Ivana Pusceddu Media Evaluation

For our Media studies coursework task we were asked to create a thriller and actually produce the first 2-3 minutes of it. As Hitchcock defined, thrillers are when you place ‘an ordinary person in an extraordinary situation’. Using this famous definition, we were able to correctly and successfully create a thriller under these guidelines set by one of the most well-known thriller directors of all time.

During the production of our thriller I was constantly thinking about ways in which I could use aspects of already existing media products and incorporate them into our own thriller, I also thought about ways we could further develop these ideas in order to make an even more bold statement. 

The main and biggest influence we had in our thriller was the work of the famous thriller director, Alfred Hitchcock. We based most of our work on his, as he is one of the most successful thriller directors around, and found that he included many different theories and techniques to make his own unique filming style. The fact that Hitchcock uses such a wide variety of approaches enables us to choose and incorporate the aspects of his work of which we enjoyed the most, and using the same cutting process it allowed us to exclude several effects of which we did not find were replicable or where inadequate for our type of thriller.

Hitchcock uses the Auteur theory; This is defined as ‘The concept describes the mark of a film director in terms of: thematic or stylistic consistencies, personal aesthetic vision, recurring themes, established technique, a defined view of the world and a significant degree of control over production.’ There is one main way that Hitchcock has used the Auteur theory that made us want to use too, which is where he gives inanimate objects symbolic power, this has been shown in ‘Blackmail’ with the bread knife and ‘Notorious’ with the key. We decided that paying attention to one object and making it seem like a symbol and giving it added importance was something we were going to carry on into our filming. An example were we have done this is at the beginning of the thriller where there is an alarm clock being shown. The alarm clock is meant to symbolise that time is quickly running out, and if we had filmed more than 2-3 minutes of it we would have further emphasised this point. We wanted the audience to feel like time was quickly running out because I believe this would have added suspense to the beginning part, leading up to the part where he discovers the hostage situation. Another way that this could have been interpreted would be that the character we were trying to portray was always late, unorganised and unskilled; this would have given the audience more of a connection with the main character as they are getting to know him through different ways using some subtle hints left around in the filming.

We also used the Coen Brothers when getting ideas for our filming. In one of the movies they directed in the early 1990’s named ‘Barton Fink’. There was one particular shot that we paid attention to during the production of one of our scenes, and this was the guestbook scene. In the guestbook shot, the guestbook is spun in an anti-clockwise direction, whilst the camera spun in a clockwise direction meeting round so the book is back to face a normal direction. I found this shot very aesthetically pleasing, so decided it would be good to re-create. We decided to put a shot-style like this whilst our main character was opening the letter containing the hostage. We felt that placing so much emphasis on the letter whilst it is being slowly opened, would show the initial importance of the object, and how it would have an extraordinary effect on the ordinary main character in our story after he has opened it.

When producing and configuring our thriller, we took several of the narrative theories into consideration. The first one we paid attention to, was todorov’s narrative theory. Todorov suggested that stories begun with an equilibrium, which is disrupted by an event, setting in chain a series of events. Then the problems are solved and the new equilibrium is created. We showed this in our story by showing this theory in it. The equilibrium in our story was shown by having the ordinary man get up in the morning like normal, and the disequilibrium being when he gets a letter through the post of the hostage. This is tried to be restored when he goes on a quest to make this right, and at the end of the story there is a new equilibrium put in place as his life is put back into normal.

The second narrative theory that we have taken into account is Vladimir Propp’s theory. In his theory, we included some of the aspects that made the propp theory. According to propp, each story has a villain, dispatcher, helper, prize, a donor, seeker hero and a false hero. We have tried to incorporate several of these characters within our story; an example of this is where the main character sets out to be a hero. His boss is illustrated as a helper, but in actual fact he’s a false helper. The female hostage would be seen as the prize.

In the blog I have based a section on the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The BBFC is an organisation which has been set up to regulate the moving image into age appropriate slots for the public, to prevent the actual viewing of something before vulnerable members of the public view unsuitable or damaging content. In order for them to come up with suitable designated spots for different ages, they undertake extensive public research, consultation and also, through experience. They ask questions concerning the most sensitive of subjects and issues such as language, discrimination, violence, sex and drugs. Throughout this blog post, I looked and analysed the different age classifications for films and the reasoning behind them which helped me decide an appropriate age group restriction for our personal thriller; which resulted in the decision of the most suitable audience. 

I came to an overall conclusion that it was going to be rated a ‘15’. I came to this particular result due to the fact that I believed that the set guidelines and boundaries for a certificate ‘15’ moving image were best suited for the thriller we configured and partially produced.
The guidelines set by the trusted BBFC for the certificate ‘15’ most importantly of all meant that 'Passed only for persons of fifteen years and over. No person apparently under the age of 15 years shall be admitted to any exhibition at which there is to be shown any film which has received a '15' certificate from the British Board of Film Classification.' In other words, no one under the age of 15 is permitted to participate in the public viewing of the moving image it has been assigned to. I have also re-interpreted a list that they include with set boundaries and guidelines for what is and is not allowed to be included in a moving image which has been rated a ‘15’. These are as shown on the following list;

Language: Frequent use of strong language allowed.

Nudity: Nudity is not prohibited.

Sex: Sexual activities are permitted but with little detail.

Violence: Strong violence permitted, scenes of sexual violence must be brief and discrete.

Imitable techniques: Dangerous combat techniques are unlikely to be acceptable. No emphasis on the use of easily accessible lethal weapons.

Horror: Sustained or detailed infliction of pain or injury is unacceptable.

Drugs: Drug use must not be promoted and clear instructions on consumption is prohibited.

After thoroughly researching and analysing what is and is not restricted in a moving image which is rated ‘15’ I decided it was most suitable because our thriller included and addressed issues such as kidnap, adultery, violence and danger to such a degree that viewers under the age of 15 may find themselves to feel vulnerable and find some of the scenes unsettling and damaging. However, I felt that these unsettling issues and images were not shown or addressed in our thriller to such an extent for it to be rated any higher, or  in fact any lower. This is because the scenes which the public may find offensive are not shown to such a graphic level that would result in it being rated any higher, but are shown to such a level not to be rated any lower. As I have chosen for it to be a ‘15’, the audience would be anything above the age of 15, however, most commonly ranging from 15-25 as it will not involve much thinking and will not be too heavy, which makes it less suited for the older bracket of the public.

Once we came to the realisation of our target audience, we were able to come up with several ways in which we could reach them through different ways of extensive advertising, of which we could successfully entice them to take part in the viewing of our thriller.
Our age bracket ranges from 15-25 year olds; Rupert Murdoch labelled the new generations as ‘Digital Natives’, as they were born into the digital/internet based era, and because of this I thought that it was only right that the majority of our advertising would take part online. Choosing the places online to undertake this advertising is not a hard task, as the majority of the people within this age bracket are under the influence of the all-popular ‘Social networking sites’. These sites are set up for people to interact with each other through the internet, with friends and strangers, and as such a high proportion of our targeted audience are guaranteed to be account-holders, I personally could not think of a better place to get our advertising started and underway. We would start off by using the most popular social networking websites, such as ‘Facebook’, ‘Twitter’ and ‘MySpace’, and depending on how the advertising goes through them we will stretch out through the less popular ones in order to try and appeal and attract to everyone within our age bracket.
On these social networking websites, there are very few advertising spaces, which are allocated to the right of the page in small boxes. As a result of this, we will have to try and include all that our thriller is and includes in a small box and very quickly so that our target audience’s attention is grabbed from the moment the advertisement starts. I have decided that a satisfactory way of doing this would be to have a quick jump cut of the hostage struggling, in a dull lighting and in a black and white effect. Following this, will be an abrupt jump to a black- backed screen with a ‘jagged’ styled entering for the title of our thriller. I have gotten this idea from the famous thriller ‘Psycho’ (1960) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The jagged effect on the title at the beginning of the moving image gives the audience an impression that the film that is about to be advertised has many twists and turns and this is done to make the audience feel uneasy and make them more curious to what the film entails even before the audience have seen the title. After this, another fast jump cut will occur to another shot of the hostage struggling. There will be a non-diegetic, contrapuntal sound playing throughout the quick trailer. This will include harsh sounds rapidly sped up on the hostage clips and slowed down during the showing of the title. I have chosen to do this because the rapid sound at the beginning of the trailer will attract the eyes of the audience to where it is allocated on the website and the contrapuntal sound will induce danger and vulnerability. Showing such a little amount when advertised will hopefully encourage the audience to appeal to this thriller and infuse them with the urge and need to find out more and hopefully, entice them enough to go and watch this thriller.   

Other than this, I will advertise in more public places, such as the television. I have chosen to also advertise on the television because despite the majority of our audience being more likely to be in the lower bracket, the movie is certified to anybody over the age of fifteen, and because of this I need to advertise to everybody included. The television is one of the most popular electronic devices and as a result of this we will be able to advertise to a wider audience if we use it. For the television, the trailer will be slightly longer, however, starting similarly, to keep continuity. This will also make it easier for people to recognise it once they have seen it, which will hopefully emphasise the imprint of the thriller in their heads and further encourage them to watch it. Unlike the quick and short advertisement I described for the social networking sites, the one being shown on the television will incorporate more of the storyline, including the most exciting and thrilling parts of it in the advertisement so that the targeted audience would be attracted fully into consumption of the thriller. 

Prior to this task I had never used many of the technologies that were required during the construction of the thriller, and as a result of this, I learnt a great deal. I was shown what equipment and technologies that could be used within our thriller, and had to learn how to use it by ourselves. The first thing that I had learnt how to use is a video recording camera, the cameras at school are very different to the few that I have used in the past, and I found that it was quite straight forward once you understood what the basics were. After a few shots of using the camera, I quickly learnt that by using a tripod the shots were much more stable and clean-looking. The tripod could be readjusted to different heights, this made the filming much simpler for me as I was able to get different shots, varying the heights and angles without the quality plummeting. When recording, I learnt that you need to start filming a few seconds before and after the scene so that when it comes to editing there is enough film to cut and change each clip into something more suitable. I learnt this very quickly after the first few shots of our main task, because when we went on to cut the film into separate clips, we realised that each of them stopped too abruptly, which meant they did not flow into each other as desired. Because of this, we had to re-film some of the clips we got, despite this; it improved our end results drastically. When editing, we had to use the iMac’s at school, I had never used on of these before. The software on these computers is very different as they are ‘Apple’ so everything I did on them was very new to me. When we managed to link the camera to the iMac, we used the editing software called ‘Final cut express’. Having never been on an iMac prior to this, I had never used the software on it, so this was also new to me. Final cut express was very difficult to use at the beginning, and figuring out how to import the clips onto it was just the first hurdle to overcome. The clips had to be cut and compressed individually, into different folders so they would be easier to put together when we finished the filming and the actual production started. We named each clip appropriately so they would be even easier to allocate into correct places, and grouped them with similar clips with different shots and angles so when we came to edit we had a wide variety to choose from. When we put it together, we found that cropping the clips up even further to suit the place they were allocated was a difficulty, as they came with sound and it would go out of sync. To overcome this, we had to try and cut them so the sounds stayed in the same place, and eventually, we got this correct. Once clips were set down onto the timeline, each one had to be rendered in order to work properly, this made it easier to use as the clips stayed where they were rendered, and if they were moved it would say ‘un-rendered’ so you knew when a clip had been accidentally moved out of place and could easily be put back into place. When we had placed all of the clips onto the time-line accordingly, we had to place a soundtrack in order to make the thriller more interesting. We did not know what to include in it, and how to include it, so we watched some other films and decided to incorporate a song by filming the main character putting the radio on. This meant that we had to record a voiceover of somebody on the radio introducing the song, and we did this using a microphone attached to the iMac. We opened a programme called ‘garage band’, this enabled us to record the noise being transmitted in the microphone and edit it as we desired as it is a music editing software programme. When we recorded the radio voiceover, we came to the dilemma of what song to introduce. Any song under 50 years old has to have consent of use, because of this, we used a song which was older than this and edited into the voice recording. We exported this file and dragged it into our movie time-line on final cut express, and adjusted the place it was in until we thought it looked best. We had the song playing through, up until the scene where the post comes through the door. At this time, we faded the music out and replaced it with another sound. We went onto garage band again, and found some already composed sounds and effects. We found a ‘heartbeat’ noise and decided this would work very well when the hostage scenes were being shown. We exported this sound and edited it into our timeline, it worked very effectively as it started off slowly and increased in speed and sound whilst the ordinary man was opening the letter where he was to find a picture of a hostage.

All together, I believe that I have learnt a lot since the preliminary task we did at the beginning of our coursework. I believe this because we were given little to no help, and were given the responsibility and flexibility to undertake the task of successfully finishing the task at hand to a satisfactory standard. When looking back at the preliminary task, the standard of work produced then to the standard of work that we have just finished producing has got such a prominent skill difference. However, i do believe that without the preliminary task, we would not have known how difficult this was going to turn out, and really how much work has to be put in, in order to get a good piece of work out of it. Overall, I believe that we have completed this task to the level that was expected.

Mitchell Lapworth Evaluation

Media Evaluation:

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In our media production we tried to use outside influences from other directors and movies so that our production has effective elements that all thriller movies embody. For example, two of the main directors we used to influence our media thriller are Alfred Hitchcock and Quentin Tarantino. ‘Rope’ was a key film that we used to follow specific ideas in our film such as Barthes code and Auteur theory. In Alfred Hitchcock’s productions he always develops the film the incorporate his one ideas and feelings. This is known as Auteur Theory. If the ’author’ ( Auteur)  is a strong one , then his own creative vision will be show within the film ,  yet if the director is weak then they let other creative visions have a role to play within their movie. W  e have used Hitchcock’s idea of Auteur theory but challenged the conventional form in which he used it. This is because in the description of Auteur theory, we have used it from a weak director’s view.  In our production, we have used some of Hitchcock’s creative visions and ideas such as when Hitchcock does not release the tension at this point, yet waits until a further place in the movie where the release of tension is not expected. We try to convey this in our film by adding tension into the movie in one of the opening scenes when the letter comes through the post box. Furthermore, tension is added when our main characters face is not spotted within the first few scenes. This uses a weak director’s point of view on the Auteur theory as we are using Hitchcock’s ideas. Other director’s views we developed within our production are Quentin Tarantino’s. For example, in his production of Pulp Fiction, Tarantino’s adds a definition of Pulp within the title sequence. Following this, we have used a definition of Stockholm syndrome in our film.

Another convention we have adopted in our thriller was the previously mentioned Barthes Code. This again is another key theory that is used to develop a thriller film into one of a masterpiece that can engage the viewers for hours on end.  There are 5 key parts the Barthes code that we tried to use in our film.  The Following five key areas of Barthes code describes how it was applied to our thriller:

 The Hermeneutic Code:

This part of Barthes code describes any part of a thriller film that is not fully explained to the viewer. This technique can withhold tension from the audience for long periods of time so that once the tension is released, the viewer is shocked and surprised and the outcome of the film. For example, in our media thriller one way in which we use this code is when the main character receives a letter through the post. Although it is clear to the audience that a strange event has occurred that needs resolving, they are still asking questions as to why our character has got the letter in the first place. This is known as using ‘Equivocations’ within the film. This is when the viewer has partial answers to the plot, yet there are still plenty of unanswered questions. We developed the use of equivocations from Quentin Tarantinos film ‘ Reservoir Dogs’ where he uses them effectively to stem the viewers from knowing who betrayed the robbers in the diamond Heist ( See blog post on the use of Barthes code by Quentin Tarantino and Alfred Hitchcock). In our production, we tried to use equivocations to make the audience wonder key points established within the first few scenes. For example, there is a quick shot in the first scene of our character reaching into a medicine cupboard and swallowing an orange pill. This uses an equivocation as it is clear to the viewer that our character needs pills for some type of condition, yet the reason for this is not yet revealed. Similarly to the uses of equivocations in our media production we have used jamming in the earlier scenes to convince both the main character and the viewer that no matter what the characters actions are, there will be no clue as to whether the disequilibrium will be resolved, and whether the main character will get any closer to answering the questions raised in the first scene after receiving the hostage letter through the door. Furthermore, the secondary characters within the movie stem the plot and narrative so it again becomes unclear to the viewer whether the plot will evolve and resolves itself.

Our production also aims to use the Proairetic Code which is part of Barthes five codes. This code is used to create tension through the acts and activates which the character will undergo throughout the narrative. For example, the action in the first scene of the unmarked letter coming through the door will create tension as it leads the viewer into the unknown. The audience are suddenly transformed with the main character from a state of normality into disequilibrium. Further actions we have adopted for our film for our character to take will create tension also. For example, using the main characters boss as a secondary character that eventually becomes more of a hindrance than a help will be used to create suspense. Our main character will need his help to unearth clues to the narrative, yet the vagueness of his answers will leave the viewer wanting the plot to evolve.

The semantic code is one which we used carefully within our production. This describes the use of denotation and connotation of certain objects to create tension. We tried to challenge some connotations that certain objects have , much like  Hitchcock achieves in his production of ‘Rope’. In this film, the first scene establishes that the two main characters killed their friend with a rope, yet in a later scene in the film, the same rope is used to tie up books. This challenges the previously established connotations of violence and death, and replaces them with ones of something to fasten books together and a useful utensil. Similarly to this, we tried to challenge the connotations of taking medicine for example. When someone is seen to be taking medicine in movies it normally has connotations of serious illness and disease. However, we tried to challenge this as our main character appears to be healthy and acting out a morning routine that anyone would. His life does not seem to be revolving around medicine and an illness that deeply affects him. Therefore the viewer begins to ask questions as to why the orange pill is taken.

Another convention our thriller tries to use and develop upon is binary opposition. Binary opposition is when an image in a film has two possible outcomes or connotations. For example, the use of light/dark. In our media production we try to develop this theory established by Levi Strauss and use it in many situations. The main situation we believe it has been used effectively is when the letter comes through the door for our main character. The audience do not yet know much at all about the main character, especially as we tried to stop the use of his face being placed into shot during the opening scenes. As a result, when he opens the letter and see’s the hostage picture, it is so unexpected the viewer does not know what to think. Is this situation good or bad? Confusion spreads the audience further as they cannot see the reaction on the main characters face. A shot like this that we decided to use was selected when we did research on other thriller films such as Pulp Fiction. In this film, Tarantino creates a sense of uncertainty of good/bad through the use of an object also. There is a briefcase in this film that the viewer never see’s the inside of, which asks similar questions to our hostage letter. We thought this would be good to incorporate into our thriller as it is another question the viewer is asking and do not discover the answer to until the plot evolves further.

A convention that we saw important to produce correctly and use within our thriller to create the perfect mood for the opening scene is the sounds cape. This is a convention used in any film and the right mood can be set to engage the audience just through the use of certain sounds. When our film starts and the opening shot is established we wanted to create a soundboard that was parallel to events occurring in front of the viewer. The opening scene is just a man’s regular morning routine and for this we decided to use a radio presents voice over the top of the images to represent a state of normality, as many people listen to the radio in the morning whilst getting up. Furthermore, the use of a radio presenter’s voice (doom) adds a whole new dimension to both the storyboard and the film itself. For example , when the news presenters voice is heard , the sounds cape swiftly changes from parallel to contrapuntal , as the main character is still going through his morning routine as normal , but the new presenter is describing certain events and crimes that have transpired. The sounds cape remains contrapuntal until the film finishes. This is because as the character picks the letter up and sees the hostage note, the sounds cape changes back to an upbeat song. The use of this soundboard constantly makes the viewer ask questions as to whether this hostage note is a good or bad thing for our main character. We found it difficult to integrate and challenge the normal type of soundboard that would be used in a scene like this, but I believe we did it successfully. In most thriller films when a normal person is placed into an unknown situation and they may find a piece of information such as this , the sounds cape tends to be dark music and is parallel to the event occurring.

One convention that we tried to incorporate but had trouble doing was the use of some of the camera angles and shots, which could have produced more tension in the first scene for the viewer. For example, one camera shot we had trouble displaying was the use of a pull focus, a shot that Alfred Hitchcock used many times in many of his productions such as rope. We tried to use a pull focus when the letter is received through the post as our main character eats breakfast. We used a neutral angle and managed to get the characters actions and the front door in the same shot, so the scene flowed successfully together. However, trying to get the camera to switch the focus from our characters morning routine and then onto the letter proved difficult. The post can still be seen in the shot and we believe is could constitute as a success, yet a pull focus would have incorporated the outside influence from Alfred Hitchcock and made the viewer more aware of what is important in the scene by focusing on key areas.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We aimed to create a thriller that would use and sometimes challenge some stereotypes set by previous narrative theories. Our main character Isa young male and we had to develop and challenge certain stereotypes that young males have in order to add more depth to both the character and the plot, so that our audience remains entertained.

For example, our it is established in the first scene that our main character is a workaholic as he has plenty of books spread around his house. This challenges a stereotype in itself as young men who have just started working in a sustainable job tend to be lazy and useless, yet our character seems to have an important role in a company, judging by the papers and books around his house. The house also challenges some views on young males who can stereotypically only afford small homes and do not often get on the property ladder until around 30. This makes the viewer ask why our main character is in a large house. Going back to the work laid around the house, we have followed a common stereotype that young men are usually unorganised. To do this we decided to have the work our main character is attempt to complete scattered in various places around his home which shows his lack of decline.

Another stereotype that we have tried to challenge is the fact that young males are seen as fit and healthy. To do this we used a shot of our character reaching for some medicine out of a cabinet. When the cabinet is opened, there is allot of drugs and medicines inside which commutates to illness and disease, challenging the fact that our main character is physically or mentally stable. Furthermore, when our character reaches inside the cabinet and pulls out a pill, there is another shot of it in his hand, a bright and vibrant orange pill. We decided to use this pill as it contrast with the dull colours in background of the scene and an orange pill isn’t a usual colour for one. This adds a sense of uncertainty for the viewer as they begin to wonder why the character is taking the medicine.

Some stereotypes we did follow carefully however. For example, the onstage in our media production is a woman, and a common stereotype in cinema is that women appear to be the weaker sex and the masculine hero comes to their aid. We followed this stereotype carefully by placing our hostage in a chair where she is tied up, which makes her look weaker and innocent. When shooting the hostage scene , we attempted to use high angle shot in order to make the hostage look insignificant and helpless , making her appear small on camera. We have however, also challenged the feminine stereotype through the use of another female character, the kidnapper. She is placed in a position of power and throughout the narrative she remains dominant and in control. This challenges the female stereotype that man is in control. We thought it would be interesting to use both the kidnapper and the hostage as women as they are going to be in the same scene allot and contrasting ideas about women will be continuously established.

We thought it was also important to use a blonde female as our hostage for two reasons. The first being that we were trying to use Auteur theory and use the outside influence of Quentin Tarantino , as he uses a ‘icy blonde’ character in many of his productions. The second reason that we used a blonde female is that it complies with a common stereotype that blonde women are ‘dumb’ and ‘stupid’. The hostage is having an affair with our main characters boss and this implies similar connotations of stupidity. We believe the use of and icy blonde as a ‘stock character’ is an easily relatable stereotype for the viewer to connect with.

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

One media institution that I believe would successfully distribute our media product to a large market would be Miramax Films. I have selected this company for a number of reasons.

Whilst completing research on some of the directors and films that we would use as an influence on our production, I noticed that many of Quentin Tarantinos films have been distributed by Miramax Films. For example, Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs were both distribute by this company. As a result, I believe that using Miramax for our distributor would have great success as they have already developed a loyal and well targeted fan base to films and directors similar to us and our production. I believe that if people see Miramax on our media production, they can relate it to films produced previously by the same company, and therefore develop an understanding of the type of movie we have created.

Another reason why I believe Miramax is a good institution to use for our media thriller is the fact that they are a large global company and they have the ability to both advertise and distribute our production to many outlets. Miramax was started by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 1979 and was developed into a rapidly growing company. In 1993, Walt Disney purchased the rights to Miramax and the institute has continued to grow under the Disney Corporation. Now the company has recently been sold to a new institute ‘Filmcard Productions’ in 2010.This may be seen as a risk to let a new parent company distribute our film , but we see this as a good opportunity. This is because our production is one of the first films they will distribute, and we believe allot of effort will be set aside to ensuring our film is a great success in the world market.

Another film institute that I believe could distribute our film with great success is Touchstone Pictures. This company is also a part of the Walt Disney group and as a result has important connections and ties within the film business. This shows that the company has the distribution potential to sell our film worldwide on many markets. When researching this company, I found out that they tend to distribute films of a darker and more mature nature as opposed to some of the films on the Disney label. This appeal to us as our films is a dark thriller and need to be targeted and distributed to the correct audience and outlet. The final reason that attracted me to this company is the fact that they have the potential to increase revenue through their other owned businesses such as book and game deals, which is an incentive for any director.

In conclusion, to a certain extent, most companies under the Walt Disney label would be suitable to distribute our film as they have both the knowledge and distribution power to get our production onto the world market. The Walt Disney Company is a sign of successful Horizontal Integration as it has merged many companies into one large distribution outlet, becoming one of the most successful film companies in the world. They have also mastered Vertical Integration and therefore have the capabilities to produce our product for less and maximize profits.

Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?

When producing our media thriller, it was important to us that we had an idea of who we were aiming our film at exactly, so that we could make it accordingly. We tried to use idea symbols and motifs that our target audience could relate to, in order to create a successful and engaging thriller. Before deciding exactly who target audience are was for our thriller, we felt it was necessary to conduct research on the various BBFC certificates that are given, so that we could add or remove content in our film so that it was suitable.

When researching similar directors and films that we intended to use as influences on our film, we noticed that many of the productions were of age certificates 15 or 18. For example, Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino) is an 18. When researching the content of Pulp Fiction it became clear to me that our media production does not have the same graphic content that Taxations production does. Although we have used some similar symbols and motifs as seen in Pulp Fiction such as the use of drugs , a certificate of 18 suggests that there has to be hard drug use which our film does not incorporate as our actors is just taking medicine. Furthermore the certificate of 18 has strong bloody violence involved within the narrative. Although our film will be seen to depict violence, a certificate of 15 can contain adult themes and moderate violence. For example, the hostage scene will involve violence but we do not want to stop a potential viewer from seeing our movie if it is rated as an 18.

I believe that the audience for our media thriller would be a young middle class male ranging from the ages 18-25. This is because they can relate to the main character and hopefully engage with the narrative and plot. Furthermore, some of the symbols and connotations displayed in the opening scenes are easily relatable to people of this age, such as the hassle of new jobs and the need to succeed. However, we did not want to eliminate a potential female audience from our thriller and so we used female supporting actresses that may appeal to a similar age and background as the male demographic.

How Did You Attract/ Address Your Audience?

We tried to attract our target audience in many ways throughout our production, as it would help them to engage with our film more and develop their understanding of the narrative. One way in which we targeted the audience was by using a young male actor to play the leading role. For males, this creates someone they can relate to in the first scenes in a state of normality, then a role model in the later parts of the movie where the viewer can appreciate how the character reacts in certain situations.

Women of a similar demographic can also relate to some of the characters within the film. Two of the secondary characters are females that this may entice female viewers into the cinema to watch a film. I believe that in some film productions, the characters involved in the plot can be often very masculine orientated and this sometimes alienates female viewers from watching the film and they cannot engage with the characters. However, in our thriller we try to use female’s viewers as often as possible in positions of power in order to challenge stereotypes. The villain in our film is a women and this can hopefully make females want to come and see the movie.

Hopefully the opening scenes state of normality will attract the and address the audience correctly. This is because we hoped to engage the viewer and help them connect with the main character as he goes throughout his normal morning routine. This is something that the viewer can relate to and is normal everyday life for them. The calm opening scenes help them connect with the main character and when he finds the letter in the post, the audience will be feeling similar emotions to that of the character.

Viewers also have to be attracted to the film in the first place and to do this we intend to use a number of ways. For example, in 21^st century it has become important to advertise films by using various forms of new and advanced technology. For example, the internet has become the most important way of spreading information throughout the world. This is why I believe that using the internet to advertise our movie would be the most effective way of generating interest. Using video websites such as YouTube can generate interest free of charge as it is a social networking video site and anyone can upload. Furthermore, we can continue to use the video editing software Final Express and create a short trailer for our film. Other websites can generate interest for our movie also such as face book and MySpace. These are large social networking site that millions of people use regularly.

What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing This Product?

There are many types of technologies that I have developed an understanding about during the length of this coursework, such as camera and computer work. When I began the project, I had little understanding of how to use the computer software final cut express, yet at the end of this production I believe I have a growing knowledge of how to use the programme and can hopefully continue to develop my skills.

One key aspect that I firstly had trouble with was playing clips that I had recently exported and dragged into the timeline. I saw a red line appear at the top of the timeline and after some research I knew the route of the problem. I research into what was wrong and discovered that clips needed to be rendered in order to play them. This is just an example of one of the problems I faced and overcame when producing this movie.

I also developed a deeper understanding of how to use the camera effectively in order to film engaging footage. One way in which I developed knowledge was by learning the rule of thirds when filming. Using this rule makes the footage you have shot much easier for the viewer to understand as some key areas of the screen are it better view that others. This way objects etc can be highlighted in order to influence upon what the viewer is supposed to be concentrating on. For example, in one shot, we decided to have the image of a pill. We placed the pill in the middle of the camera so it is highlighted and contrasts with the dull background. This gives the viewer an image to concentrate on and helps show the importance of the pill.

Another piece of technology I learnt about during the extent of this coursework was garage band. This piece of software was used to produce our soundtrack and sound effects for the film. During the course of using garage band, I learnt how to mix different tracks together and change the effects on them in such a way that they link well with the piece of film. For example some sounds effects need to be quieter than other when played over the footage so the track does not become overpowering and take away so of the sound that links with the footage. Our final piece of soundboard was produced to a good quality and I believe the way it uses contrapuntal sound against the footage works well to produce an unexpected release of tension.

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

Went comparing the preliminary task to our overall production, I believe that there is allot of differences in the way us was filmed and the ideas and concepts we used. For example, in the preliminary task, the hostage scene we shot was a simple portrayal of the type of movie we were hoping to produce, yet in the actual production we tried to incorporate certain symbols and motifs to try to engage the viewer.

In both the preliminary task and the final production we used a hostage scene, and I believe we developed this scene into a one that was successfully integrated into our production. In the final production, we managed to use transitions between the normality of our character eating breakfast and then flashing images of the hostage situation. The use of this shows the progression we have made since the preliminary task for a number of reasons. Cutting the clip in between this state of normality shows that I have improved on the skills learnt when putting clips together from the Preliminary task. In the first task we didn’t have allot of editing time and therefore only had time to produce a simple footage timeline. However, in the thriller production we learnt to manage time more effectively and therefore we had the ability to learn to edit for a longer period of time. This meant that we could edit the footage in between the breakfast scene which created tension at an unexpected point.

In conclusion I believe our media production was a success and we have produced it to a good standard. I believe our production is engaging for the viewer and contains symbols and motifs that question the viewer’s knowledge of the plot and narrative.

Mitchell

Harry Steel Evaluation

After 10 long weeks of planning, filming and editing, our production has finished. We had to create an introduction to a film from the thriller genre. A definition of a thriller is a film with an exciting plot, typically involving crime or espionage. I feel we have created a well interpreted version of this genre, as we have built suspense and mystery without making it look tacky and unprofessional. We have constructed our production using many methods and schemes that famous directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and the Cohen Brothers have used. As Hitchcock once noted, a thriller is the basis of putting an “ordinary person in an extraordinary situation.” We did this by placing our unnamed main character into an everyday situation that everyone goes through, the morning routine, then as the story advances, we realise that he isn’t who we think he is. We also find out that he has secrets that will be revealed throughout the story.

We also used Todorovs theory because we started with a state of Equilibrium, then moved towards Dis-Equilibrium, Realisation, attempt to resolve, resolution, re-equilibrium, then finally a new state of equilibrium. In our production we had the Equilibrium when the main character was going through his morning routine. We then moved to Dis- Equilibrium, when he was having flashbacks of the hostage scene and the letter opening part. We originally planned to do a pull focus on the shot, but it was impractical, as there wasn’t enough available space to do so, so we improvised with an over the shoulder shot. We then have realisation when he opens the letter to reveal the code on the back. This makes the audience realise that the character isn’t the man we think he is. When he storms off screen, you can tell that the natural balance has been disrupted. 

After this scene we would have him trying to figure out what the code means and how he can use it. He knows it is important, because he knows who the woman in the photograph is. We chose not to show the face of the main protagonist because we felt that it would allow the audience to start to create a separate identity for him, and create how they feel he is represented.

In our production we created a motif in the cereal scene, similar to that of the guestbook motif in Barton Fink, this effect was created and used by the Cohen Brothers.

We also used a semantic code in the letter flipping scene, as it connotes mystery and suspense. However it isn’t revealed in the shown scenes what the code is used for, and in our next scenes after the introduction it would show him trying to decipher the code and figure out its meaning.

I feel we have advanced incredible amounts from our preliminary task, because we have become better editors. I felt that I took a commanding role in both filming and editing, and knew it was my responsibility to make sure we kept to our deadlines. It was also of the utmost importance to leave 3 weeks to edit, as we didn’t realise it would take that long, however we managed to finish on the deadline we were given. Our preliminary task lacked use of effects on final cut express, and the shots were basic. We also weren’t using a good enough location to film. All these points we have improved on to make our final production look as professional as possible. We however used the same location filming our preliminary task as we did filming our hostage scene. This location was good because it had a lighting board and worked well in dark conditions which was mandatory for our scene. We used black fabric boards to create a new location as somewhere

I faced problems in the 2 weeks of planning, as I become ill with glandular fever, however I still participated from home, making sure I was giving contributions towards the blogging and planning processes.

In the filming process for our final production, we used my house as the main location for filming, I made sure that over the 2 days of filming that we had the highest levels of continuity as possible, to ensure a steady transition between shots. In our morning scene, we used a variation of fast paced shots of all the parts of a daily routine. This was my idea, as I had seen it been done in the media, and thought it would fit in well with the style of film we were making. These shots were all used in a steadi-cam fashion to simulate being in that location with the character. We faced problems in the editing process because we found that it was difficult to get the timing right with the sounds and the editing. This was the most time consuming part of the editing process. When editing we found that we only had about a minute and a half of clips and it needed to be 2 minutes and we needed to add more.

When it came to naming the film, I suggested the title “Stockholm Syndrome” because it has a meaning that represents our film synopsis. I liked this because of the alliteration effect, it makes the name more memorable.

Creating a soundscape for our film was very difficult, as there was a limitation as to what music we could include, because we needed to keep it copyright free, and we just struggled with basic themes for the sound. We then settled on the idea of having our character turning on a radio in the morning scene and have a radio broadcast in the background. Again this was my idea, and I suggested that during the broadcast that we have a breaking news story about the missing person in the photo. I felt this tied the sound and the images together in a tension building scene. We then sorted out the volume and length of the music clips on garageband, as well as adding a radio tuning noise and effects to give that authentic radio feel.

In the scenes after the ones shown, we would have used Barthe’s Proairetic Code to show the tension building not from the original source of mystery. By this I mean not building tension from what we see, but what we don’t see and know about this character, who is he? Why is he in the situation he is in? Why is he important? Etc.

In rating our film, we looked at the guidelines of the British Board of Film Classification too see what was an appropriate age rating for our film. We settled on having it rated 15, because we would include “sustained menace and threat” and “strong language” which means we could have the film at a 12a rating, but we felt that it would attract a larger audience if it was seen to be more of a thriller. As 12a films are seen to not be as menacing as 15’s, this allowed us to use the 15 rating to attract potential viewers. As ivana stated in her blog post – “Our thriller addresses issues such as kidnap, adultery, violence and danger to such a degree that viewers under the age of 15 may feel vulnerable and find some of the scenes unsettling and damaging. However, I felt that the certificate '18' was unsuitable for our thriller as the potentially unsettling scenes mentioned previously are not presented to such a graphic extent that total teenage viewers are unsuitable.”

If we were to distribute our production to a film company for release, I would choose Lionsgate films, as they are well known for releasing successful thriller films such as “Saw” and “Se7en.” These films are very well known for having fast paced, gripping storylines that toy and manipulate your emotions until the closing credits. I feel that our film could replicate this style and keep with this high tension style of cinema.

I am glad to have worked with the Mac OS software, because I am now capable of using it in the future, I was scared at first because I didn’t know what to do as I’m a windows user. But when it came to it, I took the leading role in editing and creating sound, which helped us create a respectable 2 minutes of well edited footage. I also for the first time, had to take care in my styles of filming, and using effects whilst making the best shots possible. I used the rule of thirds appropriately, and make sure the lighting levels were the same and didn’t attract attention away from the main storyline.

Overall I enjoyed the chance to create a film that was good to manoeuvre around, as the criteria was loosely based, it allowed to us to make the film we thought would be successful, we had a good storyline, location, planning process and most importantly a good team to work with in making sure everyone did their fair share of work. I adopted the role of team leader, and with that role, I made sure everyone was pulling their weight in every part of the production. For instance there was a part that needed re-filming, so I suggested that instead of all of us going to film, that me and Mitchell go and film, and that Ellie and Ivana went to write blog posts about our re-filming. This allowed for maximum productivity, which helped us make that final deadline in time.

If I had more time to make our production better, I would use a better camera, as the ones we were given didn’t look professional, and the fact that we struggled with everyone being free at the same time because of timetabling issues, could hold us back.

I asked Joe Soden, who is a classmate of mine,  for his opinion of our film and he said that he enjoyed the “mystery” of the main protagonist, and particularly enjoyed the opening sequence of morning events because he thought it built a good foundation for creating a reliable media project. He rated it **** (four stars)

We will attract an audience by releasing a teaser trailer on YouTube, and attempt to give it a cult following as this will make people want to know more. Also if we release internet ads  with little information, but with motifs such as “click here if you dare” will get curious viewers to click and be sent to our website. This website will show where the film is being broadcast and will allow them to buy merchandise and pre-order tickets. The internet is the easiest way to get something broadcast to a massive audience, and isn’t as expensive as a TV advert. We will also create posters which will feature the hostage as this is the most anticipated part of the film . These posters will feature very little writing, perhaps a black canvas with the title, release date and website, so that the film can go viral.

Ellie Lubin Evaluation

Our production is now finally finished, and we have successfully made an introduction to a thriller. A thriller uses suspense and tension to create anxiety for the consumers, and causes anticipation and puts the audience at unease. Our brief was to make a thriller introduction, between 2 and 3 minutes. We focus ours around a central character of a middle-age man, getting to work for the day that will change his life eternally. As Alfred Hitchcock stated, a thriller involves placing an ‘ordinary character into and extraordinary situation.’ We did this through placing our main character, just going off to work as normal and forcing his into the situation of having the responsibility to have to free the hostage and becoming a necessity in releasing her to regain the liberty and free will she’s been denied. In thriller there are also the helpers and fake helpers. Our main plot line uses the boss as the helper. This is because the hostage was the boss’s mistress and his wife has taken her hostage, because he can’t face his wife that it’s his mistress, so he plots to a colleague that he must help free the hostage. He can’t however show to the central character that he is involves directly, and so appears to be not of any use, whilst dropping subtle hints and feeding him information anonymously, such as – as shown in out 2 minute clip, delivering the letter photo of the hostage. In the ending, the twist of the story was that the mistress and the wife then turn on the boss, but this doesn’t affect the helper and fake helper idea.

Todrovs theory suggested that there are main stages in any thriller,

These are Equilibrium, Dis-equilibrium, Realisation, Attempt to restore /resolve, resolution, re-equilibrium.

Equilibrium - Firstly we established equilibrium through him getting up in the morning and getting ready for work. We showed his normal everyday life, that he clearing does on a daily basis such as brushing his teeth, eating his branflakes and tying up his shows. This is used to create an equal ground between audience and characters, and set up what is ‘normal’ and a balance.

Dis-equilibrium – this was shown when he received his post, and it appeared through his letterbox. Originally we wanted a focus pull here, and so would draw more attention to the letter. However, when we came to filming we found that the practicalities didn’t work out as the distance was too short to do a focus pull. This is used to show that there’s something not quite right and that the normal balance has been disturbed.

Realisation – this is shown when he opens the letter, and sees the code on the back. It is clear from this moment that something isn’t normal, but it is when he goes off to work and asked his boss that it is realised that he has been put in an ‘extraordinary’ situation. This is used to show the balance created has been disturbed.

Attempt to restore/resolve – this is demonstrated when in the next parts of the film when he takes the photo to work and questions people as to if they know what it’s about. Then when it goes on to him trying to work out when the code is and how he can contract the hostage or help her, he is also trying to find a resolution.  This is applied in every film on order to show the struggle.

Resolution – this is when it all comes out that it is the wife and the hostage is free, then when they turn on the boss it is showed how he has been the villain. Our main character is removes himself from the situation and this allows him to return to normal and the situation can be resolved legally, blaming the boss and ending badly for him.

Re-equilibrium – our story finishes with our main character back to normal, possibly further up the company and the boss is being penalized for adultery. The hostage is released and the wife and boss case can be dealt with in a legal way. This is important as it allows the films to re-establish the balance and for the audience to be put at ease.

Our film uses binary opposition between male and female characters, as the main character is a male character and so it the boss - who’s the helper and a villain. However, the other ‘villain’ of the wife, and the ‘damsel in distress’ of the hostage are both female, showing women to be weaker. We also use the binary opposition of light and dark, using clips of the hostage in black and white showing how it is dark and suggesting the sinister tone. The menacing use of lighting shows how the hostage is being threatened. The use of spotlight lighting shows how she has flickers f hope and how she is ‘innocent’ however the light flickering shows how in this particular situation she is innocent, but in the bigger picture she may not be as innocent as she makes out.

In lots of thrillers, especially by the Coen brothers, use semiotics and motifs. We had lots of short shots, one of which was a shot of a letter which we tried to use like the Coen brothers used the guestbook shot in Barton fink. We thought that the letter could be a motif, but we weren’t sure how we could reoccur it throughout the film. Later we went on to film a shot of him with a orange tablet, this was showing an uncertainty of that character and the audience don’t know about him. Throughout the rest of our thriller, we could include several shots of the orange tablets, and the connotations of the tablets could be that he’s slightly ill or depressed, or suffering a mental illness or physical disease and so isn’t quite with it or could be confused of vulnerable.

In our thriller, we tried to incorporate different theories and techniques, however our lack of experience with the camera and the difficulties through the editing prevented us to make the thriller to the standard we had in our heads, some of the shots looked un-professional and messy, the ‘steadi-cam’ affect we wanted in some scenes just looked messy and shots which required movement were more difficult as we had no stable moving platform to rest the camera on. 

In real media products, actors and actresses are auditioned and studied, to produce the type of character exactly wanted by the director, however we had a very limited choice of actors and make/up and costume had to be done by ourselves, and just on what we thought might or might not have been appropriate. The lighting was partly out of our control and we had a limited time to film and so the filming was done at different times of the day throughout the whole clip. Things like the type of bedside table, chair, door he might have etc. were all very limited as we only had a small choice and because we needed the door to be in view from the table, the only house we could use was harry’s, we had some control by changing what was on the table and and were quite careful using props such as a Kenco coffee cup and bran flakes cereal to evoke his personality and characteristics.

If we had more time, or the chance to do it again, I would re-shoot some of the hostage scenes as these were quite repetitive and the sound wasn’t very strong and suitable. The heartbeat we added in the background was a decision after filming; we had thought of it as an original idea and decided to take it out, later deciding to put it back in. When we came to putting in back in we had to just use 1 of garage band rather than being able to record a drum beat ourselves, where we could incorporate the beat we wanted. I would also change the sequence following the hostage and so we could’ve put it in our clip, but as it was too confusing to film we had to lengthen the time of his getting ready. The story was a little confusing when we started to film and so the rest of the story needed to be concreted before deciding to film. Also we could only film in Harry’s house once as some of the scenery and props we had used had changed and we would’ve lacked consistency.  Some of the shots we wanted to add on to we then couldn’t and had to just work with what we had.

For our final piece, the uses of stereotypes were important, as the connotations that our central character evoked were important. As his face was hidden through the entire shot, it was important his actions and choices showed his personality and character. The social group he fits into is a nerdy, workaholic, business wannabe, who is fairly low down in his company, desperate to impress his boss and work his way up the company. We tried to demonstrate his personality through a variety of things. For example the branflakes cereal shows how he is serious and sensible. He’s someone who has a predictable, stable life style and is in a wanting to stay safe and in a life he knows, the branflakes are Kelloggs which shows that he finds it difficult to trust and only stays with what he knows. He wouldn’t buy a non-branded version of this cereal as he knows he can get this anywhere and so won’t run out and also he can trust that it’s the same every time and use only the trustworthy and dependable. He uses an analogue clock, which demonstrates he is slightly behind the times, and only focused on his work. It shows how he likes something that’s reliable and does exactly what he wants it to do. It also suggests he’s slightly lower class and has a low income, which also shows how he wanted to work his way up the company and increase his income. The first shot shows his alarm, which shows the empty red bedside table. The alarm goes off at 7 am which shows how he is going off to work and it is a normal morning. It shows how a male character of his social level only has work and the empty bed side table shows he is tidy and likes to keep thing in order. The red table suggests blood, danger and passion, suggesting to the audience that it will become dangerous and hazardous. It also suggests how the change in the story will cause opposition and take the character out of his comfort zone and usual social group and putting him in an unknown situation he can’t relate to. The next shot is of of his feet coming out the bed. The clean floor also shows how he’s tidy, orderly and organized. His socks don’t match with the actual day, showing his life is a mismatch, but that he bought them in the first place shows how he tries to be a successful, organized, up-to-date person but has fallen out of organization. The following shots just show his getting ready and then the shot of the breakfast shows his work covering the table.

Wil page said that the music is good and the backing soundtrack is fitting to the film. He likes the way we used text during the film in order to explain the storyline and it makes it look professional and looks more like a real thriller. It could be improved with a more interesting storyline that is clearer to understand, a wider variety of different shot types. Another observer said that he though the credits were good and the transitions between the credits and the clips were smooth and it looked more professional.
It was also said by another viewer that the title was a good choice and added suspense whilst letting the viewer know what the storyline was based on. A final observer said that the voice over was good that the song was infitting with the story.

I think that if our clip had been extended and made into a complete thriller, then it would be distributed by a film institute such as touchstone pictures, as it follows the type of film they often distribute. Owned by Walt Disney pictures, a well established company, founded in 1979, because of vertical integration, they would want to reach as larger audience as possible. It typically releases films of a darker and more mature theme, which fits in with our thriller. I don’t think our production would need a big budget, and so would be quite appealing to big film institutions.

Following the BBFC – British Board of Film Classification, we thought that our thriller should be rated a 15. Even though effectively, lowering the rating should attract a larger audience range as its suitable for more, I think that if it is higher, then more 15 year olds and older will watch it, understanding it will be more thrilling and exciting because it has thing in it that aren’t suitable for younger ages. In order to be classified as a 15, a film has frequent use of strong language, or sexual activities have very little detail, violence is apparent but is discrete and brief. Drugs may be used but not promoted, and horror is allowed but not a detailed infliction of pain, and there can’t be an emphasis on the use of lethal weapons. Our thriller deals with abstract nouns of pain such as adultery and kidnap, and so no killing or pain is inflicted throughout. We felt that a 15 would be a suitable age classification, but a 12 wouldn’t be suitable as our film has clips and emphasis on violence and subtle hints that pain is taking place. For a 12, threat and menacing actions are permitted and in our thriller, threat is a main part. However I believe that an 18 would be too strong for out thriller, as there is no nudity, strong language or drug use, and horror and pain is hinted but not promoted.

Before the release of our film, we would hope there would be lots of advertising to attract them to view our film. There are lots of new ways of advertising to teenagers, adverts in magazines, on the side of buses, posters on the side of roads and TV advertising. A short trailer would include tense music, fast editing to create tension and short clips of the storyline that show the audience part if the plot and make the audience ask questions. Because of the recent raise in social networking, we would use facebook and twitter to promote our film, giving the audience another channel to receive the advertising and be presage to watch it. Throughout the film, in order to attract our audience, we used a variety of techniques to keep the audience on edge and apprehensive. As the clip went through, the clips became shorter and when the turning point of the envelope came through the letter box it was clear this was the key point in the film, as the music went off. We then introduced a heart beat backing which speeds up throughout and builds tension throughout the clip. In the beginning of the clip, short flashes of the hostage are shown causing the audience to question and wonder what they are showing. To address the audience, we would want to position the audience above the characters and separate them, making them more vulnerable and separate.

From the process of constructing our product, I have learnt a lot about new technologies. I learnt to use a camera and how the tripod can help level out the shot. I also learnt how to use garage band in order to make the backing track. I did most of the backing and radio show and so I learnt how the change the temp and pitch of all the different components. Finally I learnt how to use final cut express and import transitions and dissolves between clips, we found the best way was to add cross dissolves as it makes the transition between shots smoother and sleeker. Invisible editing is difficult but effective and we found it was useful for making the shots the best they could be. The transcript and typing needed to be imported separately and the use of the text inputs allowed us to do credits and add the timing in the bottom, by using the different effects we tinted the hostage shots to make them darker and more intimidating and daunting. From keeping our blog throughout, I feel I’ve also learnt how to use blogger and importing videos and images to upload onto the blog.

Finally, looking back at our preliminary task, I feel I have learnt a lot in the transition between the preliminary and the final product. We learnt that it was important to not leave it too late to film, as we underestimated the time we would need to edit. We found that when it came to editing it was important t have more than 1 shot of each thing so we could choose the best 1 and if there was a small problem with each clip we could link them and make the best shot available. We also found that it worked better if we allowed a 3 second wait either side of each clip we filmed in order to allow the camera to adjust to the new light of scene and to find the best clear start and finish to the shot, from watching our preliminary task back we also thought that lighting was important to pay attention to and because in our preliminary we had no music we realised how important the music was. We also decided that it was important to incorporate the music throughout and this would heighten the level of our thriller clip greatly. We also thought that the steadi-cam shots weren’t that effective as they appeared messy very easily, we also saw that over the shoulder shots it was important to choose the amount of shoulder in the shot as in our preliminary we had almost half the shot of the shoulder and it ruined the shot.

Over all I was quite pleased with our thriller clip, and how it all came together. I think the music improved the opening greatly and the choice of music was appropriate for the character type. I think that if we were going to redo it, it would be important to allow more time for filming and ensure consistency throughout in actors, costume, props and setting.

Ellie

Toaster shot

The duration of our thriller opening has to be between 2-2 ½  minutes long, we found that just days before our thriller had  to be submitted it did not meet this criteria. We thoroughly analysed the thriller opening we had put together so far, and came to the conclusion that the easiest way to achieve this was by adding extra cut-scenes of our main character getting ready in the morning. In order to do this effectively without making the scenes uninteresting for the viewers we gathered extra ideas of clips from films which were already made. We looked at the waking up scenes of two very different films, ‘I-Robot’ and ‘Shaun of the Dead’. We looked at the type of things they included in their waking up sequences and took some of their ideas and interpreted it into our own thriller opening. We also looked at what kind of things we did in the morning, and also interpreted these ideas into our thriller opening. We included things such as getting out of bed, brushing your teeth, and going in the shower. In order to make these longer, we thought about other things that people did in the mornings, and what kind of things we could include to shape the identity of our main character for the audience. We decided to include a toast shot, where the character would toast the bread, put butter on it and cut it in half. When the toast was coming out of the toaster we used the rule of thirds. We placed the two pieces of bread in the middle slots of the toaster, and positioned the toaster in the middle of the shot so that when they ‘popped’ out of the toaster they would be directly in the middle of the shot. When we were buttering the bread, we used a Birdseye view shot. We used the knife and spread the butter on the toast vigorously to show a ‘darker’ side to the main character. We also emphasised this by cutting the toast in half once buttered in a rough and harsh way. In the end, we did not end up putting this clip on our final piece.

Tzvetan Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov was both a novelist and philosopher during the 20^th century. He had a strong influence on the way in which films are written and produced today. Todorovs theory illustrates the layout in which all movies are made. We have tried to incorporate his theories into our production also , to ensure that our thriller keeps the viewer entertained and on the edge of their seats. The following describes how Todorovs theory is used within film narrative.

Equilibrium:

The equilibrium is normally shown in the first few scenes of a film and creates a sense of normality for both the viewer and the main character. In our thriller film , the establishing shot shows normality straight away. An alarm clock features in most peoples morning routines and is symbolic of time and urgency , a concept that most working men/women can relate to. After this, our character follows a simple morning routine (shower , medicine breakfast) which complies with the state of normality.

A Disruption Of That Order:

After the state of normality in Todorovs theory , he describes a disruption of that normality in which an event occurs that both changes and propels the narrative forward. In our story , this event occurs when our main character receives a letter through the post. Inside this prop there is a picture of a hostage with a code on the back. This immediately disrupts any normality previously established and helps evolve the plot into a story that can grip the audience for an entire films length.

An attempt to restore equilibrium:

Once a disruption has been established, our main character needs to attempt to restore order to the narrative. Our plot follows our character as he delves further into a world unknown to him whilst he unearths the mystery of the hostage letter. His attempt to restore order is stemmed by the secondary characters useless and often misleading information which creates an enigma to both the viewer and the characters within the film.

A New Equilibrium:

Todorov stated that although movies tend to end with a restored equilibrium , it is often different to the equilibrium seen at the start of a production. This is because the evolution of the stories plot means that the same equilibrium seen at the start of a film is unable to be sustained once again.

In conclusion , Todorovs theory paved the way for all modern film production and it does not matter whether the narrative is linear or non linear, the establishment of these 4 key features is important within any movie.

The use of Non Linear and Linear narrative in our Thriller film.

For our media thriller , we have decided to adopt a non linear narrative in an attempt to discourage the viewer and place them out of their ‘comfort zone’. Using a non linear narrative can sometimes be unsuccessful because if the sequence of filming isn’t edited precisely , then the viewer may feel disconnected from the film and lose interest. However, when a non linear storyline is portrayed with conviction , it can engage the audience deeper than an linear narrative could.

Some directors are extremely successful with a non linear narrative such as Quentin Tarantino.( This director has been previously studied within Barthes 5 codes). His use of a disjointed storyline in his debut film Reservoir dogs and again in pulp fiction , gave him tremendous respect and success in the film industry. As a result, some of Tarantino’s techniques can be adopted for use in our media film thriller.

As the film opens and the establishing shot of an alarm clock is created, it appears to the viewer that the narrative is following a linear storyline , where every event is played in a chronological order. The plot continues to convince the viewer of this through an average morning scene as our main character awakes and gets ready for work. However, the films plot evolves once our character is eating breakfast. Tension and a fear of the unknown is built here as flashing images of a hostage situation appear on the scene throughout the main characters morning scene. This creates an enigma to the viewer as confusion spreads. The audience do not understand what relevance this scene has to the storyline at this point , as everything seems to be in a state of normality. Relating to a non linear narrative , the viewer is also puzzled as to when this hostage situation takes place. Is it a repressed memory from our main character that constantly plays throughout his mind? Or is it a sign of things to come for our character/ secondary characters? Or does this narrative in fact follow a linear storyline where two events are occurring at once? It was difficult to create a piece of footage that would ask these questions from the viewer, and create a temporary enigma throughout a suspected non linear storyline. However, the enigma becomes partially resolved once our main character receives a letter through his door containing a hostage photo. Now it appears to the viewer that the narrative is playing chronologically. Yet when the photo is flipped , a code appears on the back. This piece of footage creates a symbolic reference to Christopher Nolan’s 2002 film called ‘Memento’. This film is also played in a non linear fashion and the main character uses codes and tattoos on his body to decode a mystery. Viewers that have previously seen both films may connect the symbols between the two and therefore started to suspect that a non linear narrative is likely to play out. There are other lessons to be learn from ‘Memento’ also , through the linking of codes in different scenes in different times frames. This theory can also be adopted in our thriller to both create temporary enigmas that makes the viewer think about the narrative, whilst at the same time using connected symbols and motifs between scenes in an attempted to keep the audience engaged.

In conclusion , the use of a non linear narrative can sometimes be a difficult technique to apply when filming a short media project, and the use of an enigma at the same time increases the likelihood that the audience will disengaged with the narrative. However, we believe that following examples from successful directors such as Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino will help us to create a pieces of footage that both hooks the viewer, but also leaves them clueless about some aspects of the film that are left until later to be revealed.

Mitchell