Claude levi Strauss theory of Binary opposition

Strauss theory was that film contain binary oppositions to help the audiences understand the narrative more clearly. For example good guys normally are strong good looking and follow a certain criteria so the audiences can clearly tell the hero from the villain. The villain will normally juxtapose the heroes looks, for example James Bond villains normally have some of visual deformity, compared to Bond being good looking and a lady's man. Thriller films have to have binary oppositions as it clearly guides the audience through the film, as the bad guy or thing is meant to put the good guy (the persons story who we follow) in a weak situation to give the movie the thriller edge to give the audience goosebumps similar to horror but lacking the gruesome details.

Composition

we took pictures before and after learning about composition.

The reason we learnt about composition is to give us a better under standing of shots and how we could use shots to give our film more depth and meaning instead of the constant long or mid shot, we can use depth of field to focus on a person or object to give the shot more meaning as the audience knows they have to focus that object giving it an importance.

from this learnt the important of photos and how much of an impact they can have to the person viewing them. from this I can implement it in my film in certain frames from certain shots i can use space to create a sense of isolation, i can use this in my film to make the viewer feel like there alone or make them believe the character is alone this can be well implemented with in the thriller genre.

Before

After

leading lines and depth of field

framing

rule of three

space

with this chart we are able to gather a wide range of useful information that will allow us to use within our film, as we now know that within in are target audience(being young adults) they find that music is the biggest build up for suspense knowing this we can insure that our film needs music to build suspense and that is what our target audience will be expecting. we can see that the erotic sub genre is most popular so we can use that in our film as more people will want to watch a erotic thriller rather than a contained, now we know the most popular sub genre we can use that to gain the popularity of the audience as its what they want to see. we can see that the most popular aspect to a thriller is an unknown villain and female villain was also quite popular so we can use both of these with in our film to do the unconventional and add more of a twist to the normal thriller. and from film research i know the film fatal instinct that was very popular that a female villain works well.

the evidence was gathered by hand then re written in a google spread sheets to look neater .

Thriller conventions

I will use my knowledge of thriller conventions and apply it to my film so I use them in my film to make it clear that its a thriller.

i know that a thriller uses sound/music to build suspense to get the audience tense for the up coming scene for example the classic non diabetic music in jaws is used to slowly build up tension before we see the actual shark this combined with editing can build tension well and fast jump cuts can make the scene seem frantic and fast and build suspense right until the big reveal.

thrillers are different to horrors as its built around mystery and tension you don't see the murders normally in thrillers and it doesn't focus on the killings as much as horrors does as thrillers build suspense around the idea of the murder for example seven uses the killers murders to build up tension and a mystery around the killer where we find out who it is at the end, similar to silence of the lambs where the narrative is similar to seven they use the film to build mystery and character development to keep the audience watching.

the media budget help us gain an understanding of what of the prices of the equipment, this helps us as we know what equipment we would have to borrow for example we don't have the funds to buy a camera let alone the tripod and lights so we know we can borrow such things from the school and for makeup and costume we can borrow where we can or just buy the rest of it as its not to expensive. we can use guerrilla filming so we don't need to rent out an area to film which we could't do anyways as it would cost to much. understanding how much the real life cost is gives us a further understanding into the film industry and how much time and money goes into even the smallest of scenes.

Produce a rationale as well as a film proposal.

In this rationale, I will be explaining the main details that assist in the planning of our film. We desire to produce an erotic thriller that requires documentation and planning, subsequently, I will be planning an opening for a thriller film as well as going into detail on the collection of information to maximize the popularity of the film. On top of this, I will explain all potential ideas and the final idea that we will turn into a finalized product.

After using a survey to investigate the interests of potential audiences we have concluded that an erotic thriller focusing on the tempo of the plot could change repeatedly this could be done to ensure that audiences can be kept uncertain about the film's direction and the fulcrum of the action. Research suggests that our target population is more likely to be aged fifteen to 17 years old this shows a 15 age rating could be sufficient to ensure our target audience is permitted to see our films and subsequently this could boost popularity among our target audience, attributing to our success. We similarly found that our audiences are predominantly male this shows we should target our product at a male audience. This could be done by using different signifies that embodied more masculine characteristics in our film. We also surveyed audiences on their preference of thriller sub-genre finding that they enjoyed horror aspects swell as erotic aspects this indicates that we should have an erotic thriller with multiple horror aspects, this could be done to please audiences and boost popularity. We asked why people enjoyed thrillers so much with many saying that they don’t enjoy thrillers. This shows our platform targeted at these ages could ensure that many teenagers become more intrigued by the genre. We also found that many believe that the key to building suspense and the key to a good thriller overall is the pace this can include the pace of the plot, building suspense with the music and how it can change pace to evoke feelings of fear and anticipation. Similarly, they believed that the most important part of a thriller is the suspense that can be achieved through dramatic use of pace. They also feel as though the production is made better through the use of an unknown hero; this could be done as we build the villain's infamy as the villain kills all potential heroes until the final hero is revealed and eventually triumphs. The target group questioned on their preference believed that they would prefer a male protagonist that could show that they wish to see an embodiment of more masculine archetypes that could influence the plot.

We have also conducted research on similar products that achieved large-scale success in mainstream media. For this research we found that most erotic thrillers had key color schemes of red, blue, white, or black this could be to act as various emotional signifies such as red indicating love and passion as well as acting as a foreshadowing of danger and on the other hand blue could similarly show passion, as well as a cold methodical way to maintain control over their main fixation (the protagonist), both red and blue, are binary opposites as they are extremely contrasting and could be used in the same product to show the differences between characters. Finally, white acts to signify purity and innocence and subsequently is associated with the main protagonist this is usually a female that is associated with white in most products. White is usually contrasted with black this could show a lack of emotion and a hatred for those who are in love this spiteful vengeance is a characteristic commonly seen within antagonists in the erotic thriller sub-genre.

Using my knowledge of erotic thrillers and combined with both my knowledge of target audiences and previous products I have concluded that focusing on an intriguing and appealing soundtrack could help increase the quality and popularity of my film opening. This will involve finding era-relevant music to ensure that we keep continuity this could also be done by interpreting what an audience of our target age enjoys and conveying it into our film as an example of this classical music such as the 60s-70s classics or western ballads of wandering through desolation. We also found that many people ages 15-17 have problems in the modern world such as identity, sexuality, and problems with bullying or family. I found these were recurring problems in society as many youths of the ages 15-17 often required help processing these problems and subsequently a film could be the platform to ensure that people don't feel isolated by their problems. Despite this, if our production attempted to involve one of these problems as a plot device then we would have to approach the topic with severity and seriousness to ensure that it was not interpreted poorly this could influence the role in what this character plays.

We came up with many creative and unique ideas that would involve both erotic thriller conventions and meet the needs of our target audiences. One of these ideas was to set the erotic thriller in the modern world and have our main antagonist introduced at the begging it would be revealed that our antagonist was a transvestite that dressed as a woman and killed men that she allured back to her house. This could be done to also raise awareness for internet safety as it would often show her social media accounts as being instrumental in the killing of those men. The unknown protagonist the audience wanted could be incorporated as they are seen as another victim until it's revealed they are the main protagonist. We could appeal to younger audiences through a relevant and intriguing soundtrack involving many songs that could contradict action or that could build tension. An alternative idea could be however to have our erotic thriller set in the 60s-70s era whilst retaining the premise of a transvestite killer and an unknown male protagonist however using this format and time period could bring attention to the adversity that LGBTQ+ members face even in a modern world.

In conclusion, the finalized idea for our thriller will be to have an erotic thriller set in the 60s-70s era and will mainly follow a transgender killer revenging herself on those who cruelly bullied her in school this task will be approached with grim severity as to ensure that our intentions can be interpreted as little as possible. It will aim to show the cruelty that LGBTQ+ members face in society and in childhood as they challenge conventional conformists. I have chosen this because I feel as though the sub-genre is saturated with heterosexual conflicts that only appeal to show an antagonist that has one goal and is usually conforming to various personality types.

Pitch

I'm presenting a film opening up to around about 4 minutes long and will be of the thriller genre and will have the sub-genre of crime and erotic. The film will be presented for the age of 15 as it will contain violence and sexual scenes but the scenes will be diluted down to suit the thriller genre to separate it from a horror/slasher.

Our film will highlight a typical teen stereotype best suited for an older/teen audience and they will understand more of the film and its plot and of course will still remain a thriller allowing the audience range of 18+ to still enjoy the film.

The film will be set around modern-day society and the troubles with teen identity and who they are and who they are growing to be along with the horror of the internet and how easy it is to be tricked or catfished. The film will follow the antagonist serial killer while also follow the two detective protagonists who are on the tail of the killer, in order to keep the audience intrigued we will focus on the mystery of the killer while giving subtle hints towards who it could be as the audience and the detectives try and figure out who really is the killer.

We chose this type of film as it strays from the normal and can go more into depth about the generic conventions which we have learned from both a teen and a thriller genre. The erotic parts of the film help the teen conventions as teens are struggling to fit into who they are and a big issue with teens is the concept of sex and it being a big deal in their world.

film recce

the pictures above are from the location where we are filming thriller opening its important to do a film recce as it allows you to picture shots that you might want in your film it helps the director to gain an understanding of where there filming and can make it easier to imagine shots. it's also important to scout the location first to see if it is safe to film if there's any hazards or problems that might make it harder to film maybe the conditions are too slippery to film. we chose the woods to further establish the theme of the thriller genre as its important for the audience to understand that our film is a thriller so similar to the film opening of the silence of the lambs we decided to used the woods as our place to film to fit into the conventions of a thriller with it being shrouded by trees it makes the atmosphere slightly darker and mysterious and the lack of human structure brings out this key theme of isolation that would be running throughout the film. Steve Neale would say it is important for a film to establish its genre as it allows the audience to decide if they would want to watch the film so it's also important to make it clear what genre it is so we can do this with iconography to make it easier for the audience to decode our film.

storyboard

storyboards are important as they allow you to plan out your film in detail.

a storyboard allows the cameraman to know what shots he needs to film and it gives the director a plan in which he can edit and adjust and it's easy to change a storyboard in case if there disagreements or changes.

the storyboard gives a detailed run down of each shot and where the camera moves or where actors need to go. there also space to add comments for sound and editing helping people get a better understanding of the shot without it ever being filmed in the first place. storyboards are used to reduce mistakes as it gives a more detailed distribution of the scene

Props
We believed that we would require many specific props to ensure that we could give of a convincing erotic thriller these include costume (that we will go into further detail later) / a fake knife this could be used to instill fear and convey that the antagonist is a threat / Fake blood this is vital to show the severity of the brutality as well as implying the extreme threat and seriousness that we intend our antagonist to instill into audiences / Coffee cups this could imply the era as it shows relevancy however with the coffee present we must pay meticulous detail to the amount of liquid withing this is to ensure that we have a strong continuity throughout.

Lighting and Transport
We found that lighting would cause complications as we intended to film at night to create an aura of discomfort and mystery however visibility would be poor and subsequently we were required to light the scene manually to ensure that all action is visible. This could be done by reducing torch light however we would have to be cautious as we must ensure consistency throughout to create lighting throughout the scene. Transport is a simple problem with a straightforward solution this could be solved by actors and crew members getting their transport to the location this could include public transport such as a bus or being driven from their house to the desired filming location.

Costume ideas and Makeup
We desire that our characters' costume and makeup reflects the era we strive to achieve. This could be done by researching previous films with settings based in this time or on films during this period as well as the culture at the time. We aim to make our key female antagonist appear in a cheerleader costume sporting a pink and white dress that could imply her sportiness and relevance in the social hierarchy at the time. This harmless and feminine appearance will offset her malicious and brutal intent however it could also create shock as to her villany contrasting with her apparent innocence implied through her costume. We similarly aim to show our male protagonist as drawing inspiration from popular culture at the time using films like grease to inspire our ideas. This could be done by giving him jeans and a plaid shirt instead of focusing on his hair or headgear to give him personality, character, and imply his popularity. We also considered having ‘cops’ to provide pathos and relief from the brutal and visceral violence that is common throughout these could be seen in common coats with fedoras and aviators drawing from the stereotypical image of police that this generation had of police in the 60s-70s. We also concluded that makeup is vital in making a character appear more feminine or masculine we consulted many potential audience members and found that make up such as foundation/eyeliner/concealer/powder/eyeshadow/contour/blush/highlighter/mascara and lipstick created a sense of femininity that could be used to implied intrigue and mystery.

Music ideas

We believed that we should have an archaic feel that the music clearly indicates this could be done by using music from the 1960s-70s. This commonly cheerful and relaxed music could contradict the brutality and violence shown by the plot, this makes use of contrapuntal sound and potentially instils a sense of confusion or horror as the thriller continues with such grimness to a joyful soundtrack. Examples of such things could be Betty Hutton - He’s a demon , He’s a devil / Frank Sinatra / Elton John / alive with actions / Cabon Channel / Harry James - it’s been a long long time / Motown / Classic country (i.e Johnny Cash) / Elvis Presley / Dean Martin and so on.

For the opening we want a slow and low pitch music playing so the audience can identify that there's nothing much happening within this time until we reach a point of suspense where we want the music to slowly build up tension then we want the music to turn into a faster and louder pitch to create tension.

Sound effects

Sound effects within film is one of the most important things. Similar to music, it emphasises actions and feelings. A simple sound effect can give the audience a totally different experience. It can be as simple as a door creaking, giving the audience goosebumps or a fart sound effect can make them laugh. It can add extra emotion to a scene giving it more detail and finishing the film experience.

Of course, within our thriller we want the audience to be tense and theys should be on edge. However we don’t want to go overboard as it's only the opening we are doing but it still doesn’t remove the importance of sound effect within films.

Our opening is set in the woods so we would need diegetic sound effects such as leaves crunching and the wind blowing, along with wildlife to maybe to emphasise the distance they are away from other people/civilization making them feel on edge as if anything does go wrong there's no one there to help them making the audience worried intensifying the scene.

Depending on the time of day we shoot we could add birds or owls to our sound effects making it clear that they are in the woods and the only things nearby are trees and birds.

Need a sound effect for the noise that will be used to kill the killer's victim either it be a breaking of bones or a slash from a knife we need to consider what noise we use for the death will we have the actor voice his own death or would we need to find some sound effects to suit that scene.

shot list

the importance of a shot list is that it helps our group stay organised it lets us know where about we are when it comes to filming and what shot/scene were gonna film next, this allows us to know the shots we will need next saving time and by knowing the shots we will know what equipment we need. allows us to know where we are when it comes to filing allowing us to be more prepared.

Equipment plans

For our film we require equipment that we can either buy or borrow from the school. The school has cameras that we are allowed and we will take a camera bag to hold the camera for safety and if we were to drop it the camera will be more protective in the bag saving the camera and any footage we have on it. For filming along with tripods to steady the shots we film so it doesn’t all look too shaky and camera movements are smoother. Because our film is a thriller we are expecting some scenes to be in low level lighting for this we might need to have some lighting equipment incase it's too dark or maybe have some light to create shadows to make it more thriller esc, we can do this with phone lighting however it won't be as good as proper lighting equipment, we may be able to borrow some lighting equipment from school otherwise we will have to buy our own or use some sort of replacement like torchlight.

For audio we can either use the cameras own audio however bringing a microphone to record dialog will be more useful as with camera audio sometimes diegetic noises in the woods like birds or the wind might be louder than actual dialog meaning that if we took a microphone and recorder we could use it to record lines if where we film is to load. We can ask to borrow the microphone from the school or either buy it ourselves.

Dolly is a piece of equipment that would be hard for use to get hands on in anyways the school does not have one and buying one would be time consuming and costly, however we can improvise with such things like shopping trolleys and skateboards which is not as practical but can still be used to tack shots.

A card reader is given to us with the camera this allows us to download all footage we gather to the computer were we will use premiere pro to edit and cut the footage add edits like titles and some music all computers in our class within school has premiere pro already downloaded so we can use that or any other editing software that we would like.

risk assessment

a risk assessment is useful to us it highlights certain problems we will face so we can look into those problems and see how best to avoid them or fix them, we know where were filming has difficult terrain so we will have to be careful not to trip or fall as it will put us and the equipment in danger and then possible ruin our footage. we have ratted our risks green- being not to dangerous orange- being a risk we have to watch out for but nothing extreme red- a hazardous risks that needs to be watched out for.

knowing these risks will allows us to be prepared work faster and safer knowing what to look out for.

Title development

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For our film we need to understand titles and the impact they have to an opening to a film we have done this by going on the art of title and study thriller film openings such as Zodiac and Hannibal. from this we have learnt that thrillers titles are all very similar most use white,black or red as colours of the font those colours represent the genre best, red for danger blood and murder, black for shadows and mystery, and white is used to contrast black being the opposite meaning purity and innocence white is used normally because the victim might be represented with white or in supernatural thrillers white relation to heaven and ghosts.

most films use the opening establishing shots to put tittles on screen of course this does not include all film but a majority of thriller film openings that we have watched do similar things to each other. because we are filming a thriller I thought it was best to use the main colours used in thriller openings those being white black and red, so I went for a black background symbolising mystery and darkness as our thriller has some aspects of mystery to it, i also decided to use red over the black background to connotes danger and love both having a key role in our film.

during the opening scene where we see some establishing shots i hope to add in titles to it to list our actors editors music designer and all other roles that will be used in our film production. we will probably use those titles in white as our intro might be dark and gloomy so white will stand out well whilst the font will used with the white to make the titles to give them a crooked look.

our company logo

A Company Identity

A company identity such as name and logo are vital for the involvement in the credits and helps to add a sense of professionalism when done correctly. We intended to use a banana slug as inspiration for the logo. This is because they are vital to nature and the life cycle also their slimy and repulsive appearance forges a sense of natural and ugly truths. On top of this after reproduction the male banana slugs eat their own reproductive organs this could act to potentially foreshadow the intriguing and innate sexual nature of the erotic thriller.