This is our final version of our thriller clip
For the final edit we decided to add an inter cut flashback scene of the antagonist, this was to add more suspense to the clip and to break up our long takes.
Friday 23 April 2010
Saturday 10 April 2010
10th April 2010 - Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media product uses many conventions involved with the medium of film and particularly that of thrillers. The characters used in this thriller opening are typical of what are used in thriller films. The stalker character is a convention of the thriller genre as it is them that are making the viewer ask questions of who the character is? What has he done/going to do? And why? By hiding his identity we felt that it would create a lot more suspense in our piece as the audience are not aware of who he is or what he looks like. The other character used is also typical of thrillers as they often use teenagers as they are considered as targets due to their naivety. We also used a teenage character in our opening to appeal to the target audience of teens and young adults.
The setting of our thriller is also a typical convention that is used in the genre. We decided to set it in a woodland setting as it adds a form of mystery as there are not many people around, it is away from civilisation and there are many paths and obstacles such as trees that can also add to the suspense as with less characters involved it makes the situation seem more mysterious. This is typical of a stalker thriller as someone being stalked in a busy place would not create as much suspense.
For the camera shots, we decided that long shots were best to be used on the stalker character as it would add to the suspense as he would be walking away from the character and leave the audience questioning where he is going to. However on the teen character we decided that close ups would be best so that it would clearly show who the character was and why they would be vulnerable.
The music we chose to use in this clip was a slow piece and had a loud slow beat. This adds to the suspense of the piece and makes the viewer feel on edge.
Slow straight cuts were used on the editing of the stalker character; this was to add more to the mystery of who he is. However on the teenage character we used a lot of quick cuts and fades so that it shows that the teen was becoming nervous with the other character walking towards him.
For the title sequence we decided that the titles would be placed over footage, instead of having them over blanks shots at the beginning and cutting to footage after they have finished. The film 'Signs' did this, and I felt that it was not a good opening as it did not keep me interested. Also the music used in this clip, I believe, does not suit that of a thriller as it does not sound dark enough, so we decided to use low pitch music to try and build suspense by creating an eerie atmosphere.
How does your media project represent particular social groups?
The social group that my project represents is teenagers and specifically ‘Hoodies’. Teenagers are seen by older people to be as a threat, and in this clip it shows the opposite as it is the adult that is the threat and the teenager that is in danger. We chose the costume of the teenager to fit in with what adults stereotypically think of teenagers in the modern day. So we chose to use a hoody and cap along with skinny jeans. To make the stalker seem threatening we chose a big black coat with a hood hiding the face, and therefore concealing his identity.
Harry Brown was a film that was recently released that featured teenagers who fell into the 'hoddie' social group. In this film they were represented as trouble and causing a lot of problems to the older generations. So in our thriller we decided that we would go in the opposite and have the adult as the problem and the teenager as the victim.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media project and why?
For our film to reach of audience it would have to either be distributed to mainstream audiences or be put on DVD. This is because teenagers do not go to art cinemas where smaller films are shown. EM media would be a typical institution that could be involved as they help small budget films, which our film would have. Optimum would be a typical distributor that could be used as they specialise in distributing British films, including small budget films and can get showings in top cinema chains. They also distribute American films to large cinema chains so our film could be distributed in a wider market if it became popular. 'Orphan' was an American film that Optimum recently released and it was distributed to all the main cinema chains in the UK including Cineworld and National Amusements.
Our film could also be distributed in other forms such as on TV channels aimed specifically aimed at teenagers, such as E4, as this would increase the audience as they do not have to go to the cinema or pay to watch it. It could also be distributed over the Internet on sites such as YouTube, where it is likely to get the most views and therefore increasing the audience that views the thriller.
Who is the audience for your media project?
The audience for our project was teenagers and young adults. This is because this age group are particularly interested in film and are most of the people that go to the cinema. We also used a teenage character in the clip so that the audience would be able to relate to them, and giving what happens in the clip a bigger impact.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We tried to address our audience by involving a teenage character in the clip. This was so they could relate to him and the position he was in. To make sure our clip reached our intended audience, we used a questionnaire to see what conventions they would like to see in a thriller, this was then used in making the clip.From this questionnaire we discovered that our target audience wanted a suspense thriller that started slow instead of straight into action.
The feedback we received from our class was generally positive, however there was a few improvements suggested. The first improvement suggested was to change one of the pieces of music in the clip as it was not suitable and did not work in the clip. Another was to try and improve the white balance of the shots as they change throughout.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process in constructing this product?
From this constructing this product I have learnt the time taken to produce a film. This is because each shot has to be recorded multiple times. I have also learnt how to use a DV camera and editing software in producing this clip.
We used a DV camera for the filming of our project. This used a DV tape instead of a memory card so that the picture quality would be better. We also used a tripod in the majority of our shots so that we could be sure the camera remained steady and would make the clip look more professional. We encountered a problem when recording our clip, as we used a different camera to what I used in the preliminary task, so the settings were different, meaning that the clip was not filmed in wide screen.
The editing software used on this clip was Adobe Premier Pro. In this software we uploaded the different shots that were recorded, and placed them in order. We then placed transitions on the shots and added music so that it was a more professional piece of work.
Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full clip?
Since the preliminary task I have learnt a lot more about the thriller genre from researching into other films and the conventions they use. I have also become more familiar with using the camera and editing software as I have been able to use them more. I have also learnt the difficulties behind creating just a film opening and making sure it does not turn in to a trailer for the films. To ensure this we included an opening credits, and did not use much action in the clip, so that it would start to build tension.
My media product uses many conventions involved with the medium of film and particularly that of thrillers. The characters used in this thriller opening are typical of what are used in thriller films. The stalker character is a convention of the thriller genre as it is them that are making the viewer ask questions of who the character is? What has he done/going to do? And why? By hiding his identity we felt that it would create a lot more suspense in our piece as the audience are not aware of who he is or what he looks like. The other character used is also typical of thrillers as they often use teenagers as they are considered as targets due to their naivety. We also used a teenage character in our opening to appeal to the target audience of teens and young adults.
The setting of our thriller is also a typical convention that is used in the genre. We decided to set it in a woodland setting as it adds a form of mystery as there are not many people around, it is away from civilisation and there are many paths and obstacles such as trees that can also add to the suspense as with less characters involved it makes the situation seem more mysterious. This is typical of a stalker thriller as someone being stalked in a busy place would not create as much suspense.
For the camera shots, we decided that long shots were best to be used on the stalker character as it would add to the suspense as he would be walking away from the character and leave the audience questioning where he is going to. However on the teen character we decided that close ups would be best so that it would clearly show who the character was and why they would be vulnerable.
The music we chose to use in this clip was a slow piece and had a loud slow beat. This adds to the suspense of the piece and makes the viewer feel on edge.
Slow straight cuts were used on the editing of the stalker character; this was to add more to the mystery of who he is. However on the teenage character we used a lot of quick cuts and fades so that it shows that the teen was becoming nervous with the other character walking towards him.
For the title sequence we decided that the titles would be placed over footage, instead of having them over blanks shots at the beginning and cutting to footage after they have finished. The film 'Signs' did this, and I felt that it was not a good opening as it did not keep me interested. Also the music used in this clip, I believe, does not suit that of a thriller as it does not sound dark enough, so we decided to use low pitch music to try and build suspense by creating an eerie atmosphere.
How does your media project represent particular social groups?
The social group that my project represents is teenagers and specifically ‘Hoodies’. Teenagers are seen by older people to be as a threat, and in this clip it shows the opposite as it is the adult that is the threat and the teenager that is in danger. We chose the costume of the teenager to fit in with what adults stereotypically think of teenagers in the modern day. So we chose to use a hoody and cap along with skinny jeans. To make the stalker seem threatening we chose a big black coat with a hood hiding the face, and therefore concealing his identity.
Harry Brown was a film that was recently released that featured teenagers who fell into the 'hoddie' social group. In this film they were represented as trouble and causing a lot of problems to the older generations. So in our thriller we decided that we would go in the opposite and have the adult as the problem and the teenager as the victim.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media project and why?
For our film to reach of audience it would have to either be distributed to mainstream audiences or be put on DVD. This is because teenagers do not go to art cinemas where smaller films are shown. EM media would be a typical institution that could be involved as they help small budget films, which our film would have. Optimum would be a typical distributor that could be used as they specialise in distributing British films, including small budget films and can get showings in top cinema chains. They also distribute American films to large cinema chains so our film could be distributed in a wider market if it became popular. 'Orphan' was an American film that Optimum recently released and it was distributed to all the main cinema chains in the UK including Cineworld and National Amusements.
Our film could also be distributed in other forms such as on TV channels aimed specifically aimed at teenagers, such as E4, as this would increase the audience as they do not have to go to the cinema or pay to watch it. It could also be distributed over the Internet on sites such as YouTube, where it is likely to get the most views and therefore increasing the audience that views the thriller.
Who is the audience for your media project?
The audience for our project was teenagers and young adults. This is because this age group are particularly interested in film and are most of the people that go to the cinema. We also used a teenage character in the clip so that the audience would be able to relate to them, and giving what happens in the clip a bigger impact.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We tried to address our audience by involving a teenage character in the clip. This was so they could relate to him and the position he was in. To make sure our clip reached our intended audience, we used a questionnaire to see what conventions they would like to see in a thriller, this was then used in making the clip.From this questionnaire we discovered that our target audience wanted a suspense thriller that started slow instead of straight into action.
The feedback we received from our class was generally positive, however there was a few improvements suggested. The first improvement suggested was to change one of the pieces of music in the clip as it was not suitable and did not work in the clip. Another was to try and improve the white balance of the shots as they change throughout.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process in constructing this product?
From this constructing this product I have learnt the time taken to produce a film. This is because each shot has to be recorded multiple times. I have also learnt how to use a DV camera and editing software in producing this clip.
We used a DV camera for the filming of our project. This used a DV tape instead of a memory card so that the picture quality would be better. We also used a tripod in the majority of our shots so that we could be sure the camera remained steady and would make the clip look more professional. We encountered a problem when recording our clip, as we used a different camera to what I used in the preliminary task, so the settings were different, meaning that the clip was not filmed in wide screen.
The editing software used on this clip was Adobe Premier Pro. In this software we uploaded the different shots that were recorded, and placed them in order. We then placed transitions on the shots and added music so that it was a more professional piece of work.
Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full clip?
Since the preliminary task I have learnt a lot more about the thriller genre from researching into other films and the conventions they use. I have also become more familiar with using the camera and editing software as I have been able to use them more. I have also learnt the difficulties behind creating just a film opening and making sure it does not turn in to a trailer for the films. To ensure this we included an opening credits, and did not use much action in the clip, so that it would start to build tension.
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