Mark's Evaluation

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My media product was to create an opening sequence to a thriller film. In order to do this I had to look at what is typical in terms of codes conventions and iconography that an audience expect to see. When an audience goes to see a thriller they expect to feel tension ‘sitting on the edge of their seat’ as the plot builds towards and intense climax. The thriller genre is closely related to the horror genre in some aspects however horror will have more blood and graphic images. So to speak dry horror is more related to thrillers then wet horror.

Thrillers are known to have a lot of close ups this was something that Alfred Hitchcock was known for also tracking shots and dolly zooms shots (link to YouTube clip showing a variety of dolly shots http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y48R6-iIYHs.) There is also pace and rhythm, for example from slow cuts to quick cuts in edits to add to the atmosphere. Another technique would be cross cutting this again is something Alfred Hitchcock was known for. This has now been incorporated not just in thriller.

The score within a thriller is very dramatic. Again like the editing it is paced, to pick up when a key moment is about to happen. The score is almost always string instruments and orchestral when high moments happen.Locations of thrillers tend to be set in dark mysterious places and everyday places for example

in the characters homes and religious places such as churches. The characters that are common in thrillers are the young innocent female who is caught up in dangerous events. In Hitchcock’s films you had the ‘femme fatale’ this is a woman who is seductive but very dangerous. Then you have the antagonist which is male and has the stalker, crazy psychopathic feel. The protagonist is often unsuspectingly placed in a dangerous situation.

The Narrative of a thriller of a thriller is closed and can be non linear and linear but is single stranded. Dramatic irony is used in thrillers a lot as is gives tension. Red herrings are used and so are enigma codes. The plot is always of an innocent person being caught up in events. Flashbacks are common in thrillers and they allow the audience to gain more information about the story.

Sub genres for thrillers tend to be only a few: Psychological thrillers tend to play with the mind, religious thrillers work well as locations and religious themes come with its own iconography which fits well into thrillers and more recently action thrillers such as 28 days later. There is the idea of modern thriller to classic thrillers. In this sense the 1950’s thrillers which directors such as Hitchcock to modern thrillers such as 28 days later and the more recent James Bond films.

My media product follows the classic thrillers such as Hitchcock’s films. The product meets a lot of the conventions that come from that era of thriller. The characters we used followed most of the conventions as to say ‘femme fatale’. This was played by Carolina, we decided to use a character like Hitchcock’s femme fatale as it was an easy way to get the character and her life from the few seconds we see her. However we did challenged the idea of a male antagonist as we had the innocent young girl turn into the stalker type character. We choices these to be our charterers as we wanted a twisted to the plot and if we had used a male characters in Carolina place then there would have been different conventions that would have followed.

In terms of narrative I think my media product again followed the ideas and conventions. Our opening sequence set up a lot of enigmas that would mean the audiences would need to watch the whole film to gain answers to unsolved questions.

My media product has gone down the religious thriller sub genre. I chose this due the conventions that are set around religious sects such as the Da Vinci Code. With the adding of the score to the score which was very dramatic and added to the tension of the product. The whole product seemed more like a 1950’s thriller then a modern and action packed thriller. As we don’t have much action scenes and have used less dialogue like Hitchcock did. Also there are a lot of extreme close as can be seen is these screen shots., and graphic matches

(Screen Shots of Extreme close up from our movie)

There were not many challenges to the classic thriller as we only had to do an opening sequence and so it would be very difficult to start adding new ideas that could get the audience confused. However you can say we modernised some aspects such as strong female characters. Also we added modern day characters and used stereotypes of modern society.

Overall my media products does not challenge the established conventions of the thriller genre, but has attempted to update them. Overall my media product was mostly influenced by the work of Alfred Hitchcock and the 1950’s classic thriller.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My opening sequence only had two characters and so it was important to make sure that our target audience could understand and make links to the characters.

In media when we look at gender it comes with codes conventions and iconography example a male is seen as the hero strong and will save the day, the protagonist in the film examples would be James Bond also they are seen as the antagonists. Whereas females are seen as the side kick, a helper who is weaker than men. However in my film that idea has been twisted as both characters are female and there is no clear distinction about whether our main is a protagonist or antagonist. She for fulfils the role of an anti-hero, which is unusual for a female character in a film.

Age is a very important fact as our target audiences was young so it was important to have a young cast. Age does play a big part in the film as it set codes and conventions. The codes and conventions that come with youth include crime silly behaviour and wrong doing.

Another is ethnicity. In my media product there is only a white cast in the opening sequence. I choice this as conventions of black youths is of crime and deviance and that was not what I was looking for. Also I choice the religion in my film to be catholic as there is a lot of stereotypes around the idea of this religion being very confessions and guilt, and wrong doing and this fits the theme of my story very nicely.

At the start both characters have been portrayed of what is typical for their age. First we see Charlotte Ellis played by Kate Charlotte is aged 15 and is played by Kate 16. It was important that I choice someone that look young and innocent and religious. We stuck to the stereotype of a religious upbringing that creates innocents, quite people who dress conservatively. And then we have Maria Cabrera-Lope Played by Carolina, 19. We it came to the idea of how Maria should look it was important to get across to the audience that she was common. So to say she fitted the stereotype of a young girl who had a curvaceous body and used it to her advantage. As describe in slang as ‘tart’. Stereotypes were important because they allowed the audience too quickly establish the contrasting characters of the two females.

Kate Carolina

In my product the youth are given a very negative image by both characters. It conforms to the idea that society has of its youth. The reason for this was due what it allowed the audience to see in a short amount of time stereotypes are a quick and easy way for the audience to understand a character this was the main reason for sticking to stereotypes.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My media product is not a mainstream film which is Hollywood movies big budgets and has A List stars. My product would fall under the independent band. This is due to the fact that it stars unknown people and has little to no budget. The differences between the mainstream film such as Legally Blonde and Harry Potter are very different to independent films such as my own. A massive difference is the cast and budget. Harry Potter and Legally Blond both have A List casts where as my film has two of my friends. Also locations and special effects are very different. For example Harry Potter has a large amount of special effects such as spell casting and flying.

(Screen Shots of Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix)

Also independents films also deal with a lot more challenging issues such as homosexuality and prostitution like in the film London to Brighton where as Hollywood films seem to do less challenging movies such as legally blonde( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ0gtjp3FJE ).

But first you would need get recognised and get funded for distribution. The place to go would be a film festival which is where a lot of independent film makes go and where my movie could appear. Then if it got recognition it could end up in independent cinemas. An example is Sundance film festival which takes place in the USA annually and hold events for independent films. Here is a link to the festivals 2010 website ( http://festival.sundance.org/2010 )

There are many different ways in which a film can be distributed. The biggest way a film is distributed is

through Cinema. Major chains include Vue, Odeon and Cineworld these films focus on mainstream films such as the Harry Potter series and 28 Days Later. However it is very unlikely that my movie would ever make it there. A slightly better way to distribute my movie would be to go to an independent cinema. These are film theatres that are independently owned by people examples in London include ‘Watermans’ theatre that is located in Brentford and ‘The Every Man’ which is a small chain of cinemas but are independently owned

Another way that had come up in recent years would be trough the internet and video posting websites such as YouTube. This is something I have already done. From here I can gain audience feedback and see if it is worth taking to a film festival. Also other websites such as ‘MySpace’ can be used. With MySpace I could get audiences to pay to download my film and so making a small profit.

Television could also be another possible route to destitute my movie. Whether it be terrestrial T.V BBC1&2 ITV Channel 4 or FIVE, or Digital / Cable. It is very unlikely that BBC will take my movie,

neither would ITV or FIVE however Channel 4 could possibly as it is a Public Service Broadcaster which has a remit, to provide programming for minorities such as youths and to support British Film. Also Digital and cable TV is a possibility as they have channels such as the community channel and broadcast user created content.

So if my movie was to be distributed then I think I would first post it onto YouTube and then try and contact my Local community channel. And then depending on the feedback consider going to a film festival.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for my film according to research and planning stages were aged between the ages of 15-35. It was key that we make the storyline suitable to a young teenager as well as an adult.

While making the film it was important to look at the BBFC and see what they would allow a 15 and also it was important to make sure it did not fall under the 12A classification because the film then would not apple to it audience. According to the BBFC a 15 “may include reference to sex and violence as long as the film does not dwell on the infliction of pain”. I believe that my film falls under this category. As we do not see anyone killed or murdered but only enigmas are set.

I think overall our media product fits well to it target audience however I feel that 35 year olds would not enjoy our movie and so I would say maybe lower our audience to 25. This is because the cast is young and that 35 year old people might get bored with the young actors and might not understand some of the references to young people.

How did you attract/address your audience?

With the target audience of my film being 15-35 it was important that the theme and storyline would be interesting and what the audience wants. I think my film attracts young audiences as the cast and characters are young and the audience would be able to empathise with the characters. The theme of my thriller film again would attract young audiences, as it has an edge and a sense of thrill and uncertainty that young audiences would enjoy. The sub genre is religion which at first does not appeal to a young audience however is used correctly it can add to the story and I feel that I have achieved this is my film.

We did not challenge any of the conventions that a young audience as we felt that it would be too big of a challenge and would not be done effectively in an opening sequence.

The audience feedback we received was give by people in the age range I targeted my film towards so this gave a much better insight into how I could improve my work to suit the audience better. The feedback I received was very positive and said that the religious thrillers theme was used well. Also that the film was interesting for the age group I intended it for. However some said that at times they found the story confusing and hard to understand.

After I received this note, I added a new score at the start to allow a separate score for opening titles. Also changed the volume of sound as some found the ambient sounds at times to loud. Also I increased the score at part to make clearer that there was a stalker following.

Comments from people on YouTube include:
“its a gd video but you could improve with the projection of the voices cus it was difficult to hear at certain points.” With this feedback i lowered the score however I had limited equipment and so the sound quality could not be helped.
(This is a link to my film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiKj5pf3S-w )

What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Throughout the process of making my film I have used and learned to use new technology and a little insight as to have a film is made and edited together. The first new skill I learned was how to blog. This was something I had never done before and was exciting to learn. Also the whole researching and planning was something that was very different from what I was used to. This research involved watching a lot of clips and researching into people and their contributions to the movie industry. Also using YouTube for a very different reason. Not just watch random video but for research and linking it to my blog.

Also new internet technology has helped and influenced my work a lot. One of the main places would be copy right free music. I used two different websites for this but both provide to be helpful. One was (http://www.freeplaymusic.com. ) However the most important part was to learn

how to edit using non-linear software effects my productions. Being able to edit with non-linear software (I Movie) which allowed myself to edit bit by bit when we filmed footage for example, edit shouts 2-4 then do shots 16-20 and even after changed I was able to move shots. Unlike Linear editing which is destructive, where you would have to glue and stick shot together and if you changed your mind and wanted shot 3 to go where 1 was you would have to start again. So you can say it was a life saver to be able to use non-linear. Because of non-linear our final product has developed and improved from the original storyboard. The main structure of scenes and storyline is there however shots and angles have changed as I have been able to experiment with all my footage.

I have also learned about the different types of camera that are used. For my filming I used a mini DV camcorder. This gives a natural capture of colour and contrast and comes across gritty and realistic. Other TV shows such as Eastenders, the news and many documentaries are filmed with DV. Which are far from the Hollywood camera that mainstream film and other shows such as Hollyoaks uses which is ‘film’ (celluloid). This gives a much brighter image and is more enhanced then DV footage, and provides a glossier but less ‘real’ look.

There were some limitations to my movie such as sound as we had not external mics so it was hard to record dialogue but this worked in our favour, as opening sequences to thrillers tend to have less dialogue than other films. Also lighting as we only had natural light filming at night held problems so I decided that it would be better to film during evening/twilight than at night.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

My approach to the preliminary task was very different to how I approached my film, during the preliminary task I was more watching on the side and observed what others were doing, but when it came to filming I took an active role and used some of the skills I learned during the task

During the preliminary task we experienced a lot of problems, such as not filming enough footage either side of the scene so when it came to editing we could not get the full effect and gave the whole edit and rough and untidy finish. Also lighting was something I had little to no control over. This was something I addressed in my film. As I had no control over the light it became important that our shooting was done effetely and that I was organised, as to not waste time and sunlight.

After seeing my camera work after the preliminary it was important before we started filing that I familiarised myself with how the camera works, such as how to zoom, panning. This showed to be a life saver when coming to film as it was a time saver.

During the task I did not have much choice on location and so when given the opportunity I researched into different location and when down and saw what would work best for my film. The researching of my location was important as it allowed me to see and visualise what my film might look like. However we did have limitation unlike Hollywood we did not have access to closed sets and so we only had open sets such as the park.

Editing was very different, as in the preliminary there was only a few seconds maybe about a minute of footage however during editing for my film there was a lot more footage and so again organisation was key to making editing successful and less time consuming. The editing of my film was mostly paced however as I was inexperienced with camera work a planed fast pace scene had to be slowed down as there was not enough edits. Sound effects and scores were used much more in my film. During the preliminary task sound effects were used only as it was possible however sound effects became key in my final movie. Match on action was something that was done very poorly during the preliminary task as we did not allow enough footage either of both shot and so it gave the overall look to be untidy which was something that needed to be changed and so for every shot we filmed extra on both so when it came to editing it became easier to edit. Also I filmed random footage of establishing shots and various close up which was not originally in our storyboard as there was a chance it could make my work better.

Dash Redmond - Media Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Before we began the filming stages of our coursework we researched the generic conventions, codes and themes involved in the thriller genre, to give us a better understanding of the way cinematography, mise en scene, sound and editing can be used to its best ability within a thriller narrative. As well as looking at the filming aspects of the project we also looked at narrative possibilities, going into sub genres of thriller, e.g. Action Thriller or Psychological thriller. The sub genre we delved into was religious thriller, we thought it was a rarely approached sub genre to thriller, and looking at most religious thrillers I have personally seen the majority are good, for example The Da Vinci Code or The Sin Eater. An opening scene or trailer for a thriller movie is does rarely need to be coherent as its aim is for the audience to question what is happening on screen and create mystery and suspense. In the first scene of the opening we used the location to construct an image of the protagonist in a different light to what she is going to be seen as the majority of the film, this image conveys to the audience that the girl is innocent and couldn’t possibly be a villain within the narrative. Conventionally women are seen as mothering figures and carer’s, in our case both girls are young and so are seen in a more innocent and vulnerable light, we took that convention with the protagonist to begin with and then changed her into the complete opposite because of loss of a loved one, when she lost the one person who she knew would always love her would always be there, she lost her sanity, or even that when people who don’t appreciate the life they have and when good people like her father die needlessly, those people should have it taken away. Sound within our opening is a key aspect, from the score that continues throughout helping to keep the same mood until the last moment, builds starting heavy with piano and a light drum beat and slowly just softening out into light hymn like synthesiser noises. The use of props and location is another very good feature; we chose to have the protagonist dressed in light clothes to portray innocence while the victim dressed in low cut clothes, to give a feel of vulnerability, the hair and make-up of the two characters also relates to the dress, protagonist with little make-up on natural feel, while the victim with darkened eyes and slightly messy hair to show she has had a rough night. There is a slight transition with the style of the protagonist to show her descent into madness after the death of her father, she doesn’t care how she looks to anyone. Seeing as our theme was a Revenge/Religious we decided as the sequence on screen unfolded the theme would also get stronger. The religious themes can be seen through the good use of close-ups on religious props. E.g. when the protagonist is praying we have a shot of her hands with prayer beads, there is also a close-up of a burning candle, just before the scene cuts to the last. The flicker of the flame makes this a very interesting shot and also ties in with the narrative, as flame slowly burns down the wick so has the protagonists mind. The editing software used was i-movie, very easy to understand and use. Unlike most thrillers, ours progresses slowly and there isn’t a lot if any quick sequences. The second scene has been coloured black and white to let the audience know there is a time lapse and we are looking at the past. Within the last scene there was a lot of point of view shots as the protagonists stalks the victim and very good use of match on action, when the protagonist is almost seen, the editing is very fluid. The thriller films which partly influenced my part in the creation of our thriller opening were.

'Donnie Brasco'http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119008/,

‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead’ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319531/,

and ‘The Order’ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0304711/ for its religious references.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
For our thriller opening we decided to have a majority female cast, Kate staring as the protagonist and Carolina the victim, both young girls in their late teens. By using young actors it gives our chosen audience (15-35) a way to relate to the narrative and the characters involved. In our sequence we both challenged stereotypes and used those typical to the thriller genre. Research into thriller openings showed us that throughout the thriller genre males are the dominant gender; males are generally given more onscreen time and are central to the films narrative. Having a mainly female cast is very rare in any thriller and has possibly not been seen in our chosen sub genre. When we started writing up scripts and storyboards for the sequence there was originally 2 victims, however we weren’t able to find a suitable victim no. 2. Although it may have worked a lot to our advantage, having just one victim adds more tension to the scene, being alone she is a lot more vulnerable and it makes the audience not only feel like she had it coming for acting the way she does, but also empathetic as know something is going to happen to her. Our leading lady Kate is white Irish descent and the victim Carolina of Hispanic; leading roles in thrillers are particularly Caucasian males e.g. Angels and Demons, Signs. So on one aspect we have challenged that having a female lead but met it seeing as she is Caucasian. Having the main characters female in the sequence also meets another stereotype, the girls are portrayed and represented as quite vulnerable, in the way they are dressed and the actions seen on screen, although the progression from the vulnerable lonely priest’s daughter to a killer is quite unnoticeable, almost like she had it in her to do something like this before, and Carolina’s role as the young drunkard, stumbling through the park alone with hardly any clothes is the other end of the representation of British women. In a certain way we do have 2 other characters that are male within the narrative, the protagonists father is mentioned, but as we find out he has tragically died, and the Policeman who brings the bad news to her, although neither are seen, only heard or talked about, this reinforces the way we have tried to represent females as the dominant gender in our opening.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Within the Media distribution for films there are three main groups Mainstream, Independent and Art House. Mainstream distributed films are generally big budget and feature less challenging themes for the audience to deal with. If I was to place our film in a category I would say Independent, low budget, possibly a television movie. The Confession the final title of our thriller would most likely be best viewed as a short Thriller drama, possibly 2-3 parts, each an hour or so, with a decent amount of publicity an audience interested would continue to watch all three as they are shown once or week, or even once a fortnight, with the narrative unfolding and revealing to the audience what happened in the two weeks that had just passed so the time scale is relevant to them. An appropriate television channel to air the small series could be channel 4 and then possibly combined into a movie length format and viewed on Film4. There are a lot more mediums in which to show our thriller if television was unsuccessful or even to branch out its success if it was over the internet so that not only Britain but the world could view our work. E.g. Youtube one of the most used websites in the world receiving over 1 billion views per day, our opening has been uploaded to the site and we are awaiting a few comments http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiKj5pf3S-w&feature=player_embedded, another site able to show the Confession would be the independent film company http://www.ifc.com/.
Using magazines or weekend newspapers to give away free introduction DVD, e.g. Empire Magazine or the Sunday Times, a behind the scenes look at the production team and what story and message the narrative is trying to get across to the audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Before we started to script for our chosen sub genre we had to decide on what target audience we were going to aim for. We chose a wide target audience of males and females age 15-35, we decided on this age range as we discussed who and why someone may want to see our thriller film. The younger age 15-25 would be interested in mainly the action on screen, the victims being stalked for example for the tension that builds in these scenes and the thrill achieved at the end of them. The older section 26-35 would most likely be more attracted to the narrative of the film and the story being delivered on screen. Having researched BBFC (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classifications) we found that in context to our thriller and the audience age range addressed we could use violence in our thriller - may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, Drugs - Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse, Imitable behaviour - Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Although violence is not seen on screen we know that some one has been attacked due to sound used effectively, drug taking can also be seen as alcohol abuse, when the victim is stumbling and drinking vodka, this can also be seen as imitable behaviour.
A film with similar revenge theme to ours although in a different sub genre would be ‘I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead’ Starring Clive Owen. The film was rated 18 due to sexual scenes, violence, drug use and profanity. The narrative although a completely different we do share one main aspect with this film, the revenge theme, in ours the father died, possibly murdered, and in ‘I’ll sleep when I’m Dead’ the protagonists brother is violently raped and because of this commits suicide,. From here they follow the same narrative path, finding the people who are involved with what happened to their lost loved one and avenging them. The ways in which we kept the same revenge theme with a 15 age rating were reducing the actual seen use of violence of drug taking, e.g. having the last shot of the opening cut to black with just the sound of a scream, letting the audience know something has happened to the girl but not showing them, this builds suspense for when an if the audience eventually do find out what happened to the girl.


How did you attract/address your audience?
Before we started scripting for our thriller we needed to know what our audience would be looking for and what they would want to watch. We decided that our narrative would be slow to start with a big climactic finish, as apposed to constant thrill, we wanted to build tension straight away and have the audience concentrating at a slower pace so they can understand the narrative on screen, eventually building up to the first shock moment. Our narrative was quite unusual for the thriller genre, we decided on Religious thriller as it’s a rarely seen thriller sub genre that can be very effective. The narrative it self is a revenge/religious thriller, undertones of religion because of the locations used e.g. churches, and the name it self ‘The Confession’. The characters used are few but effective, with a mainly female cast, it may seem that women may find this movie more appealing as they can relate more to the protagonist, although men can also relate to the story itself, as we all know how to feels to lose a loved one, and the measures we would go to get them back. Another factor to attract a female audience is the empowerment of the protagonist, in a way making women in the film the more dominant gender. The way in which mise en scene is used is a very important factor in addressing the audience. We first see the protagonist in a chapel praying holding rosary beads, this suggests to the audience that the girl is religious, wearing light coloured clothes giving an effect of innocence about the girl. The victim character on the other hand is wearing minimal clothing, short skirt, low cut top, making the audience immediately judge her for her appearance and mannerisms. The representation of the characters in a way justifies to the audience what the young innocent religious girl is going to do to avenge her father; in a way doing what she may think is the work of God, cleansing the wicked.
The actor appearance of the two characters is also very suitable, the protagonist played by Kate Blythe, aged 17. She looks younger than her age which adds the innocent feel needed. Girl (2) is played by Carolina Garcia-Ocha, aged 19. Her body shape enables a good portrayal of character, yet her gender and age enables her to seem mature, yet vulnerable. The location used is also very relatable to an audience, as that kind of urban environment is typical for the thriller genre. The filming aspects the sequence also helps the audience relate to characters. The use of close-ups and point of view shots put the audience closer and into the protagonists shoes which builds a connection between character and audience. This in itself is connected back to the general conventions of suspense by timely shots that create tension, and includes the audience in the narrative. The audience feedback we got on the first viewing in class was very helpful, the main aspect of our opening people seemed to enjoy was the narrative itself, comments like unique and different from the average thriller. The main thing we picked up on ourselves was the sound quality, in some places where dialogue needed to be heard it was quite faint, this was addressed making it a lot easier to hear and make it seem more realistic.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I would say I was quite familiar with filming equipment before the beginning of this project, but still my knowledge of how to use the camera effectively and how lighting and angles can be used to great effect has definitely improved. As the project involved a lot of filming I was able to get a lot of time using the camera and experimenting with different angels shots and lighting effects. I now know a lot more shots that can be used to give a certain feel to a scene; close-ups for example, give a more intimate view of a character or can be used to reveal a key prop. Extreme long shots are used to introduce a new setting or location to the audience. I also have greater skills using the editing software i-movie, being able to cut and remove certain sections to make the film flow, timing the rights scene changes so you get a match on action shot, or shot reverse shot. Being able to add a score is also a very important part of the editing process, the score adds another dimension to what is being seen on screen, and can make an audience feel how you want them to. Finding a good piece of music that fits with the narrative is crucial and is a very good skill I have learnt and would like to improve, the site we used to download free music as our score was http://freeplaymusic.com/ there is a very wide range of downloadable music from ambient noise to full intrumental songs. I have also become a lot more familiar with using the blogger site, and being able to properly research the right media terms and finding certain clips from thriller films that use a certain camera shot or angle to get a point of view or perspective without the use of dialogue, which was vital to our opening as dialogue is minimal. The editing software was also very interesting to use for the first time, begin able to film any part of the movie and then just cut it all together how you want it is a great tool for the media in this day and age, considering how celluloid film used to be cut by hand and filmed in order. Over the summer I hope to improve my camera and editing skills for A2 possibly making a short movie or music video.

Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full production?
During the preliminary task I learnt a great deal about the way thrillers films are set up and shot to create suspense, tension and attract their target audience with the narrative. When I first picked up the camera I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about how certain shots can be used to the best effect. I think I probably used head on long shots and mid shots, and possibly one or two close ups to introduce someone. I learnt a great amount from analysing opening sequences to see how actual directors approach cinematography, editing, sound and mise en scene can be used to make an opening sequence more engaging for the audience. Our preliminary task itself did seem very simple at the time but many problems were soon encountered. The first problem was location and length, we didn’t want to overcomplicate the scene and we didn’t want it to last over a minute or so. We messed about with different locations and camera angles, on stairs for example, whether to shoot from above or below to get a better shot. After a while we decided we needed to know what we wanted to do so we drew up a storyboard and then we could set the location around it. Storyboards are an integral part of any film process being able to see and read what needs to be done in a certain shot is a lot easier to follow then just trying to make it up as you go along. One of the main problems encountered was trying to get match-on-action shots correct, it wasn’t until after that we realised we could edit them in using i-movie, although the ones we achieved using the camera were very decent we still had wasted a lot of time. The other main problem involved with the task was our shot reverse shot-over the shoulder conversation, once again we didn’t know too much about the editing at the time and tried to film each small section of speech one after the other from the separate points of view, again wasted a lot of time, but we then filmed from each perspective entirely and then edited between each to get the full conversation. Much of these problems were resolved involving the filming with our actual thriller opening, the main dilemma was organisation, not all being able to meet at the same time for filming for example, but we managed to work around it, doing some filming sessions in school when all of us were in, and some directly after school in a nearby park so we wouldn’t have to travel very far.
Through practice with the camera equipment and editing software I have become a lot more confident with my own judgment of the work, one thing I would like to improve is sound, being able to get an effective piece of music that relates to the narrative and not only sounds good but is placed right so it is on track with the action on screen and makes the experience to the audience a lot more enjoyable. Looking at the preliminary to the final cut of the actual opening, as a group we have improved vastly. Our use of camera work and mise en scene, the audience can be drawn into the narrative and can predict what the characters are like because of it.

Kate Blythe- Media Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
There are many conventions of the thriller genre; each aspect of film (cinematography, sound, mise-en-scene, characters, narrative and subgenre) has its own conventions for each genre. Common examples include: close ups being used to frame emotion which can increase tension depending on the expression; dramatic and fast paced scores chosen to match the action on screen or completely contrast it to give a feeling of unease; low key lighting to create shadows which gives an evil or secretive look to a character or place; vulnerable female characters who are victims within the narrative; and finally, dramatic irony and enigma’s which play a large part in any thriller film, they heighten tension and intrigue.

Thrillers can be classed as either “Contemporary” or “Classic”. Hitchcock’s films are renowned for their individual style, even in more recent times directors have created films which are seemingly inspired by Hitchcock’s work, and such films would most probably be classified as “classic”. The older Bond films are all classified as Classic thriller films as they have the subgenre of espionage; they are very typical of this category. However, the Bond films created post 1995 are more likely to be classed as “Contemporary” because of their more distinct action subgenre. The same goes for all thrillers, if the subgenre is action, it’s most likely to be a “contemporary” thriller.

My media product is more likely to be placed under the classic classification: firstly because Hitchcock was a great inspiration for my product by studying his most successful works and seeing how his use of attention to detail and cinematography enabled him to control the mood of both the film and the audiences; and secondly because there is not a great deal of action throughout the film, the “murdering” character within the film is a young female, reducing the amount of action in the film enabled the character to still seem vulnerable and immature yet emotionally strong and mentally unstable.

This last point shows how I have taken a common classical thriller convention, the strong male antagonist, and challenged it to give the film a more contemporary feel. This then opened up the target audience as females were seen as more likely to view the film, in place of large male audiences. Challenging stereotypes was also a large factor in the production of this film, the antagonist and main character of the film is female, whereas in the majority of classic and contemporary thriller films the antagonist is male; the antagonist is also under the age of 20, this gives the audience a feeling of unease during the film and can help to increase the feelings of tension in required scenes.

On the other hand, many of the aspects of my film were developed from the conventions of the thriller genre; for example the score suited the action on screen, whilst slow paced throughout, during scenes of danger or importance the layers of sound become more complicated and more instruments are played. Aspects of dramatic irony and enigma codes are used during the opening sequence, this is very a very common convention used in thriller films from both classifications; it entices the audiences to carry on watching and appeals to their innate sense of intrigue and curiosity. The majority of camera shots used within the opening sequence give a restrictive sense to the action. Close ups of facial components, hands and inanimate objects all give a frustrating and enticing air to the scene whilst giving enough information to the audiences for them to formulate a mental picture. The use of low key lighting throughout the product gives it a more realistic feel and removes the product from the generic “American” feel.
Removal from this makes the film “Identifiably British”. American thriller films tend to carry typical gender stereotypes, vulnerable ‘damsel-in-distress’ type females, and attractive, strong, brave type males.

The films which had mild influence include: Orphan (2009), The Birds (1963), Psycho (1960) and London to Brighton (2006) the last of which gave the inspiration to incorporate a non-linear narrative into the opening sequence.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

There are 6 main aspects that are commonly represented in media products: gender, age, ethnicity, regional identity, sexuality and class. In my media product the two main characters are female which challenges the typical stereotypes of this gender; however a male voice is featured. Both of the characters are young, the police officers age is undistinguishable and other than the father of one character, no older characters are mentioned. The ethnicities of the two characters are different, one is classed as “white British” and the second is classed as “white other”.

Throughout the media we see representation of teenagers. This can show teenagers in mainly negative lights: the first shows them an undesirable way, they wear clothes which cover their faces, or “hoodies”, and commit crimes such as vandalism and shoplifting

(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00420/paranoid_420641a.jpg); another way in which teenagers are represented is as sex-crazed, rebellious and promiscuous simpletons (http://www.thegate.ca/news/images/uploads/elisha-cuthbert1.jpg)

In our media product, the main character is a young teenage female, she follows the first stereotype. In wearing a hooded jacket she immediately casts preconceived ideas into the minds of the audiences, they believe she is “up to no good”, which is the desired effect of the scene, although unfortunately reinforces the stereotype which could be an ethical issue. The second character within the opening sequence can be described in using the last stereotype. She wears short, revealing clothes and performs in a way which shows that she is drunk, this could cause the same ethical issue, and however, stereotypes are a great tool within the film making industry.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

To understand which type of media institution would be interested in the distribution of my media product, I must first define the product itself. The media product in question is in the form of a film under the thriller genre, the low budget involved implies that the film is an Independent production; such productions include those from British and European studios. Another low budget film production type is called “Arthouse” which usually makes experimental films, this is in contrast to Mainstream productions which are typically made in Hollywood and have very large budgets. Mainstream films usually feature less pressing themes, A-list actors and have a large budget, whereas Independent films are almost the complete opposite, featuring important issues (e.g. climate change), actors who aren’t established or are emerging into fame and have a limited budget. The film “Grease” is an example of a mainstream film, it can be contrasted with “Quadrophenia” as an Independent production, both released around 1978 and dealt with very different issues.

There are many different ways in which a media product can be distributed; the main distributors include cinema and television. Major chains of cinema such as Vue, Odeon and Cineworld do not normally feature independent films, whereas independent or “Arthouse” cinemas,(such as the Electric Cinema in Portobello Road, the Waterman’s cinema in Brentford and the Everyman cinema’s which are dotted around the UK), never show mainstream films.

Our media product would not be shown at a major chain cinema and is more likely to be licensed for viewing at an independent cinema.

To obtain a contract for distribution, film makers are encouraged to get their films featured at annual film festivals, for example the Cannes film festival or student film festivals. Websites such as YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/) and MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/) have also been known as good places for films to be posted, many productions today were originally spotted on a video sharing site. The advantages of posting the product on an internet site is that the audience potential is practically unlimited and money can be made through charging for downloads, e.g. MySpace.

Television is also a great way for media products to be seen. With the new television progressions, i.e. Sky, satellite, and HD TV, television is constantly changing the way in which people interact with media. The five main terrestrial channels are BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 and FIVE. BBC1 and 2 are funded by the fees from Television Licences, which means they’re not allowed to advertise, however, the other channels rely heavily upon broadcasting advertisements for their revenue. Channel 4 (http://www.channel4.com/) is the most likely source of distribution for our product as it is a public service broadcaster, and quite often films such as ‘Boy A’ premier on the channel. The off-beat documentaries which are a common feature of Channel 4 are all created by independent companies, and channel 4 has a remit to promote independent British Film. Community channel on cable and freeview services are another option as they use user created content.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for my media product is males and females between the ages of 15 and 35; however I feel that females are more likely to want to see the film as a result of the atypical female antagonist. This age range is the most likely to go out and see a film at a cinema, and is therefore the best audience to target because of the increased chance of higher turnover. As a direct cause of aggressive, discriminatory language and behaviour featuring within the film, it would be given a 15 rating according to the BBFC regulatory concerns; strong terms and the treatment of main themes throughout the film strengthens the claim. (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/)

How did you attract your audience?

The themes chosen for the film are bereavement, drugs, and emotional instability. The first two themes are not uncommon for the average person to have encountered, the score used throughout the film are not songs from a particular era or genre of music, the idea of the music not being grounded or specified to one audience allows each viewer to experience the same emotions and moods during the film. The characters within the film are all aged between 15 and 35; this enables the audience to relate to the characters, which could make the whole experience seem more real.

Though sometimes slow and thought-provoking, at times it’s fast paced and lively. The score can change the entire effect that the film has upon its audiences. During the film, fast paced scores and fast cut editing are used to ensure that my media product appeals to the audience and attracts their attention.
We asked a group of people who fitted the target audience profile to watch the opening sequence to our film; when asked “How relevant do you think this sequence is to the thriller genre?” 100% of responses replied “Very Relevant”. This is the exact same finding for the question that asked how relevant they felt it was to our target audience.

Comments about the editing style, appropriateness of titles and sound within the opening sequence were all very positive and reassuring.

Changes made after the audience feedback were mainly minor alterations with sound levels and positioning of main titles.

Click on the link to view our final product: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiKj5pf3S-w

What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In order to make this film a lot of research had to be carried out, into existing films, the history of the thriller genre, the BBFC guidelines and other essential information. The main source of information was the internet. The internet definitely played a large part in the pre-production stage of our film. Firstly an internet blog was created using http://www.blogspot.com/. The blog was used to keep track of the production progress and post the results of our research. When drawing the storyboard, we scanned it into the computer, this allowed us to alter it digitally, make copies and eventually post it onto the blog. Youtube.com allowed the group to view clips from existing films or interesting video monologues from Alfred Hitchcock.

As a result of our limited budget, we had to use songs from a copyright free website. The website chosen was http://www.mobygratis.com/; this provided a small variety of songs which was easier to sort through than larger websites which offered choices of many songs.

The camera we used to capture the action was a Mini DV (digital video) camera; the effect of using such apparatus gives a gritty and realistic effect to the film. This sets the product apart from the typical American mainstream production, giving it a definitive British identity. Productions such as Hollyoaks, Desperate Housewives (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlliBMON7kY) and Brothers and Sisters are filmed using celluloid “film”; whereas Eastenders, Friends(http://www.youtube.com/watchv=1YISBc8TUrQ&feature=related) and Silent Witness are filmed using DV cameras, and the difference is very clear.
The limitations of using such apparatus is that the cameras did not support external microphones, therefore dialogue was cut to a minimum and sounds were recorded using internal microphones on computers. This was originally a limitation and the script had to be changed, however, during production we realised that dialogue could prove to ruin the depressive and confusing air of the opening sequence.

To edit the footage we used non linear software called iMovie, this enabled the film to truly take shape, and it enabled us to make alterations to the sound and transitions of the clips. We could also experiment with different ideas for the film and continue to develop and improve our film, building upon the original storyboard ideas.

The youtube video linked shows the full ability of iMovie, including a range of transitions, title effects and video effects.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozEDZl9lcyw)

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression to the full product?
The approach we took with our preliminary task was less serious to that of the main product, the preliminary task was the first real filming we did as a group, and taught us that we couldn’t all film our own ideas, and needed to learn to work together, and compromise. The location we used for our preliminary task was our school grounds, and because we had not realised how much planning was actually involved, we encountered a few problems involving other students walking around and sometimes through the set. This enabled us to “learn from our mistakes” and therefore realised that in our actual filming it would be easier to use locations where control of the public would be a lot easier, therefore locations included one of our group member’s living room and the M4 flyover which passes through a park. We researched the location and found that within 1 hour only one person had walked past, and no-one had walked through. The organisation of our storyboard also proved difficult; the preliminary task storyboard was simple enough because the task was simple, however, the more complicated our production became; the more difficult it was to stick to the storyboard. This resulted in many drafts and copies of the storyboard being created.

Our preliminary task did not focus much on the technical elements of mise-en-scene. However, in our final product we concentrated on the effects of the mise-en-scene elements, for example we learned to control the lighting and amount of shadows to strengthen the effects of the scene. The technique of altering the sound also changed; we split the audio from the visual images using the iMovie technology and reduced the natural ambient sound and introduced the score. We decided to record the dialogue because during our preliminary task the dialogue was difficult to hear as a result of the microphones on the camera not picking up dialogue very well and recording loud ambient sounds.