Evaluation
As part of my media coursework we had to create the opening of a thriller which lasted two minutes, including titles. A thriller is a suspenseful adventure story, play or movie. Thrillers have also been produce in the radio, theatre and television media. This genre is incredibly large and thrillers typically involve sudden plot twists and lots of red herrings. For example, keeping people unsure about what is going to happen.
The name of my media thriller was called ‘The observer’. At first we chose to name it ‘Unknown’ but as a group we didn’t like it and we also thought it didn’t relate with our thriller. The reason being the name was too common and we wanted the title to stand out from the rest. Our thriller is about a girl that is being watched by someone else. The plot of our thriller is that she has done something but she thinks she has got away with it. Then she receives an anonymous email and from that point she knows someone else knows what she has done. She then runs out of the computer room and down the corridor. By this point the unknown person sees hers and catches up with her.
The location of our thriller was set in college this was because it was easy access to locate. Also it was easy for our group because we could all just meet up and this came useful if we had to re-film. One member of the group decided to play the lead role in the thriller and others helping with the directing and editing. As it was set in college, the costume was very basic, trendy, everyday clothes because we wanted it to represent a college student. The actor was in college and we didn’t want anyone to notice her. By doing this it created suspense and tension because no one was expecting it.
Our group used a good range of shots from close ups, medium shots, extreme close up, long shots, over the head shot, high angle, low angle and many more.
We tracked the actress when she walk and runs down the corridor. We did this so the audience can see her from the back and front. It was also done so the audience can see where she is going.
At the beginning of our thriller it’s bright and clear. This is for the audience to establish where she is. Then getting towards the end we use a bit of colour to make it dark and dim. This is to show the audience that something strange is going to happen. When it came to editing we used several effects. One of them we used was a heart beating sound which was non- diegetic. This was when the actress is running down the corridor and she stops behind a door trying to catch her breath. Another effect we used was when we slowed down her walking when she runs through the corridor as this made her body look like it was in slow motion. To make our soundtrack we had to use Soundtrack Pro where we had to choose from a range of sounds. My group chose to use orchestra sounds this is because it contained strings and loud clashing instruments.
The social group that our media product represents is mainly for a younger generation who like watching thrillers. We purposely chose to film in a college because we knew what certain audiences like to watch and it appeals to them more.
The age range that would probably be interested into watching our thriller is between 16-19 year olds. This is because most people this age go to college and like to feel on edge with suspenseful and sensational action. In addition I am a teenager myself and I know what people like to hear and watch so this made it easier for me to produce a product to represent this social group.
Working class people will be drawn into my thriller because the characters we chose our working class themselves and I think it they can relate to it better than any other class. When we made our thriller there was no in particular gender or race it was aimed at. It was generally made for people who found thrillers enjoyable and appreciate the fast pacing and complex plots associated with this genre.
The media institution that would I would probably distribute my thriller are either a small independent UK release or release it over the internet on popular websites like YouTube or MySpace. This is because a lot of people use the internet everyday and would find it easier to access the newest and latest film genres. Whereas it is set in a standard college and is edited on an Apple Mac computer not a high tech computer that professionals use. We wouldn’t really need a big distributor because it will be only being shown in the UK, the country it was made in. The thriller was set on a low budget and a lot of people would probably not know about it. I would also make my thriller made for television this is due to the fact that a lot of people watch television and will appeal to a wider audience. Furthermore my film would be shown on the main channels therefore more people will be watching it.
The audience for my media product will be young teenagers or young adults. This is because the actress herself is in the same age range. There is no specific gender for the audience; it can be watched by anyone.
The way I can attract and address my audience is by the story line and the building up of the tension. The soundtrack is quite tense this is because it consists of loud instruments that clash with each other. This was purposely done to make the audience feel tense straight away. There is no dialogue in our film as we thought we didn’t need it. We thought by not adding dialogue it will make the thriller more interesting because you don’t know what is going on. The easiest way to market my film is to advertise it as much as possible. To make my film well known by the public I would advertise it on bill boards throughout the United Kingdom, so everyone gets a chance to see it. I will also advertise the trailer on the television during the adverts/ breaks. For more people to be interested about my thriller I advertise it in places I know young people go. For example, If you buy a meal in a restaurant the poster will be on the walls or their will be a promotion deal. Another way I could market my film is by asking main newspapers to have their say on the film and rating it.
From the process of constructing the thriller I found that using the final cut pro was very difficult this was because I have never used it before. As we used it more frequently it became much easier and good to use. Secondly, on a practical hands on level my experience with using the camera was not difficult this was because I had already used cameras before. On the other hand when it came to use the internet to process the blog and release the movie on vimeo. It wasn’t really a problem because I use the internet a lot and I knew what I was doing. By using the internet it has widened the potential audience for our product. The best part was choosing our soundtrack, as a group we listened to a wide range of music and played around with it to see which one suited the best.
When it came to using the Apple Macs at the start, I dint really understand what I was doing. It took a lot of playing about before I actually noticed what I was doing. I liked it when we had to capture the film and put in the input and output of the video this was really fun because it was easy to find.
Looking back from the preliminary task, I feel that I have learnt so much to the full product. This is because in the preliminary task I didn’t really know what I was doing. I have learnt how to plan my work carefully and write down any useful ideas. This is so the end result will be as you first pictured it. More over, I have also learnt how to overcome problems and finding the best way to address them. I have also learnt how to work as a group and putting everyone’s ideas together so we can produce a good film. The main thing that I have learnt is how to edit and film. Overall I have gained a good insight in the topic of genre this is because when I first started I didn’t know anything about it and thought a thriller had to be scary, but as we learnt about it more I realised there are other reason to it.