The Finished Product

Question 1

In what ways does your

media product use,

develop or challenge forms

and conventions of real

media products?

Understanding the forms and conventions of real media

/thriller title sequences is important when creating the

final media product.

This is because without them, it can be difficult to

understand what you need to make a thriller sequence.

To make sure that I knew what the conventions were, I

researched thriller conventions and used that

knowledge when I looked at real thriller title and

opening sequences out there today.

I looked at many different thriller title sequences, such

as Cape Fear, Psycho and Casino.

After researching and analysing, I then knew what

conventions I could implement into the sequence.

To place all my research together, I created a spider

diagram with the rest of the people in my team:

Frame 1 - Narrative

For the very beginning of the film, I wanted to create

mystery and suspense, without giving away the

narrative and the plot.

That way the audience would be left wondering what

will happen next.

It also allowed me to set the scene of where the events

will take place using an establishing shot of a sign for

the school.

Frame 2- Camera and Editing

To make sure there is suspense and the title sequence

is thrilling and intriguing, I used a mix of shots.

This was important to the narrative and allowed for the

emphasis on the tense nature of some parts of the

sequence.

Editing allowed me to create tension and suspense.

This was achieved by using a jump cut between the

killer killing the victim and the victims blood dropping.

Frame 3 – Film titles

Titles are important in providing the audience with a

glimpse of what the narrative will be, with out giving it

all away.

As well as the sequence, I also had to consider the font

for the titles. I had been looking at Noir films and the

font used in the RockStarTM game L.A Noire. Set in

late 1940’s/ early 1950’s Los Angeles, California,

U.S.A, whereby the user takes on the role of Detective

Cole Phelps of the LAPD.

The motion of the font is designed so that the titles just

appear as jump cuts.

Frame 4- Character Introductions

The introduction of my main character (the Protagonist)

is not introduced till just after the final opening title.

The first character we actually see first in the lower

mid-body shot of the Antagonist, and is dressed in dark

clothing, which is stereotypical.

This was done so that actually the audience is left

questioning who is the main character?

My main character was dressed how a Detective is

stereotypically portrayed, in a suit. This is very typical

of many Hollywood films and so my product is using

these expectations.

Frame 5 - Lighting

This is the cropped version of

the original frame, to indicate

that the lighting is the subject.

I wanted to keep the natural light as I wanted to this to

be the case as I felt it would add a more real feeling to

the film.

This challenges conventions of a thriller film as most

films of this genre have dark and dim lighting.

It also challenges film noir lighting as films in this genre

also have low and dim lighting.

Frame 6 – Setting and Location

The setting for the opening sequence was set in a

school. Most of the filming was done up in the sixth

form.

However the setting was not designed to immediately

give the audience a hint that this is where the crime will

take place.

The shot of where the antagonist kills his victim, is

where the audience then get a glimpse of the crime

scene.

This is then supported with the first shot after the final

title, whereby our protagonist (The Detective) and the

Medical Examiner (Coroner) walk towards the crime

scene tape that is visible in the foreground.

Frame 7 – Genre

The frames I have chosen depict the crime-thriller

genre that my media product belongs to.

This is because the shots of the antagonist and blood

dropping once he has shot the victim, can allow the

audience identify that the film belongs to this genre.

The genre is further backed up with the shots of our

protagonist as he walks onto the scene. This indicates

that he is there to solve the mystery, which is what the

shot of the protagonist walking onto the scene.

Frame 8 – Special Effects

To do most of our editing and the creation of special

effects I used Adobe Premiere CS6, which allowed me

to create jump cuts between the antagonist and his

victim.

The tracking shot of our antagonist, where he is

walking towards the office, but pure accident the actor

got close to the camera, which caused a blurred shot.

However this worked well as it made a effective

transition to the next shot.

Frame 9 – How Suspense is created

Low angle shots of the antagonist creates suspense as

the audience is left wondering what the identity of the

antagonist is.

The use of music over the titles was done so that it

added to suspense because like the antagonist’s

victim, the audience can not hear the antagonist

coming along the corridor.

This means that the audience will want to know if our

protagonist will catch the antagonist.

Question 2

How does your media

product represent

particular social groups?

My product does represent social groups in many

different ways:

Class

Age

Gender

Class I have targeted a wide variety of Income brackets and

their subsequent class.

My protagonist is a middle class American, which is

different as most police officers and detectives are

usually lower middle class.

The antagonist is at the working class end of the

American population class divide, as typically, janitors are

of this class.

Going back to middle class, as the teachers are the

antagonist’s victims, teaching is still considered a middle

class role in society.

This conforms with Laura Mulvey’s theory that :

“The point of view that a camera holds is essentially

male and that there is a male gaze.”

She also states that “Men can identify with male

characters and that Women sometimes have to change

sex in order to identify with characters.

Gender In the production although unintentional at the time of

filming and planning, only since going through the video

again have I seen, that actually it is a old-fashioned

view of men and women portrayed.

The Protagonist is male as we naturally assume males

to be the Detective.

The Antagonist is male, but his victim shown in this

production is female, this is a stereotypical view of how

the antagonist and their victim are portrayed.

Age As the age of people who will see the product, will be

aged 16+, my characters had to fit into a suitable age range.

My protagonist is aged around 24 as this about the age that most Police Officers can make Detective. However the Actor who plays this role (Me) is aged 18, however using costumes and props allowed me to look older.

My antagonist is aged at around late 40’s early 50’s as this is the stereotypical view of Janitors.

As the teacher that is shown in the film is quite high up in the teaching rank system, we expect her to be old and she is at 50 years of age. Luckily I found an actress of that age to play the part.

Question 3

What kind of institution will

distribute your media

product and why?

As my final product is a film, then the suitable company to distribute my media product as it is a film.

I have decided that Fox Searchlight pictures, a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox as they would be useful in distributing my film in the USA.

This is because there is a much bigger audience and as the location is set in New York, then a lot of the audience will be able to relate to it.

This will then ultimately bring in more money to increase the total box office.

Question 4

Who would be your

audience for your media

product?

It is important to conduct research into your target audience

for many reasons:

They provide the primary source of feedback.

A source of what they like and dislike.

I interviewed different people from all ages and was

able to obtain their taste and would use this with the

production of my media product.

After interviewing people from both genders and

getting feedback, I concluded that the target

audience for my film would be 16+ because they

would be able to understand the film.

This then gave me a more accurate view of who

would come and see the film.

Question 5

How did attract/address

your audience?

It was important that I could attract an audience to see

my final media product.

I did this through a variety of ways:

I used VoxPops as an audio means to give potential

audiences, the synopsis of what the film will be about.

As it was set in a school, I felt that it could relate to

people.

Also as well, as our protagonist is a Detective with the

NYPD, audiences will be familiar with the Detective

type of character, from films such as Dirty Harry, Lethal

Weapon, Die Hard, The Black Dahlia, etc.

Question 6

What technologies have you

learnt about when creating the

final product?

I have learnt about a variety of

technologies whilst creating my final

product:

• Camera Equipment.

• Editing.

• Sound.

Camera Equipment

We used high definition cameras, which was new

to me and I had to learn how to operate the

camera and use my knowledge of correct shot

types, that I have learnt in class.

It helped me to understand the importance of how

the shot looks, so that it looks good and works

well.

Using additional equipment such as tripods provided

stability when it came to shooting scenes and prevented

‘wobbly’ shots.

Along with this , tracking shots had to be shot using

‘primitive’ methods, such as using a wheelchair or the

Janitors/Caretakers trolley.

As I had advanced further than the class, I had access

to all the equipment that I needed.

Editing Technologies.

We had access to AppleTM MacBook Pro laptops

as our main tool for editing.

We learnt about Adobe Premiere CS6 to help with

improving our footage.

In conjunction with this, we learnt how to upload to

YouTube and Vimeo.

We learnt at the start of the course, how to remove

parts of footage, they we may not require, as well as

other functions as fading.

Learning these different things helped with the

production and the editing of my final product, but also

helped me personally, understand how the storyboard

can often affect the accessibility of some of the shots

and their location.

This helped as it improved improvisation.

Sound editing We learnt that music is an important part of thriller films.

Although finding music was hard I managed to find some.

I then had to import it into premier.

Once imported I then manipulated it with other tracks I had found and created an original soundtrack.

Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary

task, what do you feel that you

have learnt in the progression

from it to the full product?

I feel that overall, I have gained a wealth of

knowledge, from when I shot the preliminary

sequence and right up to the full product and I feel

that I was competent in both cases.

The conversation between two characters in the

preliminary exercise demonstrated the 180 degree

rule we had been learning about.

This would come in use for the final product,

where my protagonist was talking to other

characters.

All of my camerawork, is much more professional and

stable.

During the preliminary exercise, I had crossed the 180

degree rule. Therefore I was more cautious when

planning and producing the different shots.

I knew that shooting correctly was essential as this

made sure the quality of the filming was at a very high

standard and would ultimately show my competence at

the workings of the camera.

This was achieved by using equipment such as tripods

and requesting the use of the caretaker’s trolley to use

with tracking shots.

One important thing that I had learnt when creating

the final product that was different from the

preliminary exercise, was the planning, which is what

takes up a lot of time before you can even start

filming.

The need to make sure that you have all the

necessary storyboards, shot lists and other plans to

make sure things were as smooth as possible and

also to make sure everything is done on time.

Planning also covered shooting, if props could not be

obtained or locations secured, I had to think on the

spot and plan around the inconvenience, so that I

could get the filming done.

In conjunction with this, was making sure that all

props and actors were n the same place on each

shoot, to ensure continuity.

I also learnt that costume and make-up are

important and can be the cause of delays if not

properly planned and implemented.

A weather report was also important as it gave me

an indication of when I could shoot outside.

I also learnt that it is important to have sound

planned as well. This is because the key concepts

of a thriller sequence are the sounds the audience

can hear.