My Thriller film. Story breakdown

Weekly News #6

Weekly News #6
Source: Sky News

Three out of four Britons are 'micro criminals'

According to a poll, three out of four people in Britain have committed a 'micro crime'. Most people do not realise they are committing these crimes because they are silly little things like paying cash in hand to avoid paying tax or illegally streaming movies and TV shows. A lot of people, including myself stream movies and shows on the internet to watch them as soon as they come out. According to the poll 78% of middle class people have committed a micro crime compared to 69% of working class people and Men are more likely to commit these crimes than women.

Eating items from pick and mix without paying  is a crime

Some micro crimes people are not usually aware of include: lying about someone's age to get a better deal, taking a plastic bag at the shop without paying for it and ordering something as take away so it costs less than sitting in. These are all crimes that are committed on a daily basis by nearly everyone.

Personally I do not believe that these crimes are serious and some of the activities shouldn't even be illegal. I think if the crimes were really that serious than the police would try and crack down on the huge amount of people that do it. I chose this story because I found it interesting how so many people commit crimes on a regular basis and do not know or do not care that they are doing it because they are minor offences.

Media coursework: research draft 1

Media coursework: research draft 1

Over the past few weeks I have been researching Teen Thriller films to gather information for our research task. I have gathered information on certain topics like: the difference between Thriller films and Horror films, the structure of a Thriller film, the features of a Thriller trailer and the characters in Thriller films.

Firstly I had to recognise the difference between Thriller films and Horror films because they can easily be confused. A Horror film focuses more on unrealistic events like: a zombie apocalypse or a mass murder whereas Thriller films are more focused on extraordinary things happening to ordinary people. To put it simply Thriller films are more realistic than Horror films. Thriller films have a long list of different characteristics, the majority of Thriller films involve: mystery, tension and several plot twists throughout. This is what makes a Thriller different because a Horror film sets out to scare the viewer and not much else whereas Thriller films intrigue the viewer and engage them in the film.

Poster for 'Hush'

As a part of one of my research tasks I watched a film called ‘Hush’ this film was a good example for my research because it included so many features of a Thriller film. There was a brave and strong protagonist and a psychotic, evil antagonist as well as a dark, secluded setting and lots of shocking twists. At the time I was looking further in to sub genres and decided that this was a Psychological Thriller because the antagonist tries to mess with the protagonist before trying to kill them. Also in this research task I watched three movie trailers. ‘Out of the dark’ which was a Horror thriller, ‘7 minutes’ which is an action thriller and ‘alien outpost’ which is a sci-fi thriller. From all of these trailers I saw that all thriller films are made to be exciting and suspenseful. All three of the trailers included several black out shots which built suspense in the trailers and make the viewer want to watch the full film.



Todorov Theory

As part of my next research task I looked at the theory of Todorov which suggests that all movies follow a set pattern, this pattern is: the Equilibrium which is the norm, the Destruction which is the main event that breaks the norm, the Recognition where the protagonist realises what has happened, The attempt of repair where the protagonist tries to fix the situation and lastly the New Equilibrium is after the events when the effect of the events settle in and becomes the norm. Also there is another theory called Propp. Propp is the idea that each film has set characters. For

Keith Frazier from 'inside man'

example in the film ‘Hush’ the idea is that: there is the hero who was the deaf women Maddie Young, the villain who is the masked killer, the prize which in this film was survival, the mentor which was the protagonists intelligence and risk taking  and a Blocker which was the protagonists inability to hear. I also done a character analysis after watching the film ‘inside man’ I wrote a character description of three characters: the protagonist Keith Frazier, the antagonist Dalton Russel and Arthur Case who was the owner of the bank that got robbed. These two tasks helped me understand the way films are structured and how the characters are put in to fit these structures.

In conclusion, the research in to Thriller and Horror films helped me understand exactly what needs to be included in a Thriller film for it to be successful. The first task helped me understand what makes a good trailer and what needs to be included in the trailer; also the research in to characters helped me in developing characters for my own production.

Weekly news #5

Weekly news #5
Source: BBC News

Heads go to Downing Street with 'dire' funding warning

Tanbridge House School in West Sussex

Lots of head teachers in England have written to prime minister Theresa May to warn her of a funding crisis that could lead to: reduced school hours, loss of staff and certain subjects being cut. Every state school in West Sussex has signed the letter asking for £20 million in emergency funds. Over 250 primary, secondary, special schools, academies and local authority schools claim that cuts will have to be made if they do not receive the £20 million emergency funding. According to the letter sent to the prime minister "schools are struggling to function adequately on a day to day basis.

I picked this story because this must be a very serious situation if so many schools have signed this letter to the prime minister. Also it is important that students have sufficient resources when going through school, I am sure a school that is limiting the amount of subjects it teaches and has to lay off several members of staff is not good enough to get their students through their exams. I believe the government should try to fund as many schools as possible because the support is needed to give all of the students a fair shot at succeeding at school.

Analysis of characters in 'inside man'

Lewis Jordan

Inside Man Poster

Analysis of characters in 'inside man'

In class we watched a film called inside man. It is a crime thriller about a bank heist in New York that takes place over a 24 hour period. The three characters in the film that i want to analyse are: Detective Keith Frazier played by Denzil Washington, Dalton Russel the mastermind behind the heist played by Clive Owen and the banks founder Arthur Case played by Christopher Plummer. 

Detective Keith Frazier 

The first character I want to look in to is Detective Keith Frazier, in the film he is the NYPD's hostage negotiator and is given a big responsibility when his usual boss is not around. It is his job to instruct the police how to deal with the situation. His main goal in the film is to obviously save all the hostages and get the people responsible locked up. But he is also chasing a promotion at work so he is eager to keep his reputation. The extremely clever mastermind behind the heist gives Frazier a run for his money but eventually when they storm the bank he comes out on top. Although he is not the first character we are introduced to in the film, he is the main protagonist

and a character that the audience quickly warm to. 

Dalton Russel 

The next character is the mastermind Dalton Russel played by Clive Owen. This character is the very first person we are introduced to in the film but is in fact the antagonist. He is a very intelligent character but he is not a violent or evil person, we can see this because he carries fake guns and never really set out to do any harm to anyone. He is part of a group of bank robbers but is shown as the main man in their little criminal organisation. What Dalton really wanted from the bank was the contents of a safety deposit box which belonged to the owner of the bank, this is why he does not steal any money. Although looking like he had been caught at the end of the film he had a secret tunnel and room that he stayed in for a week after the heist. Dalton Russel never actually fails which is unusual for an antagonist in a crime film but that is what makes him such an interesting and engaging character.

Arthur Case

The third and final character is the owner of the bank Arthur Case played by Christopher Plummer. This is the kind of character you have a bad feeling about from the start of a film. Although he is the victim because his bank is being robbed, we learn he has secrets and that is the real reason behind the robbery. The robbers are after something in Arthur's safety deposit box which suggests to us that he is up to something dodgy. When it turns out his riches were made whilst helping out the Nazi party during world war two we understand why he wanting to keep this a secret, also we learn that the robbers are out to blackmail him. Obviously Arthur wants to protect his secrets which is his main goal in the film as well as protecting his business. We never really find out the fate of Arthur as Dalton Russel ends up escaping with his secrets.I suppose this leaves the audience wondering.

Film Analysis

Lewis Jordan

Analysis of the film 'Hush'

Todorov

Equilibrium: The protagonist lives an ordinary life, she lives on her own in a little house in the woods. She lives in a secluded and quiet area which fits the character as she is deaf.

Destruction: SPOILER ALERT. We meet our antagonist, a masked man enters the film in aggressive fashion murdering our protagonists best friend just outside the window where our main character is currently cooking dinner. Killer then appears at window, masked and holding a crossbow and a knife.

Recognition: The protagonist comes face to face with the killer who begins playing mind games with her, he ends up in the house and our main character realises she is being played around with and knows she has to find a way to get out of this situation.

Attempt of repair: Main character decides she has to try and kill the murderer or get him caught, so she starts to write a description of him one her laptop, she then attempts to distract him and ends up stealing his crossbow but she gets severely injured during these events.

New equilibrium: SPOILER ALERT. Our protagonist ends up killing the antagonist, has to live the rest of her life knowing that she killed someone and she no longer has her best friend. Also the police arrive just before the end of the film which leaves us not knowing what happens when the police arrive.

Propp

Hero- Maddie Young

Hero- Maddie Young.

Helper- John Stanley attempts to help but fails.

Villain- Masked killer, only referred to in credits as 'the man'

The prize- To survive and get the villain killed or caught.

Mentor- Her intelligence and risk taking.

Donor- The villain when he drops his crossbow.

Blocker- Her inability to hear and a crossbow wound.

Binary Opposites

Good vs evil

Sound vs silence

Protagonist vs antagonist 

Weekly news #4

Weekly news #4


Source: Sky News

Diabetic patients warned of fatal hacking risk in insulin pumps.

This is a report based on evidence from a security researcher that insulin pumps can be hacked from a distance of up to 25 feet. This only goes for the Johnson and Johnson's Animas OneTouch insulin pump so there is not to much to worry about, but if these pumps are hacked they can change the dosage of insulin. If a patient has to much insulin it can lead to hypoglycemia or low blood sugar which can be life threatening.

The Animas OneTouch insulin pump.

The pump comes with a remote control that is used to control the insulin you get and when you get it. When hacked the dosage of insulin can be adjusted without the owner knowing. I would like to think there would not be someone out there evil enough to do something like this, but these days nothing surprises me.
Johnson and Johnson's have released a statement telling people that own this product to discontinue use of the remote control and set the pump so there is a maximum amount of insulin that goes in.

Insulin pump without remote control

I chose this story because I think it proves that despite how far technology has come it can still have problems and in this case the problem is potentially deadly. To be honest I don't think any piece of technology that can control the amount of medication you are taking should be trusted, I still don't trust technology to do jobs better than humans can.

Class work from 3rd of October

Look at a range of: Film trailers, Posters and DVD covers.

Film 1: Intruder (2016) A film about a women who suffers from agoraphobia has her house broken into by a trio of criminals. The poster for this film is a floating house with weapons hanging from the bottom like knives and axes, suggesting this could be a relatively exciting but potentially gory film. One of the DVD covers i saw had a picture of the protagonist backed against a wall crying. This shows us she is obviously in distress because she is being burgled. The house in the images is very big which could show the women is wealthy, this also explains why they pick this specific location.

The DVD cover from Intruders.

Film 2: Hush (2016) A film about a deaf women who retreated in to the woods to live her life is faced with a masked killer who appears at her window. The poster for the film is quite creepy because there is a picture of our main protagonist but over her shoulder you see the dark and disturbing figure who is trying to kill her. The poster really does not give away very much information about the film, it only really shows us about the trouble the main character is facing.

Poster for the film 'Hush'

Film 3: Inception (2010) This is a film about a thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream sharing technology. He is given the task of planting an idea in to the mind of a CEO. From the DVD cover of 'inception' we see a man holding a briefcase with a distorted background that could suggest this film is quite complicated and perhaps hard to follow. The image of or main character holding a briefcase makes us think that it has great significance in the film. 

'Inception' DVD cover

 

First research on Thriller films

Lewis Jordan

First research on Thriller films.

I started my research by searching Thriller films on Netflix and ended up watching a film called 'Hush'.
It is a Thriller based around a deaf women who has to fight off a masked killer who appears at her window. I found this film to have all the characteristics of a good Thriller film: the brave and strong protagonist, the psychotic, evil antagonist, dark and secluded setting, shocking plot twists and scenes that have you on the edge of your seat. Below is the trailer for this film.

After looking further in to sub-genres I decided this film is a Psychological Thriller because the main protagonist has to fight off a masked man who plans to mess with her head before he tries to kill her, the protagonist is then forced to try and outwit the killer which proves a tough task as she is unable to hear. Although the film is obviously low budget as evidenced by the lack of actors and the use of only one location, I enjoyed watching it and would recommend it to anyone doing similar research.

After this I watched some movie trailers from films I had not seen, I also varied the sub genre to look at a variety of different Thriller films.

First, I watched the trailer for a film called 'Out of the dark' I gathered from the trailer that it is your usual horror film where a family move in to a new house that just happens to be inhabited by supernatural forces that begin to ruin the families life. I can see that features of a Horror-Thriller include: jump scares, multiple protagonists and in most cases a supernatural antagonist. Also in the trailer there is 29 black out shots to build suspense. The trailer for 'Out of the dark' is below.




Next up I watched a trailer for a film called ' 7 minutes' this is an action thriller based around three men who are under threat after failing to make money that they owe to a drug lord, because of this they have to rob a bank to obtain the money needed. From the trailer I gathered that extra pressure was one of the bank robbers as there is an insight into him and he has a wife and a daughter he has to provide for. This differed from the trailer for the horror thriller because it was fast paced from start to finish and the storyline was revealed from the start, whereas in the horror trailer it started off slow and picked up the pace but the movies story was not clear until quite a way through the trailer. This trailer showed a lot of action and nail-biting tension as it made us wonder if our protagonists will succeed. In this trailer there are 14 black out shots which again intend to build suspense and make us think about what happens next before we see the full film. The trailer for '7 minutes' is below.





The third and final trailer I watched for this research was 'alien outpost'  which is a sci-fi thriller, in this film there is an alien invasion and Earth is in grave danger and small groups of troops fight back and risk their lives to try and save their families and the planet. The trailer follows one set of troops and shows a lot of action while at the same time holding back when it comes to showing the aliens in the film. This is probably to get the audience thinking about the aliens and the form they take in the full film. The trailer starts off slowly and builds up towards the end similar to the 'out of the dark' trailer. I think the sci-fi thriller trailers are similar to the horror ones but with less jump scares throughout. This trailer had 8 black out shots which is quite a lot less than the other 2 trailers. Surprisingly the trailer had a sense of realism to it because of the voiceover from the one soldier from the start. The trailer for 'alien outpost is below.



To summarise, I can see that all types of thriller films are meant to be: exciting and suspenseful. All three of the trailers feature several black out shots which are used to build suspense and make the audience think about what is to follow. After my first lot of research I am beginning to understand what goes into making a trailer. Also after watching the film 'hush' I can see what aspects need to be in a Thriller to make it a really good movie.