To whom it may concern,
As sole copyright holder for the original composition "Fragile" ((C) Dan Lank 2007), I give permission for it to be used by Charlie Meaden, Luke Hawkins and Arran Smith in their Thriller production, and waive any royalties due for this.
Regards,
Dan Lank
number:07545544221
email:dan.lank@me.com
Friday, 24 April 2009
Charlie's Evaluation
Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The conventions of the thriller genre are to do with sound and editing. E.g. quick cuts and camera angle changes, music that gives tension and has pace when appropriate. It can be to do with lighting especially the use of shadow. Mirrors and stairs are also conventions of thriller movies.
Se7en arguably one of the best thrillers ever made probably has almost every convention you could think of putting into a thriller, not that they overdone it when making the film. Like our film the introduction of the main protagonists are very similar as they are both represented as mysterious characters, both calm in a way even though both have obviously been through a lot.
Phonebooth in particular is a thriller that does not play to the conventions, it avoids darkness and shadow etc. The one way to link it to standard conventions is to say that you hear and see the story from the killer’s point of view, you are made to feel sorry for the male protagonist and that you are told a story with the use of flashback and quick passed editing. Otherwise the this film is unlike most thriller movies and avoids the main conventions and may even not be classed as thriller but psychological thriller as it plays with your mind rather than shows you like a conventional thriller. I feel that this movie gives the film enigma which makes the viewers ask questions throughout the film. For example some of the mise en scene used will basically make you ask certain questions. Photobooth uses the binary opposition of the main protagonist and makes the antagonist criticise him for it throughout the film, and uses it as a reason to hold him hostage in the photo booth. This is because of the dominance the protagonist has normally, but when he picks up the phone the dominance switches.
Like Photobooth I feel that our thriller opening didn’t play on all the typical conventions of a thriller. In our opening we also avoided darkness and shadow. For example the funeral was held on a sunny day. In the planning and throughout filming and editing we were trying to create enigma, as it was an opening we didn’t want to give much away, but at the same time you see enough to get an idea of were the movie is going. About 80% of the opening was set in a church at the funeral.
The immediate question that we were hoping to be raised was; “who is this girl in pictures and flashback” and “why, is she dead? Is this her funeral? And if so how did she die.” I feel that we made the viewers think in one way or another about these questions. Although in our peer evaluation feedback we got some negative feedback where people were saying it didn’t feel like a thriller/lacked conventions of a thriller. Because we got so much feedback like that maybe they were correct, but I feel that as it’s an opening our group didn’t want to fall into the trap of giving away too much and simply making it harder for the movie to continue. Apart from the lack of “thriller-esque” we got positive feedback about our use of mise en scene, and lighting etc.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In our opening we decided to only represent one social group, white middle class. We felt that the plot didn’t hinge on the social group of our characters. By this I mean that unlike a typical gang film, which can include young black males as the antagonists - a social stereotype used commonly in films, we felt that we needed a stereotypically normal looking protagonist. Social stereotyping tends to depict middle class white men as normal and therefore we used them for this purpose.
In the opening we only wanted you to get an idea about the main protagonist, and how his mood and body language change between flashback and present time at the funeral. Even though the character seems to be fairly normal we wanted him to be fairly mysterious and have a distinct change when he is with Frankie and without her. In the first line of the non-diagetic sound track, “this is me and this is you”, it cuts to a flashback of the main protagonist and the girl being happy giving the impression that there is a relationship between the two. We purposely decided to put that shot in as that line was said to give the audience the idea that they are/were together. The happiness depicted between the two is used to give the impression that they are together in a loving, happy relationship, not one marred by stress/guilt/mistrust.
When Frankie’s death is later implied, this two shot of them both adds to the enigma of the film by removing one potential reason for her death, i.e. revenge for an affair, and most importantly acquitting the main protagonist of being involved in her death. Although this shot is intended to remove blame for her death from the main protagonist, we could also use the impression given of the protagonist to add to the shock of a potential plot twist revealing that he was not as innocent as he was made out to be. For example the killing could have been intended to hurt him for something he has previously done.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
In my opinion with a low budget film like ours we would need it just to get out there and get as many views as possible, this being “A Bad Boy Productions” second piece, we would not expect it to get it to get onto the big screen. But I think with the correct budget it has the fundamentals for a blockbuster film. I and my group had not come to a final decision but we had been talking about who we would like to get to distribute our film and I personally think that Pathe would be a good choice.
Pathe is one of the UK’s leading impendent film distributors, Pathe distribution releases around 20 titles each year, ranging from quality and specialised films to crowd-pleasing mainstream movies and genre titles.
The Reason Pathe stood out for me was that they are prepared to distribute movies such as The Blair Witch Project which had a low budget and was filmed by amateurs.
But as that is not a realistic way of us getting our movie distributed I would say that we should put it on Youtube and make some more openings etc to get as many subscribers as possible because then we may be able to get sponsors and then have a real budget to make and produce our films. That could help lead us to getting our movie signed by a well recognised distributing company.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
We would be looking to target people aged 16-24, one to maximise the profit as this the age range of people that watch the movies especially big blockbuster. This is also the case because of the age of the main protagonist so the viewers between these ages will be able to relate to this character with less difficulty than if the main protagonist was older.
I really think this would be a movie that would be promoted like the movie twilight, as it has some similarities that could be used to promote it to that range of viewers. Like Twilight, although the genre isn’t really the same, it could still be promoted for people aged 16-24 but more predominantly towards the female market. Maybe a film that a girl would drag her boyfriend to.
How did you attract/address your audience?
The normality and realism is where we would look to be grabbing our viewers’ attention. We would use the characters emotion and passion of the main protagonist to attract the female viewers. The idea of revenge would be a way we could keep the male side of the market happy and interested in our film. Apart from that you will have the enigma which we would like to think we would have maintained throughout the film to keep all viewers on their toes and thinking. If that isn’t enough we have gone for the vulnerable girl with strong protagonist male.
How distressed the main protagonist is?
Whose Funeral is this?
The two protagonists together?
Then the same place but empty, does this mean anything?
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout this task I used the following technologies:
- iMovie
- Video Recorder (Camera)
- Garage Band
- Tripod
- Various Lights
After our preliminary and the practice shoot of this piece, we felt really comfortable about shooting different shots. For example the tracking shots of the protagonist’s feet are hand held and there were some pans that took some skill setting up and shooting. Looking back at the task I feel that as it progressed I became more aware of which camera technique to use for a particular shot in order to give the most effect. As a group we discussed every shot beforehand and had at least three practices using different shots in order to select the right one. As our understanding increased though less practice shots were needed as we already had a good idea, from previous shots, of what technique would give us the best results. Other than this, tasks such as white balancing and mounting the tripod were known to us before the task began and therefore I don’t feel I learnt anything here.
As I added the soundtrack and played around with different sound levels by myself, I gained knowledge in how best this should be set up in order to maximise impact and yet not become the focus point. After editing the piece for the first time, I decided to change the length of certain shots in order to time other shots with relevant sections of the music. For example the first shot of Frankie and the main protagonist appears during the words “This is you and this is me”. This second draft flowed much better and the soundtrack had more impact. This knowledge gained in how to maximise sounds during the film sequence led to me deciding to add the sound effect at the end where the gun shot goes off which I feel adds enigma.
As a group I feel that it was a success I enjoyed working with Luke and Arran as they are friends outside of the classroom. We had good communication throughout and it helped the production come together smoothly. At the start of the production I crashed my car which resulted in me missing a couple lessons, but I feel that I wasn’t “carried” at the start because I was there when we did important stuff such as the synopsis and the storyboard. I attended all filming and editing sessions with Arran and Luke, plus I was able to get the church as a venue and got Shortfall to give us permission to use their song Fragile. Overall I think we worked well and everyone put effort in despite my low attendance of lesson time at the start of this production.
As I already mentioned above in the peer evaluations people felt that it wasn’t like a thriller, but I think there is a floor in there thinking as it was an opening, not a short film or trailer. It was simply setting the scene and introducing the main protagonist and Frankie whose funeral it may be. The gunshot at the end of our opening gives away maybe even how she died if she is dead.
Apart from that the peer evaluations said that every area of our opening was at least good, things like: “well edited”, “very steady shots” and “music very good, blends well with dialogue”
Some of the bad points were: “not really a thriller”. I agree with that comment but at the same time it did what it was meant to do and that is open the move up. “Possibly music too loud” I agree strongly I noticed in one part the music goes way to loud, but I didn’t notice until it was played in class.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
In our preliminary task we showed great continuity editing and match on action. It lacked any sort of understanding or storyline. Also in the preliminary we felt that we didn’t note down on the blog what we did and we were told about how important blogging was and I think we made improvements in managing the blog. This production we took more time when filming, as we shot the whole of the church scene un-costumed before shooting the real thing. Out panning and tracking shots were really nice. Experiments using higher angled shots were introduced. But at the same time we kept a high standard of continuity and our match on action shot of the main protagonist leaving the church couldn’t of went better.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The conventions of the thriller genre are to do with sound and editing. E.g. quick cuts and camera angle changes, music that gives tension and has pace when appropriate. It can be to do with lighting especially the use of shadow. Mirrors and stairs are also conventions of thriller movies.
Se7en arguably one of the best thrillers ever made probably has almost every convention you could think of putting into a thriller, not that they overdone it when making the film. Like our film the introduction of the main protagonists are very similar as they are both represented as mysterious characters, both calm in a way even though both have obviously been through a lot.
Phonebooth in particular is a thriller that does not play to the conventions, it avoids darkness and shadow etc. The one way to link it to standard conventions is to say that you hear and see the story from the killer’s point of view, you are made to feel sorry for the male protagonist and that you are told a story with the use of flashback and quick passed editing. Otherwise the this film is unlike most thriller movies and avoids the main conventions and may even not be classed as thriller but psychological thriller as it plays with your mind rather than shows you like a conventional thriller. I feel that this movie gives the film enigma which makes the viewers ask questions throughout the film. For example some of the mise en scene used will basically make you ask certain questions. Photobooth uses the binary opposition of the main protagonist and makes the antagonist criticise him for it throughout the film, and uses it as a reason to hold him hostage in the photo booth. This is because of the dominance the protagonist has normally, but when he picks up the phone the dominance switches.
Like Photobooth I feel that our thriller opening didn’t play on all the typical conventions of a thriller. In our opening we also avoided darkness and shadow. For example the funeral was held on a sunny day. In the planning and throughout filming and editing we were trying to create enigma, as it was an opening we didn’t want to give much away, but at the same time you see enough to get an idea of were the movie is going. About 80% of the opening was set in a church at the funeral.
The immediate question that we were hoping to be raised was; “who is this girl in pictures and flashback” and “why, is she dead? Is this her funeral? And if so how did she die.” I feel that we made the viewers think in one way or another about these questions. Although in our peer evaluation feedback we got some negative feedback where people were saying it didn’t feel like a thriller/lacked conventions of a thriller. Because we got so much feedback like that maybe they were correct, but I feel that as it’s an opening our group didn’t want to fall into the trap of giving away too much and simply making it harder for the movie to continue. Apart from the lack of “thriller-esque” we got positive feedback about our use of mise en scene, and lighting etc.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In our opening we decided to only represent one social group, white middle class. We felt that the plot didn’t hinge on the social group of our characters. By this I mean that unlike a typical gang film, which can include young black males as the antagonists - a social stereotype used commonly in films, we felt that we needed a stereotypically normal looking protagonist. Social stereotyping tends to depict middle class white men as normal and therefore we used them for this purpose.
In the opening we only wanted you to get an idea about the main protagonist, and how his mood and body language change between flashback and present time at the funeral. Even though the character seems to be fairly normal we wanted him to be fairly mysterious and have a distinct change when he is with Frankie and without her. In the first line of the non-diagetic sound track, “this is me and this is you”, it cuts to a flashback of the main protagonist and the girl being happy giving the impression that there is a relationship between the two. We purposely decided to put that shot in as that line was said to give the audience the idea that they are/were together. The happiness depicted between the two is used to give the impression that they are together in a loving, happy relationship, not one marred by stress/guilt/mistrust.
When Frankie’s death is later implied, this two shot of them both adds to the enigma of the film by removing one potential reason for her death, i.e. revenge for an affair, and most importantly acquitting the main protagonist of being involved in her death. Although this shot is intended to remove blame for her death from the main protagonist, we could also use the impression given of the protagonist to add to the shock of a potential plot twist revealing that he was not as innocent as he was made out to be. For example the killing could have been intended to hurt him for something he has previously done.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
In my opinion with a low budget film like ours we would need it just to get out there and get as many views as possible, this being “A Bad Boy Productions” second piece, we would not expect it to get it to get onto the big screen. But I think with the correct budget it has the fundamentals for a blockbuster film. I and my group had not come to a final decision but we had been talking about who we would like to get to distribute our film and I personally think that Pathe would be a good choice.
Pathe is one of the UK’s leading impendent film distributors, Pathe distribution releases around 20 titles each year, ranging from quality and specialised films to crowd-pleasing mainstream movies and genre titles.
The Reason Pathe stood out for me was that they are prepared to distribute movies such as The Blair Witch Project which had a low budget and was filmed by amateurs.
But as that is not a realistic way of us getting our movie distributed I would say that we should put it on Youtube and make some more openings etc to get as many subscribers as possible because then we may be able to get sponsors and then have a real budget to make and produce our films. That could help lead us to getting our movie signed by a well recognised distributing company.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
We would be looking to target people aged 16-24, one to maximise the profit as this the age range of people that watch the movies especially big blockbuster. This is also the case because of the age of the main protagonist so the viewers between these ages will be able to relate to this character with less difficulty than if the main protagonist was older.
I really think this would be a movie that would be promoted like the movie twilight, as it has some similarities that could be used to promote it to that range of viewers. Like Twilight, although the genre isn’t really the same, it could still be promoted for people aged 16-24 but more predominantly towards the female market. Maybe a film that a girl would drag her boyfriend to.
How did you attract/address your audience?
The normality and realism is where we would look to be grabbing our viewers’ attention. We would use the characters emotion and passion of the main protagonist to attract the female viewers. The idea of revenge would be a way we could keep the male side of the market happy and interested in our film. Apart from that you will have the enigma which we would like to think we would have maintained throughout the film to keep all viewers on their toes and thinking. If that isn’t enough we have gone for the vulnerable girl with strong protagonist male.
How distressed the main protagonist is?
Whose Funeral is this?
The two protagonists together?
Then the same place but empty, does this mean anything?
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout this task I used the following technologies:
- iMovie
- Video Recorder (Camera)
- Garage Band
- Tripod
- Various Lights
After our preliminary and the practice shoot of this piece, we felt really comfortable about shooting different shots. For example the tracking shots of the protagonist’s feet are hand held and there were some pans that took some skill setting up and shooting. Looking back at the task I feel that as it progressed I became more aware of which camera technique to use for a particular shot in order to give the most effect. As a group we discussed every shot beforehand and had at least three practices using different shots in order to select the right one. As our understanding increased though less practice shots were needed as we already had a good idea, from previous shots, of what technique would give us the best results. Other than this, tasks such as white balancing and mounting the tripod were known to us before the task began and therefore I don’t feel I learnt anything here.
As I added the soundtrack and played around with different sound levels by myself, I gained knowledge in how best this should be set up in order to maximise impact and yet not become the focus point. After editing the piece for the first time, I decided to change the length of certain shots in order to time other shots with relevant sections of the music. For example the first shot of Frankie and the main protagonist appears during the words “This is you and this is me”. This second draft flowed much better and the soundtrack had more impact. This knowledge gained in how to maximise sounds during the film sequence led to me deciding to add the sound effect at the end where the gun shot goes off which I feel adds enigma.
As a group I feel that it was a success I enjoyed working with Luke and Arran as they are friends outside of the classroom. We had good communication throughout and it helped the production come together smoothly. At the start of the production I crashed my car which resulted in me missing a couple lessons, but I feel that I wasn’t “carried” at the start because I was there when we did important stuff such as the synopsis and the storyboard. I attended all filming and editing sessions with Arran and Luke, plus I was able to get the church as a venue and got Shortfall to give us permission to use their song Fragile. Overall I think we worked well and everyone put effort in despite my low attendance of lesson time at the start of this production.
As I already mentioned above in the peer evaluations people felt that it wasn’t like a thriller, but I think there is a floor in there thinking as it was an opening, not a short film or trailer. It was simply setting the scene and introducing the main protagonist and Frankie whose funeral it may be. The gunshot at the end of our opening gives away maybe even how she died if she is dead.
Apart from that the peer evaluations said that every area of our opening was at least good, things like: “well edited”, “very steady shots” and “music very good, blends well with dialogue”
Some of the bad points were: “not really a thriller”. I agree with that comment but at the same time it did what it was meant to do and that is open the move up. “Possibly music too loud” I agree strongly I noticed in one part the music goes way to loud, but I didn’t notice until it was played in class.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
In our preliminary task we showed great continuity editing and match on action. It lacked any sort of understanding or storyline. Also in the preliminary we felt that we didn’t note down on the blog what we did and we were told about how important blogging was and I think we made improvements in managing the blog. This production we took more time when filming, as we shot the whole of the church scene un-costumed before shooting the real thing. Out panning and tracking shots were really nice. Experiments using higher angled shots were introduced. But at the same time we kept a high standard of continuity and our match on action shot of the main protagonist leaving the church couldn’t of went better.
Evaluation - Luke Hawkins
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In producing the opening to our thriller production we were drawn to certain points that needed to be followed to create the atmosphere required in order to create suspense. One of these elements required is enigma, enigma code refers to the devices used by a narrative in order to create questions in the mind of the viewer. The main questions that were raised from our production are “what happened to the female character” and “how did she die?”. While in the church the main character experiences a series of flashbacks showing him walking through a wood with his girlfriend, the viewer is given an impression that this is where the female character died however her death is not shown during this opening. We originally intended to show the murder scene during these flashbacks but then decided not to as it leaves the audience with unanswered questions that will be revealed if they continue to watch. This technique is called restricted narration, where certain aspects of the narrative are omitted to the viewer in order to create intrigue, as opposed to unrestricted narration which allows us to see everything that happens.
Mise en scene is a very important part of any thriller as it helps to establish the mood of the scene, the costumes of the characters in the church helped to show that it is a sad occasion as all of the characters are wearing black indicating that it is a funeral. It is also clear who the vicar is, as he is dressed in a black robe, dog collar and carries a bible. The mood is sombre in the church, created by the music and the facial expression and body language of the characters.
We used shots of different features of the church including the image of Christ on the stained glass windows and the golden statue of the eagle are used as iconography to give dramatic effect as the window signifies the death of Jesus by showing his crucifixion and by the eagle being a large bird of prey.
The main protagonist is the main character who experiences the flashbacks of his girlfriend, at the end of the opening he makes an early exit from the funeral suggesting that he is determined to resolve the situation. The antagonist does not make an appearance in the opening so is yet to be exposed which adds to the enigma. Black and white was used for the flash backs to make them distinguishable from the present and also to suggest that not all of the events are clear to the protagonist.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our product generally represents white, British, young adult citizens. Both males and females take part in our production, one of the female characters is only present during the flashbacks and it is clear that she is in a relationship with the main protagonist. This is shown by them holding hands while walking through the wood, the male characters reactions during her funeral which indicate that he has strong emotions for her and the lyrics in the music “This is you and this is me” strongly define their relationship.
From their appearance during the flashbacks they look like two very ordinary people, we represented them in this way in order to raise further questions in the viewers minds as to why she was murdered, and also so the audience may empaphise with the death of a seemingly innocent person.
All of the actors in the church scene are wearing black which shows that they have respect for the deceased girl, their facial expressions during the ceremony backs this up and gives the impression that they are good people.
After each flashback that the main protagonist experiences his body language shows his increasing distress as a result of the events that he is reliving. This tells the audience something very important about this character, that he will not let it rest until there is justice. This is also where the binary opposition becomes clear between the protagonist and the antagonist who has not yet made an on screen appearance.
What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?
Two of the thriller films that we researched in order to make our product were “What lies beneath” and “Se7en”, These were distributed by 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks and New Line Cinema. This shows that these distributors would be good distributors for our product as they take films from this genre, however these are very large distribution agencies which means that it is unlikely that our thriller would be distributed by these companies. On the other hand Pathé have distributed films such as “The Blair witch project”, this is a low budget production which used amateur film footage, showing that they are interested in more than just high budget, high profile film makers. Internet distribution is also a possibility for our product, for example it could be uploaded onto Youtube. This is completely free and gives the film a global audience and the opportunity to become recognised and possibly sponsored.
Who would the audience be for your media product?
The main target audience for cinema is 16-24 year olds who are predominantly male, meaning that this would be a good age range to target. Also because of the psychological elements of our product as well as the murder scene shown later on in the film it would be suitable to give it a certificate 15, however the content is not overly violent and there is an element of emotion which could attract the female audience as well as males.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We aimed to target both males and females between the ages of 16-24 as this is a popular age group to view films in this genre. The fact that all of the characters present in our production were between these ages, should help to achieve this as they would be sympathetic to their peer group. Viewers may also be drawn in by the mystery of what happened to the female character (how and why she was killed) etc, and therefore may want to continue watching in order to discover the facts. The audience may also sympathise with the situation of the main character after he loses his girlfriend which may attract them into watching.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I feel that my knowledge of filming and editing has improved as a result of constructing this product. I used a dolly for the first time while filming which allowed us to film tracking shots of the character much more smoothly than if it were a hand held shot. I also feel that my skills in editing have developed as my understanding of continuity has improved. Although we did not use Garageband in our final production we did experiment with it which taught me many things about the program and its value as a tool. My ability to use the different features on iMovie has increased, for example I now know how to adjust the different volume levels of each track in the video.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel that the general quality of our work has increased since the preliminary task, the planning for the foundation production was much more in depth and thought out more thoroughly. We spent longer choosing appropriate locations to shoot our footage and paid more attention to mise en scene aspects such as character costume and body language. A higher variety of shots were used to make the product more interesting, for example the tracking shots. One very important thing that we made sure of was to film each shot more than once, this was essential as it allowed us to choose the shots that fit together continuously and that were to the standard that we wanted. A problem that we encountered with our preliminary task was that the camera wasn’t white balanced at all times, so we made sure to check this continuously during the filming of our final product.
Luke Hawkins
In producing the opening to our thriller production we were drawn to certain points that needed to be followed to create the atmosphere required in order to create suspense. One of these elements required is enigma, enigma code refers to the devices used by a narrative in order to create questions in the mind of the viewer. The main questions that were raised from our production are “what happened to the female character” and “how did she die?”. While in the church the main character experiences a series of flashbacks showing him walking through a wood with his girlfriend, the viewer is given an impression that this is where the female character died however her death is not shown during this opening. We originally intended to show the murder scene during these flashbacks but then decided not to as it leaves the audience with unanswered questions that will be revealed if they continue to watch. This technique is called restricted narration, where certain aspects of the narrative are omitted to the viewer in order to create intrigue, as opposed to unrestricted narration which allows us to see everything that happens.
Mise en scene is a very important part of any thriller as it helps to establish the mood of the scene, the costumes of the characters in the church helped to show that it is a sad occasion as all of the characters are wearing black indicating that it is a funeral. It is also clear who the vicar is, as he is dressed in a black robe, dog collar and carries a bible. The mood is sombre in the church, created by the music and the facial expression and body language of the characters.
We used shots of different features of the church including the image of Christ on the stained glass windows and the golden statue of the eagle are used as iconography to give dramatic effect as the window signifies the death of Jesus by showing his crucifixion and by the eagle being a large bird of prey.
The main protagonist is the main character who experiences the flashbacks of his girlfriend, at the end of the opening he makes an early exit from the funeral suggesting that he is determined to resolve the situation. The antagonist does not make an appearance in the opening so is yet to be exposed which adds to the enigma. Black and white was used for the flash backs to make them distinguishable from the present and also to suggest that not all of the events are clear to the protagonist.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our product generally represents white, British, young adult citizens. Both males and females take part in our production, one of the female characters is only present during the flashbacks and it is clear that she is in a relationship with the main protagonist. This is shown by them holding hands while walking through the wood, the male characters reactions during her funeral which indicate that he has strong emotions for her and the lyrics in the music “This is you and this is me” strongly define their relationship.
From their appearance during the flashbacks they look like two very ordinary people, we represented them in this way in order to raise further questions in the viewers minds as to why she was murdered, and also so the audience may empaphise with the death of a seemingly innocent person.
All of the actors in the church scene are wearing black which shows that they have respect for the deceased girl, their facial expressions during the ceremony backs this up and gives the impression that they are good people.
After each flashback that the main protagonist experiences his body language shows his increasing distress as a result of the events that he is reliving. This tells the audience something very important about this character, that he will not let it rest until there is justice. This is also where the binary opposition becomes clear between the protagonist and the antagonist who has not yet made an on screen appearance.
What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?
Two of the thriller films that we researched in order to make our product were “What lies beneath” and “Se7en”, These were distributed by 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks and New Line Cinema. This shows that these distributors would be good distributors for our product as they take films from this genre, however these are very large distribution agencies which means that it is unlikely that our thriller would be distributed by these companies. On the other hand Pathé have distributed films such as “The Blair witch project”, this is a low budget production which used amateur film footage, showing that they are interested in more than just high budget, high profile film makers. Internet distribution is also a possibility for our product, for example it could be uploaded onto Youtube. This is completely free and gives the film a global audience and the opportunity to become recognised and possibly sponsored.
Who would the audience be for your media product?
The main target audience for cinema is 16-24 year olds who are predominantly male, meaning that this would be a good age range to target. Also because of the psychological elements of our product as well as the murder scene shown later on in the film it would be suitable to give it a certificate 15, however the content is not overly violent and there is an element of emotion which could attract the female audience as well as males.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We aimed to target both males and females between the ages of 16-24 as this is a popular age group to view films in this genre. The fact that all of the characters present in our production were between these ages, should help to achieve this as they would be sympathetic to their peer group. Viewers may also be drawn in by the mystery of what happened to the female character (how and why she was killed) etc, and therefore may want to continue watching in order to discover the facts. The audience may also sympathise with the situation of the main character after he loses his girlfriend which may attract them into watching.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I feel that my knowledge of filming and editing has improved as a result of constructing this product. I used a dolly for the first time while filming which allowed us to film tracking shots of the character much more smoothly than if it were a hand held shot. I also feel that my skills in editing have developed as my understanding of continuity has improved. Although we did not use Garageband in our final production we did experiment with it which taught me many things about the program and its value as a tool. My ability to use the different features on iMovie has increased, for example I now know how to adjust the different volume levels of each track in the video.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel that the general quality of our work has increased since the preliminary task, the planning for the foundation production was much more in depth and thought out more thoroughly. We spent longer choosing appropriate locations to shoot our footage and paid more attention to mise en scene aspects such as character costume and body language. A higher variety of shots were used to make the product more interesting, for example the tracking shots. One very important thing that we made sure of was to film each shot more than once, this was essential as it allowed us to choose the shots that fit together continuously and that were to the standard that we wanted. A problem that we encountered with our preliminary task was that the camera wasn’t white balanced at all times, so we made sure to check this continuously during the filming of our final product.
Luke Hawkins
The Evaluation - Arran Smith
The Evaluation
By Arran Smith
1). In what ways does your media project use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real products?
Our media product uses many of the technical conventions that a thriller requires. Enigma codes are used throughout the sequence. The first couple of shots prove this because the zoom-in-shot to the picture to the picture on the wall raises awareness and confuses the audience. No one knows anything about her, who she is or what role she plays as of yet. More questions are raised later on in the sequence, we find out that it is her funeral, but the audience has no knowledge of why she is dead or for what reason. Restricted narration is used in the scene where the girl’s boyfriend begins to feel uneasy in this situation and gets up to leave to setting. This adds more confusion to the thriller as his unpredictable actions lead the viewer to carry on watching. From what is show so far there is no clear protagonist or antagonist, because it is unnecessary, but the binary opposition occurs when the boyfriend leaves the church presumably to do something about the death of his girlfriend. The three stages of narration are: Firstly, the setting of the scene involving the church funeral;
The second stage is when the man begins having flashbacks of his girlfriend’s death, which disturbs him. This leads to the final stage where he gets up and leaves. The mise on scene helps create the right atmosphere and also creates reality. Low-key lighting is used, so it is appropriate, which also creates a sad atmosphere. The costume used also adds affect and creates reality, with everyone wearing black it tells the audience that it is a funeral, therefore they can get into the right mood.
2). How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In our media production, social groups such as: gender, emotions and relationships are being represents. The main characters in our thriller production, so far, are a young couple in there 20’s, but unfortunately the girlfriend has been murdered. They are represented as an average couple that love each other this is shown in the flashbacks. We can see that in the first two flashbacks the couple is presented as a medium long shot, they are holding hands; this gives us the implication that they are in love. As the flashbacks happen to the man, of him and his girlfriend in happiness, we begin to see him feel stressed and uneasy. We can see his personal emotions clearly from the close ups, and rid close ups of his reactions. We showed the man becoming stressed with close ups so the audience can feel emotion due to the use of sad non-diegetic music, which creates a sense of empathy for the audience. The close ups of also show the mans anger. I think if he was shown becoming stressed and angry in a longer shot such as a mid shot, the audience wouldn’t get to see all the emotions he is feeling, especially the anger, which is important.
3). What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
I have done some research on film distribution; the majority of thriller films I looked at have been distributed by Paramount, Columbia, Touchstone and Warner Brothers. Film distribution is referred to as the ‘invisible art’ because film distribution is the most important factor for bringing to film to screens and making the money. The possible places where a film can be viewed is in the cinema, or at home either on television or DVD or even downloaded, or even film festivals where certain places get licenses to show their film privately to selected members of the public before that film gets shown in the cinema. Most top rated films generally come out on Christmas and summer holidays because then there is no reason for holding people back to go see the film. There is also a downfall though to this because other films will be released during this time increasing rivalries between filmmakers. Advertising is also an important part in distribution many prints need to be made of the film so they can be sold world wide. Also advertisements are made so everyone knows when the film is coming out and whether they want to see it or not.
Using top company distributors is not always the best choice, I also looked at other amateur thriller productions such as “The Blair witch project” which was distributed by Pathe. Since our thriller production uses amateur footage and a small budget we have decided to go for Pathe as they aren’t always interested in expensive films, where as Columbia, Paramount etc. are. Another idea is that we could use ‘Youtube’ to distribute our thriller as it free and as anyone around the world can access it easily, this would be a great chance to get ourselves known if our production became successful. People have been known to become famous off of ‘Youtube’, and been globally known due to their videos.
4). Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our thriller production is targeted at an older audience aging from 15+ both male and female. It requires an older audience because it includes restricted narration that will lead the audience into confusion, it will be solved during the resolution. The from will get the audience thinking and will conclude with a psychological twist.
5). How did you attract you attract/ address your audience?
Our audience will be attracted to our thriller production because the will want enjoy watching thriller films with a twist such as “The Machinist” starring Christian Bale, and “Secret Window” starring Johnny Depp. Both of those films involve men that see imaginary people, which turn out to be themselves in the resolution of the film. Our thriller opening is slow paced so it will be easier to follow and also allows tension to build up quicker in certain scenes, such as when the man becomes stressed. This will lead on to a disruption event, which will cause the audience to carry on watching.
6). What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product.
I used many devices and technologies during the making of the thriller production, such as: Imovie and garage band. These technologies allowed me to cut, edit and create music for the thriller production. Our group didn’t use garage band as we got permission from a band to use one of their songs, which was suitable for our type of thriller. At the beginning of the term I didn’t have any idea how to edit footage, but now I know how to edit footage, connect scenes, successfully upload footage and save it. I have also used tools that help to create steadier filming when tracking or dollying in a shot. I used a hand held device that allowed filming Point-of- view shots easier. Also in the shot where we can see the mans legs and feet walking to the location of the funeral, we used a dolly where the tri-pod can be placed and wheeled along whilst filming smooth steady filming
7). Looking back at your preliminary task what do u feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have improved in many ways since the preliminary task. Firstly, I made more effort to blog after every session, due to the lack of blogging during the preliminary task, I felt as if not as much was blogged as there could have been. I also took the characters details into more depth, meaning I thought about their characteristics and decided what type of clothing they should wear, therefore giving the audience the right impressions of them. I also made sure we added more shot types and introduced more varieties e.g. the dolly shot outside the church and inside using the dolly, which we did not use in the preliminary. One major fault in the preliminary task was that the camera wasn’t always white balanced, so in the main task I made sure that the camera was always white balanced before we started filming. I also wanted to make sure that our group was up-to-date on work, so we could meet every deadline. I think overall the main task thriller is much better than the preliminary and many improvements have been made. From the marking criteria of other students that watched our production and evaluated it, the majorities of the products main faults were the choice of music. I don’t see a problem with the music as it creates a sad atmosphere for the funeral, which is what we wanted to achieve. We didn’t want to build up tension using a fast pace beat, but to create tension and make the audience feel saddened, which I think we did using this choice of music, and it works as an opening.
Arran
By Arran Smith
1). In what ways does your media project use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real products?
Our media product uses many of the technical conventions that a thriller requires. Enigma codes are used throughout the sequence. The first couple of shots prove this because the zoom-in-shot to the picture to the picture on the wall raises awareness and confuses the audience. No one knows anything about her, who she is or what role she plays as of yet. More questions are raised later on in the sequence, we find out that it is her funeral, but the audience has no knowledge of why she is dead or for what reason. Restricted narration is used in the scene where the girl’s boyfriend begins to feel uneasy in this situation and gets up to leave to setting. This adds more confusion to the thriller as his unpredictable actions lead the viewer to carry on watching. From what is show so far there is no clear protagonist or antagonist, because it is unnecessary, but the binary opposition occurs when the boyfriend leaves the church presumably to do something about the death of his girlfriend. The three stages of narration are: Firstly, the setting of the scene involving the church funeral;
The second stage is when the man begins having flashbacks of his girlfriend’s death, which disturbs him. This leads to the final stage where he gets up and leaves. The mise on scene helps create the right atmosphere and also creates reality. Low-key lighting is used, so it is appropriate, which also creates a sad atmosphere. The costume used also adds affect and creates reality, with everyone wearing black it tells the audience that it is a funeral, therefore they can get into the right mood.
2). How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In our media production, social groups such as: gender, emotions and relationships are being represents. The main characters in our thriller production, so far, are a young couple in there 20’s, but unfortunately the girlfriend has been murdered. They are represented as an average couple that love each other this is shown in the flashbacks. We can see that in the first two flashbacks the couple is presented as a medium long shot, they are holding hands; this gives us the implication that they are in love. As the flashbacks happen to the man, of him and his girlfriend in happiness, we begin to see him feel stressed and uneasy. We can see his personal emotions clearly from the close ups, and rid close ups of his reactions. We showed the man becoming stressed with close ups so the audience can feel emotion due to the use of sad non-diegetic music, which creates a sense of empathy for the audience. The close ups of also show the mans anger. I think if he was shown becoming stressed and angry in a longer shot such as a mid shot, the audience wouldn’t get to see all the emotions he is feeling, especially the anger, which is important.
3). What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
I have done some research on film distribution; the majority of thriller films I looked at have been distributed by Paramount, Columbia, Touchstone and Warner Brothers. Film distribution is referred to as the ‘invisible art’ because film distribution is the most important factor for bringing to film to screens and making the money. The possible places where a film can be viewed is in the cinema, or at home either on television or DVD or even downloaded, or even film festivals where certain places get licenses to show their film privately to selected members of the public before that film gets shown in the cinema. Most top rated films generally come out on Christmas and summer holidays because then there is no reason for holding people back to go see the film. There is also a downfall though to this because other films will be released during this time increasing rivalries between filmmakers. Advertising is also an important part in distribution many prints need to be made of the film so they can be sold world wide. Also advertisements are made so everyone knows when the film is coming out and whether they want to see it or not.
Using top company distributors is not always the best choice, I also looked at other amateur thriller productions such as “The Blair witch project” which was distributed by Pathe. Since our thriller production uses amateur footage and a small budget we have decided to go for Pathe as they aren’t always interested in expensive films, where as Columbia, Paramount etc. are. Another idea is that we could use ‘Youtube’ to distribute our thriller as it free and as anyone around the world can access it easily, this would be a great chance to get ourselves known if our production became successful. People have been known to become famous off of ‘Youtube’, and been globally known due to their videos.
4). Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our thriller production is targeted at an older audience aging from 15+ both male and female. It requires an older audience because it includes restricted narration that will lead the audience into confusion, it will be solved during the resolution. The from will get the audience thinking and will conclude with a psychological twist.
5). How did you attract you attract/ address your audience?
Our audience will be attracted to our thriller production because the will want enjoy watching thriller films with a twist such as “The Machinist” starring Christian Bale, and “Secret Window” starring Johnny Depp. Both of those films involve men that see imaginary people, which turn out to be themselves in the resolution of the film. Our thriller opening is slow paced so it will be easier to follow and also allows tension to build up quicker in certain scenes, such as when the man becomes stressed. This will lead on to a disruption event, which will cause the audience to carry on watching.
6). What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product.
I used many devices and technologies during the making of the thriller production, such as: Imovie and garage band. These technologies allowed me to cut, edit and create music for the thriller production. Our group didn’t use garage band as we got permission from a band to use one of their songs, which was suitable for our type of thriller. At the beginning of the term I didn’t have any idea how to edit footage, but now I know how to edit footage, connect scenes, successfully upload footage and save it. I have also used tools that help to create steadier filming when tracking or dollying in a shot. I used a hand held device that allowed filming Point-of- view shots easier. Also in the shot where we can see the mans legs and feet walking to the location of the funeral, we used a dolly where the tri-pod can be placed and wheeled along whilst filming smooth steady filming
7). Looking back at your preliminary task what do u feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have improved in many ways since the preliminary task. Firstly, I made more effort to blog after every session, due to the lack of blogging during the preliminary task, I felt as if not as much was blogged as there could have been. I also took the characters details into more depth, meaning I thought about their characteristics and decided what type of clothing they should wear, therefore giving the audience the right impressions of them. I also made sure we added more shot types and introduced more varieties e.g. the dolly shot outside the church and inside using the dolly, which we did not use in the preliminary. One major fault in the preliminary task was that the camera wasn’t always white balanced, so in the main task I made sure that the camera was always white balanced before we started filming. I also wanted to make sure that our group was up-to-date on work, so we could meet every deadline. I think overall the main task thriller is much better than the preliminary and many improvements have been made. From the marking criteria of other students that watched our production and evaluated it, the majorities of the products main faults were the choice of music. I don’t see a problem with the music as it creates a sad atmosphere for the funeral, which is what we wanted to achieve. We didn’t want to build up tension using a fast pace beat, but to create tension and make the audience feel saddened, which I think we did using this choice of music, and it works as an opening.
Arran
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