Evaluation Task 6- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Evaluation Task 5- How did you attract/address your audience?

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

Who would be the audience for our thriller opening?

From carrying out a number of different research tasks I initially established that the key demographic for our thriller opening would most likely be people aged 15-25. This is due to the fact that people of this age seemingly enjoy the thriller genre more than other age groups.

The different research I carried out is detailed below:

Questionnaires:

However, whilst these revealed to me that although it seems to be the general belief that teenagers and young adults enjoy the thriller genre most, older more mature viewers may also enjoy the thriller genre too (this is evident in the response of my mum and dad in both the questionnaires and the focus group shown below.)      




From my audience research I was also able to create an audience profile as shown below:

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

Pre-Production

        1. Preliminary Task

The preliminary task allowed our group to gain experience on how to film using cameras and use editing software. As we filmed our preliminary task on the 'flip camera' and it took us around 30-40 minutes to film the scenes we needed. After filming, we spent our time on editing and we cut out some scenes. Our group was able to do this by using the editing software, 'Final Cut Pro' on the iMac's. From the preliminary task, I learnt what filming and editing was like and that I needed to take care with filming and editing as a mistake can lead to redoing it from scratch.

        2. Research

We researched several film openings to gain an understanding of what film openings are like and what they consist of e.g. the titles. I had used the opening to Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Russo, 2014). Also, we did research on thriller conventions, to know what types of conventions we needed to include in our own thriller opening e.g. low-key lighting, scenes of suspense and tension music. I had created my own ideas for a opening to a thriller to present to my group. This was done by doing research on thriller films and using them as references e.g. Taken. Also, we created separate audience profiles on teenagers and did a mind map of what teenagers like to do and what type of films they like.
      


Our group did individual research on production and distribution companies. We had also made our own production and distribution logo's for our thriller, we discussed as a group on what logos we were going to use and we decided for our production company it is going to be, 'Baseline Productions' created by Morgan Noel. The distribution company was going to be 'Screen Shot Entertainment,' which was created by Pio George. From my research, I have learnt that it is vital to have extensive research on hand to use as a reference and that you need your own idea of what a thriller looks like. As a thriller as many aspects to it and these must be followed correctly, otherwise it would not be a thriller opening.
                        


        3. Planning

Each person in our group created their own podcast with the group and pitched their ideas. After one person pitched their idea we gave our opinion and gave positive and negative points about the ideas. We brought all our ideas together and we we created our initial idea. The initial idea was presented to the class and it was recorded, and they gave feedback for our initial idea. The feedback for our initial idea was mostly negative as the class believed we were leaning away from the thriller aspect of our opening and moving more into social realism. Our group used the feedback and we created a brand new idea from scratch and discussed it in a podcast. We then went on to use it for our opening to a thriller. From planning, I have learnt that it is important to discuss your ideas and receive feedback, as without feedback from other people, it would be difficult for us to know what went wrong and how we can improve on it.

        4. Technical codes

Our group did research on technical codes such as 3 point lighting, rule of thirds and, sound, lighting and balance. We researched technical codes as we wanted to add as much aspects of thrillers as we could. Our group believed that it will improve our thriller opening during the production process. Examples of technical codes are rule of thirds, lighting and sound. From technical codes, I have learnt that it is important to know all the aspects of a thriller as it would allow us to improve our thriller opening greatly.



Production 

        1. Construction: Filming Process 

The production process took around 3 hours to complete. The first scene we filmed was the shower scene, the shower head was the establishing shot and then we filmed the main character, played by Ben Conway, in the shower with a low-angle shot. Also, we filmed Ben shaving and added over the shoulder shots and close up shots in this scene

Afterwards, we filmed Ben getting ready and a close-up of his hand putting on his watch, then after that we filmed Ben going down the stairs. Next, we filmed Ben walking into the kitchen were he first examines a sharp knife then he drops it and picks up a butter-knife. We also filmed him preparing toast and we filmed a scene of Ben eating the toast. 

We moved on to filming Ben putting on his blazer and walking towards the door. Then we filmed Ben nearly tripping over, we did a low-angle shot of him looking down and smiling. Next, we filmed Ben picking up a bag and leaving out the front door and after the door is shut, then the camera slowly moves down and reveals a dead body, which is played by Morgan, and we focus on Morgans eye and slowly zoom into his eye. From the production process, I have learnt that filming needed effort and patience as some scenes would not work out, or others may be too blurry to use in the opening. Also, each individual scene had to be redone 2 or 3 times to ensure that only the best shots were filmed. 

Post-Production

        1. Construction: Editing

The editing process took our group 2 weeks to complete. Our groups used the editing software using Final Cut Pro on the Apple Macs and used several of its effects. One effect we used was fade in/out effect. This effect allowed us to easily  transition our production logo to our distribution logo. Another effect we used was the slow motion effect. The slow motion effect allowed us to slow down scenes such as the character smiling and letting out a small laugh. Also, we used was the image stabilizer effect. This effect allowed us to stabilize our shaky scenes and it made them still and more clear. Our group learnt that editing takes time and precision, as we needed to ensure our opening met the criteria for a great thriller opening. We found many effects useful when we were using Final Cut Pro on the Apple Macs.
                                           


        2. Rough Cut

Our group posted a rough cut of our thriller opening. We had used the rough cut to gain feedback from the audience and they gave both positive and negative feedback.

        3. Final Thriller Opening

Our group posted our final thriller opening. The audience gave positive feedback. They loved the more edited version of our opening, said it looks more professional.

Task 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the process of constructing our final product, we were shown a variety of technologies and equipment, we were also taught on how to use them. Our group was able to grow accustom to the new equipment and we were able to use them for constructing our final product for our thriller opening. 

What type of technologies and equipment did you use to create your opening to a thriller?

- Camera: Canon DSLR

- Camera lens

- Tripod

- Apple product: i Mac computer

- Software: Final Cut Pro

Canon DSLR

Standard Lens

iMac

                                                                      

Final Cut Pro

Filming Process

The filming process took one day to finish. Also the amount of time the filming took to complete was around 3 hours. 

First we filmed the shower scene and we first decided to film the shower head as an establishing shot. Then we came up with the idea that we should use the camera lens to un-focus the shot then slowly focus it to reveal the shower head. After, we filmed Ben in the shower with a low-angle shot. We filmed Ben shaving and added over the shoulder shots and close up shots of Ben shaving. 

                                                    

                                                    

                                                    

After his shaving scene, we filmed Ben getting ready and a close-up of his hand putting on his watch and after that we filmed Ben going down the stairs. Also, we filmed Ben walking into the kitchen were he first examines a sharp knife then he quickly drops it and picks up a butter-knife. We also filmed him preparing toast and him putting on the butter and after that, we filmed a scene of Ben eating the toast. 

When that scene was finished, we moved on to filming Ben putting on his blazer and is walking towards the door. We filmed Ben nearly tripping over something, we did a low-angle shot of him looking down and smiling. After this, we filmed Ben picking up a bag and leaving out the front door and after the door is shut, the camera slowly moves down and reveals a dead body, which is played by Morgan. We focus on Morgans eye and slowly zoom closer to his eye. 

Problems during the filming process

One problem we faced was the shower scene, as we could not use the tripod to film, as it would not extend upward. However, we were able to get past this problem as we got a chair and used it to increase our height and get a good shot of the shower head.

Another problem we had was the shaving scene, as we needed the camera to have a close-up shot of the face as Ben was shaving however, we could not hold the camera without getting in the shot. We over came this problem by placing the camera inside a cabinet slightly above the sink to capture a shot of Ben as if he was looking at a mirror. 

Editing Process

Our group learnt that editing takes time and precision. As we needed to ensure our opening met the criteria for a great thriller opening. We found many effects useful when we were using Final Cut Pro on the Apple Macs. 

- One of these effects we found useful was fade in/out effect. This effect allowed us to easily  transition our production logo to our distribution logo, and from that to the opening scene of the  thriller.

                                         Fading out                                              Fading in  

                           

- Also, an effect that was useful was the slow motion effect. The slow motion effect allowed us to slow down scenes such as the character smiling and letting out a small laugh, this would have an effect on the audience as it would make them feel uneasy. This has an effect on figure and expression from 'mise en sein' as it highlights the characters expression and shows that he finds something amusing. This would be a surprise to the audience as they did not see him showing any type of emotion other than a serious look.

- Another effect we used was the image stabilizer effect. This effect allowed us to stabilize our shaky scenes and it made them still and more clear. We used this for the shower head scene as it was one of the most shaky scenes and it made the shot better.

Problems during the Editing Process

- During the editing process we faced problems of shaky scenes in our opening and did not know how  to fix them. We then came across image stabilizer which allowed us to stabilize some scenes to make  them clear.

- We also faced problems with the music. Our group had put in the music 'Tip toe by the window'  during the film process and during the editing phase we found out it was copyrighted, and we could  not remove the music. However, we overcame this problem by decreasing the volume of that music  and adding in another music, which was not copyrighted, to cover up the original music we used. 

- There were problems with the logo's. We had to make our own logos, as we created logos using  images that were copyrighted so it could not be used. But, we made our own logos, using Microsoft  Power-Point. We had to change the old production logo to a new one. 

Old Production Logo

New Production Logo

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

The target audience for our thriller opening is 15-25. As the younger audiences are more attracted towards thrillers than the older audiences. This is because thrillers contain distressing scenes, music creates tension, there are many close-up shots of the character which may make the audience uncomfortable, low key lighting and distressing scenes.

Audiences can be attracted to watch our thriller opening through a number of ways. The main way to attract audiences is through posters. Posters can be spread everywhere, e.g. buses and bill boards. Another way to attract audiences is through trailers or T.V. spots.

Poster 1

Poster 2

Bus

Bill board

The film title, 'More Than Meets The Eye,' will have the effect of drawing the audience in. As the title suggests that there are hidden aspects in the film and it requires the audience to be fully concentrated on the film and to watch the film very closely. The aspects that would appeal to our target audience is the tense atmosphere created by the music. As the music increases tension when it slowly builds up, it has the effect of keeping the audience at the edge of their seats. Another aspect that appeals to our target audience is the dead body. The audience will inquire about the body and start asking, who is that person and why is he there? These questions will be capturing the audiences mind and it would make it difficult for them to turn away from the film.


The film would not appeal to younger audiences as the younger audiences e.g. children aged 5-11 would feel intimidated by the music as it creates tension. Also, they would be afraid of the dead body as the younger audiences would be frightened. Furthermore, the close-ups shots of the main character would enhance the younger audiences unease and would feel very uncomfortable watching the opening. The close-up of the dead body's cold eyes would also make them more uneasy.      
                                                                 

Close-up of the eye

                                                                         Dead body

Close-up shot of the character

The audience would be drawn in by the music as it creates tension when it is slowly building up and the dead body will have the effect of stunning the audience as everything before was completely normal. Also, they would be intrigued in the constant close-up shots of the character, as the audience would feel uncomfortable and it will make the audience think about questions like, have we missed out something? or Is there something were glancing over? These questions will keep the audience busy as their interest will be growing by the each passing second.

Audience feedback 

The audience feedback was mostly, very positive. Many of our audiences enjoyed our groups opening to a thriller and they said they would love to see our opening turn into a full film. Also, the audiences liked our actor, Ben Conway's performance and said he had a big impact in the opening, and that he played his role really well. Our thriller opening kept our audiences 'at the edge of their seats' and the final scene had a great impact on the audience. As when they saw the dead body they were surprised and were asking questions such as; who is that person, why is he there and why has he been killed. The actor who played as the dead body was Morgan Noel and he played his role very well and due to this, we got exactly the right reaction from our audience.  

However, there were some criticisms about our thriller opening. One criticism was that our thriller opening could have been more chilling e.g. like the opening of the original Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween 1978. Some criticized that it doesn't seem like an opening to a thriller and that some scenes were a little bit shaky and it seemed unprofessional.  

Particular points in the opening that attracted your audience

One particular point that attracted our audience is the bread eating scene. As it was a violent scene and the audience was interested in thew aggressive way the character eats the bread. Also, another scene the audience was attracted to was the character smiling at the end as it was the first time the character reveals any emotion. The audience was also surprised by the dead body at the end and were interested in the camera slowly zooming into the dead boys eye.