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.

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.....


                           

Audience Feedback for Final Thriller Opening

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

Positive 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.  

One of the audiences favorite scene is the bread eating scene, as they saw it was a violent scene and liked the aggressive way the character eats the bread. Also, another scene the audience was enjoyed was the character smiling at the end as it was the first time he character reveals any emotion. 

Negative Audience feedback 

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.