Shooting Schedule

Waiting to be scanned on.

Script

Camera Map/ Storyboard

Evaluation

Media Evaluation

For my media evaluation I have included media products and their use, forms and their existing conventions. During our clip we have incorporated aspects from films that are already out, for example, we have varied many different shot types, mise en scene and a mixture of editing and sequencing. Some of them include many close-ups of our characters to show their emotions; as shown in the photo above taken from The Sixth Sense To create the effect of an existing film we first had to do intense researching on the genre of our film and explore what existing films are out there and how well they have done and analyse why they have achieved so much. The sixth sense(1999) helped influence us on what shot type was best to use to create a physiological thriller and what editing techniques would be useful to us as film makers to allow the audience to really enjoy our film and the message we are trying to put across.

For example, we incorporated some jump cuts to show the tense fast pace of the film. The conventions we had to integrate into our short clip had to fit those of the physiological horror we have chosen to create, for instance: effective clips of terror; dark, twisted characters; and the thought process of a character preying upon another’s mind and emotions. We had to establish the genre within our first two minutes of film as this removes any confusion that the audience might experience. The open scenes connote how the young girl is being watched and preyed upon by this dark, unknown character. This meaning is created as we show mise en scene by including dark makeup and clothing to connote the malicious character in the background that the young girl is unaware of.

Our media product has been especially designed to appeal to our target audience which inevitably is teenagers around the age of eighteen, nineteen up to young adults around the ages of twenty five. Therefore, we had to ensure that we represented social groups that they would understand and be able to relate to the social groups being shown. We are trying to represent teenagers and how their life’s can be unfolded. Looks can be deceiving and although they might appear to be living in a safe, loving environment however as we look deeper into the family life we see how cracks begin to show and how abuse can be explored. We have demonstrated the youth culture and how we see a girl coping with a broken family home by including close ups of the girl’s expressions and the true deceit of how a father could abuse his daughter in both physical and emotional ways.

Looking at our product, I believe that our production would be very successful if influences such as M. Night Shyamalan who directed the extremely famous The Sixth Sense (1999) would be willing to help direct and produce it as it follows similar elements and conventions of that of the film opening we have created. When looking at what companies we would be best to use to distribute our film would be Bryanston Distributing Company as they have helped progress many famous films including Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003). This film tells a story of a group of teenagers that are on a road trip and stop to help a hitchhiker. As the film progresses we see how the many violent and sickening acts are performed on them and how the harmful and disturbing theme will run through our film also, but we have used it in a different way.

Like mentioned earlier, I believe our target audience will be late teenagers up to young adults around the age of twenty-five. The certificate of our film I believe would be 15 or 18, depending upon whether the content of abuse would be seen as too affective to those under a certain age. According to an individual’s preference and favourite film type some scenes within our opening could be favoured more by different people whereas others may feel less strongly towards it. People over our target audience age will be able to enjoy our film, however I feel the genre will be less suitable. To promote our film we would choose a traditional method of TV and poster advertising campaigns as this will allow for a broader opportunity of publicity and will hopefully attract many more people than an internet website as this may narrow our ability to draw people’s attention. District 9 (2009) used a campaign involving posters and within its first opening weekend made $37 million in North America alone.

I have learnt many things about media technologies from the process of constructing this product and I have had to learn how to comprehend the concepts needed and the amount of time and effort that film producers and the whole team must go through to end up with a finished well edited film clip. We had to experiment using different angles and shots and changed our original plan as our new ideas worked a lot better with our genre and message. We had a growing familiarity with the soft ware we were using, therefore changes we made during the editing process became increasingly easier and we felt more comfortable with the changes we made. The equipment that professional film makers are able to use are on a much larger financial budget than that to ours, however i believe that our equipment was successful in allowing us to create a film opening that will appeal to our target audience and following the genre conventions set. Learning new techniques and processes of re drafting our work was interesting and the finished product allowed us to feel rewarded and happy with the changes and progression we have made compared with the beginning pleminary task we were asked to create.

Our pleminary task was basically an introduction into the of media production and I believe since then we have learnt a great deal when it comes to the makings of a film and how difficult it can be to create the image you want through a variety of camera angles, sound, mise-en-scene and editing. I believe that I have accomplished a lot through my finished product and I am very happy with the progress I have made since the beginning of the course.

Chosen Genre and Genre Conventions

Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the wide-ranging thriller genre. However, this genre often incorporates elements from the mystery genre in addition to the typical traits of the thriller genre. Also, occasionally this genre will border into the also wide-ranging horror genre.

Generally, thrillers focus on plot over character, and thus emphasize intense, physical action over the character's psyche. Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this formula to a certain degree, emphasizing the characters just as much, if not more so, than the plot. This allows for the audience to experience what is happening to the characters within the films and attempt to understand what emotions are running through their mind.The mental state can be played with in psychological thrillers. Suspense can be created through character relationships and actions.

Sometimes the suspense comes from within one solitary character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them. These conflicts are made more vivid with physical expressions of the conflict in the means of physical manifestations.

Conventions of a psychological thriller include:
Literary devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are used repeatedly. This allows the audience to remain curious and leaves them time to really think in-depth about what they are seeing. The genre is a flexible form that can undermine audience complacency through a dramatic rendering of psychological tensions and encourages sheltered but sensation-hungry audiences, in Hitchcock's phrase, "to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like."
Within the films the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical.

Possible Locations:
Usually thriller films are set in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or high seas.
However, many directors may choose to set their films in what would be seen as a 'normal' family enviroment to allow the audience to see that even though they seem happy enough, they will have a much more deeper personality and depth to their character.

Examples:
The Alfred Hitchcock films Suspicion(1941),Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and Strangers on a Train (1950)
David Lynch's and influential Blue Velvet (1986) are notable examples of the type of film we will be basing of film opening on.
As is The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) by Patricia Highsmith and The Good Son (1993) starring Elijah Wood and Macaulay Culkin.

Initial planning and changes we made

Location
We plan to shoot our film opening on a dark, sinister pathway. This is due to the impression we want the audience to receive, then we will contrast and film some of the opening in an everyday family home. These locations have been chosen as they suit our genre conventions and fit with the main themes to our film. When shooting we have had to think about whether to shoot in the day or at night, if we shoot outside when it’s light we can add some special effects in afterwards. This factor will be dependant on the whether and the environmental state on that day. To see which method will look more effective overall, we will have to text them both.

Production Concerns
When creating our short film opening we will have to ensure we follow the health and safety regulations. Everything we attempt must remain within these guidelines and we must ensure that everything is safe and will cause no harm to use or anyone else.

Technical Limitations
As our film isn’t on the same scale as a large scale Hollywood film, therefore things such as costume and props will be limited. Also, the equipment and machinery will not be available to us like it is within multi million pound productions. However, we will still be able to create an effective film opening which follows the genre conventions and fulfils the brief well.


Changes we made
We decided that we would change our orginal idea to include the attack on the young girl within our opening, although we kept the shots of her after/before her attack we decided that by limiting what the audience know at this point will allow for them to want to continue on and see more. The quick pace, repeated snapshots of her on the path were later added to allow for tension to build and for suspense to be created.
After editing our film we looked upon improvements we could make and I believe we have addressed many weakenesses to our film and I can confidentally say that we have changed them to the best of our ability to portray the correct message to our viewers.

Synoptic Treatment

Psychological thriller is a sub-genre of the thriller genre and horror genres. Many elements that you would find in both genres are incorporated into this. This genre concentrates a lot on the mind and focuses on the processes in which the mind goes through and how it works. By combining these two genres, the definition changes to a narrative that could change the characters exposed to danger on a mental level rather than a physical one. Characters are no longer reliant on the physical but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it is by battling wits with a formidable opponent or by battling for an equilibrium in the characters own mind. Films such as Sixth Sense (1999) and the more recent Vanilla Sky (2001) fit into our chosen genre, however 'Family Ties' will hopeufully add a new dimension to the conventions already evident within the genre.

The plot sees how a family is broken apart by the father's lack of mental stability leading to him blaming his daughter for the breakdown of marriage to his wife and the family unit. As the film progresses the father becomes more and more obsessed that his own daughter is the soul factor for the slow demolishion of his life. We track how his own demons and issues lead to the brutal arrangement of rape and phyiscal abuse to his daughter. Consequently, we see how the daughter becomes vunerable and needs her father with her, therefore allowing for him to regain his postion within the household. Oblivious to the culprit of the crimes, the daughter wants her mother to trust her father again, this leads to the father believing that the destruction of his daughter is the only way for him to be within the family unit once again. The mother develops a life threatening disease and becomes ill for many months and eventually passes away, this pushing the father over the edge and sending his mind into turmoil makes him positive that the daughter's lack of care was the cause of his wife's death. He decides that she needs to be punished and his twisted mind believes that its time for him to "teach her a lesson" and therefore sets out to abuse her humself. However, as he attempts to murder her she fights back and as she picks up a close-by weapon her father's identity is revealed but the consequence of the blow to her fathers head is not. This will leave the audience wondering if the father has been killed.

Key themes within 'Family Ties' will be: obsession; death; paranoia and disturbia of the mind. These themes fit with our genre choice and incorporate some of the key conventions, they therefore will help our ideas be put across and will portray the correct message to our audience who are watching.

Possible directors for 'Family Ties' could include, M.N Shymalan as he directed Sixth Sense and succeeded in creating a psychological thriller that has become extremely popular at the box office. Its interesting key themes and the way the plot was portrayed has helped it to do so. His excellent directorial skills lead to the film recieving six oscar nominations. Another director that could allow for our film to reach its full potential is Quentin Tarentino as he would add the dark, sinister techniques which would allow for the audience to see the father character as we would like them too. Any of these directors would allow for 'Family Ties' to have that unique edge over other films within the same genre and create an individuality about the film.

Looking at the box office takings of Sixth Sense and the extremely positive response to the film, i would hope that 'Family Ties' could achieve the same.
Sixth sense produced $672,806,292 in its lifetime grosses worldwide.

Based on many other films that would be judged in the same way as 'Family Ties' i believe that the expected certification for our film will be 15. This will be suitable for our film as the restrictions within a 15 certified film are parallel with the content of 'Family Ties'.