Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight

Christopher nolan from joshendersby

Questionnaire analysis

We gave 40 people our questionnaire, asking them the same 9 questions to gather information about what sort of thriller our audience wants. We then took the results of the questionnaire and used them to make decisions about our final task based on the opinions of our audience.

One question asked was whether they would like the thriller set inside, outside or a mixture of the two. 26 out of the 40 people asked said they would prefer it to be set outside, 6 said inside and 8 said a mixture. Based on this, we decided to set the our final task outside, and added with the fact that we all agreed with this decision and thought it would be best before we asked the questionnaire, we agreed that setting it outside, with some inside shots would be best.

We also asked which time setting would be best to shoot the thriller in, day or night. 37 people asked said to set it at night, and only 3 said daytime would be best. We all agreed that night would be best, considering how a dark setting would add to the thriller atmosphere. However, this would mean that we would have a very short period of time to film, since we needed it to be dark, but if it were too dark the audience wouldn't be able to tell what was going on.

The next question was whether the audience would prefer a male or female protagonist. 23 people said they would prefer a male protagonist rather than a female, so we decided to cast a male as the lead role.

We also asked which sort of music best fits the thriller genre, out of techno, pop, orchestral, rock, dub step or R ‘n’ B. 31 said orchestral, 7 said rock and 2 said pop. Based on these results and our own opinions on the genre, we decided that an orchestral score would be best for our film, and could be used effectively to increase tension and add to the atmosphere. We also decided to compose and perform the music ourselves, which meant we could write climaxes into the music to fit with the action of the film.

Next we asked which sub-genre would be best for a thriller. 16 people out of 40 said that an action thriller would be best, 6 people said political, and 18 said psychological. Based on these results and our own preferences we decided to go for a psychological thriller.

Location photos

The location we chose to film in is an area of rural back roads in Byfleet, ultimately chosen due to the run down feel and appearance which we found appropriate for the thriller genre.

The above is an example of an establishing shot we could use, due to the fact that it sets the tone, with the bent and dirty sign, and also shows the audience the entrance to the road where the beginning of the scene will take place.

This shot gives the audience a better idea of where the action is, and they will see the protagonist come out of their house and head in the direction of the camera.

This shot will be used to show the protagonist walking along the path from the side, which we can use to have the credits rolling at the same time, as well as increasing tension for the audience.

This shot centralises the protagonists house and would be ideal for showing the audience the protagonist leaving the house and turning down the street.

From this angle, the audience can see down the road as the protagonist walks towards the camera. Once again, credits can be rolling at this time, as the tension increases.

This is another example of a side shot we could use, which we decided would be affective due to the streetlight which would hopefully make the protagonist stand out against the dark setting.

This is an example of a low angle shot we could use to show the character walking again, and it would mean we could allow for the antagonist to move in the background, which would not be the main focus of the audience.

We decided that we could use this road for a framing shot of either the protagonist walking or the antagonist in the background as the protagonist walks past, drawing the audiences attention to whichever we choose.

Finally, this shot could be used towards the end of the introduction, as there is a wider room and more space for action, in which the antagonist may appear to the protagonist in a struggle, before the camera cuts and the protagonist wakes up in an unknown location.

Preliminary task

Alfred Hitchcock - Psycho

Martin Scorsese - Shutter Island