Question 5 evaluation

Q) Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for our media product would be young adults. The film uses similar things that teenagers can relate to. some of the themes used are sex, drugs, which would appeal to a younger audience. This is conveyed in the opening of our thriller. Although the target audience is young adults, the message that is being conveyed could appeal to adults as it is a universal message, i.e keep safe.

Sophie, 17, studies Fashion, Media and photography for A-level. In her spare time she enjoys going to the cinema, hanging out with friends and shopping. She loves make up and designer labels and loves spending nights in with her girls watching films. One of her favourite films is Shaun Of The Dead.

Evaluation question 7

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






If you watch the clip above of mine and Rosa's preliminary match cut exercise you will find that the camera sometimes moved unexpectedly, such things are unprofessional and may be down to the fact that we were still new with using the cameras and the preliminary tasks were acting as lessons as well as helping us improve our shots. I feel like the match cut exercise did not reach its full potential, as you may recognise lots of various shots could have been included, for e.g. when he opens the door, a close up of the handle would have looked great here. The final shot has him walking out of the frame, therefore we only have the door in the picture, shots such as this come to very least use, and a vital thing that we learnt is that useless shots should not be included unless they convey and hold a meaning.


Immediately in the clip below you will see several shots being used compared to the preliminary task, each shot holds a meaning such as the panning shot down of the house establishes the setting (suburban) and also the point of view shot of me behind the door glass, suggest my mysterious and suspicious character. I contrast to my match cut lots of shots are used. The point of view used from my perspective shows that Sarah is the prey.


The shot above was one of our establishing shots in our final project. We had to show the audience we were in a quiet suburban setting. This shot emphasizes how alone, small and helpless Sarah is in the opening as the shot seems quiet and empty of any passers by. In our prelimery match cut excercise our establishing shot was not so strong. It did its job and set the scene however it didn't elaborate on the setting or suggest anything about it. We had to make sure our final project did this as their was no dialogue to tell the audience about the setting.

The over the shoulder shot used is very uncomfortable for the audience to watch as more of the classroom is in the frame than the actual character, the audience will not enjoy watching this. The character is holding her mouth making speech very unclear, such things cannot be apparent in our film as it will not be professional. I also feel the shots move to quick, shot reverse shots of their faces would have been more successful here.

When filming our final project we made sure that we didnt have shots of mostly empty space like this. In some circumstances we shot a character and their head was cut off, or it focused on a certain part of the body. This was because we wanted to keep the characters anonymous, leaving the audience asking questions and wanting to watch more. One of the shots that we used the camera to focus on the body was the shot of Sarah unzipping her top. We had to create a sense of initamcy in the opening without dialogue as it was vital for our storyline and this shot did this.

In comparison, to show the significance of the drink we use various shots of it. Pouring it, drinking it etc. Slow motion is used to highlight it importance, and close ups and point of views establish this. We improved in using shots that will have a greater effect such as the point of view shots making it seem like i am watching her, because she is the prey.

Question 3 evaluation

Q) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? How will you attract/address your audience?

These media students posted their thriller film on youtube and it received 1,641 hits. I will aim to promote my film similarly. I would describe my film as an independent film which would attract a niche audience. I think a production company like Studio Canal would suit this film best because it is familiar with niche audiences. They have produced films such as Shaun of the Dead, which was a success. For my film, i'd advertise over myspace as it is popular amongst young people. I would then further my advertising onto Facebook, as many facebook users have swapped their myspace accounts for Facebook accounts due to their own social groups switching over. This would increase popularity as both myspace and facebook carry many users within the target age for my film.

I then would go onto screening my film at screen on the Green (an independent cinema) which would be for my peers, family, etc. The feedback i get could help me enhance the advertising for the film and then, if the film does get good feedback, i would then take my film to a film festival which would be good advertising for the film and the feedback would be helpful. For example, Sundance film festival.

Evaluation question 5

David is a 18 year old boy who works part-time in Waitrose as supervisor. Earns good money for a teenager, he shops in the retro shop Size. Is in full-time education at City&Islington college. In his spare time he either play football in Corums field and then meets up with his friends for a social night out for e.g Cinema, clubbing, house parties etc.

Question 2 evaluation.

Q) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Marathon Man shares similarities with our thriller. For example, they both show a protagonist vs. antagonist. I am the antagonist therefore i am made to look vulnerable or prey. We know this because the mid-long shot of me in the living room shows me sitting on a sofa. The frame consists of furniture, therefore seeming like i am small. Similarly, in Marathon man, we see Dustin Hoffman sitting in a chair. the mid-long shot is a contrast to my character, as we see him sitting on his own, on a chair in the middle of the room. The frame is empty, but this works well and shows that he too is the protagonist as he seems very vulnerable.

As the protagonist is shown more, the audience get to know them more, therefore empathising with the character. As there is little shots of the antagonist, they are seen to be evil and this creates a tension. The shots of the antagonist show minimal facial expressions. But, although they have less shots than the protagonist, the facial expressions and shots tell the audience a lot about the character. In my thriller, David is seen as the antagonist. Because the audience have already seen my character, David's presence is sensed as cautious. Point of view shots show David's true meanings with me.

In marathon man, the antagonist has the same facial expressions as our antagonist, David. They both look at their victims with blank facial expressions. This shows that although they know what they want to do, they have no guilt.

Dr Szell from marathon man is part of a Nazi collective society. This is aware throughout the film but in our thriller, David's character is not as clear. We know he is a young adult, but his intentions for me are not normal for a young adult. The close ups of david imply that he has spiked the drink, but they also help with establishing Davids character without knowing his social background.

The idea of the thriller is to portray me and David as fun, flirtatious teenagers. This is made aware by me getting ready with the make up and david holding my shoulders as we go in the living room. David fits the stereotype of a typical teenage boy who wants to get with me. Evidently sexual attraction is there. The change in events show David's true aim when the audience learn that he has trapped me. The audience see my youthful persona in the first shots as my bedroom shows pink colours and also, at the end as i am very naive to follow David.

Evaluation question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product represents particular social groups in lights of protagonist and antagonist, in our film I was the antagonist, and Sarah was the protagonist. The antagonists above show serious facial expressions, showing no emotions. Both the antagonists are looking at their victims in a suspicious way and both of them hold negative intentions. Most of the shots are of the antagonists suggesting the significance of them. Below are two shots of the protagonists, from Marathon Man and my Thriller. As you can see both these shots are mid-long shots and they give off the feeling of vulnerability indicating they are preys. It highlights they are protagonists as they have connotations for one, for instance confused and innocent facial expressions. This contributes to suspense and dramatic irony leading for the audience to sympathise with the victims.

There is a long establishing shot of the room in which Sarah is in the centre of it. She looks quite small and vulnerable in the shot which has connotations of her being the prey as well as the protagonist. Her body language also shows she's not the superior as she is sitting up right covering her knees indicating a sense of insecurity and weakness.

There is a similar shot like this when Dustin Hoffman is sitting in the chair strapped in, in this mid-long shot we see dull surroundings, showing he is already held captive. Again Dustin Hoffman is also at the centre of the shot, strapped down to the chair clearly showing he is also not superior which indicates he is a prey. I thought this was the best similarity i could find to compare from both my thriller and Marathon Man.

Question 1 evaluation.

Q) In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms of conventions of real media products?

Our title sequence contained many thriller conventions. The opening from "a touch of evil" is a good comparison to the thriller opening we created. The opening of "a touch of evil" shows a urban setting. The mid-long shot showing cars and quite busy frames, with people in the shot, gives a feel of normality. Inn comparison, our thriller opening shows a suburban street, with a panning shot from the sky to the front of the house where I am standing outside. The rural settings work well and the fact that the street is empty gives a sense of normality, but then again the shot of the house is a key feature as it is where I am held captive.

A commonly used feature in thrillers is protagonist vs. antagonist. In our opening, both are displayed clearly. The shots of Me getting ready are significant. They show close ups of me doing my make up etc. This shows a normality of day to day life and that I am some what innocent as I carry on with day to day tasks as normal.

The shots of David portray a somewhat mysterious character. The close ups of the back of his head and the facial shots make him seem quite evil. A sense of normality is shown by him greeting her at the door. But this is soon shown to be fake as the shots of him sort of looking at the girl makes her seem like a victim or even prey. The cross cutting between the two characters show the contrast and roles that each of them play. Therefore displaying the power each of them has and the protagonist and antagonist.