In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
With regards to the conventions we have used within our thriller we have attempted to create a slow moving thriller opening which can be left open to twists within the greater developed plotline of the remainder of the film to leave the audience guessing. However we have also show the audience action within the opening of our thriller to draw them in. We have also used music with a disturbing quality and a soft underlying tone to lull the audience into the slow pace of our film.
Our use of a handheld camera is a factor that is key to the plotline we have developed although because the audience is given a chance to work out what the developments will be this challenges the thriller genre as it is not so much a mystery but rather an action thriller. Despite this we have kept out much of the plotline but rather imply that it will develop at a later stage so as to avoid telling the entire story in under five minutes as we decided that this would go against many existing media products and especially thrillers.
Another way in which we have used thriller conventions is in using the theme of a disturbed mental state against which our protagonist much struggle. As the audience has already seen his psychological turmoil lead to death it would cause them to feel suspense if he is put into a situation which may cause him to act out of anger.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Whilst we do feature several characters in our film opening, the majority of whom are teenagers of a similar age we did not wish to target any particular social group for representation as we were wary of getting too close to the stereotypical. This was because we felt that it would detract from the serious nature of our film and perhaps alienate certain members of the audience. However we have portrayed a representation of gender that has been used in films and drama’s as the male character is presented as the immediate villain whilst the female characters seem to be more outgoing and vulnerable. And as the only female character with potential to become a villain dose so only to achieve revenge the thriller makes the assumption that males are the more violent of the pair although this is not something which we wished to show to any great degree.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Despite the fact that the task was to create the opening for a thriller this would have eventually developed into a feature length film and as such film companies such as Universal and would be the target institutions to distribute the film. This also includes smaller, independent companies such as Working Title. The film would be distributed in the form of DVD’s or downloads from online stores such as ITunes. We would aim for these methods because they have become the normal method for distributing films along with other media products.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Due to the adult nature of thrillers and scenes of violence we would not be aiming for a younger audience as it would be unsuitable and as such the youngest age group we would encourage to view our film would be fifteen. The main audience therefore would be made up of older teenagers and young adults who are more likely to seek something which will scare and thrill them. We also wanted to aim at adults who do not normally wish to view thrillers through the slow pace of our film which we feel lulls the audience throughout although this would of course depend on the later developments of our film.
How did you attract/address your audience?
During our thriller opening the background music helped to keep the audience’s attention through the slower scenes, such as the sketchbook seen. Also I feel the cuts between the flashback scene and the sketchbook scene helped to maintain the audience’s interest through changes in scenery and tone. We have also tried to maintain the audience’s attention through the storyline which we have presented and the characters which have helped to portray tension and suspense.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the process of filming I have learnt about filming different camera shots such as panning shots, close ups and over shoulder shots with both handheld cameras and tripods. I have also learned how to use a tripod in terms of achieving a variety of different camera angles and height in shots. I have learned how to edit films using iMovie in areas such as cutting the shots down, importing footage and music as well as using transitioning effects and titles. And during the process of creating this blog I have learned how to import images and YouTube clips as well as learning how to edit my posts.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
From the preliminary task I have learned about editing film and as such I feel that this has allowed us to produce a final product to a higher quality. I also feel that our filming has improved as we became more confident with using the cameras and tripods. Also we have learnt to create more imaginative, complex and tense story lines as that in the preliminary task was extremely dull as to entertain was not the point of the exercise.
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