Final Thriller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y480a2HQEOg

Question 6 - Prezi presentation What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constucting the product?

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

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

The generic conventions of a thriller film are, the use of a blonde female victim, which is used in many films like Scream, Halloween and others, where the young female is portrayed as weak and is targeted by the antagonist in each film. Another convention in thriller films is the use of a character with a hidden identity, like Scream, Halloween and The Strangers. Other conventions of the thriller genre that are used in almost every thriller film are, low key lighting, suspenseful music, fast paced editing, a use of weapon and an urban setting or woodland setting. In my thriller opening sequence I followed some conventions of the thriller genre, for example I used the conventional urban setting, so the audience can relate to the situation that the characters are in. Another convention I used in our opening sequence was, a young blonde female, which is portrayed as weak and lonely at first. I decided to use a young female as it engages the audience and helps build relations with the audience and the characters. Another convention my group followed was the use of low level lighting, which I felt would add to the suspenseful atmosphere, as the characters feel in danger the use of high key lighting would take away the atmosphere of the situation, but the use of low lighting and shadows could be scary and add to the suspense. I used a conventional weapon in my opening sequence as we felt that the character needed to appear to be more dangerous as she is small and would be unrealistic for her to attack a larger male.

I feel that my thriller opening sequence defines the thriller genre as it uses conventions that are used in other popular thriller films for example the use of low level lighting to add to the suspenseful atmosphere, the use of a female character and a male character that is portrayed as dangerous, and the young female as vulnerable and also the use of a knife in our opening sequence is typical of the thriller genre. My thriller opening sequence also challenges forms and conventions, but also codes and conventions that other popular thriller films use. We did this by introducing the two characters to the audience, and the audience form their own opinion of each character and build an onscreen relationship with the character. Conventional roles of each character are used at first, so the male is seen as dominant and the young girl is seen as weak for the audience, but soon after this is changed as the female disappears and there is a scream heard, now the male is alone and no longer in control of his own situation. However I feel my thriller is conventional & successful.

The female is the character who is seen as the antagonist and the male is now vulnerable, after this the editing and music along with the low level lighting builds suspense so the murder of the male character at the end is the result of the anticipation form the audience about what’s going to happen in the scene. This is how I followed codes and conventions of the thriller genre but also made the opening sequence unique, and so it challenges typical conventions.

I would compare our thriller film with another thriller film that is ‘The Orphan’ as it also uses a young female as the antagonist in the film, which also engages that audience and helps build a suspenseful atmosphere amongst the audience. I took this film as inspiration for my own thriller opening scene as I felt I could consider using some of the conventions that was used in it such as the young girl antagonist, the weapon, the low level lighting and also the style of editing, as they were all very effective at making a suspenseful atmosphere.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NvH2dM9q_A

The preliminary task was to help the group to get used to working together, and get used to using the equipment that I would be using on the opening scene, such as the camera equipment and the editing software, and also how to use different shots and what they do for the scene.
 I learnt how to use the editing software at a basic level and it helped me get used to handling a camera and tripod, even though this wasn’t a role I would have in the production of the opening sequence it was still useful to have those basic skills, I also learned more about my group and that helped in the filming of the opening scene as we worked better in a group as we had previous skills all in most roles. 

The skills I learnt from the preliminary task was mainly how to use the camera and tripod, and how to use the editing software, which was an important skill to learn as was using the skill in the production of the opening scene, because as producer and music co-ordinator I need to have skills in the editing software to carry out my roles. For example without the preliminary task I wouldn't have understood how to use a tripod to create different angles for shots and to keep a shot steady so this has benefited my final thriller film because it makes it a better final product.

This was a shot used during the filming of the preliminary task.

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

Primary research was essential for my  production as it meant that I knew what my target audience would be and what to make my thriller film like. I conducted primary research by analysing other thriller films, researching the guidelines on BBFC certificates, the different narrative theories of the thriller genre and one of the most helpful forms of primary research was Vox Pox and questionnaires, which our whole group helped to carry out. From the primary research it helped us as a group to really understand what the audience would want from a thriller film, this meant that when we would think of a narrative for our own we could incorporate ideas that we got from the research to make our film better than it would be without the research.

Analysis of thriller films – during the research stage of the production of my own thriller film, I researched many different popular thriller films such as, Scream, Orphan, The Woman in Black and Halloween. I analysed many of the opening sequences, characters, settings, iconography and other contributing factors successful thriller opening scenes include, and this was also helpful when making our own thriller opening sequence as we had a good understanding of what good thriller films do, so we could take inspiration from them.

BBFC Research – I researched the BBFC and the different age certificates that are given to films, I looked at films in the thriller genre as I know I was making a thriller film, so it was relevant to my group. As I was looking at the age certificates for thriller films I noticed that most thriller films had been given a 15 certificate, which shows that they are not as violent and don’t contain strong adult themes that are often awarded to films in the Thriller genre. The 15 age certificate shows that thriller films build anticipation and suspense amongst the audience to give them the thriller film experience without relying on gory scenes to scare that audience. I felt that the 15 age certificate would be best for my own film, as it would be more enjoyable for audiences that don’t like gore, and it would be more suspenseful.

Narrative Theory’s –during the research stage of the production of our thriller film I researched the different narrative theories for thriller films. I found three theories that were popular but decided that the Todorov theory was the best for, as it was conventional to the thriller genre and worked well with the ideas for our narrative that I had already. After researching the narrative theories I feel that I had a better idea of what thriller narratives should be like.

Questionnaires – I carried out a questionnaire as a form of research, which was very helpful in understanding my target audience’s preferences when watching thriller films. The questions my group & I asked them were about the audiences age, gender, certificate, conventions they had seen, setting preferences, sub-genre. All these questions led to a conclusion for each person about the types of thriller films they like, and the majority of the same answers would be the style of thriller that we would make. All of group worked well together to get the results and we all asked the same questions.

Vox Pops – Vox Pox were helpful in researching the audience’s preferences of thriller films and I could meet the people and film them answering our questions. These answers were taken as inspiration for our own opening sequence to a thriller film. We asked questions about the thriller genre for example, ‘what is your favourite thriller film’ and ‘what part of the thriller film do you like most’.

The primary and secondary research that were carried out was very helpful in making a thriller film that attracts audiences and makes sure that people will like the thriller film I made as we made it with audiences preferences in mind, so without this research I wouldn’t know what audiences like in thriller films which would be bad because the film wouldn’t attract audiences and the film could get bad feedback. 

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

A target audience is very important when making a film as it is who the film is made for and who will be buying the film after it is made, so for example if the target audience was young children then the film would have to be suitable for them, so it couldn’t contain any blood or gore, as it wouldn’t be accepted as a PG film.

The target audience for my thriller film is late teenagers and adults, my group and I decided that this would be a suitable target audience for a thriller film as the film might contain some blood or swearing, which would be acceptable in a 15 rated film.

My thriller film appeals to an audience & people who like thriller films and the thriller genre, as our film has some conventions of a thriller film such as an engaging narrative, suspenseful soundtrack, low level lighting and characters that portray the narrative well to the audience. This would all appeal to anyone that likes thriller films. For example people that like thriller films would be attracted to our thriller film as it has relatable characters and some moderate violence and tense scenes that some might find a bit scary. However people that don’t necessarily like thriller films would enjoy our film too as it has characters that they can relate to, and it isn’t gory which can put people off thriller films. We have included these elements after looking at our research and including elements of thriller films that people enjoy, and not including parts that people don't enjoy in the thriller films they have watched.

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

The two characters in my film are very conventional to the thriller genre and my target audience can relate to both of them, this is why decided to include these two characters in my film. 
The main young female character is represented as lonely and weak at first, as she is alone at night-time in an industrial area, this was to build a relationship with the audience as the audience will be engaged with this character to see her background and if she is in danger, also this character would appeal to my audience as they would feel attached to her, this is up until the perception of this character changes from innocent to dangerous, which will build anticipation in our film, this is why this character is included in my thriller film. 
This character will be wearing a a white dress with slippers, and will be holding a toy. 

The second character the male is represented as a typical youth that is out at night time which could be dangerous in urban areas, and is seen to confront the girl, this engages the audience and builds anticipation as they want to know what will happen. The male character is presented in a stereotypical way as he is in dark casual clothes and is a teenager, so some of the audience can relate to this character; this would either appeal to the audience or create more suspense as they anticipate what will happen in the opening sequence to both characters. 

Our audience can build a relationship with the characters as they will feel that they can relate to them so will be engaged with the narrative, and will be willing for them to survive.

Evalution Post Introduction

My brief was to make an opening scene to a thriller film, which should be two minutes long. My group consisted of Harry Hyett, Hannah Mahoney and myself. There were many roles in the production of my opening scene, and each one was important for the production of the opening scene. There was the role of actor and actress which was very important to showing the audience the narrative of the opening sequence. The role of director, which is important for the production of the opening scene as without a director there wouldn’t be any order or purpose to the opening scene as the rest of the group needed instructions from the director, such as where to stand in each shot, what camera angle to use and what lighting to use for each shot. The role of producer is another vital role for the production of the opening scene as the producer, whose role is to help supervise the production of the opening scene, and having an important input into the way the film is made. Another role in the production of the opening scene was costumes and make up, this role was important as it gives each character a personality and can build the relationship between the characters on screen and the audience, which is vital for thriller films for there to be a tense atmosphere. Editors of the film make sure the final copy of the opening scene is well presented and carries forward the ideas of the narrative right through to the audience. This is why the role of editor is so important. Director of photography was another important role as they had the job of recording the entire opening scene and was in charge of the way each shot was made, they followed instructions from the director but also added input into the shots themselves, this is why this role was very important to the production of the opening scene. The screenplay writer was in charge of managing the narrative of the opening sequence and the events on screen, without a screenplay writer there wouldn’t be a narrative for the opening sequence, this means that this role is very important. The job of the music co-ordinator was to manage the music that would be added to the opening sequence at the editing stage and to mix the music into the openin g sequence so that it adds an atmosphere to the opening sequence, so this made it a very important role in the production of the opening sequence.

I had three roles in the production of the opening sequence, actor, music co-ordinator and producer. I was responsible for the music that was used in the final cut of the opening sequence, the production of the opening sequence going to plan, and with the role of actor, my responsibility was to stay in character, which would make my character and the opening sequence more believable for the audience.

As a group I feel that we worked well throughout the production of the opening sequence to a thriller film. We all had roles to play in the production and every member of the group participated in the production.

Overall I feel that I have made a successful thriller film, as it has an engaging narrative, which has a suspenseful atmosphere throughout, this is due to the work that our group put into the opening sequence, and the group working well together. The atmosphere that was sustained throughout the opening sequence was a suspenseful atmosphere, and the narrative was also unique and engaging for the audience.

Thriller comparison- Miss Georgiou

Do you think you have created a successful thriller sequence and why?

In my opinion I feel that I created a successful thriller sequence as it had some typical conventions of the thriller genre that the audience know and would recognise the sequence as a thriller sequence, but I also created a thriller genre that does challenge some typical conventions of the thriller genre, for example with the female character that goes against the stereotypical roles that young girls play in other thriller films. We included this element as we felt that this would attract other audiences because our thriller film is different to others, but is still conventional to the thriller genre that the audience like.

Which micro element, best shows your creativity and understanding of thriller conventions the most?
The micro-element of the young girl who turns out to be the killer shows how creative our opening sequence is as it hasn't been done in any other thriller film before, and the audience would like this because its something different instead of films that follow stereotypical basic conventions. This shows that we understand the thriller genre as we had to research to see what is acceptable in the thriller genre, what the audience like in thriller films and what films have used conventions that we were thinking of using in our own thriller opening sequence, so this research led to us using this Young female killer as it was original and was from our research what the audience like.

Compare your opening sequence to a successful thriller and explain how your thriller is conventional. Consider the narrative, representation of characters, sounds, editing, mise-en-scene.
 
I am comparing our own thriller film to a very popular thriller film that is Scream, this film uses a main killer, that chases people and is notorious for murdering them. The women characters are often killed and portrayed as dumb. Scream often uses fast paced soudtracked for the chase scenes that build intensity as the murder is coming closer in the scene, they do this to build suspense, and is popular in other thriller films. Along with this fast paced soundtrack the use of fast paced editing, is used to build suspense in some scenes, this is also conventional to the thriller genre. The murder in scream always uses a knife to kill his victims, this is quite important iconography for the film and the character is recognised by this.
our own thriller film is conventional to the thriller genre as it follows some of the conventions that are used in Scream, for example we decided to give our main character a knife, this was done to show the audience as soon as they see her with it that she is the killer in the scene. Other conventions that we followed are the tense soundtrack and fast paced editing when there is a murder scene, we decided to follow these conventions as they're effective at building suspense amongst the audience, and relate to the thriller genre.

Audience feedback- Miss Georgiou

Explain why audience feedback is important to a production?

Audience feedback is an important part of the production of a film, as it allows the film makers to alter the film before they release it to the public, if they need too. The audience feedback is important as it would be the feedback that they would get once the film is released on a larger scale which could make the film a flop. So once the feedback is recived the film makers change the parts that the audience didn't like, to prevent negative reviews for something easy to change.

How did you receive audience feedback from your target audience?

As a class we all reviewed each others opening scene, so we had enough feedback on our opening scene to make worthwhile changes on our opening scene if that’s what the audience wanted. We showed the audience a slideshow that had the basic ideas of the narrative and characters, so the audience had an idea as to what it was about, and then we showed them the opening sequence.

How would this feedback benefit your production and the industry?

The feedback will be very valuable to our production, as it shows us the things that are easy to change that will make the audience enjoy the film even more, this is a positive thing for us as it makes our film better than it would have been. The feedback from audiences can benefit the industry as it might prevent the film from not making any money in the box office, as the feedback allows the film producers to change aspects of the film that the audience don’t like. The industry also benefit from the audience feedback as it shows them what trends in the film industry there are and what films are popular at the moment so the industry can produce more films that are more likely to be successful.

Constructive Comments made by Groups and how used the comments to improve our film.

'Narrative not clear', Some of our audience stated that the narrative wasn’t clear, this is a big problem, and some of our group noticed this too. so to make the narrative clearer we added more shots and this helped to make the narrative clearer.

'Shots are too dark', the filters we used over our opening sequence were too dark for some of our audiences, we didn’t realise this problem until we showed our audience. to change this we removed some filters and brightened the shots up so the shots are clearer.

'Sounds too quiet',  For some of our audience the sound for our thriller opening scene wasn’t clear and was too quiet, we noticed this fault as well, so it make the necessary change we edited the sounds so they were at max volume, and we noticed that the editing software we used had placed the sound out of time of our events on screen so we changed that also. This is now fully resolved and the sound is at the best quality it could be.

'Credit size too small', some of our audience stated that the credit size was too small to see so we enlarged the credits and placed some of them so they are clearer to see.

Rough Cut- Miss miller

Why it was important to make a rough cut?

A rough cut of a scene or film is important to the making of the film as it allows a time for feedback on the rough cut which can help make the scene better, a rough cut can be used to transfer ideas from producers and directors and for them to see if they work well in the scene or not, which is valuable as without this the film could possibly be not as good as expected. The feedback that we received was from our peers who in which each group decided what they liked and disliked about each groups opening scene, and added some advice that could improve the opening scene. we presented our rough cut at quite an advanced stage in the production of our opening sequence, but still allowed for changes, our rough cut includes the sequence, which was edited, sounds which were also edited and the credits. This is why the presentation and feedback from our rough cut was important as we could help improve our opening sequence.

For the presentation of our rough cut we uploaded it to Youtube.

   Why audiences feedback is important ?

The audience's feedback is  very important, it is very important because the target audience of our opening scene is who the audience of the rough cut are so the feedback will be very relevant

 To our opening sequence. The feedback that we will receive will be reliable as our group is not providing feedback it is our peers who also know what would make our opening sequence better. 

How we got received feedback?

To show our media class the rough cut we also produced a presentation which explained the basic narrative, the characters, the setting and our inspirations.

After the presentation the class then watched our rough cut opening sequence. Once the rough cut had finished we asked for questions from the class about our rough cut.

Peer Group Reviewing - To receive feedback and give feedback to other groups we filled in sheets that  everyone was given, and after every group had presented we were given the feedback which stated what mark we were given by each group, what went well in our rough cut, and how it could be 'even better if'.

Feedback

Mark out of 60 - We obtained a mark of 37-54 from our peers with an average of, 44. Overall this means that we are obtaining a Level 3 Band Rough Cut for our opening scene, and that some groups liked our rough curt idea more than others, which was to be expected, as not everyone likes the same things. To achieve the next band, we would need for marks more.

What Went Well? - The feedback we received from this part was mixed it included, 'Good use of camera angles', 'editing techniques', 'low key lighting', 'sounds and effects', 'characters chosen', 'conventions' and 'narrative'. These are all points that were said that our group done well in our rough cut. Some groups also stated that  the narrative twist at the end of our scene went well in our rough cut, which was very positive for us.

Even Better If? 'Clearer narrative', 'credits too small',  'some shots made lighter', 'louder soundtrack', 'antagonists face was lighter at the end'. This feedback was very important as it shows us that for our final copy of the opening sequence we now know what parts of our rough cut we need to improve on to get a better grade, most of these issues were mistakes and were easily improved.