Target audience/potential age rating

The target audience of my thriller will be a British (national) audience, rather than an international audience because I think a national audience will possibly get my thriller more noticed/known, as a national audience is a smaller audience compared to an international audience (which has a wider market).

The potential age rating of my thriller will be an age rating of 15 years old, as I think my thriller will appeal to older teenagers, and young adults. I think the age rating of my thriller is suitable to 15+ year olds because of the adult theme of my thriller, and the language that will be used in my thriller. 

Production companies

A film production company is in charge of producing/filming, developing, and distributing a film (however, not every single production company distributes their films, as some production companies have to get other production companies to distribute their films).

Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures is a well known American based studio (one of the original six major Hollywood studios), owned by Comcast, in which Universal Pictures is a subsidiary of Comcast, and belongs to a media conglomerate (as Universal Pictures’ parent company is NBC Universal). Universal Pictures was founded over 100 years ago, in 1912, and it has a proven track record of producing/distributing genre films. Furthermore, Universal Pictures is responsible for producing/distributing well known films such as TED (2012), The Bourne Legacy (2012), Fast & Furious (2009), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Mr Beans Holiday (2007), and many more films.

Steel Productions (made up film production company)

‘Steel Productions’ are a well known British film production company who specialise in producing films in the UK on a low budget. Moreover, ‘Steel Productions’ have experience in producing and distributing films, as they produced their first product/film in 2002 (when they were founded), in which they have grown as a company, and made many more films. In addition, ‘Steel Productions’ products/films appeal to a British audience (national audience), rather than an international audience, as I believe they have many similarities to production companies such as Warp Film and Film4 productions. 

Film4 Productions

Film4 Productions is a British film production company, which is owned by the Channel 4 television corporation. Film4 Productions produced their first production in 1982, in which they have grown as a company, and have made a large number of films in the UK. Furthermore, Film4 Productions are becoming more known nationally, due to the fact that they have their own channel, called Film4. However, Film4 Productions was called Channel Four Films, before it was renamed to Film4 Productions in 1998. Film4 Productions is responsible for producing/distributing well known films such as The Inbetweeners Movie (2011), This Is England (2006), 127 hours (2010), and Slumdog Millionaire (2008). Moreover, Film4 Productions is also responsible for producing/distributing thrillers such as Dead Man’s Shoes (2004), Hush (2009), and The Crying Game (1992).

Potential production company – Film4 Productions

The potential production company I think will be a good production company to produce and distribute my thriller is Film4 Productions because they are a British production company that can produce and distribute films for a lower budget compared to the types of budgets that Universal Pictures (who are an enormous production company) produce and distribute their films. Furthermore, Film4 Productions have experience of producing/distributing some well known films, and they also have experience of producing/distributing thriller films in the past.

Moreover, Film4 Productions would benefit my thriller because my thriller will appeal to the British national audience, instead of an international audience, in which if a British production company produced/distributed my thriller, it would probably be more well known, rather than a production company such as Universal Pictures producing/distributing my thriller, as I think it wouldn’t get noticed because of the many films Universal Pictures produce. 

Thriller credits

In film, there are two types of credit sequences, opening and closing credit sequences, which are both shown for different purposes. Opening credit sequences are shown at the start of a film, as they consist of the key members, producers/distributors, and the production company associated with a film. On the other hand, closing credit sequences are shown at the end of a film, as they consist of the cast, producers, designers, directors, the writers, the editors, and the other departments of a film. 

In the thriller ‘Unknown’, opening and closing credit sequences are used in the film.

The opening credits of ‘Unknown’ are placed in different places of the screen (at the beginning of the thriller), in big/bold font to catch the audiences’/viewers’ eyes, as they are played over the characters acting. The opening credits of ‘Unknown’ include the production companies involved in the film (such as Warner Bros Pictures, Dark Castle Entertainment, Studio Babelsberg, and Panda Production), the actors/actress’ in the film (such as Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Gaz, and Frank Langella), costume designer (Ruth Myers), co-producers (Richard Mirisch, Adam Kuhn, Charlie Woebcken, Christoph Fisser, and Henning Molfenter), editor (Tim Alverson), production designer (Richard Bridgland), director of photography (Flavio Labiano), executive producers (Susan Downey, Steve Richards, Sarah Meyer, and Peter McAleese), producers (Joel Silver, Leonard Goldberg, and Andrew Rona), screenplay (Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell), director (Jaume Collet-Serra), casted by Lucinda Syson, and music played by John Ottman and Alexander.

The closing credits of ‘Unknown’ are placed generally in the middle of the screen (at the ending of the thriller), in small font because there are many different departments involved in a film, in which they are played over a black screen (as a long list). The closing credits of ‘Unknown’ include the actors, chorographers, stunt performers, assistant directors, directors, writers, editors, producers, co-producers, special effects, prop markers, lighting, make-up artists, and many more departments.

The opening credit sequence of ‘Unknown’ is effective because they are in a big and bold font (which catches the audiences’/viewers’ eyes), highlight the important people involved in the film (which vary from the production companies, actors, producers, directors, and many more), they help open the film, and give the film a flow to it.

Similarly, the closing credit sequence of ‘Unknown’ is effective because they highlight everyone single person involved in the film (which vary from the actors, production companies, producers, editors, directors, assistant directors, and many more), and they help end the film. 

Thriller music

In film, music is a vocal or instrumental sound that can create a melody, rhythm, or harmony. Moreover, music is a non-diegetic sound that is used to set the tone/mood of a scene (the characters acting in the scene cannot hear the music being played, as music is included in a scene once the editing process has been carried out), in which it can be used to highlight the feelings/emotions of a character.

Furthermore, music in a thriller film helps create tension, suspense, and a sense of panic, as music is played at a dramatic moment in a film to create an atmosphere. The effectiveness of music on the creation of tension/suspense/a sense of panic is enormous because music helps to create the tone of a scene, in which music adds to the tension/suspense/sense of panic of a scene.

Due to a scene in a thriller, the tempo of music can either be a fast tempo beat (if there’s action/excitement in a thriller, which is effective as it can keep the audience/viewers on the edge of their seats because they want to know what is going to happen next in the film), or a slow tempo beat (if there’s tension/suspense/a sense of panic in a thriller, which is effective as it can keep the audience/viewers questioning what is going to happen in the film, due to the tension/suspense in a scene).

In film, there are different types of music, such as scary, tensed, sad/unhappy, happy/joyful, and excited/action music. However in thrillers, the type of music likely to be used is scary/tensed music, as in thrillers there are many scary and tensed scenes/moments that occur. Furthermore, music that is used can be classified as a soundtrack, theme song, and incidental music (sound that is played over the characters acting in a film).

The effectiveness of music in thrillers is massive because it is a major/essential factor of a film, in which it displays the different types of emotions/feelings of a character, and sets the tone of a scene (most commonly, tension/suspense).