Prezi for Q1

Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Thriller is a novel, play, or film with an exciting plot, typically involving crime or espionage. The character goes on a journey and will happen in big cities or towns. 

Conventions:

We chose a psychological/conspiracy thriller as our questionnaire feedback said that most people liked the psychological thriller sub-genre. We also chose it as when we were researching thrillers, we did enjoy how most psychological thrillers plots unravel slowly (for example; Shutter Island, Black Swan) which is why our production ends on a cliff-hanger. We also asked on our questionnaire what they expect from a thriller and the majority said clever twists/unusual outcome which is why we tried to make ours a little confusing. Our feedback also said that they didn't really like the stalker theme as it’s very stereotypical and been done a lot, so we decided to refrain from doing that in our production. Also when deciding our plot we wanted something similar to The Lovely Bones as there is a murder and how the main character is a young female. We were also going to do a narration, as in The Lovely Bones but decided that it would maybe unveil the story line too much to our audience. This also challenges the typical lead male character stereotype that’s in many thrillers.

Most thrillers include many shots (SEE PREZI) especially close-ups as they, if used effectively, can build a lot of tension so we wanted to use close-ups as well. One example of this is Se7en, in which the close up of the metronome adds depth to the character and also makes the audience ask questions. We also wanted to show establishing shots to set the scene to make it more realistic and to show that it’s set in a town/city. For example The Lovely Bones shows lots of establishing shots or long shots to show the location and scenery.  In thrillers they edit either really quickly to make it very intense (e.g. Se7en) or edited really slowly to make it more dramatic (e.g. Memento). In thriller films the mise-en-scene is very realistic e.g. clothing. Action, spy, political thrillers are usually set in towns or big cities e.g. London, Paris. The film Unknown is set in Berlin. Supernatural, psychological are usually set in lonely isolated places e.g. woods or mountains. This helps the plot of the film as it makes it busy and fast paced like cities are.  The costumes tend to be very normal/casual so it almost becomes realistic.  In Contagion which was a medical thriller they made the costumes very normal so the audience think that this could happen to them. They do the same with make-up. We used a natural light in our which was good as it made a bright backdrop. There is artificial or natural light and sometimes light is used to cast shadows to create depth. They use torchlight in crime thrillers to show it’s an investigation (e.g. Se7en).  Many props add an atmosphere to the thriller film. In ours we used bloody cloth to build suspense and to make the audience think what and why it is there.  The actors are a lone cop, a male protagonist and female victim or sometimes the female is the heroine e.g. Salt. In our thriller the main character is both the victim/heroine.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0dJn33tuYA
 

To make an effective thriller opening you use many variation of shots e.g. close-ups, establishing shots, long shots. Thrillers use establishing shots to set the scene and close-ups to build tension. Flashbacks are used to show a different time in the story. It can sometimes be a bit confusing but also can build up the story. It is usually an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current time. One example of a thriller with flashbacks is The Butterfly Effect. It uses flashbacks to build up the story of why he gets blackouts. It is used very effectively and builds up the suspense to see whether he will figure his life out. It also uses flashbacks to alter the story and make the audience worry whether it will go back to normal so therefore builds tension. Long shots build suspense as you can see a big spectrum of what’s going on in the shot. Dual narrative is used to show two perspectives in one story. It is also an effective technique to show one or two people at different times e.g. Great Expectations.

The shots are usually edited together quickly to make it sharp and jumpy or really slowly to build suspense and tension. If it’s edited together really quickly then it’s structured either in time or non-chronological order. The structure has to make sense or else the audience will be left confused. Sound also helps these two factors. In thrillers they usually use slow/dramatic music or fast/quick paced music. One example of slow/dramatic music is Shutter Island. They use the sound of the fog horn to integrate into very slow and dark music which then builds suspense. A lot of the time they will keep the diegetic sound but enhance it with non-diegetic sound. By making the mise-en-scene very normal it makes the film very realistic which is what thrillers tend to convey while horrors are very over-the-top and unrealistic. One film that breaks some conventions is The Talented Mr. Ripley. Many thrillers have inspired us. The Lovely Bones has inspired our plot as they both involve a young girl getting murdered. In The Lovely Bones the girl that gets murdered figures out her own murder while in ours someone else does. 

Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In our production Aimee is the victim but also the heroine – she is the victim because she is following to the clues to her death but also she finds the dead body. The clues all link to Aimee as well so builds tension. Our production represents a very normal social group e.g. middle class. It doesn't show luxury etc but shows more down to earth production. Our character is very much like Grace Stewart in The Others as she is very lonely and is set in a similar in location. They both play the victim and are both female. They aren't similar in age but their character in terms of stereotypes is. 

They both dress very similarly according to the time e.g. ours is modern so Aimee is dressed casual while Grace is set in 1900’s so is dressed for that period. They both have very little make-up on look natural faced. This adds to the whole victim role. Both the camera shots use framing to select the most isolated shots to emphasize loneliness. In our production we only used cloths and maps as clues which is what they also do in The Others. They are significant as they build up the story. Both ours and The Others use very natural lighting through-out although The Others are filmed indoors a lot so use normal lighting. I feel like our production represented social groups equally though.

Q3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our production is called LHCB Productions as these are the first initials of all of our names. We wanted to make it simple and not too complex. We would use it as a thriller production company and would help fund, budget, distribute and advertise our films. We will show this only at the beginning of the opening and would just show for 2 seconds minimum. No music was added or sounds as it was too hard but also we wanted it to be basic. We added the paw print as we did have many ideas to call it Meow Productions but it didn't link, so when making this we added a paw print just to incorporate our other ideas. Our production company drew inspiration from Lions Gate Entertainment as it has a very simple colour scheme and isn't too overdone as is ours. Our funding for our production would probably come from fundraising and some from the production company itself.

A production company handles everything from scheduling, scripting, post-production, budgeting and the organising of staff. They have a lot of involvement in the film. In thriller companies they also focus on the advertising of the film (e.g. trailers, posters and the build up towards its release). I would choose New Line Cinema to distribute our film as they release a lot of thriller films such as Se7en and the Final Destination series.  They are based in Los Angeles, America and is owned by Time Warner. It’s a subsidiary of Warner Bros which is a very large and well known production company. They are also involved in other genres such as action (Rush Hour) - which is similar to the thriller genre. This would be suitable production company to distribute our production as its well-known, but also because it has good distribution links. It is very much into thriller/horror films so would be easy for our production to be distributed and would be managed well.

Unlike in most professional films we have only included 4 positions. We have got Camerawork, Directed, Co-directed and Editing. We did it in this order as it shows the different categories even though we all did a little bit each. It is important though that we keep it in order. Our film is very similar to Se7en in the way that it had a small budget compared to what it got back in box office. It got released quite slowly from different countries which is what I would want our production to be done.

Q4: What would be the audience for your media product?

Audience member profile:
Age: 15-30+
Gender: Male or Female

To gather research on our audience we made a questionnaire and handed it out to 10 people so we could see what type of thriller film they like or sub-genre they like. I aimed to hand them out to many different people of age etc so we could get a good range and also turn our results into statistics and graphs. We asked closed questions as well as multiple choice so they could give mixed feedback. Unfortunately as we only asked 10 people you get very small results, and also if we put in on social media and the internet then I think we would have got more varied results. Our audience is important as they will watch the film and will help spread it out. They are also important as by giving our audience what they want they are more likely to watch it.

Our media production is aged for 15-30 year olds as it has got some scary themes in it that could upset children but is too simplistic for 30+ year olds. Also our questionnaire feedback shows that half of the people I asked were 10-19 (15-16) so that’s another reason why our media production is aged for 15-30yrs.  The gender of our audience I think would be both but possibly more females as its very female-orientated.  I think that males and females would like it though as it has got a female victim but a male protagonists which is very typical and relatable.

Our feedback showed as well that they enjoyed good plots (e.g. mystery, murder and confusion) and enjoyed asking questions so we made sure we didn’t give the whole story away in our opening and left in quite open to interpretation. They also said they liked when tension is built either through music or through editing. We also asked what they expect from a thriller and many said an unusual outcome which is what we aimed for.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) watch films throughout and decide on which age its appropriate for. They are the legal classification in Britain. They go as follows U – suitable for all, PG – parental guidance, 12A- cinema release suitable for 12 and over, 12 – video release suitable for 12 and over, 15 – suitable for 15 and over, 18 – only suitable for adults and R18 – adult work licensed only so not very suitable for cinema etc. I think our age rating would be 12A as it shows a dead body but doesn’t dwell on it or show a lot of it. Also there is blood but no gore. The blood is only brief and discreet and there is no swearing. This makes it available to our target audience and means they can see it. Other 12A thrillers include The Adjustment Bureau & Contagion.

Q5: How did you attract/address your audience?

This first shot is of the lead character walking down an empty lane only with a shack down the end. This shot is a long shot as you can the girl’s whole body and the shack is clear to see. This attracts our audience as they wanted tension to be built and this shot does as you can see her approaching the shack so she will eventually get there. It also makes our target audience ask questions which is what they wanted.

The second shot is a close-up of some clothes in brambles. We used close-ups to the minimum so they were effective. This attracts our audience as it makes them ask questions and also may make them think of stalkers etc without actually showing that. It is what they said made a good thriller. We edited it with a white flashback effect so it also builds tension.

This shot is from inside the shack and is a long shot. As she is wearing quite dark colours she stands out along the light sky as well. You can see that the main character has got there but not what she is looking at. This attracts our audience as they will be asking question which is what they want. Plus it almost adds a little twist to the film.


This shot is another close-up of the killer’s pictures of the girl. This incorporates the whole stalker theme. Also we edited them in so they would build tension between the shots of our lead character discovering the dead body.

This shot is a mid-close-up of the dead body. As we added an effect to it, it made the hand much paler than usual so makes it creepier. This attracts our audience as it builds tension and also makes them ask questions like who is the girl? Who killed her? It also ends the opening on a cliff-hanger almost as the audience will want to know what happens to the girl so will probably continue to watch it. Overall I think that our production fulfilled our audience’s expectations and didn’t give too much away. If it were a real film it would probably be around 1.5 hours so it doesn’t lose the audience’s attention and keeps it tense.

We don’t use a voiceover in the thriller and we just added some non-diegetic sound to cover the noises that occurred on camera (diegetic sound). We used two tracks – one to build the tension and one to make an eerie mood. Many thrillers do this and also add sound effects.

Our audience responded well to our opening. One person said 'If it was a real film I would watch it'. They enjoyed how throughout you don’t know what’s happening or what’s going to happen to the girl. The location also added to the film and made it quite isolated. They also enjoyed how it was quite tense which is what we wanted in our thriller. One problem they had with it is that it could be a little confusing.

They said that a voiceover might have solved this confusion but also made it more difficult to understand. Despite this though they thought the plot was good and would probably watch it if it was a real film.

Our film opening is very similar to Se7en as they are both quite choppy and flash between different things. We actually took inspiration from Se7en in terms of the opening credits as we wanted our audience to work it out themselves. Also our starts with a death and so do theirs. They also use non-diegetic sound by adding a very quick paced soundtrack, as did we. Overall I think ours are very comparable to Se7en but also different as ours is a continuous film, while Se7en is mixed up in the story. Starting with the investigation then showing the murderers plans.  But overall they are very similar.

Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In this production I have learnt many skills in using a digital camera including the composition of the shot and what to include what not to. Also I have learnt how to frame a shot correctly e.g. not to include an object that could ruin the atmosphere of the shot. We used the Golden Mean for this shot. This means that all key parts of a shot are along a diagonal line as seen below.

We used a tripod to make sure that the camera stays still. Also the tripod had a handle to move it steadily so we didn’t get shaky shots. We did a pan of landscape so having the handle meant we could get good smooth pan. We used the Golden Mean when doing the long shots of the girl walking as it made the areas of interest stand out. The lighting helped as it made our shots bright and clear. The weather was good as well as it wasn’t dark and raining. Also if you take loads of shots you can get have got the options for your editing.

I have learned on iMovie how to edit the speed of the footage which helped a lot in ours especially in this shot as we slowed down the speed of the cloth being dropped which built up the fact of her being shocked/scared. 

We used Bleach Bypass throughout it to make it more eerie and makes the colours contrast. This was our first time at using a filter. The use of two non-diegetic sounds was difficult to put on but once we learnt how to crop it we could adjust it and make it fit to the music. We added photo credits in from Hope’s camera. We wrote our names on paper and then took pictures of them. It was an easy way for our credits on the iMovie. Once we finished it we burnt it off on DVD and chose our DVD titles. I learnt that it is much easier than I thought to burn the DVD. 

 I have used many other technologies on my work e.g. Prezi’s, YouTube, Wordle and social networking sites. By using a Prezi you can get the information all there in a quick and easy format. Also Wordle is an ever easier way to get the key words you want to show. I used one to show the different sub-genres. 

Prezi for Q7

Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I have developed as a film maker as I have learnt much more about the camera and its functions. I have also learnt how to use different shot types e.g. long shot, mid shot, close-ups etc. Planning has made shooting much easier which is what I didn’t do. By doing a shot list you know which shots to get which it made filming less difficult. I know I have developed in terms of editing, as I can know edit a sequence properly. I now have a greater knowledge and understanding overall.

Our media preliminary went well but some of our shots were unsteady. Also our editing wasn’t perfect in terms of match on match action. We built on these by making sure we used a tripod and get the camera as still as possible.

       I have developed on the continuity editing as I have learned to allow the film to shift through time and give the film rhythm. Match-on-match action helped keep pace to our thriller as we edited very smoothly. In our production time is passing quite well and all fits. In our production as no-one was talking we couldn’t do shot-reverse-shot. We kept to the 180 degree rule, although it was much harder considering we have no dialogue.

      In our prelim we did no planning or shot list, but in our production we did a lot more. We approached it by making sure we did a lot of planning. We did storyboards to see how it would look it. We also did a shot list but as we had to re-film we did two as we did two storyboards. Our second storyboard was much more detailed so it was easier to follow and film.

 

Our opening was very successful in the end. There are some things I would improved like our titles as I feel we could have done some more different and more suitable titles. Also I would have like to include some high-angle shots but due to our location we couldn't have done this. In our opening I would have made the pan at the beginning more steady, and do more shots from outside the shack. Apart from that I feel our opening in terms of camerawork was very good, especially as we tried to use a range of shots.

 

     

Company Logo

Thriller Video (not finalised)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq01XyydWQo&feature=youtu.be

Storyboard re-done for re-filming