Dr Who is it an international experience or a range of associated spin offs?

Dr Who is built up from a variety of intermedial texts. It began with Dr Who airing on its own own but since being re-released with popular characters and storyline, now has a number of spin offs such as The Sarah Jane Chronicles and Torchwood all aired and built up through the BBC

This begins to build the Dr Who fandom as it gains a greater audience of all ages and giving a much greater variety to the program.

As well as these spin offs there is also a built up website allowing fans to check up on the latest news from Dr Who as well as downloading Podcasts and check out behind the scenes to the making of Dr Who. There is also a magazine available for true fans where they can collect certain Dr Who memorabilia and get a greater insite into the program.

I belive that all the Intermedial texts of Dr Who are necessary as these range of texts allow the program to gain a greater fan base and become more successful.

You could argue that most people would generally be interested in just the program itself and don't generally want all the excess that can come with it, but Dr Who has always been a classic for the BBC therefore will already have a large fan base, and to try and gain new fans companies like the BBC need to set up these intermedial links to gain a new fan base and make it appeal to a greater audience, therefore Dr Who being a family based program parents will watch it with their children, they then become interested and want to buy the magazine and play the games on the website etc.

Kill Bill Vol.2

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Country made: USA

Year made: 2004

Awards: Won 8 awards, Nominated for 18

Copy of review: Morally the film is as infantile as its rigid code of honour — and there’s not much of that between hired assassins, or directors and critics. The Midas touch is Tarantino’s ability to switch mood and genre — and take his audience with him — in the blink of an eye.

User rating: 8.1/10

My opinion:10/10 I loved every minute of this film uncluding Uma therman (the bride) as the femme fatale and the part where she manages to escape from being buried alive.

Kill Bill 2 opens with an intertextual reference to Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho showing this film as a tribute to the classic thrillers, this is due to it being shot in black and white showing the independent femme fatale. A femme fatal is french for 'deadly woman' who uses their sexuality to charm their lovers and seek their desire this often leads to their fate . However there is a contrast in femme fatals of Marion Crane and the Bride. The Bride in Kill Bill is shown as a strong independent female whereas Marion Crane is a victim who is trying to buy her lover. For example Marion Crane is running away after stealing money to buy her lover, where as 'The Bride' is running towards the danger after being used and violated by a previous lover of hers 'Bill' who doesn't want her to carry on with her life. Marion Crane deviance is of a more traditional femme fatal as due to her vulnerable attributes as a female her character turns out to be fatal where as the brides character gets rewarded for her independency and deviance by killing Bill.

It also references the soundtrack in the opening sequence which helps create suspense within the events as it's the same music which is used in time of Marion Crance being stabbed in the famous shower scene. Therefore implys the danger involved for "The Bride".

There is a specific scene used in this film which is seen as generic. We see "The Bride" in her vulnerable state as she's just been captured and buried alive.

It shows her stuck in the coffin with no where to go. The coffin is a powerful utilisation of the genre to heighten her sense of doom and claustriphobia, she's also seen tied up showing her imprisonment and heighten the suspense and drama of her fate we're about to witness.

The lighting used is noir with chiaroscuro to give the impression of the her impending doom and nightmare showing a low angle close up of her face in fear to make the audience feel like we're with her experiencing her fear. This is also represented in her dirty costume and sweat building on her face.

When she's going in to the coffin there is an emphasis on diagetic sound of the nails going into the coffin this adds to the claustriphobia and how she's no longer within control . It also represents the dominant male role and how they should be the ones with the power, therefore with each nail going into the coffin it signifies the males superior ability over the now vulnerable female. There is also non-diagetic sound of western music which is an intertextual reference and tribute to Sergio Leoni's choice of music for the thriller the Good the Bad and the Ugly, as we see at the end the music used for the impending fate of the character as it's used to build up suspense.

Essex Boys

Essex Boys
Director: Terry Winsor

Country Made: UK

Awards: none

Year Made: 2000

User ratings: 5.8/10

My opinion: 7/10

The opening of Essex boys moves from the credits into a crack of sunlight from within a pitch black room. It begins on a point of view shot which gives the impression of someone being imprisoned as it is as though the audience are the ones trapped inside. As the crack of light is enhanced due to the garage door being opened, there's an emphasis on the garage door opening giving the impression of danger and power being projected from the character Billy. Garages are an important location of thriller films as they can often be used as hideouts, murder scenes or storage of drugs or illegal items. The garage is revealed as dirty and desolate making the location appear sinister and dodgy environment. The character Billy has to move cobwebs out of the way when he's trying to get into the car therefore representing his character to trying to get brush away a troublesome past.

The low ambient lighting used within this opening shot is Chirascura and makes Billy and Locke appear dark and frightening as it gives off the feeling of a depressing and sinister atmosphere. This is used in other thrillers such as Fight Club when Marla and The Narrator (Edward Norton) are situated in the room for people suffering from fatal diseases.

As it moves out from the garage the scene around the car is shot so it's nearly black and white showing as a tribute to past thrillers such as Psycho and the Third Man. It also shows the surrounding area as unglamerous setting the scene of dirty dealings and murder. As the car goes into the tunnel it gives the impression of a gun going into a bullet which allows you to assoociate Billy and Locke in the car with death. And within the tunnel the lighting moves across the drivers face creating lines which gives the impression of prison bars and the situation Billy is about to get into suggests that it's dangerous.

The costume used of Locke and Billy is dark and generic to that of a traditional thriller film in the way its dark and simplistic. With Billy wearing a leather jacket to show his status and to know he's no to be messed with and Locke in a casual shirt and black jacket letting the audience know he's higher up from Billy as he doesn't need costume to represent this. This costume is a feature of British thriller where the gangster (Billy)will be wearing casual attire which makes him appear tougher. This contrasts to the American thriller such as Reservoir Dogs which see's the gangsters wearing a full suit and tie, making them appear superior and dangerious. However it also follows similar attributes of the 'Boss' wearing casual costume to show he's superior to everyone else.

The non-diagetic voiceover and medium shot of Billy in the car establishes him as the main character and alows us to see through his eyes as he lets us into his own thoughts and processes. he appears on edge as his crime partner Locke suddenly appears in the windscreen. The close up of Locke's face see's him as the higher character as his expression his evil and menacing as he's trying to frighten Billy. This shows him as a victim as most criminals are seen as confident and in the know where as he's shown as being shocked by the actions and violence around him.

When they are in the car heading to their destination there is a medium shot of Billy driving with the light reflecting on the windscreen. The light is going over Billys face in thin lines which represents someone being imprisoned or trapped. It represents the bad nature of these two characters and how their rebellion against the law.

As they reach the meat packing factory they switch their vehical to a white van. A white van is a generic feature of a thriller as a white van will often be used to harbour criminals or illegal substances therefore representing crime. Therefore this switch of vehical lets the audience understand this. The White van also represents entrapment as the person inside is completley vulnerable with no way out.

Cast

Yasmine Thomas as Monkia Quiero.

Yasmine will be playing the part of our femme fatal. She was chosen as she has a striking personality and attitude needed for this character and should be able to work.

She also has very striking reaftures suited well for this part.

Tim Smith as the drug carrier of Ali being held hostage in the crate

Tim was chosen for his more rugged features and character. He has a laid back attitude and would be comfortable to play this role

Gabriel Mokake and Greggory St.Quintin.

Two Maffia henchmen hired by Monika Quiero.

These two where chosen as they are both very tall and burly suiting the part well, this also adds to an intertextual reference talked about earlier.

Our Cast has now fully changed due to the clash in lessons and the shooting schedule.

Location of thriller film

These are the crates found at Hewett School which we are hoping to use for our thriller.

We want to use them for a hostage scenario
Where we see our femme fatale. They are in a desolate area, often used within a thriller film and give the impression of a harsh environment

Here is a shot showing the overgrown, dirty environment of our scene. The crate is vital in our filming and is the focal point for suffering and death.

We are only going to have one location for our thriller as we don't feel we need to film anywhere else and to give the feeling of an enclosed sceneraio using music and sound to create the tension needed.

The floor for this scene is muddy and damp. This was scene as relevant to help emphasis the harsh reality of the grttity violence which is about to happen and is also an intertextual reference to Essex boys in the beggning scene as a man they have just violently tortured is left to lay on the muddy dirty ground as the man is left to suffer

This is where our femme fatal will walk from. We will use a long shot of her in the distance approaching the crate to help establish the harsh location. The location will also be an insight into what is in inside the crate.

This is what the crate looks like from the inside. This isn't the original crate we want to use as the original one is empty and feels more claustrophobi when inside. The idea for the crate was taken from Essex Boys when within first ten minutes there's a shot of the hostage in the back of a white van, this is a generic feature of thriller films as claustrophobic spaces will be used to highlight the vulnerable situation of the victim trapped inside.

We will have our femme fatale walking on the gravel in black stilletos. This contrasts with the bleak environment as her feet don't quite walk well with the gravel but she still keeps her stride due to her strong independent character.

The puddle is going to be used within our thriller to shoot the reflection of a fight scene. The dirty puddle will symbolise the gritty violence and the state the victim is in after he has been beaten to a pulp. If possible food colouring will be placed in the puddle which will represent his suffering and how he's slowly dieing.

This is a shot of the crates closed and what surrounds them. It represents the vulnerability of the victim trapped inside as someone walking past wouldn't think that their could be someone imprisoned. This shot also establishes how dirty and discarded this location is as it's not being taken care of.

Analysis of an advert

This is my finished advert I created to advertise a perfume which works within the idea of the iconic british symbol. The English rose is iconic of the classic british heritage going back in history to the tudor royal family known as the "tudor rose",therefore I made sure to layer in the roses to make them really stand out on this advert and allow the audience to focus on them as well as the actual image. I also liked the idea of Rachael standing by a church ruin to help emphasise the histroical British backround used for my product.
I layered in the roses on facebook and added the slogan "know your heritage" to allow the audience to understand that it's an English company and found the image for the perfume bottle from the "Rock 'n' Rose perfume" by Valentino.
My aim was to try and aim the advert at a younger audience between 18-30 as even though it's got the classic element it also has an edgy feel to it with the image of a younger female and the mixture of the black and red making it feel dark and sinister.The red really stands out in this advert also makes it seem sinful with the red giving the idea of the "devil" as the advert is showing "sex appeal" and the perfume has the ability to bring out your more sinister side.
I made sure to use an image with the female in the center shot as most perfume adverts often choose an image of a natural or dominant female as woman tend to focus on this which then allows them to feel that the product will make them look or feel the same way.

Audience Analysis

To help with the opening of our thriller I obtained some information, with the three other people who are also working with me to produce this thriller, from the general public to help me find out what people generally look for in thrillers. We made sure the results where fair and asked 20 females with 10 being over 20 and the other 10 being under 20, we did the same for the males and these are the results.

1) What is your favourite thriller?

It was hard to get an answer for this one as most people didn't really know the full meaning of the term thriller. However films such as Reservoir dogs, Kill Bill and Snakes on a plane scored highly for the males showing they prefer the more gritty action thrillers however the females also went for Kill Bill, Bourne identity and Seven, this shows the variety of audience a thriller has and therefore when making our thriller we must find a target audience we want our thriller to appeal to. This will make research easier and hopefully make the film more sucessful as we will have been able to include all key aspects for that particular target audience,

2) What do you enjoy most about thriller films?

These results show that overall women prefer more violent thrillers with added suspense and males mainly prefer action therefore when making our thriller we would need to combine these to make it appeal to a wider audience. These results where interesting as its more stereotypical to find men prefering violence therefore must remember not to be so critical on what we think an audience would like and use this information to help develop our ideas.

3) Do you prefer a male lead role or Female?

These results show that overall females dont mind who plays a lead role but also showing they would much rather see a male lead same shown with the male results therefore giving different thoughts on our femme fatale lead character being used in our thriller film and whether or not this is likely to appeal to our target audience. However with quite a high ratio saying they don't mind it is likely we will take the risk which most producers have to do when making a film.

4) Do you look for Ambiguity in a thriller film or a more give-away plot line?


These show that both females and males overall prefer ambiguity in a thriller film which links into females preferring suspense for question 2. It doesn't seem un common for ambiguity to be popular in thriller films as that is what thriller films are about, the idea of not knowing what will happen. Therefore if we where to continue our thriller further we would make sure our storyline was easy to understand but also not so predictable.

5) Do you prefer Modern day thrillers or the more classic thrillers?

Overall there is a higher percentage wanting modern day thrillers but with most who dont mind. It was mainly males wanting the more modern day thrillers as they prefer action which was found out in question 2 and it is the special effects and action which is seen in modern day thrillers. We won't be able to have the resources to put in the special effects seen in blockbuster films but will be able to add violence and action but also making it appear classic to try and appeal to our targer audience.

6) Do you like thrillers to be in colour or black and white?

There was a much higher result of people wanting thrillers in colour showing there is a much higher demand for the more modern thriller preferably with the more younger male. This is due to the better quality of film. People like to see colour in a film as it makes the film more appealing and easier to take in therefore we will film our thriller in colour.

7) Where do you prefer to watch thriller films?

There's a much higher demand for watching thrillers at the cinema than at home mainly due to the special effects and surround sound which generally makes it better experience, but there where a few people we asked saying they only liked going to cinema city as they don't like how commercial and expensive modern cinemas today are. It is likely our film would go to the independent cinemas such as cinema city due to its low budget however it would do better for the film and target audience we are appealing to with this film to try and make it in the blockbuster cinemas as the higher budget films are more successful.

8) What is your preferred length of a thriller film?

These results help give a standard idea of a preffered length showing the most popular is between 90-120 which would be useful if we where to make a full length thriller to give an idea of how long the general public prefer a film to be.

Characters and costume

These are the sketches of costume and the ideas for the characters I want to use within the opening to my thriller film.

Two Maffia Henchmen of Monika Queiro

The idea of the Two Henchmen is to base them around the typical Gangster duo such as Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta in Pulp Fiction.

The Maffia men used in our sequence are to wear suits to follow this style as well as dark sunglasses so we never see there true identities as characters. There props will include cigarettes, guns and any type of weapon such as a baseball bat to use when atacking there victim.

The two maffia men are hired by Monika Quiero and are nameless to also help with the idea of there lack of identity.

Here is a rough drawing of the idea I had in mind for the costume for the characters.

Ali's Henchman (nameless)

He's seen as the loser "junkie". with his scruffy costume and appearance. This also helps give the audience the impression that he's been held hostage for quite a while.
He's one of the lesser Henchmen of Alias he's just a drugs carrier, shwoing that Monika is prepared to kill everyone of Ali's staff before she gets her ultimate revenge on him.

He's similar to most "losers" of a thriller film such as Robert De Niro in Jacke Brown playing Louis Gara, who sits at home all day smoking crack with Melanie the other loser junkie.

Monika Quiero

Monika is the Femme-fatale of this thriller as well as the main character.

She's out to get revenge on Ali by slowly killing his henchmen one by one as we see the opening of the thriller.

She's seen in this sketch wearing a pencil skirt to show her seriousness as well as her sex appeal as she uses sex and maniupulation tradtional to that of her a femme fatale to get her own way.

Her red heels and red lips show her dominance as a female as well as her danger as a character.

She's also going to be seen smokin a cigarette throughout the opening to show her bad side as well as being significant action of a femme fatale of a thriller.

Her actions are similar to those of Helen-Bonham Carter as she's seen always smoking and in Black as she's being introduced as a character. Also gives her that added sense of mystery about her.She's also based on other femme fatales such as Uma Therman in Kill Bill and Pam Gier in Jackie Brown as they each where independent females using there own initiative to gain there revenge.

Ideas for Music

For the opening of this thriller film there needs to be a piece of music that will create good tension as well as work with the structure of the scene.

The music that we have chosen is Portishead Wandering Star.
Portishead are a band who formed in Bristol in 1991, this song is taken of the album Dummy which included the single "Glory box", which has been used in many television dramas and films such as Skins as well the The Craft and Stealing beauty.

I couldn't find a video for this song however I found This video on You tube where the song can be heard. We are wanting to extend the opening to be able to use at the beginning of the shot to give the feeling of someones heart beating.

Due to copyright reasons we're hoping this song can be used as it was released over 10 years ago but this will need to be looked into before we can start



We weren't able to use this soundtrack in our thriller due to the copyright being extended to 50 years. Therefore we are changing it to Strauss' 4 last Songs. This will be played when our femme fatale is about to have our victim beaten up.

Ideas for props

The props used within this film need to be relevant to that of a thriller film therefore will be ironic to each character.

Cigarettes are going to be smoked by each character to show there importance. Cigarettes are very important in a thriller film and are often being used by an evil character or someone showing importance such as Helen Boham Carter in fight club or the maffia men of Reservoir Dogs

The gun is another generic signifier of a thriller film and will be used by the two henchmen to kill the drug carrier of Ali.

Guns are always being used as they show importance to a character and are typical of any gangster/maffia man to be carrying around.

Guns also have a way of showing enpowerment of a character and are used to help create tension and fear.

Red Lipstick will be worn by Monika Quiero to show her importance as dominant femme fatale of our thriller. It will also show her as an evil character typical to a thriller such as Uma Therman in Pulp Fiction.

Cross Necklace will be worn by a either Monika or the man held hostage to show the religious irony of the mise-en-scene. Religion often plays a large role in thrillers such as Macha in Revolver is always seen with a cross around his neck even though he's this sinful character.

Industrial Storage Crates these are going to be where the drug carrier of Ali is going to be held hostage and is a vital aspect of our thriller as they will be highlighting the violence and harsh reality of this killing.

Thriller Film summary of plot

These are to go with my storyboards below to show the camera angles and sound within each shot.

Shot 1:
Lighting: Noir, ambient coming from slit from outside
Shot: Close up
Sound: Non-diagetic: Portishead wandering star Diagetic: His breathing to let audience know there's someone in there.


Shot 2:
Lighting; Ambient from outside
Shot: Extreme close up of heels
Sound: Non-diagetic: opening of Potrishead Wandering Star to go with her footsteps creating a pulse


Shot 3:
Lighting: Noir, Ambient through gap from outside as shadow blocks the original light so we know there is someone outside
Shot: Extra long shot, his perspective in the crate
Sound: Diagetic; his breathing increases and sounds of the woman outside opening the crate.


Shot 4:
Lighting: Ambient
Shot; Extreme close up of her mouth smoking
Sound: Diagetic, emphasis on the sounds of her smoking


Shot 5:
Lighting: Noir, Ambient as the light shows onto his face
Shot: close up of his face
Sound: Diagetic of his mumblings as we see his panic increase


Shot 6:
Lighting: Ambient from outside as the sun shines on her highlighting her as a main character.
Shot: Long shot, first time shown in full profile.
Sound: Diagetic as she says the only piece of dialogue, which needs to be ironic to a thriller film.


Shot 7:
Lighting: Ambient
Shot: Longshot showing two maffia men appearing beside her
Sound: Non- Diagtic music begins as before to set up the pulse and fear.


Shot 8:
Lighting: Ambient shot from outside
Shot: Medium Close up, Femme fatale looking away.
Sound: Non-diagetic sounds of the man being beaten up Diagetic of Portishead Wandering Star.


Shot 9:
Lighting: Ambient
Shot: Medium shot her returning with an object found in the crate.
Sound: Non- diagetic: sound of the man groaning on the ground and the men still beating him Diagetic: Portishead wandering star.


Shot10:
Lighting: Ambient
Shot: Medium Close up of her standing over the body
Sound: Non-diagetic: her sighing and walking away, diagetic: Portishead Wandering star


Shot 11:
Lighting; Ambient
Shot: Longshot looking in on her as she gets into the car
Sound: Non-diagetic: sounds of her walking and opening the car door. diagetic: Portishead Wandering star


Shot 12:
Lighting: Ambient
Shot: Close up of back of her head as we see whats going on in the mirror of the action behind her.
Sound: Non-diagetic: car engine diagetic: Portishead Wandering star

Thriller Film Storyboards

Plot summary

Our plot see's a 28 year old woman known as Monika Quiero brought up in Turkey, brought up in Turkey by her Mum and Dad Penelope and Norman Quiero. As a child Monika's father was known well in the drug buisness working alongside Mr Suri who had a son Monkias age called Ali.
One day Monkia comes home to find out that her father Norman has been mysteriously killed and has always suspected it was the work of Mr Suri but no proof has ever been found.
In a panic state Penelope flees with Monkia to England to start a safe life taking a large sum of Mr Suri's money with her to help her start a new life in safety however Penelope is also one to be suspicious about in Normans murder.

18 years have passed and we now see Mr Suri dead and Ali carrying on the family buisness in Turkey, however with business going badly decides to take a visit to England to visit the Quieros to get some of the money Penelope had stolen from his father to help tie him over and take revenge, therefore with his hench men and gangster appeal begins his quest to England.

Monika also has not forgotten about Ali and has been tracking him for many years in revenge for her father and has slowlt been killing of his henchmen in England awaiting for his return so she can find out who exactly killed her father, she does this using her manipulation and sex appeal making her the femme fatal of this thriller.
This is where we see her with one of Ali's more weaker men in the opening of this thriller...

Audience theory

I asked a few of my friends to find out what people generally like in films...

Rachael
What films do you watch?
I love any chick flick which is easily watched. I also like comedy, anything by Quentin Tarantino and thrillers.

How often do you watch films?
I rarely have time to watch films as I usually have too much homework or am out but I try to watch a film a week.

Do you go to the cinema/ watch DVD’s/ rent etc.
I usually go to the cinema once a week as I can go cheaply on Tuesdays or Wednesdays as I am on Orange. I also enjoy buying films as they are also so cheaply available. I rarely rent films as a lot of the time its very expensive and cheaper to just buy the film.

What are the social factors?
I find films handy when I don’t know someone very well and I can just watch or film or if when I have a friend round it’s something to do.

Danielle
What films do you watch?
I love watching comedies as they make me laugh and are also fun to watch.

How often do you watch films?
I like to watch a film a week

Do you go to the cinema/ watch DVD’s/ rent etc.
I mainly watch DVD’s at home either on my own or friends but I try to go out to the cinema as often as I can as it’s a better experience.

What are the social factors?
They provide a good topic of conversation and are great to watch with friends.

Molly
What films do you watch?
I like to watch thrillers, any film with Jake Gyllenhaal, comedies and chick flicks

How often do you watch films?
I watch films twice a week

Do you go to the cinema/ watch DVD’s/ rent etc.
I like to go to the cinema but my families subscribed to Love film so i watch most of my films through that.

What are the social factors?
Whenever I have sleepovers with my friends we usually watch films as they are really fun especially a really scary horror film or thriller.

Jane
What films do you watch?
I love any film but mainly Sci-fi or thriller. I also enjoy independent films

How often do you watch films?
I watch a film everyday.

Do you go to the cinema/ watch DVD’s/ rent etc.
I like to go to the cinema as often as I can as well as watch and buy DVD’s. I’m also subscribed to Love film so have a lot of access to films.

What are the social factors?
I like to see films with friends at the cinema as it’s more enjoyable .