Evaluation Question 7

Ben ev task 7 from beangiraffe

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:

Evaluation Task 3

Evaluation Task 1 (In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? i.e. of film openings)

Evaluation Task 1
In the 9 frames I have selected a number of different conventions are clearly used. From very first scene of the male showering the audience would probably assume that the opening will be set in a domestic environment. This is then further enforced in the scene of the male shaving where domestic items like towels are displayed in the background.

Camerawork and editing is also prevalent in the 9 frames. There is a wide variety of shots such as close ups, over the shoulder shots, low angle, mid shots and establishing shots. These combined make the opening a lot more aesthetically pleasing and interesting to watch for the audience. This is typical of an opening sequence as they usually have a variety of different shots and camera angles. The fact that the frames are black and white is clear evidence of editing also.

Throughout the opening different credits pop up at different times. For example the name of the producer, director and who stars in the opening. These credits are essential in that they inform the audience as to exactly who created what is happening in front of them and also gives those people credit. A notable point about these credits is the way they appear on the screen. Rather than suddenly appearing they slowly appear from blurry to clear and then dissolve out, giving them a ghostly, mysterious quality (especially relevant to the thriller genre.) This also applies to the title of the film which is displayed at the very end of the opening. Again the way it transitions onto the screen but also the style of the font create a sense of enigma around the opening.

By the end of the opening certain key aspects of the story are revealed, for example the main character is  shown to be the male who is being depicted throughout the opening, it's hard to imagine a film in which someone receives that much screen time yet doesn't feature as one of the main characters. In this sense it is typical of an opening sequence as the main character is given a lot of screen time and a lot of the focus is on him. The shot of the dead body at the end also reveals that this man is probably a serial killer and this then makes the audience question a number of things i.e why has he done this? Is this his house or the victim's house? Was there a motive? Therefore the story is perfectly set up as it can go in a number of directions from the end point of the opening.

Evaluation Task 2 (How does your media product represent particular social groups?)

Evaluation Task 2

In our thriller opening we present a young man aged between 18-25 who seems to be living a normal life and appears to be successful in that he wears a smart suit and nice watch and is generally presented as a successful professional. However what the audience don't realise until the very end of the opening is that he is also a psychotic serial killer.

 One character to whom our psycho killer can be compared to is the character of 'Patrick Bateman' from the film 'American Psycho' (Harron, 2000). On IMDb he's described as 'a serial killer who murders a variety of people, from colleagues to several prostitutes' despite the fact that he is also the head of a major Wall Street firm. In terms of the appearance there are similarities that can be drawn between the two characters. Both are young, white males with dark hair. In terms of costume, as previously mentioned they are also similar in that they are dressed in business attire. In terms of role, if we had made a full length film the character presented would have certainly
played a major role, if not probably the main role,
as does the character of Bateman in 'American Psycho'.


Additionally we subverted the stereotypical victim of a serial killer by using a young black male, rather than for example a young, white female. In most films young black males are usually presented as wearing hoodies and are often law breakers and tend to have dominant roles within films however in our opening the character is presented as completely powerless (as he is dead.)

Stereotypical female victim within a thriller --->













Stereotypical young black male presentation--->








We created these representations through the use of the four technical codes: mise en scene, camera shots, angles and movements, editing and sound.

In terms of mise en scene, especially in relation to costume we displayed the white male as being middle/upper class through him wearing a suit. In terms of props the watch he puts on also suggests he is a middle/upper class working professional. The fact that he is the only character that appears in the opening until the final moments when the dead body is revealed suggests that he is the protagonist of the film.

Camera angle wise there are a number of shots which display the white male's dominance for example the low angle shot displayed above in which he is shown to be looking down at the dead body. This clearly reveals his power and high status within the film opening. In contrast the close up shot of the black male showing his motionless face reveals the lack of power he has.

In terms of sound we use a slow, mysterious sounding piano piece which plays throughout. The fact that we use a piano piece reflects the middle/upper class profile of our male protagonist.

When editing our opening we cut various scenes down and added the music over the top. There are a number of scenes which last for a prolonged amount of time, for example the shaving scene in which a sense of calmness is established however there is a slight edge due to the fact that it's in black and white (which we added in during editing.)

Our Final Thriller opening sequence 'More Than meets The Eye' - Group 1

Here is our final triller opening! Overall as a group we are very happy with our final outcome, and we believe we have incorporated the vital key thriller aspects. We believe we have create a successful and realistic thriller opening.

Post Production - Rough Edit (Group)

Below is our groups rough edit of our thriller opening 'more than meets the eye'. Although we are happy with this opening, we have noticed areas that can be improved. For example muting background noises, camera stabilization re making one of our logos. All of this will be done later in the editing process.


           

Planning Letter - (Group)

This is an email that we had sent out before we started to film. The email acts as a reminder for our group, telling us where to meet and what props to prepare. Also, it reminds us to insure all the equipment is ready and accounted for. 

Email

Storyboard Animatic (Group)

Below is our storyboard animatic. It consists of credits and the order in which each scene in our opening sequence. Along which music we shall use and how long each scene lasts.

Thriller Opening Sequence - Story Board (Group)

Below my group and I have spent time construing our opening sequence storyboard. This will allow us to get an idea of what our final opening sequence will look like. It will also give us a rough idea of how long each scene will last and our overall sequence will be.

Focus Group 2- Feedback on 'The Sixth Sense' (Shyamalan,1999)

For this focus group I asked my parents to give feedback on the opening sequence of 'The Sixth Sense' (Shyamalan,1999) Their feedback perfectly suggested to me effective techniques to use for our thriller opening. 

Focus Group 1- Comedown Trailer Reaction

After Having watched the trailer to a modern thriller, Comedown (Huda,2012) I asked a group of three people to talk about what they thought was effective in terms of mise en scene, camera work, editing and sound. (Although we're making an opener rather than a trailer some of the feedback allowed us to steer away from certain things, such as the horror like font used.)

Ben Thriller Ideas Video

Technical - Sound, Balance & Lighting (Group)

Here is my group and I experimenting with Sound on our DSLR camera.





1- Firstly we recorded audio with the mic on. Based on the sound quality you can hear words and sentences clearly.




2- We then recorded audio without the use of a mic. However we are happy we tested this because the audio quality is quiet and unclear.




3- Finally we recorded audio with the sound enhanced, we did this by in creasing the audio on the DSLR camera. As you can tell from our video this audio was the best quality and was very clear.


Lighting

We then decided to test the different type of lighting from both interior and exterior. From this you can see the difference of lighting of inside and out when we alter the filter.

Technical - Rule of Thirds (Group)

The rule of thirds is applied by aligning a subject with the guide line and their intersection point, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to section.

Here is the 9 square layout

My group and I then had a go at taking some photographs experimenting with the rule of thrids, here were our results...

Technical - 3 Point Lighting (Group)

Fill light: A supplementary light used in photography or filming that does not change the character of the main light and is used chiefly to lighten shadows.

Key light: The key light is the first and usually most important light that a photographer, cinematographer, lighting cameraman, or other scene composer will use in a lighting setup. The purpose of the key light is to highlight the form and dimension of the subject.

Back light: A light source placed behind an actor, object, or scene to create a highlight that separates the subject from the background.

New Thriller ideas - Group Podcast

After pitching our idea to the class we soon realized that our initial idea 'Endz' Would not fit into the thriller Genre and more social realism/Action. Therefore My group and I have filmed a pod cast including our new ideas and interviews with our audience. ENJOY!!!

Our thriller opening Pitch to the class(Group)

Here my group and I presented our initial idea for out Thriller opening sequence to be named 'Endz', we then received some class feedback from students. ENJOY!!!