AS Media Thiller

Above, the final thriller of our group;

Michael Hayes
Terry Bridges
Jhabed Abdul
Samuel Nweje

Evaluation: Question 7

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



Final film:



Preliminary Task:



Earlier in the year my group created our first short film. Before this my group had little experience in directing or acting, so our film took longer than expected to film as we were constantly altering segments, adding new ideas or eradicating ones that didn't work. As well as this we were prone to mistakes and even recorded half our film before realizing the microphone was not turned on. However this task allowed us to practice and develop our camera and acting skills, as well as allowing us to test shots that we would later need for our final film. The shots that we focused on in our preliminary task were the;

Preliminary Task shot examples

• Match on-action - where one of the group starts an action (walking through the door) and continues it through the next one masking the cut.
• 180 degree rule - where the audience can only see the front of the character's faces as they engage in a conversation.
• Shot reverse shot - where the camera focuses on the face of the characters talking, alternating between all the characters involved in the conversation. 
• Eye line match - where one of the group looks across the room at the other characters as he enters.

Practicing these shots in the preliminary task gave us time to improve our execution of the shots which would later improve the quality of the final film.
In our preliminary task we did not use any non-dietetic sounds which dampened the overall experience. We took note of this and made sure to correct this for our final film. The use of the non-dietetic audio within our final film added to the suspense and tension, engaging the audience more so.

Overall the experience of creating the preliminary task prepared are group for the final film by developing our skills in using the hardware, software and our acting in order to create our film. We also become more decisive when capturing scenes and we had a better idea on what we wanted to create and how we wanted to convey it. This allowed us to be more efficient and productive in creating our final film and produce one of a higher quality than we would have been able to do without the experience.

Evaluation: Question 6

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

 


 Throughout creating our project I had to use a variety of software other that at first I had no experience in using. I then had to quickly adapt and develop my skills in using them enabling me to use them productively.




I have learned how to upload videos and created content to social media sites such as Youtube. At the beginning of the project I was fairly new to publishing videos and exporting files into Youtube where i would upload them. However after suffering some difficulties and problems the first time I quickly learned from my mistakes and was then able to do this more efficiently. Youtube allowed us to easily upload videos without losing quality and quickly receive feedback on who we could improve.

Final Cut Express

Before starting this project i had never used a camera to record and final cut express to edit and therefore I constantly ran into problems and "technical difficulties" whilst recording with the camera and editing with software such as final cut express where I would then receive help from Youtube videos, searching on-line or asking someone who new more than idea which slowed the process of creating the film. I have now developed my skills and awareness when capturing content whilst using a variety of different shots via the camera. I have also learned and developed my skills in editing the captured content and am able to realize if a shot works well or not and how i could improve the clip. Both of these I have done through experience and guidance whilst working on the project. I am now able to add effects such as fading out a scene etc whilst using final cut express and adobe after effects. Being more technically advance in using software than I was at the start allowed me to add more to the film than I would have before and allowed me to help create it more efficiently to make sure we finished before the deadline.



I had to use Internet sites that provided a service that would help me along the way of crating my finished project. For example I had to use survey monkey which allowed me to create a survey for people to answer. I uploaded it to my blog where I asked a small group of ten to answer the questions I put forward. This would prove to be a valuable service as it helped my group receive feedback and put us in the right direction when making our film as we had an idea of what people wanted to see. Throughout this experience I have constantly used the website blogger, to record my experiences on what I learned and have done. During this time I have become familiar with this site and am able to efficiently navigate the website rarely encountering any problems, whereas at the start of this project I had never used this site before and I required help to start posting and then later on importing videos and pictures and integrating created content from other sites such as Prezi, to blogger enabling me to convey my thoughts and ideas in a multiple of ways.

Evaluation: Question 5

5. "How did you attract/address your audience?"

Before making the film I created a survey, using survey monkey, which I uploaded to my blog. This allowed me to interact with the future audience of the film and find out what they wanted as they would answer the questions which would later influence what happened in the final film.

My group also employed the help of a focus group at the planning stages where we put forward our ideas and they helped us decide which ideas we should have pursued and how we could improve them. Here is the video I recored of our focus group;

Evaluation: Question 4

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

Before filming our opening scene we made sure to carry out research to ensure that we were making the film in mind of the appropriate audience. To do this, our group created a survey using survey monkey and added it to my blog for people to answer allowing us to collect data for our film. I used a total of 10 people's answers to complete my survey.
Below is the data I collected in relation to choosing our audience;

The first question I recorded in order to to find the best suited audience for my groups film was the age range. From the results I received it was evident that the majority of the people watching would be from the ages of around 16 - 25. From this data our group concluded that our target audience would be late teens and young adults. Therefore we decided to create a more "gritty", urban film that highlights the darker side of teens and young adults lives from a lower, poorer social background.

The second question I recorded in order to find the best suited audience for my groups film was the gender of our audience. From the results just over half of our audience is male, however the results are fairly mixed. This means that our film has to appeal to both genders.

The third question I recorded in order to find the best suited audience for my groups film was the main aspects and conventions we would apply our film. The results I received from this question are fairly shared between Red herrings, Cliffhangers and tension as being peoples favourite aspects of a thriller. We then made sure to include these in our thriller. For the opening scene we decided to create tension and a cliff hanger at the end of the scene to optimise the viewers experience and ensure they would continue watching our film.

From these question and the results I received from all three of them, my group has concluded that our target audience will be late teens to young adult (16- 21), our film would be "gritty", dark and be set in an urban environment. We then made sure that our film would be suited for both genders and that a cliffhanger and increasing tension would be part of our opening scene.

I could have asked more people to answer the survey to receive more reliable results, for example 50 or 100 people.

Evaluation: Question 3

Created with Padlet

The microwave scheme

Our film is on a low budget and focuses on the acting instead of "fancy" effects and therefore it makes scenes to use this method of distribute our film in this way.

Film: Shifty 2008 

We took inspiration for films like Shifty that have operated under the same scheme and have been fairly successful!

Youtube Social media site

We decided using you tube to promote our film is our best option as it is free to do so and millions of people have signed up to this site and are regular users. This will allow us to present our film to a vast amount of people easily and efficiently. However the site is considered over saturated with videos making it harder for our film to be noticed.

Here is the hunger games: Catching fire teaser trailer that was uploaded to Youtube. The trailer has accumulated over 24 million views just after two weeks since it was published. It is evident that Youtube can develop massive amounts of interest for a film through this example. Our film would most likely never achieve these feats, however it may still gain some interest.

Twitter: Social Media Site

We have also decided to use twitter to help us promote our film as we believe the use of cross media convergence can be a great asset for us. This will allow our film to develop more interest if we are able to get it trending or mentioned by higher authority figures in the community. Millions of people use this social media site daily and we feel this could be a way of getting our film more "hype" increasing our following and viewing ratings. However, like Youtube this site is over-saturated making it harder to do this.

Hunger Games 2 twitter account

We took inspiration from films such as the hunger games to attempt to promote our film using twitter. Shown on the left is the HungerGamesUK twitter account. This allows them to interact with their audience and display upcoming events that they feel their following should be aware of, such as trailers. This also allows them to develop interest for these events making them more known. The hunger games shows that this can be successful in promoting a film as they have over 80 thousand people following their account and watching out for their tweets.

#CatchingFire

Here on the right is another example of the hunger games success in promoting their film. They have their second film Catching Fire trending on twitter, meaning that everyone who follows someone that tweets mentioning the hunger games or using the hash tag #CatchingFire, will see this and research the film, take note of the film or even re-tweet or tweet about the film themselves for their followers to see. This shows that interest for the film can spread to many people in a short period of time. This is especially effective when figures of high authority and people with many followers in the community tweet about the film, as their vast following will see the tweet and they may tweet about it allowing even more people to take note of the film and so on, which can encourage a huge amount of interest for the film to develop.

Evaluation: Question 2

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



Woman are not represented as any main character's as either the high status police officers or criminals. This furthers stimulates the stereotype that woman are weaker and subordinate to males and thus are not in any dominant positions within the film. The men in the film are presented as both heroic and powerful as they are involved in dangerous antics throughout the film. The use of a multi-cultural cast is not always present in most typical thrillers of today. The same can be said for the character roles as their are characters of both Asian and Black ethnicities are in higher roles, Jhabed Abdul, playing the "criminal mastermind" and Samuel Nweje playing the detective in the police department. We decided to challenge certain norms in order to make a fresher experience for the audience.

Evaluation: Question 1

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

The chase scene

 The chase scene in our film is more of a traditional chase scene other than today's typical car chases including fast exotic cars. We took inspiration from chase scenes in films including James bond when he is on foot. However we tried to keep the scene relatively basic due to various limitations including our budget. Due to this we attempted to make the scene more exciting by highlighting the sense of danger throughout. To do this we carefully choose the location as a run down alley including barb wire to further add the dangerous look of the scene. We also used subtle clips to do this shown below;

We also added a first person segment to increase the excitement of the clip and engage the audience, immersing them into the world of the film.

As well as that we introduced a cliffhanger at the end of the opening scene, increasing the tension and suspense of the film as well as increasing the chances of the viewer continuing to watch the rest. This idea is used in many films today and is proven to be a valuable technique.

We looked at many cliffhangers for inspiration including the Italian job to get an idea on how we wanted to present our cliffhanger. The cliffhanger at the end of the Italian job was hugely successful and produced one of Michael Caine's most known quotes.

The use of the McGuffin was popularized by Alfred Hitchcock and it provides purpose to the story. In the film we wanted to make sure that the story had a purpose enabling the audience to fully engage with the film. We did this through the use of the "Black Bag". We made sure to make it mysterious so we never reveal the contents of the bag, yet it is noticeably important to the viewer as they see a man being killed over the object. This leaves the viewer constantly guessing and wondering inciting them to continue watching the film.

Final Thriller

This is the finished film that my group created.

Changes to our thriller

When we started filming our media project we instantly realized that changes had to be made. Firstly, issues became apparent as we started filming for our shot of the death of the victim. Our first ideas for this scene was to create a shadow of the protagonist killing the victim against the alley wall so that the killer would be disguised and the viewer would gradually build up an idea of who the killer was by the end of the film. However our plans came to a halt when we realized that this would be impossible to do due to the weather and the location of the alley corresponding to the sun. We then decided to abandon this idea as it became apparent that we didn't have the sufficient equipment nor the time to complete the scene using this idea. We then decided as a group to change this idea to one where the audience was aware of the killer and instead anticipated weather or not he would be caught or kill again. We replaced the original death scene to one involving a chase where the victim would run for his life. This also shrouded the film in suspense and mystery as the viewer is unaware of what is going on and why, enticing them to watch through the rest of the film in order to put the "puzzle" together.

Secondly, we swapped and replaced the character's roles after re-considering who would work better for each role. This allowed for the film to be created more efficiently and ensured maximum productivity when making it. For example we scrapped the idea of a second interviewee and replaced me as the victim of the main protagonist. We also replaced the original victim (Terry Bridges) as the first detective. This also helped shorter the opening of the film as we used one interviewee instead of two.

The final change we made was the alley in which we filmed in. This happened as we were unable to film on the first location as it was private property and we were unable to receive permission to film there. We then had to redo the chase scene in another alley we scouted after this.

Primeval - Textual Analysis Homework

How is gender represented?

Red hair girl at the start can be seen as over-emotional as she becomes upset and storms off after talking to the man. This enforces the stereotype that women are weaker and sub dominant to men.

In the second scene the woman subverts (goes against) the typical archetype of the damsel in distress as the woman fights off the tiger and saves the mans life opposite to the contrary. To do this she uses heavy machinery which is commonly referred to as a masculine form of equipment. This is highlighted through a wide shot at the start of the scene allowing us to recognize her and the machinery. The close ups used of her in this scene also allow us to see that she is experienced and able to operate such machinery. As female in this scene is seen as a less weak character because she is portrayed as strong, contrary to certain popular stereotypes highlighted previously in the extract.

In the next scene one of the men is wearing the colour pink, most commonly referred to as a girls colour portraying him as more feminine, controversially to the typical image and ideas of a stronger, 'bread wining' man. He is also not holding a gun opposed to the other man in this scene and instead a shovel which is less dangerous implying he is weak and unable to handle such equipment furthering this controversial idea. The woman in the pack is however holding a gun unlike the more feminine man reversing the stereotype that women are weaker and sub dominant to men.
However during this scene the farmer over powers the red haired woman stating his dominance. Dressed clearly as a farmer shows that he is a hard worker and due to his practical role shows he is the bread winner of the family. He is also holding two fighting dogs conveying his power as they are dangerous animals and he has dominance over them. One of the men then come and save the woman from the man and rescues her following the traditional damsel in distress archetype unlike earlier in the extract, conveying his power, strength and heroism. This also further suggests the stereotype that woman are weak as the red haired woman is unable to overcome the farmer.

music

Mobygratis.com

These are some of the songs that we looked at that our group believed would fit the style of the video to make it an more enjoyable intense experience for the viewers;

shot in the back of the head

wait for me

brandish

unreleased

run up

unreleased

papa	unreleased

Shot List

Shot List
Scene	Shot Number	Description
1 1 1 1 1 1 1	1 2 3 4 5 6 7	Over the shoulder shot, interviewee 1 getting interrogated by policeman 1 and 2, silence for the first couple of seconds, policeman 1 asks a question. Jump cuts to next shot P.O.V from policemen 2 who is sitting in the chair opposite, he then asks questions, the interviewee seems nervous when answering questions, policemen get suspicious. Quickly Fades to the next shot Shot last for about 3/ 4 seconds. Blurry because it’s a flashback. Camera angle is a mid shot at a brick wall; dark two shadows are on the wall. Jump cuts back to the interview room Close up of interviewee 2 (the killer). Policemen 2 ask him a question about the murder; the interviewee smirks and answers the question. Quickly flashes to another flashback of the attack. Shows the shadow of the killer go and kill the victim. Dying sounds. Long shot of the wall with the wall in the camera. Jump cuts to a mid shot getting the two policemen in the shot and the interviewee. Policemen 1 starts to get angry and starts to hit the table. Policeman 2 holds him back as interviewee 2 strolls out laughing. Fades away to black then goes to the same brick wall as the flashbacks no shadows, pans down to the floor to a dead body then pans back up to the alley with the killer doing the same stroll and laugh as interviewee 2 in shot 6. Just a silhouette

Title Sequence

The video above is our first attempt at creating a title sequence for our thriller film.

shooting location

Treatment

The Animatic

In the Shadows

Risk assessment

The table above shows the risk assessment our group created that insures that precautions are made to minimize any risks that could occur. In this risk assessment we focussed on the risks that could occur to the crew members for example accidents, a member could get hurt, and risks associated with the equipment, such as damage to the camera etc. If this plan is followed out correctly then the risk of any incidents will be greatly reduced.

Mood Board

Location Sheet

Production Schedule Location Visit Sheet Programme Title: Shadow Client: StoryBoard Productions Writer: Terry Bridges Producer: StoryBoard Producktions Director: Terry Bridges Date: 8/02/13

Rough Sketch/Explanation of location and key points to note Dark Alley way Interview place in the school Access to location via: Walk

Health and Safety Issues to note: ●      In a dark area, possibility of someone approaching us.

Potential Filming Problems : ●      Camera may be faulty ●      Someone may interrupt filming e.g. by walking past.

Additional Notes:  (map of area/weather forecast etc) May rain, as a result it could damage the camera.  Windy

Shot List

Shot List
Scene	Shot Number	Description
1 1 1 1 1 1 1	1 2 3 4 5 6 7	Over the shoulder shot, interviewee 1 getting interrogated by policeman 1 and 2, silence for the first couple of seconds, policeman 1 asks a question. Jump cuts to next shot P.O.V from policemen 2 who is sitting in the chair opposite, he then asks questions, the interviewee seems nervous when answering questions, policemen get suspicious. Quickly Fades to the next shot Shot last for about 3/ 4 seconds. Blurry because it’s a flashback. Camera angle is a mid shot at a brick wall; dark two shadows are on the wall. Jump cuts back to the interview room Close up of interviewee 2 (the killer). Policemen 2 ask him a question about the murder; the interviewee smirks and answers the question. Quickly flashes to another flashback of the attack. Shows the shadow of the killer go and kill the victim. Dying sounds. Long shot of the wall with the wall in the camera. Jump cuts to a mid shot getting the two policemen in the shot and the interviewee. Policemen 1 starts to get angry and starts to hit the table. Policeman 2 holds him back as interviewee 2 strolls out laughing. Fades away to black then goes to the same brick wall as the flashbacks no shadows, pans down to the floor to a dead body then pans back up to the alley with the killer doing the same stroll and laugh as interviewee 2 in shot 6. Just a silhouette

Costumes and Props

Character Name: Main character, killer and interviewer 2 (Jhabed Abdul)
Costume: (Killing scene) Jumper, cap, tracksuit bottoms, gloves (Interview scene)  shirt and black trousers	Props: (Killing scene) Knife, mobile phone
Character Name: Police sergeant 1 and 2 (Terry and Samuel)
Costume: white shirt, black tie, black trousers, black blazer	Props: Tape recorder, phones,
Character Name: Guy killed (Terry)
Costume: T-shirt, dark jeans	Props: Phone, wallet, fake blood
Character Name: Interviewer 1 (Michael Hayes)
Costume: Shirt and black trousers	Props: Lamborghini mercy LP640