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.