Thriller film evaluation.By Samantha Hegarty.

Candidate number: 5092

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

• Due to the fact that our genre was thriller’s we did some research in to what a thriller consists of and the type of things we would need, to make our 3 minute thrillers just as good.

• Our media product shows conventions of a thriller such as suspense, we have included this because it is a very important aspect of a thriller and because it keeps the audience interested in what’s happening.

• The twist in our plot helps to keep the audience interested and guessing on what is about to happen.

• When it came down to making our media product we had two attempts at it, this is because our first attempt was not quite good enough and we thought that it didn’t meet the requirements of what a thriller should have. Therefore when it came down to restarting and producing our second attempt we did more research in to thrillers and the sort of things we felt needed to be included.

• When we had finished filming our second and final attempt we got down to editing it. We played around with the darkness of the shots to see what worked the best with our film and the type of genre we were working with. We added sound effects and music to add to the suspense. The faster up beat music went with the dramatic scenes and the quiet, slower, eerie music goes with the more relaxed scenes.

• Our media product is similar to The nightmare on elm street. This is because this film is also based on a nightmare that then comes true.

• It is also similar to Paranormal activity this is because we used similar colours to what they used and because we have used suspense, like most thrillers do.

•Our media product consists of a scene with blood and gore in it. When watching a thriller you will realise that there is not that much blood and gore, this is what makes it different from a horror film.

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

• Our media product was a 3 minute start to a thriller film, our film would represent both males and females, although I feel that it would appeal to the male gender more, due to the fact that there are some scenes with blood and gore in.

• Our media product would appeal to those who like a thrill with a bit of blood and gore on the side. Although we would have put our media product as a certificate 15, the social groups I feel our media product would appeal to would be teenagers ranging from 11 years to 20 years.

• There is a large variety of social groups who I feel would most enjoy watching our media product these include, people who enjoy a good thrill and emo’s and goth’s this is because these social groups enjoy these sort of films much more that your an average teenager.

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

• The sort of media institution that might distribute our media product would be Warner brothers and Paramount pictures. This is because Warner brothers specialises in thrillers, actions and comedy’s . They have distributed Red Riding Hood, The Dark Knight , Sucker punch, Harry potter and many more. Warner brothers is well known all around the world so there is a huge amount of publicity for the films.

• Paramount Pictures is also known world wide, so like Warner brothers there would be a huge amount of publicity for the films. Paramount Picture has been around since 1912. • Paramount Pictures specialises in thrillers and comedy's.

• Another media institution that might distribute our media product would be lionsgate. This is because they distribute lots of films all different genres including thrillers. They distribute in England and Canada, meaning there would be lots of publicity. They have distributed; Buried, American Psycho and many more.

Lionsgate distributed;

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

Target audience

• Due to the fact that our film genre was thriller, we watched the first ten minutes of five different thriller films, this helped us because we were able to see the sort of things we needed to include in our thriller in order to get our audience interested.

• For our thriller film we came to a conclusion that our media product would suit both male and female.

• Although we think that it would appeal to a young age range, we would say that a suitable age certificate to put on it would be a 15 this is because anyone younger may find some scenes too graphic and a little scary and our media product also stays with in the guidelines of a 15 certificate.

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

• When doing some research in to what the viewers would want to see in a good thriller, we found that the main two aspects were, an interesting plot and suspense, so through out the duration we were filming we keep these two things in mind.

• We attracted our audience by creating eye catching posters, and a DVD cover. Our DVD cover kept to the theme of a thriller, we used the stereotypical black as the background with red and white writing.

• We came up with a tag line. ‘ DON’T FALL ASLEEP’ these three word roughly sum up our film and give a hint of what’s to come.

Our DVD cover.

• We used a deep but vibrant red for the writing, with a black background and an image in the middle. We screen printed the image we wanted from our film and imported it on to our poster. We had blood the same colour as the writing dripping down over the image we had chosen to be on our poster. We picked this image because we thought it looked most effective and the image its self told a story.

• To attract our audience we made our film interesting, we did this by have a twist in the plot and using suspense.

Our poster.

• We addressed our audience by making our film interesting we did this by, trying to make it realistic. We did this by creating news reports and having them at the end of our film.

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

• From the process of constructing our media product I have learnt a number of different techniques such as a range of camera angles and shots.

• We incorporated a number of these camera angles and shots in our film, such as; a low angle, high angle, framing shot, a close up and an extreme close up. Whilst we were filming we considered which camera angle would be best suited to each part.

• I have learnt how to edit, cut and put together a short movie, and at the same time learning just how much effort and time goes in to producing each part of a film and that you need a skilled, supportive team behind you.

• The technologies we used to produce our media product was an apple mac, the programme we used was imovie, this allowed us to edit and improve our film. We also used a video camera to film our media product and a microphone to record our news report. Using different technologies allowed us perfect and make our film better.

• During the process of constructing our media product I have learnt that technologies are improving all the time and will continue to improve for a long time, meaning the quality of the films will also be improving.

• Through out filming I have been keeping a weekly blog on everything I have learnt. Before starting this media course I didn’t know how to set up or use a blog. Although now I am able to upload pictures, videos, posts and timelines. • Taking this course and producing our media product has also taught me

how to use timerime. Timerime is an online timeline, that you are able to create and make it on anything you want. We produced one on thriller films.

Editing.

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

• Our preliminary task was very basic, it had hardly any camera angles and shots compared to our media product. I have leant about the sort of shots we needed to include to make the start of our film dramatic and to make the viewer feel anxious about what is to come.

• Looking back on my preliminary task compared to the full product I have learnt that there is so much time and effort that goes in to making every second of a film.

• I have learnt that the lighting, costumes, props and the location all have to be just right in order to get the perfect film, but that pretty much anything can be edited to make it even better.

• The amount of preparation that goes in to every minute of the film takes time, skills and a lot of planning. The scripts, lighting, costumes, location, the camera angles and shots are all planned out before you start to film, this way everyone involved in the making of a film knows what they should be doing and where they should be.

• During this process I have learnt what you need to include to make a thriller good.

• When doing my research in to thriller films I found that there is a wide range of people who enjoy watching thrillers, this is because a thriller film uses suspense to keep the audience on the edge of there seats. There is often a twist in the plot, this helps to keep the audience interested and wanting to watch the whole of the film in order to see what’s going to happen next.

• To be able to produce a film you have to know about the genre you are wanting to base your film on, e.g. thriller, romance or action. There is a lot of research that is needed, this includes, researching your targeted audience, knowing about your genre, knowing the certificate guidelines and much more.

• To be able to produce a film you have to know about the genre you are wanting to base your film on, e.g. thriller, romance or action. There is a lot of research that is needed, this includes, researching your targeted audience, knowing about your genre, knowing the certificate guidelines and much more.

• From doing our preliminary to our main task I feel that I am more confident to use a Mac and imovie, this is because I have now had practice at using it and I have learnt that any editing you do to your movie, you can un-do if you do not like it.

• When filming a film the easiest way to make sure that everything goes smoothly is to allocate everyone a specific job. Whether it’s making sure the actors know what's going on, or checking that there is just the right amount of light, every job is just as important.

• During the progression from the preliminary to the media product I have learnt the difference between a thriller and a horror film.

• Whilst doing our research in to what certificate guidelines we think our film would be, I have learnt what a certificate 15 consists of.

Location shots.