Evaluation - Looking back.

Looking back at my Preliminary task, i feel that i have learnt a wide range of terminology, conventions, iconography, software material and technologies in the period of making our Thriller film. I feel that i have capitalised personally on the minor mistakes that i made when my Preliminary task was completed at the beginning of the year, which i have taken note of in order to improve the quality of our Thriller opening.

I recommend using questionnaires for audience feedback and showing particular audience members your film before taking note of their review on the quality of it. I think that the importance of planning is key when making  a film opening, as planning using mind maps and bullet points helped me sufficiently when making my Thriller opening. Ultimately we tried to both challenge and adapt conventions of the Thriller genre when making our film opening, i feel that the certain aspects such as micro-features used help to back up that statement, and also help to make our film a higher quality Thriller opening.

A final screenshot of our film name "The Abduction" which was finalised as we finished the Thriller opening.

Evaluation - Technologies.

We have used many different software's and technologies when making our Thriller opening, and personally i feel that i have learnt to use a lot more software's and technologies then i had before hand. Firstly making our Thriller opening was the first time that i used an Apple Mac. Before making the film i had no idea how to use a Mac, i would even struggle to learn how to turn it on. However, now that we have come to the final stages of making our Thriller opening, i feel that i have become a Mac expert, i feel very comfortable when using one and  am very confident when it comes down to figuring out how certain aspects of a Mac works.

A software within the Mac's in Sixth Form that we used to edit our film known as Final Cut is also another software that i am now very comfortable at using due to the making of our film. When first using Final Cut, i thought that all of the controls on how to edit were jumbled every and i did not know how to work the programme as previously i had used Windows Movie Maker. I soon got a grip of Final Cut though, and editing our opening for me soon became a lot easier as i knew what i was doing. My skills of the programme were constantly developing as time went along and i feel that i am more than confident when using the programme now.

A shot of Final Cut, which i had difficulty adjusting to at first.

Evaluation - The target audience.

The age group mainly targeted for our film is between the ages of 15-40. We feel that the age group is very wide and the Thriller opening that we have produced suits the age group well. We feel that due to the micro-features that we have included which ultimately makes the Thriller opening more tense for audiences that the age group that we have targeted will enjoy the opening. Although females will enjoy our Thriller opening, we have targeted the male genre a lot more. We feel that through our questionnaires that we conducted, our target audience and general knowledge that males prefer Thriller films a lot more than females due, which was our reasoning behind targeting males for our opening.

We have also taken into account more subtleties about the audience that we are targeting and who would be more interested in watching our Thriller opening. Audiences who live in more rural areas may be more tempted into watching our Thriller opening due to the park scene where the kidnapping takes place being fairly rural. Film interests gave us an indication as to who our target audience for our Thriller opening is, audiences who prefer Horror and Thriller films are going to enjoy our film a lot more than audiences who favour Romance or Comedy films, due to our opening being more suited to the first two genres.

The screenshot above shows the park that will filmed at along with the person kidnapped in view. The park was quite a creepy setting which suited the Thriller genre and which ultimately would attract an audience who enjoys Thriller films.

Evaluation - Media institution.

The media institution behind the making of our film would be Film4. As the film company that our film would be signed up to is not a major company such as Warner., our film will be an independent film, without the huge budget of Hollywood movies like we see today. Our film would also be Lottery funded, which would ultimately make the budget of our film no more than £6 million. We think that the £6 million mark suits our film as our film does not need the special effects that most movies acquire in the film industry. Lottery funded films have also been a success, an example would be the critically acclaimed Thriller film starring Michael Caine known as "Harry Brown".

The media institution that will be behind our film.

The logo for the Lottery fund which we are using for our Thriller opening.

Evaluation - Representation of social groups.

In relation to social groups, the main message of our film is vulnerability. Our Thriller opening portrays how vulnerable typical teenagers can be while on their own in the streets. Age was key in the making of our film, a teenage boy is a lot more likely to be kidnapped than a middle aged man, that is how the vulnerability factor comes in. On top of that, we purposely chose a teenage boy to play the lead role as opposed to a teenage girl. Teenage girls are a lot more typical in all genres of film to be kidnapped than teenage boys, so the fact that we chose a boy as a lead role in itself challenges the expectations of the audience when viewing our Thriller opening.

The screenshot above portrays the vulnerability of the teenage boy that we used in our film. We tried to challenge the conventions of a Thriller by using a boy instead of girl to be kidnapped.

We used a male as the kidnapper in our Thriller film. We felt that using a male would ultimately make our film more sinister and more frightening as using a female would have been quite cheesy. By using a male as the lead, we could include the Zippo that he constantly flicked which made for a slightly more eerie and scary feel. Stalkers normally are of the male genre also, so using a male as the kidnapper was a convention to the Thriller genre that we adapted to our production. The fact that we had the kidnapper dressed fully in dark clothes (mise-en scene) also helped to give out a more scary feel, this is due to the fact that traditionally not only in Thriller films but in all films the villain would wear dark and black colours. The face of the kidnapper is also never conveyed, which builds the tension for the audience as they do not know the kidnapper as the person kidnapped doesn't, although the audience is omniscient at the park when the person kidnapped is being stalked.

Evaluation - Attracting the audience.

We used different micro-features and techniques to attract the audience into watching and liking out Thriller opening. The Mise-en scene was key in our opening, the settings of a dark room and a park are suited to the Thriller genre due to places where heroes are vulnerable, which would ultimately attract an audience who enjoy Thriller films. Props also were suited to the genre and helped to attract the audience, the Zippo used be the kidnapper was added in to give a more sinister and mysterious feel while watching the opening, and the Lamp used at the beginning of the clip gives out a similar tense feeling. The casual costumes used of the characters were used to convey realism, and the lighting in the room was often very dark with the Lamp used for natural light to suit the genre. Below is a use of a Zippo in darkness which shows how it can make a scene more sinister and frightening.

The certificate of our film is 15. We felt that this certificate is appropriate due to the theme of fear being key in the Thriller opening. Most Thriller films are either a 15 or 18 certificate and we felt that a 15 certificate was appropriate as a slightly more wider audience could be attracted. We added elements of Horror into our Thriller opening which helps to attract an extra audience who may prefer the Horror genre as opposed to the Thriller genre. The screenshot below conveys the beginning of our film and the font that we included.

The audience feedback that we got back from our Thriller film was very positive. A lot of feedback that we got was about the way the the opening sets out very well for a feature length film, and that they personally would watch the feature length film in the Cinemas. I quote my own brother Callum Bolland, who said "the opening made me feel frightened at times, which was a pleasurable feeling that i expected from a film of the Thriller genre".

Evaluation - Forms and Conventions.

Our film opening is similar to certain Thriller films, elements like the titles are similar to the opening titles to that of the critically acclaimed Thriller film "Seven", of which i mentioned the titles earlier in the blog. The titles to our opening are under the font "cracked" and are in the corner of the screen which are the same to that of "Seven. Our own style has been added however, with the font not being an exact copy to that of "Seven" but just similar, and the "cracked" font being our own picked style. The image below conveys that.

We have gone against certain Thriller conventions, the scene at the park is done during the day where as a common Thriller convention is having scenes shot at times of darkness. Certain conventions of the Thriller genre we have adopted though, such as an antagonist who is stalking the main protagonist of the opening. There are two kinds of music played in the duration of our film opening. During the scene where the titles are displayed and the confrontation between the kidnapper and the person kidnapped takes place, the music is of a piano and it is very creepy styled. In the scene of the flashback, the music is a lot more eerie and suited towards the scene of someone being stalked.

The narrative structure is a contrast to that of Todorov's equilibrium theory. Our Thriller opening begins off with the kidnapping already taken place, and then goes into a flashback. We felt that our opening would challenge the audience's minds and contrast the typical conventions of a Thriller film. As for the characters in our film, the face of the villain is not portrayed to give out a very suspenseful feeling and the main character us shown to be very vulnerable due to his actions in the opening.

Mind Map

This is the Mind Map that we made of all of our film ideas before we began production.

Storyboard page 3

Storyboard page 2

Storyboard page 1

Music

We edited various different sound clips together using Soundtrack Pro which was a really useful application. Once we created the music, we edited it on to our sequence timeline. We have let the music dictate the style of editing e.g. when the music is slow and building tension, the pace of editing will also be slow to match the tension. When the music builds pace, momentum and volume before reaching to a climax, the editing will be fast paced, this will be done by using lots of small shots juxtaposed together. The music plays an important part of setting the mood and the atmosphere of the title sequence which is what I am focusing on, the narrative is still important but not as important as the feel and tense atmosphere as its only a title sequence and not a film. It is crucial that the music build to a crescendo, if it stays tense, fast paced and loud all the way through the sequence it will sound very monotonous and boring. It will lose the ability to create an atmosphere or excite the audience. That is why I have edited the music to build slowly, varying in pitch and pace as well. 

Shot list

Media studies opening sequence SHOT LIST

The shots that will be conveyed below may not necessarily be in the final cut.
The final cut may be changed drastically after the shot list was made.

Shot number	Action	Duration	Camera
1	Pictures from the kidnapper are shown.	4 seconds	close up and slow pan around the pictures
2	Another picture is shown, lightened by a Zippo.	1 second	close up
3	A final picture is shown from the kidnapper.	1 second	close up
4	The protagonist wakes up, confused at where he is.	5 seconds	medium close up
5	The protagonists eye is shown, which dissolves to his last memory.	4 seconds	extreme close up
6	The protagonist is sitting on a park bench	3 seconds	pan of the park, establishing shot also.
7	The protagonist is shown, reading a magazine.	3 seconds	medium shot
8	The protagonist is shown from a different angle.	1 second	medium close up
9	The protagonist is shown from a third and closer angle.	1 second	close up
10	The protagonists phone starts to ring, he picks it up.	6 seconds	point of view shot.
11	A different angle of the protagonists’ phone ringing.	3 seconds	close up and slow pan around the pictures
12	The protagonist answers the phone and says “hello”.	4 seconds	extreme close up
13	the kidnapper is portraying stalking the protagonist.	3 seconds	over the shoulder shot.
14	The kidnappers mouth is conveyed, although he does not speak.	3 seconds	extreme close up and low angle
15	The protagonist gets up and walks towards the park exit.	5 seconds	medium shot
16	The kidnapper follows the protagonist as he walks towards the exit.	14 seconds	extreme long shot and point of view shot
17	As the protagonist walks out of the park into an alley, the kidnapper runs after him.	4 seconds	point of view shot.
18	the protagonist collapses after being hit by the kidnapper.	3 seconds	Point of view shot.
19	cuts back to the protagonist in a room, after realising what happened too him.	3 seconds	close up.
20	The kidnapper is in the room, flicking a Zippo.	3 seconds	close up and slow pan around the pictures
21	The protagonist looks around, scared.	4 seconds	medium shot
22	The kidnapper walks towards the protagonists table.	4 seconds	high angle of the kidnappers feet walking.
23	The kidnapper turns a lamp on and forces it shine on the protagonists’ face.	5 seconds	medium shot
24	The kidnapper walks around the table and sits on it.	5 seconds	medium shot
25	The kidnapper puts and flicks the Zippo right in front of the protagonists’ face. The opening then cuts to black and ends.	6 seconds	close up
26	Blank shot at the end with titles of names and the film name	8 seconds	x

A reminder that this shot list may not be the final cut, although most of it will be the same.
Duration: 1:46.

Pitch (conclusion)

We will try not to be too typical of the genre as they may cause for boredom in the film opening. We will also try to diverse the use of mise-en scene, camera work, editing and sound to boost the quality of the film and make it more entertaining.

Thank you for listening to our pitch.

Pitch 8 (sound)

We will produce a soundtrack to the movie using he software "Soundtrack Pro". The soundtrack will fit in with the film due to it being rather eerie and mysterious. We will also add the soundtrack to fit different parts of the film opening, depending on the tone at the time. We will also add diegetic sound effects which will correspond with the different actions that are taking place in the film opening.

Pitch 7 (camera)

We used a variety of camera shots and angles in the opening of our film. We used a pan to help establish the park of where the protagonist is kidnapped. We also used many close ups and a few extreme close ups to show facial expressions. We took the 180 degree rule into consideration while we were shooting, to make the balance of the shots work for the audience. Finally we added high, low and level angles to make the characters seem both vulnerable and dominant depending on their positions at the time.

Pitch 6 (editing)

The editing in our film is often fast paced. Reasoning for the fast paced editing is that as we are doing a thriller film and often the scenes are rather tense the fast paced editing will engage audiences into the scene more. At times the editing is fairly slow, for example when the protagonist is first at the park due to the audience not knowing that he is being stalked upon yet.

Pitch 5 (locations)

We used two locations to film our footage. We chose a local park where the protagonist gets kidnapped which is appropriate as it is quite a lonely and mischievous place to be. We also shot footage in a dark room where the confrontation takes place. The room that we chose was a good choice as it is rather dark and claustrophobia like due to the spacing.

Pitch 4 (props)

Props that we included for our film include:
A zippo for the lighting and which the kidnapper uses.
A lamp also for lighting.
A magazine which the protagonist reads before being kidnapped.
Mobile phones which both the protagonist and the kidnapper use.
Photos which the kidnapper uses in the film opening.

Pitch 3 (costume)

The costume of the protagonist that we chose was casual clothes which include Jeans and a jacket. We thought that by giving the protagonist casual clothes that we could give out a greater sense of realism. In regards to the kidnapper, he wore black which is a convention of a villain as typically villains wear black in movies.

Pitch 2 (lighting)

The lighting from the scene at the park will all be natural. The reasoning behind this is that the footage was shot will the sun was going down so that a dark, spooky atmosphere could be made from the clip. A lamp is used in the scene where the person kidnapped is being held for effect and to build suspense. Also a zippo is used for the lighting when the pictures of the park are conveyed to again build for a frightening atmosphere.

Pitch 1 (idea)

The synopsis of the opening of our film revolves the kidnapping of someone at a park. The main protagonist will wake up in a place that is unfamiliar to him and will not know where he is. The protagonist will then have a flashback of the last place that he remembered where he was. The park will be included in this scene and the tension will be built right up to the moment of when the protagonist gets kidnapped. Although the face of the kidnapper from the opening will not be conveyed, he will eventually confront the protagonist in a rather frightening circumstance.

Pitch (intro)

As a grouped we pitched our final idea to the class in separate slides. Each of the slides covered different aspects in relation to the final opening of the film. The different aspects will include the media techniques that we inputted into our film which include camera work, editing, sound and different areas of mise-en scene.

Risk assessment

A list of risks that we en-counted while filming:

• The zippo that we used could burn peoples hands.
• The lamp could also burn peoples hands.
• The pins that we used were quite sharp and people could have cut themselves using them.
• One of the times while filming at Sherrington it was very muddy, so we could have slipped over especially on the hill.
• While the actor was falling on the floor for one of the point of view shots, it could have been hazardous as something which would have hurt them may have been on the ground.

Lesson time

in the lessons we have been analysing thriller title sequences such as Memento and Seven. We have been gathering ideas and information and our film thus producing it, which is the stage that we are at now. We are currently editing our film opening and are going to add a soundtrack to it. I have used Final Cut to trim, cut and put the videos together.

Target audience

The target audience of the film is around 15 year olds plus. Mainly through the questionnaire feedback it is discovered that the film may appeal more to men than it will to females, but females will enjoy it too.

Thriller questionnaire feedback

What gender are you?

A.     Male 15

B.     Female 15

What type of film do you like the most?

A.     Action 3

B.     Comedy 4

C.     Horror 10

D.    Thriller 7

E.     Western 1

F.     Gangster 2

G.     Animation 1

H.    Adventure 2

Which of these Thriller films are your favourite? As it gives an insight into what type of Thriller you like the most.

A.     Seven 11

B.     The Silence Of The Lambs 12

C.     Memento 2

D.    Fight Club

E.     The Bourne Identity

F.     Taken 4

G.     If none of the above, place state a favourite.1-Edge Of Darkness

What attracts you into watching a Thriller film?

A.     The actors 10

B.     A good antagonist 2

C.     The setting

D.    An engaging storyline 16

E.     The director or producer 2

How often would you watch a Thriller film on average?

A.     Once a week 1

B.     Once a month 22

C.     Once a year 

D.    Never

E.     If other please state - Once ever few months 7

What is your favourite Thriller setting?

A.     The city 16

B.     A forest 4

C.     A house (home) 10

D.    If other please state 

Props

Props that we included in our final cut and the reasoning for them were:

• A Zippo for effect on the lighting of some pictures.
• A magazine which the person who is kidnaps begins to read at the park.
• A phone for both the kidnapper and the person who is being kidnapped, so that the kidnapper can get in touch with him.
• Pictures of the area which the protagonist is kidnapped in, which were edited into black and white for effect.
• A lamp which was included in the scene involving a confrontation between the kidnapper and the person kidnapped, which added effect due to the darkness of the room, and leaves focus on one individual character.

Filming 5

We filmed at Sixth Form for the final time in a different room to before. We chose a different room in the centre due to the lighting and the space being more suitable for the opening of a thriller. We could still include shots from our previous time of filming due to certain close up shots being suitable, although a different room was the setting.

Filming 4

We re-filmed at Sherrington Park. Although the lighting was completely different this time around we could still use some shots from our previous bunch to add in, these included extreme close ups which we could eventually edit. We made some shots better such as a point of view shot that we had which was awful first time around due to shaking of the camera. We also got some better shots of the park and some better pans which we will eventually include in the final cut.

Filming 3 (cutting)

We realised after we uploaded our footage that a lot more footage needed to be shot. We also realised that a lot of the shots that we had were not good enough due to the lighting and continuity problems that we had. We took lighting and clothing into consideration, and began re-filming in both the Park and a different darker room in the Sixth Form.

Filming 2

We then filmed at Sixth Form. We planned to film the second half of the opening in a fairly confined, dark room. We spent an entire morning period shortly after the Christmas break filming the scenes to get it complete. We used a suit for the kidnapper and made it black to portray him as an antagonist. We did have a few problems with the lighting, as the room that we filmed in was constantly bright and not dark what so ever.