SECTION 3: BRAINSTORM OF CONTENT AND CLASSIFICATION OF FILM

Target Audience:


The target audience for our thriller is for people over the age of 15 to around the age of 30. I think that the majority of the audience will be male as stereotypically it is what they prefer. However, according to our questionnaire, females also like this genre of film. The reason it is ages 15 and above is because it has scenes of violence and crude language. The scenes of violence are when Jack Collins, the Hit man, is murdering people and when he is getting threats from his Boss. Also, in one of the final scenes where Lilly Collins kills the Boss. Violent language is used throughout. We think that target audience will be in this age group because the couple in my film are in their 20s so the audience will be able relate to characters more, which will make them more likely to watch the film as they will be more connected and emphasis with the characters, making them want to find out what happens in the end.

People who liked Law Abiding Citizen and Taken may like this movie as it has a similar story line, however, my film is a toned down version due to the target audience's age group.

SECTION 4: AUDIENCE RESEARCH

I am furthering the research of thrillers by conducting a questionnaire. We already have a good idea of who we think our target audience is but the purpose of the questionnaire is to find out if our thriller is aimed at the correct target audience and to see what the participants want to see in a thriller (acting as a sample of the rest of society’s opinion). I have handed out thirty questionnaires to a selection of the public in order to get suitable results.

Questionnaire:

1.       What is your gender?

Male              Female

2.       What is your age?

15-20             21-25                     26-30                    31+

3.       Would you prefer the victim to be a man or a woman?

Man               Woman

4.       Would you prefer the villain to be a man or a woman?

Man               Women

5.       What emotion do you want when watching a thriller?

Suspense                    Shock                    Relief                    Happy ending                    Other-________

6.       What type of thriller do you like?

Action           Psychological             Erotic                     Sci-Fi                      Romantic             Other-_______

7.       What type of music do you like?

Heavy Metal              Rock                      Pop                        Classical                Other-________

8.       What kind of instruments do you like in the background of thriller films?

Piano             Guitar                   Drum                     Violin                     Trumpet              Other-________

9.       What is your favourite thriller movie?

_____________________________________________

10.   On a scale of 1-10 how gory do you prefer thrillers to be?

__________

11.   Where do you think the location of a thriller should be set?

Cellar             Forrest                 Field                      House                   Other-__________

12.   Do you think the location should be in one place or change throughout the film?

Yes                 No

13.   What actor do you think should be casted the leading role of a thriller?

________________________________________________

14.   Do you prefer films from the victim’s or the villain’s point of view?

Victim           Villain

15.   Would you prefer to have well known actors or new faces in a film?

Well known                                New faces

16.   Do you think thrillers should have any romance in them?

Yes                 No

17.   What font do you prefer out of the below options?

Thriller        Thriller             Thriller            Thriller

18.   What type of character would you prefer the villain to be?

Hit-man                        Psychotic                  Police                    Criminal                Other-_________

19.   Do you like plot twists?

Yes                 No

20.   Would you prefer the villain to live or die?

Live                                Die

Results:

Question One: Gender

This graph shows the number of participants and their gender. As you can see from the graph, there were 30 questionnaires distributed and the majority of participants were female – 16 female and 14 male. Having the proportion of female and male fairly even will give a good, near enough equal range of opinions and we will be able to see which gender prefer which type of thrillers etc and will therefore be able to find a target audience for our thriller movie. This means that the percentage of males likely to watch thrillers is going to generally be larger than the percentage of female viewers; this proves that there is a majority of male to female, but if I had tested an equal amount of male and female them maybe the results would have differed to make it more of a valid test because the respondents would have an equal opinion of male and female, however this may not have made the test valid as there could be more male than female in this population. Being able to know that more males are likely to want to watch a thriller rather than females we can take into account the males opinions more directly, as they will be the ones watching it, meaning we could use this information to give the males what they want from a thriller.

Question Two: Age

This question is a closed question which shows the comparison of different age groups who took this questionnaire. The graph shows that the majority of our participants were between the ages 15-20 because 25 out of 30 were between these ages. Knowing the age groups of our participants will help us recognise the target audience for thriller films. However, this may not be accurate as most of the questionnaires were handed out around a college, meaning it was bias towards the younger population, giving this outcome. Along with showing the most favourable age group to watch a thriller, it shows that every age group was represented. On the other hand, it was not an accurate representation of all age groups even though all the age groups were covered and had at least one person filling in the questionnaire from each group because the age groups didn’t all have the same amount of respondents. On the plus side, this will help us to see what this age group prefers and it may also prove that age doesn’t really effect peoples’ opinions and preferences of thrillers because our results were very varied even with the age group favouring the 15-20s. The reason we chose to hand out our questionnaires mainly to a younger percentage of the public rather than the older was because the characters in our thriller were planned to be in their early twenties and we felt that people around this age group would be more likely to be able to relate to it.

Question Three: Preference of the Victim’s Gender

This graph shows the proportion of male to female preference of the victim’s gender the participants would rather have in a thriller movie. The pie chart shows that the majority of participants voted the victim to be a female as oppose to a male. The percentage of participants that preferred the victim to be a woman was 58% and the percentage for a man was 42%. After looking at these results we can decide whether we would want to risk having a male victim or not, however, with it being a close vote we could still have a good chance of pleasing the audience with a male victim. In our thriller we have decided upon having both a male and a female victim, however, it is only revealed part way through that the male is in fact a victim as oppose to a villain.

Question Four: Preference of the Villain's Gender

This question was asking the participants whether they preferred a male or a female villain. The graph shows that the majority of the people who participated in our questionnaire had the preference of a male villain. We, as a group believe that the public want the villain to be a male because they are stronger, masculine and manipulative. Most thrillers have a tendency to have a male villain so we are sticking to the stereotypical villain to please the audience.

 Question Five: Emotion Felt When Watching a Thriller

Question number five asked the participants what type of emotion they like to feel when watching a thriller movie. This graph shows that the majority of the public who we questioned upon the question of which emotion they like to feel when watching a thriller film would rather feel suspension rather than shock; this is because they like the anticipation whilst watching a movie. Some, however, did say that they like to feel shock, relief and ‘other’ but only one person, out of the thirty participants, wanted a happy ending. This suggests that they wanted a cliff hanger ending making you question different possibilities or an ending in which the victim in fact suffers and is not victorious and the villain gets away with their deeds.

 Question Six: Sub Genre of Thrillers

Question six was asking the participants what type of thrillers they prefer. Some people chose more than one response which, in conclusion, affected the outcome of the graph. However, it could suggest a mixture of sub genres. This graph shows that the public would prefer a Psychological thriller rather than the other types of sub genres often associated with thrillers. Two out of thirty preferred it to be Sci-fi or other and five out of thirty preferred romance. This proves that the viewers prefer it to Psychological which will give the film a bit of a twist and it will make the viewers think about what’s going to happen/ what’s going on throughout the film.

 Question Seven: Music

Music in a film has a great impact upon the emtions and feelings that the audience get whilst watching it, it shows the mood of the characters within it. We asked thirty people what type of music they prefer in the background thriller films because we felt it was a relevent question for the creating of our own. The majority of the participents chose pop music and then rock music. We could take this into consideration and use it in our film to create either a casual mood by having quite an up beat rhymth or even a slow one to create emotion. Rock music could be used in our thriller when action is taking place, or when someone is being chased. It will create tension whilst the character is in distress.

 Question Eight: Instrument

As well as music instruments are also an important part of a film as this also creates a mood depending on what instrument you use and how fast you make the tempo so we asked the participants which instrument they feel is appropriate for in the background of a thriller. The violin was the most popular as you can use it in so many different ways, you can use it slowly but you can also use it so it has a fast tempo, a drum was also popular because it is loud and can be used to express the anger in the actors/actresses.

 Question Nine: Favourite Thriller

We asked the participants the open question of which was their favourite thriller film. Some of the participants got confused between a thriller and a horror film which impacted our results as some of the responses weren't relevant. We knew that some people would get the two genres mixed up so we gave examples of thrillers; however, some of the participants just chose the examples instead of thinking of their own. This made the results bias to the examples given. Other participants didn't take the questionnaire seriously, therefore they put irrelevant answers. We gave the example of Jaws and Seven, and these were the most popular responses, Seven being the one with the most votes. We could use the results of this question and get ideas from these films to put into our own, in hope to make our film more appealing to the audience.

 Question Ten: Gore Level

We asked the participants what level they like the gore in thrillers to be at. The majority of the votes where in the middle of the one to ten scale. We chose to do this question as a closed scale where the participant would simily state the level on a scale of one to ten because it gives a rough idea of what the audience prefer. Moreover, if it were to have been an open question we would have got different opinions, and some words that people use may mean different things to different people so having it on a scale is more suitable. This gives us an idea of the story line for our thriller and an idea of what the audience will actually see. We could suggest that gory violence is occuring but only portray the noise of the event, or the shadows for instance. That way the audience don't actually have to see the incident and the rating can still be a fifteen.

 Question Eleven: Location

The next question we asked on the questionnaire was where the participants thought the location should be in the thriller. Some respondants chose more than one location, this means that they think it should change throughout or that they thought either would be a good destination. As the graph shows, the location was chosen to be in a house, this could possibly be because it makes the location more personal to the victim or the villain, and we can get to know them more by looking at the surroundings they live in. The idea of the thriller being set in a forest was also a popular response, we as a group believe this is because that forests are dark and out of the way, making them more of a vulnerable area to be in, creating suspense and tension. The audience is most likely to anticipate that something bad is going to happen, we could then use this feeling of anticipation to either make something bad happen or to fool the audience by making something bad happen at a later point in the film.

 Question Twelve: Change in Location

The results we gathered portrayed that the respondants had similar balanced thoughts on this question so it was close with only 5 votes between them. As the results show, the majoirty of the participants wanted the setting to change instead of staying in the same place. The reason they may have chosen this could perhaps be that the same location would become boring. Other thrillers have a tendancy to change frequenty, keeping the action going and sticking to the idea that you're more vulnerable in a place you are alien to.

 Question Thirteen: Actor

We asked the participants which actor they would like to star in our thriller, as this is an open question we got lots of different responses, however, a lot appeared to be similar. The graph below shows the main responses given. Leonardo DiCaprio was the most popular with the respondants, this is possibly because he is good looking so will appeal to the female population and because he is a very good actor and already stars in many largely known thrillers. Morgan Freeman was also as popular because he is older and wiser; he is also a good actor and has been in a lot of thrillers such as ‘se7en,' which is also one of the films we listed when we asked what the participant's favourite thrillers were.

 Question Fourteen: Point of View

The next question we asked was whose point of view the participants would like the film to be in, either the victim's or the villain's. There wasn't a massive difference between the two final outcomes but the majority chose for it to be from the villain's point of view. Even though there wasn’t much of a difference between the two answers but the majority wanted it be in the villain’s point of view. Due to the fact that most thrillers are in the eyes of the victim and would be a change to see it through the villain’s point of view.

 Question Fifteen: New Actors

This graph shows the whether the participants would prefer to have a welknown actor or a new one in our thriller. As the results show that the participants would like to see well known faces in our thriller. It was a close set of results as there were only a few votes separating them. Having new faces could give the audience a chance to see a different acting style and they may find someone who suits the role better. However, having well known faces may attract the audience to watch the film as they may like the actors, and they could connect more with them.

 Question Sixteen: Romance

We asked participants if they would like any romance in thrillers they watch, we asked this so we could decide upon a character relationship in our thriller. The majority chose ‘yes’, however, it was a close vote so we could go with either yes or no for romance within our thriller. Participants may have chosen this so they could either relate to the characters more, or perhaps because it gives another aspect to the film. Characters can be made more vulnerable by creating feelings between them, almost as if having a relationship with other characters is their weakness. This could help us develop ideas towards our thriller and the outcome of the events we choose. For example, the partner of the main character could be an easy target for the villain.

 Question Seventeen: Font

This graph shows the different responses that the participants gave to the question of which font could be used in the opening credits of our thriller. The majority of the respondents chose font number 2. The reason we asked this question was so we could select a suitable font to present the credits in our thriller, in hoping that the audience may be drawn in by it and it can give an idea and foreshadow later events in the film. We asked the participants which font they preferred out of the possible options (Font type: Font 1, Font 2, Font 3, Font 4). The majority of the participants preferred the font type 2 which is ‘chiller.’ The reason we asked this question was to find out what type of font would look good on the opening credits of our thriller. We could take both font type 2 and 4 and have one as the credits and one as the title, these decisions can be made now we have the opinion of the potential viewers. 

 Question Eighteen: Character Type

This graph shows how many participants preferred each of the following character types, hit man, psycho, police, criminal or other. Below the graph shows that the majority of them chose a psychotic character over any of the others as it had 18 votes out of 30. The next most popular, with 6 votes, was a hit man. This will help us to decide if in our thriller the characters of our choice would be appreciated or not. After looking at these results, I think that the hit man character is likely to have a good chance of pleasing the audience.

 Question Nineteen: Plot Twists

We asked participants whether or not they like plot twists in thrillers. We asked this because we wanted to know what kind of storyline we could use in our thriller, the idea of a plot twist could make the thriller into a psychological thriller, creating more questions in the audience's mind which we think would make it a more interesting film. The thirty participants who took our questionnaire also agreed with us as all of them voted 'yes' to plot twists. With these results we can now decide what kind of plot twist we would like to apply in our thriller as it will more than likely be accepted by the audience. The plot twist we decided upon in our thriller is to have the victim kill the villain and they get a prison sentence for it, which also creates an unjustified aspect to the film.

 Question Twenty: Ending

The graph below shows the response the participants gave to the question 'Would you prefer the villain to live or die?' The majority of the votes went to 'live.' We could make the villain live which would still leave behind a scary element behind after watching the film, because the villain is still out there. Not killing off the villain allows a squeal to the film, the audience may want this. The reason we asked this question was so we could decide whether to kill off the villain. We considered him dying in the film so we could have a plot twist. As the vote was fairly close, we decided upon killing the villain, however, it is the victim that kills him which gives the plot twist element to the film.

SECTION 5: TREATMENT

Synopsis:
When a secret life is revealed Jack Collins must choose between his job and his wife. Under pressure in his relationship he must decide what matters most, his family or a life no one can know about. When the clock is ticking which do you choose to put first, loyalty or love? Deciding which life should be lost after living a life of paid killings should be easy, right? Well not for Jack when it's not just his life put at risk.

The Beginning:
Lilly is cleaning up in her and Jack's bedroom, moving things around the room. She picks up a box of belongings and she drops it on the floor, things fall out and scatter around the room. As she bends down to pick the objects up she thinks of putting the box in the draw under the bed. When she goes to open the draw she finds a bag that she has never seen before, thinking it must be Jack's gym bag she opens it to get out his dirty clothes. Opening the bag, she finds something (the audience aren't shown this). Jack approaches the doorway to the bedroom and in a raised voice says 'What are you doing?' *Flash back* Earlier that day; Jack murdered someone and received a payment for it (this explains the money found in the bag). She explains what she has found and he comes clean as to where he has got it from, his secret profession as a hit man. Whilst he is explaining this to her there are flash backs of him murdering different people, doing his job as a hit man. Lilly is shocked as she always thought he was an accountant, as did everyone else, and considers leaving but he convinces her to stay. He says he'll quite his job. Just as they're getting on with their lives, and Jack resigns as a hit man, they receive a phone call. Because of these scenes of violence and murders (even though we don't actually see them, but they are portrayed in a way so the audience knows what is going on) on Jack's behalf, the movie is rated a 15 and because of the fact that it has continues uses of crude language.

The Middle:
Here is where the plot twist occurs. The phone call is from Jack's Boss, he tells Jack to meet him somewhere. When Jack goes to meet him, his Boss beats him up and threatens him, telling him that he needs to choose between his wife, Lilly, and his job. If he chooses his wife then he gets killed, if he chooses his job then she gets killed. The plot twist is that he is made out to be the villain from the opening scenes, but it turns out he is in fact a victim just as much as the people he is paid to kill and his wife as his Boss is forcing him to continue this life style, without his wife.

The End:
The Boss makes various threats towards Jack and Lilly; he messes with the people in their lives. They both tell the police about the Boss but nothing is done about it. One night when Jack is out getting a take away for him and his wife, Lilly is stood preparing drinks in the kitchen at home and the Boss jumps her. She turns around and stabs him, killing him. Jack takes the blame for this killing when the police question them both as he doesn't want her to go to prison. Jack is convicted with manslaughter. This final murder, which again is not actually seen by the audience but we know it's happened, is another reason why it is rated a 15.
 

SECTION 6: CHARACTER OUTLINES AND SHOOTING SCRIPT

Character Profile

Lilly Collins - The name Lily is a type of flower. Flowers represent beauty and the arrival of happiness. This is ironic as happiness is the opposite of what this thriller presents.
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Relationship Status: Married to Jack Collins
Profession: Currently unemployed house wife
Appearance: Long brunette hair, brown eyes, short, slender build

She likes to wear casual clothing as she feels most comfortable in them, she spends most of her time at home as she is in the early stages of pregnancy and she doesn't have a job, she enjoys cleaning up.

Background: She used to work in a nursery but quite because she envied the parents as they had children and she didn't. But now she is pregnant and she doesn't want to do anything to jeopardise this.

Lives: She lives with her husband, Jack Collins, in an average house in a village in Cheshire.

Jack Collins - The name Jack is often used in fairy tales, such as 'Little Jack Horner,' and fairy tales all have happen endings , which contrasts with this thriller as the ending is far from happy. Jack can also be referred to as alcohol, 'Jack Daniels' a type of whiskey; a drink usually drank when depressed or to show a sense of class. The fact that this name can be known as an alcoholic beverage is a symbol of his past, where he lost money and became a hit man due to wasting it all on university fees and drunken nights.
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Relationship Status: Married to Lilly Collins
Profession: Undercover Hit Man, however, his wife and everyone else thinks he is an Accountant
Appearance: Brown hair, tall, slender body type and blue eyes

He works mainly in the day and goes out a lot at night; Lilly thinks he is with his friends when really he is fulfilling his secret profession. He likes to wear dark colours as they reflect his personality, dark and mysterious.

Background: He hasn't always been a hit man; this job only came about when he was 20 and was in a lot of debt after starting an accounting degree at Northampton and needed money to pay off his student debts and drunken nights.

Boss
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Relationship Status: Unknown

Family Situation: Lives alone in a small apartment in Manchester.
Profession: Hit Man contract dealer
Appearance: Average height, fat, short black hair, blue eyes

He always wears the same clothes, which are never in a good condition. He dresses as if his career is a builder, with Timberland boots, dark tracksuit bottoms and a round neck jumper.

Background: Never had many friends in high school so he dropped out, he never went to college or university. He has lived alone since the age of 16 as his parents emigrated to France leaving him behind. He feels he his only friend is Jack Collins and doesn't want him to quit his job, leaving him alone again.

Shooting Script

Shooting Script

Int.         Upstairs In The Collin’s House-hold  -  Daytime

Lilly is at home whilst Jack is out at work, she is cleaning up around the bedroom. She looks down at what she is tidying up and then walks over to a set of draws and stands there rearranging some objects. She then looks in the mirror and brushes her fingers through her hair and then walks over to the other side of the room.

Ext.        Outside The Collin’s House  -  Daytime

A man walks down the path (this man is Jack but the audience don’t see his face), opens the front door and walks in.

Int.         Inside The House After The Man Enters -  Daytime

Lilly walks over to the bed and bends down to pick something up off the floor. As she does this, she spots Jack’s gym bag and pulls it out so she can empty it out and put the used clothes in the washer.

As Lilly is doing this, the man is walking up the stairs and across the landing towards the bedroom that she is in.

Int.         Upstairs In The House  -  Daytime

Whilst the man is walking up the stairs, Lilly is opening the gym bag, unaware that he is in the house. She reaches into the bag and finds a lot of money; her face shows the shock she is in. Wondering where the money has come from, Lilly remained sat on the floor and pulls out some of the money.

Int.         In The Bedroom  -  Daytime

Jack is stood in the doorway to the bedroom, looking at Lilly. He looks just as shocked as her, but his reason for this is different, he is shocked because she has found the money.

Lilly looks up at him as he walks closer toward her. He stands over her looking frightful. Standing up in front of him, Lilly pulls a confused and upset expression. He matches the expression.

Questioning him, Lilly asks ‘Where’s this from?’ and he looks back at her, speechless but remaining powerful and in control. He looks at her as if he is going to give a response, she glares back at him, waiting.

Ext.         Outside Near The Alley And In It - Night time

All shots taken of the villain, Jack, murdering a victim in an alley way. The shots are of him watching her and then following her into the alley, ending with quick cuts of him raising and aiming his gun to kill her. The shot ends and the audience have to assume that she has been killed.

This scene ends with a mid shot of his shadow places the gun back into his pocket and walking away.

SECTION 7: RECCE AND LOCATION SHEETS

Location

In a house, but only the one bedroom, stair case and the front of the house is used in the first clip of the film. The film on the whole will take place in various locations, one being the home, some in places where Jack (the hit man) murders people and another being on the streets when he is in confrontation with his Boss.

Name of location:     Kelly Hope's House

Address of location:      88 Pelham Road, Thelwall, Warrington, WA4 2HA

Contact telephone number:     01925 470548

Health and Safety:     Busy minor road outside the house and a dog

Date of visit:     20^th December 2010

Recce/Risk Assessment

College/Course/Class/Group	Priestley College, AS Media Studies, Block C
Project title	Thrillers
Scene/Item/Feature	First 2 minutes of the film, inside and outside the Collin’s home
Date of period this risk assessment covers	20th December 2010
Producer	Kelly Hope
Location address & details	88 Pelham Road, Thelwall, Warrington, WA4 2HA

Place the Y in the box which the hazards are identified and refer these to your tutor for authorisation
HAZARD		HAZARD		HAZARD
Costume/make up		Access		Machinery
Hydraulics		Animals	Y	Mines/excavations/tunnels/quarries
Catering		Audience/Public		Noise
Lighting		Communications		Person with special needs
Scaffolds		Confined spaces		Physical exertion
Smoke effects		Derelict buildings/dangerous structures		Speed
Stunts		Electricity/gas		Vehicles and off road driving	Y
Physical effects		Fire/flammable materials		Violence/public disorder
		Fight sequence		Water/Tide
		Glass		Weather
		Hazardous substances/chemicals		Working at heights
		Heat/cold	Y	Other
		Inexperienced performer or children N.B. For children, a copy of this risk assessment must be provided to parent/guardian

Equipment: (Please list any equipment that might be affected by the activities you have ticked above). The tripod when outside as the ground is slopped and the floor is icy due to bad weather conditions.

Details of Activity: Filming outside of the house near the icy road to capture the shots of Jack walking down the path to open the door.
Hazards Identified and Risks Arising The cold weather may be a hazard as the ground is icy, people could slip over. The road outside the house is fairly busy for a minor road and therefore traffic and people may be causing bother. The dog in the house may irritate and unease the crew/cast.	Risk Assessment and Proposed Precautions We will ensure that we film the shots on the less icy parts of the ground and ensure that we are out of the way of traffic and pedestrians. We shall also keep the dog out of the filming rooms.

N.B. THIS MUST BE SIGNED BEFORE THE PRODUCTION CAN GO AHEAD I have read the above and am satisfied that: It constitutes a proper and adequate risk assessment in respect of the programme activity and that the precautions identified are sufficient to control the risks. Adequate arrangements are in place to communicate the risk assessment findings and to co-ordinate the safety arrangements of all those affected. E.g. site owners, contractors, volunteers etc

Signature of Producer:__________________________     Date:__________________ Name of Producer: Kelly Hope

Signature of Tutor:_______________________________Date:__________________ Name of Tutor: