Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product? 

Within our group, we didn't decide on one specific target audience. This was because we felt that our opening was quite generic and had all the conventions that would appeal to all of the age groups and genders. We decided not to include any violence or strong language of sort which allowed us to appeal to audiences below the age of 15. This then allowed us to have a potential target audience of people from the ages of 12 to 35.  The reason that we wanted to appeal to these people is because we feel that we can portray two different messages to the age groups.

Our first age bracket is between 12-22. We appeal to this age group by using mise-en-scene for them to relate. One of these would be the use of laptops and phones. This allows them to relate to the character in the opening because it something that they use on a day to day basis. Another way that we appealed to them is through costume. We done this by having our protagonist dress in a crop top and ripped jeans; normal clothing for a teenager. We also decided to have non-diegetic sound in the beginning of the opening which is popular for teenage girls. This then related to the character with in the thriller and also the teenage girl target audience.

The next age bracket that we appealed to is 23-35. This is the age that adults would have children that are growing up in a technology orientated world. The subliminal message that we have tried to put forward towards these parents is that our protagonist had to rely so much on technology to save herself, but didn’t have any true skills to find a way to save herself. This then appeals to this target audience to teach their children skills if something like this was ever to happen. Another message that we wanted to portray is the fact that the teenage is on her own within the house.  There is a growing number of young children being left home alone without a responsible adult. We liked the idea of showing the consequences of doing this since there have been more and more parents arrested due to leaving their children home alone. We thought it would be a great way of showing the effect and possible happenings when you leave a child on their own at home through an effective piece of media due to parents not really thinking about things like this.

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Within our opening, the two social groups that we have clearly represented is gender and age. Within the social group age, we have specifically looked at young people. It is clear to the audience within our thriller that both our protagonist and antagonist are young people. This is because as we are young people ourselves, we felt it best to represent this age group as we have experience of it and how to portray it. Due to this experience, we were able to able to properly portray how young people would act in this situation. We also felt that we wouldn’t want to give an unrealistic representation of other age groups which is why we avoided including them. This would just lead to stereotypes and unfair representations.  We also believed that representing a group such as young people would allow us to in some way avoid any stereotypes and conventions that surround young people in the media (Kevin and Perry).  We believe after looking back at our opening that we showed young people as realistically as we could.

We also presented gender. In this case, we did conform to a main stereotype of the feminine character being subordinate and the masculine character being the dominant. This was done through the antagonist and the protagonist. Although we did not have a male as our protagonist, we did have a masculine female which undertook the role of a ‘male’. We thought that we would have this stereotypical idea to conform to the conventions of a thriller because we believe that because it is in so many thrillers consistently, it must be popular. We felt that having a male as the protagonist would also conform to the typical dominant stereotype. Although this doesn’t challenge typical conventions, we again felt that we should have a feminine character as a ‘damsel in distress’ and a masculine character as the ‘bad guy’, because it makes for popular viewing among film fans.

For our thriller opening, we did not have a specific target audience and decided to instead, try and target to population wholly. We done this by using a variety of skills and techniques within our opening, taken from a range of different thriller films that appeal to different age groups and genders. Firstly, we followed typical stereotypes of a gender. We done this because, like previously explained, we believed that this makes for popular viewing. We also then decided to use a lot of popular cuts when editing. This would include quick cuts, and longer cuts to build suspense. This would also include long drawn out sounds and quick high pitched ones when there were quick cuts. We used a variety of shots such as long shots and close ups to show the character and the facial expressions of the character. We also used point of view shots to allow the audience to get into the opening more, creating more suspense as they feel like they themselves are being effected.

Evaluation Question 1

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

Within a thriller opening there are clear conventions that can be seen. These would include dark lighting, intense music, dark clothing, maybe moments of silence, a masculine antagonist and a feminine protagonist. Our thriller fits into these conventions through things such as dark clothing and intense music. For example, we dressed both of our characters in black clothing in order to create a general feel about the opening. We didn’t realise that we had done this until analysing the video afterwards and realised that our idea to have the antagonist as a ‘dark figure’ and the protagonist as a typical teenager, had inevitably lead to them both being dressed fit for a thriller opening. The theme of having a cast of a thriller in dark clothing can be seen in typical thrillers such as Sixth Sense, Insidious and Taken; all of which influenced our opening in some way.

We also decided to use the idea of having a stereotypical masculine antagonist and feminine protagonist because we felt that this would appeal to most to the audience, being it the most common theme in thrillers.  On the other hand, we did in some way subvert this because we had a female play the masculine role of the antagonist. This was due to the little selection of actors that we had within our all-girls school. However, Rhiannon is an androgynous female that can be made to look rather masculine which is what we done to create her into the perfect antagonist. We also done this by hiding her identity behind a mask. This again conforms to the stereotypes of a thriller opening, with the identity of the person being left to create suspense. This is one of the things that we wanted to focus on and so decided to give Rhiannon a black mask to wear, also allowing us to continue with the theme of dark clothing.

Regarding shots and camera angles, we decided to choose a variety of them in order to create suspense. We used a tracking shot into the bedroom initially to show the environment and setting. We then used extreme close ups of the laptop and phone, including mid-close up shots of Isobel’s face to show her facial expressions. This was repeated throughout the opening in order for the audience to become more involved in how the protagonist was feeling. We also used long shots when looking at both the antagonist and protagonist. This was to show the mise-en-scene of clothing and setting. We also used it to show the stature of the actor. This is to create the idea of the protagonist being a small and timid character compared to the bigger and more intimidating character of the antagonist. These shots were influenced by thrillers such as Sixth Sense. This is seen in the scene where the protagonist (Cole) is in the kitchen and sees a ‘dead person’ in the hallway.

The long shot of him in just pants and a vest shows how small and scared he is. A few moments later, the antagonist in this scene is seen in another long shot with a beaten face with aggressive expressions on it. The long shot shows how much bigger that she is than Cole, establishing that she is intimidating and the one to be feared. This heavily influenced our decision regarding long shots within our thriller opening.

Within a lot of thriller openings, there isn’t as much of the storyline in it as there is in ours. The reason that we decided to change this particular form was because we wanted to entice our target audience. We thought that if we were to have a strong storyline within our opening then this would draw people in to wanting a full film. We also left the opening on a cliff-hanger. This means that there would be a great way to follow on to a potential extended film. There are other films like this such as Taken but it isn’t done within the opening scene of the film. Although it was a risk to do this, we have had some great feedback in regard to wanting to watch the rest of the film that followed.

We did, however, follow conventions of a thriller opening with dark mysterious lighting. This was a conscious decision which meant that we had to choose the right time of day to film because it was filmed in a house and garden. This meant that we had to get the right contrast between natural dark and light in order to make the thriller look dark enough, but light enough so that the quality of the footage was good enough without having to use artificial lighting.

The media platform that we have decided to choose to present our video on is YouTube. Our reason for this is because not only is it a large video company but it is also very well known. We decided that YouTube would be best because it is very popular within our target audience age range. With it accessible to everyone and easy to work, we thought that it would be the best to put it on this media platform so that it would be viewed by people of all ages. Furthermore, underneath all videos is the option to share the video on other social media platforms. This would mean that YouTube would also be used as a promotional purpose for us and not just a publishing one.

Our Thriller Opening

Attached is our thriller opening. 

Behind the Scenes - Filming

Below are some pictures that were taken whilst we were filming certain scenes of our opening. Within the pictures you are able to see the equipment that we used and the angles that we took the shots from including mid shots and long shots.                                                                                                            

Behind the Scenes : Directing

Attached above is a video showing the directing of behind the scenes where each of us took part in deciding which bits would look the best for our opening.

Props and Costumes

For our thriller opening, we will be using a few different props in order to give the opening the right feel that we need for the opening. 

One of the props that we will be using is a mask. This can be seen on the right hand side. We decided that to use a mask would be a lot more suspenseful rather than not. This is because it hides the persons identity, allowing for the audience to be curious and suspicious as to who the intruder is. The colour of the mask being black allows for the theme of the opening to be seen throughout. This wouldn't be as effective if we had a different coloured mask because it doesn't portrayed the mystery that we want.

We also want to have our antagonist dressed all in black in order to continue the theme of mystery. The idea of dark clothing give the idea that the person has a dark personality. Furthermore, the use of long sleeves and long trousers allows for the identity of the protagonist to be unknown.




For our protagonist, we wanted her to be portrayed as a typical teenager. This is why we decided to have our actress wear what she thinks would be appropriate. It helped that our actress is also a part of our group, meaning that she knows exactly what we want from the costume. We decided on having our actress in ripped jeans and a crop top. This shows that she is just a normal teenager being targeted as an innocent person. We also included a phone and a laptop as part of the props. This shows that she is of a younger age and also allowed us to incorporate easily, different parts of the storyline that we felt was necessary. This would be where Izzy talks to her 'boyfriend' over the laptop and her best friend over the phone.

Production Schedule

This is our production schedule for filming our thriller opening. Above is listed the dates we will be filming, the equipment we will need and then where we will be filming. In regards to location, due to us filming in the same place (within a house), we have also specified which rooms will be used for filming on these days. Furthermore, a lot of our props will be the same throughout the filming because we want to keep it consistent for the entire duration of the filming. We will also be using our own camera and tripod due to it being very high quality. This then means that we don't have to worry about using any of the school's equipment.  We are hoping to stick to this schedule of filming in order to keep on track and on top of our editing as well as filming in order to meet our deadlines.  

Institutional Research

Warner Bros.

Warner Brothers was founded in 1923by the four brothers that are Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner. As an American entertainment company, film studio and film distributor, it is one of the six biggest major American film studios. Headquartered in Burbank, California, It all started when the brothers found a projector and started playing to mining towns of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Now the company have a library consisting of more than 79,000 hours of programming, including nearly 7,500 feature films and 4,500 television programs. Some of these films include, The Harry Potter Series, The Dark Knight, American Sniper, Inception, and Gravity.

Lionsgate

Founded in 3 July 1997 by Franks Giustra, Lionsgate is known for some huge names in the film industry such as La La Land, The Twilight Series, The Hunger Games Series and America Psycho. Formally known as Cinepix founded in 1962, Giustra bought out the film production company and made it the household name that it is today. With it's headquarters based in California, United States, it is now run by  Jon Feltheimer and Tom Ortenberg after Giustra left the firm in 2000. Having 719 people work for the production company, Lionsgate is now worth a huge $842 million.

Universal

Universal was founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane and Jules Brulatour. Carl Laemmle become president of the company in the July of 1912 and then bought out all the shares in the company. On 15th of July 1964Universal opened Universal Studios Hollywood as their first theme park and it was a hit. Still open today, it is one of the biggest theme parks in America. It was last reported in 2012 that the revenue for Universal is $4.239 billion. Universal gives it's name to many famous films such as Despicable Me, Fast and Furious, Jurassic Park and Word, and E.T.



Test Shots

For our thriller opening we had to decide the best qualities that we wanted our characters to have. For this we took some test shots of a few people in order to see who we think would look best in front of the camera in order to play the role in our opening.

Kenadi 

The first person that we looked at is Kenadi to play the role of the protagonist. We decided to take test shots of Kenadi because we felt that she had the ideal feminine look for a protagonist within a thriller; almost a 'damsel in distress'. As you can see from the pictures, Kenadi is obviously comfortable in front of the camera and isn't afraid to 'act up' when she needs to. You can also see that she is okay with taking normal pictures as well. However, we didn't manage to get any serious photos of Kenadi because she said that she didn't feel like being serious in front of a camera was something she was comfortable with. This was a problem for us because this is one of the main things that we would be looking for within an character with it being a serious, thriller opening. Due to Kenadi's role within the opening also being someone that would have to act scared, she told us that she wouldn't be able to do this because she would get too awkward and maybe start laughing. This would take up time for us when filming which is a problem because we have to get the filming done at a specific point of the day where the lighting changes a lot. Although Kenadi's style is of one we are looking for, she said that she doesn't really have black clothes to wear for the filming process. After speaking to the rest of my group, we thought that it might be a better idea to find an alternative actress to play the protagonist within our thriller opening.

Rhiannon

Another person that we looked at was Rhiannon to play the role of the antagonist. This role would be ideally played by someone masculine to conform to the typical stereotype of an antagonist within a thriller film. Due to us being in an all girls school, we don't really have a wide variety of masculine people to choose from but we knew when looking at potential actors, that Rhiannon would be the perfect fit for our antagonist. We decided to choose Rhiannon to play the role of our 'intruder' because she is the right height and stature to play someone intimidating and aggressive. It is clear to see that Rhiannon has an androgynous style and when talking to her she said that she would feel comfortable with wearing dark masculine clothing. This allows us to create the right mood for the opening and shows the type of character that Rhiannon is playing. We explained to Rhiannon that there would be some scenes involving dragging another person along the floor, and potentially jumping over a fence and she said that she would be happy doing that. 

After talking, me and my group decided that Rhiannon would be the best person to play the antagonist and that she would make for the perfect 'intruder'.  

Isobel

The final person that we decided to look at to be in our thriller opening was Isobel. We are lucky in the fact that Izzy is in our group and also agreed to be in the thriller opening. This is perfect for us because she fits the profile of the protagonist that we had in mind. Izzy is petite and feminine, meaning that she conforms to the typical protagonist stereotype which is what we wanted. Izzy is also very confident and said that she is up for being in the opening and playing the role that we need her to. Another positive about Isobel is that because she is in our group, she knows what we want from our thriller and the people that play in it.

As you can also see from the pictures, Izzy has the right sense of style and clothing in order for us to use them for a costume of our protagonist. This would not only be more comfortable for Izzy to wear her own clothes, but also that it would be a lot more realistic as our protagonist is going to be a teenager anyway.

You can see as well from the pictures due to her poses, that Isobel is comfortable in front of the camera. This helps us because we would be able to film quickly and confidently as Isobel as our protagonist. This is why me and my group decided to have Izzy as the protagonist in the opening as she would make for the perfect 'victim'.

Location Research

Within this prezi, I talk about the location that we want to use for our thriller opening.

 

Title designs

For this blog I will be looking at the different titles that I have found for our thriller opening. My group has come up with the idea of calling our opening 'The Disappearance'. I have then gone onto the website 'dafont.com' which is where you can type in the word that you want, and it will come up in thousands of different styles.

The first font that I looked at was 'scorched earth'. I liked this one because it has a very distressed look and it is also very bold. The colour of the title being black, will stand out against a white background the ma\king it the focus of the shot. I also like the scratched effect that is shown along the bottom of the font. I feel like this can foreshadow violence within the thriller opening. I have also chosen to have the title completely in capital letters. I have done this because it makes it stand out a lot more and it also allows to seem more serious as appose to something fun.

 The next font that I have looked at it called 'buy more'. This almost looks like newspaper font within the letters. This is then connotes with the idea that someone that has disappeared would be in the newspaper. It also looks like something is distressed which gives the feel of something is wrong, foreshadowing the thriller opening. The contrasting colours also is appealing to me as it makes the writing stand out in the middle, and the main text intself. furthermore, I like how bold the text has been made to look and but I don't feel like this text is 'scary' enough to be the one that we use for our titles.

The final font that I will analyse is the one shown above. This font is very clear even though is it thin and is also consistent with the other fonts in the way that it is of eroded style. I feel like this will work well on a light background but can also be edited so it is suitable for a dark background. I also like how some of the letters like the 'P' and the 'T' are dragged down the page. This can then foreshadow the end of out thriller opening. I also like how the 'A' isn't finished. This also links to the end of our thriller because it will be left on a cliff-hanger: unfinished just like the lettering.

Title and Font Research

The Call

The Call is a crime thriller film, similar to that of out thriller opening. I like the look of the font for this title because it is bold, stands out, and is bright. I think that haven a bright font on a dark background would be a good idea because it will catch the audiences attention, as well as making it stand out. The link to the storyline is also shown within this titles. The red lines surrounding the font links to the job of one of the characters within the film. This character works within a call centre for 911 calls. The red lines around the font insinuate a heart monitor within the hospital. However, I don't really like the pixelation in the background and also think that the font is too 'square' and blocked. 

Gone Girl

This film is a crime thriller the same as our thriller which is why i have chose to analyse it. I quite like the way the font is a dull colour which matches the background but still makes it visible. This the foreshadows the feel of the film overall. Also, the font style is rather appealing because it is thin but still clear and bold to allow for the title to stand out. I really like the idea of using this font style but I do think that for our thriller, we will need something a bit more intense.

Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs is a crime thriller film so I am using it to analyse b because it will be appealing to the same types of audiences as me and my group will be within our thriller opening. The thing that I like the most about this title is the bold and black colouring of the lettering. I feel like this is giving off a statement that will attract the right type of audience for this film. The dark colour on a colourful background makes the writing and font stand out even more. I like the idea of using this on our titles so we can make a bigger impact on attracting the audience. The blood spatters however, won't really relate well with our thriller opening so I don't think that that would be a good element to include.

Target Audience Questionnaire

For this blog, I have decided to create a prezi which is embedded below.

Storyboard for our opening

 For our thriller opening, we had to create a storyboard outlining the basics of how we want our thriller opening to run. There will be a more advanced and detailed storyboard uploaded later on.  Our thriller opening is is going to be based around a girl who is in a house and she gets kidnapped by an intruder within the house.

Our first scene will be of the protagonist within her house on the phone to her friend. The female will be dressed in normal casual clothes and her room will be that of a normal teenage girl's. She will be in her bedroom where various shots will show her having a normal conversation. These shots will include mid shots and long shots of the female sitting on the bed. This will then cut to the antagonist, in this case intruder, standing outside the window of the kitchen. This shot will be a long shot showing the kitchen as the foreground of the setting. The intruder will be dressed in all black clothing with a hoodie, representing their identity meaning to be hidden and their dark background. The next shot will then be of the female investigating a noise she heard from the top of the stairs in her house. Long shots will be shown to show her within that setting. Close ups will also be used of her face to clearly show her expressions which will be scared and nervous whilst she  is still on the phone. Further shots will be shown switching to and from the female and her friend that she is on the phone with. This will intensify the mood and leave the audience in suspense because they haven't seen the intruder in a while. Following instructions from her friend, the main female will then be seen climbing under her bed, hiding from the intruder. These will be seen in  various shots from under the bed, above the bed and from the door way. These will be close ups, long shots and mid shots of her under the bed and climbing under the bed. Next, the camera will go back to the intruder making their way into the house. They will then be seen  inside the house and searching around inside for the girl. These will be seen in various shots again to show his surroundings and the expressions on his face when he opens different doors etc.

The camera will then go back to the main female who is still on the phone to her friend. Her friend tells her to escape out of the house but she instead chucks as ladder outside to make it look like she has escaped and makes sure she stays under the bed to defiantly be safe from the intruder. Shot cuts to the intruder walking out of the door after seeing the ladder outside. The girls phone then disconnects from her call which is followed by her friend calling back. Facial expressions are seen in close ups and so is the phone. Friend thinks she's safe so she calls her back. The phone starts ringing again and the female answers quickly. Long shots and  mid shots show the intruder heading back upstairs because he's heard the diegetic sound of the phone ringing. Close ups then show the females face heavily breathing and being scared because she can hear his foot steps coming up the stairs. The final shot is her being dragged out from under the bed. The shot is from under the bed and then the screen fades to black.