Research & Planning: SEPTEMBER PODCAST

Research and Planning: AUDIENCE RESEARCH VIDEOS

We did some interviews to find out what people thought about the thriller genre, carrying this on from the information we decided to look more into on our pitch. People generally expect there to be suspense and tension in a thriller trailer and that a teenager should be used. The storyline should be along the lines of a kidnapping which is our preferred choice after conducting these interviews. 15 would be an appropriate age certificate for a thriller film which should be set in a residential area maybe on streets and at night.

Research & Planning: TRAILER ANALYSIS

Research and Planning: THE PITCH

Research and Planning: SURVEY MONKEY RESULTS

What is your gender?
Here we see that the majority of the respondents to our survey were male.

What is your age?
This shows the majority of people were under 17. This gives us an indication that we should rate our film at a 15 to appeal to a wider audience.

What is your favourite genre of movie?
This shows that the majority of people's preferred genre is comedy. Thriller was also very popular.

What would you expect from a thriller movie trailer?
Generally, people expect lighting to be dark, there to be an element of tension and there to be suspense music.

Who would you expect as a main character?
The results show that a male teenager would not be an appropriate character to be the protagonist and therefore it should really be a male adult or female teenager. We feel a female teenager would be more appropriate. 

Research and Planning: GENRE RESEARCH

Horror
Aim to keep the audience interested and 'on edge'. This is done by the choice of setting. Usually an abandoned and quiet area is used to help create drama and tension. Low key lighting is typically used and foreshadowing, such as thunder & lighting and the story being set at night add to the tense element. There is usually a child involved, in some form, in a horror film and an unexplained, something other worldly such as a ghost. Well known horror films include Scream (1996), The Conjuring (2013) and Frankenstein (1931). 

Action/Adventure
Again, aim to keep the audience 'on edge' and wanting to know more. It is usually a quest and involves a character having to do something in order to achieve something in the end. The characters are generally believable who everyday people may associate with. The generic equilibrium, disturbance and new equilibrium code is followed in this genre of film. Propps Narrative Theory of seven main characters would also be relevant. Well known action/adventure films include Indiana Jones (1981), Skyfall (2012) and Jurassic World (2015)

Comedy
Usually a light hearted and easy to follow narrative with silly characters in a friendly atmosphere. A variety of diegetic and non diegetic sound is used such as sound effects (example The Three Stooges) and informal, humorous dialogue. Characters are usually normal people who everybody can relate to and a bit idiotic so people will know one of them. The aim is to entertain the audience in a film which does not really require much concentration and can have a simple narrative. Slapstick and dark humour are sub-genres of the comedy genre. Well known comedy films include Dumb and Dumber (1994), Step Brothers (2008) and American Pie (1999)

Romance
Usually aimed at a female audience and involve two main characters in a relationship - male and female. They use parallel narratives and both of their stories end up crossing over. Maybe use a modern soundtrack to a common pop song to help attract the audience. Usually set over a time period where they are romantic throughout the time and the film shows their journey. There is normally a happy ending. Well known romance films include Titanic (1997), Love Actually (2003) and Dirty Dancing (1987)

Research and Planning: REGULATION AND CENSORSHIP

Film Regulation and Censorship from jack_cooper10

Research and Planning: FILM POSTER ANALYSIS

The Woman In Black (2012)
From the film poster for The Woman In Black, the audience can clearly see that the genre of the film is horror. This is evident from the colour scheme used on the poster with lots of black and grey. The images are in black and white and the use of a close up on Daniel Radcliffe's face - his facial expression of looking scared and quite serious also adds to the dramatic element of the film. In the background, the image of the old house also adds to the element of horror and suspicion. The use of a serif font and capitalism of the title also adds to the old fashioned element, where this film is set. The intended audience for a film like this is teenagers because this genre of film would appeal more to them and the certificate for this film is 12. 

 ​The Expendables 2 (2017)
From the poster for this film, it is evident that the genre is an action film. The use of the orange colours and the fire on the poster add to the element of drama and action and that something dramatic is going to be happening. The use of a group shot and the mise-en-scene of the props such as guns and ammunition, makes the film seem like a drama intense and action packed one. The costumes the stars are wearing are also all black which adds to the fear element and making the film seem more suspicious. I feel an intended audience for this film would be male - maybe aged 15 upwards and because this is part of a series, it would also be for people who have seen the other films and are fans of these. The use of elements such as the plane on fire in the background and buildings in flames suggests that this will relate to the narrative of there being action and things going wrong. 

Research and Planning: INITIAL GROUP MEETING

We had an initial group meeting to decide on what genre of film and came up with a couple of ideas. The genre we have decided is a thriller/social realism film based around the idea of somebody being kidnapped and the kidnapper leaving clues for the family to find the child. For a location, we have decided to base the trailer on the streets in the areas in and around Manchester. This relates to the British social realism genre with films being set on the streets, council estates and with children hanging around.