In what ways does your media product use, develop
or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
A thriller film is a film that heavily
stimulates the viewer's mood, giving them a high level of anticipation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror. I
continued the key use of this convention in order to make my opening thriller
based. Key conventions of thrillers include, a fast paced plot, the unknown,
plot twists, investigation, a complex narrative which is not easily solved by
the viewer and violent crime. In order to successfully complete the brief of a
thriller these conventions had to be included. Evidence of this can be seen
throughout my piece. Several of them I have shown below through the
stills seen below
How does
your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product, represents the middle aged, middle class
pon ranging from the ages 40-50 years of age. This is shown the location
chosen for my piece, a detached three bedroom house in suburbia. This is shown
throughout; by the main areas of Mise-en-Scene. Which are; Costume, Location,
Props and lighting. I used Mise-en –Scene to create the image of the kind of
lifestyle the viewers have for the characters. Allowing the viewers to create a
connection with the characters. Making the thriller opening sequence even more
abnormal for the viewer’s when the viewers are able to compare their own
lifestyle to that of the characters.
Who would be the audience for your media
product?
From completing research through a questionnaire I have found
that the largest percentage of thriller watchers include the age range from
35-50 years of age. I am aiming my thriller product at the middle/working class
community. As looking at statistics for thriller films shows me that they are
most commonly watched by educated working to middle class consumers of middle
age. From research I have also found that the sub-genre of a psychological
thriller is enjoyed more by the female population. Due to the less amount of
gore and action but an increase in the amount of mystery.
How did you
attract/address your audience?
I attracted the audience through researching into the prime
ages which watch thrillers of the genre I was planning on making. Also through
this questionnaire I found the main features from the thriller genre which the viewer’s
enjoy the most. From the research I gathered I found that the majority of
thriller watchers were ranging from the ages 35-50 years of age. Obviously with
exceptions from this trend. As this age group are the primary viewers I planned
to attract and address this age group. I did this by creating my characters with
traits of normality, for this age group and social class. For example; the
location, the car, the costumes, the magazine being read as well as other
props. This encourages the target audience to be attracted to the product, as
they can associate themselves with the characters. Allowing them to be even
more shocked and intrigued by their actions. After doing research into whether
this worked by asking members of the public who fall into the target audience I
found that this does attract the target audience.
What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the production of my opening sequence I used countless
different technologies which I have no used previously, these include; Adobe
Premiere, Photoshop, After Effects, Blogger, the Canon camera and the adobe
Encoder system which I have not used previously. During the entirety of the
process I have recorded all steps and decisions through blogger, I have used it
as almost a digital diary. Not only showing the work I have completed but also
helping me to make decisions through research as well as keeping track of work
I have completed when coming back to the project after time away from it.
Another technology I have used during the process is the Nikon
D3100 as well as the Canon 550D cameras. This is a type of technology which I
have not had much experience with previously meaning I have learnt a lot during
my time filming for this opening sequence. I learnt an array of skills include
how to film steadily with and without a tripod, I have successfully learnt how
to focus the cameras to gain the highest possible quality of film this was key
as the first time I began shooting I did not have the full set of skills to
produce high quality footage. Which I thankfully gained through my first
shooting session in time for the reshooting stage.
Once I had completed the filming stage due to the camera I
had used the footage had to be encoded in order to work with the software,
Adobe premiere, to encode my footage I used Adobe media encoder CS4 this
allowed me to encode my footage making it compatible with the editing software
I had planned to use.
Another technology I used continuously after the filming
stage is Adobe Premiere digital editing soft wear. From using this I have
gained full understanding of how to edit raw footage into a short sequence of
shots which from a narrative view make sense, also adding a sense of
professionalism through the different effects available with this software
including; dissolve, dip to black and different filters.
Once I had begun editing I had placed each encoded shot in
the correct order I was looking to find a simple way to add a title with
the typewriter effect in the lower corner of the certain shots. For this I used
Adobe after effects. From using this I learnt how to use effects such as the
typewriter effect which has allowed me to add a sense of professionalism to my
opening sequence.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at the final edit of the preliminary task I realise
that I have learnt many new skills when creating this product. Looking at the
prelim task I can see that I completed little planning not thinking what will
look professional, and what camera angles and lighting creates the correct mood
I was looking for. When looking at the preliminary task my group and I were looking
to create the representation of a middle aged policemen who’s partner had
betrayed him by killing a close friend of his. However due to a lack of
planning and having not yet acquired the skills the actors used look like sixth
form students dressed as sixth form students acting as though they are older characters.
In a classroom. This looks amateur and does not show realism. From this I realised
that before completing a full product planning was needed for; casting,
costume, location, and lighting. This
can be seen during my final product which I planned thoroughly; casting age
appropriate actors, dressed the characters correctly, used an appropriate location and ensured
lighting was appropriate for the mood I was trying to portray. This allowed my
opening sequence to show a sense of verisimilitude and allow the audience to
create a relationship with the characters.
