The Run Aways is a teenage thriller set in 21st
century Miami USA. For my coursework my task was to create a DVD
cover and a poster advertising my own thriller movie called the Runaways. I also had to create a script and
research of previous thriller films to accomplish this task.
I began by researching relevant films with the
specific sub-genre of thriller films, analysing different film posters, DVD
covers and adverts to see which ones I thought looked the best and fitted the
criteria I needed for my own film. Examples that I used as a basis for my research included 2
Guns (2013) directed by Baltasar Kormákur, Lila & Eve (2015) directed by Charles Stone III
and Pain & Gain (2013) directed by Michael Bay. I watched each film and
studied the aesthetics of all three covers. These examples helped me develop my own DVD cover and film
poster by taking note on the aspects needed to make it look just as good.
Each of these three films have many generic conventions, for
example the use of destruction throughout the scenes. This includes explosions,
chases; fight scenes, modern technology and gun battles. These conventions can
generally be applied to all movies in the thriller genre, which gave me an
insight on which features to apply to The Run Aways. Secondly, I found that
each film contains a protagonist and an antagonist, which is related to Propp’s
theory (1969), as there is always a villain targeting a damsel in distress. They
also all contain a traditional trend of Tordov’s theory (1970), as each film
starts in equilibrium and counteracted by disequilibrium, then finishes in
equilibrium at the end.
All of this research helped me plan my story line to recreate
the standards of the thriller genre, as I found each protagonist must go to
great struggle to outrun the villain to return to a state of equilibrium. This forms the basis for the structure
of the Run Aways.
The Run Aways is about an innocent civilian who gets twisted
up in a brutal journey trying to out run the most wanted police exempt gang in
Miami called the Kabal. Thalia
Kennedy witnessed a car ‘accident’, which was actually an assassination by
Storm AKA Katrina Mustov, the Head of the Kabal and her psychotic sister, Rocky
AKA Valentina Mustov. Thalia didn’t know it, but she was in for a hell of a
ride, as throughout the film she is entangled in a horrific goose chase with
multiple dramas along the way. Thalia
repeatedly tries to escape the fierce force of the Kabal, working up quite a
storm as she goes. When Thalia realises she cannot outrun the Kabal alone, she
turns to her undercover trained assassin fiancé, who had been studying the gang
for years without her knowing.
Thalia then had an advantage as she knew how the family orientated gang
worked and the levels she was going to have to rise to, to be able to defeat
them. The film contains many
chases, explosions and violence throughout the chase, which is conventional
within a traditional thriller movie and fits the task set.
My production mainly targeted a female dominated audience as
the main protagonist role was performed by a female, in addition to many other
crucial roles. This was demonstrated through my DVD cover and poster by the
prominent focus on the female roles opposed to male ones. The theory behind my
film being female based is that most thriller films are targeted towards males
and I wanted to change the focus so that the idea of women being in power was
brought forward. I hoped to create personal relationships so that females are
aware that it is not always males who are boss and come out on top, but women
too creating idolization towards the characters. However, I maintained aspects of a thriller in order to
attract both female and male viewers.
My script was also designed to attract a teenage and young
adult audience, as the main dialogue is between characters of around the same
age group in a comfortable state of equilibrium. This also allows the audience to create a relationship with
the characters, which is designed to keep them more intrigued with the events
evolving within the film.
The demographics for my production will generally be people
who are in higher education or starting work, as my target audience is teen
based from the age of 18 to around 25.
The classification is an 18, due to the amount of violence involved in
the production. The Run Aways should attract viewers who like traditional
action filled thriller movies as the production contains mystery and dangerous
scenes, which typically relates to big mainstream thriller movies.
The DVD cover and poster that I produced are designed to
attract the audience by showcasing the action shots and highlight the dark
themes to depict the contents and background of the story. This also provides insight into the genre
of the film prior to the viewer watching it. If I had used light colours and non-action shots it would be
harder for the viewer to identify the genre and would not fit the visual
conventions of a thriller.
I used a brief overview of what to expect to draw in viewers
and tried to create a sense of mystery to attract mainstream viewers. I also included British Board of Film
Classification (BBFC) information, special features, credits and copyright
information to make the production more
realistic.
The film poster I designed to advertise The Run Aways contains
the two main characters from the film, Thalia on the right and Storm on the
left. I used visual codes such as
clothing and lighting to define the differences between the character’s
personalities and roles in the film.
The balaclava on Storms face symbolises gang culture, as well as the
slightly less obvious gun in her hand.
In contrast, Thalia is dressed in white and has a startled expression on
her face, symbolising innocence.
It underlines the characters personalities and importance without having
to physically view the film.
Lila & Eve (2015) shares similar traits to The Run Aways
poster as it contains two of the main characters on the front; however, it
simply focuses on the two women apposed to the setting. This is where The Run
Aways differs, as it contains a clear image of the setting with a view out of a
plane window onto the runway, which sets a scene and also relates to the title
of the production.
The DVD cover of 2Guns (2013) aspired me to display an explosion
on the back of my DVD cover, as I really liked the colour contrast and the
mystery it creates. It is similar to my DVD cover, as it features the
protagonists emerging from an explosion.
This scene is set in a dark backdrop and a diagonally orientated
combination of screenshots from the film outlined in red to make them stand
out.
I decided I wanted to capture the visual content of the film
more clearly by using fewer, larger images. Other aspects of my production designs are also different
from other thriller films; for example, on my poster, the title of the film
follows the wing of the plane, conveying the thought of being on the plane for
the journey of the film. To
create an effect that suited the storyline, I edited on Photoshop to fade out
the images of the antagonist and protagonist on the front of my DVD cover and
poster. This effect is not often
used on other films production media.
Overall, my final production pieces were produced to a similar
quality of other action films, as they contain many features and complexions of
traditional high quality films. I believe that the back of my DVD cover was
well designed as it contained a contrast of colours, it clearly showed the
genre of the film, special features, credits and copy right information, all of
which are needed for a successful and traditional DVD cover. However, on
reflection, my poster could have benefitted from a bit more light to highlight
the wing of the plane to attract the audience and outline the idea of the plot
more. Adding additional special features
and quotes may also have improved the overall appearance and strengthened the
production further. These are
valuable lessons that will strengthen my productions in the future.
