Evaluation Task 7

Evaluation Activity 7

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

Pre-Production

This phase of production had a lot less time spent on it, as we simply only had a short period of time to draw up our project. This resulted in more last minute tweaks in the production stage when we should've just been filming. In each task we planned our location, storyline and a rough script however the thriller opening was more in depth and professionally conducted, which in my opinion was a great reason why this production ended up running more smoothly.

In contrast to the preparation of our preliminary production for our thriller opening we created storyboards, conducted research into production and mini pitches of which we shared amongst our group. Collectively we comprised an overall pitch which was presented to the class. 

The presentation of which was key in the development of our final product as the class pitch brought with it scrutiny over our idea for the thriller we originally wanted to produce. The original plan was to create a crime thriller about a young boy growing up around drugs and gang culture however the concern for our group that came back to us from feedback was that it was more of a social realist film as appose to an actual thriller. Not only this but it was heavily picked up on how this was a common premise amongst independent filmmakers especially in London, with similar productions such as Kidulthood and Adulthood respectively.

We heeded the constructive criticism and decided to go ahead with planning out the thriller opening going in a different direction.
Once we had our updated thriller ideas ready we presented them to potential audiences in order to gain feedback.

We conducted research into production company's and into determining who our key demographic would be be making questionnaires and analysing age rating of similar media products.
Once we had shared our ideas and had a collective direction of how the thriller would pan out we created a storyboard to plot out the production scene by scene.










Production

In the production stage of our tasks we shot all the scenes that we had envisaged in pre production.

During the shooting of the preliminary production we made sure to capture the desired camera shots that were needed to adhere to the criteria we had been presented with which included the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot/reverse shot.

180 Degree Rule

Match on Action

Shot/Reverse shot


We had learnt from our preliminary task that we required a more suitable location and a domestic location proved to be a great environment to shoot a psychological thriller.
In the thriller opening we started shooting chronologically to how we had written the production in the pre-production phase, beginning with the establishing shot in the shower and ending in the hallway with the dead body.

In our domestic location we didn't require any artificial light, the light that lit our Mise en scene was all natural, coming from windows and through open doors of the opened planned living environment.



The domestic setting also presented us with plausible props that we used throughout our production such as the razor and the carving knife, which we used effectively to create tension as we used them in close-ups dwelling on the action as means to linger which put the audience at an uneasy disposition.





Post - Production

In the post production stage we conducted editing. For this we used Final cut pro to comprise our footage together. In this stage we also added titles, credits and audio.






Upon reflection of both films that we created it is apparent that we were more concise and aware of risk within our final piece as appose to our preliminary film...

To the left in these screen grabs we can see issues that occurred during production and that weren't eradicated in pre - production, however they are direct results of the problematic location.

The first image shows a shadow which is of a crew member who wasn't meant to be in the shot as a our protagonist can be seen entering the shot as he opens the door.

In the second image a collection of both cast and crew were accidentally featured in the shot as they are seen in the distance behind the bench and in the reflection of the windows.

There was a third issue that diminished the quality of our product, the problematic location lead to there being strong diegetic sounds coming from planes flying above, our location being right near a runway wasn't helpful yet seeing that we had to shoot on-sight it was almost unavoidable.



We improved the appearance of text with our second production. The preliminary task featured basic text with a blank bank background whilst in the thriller opening we were able to add text at the forefront of our Mise en scene. For example the film's title was featured amidst the close-up of the protagonist's watch.




Before posting our full thriller we posted a rough cut in order to see how not only we viewed our production but to also get considerable feedback from audiences. We received mainly extremely feedback from consumers however it was pointed out as to certain subtleties that lessened the overall quality of our production such as the establishing scene, where the camera was originally jittery however this was soon resolved and the cleaner finish can be seen in the full product of which we posted later.

 













Reflection

Upon the completion of both productions i feel that i have learnt a lot from the first to the second, between the preliminary and the thriller opening. I have realised that to create a film that i'm satisfied with it takes careful planning and patience as well as being comfortable with all the components that are utilised in the creation of the production including technologies such as the camera and editing  programmes such as Final Cut Pro.

Evaluation Task 6

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


During the course of production and construction of our product we have been introduced to new resources that we were able to become accustom to and comfortable with using. Through the processes of pre production, production and post production we unearthed both benefits from the technologies

Evaluation Task 5

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

With our production there was a number of ways in which we found that we could attract and address our audience which included...

Character
Audio
Title and Texts
Conventions of a Thriller
Advertising Campaign

The Protagonist is a young male of which is a relatable factor for potential customers as our target audience is of the same demographic.
The male may attract other  young men as they can identify with him and he may also attract female audiences as they may simply be attracted by him, this technique has been used by nearly every film ever made, notably films such as Twilight have amassed a cult following from young girls who fancy the main protagonist, in this case Edward Cullen played by Robert Pattinson.

The audio of which is non-diegetic and plays throughout our thriller opening is effective at creating suspense and thus keeping the audience intrigued as they may not otherwise, considering that the re is no dialogue throughout the opening.

Texts and titles were used effectively in the production addressing who was involved in the creation of the product, crediting crew as well as cast and directors. Also the film's title is featured amidst the production addressing the audience.

In our production we also feature conventions/elements of a thriller including

- Crime
- Complex narrative with false paths
- Themes of identity
- Themes of mirroring
- Tension
- Villain
-Twists/Red Herrings 


Advertising Campaign

For Any film looking to gain recognition before its release a successful advertising campaign is key.
The bigger productions which have more capital behind them often have a range of avenues in which to outlet their product, for example films like The Revenant (2015, Inarritu) or Spectre (2015, Mendes).

Trailers

The film trailer is great tool for introducing a film to its audience, it is however rare for an independent film to be have its trailers featured during ad breaks as it is expensive to acquire this which is why audiences only tend to see mainstream productions as independent movies are harder to find out about and are more easily missed, for example to see an independent film trailer you will usually have to come across it via social media sites, in particularly Youtube or through film sites such as IMDb. Sites such as Youtube are great for films as they supply less known productions with a platform for free advertising in means for a film to reach their audience.

Film Billboard

Billboards are one of the oldest forms of advertisement for film, billboards feature posters promoting productions, they tend to host bigger productions with a lot of money behind them as billboards aren't cheap to acquire.

Updated Film Poster

This is an updated film poster for The Revenant released after award season to convey how successfully the film has already been received by audiences.

The poster features two highly recognised cast members, Leonardo Di Caprio and Tom Hardy who are pull factors for the production as the two stars have a fan base and will draw these consumers in to see the Revenant also. The poster features ratings from news sources and performance stats at award ceremonies such as the Baftas, Golden Globes and Oscars.

Television Spots

To the left is a clip showing Revenant Star Leonardo Di Caprio being interviewed by talk show host Ellen Degeneres about his latest project. The interview was aired at a key time as it was just after the film's release and whilst the film was showing in theatres thus creating recognition and even demand as it is noted that audiences will go to see Di Caprio films.






As we are responsible for an independent production we have to find alternative ways to market our product to an audience.
Fortunately our demographic are heavy users of social media, of which is a commonly used tool to advertise productions, both for mainstream and independent film.


I devised some mock ventures to visualise what our films advertising campaign may theoretically look like.

Twitter page...

      Two Alternative film posters

Evaluation Task 4

Evaluation Activity Task 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our target audience will be the 15 to 30 age group and of the independent film persuasion.

I feel that 15 to 30 is a suitable spectrum to target our film at as we are looking to give our film the age rating of 15. 15 is a suitable age rating for our product as it leaves us the possibility for violence and explicit content of which will be featured in the full thriller.

Many popular thrillers including both 'Se7en' and 'Silence Of The Lambs' have been listed at the 18 age certificate, which was surprising as i had seen the latter of the two movies and felt that there was nothing too explicit for younger age certificates including the 15 certificate, perhaps it was the era and if it was released today it would be certificated at a 15.

Commercially production companies are typically focusing there films at younger audiences as they recognise that the bigger consumers of their products are of the demographic that are also under the 18 certificate which has impacted greatly on the industry as today many thrillers are aimed at certificates such as 12 and 15 like Lucy (2014, Besson).

Our film is an independent production therefore we should take into consideration that we should be wary of excluding possible consumers of our product as we are less able to do so than a mainstream film.

As the cast consists of young males i believe this will not deter any gender or procure anyone particular, both male and females watch psychological thrillers regardless of the sex of the protagonist or cast.

The age of the two characters especially the protagonist is key as it is one of the factors of the production that the audience may identify with, hence the target audience linking to the age of the protagonist (late teens/young adult). Although the age of the protagonist is ambiguous it is apparent from his appearance that he is a young male, one might hazard a guess that he is either a student or an employee of business from his professional attire/costume. The fact that the audience can identify with the age of the protagonist is heightened when you can take into consideration our target audience being the 'key demographic', the demographic of which has the most disposable income hence why they are the biggest attenders of exhibition.


Whilst thinking about potential audiences and customers, research and planning have proved useful as we already had a rough ideas of a potential consumer of our product initially...

Evaluation Task 3

Evaluation Task 3

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

Evaluation Task 2

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


Our media product represents a sociopath, someone who may be perceived as normal at first glance yet unhinged beneath the surface.
The character in our production can be likened to that of the characters of Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) in American Psycho (2000, Harron). In both products 'More than meets the eye' and American Psycho the main protagonists are displayed in formal costume portraying normal working members of society visually, this is affective at creating a twist in the narrative to then introduce unassuming features of a character's nature.


We can also draw comparisons between Bateman and our protagonist as they both portray a sick twisted pleasure in the face of death and murder (as seen to the right).


Although there are uncanny similarities between the two characters such as costume and nature there are also differences. A key difference of the two is the age, Bateman is perceived to be in his late 20s to 30s whereas in our film a considerably younger protagonist is chosen, his age is not revealed yet he can be seen to be of the late stages of adolescents, late teens to early 20s. Both characters are of different positions in society, Patrick Bateman is a Wall Street Investment Banker whereas our character is younger and still of student age or primary employment age, yet this isn't established in the beginning of our thriller to the audience.

In terms of challenging typical film stereotypes we did so to some degree as our protagonist was unassuming and unpredictable in the suggestion that he was 'normal', yet he was the typical thriller subject of mainstream film, a caucasian male which are simply commonplace amongst films not just today but since the genre was made popular, films today confirm the statement, Spectre (2015, Sam Mendes) - Daniel Craig, The Revenant (2015, Alejandro Inarritu) - Leonardo Di Caprio, Mad Max : Fury Road (2015, George Miller) - Bridge Of Spies (2015, Steven Spielberg) Tom Hardy, the list continues...

We also featured a victim that would challenge certain stereotypes within film as our character was a male instead of a typical defenceless female hoping to be saved by a man. (left Maggie Grace plays Kim pictured in the infamous Taken scene moments before being captured) However the well recognised film stereotype of the black male being the first to die was once again repeated, which we didn't manage to pick up on until we had watched our final product several times and began to dissect the intricacies of the film. 

Evaluation Task 1

Evaluation of Production:


Evaluation Activity 1

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

The 9 frame represents a summary of our thriller opening in 9 stills from the production. These 9 stills i feel represent the most impactful moments in our film, for example the shaving scene where he looks menacing in the close up which disturbs the audience, the original picking up of the sharper knife which hints at his violent nature, the sick smile of the protagonist from a low angle shot, the dead body and the final title and last credit shown at the end of the opening.

The opening to our thriller in some aspects is typical, several psychological thrillers begin with the subject in a domestic setting which adds an element of surprise as we are introduced to the protagonist's unsettling nature in a setting which would usually be perceived as normal. In our group we chose to have our opening in black and white which today isn't typical of the thriller genre or even mainstream film for example the most successful non-colour production in mainstream film in recent years was perhaps 'The Artist' (2011, Hazanavicius) which was of the drama genre , however we thought it would be affective at subverting the appearance of this kind of film whilst paying homage to films of this genre such as 'Psycho', 1960 from the director Alfred Hitchcock. I felt that the black and white effect on our imagery added tension to the production as the Mise en Scene becomes more cold as you only receive whites, greys and blacks appearing before you. 

Apparent from the 9 frame are the type of angles and shots used to track the protagonist throughout the opening of our thriller. The establishing shot is of the shower head hanging in the shower, this shot is used purely to set the scene and give the audience a feel for the domestic location/ setting.  In the shots involving the bread and the knives we were specific in filming to make sure our shots weren't directly POV shots, we were attempting to give the audience an insight of the character yet keep them at arms length so we are on the outside looking in as appose to feeling connected with the subject.





1st Frame 

This is the establishing shot, it is a close-up of a shower head.




2nd Frame

Low-Angle shot featuring a medium-close-up of the film's protagonist.

3rd Frame


Close-up of the protagonist shaving. 

4th Frame

This frame features a closeup of a watch as the protagonist gets changed, the shot is met by the films title 'More Than Meets The Eye'.


5th Frame

Close-up of the main character clutching a carving knife.



6th Frame

This frame is a close-up of the protagonist from a side view depicting the protagonist eating breakfast.

7th Frame 

This Frame features a low angle shot of the film's protagonist. The low angle shot empowers him and his menacing expression heightens his dominance in this shot.



8th Frame

The camera is at a high angle, thus creating a high-angle shot as it pans down toward the subject in the shot - the dead body.





9th Frame

This frame features a closeup of the victims eye and is the concluding frame of the thriller opening.




The protagonists positioning is subtle yet key during the opening, the rule of thirds connotes how the audience are positioned with or from a character, our subject is often positioned slightly left or slightly right of the frame telling us he isn't a pure character one who shouldn't be trusted however this is subconscious yet it is a subtle clue that may add up in ones head when the dead body is discovered. Affectively the only time in the 9 frame when the suggested killer is central to the frame is moments after he stumbles over the dead body, yet the low camera angle prevents us from being positioned with him which is also heightened by his menacing grin thus putting the audience at an uncomfortable disposition once more.

Shots similar to that of existing productions...
  

Our establishing shot features a shower head. This shot is similar to the infamous shot of the shower head in the 1960 production Psycho from the director Alfred Hitchcock. The similarities are heightened as both productions were done so in black and white yet there are subtle differences between the two depictions, our shower head was more or less suspended and facing directly down which i feel was less aggressive as it rained down on our protagonist where as the shower head in Hitchcock's production was at an angle which i believe emitted a powerful response as the water droplets were more clearly seen and appeared to flow with more of a purpose and conviction.



Our shaving scene can be likened to the shaving scene in the 2001 comedy/drama 'The Royal Tenenbaums' (Wes Anderson). Although a quirky, colourful film this scene stands out as one of the most recognisable. The actors (Luke Wilson) intention of suicide combined with an disturbing audio 'needle in the hay' make for an extremely unsettling scene.

Like The Royal Tenenbaums our production features a character grooming himself by shaving his facial hair. There are few differences however such as the character's intention, our protagonist is simply going through a daily routine of shaving his beard whereas the other character is looking to cause himself harm. Although each characters motives are different at this moment in time you can still identify uncanny similarities, both scenes try to capture an element of danger which is heightened not just by the actions of the protagonist but heavily by the unsettling non-diegetic audio playing.



Our 9th frame can be likened to the shot in the 1960 classic Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock). Both shots feature an extreme close-up of the film's victims played by Janet Leigh and Morgan Noel respectively.
The shots are focused predominanlty on the eye of the victims in order to evoke a sympathetic response from the audience, in order for us to recognise the innocence of which resides within the deceased. Films tend not to dwell on guilty characters who have been killed therefor when the camera spends extensive time on a victim and zooms in or out it is often because they were innocent and didn't deserve to die in this manor. The innocence of which is captured immediately and puts us at a unsettling disposition and immediately positions us away from the protagonist who is responsible or who we believe to be responsible. One of the differences of the two scenes is that our production zooms into the eye from a view of the body whereas in contrast Hitchcock's production fades into the eye from the plughole then zooms out of the victims eye, both techniques end up achieving the same result however.