For my production unit, I chose Brief 1: Thriller Film.

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Production Report

For my production unit, I chose Brief 1: Thriller Film. This is due to my interest in them and the

confidence I have in producing my own, which I found from GCSE television advertising work and in my ability to deconstruct existing films.

In order to fulfil my brief successfully, I had to perform several areas of research, which will make the product look like products in real life and show that I know and can use the appropriate codes and conventions. I also watched a non-Hollywood film, the French film 'La Haine'. Comparing the two different sorts of films, emphasised the codes and conventions that I needed to use for my 'classic Hollywood' film. For example, the 180degree rule, continuity and the way sound is constructed to fit the distance of source from camera.

To go into more detail about typical Hollywood style, I deconstructed many sequences in terms of shots and techniques in existing Hollywood thriller films, with a fifteen or eighteen certificate looking at the codes and conventions specifically used in them to create the effect desired e.g. the use of incidental music and silences; filming the villain so his face is never fully shown; using low-key lighting to create shadows; low and high angled shots to create the feeling of power and control; close-ups of eyes to show fear; slow, long-held shots to create tension. A particular favourite film of mine was 'Silence of the Lambs'- a film by Jonathan Demme, because the tension created was a lot subtler and there was very little violence or action in the film- the enjoyment came out of the highly detailed characters and the intensity of the created tension, this was done by setting up possibilities of something happening rather than unexpected action. This was done by putting key objects or people in the vanishing point and a lot of use of doors- to show the many possibilities.

Another method of research was to find an audience's opinion, by creating and distributing a questionnaire. The questions were based on thriller film viewing and possibilities for a new thriller film. I asked ten people to fill it in and collated the results in order to find out what film viewers want from a film. I found out that people enjoy thriller films because they are very different to other film genres and they enjoy the suspense, that psychological thriller films are popular, that completely original narratives are preferred, which are realistic. That a fast editing pace and limited action and violence is important in a thriller film. A film on child abduction, as this is a particularly topical subject in the news at the moment, with a male and female hero/ine team would be popular. This means that my idea for the narrative of the film would be popular if it was made and released and that the film would have lots of suspense but little action or violence.
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This gives me a firm idea of what my film must contain in order to fulfil the genre and be popular.

Planning

My film is about a divorced father who has his child taken away from him by its mother. His love for this girl and his despair at losing her drives him crazy and he begins kidnapping children in the hope they will make up for his loss. An FBI agent and a psychologist are put on the case and they track him down and brings his girl along to see him. She is so ...

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