Title Ideas

We are at this very moment undecided on what to name our thriller.

'The Lodger' was our first initial idea. The title is very basic and leaves a lot of loose ends for the viewer to find whilst watching the film. It creates curiosity to how Scott is going to be represented in this film, he is after all the lodger. Is he going to be interpreted as the good guy who's feelings get unintentionally hurt or is he going to be seen as the bad guy who murder's innocent Abigail? The title also sets the scene for what the film is about, the audience get some clue to the importance of the lodger.

Our second idea was 'Happy Birthday'. We felt this was a good idea because its almost a play on words. A happy message that in this case turns nasty. In a thriller sense we found it more chilling than 'The Lodger'.

However we are yet to decide which one we think is more suited.

Soundtrack ideas

Our thriller soundtrack has to be a pre-1950 recording. 

We have decided if possible to use a pre-1950 recording of 'The Rite of Spring'.

It has been difficult to get hold of this piece, we are however doing the best we can to get it.

The piece was composed by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky composed this piece of music for a ballet of the same name. The ballet was premiered on the 29 May 1913 and is set in Russia. Stravinsky's attitude has been described as patronizing, "...Stravinsky thinks he is the only one who knows anything about music." his personality is reflected through his music and could also be seen as reflected through our character 'Scott' who almost thinks he is the only ever to be effected by love, he thinks he is the only other person in Abigail's life. 

We feel that this piece works very well with our thriller and its adventurous rhythms and harmony's go well with 'Scott's' dangerous personality. The Violins almost represent Abigail's screaming as she is getting murdered. The violins also help build the tension and suspense of the thriller. 

Progression update

So far, we have had a few troubles with our filming but we have done our best to overcome this.

At first the camera had a few faults, we found that the tape wouldn't go down once put into place. We found a way to deal with this by looking up a solution on the internet.

Time has also been abit of a problem. As the three of us live very far apart it was hard to arrange a time that was convieniant for all three of us and well as arranging appropriate transport.

We also found it hard to find a male to play the boyfriend that could be there at the times we were filming. Although we shot a few scenes with Fraser Stannage, these shots had to be re-filmed with a new idea put into place. Instead of Abigail's boyfriend coming to see her, Abigail's best friend now comes for Abigail's birthday meal. This would also make it easier when changing the idea of smashing a wine bottle to dropping some flowers. Our reasons behind changing this idea were mainly due to health and safety. We felt that the glass would shatter to much and may cause an injury to either the actor dropping it or the person filming. This also helps when filming because we can drop the flowers as many times as we have to, unlike the wine bottle which would have had to be filmed in one take.

Another problem that we had to face was with editing. A format error came up when we were trying to capture our tape. We found a way around this by capturing it in a slightly different way.

Although we have found it a challenge to overcome these problems and changing a lot of our ideas we feel it will benefit us a lot when it comes to the final product.

Audience Profile

My target audience is both genders, aged 15-25 and mainstream. I could shape my thriller around my target audience by using characters around the same age. The audience would then feel that they can relate to the characters therefore giving a better sense of realism to the film. Another way in which i could shape my thriller around my audience is by shooting it in modern and familiar places to them such as schools, typical housing and parks. By using close up shots that cut fairly fast, the audience keep involved and intrigued. A lot of teenagers and young adults find gory and gruesome scenes entertaining. For this reason i could use a brutal murder in my thriller to add to the thrill of the film.

To develop my thriller around my target audience i am going to shoot the film is a very stereotypical house so that they are familiar with the location and can therefore relate better to the film. I will also use characters aged around 25 so that the audience feel more realism. The costumes will also be very modern and stylish.

The pace of the film will be fairly quick so that the audience stay engrossed. The editing will be done so that the cut between shots stay interesting. The cinematography used will also include a lot of close ups, this is also used so that the audience feel that they can relate to the character and so that they can see the emotion of the character well.

Audience research: discussion of findings

I handed out my questionnaire to 20 people with a variety of different ages. 

From my results i can tell that my target audience generally prefer mainstream thriller to independent. Therefore we have included mainstream thriller aspects in our thriller opening, for instance the gripping, almost exaggerated plot. 

Most people also prefer less stereotypical characters. I think my audience chose this answer because less stereotypical characters almost shock the audience. They create more suspense and curiosity. Therefore our murderer character is someone that perhaps the audience wouldn't suspect as being the murderer. Someone that the victim of the murder trusts. 

Most of our audience chose to have both loud and quiet music. I think the reason behind this is that if the temper and volume changes it creates more thrill and draws the audience into the thriller. Therefore we have chosen a music piece that we hope will grip the audience. We have also chosen to have just diegetic sound at some points in our thriller, this is so that it creates suspense and puts the viewers on edge. It also meets the expectations of the rest of the audience. 

I had a variety of different answers when asking about sub-genres. Most people chose horror. I think the reason being that the two genres tie in together a lot and are generally very similar. Our thriller includes a few horror aspects such as the gruesome murder and the overall 'creepiness' of the killer. Other sub-genres that were also popular include crime and drama. Therefore we when developing our plot we made it quite dramatic, including a crime that will meet the expectations of the audience that chose those sub-genres. 

Overall the audience expectations include:

- A interesting, gripping plot that will draw the audience in to the film.

- A gripping character that will involve the audience. 

- Music that will create a suspense across the audience, adding to the thrill of the plot.

- Horror aspects, as well as a few aspects from crime and drama thrillers. This is to interest the audience and make the plot more exciting.

Questionnaire results

Thriller questionnaire

What gender are you?

Male

Female

What age range do you fit into?

10-14 15-19 19-24 25-30 31-40 41-50 50+


Do you prefer Independent or Mainstream thrillers?
Independent 
Mainstream

Do you prefer stereotypical or less suspicious characters in thrillers?

Stereotypical

Less suspicious

What kind of soundtrack do you prefer?

Quiet music

Loud music

Both

No music at all (just diegetic sound)


What location spots most appeal to you?
Grave yards
Alleyways
Small/claustrophobic spaces 
Mansions
Big cities
Deserted areas

What sub-genres most appeal to you?

Action

Crime

Drama

Science fiction

Horror

Other __________________

Thriller Proposal

As part of my thriller planning I will do some audience research. Through this I hope to gather information about what my audience expect from a thriller opening. This will then help me to plan my thriller effectively around its audience.

Through my research I am to find out the following:

      -     Expectations of mainstream vs. independent

-          What characters appeal most to the audience

-          What kind of soundtrack most appeals to the audience

-          What location spots most appeal to the audience

-          What subgenres most appeal to the audience

This research will be carried out by questionnaire. I will aim to use a group size of 20 people aged around 15-25 year olds. I chose this group size because I feel that 20 people will get me qualitative reliable data. I also feel that this age group will get me the research I need as they may know more about today’s modern thrillers. 

I expect to find out that independent films tend to show a better picture of today’s society and that they tend not to exaggerate issues placed in today’s society. Money may be one reason why they do not tend to exaggerate these events. They do not have the money to use special effects, sound and music etc.