Props

In our thriller we are going to use only a few props because we want to make our filming as simple as possible.  Also, because our thriller is physiological we have decided not to have a murder scene as we are going for an unconventional style of a thriller as it is against the stereotype of thrillers.

Our first prop is an iPod.  We have used this to represent to the audience immediately the antagonist (Tabi's) age as the majority of teenagers often listen to music on a regular basis.  Sometimes when they are walking on their own music can be used as a distraction.  In our thriller Tabi is going to listen to a iPod as she is walking, in our initial ideas the audience will hear the sound from the iPod however this may be difficult to implement as the music is not allowed to be copy write.  Tabi will be walking on her own, with her iPod in when she sees the protagonist (little girl) and when she drops her ipod this leads onto the next scene.  Therefore, this is an important prop as it is crucial in linking each scene together smoothy and keeping the storyline clear for the audience.                                                           

Our next prop we are going to use is a bed at the end of our thriller in which Tabi will wake up in, in the last scene.  This is a important prop as part of our filming because when she looks to her side, she will see the little girl.  In our initial idea we thought the girl could have one side of her face normal make-up and the other side black and horrible to represent Tabi's schizophrenia.  However, because we are only doing the first two minutes of our film we have not developed this idea because it will give away the storyline to the audience.  We are using this as a prop, because this will make the thriller beginning more exciting, creating enigma as the audience don't know whether the series of events are real or a dream.  This will then lead onto the rest of the film that we are not going to make as part of our media course.

Another prop we will use, and purchase is extreme make up.  This is used to clearly display to the audience who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist.  Due to this, the little girl (Georgia) will wear very pale almost white makeup contrasting against dark smudged eyes to show abnormality.  This is important to our thriller because the audience need to quickly establish she is not a normal girl by makeup, clothing and actions.  Tabi is going to wear normal teenage make-up as this will relate to the audience more as they could feel it could happen to them, and will represent her age.                                                                 

This is also shown by the protagonist (Georgia) is going to wear a hospital wrist band to show that she was once in hospital, and this also portrays an idea that she may have died. She is also going to wear a dirty white dress that flows to show that she was apparently innocent once, but not anymore due to a bad experience. This creates enigma for the audience as they may ask themselves who this girl is, as they are not told straight away, only as the beginning develops.  They may also view there own idea of her in there minds and why she is acting this way. 

Here is a picture showing the make-up being used in our day of filming.         
 We are also going to use fake blood to create a more dramatic scene, using the protagonist (Georgia)'s top to put this on.  This will make it clear for the audience to identify that something is wrong, building up psychological abnormality and tension within our filming.  This should create a desired effect on the audience, and a tester run on another piece of material proved successful as the fake blood was noticeable.  We tea - stained the top for it to look muddy, whilst also putting it on the ground and stamping onto it.  With Alex's real life scars, and the effects from the fake blood - the long shots used in our thriller proved to be extremely successful as it looked threating and dominant.  This was also shown by strong black makeup surrounding Georgia's pale face.

BBFC

BBFC

I think our film should be classified as a 15 because drugs may be shown but not to be promoted or encouraged. Dangerous behaviour such as suicide or self-harming should not be shown in detail. Available weapons such as knifes should not be shown in detail either. There can be common use of strong language such as ‘fuck’. Whereas ‘cunt’ can be acceptable if justified through the story. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is not to be acceptable. Nudity is allowed in a sexual context but not including detail. There are no limits on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. Sexual activity may be shown without detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour. No theme is banned, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds. Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. Strong gory images are not acceptable. Strong brutal or sexualised violence is also not acceptable.

BBFC is the British board of film classification; it separates each rating for films and games and has different allowances for each rating as it is dependent on the age. 

This rating means it is suitable for all children aged 4+.  This should be the rating on most Disney films.  This rating should not contain any threat or horror therefore would be unsuitable for our filming as we are filming a thriller for a young adult target audience.

This is general viewing for young children, children aged 8 are usually considered to be watching films with a PG rating.  Discrimination is unlikely, there should be no drugs or an anti-drugs message, no horror scenes, no bad behaviour that children may copy.  Only mild bad language is acceptable, and therefore is monitored, no sexual content, no serious issues such as violence and suicide, only moderate violence without any details.  Our thriller will not be a PG as it contains some threat, danger with unsuitable images and a complicated storyline for a young child, therefore it would appeal to a young adult audience.

We decided not to use a 12 rating for our thriller as it would have a younger audience, where serious scenes and the use of drugs would not be encouraged or even allowed.  Discriminatory language is unlikely to be accepted, miss-use of drugs should be infrequent and not glamorised, physical or psychological threat may be permitted however not regularly.  Dangerous behaviour should not be detailed and weapons should not be glamorised, sexual content and activity has to be brief, mature themes are acceptable however only moderate violence is allowed.  This would not work for our thriller as there has a threat cannot be used regularly and using weapons regularly could be frowned on.  The audience is slightly young for a thriller.

Adults can be free to choose their own entertainment here, unless the film provided has been created illegally, where the material in the film harms individuals or is damaging to society which could also be public health or morals, or explicit images which cannot be justified by content.  Our group decided not to use an 18 rating as 15 would be our main target audience, also the audience may expect a high use of 'blood and gore' which our filming cannot provide.