Question 7

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

When we started our preliminary task, it took us ages to think of something to do, and even after we'd filmed it we thought we could of done better. Whereas with the thriller opening we felt that although swapping and changing our ideas throughout, we could achieve the look we wanted to put across. With the thriller opening we felt we had more of a starting point as it had to be a thriller, but with the preliminary task it could be literally anything, which is quite hard to think of unless you're full of great ideas.

I feel we have progressed by using a wider range of effects, and camera shots. We were also more prepared and eager to make our thriller opening much more successful than the preliminary task. In our thriller opening we developed our ability to keep the camera still while filming, and progressed with the 180 degree rule by not catching our shadows in the shots and making sure it doesn't look like our actor has swapped sides at any point.

When planning we made sure that with every idea we didn't just dismiss it if we thought it to be impossible. We all added to the idea and thoughts on location and how it could be done, rather than immediately saying its too hard and it couldn't be done. By using blogger it was so much easier to keep our ideas up to date and show our classmates our ideas, also if we wanted feedback it was easy for them to access our blogs and then get back to us on what they thought. Once we had our final thriller opening idea we tried to plan every detail as specifically as we could, however on the day there were little things we ad to decide on, such as how far away the camera would be and what angles would work best, but such as location and props we were prepared to go.

Question 6

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

During the editing and producing of our opening, I feel we have all learnt many new things, each of us specialising in a specific area. For me it was the camera work, ranging in different shots etc. and for my other team-mates it was more about the editing itself… adding effects, and including the music to the clip.

By using blogger throughout the making of our production it helped us to record our progress, thoughts and ideas.

We were also introduced to iMovie which we then used to edit and upload our productions. It was easy to use and had very little complications, we learnt how to remove any diegetic sound that wasn't wanted, and how to add non-diegetic sound to add to the tension and build up the emphasis on particular shots.  We also learnt about how transitions can be added to make the opening fit together better and make it look like it wasn't jumping from one clip to the other. By using the transitions we were able to make clips glide from one to the next with simple fading ins or fading outs.

We used YouTube to present our production to the public, we did this by uploading it, then promoting it on social networking sites.

We were given a video camera that was provided by the school to do all our filming, and we used my own camera to take shots of the titles to then include into our production. It is always better to use a tripod when filming due to keeping a steady hand. We used the tripod majority of the time, but when it came to close-ups and walking around and into the shack I held it myself. It gives a more thrilling feel to the opening as you feel like you’re almost the person that is actually playing a role in the film.

Question 5

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

We made our opening appeal to our audience by including tension, mystery, dramatic music, a range of shots and mise-en-scene. I would compare Amy to Susie Salmon from ‘The Lovely Bones’ as they are both tales of a girl that’s gone missing in the woods/field- a vast secluded area.  I suppose she could also be associated with the film ‘Orphan’ as it is set in a secluded place.  

We made our logo look as polished and as close to a professional one as we could.

By the feedback from the questionnaire we did, it came to our attention that not as many people like thrillers as we thought. So by starting it off slowly and not giving too much away we are keeping the audience intrigued and wanting to find out more. By using cut away shots of our actress and to various parts of the shack, and what is around it we are creating the tension ready for people to expect something to happen, but they’ll have to keep watching if they want to find out what.

We used a lot of close up shots to show her facial expressions, but also cut away to long shots showing the way she walks with ease and how tense her body is as she starts finding things she is unsure of.

Question 4

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

We identified our audience as 12+, and for both genders but typically more towards women. This is because the actor in our film happens to be a teenage girl and they seem more interested in a film if the characters are of a similar age.

This girl is typically wearing flat shoes, jeans, and a coat- what an everyday teenage girl would wear. Aged around late teens- early twenties, likes comedy and a wide variety of music. Likes to watch a sci-fi or a mystery, and interests include shopping with friends.

The BBFC are a council management that decide how much a film can go up for sale due to the calculations of running minutes. There are guidelines for the public to follow saying whether the film is suitable for them or not. They look at issues such as: discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, sexual violence and violence when making a decision.

U stands for universal, and is suitable for anyone of the age of four and above. There is no sign of any bad language or sexual activities in a U-rated film.

PG stands for parental guidance, which means this film is suitable for all viewers but may have some scenes that upset younger viewers. A PG film should not disturb a child around eight or older, and there may be mild bad language (such as ‘shit’ or ‘son of a bitch’)

12A means that anyone aged 12 or over can go and see the film unaccompanied. The A stands for 'accompanied' and 'advisory'. Children younger than 12 may see the film if they are accompanied by an adult (e.g. someone over the age of 18), who must watch the film with them.

The BBFC's Guidelines state that there may be strong language (e.g. 'f***') at 12 or 12A, but it must be infrequent. The context of the strong language is important. Dangerous behaviour (for example hanging, suicide and self-harming) may be present in 12 or 12A works but will not dwell on detail which could be copied or present those activities as pain or harm free.

No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘15’ rated DVD.  15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age. 15 works are stronger than 12 or 12A rated works and could include any of the following:

·         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 there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (e.g. f***).

Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (e.g. 'c***').

Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy/rent an 18 rated DVD. No 18 rated works are suitable for children. 18 works are for adults and can contain strong issues such as:

·         very strong violence

·         frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***') and/or very strong language (e.g. ‘c***’)

·         strong portrayals of sexual activity

·         scenes of sexual violence

·         strong horror

·         strong blood and gore

·         real sex (in some circumstances)

·         discriminatory language and behaviour

The ‘R18’ category is a special and legally restricted classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults. Films may only be shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas, and video works may be supplied to adults only in licensed sex shops.

Question 3

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

The whole point of a company logo is to show off who owns the company and who’s made the film. Big successful film companies include:

• Paramount       
• Dreamworks    
• 20th Century Fox    
• Metro Goldwyn Mayer       
• Warner Brothers     

We didn’t really have a major inspiration towards our logo- we put together the first letter of each of our names and a pawprint, to make it our own. Put our own print on it.

A production company is responsible for handling budgets and schedules. They are often owned or under a contract for a film studio or entertainment company. A production company is responsible for the development and filming of a specific production or media broadcast. In entertainment, the production process begins with the development of a specific project.

For our thriller opening I would have chosen 20th Century Fox due to its wide range in genres. They have been involved in cartoons, comedies, romances, thrillers and action. Most of the money is fund-raised when looking to produce a new film, even though they have the money from mother films they have produced in the past.

When the credits roll up it is generally in a matter of importance to the film, for example:

Director

Producer

Executive Producer

Line Producer

Production Manager

Assistant Production Manager

Production Coordinator

First Assistant director

Second Assistant director

Location Manager

Casting Director

Camera operator

Lighting

and then all the actors, actresses, and their stunt- doubles that were in the film.

Question 2

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

Any type of media needs to address a particular audience, and to do this you need to portray a particular social group in a way that is appealing to them. In our opening, by having just one character it leaves the audience waiting to find out more, waiting for us to introduce more characters which is why our opening is appealing to several audiences.

Our actress Amy could quite easily be linked to Susie Salmon from ‘The Lovely Bones’ as they are both very calm, both in a wooded, and secluded area and both in for a big shock that is unexpected.

     

Stereotypically it is generally a male who is the villain, but in our film you won’t know unless you watch the rest of the film… as we don’t show who our villain is, or whether one actually shows up in the film at all. It’s all to do with what your brain is telling you. It is also mainly females that play the victims in thriller films which leads you to think why? This is generally because women are seen to be weaker than men and an easy target.

Question 1

Question 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

A thriller is a genre of film, based around scaring the audience in different ways, this would be typically linked to a murder. There are many subgenres of thrillers, such as: Psychological, mystery, religion, eco, supernatural, medical, dystopian, action, romantic, political, and many more. We looked at lots of different thrillers before starting our own, and as a group came to the decision that a psychological thriller can be put across at many angles. We asked 10 people to fill in a questionnaire, regarding what kind of films/ thrillers they were most drawn to. From the questionnaire results we could see that most people prefered something that would keep them on edge and has a good build up of tension. We chose to do a psychological thriller due to the feedback from our classmates, and questionnaire results. Our audience expect something to draw them in and make them want to watch more. Further to that, I suggested to my group that they watch ‘The Lovely Bones’ and ‘Orphan’ as none of them had seen it, they are extremely good films with fantastic storylines, and it might give us some more ideas for our thriller. A typical thriller is generally set in a public place but by using an abandoned shack and adding gloomy, dark effects we are creating the right mood for a psychological thriller, we developed this by adding music to create the tension. We discussed using a voice over because at first we weren’t sure about music that would fit within our film, we really liked this idea and had even written out what would be said until we came across some music that we all thought fit in perfectly. In the opening to ‘Orphan’ everything looks hand-drawn, the music switches from slow and high to paced and low. The hand-drawn images constantly switch from normal to negative and it gives the impression that some of the drawings we see are actual events that may occur within the film.

By using props we are adding to the scene, we used bloody cloths to make the audience aware of what had gone on, images of young girls, maps of the location, etc to show this person is obviously a stalker, and a blanket to lay over the beaten, dead body. In the opening to a thriller, the use of flashbacks always works well, in my opinion. We discussed within my group, using a flashback but decided that our idea has other angles we can work from to make it look just as effective.

We used a variety of shot types, ranging in close-ups, extreme close-ups, establishing shots, over the shoulder, and long shots. For our titles we used still shots and when editing we focused on transitions to link the next shot, dimming effects and the speed when each shot moved onto the next. To start editing our film we had to ensure we were using i-movie, none of us had used this programme before so we all had to work together in order to make it a success.

Sound plays a big part in the opening to a thriller film, slow and eery music is often used and sped up to build the tension. However fast, paced music works just as well.  

Our setting was found because of its calm, undisturbed feel to it. We didn’t want anywhere that wouldn’t pull off the vibe we were trying to put across.

Costumes weren’t planned as their were only two characters, and as we wanted it to seem natural we played it safe- not staged. You couldn’t see what the dead body was wearing as it was covered up by the blanket, and the girl who comes across the body just wore natural, everyday clothing- top, trousers, and a coat.

We made the title of our movie ‘Wrong Place, Wrong Time’ which will draw in our audience to find out what has happened, or what is going to happen.

Thriller Conventions

Camera Work

Typical shots used are establishing shots to show location, mid-shots to show characterization, close-ups to show disorientation and claustrophobic behaviour. The composition shows key props, while the framing creates the suspension. The camera movement and angles can vary for example high or low shots to show power/status. Depending on the perspective of the shot it can change the way we feel about it, eg. first person showing empathy.

Editing

Depending on the narrative it can show a complex narrative, which builds tension as the story converges. The editing can add tension eg. straight cut can build suspense and the pace. By adding flashbacks it can show key moments and also show the viewers connection to the story.

Thriller Opening Conventions

Within the first 2 minutes you need to add the drama by building tension and create an atmosphere, use of music is good for titles, name of the film, the crew and directors. It sometimes works well as an opening if you ask the viewers a question.

Sound

Sound is used to add atmosphere to the film. By using ambient sounds, music and noises it really sets the scene. A voice over creates a backstory and its better to avoid dialogue.

Mise-en-scene

For a typical thriller setting it is realistically isolated. The costumes don't always have to be 'scary' but are stereotypically ripped or bloody. When casting, the actors for villains are usually male, and the victims tend to be female. Props used would stereotypically be weapons such as guns or knives, and the lighting is low key, not much is shown and there are a lot of scenes which are based in the shadows.

Narrative

The start of a thriller can be part-way through the scene, which makes it disorientated. Flash backs, and even flash forwards add a certain element that draws you into the film, and they dont always have to be in chronological order.

Costume

In our group we have discussed what costumes would work accordingly to our thriller opening. We decided to go with casual wear (for the male)- perhaps a black hoody and jeans for our mysterious hooded figure, and (for the female) an innocent white dress for our victim. By choosing these outfits we are setting the scene for the unknowing audience.

Props

We are using discarded clothes on the floor of the woods because that is how the girl finds the shack as she follows them. This is typical to a thriller as it adds mystery and leaves the audience wanting to know more.

Our idea was to have a hand fall out of a door to give the audience something to think about. Why is it there? What happened? How long has it been there? This will intrigue the audience to carry on watching as they will want to know what happens.

We are using a shack-like building as that is where the story starts. We might change the shack into an abandoned building like a barn because of the convenience of the location but it will still be the main building in the opening. By using this kind of building it builds tension- lots of corners, and lots of abandoned rubbish to hide under.

We are using a footprint in the mud because that is another element that makes the girl go to the shack as well as the clothes. She does this as she is confused and wonders what it leads to. This was one of first ideas, so may not be included. However the footprint may give a clue to what kind of person it is. As it looks like a trainer, you would associate that with a male figure so this again leaves you in suspense.

We are using a mobile phone because after the girl gets locked in the shack she pulls out her phone to see if she has a signal. The phone will help create suspense as the signal bar will go down. This is typical to a thriller- a girl on her own, stumbling across an old shack, leaving the audience wanting to know more.

Location

We have had many ideas for our film such as, internet dating gone wrong, mental asylum/museum and then the idea that we decided to go with ‘the abandoned shed with a hand, the reason why we decided to go with this idea was it is a very unique idea that we can adapt with ease if needed, this was not the idea we originally wanted to go with, our first idea was the internet dating gone wrong, the reason why we decided not to go with that idea was because the internet stalker idea sounded a bit cliché and we wanted to try something different e.g. the shed in the woods idea.

· We have had many ideas for a location, one idea that we had was to film it in a wooded area.

· Some of the negative sounds of that would be the lighting may not be on our side as it could be too dark and we would not see anything that we had filmed.

· There could be some very bright patches of sunlight that come through the trees that may make some of our shots barely visible.

· We had a look at different wooded areas around Bourne and Thurlby and we couldn’t find any old sheds that we could use but we couldn’t find anything that we could uses that fits the thriller genre.

· We then had a look on Google maps to see if we could find any old farms with sheds and or barns in abandoned areas

· We found one on south fen road which if located just off the back of cherry holt road (behind the big Tesco’s)

We still need to ask about using the barn but it may cause some difficulties as there is no one around the area and also no houses so we wouldn’t know who to ask about the use of this location