Becky's Evaluation

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


Conventions we used



In our thriller film, Nostalgia, we used many different conventions including the binary opposition convention. This was shown between the two main characters - Dominic Christoper (the antagonist) and Detective Vince Clarke (the protagonist) mainly through Mise-

En-Scene as the costumes the characters wore were typical outfits that the audience would imagine them in. Dominic wore a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms which automatically made the audience think that he was of a lower class and could possibly be causing trouble as he wore his hood up.
However, Vince on the other hand was seen to be wearing a suit which gave the impression that he had a good job and was of a higher class than Christopher.
The binary opposition is also used in the film The Dark Knight where Batman plays the protagonist and the Joker is the antagonist. However in this film, the Mise-En-Scene aspect is the opposite to our thriller film as the costumes Batman and Joker are to be seen wearing tell the opposite of what their character is like. As Batman is dressed in a dark, black bat outfit, the audience may think of him to be the antagonist at the start of the film. Whereas the Joker is dressed as a clown but with a slightly scary aspect to it as his face is made to look more evil-like.

Credits from our film, Nostalgia

Credits from the film Se7en

We also used a credit sequence in our film. The enabled our film to look more professional as well as being able to include the names of actors, distribution companies, directors etc. It also helped create tension at the beginning as it helped the scene to build up and put the different shots together smoothly. The use of a credit sequence was also used in the film Se7en. The credits in this film were very impressive and were placed over disturbing images which gets the audience prepared for what is to come as well as giving them an idea on what the film is about and helping set the mood for the rest of the film.



Conventions we developed



The use of time was a convention that we developed for effect. We did this through repeatedly adding flashbacks into scenes. These we flashbacks of the Detectives daughter, Alice. This made the audience question as to whether Alice was alive or not as certain things would trigger off these flashbacks. For example when Vince looks at the teddy bear on the dashboard, it triggers a flashback as the teddy reminds him of Alice. The next time this happens is when the Detective runs past a mother with her daughter which leads to him loosing the antagonist as he remembers Alice talking to him in the forest. This helps the audience to empathise towards Vince as well as making them nervous as they don't want him to loose Dominic.

The film Memento 's use of time is an excellent way of developing time as the beginning scene is actually the ending. This way, it keeps the audience thinking about what is going to happen in the lead up to it and why it has happened. There are similarities between this film and our film, Nostalgia as we also make our audience question when and were different scenes in our film are set.


Another convention we developed was that we had an aspect of drama in our opening scenes. As well as being a thriller film, we also focused the film around the relationship the Detective had with his daughter. For the audience, these scenes became easy to relate to and therefore the audience were able to empathise with the Detective. This is shown especially when Vince has a flashback as it helps the audience to understand what he is going through more and how his daughter meant the world to him as he still keeps her teddies in his car which always remind him of her.

Using a drama aspect in a thriller film was also shown in the film I Am Legend  which focuses on the relationship the main character, Robert has with his dog. This relationship is shown up until Robert has to kill his dog, which is emotional for both the audience and Robert. This helps the audience to identify and to relate to what kind of character Robert is and what sort of life he leads.




Conventions we challenged

Establishing shots was the convention our thriller film challenged. We chose not to use an establishing shot as we felt that for the audience, the feeling of not knowing where abouts the forest was helped to not only create tension but also made them feel uncomfortable as the Detective didn't know where Dominic had disappeared to which creates a feeling of nervousness.

The film Seeking Justice also chose not to use an establishing shot as they wanted to leave the location unknown and make the audience focus on the female character and what is about to happen. This is exactly what our film, Nostalgia focuses on as it makes the audience guess where abouts the scene is set - whether it is a place close to the audience or familiar to them.

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups? on Prezi

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


http://nostalgia2012.wikispaces.com/


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

His name is Tom, he is 22 years old and is currently studying law. He lives with his two friends in Cambridge and goes to the cinema once a month. He owns a large collection of DVDs including the CSI box set as he enjoys watching thriller/detective crime films and programmes.

Tom is a part time manager at a restaurant outside of Cambridge and is currently saving up for his own house in London for when he starts his job as a lawyer there. As he is saving for a house, he tends not to go out as much as he used to so regularly streams films from the internet. He enjoys cooking and reading and in his spare time helps coach rugby. Tom doesn't like watching soaps or going clubbing - he would rather stay in and watch a film.

Tom may seem to not be very wealthy when actually he has recently inherited a large sum of money that he has put towards buying a house in London. He has always been very careful with money and would rather save it than spend it on a night out in the pub or going out for a meal. However, he has always taken a big interest into films. His favourite film is The Silence of the Lambs as it is a thriller which includes a detective. Films like this are what made Tom want to be a law student in the first place. Tom has many beliefs and values. Independence, making a difference, success, loyalty and optimism are a few of his values. He believes that failure is good and  that hard work and perseverance are rewarded. Tom is his own person and doesn't follow the crowd and doesn't always do what his friends do.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

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

Blogger

Before the process of constructing our product, I had never used Blogger before. I found it fairly easy to use however it took me a while to remember how to add youtube videos and prezi presentations into the post as I always forgot to use the 'Edit HTML' option.









YouTube

 

Even though I had used YouTube before to watch music videos and other clips, I had never uploaded a video or added annotations to it. After learning how to upload a video and annotate it, I found it quite easy to do.









Prezi 

  I had never heard of Prezi before this process. I found it very confusing and complicated to use at the start, however after I discovered how to do the basics it became clear how to make a presentation. I created a Prezi as part of my evaluation of how our product represents particular social groups. I found this an effective and modern way to present my work.

Final Cut Express  

This was my first time using Final Cut Express. I found it very difficult and complicated to use at the beginning but after playing around with it and with some help I understood how it works and learnt the basics of how to edit our film.









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

Here is our edited preliminary task. We added annotations which shows our use of camera shots as well as props and editing. This helped us improve our opening to Nostalgia as it allowed us to prepare and practise editing and filming.

Nostaliga Opening Sequence

Back-up Location

This is our back-up location - The Stansted Nature Reserve, also known as Alsa Wood. We will film here tomorrow if there is still construction work going on at our original chosen location.

Meeting 31/01/2012

Today we discussed final planning for our filming day tomorrow (01/02/2012). We will film straight after school as there will still be an optimum amount of light for us to film in. We also discussed a different filming location in case the one we are hoping to film in is still undergoing construction.

Updated Film Schedule

As we were unable to film last Wednesday due to construction, we moved our filming date to Sunday 29/301/2012.

Filming Update

Today we went to Stansted to film the opening of our thriller. However, construction work (shown below) had started the day before and therefore means that we could not film. We are planning to try film again on the 29th of January in hope that the construction work has been finished by then. If it hasn't, we will have to relocate to another spot.

First day of filming

As sunset is at 4:34pm, we will need to have filmed all of the outside scenes by then so we will be leaving school early to allow as much time as possible to film.

Script For Thriller Opening

Below is our script for our thriller opening:

(Detective on the phone to chief inspector)
Detective: Pursuing suspect Dominic Christopher, case 167. I know, I wont mess this up. (Credit sequence appear. Voice over) Trust me.

(detective moves teddy from dashboard, triggers flashback. Alice appears in the seat next to him)
Alice: Dad, dad. Come on we'll be late for school. (credit sequence appear. Voice over) Whats wrong?

Detective: I have him in my sights. In pursuit of victim now. (credit sequence appear. Voice over) He's mine. (gets out of car)

Detective: (While pursuing Dominic) Dominic, stop!

(Grace and Ruby Jones walk past detective, holding hands. Ques second flashback)
Detective: Alice, listen. Just be careful. (Kneels down)
Alice: I'll be fine. (Voice over) You worry far too much.

(Detective runs around the corner. Dominic is no where to be seen)
Detective: (On the phone) I've lost him. He's gone. (Voice over. Title appears) I'm sorry I let you down.

Meeting 25th January

Everyone attended today.
Today Jack wrote the script ready for filming in Bentfield End in Stansted later on. Becky researched music for the thriller opening and Mike finished some posts.

Meeting 25/01/2012

Today we called a group meeting to discuss final decisions on our film. First of all, we all decided on the film title 'Nostalgia', each of us think that it fits the mysterious element that we are trying to get across to our audience.  We decided that we will film on Wednesday 26/01/2012, as the weather (shown by the previous weather post) should not be raining during the afternoon when we are going to film.

Storyboard Animatic

In order to gain a greater idea of how long our thriller opening will last for as well as the length of the various shot types we created a storyboard animatic and uploaded it to YouTube in hope for some feedback. Below is our storyboard animatic:

Title Sequence Analysis

The opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important people involved in the production of the film. They are usually shown on a blank screen or static pictures or sometimes on top of action in the beginning of the film.

Common opening credits order:

1. Name of the studio
2. Name of the production company
3. (Producer name) Production and/or (director only) A Film by (Director name)
4. Starring (Principle actors)
5. Film's title
6. Featuring
7. Casting by (Casting directors name)
8. Music or Music composed by (Music composers name)
9. Production designer - set design, costumes, hair dresser, make up artist, sound recording, visual effects
10. Editor
11. Director of photography
12. Producer
13. Based on the book by
14. Based on the characters by/created by
15. Story by (person who wrote the story)
16. Writer(s) or Written by
17. Director or Directed by

Fonts Research

The type of font we need to use for our opening credits and title of our thriller film must be eye catching and different to the plain, standard fonts used for everyday documents.
To get some ideas of what type of font we could use, I found a website - http://www.madtuts.com/2010/02/85-famous-tv-movie-fonts/ that shows many different fonts that have been used for famous films.
I have selected a few examples from this website that are suitable for a thriller film and that we could think about using for our own film.

This is an effective font as it is original and looks like its being used for a thriller or horror film as it is in bold capitals and has a slight authentic look to it.

This font looks fairly modern and mysterious yet I think it's slightly too plain and boring for a thriller film.

This font looks as if it has been painted by hand yet still looks scary as it is bold and not every letter is perfectly in line.





This font looks more suitable for a horror film as it looks like the letters have been drawn using blood which gives a scary effect to it.

This font, in my opinion is the most suitable font for a thriller film as it is clear and can still be mysterious.

This font is simple yet effective as it isn't neat and isn't written with capitals. This makes the film seem like it's a thriller or horror as it has a scary element to it.

25 word pitch for our thriller film

'A fractured cop suffering from his recently deceased daughter becomes fixated on a cryptic investigation into the gruesome deaths of young females. Where's the truth?'

Opening of a Thriller film - The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project is a completely different type of thriller compared to Black Swan. The whole film is filmed with a hand held camera and from each characters point-of-view which makes the film appear more realistic and believable to the audience. Whereas Black Swan is clearly a high budget thriller film which is focused around one character and is more of a psychological thriller.

The film begins with the opening credits rolling without any music in the background apart from the sound of a camera filming. This sound alone already helps to create a tense atmosphere. The distributor, Artisan Entertainment appears on the screen first however the titles are being shown to be moving and shaking as if they were being filmed themselves. The producer, Haxan Films then appears on the screen followed by the films title, The Blair Witch Project which is in a fairly small font which is towards the left of the screen. What follows is a short paragraph hinting about what the film is about.
This reads,
"In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland whilst shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found."
This is effective as a narrator has not been used so the audience have time to think about what is about to unfold.

The first scene is set in one of the students houses. One of the characters is using a hand held camera and starts to film and makes a close up of one of the other characters faces. This shot is blurred and not held steadily so the audience can tell it is from his point of view and that this character doesn't really know how to use the camera as he continues to change the focus and zoom. The main female character then appears to have the camera where she uses a close up to focus on the books she has which appear to be about the forest they are going to and peoples previous experiences in the forest. There then appears to be cross cuts when more characters arrive at the scene to show that a lot is going on and being prepared before they set off to the forest. Even though the opening to this film doesn't create as much tension as other thriller films at the beginning, it still makes the audience want to watch it as they want to know what is going to happen to the students due to the earlier paragraph they saw on the screen which makes it seem like a mystery.

Opening of a Thriller film - Black Swan

I chose the opening of Black Swan as my first film as it is a great psychological thriller and is exciting to write about as it is one of my favourite thriller films.

The film begins with the title sequence. The distributors, Fox Searchlight appears first on the screen followed by the production companies; Cross Creek Pictures and Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures. At this point, classical background music started to play. The title of the film 'Black Swan' is then shown across the screen in a large white font on a black background which makes it stand out. 

The very first shot is a wide angle shot which focuses on a ballerina who is about to dance under a spotlight. This shot also helps to establish what the film is about and who the main character is. The camera then focuses on the ballerina's shoes with a close up as she begins to dance. This is followed by a shot taken with a hand held camera which creates tension as it seems that the ballerina is being watched. There is then a 360 degree angle shot which focuses on the male and female ballerinas dancing together. The lighting also helps to create tension as the only thing the audience can see is who is under the spotlight as everywhere else in the room is pitch black. Most of this scene is filmed with a hand held camera for effect and as the music builds up and gets louder, the camera moves quicker and uses more close ups on the two characters to draw the audiences attention in. To end this scene, as the music fades the camera uses a reverse zoom to get the bigger picture as the characters disappear into the distance. The lighting then slowly fades out to mark the end of this scene.

Link to watch Black Swan online: http://tubeplus.me/player/72287/Black_Swan/

Story Board

Below is a summary of one of our ideas of what we will do for our 2 minute thriller opening.
The plot line is about a cult/covenant that are targeting females, but specifically younger females. The detective involved with the story lost his young daughter recently and is still grieving her. He also has multiple flashbacks of her either running away from him or what her body was like when she was killed. The case he is involved in is investigating the murders of the females but as the story progresses and he starts to unravel what really is going on, he finds out that the cult/covenant are responsible for the death of his daughter and the case becomes increasingly more personal to him.

Preliminary Task Storyboard

The storyboard of what we followed while filming our preliminary task:

In our preliminary task, we filmed a character walking along while the camera tracks him, he then approach a door where a match cut is used.

after the match cut the character walks to a 'victim' and they exchange dialogue with a 180 degree camera shot.

Focus Group Preparation

As part of our audience research we held a focus group where we asked 5 people from the age of 16 to 45 what they thought of thriller films.
We asked the following questions:

• What is your favourite thriller film and why?
• What was the last thriller film you saw and what did you think of it?
• What is it about thriller films that makes you like them?
• What do you prefer psychological or action thrillers?
• What do you expect to happen in a thriller opening?

Thriller Questionnaire

To discover infomation from audience research there a steps to take.

STEP

-style

-topic

-effect

-production

To find out infomation on the audience you need to find the audiences likes and dislikes. Thesemayb included; favouritefilms, favourite genres, favourite actors, favourite music and favourite settings.

Extracting opinion from the audience is key to a successful thriller. To do this we need to ask them their opinions on what makes a good thriller and their cultural preferences.

 finally a deciding factor is their opinion on what they think makes a good film.

As part of our audience research we designed a questionnaire where we asked 20 people 10 questions about what they think of Thriller films. We did this to help us to get an idea of who our target audience will be and what they will expect from our own Thriller film. The questions we asked are below.

1) How old are you?

• 15 - 21
• 22 - 30
• 30+

When we received the questionnaires back we found that the majority of the people we asked were aged 15 - 21.

2) What is your favourite genre of film?

• Comedy
• Thriller
• Horror
• Romance
• Sci-fi
• Other

The most popular genres we found were Comedy and Thriller.

3) What do you look for in a Thriller film?

The majority of people we asked said they looked for tension and suspense in a Thriller film.

4) Name some of your favourite Thriller films

Black Swan and The Dark Knight were popular answers.

5) What is it about them that makes you like them?

Most of the people we asked found that their favourite Thriller film is full of excitement, has a good plot and keeps them on edge.

6) What do you feel should be in a psychological Thriller film?

Every person who answered this question felt that there should be a murder in a psychological Thriller.

7) What was the last Thriller film you saw?

Shutter Island and Black Swan were the most popular answers.

8) How did you find it?

Most of the people we asked found the last Thriller film they saw thrilling and exciting.

9) What do you expect to see in an opening sequence of a Thriller film?

Action, main characters and a clue of the plot were popular answers to this question.

10) What do you prefer; psychological Thriller or action Thriller?

15 out of the 20 people we asked said they prefer psychological Thrillers.