Final product

question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from the full product?

The preliminary task was to create a 30 seconds scenario involving 2 people having a minimal conversation. This was our opportunity to focus on camera techniques and how to edit. Within the scenario we used over the shoulder, close ups and medium shots. We came up with one location, in a hall way, where people could sit and revise, it was an obvious idea to have two people talking about work and revising together.

 

 

 

The purpose of the Preliminary task was to simply learn how to be able to operate and film with a camera and also edit your filmed work. During this task we had to experiment with the camera by playing around with different camera techniques such as shot sizes, angles and movements in order for us to find out which will be most effective for our actual thriller opening. Same with editing we experimented with different transitions and learnt how to use the timeline. It also gave us a better understanding for group roles as we would know who could do what role depending on the skills and abilities each individual had to offer in the preliminary task.

 

4 things I am now better with and more confident with doing in terms of filming and editing

 

Filming: I struggled a bit with the hand held camera and framing my shot however now that I used the tri pod its much to create effective cinematography such as over the shoulder shot and close ups in order to make my thriller look more professional.

 

 

Filming: whilst filming I struggled with placing the characters and placing them in the right place to make it look professional in the frame. Now I have a better understanding of where to place these characters to express their body language and costume son that the audience realise its conventional to the thriller genre.

 

Editing: I made good progress when editing my preliminary task in several aspects. This include using final cut pro and creating a timeline of footage but at first I struggled with placing my shots in order and cutting them to fit it into the 30 second time limit but still making it effective and conventional.

 

 

 

Editing: I’m now more confident in using transition and creating effect for my filmed footage make it conventional and more professional as it flows effectively in order for the audience to understand the narrative better.

 

Comparisons between preliminary and final product

 

This is a comparison of over the shoulder shots. An over the shoulder shot is used to show what a character is looking at, it may also over the shoulder because that character may be an anonymous character just like my final product where you can see that he’s looking at the group.  As you can see in the preliminary it’s hard to define exactly what he’s doing. Overall we’ve made a vast improvement in developing the over the shoulder shot.

This comparison here is for long shot if you look at the preliminary you can see that this long shot has unnecessary detail on the side of the frame however I improved this in my final product I used the long shot to show all the characters within the group and still manage to show detail of the location in they’re in.

Another comparison I have to make is the costume in the preliminary; you can’t define characters characteristic and personalities because their costume doesn’t represent anything only the fact that they’re dressed smartly must show they’re still in education. We improved our costume choices for example with my character he’s dressed in bright clothing with a shirt and cardigan showing someone who vulnerable and seems intelligent.

From the preliminary task the planning was essential because we could ensure that any shot or editing techniques we used with the task, we could improve on and develop in order to make it conventional to the thriller genre in the final product. It was best that I followed all conventions of the thriller genre through filming and editing for example storyboarding helped us plan our shot and other production techniques before actually filming to make it more efficient and professional.

Personal reflection:

I believe I made a successful thriller as I followed the generic conventions of a thriller for example the way I planned all my cinematography before filming saving me time and giving the rest of the production crew a better idea of how the shots would look and how my ideas would look overall. In addition I also believe I made a successful thriller because of the uses of costume for example with Erdem who played as the fake antagonist, he wore all black and a hoodie to seems anonymous which also fools the audience giving them a sense of fear. However he wore a white tee in the end to then show that he was a victim and if he was to get killed or injured so the blood would show.

I mainly enjoyed the editing where I witnessed the whole production coming to an end. Not just the fact that it’s almost done but also the fact that it’s our last chances to make the final production look good with all the transitions and effects to make it look professional and so that we can make it conventional to the thriller genre as much as possible. In addition I also liked it because you could add sound effect and put all the clips together so that the narrative flows.

I think our cinematography could be improved as it’s the most important thing which can make a thriller conventional to the genre. We could improve on more shot and angles especially in the final scene where we have a shot of me which lasts for about 25 seconds, instead we could have possibly a high angle shot to show levels and power between the two characters where the nerd is torturing the fake antagonist.

Overall throughout the production process I have learnt about the generic conventions that would attract an audience and make them understand what a thriller is and what isn’t throughout the research and planning. I have also learnt how to operate a camera and a tripod and cinematography elements such positioning and movement. I’ve discovered what my target audience should be and why I should aim it at them and why planning is so important before film production work for example storyboarding and creating questionnaires.

Question 6: what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this media product

question 5: how did you attract/address your target audience?

I took part in a lot of secondary research into existing films. I explored the ways that they were structured the narrative for example all thrillers would use a similar narrative structure as they’re targeting specific audience group. Through m research I have that these thrillers have similar representation on characters for example the antagonists identity is supposed to be kept hidden till the end of the film. They would do this to build suspense and tension which is what they aim to get from the audience in order to create emotions and keep them hooked on. In addition most thrillers use young female victims in order to make the audience feel sorry for them and take their side.

From my research I have gathered information to prove that the target audience not only relies on the genre but also the themes and the narrative which then links to the genre. An example of this would be an action thriller, the target audience would be aimed at young people males of any race and young employed citizens because they expect to see more action as they like fast pace and high tension scene.  There hobbies are also most likely to be video games or even sports where there is physical contact and blood rushing excitement.

Our opening thriller ‘the unknown massacre ‘has an age range from 15 to 21 mainly because of the characters within the thriller who are around that age. We chose this audience group because they can relates to these kind of characters personalities for example there will be an immature character who will scare the couple at the beginning to show he’s immature. The audience will find this kind of prank funny because it something they would do themselves however at the same time we want to remind the audience that it’s still a thriller by making the audience jump but they will laugh after. Overall they’ll enjoy the unique and interesting characters they can relate to in addition with themes.

Age:  15-21

Gender:  unisex

Ethnicity: all diverse cultures

Occupation: students employed, E, D, C1, C2, B, A

Question 5                                                                                       

The questionnaire was relevant because we got more information about who the target audience and got quick feedback. The information we wanted were specific in order to define a narrative in addito0n the graph made it easier to receive feedback.  The results we received was essential fro preparation, planning and getting the right emotions out of the audience.

My questions

4.      What sub-genre of thriller do you prefer?

5.      What themes would you like to see in a thriller?

6.      Do you prefer thrillers based on a true story?

7.      Do you find thrillers based on a true story more interesting?

It’s vital that we produced a questionnaire in order to gather information and indicate what our target audience want to see making them satisfied but sticking to the thriller genre at the same time. It helped us with things like costume because when I asked about costume for a nerd, I was able to define exactly how to dress my nerd for example he wore slim jeans, a checked shirt and a cardigan and glasses. This made it clearer to the audience that I was a nerd.

Question 4: who would be the audience for your your media product and why?

Question 3: what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Question 3 from pmfjim

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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

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

The task

As a group we were given a task to create a thriller opening in the space of 2 minutes. This included creating a narrative in addition to this; we had to create a storyboard once we had a clear vision of how our thriller would be. Through all the research we’ve been doing, we had to use elements such as cinematography, editing, Mise en scene, sound to follow the conventions of a thriller. I think our group was successful in creating a conventional opening thriller because we had an original narration.

I’ve used generic conventions of a thriller film to create an emotive experience towards my target audience. I used filming elements such cinematography, Mise en scene and editing to represent not only the characters but to support the narrative. Some of the shot I used such as close ups creates emphasis towards an emotion or mood. In addition shots such as medium make it easier for the audience as they can identify their costume and body language. This creates irony for the audience as they will have some sense of what will happen to each character or what they’re like.

The main use of sound is to set the atmosphere so that it relates to the narration and the mood and emotions of the characters. The location we picked is a forest therefore we expect to hear non diegetic sounds such as twigs cracking/snapping and owls howling. These kinds of sounds are conventional because it builds tension for the audience.

Location also helps as we used a forest which makes it easier for a victim to be targeted and a him/her to escape. The location is also more mysterious and isolated making it conventional to the thriller genre.
 

Generic conventions of a thriller

I carried out a lot of research in successful thrillers as it is important to follow generic conventions of a thriller because the audience need to identify what genre the film is in by looking at film elements. I did further research into thriller genre such as narrative structure and themes, character representations and age certifications. All thriller films use similar generic conventions that are use to have a certain impact on the impact just like other genres for e.g. comedy’s aims are to make the audience laugh.

One of many films I analysed was ‘scream’ within this movie it has a perfect example on cinematography such as establishing shot to set the scene and close ups for reactions and iconography. Research in other films was extremely important as it enabled me to make a successful thriller.

My 2 minute thriller opening follows the themes of, torture, love and death in order to create a successful thriller related narrative. Using young adults are also generic conventions of a thriller because they create various emotions from the audience for example feeling uncomfortable, anger towards a certain character or even sympathy.

As we filmed in the forest starting at 3 we instantly had low key lighting therefore we not have to rely on artificial lighting as it save us time however we had to use our time efficiently otherwise it would get too dark.             

Planning: MES

Lighting

Within our thriller we will use low key. This lighting doesn't reveal much about the character which is why we will rely on the tension it will create within our opening. Low key lighting will also create shadow for example we may not see the antagonist but its likely we will see the shadows, this keeps the antagonist's identity hidden but the shadows will give the audience an idea of what he/she is like through their body language.

setting

As a group we have chosen to set the opening in a forest at night because when it’s dark that when the forest comes to life and we hear all sorts of mysterious sounds you wouldn’t usually hear during the day such owls howling and other echoing noises.

Iconography

Iconography is a key mise en scene feature for an opening and we we will use a camera. The camera gives the audience a better understanding as to why they are located in a forest and their purpose for being there. The camera can also be used as evidence as one of the characters will get killed whilst recording this will make the audience curious if someone else will find etc.

Body language and facial expression

With body language and facial expression, it will enable us to define and represent what a character is like for example with the nerd he wouldn’t have a straight posture as a typical nerd would look weak and innocent. With facial expressions the nerd will also have a dopey look on his face rather than a cool looking look these kinds of things give the audience a better understanding as soon as they’re introduced in the opening.

costume
The actor who will the character of the fake antagonist will be wearing a black outfit with a black hood which hides the identity of the character; but also tricks the audience into believing he's the antagonist in addition creating suspense for them aswell. In contrast to the victim that will be wearing light coloured outfits (white, pink) which shows the innocence to the audience which helps them feel sympathy towards them. The other characters ( group of boys ) will be wearing casual clothing as they don’t want to be there unlike the nerd who will be dressed smartly to show that hes interested in the project they're doing.

Planning: pre production paper work

 

 

 

Planning: Preliminary task

what is a preliminary

The preliminary task is a trial to see how your group can work with a camera also enabling us to get used to filming in addition to this editing is also involved in this task. Furthermore within this task we must create our scenario and film it then edit it as a group.

The purpose of the Preliminary task was to simply learn how to be able to operate and film with a camera and also edit your filmed work. During this task we we had to experiment with the camera by playing around with different camera techniques such as shot sizes, angles and movements in order for us to find out which will be most effective for our actual thriller opening.

The Task
Since we had to create a 30 seconds scenario involving 2 people having a minimal conversation this was our opportunity to focus on camera techniques you would see in this scenario was as point of view, over the shoulder, close ups and medium shots. We came up with two locations, just outside school and in a hall way where people could sit and revise. As it was a place where people could sit and revise it was an obvious idea to have two people talking about work and revising together.

Production roles

We had to separate our group into individual roles to make sure we were all involved in this task in some way. I was the director and also the camera operator therefore it was essential that I experiment with the camera and what the character should be doing at the time. Our group decided to give me this role because I have some experience in camera work and I’m good at organising a group and making sure everyone knows what they’re doing. The edited work was done between the whole group as we are all creative individuals and therefore we could make a better edited version of our filmed work.

Difficulties we faced

 During editing we notice that we had to show that time has gone by as they have a conversation as we only had 30 seconds to show therefore we managed to overcome this as we found out the uses of the fade cut and wipe cut which was to show time has passed. During filming I also noticed that I spent too much time experimenting with shot and angle which led to us rushing in the end however it helped because now I have a clear vision of what camera techniques to use when actually filming the opening.

Planning: sound

Sound is extremely important in the creation of films because they adapt to a scene by creating an atmosphere or creating moods and emotions for different characters. It’s extremely important to plan sounds you will use when producing a film as it allows the audience to be connected with the film for example if a good person was to die in a film and sad, slow, depressing music was played straight away the audience would be connected with the rest of the characters because they would know how they feel and the soundtrack would set the mood depending on the situation.

The main conventional sound you will hear in our thriller will be the wild life of the forest for example the twigs snapping, the wind hitting the trees and other insects or bird noises such as owls and pigeons. This is conventional because it automatically puts him audience in an anxious mood.

For one of our on screen sounds in our first scene we're going to have characters laughing at a point where the nerd falls over. This gives the audience a clear understanding of the relationships between the characters and who everyone is friends with within the group. By showing who is laughing on screen we can see who is laughing and who is not, showing who respects him and who doesn't.

We're also going to have heavy breathing coming out of one of the characters (antagonist) as he’s late to the filming and therefore the stops for a bit to catch his breath. This automatically makes the audience feel worried and get a bad feeling for that character. This will also be on screen sound to showing whose breathing and where that character is or what he's doing.

Moreover, as the 'antagonist' scares the couple the female in the group will scream to show that she got scared of the figure behind her. This will be on scree this, similarly makes the audience want to know more about this character as they get a mysterious feeling about him. This sound also is onscreen so that we can see her facial expression at the same time when she screams.

In addition, the sound of crushing twigs will be shown when the group of friends start walking to find a better location to film the thriller. This creates tension for the audience members and makes them feel uncomfortable. This will be shown in on screen however it will only be in longshots to show where they’re heading to and what they’re stepping on.

planning: Editing

The quality of the editing within a film is very important, especially in thriller films because the editor plays a part to determine how the audience feels. Its essential because it puts all the filmed work together to get the directors final idea. Planning out what editing techniques to use will be important as they will save us time when it comes to actually editing.

At the start of our thriller opening scene all the characters will be introduced at a slow paced editing as it enable the audience to understand the characters and the relationship with the other characters within the film. In addition it gives times for the audience to clarify the character characteristics and personalities, it will also be used for the opening credits as we will need to state who the character is played by and the characters name/role within the movie for example, "khaled jaffer as the nerd." By using slow paced editing it helps us to show the characters body language, facial expression and costume while showing the opening credits, saving us more time as the opening scene can only be 2 minutes long.

Next; a straight cut will be used to show the antagonist who is watching the group of friends from a distance. We have chosen this simply because there is no other reason to use other editing techniques. This will automatically make it clear to the audience that its gone from one area of the forest to the next and also with the characters.






There will be a few fade cuts withing the opening scene. The fade cuts will be used to indicate that a few minutes/hours has passed and there is new activity which the group are getting on with. Without a fade cut the audience will never know that time has gone by which is why its essential that we use this editing technique.

Fast paced editing will be used when the ‘’antagonist’’ captures there first victim and starts to kill them. Consequently, this will create tension for the audience members as they'll be in shock of what has happened to the victim in such a short time and therefore they will be alert looking out for any other piece of action they can capture. The fast paced editing automatically put the audience in a zone where they would feel uncomfortable because of how fast the editing is, making them expect something to happen however they wouldn't know at what point it would.

Finally, this will then dissolve into the scene where the couple find the victims camera on the floor with blood around it. Similarly, this will create tension for the audience keeping them alert and they are still confused and are alert to seek for answers within the thriller to try and complete the prices of the puzzle.