EVALUATION

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

In the planning of our title sequence we looked at and researched the thriller genre and the codes and conventions. We found that some of these conventions are present within the horror genre as they help to build suspense and a tense atmosphere indicative of the thriller genre.

For example the use of artificial lighting helps to create shadows and also distorts the image, which creates a sense of mystery and also enigma codes such as the audience are asking questions like ‘who are they?’ and ‘what are they doing?’ and so we decided to use this for the shots with the killer in our title sequence as we thought that this was quite effective because it builds suspense and maintains the mystery because of lack of the character's identity.

We wanted to include lots of enigma codes within our title sequence, this was influenced by the title sequence for ‘Seven’. By using enigma codes, this make the audience ask questions and so this keeps them is suspense and they are wondering what is going to happen next. However, we didn’t stick to the narrative conventions as we only incorporated the villain from Vladamir’s theory. In our title sequence the villain takes the form of a killer, murdering the vulnerable young girl. Instead of adhering to the convention of Todorov’s theory we decided to begin the narrative with the disruption of equilibrium rather than showing the beginning state where there is equilibrium. We incorporated the conventions of sound by using a heartbeat sound clip. This is often used within the thriller and horror genre because it is a convention that effectively builds tension and suspense.

We also focused on the significance of signifiers and the use of semiotics, this is important within thrillers as it creates enigma codes for the audience as well as giving the suggestions about the narrative. The inspiration for the use of semiotics and connotations appeared more prominent as we looked at the image for ‘Schindlers list’ as it subtly gave suggestions into the narrative. Also the by having the soldiers behind the little girl suggests that the she is surrounded by war and death and so this suggests that she is going to die within the narrative. The use of red also backs up this idea of the sense of danger and death and that she will die.

http://sophieg5259.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/schindlers-list.html

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

Within our title sequence we decided to adhere to the character and mise-en-scene conventions by having the killer in dark clothing, this makes his appear more sinister as black has the connotations of death and evil. However, the killer also subverts to the typical representation and conventions of a killer as he is wearing jeans. This suggests that the killer is of working class and not seen as a typical villain within a thriller. This is because the conventions of a thriller include a villain that is an intelligent ‘super villain’ that out thinks the police and so this creates the suspense within the thriller because the audience are left wondering whether the villain will be found out and caught in the end of the narrative.

He is also wearing shoes that would be typically seen as younger person’s shoes. This creates an enigma code as the audience are left wondering about the identity and age of the killer. In the shots where the killer is looking at the items in the box, the killer is wearing a chequered shirt. This reinforces the idea that the killer is of a working class status and so he is not see as a typical ‘super villain’. This appears quite sinister because he is seen to be like any other normal person and so he is not seen as the stereotypical type of killer. In these two different scenes the killer is wearing contrasting types of clothing; this has been done in order to create enigma codes as this could make the audience wonder whether there may be actually two killers.

By having two different styles of dress, this could also suggest that the killer has a split personality or maybe a psychological illness and so this could give the audience a psychological depth into the character. The fact that the little girl is wearing a pink coat is significant because most young girls are into pink and girly colours. This suggests her innocence and vulnerability because she is of a young age.

The idea of the little girl being so vulnerable and innocent highlights the fact that the killer is not typically a younger person because children do not normally behave in this way and kill other children and so the audience would may think that it is behaviour of an adult rather than a younger person. However, within thrillers such as ‘The Omen’ and ‘Orphan’ this is not the case. As within ‘The Omen’ the little boy is the devils son and so this subverts the idea of children representing innocence. Also within ‘Orphan’ it appears that the female character is a young girl and so this would appear to subvert this representation of children and then we discover that the character is an older woman.

This means that the film looks at both younger and older aged people and so this could be used to show that children could be as sadistic as adults. As we have used a young girl as the central protagonist within our title sequence, it is stereotypically thought that the killer would be a male character as the audience are aware that in the media there are stories of young girls being kidnapped or murdered by older males. In our title sequence there are a range of social groups that could be represented, especially though the use of mis-en-scene.

 

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

As we decided to use the film company ‘Film 4’ for the production of our title sequence, this meant that our film would be a low budget British production and would probably mainly be distributed within the UK. Cinemas are widely popular among the younger audience viewers, but also older viewers can enjoy viewing the film as it is not just available to one social class. However, releasing films onto DVD format has proved to be popular especially amongst our potential target audience this is because the audience are able to watch films in the comfort of their own homes. Media technology has evolved over the years and especially the method of distribution. Selling films online have also proved popular and so the media institution ‘iTunes’ could also distribute our film as it would have been shown in British cinemas and released onto DVD.

Film 4’ is a digital television channel within the UK and the Republic of Ireland. It is owned and operated by Channel 4 and so this means that viewers are provided with a TV channel that distributes British Films, which would meant that we could use this to our advantage to distribute our film. ‘Film 4’ was a subscription only service. However, this was dropped in 2006 and so our target audience would be able to watch our thriller without having to subscribe to the channel and so different social classes may not be excluded. An online film distribution method (‘World Cinema Online’) was set up in order to allow audiences to purchase or rent films that are both award winning independent titles as well as quality titles that haven't had the exposure that they deserve as well as covering a large range of genres, but mainly specialising in lower budget films. This means that ‘Film 4’ would be able to distribute films all over the world, which would mean that we would have a larger target audience.

Q4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for our thriller is to a wide audience, as it is a certificate 15, this means that our film appeals to teenagers as well as the older audience because it involves scenes of action as our potential target audience questionnaire showed that these was the top choice. Our thriller is not targeted towards any particular nationality. However, the main nationality of the audience may be British as the production company ‘Film 4’ focuses on British films. This means that the film may be distributed mainly within the UK rather than being a worldwide release and so their films would mainly be for a niche audience. This film would also appeal to an audience that enjoy action, psychological and crime thrillers as there is a build up of suspense and tension. It would also mean that the audience may have a higher education level because thrillers involve the audience thinking about what is going to happen next and how the narrative will unfold.

Q5. How did you attract or address your audience?

During the planning of our title sequence we thought that including conventions of a thriller was the best way to attract and address the audience as this would help to build suspense and to create a tense mood indicative of the thriller genre. The use of tense music such as the heartbeat builds tension because the audience’s heart beat matches that of the non-diegetic sound of the heartbeat.

Within thrillers binary opposition is used as a basis for a narrative as it shows the two oppositions (good vs. evil). Within our thriller we have used a victim and a killer to show this binary opposition. This means that the victim is could suffer an inevitable downfall and so this gives the audience an insight into the narrative. The fact that the audience do not know why the killer is murdering young girls is particularly sinister as you do not fully understand his psychological state and also his motive, of if there is one. This creates and increases the suspense as the audience are kept guessing. We tried to maintain the sense of mystery by concealing the killer’s identity; this creates enigma codes as the audience want to know the killer’s identity and what their motive is. This also relates to the audience as they may have a higher education and so they would need to be quite intellectual in order to keep up with the different twists and turns within the narrative.

It fits the thriller genre as this is a convention of the genre because the narrative is not supposed to be given away at the beginning and so this is basis of creating suspense and tension. We edited our title sequence so that it appeared to more of the thriller genre. For example, we used a three way colour corrector tool to decrease the saturation so that the shadows appeared more prominent and so this distorts areas of the frame and this adds to the sense of mystery. By using close up shots this suggests that the character is scared and suggests the sense of fear. This builds tension and suspense as the audience can see the fear in their eyes as well as their facial expression. By using this convention it makes it indicative to the thriller genre and this is what the audience want to see as they want to tension and suspense to be built up and maintained.

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

Through the construction of this product I have learnt a lot about how technology is used not only within our own projects but also within the real media world as there are lots of similarities. I have developed my computer skills as we have been using different software on the ‘Macs’ that I had not used before for our project. I have especially become familiar with the programme ‘Final Cut Pro’ and how to edit clips and join them together effectively. Using ‘Final Cut Pro’ and ‘Soundtrack Pro’ allowed us to come up with more creative ideas that improved our title sequence. For example, we really liked the effects used for the text within the ‘Seven’ title sequence and so we experimented with a range of fonts and effects that allowed us to create a font that looked typical of the thriller genre.

http://sophieg5259.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/font.html

We found a font called ‘Old Typewriter’ on a font website that gave the sinister effect that we were looking for. During the planning of our title sequence we decided that we would have a white and black effect with a red ribbon in the shot. However, after experimenting with some of the other effects such as changing the saturation we thought that this would look better and more thriller like as there is still colour in the shot as well as there being the dark shadows being sat by the trees. We also learnt how to arrange and organise our clips using the timeline.

This meant that we were able to layer the different clips of music that we used within our title sequence and I think that this made our title sequence more effective as there was the sound of the violins, heartbeat, the build up and the music box lullaby. While we were editing I leant how to add cross fades to the clips so that there was a smooth transition from frame to frame, it also helped to slow down the pace of the title sequence, which added suspense and tension indicative of the thriller genre. We used torches to add quite subtle artificial lighting, we also had light coming in through a window and we wanted light on the killers hands so that this makes the audience focuses on what the killer is doing, creating enigma codes, such as whose items are they? And why does he have them? We worked as a group to edit our title sequence and so we all knew how to use the different programmes. Although we did work as a group I think that I would now be more confident of editing if I had to do it independently.

Knowing how the tripod worked was also important as we wanted to shoot a scene using a pan and so it took us a little while to get it just right for filming the shot. One we had it sorted we liked our panning shot as it shows the little girl running through the wood. This clip may not have been as effective because it may have been too shaky without the tripod. We also learnt how to use ‘Motion’, this allowed us to make the ribbon stand out as we could select the colour of the ribbon and change the brightness so that it appeared more dominant within the frame and so that the audience are more aware of the ribbon and so this creates enigma codes such as ‘why is the ribbon so important within the narrative?’

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

Since doing our preliminary task we have learnt a lot as well as being able to develop on skills that we had gained from doing the preliminary task. When we did our preliminary task we found that we had made quite a few mistakes, such as the 180 degree rule and we also made a few continuity errors along the way. I found that the preliminary task was more simple compared to the main task as it was more structured, whereas the main task had to last 2 minutes and we didn't have to include certain shots or techniques. I think that by creating a target audience questionnaire this helped us get different ideas as we knew what our potential target audience liked and wanted from a thriller and so we could base some of our ideas using the feedback from the questionnaire.

As we made quite a few mistakes in the preliminary task it taught us to plan and be a bit more organised rather than just making a storyboard and then filming and so we discussed our ideas and thoughts so that the whole group understood the narrative and shots that we were going to us. This also meant that the group had time to come up with other ideas on how to improve our title sequence so the communication within the group worked really well. The main lesson that the preliminary task taught us was that we needed film more than what we needed. When we tried to edit our clips together we found that they didn't fit together properly the first time and so when we filmed for the main task we filmed each clip for a few seconds longer than what was needed and so we were able to cut it ‘Final Cut Pro’ when we came to editing.

Also filming things multiple times proved helpful as not everything worked best first time and so we recorded things from different angles so that we could see what worked best when we came to edit. The lighting and shadows in location for our preliminary task taught us that we should take chances and be creative by experimenting with different shots and so we did this while filming as we re-filmed sections of the title sequence to make sure we had enough footage to work with. Doing the preliminary task mean that we had the basic of how to use ‘Final Cut Pro’, the camera and tripod. It really helped because we knew how to load our clips and put them on the time line to create a rough basis on what our title sequence was going to look like as we had the right order of where they were going to go.

Even though we had the continuity error of the lighting and audio in our preliminary task it made us think more about continuity and how important it was to keep things the same. We also thought about the different types of lighting and camera angles that we as camera shots such as close ups and artificial lighting are conventions and are indicative of the thriller genre. In the preliminary task we didn't have to do any research and I think that if we didn't do this then we wouldn’t have come up with the different ideas that we did. For example, we may not have had the box scene with the killer if we hadn’t of watched and analysed the title sequence for ‘Seven’ or the effects of the titles. The research that we conducted, allowed us to look at the different conventions that are indicative of the thriller genre and that help to build tension and suspense.

BRITISH BOARD OF FILM CLASSIFICATION

The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) uses specific guidelines to classify films and games on age by giving it an age certificate on their content. Topics such as language, discrimination sex, violence and drugs in films and games are taken into consideration. Our thriller displays horror crime and violence and so this would affect the age certificate and so this is one of the reasons behind the age certification behind our thriller and also the age range of our potential target audience. Films that include horror or frightening scenes may not be suitable for younger viewers as the classification depends on the length, detail and how regular the frightening sections are as well as effects that are used such as music and sound and if the outcome shortly follows the scene, whereas, older audience viewers often enjoy the tense and chilling thrillers and so the classification method has been put into place in order to protect the younger audience viewers.

Criminal and violent behaviour and the easy access to weapons as well as the portrayal of anti-social and dangerous behaviour affect the age certificate as dangerous behaviour such as self harm is quite a violent and delicate topic and younger viewers may think this acceptable and so they may copy the behaviour. By having the certificate as ‘15’, this means that the target audience would be more mature and there is not as much of a risk of younger viewers copying this behaviour. Violence features in lots of thrillers as both younger and older see violence as form of entertainment and so younger viewers may think that it is acceptable to copy this behaviour. If there is a high level of violence then the classified age will be higher.  

I think that rating our thriller as a ‘15’ means that we will have a larger range audience compared to if we had of had a certificate of ‘12’. This would have not of made our thriller as effective because we wouldn’t have been able to build up the tension and have as many menacing scenes. Having a '15' certificate means that only a certain amount of violence, criminal behaviour and horror can be shown in our thriller and so we woudl still be protecting the younger aged viewers as well as having some chilling scenes which is what the target audience want to see. 

PRELIMINARY TASK

For our preliminary task we had to film a scene where a person walks through a door and sits down and holds a short conversation with another person. We began planning our task by thinking about the narrative within our scene. As we had to use over the shoulder shots as well as shot reverse shot and the use of the 180 degree rule, we wanted a conversation where the audience can see the characters react to the conversation. After coming up with conversation we created a storyboard so that we could plan and see how our scene was going to fit together as well as reminding us of what we had to do if we had to go back and record.

The first time we went out to film we chose to use a door that lead to outside. We wanted to use different locations to make it different and more interesting. However, while we were editing our clips together we encountered a few problems. While we were filming loud music began playing in the atrium and so you weren’t able to hear the dialogue properly and so the audience wouldn’t be able to hear what was going on. Also we found that the distance from the door to where Morgan was sitting was too long and so we had a long shot duration, we tried to film this by using a panning shot but were unable to as it we either had a close up shot of Ashleigh walking or her head went out of the frame.




This meant that our clips didn't fit together as well as we had of hoped, the match on action also didn't flow properly and it appeared to keep jumping with the shot changes. The next lesson we rethought about our choice of location, we wanted to continue with the idea of starting outside and walking inside. We thought that the front of the college was an ideal location for the filming of our task. After filming our clips we edited our task in ‘Final Cut Pro’. We found that our clips fitted together better this time and our match on action worked better. However, after we finished our preliminary task and watched it back we realised that we had broken the 180 degree rule.

This disorientates the audience and should be avoided when filming a conversation or a scene involving two people. When we did the over the shoulder shot we found that we could have moved the camera so that we had more of the person’s shoulder in the shot as there was slightly too much room of the other side of the frame. However, we liked that the audience were able to clearly see the character’s reaction and facial expressions. The problem with filming from the outside and them filming inside is that the light and sound didn't match that inside the building as there was less light outside and then there was lots of light as you walked into the building.

Outside there was not much noise and it was quite quiet and so as we filmed inside the building you could hear people talking and so there was an audio continuity error. Along with the change in lighting this would disorientate the audience and may become confused as they may think that it is a change in scene. However, we thought that where we filmed the lighting was quite effective as there was a sufficient amount of light and so there was a lot of interesting shadows which made the scene look quite effective.

In doing this preliminary task we have learnt about how to use techniques such as shot reverse shot, over the shoulder shot, match on action and also the 180 degree rule, even if they didn't work out as well as we had hoped. We have also how to use the basic editing techniques on ‘Final Cut Pro’ as well as learning about how to use different shot movements and angles. This will help us within the production of our thriller title sequence as we will understand the basics of the media technology we will be using.

TITLES

After coming up with the narrative on the film we had to think of a title for our thriller. We wanted something that related to the film but didn't give too much away and so we thought of ‘The Collector’ as it sounds quite sinister and it creates an enigma code because the audience are wondering what he collects. This would engage the audience as they are left thinking about what is going to happen next. The reason for us choosing this title was because the killer collects objects such as a teddy or a bracelet from the young girls that he kill.

 

 

During the planning of our title sequence we looked at other students’ work from the previous year. This allowed us to see what a media production could look like and some of the effects that we could use within our own title sequence. The main idea that we got from one of the title sequences was having a definition within the title sequence. The definition implies the killer’s obsessive behaviour and so some of the narrative is revealed because you are able to understand his psychological state. This would make it fit into the genre of a psychological thriller.

RISK ASSESSMENT

During the planning of our title sequence we considered having a weapon such as a knife to suggest that a murder had occurred. However, we came to a decision that not having a knife would be better as we didn't want to give the narrative away. It also meant that it wouldn’t be seen as more of a horror, comedy thriller or gory thriller. Depending on how we filmed the scenes, this meant that our title sequence could have fell into one of these genres and so would not have made our title sequence as effective because the tension may not have been built up so much due to the knife being in shot.

 

 

After deciding that we weren’t going to use a weapon in our title sequence the only main concern was the location as we wanted the central protagonist to be running through the woods and so we had to plan our filming so that we chose a day where we knew it want going to rain as this would have made the ground all muddy and so it wouldn’t have been safe for the little girl to go running in. When we arrived at the location where we were going to film we also had to move some large branches and logs that were in the way. This was mainly because we didn't want anyone falling over or tripping on the logs. As we filmed most of our title sequence in the middle of December, it meant that it was quite cold and so we didn't want to spend lots of time outside and so planning before we filmed was the best way to avoid this.

CROSS FADES

After watching our clips and decided that we wanted change the clips to a slower speed we chose to use cross fades for the transitions. This allowed us to maintain the slow pace throughout our title sequence. We did this in order to continue the flow of suspense as well as making it indicative of the thriller genre by creating a tense mood, which would leave the audience wondering what is going to happen next. The use of cross fades also builds suspense as the scene is slowly being revealed to the audience.