The opening to a thriller film is said to be the most crucial part of the film, it has to entice the audience. I have created a 2 minute opening to a thriller film called ‘The Lodger’, it’s full of action yet is very clear and leaves the audience wanting more!
The Lodger uses conventions of real media products in a number of ways. Firstly, I have based the main character of my thriller film on Marion Crane from Psycho; I have created a similar look with the wide eyes and thick raised eye brows. I have been inspired by Psycho’s narrative structure- with a few alterations. My basic plot is of a woman being stabbed in the shower by the lodger that lives in her garden. I have also used the very famous shower scene as an inspiration for a scene in my thriller. The reason I have used this scene as an inspiration is because it was so successful and by far the most popular scene from the whole film.
Marion
Abigail
Abigail in a lot of ways is very similar to Marion Crane from Psycho. This is shown through her costume: Abigail wears sophisticated clothing (shirt and pencil skirt) yet has aspects of seduction by wearing black heels; this is very similar to the costume of Marion Crane. Abigail wears red lipstick and red nail varnish to add to the seductive and modern appearance. The colour red connotes danger and seductiveness, it draws attention to the character and lets the audience know this character is important.
Abigail's black heels
I was also inspired by 'The Third Man'. I used aspects of Harry Lime's characters costume for the character Scott in The Lodger. Scott wears a long black coat and black boots, like Harry Lime. Myself and the rest of my group experimented with tilt shots of Harry Lime, on Scott. However, we decided that they didn't work very well.
We decided to name the main female character Abigail, we felt it was a striking name and very modern. Scott is the name of the Lodger, we decided on this because it’s a name that connotes danger and nastiness. The title The Lodger was not inspired by any other thriller films. After my group and I decided on a storyline we felt that we needed a snappy title that does’t give too much away. However, we still wanted it to relate to the story itself. We felt that this title was short snappy and left the audience wondering who the lodger was and why he was so significant to the film. It’s very important to leave your audience with questions, as it encourages them to watch more.
We decided to leave our 2 minute opening of The Lodger on a cliff hanger. We have left the audience wondering whether Lisa will be Scott’s next victim, or whether Lisa will plan her revenge on Scott for murdering her best friend. It’s crucial that audiences, when watching the opening to The Lodger, finish watching it wanting more and I think that the cliff hanger ending will make audiences want to know what happens next.
Psycho is not the only influence of The Lodger. I was also influenced by the opening sequence to ‘Once Upon A Time In America’. Noodles mistress, Eve, relates to Abigail in a lot of ways. She is ruthlessly shot by a corrupt policeman. Eve comes across as a strong female character in the opening of ‘Once Upon A Time In America’ but shortly after is murdered, which is very similar to Abigail. Although Eve and Abigail are similar, the setting of ‘Once Upon A Time In America’ is completely different to The Lodger. We have made The Lodger its own by making sure the location shots are unique to other thriller films.
Marion, Eve and Abigail all have one thing in common; they are all foolish enough to put all their trust in to the wrong sort of men. Marion puts her trust in to Norman Bates and ends up being stabbed in her hotel room by the psychotic man. Eve is a gangsters mistress and because of this she feels safe, but ends up being shot by a policeman as a consequence of being with a gangster. Lastly, Abigail puts her trust in to her lodger Scott who turns out to be obsessed with her- so much so that he kills her.
Question two: 'How does your media product represent particular social groups?'
The Lodger represents particular social groups. I have used a strong female character (Abigail) which suggests that women are powerful, but also seriously flawed. However, the femme fatale becomes a victim in the end and is killed by a man- this suggests men overpower women. Abigail appears seemingly to be a strong woman at the beginning of the 2 minutes but by the end her character contrasts this by becoming the victim of Scott. Women are shown as inferior in The Lodger, Scott kills Abigail thus our film perpetuates the traditional representation of generic archetypes, therefore our film relates to the way the media represents males as the powerful and dominating gender. For example in the opening sequence to ‘Once Upon A Time In America’ the three gangsters kill Eve, this shows they have over powered Eve. There’s a shot which emphasises that the gangsters are superior. This shot also connotes claustrophobia, a typical thriller convention. I have used the idea of claustrophobia in The Lodger, but in a very different way. ‘Once Upon A Time In America’ have used the three gangsters surrounding Eve to suggest she’s trapped. However, in The Lodger I have used the shower as the claustrophobic space and have used a shot of the Lodger entering the bathroom to suggest Abigail has no escape.
If The Lodger were to be developed Lisa (the friend who turns up with the flowers) could be the strong female character who takes on the lodger (Scott) and captures him as punishment for murdering her best friend. This would create a different representation of women within The Lodger, as Abigail is shown as vulnerable by becoming the victim within the film.
Question three: 'What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?'
You tube would be the best and only way to distribute The Lodger. You tube would be a great way to broadcast The Lodger to the world, as it’s a well-known and frequently used website, specifically by young people. Social networking sites could also be used such as Bebo and Facebook which are extremely popular- Facebook has over 400 million active users and more than 100 million of these access Facebook through their phone. This means that The Lodger would be viewed (hopefully) by a lot of people and it would guarantee a wide range of viewers. Although Facebook’s target demographic is older generation, it’s clear that the majority users are the younger demographic. This is beneficial for me as The Lodger, I feel, it's more likely to appeal to the younger generation. However, by broadcasting it on Facebook it will give my film the opportunity to be watched by all different ages and genders. However, I feel that our thriller is innovative and therefore could possibly receive funding from Warp or Working Title Films, if it did receive this funding it could be developed as a feature film! This would make it possible for our film to be featured on TV and possibly even cinema outlets. I think it’s innovative because, although it uses aspects of thriller films already released such as ‘Psycho’ and ‘Once Upon A Time In America’, the fact that Lisa later traps the Lodger makes it unique.
Most typical thriller films have the male as the dominant gender, in The Lodger it comes across that way in the beginning but soon changes as Lisa captures the Lodger and plans her revenge.
I could also enter The Lodger in various UK competitions. These include: Short Film Competition; Filmaka- Global Digital Studio and London Short Film Festival (www.shortfilms.org.uk. I think The Lodger would qualify for a specific short film competition because it's unique and would be satisfying for all audiences. I feel it's unique, because it's modern but at the same time it has old fashioned aspects: The Psycho inspired shower scene. It can be enjoyed by any age group and I think it has a lot of potential.
Question four: 'Who would be the audience for your media product?'
The audience I would target my thriller film to is male and females aged 15+. This is because the film would appeal to both males and females, however I think it would be inappropriate for people under the age of 15 to view it, as it contains violent scenes. I feel it appeals to both genders, as it shows different aspects of the male and female lifestyle. It is also a gripping storyline of which will entice anyone. It is not offensive to either gender and throughout the film the dominance of gender changes. Although the age demographic of ‘The Lodger’ is 15+, the specific demographic for it would be 20-30, I think the younger generation will appreciate the thriller much more as it’s a modern storyline that’s unique.
I feel that The Lodger will not appeal to a specific class, because it’s an exciting thriller film that will entertain regardless of whether you’re upper class or lower class!
Question five: 'How did you attract/address your audience?'
The Lodger is an exciting story, as it has a lot going on in the opening 2 minutes. However, it is still very clear and easy to follow. I feel that audiences would want to watch it because the storyline is realistic and something that happens in society every day and it helps to raise awareness of things that happen so often. Many murders that happen are through family or friends, for example on 17th April 2010 Robin Garbutt, 44, was accused of killing his wife, 40- year-old Diana Garbutt, at the post office and shop they ran together in Melsonby, near Richmond, North Yorkshire. This illustrates that you can’t trust anyone, even those that are closest to you. Another example of this is the recent story in the news of Baby P; a 17-month old boy who died in London after suffering more than 50 injuries over an eight-month period, during which he was repeatedly seen by social services. Peter's mother, Tracey Connelly, her boyfriend, Steven Barker, and Jason Owen (later revealed to be the brother of Barker), were all convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child, the mother having pleaded guilty to the charge.
The cliff hanger at the end of the 2 minute opening to The Lodger captivates audiences and makes them want to watch more.
Throughout The Lodger we variate between diagetic and non-diagectic sound, this makes The Lodger more exciting and unique. It will help entice the audience, by having variations of sounds. The soundtrack also helps to build the tension in certain areas of it. There is a sense of ambiguity at the end of the 2 minute sequence, when Lisa drops the flowers crossed dissolved with Abigail's blood trickling down the plug hole. The ambiguity makes The Lodger more exciting to watch and leaves the audience wondering if Lisa was taken by Scott too.
We received feedback from Year 13 students. This was very helpful, as it highlighted to us the strengths of The Lodger and the weaknesses. We took in to consideration what they said and ended making a change: the non-diagetic sound of the shower running whilst the shot of Abigail's dead face is showing. This is much more dramatic and shows that whilst Abigail is laying dead, everything around her is still living. It also makes it clearer to the audience that Abigail was murdered in the shower. The Year 13's comment meant a lot to me because they are my target audience.
A lot of modern day directors think that showing all the blood and guts when there's a murder in a film entices the audience, in my opinion they are wrong. I think less is more! In The Lodger, you never actually see Scott murder Abigail, you just see her blood trickling down the plughole (to connote her life is fading away). This grips the audience and keeps them thinking, because they have to work out what happened, it's not just shown to them. However, it is still clear to the audience how Abigail was murdered- through the blood and the shot of her dead in the bathroom at the end of the 2 minute opening.
Question six: 'What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?'
In the construction of The Lodger, I have learnt a lot, especially about camera angles. I have learnt that a camera angle is crucial when setting a scene, to build up the emotion of a character and for character traits. For example a long shot sets the scene, as it shows a lot of the surroundings and helps the audience to get a feel of where something is set. For character traits in The Lodger, we used high angle shots of Scott to show he’s superior and a dominant role. On the other hand, for Abigail we have used low angle shots, for example when she turns the shower on- this connotes she’s inferior and vulnerable. A tilt shot is used to create a sense of disorientation and helps the audience to understand how the character is feeling. Tilt shots were used a lot in Once Upon A Time In America when shooting Harry Lime, this was to indicate to the audience that his character is corrupt.
Different camera movements are also important in thrillers. For example a tracking shot adds tension to a scene and a sense of suspicion. An over the shoulder shot is useful for making it feel that a character is being followed. I used this in The Lodger, to make the audience feel that Lisa was being followed. This made audiences wonder what would happen to Lisa and suspect that Scott was following her.
With technologies improving vastly now-a-days, I was given the opportunity to work with a camera that is modern. It enabled me to watch preview raw footage, which saved me and my group a lot of time. If a shot wasn’t successful we were able to see there and then on the camera and re shoot if necessary.
It has become very clear to me, through the construction of The Lodger, that close-up shots are key for focusing on emotions of a character. They focus on specific details within the mise-en-scene and can be very useful for building up suspense or emphasising an emotion of a character. At the end of The Lodger's 2 minute opening, there's a close up of Abigail's eye. This is fantastic for building up tension. The audience want to know what's happened to Abigail, the shot then zooms out to show her whole face, making it clear to the audience that she's dead. We have cross dissolved the shot of Abigail's blood trickling down the plug hole, with the close up shot of Abigail's eye. This works fantastically because it shows Abigail's life washing away and the audience are able to see this through Abigail's eye.
I have learned a lot about the importance of lighting when constructing The Lodger. I have experimented a lot with lighting to create shadows. I did this in particular for the shot of Abigail going up the stairs I felt it would be brilliant if I could create a shadow behind her. This shadow would effectively connote that someone (the lodger) is going to follow her up the stairs and she will have no escape. The lighting is also crucial, because although thriller films tend to have noir lighting it was important that everything within our film was clearly visible. In the scene of which Scott picks up the knife the lighting was slightly too dark so unfortunately it’s not majorly obvious that he is picking up the knife. I have also learned that when editing a film it is crucial to sequence shots so that the narrative structure is clear to the audience. It has been interesting to learn how to add effects to a film. The main effect I have used in The Lodger is cross dissolve, whilst editing I found it was an excellent feature for making the film flow nicely. Adding sound to The Lodger was like the icing on the cake! The soundtrack helped add suspense to The Lodger and created a chilling atmosphere. We decided to have diagetic sound to begin with and the soundtrack comes in when the lodger is first shown, this was successful as it made the audience aware that the lodger is a significant character that’s going to be involved with something tragic. The rest of my group and myself spent a long time deciding where to place the title of the film, we eventually came to the conclusion that it fitted best as Scott (the lodger) is holding the knife covered in blood about to walk upstairs (where Abigail is). We felt it worked best here, as it made it clear to the audience that Scott is the lodger and also shows that the film is based round this significant moment in which Scott is about to approach Abigail in the bathroom. In this mise-en-scene, we have created a large shadow behind Scott. This connotes that he's superior and will over power Abigail.
IMBD has been a very useful website for my thriller research. It's a website that supports institutional information, users ratings, external views, user comments and viewing trailers.
I have used the editing software of Adobe Premier I have used cross dissolving- to help The Lodger flow better. I experimented a lot with different feature on this software such as, colour changes, fading and tints. It has given me the opportunity to make The Lodger look proffessional and run smoothly.
Question seven: 'Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?'
Looking back at my preliminary task I feel that I have progressed a lot. It built up my confidence at being on camera, so I was much more relaxed and comfortable when it came to filming my thriller. Editing my preliminary task taught me a lot about different effects that are available and how to use them, so when it came to editing my thriller I didn’t have to waste time on learning how to use different features. These effects included: Cross dissolve, how to create a title, how to put a soundtrack on and change whether there’s diagetic sound or not. My group and I have really come together whilst making our thriller; they are all reliable and put their full potential in to everything we do. As the filming went on, we came together more as a group and realised our own main individual roles- Phoebe mostly directing and filming, Libby mostly arranging lighting and location and me mostly acting and filming. However, we have all been given the opportunity to experiment with every aspect of the film making and I feel we all had equal roles.
By doing the preliminary task it built up my confidence in expressing my ideas and listening to others- this came in very handy when we were coming up with ideas for our thriller, as I was not afraid to get across my ideas and I was happy to try out other group members ideas too. We focused particularly on the 180 degree rule- a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.
Looking for a soundtrack took a long time. It was very difficult to find a Pre-1950 recording or an unsigned act. However, these websites of unsigned acts were extremely useful: www.mobygratis.com, www.ccmixter.org and www.freesound.org. We finally came to the decision of a sound from freesound.org, but it tooks us a long time to find a soundtrack that we felt was suitable. The soundtrack is screechy and builds up (helping to build up tension in The Lodger too). I decided the soundtrack worked best if it started when the lodger is first scene. This is because the danger only begins at this point. It also highlights to the audience that Scott is dangerous and corrupt.
No comments:
Post a Comment