Q1. In what ways does 'Integrity' use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

EDITED 16/04/17 Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Q4. Who would be the audience for 'Integrity'?

To understand the typical target audience for our thriller opening 'Integrity, we have looked over the demographics of similar movies; this will help us to understand the age, gender and nationality of our audience. 

To begin with, a movie in which we researched before creating our thriller was 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', clearly within the analytics here of the demographic for the movie is that it is heavily male dominated, with 321,071 males voting compared to 39,226 women voting. When looking at age, the under 18's to 29 y/o look to be those that rate the movie the highest, ranging from 8.2 to 8.5 ratings: but when comparing to 30+ the ratings are from 7.0 to 8.2. Without looking at the number of people who voted in these categories it would be very easy to state that the target audience is that of a younger age, of both sex and non US descent: which partially would be wrong. As when looking at the number of voters, every age group is dominated by male voters and the two ages with the most votes are 18-29 and 30-34, meaning that this is the target age. A statement that can be depicted from these analytics are that the older generations, who were partially targeted were ultimately disappointed with the movie, hence why the smaller but younger audience rated the movie higher. 

Next of all, this is a screenshot of the reviews for 'Layer Cake', another movie which follows the same genre of our thriller opening: British Gangster. Again, the analytics suggest that this movie is male dominated in amount of votes cast for the average rating of 7.4. With the overall ratings of the male group being 108,883 compared to the females being 9,921. The age that rated this movie the highest are the under 18's, especially the women: rating it at 8.5 and the men 7.6. Furthermore, the overall rating going through peaks and troughs throughout the age ranges. Without delving into the amount of votes cast by these groups the statement would become biased in the favour of under 18 females: but when looking at votes cast, there was only 11 by this group, making these people who have watched the movie a select cult following of either the genre or an actor within the movie. When comparing rating the votes cast, the ideal age audience would be males aged 30-44, as it has the most votes with 55,626 and the overall average rating with 7.3. This movie is clearly watched more by the Non-US audience with 78,704 to 25,133- but rated higher against the Non-US audience from 7.5 to 7.3. This could be for a number of reasons, first of all; the depiction of a certain class, culture or humour could be wrongly expressed- altering the viewpoint of the audiences preference. 

Profile of our audience:
A typical viewer of 'Integrity' would be an eighteen year old male, from England, who is most likely from a lower to middle class family. This person would follow the genre of British Gangster, watching films like; Lock, Stock, Layer Cake and the Brotherhood series. He would enjoy the British culture expressed through these films, like the comedy, slang and actors that are used: so that it is relatable to his experiences and interests. This person would like to going to 'Cinema City' and 'Vue' (late night) as these cinemas distribute the largest variety of independent, British films, appealing to the wider audience. The way in which 'Integrity' incorporates new actors and clear British locations will help to appeal to this audience with the appreciation of it not being a Hollywood style production. 

Q2. How does 'Integrity' represent particular social groups?

The genre of our thriller open 'Integrity' is a British gangster, dominated by male actors: all of which are exploiting various stereotypes. For example, we have an older character who reinforces the power driven mob leader, a youthful character who reinforces the stereotype of being easily lead, and also a character that connotes vulnerability in today's society. 

First of all, we set out to make the mob leader to be that of a specific character: who would be typical in this genre of movie. A way in which we achieved this was through mise en scene, with the character wearing an expensive suit and shoes parading his look throughout the shoot. This kind of establishment through costume allows the audience to quickly understand the hierarchy within the story line, and this is what the youth of today (or what is perceived to be the youth of today) should aspire to. Furthermore, the camerawork shown in the scene below further establishes the power imbalance from the young to the older generation: with the height advantage of the boss in correlation with the eye line looking up towards him also. 

We have also embodied the stereotype of the older generations taking advantage of the youths naivety within this character, this supports the idea of the youth of today being easily persuaded into illegal activity for hopes of a better/wealthier lifestyle. To add to this point, the older people in today's society believe that this is what the typical teenager is involved in, so our thriller is backing this point with the character of Charles- but, in turn, challenging it with the homeless character. A movie that I can liken the characteristics of the boss to is 'Hatchet Harry' in the movie 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', where the character throws money at any situation to let youngsters run around doing the dirty work for the company. This stereotype of criminality in Britain is very well documented in many different movies, and is perceived by the masses to be the obvious characteristics of an older mob boss.

Next of all, the character of 'Charles' is represented to be willing and naive: ultimately roping his old friend into a world of illegal activity that he wasn't prepared for. The naivety is represented through editing, when it cuts back to his facial expressions during the dialogue from the boss we see the character hooked onto every last word that he has to say. This was a trait that was discussed when creating this character as it portrays the difference in stature and how youth are easily lead into violence.  

Furthermore, the mise en scene of this character helps to paint a picture of a casual teenager with the clothes that he is wearing, nothing fancy like the bosses suit- but clearly not in poverty. This character also confirms the stereotype of the criminal scene being predominately male- as the three characters in 'Integrity' are all male. This was also discussed when creating the characters, as we wanted to play on the stereotypes of gender and not play on them too much: so that the audience wouldn't become confused with the plot. A movie that I can liken this character to is 'Essex Boys' where the first character is forced to drive the criminal around to do his dirty work, doesn't really understand the danger or situations that he is headed for.

Moreover, the final social group that we aimed to establish in 'Integrity' was the vulnerableness of those less fortunate, homeless, from the outset of the film we used sound and camerawork to represent this character as unstable and isolated. Firstly, we have challenged the stereotypes of the age range of the homeless, making the character 'George' a lot younger than those that live on the streets in society. We chose this situation to quickly establish George's social status within the opening. This challenge of the stereotype is also a juxtaposition of the youth today, as they couldn't live on the streets without social media or the protection from their parents. 

Finally, this characters vulnerability and will to earn money just to survive is ultimately his downfall, failing in his line of illegal work it shows how the youth can be taken advantage of and have no place in 'a man's world'. A movie series that is a clear inspiration for these younger characters is the 'Kidulthood/Adulthood/Brotherhood' films. These films have a clear representation of how the modern crime seen in Britain is perceived to be run by the youth that want to prove to the older generation that they have what it takes to be in the 'game.' 

Our Thriller overall challenges and embraces stereotypes within British gangster movies, giving our piece a sense of uniqueness but not straying too far from the majorities perception of social groups. It also connotes ideas of how criminality is exploited through the vulnerability of youth and class, but enhanced through editing and camerawork to add tension.

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

Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing 'Integrity'?

EDITED Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute 'Integrity' and why?

Integrity (Final Cut)

Thriller Opening (Rough Cut)

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths: - I believe that a strength of this 'Rough Cut' is the variety of shots used throughout the piece, allowing us to smoothly edit the sequence to accurate representation of the situations.

               - Another strength, I believe, is the sound used. It allows the piece to build up tension in parallel to what is shown in the shot also.

Weaknesses: - I believe this 'Rough Cut' to have a few obvious weaknesses, which was bound to surface with inexperienced film creators, which is present throughout with the story line. With the limit of 2 minutes, the establishing opening isn't created to the highest standard needed.

                   - I also believe another weakness is the Mise en Scene of this piece, the character (George) is supposed to be homeless to begin with- but that isn't shown with the clothing worn. Furthermore, the other character (Charles) is supposed to be the right hand man of an illegal drug firm- which isn't obvious.

What needs to be refined for the 'Final Cut'?

I believe that for the final cut I will need to refine the change from shot to shot, with both sound and visuals being smoother to allow the piece to look as professional as possible. In addition, I believe that looking into alternative shots could improve the professionalism and logic behind the sequence- allowing the audience to understand the plot of the opening. Alternatively, our opening could be a metaphor for the rest of the film- being misleading and confusing but not ineligible.

How does the director of Se7en use Lighting, Sound and Mise en Scene to establish character in the opening sequence?

How does Essex Boys use metaphorical spaces in the opening sequence?

In the movie 'Essex Boys', directed by Terry Winsor, the director uses metaphorical space to foreshadow the rest of the movie- whether that be plot or a character's personality trait. This is accomplished with many different techniques, with each frames' composition, light source and prop placement being thoroughly thought out- including the mise en scene and lighting.

First of all, in this shot the narrator is currently describing the character which we can see standing in front on the car. We come to learn that he has been out of prison for a measly 24 hours, with the context you can therefore come to the conclusion that this framework of the shot has not been stumbled upon, in fact it as been specifically set up like so. It is set up like this to make this character look physically and metaphorically imposing, with the single light source behind him possibly signifying that he has been in the dark for sometime (prison): and is now ready to be in the limelight to reap his revenge. To further this point, all we can see around the character is darkness, with all the focus being homed in on him: this could connote ideas to the audience that he is a dangerous and unforgiving character. Finally, the colour pallet used, although difficult to depict with the darkness, the character is wearing a bright yellow shirt and a purple leather jacket- the director could have seen this as an opportunity to express the characters lighter side, who will appeal more to the audience. On the other hand, this choice of outfit could be seen as attention seeking, that the character has a knack for getting under peoples skin.

Furthermore, in this shot we can see the two driving the car into a tunnel and when they arise from the other side they're greeted by the 'Welcome to Essex' sign post. At first thought this can be seen as the director giving the audience some context of what the car journey's destination is, but it could have a deeper meaning. For example, the sign post could resemble the divide of Essex from the rest of England- in a way that the place and people are so different to the rest of society that a big deal needs to be made when visiting there. Different in a way that they need to be segregated by a long, dark and meaningful tunnel from everybody else. In addition, the way in which the director has used vanishing lines to give the effect of a never ending doom for these characters gives the still foreboding tension. Finally, the choice of time and weather gives the overall shot another great layer: because of the wet on the road and dark/gloomy sky, in parallel to no one else driving, gives the whole sequence of shots an aura that something dangerous is about to occur.

However, in the final shot of the opening the director uses a variety of metaphorical points that offer different viewpoints. To begin with, the director uses vanishing lines when framing this scene with the road that cuts straight through the middle of the shot. This effect gives an ideology that this character is stuck on this land for a very long time, coincided with the fact that there doesn't seem to be any form of civilisation for miles, and that the boggy landscape doesn't look earth like. To add, the path that has been travelled by the characters reflects the age of the location- with its green mossy appearance and worn down muddy tracks all works with the metaphor for loneliness and baron. Furthermore, the way in which the director has composed the frame to have the character brushed aside from the middle of the screen also backs the idea that he is lonely, defenceless and in danger. The way in which he falls to the ground could be a metaphor for his downfall in society- from what looked like a director of a company, to a man having to fend for his life in the middle of nowhere.

What do directors seek to establish in the opening of thrillers?

In the openings of thrillers, the director can aim to target different aspects: above shows which aspects the movies, which I have studied, have invested heavily in, which include either; character, theme, location, tone/mood, plot and genre. The amount a movie focuses on these different aspects depends on the director primarily, what they believe would best suit the cast/tone of the movie being created. This graph gives clear indication as to which films use the aspects to the best ability, allowing me to compare differences and similarities- to ultimately see which movies I can take 'inspiration' from, for my thriller opening.

Location

Location in a thriller opening is a key factor for the director to establish the direction the movie is going in; especially creates a foreshadowing of the tone it will undertake. Looking deeper into the location used can also reveal hidden metaphors that the director is trying to envisage, for example in Essex Boys (directed by Terry Winsor) this character is shown to be roughened up by the main character and thrown down to the ground, but overall it is a metaphor for how isolated he is from society and that no one can help. The road shown in the image here resembles that the character has a long way to walk before he is resumed back to normality. The Director has used this 'vanishing point' to great effect as it creates connotations that this is the long road ahead for the character. The colour pallet of this shot compared to the other shots in 'Essex Boys', which I will examine further on in this post, varies in that it is very bland with nothing going on as far as the eye can see, adding to the tension that the director has set out to accomplish with this shot of isolation.

This shot of 'Essex Boys' uses location to create an idea that the car has gone through a change of setting/area. With the light coming through the centre of the shot it could be a metaphor for this location being heaven like, but with further knowledge of Essex this would be a juxtaposition on the director’s behalf: adding to the assumed danger in the area- increasing the tension in the opening. The colour pallet also adds to this foreshadowing of bleakness, by using greys and blacks which is evident throughout the opening of this thriller. The colour pallet used also does not give away the plot, only that there is danger and trouble ahead, but in a hopeful way that maybe there is a hopeful light at the end for the ex-convict. This way of only establishing one aspect of a thriller is of great use for the audience, as it keeps them guessing on what the further detail could be- ultimately keeping them more interested in the piece for longer.

Tone

In the movie 'The Disappearance of Alice Creed' (directed by J Blakeson) the tone was established from the start with the characters on the lookout for witnesses to them stealing a van, and preparing a flat for what looks like a kidnapping. This assumption can be made in correlation to the title as well, but for the director to establish tone from the start means that they can focus on other aspects of the film straight away. As shown in 'Alice Creed' when the sound and actions of the characters connotes that this is a well thought out procedure, in that the crime they're committing doesn't faze them, nor should it to the audience. The camerawork and the production of this opening effectively creates tension, as the audience are thrown in the deep end with the menace and acts of crime taking place. The colour pallet also adds to the focused madness- with the director only using simple and calm colours to not attract attention to them criminals.

In addition, in this shot it is more evidence that 'Tone' is what the director set out to establish in the opening. With obvious connotations of violence and kidnapping it allows the audience to understand the intentions of the characters on display. The order of the 'instruments' also is an insight into the mindset of these characters, resembling a set way in which they want their things in- an extreme power hungry monster that is set in their ways.

Ultimately, for a director to establish tone from the opening of a movie there must be an extreme that is taking place, for example in 'Alice Creed' the plot is a kidnapping which isn't an everyday occurrence, for another thriller that follows suit of a predominantly used plot like 'Third Man' it wouldn't be to the same effect.

Character

In 'Se7en' (directed by David Fincher) the director has used many ways for us to understand the characters and their relationship with each other, these include the position of where the main character’s clothes and necessities for the day are ordered and placed. This creates a persona for the character as one of their traits is that they are very neat and organised. Also, to note, the director has created an enigma with the piece of 'flower wall paper' - the director has purposefully placed this here to give purpose to what this characters aspirations are, something to strive towards. For a director to concentrate on establishing character from the opening of a thriller it allows the audience to connect with the characters, whether that be idolising them or a fear of their capability.

In addition, the director of 'Se7en' made a great job of getting across a lot of information to the audience in a very short space of time. 4 minutes in fact. In this space of time we had learnt the character’s names, background and relationship with each other. This gave the movie great depth from an early point as it allowed the two characters to establish a hierarchy in which their statuses placed them in. The director has created an imbalance of power from the start with these two characters, as they both start the inquest from different points in their carer. To effectively represent character in an opening a lot of CLEAR information should be exchanged between characters or writings that are clearly visible, otherwise the audience could fall back and not understand the background if the characters.

Sound and Music

Our thriller opening is focusing on the 'British Gangster' scene: but we will use the song 'Desperation' by Julian Calor to contradict this genre by adding tension through Music. The track allows us to complete the idea of engulfing the audience with what they see on the screen as well as the sound to go hand in hand with that. The music has a slow build up, allowing the establishing shots to have their effect without being overshadowed by the music. Throughout the track, it intensifies and speeds-up which will be parallel to the action on the screen keeping our audience ever guessing. 

This clip includes a busy cross section of a road, the reason I chose this sound clip over others is because there is constant sound of cars going past - this is essential as the place we are filming is underneath a roundabout, which is subject to many passing vehicles. Unlike other sound clips where there is a car every now and again. So when editing this clip could be used very quietly to add effect of background noise- overlapping the actual sound as it could be hindered with speech/sirens or directions.

This clip includes a very short sound of a 'malfunctioning light bulb' which could be used in our hostage scene to create further connotations of ruthlessness as it isn't a very welcoming sound. To add to the point of it not being a very welcoming clip, it will not be used for the duration at it could hinder the effect of the piece- annoying the audience in a sense.

This clip will most likely not be used, but could offer great help if we so decide to chose a prop gun, in our hostage scene. Simply put, its a long drawn out gunshot- compared to a quick explosive shot, adding effect of the unknown as it would be the last sound heard in our piece.

Other Thrillers

Thriller openings can include sound and/or music to add effect to their piece, but even the effect of silence can be the source of tension. In the opening of 'Se7en' a metronome is used by a character who is clearly trying to get some rest: but ultimately can't due to the outside noise of the busy American city streets. The overlapping of both sounds creates a nuisance for the audience, as it allows them to understand the man's suffering. When compared to 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' where the director uses music to acknowledge a change in time- mostly jump cuts. The music starts towards the end of the street corner sales, signifying to the audience that the characters fortune is about to change. The music then intensifies when the two men run away from the police- only slowing down and quietening when a narration starts. Finally, 'Layer Cake'offers a different approach to the last two openings. A narration throughout allows the audience to understand the characters, and almost want to be  part of their 'gang'. This kind of insight into the characters of a movie will only work if the that's what the director is trying to establish- which ultimately can't be copied for my thriller.

To sum up, these three thrillers offer me a variety of different pathways when editing sound and recording sound in my thriller- which I can use and take inspiration from if I so choose to. From narration, music and diegetic sound all three possibilities can be explored in my piece.

Fonts

This font is very uniformed and precise, creating connotations that the 'gang' in our thriller opening all believe in the same cause, also the production name is rather long- which suggests that the 'gang' have large numbers/ dangerous group. It can also create connotations of an intimidating nature, with the danger being shown in the straight, to the point, lines.

This font offers a different style to the previous, as it contrasts in its appearance. It isn't consistent, in a way that the lines for each letter look different to the letter before, creating connotations that the 'gang' come from differing/rough backgrounds. Another way in which this idea is shown, is that the fonts lines look like they have been etched into a surface- like graffiti almost: further representations of rough street lifestyles.

This font represents our thriller opening best in my opinion. It's gives connotations of street warfare with the rugged exterior looking like its been drawn/spray-painted on a wall. The backwards 'E' represents the backwards ideology and intelligence of the group of people being exploited by our thriller opening.

Other Thrillers
These are the fonts used in three other 'British gangster' movies that we have taken inspiration from. To start with, 'Essex Boys' offers quite a simple font but has a unique twist with the cut through the middle of the words- this could be a metaphor for the divide in society (especially in Essex) from the weak to the powerful. This font contrasts when compared to 'Layer Cake' which quite blatantly tries to reproduce a car registration plate, this works well as it intertwines with the movie. It does this as cars are used to focus on to resemble  change in time- foreshadowing a change in time/setting and society. Finally, 'Lock, Stock' offers a simple block capital font , in a disorganised formation- this is a potent metaphor for the group of people the movie follows, who are disorganised- ordinary people: but have got themselves in a lot of danger.

Overall, these fonts have a clear metaphor for the movie they are representing- which will have to be taken into consideration when choosing my thriller font- to give the choice deeper meaning.

Location

StoryBoards

Pub/Boss Scene

Drug Deal Scene

Hostage Scene

Homeless Scene

Café Scene

Characters

Shooting Schedule

Treatment

Opening Scene:

Car sounds. People walking past. George sitting by the road, homeless, asking for money. He is grubby but not completely untidy. Charlie walks past, notices him and goes back to talk to him. We can't hear any dialogue, just the diegetic sound of cars and people walking past. We cut to George masked with a bag, in a dark storage container. The bag is taken off and George is woken up with a slap on the face. The shot is ambiguous and we can't see where he is or who has held him hostage. He starts with a narration. The scene cuts back to George and Charlie walking into a cafe. It's a greasy spoon type cafe. They sit down at a table positioned next to a window. We can see them talking but again can only hear the narration. A sound separates the narration from the dialogue, and the dialogue starts. They talk about Charlie helping George to get a job. Charlie makes the job sound spectacular and George, not being reluctant to getting money, politely obliges. The scene cuts back to George masked in the container and the narration resumes. Throughout the opening the scene often cuts to various establishing shots, for example a shot of the front of the cafe, or a still shot of a cobble street. After this shot of George we then cut to a dialogue between George, Charlie and Shaun. Shaun is a hard-noised gangster and is very aggressive and inquisitive towards George, however he agrees and George is given a trial. We cut back to George being held hostage and the narration finishes, with that the opening ends.

What we have decided: This part of our planning shows our

influences for shot types, narration and the theme of our 

opening. Includes a rough idea of the discussions we have had

 as to what traits they should acquire.

Character's Traits: Again this part of our planning is a rough

first idea of our characters influences, Also who we can possibly

cast in the roles.

Final ideas: This sheet explains our final ideas for the opening of

our thriller, with specific locations and scene by scene

walk through of what we have in idea.

Influences:

The shot influences of our thriller come from a various amount of films, the cafe scene in 'Coffee and Cigarettes' is one we took a shine to. We will use this style of shooting a conversation from various different angles, and having an object which is significant to the characters. The sound editing of layer cake, and legend is how we will attempt to record a narration, and within the narration essentially quote a character - but this quote will be actually said by the character as if part of the narration. The favourite of these influences is Lock Stock, which uses a variety of cuts and shots to take us through the story-line in a very specific way. Taking us back and forth through the narrative in quite a fashionable manor. Seeing scenes we have no clue about and understanding them later on in the movie. The shot's used always attempt to intimidate the viewer, and the close ups never seem to fail in doing that. From a drama point of view, we'll attempt to set the location and act accordingly to the British gangster genre.