Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our thriller, "From the Dark", is 16-25 year olds, as described in my Prezi describing our target audience.

Target Audience for our Thriller "From the Dark" on Prezi

This age group would be able to relate with our characters, as the main characters are teenagers/young adults, except from the mother, Eve. The standard middle-class teenage/young adult boy is a standard figure, and the audience would be able to relate with him, and empathise with him as he is thrown into a world of crime - like "J" in Animal Kingdom. As discussed in the Prezi above, Animal kingdom has a lot in common with our film in terms of audience - it is aimed at the same age group, and our thriller would ideally be advertised in a similar way.

"J" from "Animal Kingdom" - a similar film in terms of audience to our thriller, "From the Dark"

The standard, middle-class house can also be related to by the audience of our thriller, which is British, white, middle-class males aged between 16 and 25 - this further helps the audience relate to Jonathon Cody, as the location will be reasonably familiar. However, the action in our thriller, where this standard person is thrown into a new world of crime and danger, will excite the audience and keep their attention. This combination of a familiar figure and a sudden, drastic change in events will keep the audience interested.

As I have just mentioned, the audience of our thriller is British, white, middle-class males aged between 16 and 25. Our target audience is white because of the white characters of our thriller, and British because British people will be able to relate to the locations, themes and characters of the film. Also, the mise-en-scene of many shots contains cultural references to Britain e.g. the posters on Jonathon's wall showing British comedians and musicians. The audience is middle-class due to the middle-class house and characters. Finally, the audience is male because the characters of the thriller are mostly male. All of this helps the target audience relate to the character of Jonathon.

Posters showing British musicians, comedians, etc.

In addition, the fear we have utilised in our thriller (the fear of being alone and stalked by an unknown, hostile figure), is well-recognised to be universally suffered from. Most people have this fear, and by using it we have made the thriller more frightening and absorbing. The 16-25 demographic are often fans of horrors and more mature, non-child-friendly media texts as they are discovering things that they could not access before, when they were young. So by using a widespread fear, that of being stalked, we are making our film more exciting to this demographic.

Our target audience would likely watch thriller films such as James Bond, Animal Kingdom, etc. They would be interested in independent, niche, lower-budget films that are gritty and dark - such as our thriller, "From the Dark". This is also discussed in my research into our target audience.

Target Audience for our Thriller "From the Dark"

Target Audience for our Thriller "From the Dark" on Prezi

Soundtrack Ideas

These are the soundtracks we found that could be used in our thriller, "From the Dark". We ended up only using a select few, but they are all focused around building suspense and tension, and so assisting the feeling of being stalked in our thriller.

The soundtrack is a vital part of our thriller. Without the extra suspense built up by the soundtrack, the thriller loses a lot of the fear factor we have tried to achieve.

http://www.freesound.org/people/tradeshowmusic/sounds/136721/

http://www.freesound.org/people/Robinhood76/sounds/82299/

http://www.freesound.org/people/suonho/sounds/58962/

http://www.freesound.org/people/hello_flowers/sounds/32424/

http://www.freesound.org/people/imaginaryband/sounds/79417/

http://www.freesound.org/people/imaginaryband/sounds/79418/

Furthermore, we needed a loud gunshot for the start of our thriller, when Jonathon Cody wakes up. These are the possible sounds we found for this gunshot:

http://www.freesound.org/people/Audionautics/sounds/133966/

http://www.freesound.org/people/Shades/sounds/37236/

http://www.freesound.org/people/tradeshowmusic/sounds/136721/

http://www.freesound.org/people/steveygos93/sounds/91572/

This will be the noise that is heard when Jonathon wakes up. It could either be a sign that something bad has happened, or the end of a nightmare giving a bad omen about what might be about to happen. It could also be thought of as something that foreshadows later events in the thriller.

Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our thriller film, "From the Dark", is an independent thriller film that is made to a low budget - the low budget bracket before the "dead zone". The main way that this film draws you in is through the constant tension and anxiety through the film - the suspense builds up quickly, such as in popular films such as "Psycho" and "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy". This highly suspenseful independent thriller, with it's focus on the 16-25 year old market, could attract a company such as Warp films to fund the film who promote young film talent and films aimed at a teenage/young adult age group. As the main attraction of the film is it's content, the main way to advertise it would be with trailers, teasers and film footage.

Warp Films

However, our film is not mainstream in my opinion - it would not fit in well at a multiplex such as ODEON. This is because it is not a high-budget film with many famous names associated with it - in contrast to a film such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which is also a thriller that relies on suspense and secrecy, but contains famous actors such as Gary Oldman, and a well-known director - Tomas Alfredson.

"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

Because of this, I believe a suitable cinema outlet for "From the Dark" would be the Picturehouse cinemas (such as the cinema Cinema City in Norwich). These more independent-focused cinemas would be a good place to showcase a less mainstream film, as they would be directed at the people who go to Picturehouse cinemas - fans of niche, less well-known films. This would give our film a more suitable place to promote itself.

Picturehouse

Cinema City, a Picturehouse cinema in Norwich

In contrast to the possible interest of Warp Films, a company such as Working Title would probably not be interested in our film. This would be because of the niche nature of the film, which makes it less viable as a mainstream film with a wide audience. As Working Title is more of a mainstream film company, they would probably not be interested in funding our film.

The two characters on show here - the one from the trailer for "Snowton" and Jonathon are similar characters  visually and in terms of character. They are both teenagers/young adults that are caught up in issues that are not necessarily their fault. 

In contrast, the characters given the most focus on the Working Title website are older and more appealing to a larger, European/American audience e.g. A-list actor Gary Oldman from "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

In terms of electronic outlets, releasing the films over a wide range of electronic devices would be unwise. As a less-publicised film, it would be likely for the film to be swamped by more mainstream films and the money used to put it onto many electronic outlets would be wasted. Instead of this, a focused DVD release, and perhaps some other focused electronic release (e.g. on a games console) would be better. By focusing publicity on a DVD release, with help from the funding of a company such as Warp Films, the DVD would become better known amongst fans of films. This would greatly assist the size of the audience for this film.

Furthermore, posting our thriller film onto public video sites such as YouTube would greatly assist our appeal. As the majority of our audience would use technology every day, putting our thriller onto the highly popular video site YouTube would greatly assist publicity, especially for fans of independent, low budget films that would be able to manually search for our thriller. We could also post a trailer instead of, or alongside our thriller to encourage people to watch it in a cinema. A trailer would entice you, while watching it on a small screen might entice you to watch it on a large screen, where it is designed to be.

YouTube

Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our thriller film represents different social groups in different ways.

In terms of gender, our film is very pro-male. The only female figure in our thriller is only seen dead, with a gunshot wound. This also makes her appear as if she has a mysterious, deviant background – another negative representation of female people. The powerful figures are all male – the enigmatic figures, and the “hero” of the film, Jonathon, who is always seen in a god light - a positive representation of male people. This has intertextuality with “Once Upon a Time In America”, which I have analysed in my research of thriller films. In the opening scene of this thriller (like our thriller opening scene), a female figure is shot dead by powerful, dominant, enigmatic male figures. This is similar in some ways to our thriller – the sole, dead woman and the multiple enigmatic males who are the main source of her death. The story revolves around the powerful figures of the men and their betrayal - the plot focuses around the male figures, like our thriller. 

Eve in "Once Upon a Time in America" suffers a similar fate to the Eve in our thriller (this character was an inspiration for our characters name)

The location used is a relatively expensive, large, old-fashioned house which looks like the property of a middle-class family. This is a development of the thriller genre, as normally thrillers contain working class, dark figures. This is a change from this – the class of these people is more like the class of the people in “The Third Man”, which I also researched. Another development of the middle-class stereotype is that this family seem to have a dark, mysterious background – normally middle-class families are not portrayed in a negative light. Also, as the main character is a white, middle-class teenager, he is easy to identify with as he is very recognisable.

Furthermore, are film is dominated by only one race class - white. This is not a great representation of race, but there are many white-dominated films - for example, Psycho has little variation of colour. Also, as in Psycho, it is the woman who dies early in the film, representing Marion Crane, the female, as the weak figure. This is similar to our thriller when Eve Cody dies. The female figure dies a short way into our film as well - this further supports the fact that the plot is focused around the male figures, like in Psycho when Marion dies and the plot focuses around Norman Bates. This focus on the male characters, and comparatively insignificant female figures, is quite common among thrillers. For example, "J"'s girlfriend in "Animal Kingdom" (one of few female characters) has quite a small role and is killed by Pope (one of the many male figures).

Dark, middle-class house in England

In our thriller, Britain/England is portrayed as a dark, bleak environment. This acts a reference to the recent economical issues that the country has suffered e.g. the recession. This could show the problems for 16-25 year olds (our target audience) in contemporary Britain. Our thriller could thus show the possible result of these issues - families being corrupted. In this case, the mother could have a link to a person who lent her money, did not get it back and wants payback. The enigmatic figures could be loan sharks, which would show the current desperation for some families in Britain.

Evaluation of my Thriller: Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The film our group constructed was inspired by several thriller films, as well as our desire to develop the thriller genre. The use of shadows and lighting to show Jonathan being watched is similar to "The Third Man". In "The Third Man", shadows are used for effect in the sewers to give a sense of danger lurking around the corner, just like in out thriller, where Jonathon is being watched from all angles. Also, there is more intertextuality with "The Third Man". When Harry Lime reveals himself, a shaft of light is used to make him appear and disappear. In our thriller, light is also used to reveal and hide the enigmatic, mysterious figure(s). Furthermore, the costume for these character(s) is very similar to the iconic costume from "The Third Man" – a trilby hat and dark clothing is used.

Harry Lime is revealed using lighting

Our thriller also shares many aspects with "Animal Kingdom". The main character is a teenager who our primary audience, 16-25 year old males, can easily relate to – this makes the character of Jonathon similar to that of “J” from "Animal Kingdom". Also, some of our locations are similar to "Animal Kingdom"’s generic thriller locations. Our thriller primarily takes part in a dark, mysterious house at night – you see little of this house, which makes it sinister and enigmatic. This is like the house of the main family of criminals in "Animal Kingdom" – you see few rooms and the family, combined with this mystery, compose an unsettling environment. Both of these locations are similar and are generic thriller locations – there are narrow areas, mysterious corners and doorways, and dark environments. The second location of our thriller, the estate street, is also used in "Animal Kingdom" in the exceptional scene where the police car is found with its doors open in the middle of a road. Both of the scenes take part at night, with cars and a genuine sense of being watched. 

"Animal Kingdom"

In our thriller, a high angle over the shoulder shot of Jonathon being watched by one of the enigmatic figures is used. This gives Jonathon Cody a sense of being watched, and makes him appear vulnerable and helpless. The following low angle shot of the enigmatic figure then makes him look like the powerful, dominant figure.

Similar shots are also used in the shot from "Animal Kingdom". There is a low angle shot of the other police car coming to investigate, which is taken from below the car, as if someone is hiding there. This makes you think that the police are being watched by people of a darker nature, like in our thriller. The use of a street in our thriller is another generic thriller location. At night, the road seems to be taking you where it chooses, and it can connote a sense of entrapment. Also, the fact that roads are open spaces where you can be easily seen provides a sense of being vulnerable – especially as danger is consistently present on the roads.

Police car scene from "Animal Kingdom"

As aforementioned, the characters in our thriller can all be related to characters in "Animal Kingdom". Jonathon could be related to “J” Cody, Eve (the mother who is discovered shot) to Janine “Smurf” Cody, and the enigmatic figures to darker figures from the film, such as Andrew “Pope” Cody.

Jonathon Cody from our thriller, "From the Dark" 

"J" from "Animal Kingdom"

Finally, the soundtrack plays an important role in our thriller. It assists the sense of being tracked and watched, and raises the suspense with each major event of our thriller. It plays a vital role in making our thriller work how it is meant to. It has intertextuality with music used in other thrillers, such as "Psycho". In "Psycho", the music is used to raise the tension prior to and at the same time as major events of the film, such as when Marion Crane is murdered in the infamous shower scene. In our thriller, the music is used to raise the tension as it makes the audience feel as though both they and the main character, Jonathon, are being followed. However, in our thriller, sound is also used for creating an unsettling atmosphere while also building tension. This atmosphere is what gives the main sense of being observed by someone else. This develops the use of sound in thrillers we are using the sound to both create the atmosphere and develop it.

Eve from our thriller, "From the Dark" (above) and
 Eve from "Once Upon a Time in America" (below)

As aforementioned, our thriller's characters are linked to "Animal Kingdom", which is due to our research of the film. The characters names are also inspired by the relavant characters. The name Eve Cody is a direct reference to Eve from "Once Upon a Time in America", who is shot in the opening scene. Relating her to our character immediately suggests that she may be killed, like Eve from "Once Upon a Time in America". This is an iornic reference to the character of Eve from this film.

Analysis of the Opening Sequence of Once Upon a Time in America (1984, Directed by Sergio Leone)

The first shot is of a woman's shadow. This silhouette and the noir lighting (created by the dimly lit room)immediately establilsh the film as a thriller, with the dark feel and generic noir lighting.



Eve entering the dimly lit room - the lack of light makes the lighting noir-like

When the light is turned on, you see the woman who is wearing a fur coat and pearls - immediately esdtablishing her character as a femme fatale figure, another thriller convention. Within seconds, you know that the film is thriller.

The light that is turned on to reveal the character, Eve, creates chiaroscuro light, establishing an uneasy, unsettling area. As Eve pulls back the covers to find the drawn shape of a body on the bed, the radio in the background pays "God Bless America". This provides irony and juxtaposition, as Eve is discovering a crime at the same time the song is praising America. The over the shoulder shot here (as seen below) helps you to relate with the character and understand her situation and feelings. It also makes you emphasize with the character and want to support her, which makes her death soon after this shot have more of an impact than if a random woman who you have no connection with had been shot at the start of the film.



Eve discovering the shape of a body on the bed

When Eve is cornered by the men (who are wearing stereotypical gangster costumes, establishing their characters straight away), many close-up shots are used to help involve you in the scene and make you feel as if you are there. This gives the events of this opening scene more impact. The aforementioned costumes, which support the generic thriller characters (glamorous, attractive femme fatale and wealthy, arrogant gangsters who can buy expensive clothes), help to establish the genre of the film. The costumes and what they connote (femme fatale and gangster) immediately tell you that this film is a thriller.