Final Evaluation

­­­­­­­­Ways in which my media product uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products.

The task I was set for my media course was to create a two minute opening for a movie – set in a thriller genre. I had to identify all the key aspects of a thriller and incorporate them into my planning and creating process. This meant that I had to hit the core of what was being asked and look at aspects such as what rating I want the film to be, what type of audience I am aiming for and also what I want to portray from the opening scene I created. I decided, from the research I carried out on the BBFC that I should create a film for a certificate 15. The reason I chose this certificate was because I believed that many thrillers, such as ‘Rock n Rolla’ and ‘The Bourne Identity’, which are rated 15 in the UK, portray negative aspects of society such as guns and violence to help create a more elaborate and sophisticated production. So by influence of other films, I decided that a 15 certificate would be an ideal rating for my opening scene.

To be able to effectively create a thriller I had to understand what a thriller is, I done this by extensive research on the genre itself and movies that fit within the genre and sub genres. In doing this I believe that a thriller is a production that contains regular scenes of fast – paced action between and antagonist and protagonist and also include scenes that create a large amount of suspense or anxiety within the captivated audience.


How my media product represents particular social groups.

From studying a lot of thriller genres over the period of the course, I understood how important it was to convey the characters because they are the main aspect of any movie or production. In my own thriller opening, I wanted to convey the ‘traditional cockney’ characters that every audience sees from a British thriller. I also wanted to show the strength of the antagonist, which always seems to be the case in many societies – that people with power always antagonise people. So I decided that I should show this through the characterisation of the murderer in my thriller opening. In the most basic form of description, I wanted to show how society has become violent and criminalised. By doing this I had to incorporate the stereotypical aspects of any thriller; this involved guns, violence and bad language. Unfortunately by portraying these characters in such a way, it shows how society is deteriorating because of gangs, criminals and violence. On the other hand, this is what today’s trends are in terms of audience specifications.

Media institutions that will distribute my media product and why.

A number of institutions come to mind when thinking about my media presentation but the one company that I think could be a perfect match to distribute or even co produce my thriller would be Summit Entertainment. The reason for this is because they have produced and distributed a huge number of movies, a lot being thrillers but a large amount also being box office hits. This means that the thrillers that have been produced and distributed have been at a phenomenal standard and takes a place in the companies movie hierarchy. As you can see from my web blog, I have already researched the company and found a number of top quality thrillers such as ‘Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels’ and ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’.

The audience for my media product.

After looking at my blog and my audience research, I have identified the chosen audience and their expectations of thriller genre. After creating a questionnaire and asking 10 people, I managed to find out a correlation between what people of a particular age want out of a thriller. I asked people between the ages of 17 – 19. They all agreed that a thriller should contain a high level of action and a medium set of violence. They don’t see the violence to be unnecessary but they believe that it is a stereotypical function of a thriller movie. By deconstructing other thriller movies, such as Psycho, I can see that there is a lot of tension created by using a mixture of a dark mise en scene and scary, creeping music. This is what the audience is looking for in a standard, conventional thriller and this is what I had to endure when creating a more modern version.

How I attracted & addressed my audience.

I attracted my audience by using a number of conventions. For particular characters, I wanted to convey them as being superior to others. I done this by having a lot of low angle shots, which frames the character as being larger than they actually are. Other conventions that I have used in conjunction with the low angle shots are the use of lighting. I used a single, bright light that allows shadowing of the characters faces. This makes the mise en scene, very dark and tense. The reason why I used these conventions to attract my audience was because I wanted a character to remain in peoples minds, the use of lighting helped to define the features of the character and the audience will hopefully remember him as an ‘authority – like’, superior character. The way in which I addressed my audience was very direct. I wanted them to get into the thick of the action and allow them to be part of the unravelling of a horrific murder fuelled by money and violence. Overall I wanted the audience to feel tense and shocked by the fact that someone has been murdered whilst being bound to a chair for reasons that aren’t really unveiled in the opening scene. Looking at the BBFC guidelines I understand that I am well above the certificate 18 bracket. Due to the BBFC having an overall influence on the outcome of my film, I believe that they would ensure that the language used was minimal compared to what it is in the film. Getting feedback from the original interviewees, I understood that the female portion of the group did not really enjoy it due to the fact there was bad language and violence. One member of the group said “it has testosterone written all over it”, which I’m sure she means, it wasn’t to her liking. The male proportion had a different view point and said that it was a good basis for a thriller opening. Using non – digetic music helped me to make it tense for the audience and to help them understand the feelings that are circulating round each character. I also think that the music also connoted the characters feelings during that scene. For example, up – beat, dark music at the end of the scene helped to show how superior the murderer felt.


Things I learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product.

The main technologies I used in order to develop and produce my thriller opening are as follows:

- Camcorder
- Tripod
- Apple Mac Computer
- Apple Macbook Laptop
- Imovie editing software
- Garage Band music creator

Using the camcorder as a basic was not a difficult problem for me as I work with such technologies for a living. However, using them in detail to ensure I get correct shot types, was far more challenging than I anticipated. This was because I had to make sure everything was framed correctly and was always at the correct angle in order to create the desired effects. Having the benefit of using the wonderful technology known as apple macs has helped immensely within the editing process. Using this along with their specialised software, known as imovie and garageband helped me in ensuring that I could get effective cuts, transitions and layers within my film. Having to learn a totally knew technology was challenging when trying to also meet a deadline because it put me one step behind most people. Although, I believe that it was worth being behind because it meant that I got a very good and effective finished product. In doing the editing though a mac computer or laptop I have learnt various skills such as how to create transitions that add to the effectiveness of the film such as cross fades or fade to black. I have also learnt how to add sound and music to help create the tension and therefore add to the effectiveness of the mise en scene. The way in which I learnt these skills was because of the great media interface that the apple company have online. There were over 100 tutorial videos online that helped me to understand the basics of imovie and garageband. Some things I had to compete with during the filming process was low light. This was a major problem for me as I had to film in low light areas in order to get the desired effect for the mise en scene. I managed to overcome this slightly by adding a few extra lights in order to balance out the fact there was grainy imaging from the low light shots and being too bright, that it wouldn’t have the same desired effect.


Things I felt I have learnt from the progression from my preliminary task to my final product.

Although I ended up working alone on my preliminary task, I still believe that I have developed as a film maker/ editor. The reason for this is because, being able to work independently has its benefits but also major difficulties. For example, I would have to follow out the task of about 3 or 4 people, by myself. This meant that I had to manage my time more effectively and still be able to produce things at a high enough standard.

What I learnt in the preliminary task enabled me to tackle any problems in the main task. For example, breaking the 180 degree rule in my preliminary task meant that I understood where I shouldn’t be putting my camera in the final task. This enabled me to create good, consistent shots throughout. Whilst filming, I encountered a number of difficulties which I believe I have overcome. For example, the company that leant me the garage where I filmed my movie asked me not to get their company logo in the footage for copyright reasons. This meant that I had to be careful with all my shots to not only make sure I keep all the conventions correct but also keep specific aspects out.

I have learnt a vast amount of things whilst producing this short film. One of the most important things I have learnt is time keeping. Both during shooting and during planning. The reason I stated this was because, working on camera work, editing and directing meant that I had to ensure time was kept as tight as possible and that I did not fall behind schedule. Unfortunately, sometime I fell a little behind schedule which meant that I had to catch up some aspects of my work, this could have resulted in some things not being as finalised as they should have been. One thing I would change if I could go back and do the preliminary task again would be that I would work in a group rather than by myself. This would mean that things could be spread out between individual members of the group and hopefully improve the grades due to quality of work.