Evaluation notes

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

• Our main protagonist is female which challenges the convention of a thriller.
• Our music is eerie which follows the convention of a thriller.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• Our product doesn't represent any particular social groups
• Our main character is a female which is not stereotypical and she is meant to represent the police and is the main focus of the film and we follow her throughout to see how she solves the crime
  

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

• Our film might be distributed by the same people who distributes identity as our films style is similar
  

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

• Our audience would mainly be made up of crime thriller enthusiasts and anybody between the age of 15 and 30
  

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

• We attracted our audience by using a young female main actor and by using a cool ident, also it is quite old fashioned which is original
  

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

• We have already learnt about uploading the video from the camera to the mac
  

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

• 
  

Evaluation questions. - verity

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

We challenge the conventions of a normal thriller by having a woman as the main character, this is not common and is seen in films like silence of the lambs. The music we use is going to be made from garage band and is typical of a thriller film and creates tension and goes with the scene. We also have realistic settings and don't use places that are commonly used by ordinary people.

our main protagenist is ment to be a young woman who is dedicated to her job and always follows through a case till the end.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media film represents the main protagonist as a classic police agent who is dedicated to the job and doesnt have much of a social life, or friends who spends the whole time on the job solving crimes and always sees a job though till the end.

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

i think that a media distribution like columbia pictures cooperation would distribute out film as they have distributed the film 'identity' and our film is very simmilar to that, also a company like universal may distrubute it as they distribute a variety of genres including thrillers

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

the audience we are aiming our product at is at 15-30 aged people as the story line is complicated and requires attention

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

characters- clothing relating to them.

music

titles

settings

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

dollys

final cut

garage band

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

Evaluation notes

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

conventions=Character, theme, revenge, motive, tension, music
main challenged convention- Bethan is main character and is a female this is challenged because most protagonists in thriller films are males to appeal to the male audience and most of them seem like stronger characters. One convention our protagonist follows is that she has a motive and is determines to solve the murder this is going to be the convention that develops throughout the film as she gets closer to solving the murder.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our main character is not stereotypical but she represents a strong female character because it is unusual for a female to be a detective. She is the main focus of the film and represents an important member of the police force. I think female audience members will be able to relate to her as she is a strong willed character and it will make the film more interesting for them.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
New line Cinema produced the film Seven which is a popular thriller film i think that our film could be produced by this company because they did so well with Seven. It could be shown in cinema because it is similar themes and story. Our I-dent could be used as well because it is very dark and links to thrillers.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our film is rated as a 15 and i think that is a suitable certificate. I think young teens will enjoy this as it is a tense and dark thriller and will keep you hanging until the end. gender/interests/what other thrillers might they like

5. How did you attract/address your audience?
We are using a young character and the time that are film is set in is slightly older to change the style and add more interest. I think out Ident is very modern and looks cool which will hopefully impress the audience. location/music/edits

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
This time we made sure we had time to practice our test shots which enabled us to improve and get used to the software on the computers. This made it easier to edit. cameras/final cut/garageband/blog/stills cameras/youtube

7. Looking back to your preliminary task,what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
planning/test footage/new final cut skills/altered ideas/music

Preparation for evaluation (better than Adam and aidan's put together)

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

- Because we have researched the conventions of a thriller film, we knew what to include. This helps our outcome to be more professional like real media products.

-We can't however have similar settings to real thriller films, because we don't have a budget and we can't for example, film off roof tops (for example the film Vertigo) because that would cross health and safety issues.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product represents particular social groups such as teenagers, because the main character is a teenager and therefore teenagers can relate.

- Most of the time, the main character of a thriller film is a man, however we decided to give a twist and have the protagonist as a woman, not only will this help to appeal to women, but it makes the film interesting.

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

The kinds of media that will distribute my media product will be in the form of:

- Posters: This will help advertise and promote our thriller film and increase viewings/sales.

- DVD: The dvd will be a convenient way to distribute our film, most thriller films are distributed by dvd.

- TV adverts: This will boost sales by displaying clips of our film to entice potential customers.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target market is aimed at men and women, because although the main character (the detective) is a woman. The detective theme is leaned more towards the male gender because stereotypically, men like sort of crime/mystery thriller films.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

We attracted/addressed our audience by

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

The 'Adobe Photoshop' software that we used was a very productive, it was easy to use and had a proffesional look to our Ident product.

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

We have learnt...

Blog of the Week review

The main reason they won blog of the week is because they include a lot of detail and have a lot of pictures which makes it nicer to look at. It also shows that they know exactly what they are doing and have planned a lot. Each blog has a certain subject and does well to provide examples and pictures in. The mugshots blog is impressive because they have explained how they improved their pictures. They have put a lot of effort into the storyboard blog and show a step by step of each picture and even included errors. I think we need to add more pictures in our blogs so that they are easier to understand and people wont get bored just reading blocks of writing. I think we need to show pictures of our props and costumes so that we know exactly what we will need when we are filming.Their blogs are very organised because they are dine in stages and the layout is very neat because everything is not all in one blog. I think this is what we need to do so its easier for us to know exactly what blog we did on certain days. and on time and every member of the group has contributed to all the blogs. We need to go through all of our blogs and update them and possible to a blog for each separate section.

Analysis of Batman, the darknight movie trailer.

The beginning of the trailer begins with the idents that are involved in making the film.
The dark night trailer is is good at creating a good dark atmosphere and thriller settings and storyline from clips of the film, the trailer gives a brief outline of what happens in the film and introduces the protagonist and antagonist and the love interest.
The trailer shows clips of destruction and chaos from the film.
The music is dark, going in time with the editing scenes and sound effects of things blowing up and the laugh of the joker overlapping the scenes, also the voice of the joker is playing over the clips when it goes black, creating tension and the trailer ends with the title of the film in white contrasting with the black background and making it stand out.

Analysing the poster for Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction is a crime thriller about Los Angeles mobsters and small-time criminals. It's well known for the graphic violence.

The poster displays the main character, who is a sex object and a bit of a rebel. She does a lot of drugs, smokes and plays with guns. In the poster, Uma Thurman is shown laid out on a bed, with a fag in hand, and objects such as a gun. She is also wearing a dress that shows a bit of cleavage and heels. This gives a hint to whats in the film.

Sub-Genres of Thrillers

Action thriller: Features a race against the clock and contains violence and explosions and guns, it also contains an obvious antagonist.

Crime thriller: Involves a crime or crimes, and focus on criminals rather than the police and emphasize action these films include murders, robberies chases, shootouts and double-crosses.

Drama thriller: Usually slower pace and involves character development and twists in the plot.

Political thriller: The protagonist has to work to become a member of the government.

Psychological thriller: The action between the protagonist and the antagonist is mental rather than physical, but may end with a little violence to resolve the situation.

These are all the different types of sub-genres.

Analysis Taken poster.

Taken is an action thriller about an ex spy (Liam Neeson) who is the films protagonist. The film is based on the relationship of him and his daughter who gets 'Taken'.

As you can see Liam Neeson is in the centre of the poster and is the main focus. The style of the title is quite simple but bold so it stands out and the colours match. In the background you see a filmstrip of key points in the film. Next to the character there is a small line of quotes which link to the film and because the three words are highlighted it gives of a better effect of a dark thriller. The colour scheme is very dark and is good atmosphere for the film. The character is dressed in simple black attire and is only holding a gun. This is a very good example of a stereotypical spy . The expression on his face is very serious because he is determined to rescue his daughter and is his motive in the film. You can also see the emotion of the women in the background which shows that she is scared and gives you and idea that this film is very serious.

Call Sheet

When are we going to film:

Thursday.

We are going to sort out the props next week

Who is going to pick up and bring back the camera and tripod

Verity

Where are we going to film?

Verity's house/garden because it has a dark, long driveway that would be suitable for our thriller film.

How will we get to the location?

By bus.

Is it a public location.

There is a public alleyway that we are going to film in.

If so, what health and safety considerations go we need to make.

Wrap up warm, it might be cold.

Lighting: are they filming during the day or the night?

We are going to film in the afternoon/evening

Who will be there?

Monday: Verity, (Sian bell and Jack Cootes will be acting but they aren't in the group)

Wednesday: Bethan, Verity, Extra

Will they need to learn the script in advanced ?

No, there isn't much talking involved.

Film crew- Verity and on that day she will film the house scene on and wednesday she will film the alleyway scene

Props:What do we need to take with us?

Paper,
photos,
chalk,
yellow tape,
cone,
pictures of suspects

Who is in charge of particular props?
Bethan will make the suspect sheet, and also the macintosh and a hat and possibly magnifine glass

Aidan will get the yellow tape.

Adam will bring in some paper.

Verity will get the chalk.

We will all find a cone somewhere.

What is the back up plan if the weather distrupt the filming?

We will either use an umbrella or we will do the inside scenes if it rains.

Which sections of the film are you going to capture in this filming slot?

We will try and capture everything in one day, and if we can't, we'll do it another day.

Which shots are you going to cover, and what sound do you need to capture?

We are going to cover bits with ticking clock, typewriter, background music. We need eery sounds from garage band.

The ident

We made an ident for our thriller opening, we called the production label 'red eye' as this goes with the thriller genre, the ident has a black background and red writing saying 'red eye' liking the 'e' from the red with eye, e.g.:
r
e y e
d

We also have a eye with a red pupil linking back to the name of the production company.

Below is our ident.

Test footage

On Tuesdays lesson we took the camera out to the art block and did some practice footage. We wanted to practice our shots so we used the ones that are going to be in our thriller. Our first attempt when doing a tracking shot we used the dolly which didn't work very well due to the broken leg strap so the camera wasn't steady also the type of ground it was on made the shot wobbly and added noise. The second attempt we got Adam to go hand held and do a tracking shot of the fountain which we though looked better. The next shot we tried was the Closeup which slowly zoomed out. The object of focus was a drain and we took several retakes. In our thriller we are planning to have a over the shoulder tracking shot of the main character so we practiced this by having Aidan walking through the archway by the art block. We though this looked good because of the dark effect. We also filmed a wall of pictures so that we had idea of what we wanted in our film. We thought that our practice footage went well considering 1 group was not here so we had to change plans.

I was inspired by a new thriller film coming out this Friday in cinema's called 'The Wolfman'. I only watched a trailer, but some good techniques have been used such as the lighting. The candles give off a mecabre feel, and the fog gives of a gloomy vibe. And I think if this film didn't have these element it would be a bad thriller film, becuase the storyline is a clique.

Here is the link seeing as it doesn't show an embed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS02xaTIdRI

I also thought the titles were effective becuase the text is bold, fuzzy and stands out against the background. The moon also takes place of the 'O' which makes it slightly more interesting.

Filming tips and rules

Top tips for filming.

1. Be clear of the shot length you want to achieve.

2. Keep the camera as- Tripod

3. All ways capture extra footage

4. Take shot lists

5. Capture a variety of shots

6. Keep Continuity

7. Have a back up plan

8. Make sure the tape is in the correct place

Health and Safety.

1.Be aware of your safety surroundings

2. Get consent when filming

3.Be respectful to the public

4. Dont film in dangerous place

DONT DO ANYTHING THAT A PASSER BY MIGHT FIND OFFENSIVE!

Font For Our Thriller Film

We are going to use the font 'Traveling Typewriter' because it gives a traditional detective feel to help set the theme. It is meant to be for the Title and the opening credits of our film, but obviously the title will be bigger than the credits to make it stand out.


Here is the link to our font:
http://www.dafont.com/font.php?file=traveling_typewrite&page=1&nb_ppp_old=10&text=Clockwork&nb_ppp=10&psize=m&classt=alpha

We also looked at:

http://www.dafont.com/font.php?file=uncle_typewriter&page=1&nb_ppp_old=10&text=Clockwork&nb_ppp=10&psize=m&classt=alpha

Which is a thriller type font that could also be suitable, however it's kinda hard to read, so we decided to go with the 'Traveling Typewriter' because it's much clearer to read.

Credit Analysis of 'Six Feet Under' and 'Panic Room'

Six Feet Under is a popular television drama which is shown on HBO. The programme's main
theme is death and the opening credits do well to show this. At the beginning of the credits you can see a crow flying in the sky which symbolizes death you then see to dark hands which start off linked and then begin to break away this is a way of showing how people let go when they die. The next part of the credits shows a dead body in the hospital being taken to the light you then see some Lilly's which is another representative of death. At the end of the credits you see the crow again which links to the first scene and rounds up the credits. There isn't a lot of text in the openings credits but there is a lot of images and things related to death this is very effective and gives you a basic idea of what the show is about. There is a mixture of diagetic and non-diagetic text to make the credits more attractive. Some of the credits are written in standard white text but then crumble away which also emphasizes on the theme of the show. Some of the credits are unusual because they are embedded into the scene e.g when a name is written on the tag of a dead body to make it seem more realistic.




Panic Room is a thriller film directed by David Fincher.





At the beginning of the opening you see the standard Columbus Ident which then fades out to an overview of New York City . You then see Non dietetic Credits appear on the side of the city buildings. The credits are written in blocked white text to blend into the scenery behind, they are not very scary and doesn't link well to a thriller. The music is very tense and does well to fit then thriller genre.

Story board for our thriller opening scene, Clockwork

Here is the storyboard for our idea of the thriller. We have drawn what happens and then described which shot is needed and what exactly happens in that scene.

Why thrillers thrive?

Thrillers provide us with the 'thrills' and 'shake-ups' that we crave but give us the sense that we are safe sitting in a arm chair at home watching it subconsciously knowing we are safe.

there was an exhibition of sideshow promising thrills, and there was a handful of people at a time and were sat in front of curtains, presuming the curtains would open to reveal a screen and watch a 'thrills' film one of the colous at the side started to fall and before anybody had the chance to panic or move the column was suspended ion the air, this provided a thrill but the show was eventually closed as people felt that there safety was at risk.

Thrillers are meant to thrill you.