Georgia Worsfold's Evaluation

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

There are certain techniques that are used within thrillers, they are used for all the right reasons to frighten the audience.

• The camera work and editing.

• This is very important, as it shows and highlights the tension within the thriller.

• Lots of quick cuts sets the speed, this can put the audience on edge as they have to pay close attention to what is happening.

• For our product we did a lot of clean cuts, we did this to make the pace seem faster. We had a splash of white light in between the flashbacks, so it is easy to recognise the difference of the past and the presence.

• I think this worked very well as the light doesn't distract you, it just gets you ready to watch what caused the deaths.

• Different angles can play a big part, as they can unravel parts of the storyline, they will give you a different perspective of the character and you will be able to understand what sort of person they are and also what situation they are in.

• Also the distances used in camera work will show the emotions of the characters, e.g. close up of a persons shocked face.
  
• We tried to use as many angles and shot sizes as we could without going overboard. At the end we got an extreme long shot of one of the victims necks being broken, i think this worked really well as showed you exactly where the character was, and how helpless she was.

• It also let you see how effortless it was for the character to be killed off. As well as the profiles of the characters.

• (Below is our extreme long shot).
• 
• For the lead up of this shot, we hand held the camera and walked up to the victim using a Point of view shot (POV), this gave the audience a clear view and idea what it was like for the 'villain'.

• We got some feedback from another group about this shot, and they thought it was really good.
• The camera movement we used was quite simple.

• In one of the shots we used a pan, to show where exactly the character was heading to, if we didn't do this and she walked off screen. Then was in a car, it would confuse to audience as to how she got there.
  
  
• Overall the speed in thrillers will change a lot, there tends to be a build up to the main part of the film, to make the audience think of what might happen and to create suspense. Then it tends to gets faster, for example, when someone gets attacked.

• To create different speeds you change how you cut. For our thriller to look fast we used clean, straight cuts, so it then changes fast to one shot to another. If you wanted a slow speed e.g for a romance, the dissolving shots together will make it look slow.

• We used this technique with the fast cuts to create the fast tension. The shot we used this in was with one of the victims who was walking for her car. She was walking to her car for about 10 seconds, the fast cuts, made it more interesting and made the tension build up as she looked in a hurry.

• We used cross-cutting between the different locations. So we kept going back to the original scene after showing new ones.

• The credits we did were simple, we chose the font, colour and size we wanted then put the names in places which could still be readable and that would also not cover up any important props.

• The sound.
• Sinister music starting to play once the 'villain' comes onto set is very typical, but it works, as it builds up tension in the audience as they know something bad is going to happen.

• The soundtrack we used was sinister music.

• We used a 'Buzz track' this is a low level background soundtrack.

• We used this as one of the victims walks up to her car, this sets the mood, as it makes the audience alert to the change in sound.

• Mise-en-scene.

• This involves the setting, lighting, the props used, costume, make up, colour and also body language and movement.

• The setting.

• In almost every first shot the setting (the location) will be seen.

• It will tell a lot about what will be happening throughout the film. It will in someways decide how a character will act. E.g. if it's cold or hot, the characters body language will change.

• We used four different settings in our opening thriller.

• The main setting was the 'office' which is where the two detectives outlay the murders that have happened.

• Unfortunately we couldn't get hold of an actual office, so we had to settle for a school classroom.

• The other three settings were based in dark or classic scary locations. Such as woods and alleyways.

• We also went for another shot which has been used in the past (a person go's into their car, then suddenly the villain appears in the backseat).

• We couldn't shoot this at night time (which would have been good as it would have made it seem more scary), so we did it early evening instead. Never the less this worked out reasonably well.

• Lighting.

• Generally in thrillers low key lighting is used, it creates shadows, which can cast darkness upon objects and people, making them more threatening.

• This is used as it creates the mood. Darkness signifies depression, anger and loneliness etc. These are all common traits that are used in thrillers.

• Darkness signifies depression, anger and loneliness etc. These are all common traits that are used in thrillers.

• Low key lighting could be used in advantage to hide the villain from both the audience and the characters.

• For our product we used low key lighting in the flashbacks to make it look more sinister. We didn't use as much low key lighting elsewhere as we wanted to show the difference between the different locations in more ways than just the different rooms.

• We wanted to show the difference through lighting and sound etc.
  
• The lighting in the office, is natural day light. It allows the audience to see everything, nothing is hidden.
  
• In the car, the lighting is extremely dark, the only source of light is coming through the windows from outside. I think this works really well. I think this because you can't see much and this is good for when the 'villain' comes from behind the backseat, as you don't see them before.

• Props.

• The props we used were very simplistic and minimal.

• We used simple props such as a phone, writing folder, magazine as well as the main prop which was the mask. This was a very important prop as it hid the identity of the murderer.

• It also made the murderer look much more creepy than what they would have if you saw their face. This is because it allows the audiences imaginations to think of what they look like.
  
  
• Costume and make-up.

• For the two detectives, we used smart/casual clothing.

• The clothing for the first detective you see (Will Price) wears a smart shirt and jeans.

• He's the detective which takes the job more seriously, so we showed this by dressing him up in more smart clothing than the other detective.

• To show that his job comes first, his hair is relatively messy, his shirt is creased, as if he just got out of bed to go to work. Or that he's had the investigations on his mind.

• Jamie Simmons who plays the other detective, doesn't take his job seriously, we showed this through his clothing as he wore a tracksuit.

• The clothing the first victim wore (Sarah Price) is smart. We wanted her to look like a business women on her way to work.

• Her make-up is minimal, again to show what her job may be (professional).

• This shows how easy it was for people to find out she was gone, that she didn't turn up for work.

• The last murder wore casual clothing, to show that she was just taking her dog for a walk.

• We didn't want her wearing bright clothing as we wanted the shot to seem quite dim and for it to be as scary as possible.

• We also thought bright clothing would distract the eye too much, for what we wanted them to see. (The death).

• Narrative.

• 'A story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious.'

• We did not film in order of the sequence.

• We filmed the murders first, then we filmed all of the office scene.

• Our opening is told through a lot of imagery.

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• Our product has both males and females.

• They are mainly teenagers.

• The ethnicity of them all is white British.

• The main characters, (the detectives) are both represented differently.

• Both are made to seem older than what they actually are.

• We’ve made one to look quite responsible. We showed this by the costume, with putting him in smart clothing.

• Also we got a close up of him. We did this as it showed his expression, which is serious. Again this shows his commitment and responsibility to his work.

• We represented him like this as we wanted the audience to warm up to him. So then they don’t see detectives as bad people.

• This is a positive representation of younger detectives as it shows dedication, also his voice is quite upbeat even given the fact that the subject is about death.

• The other detective doesn’t seem as reasonable and doesn’t seem to care much for his job.

• We showed this through sound, via his voice, it was quite rude and in a hurry. As if he had better things to do.

• We also showed this through mise-en scene, the props. We used a magazine, which shows he is distracted from his work easily.

• This is a bad representation as it shows that he’s not interested in making a difference.

• Seven.

• The film Seven involves two detectives which we have based ours on.

• In the film Morgan Freeman has been represented as a very smart person, who takes pride in his appearance with what he wears.

• However Brad Pitt plays a character that doesn’t seem to care as much about his professional appearance and wears what we could imagine he would comfortably wear outside of work.
  
  
• He chose to present the characters in this way as we wanted to show the different types of people who could be in this line of work. E.g. Not all just neat professionals and not all unprofessional workers.

• We wanted a variety of the types of people in our product.

• We also wanted to do this as in most thrillers, there is a ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine.

• So we wanted other people to relate this to others they have seen.

• Audience

• We have targeted our product at teenagers and early 20’s.

• The characters help target to this audience because of the age they are themselves. They are also teenagers.

• So this means that there is more chance the audience will understand slang that they may use and also how they act with situations and can relate to them better than what middle aged and older generations would.

• The clothing worn by the characters are of the fashion that is worn by this generation.

• So when seeing this they will think that the product will be for them as the people in it are like them.

• The characters fit into stereotypes of what men and woman would ‘normally’ wear.

• The women in our thriller opening wear slim fit clothing which reveals their figures. This is what woman always have worn, so it fits in the stereotypical clothing that women wear.

• The men wear clothing that is baggier, that doesn’t show off their figure.

• It shows that men go for comfort rather than fashion.

• Which accounts for the saying woman go by ‘Beauty is pain'.

• So this shows that women care more about their appearance than what men do.

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

• Film distribution is when a company or individual takes the final product of a production company and distributes (deals out) the product to cinema’s who will show the product to the audience. Also for the product to be put on DVD and Blue ray etc.

• So a film distributor is the final act between the product being made and the audience seeing it.

• I think our product should be distributed by a distributor who deals with movies of the thriller genre. Such as, Saw and Hostel.

• Therefore they will know a lot about how they should sell out the products and advertise them in ways which have been done before.

DreamWorks SKG would be one good distributor for our film as they distributed ‘The Ring’. Also Screen Gems would be good as they have dealt with Arlington road.

• Who would be the audience for your media product?

• The audience for our product would be the younger generation, between older teenagers and under thirties (18 – 25).

• This is because of the age of the characters which are around this age too.

• Our product is aimed at both male and female audiences. we have done this by having both male and female characters in the thriller openings.
  
• These both mean that it is easy for the audience in this age range to relate to the characters.

• After asking family members I found out that the age group ranges from 18 – 24 of who watch thrillers such as SAW and Hostel.

• The certificate rating of the films is 18. This shows from what age the demographic starts at, from the media’s view.

• (Click on the link to view trailers of SAW and Hostel, to see what the films are about).

• How did you attract/ address your audience.

• How we presented the characters was important e.g. if you was just flicking through cannels, the imagery alone has the capability to make a potential viewer stop and see what they think of your product.

• This is why we decided to have two different costumes for the detectives as this means more people can relate them at least one of them. The smart one or the casual one. Depending on how they are themselves.

• Again the use of imagery keeps the audience interested.
  

• Because throughout it changes scenes, young people are known for getting bored and restless easily. So new locations makes it more interesting for them as they can explore them at the same time the characters do.

• The flashbacks also are a means of information to them. They’re telling them exactly what has happened, without boring them with the details being told by one of the detectives.

• Also the more characters revealed to them visually is more exciting, as they are able to compare themselves to them.

• As there is no speaking in the flashbacks, this allows them to think of what they would do if they were in the situations. They can take in the information whilst thinking to themselves.

• The mask which keeps the identity of the murderer a secret makes the audience want to find out who is behind the mask.

• Therefore they find themselves watching to see if it is anyone who they may have already seen, or if it is someone entirely different.

• The not knowing, keeps them on the edge of their seat watching to find out more.

• The audience would enjoy our film as it slowly reveals clues.

• The clues will be about who the murderer is and why they are killing these people.

• They will also enjoy the film as it is set in 2010. So they will understand everything that is happening and being said.

• The information throughout the film is told through a lot of imagery. So the audience doesn’t have to pay close attention to what is being spoken.

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

• For the filming of our product we used a camera, which allowed us to take the shots we needed.

• We also used a tripod, this is what we put the camera and holds it still.

• Using the tripod made it much easier to hold the camera still and get the shots we wanted.
  

• It also helped with height, as he could get high angle shots without any trouble.

• Using the camera was much harder than what I thought it was going to be.

• This is because you have to focus completely on what your doing, because if you move a tiny bit, you will jilt the camera. This is very obvious to the eye and can ruin your shot.

• Before doing media, when watching films I didn’t think about the amount of work that has to happen during filming and how they put the shots together.

• For the editing of our shots we used Final Cut Pro.

• Final Cut Pro.

• 

• This program allowed us to pick and change the order of the shots we took.

• By using this we were able to add effects, credits and also add the small amount of sound needed.

• From using Final Cut Pro I learnt how easy it is to make your simple footage look such more exciting.

• I also learnt how to use the software with not much experience with it, so I was extremely pleased with how easy it is to use.

• I think overall I worked quite well in the process of making our product. I did some research for the product and did the storyboard. The things I think I could have improved were my blogging and meeting the deadlines. I think I should have spent more time on blogging and reviewing the progress of our work throughout.

• As a group I think we worked well together as we all decided what we wanted to do for our product. We also chose the roles easily without any arguments.
  

• Unfortunately as a group I don’t think we met deadlines very well. This was due to our difference in timetables. We only had a few lessons a week where we were all free at the same time.

• However we did make the effort to meet up after college hours to get the work done, which shows commitment to our work.

• Again I think we could have handled the blog better and worked out together who should be posting what. After a while we did get a bit better at doing this. But I think we should have started this earlier for the blog to be better.

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

• Looking back at the preliminary i think individually i have achieved a lot as well as in a group.

• Firstly i think our awareness has got much better whilst filming. We don't only look at the characters and worry if they themselves look okay, like we did in our preliminary. But now i take in the whole shot into perpective.
  

• We tried to make sure as well as possible that all of the objects etcin the background should be there. It was very hard to do this as we had to film in a classroom after than an office. But we moved all of the desks and chairs to make an open space.
  

• In the prelimary we did not do this. And this resulted in having stacked chairs in the background, which did not look like a professional workplace like we wanted to create.

• Our camera work has only improved a little bit, we still have some jilts throughout. Also our continuity editing has not got much better as there is still some problems with takes not lining up and also the volume of background noice from scene to scene.

• The part of the camera work that has improved is how we have cut it, In our preliminary the there was a lot of long shots, but this time we made sure we did many different shots. Including using different angles and shot sizes. Such as an extreme long shot and an close up.
  

• Although we have not achieved our full protentional i think as a group we learnt how eachother worked during the process and helped eachother with the editing and filming.

• I think this showed through our storyline. I think our story came together really well and it is also believeable, which is very important. This is because of our storyboard which we spent some time on creating.

• In our preliminary we did not know how to edit sound at all or even put the footage in order properly.
• I think we have achieved a lot through our editing as we upgraded in the programme we used. In the prelininary we used a simple editing software and in our thriller opening we have used final cut pro to edit it.

• We were able to add a soundtrack to our opening as we were taught how to do so. This made it much more interesting as it had music playing throughout parts of it.

• Another technical skill i think we have improved is the lighting. We took more notice of it and was able to make it low lighting which set the scene much better. As it suited what the thriller is about.
  

• Overall i think we did improve. But we improved on certain parts such as the editing rather than the whole product.

• (Unfortunatly i have had some problems with my template and it may not publish my work neatly with bullet points and spaces etc)