Evaluation (Andy)

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

Our media product incorporates generic conventions such as lighting and the relation to tense build ups. We achieved the certain lighting by placing our shots underneath lampposts places in the street. This would much easier than using our own artificial lighting sources. We did have to use a flashlight for two of the shots though as the scene was visible but just not right to fit with the generic conventions of a thriller. The suspense of a thriller was achieved by using a soundtrack which built up with an increasing texture as the track progressed.

Our subgenre would definitely be towards the action side of it. This is shown in the clip with the “drum and bass” sound track used. Also the running scene through the streets give it the fast paced quality of an action film.

This is part of our opening scene where we see a detective writing a report. This is similar to the opening scene of one of our influential films seven.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social groups involved in our thriller are very much the young teen age. The character involved in the running scene represents a young teen out late at night wearing classic teen clothes. Where as in the opening office scene the class is raised and age group increased to a mid/late life character playing the detective. There is no real representation of race or gender. As both of the characters used in the clip are male there can be no comparison of male dominance or female passiveness. Although w

e can see that the detective is a high class important man with the gun and classic smart dress and hat. These representations of gender, age and class could possibly link to our target audience of young and middle aged people as they are involved in the thriller piece. The long haired teen represents a stereotypical teenager rebelling to society ever so slightly.

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

I can visualise this thriller piece being shown in cinemas and perhaps be a Hollywood production. This could hopefully let the production be as successful as it could possibly be which what every director wants. It isn’t unique as a type of film as it has the fast paced, tension building qualities of many other films in the industry. It could be a TV movie but only following a cinema release first. The potential film offers a lot for things such as fra

nchises, merchandise and possibly sequels as the film itself includes certain props such as guns which could be recreated as merchandise. Plus the story line itself allows there to be a potential sequel as the threat in the actual film could easily come back and wreak more havoc! This does not seem a likely thing to happen though as it is rare for sequels to be made on thriller films

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The age and gender of our target audience is set around young adult and adult males and females. We can link this to our product with the young teen character used in the piece. Also the drum and bass music will suit more young adults and teens as it is a

recent modern genre of music.

How did you attract/address your audience?

We attracted our audience with the opening scene of the murder investigation under way. This added with the beginning parts of the soundtrack entices the audience and build up tension which naturally makes the viewers want to see more. The camera angles used in the opening scene are always hiding his face. This can also entice people in as you m

ay eventually find out who the character is and what he looks like drawing in the viewer. In the film we are allowing the audience to see what happens without any character in the film actually knowing by showing the audience the actual murder scene. This has impact as throughout the film the audience will always know more than the characters giving the option for concern for the character from the audience to happen. The camera angles used relate to the lighting used as well which creates suspense.

This is a picture of keys being dropped in the film. This is a vital part of the act as he will find later that he needs them. And if he did not drop them his life would have been spared. We used a complete different shot to emphasize this.

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

The equipment we used was mediocre but certainly acceptable for what we wanted to achieve in our media piece. I wasn't completely pleased with the lighting and how the camera coped with lighting but our media studies centre has a budget they need to stick to. Final cut express is the program we used to edit our clips. This was completely new to me before I started using it. I eventually picked it up after playing around with it for the preliminary task. I already knew how to use a camera to its basics which is all I needed for the filming process. I used Cubase 4 to compose our media soundtrack. This was not really new for me as I have used cubase many times before and was quite easy to make a soundtrack. Using the screen snaps we did we could achieve our desired mise en scene plus we also edited the brightness and contrast of the clips to enhance our desired mise en scene.

Here is a screenshot of our added font to the actual video. We did this on final cut express easily. The font we used was an add on which we downloaded from the internet. We wanted the text to be visible (so we made it white) but yet discreet which explains the lack of dominance on the shot.

Jack | Evaluation

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

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Our thriller incorporated generic conventions due to certain methods we used. For example, our thriller has an antagonist and a protagonist. This is widely associated as a thriller convention. Our outdoor scenes, where you see the victim running, are set at night. We felt this suits the thriller genre well as a running scene during daylight, may not have been as effective, or thrilling. During the chase, you can hear the sound of footsteps. Our thriller challenges the “protagonist/ antagonist” convention as we don’t actually see the antagonist it is just implied. If our thriller were to have a sub-genre, it would definitely be action. The running-chase scene is very fast-paced and exhilarating and could easily be classed as an action film.

The film Se7en influenced us. Both our opening scenes involve a character at a desk writing. We liked this film and so it inspired us to do something similar.

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How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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In our thriller, we only included very few characters and so could not cover a wide range of different social groups. Our main character is a white, middle-class male investigator in his thirties. Our victim is again white, middle-class but a teenager. The last character in our film is the antagonist, who the audience doesn’t see, but presume it is the one chasing the victim. Gender is not represented in a stereotypical way as our thriller only includes males. In which are the victim and protagonist. You see the male victim running away from something and a shot of him at the end in fear. This challenges the stereotypical view that men are dominant.

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

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Our movie could potentially make it on the big screens being produced by a large Hollywood organisation. Sometime after its cinema release, it would be shown on the television. The film could potentially follow on to a sequel depending on how successful the original film is. This could work as thrillers aren’t often associated as having sequels and so it would be exceptional. Also, dependant on the factor of its success, it could lead to the merchandising of products such as posters, t-shirts, memorabilia, character figures and video games. Our film is similar to other existing products by adopting thriller conventions, which other products use. In conclusion we can gather that our film has a dark yet upbeat mise en scene, having a disturbing feel to our film, we can see this from the chase and our use of camera work with dark lighting.

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Who would be the audience for your media product?

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With a group decision, we certified our thriller to be a 15. Although setting a young adult demographic of 18-25. We feel our media product is suitable for 15 year olds, but more 18+ people would want to watch it. During the opening, no violent or unpleasant scenes are shown, and therefore it could be classed as a 12 or 12A. We did this on purpose to create suspense, and, to not give too much away during the beginning. So we certified our thriller as a 15 because there would have been violent/ unpleasant scenes in the later stages of the film. This would be unsuitable for 12 year olds.

A film similar to ours is Se7en. The only part I can compare similarities is the opening, where you can see a person sitting at a desk writing. Se7en’s certificate is an 18. So evidently is aimed at ages 18+. Similar to our audience, however we certified ours leniently.

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How did you attract/ address your audience?

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We addressed our thriller to all genders, of those that are aged 15 and over. We chose this decision as spectators of our movie, who were of all genders and aged 15+ agreed. The beginning scene where the camera pans across the newspaper creates an eerie feel. This could particularly frighten young children.



Also the ending scene, where the victim runs into a dead-end and screams, could terrify a youth.



The audience may feel as though they take part as a spectator of the victim’s life. At the ending, where the victim runs into a dead-end, the audience see's the victim, but not what the victim sees. This means that they don’t put themselves in the position of the victim, but the spectator of the victim, possibly through the eyes of what the victim is facing. At the end, we used a close up and it displayed the fear in the victims face and body.

We made our piece suspenseful by building it, to breaking it down. To elaborate; throughout the film you see the victim running to a fast-paced soundtrack and then at the end, when the victim finds himself in a dead-end, the music stops frantically. This adds to the climax of the suspense.

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What have you learnt about technologies from the progress of constructing this product?

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Not blaming our equipment but I felt that the cameras let us down. The cameras we used are not great at capturing light, especially at night, when light is limited. However, a strong point of the camera equipment is the usability. I found the camera easy to use, and to set up on the tripod.
After our first time filming, we realised it was too dark and the footage was inadequate. So we filmed it again when the skies were lighter. This created a problem for us as it was time consuming. Another problem we faced, which was more of an annoyance, was that some of our footage somehow got overwritten, so we had to re-film it.

As for new experiences, I had never used an iMac before I took up Media Studies. It took some time getting used to, but now I can fluently use a Mac. I also used Final Cut Express for the first time. I had done some video editing pre-sixth form using Sony Vegas so it was an intriguing experience using a different program. Final Cut Express enhanced our thriller to make it look more professional-like. I found the Fade In Fade Out effect most useful as it gave a simple but effective result that could be applied to any form of media, such as text and video.



(Apologies for bad quality)



My group and I did not use Garage Band to create our soundtrack. However a fellow group member used the program Cubase to create the soundtrack.

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

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Before we made our thriller we researched into thrillers. We watched opening title scenes to analyse how thrillers are made, what techniques and camera shots are used, and to expand on our knowledge of the genre. We made several storyboards displaying our thriller in detail by drawing out the exact shots and locations that were going to be used. We planned to film our thriller shots in the order they occurred. When we came round to editing, it was much easier and simpler.

When doing the preliminary task, we only used a couple of shots. So I think my use of shot types has improved, as in the thriller, we used close ups, medium shots, an establishing shot:



And also a match on action shot:



I feel much more confident with the equipment now than I did in the preliminary task. I wasn’t very confident with using the camera before and I wasn’t too sure which buttons did what. Now though, I am more certain and knowledgeable about the camera and equipment.

Thriller definition: “a book, film, play, etc., depicting crime, mystery, or espionage in an atmosphere of excitement and suspense”. I feel as though we achieved this as we used certain techniques in order to create suspense. Also I feel as though our movie is very exciting with the fast paced running scene synchronizing to the matching soundtrack. So in conclusion, I feel our end product successfully fulfilled the initial task of creating a thriller opening.

Will | Evaluation

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

In our piece we did our best to bear in mind a lot of the typical conventions of a thriller, like a slow paced story with plenty of twists and turns. We also hinted at an Antagonist at the very end of our piece

After drawing up the storyboard we decided that we were going to use a lot of fast paced, quick cuts for a lot of different angles in order to build and hold a higher level of tension and suspense for the audience. That way, when the music stopped at the end of the piece and the camera stopped moving there would be a very tense feeling of anticipation for the very last scene of the introduction. I think that the main way our piece challenges traditional conventions is through its soundtrack. It's very rare to have such a fast paced soundtrack for a film such as a thriller. The idea was to give as little information about the rest of the movie as possible but still try to keep the viewer engaged. The loud, fast soundtrack definitely places our piece as a more action oriented thriller. I felt that there was a little influence from films like "Se7en" in our piece, like the camera panning across the table littered with snippets of information.

How does your media product represent certain social groups

As far as our introduction goes you only really see middle class Caucasian males. We only had male group members and our storyboard didn't involve any female characters in the introduction. However, this could appeal to our target audience due to the audience simply being able to relate to the characters on screen in terms of social class. The piece is set in and around Newport. A village filled with mostly middle class citizens and would therefore be representing a perhaps typical rural location in England.


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

Ideally, our film would be suited to a mainstream cinema release, featuring a mildly well-known cast and a slightly better than average budget. The kind of movie that is released in the cinema and then several months later goes to DVD for the masses to purchase. This would make it more accessible to consumers of all types, instead of JUST the target audience. It could potentially have a sequel, but that would depend on the success of the film and the overall plotline. I can see it being very hard to make a sequel for a thriller movie due to all of the plot twists and turns that it takes during the course of the movie and if anyone had not already seen the first film then the chances are that they would be lost upon watching the sequel. There might also be a chance for a spinoff novel to appeal to fans who like to read. We are hoping that the film would be quite well received so that merchandising can begin and more money can be made by appealing to audiences of all ages instead of just the 15 and over mark.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our target audience was to be 15 year old and older members of both genders. This would mean that the plot line could be as rich and inventive as possible without having to cater for a less imaginative or less interested younger audience. Obviously aiming for the sort of audience with enough disposable income to spend on a trip to the cinema and also an audience sophisticated enough to respect and acknowledge the subtleties that a thriller movie implies.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I thought that there were a few points in our intro that would appeal to this audience. First of all would be the intriguing pan across the desk to reveal the newspaper, second would be the fast paced, loud running scene with he tense ending. We used a series of quick cuts that jump from location to location to build suspense and to look like a very fast paced scene. We decided that these quick shots would place the audience in the position of a spectator, viewing the events without any prior knowledge. This would add to the fast paced aspect of the scene but also builds the viewer's interest as to the previous events of the story.

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

I learnt that operating a camera with insufficient light is a nigh impossible task, and that using tape cameras instead of USB or memory stick ones is a very unreliable way of filming. The main problem that we faced was the lack of light and no way to produce it. We tried using quite a high powered torch but it still had almost no effect whatsoever on the quality of light on the finished product. Using final cut express was a new challenge for me as I'd previously had no encounters with editing software before. After I’d got to grips with the basics though I became relatively adept at cutting and placing scenes and sound. We also used visual effects such as simply cutting to black or using a fade to build suspense. For our soundtrack, we didn't use Garageband; we used Cubase instead, as we had previous experience with it.

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

The planning stage was more difficult than I thought it would be. I watched several celebrated thriller films such as Se7en, One hour photo and (my favourite) Memento. There were definite similarities in style between all of them and we tried to use these to our benefit. I was the one who wrote the storyboard that we used for our final piece and in I am very pleased with how it turned out because my vision was almost perfectly recreated. I knew what kind of movement and shots I wanted and how quickly everything would need to be and I feel that we did as well as we could. During our first film shoot, we decided that the shots we were using weren't good enough, and that they could be improved. The second time around we improved the previous shots and then added a few new ones in, such as the key dropping shot; to add to the mood.

After this project I definitely feel much more confident with the Apple Macs, cameras and the use of final cut express. All in all, I think that the filming and editing aspect of our piece went very well indeed, and we're all quite happy with the final product. I am aware however, that our blog was indeed lacking in quantity of posts and that there is no remedy for this.

Overall, I think we started out slowly but eventually we managed to get out piece to the standard that we require.

The evaluation begins!

We're now beginning the evaluation stage of our coursework.

We believe that the filming went reasonably well although obviously the lighting could have been better but given the circumstances this wasn't really in our control

Anyways, enough of the evaluation chit-chat! wish us luck!

Project update!

We managed to completely finish off the film part of our media project on the editing day that we took on friday! We're quite happy with the result and very happy to be the first group in the year to have completely finished and exported our piece! Now comes the evaluation phase of the work but we're confident that we'll be able to do quite well on this part!

Quick Update

Jack and I (Will) went out and did all of the filming for the outside scenes today. We took multiple takes of every shot and we're satisfied with them. We will begin editing tomorrow.

Update..

QUALITY CONTROL! Is what we are about, therefore we are re-filming! Tonight, me (Jack) and Will are going to film the outdoor scene. On Wednesday Will and Andy are going to film the indoor scene.