Log Sheet

How does your film opening represent particular social groups?

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In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of existing thriller film openings?

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Audience feedback Interview (written)

Mise-en-scene:

Me- By watching the screen and what’s within the fame do you think the mise-en-scene effective?

Mudan- The use of woods and natural lighting created a thrilling atmosphere and by watching what is within the frame I found this opening sequence interesting.

Editing:

Me- Do you think the editing in both action and music good quality?

Mudan- The editing skills I think is not that great because the sound and images don’t go well together and the editing seems unprofessional however I think you lots did well. The scenes are a bit sudden and I can feel the cuts, they could be a bit smoother.

Sound:

Me- Do you think that this sound track works well and compliments the action on screen?

Mudan- I think the sound/ music you have chosen is effective because by just listening to the sound I had already felt scared and engaged with the action going on screen.

Use of Camera movement:

Me- Do you think the use of camera could be improved or do you think it’s effective the way it is?

Mudan- I very much like the use of camera because it shows the prospective of both the killer and the main actress. I especially like the camera shakes because if el like i am the main character who is trying to escape.

Interview of Ideas Towards Our Film (video)

THIS INTERVIEW IS TO HELP ME AND THE REST OF THE GROUP TALK ABOUT WHAT CHANGES WE SHOULD MAKE TO OUR FILM BEFORE SHOOTTING THE ACTUAL FOOTAGE.GETTING A TARGET AUDIENCE POINT OF VIEW IS HELPFUL TOWARD THE PRODUCTION.

Audience feedback Interview (video)

THESE TWO VIDEO CLIPS ARE THE FEEDBACK FROM MY TARGET AUDIENCE, THIS IS THE FEEDBACK TO SHOW THE PROS AND CONS OF OUR FINISHED OPENING SEQUENCE FROM AN AUDIENCE'S VIEW. HOPFULLY BY DOING THIS WE (GROUP) COULD LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES AND SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE ANOTHER FILM PRODUCTION SUCCESSFULLY POSSIBLY BETTER.

Synopsis to our thriller film

Lara Smith is a strong and independent character who is a successful business woman with a lot of connections. At her work people are either scared of her or want to be her because of her confidence and because she is so powerful, she was one of those people who wanted to change the world and was very warm hearted however the higher she got the more she lost her soul to money and left her old personality behind.

Now she’s a strong but lonely woman whose life is her office. She meets a guy who is kind, warm hearted and funny and falls for him after dates and events that she spent with him. She now has it all the money, the house, the job and the perfect man; however all of this was soon going to change. Her company was at its best point and was making a lot of money but we soon realise that the boyfriend is a secret thief who works with very dangerous people that scam companies and take all their money.

It’s soon revealed that he is planning to do the same for Lara’s company because he knows so much about it and also has a connection. As the gang are trying to go through with the scam the police catch them out and put them all in prison Lara goes to prison everyday and visits him bringing him his favourite dish and picture of her.

2 years later he gets let out of prison for good behaviour and he couldn’t wait to get out but the only problem was that Lara hadn’t visited him since she heard he was getting released and he couldn’t get a hold of her. The day he gets out he meets up with the old gang, what’s left of it and they tell him that Lara was the reason he went to jail, she had realised what he was up to and had told the police so they could be wiped out. He was very frustrated and goes looking for her but soon he finds out that she has ran away with all the money from the company from his scam and no one knows where she is. Through some events he finds out where she is and follows her and ends up finding her tied up in the cottage she stayed in all tortured and abused.

His plan was to do the same thing but he was shocked and heartbroken by the scene he had seen therefore he untied her and tried helping her but the minute she got a breathe in she started running through the forest trying to get away from her because she was so scared that he was there for payback, this brought back all of his anger and as he ran after her he ended up knocking her out and killing her. He walks away smiling leaving the body to bleed to death.

Evidence of Questionnaire Results (Female)

This is the results from a female target audience. Based on the results i have realised they both agree on having a male or female protagonist and prefer either a cliff-hanger or the antagonist winning because it is much more interesting that way.

Evidence of Questionnaire Results (Male)

This is results for the questionnaire i handed out. These results are from a male target audience i have realised from the results by the male audience that they prefer 18+ rated films.

First Draft of Questionnaire

This is the first draft of my questionnaire. By doing this i got a clear idea of what questions to ask my target audience and to make it even i asked 5 females and 5 males.

Production Schedule

This is the schedule I used to plan my time well so i could get my work on to the blog. The filming of our two minute opening sequence took part during these two weeks.

Perpetration Towards Evaluation

This image is a preparation towards my evaluation. I will be looking at these questions in depth in order to complete my evaluation successfully. I will be answering some questions in more depth than others. I will as so using images and a short video clip to create visual as well as a written evaluation.

Peliminary Target Audience Interview (2/2)

The Finished Film

Evaluation

This evaluation is missing the images of scene from our actual film but the rest is here..

Evaluation

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Production Design

Location

We had to different locations for our film; the locations were set in different days:

· The woods across the road from harrow weald college

· Outside Grimsdyke Hotel

Set design

The set was design was a natural wood and outside of a hotel:

Woods:

· Green leaves

· Tress

· Muddy and grass

· Grey sky

Outside the hotel:

· Grey sky but a bit of sun

· The hotel in the background

· Standing on top of the stairs

Props

· A phone& head phones- Lara uses this prop to show she is a business woman.

· One heel (shoe) - one heel she carries during the time she is being chased.

This shows her confusion throughout the chase scene.

· A Cigarette - to show Lara Boons high status because she is a business woman.

Special FX

We use special FX:

Camera handheld for most of the shots to get feelings and

POV of both the protagonist and the antagonist.

Sound Tracks: A heart beating and heavy breathing to show the fear of the antagonist.

Lighting

No lightings needed because we have decided to use natural lighting (the sun).

Costume

We looked at 3 different dresses and one smart outfit for our Grimsdyke scene.

Costumes that could possibly suit our actress included:

Dresses

· A black prom dress up to the knees and boob tube

· A blue denim boob tube dress up to the knees

· A grey, three quarter sleeved dress also up to the knees

We decided to use the grey dress because it’s more like what Lara Boon would wear and because it has certain connotations.

Business outfit

We decided to use black skinny fit jeans with a grey blazer, black heels and a white top for her work outfit.

Make-up

For her make –up we used natural face make-up:

· Mascara- to show she was going somewhere before.

· Eyeliner- smudged eyeliner to show she has been wearing her make-up

for so long also to suggest she has been crying.

· Hairspray- to get her hair messy an ruff

· Mud & leaves- to show she has been struggling to get away also

creates an enigma of what has been chasing her

Final Script

Fade in

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Evaluation (Draft)

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of existing thriller film openings?

• Does your sequence follow/deviate from a conventional thriller’s narrative content, format and style of presentation?

Our sequence doesn’t necessarily follow the conventional thriller narrative content as it plays with the audiences expectations, when seeing this independent strong women become weak and helpless. This normally isn’t expected from a thriller film as the female characters are always presented as dependent characters. However the format and the style of the film follow the conventional thriller films. We have chosen to keep some traditional conventions as it’s what the audience have shown interest in and changing too many things in a thriller is not always the best idea, because it may not appeal to the audience. That’s why we have decided to change some of the areas we believed would interest the viewers and kept some traditional conventions of a thriller film to establish the genre. (Some of these decisions have been influenced by audience feedback and interviews)

• Does the use of conventions indicate what sub-genre you thriller is?

Our opening sequence does not instantly give away the sub-genre of the film as its suppose to confuse the audience and keep them guessing all the way threw however the audience can clearly see that it could be a horror thriller due the location of the film which is in a forest. Also the use of mise-en-scene indicates a horror thriller because it shows a woman wearing torn cloths running through the forest.

• Does it use typical or atypical characters for a thriller?

We haven’t used a typical character as we didn’t want to create a common film, we wanted to create a traditional thriller film but as modernised as possible that is why we have chose a strong female who fights till the end for her life rather than a dependent female who relies on a male character to be rescued by. I believe that making a film is to show other people you interpretation of the world and the way you see everything and also to open peoples eyes to new things and to stop people from stereotyping, this is why our film is breaking the boundaries and is showing something new and different

• Does your use of camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene follow/deviate from thriller conventions?

The use of camera follows the thriller conventions as we used close ups and long shots to create tension and also to create an atmosphere to get the audience questioning the film. The shots don’t last long which is the reason for the audiences questioning and also there are point of view shots which allows the viewer to see the film through the women’s eyes which creates a scarier atmosphere. The use of sound also follows the thriller conventions as we used a heart beating non-diegetic soundtracks and also a very edgy soundtrack through out the whole sequence, we also used scream sounds and breathing sounds as a diegetic sound this creates a tense atmosphere. The use of mise-en-scene was a bit different to other thrillers however followed the conventions as we filmed in daylight rather than in a dark area to create more suspicion.

• Does your use of all the above forms and conventions indicate what other thrillers have influenced you work?

The thriller film that influenced me the most was “Wolf Man” in one scene where the women is running through from her lover scared in a very elegant dress. This caught my eye as I wanted to create something similar however change many things in the sequence. The reason I was inspired by the character running through the woods was because she was alone and the soundtrack was building suspense and as she was running it seemed like it was over for her and while I was watching the film I felt sympathy for her and also I felt very on edge, this is why I wanted to create a movie that made my audience feel the same, to feel thrilled and to feel like their neck skin crawled.

• How does your thriller establish setting/location, themes, narrative, character, and enigma? Can you improve it to thrillers you researched?

Our film establishes location through the use of long shots and the character is established right at the beginning however by the end of the sequence she is in a different state and this gets the audience questioning, this is also where the enigma is established.

2. How does your film opening represent particular social groups?

• How are particular social groups represented in your thriller?

The main character is represented to be a very posh and classy lady who has it all and is the boss of everyone, she is very independent and confident however the people around her are very average working class until she meets the criminals in the film in which case they are people similar to her status however they have gone mad with power and money. However in normal thriller films men are the ones with power and dominate women, this differs in or film because the women is shown to be walking around talking on the phone and firing people.

• E.g. is gender represented stereotypically?

The main character is a woman who is strong working in a big company controlling everything which shows that gender is not represented stereotypically.

• What about any age, ethnicity and sexuality?

We haven’t specifically focused on the main characters age or ethnicity however her sexuality is very important in the film as she uses her femininity in a powerful manner.

• What about any social class and status?
• What about any physical ability/disability and regional identity?

Social class and status is one of the most important aspects of the film as it focuses on rich people and working class people and the difference and conflicts in these circumstances. The main character is a Business woman who is very elegant and upper class. This instantly creates a personality for the audience as she is seen to be very self-centred, superior through our sequence.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your film and why?

• Would your thriller be produced by a major Hollywood film studio or an independent film company?

• Therefore, how would it be funded?

Our thriller would be produced by a major Hollywood film studio such as “Universal” because "Universal" has produced many films such as "The Wolf Man" which was categorised as a horror/thriller genre which is similar to our film as it’s a thriller (psychological). This film has inspired us to produce our film and has helped us with many camera techniques and an over all visual of what we want to achieve. This is why I believe "Universal" company could be interested in producing our film as its something they have done before and also the fact that our film is not cliché which plays with the expectations of the viewers.

• Who might then be interested in distributing your thriller?
• What’s you thriller’s particular selling point?

4. Who would be the audience for you film?

• What did your research reveal about you audience’s preference on thriller films?

(Put in the video, too long to write)

• What professional thriller films are similar to yours … who do they appeal to?

Wolf man (already talked about it)

5. How would you attract/address your audience?

• What elements did you build into your film to appeal to your target audience?

Our main character is at first seen to be the protagonist, an innocent person who has been attacked however we later reveal that the character is hand in hand with the villains which surprises the audience as they where only witnessing one side of the story and that’s why they felt sympathy for that character however as the film continues they begin to detest the character.

• Link this to specific considerations in your development of idea.

• How did you use camera, soundtrack, mise-en-scene and editing to appeal to your audience?

We used camera shots in a way to attract the audience, we used long shots to establish the scene but only revealed the shots for a couple of seconds and then jumped to credits which intrigues the audience making them want to know more. The use of soundtrack and voice over also appealed to the audience because we used heart beating sounds and loud breathing to tense the atmosphere along side the soundtrack which was very scary. The use of mise-en-scene attracted the audience because the character was running through the woods not knowing where to go in pure daylight.

• Who does the audience relate to?

• How well was your thriller through audience feedback?

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of the constructing this product?

• Regarding location

• In what way did the college equipment enhance/inhibit your ideas?

The equipments enhanced my ideas as we need to create a thrilling atmosphere and needed the equipment that do that luckily we were shooting outside and didn’t require any lighting, but the important thing was the cam recorder and also the tripod.

• How well did you master the camera controls/use of lenses/handheld technique/tripod/dolly equipment available?

Since I did most of the shooting I had more experience with the camera, I had to adjust the camera on the tripod which was difficult as the surface of the ground was not smooth or flat. I also had to use the camera handheld to get the point of view shots which was a bit more difficult that i thought because when running the camera shakes more than expected and therefore you have to seem running but control what the camera captures.
• Were there any technical challenges/ problems on the shoot, and how did you resolve them?

We had some problems with the camera when it started raining as the camera got wet and damaged which stopped us filming however we came back to the college and exchanged it for another one and carried on filming, with an umbrella this time. We also had some problems with the surface of the area, first of all for the tripod and also our actor as she had to run bear feet through the woods and she ended up injuring her self and got sent to hospital to have stitches.

• Regarding editing software

In what way did the college equipment enhance/inhibit your ideas?

I have had some editing experience from before therefore the editing equipment really enhanced my ideas as I was able to work with the system and create what I intended for the sequence.

How well did you master the actual editing software techniques available?

Even though I know a lot about editing I learnt many new techniques, such as cutting the shots and soundtracks to suit you.

Where there picture and sounds that could be useful for your sequence and did you use it appropriately?

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

Talk about it in the video!!

Evaluation

Evaluation For Opening Sequence

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Production Schedule

This is what I used to plan everything out, in order to stay organised and on top of my work. Also, as we were working as a group it was easy to arrange meeting up times etc, when we had this sort of time table.

Questionnaire Findings

1) What gender are you?

Female [ ] Male [ ]

2) How old are you?

15 – 20 [ ] 21 – 35 [ ] 35 – 50 [ ] Other [ ]

3) What is your favourite sub-genre of thriller?

Action Thriller [ ] Conspiracy Thriller [ ] Horror Thriller [ ]

Psychological Thriller [ ] Spy Thriller [ ] Political Thriller [ ]

* 2/10 participants chose only action thrillers.

2/10 chose only horror thrillers.

4/10 chose only psychological thrillers.

2/10 picked various genres, 1 participant of those 2 selected every type of thriller genre.

This shows psychological thrillers as being the most popular.

4) Do you prefer to see a male or female lead role in a thriller?

Male [ ] Female [ ] Don’t mind [ ]

* 2/10 participants chose female lead role.

8/10 said they didn’t mind.

Though no one chose male lead role.

This shows that generally the sexes of the main character isn’t a key point in a thriller for the audience.

5) Do you think explosions, guns and violence is essential in a thriller?

Yes [ ] No [ ]

* 6/10 participants chose No.

4/10 chose Yes.

This shows that audiences can have varied opinions on the essential presence of explosions, guns and violence in a thriller. Even though 6/10 chose no to the importance of violence in thrillers, the question asked ‘do you think it is essential’ which could mean those 6 participants wouldn’t mind seeing it anyway.

6) Would you prefer to see a thriller that has a complex and mind boggling plot?

Yes [ ] No [ ] Don’t mind [ ]

* 3/10 participants said they didn’t mind.

7/10 said Yes to a complex and mind boggling plot.

Though none said No.

This shows that audiences generally prefer when a thriller gives you an intricate plot, so we should try to do the same with our film.

7) Do you have a favourite thriller film?

Yes [ ] No [ ]

8) If so, please name it below;

* 4/10 participants named their favourite thrillers, they named,

Hide and Seek

Halloween

Funny Games

The Butterfly Effect

These are all films with intricate plots and some kind of twist at the end. These results support the findings from question 6.

9) Would you like to see a strong, independent female protagonist as the main character in a thriller?

Yes [ ] No [ ] Don’t Mind [ ]

* 2/10 participants said they didn’t mind.

3/10 said Yes to a strong female lead role.

5/10 said No.

This was a shocking result as I thought most females would chose Yes. Though in actual fact, every one who chose No, was a female and 1 of the participants who chose Yes was a male.

10) Do you think it is important to have special effects and lots of soundtrack, such as ominous sounds, in a thriller to make it good?

Yes [ ] No [ ]

* 10/10 participants chose Yes for the effectiveness of the soundtrack.

This clearly shows how important the sounds and music in a thriller are to an audience. I will definitely keep these results in mind when e and my group are editing sounds for our own film.

Call Sheets for Locations

This was a sheet given to us by Harrow College whice was signed by our teacher to show to Grims Dyke. It told them that we were legitimately filimg something for our media coursework and asking for their permission to let us use thier site.

This is a call sheet for our second location in the woods opposite Harrow Weald college.

This is a call sheet for our first location at Grims Dyke Hotel.


Though both the call sheets say that our production title is 'Obsession', after filming when we were editing we decided that the title 'The Dark Side' would better fit the theme of our synopsis.

Pliminary Target Audience Interview (1 of 2)

.

Interviewing people who are my target audience, asking questions which will help me understand the mind frame of my audience and appreciate what they want in a thriller film. Therefore I have selected 2 people; one male and one female who I believe have great interest in thriller films to ask them questions to help me understand in more depth the expectations of my audience.


Questions:

1. What is your favourite sub-genre of a thriller? Why?

I prefer action genre because it’s more attention-grabbing, unlike a horror thriller most of the action thriller films are new and unique where as horror thriller are mostly cliché. I also like psychological thrillers because they are twisted and get you thinking about the plot of the film which makes it fascinating to watch. Lastly I like crime thrillers which are normally combined with the action thriller.

2. What do you look for in a thriller? Why?

I love having explosions a bloody scene in the film as it makes it so much more thrilling, and also I prefer scenarios where there’s a lot of conflict and fighting going on.

3. Do you prefer a male or female as the main role of the film? Why?

I prefer a male as the main character because it makes more sense to have a male character in an action thriller. Also female characters are normally in horror thrillers because of their reputation in being weak and scared therefore I prefer a male character to play the action/crime thriller to make it more believable that they are capable of such violence.

4. How do you prefer a thriller film to end? Why?

I’d like to see the film ending in a twist like psychological thrillers which play with the audience’s expectations and finish the film not in a way you would expect.

5. Do you prefer the bad guy to win or the good guy? Why?

I’d love to see the bad guy win for once because as always it’s the main character who stays alive and kills all the villains therefore I would much prefer it if the director played with that point of view and created something different such as the villains wining.

6. Do you prefer a strong and independent character or a weak and dependent character?

It depends on the type of the film really, in a horror thriller I’d rather see a weak and dependent character to play the role as it makes the film scarier, however in a crime thriller for example id more favour a strong and independent character to play the role as it suits that genre.

7. What’s the most important thing in a thriller film? Why?

The most important thing in a thriller for me is the plot of the film and the enigma as it draws you in, wanting to watch the rest of the film. However all the other aspects of the film matter too as they all play a role in making the film amazing such as the soundtracks and also the mise-en-scene.


8. Do props and clothing make a different?

I don’t necessarily pay attention to props and clothing in an action film unless there is for a purpose, to show the audience a hidden meaning therefore I don’t believe that they have great influence on me.

9. Do soundtracks and lighting make a difference?

However I do believe soundtracks and lighting do play an important role in the film because the music is what gets you heart pumping and gives you that adrenalin and the lighting is what creates the mise-en-scene.

10. Would you see a big company made thriller or a simple thriller film small company made thriller?

The company producing it doesn’t make a difference as long as the plot and the characters of the movie are good then I’m satisfied.

11. What is your favourite thriller film? Tell me a bit about it?

Prestige it’s about 2 male characters that do magic and are close friends however over some conflict separate and lead their own lives, and through out the film they have fights to prove their superior. Long story short one of the characters had a twin brother and there was a whole load of thrilling scenes.

12. What was the last thriller film you watched? Was it good? Why?

Sherlock Holmes and it was great it had a lot of action and amazing scenes.

Sound track of screaming woman

In our film we needed a woman screaming and so we listened to may sounds of woman screaming to get the effect we was looking for...


http://www.mediafire.com/?h0dkgl2kmqo

http://www.mediafire.com/?jjty1zz0lyy

We then decided to use this one...

http://www.mediafire.com/?zzydyinm2tn

Opening sequence and Synopsis to my film

Opening sequence to my thriller film

The location of the film is in a room similar to a shed which is very dark and there is a red light on as if it’s a dark room. The room is covered with pictures that are black and white but also pictures that are coloured as if it’s ripped out of and album as they are torn and stuck together as a collage. The room has a couple of props such a broken mirror that is old and murky but more importantly there are blades and knives covered in blood. A woman introduced with long black wavy hair with bright blue eyes dressed in a long dress that looks very old fashioned and also stained as if she hasn’t changed her dress for a while and her arms are all covered in scratches as if she has self harmed. She is dancing around in a peaceful manner however her movements are exaggerated and she is seemed to be hysterical and hallucinating. The sound she is moving to is bang bang which is a diegetic sound as she is reacting to the music, for example the bit where the song sings “my baby shot me down” she makes her fingers into a gun points at the photographs and whispers bang.

The synopsis to my thriller film

A young women has it all, she’s beautiful and elegant and very wealthy. She meets this great guy and from then on her life cannot be anymore perfect until she gets dragged into his personality. He has such power over her she doesn’t see her life is slowly getting ruined. She gets into situations and deals with people she has never thought of in her life and because these events are happening so calmly and beside the man she loves, she doesn’t realise the destruction. One day she wakes up and realises everything she had has burned to ashes and gets to the scene I have described in the opening sequence.

Evaluation

The use of the forest and a young women running suggests it’s a horror movie and most of the time the audience prefer a women screaming because it’s more high-pitched which could be seen to make the scene more scary for the viewers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB55bv4B8LQ

The Village 2004 , is an exampleof a film which is composed ,almost entirely of people being scared ...by Things....bad, bad, things..IN THE FOREST. THERE IS A GREAT TWIST AT THE END!

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

The camera shots that we used were point of view shots, over the shoulder shots, close- ups, establishing shots and tracking shots. So sometimes we could be looking through the chaser’s eyes or the chased which adds real thrills down people’s backs, which is typical of thrillers to do this.

The forest is a major part of the mise-en-scene. The main character of the film dresses well and her hair is well done giving the audience the impression that she is wealthy and well educated.

Whilst making the opening sequence we researched on varies of sounds that would go with the sequence and preferably diegetic sounds of the forest which reflects on its location. Not only that but the screaming throughout the opening sequence is also used to cause a thrill to the opening sequence. Using diegtic sounds can give it a thrill to the film.

In oppose to diegetic sounds, we have also used non diegtic in the opening sequence which causes suspense and tension which keeps the audience and keeps the audience at the edge of their seats.

The sounds we used were natural sounds of owls, the wind blowing against the trees, all typical for a thriller, especially a horror-thriller. The light from the sun with the forest creating shadows creates enigma and scares the audience. These are all typical aspects of a thriller.

In some horror movies have a forest involved the impact on the characters which are similar as they are more vulnerable and alone since they are no contact which makes the thriller terrifying and brings out their true character as a person which is unexpected since at the beginning of the sequence the woman is reflected as a strong character who is controlling and bossy.
Our sequence follows most of the conventional thriller as in the beginning of the movie, our character is a young and powerful business women who is in her comfort zone but her world is turned completely upside-down when she becomes a young, vulnerable person who is uncomfortable, and I have seen many movies which are like this.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Discusing social groups, i believe our sequence is influenced particularly to young adults since young adults do like to watch films that involve power and control as well as watching something that causes suspense to the sequence. In some horror films men are often more dominant than women since they lead whereas in the making of our thriller women are labelled as being more dominant than men since she fired a man employee over the phone which gives it a twist to the opening sequence. Not only that but this gives the audience the impression that she is in control and is stronger than men which changes throughout the sequence. This changes when she is being chased through the forest and shows her vulnerable side and the sound of her screaming backs this up.

Having created the sequence this gives the impression that the main character is an upper class who runs her own business and has control over her employees which sends Gives the audience the impression that she is used to getting what she wants – upper class – selfish, arrogant and rude. Having representing her characteristics this could give the audience the impression that someone would want to harm her.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product, and why?

In my point of view, the opening sequence could be an independent or arthouse film company production with a more limited theatrical release since the plot of the opening sequence gives a good thrill as well as a good warning to girls/women since they are easy targets and gives a good example of reality.

4. Who would be the audience for your film?

The main audience is for teenagers and young adults. The reason why teenagers are allowed to watch are film is because there is not a lot of blood it is more psychological.

5. How did you attract / address your audience?

My audience is made up of young adults. Young adults would like to have a good job or run a business. Young people respect power and control. This film shows a business woman who has power. She is dominant, just like Deborah Meaden from Dragon's Den (below).

The actress is wearing a business suit so can be seen to 'power dress'. The businesswoman is seen as powerful when she is firing an employee on the phone. She is also smoking and showing defiance as nowadays people are generally against smoking. This rebellion would also appeal to modern teenagers. The business woman is using the latest mobile phone, something that young people would recognise and want to own themselves, showing wealth.

The message of the story is that wealth and power should not be abused. The business woman is shown initially as dominant but later on as vulnerable. When she is vulnerable, something she is not used to, she reflects on who could be following/chasing her. Is this someone she has upset in the past? Young people could learn something from this lesson, 'what goes around, comes around'.

In the beginning of the film the businesswoman is firing a male employee, and some of the female audience would like for a change to be dominant at work, so this movie will chalked some stereotype. But it could be a stereotype in films for a woman to be used in horror, especially in the forest all the time as men can be used as well.

In the end part of the film we get to see the businesswoman in a more venerable situation we show are true emotion which can be linked to the audience. The audience can relate to the character and see the movie differently as everyone has their own experiences when in vulnerable situation.


6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The camera allowed us to capture our production and tape. The automatic exposure lets us focus on the main character and makes it easier for the camera man as well. The lights were good as they highlighted the character and gave it a Hollywood look. We have learned how to set up lights in a 3 point system. It was very interesting to see what a difference a 3 point system makes when filming. When filming the forest scene we used natural light to give a sense of suspense.

The disadvantage was carrying all equipment and making sure it did not get damaged also it was stressful to film at the same time.

I think we managed to control the camera, but we could have shot the camera more smoothly, also instead of the camera chasing the actors, it should have been the other way round. After looking at the film, we used the camera controls for focusing on characters and we managed to do it successfully which included the tripod as well.

The technical problems were getting the equipment to the forest, so we used a car for transport. The main character got injured and an ambulance had to take her to hospital.

The editing software made it very easy to cut and paste clips, you can change so much of your clip and it is like polishing your shoes that gives it extra shine. You can change the colour of the clips and you can slow motion bits. I was so amazed with the options that came out of editing software 'Final Cut Pro'. During editing the film we did consider using slow motion when she is running.

However it takes a lot of time and effort as it is a long process of capturing the tape on the computer, and cutting the bits from 2 hours of shooting and try to fit it into 5 minutes.
We managed to do the editing well as we spent a lot of time of cutting the clips we wanted and using slow motion lighting effects to emphasize the mood and tension and this contributes to the atmosphere of the thriller.

The effect of adding any type of music is useful as it adds to the rhythm of the beat of the human heart and brain, you feel as if you are there.

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

Whilst doing the opening sequence, we tried to capture it all on the camera, but it did not go to plan. Straight away what we learnt was not to look at the camera, otherwise it would look too obvious for the audience.

The initial exercise was rushed and the props were not thought out as we did not have much time, while the main production we made sure that the actress only had some bits of makeup and jewellery came off to make it more realistic as she is running in the forest.
The camera variety shots and the main product as we had more space to shoot. Sounds that we used were the natural forest sounds, those were the non diagetic sound. In the initial exercise we did not think about the natural sounds, we also used the main actress natural sound of her screaming as she fell to give it a more authentic view.

The editing was non continuous system as we start off talking to someone and it goes to the forest, which is a jump cut giving it that bang in your face for the audience.
We also used slow motion to emphasize some parts of the film to give it a Hollywood look.
We have to choose a location that will bring an atmosphere linked to your plot. The costumes have to compliment the social class and status of the character. The makeup should also be the same as the costumes.

After practising with the camera, we learnt how to capture motion on the actress by pressing the exp button, we also used editing software final cut pro for cutting and pasting clips. You can change the lighting and colour, another option is you can add text, slow motion and fast motion for certain clips. All these techniques can be used to emphasize the meaning to the clip and it is a way of passing information e.g. in Gladiator the text was new Roman, suggesting the era of the movie and passing information of the cast and crew. The yellow effect of the beginning clips connotes happy times. This movie gives inspiration for the use of editing skills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyHMzxJl5Yg

Working as a team is important for sharing ideas and as you get more ideas and you can pick which one the majority wants. The work can be divided to meet deadlines.
I think our product was very good for the budget of money we had we tried to use natural sounds for the non diagetic sounds and used the daylight for lighting in the dark forest.

The professionals have more money to spend on budgets, more manpower, more special effects and more experience and know how.