “the boss.” We did this by having a close up of the phone; we got a contact the ring the phone as changed the name of that contact to “the boss.” We had a problem of the cameras refection on the phone but finally we managed to get the camera at an appropriate angle and did the shot.

Editors Journal- Peter Otuwehinmi

March 15 2010.
Today I started with the editing just to see the footage we had so far. Unfortunately the footage wasn’t good enough to be edited. The main problem was the fact that there were soon many mistakes with the camera work and acting, moreover the tap we used was damaged therefore the quality of film wasn’t good at all. Although there were a few shots that were saved onto the pc. As they were the best shots we had at the time, which was the scene where we have one of our characters leaning against the wall and noticing our protagonist walking past. Apart from that we needed to re-film the whole thing again so that we could change the tape, and correct some of the mistakes that were made during filming.

March 16 2010.
Today I started editing again. This footage we had now was much better than before. The camera work was better and the mistakes made during the 1st filming were corrected. While cropping the footage we had we started to notice some hitches within the acting although these could still be hidden by editing. I managed to get the first 30 second of the film done to a reasonable standard. With this I started to explore the software of final cut pro more. I figured out how to change the speed of the clips moreover I also figured out how to change the lighting of the film, in addition to crop the image so that objects we have captured within the shot that were not meant to be there can be eliminated.

March 17 2010.
Today I got a lot of the editing done, due to the fact that I now have more knowledge through experience on the software, I managed to get a lot of editing done. How ever we got up to the part where our protagonist gets caught b y her pursuer and receives her text book. He figured that this scene was not that good and would need re filming.

March 22 2010.

I Finlay received the tape wit the re-filming done, and we managed to put everything into place, now all that needed to be done was add music.

March 23 2010

Today i Finlay added transitions to the film. I learnt this by the assistance of others that have more experience with the software of final cut pro. they showed me how to do one transition and i did the rest. what was left to do was choose the music for the film. orginonally i tried to make some music with layers from different sounds using soundtrack pro for the chase scene, but due to the advise of someone that would fall into the target audience for our film, the music didn't go well with the chase scene, so i chose a ready made beat for the chase scene instead, which worked out much better.

March 24 2010

Today the final touches where put on the film before it was uploaded to youtube. when we uploaded the video we found out the format it was uploadied in wasnt supported well by the youtube site.

march 29 2010

Today we finnaly found a format in which we could sucessfully upload our video to youtube. and feedback so far from posting the video on facebook has bee very possitive.

Directors Filming Journal - (Emmanuel Olobio)

Friday 5th March 2010
We filmed the first scene outside of the college for this we only needed one of the cast. This was basic shots of her leaving the college we stuck to the original shot list and plan. We had trouble setting the tripod to different positions and angles which wasted a lot of time between each shots also filming at a time where it was clear from the general public outside the college gates. I helped the camera man in filming various shots at both locations and directed the cast during filming to benefit the shots taken. When we looked at the footage of the opening scene in the editing suite i was not happy with the continuity of the shots and also there was too much head space. The acting was not meeting our expectations also when considering the scenes had to create fear, suspense and action to create a credible and realistic thriller as the director I made the decision to re-shoot the scene.



Monday 15th March 2010
After various cast let downs and problems with scheduling we found a new cast who would be flexible enough to meet our filming demands. This was the first time filming with our new cast, we originally planned to film in the morning but due to the area being busy we filmed in the afternoon. We kept in mind the mistakes we made when filming the first time around and try to rectify this when re-filming. Lighting was a problem as it was quite bright but we new that this could altered in the editing process. When we looked back at the footage we saw that a majority of the shots we were pleased with but there still was a few shots preferably in the shot reverse shot scene and the point of you shot that needed to be re-filmed. Also there was trouble in getting a car that was suitable for our thriller and also we had a two minute thriller to construct and the car scene would go over that time period. So as the director i decided to change the ending to the character of Sophie being dragged off down the alley, as opposed to her being bundled into a car.

Thursday 18th March 2010
Although the deadline was looming i knew that the a few shots had to be re filmed in order to get the most possible marks, so today we retook those shots. As the camera man was unable to attend i took over the role of cameraman. I explored some different ideas as I knew this would be the last chance we would get to re film before the deadline so i added a brief phone conversation with the character betty and her boss with close up shots on the phone and also of her. We also re filmed the punch scene because i felt that the shot didn’t have the right impact that it needed to. Upon viewing these new shots in the editing suite i am confident that they will be suitable for editing into our thriller.

Change to story line - Emmanuel Olobio

Due to unforeseen difficulties we were unable to secure a car that would be suitable for the end of the opening two minute sequence. So as director i changed the ending of the opening sequence. This change means that instead of Sophie being carried into a car that pulls up at the alley entrance, Betty will receive a call from the boss although we cannot her the conversation Betty tells the caller "i've got her" referring to Sophie. Then a low angled shot cuts to Sophie on the floor as she is dragged offscreen. I feel that this change will still have the action and suspense as the previous ending.

Call sheet - Emmanuel Olobio

This is a picture of the call sheet that we needed to fill in, in order to take the camera equipment out from the technicians. As we are taking the camera off campus to an open location all the relevant fields needed to be filled in for health and safety reasons.

Production Schedule - Emmanuel Olobio

Production Schedule

Story Board - Emmanuel Olobio

Story Board

Production Brief- Emmanuel Olobio

Production Brief[1]

Shot list- Peter Otuwehinmi

shot list

Certificate - Sam Lee

The certificate for our film “Ikonic” was decided by our group because we felt our film would not be appropriate for younger viewers as there is violence throughout the film. We also took the feedback from our questionnaire and the face book page we created. The majority of people who gave their opinion and analysed our blog was teenagers over the age of 15, this made our decision easier and also gave us our target audience.

The film was also mainly analysed by a male majority. Few females looked at our blog and this has made us change a couple of ideas so we could bring in a wider range of viewers.

A lot of Thriller films are either 15 certificate or 18, this is because they are normally violent, sexual, contain bad language and also many thriller films take their theme from real life tragedies which can be explicit and disturbing. Taken is a good film that takes a real life situation, the sex trade, and shows the tragic effects it has on young women and their families.

The taking of Pelham 123 is about the hijack of an underground train and the hijackers blackmail the American government to give them money. This is representative of real life for example, at present Somalian pirates have taken several cargo ships and used their crew as hostages to try and extort money from their governments.

Ikonic is rated 15 because there is no sexual content or excessive violence to warrant an 18 rating. However, as there is some violence and the plot is relatively complicated it would not appeal to a younger audience, they may find it disturbing or not understandable.

Audience Research Questionnaire Results - Emmanuel Olobio

Below is the results of the poll we posted on the blog and also the questionnaire we printed off and gave to the general public in order to get feedback on our thriller.

Audience Research Question a Ire

Target Audience - Sam Lee

Whilst creating our media product we were trying to relate to our target audience. After receiving feed back about our production we decided as a group that our target audience would be aimed at people aged between 16-25.We decided this because we received a lot of positive and constructive feedback from that age group. Our production attracts a high percentage of male audience as well, this is probably because the story line is quite violent and graphic. We got our feed back from our blogs questionnaire and also our face book page.

Software - Emmanuel Olobio

Our group had to encompass many different types of software in order to help make our blog more presentable and show our planning in a better format. Some of the software was unfamiliar to us so we had to learn how to use them.

The first piece of software we used was ‘bubbl.us’, it was our first time in using the software which created our brainstorm for our thriller. It enables viewers to our blog to navigate through our mind map in an informative and highly presentable way.



We then used the software called ‘scribd’ to create our script. The format allows viewers of the blog to view the script easier and we were happy with the outcome of the script. We did have some problems initially when uploading it to our blog, but they were shortly resolved with some adjustments.


Whilst doing our preliminary task we came across the software ‘final cut pro’ which was used for editing our preliminary and we will also be using this software when editing our opening two minute sequence to a thriller. Peter who is the editor used the software which at first he found difficult but after time through practice it became easier and we are now confident about using this software on our opening sequence.

Character Profiles - Emmanuel Olobio

Name: Sophie McDonald
Age: 17
Appearance: Dark hair
Height: 5ft 4
Costume: hand bag to carry bag, leggings ugg boots.
Sophie is a vulnerable teenage girl who is cautious about herself but sometimes can be careless which gets her into a lot of trouble as we will see as the film goes on.

The character of Sophie is now being played by Georgie Watters who was a replacement for Keira Stone. Georgie fits the description of our character as she looks like a student and also vulnerable. She is also reliable and could make the filming times. I have chosen Georgie to play the character of Sophie because we wanted Sophie to have a student looks and have a typical teenage so her character is easily recognisable to the audience. We believe that Georgie has all these attributes as she is studying and has the right look that we are looking for in the character of Sophie.






Name: Betty Blackstock
Age: 22
Appearance: Dark hair
Height: 5ft 6
Costume: white t-shirt, cardigan, leggings.
Betty is an intimidating women in her 20's who has no concious and kidnaps women for the prostitution industry. She works for a mafia boss and cares only about her wellbeing and fears nobody.For the character of Betty we would need an actor that would be abit more older than Sophie. The aim would be to make this character look smart, or even harmless. The audience should be able to tell this by the tone of her voice and the mise-en-scene. The character of the women would have to look around her early/mid twenties so fairly young but older than the character of Sophie

We chose Haley Male to play the role of betty because we wanted betties character to change from nice when she asks Sophie for the time to villain when she brutally nocks her unconscious and drags her away. It was vital that her appearance can be intimidating and she can act the role of a protagonist very convincingly and i feel she can play the role well.

Title Sequence - Emmanuel Olobio

A title sequence is the way in which films or television programs present their title, production and cast members, or both and also sound. It usually follows but should not be confused with the opening credits.

Above is the title sequence to the film Hostage. The first shot shows the name of the film which is then followed by the directors name to show the audience who the film was directed by and also to show that they have the biggest role in the production process. The titles then move on to mentioning the producers in this case “Bruce Willis and Arnold Ripkin”. This would then lead on to mentioning any of the company that helped produce the film in this case it was Miramax films. The research into title sequences has enabled me and my group to gain a better understanding on what title sequences are and how we will be able to incorporate this during the editing process.

Props- Peter Otuwehinmi

The glasses are used by Sophie to create a representation of her. The glasses will connote to the audience that she is less able and weak which will add to her sense of vulnerability which is key to establishing her character.

Headphones so that will help us in our representation of sophie as a young teenage girl.


Textbook
The prop in the form of a media studies textbook will be used to connote to the audience why he is chasing Sophie down the alley to give her the book, which in turn shows that Jerome is not the antagonist, when he hands the textbook to her.

A bag for sophie so the audience can represent her as being a student.

A car, for the scene where sophie gets dragged into 1.

Music notes/Score Notes - Peter Otuwehinmi

Vibrating by peterotus

sound used for the opening scene, this would be used to build up suspence within the film, and also give tyhe film the feeling of a thriller.

Adrenaline by peterotus
sound used for chase. this is a fast drum beat which also adds suspence throughout the film

Heartbeat slow by peterotus

heart beat. used for the scene where our "trick antagonist" first brings out his media text book

Production poster- Peter Otuwehinmi

This is the poster for promotion of our film. I chose this design because it add suspense, in addition to it fulfills some of the codes and conventions of a thriller for example a dark background, and use of light . the poster includes the staring cast, production company and the age classification. The font was chosen to attract the attention of the audience and make the film worth watching.

Textual Analysis- Peter Otuwehinmi

Textual analysis on the departed.
We are first introduced to our main character (the protagonist) as a child. This is done through an Irish mobster who grooms our protagonist and a few other youths. As the film goes on our protagonist is portrayed as cocky obnoxious and arrogant. We are shown this through one of the scenes at the very beginning in where we see him loose in a game of rugby, and ends up doing insultive hand gestures toward the opposing team in addition to make insultive and abusive comments toward the opposing team. As our protagonist grows up we see him in a police academy which gives us the idea that he is training to be a police officer due to his experience in the mob, although later on in the film our protagonist soon agrees to drop out of the academy to do time in prison because of a “Phony assault charge.” This as we see later on in the film increases his credibility. The audience identifies with the protagonist as he grows up, being groomed by the Irish mobster, as a boy who knows no better as he’s lived a rough life, so he looks up to this mobster as a father figure.

Throughout this film people are not aware of our protagonist’s true identity. This secret would be one of the Irish mob that he was part of when he was younger. This secret puts him in a lot of danger as everybody is now after him to get to the father figure we were introduced to at the beginning of the film. The director builds a sense of suspense that makes the audience find out our protagonist has been found out. This is during the scene where one of the force tells our protagonist that he knows his real identity, but then the camera cuts into a shot wound that this character has endured and later on he dies. This scene here puts the audience on the edge as someone now knows something that they do as well.

The quick editing adds a lot of suspense to this action thriller, and it successfully keeps the audience at the edge of their seats at all time. Moreover the anticipation of our protagonist getting caught is even more nail biting. Moreover the use of dark lights with fire in the background in many scenes adds to the action within the scene, in addition to it represents the danger and implications of getting caught.

Unlike most thrillers this thriller contains a lot close ups on the characters, and other shots to establish our characters. I think the director does this to help the Audience relate to the character, as he is growing up within the film, almost like a life juney.

Taken - Film Influence (Emmanuel Olobio)

Taken is a big box office thriller, the plot had an influence on our thriller because it has action and is interesting to the audience. This film inspired us to use shots that could have dramatic affects on the audience, for instance when Sophie is being dragged out of the shot it creates suspense and keeps the audience wanting more this is important for the title sequence to create a credible thriller.

Production Logo (Emmanuel Olobio)

Our group have decided to name our production as Ikonic as we feel this name best represents the production group. And below is the logo.



Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own

Possible Character Profile 2 (not used) - Sam Lee

Name: Sophie McDonald
Age: 17
Appearance: slim, blond hair, attractive,
Hight: 5ft 7
Costume:hand bag to carry bag, glasses, ipod.
Sophie is a vunrable teenage girl who is cautious about herself but sometimes can be careless which gets her into alot of trouble as we will see as the film goes on.

The character of Sophie would have been played by Keira Stone although due to her not being able to make our filming date she was not in our thriller. We Originally chose Keira to play the character of Sophie because we wanted Sophie to have attractive and studious looks. We believe that Keira has all these attributes as she is studying and has these attractive looks that we are looking for in the character of Sophie.

Character Profiles - (Emmanuel Olobio)

Antagonist


Name: Jerome Brown
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Appearance: Tall, black hair, brown eyes, average build 6ft 3
Costume: Dark jeans, hooded top and white trainers
Props: Media textbook
Character Profile: Jerome is an innocent
teenage college who is mistaken for an attacker.




The character of Jerome needs look intimidating and Peter fits the representation because he is tall and also he has a black skin tone which fits the characteristics of Jerome. The intimidation of the character and the stereoype of black ethnicity will scare the audience into thinking that Jerome will attack Sophie. We would want Jerome to be wearing all black, moreover we would want to try and play with many stereotypes that the audience might have. So the location of an alley with the character of a black man which Jerome is would add expense to the scene. When the audience see that he is chasing Sophie then they’ll think he will attack her due to their stereotypes also the role of the antagonist will change when they find out he doesnt .

Facebook Group Page - Emmanuel Olobio

Facebook has many features that make it an easily accessible program in which to make our production company's fan group. The Facebook fan page is a tool in which you can extend your social network, connect with your target audience and consumer promotions alike. I created the page for our film in order to get constructive feedback from our audience and also discussion. This can also aid us in our evaluation.

Preliminary Task (Emmanuel Olobio)

The preliminary Task enabled us to get fimiliar with the eqiupment and filming.The task featured somebody walking into a room having a conversation and then leaving. The preliminary had to include a long shot, close-up shot, two shot, match on action, shot reverse shot and also show the 180 degree rule. It took us two attempts to film the preliminary, becuase in the first attempt changes in the diologue meant it could not be edited. The task enabled us to fimiliarise ourselves with final cut pro, the software in which we will be using to edit our thriller. The role of editor was given to peter who succesfully completed the editing of the preliminary task.


180 degree rule had to be followed in order for the continuity in the Priliminary to work .

Weekly Updates - Sam Lee. On going

Week 1 - 15/1/10

The first week of the course week we started by creating a blogger where we would upload all our research and the work we have done. Once our blog was finished we started brainstorming our ideas for our thriller. Whilst Sam was creating the brainstorm peter was starting to create a script.

We all took on roles.

Emmanuel Olobio - Director

Sam Lee - Camera Man

Peter Otuwehinmi - Editor

Week 2 - 18/1/10

In our night class Pianki showed us all the equipment we would be using to create our thriller, after we started our premillinary task. Our premillinary task had to consist of expects such as match on action, 180 degree rule, two shot and shot reverse shot. Due to the incompitance of one of our actors not to laugh we had to stop and shoot again next week.

21/1/10

In our friday lesson Peter finished the script and Emmanuel uploaded the Genre research and the two minute synopsis that he done during the week. We also organised the group members responsibilities, we done this so everyone knew the jobs they had to do. A calander was also made so we could plan out when we was going film and when we was going to hand in each peace of work.

Week 3 - 24/1/10

In Tobys class we analysed a thriller called "The Lady From Shanghai", we had to establish who was the protagonist and antagonist in the film. This would help us establish the differences between them both.

25/1/10

After Pianki showed us what our perliminary task should look like we started refilming again. Using the method trial and error we finally came out with a decent bit of film ready for editing.

28/1/10

Sam started the research on Kyle Cooper a title sequence desighner and finished it. Emmanuel checked over his 2 minture synopsis and the genre research and improved them whilst Peter finished the Script. We also discussed where and when we was going to start to filming.

Week 4 - 1/2/10

We watched Scream and analysed the way it was shot and the different techniques and the classic techniques that were used to make the horror. Peter wrote up some notes about audience and research as me and Emmanuel done questions for the questionaire.

2/2/10

Peter started and finished the editing of the perliminary task, whilst emmanuel started to create the treatment. Sam typed up his title sequence research and put it on the blog.

5/2/10

Pianki checked everyones blog and told us where abouts we were and what grade we were looking at. Once we realised we were behing and that our blog needed to be presented better as it was bland sam changed the background and emmanuel finished of the treatment so more could be presented on the blog. During the week Peter took location shots where we was planning on shooting our thriller.

Week 5 - 8/2/10

Class was cancelled

9/2/10

Though Peter and finished the editing of the perliminary task he forgot to add the opening and ending credits. Once Peter and finished he uploaded the task to our blog. Emmanuel created the production name and logo whilst Sam uploaded the audience research.

12/2/10

Throughout the week Sam and Peter were asking people to be in our production, once we had the correct actors for the job Emmanuel uploaded them and we all wrote the character profiles for each charactor.

Final Location Shots - Emmanuel Olobio

Alleyway

Entrance

This shot shows the path in which betty will walk up to ask Sophie for a cigarette. We used this alleyway because it is secluded so it fits in with the codes and conventions of the thriller genre.

College Entrance

This picture shows the outside of Havering College. The college will be used in the background when Sophie leaves the gates.

Alleyway

After much deliberation from our group we have decided that the alley above and the street opposite is the best location for the thriller as it is accessible from both entrances to allow the car to manoeuvre in and also the lighting is qood enough to film. It is also quite so it will be perfect for filming. As well as the alley above we have decided to use the outside of Havering College in the opening scene to show that Sophie is a student this is the best place in terms of location and setting to use the college.

Genre/ audience - Sam Lee

Thrillers refer to an emotion, this differs from other genres with refer to a particular location (western) or plot device (science fiction). Thrillers are also known to promote intense excitement, and nerve racking story lines to the audience. A typical thriller usually concentrates on the plot and what is going on around the characters rather than concentrating on the characters. This is why in many thrillers you see a lot of editing, point of view shots and very much of different lighting within the film.

One thing that is very noticeable within the audiences of thrillers is its high number of males in its market. The fasts pace movie with massive concentration on shots, props and scenery has been proven to go down well with the male population. Moreover a huge number of the audience for thrillers are teenagers and young adults. For our film the target audience would be teenagers and young adults, this would be mainly through the use of the sound, characters, props and most Importantly a more modern style of music.

Thrillers tend to also use the actions and sense of humans to build emotion through out their sequence. One way they do this is by almost engaging the audience into the film. For example if there was a murder and the director shows us the scene where the murderer killed his victim, the way in which the director had successfully engaged the audience into the film is by giving the answers to the audience through the sequence.

In the sequence we are doing we are going to use the method of confusing the audience into thinking a stereotypical person with be an antagonist. This is another method a lot of thrillers use. A good example of a thriller that does this is 24. at the end of the first episode where we find out who the real antagonist was, while the audience was thinking it was somebody else.
Below are some key elements that thrillers use within a scene that hopefully we would come around to using within our thriller.


With the picture thrillers use:-
3 point lighting
Key light- main light source
Full light- to take out shadows
Backlight- to take out background
Uses low key light, dim and shadowy which is another way of withholding information from the audience.
They also use continuality editing to add to the expense.
Some thrillers have restricted narration, and hence the audience know more than the protagonist and is equally confused. Thrillers have a complex narrative structure which is non linear, and are multithread.

From our questionaire we have had a mixed response about our ideas and what we are going film. Many people feel that the script doesn't suit the genre of film, as people think this we will have to either change the script or as we film we will have to improvise and try to add more suspense as we film.

Our facebook page also gave us some criticism though it was constructive and helped us change our blog and work. However we also recieved some good feedbacks and this has encouraged us to expand on our idea and take it to the next stage.

From what we have learnt from the questionaire and the facebook page is that our 2 mintue sequence should be aimed at an audience for 15 year olds and above. Also the majority of people who have looked at the blog is male thus making the film generally interesting an young male audience.

Questionaire - Emmanuel Olobio

I have created a poll to the left of our Blog which is open to viewers of our blog to answer. This will help us in finding a target audience and wether the quality and concept of our two minute opening sequence to a thriller fits into the specified genre.

Treatment - (Emmanuel Olobio)

Product
We are creating the opening 2 minute sequence to a thriller. We chose the thriller genre as it is very popular amongst many of the big box office films and also has broad codes and conventions. Our thriller is called ‘Abduction’ and is based on the theory of an unclear protagonist. At the beginning of the 2 minute sequence it appears that Peter is the antagonist as he is chasing after the protagonist Sophie. We have shown this through the location as it is partly set in a dark alley which is a confined space and has a connotation as dangerous and remote. The casting of Jerome who is black creates a stereotype to the audience that he is violent and threatening as he is of black ethnicity. The lighting in the film is quite dim as it adds danger and suspense which are codes of the thriller genre. Score non-diegetic music is used when the first antagonist Jerome is chasing Sophie. The music helps to create atmosphere. The antagonist threat changes to Betty who approaches when Jerome leaves the scene down the alley after handing the book to Sophie. She is now seen as a mysterious character and at the end when Sophie is knocked unconscious it is clear that betty is the antagonist. Throughout the thriller the antagonist changes to create a twist in the plot therefore creating a realistic thriller. We are marketing our film through you tube. We have chosen www.YouTube.com because it is a globally known website and would be accessed by our target audience, as statistically the age category of 16-35 is the dominant age group for you tube users.

Target Audience
Our group have decided through the questionnaire and research that the age demographic for our thriller is in the 16-34 category as it contains some scenes of violence which would not be suitable for the under 16 category and is to intense and action packed for 34+ age demographic.

Representations
Our thriller uses stereotypes to convey representations as in many films the woman in our case Sophie is weak and vulnerable. Also the antagonist at the start Is Jerome who is black this allows the audience to perceive him as the villain based on his skin colour which creates a representation and also his cloths in this case the hoody and the score music used.

Media Language
Our product will contain many of the normal codes and conventions you will find in a thriller. This includes action, suspense, chases, isolated locations, protagonist, antagonist and also lighting. Many different types of shots will be used like for instance a pov shot will be used to show Sophie’s view point when Jerome pulls the book out of his jacket. Close up shots will be used to show changes in emotions and mid-long shots to construct the chase between the protagonist and the antagonist. The use of score music in our thriller will help to create suspense and vulnerability for the protagonist at beginning of our two minute sequence and also at the end.

Institutions
We will be using lions gate and twisted pictures as our distributors, because they are multinational film companies that can reach our target audience on a global scale. Ikonic Productions (our group) will be making the film.

Title Sequences, Kyle Cooper and Saul Bass - Sam Lee

Kyle Cooper

Kyle Cooper is one of the most successful modern designers of motion picture title sequences. He has created many Films such as Flubber (1997), Hulk (2008) and his latest film Tropic Thunder. In addition to this he has created various computer games such as metal gear solid 2 and metal gear solid 3.

These are the some examples of Kyle’s work on the film hulk. The Title sequence basically tells the story and also runs some credits telling the audience who is starring in the film and what is happening in the opening scene. It tells the audience what is happening and gives them a rough idea what the film is about. Kyle wanted to run credits over the opening scene, people believed it would confuse the audience however it was effective and worked well. This title sequence is from the film Dawn of dead, the sequence shows that there is a war going on against the super natural (zombies) and that it is happening all around the world. The white house is shown to represent America; a mosque is shown to represent the Middle East. The overall picture is put together as a collage to represent the clashes with the supernatural on a world wide base.


Saul Bass

Saul Bass was also a notorious title sequence producer. Bass became hugely known in the film industry after creating the title sequence for Otto Preminger's, The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). The subject of the film was a jazz musician's epic struggle to overcome his heroin addiction. Bass decided to create a controversial title sequence to match the films controversial subject. He chose an arm as his central image, as the arm is a strong image relating to taking heroin and drug addiction. He expected it would cause quite a sensation therefore the title sequence featured an animated, black paper-cut out arm of an heroin addict. Over 40 years bass carried on creating title sequences some of the most famous being Spartacus (1960), Cape fear(1991) and Casino (1995).Bass created many title sequences for thrillers such as Vertigo (1958). The film is about a man trying to find a woman’s identity. Bass uses the story line to get the audience fixed to the film straight away, he does this buy showing each facial feature of the woman’s face in various close up shots. After showing various body parts the camera becomes transfixed on the lady’s eye. The Camera then turns to her face and before her true identity in shown the screen becomes soaked in red thus making the woman anonymous pmce again. Bass does this to make the audience ask the question who was that and it also sets the mood for the film.

Thriller Research - Sub Genres (Emmanuel Olobio)

Some of the sub genres that thrillers branch out to are as follows

• Action thriller: In which the work often features a race against the clock, contains lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist. These films usually contain large amounts of guns, explosions, and large elaborate set pieces for the action to take place. These films often have elements of mystery films and crime films but these elements take a backseat to action. Some examples include the James Bond films and The Transporter.

Spy thriller (also a subgenre of spy fiction): In which the hero is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists. Examples include From Russia, with Love by Ian Fleming, The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum, and television series such as Mission: Impossible and 24 (the latter demonstrating a break from the norm by Robert Ludlum, as it is as much a psychological thriller as a spy thriller).

• Drama thriller: In which the story consists of the elements of a thriller and drama film. These films are usually slower paced and involve a great deal of character development along with plot twists. Some examples include The Illusionist and The Prestige.

• Crime thriller: This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, and double-crosses are central ingredients. Some examples include Seven and Reservoir Dogs.


• Eco-thriller: In which the protagonist must avert or rectify an environmental or biological calamity, often in addition to dealing with the usual types of enemies or obstacles present in other thriller genres. This environmental component often forms a central message or theme of the story. Examples include Nicholas Evans's The Loop, C. George Muller's Echoes in the Blue, and Wilbur Smith's Elephant Song, all of which highlight real-life environmental issues. Futuristic eco-thrillers are of the science fiction genre that propose ideas that will or may occur. Some examples include Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy and Ian Irvine's Human Rites Trilogy.

• Psychological thriller: In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. Some examples include Shadow of a Doubt and Blue Velvet.

• Religious thriller: In which the plot is closely connected to religious objects, institutions and questions. While suspense stories have always shown a significant affinity for religion and philosophical issues. Some examples include The Name of the Rose and The Da Vinci Code.

Our film fits into the action and crime thriller genre as there is violence and also criminal activity in our 90 minuite film.

Source we used was: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)

Location notes- Peter Otuwehinmi

So far we already go to the college that the beginning of the thriller starts. But the main issue would be finding a suitable ally for the girl to be chased in. We do have many ideas but we would need an ally that has a safe entrance and exit for the car to be parked. Pictures of the possible alleys that we could use will be uploaded at a later date.

Genre research - Todorov's Theory (Emmanuel Olobio)

Tzvetan Todorov is a Bulgarian philosopher who's theory entails five stages in which the narrative can pass through.

• A state of equilibrium (all is as it should be)
• A disruption of that order by an event
• A recognition that the disorder has occurred
• An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
• A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium

The theory basically means that the disequilibrium (the problem in the narrative) needs to be restored, e.g a kidnapping or revenge for a murder. But when the equilibrium is restored (happy ending) it is in someway different to the start of the story. Through the disequilibrium the characters or situations progress (or grow) in either confidence,physical ability, intellectually etc this process is called character transformation.

Here is Todorov's framework for his theory-
• A murder happens and people are terrified
• Someone vanishes and the characters have to solve the mystery
• Narratives don’t need to be linear.
• The progression from initial equilibrium to restoration always involves a
transformation.
• The middle period of a narrative can depict actions that transgress everyday habits and
routines.
• There can be many disruptions whilst seeking a new equilibrium.

Narrative Codes - Emmanuel Olobio

Narrative is a way in which you tell a story, but is different from a story in that the narrative is in the way that the story is related. When looking at narrative there are codes in which examine in order to find its meaning, these conventions are genre, character, form and time. Time is a convention when looking at narrative as for instance a persons life can be shown in a block of 2 hours.



Roland Barthes was famous for unlocking the fabric of narrative structure. Roland Barthes describes a text as “a galaxy of signifiers, not a structure of signifieds; it has no beginning; it is reversible; we gain access to it by several entrances, none of which can be authoritatively declared to be the main one; the codes it mobilizes extend as far as the eye can read, they are indeterminable...the systems of meaning can take over this absolutely plural text, but their number is never closed, based as it is on the infinity of language...” . In this passage he is describing texts as a quilt with different threads that when analyzing can be pulled apart. Barthes came up with the codes in which suspense can be created in your narrative.


Enigma is a code in a narrative where it creates mystery for instance in the 'Bourne' series jason Bourne wakes up with no re collection of his past this make a mystery surroundng him. this is an enigma as the audience would have questions on a text or a feedback.

Action is a code in a narrative where it is action upon action. This means for example somebody is holding a gun and is aiming at his opponent the audience are in suspense and creates tension to the outcome as to whether or not the shooter will kill his enemy or in fact he will be wounded himself.

90 Minute synopsis (Emmanuel Olobio)

Sophie Lawson was a typical 17 year old girl who lived a normal life, with her normal family, in a normal house, she went to Havering College and everyday, would walk the normal route home until one day when it all changed as Sophie never travelled that way ever again.

It was a Friday afternoon and as usual Sophie walked home but this time she was not alone. As she walked down the street she noticed she was being followed. She started to briskly pick up the pace to loose her follower but the talk dark figure was soon behind her. She started to run towards the alley, as the menacing tall hooded man was sprinting in pursuit of Sophie as she reaches the end of the alleyway she trips over and turns to find the tall hooded man standing over her. He reaches into his jacket, at this point Sophie is frozen with fear. He pulls out a media textbook smiles and he tells her she dropped it down the road. Jerome leaves back down the alley as Sophie manages to get back on to her feet. As she breathes a sigh of relief, we are introduced to Betty a young women who emerges from the path. She approaches Sophie and asks her for a lighter. Sophie hesitantly hands over the lighter as she does this betty knocks her to the floor with one punch to the face.


Almost instantly a car emerges from the end of the road and pulls up to the alley a man jumps out of the passenger seat and drags a kicking and screaming Sophie into the backseat. The driver’s is visible in the window and hands a bunch of twenty pound notes to betty who is elated with the sight of the money. She then lights a cigarette and the car speeds off into the distance. In the car she is injected with a syringe full of heroine and driven to a house down Barnaby Street. The men tie Sophie up and drag her now unconscious body into the house; she is then put in one of the bedrooms and left there over night. She is reported missing by Sophie’s mum and dad, but the police are unable to locate were she is or what happened to her. The following day she was taken to a nearby flat and put into one of the rooms with various other young girls. Every hour or so one of the girls was taken out of the room and put into one of the bedrooms opposite. Sophie could hear the screams echoing across the flat as one of the girls were being violently raped. Whilst the others could only watch as they were being constantly drugged and beaten. Sophie was the only one willing to escape as the rest of the girls were so drugged they were barely able to keep conscious let alone plan an escape.


As two of the men left the flat Sophie managed to wriggle out of the shackles that bound her hands. She moved behind the door and fashioned a knife out of some broken shards of glass as one of the men walking in to inflict some more violent pain on the girls Sophie stabbed him in the neck with the shard of glass and franticly sprinted out of the front door narrowly missing a fist flying at her from one of the assailants chasing after her. She runs down the road and out of sight as a car seems to be circling the roads around her. She runs to a nearby police station and explains what has happened. As the police infiltrated the flat they found all of the women dead and the men no were to be seen. As Sophie laid in her bed that night she realised that if she had been there any longer she could have been dead……….

script- Peter Otuwehinmi

Script for Abduction

Group Responsibilities - Sam Lee

Sam
Mind Map
Audience Research
Analysing Two Sequences
Weekly Updates
Premilinary Task
Meeting Minutes
Genre Research
Textual analysis

Peter
Script
Location Notes
Cast Notes
Production Schedule
Filming Journal
Premilinary Task
Story Board
Score Notes
Textual Analysis


Emmanuel
Genre Research
Scenario (90 Min)
Scenario (2 min)
Treatment
Preliminary Task
2 Minute Outline
Production Logo
Textaul Analysis
Pictures of People in Production
Blog Questionnaire

textual Analysis - Peter Otuwehinmi

Taken is a film which was written by Luc Besson Mark Kamen, directed by Pierre Morel and released in 2008. This thriller is a movie with the sub genres of action crime and drama.
Our main character is a Decorated and highly-skilled CIA Special Activities Division officer Bryan Mills. In the film the director portrays to the audience that he has a teenage daughter who travels to paris and gets capered hence the title of the film taken. Our main protagonist uses his experience and skills from his work to locate his daughter; he does this through recording conversations with his daughter. The films action is based around his battle with the people who were involved in the kidnapping. Eventually he finds his daughter being prostituted to a pimp, the combat then continues as the kidnappers try to hide our protagonist’s daughter from him.

The film has an element of suspense as the director shows us the audience many clues and answers to questions that would have been asked within the film. This literally gives the audience an affect that a pantomime has. For example if the protagonist is walking in a wrong direction or walking into danger, the audience would literally be saying go the other way, or shaking their heads cause they know something that the protagonist doesn’t.

The Director portrays our protagonist as someone that the audience could relate to, as there are many sides to him. He has a daughter that is now lost, he is divorced from his daughters mother and a very lonely man. Our protagonist is also seen to be secluded form the outside world as he is often in his dark apartments looking at photos of his daughter. Moreover the audience also synthesizes with our protagonist, especially in the part of the film where he goes to his daughter’s party where he is not wanted. The rejection on the faces of those at the party makes the audience synthesize with him.

When it comes down to the action of the film our protagonist has very little weaknesses due to his past experience with his old profession, however this contrasts with his softer sides. The main weakness our protagonist has is how much he actually loves his daughter. Therefore the kidnappers of his daughter know how to hurt him, and they do this through his daughter, and mentally scar our protagonist. This means he is hurt a lot while trying to fight off the kidnappers.

An enigma was created around the character from the beginning of the film as he spoke to his daughter’s capturer he says, “I have a various set of skills that I have acquired from a long career”. These skills that our protagonist talks and boasts about are later revealed later on in the film when he uses his special forensic skills to locate his daughter, with this the director successfully portrays to the audience a man that is not that of normal human intelligence.

Another mystery that arises in the film would be his divorce to his wife. The audience is left wondering why they broke up as every time they came across each other she looks at him in a resentful way, This gives the audience the suspicion that he did something wrong to her. We then later on learn that he sacrificed his marriage for his government career, which then leads to him being able to rescue his daughter. But amongst all this is another mystery, why did our protagonist stop working for the government. This too is answered later on through the film when he states that the reason he left is because he desired a better relationship with his daughter and that he missed his daughter.

Kim is also another main character and her aesthetics is very important in the telling the audience about her. She at first seems to be a normal, innocent girl because she wears a lot of girly colors and natural makeup. We find out she is loving towards her dad but also secretive as she lies about where she is going. Younger views could easily identify with this character, a rebel girl who often lies about where she is going, in addition to a hard life with the separation of her parents. Her main weakness would be the fact that she is easily lead on, as we can see that she is lead on my a French man called peter who gives her an invitation to a fake party.

In the form of this event the audience is left wondering if the character of Kim will be okay, and what the plot is going to be. Clues from this question arise as the jacket of Kim is found; moreover clues from other prostitutes are also given. At the end as we know she was found eventually, answering the question that arises.

Throughout this film the degree of suspense has been lifted and decreased by the music. As in most thrillers the music is a massive tool in adding tension f=to the film and decreasing the tension from the film. One example of where the music is used to add tension is where brain kicked down each door and sees a dying prostitute, this leaves the audience on the edge of their seats wondering if he will kick down the door and see his daughter there. The audience feels as if he is about to find her but in fact he does not find her in any of the rooms and therefore the buildup ends anti-climatically. . It is common in thriller that there is a lot of buildup of tension which end anti-climatically until the final build up when something exciting happens; this is usually the aspect of the thriller genre that keeps the audience interested.
This of course leads to another enigma. Is Kim dead already? It also reveals to the audience that his friend who is supposedly meant to be helping him is indeed involved in his downfall. The use of dramatic irony creates a sense of danger which his doesn’t realize until he discovers that Jean-Claude, head of security for France, is betraying him. Information regarding the whole film is made during the experiences on Brian. This is done through his struggle to get back him daughter from the kidnappers that took her. We know at the end that his main priority which would be to amend his relationship with his family is amended when Lenny’s new husband says that Brian is always welcome to anything he needs.
In conclusion I do feel that the film fit perfectly into the genre of a thriller, but I do feel the film can be long winded at times but it does create the suspense, tension and action of a thriller.

Brainstorm - Sam Lee

Textual Analysis - Bourne Ultimatum (Emmanuel Olobio)

Bourne ultimatum is the third in a trilogy of the ‘Bourne’ series of films. It is based on the novel by Robert Ludlum and directed by Paul Greengrass, released in 2007. The film is a thriller and consists of sub genres which include spy, conspiracy, crime and action thrillers. The main focus is on Jason Bourne a former highly skilled and deadly American secret agent who suffered from amnesia. As he battles to uncover his past and why this has happened to him he is also on the run from the CIA for murders he did not commit. As the title suggests the film ultimatum is looking for the final answer to Jason Bourne’s predicament. The film hones in on the murder of a journalist in London who has the answers to Jason Bourne’s past and mysterious amnesia.

The director has allowed the audience to know what has happened to him through various flashbacks and also many hidden clues as to the amnesiac Jason Bournes past. He was a member of a CIA decommissioned assassin squad and is accused of killing someone he was not supposed to kill. Bourne now fights in the reactionary mode to save his own life while explosions of memory pieces invade his attitude as well as abilities. Not all the pieces of memory that return are pleasant as he deals with the tragedies of his past. The audience is shown the corruption which shows how the director wants the audience to sympathise with the main character as he battles to remember his past and clear his name but there are many scenes were the audience is put in a state of unknown as to what will happen next much like the main character Jason the audience is entwined in his situation.

The director takes the audience on a journey across continents from the sizzling beaches of India to the snow laden streets of Moscow the audience can relate to him as Jason comes across as an outcast from society although his talents as an agent make it an action packed thriller from start to finish. There Is an enigma surrounding his character as he is appeared to be an unstoppable force in any situation that arises his only weakness appears to be himself as the memories of his past seem to trouble him.

The directors inclusion of the character Nicky Parsins who is a CIA agent is to show that there is some kind of light in the darkening tunnel of corruption that is infecting the CIA as she helps Bourne in confronting a corrupt and greedy CIA executive. Along with Nicky Parsins Pamela Landy is another CIA agent who is trying track down Bourne but although she appears to be on the other side as the thriller progresses it is clear she wants to find the truth about Bourne and uncover the secrecies of treadstone.

Like many other thrillers the Bourne Ultimatum follows many of the standard codes and conventions you would expect. It delivers action, suspense, tension and lightning fast pace, this Is partly due to the cutting. Which is very fast which gives it a dizzy affect, also giving it an illusion of uncertainty. This not the pace of the editing but the quality of it. Cuts here seem rough because they interrupt actions and camera movements. Pans, zooms, and movements of the actors especially Bourne are infrequently allowed to come to rest before the shot changes. This creates a strong sense of jerkiness and visual imbalance.

Throughout the film the level of suspense, tension and action can change almost instantly through music. For instance in the opening scene the music is louder and creates more anxiety for the audience and the atmosphere is being built up and its tense. We watch as he fixes himself, and makes himself better. This shows us he is intelligent and he is well trained, it also is the theme song so it is recognised by the audience from the previous films. Then this keeps the audience aware and intrigued. It keeps the audience on the edge of their seat and curious as to what is going to happen next.

Genre research (Emmanuel Olobio)

Our 2 minute video is based around the genre of thriller.
Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains (antagonist) Thrillers can often overlap with mystery stories, but are distinguished by the structure of their plots. Thrillers have been increasingly influenced by horror or psychological-horror and/or a monstrous element has become common to increase tension and suspense. A thriller can contain various sub genres including action, crime, spy and disaster thrillers. Notable thrillers such as Phone Booth and the Bourne Identity which was adapted into a movie starring Matt Damon which used many of the thriller conventions of the plot. Though its sequels, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, depart significantly from Robert Ludlum's storyline, the conspiracy-thriller genre is still well-preserved whilst still containing fast passed action.

2 Minute Outline Of Abduction (Emmanuel Olobio)

It was a Friday afternoon and as usual a called Sophie (aged 17) walked her usual route home but this time she was not alone. As she walked down the street she noticed she was being followed. She started to briskly pick up the pace to loose her follower but the talk dark figure was soon behind her. She started to run towards the alley, as the menacing tall hooded man was sprinting in pursuit of Sophie as she reaches the end of the alleyway she trips over and turns to find the tall hooded man standing over her. He reaches into his jacket, at this point Sophie is frozen with fear. He pulls out a media textbook smiles and he tells her she dropped it down the road. Jerome leaves back down the alley as Sophie manages to get back on to her feet.

As she breathes a sigh of relief, we are introduced to Betty a young women who emerges from the path. She approaches Sophie and asks her for a lighter. Sophie hesitantly hands over the lighter as she does this; Betty knocks her to the floor with a punch to the face. Almost instantly a car emerges from the end of the road and pulls up to the alley a man jumps out of the passenger seat and drags a kicking and screaming Sophie into the backseat. The driver’s is visible in the window and hands a bunch of twenty pound notes to Betty who is elated with the sight of the money. She then lights a cigarette and the car speeds off into the distance.

textual analysis - Emmanuel Olobio

Phone Booth is a thriller directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Larry Cohen. It follows the sub genres of mystery and psychological thriller. There are two main characters within the first 40 minutes that i have analyse and indicate a clear protagonist and antagonist. We are introduced to the main character 'Stu' a New York publicist who is confident, intelligent and arrogant. These things are established in the opening minutes of the film. The plot revolves around a man in a phone booth who is on the phone to the intimidator who has him in his sniper rifle scope in one of the apartments above although this is not known to passers by. The cocky obnoxious protagonist draws sympathy from the audience as he is framed for killing a pimp who co-indecently wanted to use the phone booth. The protagonist has been committing adultery against his wife Pam and this seems to be why if any, reason he is held hostage in the booth.

As the police are called, it appears to them that he killed the pimp although as he is being held hostage he is unable to leave the booth. The enigma around the caller begins to increase as we do not know any information about him, or why he is holding him hostage. This shows how the film has followed the main convention of a psychological thriller. Stu confesses his bad sins to the crowd, telling his unpaid assistant, Adam, who looks up to Stu, not to become a publicist and admitting his 2,000 dollar watch is a fake, like himself.

The short shots adds to the high suspense of this psychological action thriller , and it successfully keeps the audience at the edge of their seats for the majority of the time. Also the anticipation of the protagonist getting caught is even more intriguing as more and more you sympathise with the main character 'Stu'.

Like most thrillers there are many close up shots on the main character this is to convey there emotions. The twist at the end shows that like many thrillers this has changed antagonist as the shooter gets away.