Evaluation 5

Question 5:- How did you attract/address your audience?

We would use film posters to market our production and allow the general public to grow awareness for our production. Our film posters would be exhibited in tube stations, in libraries, inside certain schools and universities, inside offices and outside sophisticated shops. It is important that we choose the correct places to advertise our production as certain places may attract members of the public that will not particularly enjoy our production. For example, if we placed an advertisement outside a low-budget night club, either not many people will show up, or the people who do attend will not be particularly entertained by the concepts of our production. Instead, we would like to invite people who attend libraries, universities and certain schools as they would have background knowledge on our narrative.

In our opening sequence, we start with establishing the scene, we show the date first and then an office using a low far angel shot panning of the office. We then move on to show our main character, “Cornelius” with a medium-close shot of his face and is seen sleeping, though it can be seen that he is twitching and jolting, this illustrates his uneasiness. At this point, news reporters with different accents are heard talking about the first plane that had flown into one of the twin towers and describing the devastation, we wanted the audience to make an attempt to link what they are hearing with what they are seeing. At this moment the audience will be confused, for they will be speculating the link between Cornelius and the voice-overs. Suddenly, Cornelius is seen opening his eyes with an extreme close up and he then sits up staring forwards blankly; this shows his unpredictable personality which is vital to the progressive narrative. He starts to then fiddle with numerous papers on his desk trying to find something, he does this very franticly as we wanted to demonstrate the characters behaviour and personality. We used a high angle shot of the character to show the papers and folder he has on the desk. We did this because it foreshadows his social status and how people may look down to him. This will become clearer during the progressive narrative. He then finds a notepad from under the piles of papers and puts it in front of him. Cornelius is then seen reaching for a pencil, we showed this motion with a medium angle and then used a close up medium angel for when he takes the pencil from the pencil pot very quickly then revert back to the medium shot to establish the fact that he as started drawing. We used a medium shot to show his hand going down onto the paper to start drawing and then an extreme close up of the lead printing a line down the paper. This shows the significance of the drawing and is giving the audience clues while trying to figure out the connections between the date, the news reporters and Cornelius drawing. We then show a POV (Point of view)  angle shot of Cornelius losing focus while drawing and an extreme close up of his eyes rolled back are seen and then back to the POV shot, we see him bang his head on the table. The voice-overs, at this point, are paused and the music is heard as we see Cornelius in a straitjacket in various positions to show that he has lost his mind in an unknown place. This foreshadows the fate of this character to the audience. We then hear the news reporters come back and carrying on speaking about the attacks and a POV shot is used while Cornelius is getting up. We then see that the drawing has been completed, we use an over the shoulder shot of Cornelius to show him holding his notepad up in astonishment. We then see small clips of the parts of the drawing where you see a building with a gaping hole and smoking coming out from it and a plane next to the second building. We presented the image like this because it gave the drawing extra significance and mystery, it also hinted to one of the themes of our film, investigation. We showed parts of the image because each shot acted as a puzzle, to what the audience will be perceiving and trying to figure our later in the narrative. Just as the second plane is seen, the news reporters cry “Oh my god” and they explain that another plane has crashed into the other twin tower. This was important for us, as it distinguished what the presents and future was in the opening sequence to the audience.  The news reporters then say the date in which the attacks were on and as this is said, the title of the film is shown, “Premonition”. Then the date that was shown in the beginning of the sequence is shown again to show that Cornelius had predicted the 9/11 attacks. This is all to challenge to minds of the audience and to make them make sense of what they see, hear and understand from the sequence. From this alone, we introduced many genres from our narrative but one of them was most highlighted, psychological thriller.

We attempted to use many varieties of shots that may have particular significance to the narrative. I felt that this was an important factor to include in our sequence because many psychological thrillers show audiences bits and parts of the whole picture, and right at the end, they show the whole picture which is greeted by jaw-dropping gasps of astounded audiences. We wanted our character to be very mysterious at first, as we tried to elevate his actions more than himself. We wanted the audience to know Cornelius only from how he has reacted to the 9/11 attacks, his background information will remain anonymous. This is a conventional technique used in psychological thrillers.

As the 911 attacks is the bases of our story, and it was a global issue so some background knowledge is necessary such as who was in the end held responsible for the 911 attacks and the people who benefited from the attacks as well, though they are all explained during the narrative it is important that the audience have an idea about them. Films such as “Shrek” require the viewers to have knowledge about fairytales to fully understand the concepts from the narrative.

The way we have structured our media product is to arouse questions by the audiences. Our opening sequence is based upon the introduction of the 9/11 attacks being predicted by Cornelius, therefore, it was vital that we showed the clearly to the audience. The way we found how to achieve this was to use voice-overs of the first reactions of the 9/11 attacks, when the second plane hits the twin towers. We edited this in such a way where the audience is able to make a variation between what the future is in the sequence and what the present is of the sequence. Like “Se7en” it is unclear at first what is going on and what time period the sequence starts in, but as the opening sequence progresses, like “Premonition” it gets clearer and the audience is able to understand. We included the date that Cornelius was in, or in other words, the date of what the audience was seeing. Later in the sequence, the voice over says the date, which is different to the date stated at the beginning; it is in fact in the nearby future. Also the use of rapid shots developed a sense of hastiness which Cornelius shows when he is looking for some paper and a pencil to draw with.

  

The combination of genres present in our film may attract a number of audience members. The psychological thriller aspects of our film challenge the audience’s precedent knowledge about the events that our narrative shows. The fact that it is about different conspiracies and contrasting information about the 911 attacks, acknowledges the audience in an entertaining way. The exploration of a schizophrenic and his treatment from a society shaken by a catalysing event. Films such as “Saw” offer similar themes and entertainment, the fact that it is about solving a puzzle is key to the narrative. “Inception” is also a film that challenges the audience’s knowledge and educates them in an entertaining fashion.

Evaluation 4

Question 4:- Who would be the audience for your media product?

I believe that the psychographics of our target audience would be people who are open-minded to speculation or conspiracies. This is because our main characters job in the narrative is to show the audience what the conspiracies are and if audience members are passive or too arrogant to think about the conclusions put forward by our narrative, then they will not be enticed into the realm of the film. “Premonition” is also aimed at middle-class workers who may work closely to the twin towers, or who have preliminary background knowledge on the 9/11 attacks and may simply wish to expand their knowledge further. These are the types of people who will be more attracted to our franchise than any opposing personalities.

Primary target audience:

-        18-45 age range

-        Male and Female

-        Interested in extreme conspiracies

-        Previously involved or been effected by event(s) used in narrative (911 attacks)

For our narrative, we understood that our subject matter was a sensitive one as many people were affected by the September 11^th attacks, so instead of being limited by this aspect, we used this to craft a larger target audience. We concentrated on educating the audience but in doing so, we still wanted to entertain them by using comedy, making the audience sympathise with our characters from the narrative and astounding facts that aroused questions within the audience. We believed that these methods were the best way in conveying our message. Also we were aware that not many facts are known about this event, therefore many interested members of the audience would watch this for that reason. Films such as “Crash” that convey a message; use a wide range of methods to communicate their intentions. For example, in the film, the director uses comedy to portray the stereotype of a black male. 

As this production is based on a factual event, it is imperative that we use facts to develop our narrative. This will engage many of the audience members who are interested in conspiracies in general or about the 911 attacks. For example, “Angels and Demons” is about uncovering a conspiracy and the story within this film is based upon factual information. This shall challenge the audience’s knowledge.

This film does not contain any genre and themes that may determine what gender it may appeal to most. Unlike productions such as “Die-hard” were the main theme is action, most males would likely be attracted to this type of production. Also “Sex in the city- the movie” may appeal to females, as its female characters and the feminine narrative may be an attraction to such genders.

The age range chosen is because of the serious and sensitive nature of the narrative. This film will not appeal to anyone under the age of 18. For example the target audience of “Crash” would be highly contrasted to a target audience of “Monsters Inc” this is because of the contradicting level of seriousness present in both narratives. Similar to “Premonition” where an audience that may like “Star Wars” will perhaps not be attracted to the genres and themes that “Premonition” offers, and those members of the audience who are attracted to the factual narrative of “Premonition” will reject the fantasy, sci-fi based story-line of “Star Wars”.

Secondary target audience

-        White, Black, Asian and South American  ethnicity

-        Must have a good understanding of English language

-        Male

-        18-35 age range

It was important to us to make sure that our narrative does not appeal to one specific ethnicity as this may make other audience members feel dejected. We wanted it to be clear that the 911 attacks was a global emergency (which it was), not a domestic issue like films such as “Saw” which affect a very small group of individuals in the narrative. Although much of the storyline is based upon one man, we wanted to show that his actions affected the whole world.

Audience members that have a below basic understanding of the English language may struggle in understanding the narrative. As this film follows an intellectual person, subsequently the script for this individual will mirror this. To fully understand, audience members must have a strong understanding of the English language. 

Audience member that may enjoy watching “Premonition” may also like films like “Crash”, “The DaVinci Code” and “Angels and Demons”. These films offer an educational and self-enlightenment narrative which is aimed at a certain social group. For example, “Angels and Demons” is aimed at people, who are very much interested in conspiracies and speculations; these same people will be interested with our media product just as well, due to the educational nature of both narratives of “Angels and Demons” and “Premonition”.

Also audience members that would enjoy “Public Enemies”, “The Social Network” and “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps” (Wall Street 2), would also be engrossed by the modern adventurous genre that “Premonition” shares with these films. For example, our media product is following a person who has a revelation, and the audience perceive his voyage to his motive. Like “The Social Network” the audience follow the journey of some teenage students where their million dollar ideas have been stolen and their quest to retrieving it.

Though, as I have mentioned earlier, “Premonition” is not aimed at one particular gender, I believe that there will be more male audiences than females. This is because men would be more interested in conspiracies and speculative drama, while women, stereo typically, are attracted to mature romance drama which “Premonition” fails to offer. 

Evaluation 3

Question 3:- What kind of Media institution might distribute your Media product and why?

The cycle in which an idea for a film later appears on a screen on a local cinema is a long and challenging process. A film starts off as an idea which is then revised and developed; this alone could take a couple of months or so. Then, a script is written for the film which is followed by a budget the director is given by a production company, for example, Warner Bros is a production company that funded Harry Potter with £100,000,000. The director will give this money to the producer who will find the cast, screenwriter, and crew etc. who will be paid from the budget given. The making of the film will be initiated and after it has been made, the film will be issued for marketing and advertisement promoting the film and raising public awareness through trailers, posters, promotional deals merchandise etc. it is then where the distribution companies determine when the product will be available to watch. The imminent exhibition then takes place where the film is sold and showed to members of the public. From this a salary is taken in where the cinemas submit their bounded profits to the team that had made the film.

Our low-budget independent film is not of the same category as your average blockbuster productions such as “Avatar”, “2012” and “Toy Story 3D”. Our production doesn’t involve prominent producers or cast members therefore it is not expected to be a film subject to high expectations, consequently, our film will most probably not be shown in famous cinemas such as “Odeon”, “Vue” or “Cineworld” instead, it shall be exhibited in low-budget cinemas, outdoor cinemas and even on the internet such as “Youtube”, “Blogspots”, etc. Our main goal in distributing our media product is to achieve recognition to help fund our future sequences. This is important for up-coming media institutions as producers and investors are highly needed for future success.

I believe location is pivotal in distributing ones media product. If we made film posters, trailers and promotional deals in Asia, chances of success will be minimum, due to the fact that they cannot relate to the contents of the film at any level. If, however, our film is advertised in America and the UK, the level of interest will increase significantly. This is because our narrative is based upon the 9/11 attacks, which was in America and had affected the globe, more than anybody else, America and the UK. I believe that the audience from these countries would better attract audiences than other Eastern countries. For example, “Slum dog millionaire” was a film mainly distributed to the UK because British audiences would have a better understanding of the narrative than audiences of Africa. The fact that it is set in India, attracts an Indian audience, even though it was not intended to do so, while the main character being an established British-Asian actor attracts attention from the UK just as well. Hollywood however does not have a direct link to the cultural aspects of “Slum Dog” as Britain and India do. Its mixed populated audience, however, will enjoy the narrative and experience. Our media product will be distributed to countries such as America and the UK, but I believe that in America “Premonition” would be most successful therefore, I would invest more money into distributing my product there than I would in the UK. This is simply because America was the country that was most affected by the events of 9/11; therefore, the audiences of America would be much more interested in watching our product than people from the UK. Though the UK was also affected by the attacks to some extent, I believe the fact that it was a British cast that produced this film would be enough to predict some success that this film may be subjected to in Britain.

Production companies such as “Optomen Television” an independent production company known for “flair, originality and attention to detail” that have offices in the UK as well as branches in the US. This is particularly helpful to us, as this production company has links to the UK and the US, which I believe are the best places to distribute our product. The British Film Institution could also help us produce and distribute our product mainly in the UK, as they deal with independent upcoming low- budget films.

Evaluation 2

Question 2:- How does your opening sequence represent PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

For our media product, it was imperative for the audience to read our character as we wished to have portrayed him (Cornelius) as. We understood that a representation of a character is a fundamental element in creating a successful media product; this is because it allows the audience to distinguish the protagonists and antagonists, which is present in most films. Representation is the stereotypical view that society has on characters. It mediates and manipulates stereotypes in order for the audience to easily understand and can be proven to be more entertaining. Various elements that may be present on and/or in characters effect their representation. For example, the typical representation of a character who is known as a geek in a narrative would wear thick glasses, a shirt with the top button done up, neatly combed hair, an oversized backpack and trousers done up over the waistline. Also the way the actor must act is important in portraying a geek. The actor would have to act very intellectual, so he/she will need a script that includes formal words and the manner in which the lines will be said in would have to be considered. This character would most probably be in a teen movie, as their roles would not fit in other genres. “Superbad” illustrates a classic geek whose name is “Fogel” in the narrative. His awkward poster and flimsy actions make him a perfect geek and it is very easily notable that this character fits in this category. Similarly, we intended to make “Cornelius” a stereotyped character, though his personality and traits are far from conventional, we wanted the audience to categorise him under a certain group.

The way costume is used is not just to enforce the actor’s frame of mind to “get in the shoes of the character” but it is also to enforce the illusions of the fictional world the director intends to create. If the costume does not match how the actor is acting, the audience will be left perplexed and frankly, not entertained. This, alone, will result in an unsuccessful media product if not well thought-out and well executed. Therefore, a visual representation of a character is just as important as any other element present in a media product. Costume can determine the lifestyle, characteristics, frame of mind and conditions a character is in. For example, in “The Dark Knight” a character called “The Joker” is portrayed as a psychotic, cold-blooded murderer who only wishes to see the downfall of his adversaries with no motives what so ever. This particular picture of this character is made from a range of different elements of his representation. His costume alone suggests to his psychotic, carelessness and that helps the audience in making a judgment about him. His green highlighted long, curly hair and the scars on his face painted over by clown make-up suggest to the audiences’ worst nightmares. Just from this, the audience can expect reasons for his appearance, asking question and challenging their imagination by only using visual elements. For “Cornelius” we constructed a costume to suggest to his psychotic enthusiasm for the truths about the 9/11 attacks. We decided to give our actor a baggy shirt, glasses with a thick black frame and in the cut-back to when he sees himself in a mental asylum, we gave our actor a straitjacket and white trousers to show that he was in a mental asylum. We wanted these elements to create an initial judgement for the audience, in the opening sequence, which would then be distorted later on the progressive narrative. Similar to how “Foster” from “Falling Down” is portrayed in the opening sequence, where we see him in his car with his shirt and glasses on, waiting in the traffic, then after the opening sequence he avert his humble silence for violent behaviour. This challenges the initial reactions of the audience and makes us ask many questions. We also wanted this as “Cornelius” had no dialogue, it was essential to make sure his visual representations were correct.

It is important to understand how the setting around a character makes a difference to how the audience may judge a character. For example, in “Kidulthood” a character called “Sam” is understood to be living in an apartment with his mother and brother. In “Sam’s” bedroom there is an army outfit handing on his closet, posters of women and a poster of a rap star with his middle finger up. This suggests to “Sam’s” gangster-like interests. It is clear that “Sam” could be seen as a gangster in the progressive narrative.

We did not just use the clothing that “Cornelius” was in to show his characteristics, we used the office that the opening sequence was set in to elevate the illusion and to enforce the visual representations of “Cornelius”. We used a number of papers all scattered on the desk in front of “Cornelius” to show his work habits, the numerous folders on the shelves and on the desk also. This was as important as how we set the costume of “Cornelius” as this established the representation of our character.

The way an actor acts could be seen as the most vital of all aspects in representing a character. If a character is unable to speak, his/her movements become their only way of communication towards the audience, therefore it is vital that the movement of a character is correct. In “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” a character called “Ace Ventura” uses much exaggerated movements, this adds to the comical genre of the narrative. In the opening sequence, he is delivering a package and while doing so he throws it around, kicking it, thinking he is playing football. This made the audience think and ask questions towards his odd behaviour.

In our narrative, we intended to portray an intellectual middle-aged man who expresses his energy through the manner in which he speaks in. For example, he speaks slowly and exaggerates many of his words following his hand gestures. This will show the audience that he is not a normal person and like “The Joker” it will arouse questions about “Cornelius’s” history and even childhood. Though there is no dialogue given to our character in our opening sequence, it makes it very difficult for the audience to make a judgement of the character; this was deliberate, because we wanted our character to remain shrouded in mystery. Comparable to “Falling Down” where “Foster” is given no line of dialogue yet we are able to establish that he is uncomfortable around what is happening. This made us rely heavily on how our actor will need to act.

As the director, I was looking for an actor with a lot of energy and whose normal personality many mirror one of the characteristics “Cornelius” has, the ability to show a clear difference between over-excitement and dead silent calmness. This was very important as it was vital for us to communicate “Cornelius’s” psychological elusiveness. In our opening sequence made attempted to demonstrate these characteristics “Cornelius” has. For example, when “Cornelius” wakes up, he blindly looks forward and then quickly starts to fiddle with his papers and folders trying to find something in frenzy. Then when we puts his pencil down to start drawing, he, almost violently, thud his pencil on the paper. We wanted these aspects to point to his unpredictable psych. I told my actor, to stay in the role of “Cornelius” throughout the shooting; this would help ensure continuity was successful and allows the actor to remain consistent in acting like “Cornelius”.

Evaluation 1

Question 1:- In what ways does your Media product USE, DEVELOP or CHALLENGE form of codes and conventions of real media products?

Our opening sequence does in fact feature the typical codes and conventions of a Psychological thriller, in contrast it is a media product based around a real event and is about criminal activities; therefore inviting many other genres and themes this sequence may belong to.

We attempted to demonstrate our hybrid genres’ in relation to other existing media products, such as “Johnny English”, “Falling down” and “Amelie” which all focus on one character during the opening sequence. This was very important for us to note as it, like our sequence, was based on one character and how the characters representation was demonstrated by the director, which defines the roles played by, said character, in the progressive narrative. We used one character for our opening sequence because it gave our character a sense of importance, like “Johnny English”, “Falling down” and “Amelie”, it begins with the main character who is identified very quickly by the audience. For instance in “Johnny English” a soundtrack is used which is a sharp contrast to the behaviour of the character, this contrapuntal element is intended to mock the character subsequently introducing one of the first genres of the film, Comedy. In our opening sequence we also used a soundtrack to exhibit our characters frame of mind, though ours was a parallel sort, the intentions were to show a mysterious individual thus arousing many questions from the audience. “Amelie” uses a subtle soundtrack in its opening titles. We hear a piano being played, though its presents isn’t the first thing you notice, its significance to the visual aspects is vital. It sets a calm mood for the narrative and it gives additional significance to the character being shown, in this case it is “Amelie”. In the opening sequence of “Falling Down”, it starts off with no music whatsoever, but as the sequence progresses, like the noises around the character, we are able to hear the growing sounds of flutes and drums. This was used to build tension. In “Premonition” we intended to incorporate a similar effect, where the music is used subtly to build tension. It was important for us, I believe, to build tension; because our sequence was a psychological thriller, and these are the typical codes and conventions of this genre.

Our narrative included multiple themes therefore it is a hybrid genre film. We thought that this was necessary because films with hybrid genres are most popular in modern society. A film such as “Avatar” is based upon a fantasy world which also includes action, romance and thriller, making it a prime example of a hybrid genre. Despite the fact that the film’s nature may favour more of a particular genre than another, the presents of such contrasting genres prove to be very effective. Although, it could be argued that hybrid genres may be a revelation of film that may cancel out originality and certain genres may be lost or may not be able to be identified due to the vast mixture of genres. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to identify a film with its genre because the conventional aspects are challenged to such an extent where new trends are perceived subsequent to such hybrid narratives.

For our narrative, we decided that the presents of many genres as opposed to one was the best route to take our film in, although we also decided that we wanted one main genre that would dominate the narratives principle. Our Primary genre was Psychological thriller; in the narrative we would work around this genre to communicate our message to the audience. Our Secondary genre was Drama, as the plot of our narrative is based upon realist settings and character development. Similar to the opening sequence of “Mad Men” where a man is falling and pictures are shown on the buildings passing him that are of sexual allusions and then an advertisement of a happy family. The director fashioned this opening sequence to not just introduce the characters supposed dilemma, but also foreshadows the genres of the narrative such as a domestic drama, where conflict is produced concerning family and faithfulness. In our opening sequence we attempted to hint at our secondary genres, for example, Drama was illustrated when “Cornelius” had a premonition about his future, where he is in a straitjacket in a mental asylum. The audience is shown the progression of “Cornelius” therefore illustrating the epic elements of our narrative. Saying this, we had still focused on illustrating our Primary genre in our opening sequence, Psychological thriller, we did this by using voice-overs of the initial reactions of news stations around the globe and used these voice-overs as our only source of sound (not including the music) throughout the opening sequence. Though in the realm of “Premonition”, the voice-overs are not of the same time that “Cornelius” is in, in fact they are used to show the audience that “Cornelius” is predicting the future, because the voice-overs are forthcoming later in the narrative. These voice-overs with different accents, allowed us to exhibit the Psychological challenges that the audience will be faced with in the progressive narrative. Like “Momento” where the audience is forced to think and to figure what the contents of the narrative. Therefore it could be considered that our media product develops the codes and conventions of existing media products, because the mixture of Epic Drama and Psychological thriller offers a unique base for our narrative.  

Our opening sequence has also inherited elements that may suggest to it using the typical codes and conventions of a Criminal thriller as well as a Psychological one. The fact that our protagonist (Cornelius) is a mysterious individual who challenges the audience’s first reactions towards him and little can be fathomed from the opening sequence of our film. “Falling down” is also shaped in the same manner as the audience’s initial reactions are tested. We can see that there is a particular man that the director wants us to focus on; this is done by various close-ups to the characters face, eyes and sweaty forehead to show his agitation. Later the camera pans and reveals everything around the character. The first shot alone lasts for 1 minute 44 seconds, and in this shot everything that the character is being agitated by is revealed. It is very clear that the director wanted to show the elements that are disturbing the character very clear and significantly. At this point it is still not clear what the characters personality is like, but the mood and thoughts of this character is quickly established. We intended to use this technique of establishing the characters motive in the current situation and revealing his/her characteristics later on the narrative. This was one of the reasons for giving “Cornelius” no dialogue in our opening sequence, it would’ve given away much of his characteristics. Instead we used “Cornelius’s” actions to help the audience make a judgement on his character. For example, “Cornelius”, almost violently, wakes up from his sleep and fiddles with some papers on his desk in an attempt to find something. From this, the audience is able to see that “Cornelius” is an energetic person, and even somewhat psychotic, with the way he smashes his pencil down onto the paper to draw. These were the controlled first impressions we wanted the audience to grasp from “Cornelius”. Also another reason for why we did not use scripts for our opening sequence was because we wanted “Cornelius” to enforce the theme of loneliness, where “Cornelius” has no one to talk to. This again elevates the sense of mystery that shrouds the existence of “Cornelius” which is typical for Psychological thriller to follow.

“Falling down” is a criminal thriller, and we see the main character in great distress and is seen as the antagonist in the realm of the narrative, but we as the audience are told of the reasons for his distress and are able to sympathise; therefore giving the director license to push the boundaries of his character and challenge the impression the audience has of the character in the progressive narrative. We also gave “Cornelius” that role to play, but unlike the character from Falling down, “Foster” who kills people out of rage, “Cornelius” is trying to preach and is victimised by the citizens and when the attacks happen, his villains change to the FBI who take him into intensive interrogation where he consequently looses his mind. During the course of these events that arise in the narrative, the audience will feel sympathy for the character and thus labelling him as the protagonist. There is also in the narrative a chase that occurs, following the codes and conventions of criminal thrillers, but on the other hand, the protagonist is not running after the antagonist rather he is trying to escape from the antagonist. We are using the typical codes and conventions of a Criminal Thriller, by creating a protagonist and an antagonist whose titles will be reassess by the audience in correlation to the way they are portrayed in the narrative.

Many criminal thriller genres are domestic dramas such as “The Transporter”, a driver who goes to look for a package he had to deliver and if not delivered, his reputation would be in jeopardy. Our narrative is one that involves a larger scale of people and it stretches out to all the people that “Cornelius” tries to warn about the 9/11 attacks and the people effected by the attacks. This element injects actions and adventure into the film as the audience will follow “Cornelius’s” journey to find the truth about 9/11.

Also the protagonist in our media product is a psychologically challenged person, who, in contrast to “Die Hard” where the protagonist is highly skilled in everything, “Cornelius’s” skills are limited to intellectual knowledge instead, this may however not be the ideal characteristics for a protagonist of an action based film. The representation of “Cornelius” is not of a typical protagonist in a Criminal thriller; with the lack of bulging muscles and attractive poster. We opted to make him a subject to sympathy in the progressive narrative, and his appearance was vital in achieving this. We made our actor wear thick glasses and a baggy shirt with rolled up sleeves. This would briefly show his characteristics of that of an intellectual person and a workaholic whose social life is very dull. This shows that our main character contradicts the conventional trends of a protagonist thus challenging the typical codes and conventions of our chosen genres.

Prelim Script 1st Draft

(Manager is seated, anxious as he fiddles with a pen on the table. A young man enters as he limps.)

Manager: Mr (Players name), you alright.

Player: Well, I could be better. My knee isn’t fully healed yet.

Manager: Oh well that’s too bad. Would you take a seat? 

Player:( sitting on chair) Sure.

Manager: I've asked for you to see me. - do you know why?

Player: Actually sir, I thought you wanted to finally put in me up front. 

Manager: Not quite son. There’s actually a problem.

Player: What problem sir?

Manager: Well the lads aren’t really that happy, you see.

Player: Okay…

Manager: And do you remember how you told us about that/

Player: /about my sexuality, that im gay.

Manager: Let’s use Homosexual instead. And yes, the lads aren’t comfortable/

Player: Comfortable about my sexuality?

Manager: Well…

Player: Sir, that’s not my problem. They’ll have to deal with it themselves.

Manager: On the contrary son, it is your problem and my problem. They won’t change or even play football with you anymore.

Player: What? That’s so absurd sir! Surely you can’t be considering this!

Manager: Look; it’s my job to take care of any problems they have. You have, unfortunately turned out to be a problem.

Player: So what are you trying to say? You're going to kick me off the team because of my sexuality?

Manager: Yes and no. We’re going to, lets say, let you move on. Its nothing personal.

Player: Personal? Let me be the judge of that!

( Player walks away very unsettled and angry)

These were my own preliminary ideas about the script that we considered using in our sequence. Though it allows us to build a history between the two characters, we decided that the length and majority of contents were unnecessary. Our sequence was aimed to be roughly for one minute, saying this, had we used this script we would require a larger amount of time to use it appropriately. Also the subject at hand whom the characters are dealing with is a somewhat risky and touchy subject which could potentially affect a viewer personally, so we decided not to use this script.  

Prelim Script 2nd Draft

(Manager is seated, anxious as he fiddles with a pen on the table..)

Player: (on the phone) alright I’ll see you later.

(To manager) how’s it going gaffer?

Manager: I was hoping I’d run into you actually, can I see you for a minute?

(Player walks in and sits)

Player: yeah sure what’s up?

Manager: Well I’m in a bit of a situation. I owe some people money and there is only one way I can think of getting the money back.  

Player: And that is… (Sceptical)

Manager: I need you and the boys to fix the game

Player: (Amazed) But that can jeopardise my career

Manager: (Leans foward) I know I'm asking for alot here. You won’t come out of this deal empty handed. I guarantee it.

(Player, contemplating)

Manager: I’ve got contacts in Spain. Real Madrid. They need another centre midfielder.

(Slides and pen a contract to him)

Player: £90,000 a week?

Manager: I take that as a yes then.

(Both stand up and shake hands.)

This was the script that we deployed in our sequence. We decided with this script rather than the other one because the topic was simple and easy to install in our sequence. Its intentions were clear and easy to understand for the audience and the actors as well, due to the use of stage directions. It outlined what exact emotion the actor would deliver his/her lines in; this was lacked in the first draft of our script. We used our first draft as bases of the structure of our script, this was very helpful because it enabled us to build on what we had already created, though a lot of what was said in our first draft was taken out and/or changed, it provided us with an excellent starting point.