Task 4.3: Character profiles

On the subject of

Idea 1:

Name: Rose Savage/

Age: 18-25

Gender: Female

Occupation: Gang leader/ Femme Fatale

Appearance/ Costume: Black fitted attire, long red hair, red lips, constantly smirking face, blue eyes and cat-like movements

Characteristics: Flirtacious, manipulative, scheming, unemotive, aggressive


Idea 2:

Name: 'Puds'

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Occupation: Hench man/ undercover gangster

Appearence/ Costume: Black casual attire, cheap clothing, spiked brown hair, clumsy movements

Characteristics: Foolish, pushover, gullible, ruthless, discriminated

Idea 3:

Name: Unknown

Age: 17

Gender: male

Occupation: student/ stalker/ hidden man

Appearence/ Costume: casual brown or dark attire, low hat covering face, ginger long hair, seemingly innocent body language 

Characteristics: seemingly shy, obsessive, quiet, threatening, psychopath

Task 4.2: Outline the basic plotline

For our plotline we decided to go down a root which was inspired by our preliminary task. Our thriller consists of a secret mission being arranged between characters. Our protagonist reluctantly accepts the challenge via mobile phone, with the antagonists henchman commissioned to escort him into their lair. Once there our antagonist reveals of the plot to collect 'it', (requiring the protagonist to complete a dangerous mission) we also learn that the protagonist and antagonist have worked together previously, ending with unfinished business. The protagonist receives a key and leaves the building accompanied with a voiceover stating his thoughts and feelings.

Task 4.1: Mind Map of Film Ideas

For our general theme we decided to choose Thriller as we liked the concept of anticipation and tension for the audience. After several general concepts we slowly developed our theme into a few ideas.

Idea 1: For our first idea we chose to go down the route of gangster thriller. Our main characters would congregate within a secret room (even garage) to discuss their latest schemes. A money making scheme is decided, but it would be dangerous and could have serious consequences on their lifestyles. The gang led by femme fatale Rose Savage are manipulated into taking the mission and when all is revealed the characters turn on eachother.

Idea 2: Our second idea was similar to that of the first but with a male lead. The male is a plucky character who enters a small back alley room and sits opposite his male colleague whose intentions are unknown. After the discussion of a past dilemma the men turn on eachother and eventually the male colleague is shot and killed, a voiceover then reveals that the protagonist has done wrong and is now in trouble for it; now after answers from other gangsters/ black alley workers.

Idea 3: Our third and final idea was a completely different forte of thriller, our lead once again is a male, but portays himself as a shy and conniving natured protagonist. Through a series of various shots of a young female it can be made clear that the male is in love with her and spends his time stalking and photographing her, despite her unknowing of his existence. Hand held camera shots woud also be used as the main character films the female unbeknowst to her. Video diaries are also created with the lead glaring spookily into the camera. At the end of the opening sequence the male would enter a hidden room containing hundreds of images of the female and items in which he has possessed from her, at the end of the sequence we hear the protagonist speak for the first time, proclaiming that the girl will "one day be mine, and nothing will come between that".

Understanding your target audience

What rating will our film be and why?

For our film we have decided to rate its certificate as a 15, for several reasons. Firstly, as our film is of the thriller genre it can be typically stereotyped into including various items such as violence, sexual references and verbal abuse. The other reason is that we felt that our plotline is much too sophisticated for a younger audience as it may be too complex for someone younger than the age of 15 to understand.

Universal age limit (U):

Films rated with 'U' are suitable for people of any age group, there is nothing unsuitable for people under the age of four.



Parental Guidance (PG):

All ages are admitted to watch a 'PG' film, however, certain scenes may be seen as unsuitable for children under the ages of eight. For example, minor sexual references and moderate violence

12A:

The certificate of 12A is used only within cinemas and was introduced in 2002. The content is considered often as being unsuitable for very young children. Those under the age of twelve are permitted to be accompanied by an adult.

15:

Only those over the ages of 15 are permitted to view the film. Films cannot be rented by those under the age of 15 also as the films convey adult content such as, hard drugs, strong language and sexual scenes.

18:

The 18 rating is the highest rating within all of the certificates, with only adults being permitted to view the film. These films do not have a limitation as to what bad language is used within their project. Hard drugs, strong sexual references and sexual scenes are permitted depending on their context.

Task 3.4: Further researching of genres

Our three selected genres of Thriller, Rom-Com and Horror can be defined much further.


Thriller: Thriller is a broad genre with both tension and excitement as the main elements, they also keep the audience's attention through anticipation and anxiety. The aim of a thriller is to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, often the protagonist being set a problem: an escape, a mission or a mystery. Alfred Hitchcock is a director well-known for his thriller works. Also, Thriller can be seperated into various sub-themes, for example: Conspiracy thriller, Erotic thriller, Psychological thriller, Spy thriller and Supernatural thriller.


Romantic Comedy: Rom-Coms can be identified through their light hearted and humerous plotline with elements of romantic ideals (often with the characters love having obstacles).  The basic plotline of a typical Rom-Com would be two main protagonists (most likely to be a male and a female) who meet, part ways due to an obstacle and then eventually reunite. Romantic Comedy tv series are also popular amongst the audiences with famous series such as: Friends, Will and Grace and Desperate Housewives.


Horror: Horror films are probably the most easily defined genre, as they seek a negative emotion from the audience using typical primal fears. A good deal of horror films are based around the slasher or paranormal route, slasher films containing graphic scenes of blood and murder, paranormal often dealing with the 'unseen' and a lot of the time are jumpy. Horror was a popular genre in the 1920s, (earlier discussed within the Metz Theory). Other sub-genres include: zombie horror, gothic horror, comedy horror and psychological horror.

Task 3.3 Target Audiences: Film Council Data

For our task we visited the website http://statisticalyearbook11.ry.com/?id=82792 to show the popularities of our chosen target audiences (Horror, Thriller and Rom-Com). This table shows that Romance films achieved the most money in 2010 at the box office with $58.4 million compared to Thrillers $19.3 and Horrors $54.1. However, as Twilight: Eclipse is classed as the highest earner for romance it affects the statistics greatly despite it being a fantasy (rendering the table somewhat incorrect).

As well as this both Twilight: Eclipse for romance and Paranormal Activity 2 are sequels, which are suspected to earn more than the originals, for example Shutter Island was the the highest grossing Thriller of 2010 and earnt much less than the sequels.

Task 3.1/2: Questionnaire results

Questionnaires

Me and Abiee based the questions of our media questionnaire on the genres of Horror and Thriller, as we were uncertain on which genre to base our film opening on.

1. Do you prefer paranormal or slasher horror films?

In our survey, 70% of participants said that they preferred Slasher to paranormal horror films, as they enjoyed the thrill of the chase and exhilerating action.

2. Do you feel that any horror theme has been exploited? For example, vampires.

Next, 70% agreed that some horror themes had been exploited far too many times in films, these included: vampires, zombies and ghosts.

3. Do you like horror films? and why?

100% of participants stated that they enjoyed watching horror films (an incredibly popular genre) the reasons for this were the suspense and tension created from the film, making it an exciting experience to watch.

4. Do you prefer mystery and tension to be held within the plotline?

Here 90% participants stated that they enjoyed tension and mystery to be held within the plotline of a film. This is due to the expected twist or revelation later on in the film. Only 10% said that they did not like tension and mystery.

5. Who do you find to be the scariest horror antagonist?

There was a selection of answers for who the participants found to be the scariest horror film antagonist. The joint top answers however were Freddie Kreuger and a general doctor, both scoring 40% each. Other answers included Jigsaw and the Grudge, both receiving 10% of the votes.

6.  Who would be your ideal protagonist within a thriller movie?

This question received equal statistics with 50% of participants preferring both male and female main protagonists.

7.  Do you like the typical chronological layout of a film?

90% of participants answered that they enjoyed the typical chronological layout of a film as they often found it 'less confusing. The remaining 10% said that they enjoyed a mixed timeline as it adds mystery to the plotline.

8. Do you prefer a film to involve a young or old cast?

This question also received a variety of answers. However, overall a young cast scored the highest percentage with 50% of participants saying that it was what they preferred. 20% stated that they didn't mind and preferred wither and 30% said that they enjoyed a mixed age range in the cast. In addition, 0% said that they enjoyed the cast to be of an older age range.

9. Do you enjoy elements of other genres within a film?

100% of all participants expressed that they preferred a film to convey a variety of aspects of other genres within it. The most popular amongst these were action, romance and comedy.

10. How would you define the thriller genre?

And finally, our final question was received with mixed answers. 40% of participants said that they defined the thriller genre through action, 20% stated that it was due to the mystery of the plot and 40% answered with other. Other answers included: tension, murder, excitement, suspense, a gripping nature and a twist within the past.