Media film evaluation

Q1) in what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products.

        The narrative of the film is simple but effective, and it shows what the typical thriller target audience would expect to see in a film, there is a flashback where the motivation for the killing is exposed which allows the audience to understand the film more and take sides with characters. There is a sequence of walking to build up suspense in the middle of the film to get the audience worried about the character in danger. There is a typical (yet not stereotypical) death in where women are playing the characters unlike the typical male figure in films such as “American Gangster” or the “Godfather”. Both these films use the dominant male figure in the movies but we do not.

     The ways in which our media product uses and develops forms and conventions of real media products is firstly by using the same typical non diegetic music for a thriller genre, which has the style of a loud bass piece which is gradually getting louder, creating suspense and building up to the climax of the film. We have produced something which used the forms and conventions of a typical thriller genre but it is not so stereotypical in the ways women are represented in the product. Through there dress e.g. normal casual ware unlike the dark and grey clothes in a typical mainstream thriller, also the ways the girls are still seen as feminine.

      Another way our product uses forms and conventions of typical media products is the type of setting used for the filming to help with the atmosphere and the typical place where a “drug deal” is likely to happen. We had the weather on our side as it was very dull, dark and damp helping to create the isolated yet cramped conditions where the deal took place. We wanted to show our product as being set in a typical “urban” environment as in films such as “Enemy of the State” and “Carlitos Way”. We also wanted to create a lot of suspense so we tried to use a range of different shots to show the characters facial expressions so the audience know what the character is feeling and what emotions they are showing. We used some fast paced editing to show a state of confusion and the different characters feelings during the death scenes.

      The characters, are however, not so typical of the “thriller” genre as there is a total absence of the stereotypical male. Men are seen as the dominant figure in thriller films and they are very typical in the thriller genre as the fighters who have the strength and mind to kill. There are very few thriller films which have a main female character, but I believe it works well in this product like in other films of the same genre such as “single white Female” and “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle”

The film opening has three stereotypical themes. These are murder, revenge and payback. These allow the story to develop and create an interesting and exciting storyline for the film.  The iconography used includes the typical knife and blood used in the death scene. The setting is also typical of the thriller genre because of the urban, dark, dull and isolated back streets and houses in a built up area. The audio-visual style includes a lot of non-diogetic music and it gradually climbs to a peak to make the audience have the “thrill” they want. We have used a good range of shots in our product ranging from the establishing shots to the long shots and mid and close ups of the characters to keep the audience interested and making sure they understand the film.

Q2) how does your media product represent particular social groups

      We have represented people as not being particularly stereotypical of the genre. We have done this because the typical killer and victims are usually men. The deaths are over money, drugs, gambling and these are usually associated with men. Men are seen to use their status in thriller films to kill and they have to prove their strength and what they can do as in murder.

     In our film the killer and the two victims are female, which is anti-stereotypical. Doing this may make the audience feel differently towards the women are they are no longer seen and represented at the typical house wife who cannot deal with any business and should just stick to her roles as a mother, cleaner etc. Times have moved on and the women have a strong mind and the power to kill and get payback for what they want. The Women are changing and becoming as equal dominant to the men in thrillers. Also women are usually not associated with drugs, yet in our product the whole film is based around a drug deal where the money has not been paid and payback is needed. If we a looking at women in a stereotypical way, drugs are out of the question. Another way the women are seen as stereotypical is the ways in which they are dressed. They are wearing colour and normal female clothes unlike what we would expect see in a thriller film. In a typical thriller the clothes are usually black and grey to hide identity, set a serious tone and try to blend in as much as possible. However in our film the characters are wearing colour and normal everyday clothes.

Q3) what kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?

      The type of media institution who might produce and market our film is a small budget independent production where the real urban environment can be used and no extra expense is needed. The audience which our film is intended for is a small niche audience and it is more likely to be shown at a small independent cinemas to that the target audience can watch what they like to see.

    The film should be low budget to make the environment feel as real as possible it will not be the sort of thriller that relies on high-budget set prices such as explosions, chases or elaborate shoot outs. Also it would not rely on the big-names stars in the industry today, because it is unlikely to have a market other than Britain. Films such as kidult hood was a low budget British production which was shown through small local cinemas and eventually on TV channels. The characters were not well known starts and most likely from the local area where the film was made. A TV channel such as channel 4 might help with the funding for the film and then what will be the first channel with the rights to screen it after their cinema run.

Q4-5) who would be the target audience for your media product? - How did you attract/address your audience?

      Our target audience ranges from 15-20, the type of people who like to watch an exciting adventure with a build up of suspense so the audience get a thrill out of it. The opening of the film is trying to appeal to our target audience by using non stereotypical characters to give the product a more interesting feel and also so it would appeal more to the female market as well as men who watch thrillers. Also it appeals to them by using a typical story line which could relate to them because of something they have read about or it relates to them in the environment they live in.

      The target audience could relate them self to the characters in the product by their local area and what they see, hear, or feel in their own environment. They might know of an area where drug taking takes place and the type of people who do it. Or they might be one of these people. The typical thriller thrills which our product offers is the build up of suspense and the ways in which irony is used where by the victims do not know what is going to happen to them but the audience does.

       It may also appeal to the target audience because the women may like to be seen as in authority and how they can do the same as the men and have the strength to kill. They also may relate to there like and what they might be going through. They are many different ways the opening can have a personal meaning or attract the target audience depending on their life and age etc.

Q6) what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

      The technologies we have learned when constructing this product are how to understand and use Adobe Premier 6.5 when putting the film together also how to use the camera correctly to create the shots and effects we wanted to show. Also how to make the shots flow and connect well to each other using continuity editing Also we have learnt the processes of making a film opening and how to first put all the clips together on the timeline then add music and effects. Making sure there all smooth and there are no jumps and gaps etc.

      Our film opening uses dramatic music to create an effect and peaks when there is a death.  We used editing techniques such as adding black and white and flashes to break the clips up and help the audience to understand the product more, e.g. to show where the flash back starts and finishes so that the audience are totally aware of what there watching and where about they are in the film so it does not lose its atmosphere or confusing. We also used a slow motion effect on some shots (the stair scene) to draw the shots out and make them more dramatic to appeal to the audience who find this amusing and interesting.

    When editing our product we realised that the film had to be built up in layers, in an order as we added the black and white effect to early and every time we changed or added music to the timeline the clips needed to be rendered. This was very time consuming and could have been avoided my adding the effect last.

Q7) looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

        When looking back on the preliminary task, we believe that we have learned how to use the camera more effectively using a wider range of different shots for effect and how to use more short and quick shots of a location to help the audience understand the setting/time and place of where the action is happening. This has helped to make a massive improvement between the two finished products and shows how we have took inspiration from other thriller openings and tried to recreate it using the software we have and the ways in which we used the camera.

          We have also learnt that the camera needs to roll for a couple of seconds before the footage is recorded as it will make the clips more clean and the speech clearer and clean edged without pauses and loss of speech when recording. We have learnt more about the continuity filming and how we have used it in a more sophisticated way, using a wide range of shots.     

        We have learnt more about the technical aspects of the editing software and how to use it better and efficiently, when adding music for effect and using effects such as black and white and slow motion to drag out shots. We believe our finished product has more of a flow than the preliminary task and it is less confusing and shows the aspects of the film correctly to make it all work and the audience see the film as it is meant to be seen. We are now more experienced in using the software and how to create different effects using the shots. The overall pieces show the difference in our skills and development over the project.