QUESTION SEVEN - Evaluation

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

The purpose of a preliminary task was to learn how to use the equipment e.g. camera and tripod and get an aspect on what it would be like to film an 2 minute opening sequence. I had to familiarise myself with the camera, tripod, memory card and most importantly my group members; Hannah and Oliver. This was our first task as a group, so from this we could also see as a group who was good at what and what they would take the role of in the process of our opening sequence.

This was our first use of the camera and tripod as a group and each had our own knowledgeable aspects of them. The preliminary task was to create a short clip, including five uses of cinematography, these were zooming in, zooming out, over the shoulder shot, panning shot and close up. All of these had to be captured using the tripod. For this task myself and Hannah took the roles of the actors and Oliver took the role of being director of photography. Oliver had the main role of using these, although along the way we helped each other in capturing the right height of the scene and the things included.

Learning how to produce these uses of cinematography meant I had a head start for when creating my thriller opening sequence, and was knowledgeable on how to produce each one smoothly and well. Furthermore, the preliminary task also meant we could re-take as many times as we liked, meaning more practise using the camera and tripod.

As a group we discovered that the director or photography needs to have a lot of patience and control over the camera, and most importantly the actors.

The camera had a featured touch screen, this meant I and my group could watch back what we had recorded and discuss what needed and could have been improved, which I found worked very well, as we was honest with each other and meant we could all share our opinions.

The preliminary task also meant I had the first chance to use Final Cut Pro X, giving me a head start for when filming my thriller opening sequence. The first use on Final Cut Pro X allowed me to discover new editing skills and different uses of sound and colours I could use.

Overall, I believe that me and my group worked well in considering all the right research and skills we needed to learn and work together to create our thriller opening sequence.

My thriller opening production has benefited from this preliminary task and has ensured I reach the highest standard that I could have. This has helped attract my/our target audience and give them a reason to carry on watching my film, ensuring that they feel a high amount of emotion when watching.

QUESTION SIX - Evaluation

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

This is a prezi which I have created answering question six.

https://prezi.com/gwyqr52fd58o/copy-of-explain-any-topic/

QUESTION FIVE - Evaluation

Question Five

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkt4sMGE8UI


Media Youtube Evaluation Question five

QUESTION FOUR - Evaluation

Question four

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvWhOTg929U

Media Question four evaluation

A target audience is important when producing a media product as it helps as a guide of what  conventional aspects should be included and what is suitable for that age group. Aswell as this it is important as you can research different successful films within that genre with a similar target audience to see what would appeal to certain age groups and see what conventional elements they would expect to see.
 My thriller appeals to my target audience as we have used specific language to appeal to a target audience of 15+. This could be due to the narrative of our thriller film. The audience watching our product must have an interest and know what to expect in the genre, so this may appeal to them as we have included many generic aspects of a thriller film. In addition I think my thriller film appeals to the target audience as the they are a similar age to the characters, the audience will then build a relationship with this character as they will sympathise as they could imagine themselves in her position, also meaning 

QUESTION THREE - Evaluation

Question three - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?


This is the link to my prezi, answering question three.


https://prezi.com/lzntsokeq1mt/question-3-what-kind-of-media-institution-might-distribute-your-media-product-and-why/

QUESTION TWO - Evaluation

Question two - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My thriller opening sequence involves two characters. The characters included are two a female victim and a male antagonist. The victim was chosen to be a female as they are portrayed as innocent and venerable on screen, creating a larger and quicker relationship between the audience and the victim. A female is seen to be stereotypical in a thriller film as females are frequently used as the victim as they are portrayed as weak and not having much power over anyone but themselves, whereas men are seen stereotypically as larger and muscly, and fit the role better as a antagonist, with strength and dominating power.

Gender in my opening sequence is represented in a stereotypical way as I have used generic conventions from previous thrillers which also use gender to gain a closer relationship with the audience. Gender is very important in a thriller film, as a wrong choice can mean not as much compassion and care is felt towards one character e.g. a male victim may be portrayed as strong and lean, completely defeating the object of an 'victim' being stereotypically seen as venerable and crying for help. 

The male antagonist doesn't show much of a character/personality to the audience, although the reason why he was used in my thriller opening sequence is because he played the character well, he was supposed to represent himself as tough, scary and intimidating, and this did work. Although no facial expressions could be used, his body language showed that he wasn't scared of anyone, and overpowering over his 'young female' victim. Furthermore, the female victim in my opening sequence was young and represented to the audience as venerable and innocent, again this is stereotypical but works well in so many ways in catching the audiences eye. The female victim was represented to be willing and innocent as she walks through a isolated setting (forest) in the dark on her own, something which the audience notice straight away, which helps support her character role, also walking through an isolated alley way. Furthermore, from watching other well-known thrillers for example; Lucy, taken 3, insidious ect, I found that women were seen to wear common colours in their outfits such as white and red as it shows their innocence or even showing to the audience that they will be the focus of attention of the antagonist. The female victim within my opening sequence is positioned in the centre of the camera, walking up to the opening field of the forest, this shows her innocence and not knowing what she is doing or what she is letting herself in for. The way the characters are positioned within the camera can depend on whether a relationship is created or not. Within my thriller opening sequence a relationship is created between the audience and the female victim. The way as a group we have worked together to discuss what she will do and where she will go/stand, has meant the audience feel sorry for her, and making them think that they can't wait for the next scene and want to watch more.

In thriller productions mise-en-scene is very important, as a younger audience want to see a lot of excitement on the screen involving the characters. Hannah, myself and Oliver all had the role of the mise-en-scene co-ordinator. One thing this role does involve is costumes. From research from the film 'Scream' it helped us come to light that costumes help add them final touches, and add to their role of what they are. In the film scream the antagonist is a male, and is seen to be wearing a mask and dark clothing. From comments from peers and the public and other resources I found that the target audience liked this, and found that the dark clothing helped to hide his identity more, and isolating him from all the other characters. From this research as a group we decided that we would use the same features, to catch our '15-25' age audience. The antagonist is portrayed to be wearing his mask and dark clothing throughout the whole sequence, again being stereotypical and conventional of a thriller film.

My target audience is aimed at the age group of 15-25. This is a very popular age group for thriller films, as these are the people it is enjoyed by the most, and take the most time to watch thriller films, after much research into this, this is what was decided. The characters discussed above have been chosen and used directly to capture this particular audience, which I found has worked well and having an overall basis of an target audience has allowed certain decisions to be made, helping the devolvement of the opening sequence.

QUESTION ONE - Evaluation

Introduction

My brief was to create a 2 minute thriller opening sequence, which included previous research and conventions from thriller films. I researched the thriller genre in various different ways which built up my knowledge of the industry, helping me to create new and different ideas for my opening sequence. For this opening sequence we were allocated groups and from this started discussing and sharing ideas straight away. This group consisted of myself, Hannah and Oliver. Before thinking about ideas for our thriller sequence, as a group we had to create a preliminary task. This consisted of a short scene including five different uses of cinematography. The five different uses of cinematography that we had to include was a long shot, close up, panning shot, reaction shot and over the shoulder shot. A preliminary task was our first trial using the camera, tripod and experimenting using these five uses of cinematography. This helped us gain an image of how easy/hard it was going to be to create a 2 minute opening sequence. 

Before our ideas were put together we decided on production roles, there were eight roles for each of us to take the place of. For us to decide we looked closely at who had the most knowledge and experience on each. The decisions were decided as a group; fairly and equally. Firstly for our producer, we chose to allocate each one of us, this being that we all had a large commitment into producing the opening sequence, and all had our own personal touches, also meaning that we could help each other on different aspects and sections so our thriller opening sequence would be to highest standard when completed. For our director we chose Hannah, the reason for this being is Hannah took Media at GCSE level so has a lot of knowledge and experience on directing others and taking the lead, which we as a group found helpful throughout as she has/gained good leadership skills and working with each one of us personally meant she pointed us In the right direction when taking the lead in one of our roles. After creating our preliminary task we found as a group that me and Oliver were the most talented and skilled at acting, which meant we gained the role each as an actor. At first we both found it hard to adjust to acting in a thriller opening sequence, but after much research and support from each other we both found it easier and learnt what uses of mise-en-scene (facial expressions etc.) were needed to work and add to a thriller film. The fourth production role was director of photography. After producing and analysing our preliminary task, we decided as a group that Hannah took on this role with the most power and dedication and the shots that she had taken in the preliminary task didn't need a lot of work doing to them, which we found was good, as she was now familiar with the camera itself and the settings, as well as being able to work and use the tripod appropriately. Her being able to know all this before the filming started meant we could start straight away with no delays, and reach a high standard/quality. Furthermore, for our music producer we as a group discussed and chose Oliver. Although music isn't put in the opening sequence until after the filming had all been completed, when filming Oliver had in mind what music could be used and completed his research before hand. We found this helped as when the editing stages approached Oliver was prepared, meaning he had more time to adjust the pitches and volumes as well as help me and Hannah if we needed any. Moreover, I was chosen to be our screen play writer, this meant researching fonts and colours for our opening scene credits. Again, the research was already done before hand as I analysed thriller films to see what particular fonts, sizes and shapes were used to add to the thriller effect. Credits are very important in an opening sequence so it was essential that they was in the right position on the screen in front of the right picture/scene. Second from last, we found it very hard to decide who would be our MES co-ordinator, so after mush discussion and questioning we decided that we would all take on the role. This meant we each got to choose/help decide each other's costumes, props and make-up. Although before we thought this may not work out, it was actually an advantage having three people take the role. This being that we all got an input in the decision making, also meaning that we had three different perspectives on each others look on scene, which helped as we could point advantages and disadvantages. And finally our last production role was the editor. This is an important role in production making so we had to conclude pros and cons. For this role as a group we decided that I would be the main editor, although with small amounts of input from my other group mates. The role of an editor is quite hard and requires a lot of work. I leant from this that research from other thriller opening sequences/films helps a lot as you gain skills and learn from other editors choices and decisions. Overall each production role meant we took on our own role and gave our own personal touches to create a group effort. I feel in my own opinion that we worked very well as a group, each putting in the greatest amount of effort that could have been inputted, which is why at the end of our opening sequence we was all very happy with the quality and the standard that it reached.

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

There are many generic conventions of a thriller film. Thriller films have been produced for years, each having its own individual story line and ideas, although all sharing similar features and conventions. There are many well-known generic conventions of a thriller that are very easily spotted/noticed in nearly every thriller film, these being; female victim, low-key lighting, weapon, protagonist, male antagonist, isolated setting, hidden identities, up beat sound effects, weather conditions e.g. thunder and lightening, raining, montage of shots, diagetic sounds e.g. breathing, tension music etc. There are many more, although these are the most conventional and the few I chose to analyse closely.
The successful thriller film which I have chosen to analyse is 'Scream'. Scream is a thriller which is well-known by nearly everyone. This successful thriller was made in 1996, and has been very popular ever since. I chose this film because from first watching, it was very noticeable to me that it held many generic conventions and that they worked well towards the audience. This film demonstrates use of a female victim used throughout, constructed around an isolated setting, also wearing a white top, portraying that she is innocent and vulnerable. This is shown in the film when the young innocent woman receives a phone call from an unknown caller. The use of a female victim in this film enlightened me to come forward with ideas about using a female victim in my opening sequence.  A female victim works well by intreging the audience and creating a close relationship between the two, as a female is portrayed as being more vulnerable than a male victim, especially is the female is young. Furthermore in this film 'scream' low key lighting is used throught which adds to the effect of an isolated setting, which is shown through the patio doors; showing a dark sky with surrounding trees and forest. This is shown also shown through the use of a panning shot.


My film had the title of 'Obscurity' which was chosen as a group. The opening sequence starts with a black background and our production name written in a bright white writing. This clearly indicates to the audience that it is portraying good v bad, connecting to a conventional thriller narrative. Furthermore, the opening sequence then blurs threw to the next scene, showing fire burning, through the use of a close up shot. This close up shot means the audience and hear the sound of the crackling fire and bright orange flames burning in the face of the viewer/audience, also pot raying low-key lighting. Over the top of this picture/scene the first credit is shown to the audience, this states the first actor, although Is shown by the font being jagged, and the use of the colour; red. Red is a conventional colour linked to thriller films, which is why I and my group chose to use this in our opening sequence, as it adds to the suspense and helps lay information to the audience about what this thriller may involve. This font is used the whole way through the opening sequence. Moreover, a generic convention which is portrayed to the audience clearly is a hidden identity. Hidden identities are used frequently in thriller films, as they cover the true antagonist, which is why I chose to use this, the antagonist in my opening sequence is hidden the whole way through, leaving the audience wanting more and on the edge of their seats when it ends, helping the thriller become more exciting and intriguing. Furthermore, from research from the thriller 'Scream', I chose to include an isolated setting for most of the way through. The isolated setting used in my thriller opening sequence is a forest and enclosed area. This helps put the audience in the victims shoes feeling isolated and scared. Conventions are usually seen to only be things you can see on screen, but uses of cinematography such as close up shots and zooming in are frequently used in thriller films. Zooming in helps show the emotion on a victims face and there facial expression or may even to be zoom into an important item, for example a weapon. Close up shots were chosen to be used in my thriller. A close up allows the audience to see something important or intricate detail, the purpose for a close up in my opening sequence is to show the antagonists hidden identity; mask.

A female victim is also used within my opening sequence to show the innocence of the female, and create a sense that the audience will feel sorry for her walking through a alley on her own, also pot raying an isolated setting.As well as burning of pictures of young boys and girls, being burnt by the antagonist. Furthermore, a non-diagetic sound was also used in my opening sequence; rustling of leaves. This is conventional to a thriller as muffled sounds attract the audiences attention more and let them see what the noise is being made by. Lastly, a conventional sound track was played after the opening of the film. A voice slowly singing plays over the opening sequence, adding to the effects of what is being taken place on screen. For example when the picture of a young girl is being burnt shown through a close up and a creepy woman singing brings the effect that you should be scared of what is approaching the screen next. Generic conventions are very important to include in a thriller film as without them the audience would be intrigued and scared by what they see, conventions is what makes a thriller film, and is very important to use them not just in the opening sequence, but throughout the whole film.