Section 1: Task 3: Questionnaire
Media Questionnaire :)

The aim of this questionnaire is to gather research for media coursework about the thriller genre, and people's opinions on it. Please answer all the questions, and thank you in advance for taking the time to fill in this questionnaire.

How old are you?
◘ 15 and below ◘ 16 ◘ 17 ◘ 18 ◘ 19 ◘ 20 and above

Gender?
◘ Male ◘ Female

How often do you go to the cinema, or watch a fim, on average each month?
◘ Never ◘ Once ◘ Twice ◘ Once a week ◘ Every day ◘ Most weeks

How would you define the thriller genre?
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

Do you like the thriller genre?


◘ Yes ◘ No

Why?

____________________________________________

What do you think makes a good thriller?

Do you prefer gory or psychological thrillers more?

◘ Gory ◘ Psychological

In your opinion, what is the difference between a certificate 15 thriller, and a certificate 18 thriller?

_____________________________________________

Which do you prefer?

◘ 15 ◘ 18

Section 1: Task 3: Film Certificate
We have chosen to make a certificate 15 film.
This is because:
- There is a bigger target market for 15 films, as from our research we know that there is a significant market for 15 - 17 year olds especially, and cutting this market out would damage the viewings of our film.
- The difference between a certificate 15 and a certificate 18 is the amount of gore, violence and sex in the film. Choosing a 15 film meant that we could cut out the amount of gore and violence, which would both make the film easier to shoot, and still keep the storyline effective, but also turn our film into a psychological thriller moreso, which from our research we know that the target audience want, in comparison to a gory thriller.

SECTION 1 THE THRILLER GENRE

The thriller genre in general is greatly misinterpreted and not understood properly. this is mainly because there are so many opinions on what makes a thriller a thriller. Luckily a man called Martin Rubin came along and created a book that includes all thriller writers and what they had to say about what makes a thriller, so basically he just got stuff that other people had said and put it in a book (cheater), so since he didn't put much effort in to writing the book you would of though he would of put more effort into the tittle "thrillers"(wow, how did he think of that one). Anyway that's enough about Martin, he isn't the important one, its what the people inside said that counts, such as:

G K Chesterton

who said :

It is a modern genre (yes well that was obvious)

Not set in the normal countryside landscape but instead set in modern urban cities

It attempts to find the poetry of modern life

Finds excitement in everyday environments (in G K's case at the buffet)

Transforms the ordinary into the extordinary

Northrop Frye

This guy (who looks uncannily like Jerry springer) basically agreed with Chesterton's theory, but added his own ideas as well, such as:

The hero is often just an ordinary person

The audience is happy to believe the extraordinary situations that occur (suspended belief)

It turns the modern city into the "enchanted forest"

John Cawelti

This happy chappy combined Chesterton's and Frye's theory's, he said:

The genre transforms the city from 'a modern centre of commerce, industry and science into a place of enchantment and mystery.'

He said that this was achieved by introducing 'the exotic' into the everyday world, like the board game in Jamange, or introducing a book or a ring or something that makes the character start an adventure.

W H Matthews

Now this guy was obsessed with puzzles, mazes and labyrinths, so he Incorporated this into his theory he talked about:

The image of Theseus descending into the underground maze, full of twists and turns, puzzles and dead-ends.

To design a thriller narrative, add complex twists and turns so that the audience doesn't solve the problem too easily, but it should be designed so that when the audience look back they can understand why that was the outcome.

Pascal Bonitzer

This cool dude basically stole Matthews' theory and re-named it. He said:

Matthews was describing "partial vision" when he advocates mazes

The audience should only see so much

What the audience doesn't see is part of the thrill

The narrative picks a way through the maze.

Lars Ole Saurberg

This person who's name i can't pronounce was interested in concealment and protraction in the thriller genre, he talks about:

• Two ways in which suspense can be added, the first
  

Deliberately hiding something from the audience (concealment)

delaying or protracting an expected outcome

For example in the film Apollo 13 the audience knows that the characters survive, yet they are still on the edge of their seet.

Noel Carroll

The clues are all there, white beard, chubby exterior and the name 'noel', 'Carroll' this guy is definitely Santa. Aanyway Carroll believed in the Question-answer model, he said:

it is important to create questions, which keeps the audience in suspence until they are answered.

will the hero survive?

one factor for creating suspence is a battle against the odds (the probability factor)

the moral factor also increases suspence as it may not be morrally right for the hero to survive

In conclusion the genre of thriller is extreamly hard to define, and now that all the off-shoot sub-genres have appeared, i don't think anyone ever will.

section 1 task 3

a diary- full of how people are goingg to die on the date they die.

she sees the future but knows one will believe her if she said that she new when people died

shes mental

attempted suicide

she trys to kill herself because she cant get out to save people

when she gets in to the mental asylum she starts to write the diary

she gets a split personality, she the killer but doesnt know it
Narrative structure

linear

the film rows one scene anfter another

non linear

she goes through her life then it goes back over to reveal the plot

Possible Names

Collie Smith - mentalised

Other Stuff

family members try to help

brother or dad are trying to help her

rest of family killed in car crash

shows her newspaper cuttings

certificate

15

bigger market, more people can see the film

18

less people can see

more gore

Names

May 13th
The Gift
The Diary