evaluation (philip)

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media products?
When we first started looking at making a 2 minute opening of a thriller, we started by looking at other real established media products and looking at the different elements, conventions that they put into them and establishing how they work to produce fear in to the audience to make a successful thriller. From here we established the conventions and came up with our own that we can use. After we established the conventions we decided to use these as they have been proven effective in the vast amount of thrillers. Also we chose to stick to the “norms” of a thriller as the examiner could easily mark and grade us of the composition of the film its self.




















From our research in to thriller, we established that the location has to be realistic in order for the audience to think that the situation is real. As well as this believable characters that act naturally, in conjunction with the use of enigmas, so that it would be recognised as a thriller.
The opening was set in a garage in which we use close-ups shots and point of view shots, and quick transaction between scenes to comply to the generic conventions of thrillers. By doing this we get different shots of the character and we can see close up of his emotions and how we his feeling. From the shots that we used we created the visual that the audience is looking at the antagonist from the protagonist view. As well as point of view shots we used high angle to create the allusion that one character is inferior to the other. We also used low angles to give one character a sense of power.


















Also we used the enigma of what did the character do to get in this position that he is in the moment. By doing this we create a whole background to the characters and keeps the audience are we going to find out about the history of them and how the story of these characters is going to progress. During the film we had some dialog that revealed how the character go to the position, so in order to keep the enigma we removed this from the finial product.
Our opening can be compared to such films as the interrogation scene from reservoir dogs. In which they use the same conventions that we tried to use in our production also the point of view shots, which we used, is also used.

2. How does you media product represent particular social groups?
In our thriller our opening scene the social groups are shown extremely clearly. At the start of the piece we see a middle class man walking in to a garage. This man is wearing a suite which show he has a high status job, as well as having the middle class status the suite also creates a dominative and very much in the stereotype of an alpha male in the scene. The other man in the opening from what he is wearing shows a working class individual in which has a low pay role. From the clothes he is wearing the audience can depict a picture of the sort of lifestyle that the character in question lives. The man in the chair is shown as submissive, as he begs to the man in control. Their ages are represented through their clothing and the way they act, the setting as well also suggest that they’re adults as the character has a house with a large garage. The stereotypes are typical as the middle class man are shown as dominative and the working class as passive which helps people to relate to it as the stereotypical view people have of social groups.











The character that is integrating also conflict with the normal stereotype of middle class is usually calm and collected. As well see the character beat on the other suggest that it goes against the stereotype.

beat on the other suggest that it goes against the stereotype.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The kind of media institutions that might distribute our product are likely to be the same as those that have distributed films similar to ours in terms of genre and conventions, such films are What Lies Beneath, The Sixth Sense, and reservoir dogs. I researched some of them to find the institutions that are likely to show interest in such genre. I think our media production would work as an 20th century fox film, the reasons for this are that the style that we use which stuck to the original generic conventions of the thriller genre and as such would have a unique look and feel that may find mass appeal. 20th century fox would like be the best suitor to distribute this media product because they have done similar product such as taken (in which I done a textual analysis on) I think the film its self has the potential to become a franchise as it has a storyline in which can be expanded in a number of areas and could use vertical integration to expand in to different areas of the market like SAW has done(the ride at Thorpe park)














The visual style of the opening can also be addressed better if this was to be released as an 20thcentry fox production as it could go for a high budget production go for quirks in how its executed that would also help in building it up as its own and also bring large audience.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
From our target audience research we established that audience that is over the age of 15 as there are scenes of violence that would not be appropriate for the younger audience fits our media product for viewing. Also we established that in terms of gender it would appeal to males more than females, as females are known to be more romantic half and our two-minute sequence doesn’t have any romantic element of any nature. But as this was assumed out of stereotypical views and does not necessarily apply for every female.
Even more general, our product is suitable for audiences that have a high level of suspense, uncertainty and a fast past chase scenes. I looked at previous films for example kill bill, which is classed as 18, and saw, which is a 15. A lot of thrillers make their films 15+ as to increase ticket sales, as they want to target a younger audience.












I had referred to the BBFC age classification to make a decision on what rating this film should be. This helped me compare to their films that are similar to mine and base it upon that.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?
To attract the audience I gathered up all my ideas from personal knowledge of films, one of the biggest influences was saw as they have made a massive franchise on there products and have even gone as far to having ride at Thorpe park because of the defining characters. I thought about all the action thrillers that I knew and how well they were produced to make that film become as successful as it has. The use of music helped attract my audience as it set the pace of the film to which can attract an audience very quickly. The non-digetic music that we used was taken from sound track pro. To make the prop’s see authentic we used a gunshot and a bone breaking sound to enhance the hitting on the leg. Because of this it helps enhance the realism of the opening and its authenticity. Also I think my use of shots attracted people as well because its up to the appearance of the film to gain opinion on the film. We used a lot of close-ups, middle ranged shots and point of view shots, to show what is going on with the characters and there emotions, and how the character is reaction and get the full effect of how the character is feeling.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
When we first started the course work we learnt how to sign up to blogger and we explored with that, in changing the templates, backgrounds to suite the theme of our thriller. When we started to brain storm our ideas we used a webbed base program called bubble.us, in which we created a brainstorm.










Then once we first started using the equipment to create our preliminary we didn’t have any filming experience previously but we had access to good quality equipment so filming our prelimany was not to difficult. We had to stick to two rules which were, the 180 degree rule, match on action; we established these rules from the use of you tube.











When we established the rules we then got out the equipment, which included tripod, camera, and a shotgun microphone. When we started to film we was told to count to 5 then say action to the actor to have the space for editing, and we done this with the shots that we had to work out to get the best angles for out opening. We didn’t use no extra/ special equipment for the film of the film as it was necessary. The editing software that we used was called finial cut pro, at first we found it very difficult to use but after a couple of times, we got the hang of it. The first step was to import the video from the dock, and break it down in to individual scene. From there we arranged the different scenes on to the time. This proved more difficult in the 2 minute thriller than the preliminary as I had to overlay score music, multiple soundtracks, put in titles slow down and speed up scenes and adjusted he coloring of the scene so that it had a darker and more “thriller like” feel. the music came from sound cut pro in which we used in out final piece.











To upload the finial piece of work we used you tube, as they have the function to embed a video in to blogger in which we recorded al our stuff on.








7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have

learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
When I look back at the preliminary task I can see that the amount of planning that we done was a lot of difference compare to our two minute thriller. We didn’t have no storyboard or shot list so we didn’t know were to begin, or how to go about filming it. By doing this we learnt the importance of doing these’s thing for our two minute thriller. We also learnt the vitals of the 180-degree rule as in our filming of the preliminary we found It hard to stick to this rule. Learning to use finial cut pro was one of the most important parts, as I had no experience in using this program before learning the basic’s of it helped greatly when it came to the break down of the scenes and putting them on to the time line and putting the scenes in to sequence, making them blend smoothly and shifting around the sound. Putting in background soundtrack and putting credits and text over the video. Taking these skills to the two minute sequence, I can see the progression and complexity of the tasks and I had to do this all again only on a bigger scale also I had to do a lot more leveling out for the film so that it would all work together than having voices that were unheard.

finial product : INJUSTICE

call out sheet (philip)

this is the call sheet which we have to fill if you intend to take camera equipment off campus. The person filling it out must include contact details such as phone number and address. Also emergency contacts and nearest hospital or police station in case if an incident.we done this on the friday whe we took out the camera.

Facebook Group (Michael Ariyo)

We Needed To Advertise Our Product And The Best Way Now To Do That Is Online, On Social Networking Sites. And We found That The Most Popular Social Networking Site To Do That Is Facebook. So I Went And Created A Facebook Group For Our Product.

Editors Journal (Michael Ariyo)

Today I was Given The Opportunity To Have A Different Roll In The Group Seeing As Circumstances Did Not Enable Me To Carry On With My Roll As The Director. So I Opted To Be The Editor.
And In The Night Class I Was Shown How To Use Final Cut Pro Which Is An Editing Software used For Editing.



At First It Was Kind Of Unfamiliar But I Soon Got The Hang of It And Started Editing The Footage. The Task Was To Make A Two Minute Clip And I Had Already Cut It Down From Ten Minutes Down To Three Minutes And there Was Still A Huge chunk To Edit. After I Edited It Down To Two Minutes All That Was left To Do Was Find Suitable Music From Sound Track Pro Which Is Software That Contains Music Clips And Sound Effects.


At First There We found Good Sound Effects But We Couldn't Find Good Score Music Then We Found A Suitable Score Music For Our Film And The Editing Was Finished All That Was Left Was To Upload It Onto Youtube.

Audience Analysis Research (Michael Ariyo)

Questionnaire

Textual Analysis (Will)

For my textual analysis I decided to watch American Psycho starring Christian Bale as a psychopathic killer.
The audience are captivated by the director from the very beginning as we see the protagonist Patrick Bateman speaking to a lady in a rude manner, we then see his daily routine of getting ready which perceives him as being a psycho.
His first killing is performed in a disgusting way as is all his murders. The way he treats women throughout the film is derrogative, he believes that he is the best.
Patrick Bateman is also a very competitive man, he competes with his work colleagues over silly things like business cards.
Another main part of the film is the sex scene between Patrick and two other prostitutes, he films himself with them and we see him flexing his muscles in the mirror which makes him look vain and flash. One of the women find some of the tools that Patrick uses on his victims, she tries to escape from the flat but he hunts her down and manages to throw a chainsaw down which kills her.
Patrick then begins to go mental, he tries to put a cat into a ATM machine to which a woman passer by sees, he shoots her in the chest and runs away from the police and manages to escape, he signs into a flat and enters it crying, still crying he makes a phone call that goes straight to answer phone, we hear that its his lawyer, Patrick leaves a message confessing to all the murders and sick things that he has done.
In the morning after his confession he puts on a surgical mask and then goes into the wardrobes to clean all the dead bodies out, but the place is clean and its been repainted white.
We then see Patrick talking to his lawyer the next day, he questions the lawyer about the answer phone message but the lawyer says it isnt possible that he has committed all these crimes.
The next scene shows Patricks secretary going through his note book and finding some sick drawings page after page.
The film ends with a narration of Patrick talking about whats happened and when the camera zooms in to his eyes at the very end we see a sign behind his head which reads, This Is Not An Exit.

Software used to create film (philip)

Apart from the camera, tri pod and pag light used to film the footage, we needed a dock to copy all the footage onto the Apple Mac. After all the footage was transferred onto the computer we used Final Cut Pro to cut down all the footage we had so that it is continuous, with out all any jumps. We then used Soundtrack Pro to get the appropriate music and sound effects together to add tension to the film and to make it look more professional.



this is final cut pro in which we edited the footage and added the score music all in scyc we shared these duties as the task was quite long a tedious.

Editing Diary by Will

We began editing the day after filming, all three of our group contributed to the editing as this was able to allow us to all contribute towards the final product. We had ten minutes worth of filming which we cut down to 3 and half minutes then we left it for the night. We continued editing the next monday to try and cut it down further to two minutes, we managed to do that and then added music, sound effects, the logo and credits. Editing is now completed.

Filming Diary (philip)

We picked up the camera, tri-pod and pag light on Monday and went to the set to begin filming, we then set up the tri-pod and camera. After a little trouble ajusting the pag light to the right angle we started filming, all three of us shared responsibilities filming as we all had different ideas how to film the shots. After a little while our power pack was running out of battery, this was a continuing problem. So after a very cold half an hour we returned to filming and following our storyboard, we decided to remove some shots as we weren't capable in the space that we had. After four hours we finished filming and returned home.

Photos taken during filming( philip loates)

during filming.




ajusting the camera to a extremly high angle.







filming from a point of view shot to put the audience in the seat of the victim.






filming from a high angle to create the feeling of vulnerability.







will preparing the cast getting ready for filming.

Score notes (Michael Ariyo)

The score music is a very important part of a movie as it connotes its genre to the audience. For Example If It Was A Horror Movie Like Saw It Would Have Slow Erie Music Rather Than A Fast Paced Music Like James Bond. The Score Music Sets The Scene, So For Our Score Music We Will Be Having Fast Pace Music, Or Something That Thrills The Audience Like A Heartbeat.
We Will Be Using The Software Such As Soundtrack Pro For Our Score Music as It Comes With Preloaded Music Instead Of Creating Our Own Therefore Saving Us Time.



After Finding Suitable Score Music We Will Upload It To Sound Cloud Which Will Allow Us To Publish The Music Onto The Blog.



This Is Our Score Music
Surveillance by willphil12
I Believe It Represents The Genre Well Because Its Fast Paced, And Gives The Audience A Sense Of Being Thrilled

Case Study : Scream (philip)

Scream, from the very begining of the movie, sound is present. The movie starts out right away with creepy music in the background, as we see the film start.It is followed by a rumble, as if several doors are bein closed shut. While the errie music is still going the title of the movie is streached out and comes back together with a loaud crash. the feeling of the movie suddenly changesby the phone ringing the ring of the phone cuts out all other sounds for example the heart beat and the erry music by doing this the director is playing on the audiences other sences other than just sight. Another example of sound being used is when Casy begins to flirt with the anonymous man; she lies and tells th caller that she doesn'y have a boyfriend. By doing this the film fits the classic codes and conventions of
popular horror movies by using "naive teenagers". Theres at the feeling that something bad is going to happen. When the viewer realises that this call is not a silly prank call, as the movie continues the tension is getting built up and he slowly building the character to get scared. When casy is being chased by the killer, she goes outside and the viewer can hear is her breathing is fast , full of gasps and sobs. This again creates more tension. The director has also used canted camera alot to give the effect that somethingis going to go wrong in the scences.

Location Notes

We will be filming our 2 minute film inside this garage. we chose to film here as it creates a dark and suspense atmopsphere which is what we wanted to create because of the genre of the film. we will add our own props to make it look more violent by adding knives and saws to make it look like a torture scene. it will be filmed at night time so it will look even darker inside the garage. there will be one bright light shining on the face of the client being tortured and the face and identity of the lawyer will remain anonymous.

Location Notes Continued

Production Logo (philip)

We chose this logo as it stands out and we can easily add to the animation of the production. Also because of the blood dripping down the letters was effective as were making a thriller, and blood is a sociated with thrillers. We created the effect of the blood dripping down through paint and picted bright blod text so it stands out and is easy to read



by philip

Production Schedule (philip)

development:
......Brain storm (philip)
.....Genre research (group)
.....Audience research (will)
.....Treatment (philip)
.....90 min synopsis (will)
.....2 min out line (will)
.....Script (will)
.....Location notes & pictures (will & phil)
.....Cast notes & pitures (will &phill)
.....Stoybord(michael)
.....Analysis of two title sequences
.....Score notes (michael)
.....Preliminary task + up load to you tube (group)
.....Filming journal (group)
.....Face book group (philip)
.....Production logo (philip)
.....Weekly update (individual)
.....Production schedule (philip)
production
.....Filming (group)
.....Extra time filming
post preduction
.....Log and capture (group)
.....Editing (group)
distributionn
.....Up-load to you tube (will)
evaluation
.....Finish editing and continue evaluation (group)
.....Continue evaluation (group)
.....Continue evaluation (group)
.....Finish evaluation (group)

Cast notes (philip)

We chose Joe Barnard to play the role of Michael Goldberg (lawyer)
we chose this actor because although he does the lawyer part he looks corrupt.


Tom Patrick is going to play Johnson Payne
We chose this person to play the character in the situation as he looks like an inerconet person in which he had killed some one out of desperation.

Storyboard (Michael Ariyo)

Doc 3

Storyboard Continued (Michael Ariyo)

Storyboard

Script

• LAWYERS GARAGE. NIGHT

•The twenty six year old twisted lawyer, MICHAEL GOLDBERG, is standing up with an angry look on his face as he is ready to begin torturing and interrogating the client who he believes is guilty.

• JOHNSON PAYNE, the unlucky client, is tied to a chair in his underwear, with a mysterious look on his face, and is being beaten up by Michael Goldberg.

• JOHNSON

What am I doing here? I haven’t done anything wrong?!

(emotional worried tone)

• MICHAEL

You know why you are here you prick!

(punches Johnson in the face)

You’re a murderer! And what goes around comes around.

(Continues to beat up Johnson and then begins to play with some tools he could use to torture him further)

• JOHNSON

I have a family! Why are you doing this to me? I haven’t done anything wrong!

• MICHAEL

Shut up Johnson! You think you can kill a woman and get away with it you scum?!

• JOHNSON

I didn’t kill her! I came to you to defend me but now you want to kill me you twisted prick!

(Angry tone to his voice as he gets frustrated)

(Tries to get out of the chair but is unsuccessful)

• MICHAEL

Your not gonna get out the chair dickhead! Your gonna die here!

(Begins to use some tools on Johnson)

• JOHNSON

(SCREAMS and still tries to get out of the chair)

• MICHAEL

(Laughs at Johnson trying to get out the chair and tortures him to his amusement)

• JOHNSON

NOOO! I have a family please …please… Don’t do this to me!

• MICHAEL

(Laughs) Look at you, your pathetic, you took someone’s life and now you can’t take it so you cry about it.

• JOHNSON

(Cries and gives up hope)

• MICHAEL (Turns away to look at the tools and picks one up)You know what I hate most about my job Johnson?Are the bastards like you that get away with it!

Treatment (philip)

Treatment...
When we first started to look at thrillers we were looking examples like American psycho, and the saw series, we looked at the codes and conventions of the film and started to look at the the opening two minute sequence of our film. While watching the films we noted down different shots and angles in what the films used to create the tense atmosphere. We then went on to look a ideas, in which we thought of opening sequences, of many types of thriller/horrors. After reviewing ideas we decided on the finial piece in which we chose because it was easier to film due to the facilities and actors. (Our finial idea is in our 2 min synopsis)target auidence: We are aim to make our movie a 16 as we can aim our movie at a much larager range of audience, we aim to target genral movie goers in which, we can deliver a corrupt, thriller flim. We have done audience to see what kind of movies people like to see to establish our audience. Context: the product will be seen with in the cinema to maximise revenue, as we'll be doing the 2 min extraxt to the flim we'll be making it and posting on youtube to get audience attention.

Media concepts:
Conventions- we will be using the typical close up and canted camera work to get the feel of a thriller across to the audience. As well as this I will also be use different angles to create a sence of vulnerablility of the character and also to show the power of another.

Institutions-we will be using Mitrix Films and Lions Gate flim to be the distributor as they have built a dependable reputation. and they can diliver to a larage mass audience also our phwilla productions (our team) will be making the flim.

Representation- we will be using sterotypical views and the realism of the character and the the setting, which is a typical convention of thriller flims. and stick to the typical conventions of genre to add to the realism of the flim to add to the belivability of the flim.

Production Brief

Production Brief

Brain Storm (philip)

Preliminary

Preliminary Task

Audience

The Target Audience Our Production Is Aimed At Are For Our Film We Are Aiming It At A 15-25 Age Range, As Our Film Will Be Rated A 15 Certificate We Would Be Aiming It Towards This Segment. Our Film Will Interest More Males Than Females, As The Opening Scene Is A Torture Scene, Which Would Captivate A Male Rather Than A Female Audience. It Would Not Really Appeal To A Race Because they Are Both Of The Same Ethnicity So There Is No Interracial Torturing.

Our Production Will Appeal To Our Target Audience Because We Have Researched What Genres They Prefer And Have Catered To The Needs Of The Audience

Vance Packard (1957) the Hidden Persuaders
“Media Can Directly Inject Messages”

Uses & Gratifications
• Blumler & McQuail (1968) Suggests That People Get What They Want From The Media
• Young People Watch MTV For The ‘Music’ – Middle Aged Men Do It For The Semi-Naked Pop Stars
• They Are Active Interpreters And Choice Makers

Reception Analysis
People Interpret Media texts Differently According To Class, Ethnicity, Age, Etc.

Morley(1980) – Messages Often Have Many Meanings (Polysemy)
Audience Has Three Responses
• Dominant Response
• Oppositional Response
• Negotiated Response


An empirical study in the U & G tradition might typically involve audience members completing a questionnaire about why they watch a TV programme.
Denis McQuail offers (McQuail 1987: 73) the following typology of common reasons for media use:

Information
finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world
seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices
satisfying curiosity and general interest
learning; self-education
gaining a sense of security through knowledge


Personal Identity
finding reinforcement for personal values
finding models of behaviour
identifying with valued other (in the media)
gaining insight into one's self

Integration and Social Interaction
gaining insight into circumstances of others; social empathy
identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging
finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
having a substitute for real-life companionship
helping to carry out social roles
enabling one to connect with family, friends and society

Entertainment
escaping, or being diverted, from problems
relaxing
getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment
filling time
emotional release
sexual arousal

(reference http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/usegrat.html)

American Psycho

Patrick Bateman, a young, well to do man working on wall street at his father's company kills for no reason at all. As his life progresses his hatred for the world becomes more and more intense.
Patrick Bateman, lives Wall Street by day and his nights are spent in ways impossible to fathom. He's a soul-less, modern monster whose zealous materialism and piercing envy fuels his homicidal activities.
Patrick Bateman is handsome, well educated and intelligent. He is twenty-seven and living his own American dream. He works by day on Wall Street, earning a fortune to complement the one he was born with. At night he descends into madness, as he experiments with fear and violence.

90 Minute Synopsis

A lawyer who is a psychopathic killer, tortures and kills the clients that he believes are guilty, depending on the seriousness of the crime that they have committed. Despite being a psychopath, the lawyer is very good at his job; he always manages to get people off. The beginning of the film shows his latest client to be tortured in the lawyers grotty garage, the lawyer is beating the man and interrogating him. We see the lawyer at work meeting clients and then we see him find and kill the ones who he believes are guilty. but one client he perceives to be guilty really is not, so he goes to find him to kill him but the client works out what the lawyers game is and tries to escape form him. The lawyer then gets a taste of his own medicine.

Target Audience

It really depends on the kind of thriller film. Like all genres, there are sub-genres and to really give an accurate answer to your question you would have to specify what kind of thriller film.Silence of the Lambs and No Country for Old Men are considered the two best thrillers in recent memory, and they're rated R. Their target audience was probably for the young male adults.Meanwhile, there are those thrillers that are border line horror films, such as The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village. Since they're close to horror (and horror films target teenage girls), the demographic would be slightly different, probably younger and more female based.And then there are legal thrillers (Fracture, Runaway Jury) and crime thrillers (Memento, Se7en) that target a more mature audience and classic thrillers (any Alfred Hitchcock film) that are rated PG, but are intended for adults. But if you just need a target audience for a generic thriller film, I'd have to say the young adult demographic from 18-25. For our film we are aiming it at a 15-25 age range, as our film will be rated a 15 certificate we would be aiming it towards this segment. Our film will interest more males than females as the opening scene is a torture scene which would captivate a male rather than a female audience.

2 minute Synopsis

The beginning of the film starts with an establishing shot of the grotty garage where the twisted lawyer tortures and kills his guilty clients. We hear a narrative of the lawyer saying “you know what I hate most about my job…are the ones that get away with it”. There is a close up of the mans horrified face as we see him tied to a chair in the garage. The lawyer is beating him up and interrogating him. The man somehow escapes and the credits begin once the lawyer has tried to hold him down.

Definition of a Horror

Horror Films are unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, cause dread and alarm, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films effectively center on the dark side of life, the forbidden, and strange and alarming events. They deal with our most primal nature and its fears: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation, our revulsions, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death and dismemberment, loss of identity, or fear of sexuality. Whatever dark, primitive, and revolting traits that simultaneously attract and repel us are featured in the horror genre. Horror films are often combined with science fiction when the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when Earth is threatened by aliens. The fantasy and supernatural film genres are not synonymous with the horror genre, although thriller films may have some relation when they focus on the revolting and horrible acts of the killer/madman. Horror films are also known as chillers, scary movies, spookfests, and the macabre.

Definition of a Thriller

Several characteristics help to define a thriller. Thrillers also have a lot of action, which is often chaotic, and they typically feature resourceful heroes and exotic settings. The plots of thrillers can vary widely. Some are supernatural, for example, centering around mystical antagonists. Others are scientific or medical in nature, forcing their protagonists to contend with biological agents or mysterious scientific happenings. Some are simply straight mysteries with clever, horrific, or intriguing antagonists, while others be focused on the inner workings of the legal system, environmental threats, technology, or natural disasters. One long-established thriller genre is the spy thriller, featuring an often heroic and dashing spy who must confront whichever enemy happens to be popular at the moment. Some thrillers are extremely intellectual and of very high quality, encouraging more educated people to enjoy them. Many such thrillers incorporate a psychological aspect, forcing people to examine the motivations and back stories of the characters to figure out the plot. Others are more simplistic, in the vein of the penny dreadful and designed to appeal to a much wider audience. Many thriller books are adapted into movies, and thrillers can also be turned into comic books and television shows.