Media Evaluation

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

To begin with, considering that we were attempting to portray a media product of the thriller genre, I feel the score we implemented was expertly done when compared to real media products. The score was mainly used at times of high tension, or when the audience had the feeling that something bad was bound to happen, evident when the protagonist is being pursued unknowingly by the antagonist, this scene here can be likened to a classic thriller, such as the works of Alfred Hitchcock, where the scores comes in expertly at certain moments in order to give the audience that a character is in great danger. What’s more, the editing in our media product is also of a more than adequate level, especially the cross cutting used to switch between the actions of the two main characters, whose daily routine slowly but surely intertwines, a striking example of the high level of cross cutting in this film is where the antagonist( Ivan Drovnin) is leaving the ‘derelict’ room at the same time of the protagonist(Cristina Vina), indicating that in a sense they are destined to meet, at the same time the cuts became more quick, which indicated action was soon to take place, again showing similar convention to what you would see in your typical thriller film, at the same time to be perfectly honest there are certain scene which are fast paced not purposely but mainly due to time constraints within our filming, meaning we had to make the best with the footage we had, however I still feel it turned out alright. In addition to this, we can see the use of many different shots within our media product; evidently it starts with an establishing shot of the building, where the product is primarily set. Furthermore, there are numerous shots ranging from close ups to long shots, as well as high angles and low angles, which we used to indicate the power of the character or the object which we focused on, for instance at the end of the scene the ‘red bag’, which is shown from a high angle. Equally, the film is predominantly shot in our school, however we also used a house, which indicates a suburban lifestyle, in turn showing the audience how ‘ordinary’ the situation seems to be, showing great use of conventions to hide what was really going on. Lighting is also key in our product, as its fair to say that the audience could use it to indicate what type of characters are present in the product, a great example is seen in the scene where the antagonist is in the dark room, here we see the use of low key lighting, inferring that this man is dangerous, also this feature can be likened to more classic thriller films, as today we see the frequent use of high key lighting. Moreover, if we look at the cast we chose, we can see the main protagonist being Christina Vina, who can be likened to the ‘innocent girl’ as seen in other thriller films, in addition to this, our antagonist is Ivan Drovnin, who we do not really get a clear picture of throughout the film, here we are immediately given the idea of a foreigner through his Eastern European name, immediately denoting that this man is danger as seen in many films of this genre, consequently it is fair to say our casting can be likened to that of conventions in thrillers, however in all honesty, if our narrative had been different or even longer, we could have potentially included police in our media product. What’s more, you can see that our product is about an unidentified man stalking a school girl, with the main focal point being the ‘red bag’ she is carrying, with the product ending with just the red bag, raising the question, ‘what happened to the girl?, this clearly showing the traditional thriller conventions being the cliff-hanger (seen at the end), as well as the psychological factor through the stalking, and also espionage in a sense. Finally, if we look at our film, mainly due to the fact that the ideas it expresses are modern I would say that our film is contemporary as the issue of abduction would be scorned upon in the times of Hitchcock. Equally, I feel that only the surroundings in the film indicate that this is British; there are no real landmarks or actions which suggest that this is British, possibly the dialogue.

2. How does your film represent different social groups?

Personally, I feel that considering that this was a multi-gender production as well as having a multi- gender cast, I feel that our film adequately represents the majority of people. Moreover, if we look at the genre of this film, its likely that a certain audience will be attracted, which if we look at in terms of ethnicity, you’ll find that its unlikely that there will be a certain ethnic group that will clearly favour this product, due to the cast. Moreover, we can see that certain characters have been used to create certain effects, firstly if we look at our antagonist being Ivan Drovnin, who himself has a distinct eastern European look tying in with the stereotypical view that a foreigner denotes danger, consequently allowing this media product to represent those who help shape that view, here we can say that we done this purposely in order to evoke such emotions from the audience. Equally, the cameo role of Bashiru Shardow, a young black man also incorporates another ethnic group into the product, regardless of how minimal it is; therefore we can say that Black British people are represented, on the other hand we must consider that the Black character stereotypically could’ve played a criminal, which shows how we went against the stereotypical view, as these days you are more likely to find a Black 17 year old in a college or at worst, a Young Offenders Institute rather than a 6^th form. The main social group are students, through the fact that bar one cast member, it is solely students as well as the production, in a sense indicating that other students can relate to such a product as although this thriller the trailer includes several aspects of the daily routine of students. Its fair to say that this film is exclusively heterosexual, and I personally feel that there is nothing in the film which suggests any tendency towards homosexuality, the fact that the antagonist a male is ‘obsessed’ with the main character being a female, allowing us to denote that there is some sort of sexual attraction. Again, I would not say there is much ways to distinguish religion throughout this film, the fact that this was a production by students in Gunnersbury Catholic School, this indicates this is a Catholic production, however the audience would not know this. Lastly, we can see that this is clearly would be favoured by the youth as it is made by the youth, showing it to be something that they can relate to.

3. What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?

First of all, it is necessary that we define what type of media product, which in our case would be an independent film, considering that this film has virtually no budget, this is evident in many British thriller films like 28 days later. Equally, we could see this as a hybrid between independent and the ‘arthouse’ type, due to times were we experimented as seen in certain films. Considering that our product is only a trailer, but if we look at the components of the film, we can see that there was a low budget, with the style being more gritty focusing on the realism when compared to mainstream films, as well as there being limited use of high key lighting; these are all characteristics which make our film independent. Through this, we would see our media product shown in independent cinemas if it was a film, this would be in places like the Electric Cinema in Nottinghill as well as the Prince Charles cinema in Leicester Square. Equally, there are also film festivals for independent films, the largest being the Sundance Film Festival, which is the independent film makers dream, however local student film festivals are more relevant as it is only the ‘best of the best’. Most importantly, the internet is likely to be the best institute to distribute our media product, largely because it takes minimal work and it’s free, with the potential to make profit, websites like dailymotion and youtube make this possible. In addition to this, further use of the internet would further distribute our products, evident in social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter, which all allow videos to be posted and to be viewed by my friends and equally, the friends of my friends and so on and so forth, indicating that with relative ease our product can be spread over the world via the net. Equally, a potential alternative distributor could be Television itself through, this includes channel 4 on a terrestrial level, as channel 4 is a public service broadcaster, meaning they are obliged to broadcast the works of British people, however what is more likely is channels on Cable or Digital television, through channels like Current TV, which is user created content, meaning that it is people like me who have made the content. However the internet seems to be our best bet in a media institution distributing our work, as unlike film festivals and cinemas, reputation of the director is not important and it is the easiest to promote and a sure way of getting the product viewed, by greatly diverse social groups.

4. Who would be the audience for your product?

Our projected target audience was male and females aged 15-25, suggesting that our audience is primarily young. This also means according to BBFC film ratings that this would be rated a 15, meaning there is mild violence and uncomfortable issues displayed in the film. Equally this in turn limited were we could distribute our product, especially on the internet on website like youtube, were it could potentially be flagged for abuse. Personally, I feel that a parent would have no qualms with their 12 year old child watching our media product, as it is easy to infer what is going on from the trailer, however one must consider how we could shape a film from the trailer, which gives the impression that things are going to get ‘gritty’, which for me does indicate that the rating of 15 is perfect for this film, but at the same time I feel a 12A would also be good for this film.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Evidently our film can be put under the subgenre being that of the psychological thriller, as in this film we are presented with the kidnapping of an ‘innocent’ girl, by a mysterious man, immediately raising many questions like ‘why is she being kidnapped by this man? ‘What does the red bag represent? This in my eyes would have kept the audience on their toes meaning that the audience would be attracted. Equally we must look at other elements which we hoped would attract the audience to our product, with one key characteristic being sound, here we used score to express the situation, for instance when we can see her being actively pursued by the unknown antagonist, the score rises in sound, suggesting to the audience that this is nearing the peak of the tension, which I feel would attract the audience. What’s more, the music is quite eerie, which heightens the mood of the scene giving the sense of inevitability that something bad will happen. In addition to this, our media product shows certain conventions which are exclusive to this genre, principally the cliff-hanger at the end, as well as the emphasis on a certain object (red bag) and its importance.

6. What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this project?

Whilst making our product we used a variety of technology, which I will talk about. Mainly we used, DV cameras for filming, which gave the ‘gritty’ effect we sought, equally when it came to editing access to the media departments Apple Mac Desktops we were able to use the program ‘iMovie’, which allowed use to edit with relative ease, and also add effects made available by the program, for instance we added the ‘fade in’ effect as well as being able to add music in, which we could manipulate. In addition to this, the tripod which we were given with our DV cameras brought another dimension to our product as it looked more professional showing our work to be a step up from what I’d call ‘amateur’. In our objectives given to us at the start of the project we were given a research task, which meant that we had to research a variety of topics, mainly under the topic of thriller films, ranging from questions on the opening sequences to subgenres of thriller films, this meant that we had to use the internet as our source for this research. Personally I used websites such as www.wikepdia.com, www.imdb.com and of course, www.youtube.com, for information on thriller genres and also for links as a visual aid. The guidelines given over our media product were quite strict especially on the topic of scores, indicating that if we were to use a score it would have to be copyright free, which again would involve greater research, which we found through a website which gave us the eerie and tension- filling sound we required. As mentioned previously, we knew that the most likely place were we would distribute our media product would be via the internet through site like youtube, myspace and facebook. Moreover, one must look at the importance of the editing software we used (iMovie), which is non- linear editing software, which means that unlike other editing programs it is not necessary to film in chronological sequence, as scenes can be moved about, however with prior editing technology editing had to be linear. This in a sense, allowed us to experiment more, as we knew if any part of our product went wrong we would be able to dispose of it with no problems. The DV cameras used had both their benefits and their disadvantages. One of the benefits is that it gives a gritty realistic look, evident on the streets of London, which I feel is a key component of our psychological thriller, consequently attracting the audience. Furthermore, we can see the drawbacks of dv tapes as they are limited, as depending on what one is looking for determines its usefulness, something which is meant to be clean cut, would prefer the use of celluloid tapes as seen in Hollywood and the British soap Hollyoaks, giving it a ‘glossy’ compared to Eastenders and the News, which use DV tapes. This also may have an influence on the target audience as Hollyoaks has a primarily young cast and is targeted at young people, whereas Eastenders is more variable. Considering that the matter that we have portrayed in our media product is quite rough and very real, therefore I feel the dv tape gives it the effect that matches the subject of our product.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression to the full product?

To be perfectly honest I feel that I took a lackadaisical approach to my preliminary task, mainly due to my lack of knowledge on how to properly use the technology, which is evident through our extensive editing which my group and I undertook in order to match the requirements set out for us by the examining board. There were quite a few problems with our preliminary task. Firstly, we failed to fully exemplify the 180 degree rule, which is where most of our extensive editing came in; equally in this task we had trouble perfecting the match on the action, due to us cutting too much out of the scene, which meant that the transition had to be quickly. Palpably, we can see that we had quite a torrid time with our preliminary task but it also showed us that there were vast amounts of improvements we could make, allowing me to view this as a learning curve, but to be honest our editing was top notch. What we mainly learnt was that we had to be more careful with the way we tampered with our scenes, which meant that in some cases we had to re-film our scenes in order to gain the desired look, for instance if you look at when the protagonist Cristina Vina is answering her phone, we have cleverly hidden the fact that she is in different positions from when her phone is ringing and then when she answers her phone, consequently indicating how far we have come in terms of our editing as we were able to rectify this mistake.

Evaluation

 

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

Our media product uses some of the conventions of real media products as these includes conventions such as tense score, characters and editing etc. In our media product we use a score that is builds up tension throughout the sequence which builds up suspense. This is commonly used in real media products for the same purposes to create a ‘thrilling’ feeling. In common media products, women are usually displayed as the innocent victims and so are usually the antagonist, who is traditionally played by a male actor. This is because women tend to be seen as non-threatening and have soft and gentle characteristic with physically weaker appearance and so are commonly used in real media products. We have used this is traditional convention, by having our victim a teenage school girl; she would therefore easily fit this profile. Similarly, the antagonists in real media products tend to be played by males as they are seen to be more dominant and dangerous to physically overpower the victim. So again, in our media product we have used a tall male to play the traditional role of the antagonist.

It is also typical to use cross-cutting editing as technique to increase pace and use a mixture of long shots into quick shots in common, thriller media products. Therefore we have used this technique in our media product as well by having cross-cutting between the school girl’s day and the ‘suspicious man’s’ also getting ready. 

Our media product also includes close-ups and point-of-view shots throughout the sequence which is commonly used cinematography in traditional media products as well. It used to show the facial expressions plus shows the point of view of this antagonist to make it feel like he is more of a ‘stalker’.

Lighting is a key part of mise en scene and the lighting in common psychological thriller sequences usually express low key lighting to create lots of silhouettes that create more tension. In our media product we have assured to use low key lighting especially for the cross-cut editing of the ‘stalker’ so that the audience can clearly identify who the antagonist is and be weary of his character. 

Locations, another part of mise en scene, is important as it shows that the surroundings of each of the character. Therefore in our media product, we have used a normal home and school for the location of the school girls plus these locations produces a natural high key lighting which is ideal to show the contrast between characters.  The antagonist therefore is in a low key lit room where you can only see him leaving the room, so there is much mystery left where he is concerned.

Overall, it clearly indicates that out media product follows the main conventions (as stated above) for the psychological subgenre of the thriller genre. It fits in with other classical psychological thrillers, as a sense of stalking and obsession can be identified in our sequence and so therefore fits in with other similar thrillers of that subgenre.

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

There are six main areas of representation these being; gender, age, ethnicity, regional identity, sexuality and class status. It is most dominant that the antagonist is a heterosexual, middle class male. Therefore in our media product we have used this profile so as it is the most dominant and thus the audience can easily identify the antagonist. In our media product we have used a white young female to cast the school girl and play the role of the innocent victim. We chose to play this role as women are seen as the weaker sex and so would fit the role of victim which is what we wanted to portrait, this view may be stereotypical however it can quickly communicate this message across the audience. Again, with the antagonist, we have also used a male, however due to the content of the sequence we have not revealed the face of the ‘stalker’. But from what the audience can identify, is that this character is a white male, no age can be shown as the audience do not have enough information to recall any further details. It is usually stereotypical for the antagonist to dressed in black which is why mise en scene is very important is for his characters to wear black for the audience to identify who this character is. As it would be clear identifiable that he is the antagonist. Plus the dark colours/clothing and silhouette would infer more of an enigma and mysterious feel.

It would have been different if the protagonist was a man as the audience would most likely expect for him to retaliate and fight back and that would be expected of a male gender to do. Males in particular are stereotypically known for defending themselves and ‘not going down easy’ and so would be seen as more of threat than an innocent bystander, and so males do not usually play the victim but (in this case) the stalker. Plus it is also unexpected for the antagonist to be a woman as that is not common; they could be playing a ‘femme fatal’ feature however that would not be relevant in our media product.  Therefore the characters played are important in the sequence as it would clearly show to the audience the roles that they play. We have also tried to settle an urban environment as the street that we have used empty, and thus exploiting more of a ‘crime’ environment. Plus the score used at this particular point would also add the suspension of an ‘urban’ feel which would infer that the street is dangerous and that something may happen to her. This would not have worked if the street used was jolly, sunny, well built and full of people. By having this environment, represents a particular social group as the sequences shows that the street is in the school, so the audience can associate this street with the urban music to make references to the antagonist identity. Thus leading to more enigmas surrounding the antagonist as the audience may suspect that it may perhaps be another student stalker, or much worse.

We have also made the girl to look back and so this would also inform the audience and that something ‘dodgy’ is going on, and to make it appear that she is being followed at that particular moment.

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

Our media product is an independent film as it low budget, compared to mainstream films such as the common, well known Hollywood movies with large budgets. Mainstream movies have well known actors and actresses to cast in their films, a large budget to make the movie look very glamorous. However in independent films such like my own, would include an unknown cast, not as glamorous as Hollywood films. The theme and style also vary between these as independent films would have a more challenging, gritty and realistic theme unlike mainstream. Therefore the style would include kinetic camera work, used to emphasise realism, realistic high key lighting would also be used for this purpose. In terms of distribution, cinemas such as vue, Odeon and cineworld often show mainstream Hollywood films as they are most common. Independent films such as my own would be shown in non-common cinemas or electric cinemas such as the Prince Charles cinema, for instance. My film could also be distributed on independent film festivals such as the Sundance in America, which is the most common where films that are not mainstream are usually shown. Of course, local film festivals and student film festivals can also be used to distribute and let out film be shown to an audience. It would most popular to use video-sharing sites such as YouTube, which I have used (), or social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to gain easy access to a mass audience, especially for my target audience. Plus using sights like these are free to promote the film and there could even be a possibility of profit by using MySpace. TV is another option to distribute films, terrestrial channels such BBC 1 and 2 are public are used to educate and inform audience, ITV and Five are commercial mainstream channels whereas Channel 4 is a public server broadcaster where the remit is to provide for the minority interest for the community. Therefore short films could possibly be more commonly shown on this channel. Cable TV shows more community channels and use created content and so also possible to show films here to.

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

Our target audience for our media product is teenagers and young adults between the ages of around 15-25 and anybody that has an interest in psychological thrillers. I think that our media sequence can attract our target audience as it is a school girl and therefore would attract the younger generation and has the capability to do so. I think that what have created does fit a product of our target audience. The cast is relatively young as would appeal to them, which is what we aimed for, a young audience. Young people can relate to this film as younger people would still remember their own experience of school and so can relate to the characters. Also the mystery behind the stalker can appeal to the older audience as they may feel more interested in the reason why they ‘stalker’ is stalking the innocent girl. This therefore shows that our media product can appeal to all of our target audience and is it has relevant content for them all to enjoy.

5.    How did you attract/address your audience?

We aimed to target audience of teens and young adult with our film and therefore used characters of a similar age limit, a school girl, to appeal to them. We chose to do a psychological subgenre of a school girl, and this would attract the younger audience as they would of a younger age and so would remember or know how school was like and all the pressures etc. Therefore I would believe that it would appeal to them in this way. And attract them to watch it. Plus we have tried to use enigmas to try and keep the suspense and tension going, therefore at the end we have the a kind of ‘cliff-hanger’ effect which would hopefully lead the audience to ask ‘ what happened to the girl?’ I think that these lead them wanting the audience to want to know more, thus appealing to them though the narrative. When we showed our sequence to some people of our target audience they suggest that more sound was used. Therefore, taking this further, we included and score throughout the whole of the sequence and not just for when the ‘stalker’ character appeared. This then made our media product more effect overall and able to appeal better to our target audience. We have used techniques and common conventions such as enigmas, tension, suspense; realism and anticipation to appeal to my target audience as they these are common in thriller genres.

Enigmas have been used in the character of the ‘stalker’ as the identity has not been revealed and so the audience should be anticipating who the antagonist may be, and what he wants with her etc. Mise en scene was important as the antagonist dark clothing portrait an even more suspicious persona. Plus the use of the ‘black gloves’ was also essential as the connotations from black gloves suggest something criminal.

Black gloves are commonly used to protect fingerprints and to not been seen, therefore when the audience see the close-up shot of the gloves, it would appear very suspicious.  The tension and suspense has also been created through the score which is key in certain parts of the sequence. In particular, near the end of the clip, where the score has reached its intensity and used well with a point of view shot.

 This portrays that the stalker can see the girl but she cannot see him and so creating more tension this way by intriguing the audience through dramatic irony.

The use of editing in our media sequence has also been effective; we have followed the thriller conventions by using cross-cutting editing between the school girl and the stalker. We have used this at would identify to the audience that there is a link between these characters, thus again creating more enigmas and suspension. Other conventions that we have followed is that of using a montage of shots using kinetic camera work which adds to the feel of the stalker and creates a certain thrilling feel for the audience, luring them.

Sound has also played a major role in our Media sequence; again we have followed the common conventions of the thriller genre by creating a ‘spooky’ score towards the end of the sequence. This attracts the audience as it is vitally different from the first score that we hear, this is because the audience assumed this is the first time the antagonist becomes in contact with the school girl. Therefore the score that was once up-beat at the start becomes a deeper lower tempo sound for the entrance of the stalker. The score is very important as it changes the mood of the sequence; our media product therefore creates a dark mood creating a ‘scary’ feel that attracts the audience.

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

The internet would most clearly have been the main part of the technology used, as we have used the blogs to post up the research, planning and production of our movie sequence. The internet has also been used to do research on general such as for the BBFC and other research into the thriller genre and subgenres etc.

New Media has also influenced the creation of our product particularly in for sound. For instance we have been able to use the copy right free music that has helped us create our score; also it has been helpful to be using sound effect, which we have used throughout our sequence.

Technologies have also helped in the fact that we were able to use a non-linear form of editing by using the software i-movie compared to a linear-distractive, where this would have to be done in order of the shots. Therefore using i-movie have it much better to re-arrange the shots and able to cut shots and edit them and in any way that we wish. This is because it means that I could not necessarily meet the order of the shots that are in the storyboard. I have been able to develop my Media product and then improve during editing Also by using the DV Cameras we use the DV tapes, and by using this it produces a high key and realistic look. This could have then made a more realistic feel which can fit in well with our story and particular film and genre that we have chosen. In Hollywood films they use celluloid instead that gives it a more glamorous effect.

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

Looking back at the preliminary task, I feel that I have overcome many challenges and differences during my full media product. For instance more attention has been focused on assuring that I have used the right lighting in each of the scenes and each shot and making sure that each shot has the same kind of information and dress, to maintain continuity. Therefore the mise en scene has been much more effectively look at when making my full product than when making the preliminary task. I have made sure that the cast are wearing the same clothes in each scene, have the same hair, are using the props etc.  The mise en scene has been chosen carefully to communicate certain messages and information to the audience. For instance school uniform has been purposely used to identify the girl as a school girl giving the audience the connotations about her being innocent, and physically weaker. The antagonist on the other hand is wearing black, again showing the conventions a mysterious character and somewhat dangerous. Whereas for the preliminary task, this was not taken into consideration as we did not adjust the dress and just stayed with what the cast was already wearing.

Also locations are needed to suitability; I have made sure that each of the location used are in content with our story and can suitable for what we want to use them for. Therefore we went to house and other rooms etc so that we could get exactly the places that we wanted to produce the right feel need for the sequence. Also in our locations we made sure that we had closed sets to assure that we just had all the people we needed in certain shots. However, in the preliminary task, we did not take this into much account and stayed on the location that we were in; we also had open sets in our preliminary task as this was not properly thought about.  

A major difference also, is the use of sound. Our preliminary task lacked greatly in the use of sound and so no mood was given to the audience. However we assured that in our Media product sound was used effectively to produce the mood needed to attract that audience a produce the mood and enigma wanted for the sequence. Sound effects were also used throughout out sequence and again this was not created in the preliminary task.

We had many other problems during occurring during the preliminary task as well, such as the camera work, as we did not really consider all the shot that were open and able for us to use, and we did not consider how the show may affect the overall movie. Whereas for our Media product we took into consideration all the shots that were available, so that we could get exactly what we wanted from these shots.

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

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

We progressed in our mindset towards these different tasks. For instance in the preliminary task we just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible so we did a quick storyboard of a couple of 2 people breaking up and her walking off with someone else. Whereas the main task we planned over and over again because we had to get the days we were shooting right so that if it rains in one shot it must rain in the shot after that shot. It must also be dark outside as in grey dark so that people do not think that it was a different day.

Our lack of knowledge with the equipment was our most difficult problem as well as the short time we had between actually filming and being told that we had to film. This meant that we could not prepare the film the way we wanted to and we could not set up in a better environment other than a class room with class room tables instead of restaurant tables. The equipment gave us a lot of trouble as well when we were editing because there were certain aspects of the editing area that we did not know about.

We learnt by preparing in advance our whole main task. That was our biggest problem with the preliminary and because of the limited time we sort of panicked. We learnt through the advice of our peers how to use our time well and constructively and we also learnt how to use certain aspects of the editing equipment which meant that we could make a perfect main task. Through our preparation in advance we also learnt what locations are suitable for our film and we also knew when our locations were free so as to make sure we get a peaceful time filming.

We also improved on our preliminary by being allowed to have a score for the main task, without a score your film lacks a lot of interest because a score can carry the film through slow periods during the film.

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

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

We used many forms of technology and technology within the confinements of the internet. We used blogs to transfer our research to people about our film, more specifically we used www.blogger.com. To use the blog you have to type a post but you don’t have to publish it yet so if you feel that it is a pointless post then you can delete it or even edit. Once you’ve published your post you can still edit it but this time there will be comments underneath to help you with your mistakes or to even compliment your post these are left by followers.

We also used internet video sites such as www.youtube.com to get our clips and our research of thrillers. We downloaded significant clips onto our blog to help prove our point in the research but we also used certain clips to help us define the conventions of a thriller.

We finally used search engines such as www.google.com to find what we needed for our research. We just typed what we wanted in the search bar and then over 1000 results would come up, for instance when we researched the BBFC classification website we used google.

The latest technologies have influenced us a lot because we can now find all sorts of free downloadable music from websites and also free downloadable sound effects such as a door slamming or the sound of people chatting. We also downloaded our score from one of these websites which allowed us to finish our final edit for the film.

We used a new type of editing software this helped us because it was non linear editing which allows us to change our film and improve on the shots we have already taken. The non linear editing type helped because it doesn’t put our film in order of filming it allows us to put our film in the correct order, it also helped when we wanted to cut scenes to a minimum and it allowed us to do that. Our film wouldn’t have been what it is without non linear editing type. Linear editing type would have destroyed our film because it automatically puts our film in the order of filming which would have been disastrous because we definitely did not start with the opening scene. We had to make many changes including the order in which our film will be filmed in and we managed to cut all the glitches that were there and all the nasty ambient sounds that could have ruined our film. This also developed our film into a much better product than what it looked like on the storyboard.

The use of DV cameras instead of celluloid cameras meant that our film looked more realistic and gritty than that of the Hollywood films that use celluloid cameras.

how did you attract/address your audience?

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

The theme of our film is stalking. It appealed to our audience during a feedback session because most of them stated that it was a good piece of work but they also said that it was relevant to the thriller genre. The audience also liked our style however they did say that certain things needed improving especially sound because we hear to much wind which was affecting the microphone. They also wanted us to add a score at the beginning to carry the beginning of the sequence towards the end of the opening sequence. The audience were pleased with our editing but added that clip size needed to be shorter so our style of long timed shots is not an audience pleaser. They also stated that the editing needed finishing which is true because our film had to many cuts and glitches in it that needed to be improved. They also wanted us to add more titles at the beginning of our film but we already agreed on that before hand. Overall our audience was pleased and said that our film was relevant to the thriller genre with a lot of conventional pieces that they recognised as conventional to the thriller genre.

These included our cliff hanger at the end which proved to be quite popular because it was cut by a title and thus we did not know what happened to the girl. They also enjoyed our score towards the end of the sequence because it is a traditional suspense filled thriller score that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. We tried to attract our target audience by setting the theme about abduction. This is a topic that regularly intrigues younger audiences and now they can relate to it through our film. The casting of a young female as the victim also helps them to relate to the film and feel included in a way because they know that this could be them in the same situation one day. The choice of location will also attract students because this is happening around school just after school finishes so for students it is interesting to know when you’re most likely to get hit.

who would be the audience for your media product?

4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience of our media product is mainly 15-25 year olds who enjoy an intense type of thriller. The film will be for over 15 only anyway because it challenges the horrors of rapists and abduction but we also don’t want young people getting any ideas. Our film is not at all violent but it will use some strong language and scenes that are of indecent nature thus we need to stop it from being viewed by people younger than 15. However I feel that in the circumstances we can allow under

15’s to watch our film because there is not any problems of violence, even though there seems to be violence inferred the bag being left behind shows that there must have been a struggle between the stalker and Anna during her abduction, the only concern for parents would be the children getting scared about stalkers and paedophiles when walking on the street by them selves or with there friends. I think it is suitable four target audience because it is a mild film about stalkers in society and having them around. I would also state that girls watch this movie because it concerns there well being when alone on the street and how to deal with it.

what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My product is an independent film made by our group, this is because we have a very low budget. Its made from scratch by our group with independent film actors and our movie will be played in an independent cinema like the electric cinema or the lyceum cinema because they always play local films that have low budgets but will earn a lot of money because they are made locally promoting local business whereas mainstream cinema’s look for the major Hollywood movies because its easy money. Hopefully after that our movie will be shown on public service channels such as bbc 4 or channel 4.

The difference between mainstream movies from Hollywood and ours is the budget, casting and the realism in the films. Our budget is way below that of a Hollywood movie so our casting is downsized to just a few characters and the acting wont be Hollywood greatness either however it will be pretty much realistic because its from unknown actors that live in situations like these pretty much day in day out.

To promote our film we would like to go to the British Urban Film Festival because it is one of the biggest film festivals in Britain and it promotes a lot of independent cinema work in and around the country, film festivals are also a good way for independent films to secure distribution. The other way of promoting our film is on websites such “YouTube” and “daily motion”, these websites will allow us to show our film as long as we split it up into small sections. We have uploaded our opening sequence on to Youtube (click here to view)  We could also advertise our film on “Facebook” and “MySpace” that are internet chat websites. These websites will allow our film to be seen and commented on and hopefully from then it will get screened on public television stations such as the BBC and Channel 4 but also community TV stations on freeview and cable services these show all the local products and nothing else, channels like these include channel Manchester.

how does your media product represent particular social groups?

2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our film represents the dangers that are out there for young women. The streets surrounding the school are dark, mysterious and are dangerous and there are men hiding in this unsafe environment that are out there willing to harm young women to get what they want.

Young females that are being targeted a lot by perverts and rapists are always usually the victims in these situations because females are seen as inferior in strength compared to men and the stalker for example wants to have sex with this girl and thus the girl cannot combat the stalker when she is being abducted. The rapist is represented as a grown man with a rugby players build, men are always seen as aggressive when wanting sex and who they have it with. The two main characters are both white but we didn’t really concentrate on ethnicity or cultural background because we felt that it would not affect the message of the film. Both characters seem to be from the London region and the film is based in west London however we can not tell for the obsessed man because he hardly ever speaks but he is from the London region. Both characters are heterosexual, men are usually more aggressive when it comes to sex where as women are pictured making love and not just going for the thrill, men on the other just want to have sex for the feeling and sometimes this feeling or want of the feeling can get the better of them as in the case of our antagonist. Once again we do not talk about the class division because it does not have an effect on the story line the girl could be working class or middle class or even upper class but we feel that it does not matter even though the setting shows that she is from a working class or middle class background. The message of our story is that all girls that are young are in a lot of danger all of the time because there will always be a pervert in the world. The message has been said before but we feel that it is useful for girls to know that the streets of London are dangerous. We did use the stereotype of the poor innocent girl and the big bad man, we did this because that is what the pervert usually looks like but the girl is always small looks helpless. The effect is that girls will be more cautious than usual when going home alone and going out on there own. This will also make the perverts lives more difficult because women will be more caution.

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

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

Our film used a lot of the conventions of thrillers but it also challenged certain aspects of the thriller genre. The score in our film uses a lot of the conventions of a thriller’s score. It follows the traditional thriller scores that make the situation tense. This type of score creates suspense because you know something is going to happen but you do not know what. Our score started very quiet and got louder and more intense as it went on, it then cha

nged to a more intense score that was traditional to the thriller convention because its be

at was following in a way the main character, Anna. We also use a lot of long shots and establishing shots of the people and the buildings and we hard

ly use any close ups in our film. However we do have some key close up shots of Anna talking on her mobile phone and also of her turning around to se

e the antagonist. This challenged some of the conventions of a thriller because close ups are a custom to thrillers because they are used to demonstrate the expression on characters face. We also felt that in our film long shots and establishing shots would be more suitable than close ups or high angle or low angle shots. We also use a point of view shot which is not common in a thriller film however we felt it was necessary to show how desperate the stalker was. We used long shots as in shots that took a long period of time in our editing because they emphasised the situation the girl is in and the situation the stalker is in. There is slow cro

ss cutting at one point from the stalker to the girl this is to link the two people and show the audience that their paths will collide that day.

The lighting was natural and is mostly high key lighting because we shot the scenes during the day time however when we see the stalker we shot the scenes in a dark room that had low key light lighting because it showed the audience that something dark and sinister is happening. The photos on the wall are also showing us that this man is not thinking normally for it is a shrine to this girl whom we

 discovered only a couple of minutes ago. We used the school as our location because even though its not a common place for a thriller to take place in they usually take place around houses, main streets and even abandoned buildings and factory’s that are still in use. We also thought it is nice and easy for our film to be filmed around and for our cast who are there constantly as are our props. We chose a dark room to film the stalker in his “office” and we chose various well lit classrooms to have the girl sit in and even well lit corridors to have her walking by.

The main prop in this film is the red bag this is because it’s the missing link between the girl disappearing and who took. The bag was left alone at the end of film as a clue to make the detectives get an incentive as to whom might be the perpetrator. This follows the classic conventions of a thriller because we don’t get to see who abducts the girl but we know she got abducted, this leaves us wanting to find out who abducted her and why. The other props are the photos showing the stalkers devotion to this girl. We cast Cristina as the girl because she is a very small and attractive yet innocent looking girl and she can act like an innocent looking girl. We cast Ivan as the stalker because he has the build of a huge man that really liked this girl at first but then his love turned into an obsession hence the title.

The narrative does leave us on a cliff hanger like in the James Bond movie “From Russia with Love” when the person was killed in the Saint-Sophia we want to know who did it and why. The same could be said about our movie because we want to know who abducted the girl and why. These conventions as seen above are classic especially the cliff hanger ending to the opening sequence really sets the mood of the film in a classic thriller way. The espionage thriller “From Russia With Love” and the Psychological thriller “copycat” influenced us. James Bond because we wanted to leave the audience on a cliff hanger and copycat because of the way the main character kills his victims and taunts the policewoman by sending her the pictures of the dead body.

We also thought that the way the crimes are solved in both of those movies should have been the way our film’s crime would have been solved. Our film is more British than American however the idea may be of American origin. We distinguished that it was British because its slower than the fast paced American action thrillers. The cliff hanger is also identifiably British because its slow and concentrates more on “where has the girl disappeared to” rather than “where is he taking her”

All in all I feel that we have developed our film from the ordinary thriller that we are used to, it is much slower and less action and we definitely took on the idea of a psychological thriller. However our film is a more modern version of the traditional psychological thriller because of filming techniques used and the establishment in which we filmed it in. We developed our film from the normal conventions of a thriller but to say that we challenged the conventions of a thriller is going too far. We did not challenge many things other than the cinematography because the conventional shots of a thriller did not suit our film and scenes.