Final Product

Evaluation Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this media product?

Evaluation Question 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 your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The purpose of preliminary task was to introduce us on how to operate the camera and to give us an opportunity to learn how to operate the tripod effectively. We also looked at different camera angels and sizes to help us practicing our cinematography filming techniques and have the basic understanding of filming and editing. During the preliminary task, the whole group had a go at filming and editing to trial out and  then we had to nominate the best person at each role to divide up the roles to gain the best use for ourselves for the final production.
We also learnt how to use the 180 degree rule and how to put together an edit by using Final Cut Pro.
Preliminary task:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFvg0tbN6V0

Where my technical ability has improved:

- When looking back at my preliminary task, I have realized how much improvement I have made during the process of filming my thriller opening and handling the camera as well as the tripod. This is because at first, I didn’t have any techniques nor understanding of filming and editing. Due to this reason, I found it difficult to hold the camera steadily and operate the tripod as well as combining the use of it with the camera. 

- As a camera operator of the group, one of the good things I was able to do was filming on action (opening the door). This has improved in my thriller production because my framing of characters and their actions was a lot better and I learnt how to reframe and wire shots on final cut pro.

- Another good thing I was able to do was filming a close up shot at the same time making a reaction shot out of it (opening eyes).  I did this by making sure the eye was the centre of focus and taking various shots of this and choosing the best one that I believed had the most impact on my audience.

- As the prime editor of the group, one of the good things I was able to do was fast pace editing which created an exciting atmosphere for the audience as well as building up tension and rising up their level of fear. I did this to push my target audience to the edge of their seats whilst witnessing the actions on a faster paced. What was good about this was that I learnt how to cut down shots and trim them to get the best footage available.

- Another good thing I was able to do was creating a soundtrack/sound effects on GarageBand to match up with the footage at the right moments to empathise the actions within the scene which created fear and terror for the audience. I did this to panic the audience as well as breaking their expectations which they were not anticipating to see something so sudden. This was good because I learnt how create an original soundtrack/sound effects to build an intense atmosphere. This is something I didn’t use for my preliminary; I just kept the background noise and dialogue.

Compare 3 images of preliminary to final product:

The first image from the left shows the framing of the character from high angle and middle shot where the character has not been fully focused and highlighted carefully whereas on the right, the angle has been improved as well as the size of the shot to shows that the character has been focused more effectively and to show his facial expressions without empty spaces.

 

 The first image from the left shows the framing of the two characters walking from the used of long shot where there are a lot of background spaces which wasn't needed. On the other hand, the image on the right has been taken from a lower angle and the size has been increased which highlighted the relationship between the two character and is easier for the audience to understand what is going on.

In this image on the left, it shows the two character walking from the back. Again, there are a lot of spaces which wasn't needed and looked casual as if the two character just going for a walk. However, on the second image on the right, the size has been increased and the used of low-key lighting is added. There is no empty spaces which focused more on the character and is easier for the audience to notice the bad intentions coming from this him.

Youtube/soundcloud:  From my preliminary task, we realised as a group that planning became essential in terms of ensuring that we were following all conventions by shooting well and that our editing would be at its best. To help us do this we created a story board, we planned our roles as a group and we also created pre-production paper work where everybody had a copy of, to ensure that everyone knew what was expected of them. All this further planning meant that I have progressed from my preliminary task to my final product.

Timeline:

Personal Reflection:

Overall, I believed that our group has made a successful thriller due to the fact that my thriller does follow the thriller conventions due to the traditional, yet exciting use of the narrative which is conventional to the emotions of the audience that a thriller film tends to create.

During the whole process, I enjoyed filming and editing the most. This is because I found filming very interesting as it has helped me to gain a better perception of how to use the camera fluently and film effectively using various angles and movements. Editing was very enjoyable as I was introduced to it and I have gained a wide range of knowledge on how to use Final Cut Pro & GarageBand confidently. From this, I have learnt to choose the right scenes, trim/cut scenes, create a soundtrack, pick and put the best shots together to make an effective narrative within my thriller.

Things that could have been improved within my thriller was the lighting. This was stated by the feedback I collected from my target audience that it was a little too dark and they couldn’t see some of the scenes clearly. Another thing that could have been improved was the camera angles as the antagonist should be filmed in more low angle shots to make him look more powerful and create more fear for the audience.

In addition, as the role of the co-director I have learnt how to delegate roles to each person within my groups and organise each scenes to make the filming and editing process controlled. The main and most important thing I’ve learnt throughout the whole process is gaining a high level of understanding of thriller conventions. This has allowed me to understand it’s unique and traditional use in of the media industry in order to make the audience feel in a particular way.

Evaluation Question 5 - How did you attract/address your target audience?

How did you attract/address your target audience?

Whilst carrying out a range of secondary research on thrillers and audiences, I had to find another source of research which would allow my group to target our audiences and try and meet their expectations within the thriller genre. In order to do this, we created a questionnaire as we thought it was the most effective way of getting quick, reliable and consistent feedback.

From my secondary research, I believe the target audience of thriller films is within the age group of 15-40 and they are suitable for both genders. Ethnicity wise, thrillers tend to portray a diverse culture and is obtainable for peace of all occupations.  Also, thrillers target people who love to socialise, go out or thriller seekers and those who are interested in a horror genre too.

Creating a questionnaire was very beneficial as it was easy to record, helped me to collect honest and reliable results from our target audience. Also, it has helped us to save a lot of time as we were focusing on asking questions directly to our specific target audience which helped us to gather quick feedback that was relevant.

The most important question I asked was ‘’what appeals to you the most in a thriller film?’’. This question was important as it allowed me to get a vision of what appeals the most to my audience. This then allowed me to plan how I would adapt this convention into my thriller. In advance, by asking my target audience this specific question has allowed me to received direct and honest answers on what I should use to appeal to my audience.

Another question I asked was ‘’what frightens you the most whilst watching a thriller film?’’. This question was important as it allowed me to identify what frighten the audience the most and has helped me to adapt more of these conventions into my thriller. In addition, by asking my target audience this specific question, this given me more ideas to include into my thriller to create more fright and horror from the narrative.

After my production had been made, I created a focus group of people who are my target audience to have a look at my thriller. I asked 20 people from the age of 16+ because they are my target audience and I needed to collect their feedbacks after watching my thriller.

These are some of the feedback I’ve collected from my focus group:

Shakira (Female, 18): ‘I really like the concept of this film. It was so engaging and interesting’. This made me feel proud as this person has enjoyed my thriller film and shows that I have attracted them as well as meeting their expectations in thrillers.

Jack (Male, 19): ‘Wicked, I loved it! The camera work was brilliant’. This made me feel really proud as another person enjoyed our production as well as our camera techniques and movements. This shows that we’ve done a good job meeting their expectations and make our thriller look decent.

Peter (Male, 17):’It’s a bit confusing, the antagonist was too mysterious’. This helps me to realise the faults within my narrative and is very useful as it allows us to know what we should do better for our next production and our character representation.

Mia (Female, 18): ‘The female character dies too quick and too simple’. This has helped me to realise that I should do more work with the attacking as well as camera work. Based from this, I will work harder to makes the attacking more interesting and engaging for the audience.

Evaluation Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Evaluation question 3 - Ken Nguyen from KenNguyen97

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

 

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

The task

We were given a task to produce a conventional two minute original thriller opening scene. First of all, we had to carry out research on the micro-elements used in the thriller genre and what was the conventional of them. Once we understood this, we were put into small groups of four where each member had a different specialism and skill. Based on the research, we were then asked to explore the ideas of the potential thriller opening. Within our groups, we had to create our own thriller narrative based on a conventional narrative structure and we agreed to use Aristotle and Barthes. During the making of our storyboard, we learnt how to use the camera to film effectively and how to capture cinematography skilfully. Once the filming was done, we were given an opportunity to experiment Final Cut Pro and Garage Band which introduced us to techniques of editing and how to create soundtracks which will benefit us for our thriller production.

Does my thriller follow thriller conventions?

I believe that my thriller does follow the thriller conventions due to the traditional, yet exciting use of the narrative which is conventional to the emotions of the audience a thriller film tends to create. Through editing, we have made the opening more exciting by showing quick flash back & confusing moving images of  such as the antagonist in close-up shot and showing his obssessions towards the victim which creates different connotations towards the audience of what they see.

 

Another convention within my thriller is the use of low-key lighting to create an edgy atmosphere. This is used mostly inside the house when the victim arrived to her home and onwards. This allows the scene to look shady, suspicious and anticipates bad intentions. Due to the darkness surrounding, this creates horror and builds up tension towards the audience as they can relate to this feeling as they have experienced staying home alone in the dark which will be easier for them to understand and feel pity toward the victim character.

The gender of the victim is female which is conventional as it’s something often done in thriller as this genre tend to draws more emotions from the audience. For example, a thriller film that have similar concept as our thriller is ‘Prom Night’. The female victim is white, attractive and innocent which create more sympathy from the audience

Non-diegetic sound was added to create more distress and anticipations towards the audience in our action scenes. The sound is spooky and unpleasant at times becoming louder by increasing in tempo when the main events arise which creates more fear and leads the audience to the climax.

Location and iconography were used to create the feeling of isolation and mystery. The location that we used was at home which should be a harmless place to be in, but can also be the most dangerous place to be in. We have chosen to use this to show the victim to have no way out and the iconography that we used is a knife to show that the antagonist’s intentions are deadly.

Generic conventions of a thriller:

-          I have carried out a lot of research into thrillers in order to gain a better perception of the conventions used within thrillers. To be able to create an effective thriller opening, I looked at the target audience appeal and other aspects of thrillers such as the use of micro-elements to create different effects within the scene and create different emotions towards the audience. Furthermore, I researched into age certificates, narrative structure and theories, themes in thriller films and character representations to help my thriller opening to be more successful.

-          The films that particularly helped me use and develop conventions were ‘Scream’ as my thriller film has the same concept of having the female victim being alone at night in a large empty, isolated house. I thought this would be effective as I found out through researching that the female victim tends to draws the audience’s attentions and emotions more which is an advantage to my thriller film and is a way that we  developed conventions.

-          For the use of lighting, I found that low-key lighting is the main features used to create fear and tension when it comes to actions scene. Also to keep the antagonist in the dark which makes the audience feel petrified of him but at the same time feel more interested to find out the truth about this character.

-          The characters that were conventional to thriller films were the antagonist, the victim, the child and the protagonist. Based on this research, I have chosen to have a female victim and an antagonist in my thriller opening as this will help to develop the conventions of my thriller as real media products.

-          The types of setting that were used are in the street and at home. I have chosen to use the street at the start to show that the character is alone at night time and her surrounding look inaccessible. Secondly, I have chosen to use a house to make it look like a trap where the female will have no way out and makes the audience easily relate to the female’s situation and emotions as they have experienced being home alone at night time.

-          The audience response that was achieved from thriller film was fear, frightened, confused, anxious, uncomfortable and haunted. This is due to what they see in thriller movie which affects them in certain ways.

Generic conventions within my thriller: 

My planning and production was influenced very much by my research. Therefore, I believe that I have followed and developed generic conventions of a thriller.

Some examples are shown below:

 

A low angle has been used when the antagonist is on top of the female victim and stabbing her. This was used to show the antagonist’s intentions of killing and to make him look more fearful and in control. I have chosen to use this to rise up the level of fear and push the audience to feel on the edge of their seats as if they are witnessing the crime is being committed right in front of them. This will make the viewer’s feel uncomfortable and feel sympathy towards the female as well as feeling frightened from the antagonist.

 

Non diegetic sound has been used when the female victim open her eyes from the first nightmare. This will sound like a loud banging noise mixed with the sound of the horn quite loud to make it sound more creepy and unanticipated. I have chosen to use this to build up the tension slowly and create fright towards the audience as they will be affected by the sound. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it helps to creates different connotations and creates a start of the horrific scenes that's being lined up.

 

 

 

Fast editing has been used when the female victim is being attacked by the antagonist. I have chosen to use this to make the scene happen in a faster pace to build up pressure and put the audience to the tips on their toes. This is conventional to thriller conventions because confusion and uncertainty is being created towards the audience as they are witnessing the female victim whose being brutally attacked.

 

The antagonist wears dark colour clothing and is hooded up when the female victim finds out that he’s inside her house. This represent him as the evil character as his face is being covered which make his character look more mysterious and creates panic towards the audience. This makes the audience feel frighten and anticipates bad intention coming from his character. His character develops from the typical antagonist character.

 

The antagonist’s body language is shadowy and guarded when he’s being shown in the film. His facial expression looks psychotic and confident which shows that he’s ready to kill. This represents the character as the antagonist and it makes the audience feel alert and terrified towards this character.

The female victim’s body language is relaxed and comfortable when she’s in her room. Her facial expression looks normal and unsuspected as she is feeling safe within her own home. And since she is pretty and looks innocent, she draws more attentions from the viewers. This represents the characters as the victim and it makes the audience feel sympathy and also allows them to relate to her emotions and situations.

Overall, I believe that my media product has used, developed and challenged in forms that are conventions to real media products based on all the information that's being provide above.

Evaluation question 2: How does your media product represent particular social group?

Post-production: Audience Feedback - Miss Begum

Introduction

What is audience feedback and why is it important?

- Audience feedback is the results we collected after carrying a questionnaire/survey where we had to ask the people who watched our thriller product various questions to find out what they think of our production and whether if our thriller is conventional to the thriller genre or not. This is very important because it allows us to see what went well and what didn't work out for our thriller. If the feedback we get is positive, this will allows us to feel proud as we have met our audience's expectations which again allows us to focus on developing other things that are needed to be improved. If the feedback we get is negative, this will allows us to discuss what went wrong and able to develop and improve our techniques as well as our thriller production.

Focus Group:

- The next stage of my audience feedback was to screen my thriller production into a focus group. I have chosen to screen a group of friends of mine who was an ex A Level Media students and some of them are currently doing the same course as myself. I decided to do this because it would be easier to communicate with them and is easier to understand each other as they already knew what should be included in a thriller film and they would give me the feedback that are reliable. 

- This was very beneficial to my understanding of thriller conventions because it allows me to find out what conventions attract to my target audience the most. This was also beneficial as it allows me to understand what the audience would like to see and would not like to see in a thriller film and what appeals the most for them.

Positive Comments:

Shakira (Female, 18): ‘I really like the concept of this film. It was so engaging and interesting’. This made me feel proud as this person has enjoyed my thriller film and shows that I have attracted them as well as meeting their expectations in thrillers.

Jack (Male, 19): ‘Wicked, I loved it! The camera work was brilliant’. This comment has been very beneficial as another person enjoyed our production as well as our camera techniques and movements. This shows that we've done a good job meeting their expectations and make our thriller look decent.

Joel (Male, 21): 'I love the use of sound in your thriller, it has been used very effectively and very well created'. This comment has been very beneficial as it showed my group that we have done a good job creating sounds that are conventional to the thriller genre which was something that we hope to achieve.

Constructive Comments:

Peter (Male, 17):’I didn't really understand the antagonist characteristic, it was a bit confusing for me’. This helped me to realised the faults within my narrative and is very useful as it allows us to know what we should do better to show more details about our antagonist to make it clearer for our next production as well as improving our character representation. 

Mia (Female, 18): ‘The acting could've been better and the lighting was a bit too dark, I couldn't see clearly at some point of the film’. This has been very beneficial as it allows me notice and develop the lighting to make the scene more lighter for the audience to see. It has also allowed me to mark lighting as an area of improvement for my next thriller production.

Chloe (Female, 19): 'The antagonist shouldn't have worn other dark colour rather than white'. This comment has been beneficial as it allows me to set up the right costume for the antagonist next time to be conventional to the thriller genre.

Due to the positive feedback that I have collected, I do believe that I have created a successful thriller production. As there are still quite a lot of mistakes whilst making this thriller, I do believe from this, I have now gained a better understanding of the thriller genre and it's conventions.

Conclusion:

- The audience feedback was beneficial even though I have already created my production because these results would help to benefits me in the future if I'm planning to make another thriller film. I will then know what to work on to meet attract my target audience as well as meeting their expectations. 

Post-production: Soundtrack of the thriller production - Miss Begum

Introduction

Why are soundtracks important in thrillers?

- Soundtracks are important in thrillers because it sets the whole mood and atmosphere of the film as well as creating a lot of tension and different connotations to the audience and also gives an impact by pushing them to the edge of their seats and cover their ears or feel sympathetic if someone has died. Especially in the thriller genre, sounds tend to deliver the chill-excitement, fear and nervous towards the audience and without the use of sound, non of these effects/emotions would be created and would not attract it's target audiences. Sound is extremely important in the media industry depending on the genre. For example, the thriller genre would focus on the tempo and have eerie sound when it comes to disturbing scene and sound effects whilst the antagonist is attacking the victim. This will make the scene look more believable which will create terror and non-anticipation towards the audience.

- The conventional soundtracks used in thriller are typically non-diegetic sound such as voice-overs. This can be used as an explanation for an event/action that wasn't being shown to the audience but at the same time help them to still have an idea of what is happening in the scene as well as allowing them to anticipates what will happen next in the scene for example someone will get murdered etc.

Another conventional sound used in thriller are diegetic sound which is the natural sound that's coming from the scene such as traffic, radio and bad weather conditions. This can be used to make the scene look realistic and more believable and at the same time not confusing the audience.

Furthermore, there are off-screen sounds such as heavy breathing, footsteps and creeping door. This can be used intentionally to create a suspenseful atmosphere and build up tension which will raises the level of fear and push the audience to the edge of their seats. These are some of the example of the conventional sounds used in the thriller genre.

- In order to create the soundtrack for my thriller, me and my group used GarageBand and Logic Pro to create the most effective and most conventional sound to match our production and to the genre. We have chosen to used these two programs because they were equipped with many different instruments and provided all the sounds we needed for our thriller.

*image of garageband/logic pro*

*image of where sound is used effectively*

- The type of soundtrack that our group created was a soundtrack that's being created with string and has a very low tempo at first but slowly rising up to the climax to create a tense atmosphere then suddenly stop to make the viewers think that the disturbing scene is over but then surprisingly hit a loud explosion/eerie noise to shock the audience as they were not expecting that to happen. 

- Our inspiration comes from the soundtracks displayed from 'Release The Hounds - Read Me A Story' and 'Insidious'. The soundtracks in these film/program has a given me so much ideas of how I would like to create my own soundtrack and some of the sound match up perfectly to some of our scene that's why we decided to create similar sound for our thriller.

- We thought that our soundtrack was most effective when it comes to shock/surprise the audience and to create a real dark/suspenseful atmosphere. This was due to the way we created our narrative. At the beginning of the disturbing scene, we used a low tempo eerie string instrument throughout until the scene reaches it climax then stop for a split second then suddenly burst into a loud explosion noise. This was done because we knew that from the low tempo eerie noise would build up a lot of tension as well as creating a lot of different connotations for our audience until the sound suddenly stop to caught the viewer's off guard to come right back at them. This was the most effective thing about our soundtrack.

Conclusion

- Overall, I believed that the soundtrack has added so much elements to our production and improved the narrative a lot clearer to the audience to not get confused. More importantly, our group ensured that we created and used sound to its best. The impact from our soundtrack has been shocking, uncomfortable, unexpected and heart-pounding which is what we expected to get from our soundtrack. I believed our thriller is now more conventional due to the effects it has made and how it was created.