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

Conventions of a thriller:

   

I looked at a few thriller films, and picked out the typical conventions represented in them. The films I watched are:

·         Donnie Darko                                                                                                                                                                                                     

·         Memento

·         The inception

·         Limitless

·         The happening

      

Inception trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66TuSJo4dZM

Limitless trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THE_hhk1Gzc

memento:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vS0E9bBSL0

The happening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIQ21m1Ks08

Donnie darko: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wqVHjK2bQs

  

The first two minute of a thriller opening need to grab the audience so that they want to watch the rest of the film. So it will need to create tension and add mystery, so that the viewer will want to find out what happens at the end. The first two minute of a thriller includes the titles, such as who directed it, who produced it etc…

It will also include names of the people starring in the film, and of course the name of the film for example ‘The Inception’ this section is quite important as you have to present the name of the film in quite a gripping way, this helps as the audience will know that what they are about to watch is going to be good. This will also give the audience a sense of star quality throughout the film. The narration of the film has to set a tone for the rest of the film.

·         Camera shots-such as close ups so you can see the expression on the persons face. Reaction shot this is when the camera cuts away to someone’s face so you can see the reaction of the stars face.

·         Editing- such as transitions for example fade to blacks and fade to whites. These show periods in time, and also add tension and suspense.

·         Sound- such as use of normal effects that will create suspense and tension during the film piece, diegetic and non-diegetic.

·         Mise-en-scene- such as costumes, props and location.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0LQnQSrC-g

This is the trailer for the mission impossible 4 ghost protocol film, released in December 2011. The background music is starts off very calm, and pleasant but builds up to a tee. It gets the audience ready for the actual film, so it builds up tension and suspense, so that you want to view the film in the cinema. This is quite a fast paced track so it adds a lot of tension and action to the film.

                                                                                                       

The way that the camera shots have been cut/edited together, by the use of very quick transitions will also add to the impression that the film will be very quick and fast paced. Another creation of narrative through the footage that has been shown, is the use of close up and extreme close up shots such as when the diamonds are seen, this is an extreme close up, showing you that money is involved creating mystery and suspense this also shows the impression that the movie will relate to crime and law, thus it will be quite action packed, and the way that the reaction shots are used gives a sense of tension and shows the high amount of drama during the film. the mise-en-scene in this thriller trailer is quite dark at places but vibrant during others this gives a sense of tension through the darker scenes, but this also adds alot of drama making the audience on edge.

The mise-en-scene is important in the first two minutes of any opening thriller as it will set the mood for the rest of the feature length film, thrillers are typically set in mysterious and dark places during the first two minutes, but this is depending on their sub genre. places such as ally ways, abandoned buildings and city streets. The use of props and colours and font will let the audience know what type of film it will turn out to be, so it will prepare the viewer.

conventions that are expected in a thriller opening:

Most directors will use these conventions as a way to hook the audience, so that they will watch the full movie and enjoy it. Although some directors may choose to ignore the conventions as a way to confuse the audience and so keeps them watching. They may also choose to use or ignore them as a way of creating different types of tension in the viewer, to keep them hooked.

The happening followed the expected conventions of a thriller; they had the event happening first showing people kill themselves in the park, the city and even the zoo, and then the rest of the events followed.

Some directors instead of distorting reality may choose to make their opening realistic as a way to make the audience relate more to the film, and so creating alot of tension and suspense, as they are able to relate the events to their own lives. This will make the film seem much more real so it will in turn make the film more tense.

Due to the research into the thriller genre, and watching other thriller openings such as ‘seven’ we could see what created an effective opening, and what would work in our thriller sub genre, which was ‘religious thriller’. we used this information in our own thriller, such as use of camera shots, for example ‘high angled shot’ this shot shows that the victim is vulnerable/weak, and that the killer/suspect is superior and stronger. we used this shot during the barn scene, when hannah (victim) was passed out. unfortunately the scene didnt make it to the final cut, as we had to shorten our thriller opening. we also used an extreme close up on the bible at the beginning of the thriller this added tension and suspense, but we also had a great natural light effect, shine across the bible which made the bible look sinister, as it was the act of god. This was very dramatic, as it then faded to another bible shot later in the opening, showing our names, in the bible format along with images which would add tension and mystery.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Copy of Screenshots of our thriller and editing. on Prezi

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

I believe paramount pictures would distribute my thriller opening as they have done a variety of films such as iron man, Indiana Jones, Beowulf. Also they have done a variety of thriller films such as transporters 1,2 and 3. paranormal activity 1,2 and 3. By having done sequels to most of there movies, this shows that they know what they are doing, and will know what is best for the audience. Paramount have also worked with a lot of big film directors, such a steven spielberg, and J.J abrams. These shows that they work with the best, so that they can produce high quality films. They will have all of the available resources.

Paramount has been going since 1910-present, so they are a very successful company also as it has been running for so long they will have many connections to other companies to help produce the thriller even more.

They also have a very large income, with revenue of $3.0 billion in 2005 and so they will have enough money to fund new and upcoming films, and see them all the way until their release date and further. Also through having this money they will be able to afford to publicise the films in order to get them a lot more known to the public and the films target audience. 

Paramount pictures is one of americas oldest media institutions, but is also one of the worlds oldest media institutions, and is also based in LA, Hollywood; by being based here they will have a lot of useful resources at their disposal and will have a wide range of places, or companies near that could be used to help produce the film. Hollywood is also very dominant in the media world so that would mean our film would get global distribution so all countries could watch it. Paramount is also a company known and trusted worldwide for producing top quality films and for having high quality actors, so we would receive a lot of publicity world wide.

How did you attract/address your audience?

We posted our finished thriller opening on a couple of different public websites such as facebook and youtube, as a way to get feedback from our audience. we also did interviews with other students, as a way to get verbal feedback, i believe that this way is more effective, as you can tell by the tone of their voice if they enjoyed it or liked it. Also I can ask questions on particular points on which we thought may have been effective during our thriller opening. Most of the feedback we received was positive, saying that the music was tense, it was well put together, that the continuity was good, and that we stuck to the conventions of a thriller. We did have some negative feedback saying that the actors could have took it abit more seriously at times, and not have smiled, but you can really notice it, if you are watching it the first time. From these comments we can see that our finished product meets the needs and expectations of our audience.

These are people that we have interviewed to get audience feedback from our opening thriller production, they gave us positive and negative feedback.

Who would be your audience for your media product?

To identify my audience for my thriller opening I looked on the BBFC (British board of film classification) website. I checked on the website  to see what was suitable for my thriller opening, and to see if I have to remove anything from my media piece. I also looked at other thrillers to see who their target audience is. This helped as it gave me an idea of what I could classify my films as. We also sent out on questionnaire to help with our audience research, and interviewed 4 other pupils about our thriller. They would watch the film and then I would ask them questions:

Questionnaire for expectations of thriller genre:

1) Which gender are you?

Male?

Female?

2) What age group are you?

15-18?

19-30?

31+?

3) What type of sub genre of the thriller genre do you prefer?

Drama?

Sci-fi?

Crime?

Action?

Comedy?

Mystery?

4) Which is your favourite film out of the following..?

Psycho?

Donnie Darko?

The Happening?

Paranormal activity?

Saw?

Other _____________

5) What type of music do you think should be played in a thriller film?

Eerie?

Mysterious?

Up-beat?

Calm?

Classical?

6)Which location would best suit a thriller?

Woods?

Abandoned house?

Every day setting?

Shopping centre?

Other? ________

7) What factors do you think build up the atmosphere of a thriller film?

Special effects?

Sound effects?

Acting?

Realistic based plot?

Mise-en-scene?

Props?

8) Who would you watch a thriller film with?

Girlfriend/Boyfriend?

Family?

Friends?

Alone?

9) Who you expect to be the victim within a thriller?

Female?

Old person?

Hero/Heroine

Teenager?

Parent/Career?

Child?

10) How often on a regular basis would you watch a thriller?

Once a day?

Once a week?

Once every two weeks?

Once every month?

Once a year?

Never?

11) Have you had further post sixteen education?

Yes?

No?

12) How would you find out about media?

Magazine?

Telly?

Broadsheet?

Redtop?

Internet?

13) Do you enjoy reading books?

Yes?

No?

14) Do you have any hobbies? If so please specify

Yes? ________________

No?

15) If you had money going spare, would you consider buying a thriller film?

Yes?

No?

16) How would you find out about a new thriller film?

Radio?

Internet?

TV?

Cinema?

Newspaper?

from the research we gathered, we got valuable information that would help us in identifying our target audience. the research also influenced our thriller from the location we shot it to the characters we used and the music involved. we would have liked to have made the male the victim instead, but from our research we found that it would be more typical to use the female as the victim.

We decided to classify our film as suitable for 15 years or over, as it seemed to be the most appropriate for the opening. what clarifies this age certificate:

•             Drug taking is allowed to be shown although it cannot in anyway promote drug.

•             Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic.

•             Dangerous behaviour shown should not dwell on detail. 

•             Nudity is allowed.

•             Violence can be quite strong.

•             Any theme in permitted although it must be suitable for a 15 year old. 

although our thriller opening didn't involve most of the above, we still thought it would be suitable for the film. we also chose this age classification as most of the people who gave us feedback where between the age of 15-18, this is most likely the age group which enjoys thrillers the most, but as it is 15+ our thriller would be viewed by a large audience.

The BBFC rating effected our target audience dramatically as we had to abide guidelines so that it would be suitable to be shown in the united kingdom. we also had to consider what we would have included in the rest of the film, such as violence and nudity.

The key demographic for my thriller are any male of female age 15+ from any ethical background, that enjoy the thriller genre.





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

Some of the technology i used to plan and create my thriller opening are as listed:

Blogger: This was a website the whole of my class used, to post information and research into the thriller genre, and different thriller openings such as the happening. This helped in the organisation of our thriller as we could see what research we had put on there, and we could look back at it for help.

Search Engines: such as google, yahoo and youtube to research into the thriller genre, from this we could view other thriller openings as a group, this helped us to find conventions which worked and which ones didnt.

Youtube and Facebook: After posting our thriller opening on youtube and facebook, we learnt what worked well with our target audience and what didnt, we got useful feedback from our peers, and constructive criticism that helped us in our evaluations.

Video Camera and Digital Camera: We used these two objects/items to shoot our thriller opening and to take pictures of our location, costumes and lighting. From using this we learnt how to get effective camera shots for our thriller opening, and what worked with our mise-en-scene.

iMovie: We used this program to edit our thriller opening, from using this we learnt how to add transitions, and the edit the thriller to an appropriate level of accuracy, and how to make it look effective.

iDVD: This was to add the finishing features such as adding a title screen and imputing our candidate names etc. This piece of programming is very useful, as it coverts our production into a file, which can then be burned onto a DVD.

During the shooting I learnt how to create effective shots through the placement of the camera and I have also learnt how to get steady camera shots by using a tripod, also through trial and error whilst shooting. Also during shooting I learnt that using the objects in the shot to frame shot worked well and created a good effective, such as some of the trees surrounding the barn. I also learnt how to set up a shot so that all could been seen, and nothing was out of the shot, also so that the lighting would not be a problem in the shot. I found that getting the right lighting could be quite effect, we was grateful that there was quite abit of sunlight, but the inside shots where fine as we turned the lights on.

I have learnt alot of ne w skills during the editing section, by using the macs, and the program iMovie, such as how to edit the film, such as adding transitions, ie fade to black, and fade to white. I also learnt how to split clips and duplicate them, this was very important as when i split the clips, it would be easier to delete that section of the clip. I also learnt how to remove audio from the clips, and how to speed the clip up or slow down the clip. This was effective as we removed all the audio from our clips so we had no dialogue, we then put a sound track over the top of the thriller opening.

We had some problems whilst acting, such as we couldnt add music on to our thriller piece, as we could not find the movie we had made on garage band.

 

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

I think that I have improved a lot since my preliminary task compared to my thriller opening, especially as I used a range of different camera shots, editing techniques. I have also developed a lot in my editing skills, even though i have an Apple mac at home, i had never really used iMovie so I have learnt a lot during this production. I have learnt that i do not make sure I over do it with editing such as adding transitions, but if I add a transition i need to make sure that it is a either a fade to black, or a fade to white. I also learnt how to add music over the dialogue and how to remove sound.

I also learnt how to make my thriller look realistic by not adding to many special effects, which in turn would make it look fake.

During my preliminary task, I near enough had no experience in filming or editing, but i felt as if i did a rather good job. As i used effective camera shots, such as over the shoulder camera shot, this shot shows the audience who someone is talking to. From looking back at my thriller I can see that i have progressed a lot, from my prelim.

Opening thriller production

This is our opening to our thriller production piece.

Filming proof

This is a deer head, that we used for a thriller production to add tension to the situation, it is also quite creepy. We also got effective extreme close ups of the deer's eye. We  came up with an idea that we would edit the production so that this shot of the deer head, just pops up, to add confusion, but may also add to the fact, that henry is a killer, and this makes the audience think that he is going to do the same to hannah.

This is a long shot of the drug dealer walking to the area, where a drug deal is going to commence. Kingston (the drug dealer) doesn't really play a big part in the whole production, only when the drug deal is done, is when you see him. Not much is revealed about the kingston, only that he is the boyfriend of hannah, and that he is a drug dealer. Villains are normally suspicious and shown to the audience in a mysterious way.

This is henrys abattoir we filmed a certain amount of the production here, using the chains and hooks to our advantage, as they would add tension and create a very creepy atmosphere. We thought that this would be useful to give the audience a shock and add mysterious. This also gives them a useful insight into henrys life, and what he gets up to in his spare time.

This is a photo of hannah and kingston (myself)  we are in a relationship during the production. This is the main focus of the scene showing that we are in a relationship, as you can see by hannah, this shows that she doesn't have any idea that kingston is a drugs dealer. This could lead the their relationship being ruined and maybe they would break up, this makes the audience feel sympathetic towards hannah, as she has no clue what is going on.

This is henry he is the stalker, this is a photo of him looking at me and hannah, this shows that he has an obsession with hannah, and really wants her. This also shows that he has some very strange characteristics and isnt normal at all. By his stance you can see that he is upset or not pleased with something, maybe enforcing that he is annoyed with hannah and kingston.

As a group we decided that we was going to include a voice over during the production, so we wouldn't have any speech during the opening, this would make it seem like henry was thinking it all, like it was all in his mind. As from this photo, we later on use the car as hannah and kingston have an argument in it, and we wouldn't be able to hear them anyway, so a voice over would be very effective.

This is where we filmed the main part of our production, as you can see it is a very old rural area. This is bulby barns, as you can see by the big metal doors, escaping from here would be terribly hard, as they are heavy and hard to move.

This photo shows the inside of the bulby barn, and shows hannah tied to the chair unconscious, this adds tension and shows that she is in grave danger. This shot shows that hannah is may in a place that she hasnt been before, as it probably the place where she has been taken to be murdered.

Location for filming: kirkby Underwood

The location we filmed was kirkby underwood, this was a rural village where henrys lives, we thought that it would a very tense location as the buildings in the area are old and have alot of character, this adds tension and suspense to the thriller production.



Ideas for credits.

The idea we came up for the credits where to be that, it was done in the typical bible font. The way we would do this was that I was to create sheets of paper, that looked old and ripped, by smearing tea bags over them. This  would create a very old atmospheric feel. we then decided to write the credits in RED giving it the idea of blood. This would look quite effective as they look to be part of the bible its self, thus giving a very atmospheric feel to the bible, like 'GOD' has blessed the bible, or the 'DEVIL' has bestowed evil upon the bible.

This photo represents the struggle henry feels, as what he does is wrong but he thinks he is doing it in the name of god. Also this represents how our credits look in the bible 'the fight between good and evil' 

This is the typical font found in a bible, we want to use this for our credits, but it looks like it would be very hard to replicate it. We may decide to do it on the computer and then insert them into the bible instead.

Story board.

This is the story board we created to help us get an idea of how we wanted to film our thriller production.

Wordle of ideas that we are going to put in our production

Camera Angles

Framing or Shot Length

1 . Extreme long shot

 

Extreme Long Shot

This can be taken from as much as a quarter of a mile away, and is generally used as a scene-setting, establishing shot. It normally shows an EXTERIOR, eg the outside of a building, or a landscape, and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action eg in a war film or disaster movie. There will be very little detail visible in the shot, it's meant to give a general impression rather than specific information.

The extreme long shot on the left is taken from a distance, but denotes a precise location - it might even connote all of the entertainment industry if used as the opening shot in a news story.

2. Long Shot

This is the most difficult to categorise precisely, but is generally one which shows the image as approximately "life" size ie corresponding to the real distance between the audience and the screen in a cinema (the figure of a man would appear as six feet tall). This category includes the FULL SHOT showing the entire human body, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom. While the focus is on characters, plenty of background detail still emerges: we can tell the coffins on the right are in a Western-style setting, for instance.

3. Medium Shot

Contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action. Variations on this include the TWO SHOT (containing two figures from the waist up) and the THREE SHOT (contains 3 figures...). NB. Any more than three figures and the shot tends to become a long shot. Background detail is minimal, probably because location has been established earlier in the scene - the audience already know where they are and now want to focus on dialogue and character integration. Another variation in this category is the OVER-THE-SHOULDER-SHOT, which positions the camera behind one figure, revealing the other figure, and part of the first figure's back, head and shoulder.

4. Close-Up

This shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail of mise en scène. Everything else is just a blur in the background. This shot magnifies the object (think of how big it looks on a cinema screen) and shows the importance of things, be it words written on paper, or the expression on someone's face. The close-up takes us into the mind of a character. In reality, we only let people that we really trust get THAT close to our face - mothers, children and lovers, usually - so a close up of a face is a very intimate shot. A film-maker may use this to make us feel extra comfortable or extremely uncomfortable about a character, and usually uses a zoom lens in order to get the required framing.

5. Extreme Close-Up

As its name suggests, an extreme version of the close up, generally magnifying beyond what the human eye would experience in reality. An extreme close-up of a face, for instance, would show only the mouth or eyes, with no background detail whatsoever. This is a very artificial shot, and can be used for dramatic effect. The tight focus required means that extra care must be taken when setting up and lighting the shot - the slightest camera shake or error in focal length is very noticeable.

Camera Angles

The relationship between the camera and the object being photographed (ie the ANGLE) gives emotional information to an audience, and guides their judgment about the character or object in shot. The more extreme the angle (ie the further away it is from eye left), the more symbolic and heavily-loaded the shot.

1. The Bird's-Eye view

This shows a scene from directly overhead, a very unnatural and strange angle. Familiar objects viewed from this angle might seem totally unrecognisable at first (umbrellas in a crowd, dancers' legs). This shot does, however, put the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action. People can be made to look insignificant, ant-like, part of a wider scheme of things. Hitchcock (and his admirers, like Brian de Palma) is fond of this style of shot.

2. High Angle

Not so extreme as a bird's eye view. The camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview. High angles make the object photographed seem smaller, and less significant (or scary). The object or character often gets swallowed up by their setting - they become part of a wider picture.

3. Eye Level

A fairly neutral shot; the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene, so that eg actors' heads are on a level with the focus. The camera will be placed approximately five to six feet from the ground.

4. Low Angle

These increase height (useful for short actors like Tom Cruise or James McAvoy) and give a sense of speeded motion. Low angles help give a sense of confusion to a viewer, of powerlessness within the action of a scene. The background of a low angle shot will tend to be just sky or ceiling, the lack of detail about the setting adding to the disorientation of the viewer. The added height of the object may make it inspire fear and insecurity in the viewer, who is psychologically dominated by the figure on the screen.

5. Oblique/Canted Angle

Sometimes the camera is tilted (ie is not placed horizontal to floor level), to suggest imbalance, transition and instability (very popular in horror movies). This technique is used to suggest POINT-OF-View shots (ie when the camera becomes the 'eyes' of one particular character,seeing what they see — a hand held camera is often used for this.

Camera Movement

A director may choose to move action along by telling the story as a series of cuts, going from one shot to another, or they may decide to move the camera with the action. Moving the camera often takes a great deal of time, and makes the action seem slower, as it takes several second for a moving camera shot to be effective, when the same information may be placed on screen in a series of fast cuts. Not only must the style of movement be chosen, but the method of actually moving the camera must be selected too. There are seven basic methods:

1. Pans

A movement which scans a scene horizontally. The camera is placed on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point as the camera is turned, often to follow a moving object which is kept in the middle of the frame.

2. Tilts

A movement which scans a scene vertically, otherwise similar to a pan.

3. Dolly Shots

Sometimes called TRUCKING or TRACKING shots. The camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object. Complicated dolly shots will involve a track being laid on set for the camera to follow, hence the name. The camera might be mounted on a car, a plane, or even a shopping trolley (good method for independent film-makers looking to save a few dollars). A dolly shot may be a good way of portraying movement, the journey of a character for instance, or for moving from a long shot to a close-up, gradually focusing the audience on a particular object or character.

4. Hand-held shots

The hand-held movie camera first saw widespread use during World War II, when news reporters took their windup Arriflexes and Eyemos into the heat of battle, producing some of the most arresting footage of the twentieth century. After the war, it took a while for commercially produced movies to catch up, and documentary makers led the way, demanding the production of smaller, lighter cameras that could be moved in and out of a scene with speed, producing a "fly-on-the-wall" effect.This aesthetic took a while to catch on with mainstream Hollywood, as it gives a jerky, ragged effect, totally at odds with the organised smoothness of a dolly shot. The Steadicam (a heavy contraption which is attached a camera to an operator by a harness. The camera is stabilized so it moves independently) was debuted in Marathon Man (1976), bringing a new smoothness to hand held camera movement and has been used to great effect in movies and TV shows ever since. No "walk and talk" sequence would be complete without one. Hand held cameras denote a certain kind of gritty realism, and they can make the audience feel as though they are part of a scene, rather than viewing it from a detached, frozen position.

5. Crane Shots

Basically, dolly-shots-in-the-air. A crane (or jib), is a large, heavy piece of equipment, but is a useful way of moving a camera - it can move up, down, left, right, swooping in on action or moving diagonally out of it. The camera operator and camera are counter-balanced by a heavy weight, and trust their safety to a skilled crane/jib operator.

6. Zoom Lenses

A zoom lens contains a mechanism that changes the magnification of an image. On a still camera, this means that the photographer can get a 'close up' shot while still being some distance from the subject. A video zoom lens can change the position of the audience, either very quickly (a smash zoom) or slowly, without moving the camera an inch, thus saving a lot of time and trouble. The drawbacks to zoom use include the fact that while a dolly shot involves a steady movement similar to the focusing change in the human eye, the zoom lens tends to be jerky (unless used very slowly) and to distort an image, making objects appear closer together than they really are. Zoom lenses are also drastically over-used by many directors (including those holding palmcorders), who try to give the impression of movement and excitement in a scene where it does not exist. Use with caution - and a tripod!

7. The Aerial Shot

An exciting variation of a crane shot, usually taken from a helicopter. This is often used at the beginning of a film, in order to establish setting and movement. A helicopter is like a particularly flexible sort of crane - it can go anywhere, keep up with anything, move in and out of a scene, and convey real drama and exhilaration — so long as you don't need to get too close to your actors or use location sound with the shots.

We took all of this into account when producing and planning our media thriller.