Target Audience Survey - SurveyMonkey

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I have created this survey on Survey Monkey to gain some knowledge on who are target audience is going to be. The questions I have used are to allow us to get a clear idea on who would be the most ideal target audience would be. The link above shows the questions asked in the survey.

Thriller's Progression Through Time

Examples of  Traditional Thrillers

-Little Red Riding Hood (1697) Psycho-stalker story

It is a French fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf, the innocent girl is persuaded by a wolf to talk the long path to her Grandmother's house, and when she arrives he eats her (hides her). The wolf's manipulations and stalking are conventions of a psychological thriller. It is an example of an early psycho-stalker thriller. The story has been changed and adapted through time and interpreted differently to create further books and films. 

-Epic of Gilgamesh

An epic poem from Mesopotamia, and one of the longest surviving pieces of literature. The most complete surviving version is preserved on twelve clay tablets and is in the library collection of the 7th Century BCE.
The main story is about the relationship between king Gilgamesh who becomes distracted and disheartened by his rule, and a friend Enkidu who is half wild. They undertake dangerous quests together. It focuses a lot on Gilgamesh's suffering following the loss of Enkidu. It is one of the first literary works that focuses on immortality.

-Homer’s Odyssey

One of only two Ancient Greek poems written by Homer, a poet. It is the second oldest existant work of Western literature - the first being Iliad, which Odyssey followed - and is believed to have been composed towards the end of the 8th Century. It focusses on the hero Odysseus and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes him 10 years to reach Ithaca after the Trojan War. In this time, his death is assumed and his wife and son must deal with unruly suitors who fight for his wife's hand in marriage. The is a lot of disguise, betrayal, fighting and power in the story, and some of the key themes are linked with that of a modern day 'thriller'.

-Mahābhārata

It is one of the two major Sanskript epics of ancient India. It contains an epic narrative of the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the princes, and a lot of philosophical material. The oldest preserved parts of the text are thought to have been from around 800 BCE.

All use similar narrative techniques to modern thrillers 

The Three Apples, a tale in the One Thousand and One Nights is the earliest known murder mystery and suspense thriller with multiple plot twists and detective fiction elements.

The Count of Monte Cristo (1844)

Revenge thriller
A novel by French author Alexandre Dumas, and focuses on a man who is wrongly imprisoned, escapes from jail, aquires a small fortune and begins to get revenge on those wo falsely imprisoned him. however, his plans have devestating consequences for the innocent as well as the guilty.

The Riddle of the Sands (1903)

The first modern thriller (according to author Ken Follett)
While on a sailing trip in the Baltic Sea, two young adventurers-turned-spies uncover a secret German plot to invade England. Written by Childers - who served in the Royal Navy during World War I - as a wake-up call to the British government to attend to its North Sea defenses, the novel achieves this and has been considered a classic of espionage literature ever since.

The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915)

An early thriller adventure novel by John Buchan, later adapted by Hitchcock
An example of a 'man-on-the-run' thriller about a man who puts his country's interests before his own safety, which was a big hit for those in the WW1 trenches.

The Lodger (1926)

Hitchcock’s first thriller and his third silent film about the hunt for a Jack-The-Ripper type serial killer in London.

Fritz Lang’s Spies (1928) was one of the earliest spy films

Hitchcock’s 2^nd thriller was Blackmail (1929), his and Britain’s first sound film.

German film M (1931) based on life of serial killer Peter Kurten

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1933) Hitchcock

In the 1950s, Hitchcock added Technicolor to his films,

The Manchurian Candidate (1959) is a classic cold war paranoia

Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960)

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1963)

The 1970s began a violent side to thrillers, with Hitchcock’s Frenzy (1072) receiving an R rating due to its explicitly graphic scenes, including strangulation.

The Bourne Identity (1980) is one of the first to be written in the modern style that we know today

Novelists closely associated with Thriller Genre include Eric Ambler, John Grisham, Ted Bell, Dan Brown, Lincoln Child, Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, Michael Crichton, Nelson DeMille, Richard Ferguson, Ian Fleming, Ken Follett, Frederick Forsyth, Graham Greene, Robert Ludlum, Alistair MacLean, Andy McNab,David Morrell, James Phelan, Douglas Preston, and Matthew Reilly.

Audience Research Video

Poster Analysis

Psycho: Case Study

Film Inspiration

The Collector (1965) - A man kidnaps a woman and holds her hostage just for the pleasure of having her there.

Kiss The Girls (1997) - Police hunting for a serial killer are helped when a victim manages to escape for the first time

Shuttle (2008) - A late night airport shuttle ride home descends into darkness

P2 (2007) - A businesswoman is pursued by a psychopath after being locked in a parking garage on Christmas Eve.

The Betrayed (2008) - The story follows a young woman as she's put through a psychological journey under the thumb of a mysterious figure who suspects her husband of stealing millions from a crime syndicate.

An American Crime (2007) - The true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.

Donkey Punch (2008) - Things go drastically wrong for a group of British holidaymakers in Spain.

Out Of The Furnace Film Trailer Analysis

Out Of The Furnace (Starring Christian Bale)

Trailer

It helps the audience to empathise with the character, he appears to have lost a brother whom is killed by a violent, unknown man. It also appears to be a tale of revenge as an old man tells Christian Bale’s character that he “only has one chance” at facing this man.

Written Text

The slogan, "For Hope, For Family, For Justice" is a clear indicator that somehow, someone will get their revenge, however, it will be justified.

Academy Award winners Christian Bale and Forest Whitaker along with Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck and Willem Dafoe are the stars of the movie. Fans of these stars will want to see the movie. Although, Christian Bale gets the whole screen to a picture of him and his name in slightly bigger writing - showing he is the biggest and main star. With the director, Scott Cooper, it references that he was the director of Crazy Heart rather than his name, which means that if you've seen or know of Crazy Heart , you'll want to watch the film, too.

It has no specific date as the it only says “this Fall" and "Coming Soon”, almost urging you to look out for posters or articles about when it ail eventually come out. With the last two pictures, the clips hint that the film is based in a small, industrial town and we know from the accents of the characters that the film is based in America, too.

There is also the credits at the end of the film, which states which members of the production team, cast and other important members of staff as well as the companies that are involved in producing and marketing the film as well as any other associated companies. 

Using social media to create a 'buzz' is becoming evermore useful as lots of different people can talk about or recommend the film, thus inadvertently advertising the film for the production company, without being paid. Out Of The Furnace uses the hash tag '#OutOfTheFurnace' so that people can search and see what other people are tweeting, posting on Facebook or Instagram-ing.

 Spoken Language

“You work too much” says Christian Bale’s on-screen wife, to him. Why? (enticing the audience to want to go to watch the movie and find out why he works too much and what his job is).

“You’ll only get one shot with this guy” says an old man to Christian bale’s character. (What happens, is he victorious or not? Again, this is another piece of filming which makes you want to watch the movie).

Moving Images

It appears to be a normal American town, something we can’t relate to, unless we’ve visited or lived in such a place, before. However, it makes you feel like you might be able to identify with the characters as it (maybe) could be applied to your town.

Sound Effects

Gun shots and punches help to tell you it’s an action movie, but may also be a thriller movie too, as it's fast-paced which helps the audience to get into the movie idea quicker. The emotive lyrics and dark colours give the audience an idea that the film will be emotional.

Music

One clear lyric is the phrase “Release Me” (from Release Me by Pearl Jam) which seems to imply that Christian Bale wants to be released on a revenge mission to avenge the death of his brother. The story is very much centred around Christian Bale's character, which shows that he is the person that will be "released", and from the trailer, we realise he will be released to avenge the death of his brother.

Additional Info.

• The tag line suggests the genre of the film as being a thriller because you want to see what is "For Hope, For Family, For Justice".

• The pictures above, suggest the film will be set in an industrial town, but somewhere normal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw0qH34cbRE

Iconic Thriller Film Directors

What Makes Each Director Different?

Alfred Hitchcock:

Hitchcock is known for a distinctive and recognisable directorial style. He pioneered the use of a camera made to move in a way that mimics a person's gaze, forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism.

 He framed shots to maximise anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative film editing. His stories often feature fugitives on the run from the law alongside "icy blonde" female characters. Many of Hitchcock's films have twist endings and thrilling plots featuring depictions of violence, murder, and crime.

Many of the mysteries, however, are used as decoys or "MacGuffins" that serve the film's themes and the psychological examinations of the characters. Hitchcock's films also borrow many themes from psychoanalysis and feature strong sexual overtones.

Steven Spielberg:

His is films began addressing humanistic issues such as the Holocaust, the Transatlantic slave trade, war, and terrorism. Spielberg's films often deal with several recurring themes. Most of his films deal with ordinary characters searching for or coming in contact with extraordinary beings or finding themselves in extraordinary circumstances. In an AFI interview in August 2000 Spielberg commented on his interest in the possibility of extra terrestrial life and how it has influenced some of his films.

A strong consistent theme in his family-friendly work is a childlike, even naïve, sense of wonder and faith, as attested by works such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Hook, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. According to Warren Buckland, these themes are portrayed through the use of low height camera tracking shots, which have become one of Spielberg's directing trademarks.

The most persistent theme throughout his films is tension in parent-child relationships. Parents (often fathers) are reluctant, absent or ignorant. Peter Banning in Hook starts off in the beginning of the film as a reluctant married-to-his-work parent who through the course of his film regains the respect of his children.

 James Cameron:

Recurring themes include the conflicts between humanity and technology, the dangers of corporate greed, strong female characters, and a strong romance subplot. In almost all films, the main characters usually get into dramatic crisis situations with significant threats to their own life or even the threat of an impending apocalypse. While The Abyss dealt with deep sea exploration, Cameron himself became an expert in the field of deep-sea wreckage exploration, exploring the wreckage of the Titanic and the Bismarck.



Cinematic and Teaser Trailer

Side Effects (2013)

                                Teaser Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2dlPTRQoHk

Cinematic/Theatrical -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEKP3F4QHIg