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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In class we were taught bait editing, to edit footage using 'final cut pro'. We were given differentiation of shots to edit. These are some of the keys we used and what they did: 'I' - this was used to cut the shot down to where you want it to start '0' - this is used to cut the shot down to where you want it to finish 'Alt' - when you click on a gap between two footage cuts and hold the alt button down it gets rid of the gap To cut down rushes you press 'o' and 'I'. You then drag the cuts down in what ever order u plea, onto the timeline. Doing this it simplyfies match cuts, therefore making it easy to create aswel as efficient. If the cuts changes you can drag the original cut to create a gap in the timeline where you insert the new cuts in the existing gaps. If you have two clips and you want to put a clipin between them you use the insert edit, yellow, button by lining the yellow line on the timeline up in the place you want to insert it and then clicking the button. The razor blade tool on the right side of the screen is used to cut footage cuts down. Music can also be dragged onto the shot from the computer, if mp3's are used for sound tracks they must be changed, meaning altering their format in advance for better quality. There are many different effects you can apply to the footages for example 'dissolve' which is done by pressing 'command' and 'T' when the line is at its prefered place on the clip.
Q 1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Our title sequence contained many thriller conventions. The film above ‘Touch of Evil’ sets the opening scene by establishing the environment, which is urban, by doing this; the audience familiarise themselves with the scenery. In comparison, our film is set in a suburban street. A panning shot from the sky to the house as well as the long shot of the house, suggest a sense of normality to hold a stronger impact on the audience when Sarah is held captive. It is clear that in ‘Touch of the Evil’ sequence, the streets and cars are of importance as the camera reveals it through several long/mid shots. Our opening highlights the significance of the house, as the major events take place here.
A common convention is good vs. evil. There is a protagonist and antagonist in our opening, which is clearly established. Sarah is the protagonist and this is shown using several close ups of her getting ready, suggesting a significance about her character. It also makes it clear that she is a main character, her getting dressed symbolises normality and that a day to day activity is taking place. David’s predatory character is shown through the shots too, most of which are of the back of his head, his suspicious facial expression etc. Several point of view shots are used in order to symbolise his predatory character, it seems he is watching her making her seem vulnerable as well as rising levels of tension. Cross cutting between Sarah and David show a link, of prey and predator. As in Touch of Evil, the key prop is obviously the Time bomb, this is shown in close ups, and the connotations are danger and threat and clearly playing a key role in the film. Our film uses similar conventions, where the drink is spiked with Rohypnol. To make this clear, we show a close up of David pouring the drink, a close up of Sarah drinking it, the aerial shot of them toasting the glasses, the base of the glass as she drinks it, these all contribute to showing the importance of this drink. My opening challenges many other thriller title sequences in a sense that more events take place than they should. When we see the close up of the door handle being closed a feeling of loss is sensed by the audience as Sarah has become familiar to us through the frequent appearance in the extract. Therefore it challenges the typical convention that too much should not be given away within the first two minutes of the film, whereas in ours it is clear David has spiked her and is holding her captive.
Here is the opening scene to touch of evil, please feel free to watch the comparisons i've made to my film.
The feedback we got back from the audience was very positive. Everyone thought it was a very topical subject, as recently the subject has been in the news, making it believable. Therefore it was a subject that the audience watching, college students, could familiarize and identify with.
I also showed the film to older adults who felt the opening would also attract a more older, mature audience who felt the voicemail message at the end of the opening was truthful representative of the emotions and feelings of a adult in the situation. This ultimately shows that although my target audience is the younger generation it could also appeal to older people who can identify with the parents story line and widen my audience.
Q7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?
The Match Cut exercise that Me and Sarah participated in, went very well however could have benefited from many improvements. I have chose to compare it with the clip below, the shots used are to either establish a meaning or show conversation. The shots (shot reverse shot) in the preliminary exercise, are not level, they are at a low angle, this makes it uncomfortable for the audience to watch. The shot that includes both me and Sarah in it, is also awkward, as Sarah is slightly cut out, the camera shows more of me than of Sarah because it is too close. Perhaps this was due to the fact that it was just us filming ourselves and the camera was sitting on a table.
This diagram I created illustrates what I mean by 'uncomfortable' mid shots;
Our film shows major improvements, the extract below reveals how we used our accurate shots to covey a feeling or thought. The shot of Sarah sitting in the living room is shown in a long-mid shot, this suggest she is a prey to something. The camera cuts to David getting the glasses, it is the back of his head, we used this to show his suspicious and mysterious character. It is clear that we progressed as we were more able to use shots which created meaning than uncomfortable and awkward ones. There are clever shots in this too, when Sarah unzips her jacket the camera pans down as she does to create a intimate atmosphere for the audience. Once again we see David exit the kitchen, and his head is cut off.
The preliminary exercise includes Sarah walking up to and entering a room, therefore Match cuts were of necessity. Six various shots were used, these include (in chronological order); Long shot of Sarah walking up; close up of her feet walking toward the camera; Mid shot of her back walking towards the door; another long/mid shot revealing her from the side; close up of her turning the door handle; and finally a close up of feet as entering room. The long/mid shot of Sarah walking past is not level, in fact you can see that the camera is slightly tilted when looking at the floor. Most of these shots are considerably good, however the last two shots, when Sarah enters and her feet are on close up, you can see the cameras refelction in the glass of the door. Also, it seems she is walking too much toward the camera than toward and then past it.
The final film shows many improvements, a similiar extract is when Sarah and David go upstairs to the room, several match cuts are included here, five to be specific. Mid shot of Sarah and Davids back heading up; aerial shot of them from top of stairs; close up of feet; a low angle shot down the stairs; and finally a mid shot to conclude them going into the room. These shots are very well taken and show the improvement from the match cut. We assured the Camera was always on the tripod so that the shots were level and sophisticated. The aerial shot in paticular was good, as the narrow stair were exactly right in employing our progressed match cutting skills.
Our group showed significant improvement in terms of team work also, we were all punctual and attended all sessions. Together we worked to produce an extract which had no faulty shots as in the Match cut only me and Sarah were present.
Q5) Who would be the audience for the media product?
The target audience for our thriller was mainly young adults. The film uses similar themes that the teenage audience can relate to so will therefore appeal to them, some themes are sex and drugs, this message is conveyed significantly in the opening of our thriller. Whilst considering this, the minority of adults who might watch, being adults may find it appeal in aspects such as strong messages given to the audience, to see what the generation of today get up to, and to relate to the more matured characters such as Sarah’s parents, and their situation.
Jay, 17, a student studying Fashion Textiles, Media and English A Levels. She loves... lip-gloss, the sun, her music, family and her girls! What she would to without her 21 pairs of shoes she does not know! Shopping is her best friend, and Top Shop and New look are her favourite stores. She enjoys going to the cinema, and Adulthood is one of her favourite movies.
Q 3&4)What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? How will you attract/address your audience?
As did this short film, which received a number of hits, (8000) I will aim to promote my film similarly. I would classify my film as an independent movie that would have a niche audience, therefore Studio Canal would be a good distribution company, as it is familiar with small niche audience films, one e.g. being Shaun of the Dead which developed a larger audience. I have an online marketing strategy; this is a step by step account of how I’m going to construct it so that my film can be further distributed. First of all it is vital to have existing support i.e. friends and family; this will come from the cinematic screening at the Screen on the Green, which many of my peers appreciated. I will import my video onto Vimeo, a video-centric social networking site, you have your own video page, holding user picture and avatars etc. and people can watch your film, comment and like it, any feedback is great feedback. Word of mouth is vital in any film release. As well as Vimeo, An independent film such as mine can have its own Facebook page, simply by creating a fan page, where people can get involved, and receive updates of the films activity, for e.g. releases, nominations and special previews. Anyone can add themselves as fans and can go as far as suggest the fan page to their own list of friends. Done properly, promoting using this tool could spread the word like wild fire to the online world, again, at no cost. To create this buzz around the film, I would create a trailer and post it on Facebook. This trailer would be imported on to YouTube, and through social networking sites and word of mouth, I believe this will increase the hits on YouTube rapidly. YouTube is a form of Internet promotion that could prove quite lucrative for my film as it is at no cost also.
I can then enter my film in a film festival after it has reached a significant amount of ratings. Some known film festivals are Sundance, London film festival and Rain dance film festival. Often VIPs are hidden among the audience, looking for new talent to sign a distribution deal, in town for someone else’s film, or just relaxing on vacation. Napoleon Dynamite is one of many films that became successful through this process.
Google is the most used search engine. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is the tool used to improve the amount of traffic of viewers for any particular website. It is an opportunity for my film to make Google’s top ten search results. I will create a website from the step by step tutorials available, using a low costing domain. Then people will be able to find any particular film such as mine through Google searches.
Here is a diagram that I created, using illustrations to guide you through my online marketing scheme;
Q2) How does your media product represent paticular social groups?
Marathon Man shares similarities with our thriller opening in terms of representing a protagonist and antagonist, (good vs. evil). Sarah is the protagonist therefore she is made to look, vulnerable, and prey like. The long/mid shot of her in the living area, a lot of the frame is filled by the room and furniture; it makes her seem like a prey to the audience so it is clear that David is the antagonist. There is a similar shot like this when Dustin Hoffman is sitting in the chair strapped in, in this mid/long shot we see empty dull surroundings, also suggesting he is a prey. Both characters are the protagonist and hold confused or innocent facial expressions, this contributes to the effect of dramatic irony, and helps us to sympathise with the victim. It also suggests that Sarah and Babe are part of a collective social group which holds them victim to the antagonist.
The antagonist represented in this film is by David, showing minimum of his character we familiarise ourselves with Sarah so more empathy is created towards her character. Point of view shots of David reveal his sinister persona and suggest that he holds intentions with Sarah. As you can see, the obvious similarity in Marathon Man, Dr Szell and David is that both antagonist are looking at their victim, it insinuates that both men hold intent to cause harm to their victims. The facial expression is very serious and makes them seem all the more malicious. Dr Szell is part of a Nazi collective society, the negative connotations with this are obvious however, David’s is not as clear, the camera close ups help to that he has spiked the drink, rather than coming from a particular group or faction.
It is made clear that both David and Sarah come from a young, urban, wealthy and collective society. Their actions such as making a lot of effort getting ready or flirtatious behaviour imply their teenage and youthful persona. David is a ‘typical teenage boy’ whom holds sexual intent with Sarah; this contributes to portray the ‘young’ social group. However, obviously the complication arises when we realise she is captivated. Her pink bedroom and lots of makeup present her teenage character and almost make her seem very ‘naive’ when she follows David.
Our preliminary task was a 'not very good' attempt at a short scene. It consisted of poor camera work and little editing. There were various problems with the sequence of shots. In the first shot someone knocked the camera which made the camera work look dodgey and un-professional. When shooting our actual footage we had alot more room, filmed hand held and made sure people didnt crowd the camera to ensure this did not happen again. This problem also taught me to shoot at least 2 or 3 of the same shot so we could choose the best one.
The first establishing shot of 'Moe' walking down the corridor had no variety which makes it boring to watch and loses the audiences attention. This made it clear to us that the first couple of shots would have to include a variety of shots to grab the audiences attention and keep the intrested from the start. Our opening shot was a pan which made our establishing shot. We then made sure we had assortment of different shot types ranging from closs ups, to over the sholder shots, to extreme close ups. Another problem with the first shot was the fact it cut 'Moe's' head off making it uncomfortable to watch. We did use this type of shot on purpose in our thriller opening as Sarah unzips her jacket but that was because we wanted to focus on her taking off a piece of clothing to hint at the intamacy between David and herself.
These first shots in our prelimery match shot established that our setting was some kind of school. To establish the subburben settings that our Thriller opening was set in we used a pan from the sky to the house. Sarah looks very small in this shot and the point of view shot that shortly follows of her from David's point of view makes her look small, helpless and prey-like.
After the match cut we didnt film enough between two shots so if you look closely enough Moe looks like he moves too forward for the timing of the shot. When filming our shots we made sure we filmed more than less so we would have plently of shots to choose from. For shots where we were showing a change in time we added a fade in editing which is what we ould have used in our match cut but didn't.
When filming the coversation between the two actors the over the sholder shot we took was taking for a much too high angel. This shot should have been taken level with the eyeview of the actors. Because of our mistake the shot over the 'Lucy's' sholder resulted in her head blocking 'Moe's' face. We had to ensure this would not happen in our Thriller opening because facial expressions would be essential as we were not allowed dialogue and therefore anything we wanted known to the audience that would normally be spoken would have to be directed through body language and the actors facial expressions. We used an over the sholder shot in the opening sequence of shots for our Thriller opening as Sarah puts on her blusher. This shot has no problems that we had in our prelimery match cut which shows that we learnt from our mistakes.
Another problem with our prelimery match cut was that when we shot the over the sholder shots of the conversation between 'Moe' and "Lucy' there was alot of space to the right meaning the conversation was squashed into the right hand corner of the shot and was uncomfortable to watch. We didn't repeat this as it would of looked un professional and 'slap dash'. Throughout our trailer there is a good amount of space Sarah often has alot more space around her then David as this makes her look small, vunrable and prey-like which suits her character as the antagonist. David is made to look more threating and mysterious as alot of the shots are just of his hands or his back.
After importing our clips we named each piece of footage and separated them into each sequence of shots. We then imported these files and edited them in final cut pro. To edit them we dragged the chosen shot onto the storyline and cut them to the length we wanted them. We also increased the speed in some of our shots to reduce the time of the whole opening. We did this for most of the first sequence of Sarah getting ready building pace and suspense whilst showing her 'every day life'. The following scene uses more editing as we had to cut the footage of my character getting the drinks and Sarah waiting for me. This sequence also included a fade as i entered the kitchen to show a change in time. In the next scene when Sarah drinks from the glass we edited all the camera footage of this significant part in the opening so that there was a collection of different shots. We also slowed down the shot of the Sarah drinking from the bottom of the glass to build tension within the audience.
The opening of the film opens with a panning shot of Dustin Hoffman's feet running. This creates a sinister feel. In the scene "is it safe," various camera shots reveal that Dustin Hoffman is the protagonist. This is made aware by a long-mid shot with an empty frame showing he is the pray as he is sitting in the middle of an empty room. When the two men enter the frame, they are dressed in suits and surround him, which acts as a form of intimidation. The dim lighting in the scene shows only one light which is focused on Dustin Hoffman. This shows that he is the prey or protagonist as the men stay out of the light which also shows he is the main focus in the frame.
The demographic of our audience is mainly teenagers. Into partying and having a good time they spend their weekends drinking and making the most of their weekend. Most of them will of had some experience with the misuse of drugs meaning they will be able to identify with the events in the film. The majority of the audience will be girls which challeges the normal conventional mainly male dominant target audience of thrillers. The film could also aspire to parents who would easily identify with the worry and panic the parents of 'Sarah' go through in the film.
Tinuke, 17, a dancer and artist attending brit school for performing arts & technology, loves socialising with friends, shops is American Apparel, dances, enjoys art and watches misfits on a school night. On the weekends she goes out partying all night and wakes up the next morning with a hangover having to do her college work to ensure she can can go out the next night aswell to make the most of her weekend.
I have an online marketing strategy and this is a step account of how I am going to construct
that strategy. I plan to make a trailer for my video and upload it on websites such as Youtube and Vimeo.
I would then distribute it to my friends on facebook who i would ask to carry on the distribution by passing it on to their friends.
link: http://vimeo.com/
I would also create a blog and myspace page hoping for positive feedback and to spread the film further. These sites are something that the target audience of my film would use in their spare time which hopefully means that the distribution of my film will be successful. The reasoning behind all of this is to create a buzz around the film in a cheap way that is achievable by students.
http://www.myspace.com
As the film become known more widely i would try and send it off to be shown in film
festivals such as Sundance, Tribeca and other various film festivals around the world. At the same time i would try to distribute it to independant cinemas around the country such as 'Screen on the
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? How would you attract and address your audience?
I have an online marketing strategy and this is a step by step account of how I'm going to construct that strategy:
To promote my thriller sequence i would firstly upload the video on YouTube. If my thriller then became a hit on YouTube i would create a Facebook fan page to extend the promotion of my thriller by letting fans join the page. This would increase its popularity as fans would also promote my thriller on their face book pages, leading more people to come to recognition with it. As well as creating a fan page on Facebook, i would also create one through Myspace as Myspace was pretty hyped up about before people turned to Facebook.
Here is a link to a film fan page on facebook; http://www.facebook.com/search/?post_form_id=e659063a357dc9f12b8dfe1c3be8c052&q=sir+michael+cane&init=quick&ref=search_loaded#!/slumdog?ref=ts Slumdog millionaire was successfull british independant film. So having fan pages on both the social networking website would surely increase my thrillers popularity. Also other than broadcasting my thriller net wise, i would also try and screen my thriller opening in private cinema screenings such as 'Screen on the green' which i have visited myself to show peers family and friends at first, then gradually take it to the public cinemas such as 'Vue'. I would enter my film into a film festival, some example s are Sundance and Raindance, often VIPS are in the audience, this way i will possibly be able get a distribution deal. Raindance website: http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/
Both of these shots shown have similar characteristics. Like the movie Marathon Man our thriller focuses on two characters; the protagonist (Sarah) and the antagonist (David). As the Antagonist, David was made to look the opposite of this being; dominant,
sly and like a predator. The amount of time the camera focuses on David is much shorter than the amount of
footage shown of Sarah. Therefore the audience will empathise with Sarah who is seen to be an innocent girl trapped in a house with this mysterious, unnerving character (David). The similarity of the two characters Dr Szell and David is that both are looking at their victim implying they have plans that they wish to implement on our protagonist characters.
As the protagonist Sarah was made to look venerable, innocent and like prey .
This convention
runs throughout a lot of thrillers where the story line follows good vs evil. The room she sits in is full of furniture which fills up a lot of the frame making her look very small to her surroundings. Much like the shot of Dustin Hoffman while he is tied up waiting for Dr Szell this shot makes her look very vulnerable, alone and prey-like.
We tried to portray each of our characters personas from the very start of our thriller opening. Sarah's pink, girly bedroom empahsizes her innocence and niavity. When she arrives at David's house their flirty body language is youthful and easily relateable to our younger target audience. However to an older target audience, who can relate to having a daughter, this makes her look very out of place which creates an un easiness in the audience.
Q 1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I have decided to choose the title sequence 'Touch of evil' to compare with our thriller sequence. 'Touch of evil' establishes an urban environment, where as our thriller opening establishes a suburban street. There are several long shots to establish the house so the audience familiarise with the scene, showing it's normality. One other reason i chose this title sequence was because it shows two characters such as ours, one being protagonist and the other antagonist. Our thriller sequence consisted of many close up shots of Sarah showing her vulnerability and getting the audience to sympathise with her. Touch of Evil contains the key props of a car and an explosive device to help establish the genre. Our film contains the key props of drinking glasses and alcohol the lethal concoction that my be used with rohypnol that may cause the death of our main protagonist.
In Touch of Evil, the blatant key prop is the Time bomb, it is clear from the consistence of close ups and mid close up shots. The connotations of the convention are jeopardy and threat which clearly play a key role in the film. Our film uses similar conventions, such as the drink being spiked with Rohypnol. To make this clear, we show a close up of David pouring the drink, a close mid shot of Sarah and David drinking ( David the protagonist pretends to drink whilst watching his prey frm the corners of his eyes), low angle shot of base of the glass as Sarah drinks it, which builds dramatic irony all these contribute to showing the importance of this drink like the time bomb in 'Touch of Evil' .
In our thriller opening there is a protagonist and antagonist, which is clearly indicated throughout our thriller. Sarah is the protagonist and this is established through the use of several close ups of her getting ready like putting on her make up, getting dressed. This indicates to the audience head on that Sarah is going to be a main character.It is also fair to say that its clear that the audience know she is going to be the protagonist as well, as most thrillers do not show their evil characters (antagonist) at the beginning. getting dressed signifies that a day to day activity is taking place. My predatory character is shown through the shots too, most of which are of me expressing mysterious facial expressions like for example a still face, or shots of me without showing my head again emphasizing my suspicious and mysterious character. There are many point of view shots to contribute to my predatory character such as the point of view shot looking at Sarah. You can see the facial expression on my character, he begins to pull a smirk as i have set my prey (Sarah) for my characters intended trap.
Here above are two shots showing above are the beginning and then the end, 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 not the superior as she is sitting up right covering her knees indicating a sense of insecurity or weakness. The second shot symbolizes the end of the thriller opening as well as our protagonist Sarah. When the last few seconds of the thriller opening is left David the antagonist is up stairs luring his prey into his room, at this point the movement of David shutting the door and then locking it is in slow motion. This builds tension as the audience wants to know what happens next. Also i believe our thriller opening challenges over thrillers, its different to others as for once the evil (antagonist) has completed his aim and won over the good (protagonist).
ote my thriller on their face book pages, leading more people to come to recognition with it. As well as creating a fan page on Facebook, i would also create one through Myspace as Myspace was pretty hyped up about before people turned to Facebook.
