FinalThriller

Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I was set a preliminary task to show my current skills at the time so I could analyze what we did well and what i could improve on for my final sequence. My task involved one person entering a room, sitting down and having a short conversation with the person opposite. I learnt how to use different camera angles to portray authorities of each character and to show who is talking a the moment in time. I also learnt how to use the software we were going to use for our thriller and also how to set up a tripod.This preliminary task allowed me to have an engaging and dramatic opening sequence as i could analyze the preliminary task and look at what i did wrong and change it for my final thriller opening sequence. This then improved my work and i then could have an opening sequence which creates shock, surprise and suspense. I could have also looked at what i did well which i then used in my final idea as i knew what i created was god and will give me confidence in my final idea. This preliminary task helped me with my final idea because it taught me what i should used and what i shouldn't use. It taught me that i should plan before filming and also give myself a lot more time to film more footage. This was because we didn't have a plan for the preliminary work which is why it turned out not very good so i then knew that i should use one so that we can get on and film as much footage as possible. In addition i also knew that i should've given myself a lot more time to film in the final production because i could then film lots of footage which i could then edit and choose which footage works best. I learnt this because in my preliminary work the amount of footage i had wasn't enough to make a successful piece.

Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the project?

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Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

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

The main characters in my sequence are an unknown killer, a blond women and a husband. I left the identity of the killer unknown as it leaves the audience in suspense and makes them want to know who it is so they are more on the edge of their seats which will engage the audience more to. 

I used a blond girl as it is conventional and stereotypical and engages the audience into my film as they are waiting for something to happen to her as blond girls are stereotypically known to be stupid and vulnerable. I used this as it is one way to subtly show that she is vulnerable without actually saying it. This then creates suspense as they are waiting for her to be killed or injured. The girl in my opening sequence appeals to the audience as women can relate to her situation and think about how they would be feeling in her situation. She also appeals to the audience as anyone who watches a thriller out of choice wants to see someone being murdered and they know from the start she is going to be the victim.

These characters appeal to my audience, people aged between 15-30, as the killer makes the audience put themselves into the victims shoes and empathises with their situation. This also appeals to the audience as they do not know when the killer will pop up which then creates suspense. The girl in my opening sequence appeals to the audience as women can relate to her situation and think about how they would be feeling in her situation. She also appeals to the audience as anyone who watches a thriller out of choice wants to see someone being murdered and they know from the start she is going to be the victim.

Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, developer challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Many thriller films follows many conventions to try and make my thriller appeal to a certain audience and create suspense, shock and surprise.  Some of these successful conventions are characters, iconography, lighting, hair & make up and setting. I followed a few of these conventions in my product because I believe that if I wanted to create a successful opening sequence I will need these to create a conventional thriller. 

One convention I used is characters, in my thriller I used the stereotypical blond victim. I used this because people tend to believe blond girls are vulnerable which will create suspense as thy are waiting for something to happen to her. 

Another conventions I used is setting, I believe that the setting I used was the main thing in which creates fear for the audience. The themes of shock, surprise and suspense are evidence in my thriller because throughout the sequence the audience are aware of the presence of an unknown man but do not see any deaths until near the end of the sequence. I used this because it sets the scene and lets the audience in to what type of thriller its going to be. The setting I used was an every day home, this is because the audience can relate to this as its somewhere in which relates to where they live which creates an emotional relationship with the characters. 

Another convention is iconography

Another convention is unknown killer 

Another convention is low key lighting 

The last convention i used is 

Overall my thriller does not challenge any conventions because I believe using the conventions will make my piece more successful and relatable for the audience.My thriller is similar to the original scream, like mine the actress of this film used a blond, vulnerable girl and an every day house as the setting.  I believe that we both used this as its good at creating suspense, shock and surprise for the audience.  

Font Ideas

For my thriller opening sequence i wanted to include writing over the top as opening credits so I could included all the people who have helped and credit them for their work. I looked at many different font types and colours and tried to find which ones were best for a thriller film and creating suspense. I wanted my credits to be red to portray evil and also to portray blood. This colours would engage the audience straight away as it gives them a sense of evil and bad which will set up the rest of the film. In addition I also wanted my credits to pulse out at the audience as this will give it the scary and thriller look. I did this by going onto the font settings and making the secondary colour white and chose a transaction which pulsated between the two colours.

Rough cut - Miss Miller

A rough cut is important when making a film as its a good way of getting advice from peers or anyone who watches it. This is because i have placed my rough cut on you tube and showed my class it, my whole class gave me feedback on my opening sequence and me and my group took the criticism and positives away from the discussion and had a meeting to discuss what we need to change and what we should keep.

Audience feedback is very important to consider when presenting our rough cut, as it gives us a chance to get an honest and un-biast opinion on our opening sequence. They can give you productive criticism to help you improve on elements that may not be working, but also tell you what parts are not as effective, so that you can improve on them, or simply make sure you keep them or keep them out of the sequence.

We created a slideshow in which we presented to the class to give them a better understanding of the background of the characters, the story line and who did what roles.We did this so we could get alot of feedback from them because they would understand the plot more. The presentation included; 

• What our group narrative was
• How we came to a conclusion of the narrative
• What our final narrative was
• Our individual narratives with the positives and negatives
• What we wanted to create. + How we think we have created it.
• How is it conventional to a thriller genre

We then showed our class our rough cut which we had posted on youtube to get their feedback on the actual piece. From the discussion me and my group found that people were laughing at our rough cut more than being engaged or scared so we decided to scrap the whole piece and start over as i believe i could make a much better piece. We then changed roles and i became the director and Vasil become a producer. This helped us as i believe i was a better director as i could control what was going on and make sure it was scary and not funny.  
As part of our feedback we received from our peers/audience, we discovered all of our strengths and weaknesses. Our strengths included:

• The use of low key lighting as it showed something that was conventional to a thriller.
•  The variety of camera shots we used. This includes a lot close ups and POV to represent enigma and hidden identity. The close ups show the characters facial expression which helps towards allowing the audience to build a relationship with the characters.
• Different sound techniques used which helps create different atmospheres and can represent how characters were feeling, the different and unique use of sound also allows tension to build, leading to shock, surprise and suspense amongst the audience.

 These were also followed by some weaknesses such as:

•  Lack of consistency through themes and characters created a lot of confusion amongst our audience.
• Lack of conventional elements to a thriller, resembled traits of a comedy.
• Order of shots seemed out of place and messy.
• Rushed and unexplained ending.