Title- Stockholm Syndrome

• For our film we decided on the name 'Stockholm Syndrome' as we believe it can create more tension and questioning within the audience while they are watching the two minute opening as the title will appear at the end.

•  Stockholm Syndrome or capture bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy or sympathy and have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them and also identifying with them.

• We could possibly make the storyline of our film that it is then viewed after the two minute opening from the point of view of the police officers that worked this case as it could possibly be a storyline of explaining who the kidnapper is and why he is the way he is which could be why she might identify with him.  Or even from the p.o.v of the protagonist as we want to include a flashback anyway, this could include hints of who her abductor is and why she may have feelings or affections towards him as she might know them. 

• For our title I think the font shown below is most effective and I feel brings a strong sense of intensity and disorientation to the film and links nicely with the storyline.

Appealing to additional Media Studies theories

I believe that our film appeals greatly to Blumler and Katz theory of Uses & Gratifications. 

• I believe that the two minute opening of our film gives the audience a sense of escapism mainly because it allows them to get away from everyday life and watch a very action and tension packed film, as it something they will most likely not have been through or witnessed on a daily basis. The two minute opening of our film will also allow the audience member to feel less stressed of their daily commitments any issues bothering them will not be on their mind. 

• I think that it will additionally, be a great form of (social) interaction because I think that the audience members will be able to create a relationship with the main character, as they may be able to identify with certain things the main character is going through. It can furthermore, create common ground for conversation in everyday lives as they will most likely be discussing to the build up before the release of the film, including trailers, posters to the actual release of the film and after viewing it. Although this is effective, it can sometimes be dangerous if people do not question and cannot differentiate between reality and fiction. 

• Through our opening, our audience members can definitely identify a part of themselves, either through our character or circumstance. For example, physical characteristic which they may have in common. This can go a long way in people's ideologies. 

•  I believe that through our film, especially the two minute opening our audience members gain an understanding and knowledge of the world around them by consuming/watching our product. For example, if they didn't know how easy it was to be taken by someone or even that there are people capable of carrying out such acts. As a whole, I do think that our final product is able to educate and inform the audience through a variety of ways. 

• A very important thing which I think our film manages to do is entertain the audience members as it adheres but also challenges generic conventions of a film within the thriller genre so the content will therefore reach and exceed their expectations as there are many interesting and intensifying scenes which I believe are very enjoyable as they manage to encourage and allow the audience members minds to develop further. 

Other than Blumler & Katz theory, I believe that the two minute opening of our film adheres to Dyers Utopian Solutions. 

• Where the audience members may be feeling exhaustion through their repetitive everyday routines, our film gives them a source of energy mainly because it manages to keep them engaged throughout, wondering what has happened and help them develop the storyline further in their mind to think of how it may end and what situation the protagonist will be in. 

• If the audience members are in fact experiencing feeling of scarcity, our film is able to give them a sense of abundance because (even if it may selfish), it allows them to feel better and appreciative of everything they have in comparison to our protagonist as they are in a much better situation than she is. 

• If the audience members are feeling dreariness, this could be because they feel as though their life is monotonous and is as a whole very predictable, our product brings a solution to that as I believe it manages to convey a sense of intensity to their lives because it could enhance their experience of emotion and encourage them to emotionally get involved without holding back even if they are expressing their emotions to something completely different.

•  If the audience members are feeling manipulation, our product will offer them a sense of transparency as although they may not be able to predict what will happen at all times, they will be able to have a sense or guess what will happen.

• The audience members may be feeling fragmentation, the two minute opening of our film however, will give them a sense of community as they will most likely be seeing the film with their friends and will therefore, feel a sense of belonging as they are socialising and interacting, which will them make them more comfortable and confident when talking to other people and will help them create new friendships as the film industry may become a common ground for them.  

Costume analysis

We want our character to appear that they are in a very isolating and scary situation. The outfit we will chose for her could possibly  indicate what kind of personality our main character has (stereotypically) through her style choice.  We want our audience to know that the main character is only a teenager and is dressed very casually, the form of her outfit takes one of a typical teenage girl as we would like her to wear something like a black pair of jeans, a top and a pair of converse.
We'd like our main character to have very messy/ knotted hair as I think it could foreshadow the situation our main character has found herself in. Furthermore, I believe her make up should also be very minimal to show how she is worn out/ tired and that the last thing on her mind is what her appearance is like as she is scared and alone. There should also be a few smudges of dirt on her face which are there to remind the audience of her journey running through the woods.

We would similarly like the main character to wear a hoodie, possibly oversized. The hoodie should also be muddy to show that she has been through a lot and has possibly fallen over in the woods a couple of times maybe because the adrenaline has taken over her initial instincts or maybe even because her hair is in her face. I think the hoodie also links with the stereotypical view of teenagers as mentioned above.

To link with the idea we'd like the jeans she will be wearing to be also very muddy/ dirty. I think this will be very affective as when the audience will firstly spot the teenage girl running through the woods it will leave the audience wondering what the character is going through, why she is running and if she is safe. Or wanting to question whether she is safe yet.



Lastly, I think that shoes are a very important part of the costume/ outfit. They are important because for a lot of the time during the two minute opening the audience will only be able to see the girls shoes while she is running through the woods. I therefore think that it is important that the shoes the character wears should be muddy and worn out.  We would like the main character to wear a pair of Converse as we think they are a very suitable choice of shoes, this is because every teenager has a pair of Converse in their possession. It is also a good way to leave the audience wondering what the main character is like; whether they are male or female and what age group they are in until she is finally revealed to the audience in different shots of her running through the woods. (when the shot isn't of her feet while she is running) I think the audience will not be able to tell any of the things above as Converse are trainers which people from every single age group have as they as shoes which have been around for many years. To conclude, I think the fact that our main character is a teenager and is dressed very casually helps draw in the audience as it will allow them to identify with the main character because our target audience are people within the same age group as the teenage girl.

Institution Research

During the institution research, I looked at the films I have been using as guidelines and have been including in my other research such as certificate and target audience theory.

       Taken was distributed by 20th Century Fox. This is one of the many companies that we use for our film as it makes the specific sort of genre we want to make. 20th Century Fox have created many films within the action/drama genre so ours could fit. Taken was produced by:

·         M6 Film

·         Canal+

·         TPS Star

·         M6

We have a variety of production companies we can chose from, this is very beneficial as we can decide later on which one will look better when we start shooting and editing the opening two minutes of our film.

Ransom is another film similar to ours which I previously looked at. This film was distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. We can't use this company due to the fact it no longer exists and Walt Disney Pictures has taken its place and they usually make films targeted for children. This does not link to our genre so we won't be able to use it.  Ransom was produced by Imagine Entertainment, Touchstone Pictures and Icon Productions. Imagine usually makes more some children and more relatively upbeat films so this may not be the right company for us. The majority of Touchstone films that are produced are dramas and other darker themes. This could be another distribution possibility for our film too. Icon usually makes thrillers and dramas. This is partly similar to our film (genre: drama)

The Hunger Games was distributed by Lionsgate Films. Lionsgate is mostly known for action themes which could be a good possibility for our opening. The film was produced by Colour Force, which is an independent company that usually makes movies out of books, since our film isn't a book, we will not use this company.

       Other companies that we could use include, Universal Studios, New Line Cinema or Warner Brothers as they make a range of different films from different genres. Paramount pictures could also be good as they make a lot of dramas.  Furthermore, we could also use Millennium Films and/or TriStar because they have made films such as Faster and Stolen and Olympus has fallen which fit in successfully with the film we want to create. I think it would be very suitable if the production company we choose (or at least one of them) is Tri-Star because they were the production company of an action drama film named Colombiana which is along the lines of what we want to create. Colombiana was also created from the writers of Taken which is the film we are using as inspiration/ guide. 

Certificate research

U (Universal): films which are suitable for all viewers. Some examples include The Little Mermaid, Toy Story, and Shrek.

Parental Guidance (PG): films are allowable for any age. However, some scenes may be unsuitable for young children under the age of 8. Such scenes may contain mild language and sex/drug references. Some examples of PG rated films are A Cinderella Story, Home alone and Maleficent. 

12: films which are for people of the age 12 and above. 12A rated films are usually given a 12 certificate when released on DVD. An example of a 12 rated film is Perks of being a wallflower. 

12A:  films which are unsuitable for young children. Cinemas are only permitted to let in children under the age of 12 if they are accompanied by an adult aged 18 and over. These films may contain views of soft drugs, occasional strong language, discrimination, reasonable violence and or nudity. Some examples are of 12A rated films are:  The Fault In Our Stars, The Hunger Games and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. 

15:  films which are only suitable for those aged 15 and over. Films within this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, and consistent use of foul language. Some scenes can also include strong violence and strong sex references, nudity without graphic detail. Sexual activity may be portrayed 
but without any strong detail. Sexual violence may also be shown if discreet and acceptable by context. Some examples are The Heat, Let’s be cops and 21 Jump Street 


18: Films which are only suitable for people aged 18 and over. Films within this category do not have limitation on foul language that is used. Hard drugs are generally allowed; explicit sex references along with detailed sexual activity are also allowed. Scenes of strong real sex may be permitted if justified by the context. In addition some scenes in films within this category can also include very strong, gory, and/or sadistic violence. Strong sexual violence is permitted unless it is excessively graphic. Examples of films within category include: Taken, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Spring Breakers.



Through the target audience and certificate research I think our film will most likely fit under the 12/ 12 A category because this is where most action dramas are placed and our film will have moderate violence and certain mature themes. It will therefore, not be suitable for children under the age of 12. However, the certificate rating of 15 and 18 may be a little bit too high and will most likely lessen the variety of our audience members. Therefore, the certificate rating of 12 years and above will be most suitable as it is where most dramas/thrillers are placed. But if released at cinemas, it may be more reasonable if it is a 12 A due to the elements of violence and action as it is a psychological thriller.

Font research

I used the website Dafont to try out and research different types of fonts in order to see which one will be most suitable to use in our film. There were many fonts on that website but I managed to narrow it down to the ones above. I then looked over more films similar to the one we want to create and saw what type of fonts they use for their inter titles and credits and tried to see what each fonts connote and what affect they have and if they furthermore, link to the genre and the look we are going for.   I looked at films such as Taken, Faster and Stolen and saw that they use similar titles to the ones on the right. I think these fonts are suitable as they give it an edgy affect and  makes it stand out and gives more emphasis on what will be written/ displayed. I feel like it furthermore, goes with the flow of the film we are going to make ( I feel like the first one or other fonts similar are more appropriate than the second one). However, we need to try it out because some fonts look completely different when displayed at different sizes. Although many films may use traditional fonts, I think that they are not suitable in this case as we need the fonts to be gripping and bold. 

I additionally, researched on Dafont a couple of other fonts which brought certain hints of disorientation to them which I think links very nicely with the storyline of our film. The ones I like most are Nervous and Hacked as they look quite distorted and technical and other than this they also bring a more dramatic and intense sense to them. Similarly to the name of our film, these fonts link as there is a abnormal concept and makes it difficult for the audience to understand why the sufferer feels the way she does. To additionally enhance or foreshadow elements of what will happen in our film we would like to make one word in white and another in red to make it stand out more (possibly connote blood loss or distress and the white could connote an element of innocence of the protagonist). Furthermore, I think this will be best suited as white and red are popular in drama/ thrillers and usually appeal to the conventions of the genre.

Diary Post 4: 15th of October

In our lesson on the 15th of October, we looked at audience research and who the target audience for our film will be. I went on the Pearl & Dean website and looked for some films of a similar genre to the one we want to create. I looked at Taken, because we decided that we are using Taken as an outline and inspiration as we want to create a film of that sort of genre and we feel that Taken manages to accomplish that in a very affective way. I then looked at films similar to Taken and I found Ransom and Taken 2. I also used The Hunger Games even though it is a film with a different genre to ours. I used it because it has similar scenes that we'd like to include in our film. I learnt a lot through this lesson and came to the conclusion that the target audience of our film should be males between the ages of 15-24.