Taken
Target Audience
Taken is a 15 so you wouldn't really expect a lot of swearing or sex or much blood and you don't in this film even though it is suggested a lot along with drugs. As the film is a 15 according to the BBFC any amount of violence is aloud as long as it doesn't focus on inflicting a lot of pain. Sex, drugs, nudity are also all aloud as long as there is not a lot about it and if you don't see to much. Language doesn't really matter as long as it isn't constantly repeated and has a reason for it.
This film is for the age of 15+ as it seems suitable for any age, this film never really slown down and has a lot of violence so the target audience is probably males between the age of 15 to 30 as this is the sort of age when men like to go out and are sometimes a little more violent than females and men are more likely to watch action thrillers than females.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2/
Codes of Practice
Violence
"We should take care to ensure that individual programmes, or programmes taken together across the schedule, avoid including material that condones or glamorizes violence, dangerous or seriously anti-social behaviour"
This is just saying that any violence should have a reason for it to be shown and that it should not be made to look any nicer that it actually is but as long as it isn't to groosem for younger audiences. In Taken there is a lot of violence but you would expect that as it is an action thriller and as it is a 15 violence is aloud as long as it is not encouraging people to be more violent.
Sex
"In post-watershed content, we must be able to justify the frank and realistic portrayal of sex and the exploration of themes and issues which some people might find offensive."
This is saying that as long as it is realistic and cant be seen as offensive then sex can be shown after watershed. As this film is a 15 sex can be shown as long as not a lot of detail is shown, in the film Taken it is suggested that there is a lot of sex but you don't see it and there is no nudity
Language
"Output controllers and programmer or content producers should ensure that strong language, especially the strongest language, is subject to careful consideration and appropriate referral, to ensure it is editorially justified, before it is included in our output"
This is about how some strong language can offend people and that sometimes it cant be shown, as this is a film there is an age that the film is suitable and as it is a 15 strong language is aloud as long as there isnt to much of it and there is reason to why something is said.
Drugs
"We must balance the need to reflect realistically the range of public attitudes and behavior with the danger of encouraging potentially damaging or illegal behavior"
This is saying that drugs and any illegal substance can be shown as long as it dose not encourage people to try it, especial younger audiences. In Taken there is only the implication of drugs, you only see needle marks in some of the women's arms and see the way there acting as it isn't a normal way to act. It show the negative side to drugs and what they can do.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidelines/
Characters
Looking at the character i have looked at Vladimir Propp’s character types and seen which one fits into what character type.
Bryan Mills is the protagonist in Taken and is obviously the hero as he is the main character who is just trying to save his daughter after she was kidnapped, even thought he didn't have a lot of information to find them and not very long to find her. But he managed to so that is why he fits in the hero character type. Bryan could also be the dispatcher as he is the one who decides to go to France to find Kim.
In the film Bryan is the father to Kim and has been divorced for a while and was a member of the secret service and has very quick reactions and is a trained killer, so torture and murder is nothing new to him. When he finds out that his daughter is in danger he tries to get her to hide and then gets her to tell them as many details about one of them. When he hears the mans voice he heads over to France to find her and saves her.
In the film Bryan is the father to Kim and has been divorced for a while and was a member of the secret service and has very quick reactions and is a trained killer, so torture and murder is nothing new to him. When he finds out that his daughter is in danger he tries to get her to hide and then gets her to tell them as many details about one of them. When he hears the mans voice he heads over to France to find her and saves her.
Kim even thought she is kidnapped she is also a donner as when she saw the men trying to take her she shouted out what it was one of them looked like so he could at least find one of the men who took her. She is a teenage girl who's parents have split up but she tries to see them both, she goes to France on holiday with her friend just after her birthday as it was a surprise, which soon would be a regret.
Sam is a friend of Bryan's and he is also a donner as he finds one of the men that took Kim using the information she gave. He also tells Bryan and Lenore what Kim had been taken for. There isnt much about him you just know that he is an old friend of Bryan and worked with him when they were in the secret service and was good at finding people.
Amanda i'm not sure what character type Amanda fits as she doesn't seem to do to much in the film and soon she dies. All you know about Amanda is that she is Kim's friend and she doesnt really think about what she is doing which is what leads to her death.
Jean-Claude Could be the false hero as he wanted to help Bryan at first as they were friends and he gives him some information so also can be a donner. But he then send the police after Bryan making him wanted in France. You don't know a lot about him you know that he is a french detective and that he knows Bryan somehow.
Lenore could be the dispatcher as she asks Bryan to get Kim back home safely. She is Kim's mother and Bryan's ex-wife, there relationship isn't to bad but they are only friendly as they have a child together.
Codes and Conventions of a thriller
In a thriller you expect it to be fast paced and see a lot of quick cuts. Thrillers always use music or a complete lack of sound to create tension, they need the music to get a reaction from the audience.
The colours you would expect to see in a thriller are dark and dull colours sometimes there are light colours but that is usually in dreams or when everything is calm e.g. the beginning when nothing has happened and the end only of it is a happy ending, they can also use lighting and shadows to help create a dark and moody look.
You don’t expect to see a lot of violence in a thriller sometimes you only see what has happened after an attack instead of seeing it. You wouldn't expect to see a lot of blood or guts in a thriller as that is something you would expect more in a horror film.
In almost all thrillers you would expect a twist at least once, usually towards the end of the film even though some films have more than one twist. There is always a protagonist and antagonist, usually the protagonist is at mercy of the antagonist.
There is a large variety of shots in the film, they use close up to create tension when the daughter is under the bed so that you cannot see anything around her until she is pulled out of shot, there are long shots used to establish the area and to make the boat that the protagonist Brian is trying to get to, it makes the viewer think that he is not going to make it on time and that is just because of the angle that they use. The shot that is used the most in the film is a mid shot so that you can see just enough of the characters to know what they are doing but you cannot see everything around them which makes you wonder what it is that is going on around them.
http://www.slideshare.net/Valvainolivi/final-codes-andconventions11
There is a large variety of shots in the film, they use close up to create tension when the daughter is under the bed so that you cannot see anything around her until she is pulled out of shot, there are long shots used to establish the area and to make the boat that the protagonist Brian is trying to get to, it makes the viewer think that he is not going to make it on time and that is just because of the angle that they use. The shot that is used the most in the film is a mid shot so that you can see just enough of the characters to know what they are doing but you cannot see everything around them which makes you wonder what it is that is going on around them.
http://www.slideshare.net/Valvainolivi/final-codes-andconventions11
