Okay, this is one is harder to do in terms of what I'm going to do to get my creativity points. Hey... I said I made stories but I never said they were the best... But this one is easier to know what to write, this one is more research based. I'm thinking of just voicing over a compilation of clips because I don't want to show my face, even though it may already appear in either my or my friends' blogs, and I don't think there are much creative ideas that don't require my face.
｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★
My Script.. For now(?):
This is my CCR for my Cambridge AS Level Media Studies project "The Survey." My name is Ailish Reynoso and I'll be dissecting my thriller. The goal of "The Survey" was to take a simple task like doing homework and getting the mail and transform it into a thriller.
In terms of genre conventions, The Survey is a thriller. We used the prescription bottle and the letter as enigma codes to signal to the audience that there is a mystery involving Brittney's health and an external threat, which would be the person putting the mail in the mailbox, but mainly just the letter asking Brittney what the worst way to die is. By keeping the threat as text, the thriller is both from the person stalking Brittney and psychological, which can be seen by the pills she drinks. We also changed Chloe into the toxic friend who doesn't care much for her friend's feelings, as shown by how she tells Brittney to "suck it up" when she mentions how much school work is affecting her. In the mailbox scenes when the mail is taken in and taken out, the same close up of the mailbox is used to emphasize these two scenes' correlation. The long shot in the living room was also to emphasize how Brittney can feel trapped, as is also by shown by said scene's closed framing. Brittney represents the "
Struggling Student" social group by including how she talks about her issues with class and how much it's affecting her, accompanied by her mom yelling at her even though--regarding how close the mother sounds--she's relatively near Brittney. This addresses the real-world issue of the mental health crisises among teenagers. She also defies the
damsel in distress archetype because she goes outside, at night, by herself, to get the mail right after stating she saw something odd outside.
I engaged this audience through relatability and suspense. The first hook is the relatable stress of a late-night study session, being on call with a friend and complaining about school, not wanting to do work, and having your parents ask you for favors--like getting the mail--while you're busy. The second hook is the survey itself. "What's the worst way to die?" is what the paper asks, it's a great hook for the film opening because it leaves the audience wondering what Brittney is going to answer. They'll ask: What did she answer? How long will it take for her to die? Will the letter affect others like Chloe? Realistically, The Survey would be distributed by a studio like
Blumhouse Productions. Their business model relies on high-concept and low-budget movies. For marketing, I'd put make a trailer and post it on either TikTok or Instagram. Also, I'd make an edit of our movie and then post it, then, people would say "Wow this looks so cool, movie name?" And then people would want to watch the movie.
In conclusion, The Survey builds a tense atmosphere through contrasting the warm lighting inside and the dark lighting outside. By balancing the thriller elements--like the teasing of showing the letter in the mailbox scene and leaving a cliffhanger as soon as Brittney opens it for the camera to see--and real societal issues--like balancing teenage life with school work and mental issues as showcased by the pills--we made a thriller that was both personal and relatable with the audience and suspenseful.
This concludes my Creative Critical Reflection. Thank you.
｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★
Was that tough? This took me a lot longer than I want to admit. I really don't know how I'm going to make this into a video, I'll read this out loud first and time myself to see how long it'd be. I'm thinking of playing this one game on Roblox called "The Kidnapper," since it sounds like it relates to our genre. That, or I'll play a mystery game or something thriller/horror based and then put the clip of me answering the questions over the video. That way whoever's watching my CCR doesn't get bored while watching.
However, games like these are long, and I seriously doubt it'll take less than five minutes. So as a backup, I’ll play a stalker mini-horror-game. I think I’ll do that one instead. Y’know what… yeah.
｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★
Time-Skip: Same day by the way, I played this game, it was a lot better and it fit PERFECTLY with my audio recording. Editing was so easy, I just lined up the audio and the gameplay and added the questions to the top. It's interesting, you don't get bored watching me ramble.
