Kamilla Lovett
'Sweet possibility'

I chose this artist because it is the style of music i enjoy listening to, i also feel that she has great talent.

Question 2

Sorrel_question 2

Evaluation question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

I have progressed a great amount since September and now know a lot more about creating a short film. Our preliminary task was very simple, using basic techniques compared to my final cut of ‘Caesar’ where I have used more complicated techniques and technologies.

I have learnt the importance of research to help develop my knowledge and understanding of the genre and other aspects such as the best camera angles to use in a thriller, like plenty of close up shots to show emotion and cantered shots to create uncertainty. I also learnt the importance of lighting to create different moods and also shots that are too dark don’t work.

Planning is a skill that I have gained and how important it is to plan each section, so you get a beter understanding of the shot, characters, location etc.
editing was a very big aspect of skills I’ve gained because to create ‘Caesar’ and to make it a god thriller I had to be able to edit to the best of my ability. I learnt a great deal more about  editing whilst I was editing ‘Caesar’. In September I had no idea where to start or how to edit in the slightest, I can now include titles which make the film personal and gives it more film like qualities. I also learnt how to add music to my thriller which helps create suspense, again adding to the quality of the film.

I used a lot if cross dissolving in my thriller, this helped me get the flashbacks that Brutus was having to be clearer to the audience. I used repetition of Brutus slamming the door in Caesars face to show that Brutus never let Caesar in and was always content in shutting him out if his life.

Evaluation question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the process of constructing ‘Caesar’ I have learnt how to use many new technologies such as blogger, I have developed my skills of being able to keep a blog and can now upload images and videos from the web or home. I also learnt about the 180 degree rule, this is very important when filming because if it is not used the filming could confuse the audience and fail to make sense. Another skill I’ve obtained is editing my thriller, at first I found this very difficult but once i understood the basics everything else came easily. I learn how to cross dissolve to make a better looking transaction between clips, I learnt how to speed up and slow down clips, I only used slowing down but this worked well and added tension to the slowed down  scenes for example when Brutus is seen stabbing the knife. I can also reverse clips like the candle at the end of my opening is backwards so it sparks back into flames, this was used to connote Caesar coming back to life. I learnt the importance if practising shots with still and moving camera shots so that the final cut and final images were as good as they could have been, this meant  we had to shoot each scene several times and them pick out what we individually felt worked best.

Evaluation question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for ‘Caesar’ would be a range from 18-25 demographic. Older and younger audiences may also enjoy my thriller but the target audience is 18-25’s who enjoy gritty thrillers. The younger audience will be enticed by Helen and Caesar and they would be drawn to Caesars kindness, wanting to see how he gets his revenge on Brutus. Middle aged fathers of young girls could relate in some way to Brutus because he is worried about his daughter and protective of her, it is often the case that fathers are protective of their daughters. The audience however would not be able to relate to Brutus’s form of protection, murder, this isolates Brutus and makes his character seem alienated from the audience. Young girls could also sympathise with Helen because there are plenty of girls with protective fathers trying to keep them safe but not necessarily going to right way about it.

The location of a rundown council estate in England means many people would be able to relate to this, especially working class families, which is what the family in ‘Caesar’ is, creating another link between ‘Caesar’ and the audience.

The audience that would watch my thriller might also enjoy watching other thrillers like ‘Seven’ or ‘Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ And other non thriller films such as ‘This Is England’ or ‘Essex Boys’ for gritty reality.

Evaluation question 3

If my thriller ‘Caesar’ was made into a full length feature film I would be a low budget, indie film so institutions like warp or working title would be most interested in distributing  my thriller.

Mainstream cinema’s like Vue or Odeon would steer clear of ‘Caesar’ because it is indie, low budget so no guaranteed profit, also ‘Caesar’ could be criticised because it challenges the conventions of a typical thriller, some audiences could feel insulted by the characters, for example ‘Brutus’ is an ex army man and he is the murderer, people who themselves were in the army could be offended by this. ‘Caesar’ would be shown in cinemas like cinema city because they specialise in Arty, Indie films.

Because of ‘Caesar’s’ low budget it is likely to be distributed on the internet using  sites like YouTube and Blogger to promote my film. My opening scene could also be entered into short film competitions.

Another possibility is that ‘Caesar’ could be released straight to DVD this would be a cheaper easier way of marketing ‘Caesar’ although because audience would be very niche the DVD would have to be well advertised. Because of ‘Caesars’ niche audience working title would be less inclined to fund the film.

‘Caesar’ has similarities to ‘ This Is England’ because they both include gritty, racist and realistic aspects, this could mean that the distributers of ‘This Is England’ could be interested in ‘Caesar, for example film four could be interested in investing.

Thriller Opening Final Cut.

Thriller analysis.

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My thriller ‘Caesar’ was greatly inspired by the film ‘This Is England’ although not a thriller itself its gritty reality matches the context in our thriller. The characters in our thriller also link to those in ‘This Is England’ for example Caesar in our Thriller links to Milky in ‘This Is England’ Caesar also challenges the generic conventions because he is a coloured young male who is the victim of the middle aged white racist who is the villain in our thriller, our villain again links to ‘This Is England’ because our character of Brutus reflects the qualities of ‘Combo’. Our film also challenges the conventions because instead of using a claustrophobic area we used a forest which was open and different, this links to ‘Seven’ because at the end detective Somerset and Mills are in a desert which is wide open. The costumes we chose for our characters convey their personalities and ambitions, for example Caesar was dressed in a shirt and black trousers with a white over coat, he wore these because we wanted to show him to be a well presented man who is trying to do well for himself in life, the white jacket also worked well with the camera because it was easy to see. The father Brutus’s costume was more casual with a camouflage jacket, symbolising his love and commitment to the army and connoting his murderous instinct. The daughter’s costume was simple with black coat, leggings and shoes to symbolise her femme fatale characteristics, she also had a pink scarf connoting her innocence and her lack of knowledge for her fathers envy.

The mise-en-scene connotes the gritty lifestyle, for example the dark damp street, lined with council houses shows their surroundings to be a working class estate, claustrophobic surroundings. When Brutus is in the bathroom with all the memories playing over in his mind his surroundings are cramped and ordinary showing that he is a normal father who’s over protective side got the better of him. I used the reflections of the fathers face to show his regret because he looks very upset and alone, because we used a point of view shot of his reflection in the mirror it gives a sense of looking through the killers eyes making the audience feel a false sense of security. Also when Caesar is attacked by Brutus, the camera again shows a point of view shot, but this time it is from Caesar’s point of view. When I edited this scene I slowed down the camera as Caesar spins round this creates suspense for the audience, I also slowed down the attack of Brutus so that the audience got a good look at his face showing his anger which would make the audience feel uneasy.

Although my thriller shares similarities with ‘Seven’ because Detective Somerset is a black man who is on the good side just as Caesar is, our film is very different because ‘Seven’ is a more glamorous gritty thriller, this contrasts with my thriller because of the total gritty concept and lack of glamour throughout. The thriller ‘The Third Man’ uses completely different conventions to my thriller, although one of the scenes is a chase through the gritty underground of Vienna between the characters this is the only scene with any relation to my thriller because the rest is a lot more glamorous. Because ‘The Third Man’ was filmed in 1949 for example to role of women are seen to be like dolls, although the role of women is very small compared to the role of ‘Anna’ in ‘The Third Man’ our woman character isn’t as pristine and doll like. Carole Reed uses a great number of people and police in his thriller which again contrasts mine because there are only three characters with simplistic roles.

I’ve developed the thriller conventions by keeping a cliff hanger at the end of the title sequence, this keeps the audience’s attention and means they want to see the rest of the film because they want to know what happens to all the characters and they want to know if Caesar survives and gets revenge. In the opening scene to ‘Seven’ we aren’t left with much of a cliff hanger so my film contrasts this, however we do want to keep watching the rest of ‘Seven’ because we are intrigued just as the audience of my thriller should be.

Caesars costume:

- Smart white shirt

- Black shoes

- Black Trousers

-white puffy jacket.

 Caesars white smart shirt, black shoes and trousers, represent that he has higher ambitions. The audience will see his smart attire and know that he is a well educated man who cares about his appearance. Caesars costume links with the character of Detective Somerset from Seven, Somerset also wears smart white shirts and black trousers to show he is a respected detective and person. However because Caesar isn’t as old as Detective Somerset we decided to use a white puffy jacket to show his younger side, this links in with Milky from This Is England because Milky also wears shits and trousers but in a more casual way to show he is young.

Brutus’s costume:

--   -Cameo hoody

      -Blue jeans

      -Black T-shirt

      -Old white trainers

      -Cross pendant necklace 

We wanted to show that Brutus was in the army in his younger days so to do this we dressed him an a cameo hoody another signifier of his past was the knife he used to attack Caesar with which is an old army knife. The white trainers he wears show his practical lifestyle, his costume contrasts with Caesars because he doesn’t dress himself as smartly as Caesar does which represents the difference in status. We also get the idea that Brutus is a religious man because he is wearing a Cross pendant showing his faith. Brutus links to Combo from This Is England because they both dress similar, Combo believes that he is doing the right thing for his country by trying to get rid of all the foreign people, Brutus believes in the same kind of England, this shows both their religious views to be warped.

Cropping.

 

Cropping images can change the messages they are giving, for example in the image to the left the two people are not talking so they could have fallen out or not know each other, but in the image to the right the girl is alone and so she isn’t seen to be in any relation with anyone else.

I have decided to change the name of the father character in my film from David to Brutus I have done this because in the play of Julius Caesar, Brutus betrays Caesar and stabs him in the back, the character in our play who is killed by Brutus has the second name of Caesar so this links with the story and shows the betrayal, jealously and anger that is shown in my thriller.

Case study- Se7en

Case study- Se7en

The film Seven directed by David Fincher utilises many aspects of the thriller genre, for example he uses low and chiaroscuro lighting to set the mood and give the feel of a thriller, he uses plain and muted colours which take away any beauty of the location, people etc. connoting drab lifestyles. Murders, detectives, villains, victims etc are also thriller conventions and stereotypes and David Fincher includes all if these. The place in which the thriller is set shows a typical working class location often the environment where a thriller story would take course. Fincher also includes a great use of close up shots of all the characters this shows the emotions they feel which is another convention of the thriller genre.

The film is about two American detectives who try and uncover a serial killer who’s murders are based on the 7 deadly sins.

The first shot we see in the film is of detective Somerset getting ready in his home it is a mid shot from behind him. His house has very plain colours showing that there is nothing special about his life; the lighting in his house is low, like its early morning outside. Our first impressions of Somerset’s character are of a lonely man who’s job and possessions are all he has, we get this impression because no one else is seen in the shot and there is no clue’s to say anyone else lives there, he clearly takes pride in what he looks like as he lines everything up before placing it in his jacket or shirt these things also indicate what his profession is because he picks up a police badge a pen, a knife and a gun holster showing he is a cop/detective. When he goes to put his jacket on it is neatly laid out on his bed which is perfectly made and pulls off a piece of fluff or dirt from the jacket before wearing it.

The film then cuts to a body of a man lying dead on the floor in a pool of blood, the lighting is again very dim and the colours in this shot are pale and lifeless just like the victim connoting there is no love or life left in the house. The voice of an American detective is then heard telling Somerset the facts about the murder, Somerset is hen seen walking down the hall of the house o the kitchen this house is another working/lower class dwelling showing the status of the community. We can instantly tell this is a thriller when we see the body because of the dim lighting, dull colours, detectives and location. When the audience see the body they are instantly intrigued to find out the story behind the murder, pulling them in immediately.

The next scene is detective’s Somerset and Mills walking out of the house and walking down the street talking. The street they are on is clearly part of a bad neighbourhood; this is shown because the shops they walking past have bars covering there fronts connoting a prison like environment and the fear of being unsafe from locals. The people they walk past are also shown to be rude and barge past without making eye contact showing them to be untrustworthy and people who keep themselves to themselves so as not to get in any trouble. The lighting is daylight but dreary daylight because it is raining which is another thing often seen in thrillers it connotes that the street is bad, dull etc.

In the final scene before the beginning credits starts off with detective Somerset reading in his bed, the room is lit by two lamps and boxes are seen so we know that he is moving, Somerset clicks his metronome and looks on as if in deep thought about something, noises that can be heard from outside are things like people talking and shouting, dogs barking, cars driving in the rain, tyre screeches etc. this scene shows the loneliness of Somerset and the way he distances himself from the outside world.

The opening credits has lots of shots of a person who we presume is the serial killer planning something by cutting photo’s newspapers etc he also is developing photo’s and cutting off his finger prints which shows he is covering his tracks. The lighting is very dark and we never see more than the killers hands and arms. The titles are in font almost like a scribble so it seems more like the killer wrote the words. There are flashing images and overlapping etc, creating a view of the mind and a jumble of images. The opening credits are shown to look like an old movie camera reel, so like bits flash up and flicker on the screen which creates an eerie atmosphere. The person’s hands look dirty and rough which show that he has been using them to perform dirt tasks. The song in the opening credits has a spooky tone to it and at the end it refers to God which is ironic because the killer murders people using the seven deadly sins so its almost as though he is confused about Gods wishes and the point of the seven deadly sins.

User reviews;

- “Outstanding performances from everyone involved (And yes, of course, David Fincher does a wonderful job) Say no more. 5 star *****”

- "Se7en is well crafted and ingeniously clever, making it one of the greatest films of the 90's"

- “This is a very tight film. Elements within: dialogue, actions, lighting, setting, all of these tend to reinforce one another to paint a solid picture. It is a perverse logic that makes the final and seventh sin complete perfectly the circle of events begun with the first.”

Back lighting  when the lighting comes from behind the object/ person acting like a halo connoting angelicness and importance.

Chiaroscuro lighting  when half the face is lit or half the person, connoting the good and evil, the person has two sides

Natural lighting

Full cover light from outside daylight, showing the person in full light connoting purity.

Thriller Characters.

Our main character Caesar is based partly on the character of milky because he is a coloured man living in England, having to put up with the racism and trying to do well for himself and although he is a nice guy with no quarrels with anyone, he still has trouble with some people, in ‘this is England’ its Combo and in our thriller it’s the girls father who dislikes him. He is also based on the character of Detective William Somerset from se7en and Julius Caesar because he is a strong man.

The father of the daughter David in our thriller is based on the character of Combo from ‘this is England’ because he is a racist man who tries to turn everyone against all the foreign people in England so he threatens and beats them all up, he also beats up Milky which is similar to our thriller as the father kills Caesar. Another character that he is based on his John Doe from Se7en who is the serial killer and kills his victims for the seven deadly sins, his actions were influenced by religion and the father in out thriller is seen with a bible showing that some of his actions are influenced by religion as well. John Doe is a name used for an anonymous person, meaning that we never really know who the real character is from seven and in our thriller we haven’t used a name for the father which takes away human characteristics.

Idea's for cosmetcis advert using british signifiers

Preliminary task

1)     Discuss your thriller in terms of Genre. Is it a genre film? Is it a hybrid genre? Is it sub-hybrid genre?

Our thriller film is a psychological realistic drama with inter-textual links referencing the films seven, psycho and this is England. We have our killer being a racist, religious man who’s views are confused by society just like those from This Is England. Our thriller has links to Psycho. Also the opening scene of Seven is highly linked to our piece because it has the person cutting up images which we wish to have in our thriller (stalker).
The audience would enjoy watching the rest of our thriller because it has a great deal of suspense and people would want to know what happens to the killer and his victim, also it has reality so an audience could relate to it. Our main characters are your everyday working class people and because the main guy seems to be decent the audience would want to make sure he is ok and side with him immediately.

In the thriller we reference the scene in ‘This Is England’ where Combo beats up Milky because we have ‘the father’ beating Caesar and killing him we also have an England flag on the wall of the ’fathers’ room where the candle is blown out. The ‘fathers’ racism eventually over comes the rest of his feeling and so he kills Caesar, just as Combo’s love for Milky is pushed aside by his hatred for coloured people.

2)      What pleasures does your thriller offer your audience?

Our thriller offers a mixture of emotional, genre and psychological pleasures. It has emotional pleasures because it has an innocent man being murdered for his looks, people will feel sympathy for him and therefore become emotionally involved with the film. They will also feel suspense at the murder and fear from the killer. It also meets the expectations of the genre, it includes a dark shabby location the locations contrast because the first seen is a row of houses none looking   high class. It then goes to an isolated woods where the victim is murdered. The murderer also meets the expectations because he is shown to be scary and hard looking. Our thriller also has psychological pleasures.