1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our thriller opening sequence uses the generic conventions of a psychological thriller. However the protagonist/ antagonist role can be questioned. For the first half of the opening sequence, the antagonist would be the attacker. He is victimising the girl (protagonist). This poses questions for the viewers as to why he is victimising her. As ours is a psychological thriller, there are many enigmas throughout. Enigmas such as the scene of the group walking into the pub and the boy antagonist grabs the girl protagonist and so would question the audience into asking questions in their minds such as why is he doing that, what will happen next?
2. How does your product represent particular social groups?
Our Thriller represents a stereotypical representation of a teenage social group as they are out socialising and drinking on a night out. In the scene of the group of friends walking into the pub, and the male character grabs the female character with force, the female strongly loosens the grasp which shows a switch in representation between male and female. The female representation is also stereotypical at first as she is vulnerable and being targeted by a devious male character. However at the very end we intended for the female to be thought of as the protagonist as we want the audience to speculate whether she is the victim or if she is the attacker. As they are aged between 15-18, audiences are intrigued as we aimed for the BBFC to be a 15+ and therefore our target audience can relate to the situation and behaviour of the group of friends.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We believe that our Thriller would be an independent film as it hasn’t got a strong enough story line to be a Holly Wood blockbuster. To be a Holly Wood blockbuster we would need to ensure that the story line, camera effects, sound and lighting will keep the viewers constantly gripped. Our thriller would not have much of an ability to produce merchandise other than the necklace which could produce replicas but other than that the film does not have much of an opportunity to create such things as merchandise. It could have opportunities to have a sequel made which could show the story line from the antagonist’s point of view.
The audience for our thriller product would be those of the age of 15 and above, although the opening sequence doesn’t seem like there much in the way of, sex, drugs or violence, the story line of the movie means that it would need to be rated as a 15. The film would be aimed at more along the lines of teenagers and young adults as its classed as a teen psychological thriller as the main cast are all between the ages of 18-20 and it’s based on the usual teenage life, teenage hangouts with an obvious psychological twist. The films that our thriller is similar too are films such as taken as they both have the suspense element and both have the woman actor as the vulnerable character. It is also similar to the film shutter island as it has the element of not knowing who is the antagonist and who is the protagonist and we are not completely sure whether the main character is the victim or not.
5. How did you attract/ address your audience?
The age and gender of our audience for our thriller are both boys and girls aged 15 and above. This is because it is suited BBFC rating and also due to the character types within our thriller opening sequence. There are some random uses of point of view shots mainly from the protagonist’s point of view. Seeing through the eyes of the protagonist gets the audiences to relate to the characters feelings. Especially in the car scene where the protagonist feels uneasy with the antagonist starring at her intently. Ways in which we attracted the audience was through the PowerPoint on the story line in which we showed in class, by this we made the group curious as to what the film would actually look like when it was the finished product. We also did questionnaires to see what this age group preferred in thrillers and we looked at the highest rated psychological thrillers and what sort of conventions and what aspect were included within these films. We made sure that the group of friends was in a familiar place that you’d see teenagers hang out.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
Filming our opening sequence we used a cannon xm2 pal. We also used a tripod to make the filming smoother. During filming we sometimes struggled with getting the camera on and off the tripod. Throughout the editing of our thriller opening sequence we had to familiarise ourselves with editing software ‘Final Cut Pro’ and music software ‘Garageband’. As we wanted it to be evening time, we were aware of the risks of poor lighting and so we used lights such as car headlights and lamps from the outside of the pub. Editing for the flashback moments in our thriller, we found it quite a challenge but felt it worked well. We had to time the music along with the moments for the flashbacks so it would be clear when they started and finished and would also add to the drama. Final Cut Pro gradually became familiar to us as it became easier nearer the end, even though there were a few difficult areas. Also for Garageband, the sound effects that were already there in Garageband helped us really well as it provided the ideal sound effects we needed to create an overall soundtrack which involved particular flashback noises.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Since the preliminary task, as a group we have developed really well through our production skills and presentation skills. We have learnt that all four micro areas are compulsory when it comes to the overall film. In our preliminary tasks we failed to carry out a successful 180 degree rule. Although this was a simple mistake, it was useful for us as we learnt to take extra precaution and care when it comes to filming and editing altogether. Most importantly, it helped us with continuity and making sure everything dialogue and action flows. Overall, since making our preliminary task to making our final thriller opening sequence, we have developed as a group and learnt how to work productively as a team and also to make a creative sequence. The preliminary task helped us to prepare for all our planning, including storyboarding and most importantly preparing us with all the media equipment such as cameras, tripods, Final Cut Pro and Garageband. We as a group, fit the criteria for the psychological thriller genres as the storyline is intended to create enigmas and to confuse the audience to the extent where they are comparing with other viewers what they think has happened or will happen next in the thriller sequence. We think as a group that our thriller creates these enigmas, especially the way we have edited the thriller so that the two time difference in both scenes entwine with one another. The flashbacks of the night before are intended to show insights and small pockets of information of that time without giving away too much information.
