Thriller

Preliminary video.

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

I feel that I have developed as a film maker since filming the preliminary task. I have learned how to use a wider range of shots in my filming and I have improved as an editor. I have also learned how to use diagetic sounds to greater effect in our opening. This includes both diagetic and non-diagetic sounds.

                                         

Our preliminary product had no sounds at all so we changed that in our thriller opening. Our thriller opening contains diagetic and non-diagetic sounds. Also, our preliminary task wasn’t edited very well and there were mistakes in it. We changed this in our full product by spending more time editing it. Our preliminary product featured no transitions in between shots so we decided to use them for our thriller opening.

 We did feature a wide variety of shots in our preliminary task so we used that in our main product. Whilst filming the preliminary task, I learned how to use the 180 degree rule and the continuity rule. This helped us in the filming of our main product as it meant we got to use it to use it before going straight into the main product without using those rules. We also developed skills such as shot-reverse-shot and match on action shots.

Use of the 180 degree rule in our preliminary product.

We planned the shots in our main product by looking at what worked in the preliminary task and putting it into the main product. We also looked at what didn’t work and changed those aspects for the main product or just didn’t use them at all.

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

We used the pcs to plan our thriller and the preliminary task. On the pcs we used programmes such as Powerpoint and Paint to create presentations and example film posters.

 Blogger was used on the pcs to present all of my work and keep it all together. It was also used to present the thriller opening.

Youtube was used to upload the opening to the internet. 

 I have learnt how to use the cameras properly to record our footage. We also used the tripod with the camera to keep it steady. Without the tripod the shots would not be steady and it would not look good.

We then used the macs to edit and store our footage.

We used iMovie software to view our footage and edit it all together. 

iDVD was used on the macs to burn the thriller opening onto a disc.

Garageband and iTunes was also used to make our thriller opening. We used them to get music to put onto the thriller opening.

In terms of filming the thriller opening I learned about such rules as the 180 degree rule. The 180 degree rule is used to assure that shots between two characters, or something similar, make sense and the characters are always in the same places on screen during different shots. We also learned to use different transitions during our thriller opening to make the change in shots look a lot better and so the thriller moves along more smoothly. We also used a variety of shot types in our thriller opening. We featured long shots to show the setting and to show the whole of the character in one shot.

We also used cutaway shots in the thriller to add effect and to break up the different shots of the opening.

Also, we used close up shots in the opening of the thriller to add emphasis on certain objects and points in the thriller.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The audience expected our thriller opening to be very mysterious. They did not expect much to be revealed about the characters in the opening of our thriller. They also expected the thriller opening to be quite slow and build up to the action. They would also expect a twist in the thriller and something that the audience would not expect to happen.

                                          

We added mystery to the character in our thriller opening by not revealing a name and by having no dialogue. The character was dressed very plainly so his appearance gave no clues as to who he was or what role he would have in the film. Also, we did not include much action in the opening of the thriller and it was quite slow paced. We also added a twist at the end of the opening in the hope that it would surprise the audience.   

Who would be the audience for your media product?

We identified our audience as people aged from 12 and upwards. The film will be certificate 12 because it does not contain much violence or any sexual content, but it is too dark to be anything less. The product will not contain any discriminatory language or behaviour as that would make the film a 15. Drug use will not be shown in the product and any psychological horror will be infrequent and disturbing sequences will not last for long. Any use of strong language will be infrequent and not very strong. Mainly the film will be aimed at a male audience.

 

To identify our target audience we produced questionnaires. We asked peoples ages and what their favourite thriller film is. We also asked them what kind of thrillers they liked, such as psychological or crime thrillers. We then asked what they expected to see in the opening of a thriller and what rating they would have expected a thriller to be. We handed them out to people of all different ages and genders and looked at their responses. The majority of people who liked thrillers were male. Most of our research was aimed at young adults because we had the most access to them.

 

Most of the people we asked enjoyed slow paced thrillers that involved some action, like Shutter Island. They said that they expected there to be a twist and for the main character to be very mysterious. The slow pace of the opening should add tension and mystery to the opening of the thriller without revealing too much about any of the characters. No big action will happen in the opening as that is not what the audience want. The audience expected the thriller to open very mysteriously and not reveal too much about the characters involved in the film.

The main audience for our opening would be a male teenager or young adult. They would generally be very involved with the internet and would be regular users of the internet. They would also be interested in films and would take a lot of interest in similar films. They would generally spend a lot of time using other media products, such as mobile phones and the television. They would generally spend a lot of time watching thrillers and various other films.

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

A media institution such as 20^th Century Fox would distribute our product. They have distributed many thrillers before, such as Die Hard, and would be suited to distribute our thriller. They are one of the largest film institutions in the world and have made films since 1935. They originally formed as a merger between two companies, Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures. They are considered as one of the six large film companies in the U.S. They are based in Los Angeles and are owned by the News Corporation. They make films of all different genres and have made animated films, like Ice Age, sci-fi films, such as, Star Wars, and thrillers, like Taken. They are an appropriate institution to distribute our product because they are one of the biggest companies in the world and would distribute our product all over the world and it would gain a very large audience by them distributing it.

Having a large film company producing the film would bring many benefits. It would allow the film more media coverage as a large company could afford large advertisement campaigns and people would be more interested in a film distributed by a company they know. They would also be able to fund the making of the film and allow the filmmaker to do exactly what they want with film due to their increased budget. The film Avatar was made by various different studios but was funded and distributed by 20^th Century Fox.

Having a large company producing the film would also allow sequels to be made easily if they are wanted. For example, 20^th Century Fox have released five different Die Hard films and this may not have been done if the Die Hard name had not been owned by such a large company.

 

20^th Century Fox are owned by News Corporation. News Corporation own many newspapers, like The Sun and The New York Post and several television companies including, Fox and Sky. This would allow the film to be very easily and cheaply advertised through these media institutions and large advertising campaigns would be run very simply. This would be good for our media product as it would allow the product to get a lot more coverage.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In our media product, the only social group that is represented is male adults. The character does not appear to be particularly wealthy and appears to be a standard, office–working kind of man. The one character shown in the opening of the thriller is an adult male and he is shown to be quite lonely and in trouble. We didn’t plan to be conveying the adult male group in any particular way and he appears to a very standard person. In many thrillers a lone male character is often portrayed as a hero, like in Die Hard. The character, John McClane is considered to be a hero and he is shown as quite a hard, gritty character who performs many heroics throughout the film.

Our character is also shown as the victim in the opening of our thriller. At the end of the opening a scream is heard from the character and it is presumed he is a victim of a murder. In the film Kill Bill, the main character, The Bride, appears to have been murdered right at the start of the film. This then plays a key role in the rest of the film.

The character has not been represented in any particular way in the opening of the thriller. Not much has been shown on the character in the opening of the thriller so there has not been any focus on particular characteristics. However, the props and lighting in the opening make the character seem to be very lonely and quite a dark character. This would impact on people’s opinions of this character because he is only ever shown in that way. The costume for this character is a simple costume. It presents the character as a normal man who has nothing special about him.   

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

A thriller is a type of film or literature that is generally designed to be very tense and very often they are set around one main character, the protagonist. There are several types of thriller, such as psychological thrillers, crime thrillers and action thrillers. Psychological thrillers like The Silence of the Lambs, are based upon mental issues with the character and is something that cannot be overcome physically. A crime thriller, like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, generally involves a character solving a crime that personally affects the character. Action thrillers, such as Die Hard, involve a character fighting towards a solution to his problem, with explosions occurring regularly. A main character will generally face a tough problem and have a difficult time getting over this problem. In a lot of thrillers death is heavily involved and is a big part of the quest the character must face. Thrillers are also very mysterious and there are many things left untold until the end of the film.

 

Many thrillers use quite low lighting to add tension to the film and music is generally quite dark and slow and plays a massive part in thrillers. For example, in Citizen Kane, the lighting is very low and features a lot of fade shots and a slow dramatic music piece in the background.

 

Thrillers use a wide variety of shots. Commonly used shots include facial close up shots and mid-range action shots. In No Country For Old Men, there is a close up shot of a character as he is struggling on the floor with another character. These shots show the tension in his face and how calm the character is whilst killing someone. It also shows who the main bad character of the film will be.

Some camera movements are used to make the audience feel like they are in the film and they are seeing things from a characters perspective. In the Bourne Identity, a point of view shot is used to show the audience what the character is seeing and to make the audience feel like they are part of the film. It also gives a clear indication of who the main character is. It also adds mystery as to who the main character is as the character is not shown during the opening shots.   

The opening of a thriller needs to add mystery and make the audience ask questions. The opening needs to make the audience want to keep on watching the film. Wide, long shots are often used at the very beginning of thrillers to set the scene. In No Country For Old Men, wide, panoramic shots show where the film will be set and the barren landscape that is shown suggests that the film could be a thriller

Dissolve shots are often used to add tension and mystery. In the opening of Citizen Kane, dissolve and fade shots are used to show one of the characters house. It creates a lot of mystery and it makes the audience want to carry on watching and find out more about the house and why it is so important.

In our thriller we featured it on one main character and he also faced a problem that he had to solve alone. There is no real action in our thriller and a lot of it is psychologically based. We did attempt to make our thriller rather tense so the audience really have to concentrate and are alert to what is going on. We featured several cut-away shots in the opening of our thriller to add psychological effect.

We also used cross dissolves in the opening to show how the action moves forward and the change in shot. Without the cross dissolves, the opening wouldn’t flow as well and it would not make much sense.