Evaluation1zaydh 110416184604-phpapp02 (1)

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Audience Feedback 4

Gender: Female
Age: 16

1) What do you think about the camera work? - Shots, angles etc.
I think there was a nice range of shots angles, not all similar which I like.

2) What do you think about the music/soundtrack? - Background music, sound effects etc.
I think the background music fits in really well with what you see on screen.

3) What is your opinion on the storyline so far?
I think the storyline can build up into something as long as you don't stray too far from the original concept while expanding it.

4) What do you think about the acting skills?
The acting skills are quite good, not much to really say on it but some of it seems forced, without enough emotion. Example would be the scene in the garden.

5) Overall, what are your views based on appeal and characteristics of a general thriller, and whether our thriller meets these requirements?
I love thrillers and similar genres and have watched a lot, I tend to find films that keep you on the edge of your seats to be the more enjoyable ones, especially if there are twists in the story, which as a personal view makes it even better. Predictable films are less enjoyable.

Audience Feedback 2

Gender: Female
Age: 15

1) What do you think about the camera work? - Shots, angles etc.
Camera shots and angles are well structured and varied, a certain few compliment the situation in the video for example the shot used when a character is tied to the chair. Lengths of shots are used appropriately.

2) What do you think about the music/soundtrack? - Background music, sound effects etc.
Generally the music is appropriate, but doesn't make the opening sequence as
effective as it could be. It’s not entirely varied and isn’t the strongest point but works otherwise.

3) What is your opinion on the storyline so far?
I'd say it’s quite interesting, having a child in a thriller has its advantages. Manipulating the child’s emotions and fears is an interesting concept plus it suits the genre well. The "scars" looked effective but I didn’t like looking at it - unpleasant. I'd like to know what happens to the boy now that he's fainted.

4) What do you think about the acting skills?
They are quite good; the child displayed a lot of fear from the nightmare to reality which was pretty much the concept of "A Living Nightmare". Mother and father roles are played well, typical parents.

5) Overall, what are your views based on appeal and characteristics of a general thriller, and whether our thriller meets these requirements?
I think thrillers have some sort of psychological aspect to them, and this opening sequence fits in with it, and using a child actor instead of an adult makes it more effective. There isn't too much gore in the short clip which isn't too revealing and is appropriate for a thriller. Music could be more powerful, or used more effectively, but other than that it’s a well directed suitable clip as a thriller opening sequence.

Audience Feedback 3

Gender: Male
Age: 18

1) What do you think about the camera work? - Shots, angles etc.
 I thought the camera work was great, especially the camera angles used such as the 360 degree shot.

2) What do you think about the music/soundtrack? - Background music, sound effects etc.
The background music used fit perfectly to match the scenes.

3) What is your opinion on the storyline so far?
I think the storyline was pretty good, I liked the whole psychological idea, and left me wondering what had happened after he fainted.

4) What do you think about the acting skills?
The acting skills were also good and I think all the characters were great.


5) Overall, what are your views based on appeal and characteristics of a general thriller, and whether our thriller meets these requirements?
I like psychological thrillers as they keep me thinking and make me feel a bond with the characters, in which this thriller did just that and I want to know what happens next.

Audience Feedback 1

Gender: Male
Age: 17

1) What do you think about the camera work? - Shots, angles etc
The camera angle was done very nicely as you could see the faces properly and the detail

2) What do you think about the music/soundtrack? - Background music, sound effects etc.
The use of the background music was used very effectively as it builds into the moment of the scene and even without the video you can picture what the scene would be like.

3) What is your opinion on the storyline so far?
The story line so far is excellent, as it can lead to a various amount of possibilities if it had continued.

4) What do you think about the acting skills?
Acting skills was to a high standard, especially when the boy was scared and could hear the deep scary voice in the background just to show it’s a nightmare

5) Overall, what are your views based on appeal and characteristics of a general thriller, and whether our thriller meets these requirements?
The characteristics show very well that this scene is a horror thriller because of the background music, time of day and the intense appearance in acting.

Evaluation[1] zayd h

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Zayd and Davina capturing the shots we will be using for the opening sequence.

       Ninthuja filling in the log sheet using the small monitor, to make sure we know where to start and stop capturing.

  Zayd and Davina watching over the shot, to make sure we have not captured too early or too late.

    Zayd and Davina watching the shots, and choosing which ones too use in the final sequence.

Analysing the shot to check for any mistakes.

*Created using Photoshop.

Ninthuja directing Sai, the main actor, as to how his eye levels, body language and movement should occur for that scene.

Zayd fixing the camera onto the tripod.

Davina applying make-up as wounds for the nightmare scene, on Nisha, the mother.

Zayd watching over the scene which had just been shot, to check for any mistakes. 

Ninthuja and Davina adjusting chains onto Sai's feet for the Nightmare scene.

Zayd waiting on the scene to be prepped for the shot of the 'Games Master'.

A shot of the bloody chair with chains draped over.

A shot of Nisha after the make-up of wounds/bruising had been applied.

Initial Idea

Idea for movie:

A character has just watched a horror movie, something very gory and unpleasant that has really messed around his mind and caused him to be paranoid. Later on that night, when the character starts to fall asleep the camera goes blurry and cuts to a scene which is his dream which results in him being a part of that horrifying movie. Some action should be included in this because it would make the sequence look more unique, and action has been very highly preferred too. The movie can have a psychotic villain whom the person must kill, so that would mean there would be a hero and a villain which must die. The villain can be an incredibly messed up serial killer who likes to feast human organs.

Professional job roles – Cameraperson

A camera person is responsible for filming a movie or television show. They must always try to get the shot sizes and angles right for the benefit of the audience. A camera person works with digital, electronic and film cameras. They usually have assistants to help them when filming so they can get the work done faster with an extra pair of hands at help.

A camera assistant has many jobs in helping their boss out such as repairing camera equipment, planning camera shots, studying scripts and so much more. The camera person is responsible for operating the camera physically and maintaining composition throughout a scene or shot. In filmmaking, the camera person will talk with the director/actors/film crew to decide how to film certain parts of a scene so the right decision would be made in the end.

Important camera operator skills include choreographing and framing shots, knowledge of and the ability to select appropriate photographic lenses, and other equipment (dollies, camera cranes, etc.) to portray dramatic scenes. If someone was looking to be a camera person they would need to have an interest in lighting/video/film/theatre, excellent hand-eye co-ordination, knowledge of editing and so on. A fan of camerawork is a must if it is expected of you to work in this type of job.

Funding & Distribution

The main priority for film makers is finding someone to fund their movie. Funding is the most complicated issue when it comes to film making because the company who is financing your movie has to agree with your script and may need to make changes to it so they can fund it. Hollywood has many film studios that directors can pitch their movie to for funding. Warner Bros, Paramount Studios and Walt Disney are a few examples of huge film funding studios. The British film industry is not as big as the likes of Hollywood. Most directors within the UK have to rely on small places for loans to fund their movie, such as banks or different companies. For example, I met the producer of Kidulthood, he had mentioned that he had gone to Costa coffee Inc for funding his movie. There are certain film studios within the UK that are partnered with a US film studio such as Working Title who is partnered with Universal Pictures. Universal Pictures have been one of the big film studios that distribute British films worldwide.

In 1989, British cinema hit its all time low, however, since 2000; British cinema has become quite successful. BBC Films and Film 4 are known to have funded many British films, and independent companies such as Working Title which has been mentioned above have secured financing and distribution deals with major American studios. Working Title had mainly produced worldwide international hits with its rom-coms such as Love Actually which grossed $239 million. Mama Mia had been the most successful in 2008, when it grossed $601 million. Many Hollywood film directors have been influenced by British culture and history. This can be seen in many of the Disney animated films such as Robin Hood and Alice In Wonderland. Although Hollywood is way ahead of the British film industry, the British film industry has produced many successful actors in its time such as the likes of Sir Alfred Hitchcock who directed one of the most successful films of all time, Psycho (1960). The future looks good for the British film industry as many British films released are successful from the likes of Harry potter to James Bond which are US funded but played by British actors. However, at the same time many UK film productions are never released.

Film directors need to rely on good film distribution companies because they are responsible for releasing the films to many cinema companies. If a good distribution company is selected for the film, then there is more chance of the movie making lots of money because it will be shown in lots of cinemas. Distribution also describes all the things that happen when making the film and then the sales of the movie when it goes on DVD. It is basically responsible with getting the film promoted and shown to a large audience. Promoting the film means advertising it so the audience are notified of it. Advertising the film is very complicated, because there are so many different ways in doing it. Some distributors promote their product by the use of action figures. This is mostly done for movies based on superheroes from magazines.

Clothing is also a way to advertise, by putting the film pictures on clothing items such as shirts. Fast food adverts such as Burger King and McDonald’s are used to advertise the films within their meals by giving the advert a theme of the film. Toys are also used in children meals in certain fast food restaurants if the distributor is promoting a children movie.

Subject Matter

From our questionnaires and interviews, we have gained a lot of information for our 2 minute opening sequence. We had asked the target audience all the questions that we thought would help us decide what to do for our 2 minute sequence. From these bits of information, we had learned that all of the target audience had watched a thriller so this was very helpful because we would be able to get different opinions on different types of thriller movies.

In regard to the sub-genre categories, we asked the target audience which had been their favourite. Horror had been the most preferred sub-genre of a thriller movie, with action and psychological behind by a few votes. So this has helped us in thinking different types of ideas for the thriller movie and what should be included.

The results from the questionnaires also showed us what movies are liked by the target audience, with Paranormal Activity, Inception, The Ring, Bad Boys and Scream as the most liked. This can be understandable as they are all the highly preferred sub-genres of thrillers chosen. The ratings of thrillers the target audience has preferred watching was 18 movies, and this was picked mostly by the 13-16 year olds. This information we got from the interviews and questionnaires have really given us a wide range of ideas in creating the thriller sequence and making it as good as possible.

Interview Questions 2

1) What do you look for in a thriller?

2) What grabs your attention most in a thriller?

3) Would you prefer a thriller to end resolved or with a cliff hanger and why?

4) When you watch a thriller from a certain sub-genre, what do you expect to be in it?

5) If you were to expect something different in a thriller, what would it be and why?



1) I like a top billed cast, as most times they are just the best acting talent out there, and I like to get immersed in the characters, which I can’t do if the acting is terrible. With a thriller there needs to be plenty of action, if I want a slow movie id watch a rom-com or a documentary etc I don’t like my films to be realistic; I find it sometimes to be quite disturbing and boring, because real life is boring. Therefore I like a large amount of fantasy to keep me interested.

2) The action scenes and their build up. There’s always a tense bit of music before the action, then the fast camera cuts and the clever wide panning to close-up transitions, when the action gets going. There’s always loud, fast paced dramatic music, and the actions the main part of the film. I feel like everything else just leads up to the action, or sums up the action at the end.

3) I like it to end resolved. Cliff hangers are supposedly for you to make your own ending of it, but then the producers bring out a mediocre sequel; ruin the viewers made up ending by replacing it with a shoddy excuse for a decent film. Clearly just trying to make more money off the first film rather than trying to make just a good film. So I prefer when a film has an absolute ending, to prevent bad sequels and such. Although it is difficult to find many resolute endings which work nicely, some seem rushed and are done poorly, and you always run the risk that the ending you dreamt up yourself would have been more satisfactory than the one the film makers provide.

4) Well I do like the predictability of action has to keep to the general setup of all action films so at the beginning we meet a character unsure of themselves (top billed of course) who is going to be our hero then a large problem comes up, still near the beginning: there’s nothing worse than a slow build up - I like the main character to be introduced and then get on with it so the main character starts plotting how to fix this problem, I expect of course a love interest at this stage, and normally an unsuspecting civilian innocently thrust into the line of action always works nicely then huge action scenes, dramatic, good music, has to look like a struggle then a resolved ending, "baddy" defeated, guy gets girl I do rather enjoy a happy ending.

5) If this was in terms of an action thriller then I would have to say the hero does not survive at the end and instead the love interest or friends/family have to suffer. I chose this reason as many action movies these days just have the love interest dying and the hero surviving throughout the whole film.

Interview Questions 1

1) What do you look for in a thriller?

2) What grabs your attention most in a thriller?

3) Would you prefer a thriller to end resolved or with a cliff hanger and why?

4) When you watch a thriller from a certain sub-genre, what do you expect to be in it?

5) If you were to expect something different in a thriller, what would it be and why?



1) Originality is substantially the most important aspect of a thriller, in my opinion. If it lacks innovative ideas and plots then I have no intention of watching the film. An underlying plot, perhaps misleading the viewers is quite appealing too but I’ll always expect something like that so a twist within a twist would end up making me motivated, I’d like to think that this would work effectively with mystery thrillers. I always look for clues or anything apprehensive that will develop a sort of idea of where or who is the source of the “problem” is and if too much is given away or too less. It could not even be a mystery thriller and could lead the viewers into deeper contemplation about little clues about each character. Character development is critical, if the actor cannot bring forth emotions correctly then what we make of the character goes completely downhill, so I usually like to see who is in the film; their past roles may alter the viewers decision of watching the film.

2) What grab’s my attention most in the thriller is the inimitable clues that I endeavour to find, I normally find myself trying to figure out the source of the plot with all the clues I’ve found or construe what will end up happening next from all the dialogue and events that have happened beforehand. The main characters immediately acquire most of my attention, they have to be played well and if they’re part of the disclosed plot then they should maintain their identity through out the film. Conversely, if they are put forth as the “villain” then they should depict a faint relationship between their rival, likewise with horror thrillers, if the murderer has a motive that will intrigue me because I would love to hear the reason of they chose their victim. I particularly enjoy a slight tinge of humour in thrillers, lots of action and chemistry between the characters. A realistic, believable screams usually makes the ambience a little better, it can change a lot about the scene.

3) I, for my part, prefer cliff hangers, because the anticipation and all the excitement leaves you thinking what actually did happen, and if your discussing the film with friends or family people will all be drawn from different conclusions because we all psychologically apprehend the film differently. That’s what thrillers all about right? ...Anticipation and shock, so why ruin the thoughts over the concluding scene by revealing what was given to the viewer to chew over.

4) Thrillers that I usually watch consist of the sub genres: Horror, Mystery, and Psychological. The conventions of those sub genres usually conclude in a twist or require a lot of thinking. I always expect misleading events because that’s just the way the films work, and the setting of the film I usually expect to be an ordinary place or town that people has never seen publicised that frequently.

5) It’s quite difficult to expect something in a thriller that you wouldn’t really expect because thrillers usually adapt to the opposite of peoples psychosomatic expectations; therefore making the shocking affect. However, if I was to see something different it would be making the following scenes or characters quite conspicuous so your initial thought would be “This is too evident”, therefore making you seek an unlikely source and try to find a motive behind their actions.

Analysis of questionnaires

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Thriller questionnaire

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Similar Text Analysis – Fast and Furious

The clip starts with a superimposition caption of the location of the setting. A tracking shot then establishes the setting more clearly revealing a lorry driving on a hugely cracked road with the mountains and trees in the background. The caption reveals the location of the setting is in the “Dominican Republic”. Loud sound effects of the lorry driving are heard as it bumps up and down on the cracked road. Tracking shot continues as the camera gets slowly closer then it whips to the right to reveal 3 cars driving behind the lorry. The incidental music then begins as the cars are seen which connotes that they are going to cause trouble with this car judging by the speed they are driving to catch up with it. The clip cuts to a CU (Close-up) shot of two characters in one of the cars. The characters are male and female with the male using a walkie talkie denoting that he is communicating with the other characters in the car. Male character is driving the car wearing a short sleeved shirt as it’s a sunny day. Another CU shot reveals the two characters kissing each other, connoting that they are in a relationship. The clip then cuts to a MS (Mid-shot) of the car in more detail and the female character climbing out of it while the male character is driving. Then we get a LS (Long-shot) of the car driving behind the lorry and getting closer to it. Incidental music is growing louder as the suspense continues to build. The camera then starts to move closer to the female character as she climbs on top of the car and then it cuts to a CU shot of the male character talking into the walkie talkie and saying “Everyone in position” connoting that they are about to start robbing the lorry. A high angle crane shot reveals the female character on the front of the car and then the clip cuts to a MCU (Medium close up) of two new characters in one of the other two cars.

The male character is talking into the walkie talkie with the other male character and the female character with him is eating from a brown bag. The clip then cuts to a CU shot of the female characters face that is on the front of the car revealing nervousness and anxiety because of the danger she is currently in, then her expression changes to excitement connoting that she has done this before and enjoys robbing money.
The camera then cuts to the third car revealing two male characters this time, and the driver is talking into the communication device. The characters in the two cars are all talking in a foreign language so a translation is seen in English as they talk. Sound effects are used here to highlight the sounds of the cars as they drive through the bumpy road. MCU tracking shot of the woman about to jump onto the lorry is then seen.

Tracking shot of the front of the car and loud sound effects are used as the male character who is driving revs the engine. Constant tracking shot of the front and back of the car is seen as it drives next to the lorry. The camera then cuts to a CU crane shot of the lorry drivers expression as he begins to realise what is happening. Expression from the lorry driver shows shock and bewilderment as he sees the car speeding and getting closer to him. POV (Point of view) shot of the lorry driver shows the male character in the car gaining fast on the lorry. The scene cuts to a tilt up shot of the female character climbing on top of the lorry connoting that she is experienced in this sort of situation. High angle crane shot of the setting is then seen revealing the lorry and the cars driving behind it. More trees can be seen on the side and the road continues to be bumpy with large cracks in it.

The crane shot moves to the right to reveal the female character running on top of the lorry. Incidental music continues to create suspense as the clip carries on. The clip then cuts to a MCU shot of the expression on one of the characters driving the car from behind the lorry. The expression reveals determination and excitement denoting that he is determined to finish the job and succeed. CU shots of the character hitting the accelerator hard and pulling the gearstick shows that he is about to do something to the lorry as he prepares to speed up faster. This can also be seen when another CU shot of the speedometers cursor going up high. High angle crane shot of the characters car reveals him turning it quickly and connects it with the lorry, denoting that the robbery heist is near to taking place. Incidental music continues to grow louder as the suspense builds. Loud sound effects are heard as the car connects with the lorry, building to the scene of tension. Female character shouting “IT’S LOADED” denotes that the lorry has connected with the car. High crane angle shot reveals the female character from the lorry jumping on to the bar connected to the lorry from the car. Loud sound effects are heard as she lands on to the metal connector.

Camera cuts to a POV shot of the lorry driver looking in his side mirror to see what has happened. Expressions on his face reveal fear and anxiety denoting that this character is not looking forward to what may happen. Loud sound effects are heard as the lorry driver starts’ beeping at the car in front of him, but this reveals that he knows what is happening as he keeps looking to the side mirror and the front of the car with a terrified expression on his face. Camera then cuts to a low angle CU shot of the female character from the lorry spraying a substance on the metal to freeze it. The sound effects of the spray sounds can be heard clearly. Camera then cuts to a MS of the character driving in the car at the front of the lorry, and his expressions reveals greed and excitement as the lorry driver continues to honk his horn. Camera then cuts to the female character getting a large hammer out and banging on the metal connector which she sprayed the substance on. Sound effects of the hammer and metal connecting with each other are very loud and the incidental music continues to grow louder as the suspense is building up. High angle crane shot reveals the lorry separating from the fuel tank.