Conventions in Films - Psychological Thrillers

Silence of the Lambs

Main factors in the film

• Murder


• Police


• Mental Health problems


• Hatred towards women


• Sexual Perversity

American Psycho

• Murder


• Sexual Perversity


• Hatred of women


• Police


• Mental Health problems

The Sixth Sense

• Suicide


• Psychology


• Supernatural


• Mental health problems


• Hauntings

The Butterfly Effect

• Mental Health problems


• Murder


• Abuse


• Time travel

What Lies Beneath

• Murder


• Supernatural


• Mystery


• Hauntings


• Mental Health problems

Gothika

• Psychology


• Violence/Torture


• Police


• Murder

The main conventions according to this research are murder, police, mental health problems and supernatural events.

Film research

To gain a better insight into what movies different kinds of people watch, I decided to do a questionnaire and separate people into age groups. I have chosen to ask two people older than me, two people younger and two people of my age group (18). With the results I am planning to find out what our target audience would be for our film.

I asked the following questions:
1) What films have you watched in the past month? a) What made you choose this film?
b)Where did you watch it? c) Would you watch that type of film again?

These are the results.
Older age group questioned 1 (60 years old)
1) Twilight a) I liked the first one b) Showcase cinema c) Yes
2) Avatar a) I wanted to see if it lived up to the hype b) Showcase cinema c) Yes

Older age questioned 2 (44 years old)
1) He's just not that into you a)My daughter was watching it b) Home DVD c) No it was a bit boring
2)Up a)My daughter wanted it b)Home DVD c) Yes
3) Twilight a) My daughters wanted to watch it b) Home DVD c) Yes
4) The time travellers wife a)it looked good b) Home DVD c) Yes

My age questioned 1 (18 years old)
1) Pirates of the Caribbean 1 a) I haven't watched it in a while b) Home DVD c) Yes
2) Pirates of the Caribbean 2 a) Wanted to watch it after the first one b) Home DVD c) Yes
3) The Mummy a) Have never watched it all the way through before b) Home DVD c) Yes
4)Up a) It's Disney ! b)Home DVD c) Yes
5)Twilight a) I watched the first one was good b)Home DVD c) Yes

questioned 2 (18 years old)
1)Alexander a) It was on TV b) Home TV c) Yes
2) Time Travellers Wife a) Wanted to see if it was as good as the book b) Home DVD c) Yes
3) Twilight a) I saw the first one b) Home DVD c) Yes


Younger age group questioned 1 (15 years old)
1)Fools Gold a) It was the only thing on my Ipod b) Holiday Ipod c) Yes
2) De Ja Vu a) Family were watching it b) Holiday Ipod c)Yes
3) He's just not that into you a) I haven't watched it in a while b) Home DVD c)Yes
4)Tomb Raider a) It was on TV b) Home TV c) Yes
5) Old dogs a)On the plane b) On the plane coming home c) No, it was boring and not funny.

questioned 2 ( 8 years old)
1)Alvin and the chipmunks a) I liked the first one b) Cinema c) Yes
2)Up a) It's a new Disney one b) Home DVD c) Yes
3) Jungle Book a) wanted to watch it again b) Home DVD c) Yes

I have found out through this research that the amount of films someone watches does not depend on their age. However, there is a distinct difference between the types of films different aged people watch. People in the younger categories tend not to watch films over a 12 rating, this is possibly because their parents do not allow them to, they are not allowed into the cinema to watch them or the types of films rated above a 12 do not appeal to them. This is because films rated a 15 or above often contain scenes of violence and of horror.
There is a similarity between all of the people questioned- that they all watch more films at home on DVD than they do at the cinema or on TV. This suggests that people can no longer afford to pay the prices that cinemas charge or do not find the experience as pleasurable as they do at home.

Editing

Straight cut- Is where the viewpoint cuts from one to another.
Jump cut- Where it switches from one scene to another. It can disorientate the audience.

Dissolve- The new shot or scene comes into focus as the old one is going out. Parts of each scene are visible during the change.
Fade- The old shot discretely disappears before the new shot is established.
Superimposition- Two images are placed on top of each other before the one beneath the new one disappears.
Wipe- The new shot slides across one side of the screen to the other replacing the old shot seamlessly.
Split screen- Two shots/scenes are placed directly next to each other on the screen. It is used to highlight the similarities and differences of both shots. It can be used not only as an effect but also as an editing technique. The new image increases to take up all of the frame.

Mise en Scene

Costume
Costume is one of the first things that an audience notice about a character. It can tell the audience alot which can save alot of time, adding other scenes and descriptions to set the scene. For example, in the first scenes of "The Pirates of the Caribbean" the audience instantly know that it is not set in present times due to the clothing of "Elizabeth Swan".
As well as setting the scene, clothing can tell the audience alot about the social class of the characters, for example we instantly associate a man wearing a suit with a middle class professional. We also associate a woman wearing a ragged, dirty dress with shackles around her ankles as a low class prisoner.
The personality of the character can also be shown using clothing. For example a Punk Rocker is obviously displayed by the clothing that he/she wears.

Makeup
Makeup can be used to create wounds on a character if they have just been injured in a battle scene. It would not be ethically correct if every wound seen on screen had to be inflicted onto the actor so that they could appear wounded for the film.
It can also be used alongside special effects to age a character, for example in the film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" the characters had to age and it would effect the continuity of the film if two different actors were cast to play the same person.

Sets
Sets can sometimes be real places and the film is shot on location. However, it is sometimes not appropriate to shoot scenes in real places surrounded by the general public. For example if an explosion needed to be shot in the middle of London, the film company would have to pay for any damage done to the surrounding area, and the public would have to be cleared out of the area before, during and after the explosion to prevent any potential health and safety hazards. They would also have to notify people to prevent confusion and panic that would occur if they thought that it was an actual explosion. Therefore scenes like this would have to be shot using either special effects, added after shooting or on controlled sites made to look like the real location. Another potential downfall to shooting on location would be the public getting in the way of the filming and this would cause an effect on the continuity of the film.
Other scenes need to be shot in a studio in front of a screen where the scenery is added onto the background after filming. This is a cheaper way of filming but it can sometimes be obvious to the audience that the character is not (for example) walking down the streets of London. It is very difficult to get the character lit in the same way that the background is. So film companies prefer to shoot on location despite the costs.

Camera Shots and Movements

Long Shot(a.k.a Establishing shot)- This shot is mainly used to show the audience the character in relation to the scenery or location that they are in. For example in many war films, long shots are often used to show the audience the devastation surrounding the character. This is the most effective way of setting the scene as other methods could be the character or narrator describing it, however, this is too time consuming and the audience may get bored.

Mid Shot- The character takes up most of the space in the frame and the audience's attention is focused mainly on him/her. It is mostly used in shot, reverse shot sequences which are used in conversations. Although some of the background is visible the audiences attention is drawn to the background. To insure this the background is often blurred in these type of shots.

Close up- This is where the all of the frame is used with the characters face or the object. If this shot is used on an object, it shows the audience that the object is in someway significant. When used on a character (which is the most common subject to this shot) the audience becomes aware of their emotions and/or reactions.

Extreme Close up- Is where all of the frame is filled with a small proportion of the characters body. It is used to show the audience the characters emotions. This shot makes it very obvious to the audience what the character is feeling.

High Angle- Is where the camera is shooting the character/object from above. This gives the audience a sense that the character is being dominated or that they are in some way small and vulnerable.

Low Angle- Making the audience view the subject from a lower position, looking up suggests that the subject has power over them.

Eye Level Shot- Creates the sense that the audience are in the scenes with the characters as they are viewing it as they would if they were there.

Point of view shot- This is a shot which puts the audience in the characters shoes and allows them to see through the characters eyes. This also allows the audience to form a bond with the character, as it lets them think that they are a real person.

Crane shot- This is a means of shooting an establishing shot as it can shoot from a very high position. It allows the audience to see a great amount of the surrounding scenery but in very little detail, for example, the audience can see the surrounding streets and the character in relation to them but it does not allow them to see the characters clothing and facial expressions. Therefore it would not be appropriate to film the entire movie using this shot.

Tracking- This is where a camera follows the action on a track in a horizontal direction. This allows the camera to be steady without any jerking. It is a expensive type of shot because the film production has to pay for the track and for it to be installed in every scene it is used in.

Pan- The camera follows the action in a horizontal direction and the camera remains stationary.

Tilt- The camera moves up and down but never side to side. This can be used when following a falling object.

Hand Held Camera- Allows the audience to view the film as they would if they were in the scenes. It produces an unsteady film which creates a sense of urgency and is often used for that reason in thrillers. The film "Cloverfield" used this type of shots throughout the film and broke many conventions. However, the film was widely criticised as the audience felt that they could not "get into the storyline" as this type of shot can be distracting.

Crab- This is where the camera follows the action by moving left and right.

Pre-production research

What makes films successful?

The storyline
A girl and her family move to Texas from England. Then one night whilst watching T.V a crazed man, who has just escaped from the local asylum, breaks into her house and slaughters Holly's family in front of her eyes and leaves her for dead. The movie is set 10 years after the murders and a 19 year old Holly discharges herself from a psychiatric ward. Doctors have trialled a new drug on her leaving her with no recollection of her past life. However, a few months after her new found freedom, Holly starts suffering for horrendous flashbacks. Follow the journey of discovery, but how will she handle the truth? and will her desire for vengeance take control?

Casting
Mum- Kate Winslet
Dad- Gerard Butler
Brother- Zac Efron
Holly- Brittany Murphy
Young Holly- Dakota Fanning
Doctor- George Clooney
Killer- Crispin Glover
Boyfriend- Aston Kutcher
Director- James Cameron

We have chosen these actors because of their high status and large fan base. This means that our potential audience will be higher as each actor has different types of fans, who will more than likely watch the film if only for the actors. People also assume that if a movie has a good cast then the film will be good and will be more likely to go and watch it at the cinema and/or buy the DVD.
We also chose James Cameron to direct the movie because he has made several huge blockbusters such as Avatar. This film has received a lot of publicity which has made James Cameron a household name. Therefore less publicity will be needed because once word gets around that James Cameron has directed the movie people will automatically link it with Avatar, which will be good for our movie as Avatar was a raging success.
Another reason why we have chosen these actors and this director is because more funding may be available to us if we have high profile people working on the film. The more funding the movie gets the more it can afford to splash out on things such as special effects, marketing and actor's wages which will attract more people to watch it.

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