Appendix 1: The Thriller Genre

Thriller Conventions
Tension
Suspence
Detective & Criminals
Murders
Red Herring
Plot twists
Chases
Enigmas
Clues/Hints

Thrillers are charaterized by the fast paced action and resourceful heroes who must defeat the villians.

GK Chesterton
The theory about the transformed city, little stories in every day life that are dramatic or exiting and 'The poetry of modern life'

Northrop Frye
The herotic performance, the hero is often 'one of us' who is forced into behaving in a extraordinary way and the 'enchanted forest' has been replaced by the modern city.

John Cawelti
The exotic, foreign or unfamilar artefacts or settings can turn a normal enviroment into one of enchantment and mystery.

WH Matthews
Mazes and labyrinths, devolped from thesues quest to kill the minataur and the hero goes on a journey involving many twists and dead ends. The maze should be complex so the solution.

Pascal Bonitzer
Partial vision and we can only see so much and what we can't see is very important, A need to catch a killer by a deadline.

Lars Ole Saurberg
Concealment and Protraction. Concealment, the deliberate hiding of something. Protraction, the deliberate delaying of a suspected outcome.

Noel Carroll
The question and answering model. the construction of key questions contained within the narrative to which the audience waits for answers. The probability factor is where the main characters battle against the odds and are more suspenseful. The moral factor is the 'right outcomes' in the end.

Appendix 2 - Research into examples of comparable products

Se7en

The Opening scenes to the film se7en are very dark, glum and depressing. Throughout the opening scene it is raining which is typical of a thriller, the rain makes it glum and depressing. The location the film is unknown but shows a resemblance to New York, the location being unknown adds a sense of mystery to the story.The main narrative of the structure of this film is the number seven. There are the 7 deadly sins, 7 days until retirement for Somerset, also its mills first 7 days. There is a murderer who is killing people who have commited one of these deadly sins and leaves the crime spotless except for hints the killer has left about the next murder.The main characters in Se7en are Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) and Somerset (Morgan Freeman) are conflicting characters. For example, Somerset is Clever, Old, Wise, Black, Experienced, Lonely, Retiring whereas Mills is Young, White, New to his job, Scruffy, Married and lives in a house next to a train track where it is loud.The title sequence for Se7en is edgy and suspenseful. It shows the turning of a book which could be representative as time passing, also there is flashing images and repetitive and edgy music playing throughout the titles. It shows the unidentified person cutting the skin on the finger tips off so they can remain anoymous. Theres mutilation and the use of ghosting which is one frame on top off another which makes the scene more evil. There is also the use of colours where black and white could be good and evil, and red could be anger and evil.

Strangers on a Train Opening scene.
Two strangers meet on a train, Bruno & Guy. Bruno imposes himself onto guy who is a famous tennis players. Guy is getting Divorced & Bruno hates his father so he suggests that they swap murders. Bruno takes it seriously where Guy trys to get away from bruno. The end of the scene leaves you with a cliffhanger.

State of Play Opening Scene.
Its starts with an establising shot of Washington Dc, Then moves on to a busy street in the poorer part of the city where it shows a man being chased threw shops & alleyways - Why is he being chased? Then the Victim hides inbetween some barrels where he is found by the chaser & shot with a silenced gun - Why is he killed? Maybe the victim has seen something he shudnt have. Also the killers shots a Pizza boy who witnesses the murder & the scene ends on a cliffhanger because the Pizza Boy is still alive.

Red Eye Opening Scene.
Its starts with a shot of a picture fram which shows a woman(possibly the main charater). Then somebody puts there keys & wallet next to the photos & goes into the other. The wallets gets taken. Then its cuts to a dockyard where it shows a crate load of fish being approved to board. Then its goes back to wallet & someone is checking through the wallets for information - Not about the money as he/she throws away credit cards. Then its cuts back to the crate for earlier which gets cracked open & you discover its not full of fish but a box - What is in the box? Must be something important if it is kept hidden. Also its shows someone going through blueprints of a building possibly a hotel. Throughout the scene there are no faces shown.

Appendix 3: Brainstorm of content and classification of film

Prince+ Princess Thriler

Takes place at Ball/Party, The princess is taken by a unidentified person. Quick flashes as the ball continues & the princes is being taken. Shows the durance of being taken and process of being killed, and leaves you with the quest...Is the Prince the killer?

Haunted House

Classic haunted house set. Some younger children/Teenagers are walking past and they decide to go in for laugh and to show off how cool they are. When they get to the door they see drops of blood on the floor which leads them inside and the door slams shut. Thats when a masked killer arrives and brutal murders them.

Old Fashioned

Old NY Kinda style. Black + White/sepia. Its about a stalking/ Someone suspecting they are being followed. They cut down a dark alleyway then you see a silhouette of another person follow them. The scene ends & cuts to next which a news report/News paper headline of someone being murdered (Person who just walked down alley)

Toy Story

Modern Family in suburban house. Its the childs birthday & as a present he/she gets some action figures. Its all happy & there playing with the toys but when the children go to sleep, You see a shadow on the wall of the figures moving then the scene ends suddenly. Cut to the next scene where its the mother screaming in bed & the Father has been stabbed through the chest. As a audience we know its the figures but they have no idea what has happened.

Futuristic

An Alien/Robot/Cyborg comes back in time to end the human race. Scene starts with the Robot arriving on earth and killing a passer by who trys to help the robot because it looks injuried. The robot remains unidentified throughtout the scene. The scene ends suddenly when the passer-by is brutally murdered.

Psychological

Set in a children's playground. It seems like a normal, sunny day but then its suddenly shifts cloudy. You can hear the children laughing & see them playing but when the weather shifts the children are gone but you can still hear them playing. Sounds effects/Light effects. Then shows the roundabout still spinning round (eagle eye view) with a child dead on it( all other children missing). Then Goes to black screen, shows title then cuts to Playground with Police tape surrounding it.

Appendix 4: Audience Research and BBFC film classifaction system

This show's that general people like to be scared when watching a thiller and that they also enjoy pyscological thrillers rather than others, which is what our film plans to achieve.

This shows that most people will aprove of our film's name and setting, so that hopefully we should get a good reception.

U - Universal, suitable for everyone

PG - Parental Guidance, some scenes may be unsuitable for young children

12A - Suitable for 12 years and over. Children who are younger than 12 may watch the film if they are accompanied by an adult

12 - Suitable for 12 years and over

15 - Suitable for 15 years and over

18 - Suitable only for adults

R18 - Can only be shown in licensed cinemas and sold in licensed sex shops to people who are 18 or over

We chose our film to be a 15 because we feel it related to the guidelines of the BBFC website, which are shown below.

Appendix 5: Treatment

Treatment for ‘Playground’

Playground will be an unusual film – In which teenagers take a holiday and make some drunken mistakes.

Concept
A group of teenagers meet up on holiday and accidently kills a child while they are drunk, as they start to remember they start to see the child stalking them which slowly drives them insane which leads to them all committing suicide only to find the child didn’t really die at all.

Synopsis
Six teenagers are all brought together when holidaying abroad, the strangers become friends but unfortunately during a goodbye party a drunken accident causes them to kill an innocent child and hide the body in the local playground. Awaking the next morning none of the teenagers remember anything of the previous night and continue to leave for home. They all go their separate ways and carry on their lives. A year later the child that they killed starts to appear dead in the playgrounds where the teenagers live. The teenagers don’t know about this until an item links them to the crime (one of the girls drops her phone next to the roundabout the child is found on). Each teenager starts to be terrorised by the child until they start to have flashbacks of the drunken night. The teenagers all start to slowly loose their minds and one by one commit suicide in exactly the same way (without knowing) and then the child that they ‘killed’ turns out to have not died after all. The End.

Opening Scene
Gang of innocent looking teenagers leave the park only for one of the girls to realise she’s lost her phone. They ring the phone to try and find it (in her bag.) The camera follows the ringing phone back into the empty park to find it lit up on the floor. The swings are moving along with the roundabout turning as the camera zooms in on the roundabout. This goes into a birds eye view of the playground showing the dead child draped over the roundabout. The titles begin and it returns to the park which has police tape around it.

Target Audience
The film should have a strong appeal for a young appeal – 15-25 year-olds who enjoy jumpy physiological thrillers.

To make it authentic to the way real teenagers behave it will include strong language, references to sex and drug use, as well as some violence but no actual graphic scene’s – resulting in this film having a 15 certificate.

Other Details
There will no famous or known stars in the film making the characters more relatable and believable. It will be set in a real environment on an ordinary playground for authenticity.

Appendix 6: Charater outlines and shooting script

Characters

• Kim – The 8 year old child that the other characters kill. The footage cuts to her after the it shows the phone ringing without an answer and shows her lying face up and dead.

• James – Arrogant 17 year old, that try’s to act cool and doesn’t want to believe what’s actually happening, when in reality he’s just as scared; if not more than the rest.

• Luke – Lovely 16 year old that doesn’t want any trouble and try’s to keep the peace and keep the other characters calm. This is the guy in the footage that comes up with the idea to ring her phone.

• Jess – 15 year old, the youngest in the group. The most scared out of the rest of the group, treated like the ‘baby’. She is the one her phone and causes the group to stop and look around for it.

• Megan – 17 year old, innocent one that doesn’t like arguments or confrontation. Stay’s at the back of the group and stay’s quiet for most of the time.

• Lauren – 16 year old, the loud, cocky one that thinks’ she is better and knows better than the rest of the group, she disregard’s people’s feelings in order to get what she wants.

Appendix 7: Production Material - Storyboards & Shotlists

When we reached the location for filming, we changed some of the shots to adapted to our location to get some better and more effective shots. Therefore, these storyboards do not reflect our finished thriller film but it does outline the main story of the thriller.

Shot list
Street:

• Establishing shot on the corner of the street.
• Long shot of the teenagers walking round the street corner coming away from the playground.
• Long shot of the group walking down the road.
• Midshot of the teenagers walking towards the camera away from the park.
• Close up of abbie as she realises she has lost her phone.
• Close up on the charater who rings her phone.
• Longshot of the group of teenagers as they ring the phone.
• Close up of abbie face looking concerned as she asks them to ring her phone again.
• Close up of the next charater ringing the phone.
• Long shot of the group as the phone rings again.

Pathway:

• Walking down the path onto the park over to the roundabout.

Playground:

• Birds eye view eastablising shot of the playground.
• Long shot of the empty playground with the swings moving and the roundabout moving slowly.
• Close up of the phone ringing on the floor.
• Mid shot of the roundabout with the dead girl on it whilst it spins around slowly.

Appendix 8: Recce and Location Sheets

Recce

Were going to film on a quiet road after schools in the area had closed and there was a lack of traffic. This will be good because it will ensure that the road will be quiet so we do not cause any risks to the drivers by. The park we are going to film in is deserted at the times we have chosen to film. So we will not be filming anyone that we do not have consent for. We will also film along a side road road that leads onto a path into the park. This road leads into a dead end so we should not disrupt anyone or any cars during the shots.

Location Sheet

Appendix 9: Production Schedule

Name of Film: Playground
Directors: Charlotte Gardner, Emily Connor, Melissa Rylance, Ryan Pye
Producers: Charlotte Gardner, Emily Connor, Melissa Rylance, Ryan Pye
Client: OCR Media
Date production started: 10/11/09 Completed: 17/11/09
Date Treatment Started: 06/11/09 Completed: 06/11/09
Date Storyboard Started: 28/10/09 Completed: 28/10/09
Date Shooting Started: 10/11/09 Completed: 27/11/09
Date Post production started: 30/11/09 Completed: 20/01/10
Date rough cut submitted: 20/01/10
Final show tape completed: 26/01/10
Location Equipment required: A park with a roundabout and swings
Transport Required: Bus
Actions: Walking
Props: Roundabout, Phones, bag

Appendix 10: Edit Selection List

Shot Number	Shot Description	Type of Edit
1	Long shot of the teenagers from the back as they work around the corner	Cut
2	Long shot of the teenagers from the side after they have walked around the corner	Cut
3	Mid shot of the teenagers from the front walking along the road	Cut
4	Mid shot of the teenagers from the front as they stop walking and the conversation begins	Cut
5	Close up of Luke ringing Abbie’s phone and finding it goes straight to voicemail	Cut
6	Close up of Abbie looking concerned as she asks someone else to try ringing it	Cut
7	Mid shot of James ringing Abbie’s phone	Cut
8 - 51	Mixed types of shots of walking along the path back into the park and the holiday pictures of the teenagers. The titles are over the walking parts	Cut
52	Zoom in on the phone ringing next to the roundabout	Cut
53	The title, ‘Playground’	Fade
54	Mid shot of the ‘dead’ child on the roundabout, going round and round	Fade

Appendix 11: Audience Feedback

The general feedback for 'The Playground' was overall postitive. However there were some concerns with the lighting for the opening scene as you it was very dark but the dialogue made up for it. There were many approvals of the choice of music and the editing.

Appendix 12: Anaylsis of Completed Thriller

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real media products?

Our media film uses shots and techniques similar to 'Se7en', 'Red Eye' and 'Strangers on a train'. In some of the shots we use partial vision, this is where the image is faded to make the head and shoulders the priority of the shot. We use this on the shot were Abbie realises she has lost her phone to show the audience the feelings that she is expressing and know that she is the main focus of the scene.

The first example is going to show simulaities between our thriller and and Strangers on a train. There is a shot in our film 'The Playground' where the camera is moving down a path towards the park and this is similar to a shot in 'Strangers on a Train' where the camera is moving along the railway which shows the point of views of the characters as they move along their journeys.Another example is the white text which is used in 'Se7en'. We used this in the title sequence over the action but sutely so it does not attract all of the audience's attention away from the action.

The Final example is the main title for 'The Playground' is shown in red onto a black background which fades in and out at the beginning and end of the title sequence which is similar to 'Red eye' which also uses a Red font onto a black background.

The Playground can be linked to other thrillers through mise en scene, editing and camera work. The quick cuts along the path between the walking and the pictures of the group of teenagers is fast to give the audience a glimpse as to what has been happening on there holiday and keep them up to date with the story. The editing to begin with is slow but then it speeds up along with the convosation and back down again at the climax of the opening scene. All of these elements have created a opening scene of a thriller film with the same codes and conventions as a real thriller film.

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The opening scene shows a group of teenage boys and girls out in a group at the night. They are shown like the audience would expect them to seen; Dressed in hoodies and other casual wear, smoking, swearing and being loud and obnoxious. This is not good or accurately example of the majority of teenagers although it is stereotype.

The picture below are 'holiday pictures' which shows them having a good time and looking like teenagers do. These pictures are realistic when you compare them to pictures of your average teenagers.

Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A small media institution would probably be more suited to disrepute our media rather than a more well known company suck as 'Universal' because we are amateur directors/producers because this is our first film, we didn't use any special effects or props we just used what was available. Also the actors/actress used in our film are just friends who are drama students. An example of a small British film company that may want to release our film is 'Coffee films'. This company is currently working on a thriller/horror called 'Lucid'. I believe these type of small film companies will benefit from our film more than big film companies like 'Universal' would do because they wouldn't receive back a big enough profit.

Q4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for our thriller is teenagers and young adults. we made our film a 15 certificate knowing that these age groups are more likely to be at the cinema and also the plot of the story and some of the language used is not suitable for age groups younger than the 15 certificate. This age group allows the audience to relate to the charters involved and the older adult will be able to sympathise with the situations that the teenagers are going through which also makes the film look more realistic.

Q5. We attracted our audience by creating a questionnaire. We made 40 copies of a questionnaire we created about ideas we had come up with about a film about which ideas sound good and scary and gave them out to people around our college. Some of the results we got back from the questionnaires were that general people like to be scared when watching a thriller and that they also like psychological thrillers rather than over genres of thrillers. Also people agreed with the name with we come up with, which was ‘The Playground’, and the setting we picked which was a playground/park.

Q6. What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

For the preliminary task, we didn't need to much planning which is alot different to the actual coursework film, we had to do alot of planning sheets, write plans for the shooting days and decide what the aim of the film was going to be before we had started. In the preliminary task we could use people in our group to act and also we could film it during our lesson time but in the actual coursework we had to find our own actors and film in our own time which caused some problems. We had a few problems with the actors which caused a few delays in filming and also with the lighting because the setting was night time so we had to wait to sun down before we could begin filming. The editing for the preliminary task was relatively easy because it was all filmed in one location with only a few takes but with the coursework it was filmed on different days so we had to add lighting ourselves to try and even it out. I have learned from the project that our planning should have been more efficient and that we would have prepared for the lighting more to avoid to much darkness in the film and also general editing techniques.