Far From Fairytale (FFF) establishes its location with the first scene of footage in which the audience clearly see the main character in a run down public toilet (PT). The location appears to be very damp and filthy which sets the mood and tone of a thriller film opening. In order to achieve a legitimate setting, lighting couldn’t of been too bright which is why we used the light already present in the location. The PT is a good place to introduce a thriller movie as it incorporates enigma and questions in the audience’s minds. The opening is based in the present although half-way through there is a short burst of flash backs revealing the character past self and girl which is connected to the plot. The flashbacks show a more positive antagonist revealing a bit of his nature, the relationship with the girl and attitude. As the flashbacks end we are back in the present with the antagonist who proceeds to cross off a number on a hit list and departs as the main title shortly appears after. The opening sequence leaves behind many questions particularly about girl in the flashbacks and the hit list. We wanted to keep the whole sequence a mystery which is why we didn’t want to explore too much of the flashbacks or the hit list leaving it to the audiences imagination as to who and what they are, although all these answers are revealed later on in the film. During the full opening sequence there is a mixture of close up, medium close up, medium, over the shoulder and lower angle shots. Questions also come to mind when the audience sees the main character, who at first is staring at himself in a mirror and then seems to be preparing himself for something, possibly murder, this is done using an over the shoulder shot. This is typical of a lot of thriller films, in which a character stares at himself before committing a crime this could be linked to paranoia or hysteria. The character appears to be in a mess, as he has bandages over his hands and arms, and mud on his face which gives away the fact that he doesn’t really care about his appearance. During the entire opening sequence there is no music although there is a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. The diegetic sounds heard, are the sounds within the PT such as water running and a flashback sequence in which the main character speaks. The non-diegetic sounds are played throughout the opening varying between being louder or quiet. These sounds are diegetic sounds which have been reversed to give off mysterious distorted sounds.
The hit list and the fact that the main antagonist is out to murder signifies that this is a crime thriller. The plot is based around the idea of revenge although the antagonist gains his own justice by committing crimes which is why he is seen as a criminal in the film. His appearance is pretty much that of a rough criminal which I think hints towards his motives and personality.
Oldboy was a big influence in terms of plot and style. The flashbacks and character contrast ideas came from Oldboy, as the film did well when putting these to aspects together. Our film is similar to the vengeance trilogy by Park Chan-wook in the sense that it is about revenge, Oldboy which is part of the trilogy helped influence the story and how it would shape i.e. During our opening there is a flashback sequence featuring our antagonist in the present and a flashback showing him in the past thus contrasting attitudes and looks. This is also done in Oldboy as we see the protagonist Oh Dae-su in present with flashback followed up showing him in the past. A character shown in the past and present can really influence the audiences way of thinking and judging the character i.e. when Oh-Dae-su is first shown the audience may think he is a murderer whereas when shown in the past the audience would be surprised to see a drunk and overweight character, as opposed to the fit and darker individual. For the character design and appearance we were influenced by the computer game Condemned 2 as the character featured in the game suited our characters personality and appearance. The character featured in the game is Ethan Thomas, we based our antagonists look on him i.e. bandages, dull coloured long sleeve top, wet hair, boots and trousers. Our character had mud around parts of his body, which helped create a rough look.
Both men and women are present in the opening i.e. the main antagonist is a 22 year old Caucasian low class male and his sister (flashback) is a 19 year old Caucasian middle class female. At the age of 19 the antagonist is believed to be of a middle class family. There is stereotyping in the film as you see a comparison on the antagonist when he is middle class and low class. He is shown as middle class in the flashbacks. Also the fact that the antagonist is a man and a murderer is also a stereotype, as men are usually established as murderers, i.e. Halloween, scream, etc.
The themes in the film are very commercial and I can see it being remade by a Hollywood studio. I think the story would sell well as it is unique, although it shares some traits with films already made. The fact that its mixes these traits together helps ensuring that it may have a successful future. It would be released as it offers a different perspective from a criminal’s point of view in a thriller film and because it would generally offer something different to audiences, as most thrillers are the same. It would explore the characters origins as well as his current situation. A sequel may not work but a prequel could, and merchandise would sell very well due to the films wide use of costumes.
During research a questionnaire was created with questions being answered by different age groups. During the results my group and I realised that our age group was 15 to 27 year olds as this particular age group enjoyed thriller films according to the questionnaire results. Due to the fact that the film would have violence and foul language we rated it 15, this supports our target audience.
15 to 27 year olds would find the film entertaining although even older people may also enjoy it. As it is for everyone really, as long as you understand the plot you’ll enjoy it. The film is targeting both male and females as both sexes have shown a keen interest in thriller films. The Punisher and Oldboy are similar films to FFF as they have similar plot structures and character development which is why they also appeal to 15 to 27 year olds. I know this because after looking at the results received from the questionnaires, this group seemed to enjoy thriller films and this is why I think that FFF will also appeal to them. The Punisher shares similarities to FFF in terms of plot as the protagonist vows to avenge his family who have been killed by criminals. In FFF the antagonist does the same in which he wants vengeance for his sister’s death, tracking down and killing the ones responsible. Oldboy shares similarities to FFF as it contrasts the same character from different perspectives (time) such as flashbacks. The characters personality is different during the comparisons and he also appears to look different. From our questionnaire results we learned that our target audience liked to see enigma so we thought by combining our own ideas with existing thrillers films we would create enigma to the point where the audience is left clueless. Thriller films have generally had a strong fan base as oppose to the past, so people don’t mind experiencing new films. Because this film is independent I think that it will gather a lot of viewers and a large fan base due to its appeal to the designated target audience. Our target audience is ranged between 15 to 27 year olds both male and female, as these were the most likely people to watch the film and enjoy it. I think a lot of 15 to 27 year olds females would find the flashbacks quite cute and funny although the rest of the footage (present) may confuse them leading them to question it, this is what we want. Generally the opening would appeal to 15 to 27 year old males because it would be interesting due to its genre, the audience will be keen on what happens next. A lot of people will at first find the flashbacks and hit list confusing although it will all be explained later on.
We wanted the audience to get a clear picture of what the antagonist was like, so a majority of camera shots were focused on him, which lets the audience see his body gestures and facial expressions and at the same time empathise with him. Everything is visible to the audience in the shots, so as well as having a general idea of how the protagonist felt and looked, they can also see his environment which may have some impact on his behaviour and thinking. The camera shots help create the character, plot and enigma due to their effectiveness and mixture together. The same can be said about the diegetic and non-diegetic sounds which are constantly being played so that a mood is set for the opening. The audience during the opening is given enough information which leads on to the rest of the film, a lot of it is questioned as it seems to be random, but this helps create the mysterious and enigmatic mood for the film.
The only weakness I found with the equipment was that we were not allowed to move the tripod with the camera on it, but apart from that it provided the group as a good tool for pre production and it was easy to use, once everything was explained to us beforehand. The strength was the fact that it was user friendly and very easy to use. At first we were not sure which aspect ratio to film in but we soon learned it was 16:9 widescreen. Later on during editing there was bug in the software which caused our aspect ratio to change into 4:3 which left one remaining scene as 16:9, this remained as a problem throughout post production, although during the final days we had left editing, we managed to change it into 4:3 so that it matched the rest of opening.
We used a larger variety of camera angles and shots in our thriller opening as opposed to our preliminary this was because we had more freedom to explore which shots that we liked and disliked, and also because no rules were set for this particular task. An example of this is that we used a panning shot which we were not allowed to use in our preliminary task.
Before using adobe premier, I had some knowledge of editing with windows movie maker which helped me recognise some of the functions of premier which seemed slightly familiar. Gradually after pre production we moved on to post production from which I was aware what I was doing, although at times I needed help with some effects. I did a fair amount of editing during the preliminary task which I think helped me get up to speed on how to work the program. We didn’t use any of the effects in our opening as they were programmed to work with 4:3 footage, although we did make use of cross-dissolves and fades which helped set the mood and differ the flash back from the present, something we had to make the audience aware of. We reversed the audio of some of our raw footage and used it in the opening so that it sounded distorted and mysterious. The dissolves and sound effects really helped our opening in developing a tone and mood which I think helps it engage the audience.
Prior to the setting of the coursework my group and I researched thriller films so that we can familiarise ourselves with the genre and we learned that there were many sub-genres i.e. crime thrillers and action thrillers. Keeping in mind about sub-genres we decided to produce our opening to a crime thriller film. During our research we came across thriller films such as Oldboy and the Reservoir dogs. Our first planned story was about an assassin suffering from a duel personality and filming was scheduled to be in a town centre in day time. Although we scrapped the idea as it was too complicated and revealed too much in an opening scene. The group divided briefly to research into story ideas and after learning about Oldboy and Condemned 2 we decided that we would use elements from both them i.e. Oldboy flashbacks, revenge plot and Condemned 2 costume and character designs. Storyboarding was brilliant as we referred to it when ever we forgot at what stage we were in during pre production and it helped keep track of what scenes needed to be filmed and which ones had been completed. Storyboards were essential in helping us save time and establish what was going to happen in the next shots.
We used a mixture of different shots to establish the character and location. Shots such as close up, medium shots and medium close ups were used continuously and helped explore the character, so that the audience can he see what he was doing and what his reaction was to what was going on around him. I feel we could have used a variety of different shots and see what the outcome would be like as it could highly benefit us. We spent a lot of time nevertheless exploring different shots and how they would appeal to the audience. As time went by I felt very confident and relaxed about using the equipment as I had gotten use it and it was very easy to use. I am confident that my product has fulfilled the task perfectly, as the group and I spent immense time on improving and finishing it. I think it distinguishes itself from other group openings in the sense that it makes use of diegetic sounds and plays around with them creating unique sounds which are then used in the soundtrack and because of this it doesn’t feature any music, which is notably recurring in every other opening. We also make good use of our surroundings and use many different locations to establish the themes and atmospheres around them. Due to the feedback received from an audience I believe my end product is successful. The audience did display some criticism this was mainly at the first flashback scene in which the antagonist is adjusting the camera and when he sits on the sofa next to his sister the camera appears to be facing upwards when it should be capturing the antagonists body language. Looking at this scene I agree with the audience but I am disappointed at the fact that this scene was very simple to film but we managed to make a mistake. I will approach camera angles with more caution and ensure that they are of a good standard. The opening was also criticised for its font which was a constant debate during post-production although the group concluded times new roman looked fine. I agree with the audience that using a different font would give the opening a unique feel. Other than these two errors the audience responded very positively to the film, praising everything from camera shots to mise en-scene, the soundtrack was praised for being unique with no music being played. I believe from the audience reaction and work put into it, our end product was an overall success.
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