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!!