EVALUATION ACTIVITY - 7 (Giordano)

Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?


                           

EVALUATION ACTIVITY - 6 (Giordano)

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

EVALUATION ACTIVITY - 5 (Giordano)

How did you attract/address your audience?

Real movie's will attract their audience via public advertisement, for example, trailers, merchandise and posters. Films with larger budgets usually spend a high amount of money on the distribution of their product. In my opinion I believe posters are the most effective as they positioned in places that are seen by almost anyone: buildings, train stations and the side of buses. Taking this into consideration, below are two movie poster's I have created for my marketing campaign.

Shown above are my two thriller posters that I have made. I decided to do some research into real movie posters and took ideas from the ones which interested me the most, and included them in my designs. I believe that both posters look professional, and if it were to be released as a full feature film the advertisement posters would look similar to the two I have created. 

Poster 2

• The entirety of the poster is dark/black. The dark colours had connotations with death and mystery typical of the thriller genre. 
• The close up of the knife also adds mystery and tension to the poster, as we as the viewers do not know what this person is capable of doing with that knife. 
• The only light part of the shot is on the knife itself. This put a lot of attention on the knife and prioritises it.
• The caption 'expect the unexpected' captures attention of the viewers. 
• The font in which the title is written in provides a sinister feel. It looks as though it has been written in blood and has a smeared affect, i have seen many other thriller posters use a similar font. 
• The character is not shown in the poster only his hand holding a knife. This adds further tension. 

When movies are distributed, they tend to have a number of different posters but the best one is usually the one the public see the most. Therefore I have decided to choose between the two posters. I think that my first poster would work best for the advertisement of our thriller. I say this because it follows more of the thriller conventions and i think it is more realistic and visually appealing. 

I believe that the advertising process (distribution) is essential in helping the word spread about films. This is because: It sykes them up to see the movie, catches public attention, helps to spread word of mouth and can result in people looking further into the film for example watching the trailer.   

Real movie posters that inspired my designs

They typical conventions of a thriller:

• Low key lighting 
• Quick cuts
• Shadows 
• Tense music
• Changes in angle of shots 
• Diegetic sound 
• Protagonist and antagonist

The thriller genre has many conventions (shown above) and it would have been extremely difficult to include all of the above in the 2 minute time slot in which we were given to produce our thriller opening sequence. However our time slot was useful as it allowed us not to give to much away and
leave our thriller on a cliffhanger. 

                             

EVALUATION ACTIVITY - 4 (Giordano)

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I believe that out thriller opening sequence would appeal more to the younger demographic (15-25), than the older. Due to my previous research on film ratings, it is shown that a majority of thriller movies tend to be 15 rated, and young adults still tend to enjoy viewing them.

Looking at the table above, it is clear that the ratio of male to female is equal, 7 being male and 8 being female. Due to this I believe that our opening would appeal to both the male and female's younger demographic. 

Looking at my research,  I found out in my questionnaire that the thriller genre was popular and the majority of people were around the age of 15-20.  Furthermore to make the  thriller more realistic for example the use of the dead body and props are used to  convey the  thriller conventions, therefore we knew that we could not target the younger demographic. 

Questionnaire (audience research):

My group and I also thought that we should target this opening primarily towards males, as we have an all male cast. My focus group and interviews also pointed us in this direction. Looking at my questionnaire more males than females watch thriller movies, however there were more females then we originally anticipated. 

Interview with target audience (male)

                                                                         

yellow = male   blue =female

However, although I believe our opening will be appealing to older teenagers/Younger adults, I do not think it will be suitable for very young viewers (small children). This is because thriller movies tend to contain:

• Violent and disturbing scenes
• Tense scenes 
• Loud build up of music
• Shock scenes that make the audience jump
• The story line may be too advanced to understand
• Low key lighting can be scary to younger children 
• Protagonist may scare a younger viewer (especially in our case)

Similarly, I do not think that our thriller opening would suit the older demographic. This is seen in my table above, only 2 people were over the age of 25. I believe the following conventions may not be appealing to them:

• Violent and disturbing scenes  
• Loud build up of music 
• Some thrillers do tend to be very fast paced 
• Shock scenes that make the audience jump

Taking all of this research into consideration I believe  (along with my group) that our thriller movie should be rated a 15, this is also made visible from my table above. A majority of people were 15/16 years old. Finally, our thriller movie also fits into the category of a 15 rated film (Shown below). My certificate research also helped me and my group to make this decision. 

Examples of our target audience 

Below are examples of what my target audience would typically be like, and the different characteristics of males and females. 

EVALUATION ACTIVITY - 3 (Giordano)

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?



Sound cloud explaining who might distribute our thriller.
Above is my commentary regarding our thriller opening. I decided to speak about why my group and I decided to incorporate the use of logos and titles/credits. I also decided to research into real production companies and compared them to our opening of our film, and how we would be able to create an audience for our thriller.

Tiles and credits in order, from our opening 'More than meets the eye' 

Production logo

Distribution logo

Editing by.....

Produced by.....

Screenplay by

Tile 'More than meets the eye'

Music by.....

Cinematography by.....

Starring....

Directed by....

Mind map displaying how distributors gain an audience

EVALUATION ACTIVITY - 2 (Giordano)

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


Our thriller opening sequence shows a adult male aged between 18 - 25 years old, who at first seems to live a normal life with a successful job. We see this in the way that he is dressed in a smart suit and tie.

However what is kept at bay from the audience until the last few seconds of the opening, is that he is a psychotic killer.

An evident character that our psychotic protagonist is similar to, is that of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho (Harron, 2000), particularly in their similar appearance (Made evident from the GIF's below)They are both young, male adults, alongside both having white skin tones and dark brown hair.

Looking at costume, both characters are dressed similarly (suits and ties, Business dress), giving the impression that again both character lead successful and normal lives. In 'American Psycho' Patrick Bateman by day is a head manager of a huge wall street firm, yet by night he unexpectedly work colleagues and street prostitutes, therefore being classed as a serial killer.

I believe that our protagonist is also very similar to this, at first glance you would think that he is a successful businessman yet as the narrative unfolds it is shown that he is a killer, this therefore sets up our protagonist to be the main role in our opening sequence.

Our Protagonist

Patrick Bateman (American Psycho, Harron 2000)

Furthermore, we also decided to change the predictable victim of a serial killer, which in most thrillers tend to be a venerable woman. In our case we decided to use a black male to play the part of the killers victim. Usually we expect to see black males fighting their way through the films and or tend to be presented as criminals and law breakers dressed in tracksuits and hoodies tops, especially in the thriller genre. Examples of this include, The purge and training day (see examples below).

The purge character (stereotype black male)

Training day character (stereotype black male)

Female victim stereotype (The call)

The different representations are portrayed in four key areas, these are - angles and movements, mise en scene, editing and sound, camera shots.

Camera shots:

Our thriller opening also uses a variety of different camera angle shots. An example of this is towards the end of the opening, when we see a low angle shot of the protagonist looking down at what we later find out is a dead body. Low angle shots are used to show his power in the opening. Sharply contrasting this is when the camera tilts down towards the floor to reveal a dead black male. This shows his lack of power and is nothing compared to the protagonist in this scene.

Mise En Scene:

Mise En Scene plays a huge part in our thriller opening. The costume in which we decided our protagonist to wear (a suit) suggests to the audience that he is of upper or middle class. Props also plays a key part in our opening. The watch in which the protagonist outs on his wrist also symbolises his class and perhaps wealth.

Editing:

When it came to the editing of our opening sequence, we put all of our footage together and it was five minutes in length which was far to long. We therefore had to cut out certain scenes and extend others, an example of this is the shaving scene. The fact that we edited the entirety of the opening to be in black and white, and also an eerie piano score playing over the opening, the simple shaving scene is looked at different and is very tense and unsettling.

Sound:

For sound, we decided as a group to use a dark and eerie piano score, to create a tense and mysterious fell throughout the opening. I think that the slow piano score almost compliments the back and white effect used throughout the opening.


EVALUATION ACTIVITY - 1 (Giordano)

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Frame 1 - Production Logo
Frame 2 - The protagonist showering
Frame 3 - Extreme close up of protagonist apply shaving foam
Frame 4 - Close up of protagonist aggressively shaving
Frame 5 - Close up of protagonist handling a large bread knife
Frame 6 - Close up of protagonist aggressively eating
Frame 7 - Slow motion, high angle, close up of protagonist mysteriously smiling
Frame 8 - Extreme close up of the dead mans eye
Frame 9 - Title 'More than meets the eye' fades onto a black screen.

In this 9 frame analysis I have selected different conventions that are clearly used in our opening.

Below I have made a detailed soundcloud audio of each 9 frame image.

Construction: Filming Process - Giordano

In this post I will show how our day of filming went. In my opinion our filming day went according to plan, we got all of our footage recorded, leaving us plenty of time to edit.

We decided to use a tripod in order to film part of the shaving scene (see above). We used a tripod because it ensured that there would be no shaking and it would be a clear and steady shot. By doing this it allowed us to save us time in the editing process as it will be a guaranteed steady shot due to the tripod. Also we wanted a mid shot whilst the protagonist was applying shaving foam, which the tripod allowed us to do perfectly. 

In order to film the close up shot above we placed our DSLR camera in a cabinet above the sink in order to catch an unsettling close up of the protagonist face whilst shaving. We decided on this because it will capture a perfectly steady shot of the protagonist shaving. Originally we thought we could capture this shot while holding the camera, however this would most likely have resulted in a shaky shot. It also allowed the actor to act naturally as he is looking in the mirror next to the camera so he is not playing to the camera, this adds to the verisimilitude of the shot. 

In order to film the first shot of the door we decided to use the tripod once again. We did this because we wanted the camera and audience to dwell on the door as it the final scene before it s revealed that that protagonist is a psychotic serial killer. The tripod allowed us to get the correct height of the shot that we were looking for. Also, it ensured the shot was not shaky and infact completely steady. 

Finally, in order to shoot the final scene of the film, we decided to shoot free hand. We took the camera off of the tripod and slowly tilted the camera towards the floor. We did this as it is as the the audiences eyes are the camera and they are looking down to reveal a dead body, this shot allows this scene to look extremely realistic and credible. 

FINAL THRILLER OPENING - Audience Feedback (Giordano)

After responding to the feedback given from the rough cut feedback interview, my group and I went away to begin the editing process, looking closely at the areas which I was told to edit by my audience rough cut feedback. I did a second interview with Alex (target audience member), as we have edited our final opening. Here what he had to say about our changes.....


                           

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.

Construction - Editing Process (Giordano)

After looking at our rough cut, my group and I noticed areas that could be further edited to improve the overall look of our final thriller opening.

Below are the key areas that were in need of editing before we publish our final opening:

This is our new logo that we created
'screenshot productions', that we
created on photoshop.

We needed to re design this logo, as the image of the
mysterious man was taken from the internet.

We used image stableization in order
to achieve this clean shot, that is used in
our final opening. Using this makes the
opening look more proffesional and
stylised.   

This shot was in desperate need of image stabilisation
in the editing process, as the footage is very shaky
making it look unprofessional.

Here we also used image stableization
in order to make the scene look sharper
and cleaner. Using this helped us with
many scenes as it polished us our
finished product. 

                 





Again, the footage was shaky, in order to improve this
we needed to use image stabilisation to make the
footage appear more in focus.

Although you are not able to hear,
we decided to mute background
noises as there was unnecessary
music playing. We used final cut pro
in the editing process to mute the noise. 

                       







Although you cannot hear it here, there is background
music playing, and can be hear over the piano score
this interrupts the scene, therefore we needed to mute
background noises in the editing process.

In the editing process we slowed this
shot down so that there is more emphasis
on the eye, making the audience feel
uncomfortable. We also zoomed further
into the eye, making is similar to
Hitchcocks 'Psycho' shower scene. 

                         









This shot was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho'
and unfortunately we did not have the correct lens
to be able to zoom extremely close to the eye. Therefore
This needed to be done in the editing process.

POST PRODUCTION: Rough Cut - Audience Feedback (Giordano)

Below is an interview regarding our groups rough cut of our thriller opening. I interviewed a 15 year old boy (Alex), who falls into our target audience for our thriller opening. I showed him our opening and asked for feedback on areas that need to be improved for our final edit. Here's what he had to say...
                   

                          

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.


           

Exploring Soundtracks - Giordano

I gathered 3 people who are regular cinema goers and thriller watchers. I played them three possible soundtrack we could use in our opening, this was their responses...

Person 1 (Alex, 15)

What was your favorite and why?

My favorite was soundtrack number one. It is very weird and also does not create much tension it would contrast your opening which would work well.

Which was your least favorite and why?

My least favorite was soundtrack two, Although it built tension it was very quite and created the wrong sort of tension. What i mean by that is i think it will suit a more action movie rather than a thriller. In my opinion it will not suit a thriller opening.

Do you think I should enhance the sound track audio?  

No, in most thriller movies soundtracks are kept very quiet and in the background. They should only be used to add or build tension, increasing the volume will remove the attention from the images on screen to the soundtrack alone.



Person 2 (Andrea, 16)

What was your favorite and why?

My favorite soundtrack was number three. I enjoyed it because it creates and eerie feel and would also suit a thriller opening.

Which was your least favorite and why?

My least favorite was soundtrack one. I did not like it as I think recently it has been overused, for example insidious. I also think that as it is a song with lyrics the audience may be more focused on the soundtrack the the opening, especially if you are planning to have no audio in your thriller opening.

Do you think I should enhance the sound track audio? 

No I don't, I think that less is more in films. Films that enhance audio of soundtracks can sound fake and unrealistic. However if you are enhancing sound of individual things in the opening, e.g a character dropping a glass, that can really sound good and can make the audience jump.

Person 3 (Issie, 17)

What was your favorite and why?

My favorite soundtrack was number three. I think it was the best out of the three because it created the most suspense and the dark score of the piano really emphasised the suspense.

Which was your least favorite and why?

My least favorite was soundtrack number two. In my opinion it created the wrong type of suspense and I could see it more to be used in a action genre film rather than a thriller. I also felt that it was very repetitive and boring, and if I were to hear this in a thriller opening it would not keep me on my toes.

Do you think I should enhance the sound track audio?

I do not think you should. If the soundtrack is too loud it will take the overall focus off of the thriller opening itself and put all focus on the soundtrack, which will not make a successful thriller opening in my opinion.


Overall, I can see that soundtrack three is preferred by our target audience. After speaking to the other groups members we have decided to listen to our target audience and we will use soundtrack three in our opening thriller sequence.

 

Exploring fonts and titles -Giordano

Below I have explored films under the thriller genre. I have looked at the font in which their titles appear in, I manged to find many similarities and differences. By doing this I believe it has given me a clear idea of what font to use in our opening sequence.

Exploring fonts and titles

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

Animatic Analysis (Giordano)

Original Animatic 


Our first animatic of our storyboard opening consists of a collection of scenes created by our group. We  put the scenes in the order of which they would appear on screen. The music in this animatic is called, 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips,' a popular song published in 1929, written by Al Dubia. 


Final Animatic


 Our Final animatic of our thriller opening still consists of our collection of scenes created by our group. Every scene is in the exact order and the production and distribution company's have been added. The music has been changed to a piano based composition called 'Insanity,' composed by Lucas King.


Why did we change the music in our final opening ?

My grouo and I decided to change, 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips', the original song we chose for our thriller, to the piano composition called 'Insanity.'


We changed the music as in our research we had discovered that the song 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips' is copyrighted. So we were unable to use the song in our thriller opening as it would be taken down once by you tube  due to copyright reasons. 


 After sometime, we were able to find suitable music for our thriller opening and it was the piano composition called, 'Insanity,' which was perfect. The music was not copyrighted so we were able to use it in our opening, we also think that it worked better than the original music we chose.

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.

Costume - Giordano

Here I have created a costume for our main character. I have created an ordinary smart look in order to make our character look as ordinary as possible making it more of a shock when it is reveled he is a killer.

Costume(Hair and Makeup)

Locations - Giordano

                                                                           Location 1 

Our first location to be used in our opening is going to be a bathroom (pictured below). As we are trying to make our opening seem normal until the ending, we want to keep our filming locations simple and accessible. We are also have and intense showering and shaving scene therefore a bathroom will be essential in order to film this scene. As it is interior it will be easy to control lighting and will not have to rely on natural lighting outside.

Location 2

Our second local is also very accessible. The kitchen we plan to film in will also be in the same house, we chose this location because we want to make our film relatable and simple. we did not want to go over the top on locations we would not actually be able to access. Originally we tampered with the idea of having this scene to be set in a cafe, however our cameras and equipment will draw attention and our aim to to create verisimilitude throughout our opening mean we want it to be as realistic as possible, therefore we decided as a group to change our location.  

Location 3

Our final location for our opening sequence will be living room/corridor. We will be using these especially as establishing shots in order to show our audience that this man is just like any one else and owns and lives in similar places as the people watching it. I believe that this will have a more realistic effect on the audience. However we may need to move furniture around which can be time consuming.