Evaluation - Meg

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

There are many typical conventions of thriller films. 
     -Suspense
     -Mystery
     -Threat
     -Enigma
     -Protagonist
     -Antagonist

It is key to include these thriller conventions so that it conforms to the genre. We tried recreating these in our piece so that we were fitting to the genre. The first two minutes of a thriller film should make the spectator want to watch more and spark enigma for them to try and find out what is going on. This is true for a lot of films, especially for 44 Inch Chest  where we can see something has happened, but we don't know what and we want to find out more. This makes the thriller genre very unique because we rely on the mystery to keep us on the edge of our seats, and that's what we wanted to create in our sequence. 

However, in our opening, the antagonist and protagonist isn't clear, because we have two separate characters. The audience would have sympathy for the woman who is distraught after losing a photo, even though we know very little about her or the situation. We don't learn much about the man on the cliff, but it would appear that he has the photo and maybe takes the role of the antagonist, although we wouldn't find out in the first two minutes.

This is our opening shot, and we thought it was effective because the flowers don't just conceal her identity from the audience, but they show they type of person she is. This was shot through a mirror, so it was like her point of view but the flowers are cleverly blocking her face. This uses mystery and enigma (typical thriller conventions) and also uses restricted narration so the audience have no idea who she is yet.  We used natural lighting to make everything seem normal and natural for the woman. This is typical for a thriller because the mystery that is created sparks enigma and makes the spectator want to see who it is.

This shot was interesting because it was taken from a tracking shot of the character walking down the stairs and through to the next room. We got our inspiration from the thriller film 44 Inch Chest  Trailer link because also in that film, they use a wall to block part of the scene, and make it restricted narration so we don't just have the woman walking into the room and moving on. This also gave the impression that someone is hiding behind the wall from the woman and watching here, which kind of goes with our theme. This also conforms to the thriller genre because the blocking shows us that we don't get to see everything and that there is more to the story than what we see, all though using restricted narration.

We now see the character in full long shot and learn more about her, the way she dresses etc.. We watch her puffing out pillows and correcting her already perfect front room. This was inspired by Desperate Housewife's character Bree Van De Kamp who is the perfect housewife with the perfect house where not one thing can be out of place. The significance of the scene was to show what type of woman our character is, and this is key because our sequence uses no dialogue and relies on the visual elements to portray the character to the audience. We also see the immaculate lay out of the room and the expensive ornaments in the background behind her. This makes her seem like the protagonist of the film opening just from the way her life seems around her.

This close up shot reinforces the idea of the woman who needs everything in-line and perfect. Because of the way the woman's hands are situated in the frame, the shot looks canted, although it isn't. The roses on the coasters link back to the first shot which shows red flowers, and so we are learning more about the character and what she likes and what type of person she is. This is also part of a match on action, because the shot before, we see her walking over and reaching out for the coasters. This keeps continuity and keeps up the pace of the action so it's not dull and boring. This is our own video we made to describe match on action!

In this shot, we again used mirrors to show the significance of the prop in the scene. At this point, the fairy is spinning and makes a noise which we used in our piece. This was very significant because when the character notices the missing picture, the fairy box stops playing music, and the link between the two are important because it shows that something has gone wrong. We used a different sound track over the top so that it sounded more creepy, and we got it off Youtube. Because of the eerie feel to the shot, it conformed well to the thriller genre and made us think what is going to happen and what is going to happen.

This was my favourite shot because it joined in perfectly with the next title scene. It showed our character frantically searching for the missing photo in the cupboard. We placed the camera inside and when the doors were opened, the frame was fuzzy and when the light was adjusted it made it into a really nice focus pull which we were looking to do anyway. When the doors close and the whole screen is black, the title sequence comes up and makes everything flow. This is effective because we see that the woman is unsure of where her photo is and it could represent that he mind is blurry as to where the photo could be. This conforms to the thriller genre because we have sympathy for the woman who we believe could be the protagonist and we don't yet know what to expect.

This is taken from the middle of our title sequence. We called our film 'Snapshot' because it goes with the theme, and we found a similar film called 'One Hour Photo' (Trailer) which used an interesting technique of a flash and camera sound behind the title. We decided to incorporate this into our production using software called 'motion' on the iMac's (Apple's motion webpage) and 'Garage Band' to find the camera sound. This was really effective we decided to put the title in the top left hand corner of the shot so that doesnt conform to normal genre's and is a bit quirky, like the thriller genre. Letters appear one by one, which also conforms to the genre because evidence is found piece by piece in a slow reveal.

This shot comes after the title sequence, and shows a new character who seems very estranged. We don't see his face, which conceals mystery and makes the spectator question who he is. This is typical of the genre because we aren't given any information about the character, we only see them sitting on a dangerous cliff. We aren't even sure of the gender of the character and from the over the shoulder shot, we see the location is not the same one as before, and is potentially dangerous. Because of this, we get a sense that this may be the antagonist. This is reinforced by the binary opposition from the first sequence with the woman in her house, to this one with the other character on a cliff with what seems to be the missing photo.

This is the last shot of the character on the cliff. We chose this because he is wearing a green jumper, and his surroundings are mostly green. We then use a slow zoom so we see more of the background, while still concealing his identity, which is still creating enigma which is a typical convention of thrillers. The frame is composed so that the character is in the middle of the frame as a long shot, and we get a lot of background so the shot would seem unrestricted, though we don't see his face so we have a restricted view of him. This was done on purpose because the sequence finished with a loud bang that we found on the internet and it cuts straight to black to finish the opening. This fills us with suspense, creates mystery, adds tension and keeps the spectator at the edge of their seat which is what we want to achieve in making a thriller.

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

We never find out the names of our characters, but we can base our opinions on them and use our imagination to work out what they are like. Because there is no dialogue throughout the sequence, we have to work out the connection. We only have two characters in the whole sequence, although more characters are hinted at, with the pictures of a baby and other people. This is done through different ways (mise en scene etc.) to show age, social class and gender.

                  Female character: middle aged white woman, middle class, seemed to have suffered a loss
                                 Mysterious character: seems to be male, working class, troubled

Gender. In our sequence, we represent our female character in a positive way, making her fit her protagonist role, and expecting the audience to understand this through her clothing and setting. She fits an everyday social stereotype by being what seems to be a stay at home mother. The camera is always quite close to the character, to show her to the audience from a personal point of view. This conforms to many films where the female characters are in close contact with the camera. We chose to show the woman as the protagonist because it is often females who take the motherly role and stereotypically the males are the antagonists. The female character definitely dominates the sequence, which isn't always the case.  In thrillers and many other genre's, the females are mostly the victims, and this conforms to the genre, because the woman is in a panic over a lost treasure. 
However, the assumed male can be also seen as the protagonist because of his location and body language on the cliff, he may have suffered a loss which is driving him over the edge. This wouldn't conform to the stereotypical thriller male character, because they often are committing the crimes. He is shown as vulnerable and unsafe, which isn't stereotypical of most genre's. The male character is represented in a negative way, as we don't even see his face and he is violently ripping up a picture on a cliff edge. We used the male here to make the spectators ask questions and feel unsure about what is going on and how they are related. 

Age and social class Although we don't learn much about the female character, we can assume that she's in her 30's or maybe even older, and this bis shown through mise en scene and body language. The character holds herself in a proud manner and elegantly walks around and down the stairs, which would suggest she's middle class. She appears to take pride in her home and wants everything to be perfect. This is the exact opposite to The Disappearance of Alice Creed, which shows a house, rather than a home. The house is bare and all exits are cut off and darkened, whereas our character lives in a bright, homely house. We also see the woman putting on her pearls, which shows us that she's an older woman from a well-off background. This conforms to the stereotypical posh but lonely woman.
We can also tell a lot from the male character. He seems younger than the female because of the way he dresses and how he sits. A male character from an upper class background would stereotypically wear a suit and sit like a gentleman, not on the floor. However, because we don't know the link between the characters, we would assume that he's younger than the woman, and probably doesn't live with her. He is wearing a green hoodie, which is more stereotypical of the working class teenagers to wear. These opposites mean that there are more questions raised when watching it, what their significance is to the film and the connection between them. 

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

Films are made in three parts: Production
                                                 Distribution
                                                 Exhibition

However, this is very expensive. Films these days can be watched anywhere, on the TV, iPod's, games consoles, computers, smart phones and DVD aswell as at the cinema, so there is a lot of competition to get people to watch your film. My film is a independent film so it would be attracting a small audience, and not a mainstream one.

Advantages and Disadvantages of showing my film in the cinema

Advantages                                                          Disadvantages

-The film reaches a wider audience                    -It is very expensive

-The film gains publicity                                    -Relying on good word of mouth

-Could recieve good word of mouth                  -Lots of competion with Blockbusters etc.

-Open possibilitys for future films                     -May lose more money than you get.

I think I would put my film straight to DVD, and license it to be shown on TV. Typical distribution companys like Fox and Warner Brothers typically only back High Concept movies, so my film would not fit their catorgory. I would sign up with Film Four, because they show a lot of independant films, and put them to DVD, which is what I am planning to do. An example of this is Dead Man's Shoes, which is another thriller that gained popularity through Film Four.

If I was to consider putting my film on at the cinema, I would have to take into consideration to costs. There are 2860 cinema screens in the UK, and if I wanted to reach a wide audience I would have to show my film at atleast 900 screens. A reel of film costs about £1800, so it would cost me a total of £1620000.

Even then, we'd be relying on postitive word of mouth and extensive advertising, which would not fit our budget. Mainstream audiences would not be used to niche films, and so it probably wouldn't recieve good word of mouth. Because of this, I decided to skip the cinema step and go straight to DVD.

This could also be a problem, and mean people wouldn't hear about the film and probably wouldn't pick it up if they saw it in their local DVD shop. So I then decided, I would sell it to Netflix, Amazon and Lovefilm. This would mean that people who have signed up on their games consoles, TV's and internet could watch my film online, even if they had never heard of it because it would be on the site under the genre and title. 

This site would allow my audience to watch it for a fixed fee every month, and once it has been seen, people will find out about it and hopefully buy the DVD. I am hoping that this will create a circle, and without the use and expense of cinema I will get my film out for the audience to see.

 

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

Classification:Our media product would be aimed at a 12A audience, because our thriller is based on mystery and deciet, which wouldn't really include gore and horror. Because of the character types, i also don't think there would be much swearing or rude language used throughout it, especially as there is no dialogue in the first two minutes. I used The BBFC Website to find the approriate classification.

Target Audience: I would say the appropriate target audience for our film would be 18-35 year old males and females, because it doesn't include typical stereotypes and would therefore appeal to both genders. I asked my family for feedback and these are the results that I got back:

Outcome: I found out that the younger audience I showed the opening to, the less likely they were to want to go and see the film. I then showed it to an older audience and they seemed more keen on watching a film of the thriller genre and they'd want to watch more of it.

I also asked my family what other thrillers they were interested in...

The Usual Suspects- This film came out in the year I was born, which probably had something to do with the fact it was enjoyed by two older people in the group I asked.

Taken - Was a clear favourite from almost all members of the group, male and female, young and old. This was probably because the film came out recently and even though it's sometimes not easy to follow, it can be watched as a family which was what I found in my research.

The Bone Collector- Was also seen as one of the favourite thrillers, however it didn't seem popular among all of the group because some had never even heard of it.  

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

   -Because our character is like Bree Van De Kamp, we think our sequence would target the same audience of people who watch Desperate Housewives. People who watch Desperate Housewives like a mystery and a thriller, so they'd be perfect for our film.

The same character traits would mean a relation between the two and make the audience be able to relate to what they already know after watching Desperate Houseweives.

   - People who watch other thriller films such as Taken would probably find our film interesting because they would like the genre and be intreged by the missing photo.
   
   -I think middle class women like the character would be able to relate to the character and therefore want to watch the film. When you can relate to somebody, it makes your more inclined to watch the film.

    -This could also be true for people who have also suffered a loss and can relate to how they must be feeling, People watch films as a form of escapism, so they could find some comfort in watching a film about similar curcumstances.

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

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

Our Prelimanary task

I feel as though we have achieved a lot more in our full product compared to our preliminary task. We had a better HD camera for the full product, so even that made it feel more proffessional.

In our prelim, we didn't focus on sound editing, so we only used the sound that had been recorded while filming. This was something we wanted to change when doing our full product.

We used garage band, youtube and random clips off the internet to make the sounds better, clearer and louder, but still realistic so the action flowed with the deigetic and non deigetic sound.

However, this wasn't our biggest problem. When recording our prelim, we had to re-shoot on a number of occasions. This was because we kept moving the mise en scene around and it wasn't in the right place on all takes. We corrected this though so that it looked clear and as though it was filmed all at once. We couldn't change to different shots because they were all different, so our only option was to shoot again. 

After sorting that out, we realised that on a number of clips we hadn't set the White Balance, and that some of the shots were off colour and looked un-natural. We didn't have this problem when shooting the full product because we were using an HD camera, which does it automatically, although we did check everytime when did a different shot. We had to change this because it didn't look proffesional and made the shot really stand out when it didn't need to.
























When watching through our footage, we realised we had broken the 180 Degree Rule, which was the main thing that we were being marked on. We thought we'd have to go and film for the third time, but we asked the technitions in the editing suite and they showed us that we could put an effect on it so that the characters swap over places. We made this mistake during a conversation between the protagonist and the antagonist, so we thought we were going to have to do the whole scene again. 

The flop effect

However, it wasn't all bad, and because of the preliminary task, we learnt a lot more about the macs and filming and creating a sequence so that we could make a better final product. We played around and found out about continuity editing, and decided we wanted to use match on action in both of our sequences to build pace and make it more interesting. The match on action worked because it kept the spectator in full flow of the action and made it more proffesional to watch. We did this in the first sequence we done on our prelim by showing the police detective opening the door, and because this really worked, we used it again in the full product with the woman straightening the place mats, opening the door and the photo album etc. Our representation of match on action

We used better effects in our final product, for example, the focus pull when the character opens the cupboard door shows the distortion of the scene and how she feels inside, which represents her foggy thoughts and that she's worried about what is happening. This goes well with the frantic search because the distortion takes a few seconds to get into focus and shows that she's trying to find the photo when she's not clear minded.

We also added a title onto this full product because it was the opening to a thriller. In our last product, we didn't want to put a title because we had less time and it was more of a short story in the prelim. Adding a title made it more official and proffessional, which is what we wanted to achieve. The title was very thought through aswell which went well with our sequence. At first we were going to call it 'The girl with no end' But we decided it was too long and we wanted a quick name so it would go with the flash and sound effect that we were putting on the title. Thats why we chose the word 'Snapshot'