The Good Daughter : Final cut

Evaluation : The Good daughter

Thriller opening production evaluation

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

The research I had done into the femme fatale in the thriller genre helped inform the character of Isabella, the femme fatale in our production. In my research I looked at a femme fatales from a range of films the classic archetype who pays for her deviance Eve from ‘Once Upon a Time in America, Anna from ‘The Third Man’ who is enigmatic, Jackie Brown from ‘Jackie Brown’ who is assertive and street wise and Thelma & Louise from ‘Thelma & Louis who rebel against gender expectations and pay the price. The research I did into femme fatales very much helped and inspired the development of the character our femme fatale. The character type of Isabella challenges the conventions of the genre and character perception. The convention of the powerful male is challenged in that Isabella kills Joules, but this is contrasted with the controlling voyeuristic authority of the father figure. Thelma is an extension of the femme fatale who is represented as loyal, brave, independent but doomed like Isabella.. The character type of Isabella was inspired by these femme fatale characters, Isabella is enigmatic and strong like Anna, she is street wise and can handle herself like ‘Jackie Brown’ and rebels against gender expectations like ‘Thelma & Louise’ (by murdering her lover). Isabella’s controlling and obsessive relationship with her father portrays her obsessive compulsive behaviour and controlling tendency. The costume for our productions femme fatale was inspired by that of Anna in ‘The Third Man’. Eve’s costume reflects her strength as a female character as well as being deviant and feminine for example Anna from ‘The Third Man’. Anna’s costume is reflects her strong enigmatic character, but also embraces her femininity and beauty. Isabella’s character is similar to that of Anna’s, we felt that having Isabella in a costume that was based around that of Anna’s would embrace and reflect her character fully, and allow the character of Isabella to represented and understood by the audience as we want her to.  The urban, city street location of our production was developed from research into thrillers that include urban city locations such as ‘Essex Boys’ and ‘Layer Cake’.  The low angle shots of the bridge adds a romantic dimension to the locations, the presence of bars on the bridge a darker sense of entrapment and danger. The character type of Isabella was developed from research into such femme fatale and female characters as Eve from ‘The Third Man’. Eve’s character type is strong she is the allusive women. The strong level headed character of Jackie Brown also informed the character profile of Isabella, Jackie is street wise like Isabella and challenges the forms and conventions of archetype women, Isabella kills her ex lover Joules for the murderous pleasure, and satisfaction of her father, thus she is the victim.

Anna - The Third Man
costume

The use of the blinds and mirror in the mise en scene where developed from research into the mise en scene in psycho. At the start of Psycho Marion and Sam stand and look out of the blinds, this creates bars across there face, reflecting the trapped nature of the characters. Christian and Isabella our trapped by each other, their controlling and obsessive relationship for one another means they are mentally trapped, paranoid and anxious.  A similar relationship is in 'China Town' where a young girl is abused by her mom-ster Father.The mirror represents Isabella looking back onto herself, reflecting and analysing her physical and mental state, indicating that is obsessed with herself too.  It also reinforces the notion of looking which links to the sinister voyeuristic shots of Isabella’s father. Isabella’s constraint to express her emotion and has lead to her inner turmoil and compulsive obsessive behaviour. There are several scenes in the production using mirrors and reflection, the use of mirrors and reflections represents the characters mental claustrophobia and deep obsession for one another. The use of ECU and CU of the reflection of Christian in the reversing mirror side mirror make him look sinister and creepy. They also create a sense of entrapment for the audience, the car a claustrophobic space, but deeper than that Christian’s own mind, the audience are brought into the mise-en-scene though the use of ECU and CU. The mirror shots of Isabella and Christian reinforce the notion of looking which links to the sinister voyeuristic shots of Isabella’s father. The shot of Christian car window opening at the beginning of the production and shutting towards the end symbolises death of Joules, Christain's control over his daughter has led to Isabella what he believes what he wanted. The window is as if the opening and closing of 'the case'. The opening of the window draws the camera and auidience into the car, allowing the audience to engage with Christians character, as well as being trapped by him, they to experience his controlling nature.

How does you media product represent particular social groups?

The female character and femme fatale in our production Isabella is strong, deviant, cares for her appearance, she is dangerous, but allusive, her character challenges the forms and conventions of the perception of women in the thriller genre, Isabella murders her ex lover for the twisted pleasure and revenge. The victim of the murder is a man, being killed by a women, this again challenges the conformities of the genre and character perception. The connotation of the convention of the aggressive male, such as Jason in ‘Essex Boys’ and the hoods in ‘Lockstock’, is challenged as well as gender stereotype. Isabella is a powerful lead character, a woman who takes control. But the control is whoever ambiguous, the cliff hanger leaves the question does Isabella kill her boyfriend because he has betrayed her or is she doing her jealous Father’s bidding. A similar female character is Louise from ‘Thelma & Louise’ she too takes control and kills Harlem who rapes Thelma. The character of Isabella is very much inspired by Louise. ‘Ridley Scott challenges the pre-conceptions and conventions of the thriller genre with Thelma and Louise, committing shooting a man in self defense the both of them go on the run, mocking macho behavior. But their deviance eventually destroys them as they leap of the edge of The Grand Canyon’ - Taken from my research into femme fatales and the role of women in the thriller genre. Again the character Jackie Brown from ‘Jackie Brown’ was also very influential on the character of Isabella; ‘Tarantino twists the audience pre-conceptions of the genre, he plays with stereotypes of gender, ethnicity, sex and age, and with this very controversial (the thriller genre) leading character pushing the audiences out of their preconceptions and creates a strong, interesting, deviant lead and femme fatale.’ – taken from my research into femme fatales and the role of women.

The father as a voyeur is inspired by Norman Bates from ‘Psycho’ who watches Marion Crane through a spy hole in the wall.

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

Our thriller opening would most probably be distributed on internet video hosting sites such a You tube, shared on social networking sites, Facebook, Myspace, there is also an opportunity for our production to be distributed on blogging sites such as Tumblr and Blogger. Our production could be uploaded to sites that host youth talent such as BBC Blast. Because of the nature of the plot matter, abusive family relationships, and the film could be part of a campaign arising awareness of abusive relationships and educating the impact of such relationships on young people. The film could also be entered into a short film competition such as You tube’s video contest, Indie short films, and BBC.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our production would be mostly highly watched and rated by a audience between the ages of 15-25 because of the psychological genre the controversial and deep plot would suit an older audience. Isabella is played by her strong, controlling voyeuristic Father (Christian) their relationship as Father and daughter is unusual and controversial. The narrative raises issues and interest of abusive family relationships, Isabella constrained by her bidding Father. The control Christian has is ambiguous, as the cliff hanger leaves the question does Isabella kill her boyfriend because he has betrayed her or is she doing her jealous fathers bidding. From the response to our thriller opening from a selection of year 12's (16-17yr old) the average rating out of ten for the production was 7.5, the production was most highly scored on its camera work, editing, and standard of mise-en-scene, colour, figure, lighting etc. The information gathered from these questions to the response of the production showed that an audience aged 16-17 enjoyed the visual aspects of the production highly, and most said they where inspired to watch the rest of the film, indicating that the plot was successful at engaging the interest of the audience. The review from this group showed a balance of ratings between males and females; with them averaging very similar scores, neither males or females seemed to enjoy or dislike it less then the opposite sex, this could possibility indicate that when showed to a wider audience there could to be a similar equal response to the film between male and females.

 

How did you attract/address the audience?

The relationship between Isabella and Christian is based around and formed upon Christian jealous and voyeuristic threatening behaviour, his controlling obsession with his daughter. The relationship between Isabella and her father is likely do attract audiences who are interested in psychological thrillers, the controversial and unusual nature of the character relationships in the film raise questions about abuse whilst also raising interest of high level cases of abusive family relations in the media. The film addresses the disturbing power Christian has over his daughter. We tried to incorporate as many C.U’s and E.C.U’s into the production as possible to engage the audience in the action and to raise pity and fear. The close ups of Christian (the Father) and Isabella’s eyes draws the audience into the mise-en-scene, and allows the audience to engage with the characters. Christian’s powerful and intimidating stare closes the audience into an uncomfortable claustrophobic space, the cross fades between the two characters heightens the disturbing intensity between the two characters.

When editing our production to establish the controlling and obsessive relationship between Father and Daughter, Christian and Isabella, we used a number of cross fades. By using cross fades we could cross over pervious shoots over the forth coming ones, this meant that part of the previous shot could still be seen over the forth coming one. This overlapping of shots reflects the constant; control and obsession the character have over and for one another. In the shot Isabella can be seen leaving, from the previous shot, cross faded over the ECU of Christian’s eyes. This merging of the two shots of the two characters shows their controlling and obsessive relationship, the ECU of Christian’s eyes represents his watching over his daughter even when he cannot physically see her; she is constantly on his mind and vice-versa.

The presents of the bars in the mise en scene connotes danger and represent Joules entrapment. The bars from the previous shot have been cross faded over the present to heighten the presence of the bars, and the effect they carry. This is the establishing shot of Joules, the presence of the bars in this establishing shot show him to be a trapped character. Joules has been deceived by Isabella into thinking they have a strong and loving relationship; he is now trapped in her twisted game and will be killed as a result of it. Nearly all the shots with Joules there are bars present in the mise en scene, reinforcing entrapment and danger. The bars represent danger, the dangerous relationship and position Joules is in with Isabella. Joules is present in the left hand third of the screen which draws the audiences attention to him, his face and dress it dark, representing mortality and his lack of control over it.

The low angle C.U of Christian makes Christian look powerful and in control, he dominates the mise en scene. The cross fade used allows Isabella still to be see walking up the stairs; this again represents the voyeuristic character of Christian and the Control he had over her. The composition of the shot makes it seem as if Christian is looking up at Isabella walking up the stairs, this reinforces the notion of Isabella being watched by her Father. The edges of the stairs create bars across Christians face; this represents Christian’s entrapment, his mental incapacity to leave his daughter alone, the struggle he has with his voyeuristic behaviour. The bars could also represent Christian to be in danger, will Isabella find the strength to break free from her own compulsive behaviour and her voyeuristic father. As Isabella is in the mise en scene too the bars could also represent her danger, she has committed a murder and will inevitably pay the price for it. The strong lighting on one side of Christian’s face represents his schizophrenia.

The title of the film appears at the end of the production, by cross fading the previous shot of Christian driving away onto the current shot of an E.C.U of Isabella's eyes, it appears as if Christain was driving though Isabella's head. Representing the controlling voyeuristic nature of Christian and the relationship he has with his daughter. The cross fade links the two characters, their difficult and destructive relationship. The appearance as if Christian is driving into Isabella's head represents Christian's control over his daughters mental well-being, it is suggested that Christian abuse has caused some mental disturbances to his daughter. This shot is particularly powerful and represents the relationship between the two characters with disturbing intensity. The C.U brings the audience into the mise-en-scene, heightening the disturbing nature of the family relationship, as well as the controversial and difficult issues that is raised in the production. The production finishes on a E.C.U of Christian's eyes, Christian appears sinister, the E.C.U engages the audience into the mise-en-scene as if under the creepy controlling look of Christian, the audience are made to feel uncomfortable and tense.

It was important when choosing a soundtrack for the production that it fitted with the dark and intense nature of the production, and its themes of control and an abusive family relationship. We choose a sound track that we felt added to and heighten the mood and tone of the mise-en-scene fitting the action well. The steady but intense beat of the music means that when editing we could cut the footage to the beat, heightening tension and drama further. The sound track evokes tension and fear, the sound track is quite dark, moody and heavy. The stings in the sound track make the music eerrie, creepy and intense. The soundtrack reflects the drama well. The soundtrack envokes feelings of fear, intensity on to the audience, building up the drama and provoking these emotions as the footage goes on.

Soundtrack
Hyperion's Fate - Sunny Days Are Over

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

During the production and process of our thriller opening I have learnt the importance of camera angles and camera movement in media productions. We tried to incorporate as many CU’s in the opening as possible, we realised that CU’s are important as they bring the audience into the mise en scene and helps them to engage in the action as well as characters and understanding them. The process of constructing storyboards also helped with the understanding of different camera angles, and by doing practise shots of different angles I could understand further the different camera angles, shot types and movements. The digital cameras where fairly easy to use, there was little difficultly with the cameras on shoot, and having had previous experience with using the digital cameras in the preliminary task I had no problem using them. I found it easy and very practical using the blogs, using the blog for my work meant that I could easily type up notes from lessons as well of having the advantage of embedding pictures and video's to enhance my work. I had no problems using or understanding how to use a blog, and have used the tool to my great advantage to boost the quality and detail of my work. With regards to embedding video's from YouTube into my blog this was again straight forward, when adding soundtracks ideas to my blog, I had considered uploading them as MP3's, but this proved difficult and by using YouTube I made a simple 'music video' on 'Windows movie maker' for the tracks and uploaded them myself and then embedded them into my work. When editing the production my previous experience using the programme in the 'Preliminary task' meant that I had some good knowledge of how to use the programme. Combining the knowledge and affects of the group the editing of the production was a long task, but with few problems, the most arduous task was cutting down the large amount of footage we had, and decided where to add cross fades etc.

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

Having already gained experience with using the editing software ‘Premier Elements’ in the preliminary task I was benefited by this previous experience when editing the thriller film.  My skills with using the software where greatly improved from when I edited my preliminary task, I could use the software more efficiently, and with a greater ability to use the tools and functions of the software.  I feel that I worked well with the other members of my production group, when planning, shooting and editing our film we work constructively as a group and got on with the tasks we needed to do to our full ability. When planning our production we shared ideas and listened to one another, considering each others ideas and developing them to work towards an idea for our production. Previous experience from the preliminary task meant that we had good planning techniques such as creating shooting maps and shot lists, skills which we used and developed further when planning our production. The preliminary task also helped me you understand and use the 180° continuity editing, gaining understanding and experience with both of these helped with producing our production.

When shooting our production we where almost all at each shoot, we feel having all the members of the group at the shoots meant that we could contribute ideas and opinions about the shoot collectively whilst on the shoot, this meant that anything filmed could be fully approved or disapproved by all members of the group, resulting In highly throughout and developed footage that all members of the group where happy with. All members of the group arrived on time to the shoots as to did are actors; this meant we could film efficiently and have time for any re-shooting, variation of camera angles and improvements, which was highly beneficial.  When choosing the soundtrack for our production we all have a similar idea to the kind of music we wanted to use. We started first by simply looking though music on a member of the group’s ipod, looking at genre, tempo and style. By looking into these aspects of music and finding what genre etc that we felt would best suit our production we could look to finding something similar by an unsigned artist/band on the internet. This also meant that when looking for a soundtrack online we could save some time as we had some idea collectively of what we where looking for and had in mind to use. We had narrowed are search down to three tracks that we felt where best fitted to what we had in mind, from the site www.unsignedbandwebs.com the final track was then collectively chosen by the group with some guidance from our teacher also.  We chose Hyperion’s Fate - Sunny days are over, we felt the track was dramatic and tense, creating and heightening the drama and suspense of our opening.

Our initial narrative idea involved the exchange of two briefcases between two notorious gangsters, Christian and Joules, for money in return for incriminating evidence, with Christian's deceitful daughter, Isabella, intercepting the money via the murder of Joules with the intention of taking the money to run off to start a new life; eventually getting caught by her father. Reflecting on our original plot idea we felt the narrative was too confusing, the numerous briefcases, exchanges and betrayals that occurred in our plot would have been far too confusing/overwhelming for any audience to take in and fully understand what is going on in such the short space of time we had to work with (2 minutes). Having realised this, we reconsidered our narrative and came up with one that we feel to be far less confusing, and fits much more neatly into the two minute gap. The narrative needed to be more interesting and engage the audience, a controversial or challenging narrative would be very effective at engaging and interesting an audience in the 2 minute time space. We learnt that focusing on family relationships and jealousy are more realistic and make for a stronger and compelling film, our film having turned originally from a crime thriller to a psychological thriller.

REVISE The Good Daughter

Title
The Good Daughter


Genre
Physiological thriller


Brief plot


Isabella murders her lover Joules by stabbing him in the heart. Isabella murders her lover for the twisted thrill and to please her father Christian. Christian disliked Joules, Isabella and her fathers close; obsessive relationship leads to Isabella killing Joules, pleasing her controlling father. The cuts between Isabella and Christian reflect the close cut between Isabella's eyes to Christian's, the father is watching his good daughter.


Shots


C.U of Isbella looking in to mirror putting on lipstick
C.U of Isabella smoking - 'smokescreen production' title is over this shot
M.S of Isabella's feet walking across the room and picking up suitcase leaving through the door
C.U of the reflection of Christians's eyes in the the reversing mirror of his car.


'The Good Daughter'

We chose to call our production 'The Good Daughter' because it reflects the controlling, obsessive relationship between Christian and his daughter. It also suggests Christian pleasure that Isabella has done what he wanted and killed Joules. The title could also been seen an ironic, doing bad to be good. The title integrates the theme of the obsessive, controlling relationship between Father and Daughter; it also reflects the ironic and twisted nature of the characters and their actions.

Soundtrack

Hyperions fate - Sunny Days Are Over

Genre

Progressive / Experimental / Classical

Looking though the a search engine style site full of unsigned artists and music called www.unsignedbandsweb.com we found this song. The song was posted under 'instrumental'. We felt that the song was dramtic and errie and would acoompily are footage and mood of our production well. I have written to the artist via the site to let them know we are using the song in our production/ ask for premission, below is the body of the email:

Hello


I am a student at CNS 6th form Norwich, England studying A Level media, as part of my coursework I have to construct the opening to a thriller film. For the soundtrack we have to use a copyright free piece of music. After looking though the site I found that your track 'Sunny days are over' would be perfect for my production. I writing to ask/ inform permission if I can use it in my production.
Kind Regards
Elizabeth King
CNS 6th form

Further contact information:

www.myspace.com/hyperionsfate

Audience feed back on the sound track

When asked  'Does the sound track effectively enhance the mood & tone? 12/12 people said it did.

Example of questionnaire anwser:

The sound track adds to and heightens the mood and tone of the mise-en-scene fitting the action well. The steady but intense beat of the music means that when editing we could cut the footage to the beat, heightening tension and drama further. The sound track evokes tension and fear, the sound track is quite dark, moody and heavy. The stings in the sound track make it eerie.


I have uploaded the track onto my account on You tube:


Titles

'Smokescreen Productions'

Are production company is called smokescreen productions
'Smokescreen Productions' will appear over the C.U of Isabella smoking.
We have decided to have the production company on a separate frame as we have time to. This will appear for 4-5 seconds at the start of film.

'The Good Daughter'

The title of our fill will appear towards the end of the opening somewhere. Possible over a shot of Isabella that then cross fades to one of Christian, to establish and intensify the link between the characters.



Actors names

The actors names will appear over the establishing shots of them. For example the establishing shot of Isabella is when she is looking in the mirror putting on lipstick, the establishing shot of Christian is the C.U of the relection of his eyes in the reversog mirror, and Joules when he is waiting behind the railings on the bridge for Isabella. When placing the actors names over these shots it is important not to spoil these shots with the titles, if they do indeed do so they will be moved to a secondary shot.

Thelma and Louise - Thriller research

Thelma and Louise

Director
Ridley Scott
Release date
12th July 1991 (UK)
Production companies
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Pathé Entertainment
Percy Main
Star Partners III Ltd. (in association with)
Filming locations
Bakersfield, California, USA

Bedrock, Colorado, USA
Canyonlands National Park, Moab, Utah, USA
Cisco, Utah, USA
Colorado, USA
Courthouse Towers, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA
(scene where Thelma & Louise lock police officer in his patrol car trunk)
Dead Horse Point State Park - State Highway 313, Moab, Utah, USA
Gorman, California, USA
La Sal Mountains, La Sal, Utah, USA
(opening vista)
Moab, Utah, USA
Shafter, California, USA
Silver Bullet Saloon, Long Beach, California, USA
Taft, California, USA
Tarzana, Los Angeles, California, USA
Thompson Springs, Utah, USA
Vagabond Inn - 3101 S. Figueroa Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA
(Oklahoma City motel scenes)
Valley of the Gods, Mexican Hat, Utah, USA
West Valley City, Utah, USA

User comments/reviews and ratings

From looking at the user rating report on IMDB the information reflects that this film was most highly enjoyed by female aged 30-44, fameale aged 18-29, and males under 18 who all had the same average (7.8)

IMDB user comment/review
"loved this movie from the first time I saw it, but it wasn't until I sat through it the third time that I figured out why. It is clever, exciting, and funny and is shot in the middle of the breathtaking scenery of the American Southwest. However, the thing that makes it special is its illustration of pure friendship. It may be difficult for some men to cross the gender boundary and connect with Thelma and Louise, yet doing so is critical to appreciating the film. If you can make the connection then you can get its message -- we all need a friendship like the one Thelma and Louise had. This movie will strike a deep emotional chord.....if you aren't afraid to let it. And if you happen to be too emotionally closed off to appreciate what I think the movie says about friendship I think that you will still enjoy the characters, acting, action, and humor. It is a ten out of ten."
Steve from San Antonio, Texas

External comment/review
'The film switches moods violently, and sometimes it just jerks your chain. But this is movie dynamite, detonated by award-caliber performances from Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon in the title roles.'
Peter Travers for Rolling Stone

Thelma and Louise and the main characters in the thriller 'Thelma and Louise'. They are an example of the 'modern' femme fatale, the strong women. Dressed in denim and wearing aviators they are almost the opposite of the classic femme fatale. They are dressed to look strong and confident, masculine andnot for the visual pleasure of men. Ridley Scott challenges the pre-conceptions and conventions of the thriller genre with Thelma and Louise, the main characters, two women in control, powerful and dangerous. This is taken from the scene where they look a policeman in the boot of his own car, Ridley Scott mocks the conception that men have power over women and noticably policeman. The girls take his gun and sun glasses and ride off, very much a 'girl power' moment. They are two women who took the law in there own hands and because of it are now on the run and proving to be clever strong and deviant.

After discovering Louise being assaulted by Hal, a man Louise had got friendly with in a bar, she warns him to back off, and pulls a gun to his neck. Thelma is in control of the situation, she is the one with the power- the gun. Thelma takes up around two thirds of the mise-en-scene, also indicating strength as she takes up more space in the mise-en-scene, pushing Hal out. Thelma is dressed in unflattering, gender neutral clothes, she is covered and not exposed - this makes her look strong and not vulnerable to the exploitation of a drunker man with only one thing on his mind. The lighting is dark and it is raining outside, a generic signifier of the thriller genre. The gun is a generic signifier also, connoting crime and murder.

The damp, dark urban location is a generic signifier of the thriller genre. As Thelma and Louis speed away from the scene of the murder Louise takes control and drives the car. Louise having taken the control of the situation into her own hands and murdering Hal she now has to avoid deal with the consequences, she and Thelma's fate lie in her hands. The dark, damp mise en scene represents the dark and dangerous situation Thelma and Louise are now in, they are on the run, not knowing what will happen next. The darkness could represent the characters uncertainties, anxiety and desperation.

Thelma & Louise tiny car against the huge transport trucks is a metaphor, the trucks representing male dominance. Misogyny means hated or fear of women, this is implied by the directors as he cleverly uses the trucks to symbolise male dominance as they close in on the females, represented by their small car. This could represent the director’s perception of the conforming representation of women in the thriller genre. It could also represent the attitudes towards woman during America at that time and how they are represented, how they do not have the same rights and responsibilities as men.

REVISE Developed storyboards

Developed storyboards, developed from the first idea for the opening.

REVISE Initial storyboards

Initial storyboards for the first idea for the opening:

REVISE rough storyboards for final plot idea

Rough storyboards for final opening idea.