Research: Scream opening scene, Mr LSH

Scream opening scene

The in the opening we are introduced to the victim who is Drew Barrymore. She is in the kitchen making popcorn for a night in but she starts to recieve mysterious phone calls from a male as we can tell from the voice. He asked questions to the female and trys to play games with her. Then she is told by the person on the phone that if she answers incorrectly she has to face the consquences which is that her boyfriend is killed in front of her in her garden. Afterwards the victim is killed and the killer with the mask disapears and the parents of the victim turn up at her house find her body hanging from a tree infront of the house.

 The audience would be able to sense trouble from the start of the scene, her being alone, means that there wouldn't be anyone around to help if there was going to be some sort of dilemma.

 

Sound

The first thing we are introduced to is the phone ringing  diegetic and the scream sound which is non diegetic as it is added on afterwards. This creates mystery as the audeince wants to know who is calling and the scream effect makes the audience fear of what the phone call is for.   We can also hear the sound of the popcorn at the back. Moreover, non-diegetic soundtrack was used when the female victim runs around to lock the doors as she fears that someone might be around to get as she is receving unusual phone calls. 

 

On the other hand, non-diegetic sounds have been used in the opening scene. Thriller specific music has been used when the female victim starts to run around the house trying to hide herself from the killer when she realises that she is being watched. The non-diegetic sounds that is used in the scene adds suspense and shows to the audience that the lady is in danger however, her locking the doors when she panics shows that she is wear and vulnerable to the killer. This makes the audeince feel sorry and also worry about what she could face on her in a big house. The audience is aware by this point in the scene that the intensity is increasing as well as the use of non-diegetic sounds. Using diegetic and non-diegetic sounds allow the atmosphere of the scene to be more realistic to the audience.

 

Body language

Throughout the beginning of the opening scene of Scream we see the young lady having a calm form of bofy language with her not being  scared or intimidated, with slow walking and a normal form of tone as she gets on with making popcorn for the night in. However, the young lady carries on recieving the phone calls she starts to panic  which leads her to run around the house  trying to lock the doors to keep herself safe inside the house. The change in the body language as she starts to panic displays how the feeling of the character suddenly changes when she feels that she is under threat as the killer is coming closer to her with the questions that he is asking on the phone. Moreover, the character portrays through her body language that she might be in trouble, this creates a chilling response from the audience.

 

 

Here we see the protagonist sitting down talking on the phone. However, from the body language we can infer that she might be hiding from someone from the was she has sat down. She also looks upset as she is crying which may show that she might be in danger.

Lighting

Low-key lighting is used frequently in the opening scene. For example, low-key lighting was used when the young lady realises that her boyfriend is being held by the antagonist as he is tied up on to a chair. This key lighting technique is a key to make things more effective as it mainly focuses on one object and everything around that object  is dimmed. This allows the audience to understand the characters emotions clearly. This immediately causes  a feeling of suspense and shock.

 

Costume and iconography

The costumes used were very effective and it allowed the audience to clearly see who the protagonist and the antagonists were which is conventional to a thriller. Firstly, we see the protagonist which is the female victim wearing a white jumper and the antagonist wearing a black hooded cloak allowing him/her to cover his/her identity.

The victim wearing something white may show to the audience as her being innocent and vulnerable towards the killer. Whereas the antagonist wearing black is used to portray the antagonist as being evil and dangerous.  

When the female victim is on the phone to the killer we see that she is just next to knife rake in the kitchen later on in the opening scene we see that see is killed with a knife by the killer. This is a typical iconography used in thrillers.

Cinematography

Mid shot:

This is a mid shot used when the female character is speaking on the phone to the killer. This shot captures the action of the character very well and allows the audience to understand the emotions of the characters as they can see the character from waist up.

Reaction shot
This shot shows the facial expressions of the father of the protagonist. It is a effective shot to capture the emotions or the reaction of a character. In this scene the shot shows the shock of the father as he sees his daughters dead body hanging from the tree. High-key lighting was used in this scene.


 

Research: Questionnaire and Results ( Miss B)

Questionnaire

Carrying out primary research is important as it allows you to find the information needed directly from the target audience. If we were to rely on secondary market research data we may have false information and you may not find information that you are looking for. The primary research may consume time and may also cost a lot more than secondary research however, the information that is collected is directly from the audience we can find specific things that we are looking  for.

One example of primary market research is a questionnaire. Questionnaire could have open, closed and multiple questions.

Open questions allow the person filling the questionnaire to express themselves instead of choosing from a list.

A closed question is a question that only allows you to answer by picking from two options e.g. Yes and No.

Also a multiple question allows you to pick from a list of choices which allows the person who has created the questionnaire the gain specific information.

Other examples of primary research include the following:

• Focus group
• Surveys
• Interviews

However on disadvantage of a questionnaire is that you cant always trust people that answer the questions as they me exaggerating to be able to feel like they're a part of the society and gives answers which what people would usually give.

Questionnaire:

I asked have asked 30 people in total to answer the questionnaire that I have created. The questionnaire contained 17 questions and first three of these were the demographics which is to find out personal information of the individual who is taking part to fill out the questionnaire. One example is ' what is your gender'. Gaining this type of information from the audience can allow us to know what a specific age group answered or if we want to target females we can focus on them instead of the males who answered the questions. When creating the questionnaire I had to make sure that the questions that were instead are suitable for my target audience  as what they would want and expect from thrillers. Creating these question was a chance for me to collect direct information from the existing audience. I made sure that all of the question related to three main titles and these include the following: Genre, target audience and convetions. One example question that I have used was 'Do you enjoy watching thrillers'.
Moreover, I have used a mixture of open, closed  and multiple questions. The open questions allowed me to gain a more in depth information however i could measure this as we can only measure the outcomes of multiple and closed questions. To be able to measure the results and come to an overall of what the most popular answers were I have made a spread sheet on Excel to store the results and from these results I have created different graphs to represent the results of the questionnaires. 
The graphs that I have used were bar, line and pie graphs.

 

Results 
From the results of the questionnaire I have found out that nearly more than half enjoyed watching thrillers. Also 33% of these people demanded to watch a crime sub genre rather than other sub-genres which included Sci-fi, Psychological, romantic comedy, action and horror. On the other hand, I have asked what is the best location for a thriller film. The most popular answer was house followed by hospital. If a thriller takes place in a house this allows the audience to identitfy with the characters and share the same emotions allowing them to feel scared. This could make the audience to actualy think that the same thing could happen to them and from the previous question of sub genres crime seems to be most suitable to take place in a house or hospital as these locations makes it more realistic and builds tension and suspense.

 

This question has allowed me to understand what the target audience gives importance to when watching a thriller. The results show that the costumes of characters play a big roles as 40% of the audience think that they can identify the protagonist in a thriller based movie  on what they wear. For example in the Se7en movie   Brad Pitts costume was a black suit which made him look like the antagonist however he was the protagonist.
The results showed body language as second as this is one other important feature which allows the audience to identify certain characters, in this case the protagonist. 

Furthermore I have asked what the most sub-genre that they like. The results show that there was a high demand with crime coming first with 33% followed by action and psychological genres.These results have given me a clear vision of what type of genre are demanded by the target audience and what I could produce to attract the audience. However I could make a further research by interviewing individuals why they don’t prefer romantic comedy or Sci-fi. Also the second part of this question which asks the person to explain why they prefer the specific option allows me to understand why and what things I could include in my production. For example one answer was that the individual enjoyed horror movies as it made feel shocked and the mystery made them wanted to watch more.

 

 

I have asked if people would like to have a character which they can identify with and the result show the difference wasn’t major however I will take this into consideration when creating my own thriller product. When evaluating what features to include in the production I have to make sure that the production is reflects real life but allows the audience to feel the characters feelings also the production creates tension allowing the audience to want to watch more.

 

 

 I have included the demographics in the questionnaire that I have carried out which was a part of my primary market research. This allowed me to clearly see the percentage of each group that has been answered the questions set. Moreover I would like to target ages 16 to 21 and as I can see from the graph 50% who answered the questions were 16 to 21 year olds. Which means that the results that I receive from this research would be significantly important for me when planning to create my own thriller.

Also the second most popular was at 40% with the 10 to 15 year olds who answered the questions this is also important as I may consider this age group to target. By knowing the target market that I will be targeting this would allow me to consider the content that will be in the thriller that I will be creating.

 

Research: Opening credits and typography ( Mr LSH)

Opening credits and typography 

 

 

Opening credits are the written information presented to the audience on who produced the film, who is involved in the film and other production role. The opening credits are effective in thrillers when accompanied by sound to create tension and fear. This can be very effective when the images do not make sense, making the audience question what is going on. Some people watching films may find the opening credits very interesting as they would want to see if the characters are familar or if the production is good. 

The purpose of the opening credits is to show the audience the whole that have been incolved to produce the film and in some cases the audience would give great importance to the star actors for example if Badd Pitt was listed as one of the actors in a film they may think that the film will be something good to watch.

Opening credits have different effects on the audience this is based on the effects, sound and images used.

Purpose of film credits

• Advertising
• Giving credit to those who took part
• Outlines major actors/ crew members

If the opening credits of a film starts with something unexpected like a scary soundtrack this may make the audience feel scared and tension would build up and their expectation could change and they may predict what they might see in the following scenes.  

Here we can see that the opening credits have been used very well from the Sev7n movie. Kevin Spacey who is the most important character and his name doesn't appear in the opening credits. He suggested that his name should stay a screat till the end of the film and this was a suprise for his fans. This made the film more interesting as the audience didnt know what to actually expect. The opening credits of Se7en includes moving images of books, blade and someone writing something. Which makes the movie more mysterious and causes excitement for the audience. Low-key lighting and dark colours are used throughout the opening credits. The low key lighting makes the opening appear mysterious and disturbing when it is mixed with the dark colours and images shown throughout the credits.
 

Some opening credits make it iconic and rememberable this is usually the case it cartoon type of movies e.g. Toy story which focuses on the relationship between toys and chldren and what toys when they're not around.
This shown in the opening credits of Toy story and the use of music allows us to understand the film better e.g. 'you've got a friend in me' by Randy Newman.

 

 

The opening credits in different films may vary however the credits include most of the followings in differsnt orders; 

• Actors
• Casting
• Title
• Music 
• Editing 
• Desgin
• Producer
• Co Producer
• Director
• Written by 

This post helped me to come up with some ideas that I could use in the thriller production that I will be creating. I know that using moving image in the credits makes it more effective and sets the mood for the audience. It allows the audience to predict what my happen in the film. Moreover, I think that the most significant two parts in the opening credits are the sound used and how the credits are made more noticable. For example for a film like Toy story the music makes the film look more fun and enjoyable  whereas in Se7en we was introduced to a slow disturbing soundtrack added to the opening credits creates suspense among the audience and makes them feel distured when they hear metal scratching together. In my own production I may use slow disturbing soundtrack to make the scene more mysterious as it is a thriller production. On the other hand, I would want the credits to be clear for the audience to see and focus on as well as the moving images that will be used. I would like the actors to appear first and followed by the following Title, Directior, Written by, Producers, editing, music and casting.

Typography

 

 

Typography is how the writing is presented to the audience. It is a fancy word for font. When typography is analysed in films e.g. in the opening credits we mainly look at things like the style, size, letter case and colour of the font. These are important as films like thrillers and disneys films would use different fonts. 

 

 

Different fonts could be described differently e.g. this type of font can be used in romantic, love films. 

 

 

   On the other hand this type of font would be used in thrillers and horrors. The background colour infers mystery and the white suggest that their is new start beginning to something. The number '7' used in the font allows the audience to identify what film it is.

Research: Costume, hair and make up (Mise en scene) Miss B

Costume helps the audience to understand more about a character. It can guide the audiences attention to particular personalities or traits. Different costumes have different representation. 
Also different costumes used could allo the audience to identify the protagonist and the antagonist,  e.g. antagonist may wear a black suit which may show that hes strong, intelligent and high in status.
However, protagonist may wear a white dress which may show that the character is pure and innocent.

  Drew Barrymore from scream shows up in the first scene with a cream jumper and jeans which infers that she may be the victim as we know that colours like white and cream may represent innocence and purity. Her hair is short and shiny. When we look at her make up we can see  that she looks natural and pure which makes her look innocent.
On the other hand we have the killer from the Scream movie where he is dressed in black. This shows that he is trying to hide himself in the dark of the night. The mask is used to also hide his identity. The use of black suggests that he is the antagonist and dangerious. We could also say that the knife is used to show that he is strong and powerful.

 

This is picture taken from the Sev7n movie. On the left hand side we see Brad Pitt in a suit and a black leather jacket. This makes him look like the antagonist in the movie. Also on the right hand side we have Kevin Spacey who is dressed in a orange costume. We may infer that colours like orange and red may show him as dangerious person. However Brad Pitt in the black leather jacket seems like the killer. At the end of the film we know that Kevin Spacey was the antagonist and Brad Pitt was the protagonist however he ends up killing Kevin Spacey which makes him come down to a angonist position. From this we know that even though Brad Pitt was the victim his costume made him look dangerous and mysterious making the audience feel sorry for him and after they feel angry because he has killed someone.

 

 

This is a picture from the Babadook movie. It shows a mother and son. Mother who  is dressed in white which may infer that she is innocent and purity. White is considered to be the color of perfection.This may mean that the mother could do anything to keep her son from harm.

This is a picture from Gone Girl. It shows a wife and husband. The wife has a white costome and the husband has a black tshirt. From the colours that have been used we can infer that the wife is the innocent character as she looks pale and emotionless. However the husband looks as if he doesnt want to leave his wife. Moreover the black tshirt makes the husband look like hes the antagonist.

 

 

 

Hair and make up is also important in thrillers. The hair style could look smart but because of the make up it could make a character look evil, scary and calm. However, the things that they can do may not be the same. 

The colours that are used in costumes are significantly important to reflect what is happening or what may happen in the movie. For example, red could represent love, romance, jealousy, hot weather or death. Also black could represent, darkness,  fear, hiding identity.

In the production that create I would want to make sure that I use the appropriate costumes and make -up for thrillers. This could be black suit for the antagonist and a white dress for the protagonist.  This may be a typical for most films however, I think that it would allow the audience to easily identify and know what to expect.  I would like to use a light make up for the protagonist as it would make the character look innocent and whatever happens would enable the audience to feel the emotions of the character. Moreover,  I would like the antagonist to have some sort of leather used in the costume as it could represent power, confidence and masks could be used to hide identity.

Research: Age Certificates (Miss B)

Age certificates

 

The BBFC serves a social function in society which is to advise and protect viewers from moving images. The BBFC stand for British Board of Film Classification. They decide on censorship and based on the content of films they either ban or cut scenes to make it appropriate to watch. Also based on the content they decide on the age rating this basically means what age the film is suitable for and this is the age certification.

 

Thrillers usually have a age certification of 15 to 18 and over as the content can be disturbing it may include weapons, blood, religious content, language and drugs.

Films that have 'Universal' means that the film is suitable for all ages and because of this parents could allow their children to watch these films by themselves without worrying. The lion king can be an example film which has a rating of 'U'.

The Lion King has been rated as 'U' as it has no unappropriate content, and this means that it is suitable for younger years.

  PG stands for Parental Guidance. It means that it is duitable for general viewing, however some scene may not be suitable for young children.A PG film will not contain any theme which is inappropriate for a child. PG works can explore challenging issues such as bullying, bereavement or racism.





 

The difference between 12 and 12A is that the 12A requires an adult to accompany any child under 12 seeing a 12A film.

Aggressive discriminatory language (for example homophobic or racist terms) is unlikely to be passed at 12A or 12 unless it is clearly condemned.When a film is rated 12 it means that only children who are 12 or ove can watch it however if it is rated 12A this means that a child under the age of 12 can watch the film however with a parent.
One film that we can look at is Spider man that was released on 12A by the BBFC as it stated that the film was suitable for young children and becauseof this they recommended a parent to accompany the child who wants to watch the film.  This meant that children under the age of 12 could watch the film however they had to have someone with them.

The BBFC has come up with the 12A rating when a 12 rating already exisits. 12A rating means that children under the age of twelve should be accompanied by an adult when watching a film which is rated as 12A.The first film that a 12A rating was used was the sprider man. The reason for this was that the BBFC suggested that the film should be 15, however because the spider man has a large audience for the 15 below the film makes really wanted the age certification of 15 to be lower to allow the young spider man fans to watch their hero on the big screens. This is where the BBFC decided that the 12A should be used and anyone under the age of 12 must watch with a parent.

 

The 15 rated films usually have strong language,sexual nudity, discrimination and drugs.

The Judge has a 15 rating as it contains murder, strong language and sexual reference.

The last age rating is 18 and this is in th UK. People that are under the age of 18 are not permitted to watch the film, you would asked for ID in cinemas to watch these types of films. The reason for this age rating is that the films that are rated 18 may include the following:

• Criminal law
• Display criminal offence
• Use of illegal drug
• violence
• Sexual activity
• Strong language

 Saw 3 has a 18 rating. Jigsaw kidnaps a doctor to keep him alive while he watches his new apprentice put an unlucky citizen through a brutal test. The film contain brutal tests, blood, weapons and kidnaping may realate to real life.




Conclusion
I think that learning about age certification helped me alot now that I know the different age certifications and what they all include I can make sure that the thriller production that I make include suitable scenes. For example, 15 rating may be more suitable for my production as it is a thriller and it may include, strong laguage, violence, weapons and criminal offence.

Research: film censorship (Mr LHS)

Film censorship

BBFC stands for British Board of Film Classification. The first organisation that would come into our minds when censorship is mentioned. TheY have the power to regulate film censorship and decide on what film and games go out to the public in the UK. Their role is to protect the public from offensive and disturbing content. They make the age cerification for films meaning that  only certain age groups can watch them. In this stage they will either ban the film this is when the film is taken away from cinema viewing completely due to indecent, harmful or offensive material or they can cut the film and this is when a film is editied or has had scenes taken out of it to make it appropriate of viewing.

The BBFC has the right to ask the producers of a film to make cuts several times till they are happy that the film is appropriate for the specific age group to watch. 

The last house on the left was banned by the BBFC for 30 years and not passed uncut until 2008. After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging to the parents of one of the victims: a mother and father who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.

Fight night censored due to sexual and brutal violence.

Things that may get sensored in films include the following: 

• Religion 
• Language 
• Sexual Violence 
•  Drug Abuse
• Culture
• Graphic representation and realism

 The Human centipede 2 was banned in the UK for being 'tasteless and discusting'.

The cannibal holocaust is banned in over 50 countries due to its portrayal of graphic brutlity, sexual assault, and genuine violence towards animals.The film is a 1980 italian film and filmed in the amazon rainforest. The film tells the story of a missing documentary film crew who had gone to the Amazon to film cannibal tribes.

Also an example film that has been cut by the BBFC is The Serbian film and it is now 18 cinema rating. The BBFC has made requests about some of the scenes to be cut. ''The Board has therefore required 49 individual cuts to the work amounting to approximately three minutes 48 seconds. These include cuts to the juxtaposition of images of children with sexual and sexually violent material''. In addition I think that the film contains alot of disturbing content and it should be banned instead of cuts being made. We are aware that people under the age of 18 can easily get hold of these films online and making cuts and rating 18 wouldnt stop young people from watching these type of films. 

Forna Vs Kermode

Don't look now: A case for censorship ( Aminatta Forna)

1. In the adult world of mass media and mass audience we're beginning  to recognise the power of words and images to harm.  The freedom of expression is allowing people to stir racial hatred. For example Romper Stomper ' niggas out'.

2. Films start to break down barriers - For example the rape scene in Straw Dog, showing a woman getting raped and then enjoying it. Scenes like this repeated often enough start to to destroy those barrier. It cannot be argued that this is the only cause for people to commit such crimes however these scenes do have a role and should be cut. 

3. Undersirable acts such as rape and illegal incidents encourages the audeince to carry out acts in real life. Experience has shown that when suicides are shown on TV there'll be an increase in attempts that night after seeing that scene. E.g. Eastenders in which Angie tried to kill herself was thought to have promopted a country wide series of emergencies that same night of the series on TV. This shows that the audience are strongly effected by things that they watch on TV and actually carry out what they see if they relate to the situation or mind set of the character.

Eyes wide open: A case against censorship (  Mark Kermode)

1. Being told what you can't and can watch - difference between right and wrong. Kermode describe those as idiot, stupid, weak, impressionable, easily led and unable to distinguish between fiction and reality. He mentions that this is what we are in the eyes of such organisation as the BBFC. They have to tell us what is right to watch and what is wrong. He also states that the films that haven't been banned but cut now make no sence because the scenes have been cut an put back e.g The Evil Dead. 

2. Fear of expression and freedon of speech.

3. Sex doesn't occur during the making of films so there's no need to censor it. Things like this shouldn't be generalised and the BBFC should restrist itself to classifying and describing material, making cuts only when an actual offence has been commited in the production of the movie. 

4. Different people have differnt interpertations of things and just because on person think its wrong doesn't mean its wrong for anyone else. 

Overall I'm personally agiainst film censoring. One reason for this is that people have their own say in what they watch and this is why they dont need someone else like the BBFC to make cuts or ban films. We could agree that some people may be influenced by the things they watch however this cannot be reduced by making cuts and banning films. When it comes to children their parents are responsible for everything and they sould make the decision of something being suitable or not for their children. Things that were not acceptable years ago are now seen as normal in the society. People go to the cinemas to watch a work of art and there is a reason for certain scenes and if there are cuts I don't see the point of actually watching the film from the startas it may lose the actual meaning. 
 

Moreover, from the information that I have learned from the film censorship research is what the BBFC is and their roles, some arguements on for and against censorship. These arguesments allowed me to see from two different prespectives. Allowing me to make a overall statement of what I think and what I should be thinking about when I make my own triller. This is significantly important as I will be making a thriller and most thrillers include scenes that may need to be censored. I have to make sure that the scene of my thriller production is suitable to the age rating so that i don't have to make any cuts to the actual production.