In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
I researched many films to look at and highlight the
conventions of thriller films. I started off with ‘Silence of the lambs’ which really
focuses on:
- · Low key lighting
- · Begins with the protagonist/main character
- · Iconography of trees/trapped landscape
- · Follows the character from behind which gives the effect of someone following them which builds up suspense and tension for the audience.
- · Uses close ups to focus on the facial expression of the character
- · Intense non-diegetic music
This bold font is a typical convention of thriller as it stand out and is vidid on the screen. The black and white convey simplicity and doesn't distract away from the imagery on screen. The capitals portray drama and a violent tone as if it was being shouted.
I took this aspect into my own thriller film and used the black and white colour scheme and capital letters for the same reasons. I think this worked very well as it represents the title as the letters themselves stand alone on the screen. It definitely fills the convention of thriller films because it connotes feelings of fear, anxiety and darkness.
I then looked at 'Old Boy' which again portrays the main conventions of thrillers such as:
Low saturation: This scene uses low saturation which dulls the colours to represent the mood and atmosphere and show the audience all is not going to go well. The lighting here is also slightly high key. This is to represent the setting and that it is a fully functioning police station. 
Pathetic Fallacy: The use of rain in this scene is used pathetic fallacy for the mood and shows something bad is going to happen. It connotes the feeling that the characters will not be able to see as well and combining this with the prop of the telephone box it could suggest they are slightly trapped. Weather is used in a lot of thriller films so is known as a convention as it reflects the dark mood and gives a sense of scary tone and fear.
Narrative: The narrative of this film opening is restricted as it begins with action and the audience have no idea what is happening. This gives the effect of confusion and fear. It opens with the protagonist to show the audience from the beginning who the film is about. This film does not follow Todorov's theory of narrative as it begins with a flashforward, this means it does not apply to the state of equilibrium - to the distruption of equilibrium - to the fixing of the distruption - to the equilibrium again. 
I used this effect of narrative in my own thriller film to fit in with the conventions. Going against Todorov's theory is a common convention of thriller films as it holds the audiences attention and leaves them in confusion wanting to find out the answer. The start of out film makes no sense until you understand the flashback so it in a way forces the audience to continue watching.
I also used manually unfocusing the camera in my film as I think it gave the effect of her point of view. This applies within the convention of pathetic fallacy as it still gives the same effect of being trapped and unclarity. Another film that uses unfocus filming is 'Arlington Road' which is how I was inspired to use this.
The extreme close ups and close ups in this scene also come under a convention of thriller as they show the characters facial expressions or focus the attention of a specific object or area. This is vital as it shows visually the characters feelings or emphaises the importance of what is in the frame.
The use of blood is iconography in thrillers to represent danger, fear and injuries. It also connotes death. The use of this close up of the boys feet walking and blood splattering down works very well as the audience cannot see what is bleeding or where the blood is coming from which conveys mystery and anxiety.
We aimed to take ideas from this in our own film to ensure we follow the conventions as much as we could. We combined this with ripped tights for the characters costume as we felt it would reinforce the idea of how injured she was. The medium shot of her legs meant that the rest of her body was not in the frame so portrayed the convention of mystery within the shot.
I decided to use a hand-held camera here rather than a tripod as it again gives the sense its her point of view. This ends with a fade which is commonly used in thrillers to build suspense and also to change perspective or location.
The use of the flashback is another convention of thriller used in films such as 'Memento'. The flashback creates an effect of disoreination which can leave the audience feeling confused. They give an insight into the characters past and explain the plot/what has actually happened.
How does your media product represent particular social
group?
I have shown how these characters fit into a social group
visually through mise en scene. The main way we had to do this was through
stereotypes. The girl is represented as a stereotypical straight teenage girl
though a short skirt and more dressed up clothing, also through her hair being
down and wearing makeup. She is also shown as coming home from a party. The
boy/man is shown in a hoodie to represent the stereotype of being rough and committing
crime. This is definitely a negative stereotype as he could be a normal guy
just walking down the road as the narrative hadn’t shown what kind of person he
was yet, however this stereotype indicates to the audience that something bad
is going to happen.
- Camera work: The hand held camera in the point of view of her running shows she is weak and fearful.
- Mise en scene: Her costume and makeup stereotypes her as young, girly and again weak.
- Editing: the fades convey something bad is about to happen and that she cannot defend herself.
- Sound: The added foley sound of the man heavily breathing conveys that he is more powerful and that the girl is will not out-run him.
The man has higher status in this film opening as the girl is
made out to be the victim and the use of blood and ripped clothing instantly
connotes weakness and helplessness. I have used the way in which she looks (not
in the flashback) to create empathy with the audience and make them feel pity
towards her. I have shown the man like this is to indicate he is the
antagonist. This involves the conventions of other thriller films. The film ‘Taken’
also uses this mise en scene of the girl to make her appear weaker.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
My film is a low budget, independent British film. This means it can realistically go two ways in distribution:
1. Being taken up by a independent film distributer company:
The distributor goes through 3 stages to accomplish this:
1. Being taken up by a independent film distributer company:
The distributor goes through 3 stages to accomplish this:
- Film production - the making of the fim.
- Film distribution - securing a place for the film in the industry.
- Film exhibition - finding where it would be viewed - e.g cinema, DVD, Netflix, Lovefilm.
- Studiocanal
- Pathe
- Picturehouse
- Momentum
- Metrodome
- Lovefilm
The stages the distributer company are in charge of are:
- Lincensing - having all legal rights to the film.
- Marketing the film - this could be in forms of a film poster, using social networking and showing in film fesitvals such as 'Sundance'.
- Placement in cinema - could be shown in an independent cinema such as the 'Duke Of York' cinema in Brighton which would be local.
- Theatrical release
- Marketing and circluation
- Viewing on DVD, downloads, home TV etc.
2. Marketing the film yourself:
Due to the new digital age it has made companies such as Netflix and Lovefilm incredibly popular. Being able to have full accesibilty to any film at anytime on devices such as phones and tablets and platforms such as consoles means that there is a whole new audience ready and waiting to watch upcoming films.
Using this method for my film I would create a snowball effect in marketting. I'd do this by advertising my film in as many ways as I could to promote as cheaply as possible:
- Screenings of my film in public places
- Press releases
- Contacting everyone on mailing lists
- Getting publicity across social networks - e.g. Twitter and Facebook
- Mailing out DVDs that could be passed on
- Sending out letters to contacts asking to 'spread the word'
Vimeo is the best website to use for this as although it has no advertising, it has more brand appeal and has a reputation of being more reliable which would increase the amount of viewers.
YouTube is a good way of making money as there is no charge for uploading my film and also I would be paid for advertising. TrueView in-stream ads are the basic advertisement and you have the option of choosing where and when you want to place the advert. YouTube also pays you once you hit a certain amount of suscribers which mean if a company found it, it would not only make you more money but also extra income if the film got a lot of viewers and suscribers on the website. It would also be shown to a wide audience as the audience for YouTube is global.
Examples of films that have used this method:
1. 'PULP' created by Adam Hamdy
- Released via digital games console platform rather than cinema or DVD for first time ever - films are being played on Xbox more than games now and there is a section on the dashboard titled 'TV & Movies' purely for this aspect.
- Only available for 'Xbox Live' users and owners.
- Film characters are 20 year old males such is the target audience for the majority of Xbox game players. This means there is a ready made audience.
- "The avenues to allow British Independent Films to get audiences have narrowed" - Adam Hamdy
- This film was uploaded to YouTube.
- It now has 700,000 views, 2,000-3,000 a day.
- Makes around $3400 a week.
- YouTube is the 3rd most popular website in the world so it reaches many people. It is also easily accessible on a range of platforms such as devices, smart TV and gaming consoles.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Gender
- The gender of my audience will be mainly female. This is because the audience will feel more empathy towards the main female character and understand her fear.
Social Class
- We aimed our social class at the middle class (C1) this is because it’s the majority so will appeal to the most people.
Pearl and dean research
Age
- I chose the age of my audience to be 18-35 this is due to the content of the film as it will not be aimed at children because the narrative infers the man has sexually attacked the girl and this would not be appropriate for children.
- The audience is young enough to the characters, which means they will be interested in the film more.
Other film audiences would enjoy
- My target demographic would also enjoy films such as ‘Taken’. This is because they share similar age characters and the girl is the victim. It also holds all the conventions of thriller just as mine does.
I have overall chosen this as our selected target audience
because I feel this is a popular demographic and will be easy to direct our
advertisements towards this after fully researching this audience.
How did you attract/address your audience?
One of the main reasons the film will appeal to the audience is the narrative. The use of a more sophisicated believable narrative increases the audiences feelings whilst watching it, playing with their emotions of fear and anxiety. We purposely didnt obey Todorov's theory o fnarrative to make the film more interesting and not simple and boring.
Using techniques such as:
meant that it is not too straightforward and mixing up the shot types keeps the audiences attention. It also gives the audience more information as they can only see through what is seen on camera so using techniques such as panning and tracking means it's like they themselves are there and the use of unfocusing gives them the viewpoint of the characters so they can get into their mindset.
The mise en scene aspect of casual costume again made the film more believable which will attract more viewers as... This applies the same with fake blood. Blood also connotes death, and fear which are main conventions of thriller. The low saturation makes the film seem more eerie and mysterious but also means that the bold red blood colour stands out even more and shows that it is a sign of danger.
The characters themselves are quite simple however until the plot is more and more uncovered it is shown who they exactly are. The man appears quite normal to begin with but as soon as the music plays and the character puts his hood up the audience realise that all is not as it seems. The antagonist is represented as 'evil' and powerful which not only fears the protagonist but also the audience, increasing their interest in the film.
The main theme and issue of the thriller opening is that a girl was sexually attacked. This theme is not too 'out-there' and is a common crime which unfortunately happens day to day. This plays upon the audiences own fears and as it is aimed at 18-35 year old females they will most likely have experienced walking home alone fearing being followed by a stranger. Combining this with very intense music and short snappy shots it means that it's almost certain to scare them, which is what is expected from a thriller.
The soundtrack of the music titled 'maneater' gives a very creepy effect and builds up tension and suspense from the start. This gives the audience the thrill of fear they want from a thriller film so fills their need.
The representation of the characters stereotypes interests the audience because they cannot obviously know about the characters any other way than visually unless it is explained so this stereotypical 'dark tall scary' man following a girl home is going to make them fearful much more than an elderly woman slowly following them, so using the stereotype is what the audience want as they get more out of the film.
What have you learnt about technologues from the process of constructing this product?
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you
have learned in the progression from it to the full product?
My preliminary task was a good start to a basic short film.
However, the improving of aspects such as camera work, sound, editing and mise
en scene have made my final thriller opening reach its full potential.
There’s a clear contrast between my prelim and thriller
opening. To begin with our setting was located by a container just outside
college and a dark ‘prayer room’ inside college which gave an eerie dark
effect. As convenient as this was for us as there was already the props we
needed in there such as a table and chairs, I think we could’ve experimented
more which is why in my thriller film I chose a rural lane as it gave more of a
wide, larger landscape and location.
For our preliminary we had an easy task with props and
lighting as, as just explained we had tables and chairs ready for use. However
we decided to hang a 'swinging light bulb' from the ceiling as one of our props
and also for lighting as it gave a serious mood and added to a thriller effect
which highlighted the narrative of our film.
In our thriller we used more props than our preliminary as we
thought it added more interest in our film. We used a simple phone (http://foundationportfolio1443.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/props-sarah.html)
and fake blood in costume as it reinforced the visual effect that she was hurt.
Ambition wise, we came up with a simple narrative and sorted
details such as dialogue on the day of filming. Although this luckily worked
fine, researching and planning our thriller opening to every detail meant that
it looked so much more professional and we got the exact results we wanted.
Whereas for the preliminary we had to experiment a lot with lighting and camera
shots before deciding what looked best. This took up a lot of time as our first
intention was to use the light bulb as our main light source and then use LED
lights as additional lighting to create shadows. The light bulb ending up being
too bright. So we used 2 LED lights instead, one on the ceiling, replacing the
light bulb (but still having it as a prop) and then the extra LED for
shadowing.
There was simply no titling of our prelim film which was
unfortunate, although if we had done titling I think it would’ve been very
simple. However, for our thriller film I researched into different titling
looking at different films such as ‘old boy’, ‘inception’ and ‘The girl with
the dragon tattoo’. I decided on a white bold font which stood out on the
screen, it is also shadowed in black to again contrast and be clear to read. It
has a rusted look in the way parts of it has faded out which connotes an urban,
rough effect which conveys the narrative of the film and coincides with the
title ‘alone’.
Looking at editing; for our preliminary we used mainly fades
as we were going for a thriller effect anyway so I took the idea of this for my
thriller opening as I felt it gave a mysterious effect and worked well to indicate
to the audience the move of different locations. We also used a ‘CCTV’ effect
in our preliminary and experimented in where about in our film to put this. We
eventually decided on focusing it on the man played by Tom as it showed that he
was an edgy character. In my thriller film I felt something was needed in
editing to show that the flashback memory in the film was in fact a flashback.
I experimented with different light effects but decided on a ‘light rays’
effect on Final Cut Pro as it blurred and distorted the image with light and
colours so conveyed all was not real and that she was in a dream-like state. I
also used focusing in and focusing out whilst filming with the camera. This was
a taken idea from the film ‘Arlington Road’ which we thought gave a good point
of view of the character slipping in and out of consciousness. 
The character was much more developed and researched into in
my thriller opening rather than preliminary. This was due to more time. Both
films were filmed as restricted narration as it built up more tension and kept
the audience interested.
Problems in the prelim:
- · Continuity errors in costume – In the outside location me and Phoebe are wearing different clothes to inside which decreases the audience believing the film and dulls the professional look. However I was sure to make sure I did not make the same mistake with my thriller opening and made sure we kept the exact same look and costume though out, which meant one scene filming Kieran I re-filmed as he had his hood down which wouldn’t of made sense as the shot before he had it up.
- · White balance – we completely forgot to check white balance in our prelim as we had very little time to film. However, luckily this worked in favour to us as we didn’t need to change the saturation in editing. In my thriller film I made sure to re-do the white balance in every single shot which made the look of our film much better.
The soundtrack of my Thriller film was ‘Maneater’ from: http://www.freeplaymusic.com/
These were both good soundtracks which gave dark, creepy
connotations of thriller films. We wanted to keep to the conventions of
thriller to give the best effects.
I experiemented with different view points, camera angles and camera movements in both films. For our preliminary we went up on the top of the container looking down giving a bird eye view on Tom which gave a suspicious effect.
For the thriller I used very short quick paced shots such as from the ground looking at their feet and medium shots of them running to highlight the action. I also used a range of panning and tracking such as when she is dripping blood walking and the start of the film when the camera pans across the setting.
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