Media Studies AS level 2013, Foundation portfolio, Main task, Thriller opening, Evaluation. (George Kilby)

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

1. Introduction of character protagonist, unknown to audience who he is or anything about him. Restricted narration. Panning shot.  Long shot helps to set the scene and develop an idea of where the film is set and the surrounding area. Already we are given a snap shot in to the type of social  class involved within the movie.

2. news report, gives information on a kidnapping. Restricted narration. eye level camera angle. Mid shot typical news narration with mise-en-scene being classic to BBC news. BBC background. Emergency news broadcast sends shock waves to audience that the public are being informed about this threat over a public news channel. If the government thought they had the situation under control they would not be issuing a public emergence broadcast encase of causing wide spread panic. This shows the severity of the situation and is a very typical convention of a thriller.

3.BBC website displays information which the audience are unable to decipher. Its an enigma code. Leave the audience asking questions about the rest of the story and how this is going to play a part.  Shows that this story is big enough to make BBC news. enigma coding is a classic convention used by thriller film makers.  

4. CU of a shoe running. Very quick cut to and from this shot giving the scene a fast pace and increasing the adrenaline of the audience. Still restricted narration as the audience doesn’t know exactly what is going on or what has provoked this response from the protagonist. Keeps the audience asking questions and trying to decipher the code. Thrillers are much more than just movies. They ask the audience to play along with trying to predict what may happen next. have the audience try to answer questions that haven't even been asked yet just because they are so eager to read ahead and try to find out what will occur throughout the rest of the movie. 

5. CCTV  footage of the protagonist running along the alleyway. It’s a high angle long shot of the character as he runs. Using CCTV footage gives an idea of the surrounding area. We’re  not out in the country. We must be in a city or a town relatively high population. CCTV footage gives a sense of being watched, by the government as the monitor the area closely? Or by the killer as he watches over head anticipating every move of everyone around him? It is very strategic of thrillers to produce more questions than they answer with a piece of footage. When a piece of footage can make an audience think and feel certain things without them even realising... that is effective filming.

6. long shot, action shot. Typical for action films protagonist physically active and running. saving vital seconds by jumping over rather than running round the fence. this may be a sign that we are approaching our destination. Just generally mindless action and fast paced athleticism for the benefit of the audience. Keeping them excited and involved in the emotions of the character.

7. shot of a school sign. Gives the audience some more information. However produces more questions as to why the protagonist is running into a school. Sets the scene for the next sequence. Suggests a relationship between the character and the person he his running to meet. Maybe a younger sibling? it does set the scene well for the next sequence however it also sets the scene for the rest of the movie. It shows what type of community we are in. Typically middle class school with typical middle class houses surrounding it and generally drip feeding the audience small pieces of information to keep them interested in the movie.

8. shallow depth of field shows an origami swan in the foreground and  protagonist entering in the background. The big enigma code of the opening sequence, this really is the major piece of the whole opening sequence. the audience have been waiting in suspense to find out what will be in the school when our character gets there. they may have been trying to guess... of setting themselves up for a fight sequence. when in reality they get a paper swan. To be frank when writing this opening we did try to see how far we could push the audience because that's what I think a thriller is all about. pushing and pushing the confrontation farther and farther into the film to keep suspense running high. Allow for tension and expectation to build up and then just let it drop with a single shot which just makes the audience think "What the hell is going on?" they question the relevance but on the other hand have a burning desire to uncover the relevance and solve the mystery through these enigma codes.   

9. The name of the film, written in origami font mating the piece of the film. This is where we finally reveal some information. the title foreshadows the entirety of the film. This film is called ORIGAMI, the killer uses origami, the enigma code we were just introduced to was a piece of origami. Now the theme of the film is on full show. The audience still need to find out the relevance, how can the theme be interpreted in different manors throughout the film? What ways can origami be used in this film? To me its all about succession, what comes next and what comes after that. Keeping the audience on their toes.  

 

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

 

Gender- we have a typical male protagonist who is physically able to run long distances and be decisive in times of peril.  Making difficult decisions quickly and precisely, being active rather than passive. Nearly all thrillers contain stereotypical male protagonists like this. For example-

Age- this is also rather typical, a young protagonist under 40. However challenging the stereotype the age of our protagonist is rather young. Around 18 to be precise, this is to appeal to the target audience who are young adults. The certificate is 16 so setting the age of the main character so young helps attract the younger film goers. This challenges the typical age of the main characters in thrillers as they are usually around mid-20s to early 40s.

Social class- the social class of the main character in our film is middle class. This is portrayed by the style of house they live in, the clothes he wears and the type of school his brother goes to. Although they are middle class both parents have to work full time for long hours to maintain their middle class life style. This explains the close relationship between our protagonist and his sibling as he acts as a primary care giver to the child while the parents are at work.

We structured our character as so due to the frequent use of this representation of masculinity in modern films. We needed our character to be able to act rationally quickly in order for our films to work. In the first setting within our main characters house after receiving information about the kidnappers sequence to the abductions he thinks for seconds before bursting in to action much like any traditional male protagonist within the thriller genre.   

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

 

Going to a small independent film sales agent-

The company’s primary focus would be to act as a sales agent for us by providing the sales and marketing services for the film. The company would acquire the rights to license the film from us for little or no cash outlay. The company then licenses the film to distributors in the various outlets.

There are few significant players in the small independent film sales agent business. The more prominent companies in this sector now focus on larger independent films. Companies such as New Line Cinema, LionsGate, and The Weinstein Company, all began selling and distributing low-budget independent films before being acquired by major studios or going public. As these companies have grown, their business has progressed towards larger budget films therefore we would have to find a very young film sales agency in order for them to take us as a client considering we are a very low budget (no budget) film company. Could maybe be distributed to local cinemas or so small local film festivals. The film could maybe advertised on small local radio stations or in local newspapers to try and get as many people to see it as possible thus increasing the advertising via word of mouth.

Question 4- Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our media would be predominantly male and between the ages of 18-35. The certificate age rating for the film is a 16 allowing younger audiences to still enjoy the film however they may not understand some of the more complex themes involved. The target audience stops short of 40, this I believe is due to the unusually young age of the protagonist. This may limit the age range slightly however it allows a younger audience to find the character relatable. This is very rarely available to the younger spectrum of the audience. 

One of our comments from audience feedback shows that our age certificate rating was pretty accurate and our rather young protagonist does attract the younger viewers and enthral them with the story line. (Refer to quote 1)

However some comments state that our target market was unclear therefore it was hard to make a connection with the film. These comments are fair as I think the age range for our target audience is broad therefore selecting a specific age range is not an easy task. (Refer to quote 2)

Question 5- How did you attract/ address your audience?

Our film contains a lot of quick cut editing and fast paced transitions, especially in the ally sequence where there is a transition roughly every 2 seconds, which helps to excite the audience. To enthral such a young audience they must be kept entertained and interested throughout the piece. Therefore using these transitions to help quicken the pace of the passage increases tension for the audience and they begin to get sucked into the storyline. To keep such a young demographic entertained there must be a piece of action every several minutes opposed to an older target audience where there can be a lot more focus left on emotion and standard situations relatable to real life.

Another way to make sure the audience maintains their interest in the film via the high tension levels is to use clever sound techniques. For example in this frame of the film just as the door slams s hut the music kicks into action with a loud bang to mirror the action of the door. This technique is called Mickey Mousing. As the scene continues and the character gets closer and closer to the destination the music builds getting louder and faster paced, this helps give the audience that adrenaline rush and keeps them deep in suspense about what could happen next.

Any film has to be up to date with modern affairs. In the news recently there have been a lot of child abductions and it is a real life threat that a lot of people worry about and have fears of. So writing a story line based on modern affairs is relatable for most people. Also the fact that the story line is a game of strategy in keeps the audience interested and playing along with the characters and guessing what might happen next. It’s almost like a game within a film where the audience are given clues throughout to keep them guessing and their minds busy.

Also the costume of the actor and the age of the character match well to reach out to our audience. He is just a simple middle class boy around the age of 18. He is unemployed and hasn’t got anywhere to go or anywhere to be. His life is pretty unexciting and in the current economic climate a lot of people that age are stuck in the same rut as our character. Audiences like to find characters relatable and see that their lives are not that different to our own. The scene where it is set is very normal. There is no fantasy or farfetched high-tech special effects. We aimed to create a situation that anyone sat in the audience could find themselves in. This makes it ever more real and scary to the public.

Question 6- What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

 

We used a Sony HD handycam to record all of our footage it contains Full HD, wide-angle G Lens, Exmor R™ CMOS sensor, Wi-Fi ready, Balanced Optical SteadyShot & GPS. We used a tripod for steady shooting.  Whilst using the camera we could practice with techniques that would only allow the audience to see what we wanted them to see. We used camera techniques that restricted the narration and helped create suspense and drama throughout the sequence to keep the audience guessing about what may happen next. Also I learned how to use the camera to effectively track the actor without canting the shot or wobbling the camera

 

Green screen background was used to film the news broadcast sequence, this was a new piece of equipment that we had never used before and found it very useful in getting the effects we were looking for and it really worked allowing us to get the news room background looking as realistic as possible.

 

Editing footage was also something that I had never done before and learning how to cut and trim footage to piece together an opening sequence was an experience. Also trying to make sure that the sequence didn’t have any continuity issues was very time consuming.

Finally the blog its self, which you are reading as I speak was a very fun piece of technology to work with, just posting little bits and bobs on here throughout filming and showing people the side of films they don’t usually get to witness like the story boarding, the planning the research etc was just a very interesting thing to do and taught me how to do things such as attach images and embed video clips. Even writing in blog format is an art of its own I believe.

 

 

 Question 7- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you think you have learned in the progression from it to the full project?

, Taking information learned in preliminary and applying it to our thriller opening was very useful to our task. Having the information available to us on the same blog made using the techniques learned in our thriller very simple.

Filming strategies such as the 180 degree rule where the line directly down the centre of the scene must not be crossed by the camera to allow for scene to run smoothly without swapping characters or objects from one side of the screen to the other.

From our preliminary task we learned that the length of shots is of pivotal importance to the piece as a whole. It just allows the audience to access certain information for a specific amount of time. Too short an amount of time and they may be confused by the narrative, and too long an amount of time and it may give away too much information. This can be critical especially within the thriller genre where most narratives run on mystery and suspense throughout. Also you must never linger on a shot for too long, the last thing you want is for the audience to get bored or start to lose interest which can so easily be a problem in long sequences. This is why multiple quick cuts are vital to keep the audience engulfed in the story and to keep suspension high and tension throughout.

For example in our preliminary piece we held this one shot for 50 seconds which slowed down the pace of the scene dramatically.  (image 1) Also the sequence from which this still was taken was done as one long take opposed to a variety of takes from different angles. This may have made our preliminary more aesthetically appealing. (image 2)

However in our thriller opening in our running sequence we had on average a cut every 2 seconds to keep the theme of the film up tempo and exciting. (image 3)

 

Also the setting for our preliminary piece was very limited and we had to improvise with the props and scenery we had available. (image 4) Opposed to our Thriller opening where we had a lot of preparation time in which we were able to carefully plan and choose our setting and props to help reflect the social class of the area and also to make sure they were age appropriate for our protagonist. (image 5) For example using the television and the laptop in the characters home (image 6) allowed the audience to see into the home of the middle class boy. To see his possessions. The audience had opportunities to see inside the life of our character, he was on his way back to his house in the middle of the day.(image 7) This suggests that he is unemployed, he is also living at home so may not have very much of his own money, due to living at home he is very family orientated. these are all pieces of information derived from pieces of mise-en-scene and editing techniques.

Despite our lack of planning time and preparation for our preliminary I think we did rather well with the resources we had available (image 8) and produced some quite convincing costumes. However in our thriller opening I think our time was utilised well to help create a central theme to our piece which helped sew the whole story together. (image 9) I think having a reoccurring element is something that we have learned about writing a gripping narrative. the audience seem to keep an extra special eye out for something they are expecting/ hoping will reoccur throughout the piece.