Preliminary task evaluation report

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PRELIMINARY TASK

Preliminary task – script

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Funny Games by Michael Haneke

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Hide and Seek by John Polson

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Misery by Rob Reiner

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Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock

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The Secret Window by David Koepp

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The Sixth Sense by M.Night Shyamalan

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NOTABLE PRODUCTION COMPANIES

Once decided that the genre of the film we were going to produce was a thriller, we then began to identify the different production companies that would produce our chosen film.  As many companies such as:
- Castle Rock Entertainment 

- Artisan Entertainment 

- Dimension films

have all produced horror films similar to the genre we wish to produce and due to this we identified that these three would be a good starting place to base our production line on. Castle Rock Entertainment has produced films such as; 'Misery' and the Shawshank Redemption',Artisan Entertainment: 'The Blair Witch Project' and Dimension Films have created 'Scream' and 'Halloween'.

Noticeably, all of the above films fit into the genre that we are creating, however when ding further analysis we began to discover a couple of problems.

Firstly, Artisan Entertainment as a production company is now defunct meaning that the production line has stopped producing.  Furthermore and due to this, we began to search other production companies and came across another three companies which suited our film genre directly.  These companies included:
- Lions Gate Entertainment
- New Line Cinema 
- Newmarket Films
Primarily, the majority of the films that these companies produced were all genre and horror specific which made them seem more promising for our film.  Lions Gate Entertainment have produced films titled; 'Saw', 'American Psycho' and 'Crash' which all directly fit the horror and thriller content.Secondly, the films that New Line Cinema have produced include; 'Se7en', 'Final Destination' and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'.  Similarly to Lions Gate Entertainment, these films remain specific to the two genres in which we are focussing on.  
Lastly, NewMarket Films have produced films such as; "Donnie Darko', 'Memento' and 'The Passion of Christ'.
Overall
To conclude, after researching many different production companies, it became clear that either NewMarket, New Line Cinema or Lions Gate would be the best to produce our film.  Through identifying some of the films they have created, the genre seems to correspond perfectly to ours with similar conventions and story lines.  

BRITISH BOARD OF FILM CLASSIFICATIONS

The typical thriller and horror films tend to have certificate ratings of 12A/12, 15 or 18.  However, within these certificates there are clear lines of divisions which separate them accordingly.



CERTIFICATE 12A AND 12

Firstly, many are unaware of the difference between a film rated 12A and just a 12. All it is, is that the 'A' stands for accompany or advisory.  This means that children will have to be accompanied by an adult (an individual aged 18 or over) where a certificate rated 12 does not require assistance.

What is allowed to be published in a film rated a 12A or 12?
Firstly, there is allowed to be some presence of strong language as long as it is infrequent (if aggressive use of text throughout the rating may have to be altered)
What sort of violence is to be expected?
Similarly to the language, only a moderate amount of violence is allowed to be present (not too much detail in any form; image perceived on screen, detailed fully elaborated descriptions etc) and not too much blood and gore is allowed to be depicted on screen.
Drugs and Sex?
A little amount of drug taking may occur throughout the film (e.g. hanging, self harming) but as long as the scene is not dwelled on in too much detail. Furthermore, this is extremely similar to the use of sex (although not a major aspect of thriller or horror) there may be brief and discrete images portrayed.  

CERTIFICATE 15
Certificate 15 means that no individual under the age of 15 is allowed to watch the film at the cinema or buy/rent a copy.  
Typical aspects of certificate rated 15 film
In a rated 15 film, strong violence is allowed to be used accompanied with frequent strong language and portrayals of sexual activity.  Furthermore, other than direct sexual contact, strong verbal references to sex are to be expected along with scenes of nudity and brief displays of sexual violence and overall discriminatory violence.  Drug taking can also be displayed as long as it does not contain scenes or images that are too explicit of that of a 15 year old to examine.  
Horror/Thriller films?
Extreme portrayal of strong gory reference may result in the certificate becoming higher but strong scenes of menacing action and threat are likely to be acceptable.
What about drug taking in films rated 15?
There may be drug usage but not extreme misuse.  

CERTIFICATE 18

What to expect in a film rated 18

‘18’ works are for adults and can contain strong issues such as:

• very strong violence
• frequent strong language (eg 'f***') and/or very strong language (eg ‘c***’) 
• strong portrayals of sexual activity
• scenes of sexual violence
• strong horror
• strong blood and gore
• discriminatory language and behaviour

Drug usage tolerance?

Drug taking is to be expected but the film should not promote or advertise drugs to the audience.  

Misery

Stephen King's 'Misery' directed by Rob Reiner was one of the first film openings I analysed.  From this, and as shown in my evaluation of the film, I learnt a lot about film conventions and connotations of particular colours as red and black are frequently used throughout.