Thrillers Presentation

This is my record of my presentation on the genre Thrillers. Showing the settings they use the people,storyline. The methods they use. The different variations of the genre and many sub-genres. Films which fit the genre and some background information on Thriller movies and what you expected to see in them.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task from Tash Barrett on Vimeo.

This is my preliminary task for helping me get used to using the equipment such as camera's, tripods, computer editing software and different shot types such as match on actions when a shot changes when a character is doing an action such as sitting down or throwing a ball, and over the shoulder shots where the camera is looking over the characters shoulder while the character is engage in a conversation with another and vise-versa.

Audience Research Questionnaire

This will help me gain more of an idea about the target audience as I will hand this out to people who are willing to take part in my questionnaire.

Questionnaire for Media

What is your gender?

Male__      Female__

What is your age?

16 and under__    17-21__    22-30__    31-50__     51 and over__

What is your occupation?

Student__    Employed__    Unemployed__   Stay at home parent__

(a)  Do you watch romantic dramas?

      Yes__      No__

(b)      If no why not? How could they be improved so they would interest you?

__________________________________________________________

What do you find interesting about romantic dramas?

_____________________________________________________________

How often do you watch romantic dramas?

   Everyday__    Once a week__    twice a week__   monthly__   never__

What would you say is your favourite romantic drama?

_____________________________________________

(a) Do you prefer a slow paced storyline or a fast paced storyline?

     Slow paced__       Fast paced__

(b)Why?

_____________________________________________________________

I hope to achieve a more of an insight to peoples view of Romantic Dramas and understand why they like and dislike them.

Audience Targeting!

This research is to help me understand the target audiences gender and age. So I can understand the things that I can put in my film without it being inappropriate for the classification I chose. ( See BBFC Regulations )

The target audience for my Romantic Drama film will be women between the ages of 13 and 30. Perhaps young males between 13 and 16 who are having relationship trouble/problems.


The traditional target audience for a film of my genre is women, of all age as females are stereotypically knows for being obsessed with the idea of love. For example, true love. Though my film will be more based on love from the younger generation's ( teenagers ) view, it'll capture their take on "falling in love".


The Socio-economic classification of my target audience will be C1 and C2 which is 54% of the population therefore i am targeting the biggest target audience with my film.


The general interest of my chosen target audience will be the hope for a happily ever after relationship or ending in life. People who are optimistic about love concurring all odds and people who are currently in the "perfect happily ever after" relationship.

I now know what my target audience is and the percentage of them I am showing an interest in.

Textual Analysis

This is to help me understand the way a Romantic Drama opens so I can gain some inspiration about how I want mine to start.

Textual Analysis of the film: The Bodyguard.

The film begins with the sound of gunshots and a black screen, a few seconds after the first gun shot a man’s face appears in a extreme close up cutting off the to of the mans head and the bottom of his chin. His hand can be seen in the bottom right of the screen holding the guns, which are both slightly blurred as you see the gun shift showing the audience that it is the gun being fired.

This then cuts to a medium close up of another man lying on the floor with his face looking at the camera and his hands by his chest, fingers spread out as if he has fallen and landing in this position.

Then the scene cuts to a mid shot of the first male character ( will be noted as male #1) still holding the gun, wearing a tux knelt beside a black car. Then the title “The Bodyguard” appears in bold white lettering almost touching the bottom of the screen accompanied by the music which fades in as the text appears then fades once the text has dissolves. The music is sinister and melancholy giving you the feeling that perhaps the shooting was not for any valid reason making you wonder wither you should dislike the character or not.

As the text dissolves the camera does a reverse-zoom, slowly travelling backwards to become a medium long shot of the same scene. Then the reverse-zoom continues to go backwards into a long shot/ wide shot of the scene to include the body beneath male #1 and the security guard coming down some stairs from the top left corner behind male #1. Showing the audience that the scene is set within an underground level car park. The reverse-zoom still continues becoming an extreme wide/long shot showing yet more bodies lying in male #1 among the other cars parked in the car park. The reverse-zoom slowly becomes a high angled shot giving the audience a more clear idea of the setting/surroundings. This overall section is one long take.

Then the piping running across the ceiling of the car park blocks us from the scene and the as it moves from view we see that the scene has changed to a close up of two brandy glasses on a polished wooden surface being filled with brandy from a tear shaped bottle, by a shaking white hand.

The blocking of the pipe shows the change in time as we are taking back before the shooting The camera travels up the body of the holder of the bottle showing the face of the man who was gunned down by male #1 at the very opening of the film (will be noted as male #2). This then widens into a two shot of Male #2 and male #1 standing behind him.

This is then followed by another long take as the camera pans around so that male #2 is now opposite male #1 instead of behind him.

This helped me out as now I understand what can be used in a Romantic Drama opening scene to make it perfect for my genre choice.

Film Synopsis

This is my film synopsis based on the genre Romantic Dramas. Showing traditional aspects seen in this genre such as; boy meets girl and girl meets boy, they fall in love. But my film has a unique twist to it. The boy and girl are reunited after a summer romance and go through the motions once more and ends with a cliff hanger to make way for a sequel if proven successful.

My film synopsis

James is sat at home getting ready to go on a holiday in Cornwall. We see him looking at a picture of a girl, that he met there last year. We later learn the girls name is Rachel. As he thinks about her, he has a flashback about his time he had with her last year. He is interrupted when his friend, Matt, texts him to tell him he is outside ready to go. He then leaves the house to go Cornwall. – Film opening

We then see him in the car driving over the moors on the way to Cornwall.

(pan shot following the car as it drives past). thought the journey they are talking about what they will do in Cornwall and James is wondering if Rachel will be there this year. James and Matt arrive at their destination and get out of the car. They both look at the place where they are staying (We see an establishing shot of the holiday home). They both go into the building and get ready for an evening out on the town.

That evening, James and Matt go to a party on the beach in the near by town, they have a BBQ, play games and go to the night club. Later on in the evening James is alone on the beach thinking about Rachel when a girl walks bast him. He realises it is Rachel and runs after her to say hello.

Over the next week James and Rachel spend time together getting closer and closer and beginning to fall in love. On the evening before they leave, Rachel gets a call which is from her boyfriend (Jake) and this is when James hopes are shattered. later that evening, Rachel leave and James is left thinking he will never see her again.

The next day Matt and James leave to head home, James is still feeling heart broken from the events of the previous day. On the journey back Matt tries his best to make James feel better, however he is unsuccessful.

The next day we see James on a bus going to work. When he gets to work he finds out that there is a new girl there that he needs to show around. He sees the girl and realises it is Rachel. There is a silence between them and then James says in a shocked voice, “Rachel?” 

(This is where the film ends to create a cliff hanger and allow a sequel to follow on if needed)

This reminds me of how my story will go and is also my original version if i chose to change it.

Codes and Conventions

The first blog piece I have done in completing my film genre work is researching the different things that you can find in Romantic Dramas. This is because the genre I have chosen is Romantic Dramas and I want to use the correct codes and convection's of the genre, so I have researched Romantic Dramas so that I can be positive that my film will fit perfectly into the genre.

For a Romantic Drama the settings used would be:


-Beach towns or beaches.
-In a variety of places as the characters may have many meetings and accident throughout the film.
- Places we associate with being romantic like beaches, restaurant's, couples homes. Places where the main characters are isolated and can show affection freely.
-workplaces of the main characters

Romantic Drama Props:


-Flowers or chocolates
-presents
-nice clothes/ swimwear
-Car
-Mobile phone
-Photography
-suitcases  

Typical Action in a Romantic Drama:


-Boy meets girl
-Girl meets boy
-They grow close
-They fall in love or one of them do and have unrequited love for the other
-Lovers are pulled apart by tragedy,betrayal, jealously or mistakes
-Period of time where both characters or one of them are mourning there lose
-They are pulled together by a spontaneous moment/decision
-They are reunited though sometimes they remain apart.

Common Character Types of a Romantic Drama:


-Male lead character
-Female lead character
-Friends of both main characters
-Their family members
-Competitor of one of the main characters affections

Typical Storyline of a Romantic Drama:


- Boy meets girl
-they spend lots of time together and fall in love
-become separated by a tragedy or problem
-spend time mourning each other
-are thrown back together
-live happily ever after

Sound/Music:


-Piano solo's that can moves between melancholy to happiness
-Brief dialogue in parts maybe more in others
-maybe some narration to help explain scenes
-songs that are related to love or break ups.

Cinematography/ Editing:


-Flash backs of the past not in all romantic dramas but are used occasionally
-Little editing as the film is based purely on reality
-many different shots of the characters apart and together

This was useful as it let me know what audience expect from my film genre. The film always involves a man and a women who fall in love through a variety of events but always end up coming apart at the end and sometimes being reunited once more. I now know what my film should have in it not only to make it fit the genre I have chosen but make it more interesting.