Group Film Pitch - "Mask"

This is our group film pitch for a 2 minute thriller opening that we plan to create, all of us combined ideas and came up with a small presentation giving a brief overview of how our film opening will look.

Personal Marking of AS Media Thriller Openings

Top Level 4 (60/60 marks): The Edge

I have decided to grade this film opening at a top level 4 as the material in the film is appropriate towards its suitable target audience, the titles are excellently incorporated into the film. Also the use of  ambient suspenseful background music, clear dialogue and foley give the film a professional look to it. The sound and images relate well to the task and what is going on in the scene, so all visuals and sounds are relevant to each other. 'The Edge' uses brilliant cinematography with a variety of camera shots, angles, effective lighting and the mis-en-scene is relevant to the scene, (agents in suit). The suspenseful fast paced action and low key lighting show this is a thriller. Editing is also very well polished with creative use of shot transitions, colour grading and foley sounds that match the actions in the film opening. Lastly, the film conveys that it is an opening as it leaves the story open ended and therefore can potentially continue on to a full film.
 

Top Level 3: No Hiding Place (47/60)
I have decided to grade this film a top level 3 as the film opening is suitable to the target audience, the titles are well incorporated, although there are not sufficient amounts of titles. The use of foley that fits in well to the scene as well as clear dialogue and the conventional horror ambient background music adds a great effect. The sound and images relate well to the task and what is going on in the scene, so all visuals and sounds are relevant to each other. 'No Hiding Place' has a good level of cinematography with various camera shots and angles, also the use of suspenseful fast paced jump cuts shows it is a horror. The mis-en-scene is pleasant as it shows the opposites of two characters casually in a house with everything being normal and transitioning into the supernatural clown being such a strange disturbing thing. Editing also is excellent as the jump cuts and graphic matches of the clown increase the fear factor that is iconic of a horror. Lastly, the film conveys that it is an opening as it leaves the story open ended and therefore can potentially continue on to a full film.

Top Level 2 - 'RUN' (36/60)
I have decided to grade this film a top level 2 as the film opening is suitable to the target audience. There is in-sufficient credits and titles used. There is use of foley at certain times along with the deep ambient music in the background that is quite suspenseful. Although the characters actions in the film are not really suspenseful, which makes me unsure which genre the film opening is trying to establish. There is a good use of cinematography with various camera shots, but a lack of angles. I am not sure what the mis-en-scene in 'RUN' is communicating, the girl in casual clothes seems to be going out, but there is a lack of specific lighting to show the genre and link in to the suspenseful ambient music in the background. The use of juxtaposition with editing of the pigeons is a good effect and the quick shot transitions add suspense to the film opening. Also the black and white colour grading in a part of the film, to show a flashback is quite creative. Lastly, the film does not convey that it is an opening as 'RUN' cannot lead on to anything with the storyline, there has been nothing significant that has happened and nothing more can be revealed. 

G321 Media Film Openings Mark Scheme

This is the final film opening mark scheme, it is very helpful for me to obtain this information as it helps me know what I am aiming for and how I am going to achieve this. Also I know how many marks are awarded as well as the areas to consider that allow me to gain the top marks for the film opening I am going to create.

Film Opening Problems

Through Pete Fraser's media blog I have been able to see the common problems that occur when students make openings to films for AS media studies. By looking at this information it helps provide me with knowledge on what NOT TO DO when I am going to make my film opening with my group. This is like a guideline on not what to do in which I plan to follow to maximise the best possible result I can achieve through making my film. 

Test Shots

Here is the test shot I did for the actor we have decided to cast as one of the agents in our thriller film. As our target audience is 18 - 30 year olds, we have decided to use an actor that is within this age range as an agent to relate to the target audience as well as for the agent to be a believable and realistic threatening character.

Preliminary Task Storyboard

Here is the storyboard we plan to use for our group preliminary task; by doing this it will allow us to film quickly due to the fact that we are prepared. The storyboard can also be used to direct the actors we will use for the task. This helps give us an overview of how the task will look and also assisted in allowing us to film the task quicker; this is as we know all the correct camera shots and angles we would use. 

Possible Locations For Our Thriller Film

After a recent trip to London I felt it would be good to get some location photos that we could possibly use for our thriller film. THESE ARE NOT THE FINAL LOCATIONS WE HAVE DECIDED TO USE. I will discuss with the rest of the group regarding feedback on the photos and if they make a suitable location for our thriller film. The location shots look expensive and are part of the adult world, which are very iconic of a thriller.

The Awakening Film Treatment

A non-linear 2 minute opening to a psychological thriller (The Awakening). The protagonist John Walters has killed an innocent bystander in his previous life as a robber, and is haunted by his mind and constantly paranoid. Due to his crime John does various things to cover up the crime and free his conscious of guilt. Antagonist Andy Jones is secretly spying on John as he witnessed the John's crime. The story is filled with suspense and mystery. Through shaky camera and canted angles, the protagonists unstable state of mind will be shown to the audience. The films two main characters are 23 and 26, and through their age they relate to the target audience of 18 - 30 year olds men. Through the two main characters (John Walters and Andy Jones) being 23 and 26, this allows the target audience to identify with them, along with the fact that they are men as well.

Psychological Thriller Idea Mindmap

This is the thriller film idea mind map I have completed, this shows various important aspects of my thriller film idea.

Pscychological Thriller Collage

This is my psychological thriller collage in which I compiled from various films. This is what I have in mind regarding the type of thriller film I am going to produce and how it will look. I am interested in showing the unstable state of mind of a character along with the psychological conflict characters encounter. The three films that have influenced my choice are:
The Sixth Sense
The Machinist
Shutter Island

Spoiler Review - The Machinist

The film The Machinist is a psychological thriller directed by Brad Anderson. Christian Bales stars in the lead role of Trevor Reznik, an insomniac machinist who hasn't slept in over a year. Christian Bale is a very dedicated actor, losing 29kg to play the lead role. The film is quite a dark suspenseful thriller in which effective dark lighting is used which really sets the mood. Although a low budget film, there is no lack of professionalism in the film.

The first scene of The Machinist is of Reznik dumping a body and we later find out that this is one of the last events of the film, this shows the film  follows a non-linear narrative. It also creates mystery as you wonder why is he dumping the body? What is the reason behind this?


The character Ivan (John Sharian) is quite a mystery throughout the film, he is introduced here early on and his various costumes throughout the film are all dark, this may suggest he is evil. They both meet at work, but when Reznik tells other colleagues about Ivan they all question him, this is the first time the audience see Reznik's sleep deprived state of mind.

The main event the film revolves around is when Reznik accidentally cuts of three of his co-workers fingers, the work place begin to go against him after this. The use of dark lighting on the blood differentiates between horror and thriller. This also begins the pursuing of Ivan from Reznik.

 Trevor Reznik seems to have three main places he goes to for social encounters, one of them being an airport in which he regularly talks to a woman named Marie (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon). When seeing her he seems to receive redemption temporary from his chronic sleep deprivation mind, as the effects of this
are not evident when he talks to her.
              
Later on the film it is revealed that Marie is a figure of Reznik's imagination due to his insomnia, and the reality is that he has been coming to another waitress (Nancy Crane).




Another one of the machinists main spots to go to is Stevie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) the call girl. Her constant affection and care for him shows that she wants something  more than money for sex, an actual relationship. As Reznik's imagination takes over from reality he pushes her away.


Trevor then has an accident very similar to Miller, after being saved by his colleagues he then accuses them of being the cause of accident. The use of rhythmic editing with the tension building music matching actions in the scene makes it a very effective technique, especially for a thriller.

A lot of strange notes are continuously left around Reznik's house and the hangman riddle is a very suspenseful aspect in the film. The close-ups on the notes communicate their significance and the importance they are to play. The paper notes are also accompanied by dark musical notes, these also create an enigma.

When Reznik finally succeeds in catching Ivan he kills him, but then realises he has killed no-one, Ivan is not real but a figure of his imagination and is also a by-product of hallucinations.




Finally Reznik goes through self acceptance when looking in the mirror and seeing that he is mentally insane, he is finally struck by the bullet of reality. This is mainly due to the fact then when disposing of Ivan's body he rolls it onto the water by the sea only to see that there is no body there.  

The last scene shows Reznik in acceptance of the need of help hands himself to the law. It is revealed that the fantasy maid - 'Marie' is the mother of a boy Reznik ran over in a hit and run years ago. Judging from his weight in the flashback Reznik was healthy and had regular sleep, the guilt of the hit and run has led to his insomnia.  

The films message I believe Brad Anderson is trying to get across is that everyone has their own stories and problems that cause them to act in certain ways. Through this we see Christian Bale's character transitioning from a normal guy to a sleep deprived paranoid insomniac.

The Machinist is very dark and gloomy, through flashbacks and a non-linear storyline this keeps the suspense and mystery of the film up to the end and this is something expected in a thriller.

I give The Machinist a rating of 4/5 stars.

Spoiler Review - Harry Brown

Harry Brown from start to finish is an action packed, suspenseful thriller. The film is directed by Daniel Barber. It stars Michael Caine in the lead role of an elderly vigilante (Harry Brown) who takes the law into his own hands when his best friend Leonard Attwell (David Bradley) is brutally murdered by   viscous youths. The film introduces the main setting of the council estate with a wide shot and all that is associated with the estate is shown quite graphically: drug dealing & abuse, violence, a police state, rape and youth crime. Harry Brown is quite a unique thriller as although it is set in an adult world it is an estate rather than the typical 'big' city, and teenagers have a key involvement in the films storyline, which is not typical of a thriller.

Harry Brown previously served in the royal marines at Northern Ireland, and when his best friend Leonard asks about it Harry is very secretive saying 'I was a different person back then'. The control of the estate being within the hands of the youth is shown early on as Harry looks down at the quicker short cut of a tunnel that the thugs gather in, but walks past on to the main road as he knows the consequences of going through the tunnel. The actual tunnel area is always pitch black to keep the activities going on it secretive, another thing that is typical of a thriller.

The theme of violence is constantly shown though the film in quite a vivid way. Only 9 minutes into the film and the second violent scene (the first being yobs shooting a woman for fun), is shown in the estate of a man being brutally beaten by a group of youths and his wife shouting at them helplessly as they run away. The man is left lying with blood around him and Harry watches on through his window, knowing he cannot help at all.
                                                                             
Leonard before he dies tells Harry about his worries regarding the area and the youths he has encountered, this creates mystery. It gives the audience an expectation of a significant event that is to happen, but what is it? Leonard reveals he is carrying around a bayonet for protection. Later on the yobs go and set fire to Leonard's apartment and he comes out shouting at them, they then stab him to death.

After his best friends death, Harry begins his vendetta of violence, to take revenge. The typical crime thriller characters of detectives are also involved in the film: D.I Alice Frampton (Emily Mortimer), D.S Terry Hicock (Charlie Creed-Miles) and S.I. Childs (Iain Glen) are the detectives involved in the murder case of Leonard Attwell. The detectives ask Harry on Leonard's
death and also inform him that because Leonard had the bayonet with him upon his death, the charges regarding his case could be lowered to man slaughter based on self defence. from The film is more of a gritty suspenseful thriller rather than a crime thriller. Another character who isn't really important until the end is Sid Rourke (Liam Cunningham) who Harry visits often and is the bartender.

The thugs that control the estate are: Noel Winters (Ben Drew), Marky (Jack O'Connell) and Carl (Jamie Downey). Stretch (Sean Harris) and his partner Kenny (Joseph Gulgun) are the drug dealers in the area. Harry on his return to his previous soldier lifestyle goes to the drug dealers to buy a gun, after just being threatened with a knife then turning the knife on the drug addict. The use of constant dark lighting with tension building music is what makes the film a thriller rather than a drama. Harry then kills both the dealers and takes a load of guns, then rescues a woman who was being sexually abused by the dealers. Harry when about to kill one of the dealers says 'you failed to maintain your weapon son'. Then he has a monologue regarding one of his Marine partners dying in a similar way the dealer is, then releases the trigger. This foreshadows that this is Harry's revolt against all the reckless estate troublemakers. Blood in the film is presented very vividly, similar to a horror film but the choice of not using close-ups on the blood allows the film to not be classed as a horror. This is also the start of his role of a vigilante and his return to his past of being a Marine, rather than being a soldier in Ireland fighting a war he is a vigilante fighting against his own countrymen.  Several shots are shown of the tunnel, and this creates mystery on what significance the tunnel has and whether Harry will ever walk through it. All camera shots that show the tunnel involve some deep suspenseful ambient music used with it to add the mysterious theme to the tunnel. The mystery is later revealed as this is were Harry's best friend Leonard was viscously murdered and then pissed on by the thugs and Harry sees this on a camera phone taken by one of the thugs he captures and interrogates 'Marky'. This adds to Harry's anger and furthermore motivates him to continue on his quest for revenge. A shoot-out scene between Harry and the youths occurs in which he shoots Marky and Carl, but Noel escapes. This scene is very on the edge of your seat stuff, with very dark lighting and the use of rhythmic editing is done well as the tension building music is simultaneous with the actions of the characters. It is also in the tunnel Harry previously fears to enter. Through Harry's action of entering the tunnel this shows how he no longer has fears the estate gang . The rest of Harry's motive is then revealed to kill Noel, but some U-turns also occur to keep the mystery of the film, a very iconic thing in a thriller.                                                                 The riot marks the end of the film in which parallel editing is used to alternate between the rioting and  the pub. This creates a lot of suspense as the audience are captivated regarding the resolution to the film. Harry after suffering from emphysema withdraws himself from the hospital on his quest to avenge Leonard and kill Noel, he rescues the two detectives D.I Alice Frampton and D.S Terry Hicock from a car crash in the estate, he takes them to the pub. Here another twist is revealed as Alice reveals to Harry that Sid Rouke the bartender is Noel's uncle. The audience up to this point see Sid and Harry to be friends but after this revelation it is clear that they are enemies, and inevitably one of them will be killed. This is first time the film changes from a major event occurring at the tunnel to a major occurring actually within the whole estate.  Through this the audience are less knowledgeable about what is about to happen creating an enigma for them to work out. The riot is continuously shown as it increases in intensity, and this raises the question when will it end? This also creates suspense by not knowing how much the level of violence will escalate to. The pub scene is surrounded with a lot of hostility, as it is clear Harry is up against both Sid and Noel, whilst also suffering with breathing difficulties due to his emphysema. The audience then begin to fill unjust as it looks undoubtedly that Harry is about to die, along with the two detectives that are powerless. Both detectives and Harry are brutally beaten up by both Noel and Sid.Then suddenly in Harry's last bit of energy he shoots Noel, but also gets shot by Sid. On the positive side Harry has finally accomplished everything he needed to by avenging Leonard. A smart use of the camera when the female detective tries to contact the police, and by not using a close-up on the phone the audience believe it not to be significant.                                                                      A lot of suspense is built up through the music used. Keeping you wondering what will happen next? Then suddenly as Sid is about to finish off Harry, we are reminded of the phone call one the detectives was making on police back-up in which Sid is shot before he can shoot Harry. Harry and the female detective then survive. The final scene is of Harry walking though the underground tunnel he previously wouldn't dare walk through.Law and order of the estate has been restored by a vigilante pensioner. The message of the film I got was the famous quote from Edmund Burke - 'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil us that good men do nothing'. Harry  Brown was a good man who did something and therefore evil did not triumph.

Overall the film did have certain elements of horror and drama films, but with good use of location, lighting and music, it is a very satisfactory thriller. The film has a lot of high paced action with more accurate rather than stereotypical character portrayals along with having the mystery, suspense and conflict of a typical thriller. The conscious decision by the director Daniel Barber of not using the cliché' adult world of a thriller rather a council estate is also something I highly praise him for.

I give Harry Brown a rating of 4/5.

180 Degree Rule - Grace's Notes

Thanks to Grace here are notes on describing what the 180 degree rule is. Through this I now know what the 180 degree rule is and how to apply it when filming with the camera.