Final Cut- Invisible Lives Thriller Opening

By Ruby Pearce & Mandy Edmondson

Q7- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at my preliminary task, I feel I have learnt a lot. I believe I have improved on my filming, editing and planning. Before deciding on our final idea for our thriller, we had numerous ideas, but they were too complicated.

We had many influences for our thriller because we have had to analyse many different thrillers. I have learnt to identify generic thriller conventions which have helped me to develop aspects of mise-en-scene in my own thriller, such as, costume, locations, camera angles and lighting. Working with one other person helped to be considerate of others ideas and learn to compromise.

Camera Angles Learnt:

Over Shoulder

Close Up

Point of View/Worms Eye

Tilt shot

Casting actors for our thriller was hard. We had to take into consideration age, appearance and whether they could act or not. We wanted someone young and female which was not very complicated because I am a drama student and the majority of my drama class are females. After choosing Rio to play the homeless girl, we realised that it was going to be even harder to get everyone together at one time. We found it most difficult to choose our older man, in the end we chose my Dad because he lived in Norwich and was willing to act in his spare time. After filming a couple of times we realised that it was going to be harder than it looked, Rio found it hard to get to and from Norwich in her spare time because she was doing A-levels as well, which are very time consuming, so after doing a few shoots with Rio we decided as a group that it would be easier to use ourselves as actors, we considered who was better at filming and who would suite the part, Mandy volunteered herself, which made it easier to get us all together at the same time.

In our preliminary task my editing skills were not as advanced as they are now. For example I have taught myself to use appropriate transition and visual effects to make my edit more elegant. We used slow motion in the shot of the Stalker as he reaches down towards the homeless girl, and then we left it on a cliffhanger to make the audience want to see more.

I have also learnt to choose an appropriate title. It took us a while, we looked at the word 'Homeless' in different languages to make the film look elegant and reach out to a international audience, however we realised that we wanted to appeal to a younger audience. We finally chose, 'Invisible Lives' because it highlighted the amount of homeless people who were not considered to be members of society.

Overall, I have enjoyed making my thriller. I've had my up's as well as downs, which have only made it stronger and more appealing to watch. I've enjoyed the whole experience and discovering new films of the thriller genre. At the start of the course I had only watched a few thrillers, but was not certain what conventions fit into the genre, but now I have learnt key aspects and can recognise the thriller genre.

Q6- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Before starting Media, I was unaware of how to edit and use Adobe Premier Elements however, I taught myself how to use it and picked it up pretty quickly and now understand how to use it fully. Since starting media I have learnt basic skills on how to use the film cameras. I've learnt new angles and learnt how to be patient when it comes to filming.

Camera angles can make or break a film, especially films of the thriller genre, I have definitely learnt the importance of how using various camera angles can make a film more captivating to watch.Different camera angles can connote different emotions.

When editing we had to learn certain editing techniques, like changing the narrative structure. It took a while to get the clips cut and ordered so that it made sense as well as adding the effect, dipping to black, we had to get it precisely in between the two shots that we wanted it to fade from and into the next, without it looking bad.

During filming our thriller we found that lighting was a big issue. We wanted to film in the early

evening but because it was winter there were not enough hours in the day. As well as lighting issues we had problems with getting all our actors together at the same time and had to change the main actress because it was very time consuming. When editing we had to lighten a few of our shots and an effect that sharpened the image as well as brightening, because the shots were not bright enough. The use of playback on the digital camera helped us review what we had just filmed.

This aspect of digital cameras was helpful when we were shooting in the twilight because we were able to check if the footage was readable, for instance we were filming in the night on the bridge and we couldn’t Mandy after filming it- and it was not clear whom we were filming- so we changed the shot and got Mandy to stand so there was a light from the pavement glaring onto Mandy.

When we eventually came to film we learnt a lot, I learnt that you had to be very patient, not all the shots that we had decided to use worked, so we had to do the same shot in several different angles to give us a variety to choose from when editing. The hardest part of filming was when it came to using the camera by hand held instead of the tripod. It took quite a bit of practice to get steady shots when filming hand held.

A rule that we did not want to break was the 180 degree rule. It was important to us because we had already done a small continuity task on the 180 degree rule, which taught us how not to break it and showed us how vital it was to maintain a decent thriller. When editing we had to add titles, I learnt how to do this from other members in the class who helped me and taught me how to do it.

My Preliminary Task

Other technologies that I have learnt to use is my blog. Before starting media I had never used a blog before and was unaware of how to use it. However I did pick it up quickly, I like the simplicity of the website and found this easy to pick up. Blogging allowed us to store work and come back to edit it when we liked also receiving feedback from our media teachers on how to improve. Other technologies helped us construct our media product, such as, YouTube and IMDB, these websites helped us construct our coursework. Without YouTube I would not have been able to analyse clips from thriller films, that helped influence our thriller. IMDB (Internet Movie Database) also helped our coursework, it contained all the thriller films we were studying as well as statistics about audiences, ratings and age groups- I used YouTube and IMBD for researching all thriller films.

Q5- How did you attract/address your audience?

We focused a lot on the mise-en-scene of our thriller to attract and address our audience. Our locations in the thriller are all local and recognizable, which means the audience to relate to regional identity, which means it will attract 'locals' to watch our thriller. As well as location the ages of our actors attract different audience age groups whom can also relate to their class and ethnicity. Our homeless girl is 17 years old meaning that female teenagers can connect with her feelings of being alone.

As well as costume and age the audience can also relate to soundtrack. The soundtrack is fairly menacing and unsettling, however it is not there to address the audience, but there to reflect the thriller genre. Also our thriller highlights issues in society such as, homelessness and the vulnerability of homeless woman.

We used a cliff-hanger at the end of our thriller, to keep the audience on edge. The use of a cliff-hanger means that the audience will want to watch the rest of the film if they are interested in the issues in society that it addresses in a thriller format.

Our audience feedback:

‘More shots of The Stalker’

‘End shot- less ‘fuzzy’ and jolted’

‘More shots of The Stalker watching girls’

I understand these comments and took them on board- the comment: ‘end shot less ‘fuzzy’ and jolted’ , however I like that effect which gives the impression that the homeless girl is disorientated and shows a worms eye/point of view shot. I believe that the use of this will attract a younger audience because they can relate to how she might be feeling if they were in her position.

Our film taps into the contemporary zeitgeist by showing the fears of being stalked and how being a young woman, alone on the streets at night can make you very vulnerable.

Q4- Who would be the audience for your media product?

(Refer to G321 Target Audience)

I think that 'Invisible Lives' targets a more specific/specialist audience. I think because of its gritty opening and unknown actors as well as having unknown directors it already narrows the appeal to certain audiences. Our thriller is more likely to appeal to woman aged 16-25, because they can relate to our homeless girl and her age, also men and woman aged, 35-50 can relate to our Stalker, whom is middle-aged himself and of middle class, not only can they relate to age and class they can also relate to costume. The 16-25 year old young women would enjoy films such as, Fish Tank, This is England, Submarine and Trainspotting. These films attract a younger audience and nearly all of them address an issue about social class, drugs and general issues in society. This demographic might also be interested in the plight of homeless young women or homelessness in general. They might also be concerned about the high percentage of women losing their jobs because of all the huge cuts in public service jobs, and may have experienced it themselves.

If the audience were to watch other thriller films that relate to issues in society, they are likely to watch, This Is England, I found that from the user demographics, 26,348 females aged 18-29 rated this film and 35,750 males voted- only 11,066 aged 3-44. This shows that film was most popular to men but not of older age, this is likely because the film evolves around young adults. Where as men can relate to the dominance and power of The Stalker in our thriller. We hope our film might place the question of homelessness and the dilemma of sleeping rough in the public eye. The play directed by Ken Roach called Cathy Come Home (1966) is about a young couple who become homeless- this play gained rise to the founding of shelter and eventually the beginning of the weekly newspaper, The Big Issue. Because of this my audience may be politically active and educationally aspiring and interested in social issues in Britain.

Q3- What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our production is very low budget and relative to real life issues, such as homelessness and stalking. The best form of distribution for our film would probably be Warp Films, renowned for working with low budget, pioneering film makers as well as distributing alternative films such as, Shane Meadow’s, This is England and Dead Man’s Shoes, also directed by Shane Meadows. This is England reflects a story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a fight, they get to know each other and become his new best friends even like family. Based on the experiences of the director Shane Meadows. It reflects Meadow’s experiences of growing up in the 80’s and the gritty lives of the youth and how a lot of them hated Thatcher.

This is England- Trailer

The idea that Warp Films are mostly realistic and low budget films appeals to our thriller because it could highlight the percentage of homeless people living in the UK- ‘Warp Films is an independent UK film production company. It is based in Sheffield & London, UK with a further office in Melbourne, Australia’.

I could also see our thriller appealing to Film Four, because they, develop and co-finance films and are ‘known for working with the most innovative talent in the UK, whether new or established’. Film Four often host particular genre weeks on their channel to promote new films or recently released films. This could benefit our thriller and not just appeal to a niche audience. As well as Film Four, BBC Films help fund independent films, such as Fish Tank, which is about an alienated and troubled young girl living on a council estate in Tilbury Essex. This film reflects the issues in society that are not widely spoken about- so it is a possibility that BBC Films could be a good option for our film.

Fish Tank- Trailer

As technology is evolving the use of the Internet could access a huge audience through social network sites such as, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and even Youtube. This would work well with warp films because their films appeal to a younger, teenage audience. As well as being the easier approach they are efficiently the cheaper option as well. It is free to post videos on Facebook and Youtube, and both sites contain a large number of potential viewers as anybody can access the internet. This would benefit our film greatly and maybe draw the attention to other media productions.

We considered Working Title films but they are not as approachable because they do not have the recognition of making independent, low budget films, such as our film, Invisible Lives. It is also very hard to gain funding from a well established company because there are no recognisable actors or directors to draw the attention to Working Title, which is normally the attraction they would go for.

In terms of cinemas in media productions, our thriller would suit a more independent cinema such as, Cinema City in Norwich. This could appeal to them because our thriller was filmed in Norwich and would fit with their independent film genres. Cinema City appeals to a niche audience which would fit well with our thriller.

Q2- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our thriller conforms to the stereotypical representation of a patriarchal society of male dominance and women as the victims. However it also challenges social groups because we looked at homeless people. We kept to the idea of the woman being the victim but challenged the stereotypical view of a woman by making her homeless. We wanted to explore the dangers of being homeless and show how vulnerable homeless woman are to abuse. The idea that the homeless girl provides for herself and works day in day out to sell The Big Issue, promotes the idea, how did she get to become homeless? This also challenges the thriller convention by making her confident to stand alone all day in the streets trying to make a living, like the character Jackie Brown, who plays with stereotypes such as, gender, ethnicity, class and age- which is very controversial for the thriller genre. We wanted our homeless girl to push the audiences pre-conceptions of the homeless being typically male and show a strong, interesting lead woman.

After doing some research, I found that typing into google: ‘Young homeless women in the UK’, I found an article from The Independent which states, ‘The number of homeless women has risen by nearly 80 per cent in five years’ (3rd August 2008)

The stalker in our media production does reinforce the typical connotation of a powerful man, such as Jason in Essex Boys. The stalker as a voyeur is inspired by Norman Bates from Psycho who spies on Marion Crane. We wanted the audience to realise that not all respectable looking people are friendly. The use of putting the stalker in a suit makes him look upper class, which ultimately makes people respect him and also shows his power, as well as making him look very un-suspicious, like John Doe in the film Seven who plays a genius psychopath. However we have challenged the media stereotype of the older middle class man being respected and law abiding. BBC TV News are full of images of men in suits and in control.

Our film also reflects the anxiety and pessimism of austerity in Britain and the effect it has had on the youth unemployment. Unemployment in the UK has rose by 129,000 in the three months to September to 2.62 million as youth unemployment rose above a million. ‘The jobless total for 16 to 24-year-olds hit a record of 1.02 million in the quarter and female unemployment was at its highest for 23 years.’ (BBC News).

Q1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My group’s thriller, challenges the conventions of a thriller. Youths are usually represented as yobs whilst older people are represented as the ‘good guys’. However our thriller does also reinforce gender stereotypes of the male and female. Our female Big Issue vendor is innocent, and the male is the predator. Our thriller shows the risky lives of Big Issue vendor’s throughout the UK, indicating the invisible lives they are living on a day to day basis. Our film was inspired by the novel, Stone Cold by Robert Swindells. The narrative switches between a boy called Link, a newly homeless teenager and Shelter, an ex army-officer who is slowly killing homeless teenagers. We wanted to show the extreme vulnerability of females whom are homeless. We wanted to highlight the fact that we are always being watched, and we may not always realise it.

The technology of CCTV really emphasises the fact that we cannot get away from the technological ‘eye’.

It is estimated that there are in excess of 4 million CCTV cameras in the UK, and you are likely to be caught on camera, at least 300 times a day. Voyeurism is a convention used in our thriller, which is a subject used widely in Alfred Hitchcock’s, Rear Window and Psycho. Although the homeless girl could be viewed as independent because she is taking the upper hand of selling the Big Issue to earn money so she can get further in life; she is very much still the femme-fatale character in our thriller but with a modern day twist.

We were inspired very much by the cinematography of Carol Reed’s, The Third Man. The low angle tilt shots of The Stalker standing in the door way, certainly suggests the iconic shot of Harry Lime in the doorway before he vanishes into the shadows. The low ambient lighting is a generic convention of thriller films, it reflects the treachery and nightmare of the villain. Not only did The Third Man influence the cinematography of our thriller it also influenced the costume and location ideas. Our costume for, The Stalker was very much based around the costume in The Third Man, it’s elegant and smart suites show sophistication which would not usually be used on the predator. The idea that you would never suspect a gentleman in a suit adds to how defenceless our homeless girl character is.

The glamorous settings of darkly lit streets embedded with history, reflect the wet streets of Vienna in The Third Man. We filmed our thriller in Norwich, around St. Andrews Hall (the red lines show where we filmed). At night it was very dimly lit which worked well the shots we used which also added another thriller convention to our film and a sense of realism to the mise-en-scene. We thought that it added a mysterious factor to our thriller, like in In Bruges by Martin McDonagh. The lighting style similarly reflects the criminal underbelly of Essex in Winsor’s gritty, British thriller, Essex Boys, as well as in Mochod’s, Animal Kingdom in which the stylised lighting reflects the underbelly of Melbourne. This convention emphasises the sordid lives of J’s grandmother and his criminal uncles. Also the noir lighting is reflecting in Thelma and Louise by Tarantino, where they murder Harlem in a dingy car park- the darkness connotes the abusive and dangerous nature of Harlem as he threatens Thelma and Louise.

Our soundtrack links to the mise-en-scene of the thriller by fitting in with the our jump cuts at the beginning of the film and the fear of being stalked. The soundtrack is very chilling and creepy with its sudden high pitched symbol like noises, which is very spine tingling and haunting. This links closely to the vulnerable homeless girl and how she would be feeling if you were to step into her shoes.

We struggled with what to name our thriller. We considered many ideas and took a while to research what would suit our thriller, as a whole. We started by looking in the thesaurus under words such as, Vulnerable, Stalked and Predator, but none of them felt catchy or stood out. We had to think of something that would draw people to our film if it was to go on a multiplex cinema or an independent cinema, as well as thinking of the audience we wanted to attract. We spent hours of sorting through the thesaurus looking at words that were linked to our thriller, but nothing seemed to catch on, and then finally we thought of, ‘Invisible Lives’. It links to the homeless being invisible to the eye of an outsider and the idea that people do not batter an eye lid to whom they are passing which makes some people, ‘invisible’. As well as linking to the homeless girl it links to The Stalker being ‘invisible’ because the homeless girl never notices him until he approaches her. The Stalker is never named in our thriller like in the thriller, Layer Cake, where Daniel Craig’s character in the credits is shown as, XXXX. The use of this creates a sort of ego for the male character and distances the character and the audience, creating a sense of mystery.

The use of thriller conventions in our film allows a balance of characters and makes the film universal, meaning that the audience can feel emotionally attached to the character of the homeless girl. In our thriller opening we want the audience to question and want to see more, will the girl survive? And why is the man stalking this girl? It is ultimately shown as men against women. The use of enigma helps to create tension.