Explanation of Film

As our film opening does not reveal much of the plot to the audience we decided to make up a basic story for anyone who was particularly intruiged as to what would happen further in the film.

We decided that Leyla had gone missing and her Mother is concerned and brings this is police's attention (this is why we have a police interview) and Leyla's friend (played by Sarah in the opening) is made to look like the culprit. However as the film continues Leylas mother behaves strangely and begins is show that she is too possesive and has psychological health problems. Eventually it is revealed that Leyla's Mother had caused her to wake up in the forest due to jealousy from her mental health issues.

This explains why we have the repeating image of Sarah at the beginning.

Psychological Thriller Research

Here is some research which Molly found which has helped us understand our genre further;

Research;
"Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the wide-ranging thriller genre. However, this genre often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre in addition to the typical traits of the thriller genre. Also, occasionally this genre will border into the also wide-ranging Horror genre.
Generally, thrillers focus on plot over character, and thus emphasize intense, physical action over the character's psyche. Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this formula to a certain degree, emphasizing the characters just as much, if not more so, than the plot.
The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state.
Sometimes the suspense comes from within one solitary character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them. These conflicts are made more vivid with physical expressions of the conflict in the means of either physical manifestations, or physical torsions of the characters at play."

The Definition;

Psychological – Elements that are related to the mind or processes of the mind; they are mental rather than physical in nature.
Thriller – A genre of fiction that attempts to "thrill" its audience by placing characters at great risk. This constant unease throughout the story makes the narrative suspenseful to the reader by creating a tense atmosphere.
Psychological + Thriller – By combining these two terms, the definition changes to a narrative that makes the characters exposed to danger on a mental level rather than a physical one. Characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies (which is often the case in typical action-thrillers), but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with a formidable opponent or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind.

Themes;

Many psychological thrillers have emerged over the past years, all in various media (film, literature, radio, etc). Despite these very different forms of representation, general trends have appeared throughout the narratives. Some of these consistent themes include:
Reality – The quality of being real. Characters often try to determine what is true and what is not within the narrative.
Perception – A person's own interpretation of the world around him through his senses. Often characters misperceive the world around them, or their perceptions are altered by outside factors within the narrative (see Unreliable narrator).
Mind – The human consciousness; the location for personality, thought, reason, memory, intelligence and emotion. The mind is often used as a location for narrative conflict, where characters battle their own minds to reach a new level of understanding or perception.
Existence/Purpose - The object for which something exists; an aim or a goal humans strive towards to understand their reason for existence. Characters often try to discover what their purpose is in their lives and the narrative's conflict often is a way for the characters to discover this purpose.
Identity - The definition of one's self. Characters often are confused about or doubt who they are and try to discover their true identity.
Death - The cessation of life. Characters either fear or have a fascination with death.

Shutter Island

On Wednesday I went to see Shutter Island which is a psychological thriller (the same genre as our film). Theres a few editing techniques which proved really confusing and made me really think whilst watching the film. At one point a woman takes a sip from a glass of water and her drink disappears; this could be seen as bad editing however the woman drinking the water without the glass would have to had been filmed, I think the drink disappears due to Officer Teddy's drinking problem after the death of his wife.

Also in a flash back which Teddy has, an alcoholic drink his wife is holding disappears similarily which suggests the previous alcohol problem which the audience do not understand yet.

A particular part that confused me was when Teddy was in a dream and he woke up to yet again be in a dream which happened several times so that I began to not know when the film was in a dream or reality.

Unfortunately I managed to guess the big twist at the end half-way through however I didn't guess it perfectly so there was still a suprise for me. I wasn't suprised to be told that Teddy himself was a patient at Shutter Island however I was suprised to find that he was actually Andrew Laeddis (a missing patient) as Teddys full name was Edward Daniels and both names where anagrams for each other.

Overall I did enjoy the film however I was expecting it to be more of a horror because of the trailer. I did also enjoy the end once Teddy accepted that he was actually Andrew Laeddis and did kill his wife but decided to "die as a good man instead of living as a monster.

BBFC Classifications

These are the official guidelines from BBFC on film certficates and classification:

Classification Guidelines



This is the student guide;

Student Guide to Bbfc



Following these guidelines it appears our film would be most likely be classified as certifcate 15.

The BBFC guidelines for a 15 rating certificate are:

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example,aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example,‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may beacceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeateduse of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but withoutstrong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail.There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour,but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptableunless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose issexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the inflictionof pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely tobe acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is alsounlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violencebut any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet andhave a strong contextual justification.

Dawn of the Dead

I watched Dawn of the Dead recently and really liked the credits. They include enough time to read each persons name but in particular I like the way the credits fade out from solid to blood as it forebodes the content of the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3_thoaXVys&feature=related
Credits start at 1.22 (Embedding Disabled)

Breathe Music Video

This is The Prodigy's music video for 'Breathe'. I like the video alot as it is very different to most music videos. It also contains thriller/horror themes.
I really like the use of lighting and how it flashes back and forth from the background to the band members. I especially like the very first shot where the band member, Maxim, comes forward but because the light is not always on him so he appears intimidating. I like the use of make-up again in this video, similar to 'Interview with the Vampire', contacts lenses have been used to cause horror aswell as black lipstick.

There is a constant use of flashing lights to create horror and suspense as everything in shot cannot be seen by the viewer.

Interview with the Vampire

I recently watched 'Interview with a Vampire' which I really enjoyed as it was not similar to anything I had seen before. Particulary the way that Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are made-up, the make-up was so effective on Tom Cruise I did not realise it was him until 20 minutes after he first appeared. I really like how the actors wore contact lenses to make their eyes very light blue (nearly white) to appear less human-like. Also they both had sharp teeth with fangs, pale skin, very long hair and nails and were well groomed which is the ideaology people have of vampires. I also liked how Kirsten Dunst was made a child vampire which is very creepy and disturbing especially the scene in which she kills people.

I like the opening scene alot as it opens San Francisco in modern age despite vampires stereotypically being thought of around in the middle ages. It opens with an aerial shot across San Francisco following into wide shots of a busy street full of people to show unawareness of a vampire looking down from them. The camera continues to a low angle shot, swooping up towards a tall building to represent the power of the vampire figure in the top window. When the camera angle changes to behind the vampire in the window it is still just his figure to create mystery and suspense aswell as horror.

Cabwise Advert

This advert has great use of camera angles aswell as horrific/thriller themes. The point of view shots throughout show the panic and fear of being kidnapped.

The camera movements start smooth when the character is relaxed but as soon as she begins to get scared the camera shakes more to show the fear even more. The wide shot of the car shows how normal the car looks which can scare the viewer as this horrible attack has taken place without anyone knowing.

The close-up of the door locking is particularly scary as it shows the woman cannot escape.

The sound of the rain is very effective as it creates isolation for the woman who is being attacked as the sound of the rain seems to cover up her screaming and almost muffles it out.

A Clockwork Orange

I recently watch Clockwork Orange which I have mixed opinions on. I think it is unnecessarily explicit but I like the story line and how Alex is 'cured' psychologically aswell as the memorable last line

Although I dislike the context of this next explicit scene, I like how the song 'Singing in the Rain' is used for bold contrast as it is usually a nice, happy song whereas Alex sings it whilst breaking and entering and assualting a couple. I also like how it returns further in on the film to haunt the old man when Alex returns to this house and is punished by the old man he assaulted years before.

Silence Of The Lambs

I recently watched Silence of the Lambs which is a horror/thriller just like our film opening is. Unfortunatley the films opening quite dull as it is simply made up of a girl completing an assault course. This establishes the location as we understand where the girl is, however it doesn't grab the audience's attention as well as other films which jump straight into the action. It does leave the audience on as stereotypically women are not often in the armed forces so the audience watches to find out why the woman is completing this course. It may be believed however that she is running away from something as she often turns around to search around her and the scene is very foggy to add mystery.

Further in the film, we see an obsessed transvestite killer who kills large women so he can cut off their skin, which shows his obsession and the extremes he will go to to look like a woman. There is a shot of his arm reaching out to touch the policewoman, which is similar to a shot we have filmed of our killer reaching out. This shows that the obsessed killer is not violent but is not timid. The reaching out to touch the victim seems alot more effective as it creates creepiness that sends goosebumps up the spine. I think that we should use the shot we have filmed similarily to this, as it has been used in a film already and creates a very spooky look. Also this shot uses the nightvision effect which we are considering using when we use the dark room, I think we should use it as it creates a gloomy effect and establishes the dark, creepiness of the location.

Genre Research

Horror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their purpose is to frighten the viewer and invoke our deepest fears whilst making them seem realistic, often leaving the viewer frightened even days after watching. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness.
Early horror movies are largely based on classic literature of the gothic/horror genre, such as Dracula and Frankenstein. Sometimes horror films have been dismissed as violent, low budget exploitation films despite often having well respected directors. In recent years many old horror films have been remade and modernized making them much scarier and realistic than ever before.
Some horror films incorporate elements of other genres such as science fiction, fantasy, mockumentary, black comedy, slasher, teen terror, serial killers and thrillers.
Some popular horror films are; Scream, The Ring, Prom Night, Hostel, Saw, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho, A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Exorcist.

After researching the horror genre, I would like to do our film opening on it as I think it is the most interesting and creative genre out of the ones we discussed.

Film Openings

I chose the opening of Kill Bill as it is one of my favourite films and I think the opening is a key scene to the rest of the film as the film often changes between time periods of before and after this scene. It introduces you to the aim of the film: to "Kill Bill". It introduces the two main characters immediatley as well as their complex relationship. We do not see Bill's face which shows us that he is a very powerful man. We can only see one shot during the opening, that is of the 'bloodsplattered bride' who is gasping for breath, showing that she is under Bills power.

We can see that the bride has been attacked as she is covered in blood and gasping for breath. This is very strange and confuses the audience as this is so out of the ordinary. Once we begin to listen we understand that Bill was part of this assault on the bride,he states that he is "at his most masochistic" which tells the audience that he is wanting to kill. The audience assume that Bill is preparing to kill the bride.

The scene becomes most thrilling at the when the bride takes a breath to speak whilst you can hear a gun being loaded and shes "Bill, it's your baby." and instantly we hear a gun shot, we see the bride flinch and that is the end of the scene leaving the audience in suspense.