Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Hello, I am currently working towards the creation of a film opening in Media Studies, as a part of this I am asking a questionnaire to engage in primary research which will enable me to refine my ideas based on which aspects of film people enjoy most. I would greatly appreciate you taking a small amount of time to do this. Please circle your preferred answer unless an alternative method is specified.

1.      Which gender are you?

MALE                                                                   FEMALE

2.      To which age range to you belong?

13-15                    16-18              19-25              24-40              41-60            61+

3.                        What is your favourite genre?

Horror       Thriller Adventure       Comedy         Romance       Sci-fi

Other (please specify) ____________________________________

4.      Do you pay attention to the setting of a thriller film?

YES                                                       NO

5.      Do you watch a thriller film because of a trailer that you’ve seen?

YES                   NO                  MOSTLY YES                        MOSTLY NO

6.      On a scale of 1-10, in terms of entertainment, how do you rate the thriller genre? _____________________________

7.      What do you find most important when watching a thriller film?

Plot           Music                       Characters                 Costume           Props          

Location                                             Storyline

8.      In which of the following locations would you expect to see a thriller?

Haunted Mansion         Dark Woodland         the middle of nowhere

Dark

Empty Street

                Other, please specify ___________________________________

9.      Which age certificate of thrillers do you watch?

12                                               15                                18

10. Which age certificate of thrillers do you find most entertaining?

12                                               15                                18

11. How many thriller films have you ever seen??

0             1-5                  6-10                11-15              16-20              20+

12. On average, how often do you watch a new thriller film?

Fortnightly or less         Every month               Every 3 months         

Every 6 months                         Less often than every 6 months

13. Which is your favourite type of thriller?

Disaster thriller             Psychological thriller Crime thriller             

Techno-thriller

14. Which of the following do you prefer a thriller film to do?

Challenge the audience actively?                 

Explain the plot throughout the film?

Thank you very much for taking my questionnaire.

Thriller Opening Costumes

This is a mask as featured on The Strangers. A part of our idea entails a member of the group having a crime committed on them by a masked man, and the mask would be similar to this one, a sort of cloth material completely covering the face putting on an unconventional smile and two eye holes. This person would also wear very dark colours to be subtle.

The two detectives who are looking to 'get to the bottom' of the case will wear fairly plain suits like the one in the picture. It connotes intelligence and power of authority, which makes the audience straight away think that the two characters are heroes and not villains, strong and not weak, etcetera.

Donnie Darko

In 2001, Richard Kelly directed the film "Donnie Darko". There are many explanations to the theory of this film as it revolves around a book Donnie is given by his teacher - a book called "The Philosophy of Time Travel". I feel that this makes the film a psychological thriller. Donnie has a friend named Frank in the story, who in my opinion plays the role of a "Ghost of Christmas Future" type of character. I feel this plays with the conventions of a thriller, most of the time the main character has something he/she distinctly fears, this time he appears to be the friend of Donnie.

At the start of the film we see Donnie laying down at the top of a mountain slowly awakening. There is non-digetic sound at this point, although it is not very noticeable. The sound is some piano keys sounding, which is relaxing, matching the scene and going against the conventions of thriller openings being particularly tense. The mise-en-scene is the titles being played around a lightning storm while a pan takes place, showing the area in which the scene is taking place. Although the sound isn't so unsettling, it does fill us with mystery as we wonder why Donnie is laying down in a storm. When awaking, Donnie starts laughing at his presumed sleepwalking, continuing to fill us with wonder. Usually when seeing this, we think of a psycopathic person, with a derranged laugh, and there are many close-ups showing the facial expression, which is used to good effect. 

The non-digetic sound appears to match the pace of the opening, once Donnie has awoken and starts riding his bike, the music speeds up. This is a good use of non-digetic sounds as it blends in well with the visual part of the opening, and implicitly we expect everything to be unsettlingly normal before the action starts.

In the film, Donnie appears to be uncaring of anything that happens, he is not particularly bothered that he has been sleepwalking, what we do see appears to be odd, however a large part of him is covered up by the lighting. Typically, this shows the villain, but in the film it turns out to be the "hero", this aspect of the film is very unconventional. Due to the fact that it is strange, the audience reaches confusion as the hero and the villain both seem to intertwine within Donnie, and when Frank is around, Donnie appears oblivious to anything else. The characterisation used is very abstract to what we come to expect when usually seeing a thriller film.

Thriller Ideas

Thriller Idea 3 (my idea)

My idea was called Pestilence - the definition of pestilent is for something or someone to be anything between annoying to deadly, for example morally, physically, socially or politically harmful.

Narrative

Two federal people discussing the murderer as two mini-stories take place, as the murder being portrayed as flashbacks. Murder is filmed outside perhaps at night as the conversation takes place in a normal room. The conversation could be a voice over as a murder is taking place too.

The people discussing the villain and his previous crimes uttering lines such as:

1. "He is dangerous"
2. "We need to kill him before he strikes again"
3. "He's a danger to society"
4. "The most wanted man in England"

Characters

There is a victim, a villain and two chiminal investigers.

Credits

• The credits may have the effect of a card with letters cut out with a torch shone through.
• Credits used with a file which would be slapped down on a desk.

BBFC - what they do and why they do it.

g"The BBFC is an independent, self-financing and not-for-profit media content regulator. We operate transparent, consistent and trusted co-regulatory and self-regulatory classification and labelling systems in the UK."

Taken from the BBFC Official Website, their mission statement means that they are a voluntary company which take public responsibility in providing all of the UK's released films with honest certificates. In doing this, they are able to assist families when making informed decision on their viewing preferences and protect the public (mainly minors) from any potentially damaging viewing. 

All of the above are different certificates given to films when the BBFC sees fit.

 'U' stands for Universal. It is unpredictable what any human being may be offended by, but films such as these should usually be suitable for any audience. There is usually no discrimination, use or glorification of illegal drugs etc, however there may be occasional use of mildly bad language or differentiated references of sex, for example kissing. There is sometimes violence used, but it is only ever mild, and in a Universal film there should be nothing negative that may influence a young child.

 'PG' stands for Parental Guidance. It entails that films are usually suitable for all, however parents are advised to stay with any young children as there is sometimes something which may upset a younger child. There may be subtle references to sexual content, and moderate violence if supported by its theme (ie. fantasy or war). Any scenes of mild horror should not be prolonged and any use of illegal drugs must be carried with an anti-drug message.

Films classified as "12" or "12A" are basically ones which are unsuitable for children under the age of 12. 12A is only ever given when the film is to be shown in a cinema and an adult must accompany the child and be cautious about showing them if they are under 12. In 12 rated films, any use of drugs must be infrequent and not glorified, and any imitable behaviour must be kept to a minimum, ie. suicide. Sex and nudity must be shown as discreet and rare within the film and moderate language is allowed. For example, "fuck" is allowed if used infrequently. Violence can be used if not prolonged, and there is no direct dwelling on the effects, such as blood. There must always be a strong contextual justification for violence, it must never be spontaneous and unjustified.

  The laws on 15 rated films become much more strict than others (excluding 18, more on this later). No child under the age of 15 is allowed to watch a film with this certificate at the cinema and must be unable to rent or purchase any works of this in a shop. Drugs are allowed to be used more openly in these films, as long as easily obtainable drugs are not glorified, such as solvents, and strong threat and menace are permitted providing they are not sadistic or sexual. Sex is allowed to be portrayed unless specifically strong detail is used. Violence is permitted unless there is a prolonged dwelling on infliction of injury and strongly gory images are not allowed. Any sexual violence must be discreet and uncommon.

Any film with a certificate 18 is viewable to adults only due to the Human Rights Act 1998, stating that adults should be free to watch what they choose. Everything is permitted unless it breaks a specific law, however even these are allowed if used to educate.

Institutions that produce, market and distribute thriller films

The media institution that I have selected to research is Univeral Studios - they have distributed many thriller films in recent years. The company is based in the USA however they serve and operate worldwide, so it would not be an issue. 



This institution is a subsiduary of NBCUniversal - Universal Studios create many movies of many different genres - they create a serious amount of films such as action, adventure, thriller, horror and comedy. 


Some examples of thriller movies produced are as follows:

• The Unborn
• The Strangers
• Doomsday
• Drag Me To Hell

I believe Universal Studios would be a very good institution for the following reasons:

• Producing: This institute has an incredibly high budget from successful films in the past, so the film would not need to worry about how much money they would have - it would usually be a large amount of money. As well as this, some of the best sets for filming are owned by Universal.
• Marketing: They are able to market incredibly well, again due to the high budget. Not only this, but there is a very large fan base and all films made by this institute are always noted down on lists which are often publicised - many people would be able to hear about my thriller film, meaning it would develop a high amount of interest were it a success.
• Distribution: This is probably the largest incentive in terms of financial power; with a lot of money, they could distribute a film in incredibly high volumes worldwide into every continent, and considering they have a very large stake in the market and are a respected brand, it is likely there would be many sales and reviews for the film. 

NBC Universal Studios Headquarters,  boasts itself as one of the tallest buildings in the state to which it belongs.