Evaluation-Part 6- Looking back at your preliminary task,what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The prelim which i had completed with my group was there in place so that i could get use to using equipment such as the tripod and flip camera both pieces equipment although i was not filming were used during the preliminary task and helped immensely in the completion of the task. What i had learned most from completing the prelim was the keys shot required and the shots that we used in our main thriller, they were shots like the shot reverse shot:

The planning process of the prelim was very helpful and gave me a little taster of what to expect when planning the real thing, we had to construct a storyboard which helped as when it came to constructing one for the thriller opening it was very easy as i had done it before.

Here is our complete preliminary task which helped me alot in understand what the key requirements are when making and filming a thriller opening:

Furthermore i believe that our prelim was basically a test to see weather or not our group had the qualities which we needed to work together and hand each others tasks to do.Thankfully i can say that myself and my group worked very well together during the preliminary task.

Personally i can also mention that individually my time on the iMac using iMovie during the prelim task helped alot when coming to edit the real thing it gave me more confidence with the software as i had used it not that long before.

Evaluation-Part 5- What have you learnt about technologies from the proccess of constructing this product?

The technological equipment  and application software we used were:

–Imovie: Out of all the technology used i have to say that the iMovie software helped the most during the editing process and gave myself and the group the ability to turn well taken shots in a fully constructed thriller opening. In terms of difficulty on how to use this software i was a pretty novice user in my eyes but as i had the iMovie software at home i started playing around with it at home making short clips with it which helped me get use to it. Although i have to admit that the iMovie software had allowed myself and my group to be very creative with what it had to offer but to a limited affect, the reason for this is because although the software had many different affects and changes it allowed you to make i soon came to realise that it was very basic.

–Garageband: I never got to use Garageband that much during the editing process but on the one occasion i did use it i found it very confusing and tricky to use as i had never used it before so i can not say much on this application software due to the lack of time i had spent on it.

–iMac: The iMac i believe was the most crucial piece of technology used during the editing process. it was very easy to use as i have one at home and i am a great fan of its quickness so had no problem operating it when needed. I believe the iMac was the most important piece of kit for the reason that it came in useful in so many ways for example it allowed our footage to be uploaded onto imovie via the DV Cam and flip camera. It also had the iMovie software on its hardrive which allowed myself and my group to edit our clips. The only downfall i believe the iMac had was that it had no internet connection so uploading clips onto YouTube and looking something up on the net had to be done on the other computers which kind of wasted time which now proved to be crucial.

-i Movie HD: This application in my opinion helped the most on the creative side of things it really helped the group members explore the inner talent of creativeness as there was so much you could do with obviously to a limit but all in all i believe that the imovie software helped with the arranging the shots and making them all work together, the sound effects helped give our thriller a sense of professionalism and likewise with the editing tools it helped us to arrange the clips in such a way that the scenes seemed to flow very smoothly.

-Flip Camera: Taught me how to capture certain shots and was extremely easy when i needed to upload footage or interviews onto YouTube would allow me to do so in the matter of minutes. loved the size of it to wasn’t to big to carry around the idea handheld recorder but lacked in quality in comparison to the Dv sony recorder.

-Digital Dv Camera

Evaluation-Part 4- Who would be the audience for your media product? How did i attract/address your audience?

The demographic profile for our primary audience is the following-

Gender: In terms of gender the ideal primary audience in my opinion would have to be males as the thriller is based upon the story of a father (male) and his two boys he had lost, and due to that reason i reckon male audiences will have more to relate to possibly and understand the characteristics of the father character better and just purely have more interest in watching it.

Age: Definitely an adult who is of the age of 25 or above. This is because the thriller is based around a father who is now reaching his near thirties saddened at the fact that he lost his two boys a few years back. Also due to it being a psychological thriller it will play with the audiences mind and not everything will be clear cut in the film it will require the audience to think a lot and use their knowledge to figure our the meaning and reason behind the actions of the father in contrast a younger audience may be bored by the storyline as they may have nothing to relate or may not be able to understand it as well. Lastly the reason for it being aimed at 25 year olds and above is because in my opinion i would not find a film to do with a father and the deaths of his two boys to appealing to watch as i am 17 and would not have much to relate to.

Social Class: In terms of social class our primary audience would likely be someone from a working class background. The reason being is firstly middle class and above people are very unlikely to go to cinema’s as an outing and may find the storyline very confusing as the characters in the thriller and being portrayed as being working class and living in a ordinary working class house/home.

Certification:

After discussing it with the group we had decided to give Lonely Soul the certificate rate of 15.We chose this to be most suitable because our film had minor violence, some obsence language, a disturbing and psychological story. This fits the criteria for a 15 certificate and we need to make sure that our film appeals to this age group and above.

Genre:

The genre we have chosen to go by for Lonely Soul is a Psychological Thriller and in my opinion that sort of thriller will attract our target audience of the 25 and above as these sort of thrillers require the audience to think and younger audiences are after a constant thrill and scenes of entertainment something to get their blood pumping whereas our thriller plays with your mind.

Peer Assessment:

During one lesson our near enough final thriller opening pieces were all shown to the class. We all viewed each others work and were told to assess each others strengths and more importantly weaknesses. It was being assessed by an audience and seeing as the class where in our primary audience this was very helpful indeed. For the first time we got to hear real opinions on our piece of work from someone Else’s prospective. All in all the the feedback was very clear and helpful and help us to make notes on some improvements we can possible make as we were given an additional week of editing.

The audience said they understood the narrative and that it was clear to them that the father was seeking revenge on the murderer that was definitely a great relief as i believe without a strong and clear narrative a film can be pretty weak.

In terms of editing the audience responded by saying our opening may be a bit to long as it was 2 minutes and 24 seconds.

Their comments on camerawork were as follows; that they loved the angels used and that also the shots and camerawork used in some shots in the playground seen very exceptional.

Audience also went on to say that the titles were effective and that it showed loneliness  through the meaning and that the mood and font worked well together in helping to work well with the opening.

Lastly the class (audience) commented on the sound, it was during these last few comments that we received the most crucial advice and opinions which really got myself thinking as well as the group. The audience replied by saying that we need to lower some diegetic sounds within the opening scene such as the sound of the briefcase closing, furthermore they went onto say that the sound of turning pages needs to be more in synch with the movements and that there is very little sound at the end of the opening so that it was suggested to use we tweak our sounds and fade them properly and maybe as another sound track towards the end as it sounds a bit odd.

As we had another week to edit we came to realise that the feedback we receive upon the sound was very true and it was important for us to change a few things regarding the sound so over that next week of editing me and the ground work equally as hard to make them changes happen and successfully we managed to complete that all by the deadline as you can see in an interview with me on the final day of editing.

Myself talking about the improvements i had made after the peer assessment:

Evaluation-Part 3 – What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My group and myself have decided that our thriller would be distributed and exhibited as a low budget British film, the reason for this decision is for the following reasons:

• The realism of our story
• Due to the actual low budget of the thriller
• No major effects or C.G.I
• No big Hollywood actors
• Directed By a British director
• The location is very British and simple

Production Company:

A very small low budget production house based in Britain such as AG studios, reason being is because the budget for this film will be self funded therefore the production house will have to be the cheapest about.

The film will be self funded so the budget will be no where near as big as any mainstream movie in the cinemas. But due to the films realism it wont make a huge difference as there will be no C.G.I or special effects needed to be done just simple editing.

If we were to step up a level then the next likely production house we’d use is Revolver Entertainment who are the makers of adulthood and kidulthood. These movies are made by independent British directors and who’s storyline are based within  the nitty gritty areas of London which truly reflect the impact that the British distribution companies have had on the film industry.

Distribution Companies:

Once again when it comes to distributing, Our Thriller is not capable of competing with big time Hollywood hits such as Disturbia who are likely to have distribution company’s such as 20th century fox this is because in HOLLYWOOD there are many BIG distribution companies, these tend to produce very big budget films. where money is no object and these films are very largely publicized, they use big named actors/actresses  and special effects. Companies such as Fox have the money,  they can do anything to their films, and in theory they can make anything possible.

In contrast i believe with our Thriller film which is meant to be a very simplistic low budget British film it does not require a big distribution company as i believe it it will on target a niece market.

The distribution companies in the UK are on a much smaller scale than the Hollywood companies, therefore a realistic company which we’d consider is one again ..

This is because Revolver Entertainment are very well know for distributing low budget British films and independent films without t a production house which is ideal in our case. Revolver films have realised and distributed films such as kidulthood, which is very similar to our thriller in the sense that it is a low budget British independent film.

Marketing Ideas:

As ‘Lonely Soul’ is a very low budget thriller its market campaign will as expected be very small scale but that shouldn’t stop it from being effective.

Effective ways in which we could market the film is by ..

• Viral Marketing – we would rely on social networking sites to spread the news of our film around and try to hit the right audience, once it gets spreading that should increase the scale of which we are marketing to some extent.
• Word Of Mouth– Hoping that people who have heard about it through Twitter and Facebook spread the work and once they have seen it to recommend it to friends and family.

Another key way of advertising and marketing  the film  is by setting up its own website, this method can bring many advanatages as we can put up the trailor for ‘lonely soul’ on the website we can be constantly playing 24/7 at very little cost in comparison to putting our trailor on the TV which would prove to be alot more costly. Two marketing techniques can interlink in this case (Syngergy) as the viral marketing and advertising can advertise the film website more then the film itself, this is because if the website is impressive and intresting people will judge the movie upon the website which will mean more viewers. There are many ways of making a website intresting and here are some ways:

• Poster/Trailers
• Games
• Facts about the film/cast.
• Wallpapers

The main advantage of a website is you have the freedom to market the film and advertise how ever you wise.

Exhibition:

Exhibition is key as it refers to where the film is going to be shown as well as the way in which it is shown to the audience.  In my opinion i believe that ‘Lonely soul’ being a low budget British film should be exhibited in a smaller scale art house cinema such as Picture house etc .. this is because cinema chains such as picture house show Hollywood blockbusters as well as Independent low budget British films.

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

I believe that my media product being the thriller opening represents a range of social groups in its own way and form. Firstly in terms of gender I’d have to say it is aimed at a mainly females. This is due to the reason that the opening has a lack of action in it and instead requires alot of thought into what is going on instead and as we all know an action packed film is idea for a masculine male not a feminine female. Furthermore another reason for why it might be aimed at females is due to the sensitive and controversial topic of two young boys, females are more likely to sympathies with the father as well as the two dead kids.

Moving onto race i believe that none of the conventions within this thriller opening exclude any of the races from watching this opening and i hope that it appeals to all the races out there as there is no intention of representing no particular race.

in terms of age i believe the representation in this case is moving towards the 20-25 years old this is because the father who is shown seems to look pretty young although he seems very affected visually by his bad habits the father has been presented as a young father so therefore it can most definitely appeal to the young parents and fathers out there.

Moving onto social class and as you can probably make out from the location and setting etc that the social class which is it mainly intended at and representing are the working class people, this is because the father doesn’t seem that well off neither is he representing as being in poverty.Lastly i’d like to mention that the props used in our thriller opening have a huge impact on who is it representing and this is because the father is shown to have alcohol problems and seems to be an alcoholic. Stereotypically habits such as these are very unlikely to occur in a middle class or above family or home and more likely in the stereotypical opinion to happen to a person who is working class. A very significant factor which makes the representation of social class very very apparent is that fact that father drinks beer in the opening scene. From my knowledge beer is known to be a very common alcohol drink which is mostly drunk by only every day common people meaning lower to working class people. Whereas if it was a bottle of wine the man had drank the view on social class would have been very different.

Evaluation-Part 1- In what ways does your media product use,develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

What Are The Typical Conventions Of A Thriller Opening?

The typical conventions of a thriller are portrayed through the use of its Narrative, characters, settings, camera work and also its sound. I believe that my media product the thriller opening uses as well as develops on the the same forms and conventions of a real thriller media product rather then challenging it.

Narratives (Storyline):

The story of a typical thriller film will usually be shown from the protagonist’s point of view, following events that the heroes must overcome. This point of view allows the audience to become more involved in the events themselves and therefore closer to the characters, as they see how the characters interact with each other in different situations. However, other points of view are sometimes included in the telling of the plot: often they will be short clips from the villain’s point of view, allowing the audience to see how the antagonist acts while by themselves, or how they used to act (i.e. in a flashback), which creates empathy for the villain and possibly allows the audience to understand why they have become the evil party. Depending on the character that plays the villain or how much is revealed to the audience, a sense of guilt can also be created.

Most typically, events covered by the film are important to the film’s progression and lead directly on from a previous scene. There are usually lots of action scenes between characters, which keeps the audience guessing (often wrongly) what will happen next and how the characters will interact with each other. If the characters actions are erratic and keep changing then the film’s suspense grows, as we do not know what will happen next. During scenes where the characters are simply talking with each other, the audience generally understands what is happening but never gets the full explanation of the plot or events taken place, which allows the film to retain its mystery and suspense until later.

Usually the motive of the villain and their relation to the hero will be revealed at the end or near the end of the film, and the audience is then able to understand why the characters have acted the way they have. If the motive is left unrevealed, the film will end of a note of suspense and confusion, allowing the audience to continue to imagine what would happen after the film has finished.

Characters:

(Dark Knight a good example of a protagonist)

The two main characters (antagonist and protagonist) in a thriller are set apart from each other in the way the audience views them. The heroes in thrillers are often men that are accustomed to danger in their jobs or lifestyles (i.e. policemen, spies, etc.) or are ordinary citizens that have been pulled into danger by accident. The male hero usually has an aim to defeat the evil of the situation and will persevere even if nothing is going according to plan.

(The joker a good example of a antagonist)

The villains in thrillers are also typically men, usually tall and/ or well built, and with a cool sense around them that gives the impression that they shouldn’t be trusted. This character may have some physical deformity (if their identity is secret for the majority of the film), or a traumatic experience that has changed their outlook on life or humanity. Usually they will work alone. Other supporting characters are usually on the protagonist’s side and will attempt to help them (although sometimes these characters will betray the hero and leave to support the villain or another third party)

Settings (Location):

The typical setting of a thriller is in an urban city. Usually the main colours used will be grey, black and white to emphasise the helplessness of the first character we see. Thrillers can also be set in quiet country villages, where everyone leads poor and simple lives; often the villain will come from a small village. Usually only a small range of colours will be used, the main being black or grey if it is set in a city environment, to show how normal  life is.

Camerawork:

The camera shots are usually either very steady or move around a lot. If there is a scene with a lot of dialogue, or a character is being shown as having a quiet or intimate moment, the camera will be still and focus on the characters more than the background. If there is more than one character in the shot, the cameraman will use a medium (or close up)- two shot to show how they relate to each other, i.e. if they are standing close and being intimate or not. If the camera is moving around a lot then an action scene is typically taking place; the increased cut rate allows the audience to feel more involved in the action and keeps them on the edge of their seat as they do not know what is going to happen next. More camera movements are also used when there is a sense of vulnerability or something has gone wrong which increases the suspense.

How Has My Media Product Used Such Conventions?

Narratives (Storyline):

I believe my media product uses the same conventions, reason being is because the story is about  a father who seeks revenge for the murder of his two children. I believe that the our storyline stays within these conventions because the audience can raise many questions from what they have seen and they are left with these questions  popping up in their heads and waiting for answers. For example we did not allow the audience to know who killed the children? although they may guess the likelihood of who it might be they do not know neither do they know  how they died? Or what the fathers intentions are and what he plans on doing to seek revenge?

The thriller is also about the psychological torment that the father goes through, so many thrillers are based around characters and their psychological problems. The audience are given some hints about some characters that are creating suspense on the audiences mind.

Lastly I’d like to conclude that the thriller touches on some sensitive issues, which could show situations in which the mind works. The way that the opening ends foreshadows some form of crime to happen (Burning of picture)

Also my group and i had taken great inspiration from another great thriller film taken and if you view the opening scene of the father laying on the sofa with the TV you can then see the similarities between the two openings:

http://www.megavideomovies.net/2010/03/watch-taken-2008-megavideo-movie-online.html

Characters:

Just like the typical conventions of a thriller the characters in our Thriller opening are very similar. The antagonist in our thriller Aadil being the father who is shown to have some kind of psychological problems. But by his appearance and body language he can also be portrayed as a protagonist dressed very simple and casual but also brings a sense of danger with his presence towards the end.

We also have juxtaposition from when we see the dark room and dark clothing and the start – to the bright scene with the children – this I hope will make the audience feel the children are in danger.The audience are made to be not entirely sure as to who the antagonist is , whether it is this man who seems distraught over the children ,or the man who is being burnt in the picture. Though I think it has been made clear that the children are the clear victims.

(The two innocent boys who play the murdered kids in the thriller)

Settings:

Our thriller opening is mainly set in a small corner city house where the antagonist father lives alone from what we know. Due to his mental problems the setting of the furniture and objects in the house are a bit unusual for example there is countless amounts of fags on the table and a lot of alcohol bottles making it seem that he may be an alcoholic and there is also a lot of candles lit but no lights seem to be on in the room or house.

There is also a sort of juxtaposition used within the locations use and this is how; the first part of our opening (establishing shot) shows a close up of the moon by doing that we were hoping to make it apparent that it is night time and also creates an eerie mood. The shot then continues as there is a zoom in to the front door of the house, which seems transparent due to a camera trick and then the audience will find the camera in a small low-lighted hallway. During the first minute and a bit the scene is very dimly lit, it follows the typical conventions of a thriller.

The following scene is then continued by a DVD that the father puts on this is where the juxtaposition is first created, it goes from this dark low key lighting of the room to a TV screen playing a bright, sunny area., and children laughing within a playground. This sudden change I believe in my opinion is a great way of manipulating the audiences thoughts and feelings at this moment in time due to the sudden change in location they will have no idea and no certainty what to come but I am sure they will be interested to see what happens.

Juxtaposition of setttings:

Dark Living Room

Bright colourful playground

Camerawork:

Thrillers use camerawork in so many ways to create allsorts such as mystery and suspense. In our thriller we have used unusual angles with the camera such as long shots we doesn’t reveal much and the use of symbolic images when the camera zooms into the burning candles that are all over the room and also the alcohol.  The height angel shot used when the father is laying asleep on the sofa shows how venerable and low he might be feeling and the extreme close up to his eyes when he is watching the home DVD can reveal his pain which he holds within himself due to his loss.