Thriller film.

Preliminary Task

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My media product uses many forms and conventions of a real media product. For instance in my opening sequence i used eerie music at the begginning which is typical of an opening thriller sequence. This is a main convention of a thriller film as they use slow and eerie, creepy music throughout there films. Also the shot types i used were successful of a typical thriller, as i included close ups and panning shots of creepy areas where i filmed. Also i used many effects such as slow motion and black and white, which emphasised thriller conventions as they give a creepy and eerie effect to the sequence. The close up of the ring during the opening sequence is a typical thriller convention, as we did not see how the ring got there. This plays mind games on the viewer.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product presents particular social groups by stereotyping certain people. For example when my character is walking through the park towards Casey, Casey is wearing normal college clothes and looks innocent, where as my character is has an evil look on his face to show the audience/viewer that something is about to happen.

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

Once i completed my full product (thriller opening), i had a look back at my preliminary task and i noticed alot of things were different. For example i used more conventions in my thriller then in my preliminary and i have learnt how to use the camera for effectively such as different shot types and keeping the camera steady when shooting. I have learnt other things such as the music being in time with the film and being suitable to the film. Also i have learnt that you may not always use your plan step by step, because when you are filming you could find a better idea or shot, however you must make this look effective.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In this media project i have learnt a lot about the technology used to make my film. I have learnt how to use the MAC computers and the program we was using (iMovie). On the MAC i learnt how to do a number off different things on Imovie such as editing and including transitions, effects and adding in pictures and music.

Secondly i learnt how to use a video camera effectively to make my work look better. When i was filming my project there was a number of skills i used on the video camera such as zooming in and out, changing the brightness and other effects. I also learnt how to make effective shots from the tripod. For example i learnt how to pan shots and use the tripod effectively.

How did you attract/address your audience?

In my opening thriller movie i did a number of things which would attract and address the audience. I used many conventions of a thriller such as

- black and white effects
- eary music
- characters in dark clothing
- signs of death such as blood

I also included a train track in the background, and added in a effective noise which emphasises the train to show the tension building, almost showing that someone is watching and he is not alone once he has been killed

I believe that these things caught the readers attention which helped my opening film better amd attract the audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

For my short film i have created, i think the target audience would be for people around the age of 15-18 like me. This is because is my opening sequence i have created a thriller and lots of convetions for thrillers, such as murder and violence. Thrillers are usually aimed at the teenage category and most teenagers enjoy them. People in my class enjoyed the opening sequence of my thriller and these people are all around the age of 17/18.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Many institutions that make films, especially thriller type films would distribute my product as a thriller movie.

Editing

Once we filmed our peice as a group we started editing. Once i put a rough draft of my film together i added effects and transitions. I changed my film around a few times to make it look as best as i could make it. When my film was done my teacher gave me some tips to make my film better, so as i was doing the editing independently i booked out a camera and the equipment to film some more of my film and make my film better. I did a number of shots types and different scenes. I added a lot of close ups and uploaded these to the mac, which i am going to add into my film next lesson.

My film so far

My film has been very successful so far, i have finished filming my film and i have started to edit. My film is about a murderer who the police have been after for many years. Finally the police catch him after he murdered his fourth victim as he gets chased. The murderer has a ring on his finger which is a symbol for his gang and the police spot this as he leaves the ring in the blood as he stabs the victim.

The victim suffers from this murder, and as the train goes past in the background, somebody recongnises the injured and dieing male on the floor.

However we had to change our film slightly due to the weather, which meant we had to film in the snow, but this however gave our film a better effect as it is different to other films.

This is a shot of our film, as Casey ( victim ) is walking to the park from his house. He is wearing casual clothing, and is looking relaxed. However he does not realise that every one of his steps and moves, are being watched closely. Also the shot on the right of the screen is a shot of Nathan ( murderer ) running away, and this is a shot of what he can see at this time. He is running onto a main road where he is caught by the police.

what have we done so far?

so far we have edited our film and been successful with what we have edited so far. We used a number a number of different shot types and we filmed them at a number of different angles to give us a wider range of choice when we edit. We filmed each shot 3 times so we have a good range. When i was editing i cut the clips and chose the best shots from each clip we filmed to form the main bit of the film. When filming our piece it was snowing and there was alot of snow on the floor. When casey was laying on the floor with the blood surrounding him the snow had a good effect as it spread throughout the snow creating an interesting effect. We filmed this several times in different positions and when editing i chose what shot i thought was best and had the best effect.
However there was a few things we needed to improve. For example there was a number of shots that were a little bit jolty and we should of filmed again, but i worked around this to make it look effective. We also could of had a number of still shots to make the reader ask questions about what is going to happen next. Overall what i have done so far has been successful and i will still hope to improve it.

This is one example of a shot we filmed several times. We filmed this four times so once w

e edited our film we had a wide range to choose from so we can decide what shot was the best and the most suitable for the film. We filmed this shot from different angles, and we come together as a group to decide that this shot was the most appropriate.

Planning and storyboards

When we was planning our thriller film we made storyboards. These storyboards show us what we our aiming to do in our film in order and shows each shot. These our our storyboards we used when filming out short thriller film.

Brick

Brick is a successful opening sequence that fits a thriller movie in many ways. This is because it uses many conventions which associate with thrillers. There are many conventions of a thriller in the opening sequence of brick such as crime and a dead women. This makes us ask questions such as:
Why is she dead
How did she die
Who commited the crime.
Also there is very eerie music at the opening of the credits. This shows that straight away the viewer is thinking badly about the characters shown on the screen which makes it a thriller movie as we do not see how this happens

Sound

For our film we might need the use of some sounds to make it seem a lot more realistic and to make it look more effective.
The use of police sirens when the killer is being chased down the road could be used to create more suspense and to make it seem a lot more real:
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=62878
The use of telephones ringing when in the police station to make it seem more busy and life-like:
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=20069
When the ring falls into the pool of blood, a hyperbolic sound can be used to make it seem more dangerous and horrific then it would be if it just fell:
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=44203

Script

At the beginning of our thriller film we are in a police station. In the background we can hear police talking about the murders and giving clues to the audience as to why these have happened and there background information. Also phones will be ringing in the background to give the effect of a everyday office. We can hear two policeman talking.
Police1: I don’t understand it…
Police 2: We need to find this man…
Also, there will be a news report on the murderers T.V as he is watching it, talking about the crimes that he has commited, which gets the murderer scared as he knows the police are after him. Today yet another victim has been found dead, stabbed a number of times. The killer has left behind a ring near the body and detectives are going to run a number of tests in order to find this killer; this is the fifth victim in the past week and police think it is the same person committing this crime.

Casting

In our opening sequence we need six characters. We need a clear victim that you see walking through the school field, the murderer who murders this person and a few faces of people who have been killed by the murderer before. Me and Casey are the two people being filmed and having the main part of this film whilst Danielle is filming. We both have important roles as we have to act as people we are not used to. The other people who we are taking pictures of for the board in the police station are Danielle and 3 other people from our media class. These pictures will appear on the screen at the beginning of our thriller film.

Shooting schedule

A shooting schedule is needed when actually filming the opening sequence of our film. It allows all of the people in our group to be there in order to film and it keeps shooting the film organised and so everyone knows what they are doing and when. It also helps the making of the film go smoother as then you know if all of the shots are in it or not. It helps to know what props, costumes, locations and cast are needed at what time so everything can be there and with the correct things in order for it all to appear in the film.

Character descripton

( Nathan )The boy who is the victim in our movie is a very happy and bubbly characters. He is walking through the school field on his way home from school. He is a male around 6 foot tall and is wearing his school sixth form uniform.

( Casey )In our film the murderer is a very different character to the others. He is a very strange looking man who is quite short but looks to be in his 20's. He seems to be a well known character as his actions are seen by local people from the field. He is the one who murders the boy, but does he escape?

Title

For our opening titles, the names of the people involved such as the actors and director etc, will appear at the beginning over the pictures of the victims already killed and this will be shown in a police station with the sound of a police station office in the background talking about what has happened and phones and people talking in the background. The titles we need are all of our names as we are all starring in it and also our names for the editing and directing need to be put on there. The positioning of them would be underneath the pictures so at the bottom of the screen; they will be big enough for the audience to see clearly but not take too much attention from the actual picture. The order in which they come on would be: a DCN production, Directed by...., starring..., music by..., edited by..., written by...
The very last title will be on the very last shot of the field with the body in will be the title of the whole film. This will come up in the middle of the shot, big and bold in a red colour to grab the audiences attention. I think it should be in an interesting font which is effective and clear to read
Danger