1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.
"THRILLER is a genre of literature, film, and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's mood giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and/or terror."
The conventions of a Thriller include...
- Enigma
- Suspense, tension and danger(risk)
- An antagonist (bad character)
- A protagonist (good character)
- A threat
The threat is a big part of the Thriller genre. In our thriller the 'threat' is the father who has run away with the baby. The threat is not visible as soon as the Thriller starts, but instead the threat builds as the opening goes on.
The antagonist and protagonist are not completely obvious when the film starts. Only one character is shown in the whole opening, however the audience will find it confusing as to whether the character is the antagonist or the protagonist. This creates the feeling of tension and suspense as they wait for an event to happen in which they will discover more of the character's identity.
Other films have used similar story lines to create enigma for example, The Silence of The Lambs. In the opening of the film we are unable to distinguish whether the character is the antagonist or protagonist.
Another film which uses conventions and codes in the same way is When a Stranger Calls. This film is similar to ours because at the beginning only one character is shown and the antagonist doesn't appear in the opening sequence. Also, the enigma and tension are built up in 'stages' instead of a sudden shocking event. In the film suspense is created by the increasing number of phone calls which occur, much like the opening of our film.
FORMAT
^Above are some of the most effective shots from our opening
This high angle shot is also an establishing shot. It introduces the audience to the protagonist. The shot is a high angle shot which makes the character seem small and vulnerable. The tree in the foreground of the shot connotes that the person is being watched. This creates the feeling of suspense and connotes that something unusual is going to happen. The upbeat music in the car shows that the character is unaware of what has happened whilst she was away. Restricted narration is used to create enigma. Natural lighting has been used to show the normal, urban setting that Thrillers are usually shot in.
This is an extreme close up of abandoned toys in a room. In this shot low key lighting has been used to create a tense atmosphere and to show that something bad has happened inside the house. The lighting contrasts with the bright lighting outside. The camera pans across the room which feels sinister. The props show that a child lives in the house. This shot is part of the cross cutting sequence from outside to inside the house. There is a quiet but high pitched sound which creates an uneasy feeling but isn't obvious enough for it to be thought provoking. The titling flashes in when the shot starts.
This shot is a close up of a doll in the child's bedroom. It is also a shot from the cross cutting sequence. The lighting fades in and then fades out to create a creepy atmosphere. The titling flickers in as the shot begins. The lighting creates a shadow behind the doll which looks like a person is standing in front of it. The doll shows part of the character's life and is another connotation of the characters life and the symbolism of the child. There is another subtle high pitched sound effect. Again,all this helps to create enigma, suspense and tension. Dramatic Irony is used; we know something's wrong inside the house but the character doesn't.
This shot is part of a match on action which combines 3 shots of the woman going into her house. It's a medium shot. This is the first shot where we see the character properly. The props inside the house give clues about the character's life. We can also clearly see her costume, hair and makeup so we can make assumptions about her life (she's wearing typical 'mum' clothes and has messy hair.) There are baby photos on the window sill and a teddy bear on the side. However it is also noticeable that her house is overly messy as if someone's broken in. When she starts calling for child we realize the threat. This is the first time that the threat is visible and starts to become obvious when the audience think about it. The titling flickers off the screen when the character turns on the light. All of the above help to create enigma.
This shot is an over the shoulder tracking shot. The camera is handheld in this shot and follows the character around the room to create a chaotic feeling and to mimic the protagonist's mood and how she's feeling. The props show that she's in the child's bedroom. No music or extra sounds have been added so the scene is quiet except for the character. This shows that she is alone. The lighting is natural but it's still low key which makes the shot dark and sinister. When she starts calling the child's name we feel confusion, wondering if the baby was meant to be in the room or if she's just looking everywhere because she's feeling panicked. The chaotic feeling grows as the shot goes on, creating tension and enigma.
This shot is a low angle, hand held shot from outside the house looking up at the character through the window. We used a focus pull so that the woman is easy to see so it looks like someone's specifically watching her through the branches which helps to build the tension even more. The fact that the camera was hand held for this shot worked really well as it looks like someone is watching the woman from outside the house. The branches that are in the foreground connote that someone is concealed behind them. This shot is part of a sequence where the camera flicks from 'watching' outside the house to the woman inside. This shows that the phone call and whatever's outside are linked in some way. This makes us fear for the character, creating the conventions, enigma, fear and suspense.
This shot is a close up, over the shoulder shot. The shot is handheld. This gives a point of view effect but still lets us see the character. The screen of the phone is blurred which shows that she doesn't know the caller's identity and makes us wonder who they are- enigmatic. The close up focuses on the woman's wedding ring when she answers the phone. This connotes that the ring may be symbolic to the story line. The shot is on a high angle which makes the character suddenly seem vulnerable as soon as she answers the phone. This shows that the phone call could lead to danger which creates suspense.
This shot is a close up of the character. When we hear the phone ringing inside the house the initial feeling is fear and also enigma as we want to know who the phone belongs to and also fear for the character. Dramatic high key lighting has been used on the left side of the shot so that there is a dark shadow on the side of the character's face. This creates a creepy, unnatural effect. The character's facial expression changes from questioning into panic and fear. The shot fades out into the title credits and the sound carries on.
A sound bridge has been used to link the last shot with the film title as it flickers in. The fact that the last shot faded out but we can still hear the phone ringing creates enigma and keeps you on the edge of your seat as we want to know what happened to the woman. The title is the same font as the other titling we saw before and flickers into the shot in the same way too. This helps with continuity.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Only one character is introduced in our opening.The character in the opening sequence belongs to various social groups:
White, Middle Class, Woman, Middle Aged, Straight.
GENDER
The character is female so obviously the actor playing her is too! Although women sometimes wear masculine clothing, she is dressed in generally feminine clothing; a cardigan and jeans. She is wearing feminine colours such as purple and blue. She also has long hair which is more commonly sen on women than on males and she is wearing makeup which helps to bring across her femininity. This is a generally negative representation as in Thriller films the 'victim' is usually a woman as it's easier to create the feelings of helplessness and vulnerability.
^The character is wearing feminine clothes
AGE
The character is around 35 years old. Again, this is shown by her clothing as she is dressed smartly but still casually. We based her look on what our mothers look like as they are the same age as the character. Most women around the age of 35 have children and therefore don't have too much time to spend on their appearance. Therefore, we made the character dress nicely but made sure that her makeup and hair was slightly messy. Her house shows that she must have children which gives extra clues about her age.
^She has a slightly messy, laid back appearance
SOCIAL CLASS
Our Thriller shows the woman as middle class. This can be seen through props and her costume. She has a relatively nice car, however it wouldn't be seen as high class. It's a typical, middle class, family car. Her clothing also shows her class- she is dressed nicely but practically. Also, the shopping bag that she's holding shows her social class.
^Typical, middle class, family car.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
Only one character is introduced in our opening.The character in the opening sequence belongs to various social groups:
White, Middle Class, Woman, Middle Aged, Straight.
GENDER
The character is female so obviously the actor playing her is too! Although women sometimes wear masculine clothing, she is dressed in generally feminine clothing; a cardigan and jeans. She is wearing feminine colours such as purple and blue. She also has long hair which is more commonly sen on women than on males and she is wearing makeup which helps to bring across her femininity. This is a generally negative representation as in Thriller films the 'victim' is usually a woman as it's easier to create the feelings of helplessness and vulnerability.
AGE
The character is around 35 years old. Again, this is shown by her clothing as she is dressed smartly but still casually. We based her look on what our mothers look like as they are the same age as the character. Most women around the age of 35 have children and therefore don't have too much time to spend on their appearance. Therefore, we made the character dress nicely but made sure that her makeup and hair was slightly messy. Her house shows that she must have children which gives extra clues about her age.
SOCIAL CLASS
Our Thriller shows the woman as middle class. This can be seen through props and her costume. She has a relatively nice car, however it wouldn't be seen as high class. It's a typical, middle class, family car. Her clothing also shows her class- she is dressed nicely but practically. Also, the shopping bag that she's holding shows her social class.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
There are a few obvious clues of the characters sexuality. She has a child and is wearing a ring on her ring finger. Although not always, this is usually associated with straight relationships and leads us to believe that she's married to a male. Making the character straight is easier as the audience don't have to think as much about the characters and can focus directly on the story line.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our film is low budget so I have decided that big institutions such as Sony, Microsoft and 20th Century Fox wouldn't suit our film as they distribute high budget, blockbuster films.
Therefore our Thriller should be distributed by a small British company which distributes low budget films.
Slingshot Studios
Slingshot Studios are a film distribution company who have distributed low budget films such as the thriller 'Sugarhouse.' They would be good for distributing our film as they are a very small company and work with small films.
Metrodome
Metrodome is a London based distribution and production company. They distribute both low budget and some higher budget films. They distributed the low budget Thriller 'Shifty.' However, they may not be suited for our film as they have started to distribute higher budget films.
I think that Slingshot Studios would be the best company to distribute our film as it is a smaller company and distributes small films like our Thriller. Our film will be shown in small Arthouses in Britain such as The Duke of Yorks in Brighton. Because of this I will probably make 3-5 copies of the film.
We also looked at other ways of distribution and one which seemed like a really good idea and which would fit our film is Internet Premiering.
This is where the film is streamed live on the Internet on websites such as YouTube and LoveFilm which allows the audience to watch the film for free at a certain, scheduled time. This is a good idea for our film as it would help the film to become more well known before it is distributed.
I researched online about films that had used Internet Premiering and what their results were. I found two films very like ours which used the internet to help launch their film.
The Disappearance of Alice Creed.
The Disappearance of Alice Creed, a thriller, was distributed by the company 'CinemaNX.'They wanted to be able to communicate with their audience in order to raise awareness of their film. To do this they used the internet, especially the main social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter.
^Adverts for the Premiere which would feature on the side of Facebook
The company set up an application on Facebook where the audience could select their region to choose the cinema where the film would be premiered. Users were offered the chance to win 'points' if they shared the film with their friends which raised awareness of the film. The diagram below shows what the company wanted to achieve my using the Internet to premiere their film. READ MORE HERE
Paranormal Activity
The film Paranormal Activity, a low budget horror, used a similar idea. Before the release trailers and short clips of the film were leaked on YouTube. After this, a website was set up in which the audience could choose to have the film shown in cinemas in their area by pressing a 'Demand' button on the website. After the film was shown in the cinemas which were demanded and it had gained a good audience the film was released in cinemas worldwide. READ MORE HERE
^The 'Demand' button to get the film in your area.
After researching about the different types of film distribution I have decided to combine the two above. The film will first premiere online. The audience will then be able to choose in which area the film will be released by an online site, like the one used for the above films. After this the film will be distributed by Slingshot Studios and shown in small Arthouses in Britain. It will then be released to DVD.
4.Who will be the audience for your media product?
To find out the target audience for our Thriller we needed to get feedback. To do this I asked my followers on my blog on Tumblr to answer 3 questions which would help me determine if they'd watch our film.
^The post on the website
I got 6 replies back. Every one of the people said that they would watch a psychological Thriller. Four of the people were female and two were male. The ages were between 16 and 20.
^Some of the replies
This shows that the primary audience for the film would be females aged 16-20, with a secondary audience of males aged 16-20.
After I worked out the audience, I used the age of my audience and similar films to work out the certification of the film.
To do this I went onto the British Board of Film Classification website to look at the age categories.
Above are the age ratings for films. After I found the age ratings I decided to research other psychological thrillers that were like ours and see which ratings they were given.
When a Stranger calls- This film is rated a 15. The website states that it 'Contains strong menace, threat and violence.'
Silence of the Lambs- This film is rated an 18 as it 'Contains very strong language and string violence and horror.'
Shutter Island- This film is rated a 15 as it 'contains strong language, bloody injury and disturbing images.'
Se7en- The website states that it's rated an 18 as it 'contains strong, bloody violence, terror and threat.
After looking at these Thrillers and at the classification guidlines I have decided that the film will be rated a
This is because it will contain violence, menace and threat. An 18 certificate would be too high for the film as it doesn't contain horror or bloody violence.
5.How did you attract/address your audience?
We needed our opening to attract our audience which are females aged 16-19. If the thriller doesn't appeal the audience in the first opening sequence they'll get bored and won't watch the rest of the film so it is important to address the audience as soon as the film opens
The story line of our Thriller was the most important way to attract out audience. Instead of focusing on action and violence straight away like a male targeted film, the opening relies heavily on suspense and enigma to build tension and fear. This will keep the audience on the edge of their seats as they can relate to the story line at the beginning where the woman is having a normal day.
^The audience find it easy to relate to the woman
The most obvious way to target the audience was through the main character. Because of this our main character is a woman. We decided to have a woman in the opening sequence as one of the main characters as the audience will immediately be able to relate to her. It is important to make sure that some of the things in the frame have female connotations otherwise the audience may become disinterested. To do this we made sure that the decor was very feminine, for example the bedroom.
To do this I went onto the British Board of Film Classification website to look at the age categories.
Above are the age ratings for films. After I found the age ratings I decided to research other psychological thrillers that were like ours and see which ratings they were given.
When a Stranger calls- This film is rated a 15. The website states that it 'Contains strong menace, threat and violence.'
Silence of the Lambs- This film is rated an 18 as it 'Contains very strong language and string violence and horror.'
Shutter Island- This film is rated a 15 as it 'contains strong language, bloody injury and disturbing images.'
Se7en- The website states that it's rated an 18 as it 'contains strong, bloody violence, terror and threat.
After looking at these Thrillers and at the classification guidlines I have decided that the film will be rated a
This is because it will contain violence, menace and threat. An 18 certificate would be too high for the film as it doesn't contain horror or bloody violence.
5.How did you attract/address your audience?
We needed our opening to attract our audience which are females aged 16-19. If the thriller doesn't appeal the audience in the first opening sequence they'll get bored and won't watch the rest of the film so it is important to address the audience as soon as the film opens
The story line of our Thriller was the most important way to attract out audience. Instead of focusing on action and violence straight away like a male targeted film, the opening relies heavily on suspense and enigma to build tension and fear. This will keep the audience on the edge of their seats as they can relate to the story line at the beginning where the woman is having a normal day.
The most obvious way to target the audience was through the main character. Because of this our main character is a woman. We decided to have a woman in the opening sequence as one of the main characters as the audience will immediately be able to relate to her. It is important to make sure that some of the things in the frame have female connotations otherwise the audience may become disinterested. To do this we made sure that the decor was very feminine, for example the bedroom.
^The props and decor in the bedroom are very feminine
6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
7. Looking back at your preliminary task , what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?
I have definitely learned lots of new things since the prelim task including basic skills and using programmes. I have learned technical skills such as camera work, I have learnt to edit and also I've learnt how to construct storylines and characters.
Camera Work
Since the prelim work I have learnt a huge more to do with camera work. The biggest thing which I am now aware of is continuity. In my preliminary work the lighting was different in two different shots which ruined the continuity and interrupted the action on screen. I have learned that everything needs to be kept the same if the scene is the same for example lighting and props. I also started using camera work which is a lot more advanced than in
the prelim. Before I was only using static, still shots whereas I am now confident with using movement in the shots with the aid of dollies. I have also learned that the camera doesn't need to be on the tripod to look good for example handheld camera work is good to create chaos. I have learnt to vary the shots and use more imaginative shots such as extreme close ups and canted angles instead of just using medium shots and close ups. I also learned how to change the depth of field. I have learned to use match on action shots more often as they make the film run more smoothly and take hardly any time. I think that camera work is definitely the thing that I have improved on the most.
^We used more adventurous shots
Editing
In the prelim work we only used editing to put out separate shots together and not for anything else. In Final Cut I learned how to use transitions and how to add text. In my preliminary work I used no transitions and no text as I wasn't sure how to add it to the film. I learned how to use the transitions and we used the fade in our film The programme that I learnt the most about is Garage Band. I'd never used Garage Band before as we didn't add any extra sound in the prelim work. I have learnt that sound is just as important as the visual parts of the film. I have learnt how to record my own folie sounds and how to add them to the film, how to add Garage Band effects to the film and how to add music and how to change the pitch of the sound. I've learnt how important sound is and how it can completely change the film.
Character and Storyline
In the prelim work we didn't bother at all with constructing character. We didn't think about the costume or props that we were going to use and just used what was there on the day. In our final film we planned ahead and made sure that the character was wearing the correct costume. We also made sure that every prop had been thought through. In the prelim the storyline wasn't thought out at all and it was boring. I have learnt that everything needs to be planned and thought out otherwise it will become confusing and boring.
^We paid more attention to the character's costume.
I think I have learnt a huge amount since the preliminary task and I think that our final product was successful because of our extensive planning and because we experimented with new ideas and different shots. :)
Editing
In the prelim work we only used editing to put out separate shots together and not for anything else. In Final Cut I learned how to use transitions and how to add text. In my preliminary work I used no transitions and no text as I wasn't sure how to add it to the film. I learned how to use the transitions and we used the fade in our film The programme that I learnt the most about is Garage Band. I'd never used Garage Band before as we didn't add any extra sound in the prelim work. I have learnt that sound is just as important as the visual parts of the film. I have learnt how to record my own folie sounds and how to add them to the film, how to add Garage Band effects to the film and how to add music and how to change the pitch of the sound. I've learnt how important sound is and how it can completely change the film.
Character and Storyline
In the prelim work we didn't bother at all with constructing character. We didn't think about the costume or props that we were going to use and just used what was there on the day. In our final film we planned ahead and made sure that the character was wearing the correct costume. We also made sure that every prop had been thought through. In the prelim the storyline wasn't thought out at all and it was boring. I have learnt that everything needs to be planned and thought out otherwise it will become confusing and boring.
I think I have learnt a huge amount since the preliminary task and I think that our final product was successful because of our extensive planning and because we experimented with new ideas and different shots. :)
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