The Beach

                                    The Beach
                                      Essay One

Throughout the scenes during the opening, the scenes fade between opening credits and the opening scene, at one point the scene dissolves to show the title of the film, The Beach, and then fades into the scene which creates a good effect for a thriller opening.
In the opening sequence of the thriller, the location is based in a foreign country, the idea of the film being based in a foreign country sets the tension automatically for the audience as it is not a location, country that most people have common knowledge about or know very well, this creates an uncertain atmosphere due to a combination of continuity editing, which makes the audience feel like they're taking part and are uncertain where they are being lead at the beginning of the thriller. This meets one of the thriller conventions which is that thrillers give you this sense of uncertainty in order to build up that 'thrill' the audience is waiting to happen.
We're introduced to the protagonist by him standing outside a building, wondering where to go, it's night time however there are luminous colours flashing past the screen which are the car lights on the cars going by. The ambient sound of the cars, along with the non diegetic sound of the protagonist narrator, makes the audience question themselves what is happening or what is going to happen as the combination of the sound of the cars rushing past, and the sound of the protagonist's voice and body language being relaxed, makes the audience eager to know what is going to happen further in the story as the protagonist's narrating whilst the camera tracks him, is like a subtle trail the audience has to follow in order to find out what happens, the image of the cars also sets the location as you can see city lights around the town the protagonist walks along which gives a very obvious hint to the location being a city at the beginning of the thriller.
When the camera tracks the protagonist down the street, the non diegetic sound is electric and upbeat, the music isn't in tune with how the character strolls through the street, it gives a sense of loss of control, for both the character and the audience due to the continuity editing drawing the audience's attention making them feel part of the scene. The sound mellows whilst the protagonist talks to another character, yet proceeds in a fast chasing soundtrack, it makes the audience unease, yet subconsiously, they know they're safe.
Within the opening the sequence, the lighting is very dull, the colours are drained, and even the beach wear the characters wear are dull, colours which stand out the most is red, red gives the sense of urgency and blood which relates to death, this can help make the audience anxious to what they will see. It helps set a bad atmosphere, like something isn't right.
The camera shots which have been edited to create a sense of continuity editing used in the film were, shot reverse shot, which is used in conversation with the protagonist and another character, the audience feel like they're part of the scene which helps create the tension. There are reaction shots used at various times which helps the audience read the mood the character is in, how they're feeling.
The smooth cuts throughout the film, help with continuity editing, they help patch up the pieces together for it to make sense over all throughout the different scenes.
The tracking of the protagonist walking down the corridor with a close up of his face, makes the audience on edge, as the non diegetic sound turns mysterious and tense. The fact his body language gives off a sense that he is on edge, helps create that tension for the audience, as his behaviour bounces off onto the audience due to the continuity editing. When the protagonist enters the room the camera pans around where you see blood splattered across the walls and all over the bed. The non diegetic sound increases its intensity whilst the protagonist narrates through the scene which leaves the audience on edge as they don't know what they'll find. When the camera finally pans round to find the dead body laying on the floor, the camera shows a mid shot of the protagonists face, and then back to the body, the non diegetic sound builds this uncertainty, he narrates talking about people's actions whilst you sit nervously thinking the man will wake up and that will be your 'thrill', but you're just not sure. The build makes you uneased, the protagonist even mentions when he is narrating that he himself thought the man was going to jump at him, this makes it become more of a reality for the audience as you feel that connection with the protagonist, like you've followed him along this journey. There is still that tension, you still grab hold of your seat thinking your 'thrill' may come, however the scene changes into the protagonist in an office. In a way the build up was enough to be a 'thrill' for the audience, as if their predictions were right, it might had been too much and could be on edge of a horror.

Reasons for using the locations we chose (including maps)

The location we chose was the member in our group, Ryan Boyce, his family's pub. This became our advantage as because we knew the owner of the pub we could then use the lcoation before the location was opened to the public.

On the right hand side is where the pub is located, just on the corner of the crossroads. This gave us the perfect location for the getaway shots and establishing shots.

We knew from day one of deciding the narrative that we wanted to do a robbery, as that is what came into our mind when we thought of crime thrillers, so to do this we then thought why not use the pub?
This was also in a prime location as we had full use of roads during the day, when the congestion was relatively low, so the risk of the situation really decreased.
We also had plenty of fields around the main filming location, we needed a wooded area to film the 'burrying the evidence' scene, and there was plenty of space to film this, so we had a real advantage when it came to locations.

This photo gives a much more up-close map of the area of location. The left hand side, shows a tree where the antagonist will bury the evidence. On the right, as I explained above shows the main location  (pub). The top of the map, along Ray street is the escape of the antagonist from the burial. 

Who we've based our characters on...

Basing our antagonist on someone who is relatively similar in other films took a lot of thinking about. We decided that the film 'Bronson' based on the life of Charles Bronson, and the main character who plays Michael Peterson (otherwise known as Charles Bronson) is who we think who is similar to our antagonist.

This character is in prison after commiting a petty crime, but he has a violent temperment. This is why we feel this character is fairly similar to ours. Michael Peterson robbed a place, which is the same as our antagonist. However, in our film, the robbery didn't go to plan so he ends up killing the protagonist in the pub. Both of these characters (our protagonist and Michael Peterson) have similarities in their levels of violence, which is why we chose this character.

Our protagonist who gets murdered by the antagonist also took time to deccide a similar character from another film. We decided that Leonardo Di Caprio's character in 'The Departed', called William Costigan Jr would be a good comparison.

Although our character doesn't get killed at the end, both of these characters have similar roles of being the protagonist, and they both get killed for trying to stop the antagonist. They may not have similar roles, but their fate is exactly the same.



Production info

Production name: 

MoonTree productions.

Team members:

Nathan Holliday

Max Lovely

Ryan Boyce

Idris Saqib

Essay 1 - 'Inside man'

In this essay I will analyse the conventions of a thriller film, 'Inside man'. I will be doing this by looking at the four micro areas within the film opening.

In the opening of the film, within the first scene, the audience can see tha antagonist, talking to the camera. In this particular shot, there is low level lighting. Low level lighting is a common convention of crime thrillers as this helps build a level of suspense due to the mystery in the darkness of the shot.
Also in this scene of the antagonist talking to the camera, he describes being in a prison cell which obviously the audience has no idea what he is talking about, so this is an enigma, this too being a convention. An engima adds mystery to the narrative, which is usualyl what urges the audience to carry on watching the film. We hope to use both of these conventions in our film.

During the opening of the film, non-diegetic, contrapuntal music is added. The instruments used include drums and a guitar, these are played upbeat. When contrapuntal music is added to a film, this is usually supposed to highlight the significance of the moment in the narrative, added to the wide shot used in the camera work, really highlights the significance of that particular moment in the film. This soundtrack also adds a little bit of mystery (enigma), so this too is a convention.

The editing of the footage too is cleverly portrayed, in the beginning of the film, the camera work, added with the mise en scene shows the mystery and excitement of the narrative. The bank theives are driving to the bank in a dark van (convention of a getaway vehicle) and the fast paced jump cuts add to the mystery and excitement. The jump cuts are used to add mystery, as they're usually just short clips to make the audience intrigued in the film.
Also at the very beginning, before the creidts have begun, the narrative starts. This is a convention too, although it may not be widely used, it is occasionally. However, we will not be using this convention.

Throughout the 'Inside man' opening, characters that are directly related to the narrative wear darkened costume. This is related to the darkened frame including the lighting and costume. The reason for doing this is to build suspense, and the dark lighting (including darkened mise en scene) is a convention of crime thrillers. We hope to use these in our film opening.
When the antagonist is talking directly to the camera, during this, the antagonist is in the middle of the shot. The reason for this is the director wants the audience to only pay attention to the the character talking. This may not be a convention of a specific genre, but it is used in any genre when necessary. We will be using this convention.

Photos from filming... (On location)

Filming begins...

"Over the shoulder" action...

Over the shoulder shot (behind photo)

Shot of Nathan hard at work...

The getaway shot...

More getaway action...

Adjusting the tripod to fit the location of filming...

Ryan filming....

Nathan holding 'em up...

Nathan & Idris filming...

Idris with blood....

Criminal robbing the place.....

These pictures show us all working on set, and also shows extra shots of location. 

Photos from filming... (makeup)

Pre-production... Max gets his makeup done.

Progress of makeup...

Progress of makeup... Blood is added.

Progress...

We finally finished filming, as of yesterday (19th March) and now we can begin editing. Photos from filming will follow....

Filming risk assessment

We decided that we didn't have that many risks, partly due to the fact that we filmed most of our footage internally, in a closed off location. 

By discussing our risks, and writing them down, we eliminated the potential risk of being injured. 

We took the risk assessment with us on location, and by having it to hand, we knew exactly what to do to eliminate any potential risks. 

The potential risks were the following:

1. Tripping over any objects in the pub.
2. Being hit by a car on the roads.
3. Falling up or falling down the stairs during filming.
4. Potentially crashing while filming the getaway scene.

All of these risks are of medium risk or higher, this is due to the choice of location. Although there may not be many risks above, we took each and every one extremely seriously, because if the risk did occur, this could result in a fairly serious injury, which we wouldn't want on our hands. 

Shooting schedule

This is our shooting schedule that we created. We ordered what we wanted to shoot in chronological order, by doing this we wouldn't get confused by what we had filmed and what we hadn't. We planned to film all of our footage on the one day, which we achieved.

We stuck to our shooting schedule, and because this was relatively accurate, we knew exactly what we needed at the right time, and exactly where to shoot. 

Without this, we may have gotten confused as to what to film, but we filmed successfully. 

Script

Enter suspected robber character, walk down street, towards pub. Suspect drops his wallet, while a passerby picks it up and hands it back. (Note that person is the robber) Opens pub door, sits down.

Bar tender: What can I get you? (Note the bar tender has never seen the man before)

Suspect: (Talks in stressed, angry manner) Double whiskey.

The bar tender walks away to serve the double Whiskey. They return with a double Whiskey.

Bar tender: Thats £5.40 please.

The suspect throws the money on the bar, and almost instantly downs the Whiskey, he then stands up, walks to the toilet, barges into an innocent regular at the pub.
Exit suspect --> Toilet.
Enter masked figure from the toilet with a bag. He walks to the bar and pulls out a small gun.

Robber: (Throws a bag to the bar tender.) (Shouts) Empty the till and put it in the bag!
*Silence drops in the pub*

Bar tender: Ay?! Ok, just calm down. Please don't hurt anyone.
(She begins to fill the bag with the money from the till)

Robber: Throw in some Cashews too!

Enter into the shot, protagonist.
Protagonist creeps up to the criminal.

Robber: (Says angrily) You shouldn't have done that.
Robber shoots and kills the protagonist.

Bar tender: (Begins to wield shotgun, and freezes as robber turns to her)

Robber: Stay there, and don't move!
(Zips up the bag, leaves pub, enters getaway vehicle in passenger seat)
Get out of here, go! Go! Go!

Getaway driver stops the vehicle. Robber leaves the vehicle with a shovel and a plastic bag with the gun in it. The getaway driver then drives off. The robber turns to look at the vehicles as it drives off.
The robber runs towards a wooded area, and buries the evidence, and then runs off into the distance. Goes home, sits down in room. <Flashback begins>

Enter suspect & robber in pub.

Suspect: (Walks towards camera and barges into the them)

Robber: (Stumbles over after being barged)

Suspect: (Storms off into toilet)

Robber: (Follows into toilet. Knocks the suspect unconscious, takes the hidden gun and balaclava.)

Enter Robber --> Pub.
<End of flashback>
Enter robber, masked by balaclava.

Robber: (Removes balaclava.)

The end.

Production logo

This is our production logo, that we created on Photoshop. 

We decided that the basic image would be of a dead tree, with a fairly minimalistic background. But as we progressed making our logo, we decided to add an image of a moon. We found both of these images on the internet, and simply copied and pasted the images onto Photoshop. The way we changed the image size was by clicking free transform and we changed the size until we were happy with what we had. 

We decided that the original the colours of the background weren't what we had in mind, so we changed the image texture, via the Filter Gallery and we experimented with each filter until we came up with the above.

Finally we obviously wanted our production name in the logo, so we used the text tool to create the text. We then edited it, by filtering and liquifying the text, until we were happy with what we have. 

Our production name was created by the images we had on our logo.

Storyboarding

This is storyboard 1, showing the suspected antagonist walking towards and entering the pub.

This is storyboard 2. This shows the suspected antagonist in the pub, ordering a drink, drinking the drink, and walking towards the toilet.

This is storyboard 3, showing the antagonist walking to the bar, pulling out his gun, and demanding the  money from the till.

This is storyboard 4. This is a continued shot of the pub robbery, this also includes a murder.

This is storyboard 5, showing a stand off between the antagonist and the bar tender.

This is storyboard number 6. This shows the antagonist getting away from the scene of the crime.

This is storyboard 7, showing a continued shot of the antagonist escaping the crime scene.

This is storyboard number 8, this shows the antagonist dumping the evidence.

This is storyboard 9. This shows the beginning of the flashback.

This is storyboard number 10, this shows the ending of the flashback and what happened back in the pub.

This is the last storyboard, showing the real character identity of the antagonist.

Shooting Schedule

This is our shooting schedule, which we will try to follow as much as possible, but obviously if we can fit it, we will film as and when we can. I have divided the filming up into 7 scenes, which is what we will be filming section, by section. We hope to film within one day, as the location we have selected, could potentially lose business if we continue to film past the one day estimation.

(Essay 3) Detailed analysis of a similar film opening to yours, looking at conventions.

Selected 9 frames are below (Taken)

The conventions of a thriller genre with the subgenre of crime are shown through the 4 micro areas: Camera, Mise en scene, editing & sound.

In the screenshot numer 1, shown below in an earlier post, this shot is the primary shot. It would be entitled the establishing shot, but it doesn't let the audience establish anything apart from the fact it's someones birthday. This screenshot clearly shows that its a home video, and later reveals its a dream or a memory of the protagonist. The flashback is a convention of a crime thriller and we hope to use this in our film opening sequence.

In screenshot number 2, seen below in the earlier post, this is a part of credits in the opening sequence. Although this shows no relevance to a convention of a particular genre, depending on who the credits are of, the audience may enjoy the film more. For example, if there was an option of 2 films, one directed by Steven Spielberg and the other was by Adam Deacon, the majority will chose Spielberg over Deacon.

In screenshot number 3, seen below in the earlier post, this is the first shot of the main character/protagonist. A convention of crime thrillers is low level lighting.This is used here to give an impression of a fairly miserable life, this could be shown by the fact of this character awakening in the middle of the night because of anxiety of some form. Also in this shot, parallel, non-diegetic music is used to create the effect of an enigma, which is also a convention of crime thriller genres, which we also hope to use.

In screenshot number 4, seen below, this is almost the delayed establishing shot. The audience here can clearly see the film is set in a city, stereotypical of the crime genre. This could also show the protagonist lives in a relatively poorer part of the city, but this isn't a convention of the genre.

In screenshot number 5, seen below, we see the protagonist wrapping up a present he just brought. This is shown via an extra close up. In the screenshot there is low level lighting, a convention of crime thrillers, but also there is an enigma: Who is the present for? Which is also a convention. We hope to use an enigma in our film because this will keep the audience interested.

In screenshot number 6, seen below in the previous post, we see the protagonist leaving his car to go to a relatively large house. A large estate could be seen as a convention of crime thriller, although not widely use, it us usually the owner of the estate who becomes the victim or can sometimes be the antagonist. This is shown by an extra long shot, mixed with a wide shot, this reveals the location.

In screenshot number 7, seen below, we see the protagonist well dressed. This is shown by a wide shot, it reveals character identity, props and potentially locations. Sometimes, in crime or thriller genres the protagonist looks professional, even if they aren't wealthy. This is a convention, however not widely used.

In screenshot number 8, seen below in an earlier post, there is conflict between the protagonist , his ex-wife and his ex-wife's husbands' employee. Conflict is usually convention used in crime thrillers. We will be using this convention as it shows an element of tension. There is also a lower level of lighting here a widely used convention. The screenshot is a mixture of a wide shot and an over the shoulder shot to show character's identities and facial expressions.

In the last screenshot, number 9, seen below, you can see the relationship between the father (protagonist) and his daughter (future victim) and how close they are. This relationship is vital, and will prove importance later on in the film. This shot uses an over the shoulder shot to show the fathers facial expression.

Our BBFC film classification certificate.

Looking at similar films compared to ours and also based on the content of our media film opening, we would suggest that the certificate given to our film is a 15.
The reason for this, is the following:

1. Violence, including brutal pub robbery and a murder.
2. Language.
3. Small amount of racial discrimination. This is to do with stereotyping, which isn't really seen in our opening, but would be encountered later on in the film.

Target audience

We have deduced that the 3 similar films that we will be comparing to our media film opening are the following:

1. Taken (2009)
2. Hostage (2005)
3. The Italian Job (2003)

We looked at the audience demographics for the films above, and the demographics are the following.

Taken:

Taken was directed Pierre Morel and produced by Luc Besson. Liam Neeson is the main character and is also the protagonist. 

The films age rating is a 15, which is where the target age range begins. The film engaged 38% of 15-24 year olds, 37% was 25-34 year olds, 19% of the films audience was 35-44 and 45 year olds and over had 6% of the audience.

The films target gender audience is male, with the majority percentage of 54%. Females had 46% of the Taken audience. The gender split is very small, engaging a wide group of audiences.

Taken's target class of audience was:

AB: 21%

C1: 37%

C2: 21%

DE: 21%

From this, we can infer that Taken's target audience is 15-24 year old, males in the C1 bracket. The C1 bracket means that the target audience are highly skilled workers. 

Hostage:

Hostage was directed by Florent Emilio Siri and produced by numerous people. Bruce Willis is the main character and is also the hero.

The films age rating is a 15, where the target age rating begins. Again, this age boundary of 15-24 is the majority percentage of 40%, the 25-34 age bracket had 32% of the audience, 11% of the audience was 35-44 year olds and 45 year olds and above had 17% of the audience.

The films target gender was male, with a majority percentage of 55%. The female audience had 45%. Again, the gender split is fairly minimal.

Hostage's target class of the audience was:

AB: 40%

C1: 40%

C2: 7%

DE: 13%
From this information, we can see that Hostage's target audience is again 15-24 year old males in the AB & C1 bracket. The AB bracket is the highest anyone can be in, highly skilled workers with degrees, in that area.

The Italian Job:
The Italian Job was directed by F. Gary Gray and produced by Donald De Line. Mark Wahlberg is the main character, and is also the protagonist.
The films age rating is a 12, so obviously that is where the target age group starts. 12-14 year olds only had 7% of the audience, whereas 15-24 year olds had 32% of it, 25-34 year olds had 24%, 35-44 had 16% and 45 or above had 21%. This films target age audience is more dispersed, however still complies with the other two films.
The target gender of the film is relatively narrowly split, with males taking 51% of the film and females having 49%.
The Italian jobs target class of audience was:
AB: 29%
C1: 34%
C2: 19%
DE: 18%
From this information, we can deduce that The Italian job's target audience is 15-24 year old males in the C1 bracket.


As we feel our film opening is relatively close in comparison with these films, we can mix up the demographics to come up with our personal film target audience.
Bearing in mind our BBFC film classification is certificate 15, we hope to engage a target audience of 15-24 year old males, in the C1 bracket. The reason for choosing this, is all of the above films, that are similar to ours, fall into those brackets for the target audience. 

Thriller Opening Analysis: No country for Old men

Thriller opening analysis: No country for Old Men

The opening of this thriller starts with an elderly man talking, while scenes of where the movie is set is shown. Both the camera work and sound so far is unusual for a crime thriller. The man talking mentions themes of the movie and also talks about a memory of a murder. The tone at the start is quite tense and eerie and as the man finishes talking we see a man being arrested which and put in the back of a police car for reasons we do not know of yet, so the opening has put us in the middle of a situation and leaves us wondering what the man did to get arrested, which is quite common for crime thrillers, to put us in the middle of an unknown situation to leave us guessing. The car is driven away down a long stretch of road; a long shot shows a baron wasteland. The shot duration in this opening scene, throughout, is quite slow which is strange for a crime thriller as they focus on action and quick editing. Even during the upcoming murders of two people the shot length is quite slow.

The officer is talking on the phone to his superior, an over the shoulder camera shot shows us the criminal, who is behind the officer, loosening his straps and strangle the officer with his handcuffs. This shot builds tension as we can see the officer is in great danger and the shot builds tension. The criminal and the officer writhe on the floor for about 30 seconds with little music playing. The scene is very dramatic and a slow close up of the face of the man while he is taking the officers life with little music in the background creates a very dramatic and tense atmosphere, although the camera, editing and sound is not very typical of crime thrillers, it still achieves its goal in creating a tense atmosphere. The sound of this film opening differs from most crime thrillers as there is little music and the opening narrative by an elderly man is unusual as well. Although we know nothing about this man or why he was arrested we know a lot more about him now and what he is capable of, however this is the enigma of the movie that most crime thrillers adopt. The fact that we know little about the situation or the characters is typical of the genre this movie is in. After the opening narrative and the setting of the scene that this movie takes place in, this is the first moment with any action in it and it sets the tone and mood for the rest of the film.

After the man kills the officer he takes the police car, drives off and stops a car soon after. The murderer, impersonating a cop and being friendly and polite to the man, asks him to get out of the car and to stand still. He then shoots the man without hesitation or remorse. We know now that he is a cold, calculated psychopathic killer and within the first 5 minutes of the film he has killed two people.

Old country for old men goes against usual thriller contemporaries by using not much music, as shown in this scene and the setting is different from most as well. The main protagonist is not introduced either, but the antagonist is. The actions and events of a crime thriller are all present, with murder and robbery being involved.

No country for old men does things, which suit thriller openings such as the antagonist being a murderer, and the atmosphere and mood also matches most thrillers, however, the lack of music and the setting is quite different and the opening is also quite different from other films in the genre.