Adam Marshall- Evaluation

1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
 When deciding what we wanted to do for our thriller there were many things that we had to try and get into our piece, this included particular techniques in using the camera, types of editing, and trying to make the opening as gripping and anticipated as an actual thriller movie.

What did we want in our thriller opening?

• Our group knew right from the start that we wanted to have some sort of psychotic mental patient in our opening, from there we started to build a story about this antagonist that would make the audience feel some sympathy, but also fear as he is unstable and could kill in a heartbeat. We took some influence from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho in this part.

• We also knew that we wanted some sort of mystery within the opening, and we then decided that the doctor who is filling out the medical report could be part of that mystery, we decided never to show his full face, it could be because he has a big part to play later in the film and giving away his identity would ruin some twist within the film. 

Nine different shots from our opening and how they show the conventions of thriller.

Shot 1:

• Establishing shot, shows work place of the doctor
• Typical office environment gives us the impression that nothing out of the ordinary is happening, this builds anticipation of where this story could be going.

Shot 2:

• First shot of the doctor, and the old fashioned radio, this looks out of place in the office as everything else is modern and new, this gives us a clue that the doctor is quite an abnormal character, this could be in a positive, or negative way. It starts to make the audience wonder if he is an protagonist or antagonist.
• The doctors face is not shown in this shot to start to create some mystery in this character, the audience should want to know what he has to do with the story and ho he influences it. 
• This shows the use of restricted narration as we are not seeing the whole story.

 Shot 3:

• The close up on the confidential sticker also gets the audience wanting to know more about what is the report about, and why is this doctor in particular dealing with it.
• This shot is also meant to stand out and catch the audiences attention, it is different from the other shots as it is a big close up on the writing and has some significance within the story.

Shot 4:

• The doctor is filling out a complex report in this shot, this creates more mystery about this character and how he is linked with the patient.
• The doctor is also very efficient in  completing the report, he completes it in a machine like manner.

Shot 5:

• Here we see the doctor signing the report, this could create some mystery around the character, he could be mentioned further in the film and the name would have some meaning to the audience.
• The doctors face is still not being shown, building more tension and mystery.  

Shot 6:

• The anticipation and mystery over the doctors identity is almost revealed in this shot, the bottom half of his face is shown, perhaps so the audience may recognize him later in the film

• The smoking of a cigar also tells us more about his character, he is smoking inside whilst working, this is not a usual characteristic of a doctor. 

Shot 7:  

• This is an establishing shot of the girls house, we can tell through mise en scene that it is an old fashioned house that would be owned by quite a rich family.
• However we can tell straight away that something is wrong, the sound of the shower in the background is the only sound effect. All the clothes on the floor tell us that there was some sort of struggle.
• The camera movement also makes it seem like a first person shot, perhaps the antagonist who is looking for someone

Shot 8:

• Here we see an upturned chair, yet a sign of more struggle adding to the tension of the scene.
• The dark room also makes the room seem intimidating.

Shot 9:

• This shot has some enigma as the girl is sitting fully clothed in the shower, the audience can tell straight away that something's not right.
• The camera is suddenly still, a first person shot,  the antagonist has found her, she looks up and the shot cuts to black.

  

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


In our opening we only ever see two characters, the doctor who fills in the medical report, and the girl sitting in the shower. Even though we don't know much about these characters, we can already tell that they are socially different.

• For example we tried to portray the doctor as a traditional middle aged, middle/upper class man. He has a job that is well paid, he seems to have been in the same job for a long time as he finishes the medical report in not time. If he has been in the same job for the majority of his life, then we can assume that he has a rather high status within this job, and that is why he has his own office. He also smokes cigars, which are a lot more expensive than normal cigarettes, this also shows that he has a lot of money and is respected, he is quite clearly a character with authority. However, there is something odd about him, we never fully see the doctor, this was done to create some mystery in the opening, to get the audience thinking, maybe he's helping the protagonist of the film, or doing anything he can to stop him/her.

• The girl sitting in the shower is portrayed as a stereotypical woman, emotional, vulnerable, innocent. The high angle looking down on her also portrays that she is meant to look as small and inferior as possible.

  She seems to be middle class, as she is wearing a button shirt and black trousers, this could mean that she is some type of business woman, we also see that the interior of her house is old fashioned but rather expensive, this backs up the idea that she's middle class. However her house is absolutely wrecked, there are clothes all over the floor, upturned chairs, a total mess, it looks like this there was some sort of struggle, (similar to 44 Inch Chest, ) the shot of the camera tracking down the hall gives an idea that we're looking through the eyes of the antagonist, who is after this woman.

Shot of wrecked room, from 44 Inch Chest

I think that both characters are represented mainly in a positive way, there is something about the doctor that is mysterious, this could be use of restricted narration as we don't know the doctors full story. The female is definitely represented in the stereotypical "damsel in distress" idea of a female character.

Both characters are represented with the use of: camera work, mise en scene, editing and sound.

Camera work:

Whilst filming we had to consider how different types of shots and shot sizes would help represent the social groups of these two characters. 

• There is a high angle shot showing the girl in the shower, this could be done to make her seem fragile, small or inferior, it is a mid shot so that we can see her curled up in a ball, perhaps scared for her life.

• There is a big close up at eye level of the doctor smoking the cigar, we have done this to show that we are exactly parallel to what he is, we are on the same level as this character and should be able to see his point of view well.

 

Mise en Scene:

• The make up for the girl in the shower is purposely smudged and made to look like it's running, we have done this to make it look like she has been crying, perhaps due to fear, and is starting to lose her sanity.
• As the doctor walks into his office, he switches an old fashioned radio. This thriller is not set in the past, so we have made this character seem quite eccentric, this could also be backed up by the smoking of a cigar, and writing a report with a pencil.

Sound:

•  The diagetic music that the doctor puts on is some kind of country/western music, this also adds to the idea that he is quite an odd character, but is obviously very successful and well off.
• The lack of diagetic sound for the girl in the shower is used in a way that should build tension. With the shot where we see her in the shower, there is no sound but the running water, strangely enough this also helps create the tense atmosphere.

Editing:

  All the transitions in our piece are cuts, at fairly regular shot lengths, the only way that I can think of describing how this shows the personality of one of the characters is that all the shots for the doctor are at a very average length of time, there are no really long cuts and no really short cuts. This could show that the doctor is a very organized person that does his work in a particular way, he knows exactly what he is doing and is comfortable in what he does.

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

Firstly we need to know the three stages of making a film, these are:

1. Production- This is the actual making of the film, filming, editing etc.
2. Distribution- This is making a secure placement that the film will actually be released and successful.
3. Exhibition- This is when an audience can actually watch the film, in cinemas, DVD, the internet etc. 
   

The distributors get the legal rights off the producers to advertise the film in any way possible, such as advertisements, posters, internet hypes, billboards, premiers. They also help distribute hard copies of the film to exhibitors (cinemas), create downloads for the film on the internet and on mobile phones, and selling TV advertisements to companies for them to show.

Some distribution companies that are commonly known are:

• Warner Bros.
• Paramount Pictures
• 20th Century Fox
• Optimum Releasing 
• Lucas Films 

I would personally get our thriller distributed by Paramount Pictures. I would do this because they are a very well known company who distribute films very successfully, the hype that could be created with a company as successful as this would certainly mean that both producers and distributors would make a huge profit. I think our film should be a mainstream release that is in most of the multiplex cinemas around the country. This is the sort of film that Paramount usually helps release. I would also have lots of posters and bus banners used in the advertising scheme, and some internet pop ups (though not too many as the audience may find them irritating).The film should also be distributed when the DVD comes out, this should be a mix of hard copies and online downloads, obviously the download would cost some money, but it would have to be reasonably cheap so people are less likely to illegally download it.

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

I think that our film will have some scenes and themes that would not be regarded as suited for younger viewers, therefore I think it should have a certificate of 15 years and over. The idea of a psychotic mental patient would not be ideal to show a child. Our film would be for people who are really into the idea of mystery and tension in a film. The average viewer would be from the age of 15-30 and i think both genders will be able to enjoy it. Males would enjoy it for some of the gruesome scenes and action, and the females would enjoy some of the mystery and trying to work out what would happen. I think that anyone over the age of 40 might not enjoy this film as there is some scenes with blood and gore, and they could find it offensive. 

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

• One way of attracting our audience was the use of some realistic characters that they could relate to. The audience is far more likely to enjoy the film if they can relate to some of the characters in the film, they would feel more emotionally attached to them, for example the shot of the doctor at eye level shows that the audience is ob the same level as he is.

• We also attract the audience by making the audience aware what the film is about from the very first scene, as soon as the medical report is seen with the "confidential" sticker on the front, it shows that the film is going revolve around a person who has some severe problems, as its a thriller film people would probably jump to the conclusion that it's about some sort of psychopath.

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


Here is a link of me explaining all the different technology I've used and what i have learnt about them: 
http://soundcloud.com/thecrows/ste-013


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

 

  

• In the first two shots we can see the difference between the two titles of our pieces. The title for our preliminary task simply wipes across the screen in with the black background and white text. It gets the message across but it's not that visually pleasing. On the other side we can see the title for the thriller opening, this took a lot more time and effort, we had to look through lots of different title sequences until we found one that we thought could relate to the film in some way. We all agreed that this particular title sequence could be portrayed as the writing of the medical report.
• The next two shots show how our framing has improved. Even though we were meant to film the lower half of my body in this shot for the preliminary there is a lot of empty space to the left of me. We can see in the shot for the thriller opening that the girl in the shower is directly in the frame, there isn't too much empty space to the side of her or above her. The framing has improved a lot since the preliminary.
• These two shots so our attempts at making some interesting shots that would stick in the audiences minds. In the preliminary we tried to duplicate the typical "stand off" shots you would find in a western film. As you can see our idea way put across but the camera needs to be in an extreme close up so we can see the emotion in the characters eyes. For the shot of the doctor we also used a quite common shot of an eye level big close up on the character, positioned sideways on from the camera, smoking a cigar. I particularly think this shot is proving that we have improved our skill because we managed to get the exact shot we wanted an it went really well with the rest of the opening.
• The next two shots show how we have tried harder to improve the mise en scene within our video. The only props I can see in the shot for our preliminary is the chair in the corner and the one I'm sitting on. The costume I'm wearing could also have had had some more thought put into it. The shot of the hallway also shows how much more effort we went into for this compared to the preliminary, we placed the clothes in certain points so the camera could get through without any problems, and the shot still looks great.
• These last shots aren't brilliant at showing camera movement as they are just pictures, but the movement in the preliminary was just the camera zooming out, it wasn't steady and the zoom was too fast. However when we tried a gradual zoom in another shot it worked really well, the framing worked and everything stayed in focus.