Question 1: In what way does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Question 1: In what way does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

A thriller is a movie that uses suspense, tension and excitement. These three things give the audience stimulated moods and heightened sense of anticipation, suspense, anxiety and maybe even horror. There are many different types of thriller sub genres, but the most common and favourable sub genres tend to be action thriller, horror thriller and crime thrillers. There are some more uncommon sub genres such as a religious thriller or a si-fi thriller. For my  work I chose to use a horror thriller. This is because I felt I could make a better atmosphere and all round a better sub-genre to create on a low budget. Because I chose a horror thriller my audience will be expecting to see suspense and atmosphere. As well as blood and maybe a scary or mysterious character. I challenged the conventions of a horror thriller by having my main character as a woman. This challenges the conventions because the audience tend to expect  the main character to be male as a stereotypical man would be to be seen as stronger and more evil where as a stereotypical woman would tend to be seen as delicate and feminine. I developed the standard conventions of a horror thriller by using appropriate props. My props developed the conventions because I used lots of blood and gave everything in the shot a specific meaning.

I followed the conventions of a thriller by using a scary looking setting, it was dark, derelict and abandoned. I also used appropriate props and costume. I think my soundtrack also makes my thriller fit the conventions of a thriller.  

The shot types I used fitted the conventions of my chosen genre because there was a lot of close up shots and over the shoulder shots. The over the shoulder shots are good because not only do they create a feeling of being watched and followed but it also allows the audience see the characters surroundings.

I also made the editing face paced so that the audience felt jumpy, and the editing tended to ‘fade to black’ quickly which sets a fast tempo. The mise-en-scene lighting was very blue, this gave my opening an eerie feel. For the costume I decided to use a tight fitting black dress and a black cloak. I chose the dress because my main character is quite slim. And the cloak gives her an air of mystery as the hood very much covers her face. I got my inspiration for this costume from ‘eyes wide shut’ as I thought this character looked scary and mysterious. This is the effect I had hoped to create.

For my title I had the name written on an old looking piece of paper and burnt it away, at the end of my opening I used the same clip but played it backwards. I feel this looked effective because it isn’t something usually seen in a movie I challenged the usual convention of having writing written in blood by having it on paper burning away.

 This made my thriller different and unique. I composed my shots so that you can see the setting my character in and in some shots you can see the ‘weapon’ This again used a common convention to create threat but then I developed this convention by using a sharp shard of glass as a weapon instead of an actual knife or gun perhaps.

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My main character was a blonde girl, she doesn’t have a name and we know nothing about her. Her role was to represent an ex-girlfriend who has never got over or let go of her ex and instead has begun to obsess over him and plots to murder him as well. This is hinted at by the crossing out of the other male, assuming his was again an ex-boyfriend and the use of the ‘weapon’ also gives the hint to violence.

I used a female main character because it plays with the standard conventions of a horror thriller film. I developed this character so that she seemed mysterious and so the viewer’s aren’t quite sure what to think of her. I thought it’d be best for my main character to wear a black dress, but one of my audience members thought it wasn’t ‘appropriate’ for her to wear and that tracksuit bottoms would be better suited, but I don’t agree with this. The significance of the bloody glass is to show the audience that this character is dangerous and should be feared and the blood shows us that maybe this girl has already killed someone before. For her make up I just left her quite natural but with bright red lips, I chose to have the lips red as connotations of red is danger and blood, yet lips are meant to be feminine and seductive. They also clash so well with her pale skin, blonde hair and white mask.  Her feminine look also clashed with the dark and old looking setting, I thought this looked effective.

Her role as a woman clashes with everyday stereotypes of a villain. As a woman she would be expected to be lady-like, soft and caring. Whereas as she is playing the villain she would be expected to act differently and in such ways as, evil, manipulative and sly. This is the opposite of a caring woman stereotype. Because of this I think it shows us that women can play a whole variety of roles and that they don’t just have to be the standard ‘damsel in distress’ that we as an audience are more likely to expect.

Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

I made my production company name to look simple and unique. I didn’t want it to be big and flashy because I wanted it to look like an independent production company. My logo is simple and unanimated; I chose not to have it animated as I preferred it to just appear at the beginning of my opening. It is also quite bright and eye catching yet simple at the same time.

Production companies job is to market, advertise and sell the movie that I have created. It is also their job to help with other tasks such as, organising a schedule and doing the budget. They also help with casting the main characters and getting in contact with big actors and actresses to appear in the particular film.

Because of all of this, when the audience pays to watch a film, its production company gets a commission as the film actually belongs to them. The money they make from this mainly goes into producing new movies and then advertising other movies they have produced.

If I needed a production company for my opening, I think I would go for someone like ‘Paramount Pictures’ this is because they are an American based production company, which means that there is a higher chance that my movie would reach and international audience all around the world, not just the UK which is likely to happen if I picked a UK based production company. Paramount Productions was founded in 1912, and then re-established in 1914 as Paramount pictures.

Question 4: Who would be the target audience for your media product?

Question 4: Who would be the target audience for your media product?

For my target market I chose to aim my production to teenage boys about 16+. I chose this age group and gender because I found that it was mostly boys that enjoyed horror thrillers and they would see the potential threat in 'a psycho' ex-girlfriend and although it's supposed to be a horror thriller they can see the ironic funny side to the storyline and maybe able to relate to it. My production isn't aimed at any particular educational class therefore you don't need to be particularly clever to understand it, because of this I think secondary school students (year 12 and year 13) or people who have just left school will enjoy this production.

 Name: Jake Smith

Gender: Male

Age:17

Educational Status: Just started year 13

Job: Part time worker at WHSmiths

Hobbies: Going out with his friends, playing on his xBox, swimming and playing hockey

TV Programs: Jake enjoys watching things like Skins, Black Mirror (Charlie Brooker) and Revenge

Media Usage: Jake uses social media websites such as twitter and Facebook. He also regularly uses YouTube and iPlayer’s to catch up on TV programs and films.

Other Information: Jake enjoys bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Chase & Status and Jamie T. He tends to shop online but also likes to shop in topman, urban outfitters and Aerostake. Jake enjoys comedy films but not as much as the different sub genres of thrillers. Jake says he enjoys crime thrillers, horror thrillers and mystery thrillers, this is because he finds these types of thrillers best create a sense of suspense and tension which he enjoys.

 "I enjoy films with a twist and things that happen unexpectedly, I want to be shocked and left guessing!!" Jake Smith, 17.

At first I wrote a questionnaire and handed it out to after school clubs where I knew boys in my age group would be, I also gave it out around school to specific year groups. I targeted my questionnaire mainly at boys of my target market but also gave it out to a few girls of the same ages so that I could get a wide range of opinions. I got 25 replies from my questionnaire and the information I gathered helped me fine tune my opening idea and adjust it to fit my target markets opinions and expectations.

 

 

For the BBFC rating I would say that my opening would probably be '15' as there is threat, weapon usage and gore. I struggled to pick a rating as I feel that '18' is quite a high rating but '15' maybe too low. I went with '15' because after looking at the requirements for a ‘15’ I felt they were more suitable. A ‘15’ rated movie may contain:

·         strong violence

·         Frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').

·         portrayals of sexual activity

·         strong verbal references to sex

·         sexual nudity

·         brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

·         discriminatory language or behaviour

·         drug taking

At 15 sexual activities can be portrayed, as long as there is no strong or graphic detail. Some sex scenes can be quite long at this category and may involve some nudity and movement. Though nudity may be allowed in a sexual context there should be no strong detail.

There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

There can be strong references to sex and sexual behaviour, but especially strong or crude references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context.

Heterosexual and homosexual sex and sex references are treated the same. This however doesn’t actually apply to my opening.

 

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience with my opening by using weapons and blood, as I found in my questionnaire that these two things made for a good opening. I also found that using things like well angled shots helped create the mystery and tension that my target market wanted. Angles such as close up and low angels were the most effective angles to use.

 

I think I fulfilled my audience’s expectations by using appropriate shots, location and props. I also think that my narrative was good and something that the target audience wouldn't have seen before and that they would enjoy and almost laugh about yet still be scared at the thought of that ever happening to them. From my questionnaire I found that the best location was somewhere deserted and in the middle of nowhere or at least somewhere unrecognisable, this is why I chose to shot in the old barn in Thurlby Fen. This place was easy to get to yet because it was surrounded by fields it looked like it was very far away and the over grown bushes and 'run down' walls of the barn made it look very old and abandoned which is what my target market wanted.

 

I got a lot of positive feedback from my film opening, people found that I created tension well and that I had some very good angles and shot types. The narrative also went down really well with my target audience as well as some girls who watched it, this is because people had never really seen anything like it before and they thought it was a good idea compared to the same old ideas that they have seen in other big Hollywood films. They also found my character allocation was good and the young blonde girl worked really well with my storyline and she seemed like a good main character. However I did get a few comments off people who said it would be even better if I had got even more footage to use as some bits seemed very similar to other. I fully agree with this, and if I had the time I would have liked to go out again to film some more parts but because of the time of the year I had to cut filming short due to poor lighting and didn't want any light continuity problems. If I had of had time to go out and film more I think I’d have filmed some some more sections of my main character and maybe some shots of the victim. I would have also filmed some more shots of my main character leaving and preparing to kill her next victim. Alternatively I could have re done some of my shots so that they were composed better or flowed better into one another.

 

For the soundtrack I created it myself on a mac computer, this is because I knew how I wanted it to sound and I wanted to have specific sounds at certain points in the opening such as heart beats and paper burning. I didn't want a specific 'song' in my opening which is why my soundtrack is mainly different beats and sounds opposed to actual instruments.

 

Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

 

I have learnt lots of new skills during the making of my production, and because I worked on my own I feel this actually allowed me to learn more skills as I had to do everything pretty much myself. So although I asked for help of older students I actually picked up the skills they showed me during editing and filming and managed to complete my work with little help towards the end. I learnt skills such as how to use a camera and how to set up as camera shoot and how to edit them effectively and which transitions look good where. I used specific editing skills such as cutting and cropping, rearranging the sequence, jump cutting from shot to shot, editing continuity correctly and how to cover up not quite perfect shot matches. For the transitions I used fade to black mainly because when they are really short they make the screen flash which can be quite jumpy and it is an easy and effective way to go between the shots as it doesn't look 'unnaturally' jumpy. I also had to spend a lot of time colour matching the shots as they were filmed on two different types of cameras. I struggled a bit to get every single shot exactly the same but I think that the majority of the shots look pretty similar to each other.

 

On the actual day of shooting I didn't really use the tripod as much as I thought I would, this is because I found it easier to actually free hand with the camera as I was able to move with the actions of my main character, i.e. if she moved the book I was able to focus the camera more effectively on the book as it was an important prop in my opening and putting the focus on this allowed the audience to realise this. Because my location was under roof I didn't have to worry too much about the weather outside as it wouldn't have really effected the filming.  I did have to cut filming slightly short due to the late start (which couldn't be helped) and the short days. Although I cut the film day short I don't think it was too much of a problem, as I didn't feel I'd run out of footage but towards the end I did struggle to find shots that I hadn't already used. So if I could do it again I would make sure I had even more footage just to be extra safe.

 

Another skill I had to use was continuity and making sure that my opening was well paced. I think I managed this quite well as when my character moves and walks I cut and edited her actions well (screen shot of girl picking up glass and then another one of the cut to her crossing out the man’s face to show I edited them together well) However after I had pretty much finished editing I was watching my opening and I noticed a small error, when the girl put the book down she closes it and places it on the floor, a few shots later when she walks away the book is open on the floor (so that she can stand on it and smudge the blood) although I noticed this error it was too late to change and it wasn't particularly noticeable as no one else had spotted it even after telling them there was an error.

 

 

 

I think that the error went unnoticed because of the jumpy back and forth cut between each shot. As well as the continuity error I also noticed that in one shot at the begging because it wasn't filmed with a tri pod at one point you can actually see myself and someone who helped me film that day in the corner of the screen for about 1 or 2 seconds.

 

Luckily this too is very discrete, although looking here it may seem obvious when you watch it it’s so brief and barely noticeable. No one saw it even after being told about it, I think this is because the viewer’s eyes are focused on the girl and what she is doing not on the setting. Again there wasn't anything I could do about this. 

When it came to camera work I didn't actually use much of the footage I filmed because it as  good of a  quality whereas the other camera was, so I chose to use the higher quality camera.

 

 

 

I did however tell the other person on the camera what I wanted in each shot and showed him what I wanted in each shot and what angle to use before we filmed each shot. Because the setting I used was old there was quite a lot of rubbish in the corner of the barn, so I needed to brief the other camera worker not to get that in the shot as I was worried that the food and drink litter would make the setting seem like it was set in a place where the public could access. But then I wanted the old looking walls and trees to be in the shots so I had to angle my camera shots to include them without breaking the 180 rule.

 

I learnt many skills when it came to using iMovie as it wasn't something I was familiar with using before. I think my editing is clear and the audience is aware of what is going on, I wanted the editing to slightly confuse the audience into thinking that maybe at first the girl is in danger, but as the opening progresses it becomes apparent that actually the girl is the murder and the young boy in the book is in danger. I used editing to pick up on the 'he left me' written in the book as well, editing it like this makes the audience aware of the girls 'motives' and also makes her seem crazy. And editing a close up of the young man’s face shows the audience who it really in danger. I think it’s significant to show the ‘he left me’ because it gives the audience a hint to the girls alteria motives.

 

I struggled with importing my footage at first as I was having to do it off two cameras and then onto memory sticks to then put them both onto the mac for editing. This was very time consuming so I had to spend a lot of my own time doing this and figuring out how to do this. I also struggled with creating the DVD menus so I had to ask for help of a student who had already done theirs. They showed me how to do this so next time I have to do it I think I am confident enough to do it myself.

I did add filters to my shots, but only to make them all match, I didn't add the filters to create a specific effect. I struggled to do this as the two camera’s qualities weren’t the same.

 



 

 

When it comes to other technologies I made a few Prezis and wordles to express my ideas and thoughts. I found the wordles easy to use as I had done them before but learning to use the Prezis was a new experience for me as I hadn't done them before nor had I heard what they are. I struggled to embed them onto my blog so after looking on the internet I quickly picked it up and even had to show other class mates how to do it. I think adding these Prezis and wordle's made my blog different and more interesting to look at. I really wanted to put up videos of my presentation and my prelim task, but because of the filters on school computers I was unable to do this at school and my laptop at home is broken so having to do my work on my iPad has set me back quite a lot as it has meant I'm unable to upload videos to the blog which will have lost me marks.

 

Doing this project on my own has allowed me to learn lots of new skills and has really let me make my own decisions, but having said this I think next time I would prefer to work in a group or with someone else so that I can have alternative

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you think you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

As I film maker I feel I have developed in many ways, I have learnt many different skills and leant to be more independent. Doing my prelim helped me because it allowed me to work on basic key skills which would be helpful for my final product. Skills such as continuity and match on action.

Specific skills, such as, shot reverse shot, I didn’t use as there wasn’t any speaking in my opening, but learning this skill during my prelim means that if I had wanted to, or ever do want to use it I feel confident in doing so. I used the 180 degree rule as best I could, but because I only had one character again I didn’t really find I used it that much. I think that I used the match on action well and I cut between my main characters actions well, if I hadn’t done the prelim task I wouldn’t have been able to do this as well.

As for planning I did most of my planning last minute and then had to re plan again as plans fell through, because I planned last minute I think I was slightly unorganised and if I had planned it better I would have gotten more footage. I think my story board was good though and I put details of what I wanted the camera to do. I wouldn’t have known how to do this if it wasn’t for the prelim task either because the people I worked with showed me how to do it correctly.

I think my opening is OK. I think it suits its target audience and because its something new and not really done before people will be interested in it.  I think my narrative it pretty good and I chose an appropriate person to play my main character. To improve my opening I would have liked to record more footage just so that I could have made it longer, maybe a few shots of the ‘victim’ I had a few ideas on how to do this but struggled to get any of them to look right therefore I left them out. I would perhaps have just filmed on one high quality camera instead of one good and one not so good camera, as this would have saved on time where I could have been editing. I think another weakness to my opening would have been the two mistakes I mentioned earlier, the continuity error and the fact people are stood in the background. Although both are very small and not obvious errors I know they are there and I would prefer them not to be. I also think if I’d have had more time I would have made some of the sound effects louder, for instance at one point in the opening there it a heartbeat and some viewers commented that you can’t hear it that clearly.