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

EVALUATION QUESTION SEVEN

Evaluation task 6 "What have you learned about about technologies from the process of constructing this product?"

In this task we as a production group looked at the technology we used in our thriller.

Bellow is the video we have annotated showing the technology we used during the production and post production of our thriller.

I made a list of all the annotations we needed to add with the help of Georgia, writing out all of the technical information we would need to put into the video. I then gave Georgia my page of notes and she proceeded to put them up onto the video.



 

Evaluation task 5 "How did you attract/address your audience?"

EVALUATION QUESTION 5

Q: What pleasures can your audience take from the opening sequence?

A: My opening sequence is inspiring for the audience, particularly females, as the strong female lead in my media product is portrayed in a way that makes her seem as though she doesn’t even have to try, to be able to beat him up. Also, she is obviously quite high up in her job to be trusted with these important files, and it is evident in her suit that she is well respected and professional. This is inspiring for the audience as they wish to be like her and have her strength and respect. It also means people are able to relate to her due to her being an employed female. Also, she is a very attractive girl meaning the audience will be drawn to her and this will please them. Furthermore, the male character is obviously the antagonist of the media product, so when the female lead beats him up and walks away unharmed, this will bring pleasure to the audience because they were firstly introduced to her and have watched her up to the moment when she is attacked, meaning they will be on her side and wish for her to win the fight.

Q: What were the key conventions that you used or challenged which appeal to the target audience?

A: In my media product I challenged the usual stereotype of women being perceived as weak and fragile, and made the lead female within my media product appear strong and self-sufficient, not relying on a man to save her but simply saving herself. This appeals to my target audience of males and females between 15 and 25 because the female in my thriller is within this age range meaning she will be an inspiring character for females of a similar age and it means people are able to relate to her and will identify with the character. Also, both men and women will find it interesting that a female character is being portrayed in such a controversial, untypical way.

Q: How have you attracted your audience through the use of genre?

A: The genre of my media product is a thriller and I feel as though it has many of the typical conventions a thriller usually contains, such as tension, distress for the audience, and an action filled event. I attracted my audience through the use of this genre in the sense that thrillers in particular have the ability to take the audience out of their everyday lives and gives them a sense of escape when watching the movie. My media product aims to distress the audience when watching it as I want them to be anxious for what the outcome will eventually be, so for a few minutes they are able to forget about their everyday problems and focus on something completely different, benefiting them.

Q: How have you attracted your audience through the use of setting?

A: My media product was set in a car park. This attracts the audience in the sense that it is relatable, the audience will recognize the area and it portrays the idea that this sort of attack could happen anywhere and it also allows for the audience to relate to the female lead even more, because they recognize the area that she is in, and have been to an area similar to that themselves. Furthermore, this familiar setting allows for the main focus of the audience’s attention to be on the characters and their scene together.

Q: How have you attracted your audience through the use of narrative?

A: I have attracted my audience through the use of narrative by challenging some typical stereotypes that are so often used in films. These being gender stereotypes, rather than the man being the typical strong, powerful, authoritative hero throughout the whole sequence, the female instead is the one in control of the fight scene and the situation entirely. Also, the overall movie storyline is very interesting, it is the idea of watching the girl grow up and be trained into the incredible fighter that she is and watching her intelligence grow. This is interesting for the audience as usually fighting is associated with older men, however we are using a young woman within our thriller, which is again breaking that barrier of gender stereotypes and allowing for females to do something men would ‘typically’ do.

Q: How have you attracted your audience through media representation?

A: I feel as though my media product appeals to different social groups such as gender in particular, but also class and status. It appeals to gender through the use of the switch in the usual role of men and women, this makes it interesting for the audience and means they will be enticed by this female character doing a typically ‘masculine’ thing like fighting, while the man does the typically ‘feminine’ thing of getting hurt and being unable to help himself. Also, with class and status, the audience will be able to relate to the lead female character as she is particularly well-kept, wearing a suit but also has a necklace on to display that she is able to express herself even when looking professional. Also, the audience will, unconsciously, feel almost pressured to relate to this character because the male attacker is considered so vile they wont want to relate to him, they will not want to have anything to do with him.

Q: How have you attracted your audience through the use of music and titles?

A: My media product from the beginning is full of music and titles. This long beginning allows for the audience to take note of the names that appear, while still being fascinated by the background we created and, when put with the music it creates an almost disorientating feel for the audience. This is good as it means the audience will already be prepared and in the mood for the thriller. Also, the titles are easy to read and long enough for you to be able to read them quickly three times, so that both slow readers and fast readers are able to take in the information they are receiving, it also helps that the titles are very clear, despite the busy background. I also am happy with how the title of the film appears after a break of Ollie’s arm, I feel as though this quick change from the dramatic and quick, to the slow pace and black screen with white writing contrasts really well and allows for the audience to process what has happened. It also means that the audience will be taking notice of the title as it comes up, due to the concentration they will have had on the previous shot.

Q: How have you attracted your audience through the use of star names?

A: I found that when writing the cast’s names, the director’s name etc. that the audience would find this entertaining due to the background I created of the very abstract street with plenty of cars and traffic passing through. I also added in some techno music just to keep the audience enticed in the product before delving into the actual thriller sequence. My thriller did not involve any institutional logos as I did not wish for the audience to be put off by any particular institution they did not approve of for whatever reasons, and I want my audience to be as large as it possibly can.

Q: How have you attracted your audience through the use of editing/filming style?

A: Throughout the product we explored many different experimental shots to make it interesting and intriguing for the audience, these included one shot where the camera was on the inside of the door as Grace opened it, there were shots taken of the feet on the ground throughout the media product. There was also a particular shot which to do I had to focus pool, this is because the shot began with Grace walking away, and then Ollie came in with his knife as he flicked it open and at this point I had to adjust the focus to be on Ollie’s hand and the knife. Furthermore, during the fight scene the shots are very, very quick. I did this to keep the audience on edge and make the scene seem much more violent. I feel as though this quick editing was definitely successful at making the audience intrigued, as it means they do not wish to look away in fear of missing something important. I also think the quick contrast between the dramatic fight scene and the pause of the title sequence allows for the audience to process what has happened and also pick up on the title of the movie.

Evaluation task 4 "Who would be the audience for your media product?"

From the information displayed above that I collected about my media product I have come to the conclusion that the age range is between 15 and 25. I also realised that both males and females seem equally interested in my media product and so I would say this means my media product appeals to both men and women between the ages of 15 and 25. I came to this conclusion through looking at the table and the information  I gathered and seeing that the 24 year old female was interested in my media product, however the 30 year old female was not. This helped my come to the conclusion that 25 was my limit, as then when asking the 23 year old male, he said the media product sounded a bit boring. Also, the 15 year old was very interested, as were the people of ages 16,18 and 19.

From the information I collected I then created a Facebook profile of the type of person who would be interested in my media product.

Evaluation task 3 "What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?"

EVALUATION QUESTION THREE

Distribution is For my media product, I think a good institution to distribute it would be 20^th Century Fox UK. 

I came to this conclusion after a lot of researching into different film companies and institutions and when looking into 20^th Century Fox UK I found that they produced many films that are similar to the entire film storyline I had made. The entire storyline is about how the lead female grew up to be the talented fighter and have the intelligence that she does. I feel as though 20^th Century Fox UK would be good for this as they have produced films such as X-men which is a particularly action based film and has lots of fight scenes as well as telling a story about the characters involved. 

The target audience for 20^th Century Fox UK, is I would say 15 and above, which I think suits my thriller well and matches the target audience I am aiming for within my opening sequence. I also looked at the films that are most successful, finding that the were films such as Avatar, grossing at a total of $746,766,139, Star Wars Episode I, with a total gross of $431,088,295. After researching all of this I came to the conclusion that 20^th Century Fox UK would be the institution I would choose to distribute my media product, as it is evident from films made in the past that this institution would cause my media product to be successful.

 If I were to choose a different institution to distribute my media product, I would choose Miramax as this film company make many films starring female lead characters, these include Kill Bill and Pulp

Fiction, both these films display the females to be strong, independent characters. This suits my media product as the thriller I created is starring a particularly strong and independent female lead, similar to the female roles in Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction. I also feel as though the target audience is similar to that of my thriller, and to that of 20th century Fox UK. Furthermore, when researching the most successful movies produced by Miramar, I found that the list included movies like, There Will Be Blood, for which the budget was $25 million. 

I feel as though Miramax would be a good institution to make my film due to it being successful and I wouldn't have to worry about the product being unsuccessful due to the very successful past of the films Miramax has made previously. 

If I were to use an institution to distribute my thriller to, based on the opening sequence only, rather than the entire film, I would choose something like Hammer. I would choose Hammer because this production company focuses on films that are thriller/horror based and tends to distribute and produce more indie films, in contrast to 20th Century Fox UK and Miramax, which produce much larger, more expensive films. I feel as though Hammer would suit my media product well as it is a thriller, which Hammer have done may of in the past, including Murder By Proxy, Bad Blonde and Dracula. These films were all quite successful with relatively small budgets, which would suit my media product well, as it would be an independent movie, meaning Hammer would be used to dealing with and distributing this type of movie, as well as it being a thriller which they are also used to dealing with.

Evaluation task 2 "How does your media product represent particular social groups?"

EVALUATION QUESTION TWO

This evaluation question will be looking at how my media product represents particular social groups through the four technical areas that are; mise-en-scene, camera, editing and sound. I will first be focusing on gender.

Firstly, from the very inaugural of my media product, or the opening sequence to my thriller, the mise-en-scene portrays the female character as self-sufficient and strong. This is due to her wearing a suit, which are primarily and typically worn by men, breaking the stereotype of women wearing dresses and being exceedingly womanly. From the very beginning shot the character is portrayed as a countertype of the typical female that is portrayed in the media, due to her costume but also how she grabs these particularly important, almost confidential looking files, meaning the power she has within the workplace is projected on screen. However, she then begins to put on lip gloss which, it could be argued, is a typical thing for a woman to do, it is very stereotypically feminine. Furthermore, her hair is curled and it is evident she has spent time doing it, which again is a common stereotype for women to care for their appearance. 

Despite this, I feel as though the character displays how women can be feminine and enjoy things like makeup and hair, yet still be strong and self-sufficient, it displays how women don’t have to be tough or butch to be strong willed, it is breaking the typical belief in the media that women are either excessively feminine and ‘girly’ or excessively butch and almost masculine. The character is somewhere in between, disrupting the idea of women having to be one or the other. Also, a sense of authority is depicted when the male comes into shot as he is dressed in a rough leather jacket, jeans and boots, yet the strong female wears a suit and heels. This gives the impression that the female has more money, and possibly more power and it becomes more apparent as the clip continues that the female also has more control of the entire situation, displaying authority and a sense of pre-eminence. Additionally, the fact that the woman is able to beat up a man displays yet more authority and

            Secondly, the camera shots, angles and movement also play a part in how the characters are portrayed. Throughout the shots of the female character on her own, she is always level with the camera to display a sort of level with the audience. This then alters as the woman gets out of the car and the shot of her shoes is displayed as the audience are then level with her feet, displaying her power and watching her walk away entices the audience as they feel lower than her, due to them being physically lower due to the camera shots as well as the control that is depicted from her simply walking away in heels. 

            This sense of supremacy is then reinstated as the male walks into the frame. He is physically lower than her as he runs out from the car, where he has been ducking and hiding from her, demonstrating the fear he feels and again makes the audience question who has the power at this moment due to it usually being the men that have power, but yet again the female character breaks those boundaries and stereotypes which is reflected in the camera angles. Furthermore, there is a shot where the female has just escaped the grip of the attacker, and is observing him get up and turn round ready to try again, and at this point the sun is on her back and she looks predominantly heroic and powerful. The shots of the fight scene are rapid and short to exaggerate the violence of this scene, and the fact that most of the shots focus on the woman display how she is predominantly the one in control, which yet again breaks the stereotype of women being fragile and helpless.

            Thirdly, the sound of the sequence is important and how it alters throughout depicts the characters and the authority they have within this scene. In the beginning the sound is not very prominent and is rather quiet to show how the female by herself is rather relaxed and at this point there is not a lot of tension being built. As she gets out the car, the slam of the door is a rather stressful sound and means the audience then become prepared for something to happen, after getting out the car is when the sequence becomes exciting and to build suspense the sound of the flick of the knife is used and makes the audience feel uncomfortable and stressed when it comes to the safety of the female character. This distress is then reinstated as the attacker runs up behind the woman the sound of his footsteps becomes louder and as he grabs her from behind the slap of the files on the gravel is loud and made evident through the shot of it falling, this distresses the audience and gets them prepared for a fight scene. Throughout the fight scene the sounds are quick and there is a mixture of noises of feet shuffling, jackets being rubbed and pulled and the sound of the knife swinging is exaggerated to put the audience on edge and build suspense.

               Lastly, the editing of the fight scene in particular is incredibly quick to show how fast the fighting is and how the female still has the ability to keep up and is able to avoid everything the attacker has. Also, at the very end of the sequence, the fight scene is paused to show the title and after the title leaves, the woman is shown standing up from beside the body of the attacker, who is presumably dead, and tapping his face with her black heels. She then walks towards the camera, where the files lie as she bends her knees to pick them up delicately and walk away. This ending shot displays her as being enormously powerful and the fact that the man is lying there and she hasn’t got a scratch on her. Also, the black screen with the title gives the impression that they continued to fight, but that showing that on screen is unnecessary as she was able to beat him easily and it suggests it was almost boring for her.
            I am also looking at the way in which my media product represents class and status within it. To begin with, the female lead is dressed in a black blazer, white shirt and black trousers, along with a pair of black heels. This portrays an idea of the female being high class, and the fact she is in a suit implies a sort of authority, or status. This idea of high class and authority is then reinstated for the audience when the attacker appears on screen wearing a leather jacket, dark jeans, boots and a white t shirt. The contrast between the lead female's clothing and his rather rough clothing is evident and displays the difference in job the two may have. Furthermore, the overall look of the attacker is a lot rougher in comparison to the well-kept lead female. It is obvious the lead female looks after herself and cares for her appearance however this is not evident at all for the attacker, meaning the audience could unintentionally assume she is of a higher class.
          Some of the shots of the female lead are taken from below. This low angle makes her automatically look of a high status and perhaps even heroic in some circumstances, for example in this shot:

Grace looks particularly heroic and the camera angle makes her look to have power and authority, the sun behind her also helps to add to this idea of her being of a high class and status.

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

My presentation for evaluation task 1

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

editing reflection/write up

Editing

After having shot our thriller, we then realised it was time to edit the footage we had shot. Editing is a way of grouping together multiple clips in chronological order, in order for the thriller to make sense and convey a certain story. I began editing my thriller on the 9^th February and have been working with the footage ever since.

Before beginning work on my thriller I figured a good way of getting to grips with the process would be to recap how it all works before sitting down and attempting to get to work having forgotten how everything worked. To do this I looked back in my blog for any information I may have written about editing, I also watched YouTube videos to see how to work Adobe Premiere Pro, and doing this really helped me get to grips with the programme and enabled me to get stuck in straight away when it came to the very first editing lesso

This is an example of Adobe Premiere Pro

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We began by deciding which clips we should use and when it came to making these decisions our group worked tremendously well together and we always seemed to agree on the same clips which made the whole process much quicker and simpler. When it came to putting these clips together another person in my group and I had the same idea of the sort of thriller we were looking for however someone else had a different interpretation of what it was going to be like. This was not an issue, we all compromised as a group and came to a decision, this took time but it was worth it as the discussion left everybody feeling pleased. When it came to editing I did a lot of the work and I was happy to, I feel as though the work was spread evenly between me and another person in my group due to the other not feeling too comfortable with the technology. This also was not a problem as I was happy to edit it and I enjoyed the entire process, every aspect of it. It also meant I was able to learn a lot more about Adobe Premiere Pro and I now feel I am a lot more comfortable with the programme.  
                                                                                                                         

          We dragged down all the clips we were happy with onto the timeline at the bottom, and as we used more and more these clips became less and less, hence why there are only seven clips shown on the timeline at this point.

As a group we tended to work with each other a lot more because we value each other’s opinion and want everyone in the group to be pleased with the outcome. To do this we would edit the thriller altogether so that we could all decide on what we think looks best and works best. I found that I suggested a lot of the ideas as to where certain clips should go and which rushes we should get rid of as they were of no use to us. I feel this decision making was really helpful and made the whole process of editing go quicker and it was easier for us to establish what we were doing. I also found that I was quite picky when it came to cuts between shots and the sound that changed ever so slightly,  and I wanted them all to be smooth and run together neatly when it comes to the audio. To do this we layered a cross-fade over the top, we used Constant Gain and this just helped to make the whole thriller run smoother and neater. Furthermore, we added a moving background picture of a street with lots of cars, we then edited this to make it look very abstract. We also muted the colours to make it difficult for the audience to know what it was. This was used to make the audience disorientated before the thriller begins and it helps with the overall mysterious feel to the thriller sequence.

We had a few issues with sound as some of the audio we lost which we are still unsure as to how, but we were able to match the clip with the sound from the original, unedited clip and were able to copy it back in and get the sound back which was really useful and very effective when it came to learning and expanding our knowledge on editing within media. After sorting out the sound for each of the clips, we then researched for music that would fit with the feel of our thriller and when we found some we ensured that it was not copyright so we were able to use it, and then put it into our thriller over the title sequence and at the end of the sequence as Grace walks towards the camera and the sequence ends.

shoot day reflection*****

Shooting Our Thriller

Last Thursday we went out and shot our thriller. We began by going through our opening sequence again with Matt to make sure he had a clear idea of what was going on. As we did this, our actress and actor were preparing themselves elsewhere and we had already prepped them on what they would be doing in this thriller. While talking with Matt we came up with the idea to replace the gun with the knife as we agreed this would make the scene much more interesting as a knife has a lot more versatility. As the first 30 seconds or so revolve around the woman herself, we decided to shoot the parts of Grace, the main character, in her car. She was doing normal things like undoing her seatbelt, puling the handbrake. She then picked up the files and looked at them before getting out the car. We also decided to add in the woman putting lipstick on in the rear view mirror. We did this in an attempt to make her seem more feminine and for the audience to not really think anything of her, other than her being a normal business woman. This is for the audience to establish an idea of the character being relatively weak and almost frail, this is so that when the fight occurs, the typical roles of a man and a woman are reversed so that Grace is the one with all the power in the situation, and Ollie is left powerless, this results in the audience being shocked. After gaining all the shots we wanted of Grace involving the car, we began to shoot Ollie. We started with a shot of his hand pulling out the knife, as you can see Grace walking away in the background. For this shot I tried a focus pool by beginning the focus of the camera on Grace and then swiftly changing it to Ollie and the knife as he stepped into the frame. 

We then shot Ollie coming out from behind a car and following behind Grace. He ran up behind her and put the knife to her throat, at this point the two begin to fight. At first I was anxious to film this area of the thriller as I knew filming a fight scene, when the two aren’t actually fighting, can be very difficult. However, Matt told us exactly what we had to do and made it easy for us to know how to film this sort of scene. Matt told us that by putting the shutter up to 425 it makes the fighting seem a lot more aggressive, harsher and more brutal. This was helpful as of course, the actors weren’t actually hitting each other, and putting the shutter up made it look as if they were. fight scene we put the shutter up to 425 as this makes the shots seem much more aggressive and everything seem to have a quicker pace.  To shoot the fight scene we would jaunt the camera to one side as Ollie “stabbed” Grace, this was helpful in making fake stab attempts appear a lot more violent than they actually were. We then stopped filming in what seemed like the middle of a fight scene to leave some mystery within the thriller, and then filmed a shot at ground level, looking at Grace’s shoes walk towards the camera, and seeing Ollie lying in the background, presumably dead. I think this ending added a lot of mystery and made the woman seem a lot more interesting, and makes the audience want to know more. The ending also makes it seem as if there is more to the rest of the movie, which is crucial in the opening sequence to a thriller. 

Overall I am very pleased with the outcome and I think the filming day went well. I enjoyed using the camera and the different settings and trying out a focus pool was really interesting. I think the filming itself went really well and I am happy with the range of shots we got as well as the quality of those shots. If I were to do it again I would make sure I was fully prepared for the shoot rather than having to make small alterations on the day, for example changing from a gun to a knife and changing the ending to make it more interesting. However of course I realize these things will always happen as you get a better understanding of the sequence when actually filming it in comparison to when you are planning it. Despite the not completely thorough planning, I think the filming went well and I hope when I come to edit it I will be happy with the footage we have.

This photo shows Georgia on the camera and I am in control of the sound at this point, which was another thing I learnt while shooting.

behind the scenes reflection

Shooting Our Thriller

Yesterday we went out and shot our thriller. We began by going through our opening sequence again with Matt to make sure he had a clear idea of what was going on. As we did this, our actress and actor were preparing themselves elsewhere and we had already prepped them on what they would be doing in this thriller. While talking with Matt we came up with the idea to replace the gun with the knife as we agreed this would make the scene much more interesting as a knife has a lot more versatility. As the first 30 seconds or so revolve around the woman herself, we decided to shoot the parts of Grace, the main character, in her car. She was doing normal things like undoing her seatbelt, puling the handbrake. She then picked up the files and looked at them before getting out the car. We also decided to add in the woman putting lipstick on in the rear view mirror. We did this in an attempt to make her seem more feminine and for the audience to not really think anything of her, other than her being a normal business woman. This is for the audience to establish an idea of the character being relatively weak and almost frail, this is so that when the fight occurs, the typical roles of a man and a woman are reversed so that Grace is the one with all the power in the situation, and Ollie is left powerless, this results in the audience being shocked. After gaining all the shots we wanted of Grace involving the car, we began to shoot Ollie. We started with a shot of his hand pulling out the knife, as you can see Grace walking away in the background. For this shot I tried a focus pool by beginning the focus of the camera on Grace and then swiftly changing it to Ollie and the knife as he stepped into the frame.

We then shot Ollie coming out from behind a car and following behind Grace. He ran up behind her and put the knife to her throat, at this point the two begin to fight. At first I was anxious to film this area of the thriller as I knew filming a fight scene, when the two aren’t actually fighting, can be very difficult. However, Matt told us exactly what we had to do and made it easy for us to know how to film this sort of scene. Matt told us that by putting the shutter up to 425 it makes the fighting seem a lot more aggressive, harsher and more brutal. This was helpful as of course, the actors weren’t actually hitting each other, and putting the shutter up made it look as if they were. fight scene we put the shutter up to 425 as this makes the shots seem much more aggressive and everything seem to have a quicker pace.  To shoot the fight scene we would jaunt the camera to one side as Ollie “stabbed” Grace, this was helpful in making fake stab attempts appear a lot more violent than they actually were. We then stopped filming in what seemed like the middle of a fight scene to leave some mystery within the thriller, and then filmed a shot at ground level, looking at Grace’s shoes walk towards the camera, and seeing Ollie lying in the background, presumably dead. I think this ending added a lot of mystery and made the woman seem a lot more interesting, and makes the audience want to know more. The ending also makes it seem as if there is more to the rest of the movie, which is crucial in the opening sequence to a thriller.

Overall I am very pleased with the outcome and I think the filming day went well. I enjoyed using the camera and the different settings and trying out a focus pool was really interesting. I think the filming itself went really well and I am happy with the range of shots we got as well as the quality of those shots. If I were to do it again I would make sure I was fully prepared for the shoot rather than having to make small alterations on the day, for example changing from a gun to a knife and changing the ending to make it more interesting. However of course I realize these things will always happen as you get a better understanding of the sequence when actually filming it in comparison to when you are planning it. Despite the not completely thorough planning, I think the filming went well and I hope when I come to edit it I will be happy with the footage we have.

This photo shows Georgia on the camera and I am in control of the sound at this point, which was another thing I learnt while shooting.