Research and planing - Influences and Audience

Our target is to create an effective opening of a film in the genre of a thriller. A thriller is a novel, play, or movie with an exciting plot, typically involving crime or espionage. So, bearing this in mind, we began to plan our own opening.

Influences

From influences such as ‘kidulthood’, ‘Adulthood’ and ‘Shifty’, we devised the outline of a film in the style of a contemporary urban crime thriller. As well as being influenced by these films, we also came to the realization that there is a current issue of gang violence and crime with in the UK, so this also inspired us to create a modern, realistic and relative piece of film. However we wanted to put together an opening that involved twist and had a message behind it, so instead of a typical ‘gangster’ film we have tried to create something original and unique that would appeal to a wider audience.


The film is set in various areas in contemporary South London, this is due to it’s high crime rates and the way it is traditionally represented in the wider media.
-Houses
-Areas

Audience

Our film represents youth culture in London therefore the target audience is roughly 16-25 year olds living in urban environments. Our niche audience however will be the older generation who are interested in these social issues but are not necessarily effected by them.

However, we wanted to construct an opening that involved a twist and had a message behind it. So instead of a typical ‘gangster’ film we have tried to create something original and unique that would appeal to a wider audience. Our film represents youth culture in London and is therefore aimed at a target audience of roughly 16-25-year olds living in urban environments. But we also believe the film will appeal to an older generation who, while not necessarily effected by these issues, will be interested in them.

Research and planning – atmosphere/mood

We want to create a variety of different atmospheres throughout our film opening. At first the mood should be very relaxed as the radio plays the sports report and the ‘fun’ images appear on the screen, this will give the audience a sense of security and the impression that the film was going to be happy and upbeat. However as soon as you hear the sound of the mother crying the atmosphere changes and the audience realise that something tragic has happened. Then hearing the news report on the radio saying “another boy has been killed .......” the audience are likely to put two and two together and realise that the boy from the pictures is also the murder victim. The audience will then automatically have sympathy for the boy due to the previous photos that portray him as ‘sweet’ and ‘cute’ etc. The audience will also sympathise with the mum.

As soon as the scene switches to the boy in the car the shots will remain very slow and basic to give it a tense, emotional effect, the audience will be focused the facial expressions of the character on screen and his horror when he looks at the news paper. The camera shots throughout the opening are quite standard in order to give it a calm, real feel about it, however during the flashbacks the camera effects will be very blurry and unclear as if it’s a distant memory. The camera will be purposely shaky as if filmed on camera phone. The flashbacks are there to inform the audience of past happenings but also to shock them and create a narrative twist because through the flashbacks they find out that this boy is not as innocent as they previously thought. The last flashback in which we see the girl being chased is meant to be the most shocking and full of suspense because it is unsure what the boy is going to do to her and the audience fear the worst. I will create this atmosphere by a distorted camera effect and filming in the dark with lots of heavy breathing and footsteps. The end of this scene is crucial because the last thing we hear is “It’s him…” this is meant to be a sort of cliffhanger and should leave the audience asking questions and wanting more.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING - Influences from local media

‘Woman tells of 'chaos' as she helped stabbed teen in Brockley’ South London Press

Gun crime rise in South London:

GUN crime and sexual assaults have risen in South London over the past 12 months, police figures reveal.

The increase comes despite the total number of offences committed in Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham and Wandsworth falling, year on year.

Harry Potter, and the Half Blood Prince:

• the story line carried on from the last film very well, it carried on from that evening.
• the graphics and animations were very realistic, for instance, in the house at the beginning, and also during the fight scenes
• unlike many of the other books, very similar to the to the book.

Johnny English:

• Includes Roan Atkinson, who is one of my favorite actors, played the main role. He made the film extremely funny.
• Diegetic sound was good, included songs that i know.
• Enjoyed the partnership of 'Johnny English' and his assistance 'Boff.'
• However in some places to watch it was quite unrealistic.

Avatar:

• saw Avatar at the Imax cinema in 3D, with the effect made it evermore exciting to watch.
• the film was very unpredictable to watch, you never new what was going to happen next.
• the has never been a story like it, which again kept the suspense.
• The trailers shows the blue people, which are called avatars, give of the effect that the film could be too different to normal films.
• the avatars were completely realistic which was also enjoyable.

The Hangover:

• this film is a really funny film which is set in Las Vegas, and uses very different but effective shots of Las Vegas
• the film is unrealistic in parts which is ashame as it is a good film.
• although unrealistic it is still a funny and good story line, which is always in suspence as no one knows what will happen next.
• the film is set as a mystery, which effectively makes the audience involved in the film , throughout the film.

Mean Girls:

• Mean girls is a typical girly 'Chick Flick!'
• the contrast of characters you get, is so far fetched it makes it funny.
• it represents the 'Bitchiness' of school life for girls, however again is far fetched, which makes it enjoyable for girls to watched.
• However this means sometimes its unrealistic and also does not at all apeal to boys.
• the camera shots are simple, but also uses in several occasions slow motion, which becomes a pattern in the film.