Thriller Evaluation - Carlotta C-Purchas

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

• A thriller is a  is a genre of literature, film, and television that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as the main elements. The primary sub genres are mystery, crime, and psychological thrillers. The cover-up of important information from the viewer and fight/chase scenes are common methods in all of the thriller sub genres, although each sub genre has its own characteristics and methods. Common methods in crime thrillers are mainly ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge, kidnappings. Common elements in psychological thrillers are mind games, psychological themes, stalking, confinement/deathtraps,horror-of-personality, and obsession. Elements such as conspiracy theories, false accusations,paranoia, and sometimes action are common in paranoid thrillers.
• Our thriller 'Missing' tries to replicate real thrillers by using conventions that are used in them. For example the genre thriller means that they have to be thrilling, they have to keep you on the edge of your seat, gripping, and full of suspense. This is the basic of what the target audience expect.
• There is normally a protagonist who is faced with a problem such as a death or some other disastrous act and tries to solve it. Then there is the antagonist who has either committed the crime or is worsening the situation.
• Weapons and violence are often used in Thrillers too so to enhance the mood.
• However it is very important that if the genre is only thriller, there can not be any supernatural in it because that would make it a horror film.
• In our thriller film opening we use the effect of suspense to try and distribute the most anticipation we can. To do this we created an opening that would seem sinister and created enigma. With the low key lighting and close up shots it leaves the audience wanting more.
• We thought the film Seven was a really great example of a thriller which was released in the United States on September 22, 1995. It grossed $327 million at the box office internationally, and Seven was a commercial success, and received very positive reviews from most critics. 

• During the Seven film opening which was very effective at creating the starting mood for the film, there is a lot of close ups and fast paced cuts. There is also the idea of something being written and made. We thought this idea could work with ours as it would create a sense of mystery.
• Although we know there is a lot of typical 'damsel in distress' runaway chase scenes in the woods, we wanted to try it to see if we could create a really intense, suspense filler scene that used creative shots and paces.
• After showing this to members at my college they have said they were very impressed with the action filled chase scene.
• By using lots of cuts at different paces whilst editing has allowed us to achieve this.

This 9 shot sequence shows our opening of the thriller and our basic story line.

This is the Se7en 9 shot squence of the opening credits. In this thriller the opening is all based on someone making a book with lots of details about someone or something. It is very ambigious and very creepy.
We liked the idea of close ups similar to the Se7en opening.

Our interpretation of Se7en's Opening

Se7en's Shot in their Opening

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

• As the protagonist in the opening scene is shown as the female victim (damsel in distress almost) this makes it quite stereotypical.
• Through colour and her costume - a pink running top, it shows she is feminine just to enhance the stereotypical view. Also as she is alone jogging in the woods with an iPod plugged in, it immediately makes her vulnerable.
• We chose to make the female the victim purely because its easier for the audience to believe and emphasize with. We felt that if we had a female killer and a male 'in distress' it wouldn't have quite the same thrilling effect.
• The antagonist on the other hand, clearly wants to be alone and doesn't want to be seen, hence why his costume is dark colours and he has his hood up. He is constructed as a stereotypical male antagonist.
• This immediately links to the previous scene where he is seen alone in a very dark, dimly lit environment, where the audience can guess he is doing something highly suspicious.
• She does swear which shows her determination to get away and her feisty side. She is also alone suggesting that she is confident to do so in the first place and doesn't mind jogging alone in the woods.  Also she does stop to observe showing her curious nature.

Female Joggers Costume

The outfit the female jogger is wearing which attracts attention toward her and makes her visible in the depths of the woods and hints at her femininity. 

Antagonist's Costume

The outfit that the killer is wearing is very important because it symbolises his evil, dark side. Through mise en scene of costume, the audience can tell he doesn't want to be seen and this tells the audience that he has done something wrong. Also we can tell through his body language, as his posture is hunched 
yet he is moving with ease and a calm that shows the audience he knows exactly what he is doing.

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

• A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing (DVD, Video-On-Demand, Download, Television prograsms through broadcast syndication)
• With distribution many questions need to be asked such as does the company have enough funds to distribute in the way they prefer? Where does the audience want to see it? Which is the most appealing way to distribute it?
• Before we can show it we will have to obtain the right to license our film. This webpage shows us the basic guideline to showcasing a film and what rights we need to have to show it - BBC - Film Network.
• When it comes down to our small thriller film, which is a pysoclogical thriller aimed at people over 18, we felt that the best to release it would be straight to DVD as there wouldn't be very big funds, and its not a big enough film to get in to a mainstream cinema such as Odeon and Cineworld. However small cinema's such as the Duke of York Theatre in Brighton and other similar sized venues which release low budgeted films would be able to release it if we paid them too.

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

• Our expected target audience for our thriller film will be for people aged between 18-45. It will be rated as an 18 due to the severe violence and themes such as pedophilia being explored. 
• Before we can show our film we need the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to get our film certificated. This will enable us to release our film not only in cinemas but also on DVD creating more ways of distributing our film. Here is a hyperlink to guidelines of an 18 film - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/18-2/
• Due to the stereotypical story line with females being the weaker characters and more vulnerable throughout the film and the fast paced action filled with lots of graphic brutality this may make it more likely that the target audience majors in men rather than women. However it is more than suitable for both genders.

The bbfc Classification logo

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

• For the opening scene we have made it gripping by using tense music, low key lighting and a hooded, unknown figure pegging up a policeman picture next to young girls' missing pictures. An immediate sense of enigma is created through lots of close ups its impossible to properly see his surroundings or who he is.

This close up helps to show what the hooded figure is doing and creates a sense of enigma as we don't know who it is and why they are doing this.

• By using a dark setting, and thinking about decor and costume, the audience is gripped with wanting to know whats going on and who this figure is.
• The lack of dialogue throughout the whole scene also creates a sense of mystery and fear.
• The use of continuity editing which keeps the action going. We tried to use a range of shots and keep the audience intrigued such as a match on action shot which keeps the flow of the movement.

Match on Action 1

Match On Action 2

• The chase scene is very fast past and thrilling which keeps the audience engaged and on the edge of their seats. 
• By using many different types of shots so this meant we had a wide variety to make the chase scene as intense and fast moving as possible. The quick changes of shots allow the pace of the action to be felt for the audience.

The fast paced chase scene

• Quite a few point of view shots were used to make the audience feel as if they are one of the characters and involved in the action.
• The use of non-diegetic sound is very important during the chase scene because it immediately creates a sense of urgency and the upbeat modern tempo really makes the audience sit up in their seat. 
• We also used a sound bridge of the phone ringing which was a foley sound. This created a link to the next shot and allowed the audience to know what was going on.

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of reconstructing this product?

• Camera use - How to frame shots through angles, movement, framing of the subject, and mise en scene. Camera angle can also be used to make a character appear more or less powerful. Using a high angle-looking down on a character gives the impression of innocence, weakness, vulnerability, being inferior-often used on the victim. A low angle can be used to look up at a character to make them appear more powerful, superior, strong and bold. This can be used on both protagonists and antagonist dependant on how you want the characters to be represented.
• Lighting - The effect of low key lighting and shadows can make a character appear more dangerous-it also gives the impression of the character being mysterious and having a dark side. Shadows can also be used to conceal a characters identity making them appear more mysterious and potentially dangerous. Using a light source behind the camera, to create a silhuette is something often used to create mystery and restrict narration so we don't originally know who the hooded figure is. The use of low key lighting in the shed to create a sinister, creepy effect which makes the audience suspicious.
• Final Cut - This is something I have found challenging throughout this project. To begin with in this project i had very little knowledge on how to use the editing software final cut pro. I knew the basics such as inserting a video file and how to move them around, however during the duration of this project I have learnt how to use this editing sotware through experiementation and help from the media technicians and members of my group.
• Garage Band - This is sound editing software I have learnt to use throughout the project also on the Macs. I have learnt how I can change the volumes of tracks and foley sounds to match the screen. For example in the thriller opening, the phone rings from a far away shot and gets louder when its a much closer shot.  



The Final Cut Pro logo

• YouTube - From using youtube regularly I gained extra knowledge on uploading videos and how to research through youtube.

The YouTube logo

• Blogger - how to create visually interesting posts and to import pictures, videos and hyperlinks. 

• Online music - How important it is to stick within the rules and regulations of copyright and only use royalty free music off os sites such as Jamendo. Also sounds off Garageband equally can be used. This hyperlink goes to the Jamendo home page. http://www.jamendo.com/en/

The Jamendo Logo

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

• In our preliminary task we did our 180 degree rule wrong. We filmed each shot to the left and to the right of each person rather than just the left or just the right making it look like both characters were switching places. After we corrected this we understood perfectly how to do it and more importantly why it is shot like that and why its so important not to break the rule. 

Our corrected 180 degree rule.

• Although in out thriller film, 'Missing', we did not use this particular technique, during our preliminary we learnt a lot from using it. The use of Slow Motion was a unique idea from our group and as we inquired about it, we realized it wasn't quite as simple as we thought. By using the specialized slow motion camera, and making the settings record the last 3 seconds we managed to capture footage of coins and keys falling to the ground. This was a good learning curve which we could use again in the future.

Having a tutorial on using the Slow Mo Camera

• Also during this process we learnt how important it is to set the white balance which is the process of removing unrealistic colour casts, so that objects which appear white in person (but not through the camera, are rendered white in the film. Setting the white balance however on the Sony HD Handycams was automatic which we meant we didn't have to set it as we were lucky enough to use them.   

White Balance Setting button

• Much more knowledge on editing -   In the editing I have progressed fully, not only in visuals but in sound editing as well.  I now know how to use 'Final Cut' and 'Garage Band' with minimal help.  During are preliminary I had very little visual editing skills and I wasn't sure how the music was put in as we didn't use Garageband.  I was much more involved in this task which helped me to understand how to work the software.

Close Up of a Focus Pul

• Learning to use a HD camera - As we only used a SD cam in the preliminary, we hadn't had the chance before to use the HD camera. This was a great experience as we could get outstanding definition of film but we also had to learn how to adjust the settings and create the sort of focus we wanted.
•  Camera Techniques - We have learnt how to adjust the focus settings to be able to change focuses quickly and create a disorientating effect. We have also learnt that it is important to record the shame shots a number of time (sometimes from different angles and positions). This is so you have a choice of which type of the shot is best and will be used-this way you have choice and if a shot doesn't turn out the way you thought it would-you can always use different footage.
• Lights - We have experimented with low key lighting in the shed which has let us see the different effects it can create. It can change the mood, representation of character and narration. So for example we have managed to create a dimly lit area which looks sinister and creepy.