My product compares to other thrillers I have analysed as we don’t really get to know the protagonist or the antagonist in the opening sequence which differentiates it from other thrillers. However, it is similar in the sense that it has a plot twist which is only evident towards the end. We chose to make the thriller we did because we wanted the main character to appear to be the villain, then the plot twist would be that he is in fact a victim. I chose to have the thriller like this because I wanted the main character to appear to be the antagonist and then there be a plot twist where it turns out that he is in fact a victim. This was a simple idea but it made it easier to produce. I decided what to put in my thriller by watching other previous thrillers and seeing what worked. I produced a questionnaire to see what the audience wanted, giving it a better chance of achieving a good review.
My thriller followed the codes of conventions of the thriller genre. Some of these were the dark lighting and the night time scenes, tense music which is slow and played on the piano in minor chords and having a male killer in the film. To make the thriller different to other thrillers I introduced a death in the first sequence, which makes the audience think that Jack is the antagonist when he isn’t. This is the plot twist.
It was decided that we should include a scene of Jack killing an innocent passer after letting people in my class view the film and give their opinion on it. The reason more was added was to add to the storyline and reduce confusion. I watched previous thrillers and distributed a questionnaire to get the public’s opinion and to see what worked and what didn’t.
The conventions I decided to follow were the dark lighting and tense music to emphasis the vulnerability of the victims. To move away from the typical idea of thrillers I put a murder scene at the beginning; this was in aim to get the viewers hooked and want to find out more. A plot twist would later be revealed, so the audience would originally think that Jack was the villain when it is later shown that he isn’t.
My thriller is non linear as it contains flash backs for Jack’s past when he killed someone, this is portrayed as an unspoken answer when Lilly questions him about the money. I planned to use dim lighting, a pretend weapon, and a male villain who wears dark clothes and for part of the footage to be done at night time. The reason for this being because it gives a mysterious and scary atmosphere. The lighting gradually got darker throughout the film as it was a build up to the killing in the last scene. I chose a male villain as it not only comes across stereotypically scarier, it was what the participants of my questionnaire wanted. The different camera shot angles were used to portray the vulnerability and power of particular characters. For Jack I used worm’s eye view to make him look in control and powerful, where as Lilly has bird’s eye view shots making her look innocent. When Jack is following the victim down the alley, long shots are used to reflect on how close he is to her. Panning shots of the victim as she walks are done to make it look like it’s from Jack’s point of view, as if he is watching her. This builds tension.
I don’t think it was a very successful opening due to all of the immature mistakes made and the simple storyline. The mistakes are things such as camera shake and poor lighting. However, this could be explained by saying it creates tension and gives a mysterious feel to the film. Overall, i think it is an acceptable example of an opening sequence. The reason i wouldn’t rate it as a solid ‘good’ is because i feel that i could have done better, especially if i was in a group with people who helped. I think that with enough preparation I would have been able to come up with a better storyline, maybe i could have watched a wider range of thrillers to do this. It abides by a majority of the typical thriller codes and conventions which is a plus to the opening sequence. However, the lighting, even though it was dark, it wasn’t by choice in the house scene so this ruined the visual aspect. To find a full analysis and justification of my thriller go to ‘SECTION 5: TREATMENT.’
How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?
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What Kind Of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product And Why?
I think that the type of media institution that might distribute my media product would most likely be on the internet in the form of steaming or perhaps download. The reason for this being that the audience I am aiming my thriller film at are the bigger part of the population who use the internet. Another form the film may be shown in could be television, however, this would cost a lot more to get aired. On the other hand, I do not think that my film would be distributed into cinemas as it isn’t a well-known movie and it doesn’t have famous actors in it which would instantly make it less popular. People may not even wish to pay to watch the film, making it more favourable to be streamed online. Moreover, advertising the thriller would cost a lot, along with the costs to distribute it in cinemas.
The pluses of streaming my film are that it doesn’t cost to watch and doesn’t necessarily require download which is ideal for people who want to watch a quick film. Being able to stream a video allows people to send the links to other people which will get more viewing. This is an advantage for small film companies to get up and running. The disadvantages are that people may not know of the film and therefore won’t watch it, reducing views and popularity.My work compares to other professional films in both similarities and contrasts. The similarities being that it beings the film and then adds the credits, which then allows a change of scene after the credits where the movie kicks in. I would like my film to be a Paramount Pictures film company production as they tend to do popular films and have a well-known uplift to the product. Paramount Pictures helps introduce the latest and upcoming films so would be ideal for my film.
It differs in the sense that my film was done initially by me, without any help, therefore making it not very professional. The actors used were not trained and I didn’t take many shots due to the bad weather and time of day which affected the lighting, giving an amateur impression. The equipment used wasn’t very efficient as the tapes were faulty, meaning it took six attempts of filming. There was some camera shake as I didn’t use a track for the camera. As the tapes were faulty, I had to film on different days using different cameras so the quality changes and on one camera the screen display settings were visible. The audio during my film had to be muted due to the loud ambient sound interfering with the speaking scenes.
Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Production?
The target audience for our thriller is for people over the age of 15 to around the age of 30. I think that the majority of the audience will be male as stereotypically it is what they prefer. However, according to our questionnaire, females also like this genre of film. The reason it is ages 15 and above is because it has scenes of violence and crude language. The scenes of violence are when Jack Collins, the Hit man, is murdering people and when he is getting threats from his Boss. Also, in one of the final scenes where Lilly Collins kills the Boss. Violent language is used throughout. I think that target audience will be in this age group because the couple in my film are in their 20s so the audience will be able relate to characters more, which will make them more likely to watch the film as they will be more connected and emphasis with the characters, making them want to find out what happens in the end. The second set of questionnaires that I distributed shown that it was a near enough balance of both male and female people who would be interested in watching the thriller all the way through so both genders are in the 15 to 30 age barrier.
I think that the film may appeal to people outside of the target audience because not everyone is the same so some women and older people may be interested in the storyline. However, i don’t think that many people under the age of 15 would enjoy it as it contains a plot twist which would make it more confusing.
I undertook an interview which one of the viewers of the opening sequence of my film.
1. Would you watch the rest of the thriller?
Yeah, I would like to see what happens to the man and I want to see how his wife reacts when she finds out what he has done.
2. Was tension created throughout?
When the music started it began and then when the male appeared it continued from there.
3. On a scale of 1 to 10 how entertaining was it?
I’d say a 7 or an 8.
4. On a scale of 1 to 10 how appropriate was the background music?
9 because it could have created more tension than it did, however, it suited.
5. Was the font appropriate for the thriller?
Yeah, it doesn’t appear to be a very gory film and the idea of it being mysterious made the formal font suit it.
6. Did the order of the shots make sense?
Yes.
7. Was our thriller similar to any other thrillers you have seen?
The idea of the main character being a hit man was similar to other films but the storyline on the whole wasn’t.
8. Was it a typical thriller in terms of the plot, characters and props?
Yes, the villain being a man was stereotypical but I liked it.
9. On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate the editing?
The editing was good, but the sound could have been better. I’d give it a 7 out of 10.
10. Did you like the plot and storyline?
Yes, I like how mysterious the man was.
11. How did the music effect your emotions?
It made me a bit edgy and I started to anticipate that something was going to happen next.
12. Could you connect to the characters?
To the victims, yes. I felt sympathy towards them.
13. Was it a successful opening?
Mostly yes but it could be improved by making who the characters are clearer.
14. Was there a clear narrative?
Overall, yes. But at first I didn’t really understand who the man was.
It was fine at the beginning but gradually got darker which wasn’t too good. I’d give it around a 5 out of ten because it kept changing.
I decided to have a male villain, a female victim, a plot twist, dark lighting and music played by a piano in the background. The reason for these elements being applied in my thriller was because after undertaking audience research I collected results portraying what the potential audience wanted to see in my thriller and these aspects were highlighted to be the favourite. I gathered the audience research results and tallied them, then put them into graphs to reflect on which answer was more popular for each question.
The completed production is appropriate for my target audience as it was aimed at people ages 15-30, the majority being male. I know that it was appropriate as i took ideas and made adjustments after reviewing the first pre-filming questionnaire which was undertook to see exactly what the potential audience wanted. The second post-filming questionnaire showed me what the audience did and didn't like about the film and the majority of the respondents gave mainly good reactions to it. This indicates that it was in fact a good opening sequence.
When my target audience were watching the film i wanted them to get the message that you don't always know someone as much as you think you do. This is portrayed when Lilly, Jack's wife, finds out about his true profession, his 'double life.' As they were watching it i wanted them to feel sympathy towards the victim even though we don't know who she is. The reason that i didn't go into any detail about the victim in the thriller is because i wanted her to appear anonymous and for it to appear to be a random killing. Here i was aiming to get the sympathy towards her. I wanted the audience to then develop an instant dislike towards Jack as he appears to be the villain. That's when the plot twist comes in and we realise his motive and that he is too in fact a victim as his boss won't let him quit this life style without their being a consequence.
Overall, the majority of my target audience thought that my opening sequence was successful and appeared to enjoy it. However, in the questionnaire after watching the thriller they pointed out aspects that didn't work too well. The main area to improve was the lighting, this was the main negative. They thought it was too dark and that it could have been better. It affected the atmosphere of the film and made it difficult to read the emotions of the characters. I realised this myself during the editing stages and tried to amend it, however, i couldn't appear to solve the problem and lighten it. I will take this into account next time and perhaps use a better camera and film when it isn't dull outside so the light isn't affected as much. On a positive, they thought that the shots were effective and made the storyline clearer.
What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing This Product?
Undertaking the task of making a thriller movie has taught me how to handle using various pieces of equipment such as the camera and how effective a tripod is. During the editing stages of the film i realised that i had to make the film longer which meant going out and filming more footage. During the filming stages i struggled with filming alone as it was difficult arranging everything, such as, the meeting dates, locations and actors. I also found issues with the tape as it crossed two pieces of footage when playing back, in the end i'd filmed six times. The lighting was an issue due to poor weather and the filming deadline. During the filming stage outdoors, people kept passing by and ruining shots which meant more shots were having to be taken, making editing more difficult. Finding actors in the first place was an issue as not a lot of people were up to it. Another problem was the ambient sound so i had to mute the sound during editing.
Muted Sound
Long Shot
When editing i added titles, giving the productions studio name, credits and the thriller title. The font was formal and white so it stood out on the dark background. Sound was added to create tension; the frequency of the piano chords increased as shots changes, and then went slower again. Using Premiere was fairly easy but not efficient as it took too long to do the basics. I didn't use any special effects, however, I could have used one when showing Jack's flash backs but I didn't because i couldn't find an appropriate one. To give a small effect I changed the shot transaction so it faded white and then back into the next shot.
Title
Fade Out and Back In
Looking Back At Your Prliminary Task, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To The Full Product?
I can't really compare my skills in this project to the ones gained from the 'walk through the door' task as i was in a group then and wasn't for this one. However, my individual knowledge of how to work on Premiere when editing has developed and i am definitely developing my ability to work alone. Working alone was by far the biggest problem during the production but i got on with it, doing a section at a time. I am disappointed with the quality of the film as it has bad lighting, sound, display and actors but i made the most of it and the editing made a good recovery for it. Overall, given the situation, i think it was quite good and met the terms of the brief dispite my disappointment.
I wouldn't compare my film to a professional film as mine is far from profession as i only had myself to work with, a one man crew, making me the director, camera man, producer, editor, etc. And if i were to change anything about my production i would change the storyline, actors and ask to be in a better group so i didn't have all of the responsibility and pressure of doing it by myself. I would take more shots so i had a range to choose from which would be at a reasonable standard or i'd just get better actors. I would film when it is lighter and in a better location so passerbys weren't interrupting the shots.
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