Friday, 24 January 2014
Media Evalution Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?
There are six groups of demographics. These six groups are:
The key character in our opening is a female character that walks down a road and finds a
dead body in an abandoned shack after following discarded clothes to the opening of the
shack. We did not clearly show the audience whether this character was the hero, the villain
or the victim of the film but the girl is meant to be the victim in the film. However, she wears a white top which symbolises her innocence and this could lead the audience to think that maybe she is indeed the victim of the story.
This character is the main character in our thriller opening. The main character in the opening is a female victim as she is targeted by however killed the girl lying in the shack and she is around 16-18 years old.
We represented age by showing clearly that the main character is a young adult/older teenager. Most people would be able to guess that she is around 16-18 years old by her style e.g. she is wearing clothes that teenagers/young adults would wear and her face when you get a close up of it.
We represented gender as both the dead person and the main character is female. We did this because we thought the opening would fit into conventions of the thriller genre and our opening idea if both the main character and the dead character was female as females are generally shown as the victims in thrillers and the males are usually shown as the antagonists and the protagonists in the thriller genre. We thought sticking to this convention would be the best thing for our thriller as the audience would sympathise with the victim better if the character was a girl.
We represented the victim by showing the victim finding the body and finding out that she is the killers main/next target. We also represented her by showing her in a white top as this helps symbolise her innocence in this opening.
You could compare our victim to Susie Salmon from The Lovely Bones. You can compare them because they are both female victims and they both have been led to somewhere that might lead to their deaths. In The Lovely Bones Susie is led to her death by a family friend whereas our victim has been led to somewhere that might lead to her death by clothes and bloodied cloth. Both girls are young and can be considered innocent. Also they were both targeted in a way before their death/possible death. In a way Susie was targeted by her family friend and our victim was targeted by photos of her and her friends in the shack where she found the previous victim of the killer.
| Group A | this is people in highly paid jobs e.g. lawyers, politicians, bank managers etc |
| Group B |
this is people who are paid well but not as highly as the people in group A e.g. teachers and civil servants etc |
| Group C1 | this includes people who have a certain skill e.g. junior managers, bank clerks and nurses |
| Group C2 | this includes ‘blue collar’ workers and people who are skilled traders e.g. electricians, plumbers, gas technicians and carpenters |
| Group D | this includes manual workers e.g. drivers, builders and post office sorters |
| Group E | this includes people who have little to no income e.g. young people, elderly and the unemployed |
The key character in our opening is a female character that walks down a road and finds a
dead body in an abandoned shack after following discarded clothes to the opening of the
shack. We did not clearly show the audience whether this character was the hero, the villain
or the victim of the film but the girl is meant to be the victim in the film. However, she wears a white top which symbolises her innocence and this could lead the audience to think that maybe she is indeed the victim of the story.
This character is the main character in our thriller opening. The main character in the opening is a female victim as she is targeted by however killed the girl lying in the shack and she is around 16-18 years old.We represented age by showing clearly that the main character is a young adult/older teenager. Most people would be able to guess that she is around 16-18 years old by her style e.g. she is wearing clothes that teenagers/young adults would wear and her face when you get a close up of it.
We represented gender as both the dead person and the main character is female. We did this because we thought the opening would fit into conventions of the thriller genre and our opening idea if both the main character and the dead character was female as females are generally shown as the victims in thrillers and the males are usually shown as the antagonists and the protagonists in the thriller genre. We thought sticking to this convention would be the best thing for our thriller as the audience would sympathise with the victim better if the character was a girl.We represented the victim by showing the victim finding the body and finding out that she is the killers main/next target. We also represented her by showing her in a white top as this helps symbolise her innocence in this opening.
Media Evalution Q4: Who would be the audience for our media product?
We identified our audience as males and females between the ages of 16 and 18. We worked this out from our questionnaire results as the majority was between the ages of 10 and 19. We picked this because most of the people we asked were a younger audience of both genders and were mostly
students.
Our typical female audience member profile:
Age: 16-18
Gender: female
Occupation: Student
Media Interests: fiction/non-fiction books, thriller/rom-com/action/sci-fi/adventure films, music, social networking sites e.g. Facebook, Twitter etc.
Other: They would shop at supermarkets e.g. Tesco, Asda etc, clothes shops e.g. Primark, New Look etc.
T.V programmes/films they might watch: soaps like EastEnders, Coronation Street etc, reality T.V and comedies, films like Orphan, The Blair Witch Project, and The Lovely Bones etc.
The typical female audience member would like psychological thrillers and/or mystery thrillers as those are the sub-genres our thriller opening is trying to be. She would properly watch programs that fit in with the type of movies she watches and would listen to popular music of the time.
Our typical male audience member profile:
Age: 16-18
Gender: Male
Job/Occupation: Student
Media Interests: fiction/non-fiction books, thriller/rom-com/action/sci-fi/adventure films, music, social networking sites e.g. Facebook, Twitter etc.
Other: Shop at places like Asda, Tesco, and Sports Direct etc.
The typical male audience member would like thrillers that have elements of the sub-genres mystery thriller and psychological thriller as that is what our thriller opening is aiming for. They would also have similar interests in T.V programmes and they would listen to music popular at the time.
I researched my audience by giving 10 different people a questionnaire to fill out about their likes, demographics and expectations of thrillers. A copy of this questionnaire is below.
I targeted my research at males and females between the ages of 10 and 100. I did this because it would give me a range of results from a range of people who would have different opinions about thrillers. This would be helpful as it would give me advice about what older and younger audiences would want.
These pie charts show information about what our audience expectations are and what they like about thriller openings.
The BBFC age rating for our movie would be a 15 as it contains some themes that may be harmful to an audience younger than 15 and our target audience is 16-18 years old. There is a theme of violence as the victim finds a body in an abandoned shack that has bloodied cloth and clothes around the outside of the shack as well as the girl finding out she is being targeted by the person who killed the previous girl. This could be disturbing to a person under the age of 15 as it is quite creepy and people 15 and over would be able to handle this type of content as they are more mature and get less disturbed over ideas like death.
students.
Our typical female audience member profile:
Age: 16-18Gender: female
Occupation: Student
Media Interests: fiction/non-fiction books, thriller/rom-com/action/sci-fi/adventure films, music, social networking sites e.g. Facebook, Twitter etc.
Other: They would shop at supermarkets e.g. Tesco, Asda etc, clothes shops e.g. Primark, New Look etc.
T.V programmes/films they might watch: soaps like EastEnders, Coronation Street etc, reality T.V and comedies, films like Orphan, The Blair Witch Project, and The Lovely Bones etc.
The typical female audience member would like psychological thrillers and/or mystery thrillers as those are the sub-genres our thriller opening is trying to be. She would properly watch programs that fit in with the type of movies she watches and would listen to popular music of the time.
Our typical male audience member profile:
Age: 16-18Gender: Male
Job/Occupation: Student
Media Interests: fiction/non-fiction books, thriller/rom-com/action/sci-fi/adventure films, music, social networking sites e.g. Facebook, Twitter etc.
Other: Shop at places like Asda, Tesco, and Sports Direct etc.
The typical male audience member would like thrillers that have elements of the sub-genres mystery thriller and psychological thriller as that is what our thriller opening is aiming for. They would also have similar interests in T.V programmes and they would listen to music popular at the time.
I researched my audience by giving 10 different people a questionnaire to fill out about their likes, demographics and expectations of thrillers. A copy of this questionnaire is below.
I targeted my research at males and females between the ages of 10 and 100. I did this because it would give me a range of results from a range of people who would have different opinions about thrillers. This would be helpful as it would give me advice about what older and younger audiences would want.
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| This is another question from the questionnaire with the audiences answers. This also shows are audiences expectations for a thriller. |
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This is a
set of results of a question from the questionnaire. This pie chart shows what
are audience thought our thriller should include to get the audience to
continue watching.
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This is the
results from a question from the questionnaire. It shows the expectations from
the audience and what our audience thought we should include to make a good
thriller.
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These pie charts show information about what our audience expectations are and what they like about thriller openings.
The BBFC age rating for our movie would be a 15 as it contains some themes that may be harmful to an audience younger than 15 and our target audience is 16-18 years old. There is a theme of violence as the victim finds a body in an abandoned shack that has bloodied cloth and clothes around the outside of the shack as well as the girl finding out she is being targeted by the person who killed the previous girl. This could be disturbing to a person under the age of 15 as it is quite creepy and people 15 and over would be able to handle this type of content as they are more mature and get less disturbed over ideas like death.
Media Evalution Q5: How did you attract/address your audience?
We attracted our audience by making sure we followed some of their requests from the questionnaires. We used tense and dramatic music to build tension and suspense and then to make the audience feel tense which is what they requested.
Our audience thought our thriller opening was good and they liked some of the places were we put some of the transitions as it was effective at building tension and it flowed well with the transitions added in in the editing process.
Our thriller opening has quite a few of the thriller conventions such as tension building music in the background, being realistic in the mis-en-scene e.g. the girl had clohes a teenage girl would actually wear, she had a phone, the location was a fen road and people do walk there from time to time, the plot follows conventions as it contains a sistuation where the victim might not get out alive and this makes the audience ask questions which is another convention of the thriller genre.
Our audience thought our thriller opening was good and they liked some of the places were we put some of the transitions as it was effective at building tension and it flowed well with the transitions added in in the editing process.
Our thriller opening has quite a few of the thriller conventions such as tension building music in the background, being realistic in the mis-en-scene e.g. the girl had clohes a teenage girl would actually wear, she had a phone, the location was a fen road and people do walk there from time to time, the plot follows conventions as it contains a sistuation where the victim might not get out alive and this makes the audience ask questions which is another convention of the thriller genre.
Media Evalution Q6: What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?
While we were completing this product we learned that making sure you have a variety of shots to edit together is very important as if you don’t have enough shots/variety the product can be confusing and not make much sense in the ideas of continuity and editing.
I have also learned that when you are filming on a location you have to use the tripod to get steady shots on difficult landscapes as the tripod keeps the camera steady while you are shooting a shot. The tripod is also useful as the height can be edited so if you need to get different angles the tripod can be used for it. You can also pan along on the tripod and still keep the camera steady as you shoot, this is useful as when you are following the actor or just wanting to move across slightly when filming you can do it easily with the camera still on the tripod which means that you can almost guarantee a steady panning shot.
Lighting is very important to think about because the lighting can effect whether or not you can see anything in the shot when you are editing. I have learnt that you have to plan out how the light might be and plan how you can overcome this when you are using natural light as the sun changes what position it is in every minute or two so you have to position things so you don’t see any unwanted shadows and so you can see the person. You also have to be careful about exposure when filming in natural light as if the camera is facing the sun in a particular shot then the brightness form the sun can overpower a lot of things in the shot and then all you can see is a bright light. When thinking about light you have to plan so that the lighting is right for each shot and doesn’t change suddenly between two shots that are supposed to be next to each other in the sequence.
Location is also very important to think about when filming an opening as there are certain location that works brilliantly in the shot and some that are not right and finding the right location is the key to making a good opening. However, there are some technical difficulties when filming on the location such as traffic, lighting, people and accessibility. Outside factors can be hard to film around so you have to plan for them such as cars going past when you are supposed to be in an abandoned area. To stop this you have to make sure no cars are going past when you are filming a shot and if there were you can either edit the shot out and re-film it or just leave it in. The people factor is very important because you don’t really want to get outside people in your filming without their permission or because it doesn’t work in with the plot of the opening you are shooting. You also have to be careful about filming in public, accessible places where there are lots of people walking around in case you are going to be using weapons or violence in your opening so you have to plan around that by either contacting the police in that area to ask them if you are allowed to use a particular weapon or just inform them that is what you are doing an you aren’t actually going to hurt anyone or just choosing a slightly different location.
Continuity is very important in editing as it makes the shots make sense in the order you want them and it makes the opening just look better if the continuity is right. Continuity can be tricky to get exactly right as you have to fiddle around with the shots and footage until you get it right but I have learned that when you don’t get the continuity in a shot completely right it is quite obvious and can make the shot look wrong. The continuity also helps the shots to flow properly as the shots all make sense and they are not just suddenly jumping around or people aren’t suddenly in a completely different position in the next shot compared to the previous shot.
Different camera shots can make a lot of difference when filming and editing an opening sequence as different camera shots can help the piece flow more smoothly and can help the positions of the people look better. There are certain shot types that you should keep to a minimum as they can be uncomfortable to watch such as the close up and extreme close up. However they can look effective in the right content such as if you are trying to make the audience focus on one particular thing in the shot. However, I have learnt that filming close-ups and extreme close ups can be very difficult and will look very bad if not done correctly. There are certain shot types that are very easy to film such as the long shot, mid shot and medium shot. These shot types are very easy to film as you don’t have to move the camera that much as the camera when on a tripod is basically set at the range and height needed for these types of shots. I have also learnt that these shots can look quite boring if you use too many of them in one go so it is best to try and get a variety of different shot types and angles as angles can make the shots flow better.
I have also learned that when you are filming on a location you have to use the tripod to get steady shots on difficult landscapes as the tripod keeps the camera steady while you are shooting a shot. The tripod is also useful as the height can be edited so if you need to get different angles the tripod can be used for it. You can also pan along on the tripod and still keep the camera steady as you shoot, this is useful as when you are following the actor or just wanting to move across slightly when filming you can do it easily with the camera still on the tripod which means that you can almost guarantee a steady panning shot.
Lighting is very important to think about because the lighting can effect whether or not you can see anything in the shot when you are editing. I have learnt that you have to plan out how the light might be and plan how you can overcome this when you are using natural light as the sun changes what position it is in every minute or two so you have to position things so you don’t see any unwanted shadows and so you can see the person. You also have to be careful about exposure when filming in natural light as if the camera is facing the sun in a particular shot then the brightness form the sun can overpower a lot of things in the shot and then all you can see is a bright light. When thinking about light you have to plan so that the lighting is right for each shot and doesn’t change suddenly between two shots that are supposed to be next to each other in the sequence.
Location is also very important to think about when filming an opening as there are certain location that works brilliantly in the shot and some that are not right and finding the right location is the key to making a good opening. However, there are some technical difficulties when filming on the location such as traffic, lighting, people and accessibility. Outside factors can be hard to film around so you have to plan for them such as cars going past when you are supposed to be in an abandoned area. To stop this you have to make sure no cars are going past when you are filming a shot and if there were you can either edit the shot out and re-film it or just leave it in. The people factor is very important because you don’t really want to get outside people in your filming without their permission or because it doesn’t work in with the plot of the opening you are shooting. You also have to be careful about filming in public, accessible places where there are lots of people walking around in case you are going to be using weapons or violence in your opening so you have to plan around that by either contacting the police in that area to ask them if you are allowed to use a particular weapon or just inform them that is what you are doing an you aren’t actually going to hurt anyone or just choosing a slightly different location.
Continuity is very important in editing as it makes the shots make sense in the order you want them and it makes the opening just look better if the continuity is right. Continuity can be tricky to get exactly right as you have to fiddle around with the shots and footage until you get it right but I have learned that when you don’t get the continuity in a shot completely right it is quite obvious and can make the shot look wrong. The continuity also helps the shots to flow properly as the shots all make sense and they are not just suddenly jumping around or people aren’t suddenly in a completely different position in the next shot compared to the previous shot.
Different camera shots can make a lot of difference when filming and editing an opening sequence as different camera shots can help the piece flow more smoothly and can help the positions of the people look better. There are certain shot types that you should keep to a minimum as they can be uncomfortable to watch such as the close up and extreme close up. However they can look effective in the right content such as if you are trying to make the audience focus on one particular thing in the shot. However, I have learnt that filming close-ups and extreme close ups can be very difficult and will look very bad if not done correctly. There are certain shot types that are very easy to film such as the long shot, mid shot and medium shot. These shot types are very easy to film as you don’t have to move the camera that much as the camera when on a tripod is basically set at the range and height needed for these types of shots. I have also learnt that these shots can look quite boring if you use too many of them in one go so it is best to try and get a variety of different shot types and angles as angles can make the shots flow better.
Media Evalulation Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The prelimary task want well as it gave us a brief taste of what filming would actually be like. We did the lighting and 180 dgree rule well and we got an idea that could be done with the things we were told we had to include. We also edited the prelim together well as we made a effective sequence that had continuity and good music but we could have done the titles a bit better. However, we got some things that didn't work out which included the framing as we chopped off some of our actors head off, the music could have been put in better and the titles could have been better thought of and then place in a better way.
I have developed as a film maker as I can now do some shots better then I did them in the prelim. The strengths of the prelim was stcking to the 180 degree rule, match on action and continuity. The weaknesses of the prelim was acurate framing as we chopped off one of our actors head in a lot of shots, putting titles in a good place, panning and moving the camera so it would follow the actors movements properly.
We addressed these problems from the prelim in the thriller opening by making sure we had a good shotlist and followed it exactly, getting a good storyboard that acurately matched the opening, using the tripod more acurately when tracking the actors movements, having the actor slow down a bit so we could follow their movements with the camera and moving/placing the camera so it wouldn’t chop the head off of the actor.
Some specific skills I developed on was continuity. I did this by making sure each shot followed the previous shot well and the actor didn’t suddenly jump to a new place without explanation. Another skill I developed was the 180 degree rule. I stuck to this rule very well in theprelim and continued to do the same thing in the opening. We didn’t use shot reverse-shot in the opening as we didn’t have any dialect and shot reserse-shot is very helpful when shooting a conversation as it gives the diea of two people talking very well. Another skill I developed on was match on action. Match on action was very useful to use as it made it look like the actor was walking around the shack like they would have done off camera. We did this well in both the prelim and the thriller opening as match on action fits in with continuity and I did that well as the shot looked wrong if you did it badly.
Overall the opening was quite successfuul as it built up tension and it flowed well. I would have done a few things different like when the cloth is dropping out of her hand after the reaction shot I would have just left in the reaction shot.
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| Example of bad framing |
I have developed as a film maker as I can now do some shots better then I did them in the prelim. The strengths of the prelim was stcking to the 180 degree rule, match on action and continuity. The weaknesses of the prelim was acurate framing as we chopped off one of our actors head in a lot of shots, putting titles in a good place, panning and moving the camera so it would follow the actors movements properly.
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| Example of 180 degree rule |
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| Example of better framing |
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| Example of better titles |
Some specific skills I developed on was continuity. I did this by making sure each shot followed the previous shot well and the actor didn’t suddenly jump to a new place without explanation. Another skill I developed was the 180 degree rule. I stuck to this rule very well in theprelim and continued to do the same thing in the opening. We didn’t use shot reverse-shot in the opening as we didn’t have any dialect and shot reserse-shot is very helpful when shooting a conversation as it gives the diea of two people talking very well. Another skill I developed on was match on action. Match on action was very useful to use as it made it look like the actor was walking around the shack like they would have done off camera. We did this well in both the prelim and the thriller opening as match on action fits in with continuity and I did that well as the shot looked wrong if you did it badly.
Overall the opening was quite successfuul as it built up tension and it flowed well. I would have done a few things different like when the cloth is dropping out of her hand after the reaction shot I would have just left in the reaction shot.
Thursday, 9 January 2014
Tuesday, 7 January 2014
Thriller Opening
This is the rough copy of our thriller opening. We need to just edit a few things and then we will post our offical copy of the opening
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