Thriller comparision - Miss Gerogiou

I think that our thriller clip was successful primarily because we incorporated the different thriller conventions such as; lighting, mise en scene, costume hair and make up. We initially wanted a clear narrative with a successful storyline. Firstly we produced a thriller clip that was surrounded the idea of Halloween, although once we made the clip we realised that it was not to a high enough standard. Once we reviewed the clip we came to realisation that the narrative idea was not clear enough so we thought that we needed to produce a new narrative. So we came up with the narrative idea of a girl being possessed, and we used low key lighting because it creates mystery and creates suspense amongst the audience which is a typical convention of a thriller. We also used editing styles such as slow editing to emphasise the innocence and loneliness of the young girl within our thriller. We also used a variation of cinematography to reiterate her significance and isolation. For example we used high shot when the girl is walking through the forest to make her seem weak and vulnerable. After we filmed the sequence we added sound and eerie music in order to make it more tense and suspense, we also wanted to help establish a relationship between both audience and characters through the audience feeling empathy for the girl.

The micro element that I though we did best was cinematography and iconography because we used a consistent variation of different camera shot, such as low shot and high angle shot to portray the girl in a different manner. The girl that we are using within our thriller is young and blonde and therefore would create an empathic nature amongst the audience as they see that see is vulnerable and young and therefore feel sorry for her.

We initially wanted our thriller to be different and a slight difference from any typical thrillers as we thought it wouldn't make the audience engaged and attached throughout. We wanted to create an exciting engaging thriller so therefore came up with the idea of a girl being possessed. We used micro elements such as eerie music to add to the suspense of the thriller, mise en scene to make her seem more innocent. These specific elements of our thriller specifically were incorporated to make the thriller more conventional and make the audience excited by the narrative.


The element clearly shows our understanding of the thriller genre as we wanted to show audiences a new narrative for thrillers which will excite them still. We risked our work by not following the typical character convention of having two characters but by having one. However we believe this was successful. Similar films where a child gets possessed and ends up getting hurt is the exorcist and the conjuring. 

Our opening sequence can be compared to the exorcist (1973) opening sequence. They are similar in by both having a female blonde character whom gets possessed. This is very conventional as the blonde hair in the characters shows high vulnerability as blonde females are stereo typically seen as dumb therefore the audience expect a young female character meaning that its conventional. Another convention which is similar is where the opening sequence is set. They are both set in a creepy house which is very conventional as the audience can relate to the film. This therefore makes the audience feel part of the film and builds suspense and enigma. The sound in both opening sequences are similar as they both have a non digetic sound track which creates a tense atmosphere for the audience and may portray that something bad is going to happen. The cinematography is very similar as both opening sequences use a variety of shots to interest the audience and use a long shot many times to show the audience the mise en scene in which creates suspense as its set in a creepy place. By using a long shot can also scare the audience and build a relationship between the characters and them as the audience will sympathise for her.

1)      Thriller comparison-

·         Do you think you have created a successful thriller sequence and why?

·         Which micro element, best shows your creativity and understanding of thriller conventions the most?

·         Compare your opening sequence to a successful thriller and explain how your thriller is conventional. Consider the narrative, representation of characters, sounds, editing, mise-en-scene



Final the water bells

AS Evaluation Question 7

Before filming we produced a preliminary task which was designed to help use gain an understanding of how the equipment operates. We used technology such as tri-pod and camera so that we could gain knowledge of how the affects and operations work. For example we learnt how to zoom in and out which would mean that when it came the actual thriller clip were able to produce the best possible sequence. This prepared us from our main task.

From my preliminary task I have learnt team working skills as editing and filming my thriller involved a lot of working together and coming up with ideas and constructively criticising others to make them better. Also good team working has enabled my team to produce the best thriller possible as all conventional techniques were taken into consideration before they were implemented into the final thriller.

I also gained experience on how to use final cut pro x because from editing my final piece I was given an opportunity to experiment around with the effects and transactions. Furthermore when filming the thriller I gained communicational skills as I was the director I was in charge of organising the characters and equipment so therefore I needed to be very vocal, to ensure that my group knew what they were ding which would then lead onto a better production of the final piece as it is well organised and thought through.

Overall I gained experience and knowledge from completing the preliminary task, and was given an insight into how the media industry actually operates.

AS Evaluation Question 5 - video

Question 5
Primary research was essential to the production of my thriller mainly because it enabled us to create a successful. Primary research also allowed collecting the research ourselves meaning that it was up to date and reliable.

The source of primary research that I used was a questionnaire as it was a good source for analysing the results easily. Some of the questions that we asked was ‘What age certificated suits you when you watch thrillers.’ I asked this question so that I could get a good measure of what age certificate I should create. Overall I analysed that the 15 age range was the most occurring meaning that it would be most appropriate for my thriller as it is what the audience want. Once we gathered the questionnaires I put them into a pie chart, mainly because it was the easiest method chart to comprehend and analyse, pie charts are also primarily visuals so that when looked at you can see the results easily. By using a pie chart I was able to see what conventions people expect to see in thrillers, this helped my group as we knew what we needed to include within my thriller to make it successful.

The research gave both ideas and inspirations towards what was needed to included in my thriller. For example the results from the question ‘what makes a thriller effective?’ was a general conception of what audiences think makes a thriller effective. This enabled us to know what conventions I needed to incorporate in order to ensure its effective and a success. This result along with others enabled to plan for my final thriller as I was given an insight into what preferences audiences have.

The primary and secondary research assisted when planning my thriller because it allowed incorporating aspects and conventions of thrillers that the audience wants. For example the results showed that lighting played a large part of the atmosphere that the audience feels; I therefore knew that it was imperative that I included a lot of low key lighting to create suspense amongst the audience which ultimately builds a relationship between the characters and audience. I would make my thriller more successful as the audience are engaged with what is going on within the thriller.

AS Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

As a group we came to the decision to make Robyn the main character as we thought she would bestow the most power within the thriller film genre. For example the fact that the main character has blonde hair would make her seem younger than she actually is because it makes her seem more innocent and vulnerable, once again emphasizing her gender and age. We decided to include this specific representation so that the audience are reminded of the genre of film that they're watching, but furthermore we intended for the girl to seem as young as possible so it would make the audience feel more sympathetic and therefore be more engaged in what they're watching. 

There are some thriller films where the woman is the protagonist such as ‘Silence of the Lambs’ and ‘The Panic room’. The main reasons why women are used in thrillers is because they’re often represented as vulnerable and scared, but some films use the idea of women to suggest that they’re brave and courageous. It would also make all of my thriller film seem more iconic and significant as my main character is always vulnerable.It is important within thrillers to include at least one main protagonist so that the audience gain and improve their established relationship with the characters. It will also allow the audience to help illustrate the importance of the thriller and if an audience is following a character closely then the narrative will be conveyed clearer.

As a group we had to think carefully about the characters we would include as we wanted them to match the narrative and work well along the story line. Once we established the idea of a ‘possession’ theme within my thriller we then decided what genre of characters would most match the outline of the narrative. We decided to choose a female protagonist as we thought it would add to the suspense of my thriller because the girl would be able to express the narrative clearly and convey the general conceptions better because the audience stereotypically feel more sympathetic towards women, as they’re generally conceived as more vulnerable and less capable. The girl within my thriller (Robyn Tansley) would also include specific costumes such as jeans and white coloured make up to make her seem younger and more innocent, hair and makeup in order to make her look younger. We wanted to achieve this affect as we believed the idea of a young girl being possessed would create sympathy among the teenage audience and ultimately help build a relationship between both the audience and the characters within the film.

AS Evaluation Question 1

Question 1
   
Generic conventions within thrillers usually include lighting, cinematography, locations, iconography and sound. Lighting mostly plays a big part in thrillers as it provides the audience with a sense of suspense and shock, for example in the film ‘Scream 4’ the murders take place in the dark so that the audience don’t see clearly what is going on and therefore when they hear the screaming it is emphasized by the darkness because the killer is never clearly identified. Low key lighting helps create a sense of mystery because the murder is never actually shown in full light to the audience. Whereas on the other hand murders or gruesome scenes within thrillers can take place in daylight to add surprise to the violence to the scene for example this convention is used in ‘Reservoir dogs’. It would also make the scene more conventional to the thriller genre because the audience wouldn’t normally expect to experience this during daylight.

Also locations can initially help establish the thriller genre because they could emphasize how isolated the area is which then helps build a relationship between the audience and the characters because they feel their vulnerability. For example in the film ‘the conjuring’ the narrative is based around an old house in a remote location, mainly to add suspense to the narrative as they know that the location is very isolated and therefore more vulnerable.

Within my thriller my group and I wanted to use multiple locations to help build the suspense within the audience. For at the start we used an urban area within a built up city to help create an atmosphere of normality and help make the girl seem more stereotypically normal this would make her situation more dramatic as the audience would feel empathy for her. Also to juxtapose the two different mind in which she experiences it starts with her normal typical mind set when she is getting ready and prepared to go out, but the general progression of the thriller portrays her as slightly more sociologically unstable. The sequence progresses the location moves to the forest to emphasis her vulnerability, it also reiterates the idea of a female victim being vulnerable and exposed. The forest is a typical conventional location used in thrillers as it helps create a sense of mystery because the audience is unaware of what is in the forest as there are many obstacles which restrict the sight and add a sense of mystery to the thriller. For example a forest was used the conjuring and cabin the woods as it creates a theme of isolation and makes the whole scene more mysterious and creates suspense.


We also used mise-en-scene to add to the girls innocence and vulnerability and make the audience feel a strong feel of sympathy for the girl as they can see that something bad is going to happen to her bit yet the audience cannot prevent it from happening. For example her facial expressions, conveyed her to look somber and sad this individual feature of mise-en-scene helped to portray her innocence and make her seem more abnormal. Also her choice of clothing confuses the idea of her being unstable and possessed, we purposely decided to make her look normal to add to her vulnerability and normality. Furthermore as a group we feel as though we needed to help reiterate her innocence and signify her isolation. So therefore we decided to start the thriller of inside the characters house as we believed it would make the narrative theory more valuable as the audience are yet reminded by the potential life that the girl has ahead, which would add to the empathy agmonst the audience.


Another convention that we used was lighting and tried to make the girl seem in a dark light and portray her as innocent and vulnerable. For example at the start of the clip we see the girl under a dark light whilst getting ready mainly because it helps to convey the overarching theme of possession and emphasis the girls lack of power and ability to escape the possession.

Another convention used was sound within eerie music as we aimed to create a solemn mood as the audience watched the narrative unfold. For example there is a constant droning sound that continues as the sequence progresses, the main reason for using this particular sound technique was to help create suspense in the audience and make them feel tense. Also the music would once again reiterate her constant struggle to escape her identity. Furthermore as a group we felt as though the narratives mood needed to be conveyed more as the main girls facial expressions we thought didn't give the narrative enough justification.

Finally cinematography was used in order to make the girl seem innocent and vulnerable. We used a high angled shot when we see the girl from a high perspective the main reason for this is to add to the narrative theory and also to make the audience feel more empathy for the girl as she looks more open to attack. Ultimately though as a group we wanted her appearance to add suspense to the audience which is a key convention of successful thrillers.  

My thriller uses similar conventions to the film ‘Shutter island’ where by low key lighting is used mainly throughout the whole film the main intention of this effect could have been to make the theme of suspense continually flow in the film making the audience even more engaged because they’re always on the edge of their seats and expecting an shock. My group and I aimed to make my thriller similar to shutter island as we believed it would add another layer of suspense to my thriller clip. We did this by adding and dampening the darkness in the application Final Cut Pro X. Our clip would therefore follow typical conventions of thrillers such as low key lighting because my thriller creates suspense amongst the audience, as the low key lighting adds mystery and makes the it harder for the audience to see what is happening so will make them anticipate what is going to happen next.

To ensure that my group followed the general conventions when filming we would use a filming schedule to ensure that we used time efficiently and waste as little time as possible, because in the filming industry time is a delicate issue as it dictates the money that the business will have to pay going out of the business which would ultimately lose them money and profits. We carried out the filming time well which then led to use allocating relevant times to each scene meaning that they were all filmed thoroughly and at relevant times which would make the thriller more effective. We had to ensure that we filmed at certain times of the day otherwise specific effects such as reflections from the lampposts couldn’t be achieved, as they needed to be on which is at night.

AS Evaluation Question 6

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http://prezi.com/m3luld-fk-bd/untitled-prezi/#

AS Evaluation Question 4 - YouTube

Question 4

Target audiences can be identified through different methods such as;

Personal Interviews – Used to ask personal questions and get specific answers back.

Identifying a target audience for my film was a critical decision as it would change the dynamics of the thriller.  Without a strong mind of a target audience it is hard to realistically expect success. It was important that as a group we decided on my target audience early on because we were then given, ideas on what we needed to included within my thriller to make it appropriate for my target audience. Furthermore it was good that we thought of an appropriate target audience early on because it allowed us to come up with ideas which would be appropriate for the chosen target audience.

The target audience that we decided to choose was 15, mainly because we believed it would enable a larger target audience to watch my thriller. We had a decision to make on whether or not we should make my target audience 18+, or 15+. Finally we came up with the decision to choose 15+ as we believed it wouldn’t restrict some teenagers from watching my thriller and also the audience would be re-assured that the film doesn’t involve aspects of an 18+ film such as gore, and violence.

My narrative would appeal to the audience because there are signs of suspense and tension throughout which would suggest to the audience that my thriller will be engaging throughout. The narrative idea of a young girl being possessed would immediately create empathy amongst the audience as they can see that she looks innocent and therefore, my narrative would help build a relationship between the audience and the characters. For example in the editing stage we incorporated sound of eerie music which would again reiterate her innocence and vulnerability.

Also I used mise-en-scene in order to make my thriller appeal to the audience, because aspects of mise-en-scene would enable us to introduce and create new atmospheres. For example I used low key lighting in order to make the audience feel suspended and tension throughout my thriller. The fact that low key lighting is used would make my thriller more appealing as more people are likely to watch my thriller if it makes them feel on the edge of their seats.

My group and I also tried to incorporate many different sound techniques such as eerie music and contrapuntal sound. Mainly because we thought that eerie music would create suspense amongst the audience as they’re constantly hearing the same repetitive tone which would make the narrative more serious as girl is being possessed and the music will match her emotion. We aimed to use contrapuntal sound as we thought it would be good for creating a contradictory mood amongst the audience, would also be good for making the girl seem more innocent and  therefore help create empathy amongst the audience and help build a relationship between both the audience and the characters. If there is a strong relationship between both the characters and the audience then it would help my thriller seem more dramatic as the audience has a strong feel for the characters and therefore do not want anything bad to happen to them. So therefore we would be achieving many thriller conventions such as shock as they feel strongly affected by anything that happens to them.

Another factor of mise-en-scene that we wanted to strongly stress was camera angles. We were hoping to use camera shots such as high angles and establishing shots to make the girl seem innocent and smaller than she actually is which ultimately makes her seem more vulnerable.  Furthermore this would help contribute to the relationship between audience and characters as the audience are constantly reminded of her vulnerability. This is a strong factor which would contribute to successfulness of my thriller because it would create suspense and tension which are conventions of good thrillers.

AS Evaluation Question 3 - Prezi

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http://prezi.com/wgrhrwwctkba/question-3-/#

Audience feedback - Miss Georgiou

Audience feedback is important to a production because it provides the user with an accurate analysis of what people what to see within the production and therefore the production company are able to see what they need to include within the production. Once they have included what the audience want to see more people are likely to purchase the film and result in a higher success rate and high levels of sales revenue. If a organisation wasn't to conduct audience feedback then they could potentially risk having low sales and result in the film flop.

There are several methods to collecting customer feedback the main three different types are; Questionnaires, focus groups and screening of the production. Questionnaires helped our group to gather interpratations on ways in which we needed to edit or change ceratin aspects of our thrillers, some of the questions included "What aspects of our thriller do you think contributed towards making the audience feel suspense". Overall I think that this particular collection of thoughts benifited our group as we were able to see what people thought we needed to improve/alter with regards to different areas of our thriller. One thing that we changed as a result from the information gathered through a questionnaire, was the use of music and the atmoshphere that different music can create within the audience. Secondly focus groups benifited our group because we were able to see through face to face interactions/conversations what they thought of our thriller this was highly benificial to our group because the answers given we could conteract them with a response to get a true justification of the points in which they made. It also eliminated the opportunity for mis interpratations through written communication as we were able to clarify un certain points. Although focus groups were time consuming it allowed us to better our production and include important points the audience suggested. Finally the screening of our production was argueably the most successful method of feedback. Mainly because our group was able to watch the reactions of the audience and see what they thought regarding different aspects of our work. The audience that watched our thriller was a class of 30 meaning that the opinions were varied. When we presented our thriller it had barely little to non effects or sound so therefore was very benificial to see what audiences thought could be included and added to make our thriller more successful.

Through the different collection methods of feedback we recieved a variation of comments and suggestions for example one positive comment recieved through the use of questionnaires was; "variation of camera angles used". This particually provided a sense of reasurance for our group as we were shown others perspectives on how they reviewed our use of camera angles. We aimed to use a vairety of camera shots because we wanted the audience to feel different and certain points of our thriller. Furthermore a second comment gathered was that "The costume wore by the girl helped illustate her innocence and vulnerablilty". When we were planning our thriller we wanted the audience to be able to clearly see that the girl is young but still has been possesed, we aimed for this to create a sombre mood agmonst the audience and help them feel empathy. In concusion when we reviewed the comments we saw that there was an overarching opinion regarding the location of a forest, some commented saying "the location of the forest emphasises her innocence and isolation", we thought initally that the forest would emphasise her lonlieness so we were happy that we accomplished what we wanted to.

Although we recieved positive feedback we also recieved negative comments and constucional points. A first construction point that we had was "Add effects in order to engage and add significance to the narrative", we knew that we still had to change the thriller and the effects dramatically so therefore this comment reiterated what we already knew and the importance editing has on the narrative. Secondly a comment that was constantly reacuring was "the credits needed to be bolder" as a result of this comment we changed the colour of the text and the transactional features and the entry and exit it has when coming onto the screen. We came to a realisation that the credits needed to be affective and clear because they are what the audience see first so therefore need to give the audience a good initial impression of our thriller. Finally a comment that we collected was a question directed towards the production of our film, "Why did we not use dialog" our response to this question was the fact that we wanted to keep our narrative little to non dialog because we wanted it to make the girl seem more isolated and innocent. We also thought that dialog would make our thriller portray less suspense and tension and therefore wouldn't follow the typical conventions of thrillers.

In conclusion I think that I followed the brief correctly and abided by the points in which I needed to include within our thriller. I aimed to incorporate as many conventions as possible because we wanted the audience to feel suspended whilst watching our thriller, because this would contribute towards the established relationship between both audience and characters and add empathy to the connection. Overall I thought that I successfully managed to create a effective 2 minute thriller clip that added emotion to the audiences thoughts and feelings.

Rough cut - Miss Miller

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zCpjDSZEWE

Rough cut are very important within the filming industry because they help prepare us for the opening scene. It also allows us to use the constructive feedback from the audience to alter our thriller and make it more conventional to the thriller genre. When we showed our thriller to our peers it was barley edited so it meant that we needed to do lots of improvements in order to make it more successful. Our rough cut included some edited footage but not many filters and credits so therefore we was expecting a lot of feedback. From the feedback we were able to see what is good and what needs improving. Once our rough cut was finished we exported it to YouTube to enable a large audience to watch it and give us feedback on what needs improving.

 

 

The audience feedback is a major consideration to consider to take into a account when analysing the feedback. The audience feedback will also help us gather general conceptions of how we should improve our thriller. The feedback gathered will be fair and non bias as it was taken from a variety of people and they were open and wrote their thoughts onto the paper so that we could gain as much from the experience. We are able to see all the things that needs to be improved and take all the audiences opinions into account.

 

 

We gathered our feedback through handwritten feedback in the form of interviews, the advantages to our group of gathering feedback in the form of interview are;

1) We can ask specific questions in order to gather valuable information.

2) Can be easily interpreted.
By gathering feedback it meant that our group was able to interpret data and gather points in which we need to alter our thriller so that it is the best that it can possible be and furthermore stay conventional to the thriller genre.

In conclusion the rough cut was very useful to our group when trying to gather a perspective of the strengths and weaknesses of our thriller.