My Thriller Film

Film title - "THE GONE"
Tagline: "They may be gone but do they ever truly leave?.."

Format: DVD Cover and Movie Poster

Genre&Audience: 
The genre of my thriller film will be a crime-supernatural thriller, aimed towards a teen audience. I have chosen to do a crime-supernatural thriller because I know the conventions of these films well. For example, there will often be a murder of someone in the past who is now haunting someone or someone has gone missing mysteriously and the protagonist will often try to find them and/or will be threatened. This genre is also often popular amongst teens. 

Plot: 
The plot of my thriller film will be about a man, who will be the protagonist of the film. He is a former detective but since his last investigation at an old, abandoned home in the woods, people whom are close to him have been "going missing' however, he cannot explain why this could be happening. Being a former detective, he uses his skills to try and find the source of the problem. He finds links between his last case and the events happening to him now, he visits the home once again, trying to find anything useful but however is haunted by the "things" in the woods, which happen to be the souls of the missing people, being controlled by the one main evil spirit, the spirit of the woman who died from his last case of a terrible death, who's soul has yet to rest. Something seems to draw the detective back to the house over and over again and the spirits begin to drive him insane and the local people of his suburb and the police being to blame him for the deaths of the missing people, as he is the only possible link. The evil spirit is doing this to him because in his last case, he didn't find the cause of her death and therefore no justice was served and she cannot lay to rest and she feels it is her fault so haunts him as revenge. 

Characters: 
Protagonist - 

Who are they?: Male former detective

What do they want?: Wants to find the missing people

What's stopping them?: The ghosts (the antagonists) 

Theme&Settings: 
It will be set in the suburbs, where the detective lives alone and also in the abandoned home in the woods. The main themes will be death/murder, revenge and crime. The death of the previous woman, the death of his close ones, the revenge of the evil spirit and the detective being accuse of the death of the people being the crime.

Emotional Effect: 
The emotional effect I want my thriller film to have on the audience is suspense, fear, tension and excitement. I also want them to be part of the mind games happening in the film, they will be in the same position as the protagonist and learn whats happening at the same time as him.

Movie Posters and DVD Covers

General Layout: Mis-en-scene/iconography, main image, other images/background, stars, language (mode of address), tagline, reviews, promise of pleasure, colour and lighting. 

DVD cover analysis: Seraphim Falls

- Mis-en-scene/iconography: Actor Liam Neeson's character is wearing what looks like a cowboys hat and the smaller image t the bottom of the front cover is of the two men in the main image having a stand off. Both of these are iconography for a western film. 

- Main Image: Both men are looking into the distance, which suggest they are looking forward into their journey, however they are not in the centre of the dvd cover, which is unusual but can suggest that they are enemies of each other. It gives an idea to the audience that as they are on different sides, in the narrative they are against each other. 

- Other Images/background: The is a second image at the bottom of the front cover of two men aiming guns at each other, this also shows to the audience that the two characters are against each other, they are also divided by the title, showing the distance between the two characters.

- Tagline&Reviews: The reviews are placed in the centre of the front cover. This implies that the producers want to advertise to the audience how good people think the film is. Both reviews come from well known newspapers, The Star and The Daily Mirror. This suggest to the audience that as these newspapers often give reviews to good films, that this film will also be good. 

The tagline is at the bottom of the front cover, it reads "Never turn your back to the past" This implies an insight to the narrative. It suggest the narrative might have something to do with betrayal, which would suggest why the two men on the cover are opposite each other. it also leaves the audience confused , 'the past'  implies that the two of them may have been on the same side in the past but something had happen for them to be against each other. Which also implies why it is a thriller as it leaves the audience in suspense to what has happened. 

- Promise of pleasure: This is given through the tagline "EXCITING CHASE THRILLER" It says to the audience that if they are to watch the film they are sure to be excited, that is what the film wants to audience to feel. 

- Colour and lighting: The main colours of the cover are brown, black and red. The brown gives the sense of an old, gritty western film. The red connotes to the audience danger  or violence in the narrative.  The red line in the middle looks like blood that has been wiped on the cover, it has an image of what looks like mountains and eagles, which can both be seen as conventions of a western film. 

Stars/characters: The fact that two older men are used, despite the age rate being 15, it is aimed towards an older audience, as well as the genre being western. The fact that is it a thriller is why it would be aimed towards a teen audience as that genre appeals to teenagers. Also as the reviews are from newspapers, older people tend to read the newspaper more often than younger people, where as if the reviews were from a movie website (online), it would suggest that the film is more targeted to a younger audience. 

Magazine Front Cover Analysis

Magazine One: Empire Magazine

Masthead: 'Empire' being the masthead of this magazine is brightly coloured, red. This could connote strength and boldness which can also link in with the fact that it is on fire. The fire links in with the theme of the magazine as the masthead on Empire magazines are not usually on fire. It show the audience that the theme is probably something to do with danger. 

Tagline/Slogan: The tagline of this magazine is 'THE WORLD'S BIGGEST MOVIE MAGAZINE" This informs the audience that this magazine series will be about the latest films, screenings and big productions. 

Cover lines & Sell lines: The cover line "GODS! MONSTERS! HEROS! THE EPIC RETURNS! CLASH OF THE TITANS. FIRST LOOK AT 2010'S HOTTEST BLOCKBUSTER!" informs the audience that the main subject of the front cover will be about this. As Clash Of The Titans probably has a large fan base and was probably the new upcoming screening in 2009, it attracts an audience to want to buy the magazine and find out about it. The other cover line "ALL-NEW INTERVIEWS! NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN PICS! 30 YEARS OF ALIEN" widens the target audience for the magazine by introducing a different theme but ill still appeal to the same wider group of people, an audience into fiction films and adventure. Sell lines such as "FREE! NEW MOON POSTERS!" doesn't only just widen the audience even more, maybe more to a female audience as Twilight is aimed more towards that target audience but, getting free things appeal to an audience. Promise of pleasure is used to make more people want to buy the magazine as they are given free things or the price is reduced for example. 

Central Image: The main image is of what the audience would assume to be the main character of Crash If The Titans, as the main image links in with the main cover line. He is dressed in armer, is holding a sword and is in a strong, bold stance. The conventions of the sword and armer are battle, fighting and danger, this tells the audience more about the theme of the magazine. This actor isn't named on the cover, which could also show that he either is so well known that his name isn't needed or that his importance to the subject isn't that relevant. 

Lighting & Colour: The lighting is directed mainly onto the left side of his body and his face. The lighting on his face could be used to show the significance of his emotion or just the importance of who he is. The colours of the background are mainly dark colours, this allows the main image to stand out a lot more and the little lighting on his armer can be seen. The colours of the cover lines, masthead and sell lines are bold, bright colours such as white, red and green. This allows them to contrast greatly to the background so they are clear and easy to read. The use of the green for the different cover line makes it stand it which tells the audience that that subject is just as important as the main subject. 

Mode Of Address & Lexis: This particular magazine uses informal language, words like 'epic' and 'hottest' shows this. It also show that the target audience would be of teens or young adults and mainly a male audience as the conventions of danger and war appeal stereotypically to a male audience. 

House Of Style: The masthead 'Empire' is usually in red in each issue, however editors may edit the masthead to fit the theme better like they have for this issue, they may also change the colour of the masthead. As the magazine is so popular when it comes to film, the main image often covers part of the masthead, this shows the importance of the character(s) in the main image but it also shoes that they are so well-known that not the whole of the masthead needs to be seen, they don't need to show they are important. The main cover lines will be to the left of the magazine and the main subject may also take up a large space to show its importance.

Thriller Trailers - A Teen Audience

Trailer 1: 

Characters: The trailer shows that the film is based on a large group of mixed late teens. Using characters that are the same age group as the audience allows them to relate to the similar characteristic, which is why teenagers are more likely to be engaged. In this trailer, the main character is a male, however the majority of the group happen to be female characters. As a male is the main character of the narrative, the audience automatically gives him the role of the 'hero', since the narrative of the film is he wants to find and save his missing sister. THe female characters of the trailer are mainly seen to be screaming or in some kind of trouble, they're distressed. This gives them the characteristic of the victims and the the main male character is going to have to save them as well as his sister. In the beginning of the trailer, the main male character is seen talking about how he wants to find his missing sister, making him appear rational to the audience as he is planning in some way. This, however, also presents the female characters to be nothing but characters that get themselves into dangerous trouble and scream about it. 

Themes&Settings: The main themes seen are, paranoia, fear and betrayal. Paranoia comes from the fact that they are in a woods on their own and odd things are happening to them so they become paranoid to what might be out there after them. This also links in with the theme of fear as they a frightened of what might happen to them if something really is out there coming for them. Betrayal comes from the thought that they cannot explain why these weird things are happening to them or why their friend has been killed, so they begin to blame each other on the events. These themes are often used in thriller because as an audience we are able to relate to them as people. 
The main setting of the narrative is in a woods, to show isolation from the real world and how it would be difficult for them to escape. However the film is still set in a modern setting, which also allows the audience to engage and connect to the characters. 

Emotions: Shock, curiosity and excitement are the main emotions the trailer wants to make the audience feel. Shock would come from the jump scares within the trailer, curiosity would come from being in the unknown, not knowing what is causing all the fear in the characters makes the audience want to find out what is happening. Excitement comes from the thrill of the unknown and the dramatic jump scares and the danger. As it is typically something out of the audiences comfort zone, it gives the the sense of excitement and adventure. 

Camera Editing: The majority of the trailer is film in 1st person point of view, the view that someone is recording on a video camera. This allows the audience to be put into the position of the character, to feel how they are feeling. Throughout the trailer there are many closeups of the characters faces, it allows the audience to see the emotion on the characters faces when something significant happens. When the main character says "I think that might be my sister" the camera is in shot of a closeup which shows the significance of his emotion when he assumes its his sister. He has a straight but concerned look on his face, showing us how he feels about the situation. There is also another significant closeup of one of the female characters, when she is trapped in the old house in the wood, running around. The closeup of her face shows how terrified she is to be in there, also how dirty and bloody her face is also links into why she is feeling this way. It shows the audience that she has been in danger and has had a troubled escape.



Editing: In the beginning of the trailer the pace of the trailer is quiet slow, allowing the audience to gain some knowledge the narrative. In the beginning of the trailer the audience gains the knowledge of who the main character is, what their motive is, the setting of the narrative and the featuring characters. As the trailer progresses, the pace starts to speed up following the events happening, as more and more odd and scary things are happening to the characters the pace picks up. The rhythm of the cuts match the rhythm of the music, more quick cuts are show whilst someone is the the scary house and the music is also faster and dramatic. There are moments when the screen cuts to black for example, when the screen cuts to black and we hear the familiar voice of the main character saying "I'm so sorry". As the audience we have no idea what he could be saying the for, which adds the the mystery of the narrative and give an emotional effect on the audience. 

Lighting&Colours: The use of the torch light in first person view makes it easy to highlight something important as it is a use of direct light. For example, when someone is running through the house we see the torch light on the walls of the house, showing how damaged it is and hand prints on the wall, showing the audience that someone has been here before and were probably in danger or someone else had been living there. As the light is coming from the characters the audience see what they see, allowing them to be in the place of the character and know what it would be like to be in that position. There is a scene where we see light from outside the house beaming into the house. This cold, blue light represents to the audience 'the difference in worlds'. The character being trapped in the house can feel as if they are in a different world to what is going on to the outside, however the light reassures the character and audience that they are still linked to the real world and that there is a chance to escaping. The mute colours of the light shining through allows the red blood on the walls and characters faces to stand out more. In the beginning of the trailer, there is plenty of neutral light before we as the audience see anything bad happen, this suggests that the neutral light connotes safety. 



Sound: When a key lines or moment happens in the trailer, the music that is playing stops. This is to show the audience the significance of this line or moment. For example, when the main character says "I think that might be my sister." the music stops so that the audience know what he is saying is important to the narrative. The music used in the background of the trailer sets the mood of the narrative. The music used in this trailer consists of eerie violins an loud sounds, the eeriness of the violins are used in the build up to something bad in the trailer, which causes tension in the audience, the loud sounds happen when something dramatic is happening on screen which adds to the effect of jump scares. It is also used to exaggerate when something happens. As the music is in rhythm with cuts, the pace of the music picks up when the scene is cutting or when someone is running, exaggerating the moment. The dialogue in the trailer help to tell the audience about why the characters are doing what they are doing and some background information. The dialogue is more heavy in the beginning of the trailer as it is introducing the narrative, it becomes less towards the end and more of short lines and screams as the trailer cannot give too much away and it creates tension and suspense in the audience when they are confused to what is happening. 

Mis-en-scene: In the beginning of the trailer, each character are seen to wear a brightly coloured piece of clothing, however as the trailer progresses, their clothes become less colourful and become more grey toned. This shows to the audience the change the events are having on the characters, the grey colour adds to the mood of the mute colours. A key thing to the trailer is that the characters are recording the experience on a camera, the audience is aware of this as the characters are documenting what they are doing and when someone is running, the camera jolts about as if someone was holding a camera whilst running. The yellow tents contrast greatly to the dark forest, the bright colour of the tents can connote safety, we can link this in to the fact that when the characters were safe in the beginning of the trailer, they were in brightly coloured clothing and the setting and atmosphere was very bright. The use of the fire shows that the characters are trying to bring light and warmth to the bad situation they're in. The oddly shaped things in the trees link in with the logo of the trailer, they represent the Blair Witch, which is why they are significant to the audience and is why they are able to identify what they might be. 

Graphics: The graphics that are shown in the trailer are all reviews of the film from horror movie websites. The reviews are a form of promise of pleasure, they tell the audience what they should expect to get out of the film. The fact that the reviews come from movie websites and not newspapers suggests that the film is targeted to a younger audience as they tend to use the internet more often than the older generation. There is also other important information such as the release date, telling the audience when the film will be released. Also, on the ending screen, the trailer shows links to their twitter and website. This is a form of viral hype, it gets the audience to promote the film as well as get involved with the 'hype' of the film. It also suggests that the film is aimed at a younger target audience as they often use twitter more. 

Trailer 2: 

Characters: The main character of this narrative appears to be the well-known actor, Emily Blunt. The use of well-know actors and actresses can widen or have a ready set audience for the film, Emily Blunt starring in previous big films such as Sicario and Into The Woods means she would have already has a fan base from those previous films, meaning they will want to watch her in this new film. Also the use of well-known stars shows to the audience that the producers have put some amount of money into the production of the film and suggests that the film will be good. The rest of the cast consist mainly of white characters, this implies that the film is mainly based around the middle class as stereotypically, this is how society sees race and class. Oddly the main characters to the narrative are women. This is odd because women are not often given a main role in crime thrillers. We have Emily Blunt as the main character of the narrative, she believe she knows what might have happened to the missing women. The missing women being the second important role as she is the reason why there is a crime in the area, she is the one everyone wants to find and know what happened to her. The third women is the detective who is seen questioning Emily Blunt about the missing girl, she is the one who can also be portrayed as the protagonist as well as Emily Blunts character. Her character is seen as the protagonist as she seems to be helping with finding the missing woman, however as the trailer progresses, she begins to become an unstable character, the more the detective questions her about the missing woman, Megan, we see scenes of Emily Blunts character looking distressed in the mirror, smashing a mirror and wiping what may ave been a message written in lipstick of another mirror, whereas in the beginning her character appeared to be less distressed but more concerned. the reason the audience is confused to whether or not she is the protagonist is because the detective asks her "did you murder Megan Hipwill?" and the Blunt's character replies with "no." but the audience then see someone washing blood of their hands, which confused and intrigues the audience. The male characters don't appear to have much significance other than when Blunt's character says "she was with this man" and we are shown to quick shots of two different men, suggesting they are linked in to how may have seen Megan last (or if they could have killed her.) As the majority of characters are of women who appear to be in their 30's and the themes are based on lust and relationships (as well as crime), it suggest the target audience is probably late teens and older women around the same age.

Themes&Settings: The main themes of this trailer are love/lust, mind games, paranoia and a possible murder. It is clear to the audience that lust/love is a theme as we see the Megan character is constantly seen having sexual interactions with men throughout. Mind games are happening within the character and within the audience as everyone is left unsure of what has actually happened the Megan.