Evaluation

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

We used a few forms and conventions of thrillers. the most obvious one was music. Thrillers are renowned for using suspense building music. that is what we tried to capture as well. I feel it worked well. the music, sets the mood, pace, scene and helps coach along the story line. We have no identity for the people in our thriller, it is left a mystery, but we tried to make it look like they were innocent but had a darker side as well. why would they be being chased if they were completely innocent? I suppose it could be related back to 'Psycho'. The audience sympathises with her, even though she has stolen a lot of money from the bank.

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

i would imagine a company like lionsgate might distribute our media product, because they distribute to the UK and America, this would make our media product more of less global, boosting peoples viewing opportunities. Lionsgate have produced some very popular films for example, all the 'saw' films, 'Rambo', 'Transporter 3', and the 8.4 stars out of 10 (IMDb, Internet Movie Database) 'Kick-Ass'.

If audiences liked these films and Lionsgate Produced our Thriller the chances are that they would enjoy our film too.

Who would be the audiences for your media product?

After doing my research on classification certificates, I would certify our Thriller as a 12A, no one younger that twelve is permitted to view our work unless accompanied by an adult. The opening its self, I would rate as this, the opening itself I would rate as a PG, however we have to take into account to whole film complete. I would imagine that our film would appeal to any one from the age of 12 or older.

How did you attract/address your audience?

We attracted our audience by keeping what the 'documents' actually are a secret, later to be discovered in the film, In hope that the audience would be anxious to know what they were and why they are so important. By using the gunshot and the missing posters the audience would want to know who would want to kill someone over some documents, emphasising that they must be important.

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

I have learnt that what your initial idea may be, it might not be physically possible to perform with the hand help camera and Mac computer to edit on- I have learnt how to use the newer version of 'iMovie' rather than the older one similar to Windows Movie Maker.

i never understood the importance of lighting until we filmed this. i especially realised this when filming through the alley, and in the house.

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

I have defiantly learnt to make sure everything is perfect in place and that there is nothing there that shouldn't be, in our preliminary piece, we made an amateur mistake, a drinks bottle and story board have been left in, in a couple of shots, defiantly something I took care about when filming our final piece.

the importance of reaction shots as well. we didn't really have any in our preliminary, so I ensured at least one was included in our final piece.

I have really enjoyed filming this, and i would love to do it again, i have also really enjoyed producing this blog.

Opening Sequence: HELPLESS

This is our AS Level opening to a Thriller. I am very pleased with the outcome.

I feel we have produced an opening, that feels creepy and atmospheric.

Initial Feedback

Overall we have had a good response.

"I like the music, it gives it a real creepy feel"

"I like the editing"

"I like the use of slow motion and fast motion to indicate the rush"

"the email, gun shot and missing posters were a nice touch"

"I really like the point of view running, really captures what the escapee's are feeling and doing".

We had posted the video on both Youtube and facebook and got feedback from strangers and friends.

Thriller Planning Research: Photos

Here are some photos my group and I took while planning the destination of our thriller.

Film Classification Research

U- Universal

BBFC say that 'It is impossible to predict what might upset any particular child'

U classification is suitable for all, four years and over simply because any younger wouldn't understand the film very well, However if a work is particularity suitable for pre-school children, it will be indicated in the consumer advice , a U means it has not violence, threat or horror.

PG- Parental Guidance

General viewing however some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.

It is advised that parents check the film won't disturb or upset any particularity sensitive children. The recommended age for PG is 8 or older.

12- Suitable for 12 years and older.

The same criteria goes for both 12 and 12A however a 12A means someone under the age of twelve can watch with an adults supervision. with this the responsibility of the child's viewing then lies with the accompanying adult.

12 simply means no-one under the age of 12 can view, whether they have adults supervision or not.

12A was fist implemented on Spider man and the Bourne Identity.

15- suitable for persons aged 15 and over.

This classification simply means no-one is permitted to buy rent or view the work in a cinema under the age of 15. This may be because of the levels of violence, strong language or sexual scenes.

'15' is most common on teenage films, Juno, Zombiland and Knocked Up. it can also be found on horror films as well, i.e. 'The Ring'

18- suitable for adult viewing only. The same applies for 18, BBFC insist that no-one under the age of 18 may buy rent or view in cinemas.

In shops, I.D will be asked of the customer to prove that they are in fact 18+.

This rating is usually found on film genres such as horror's and violence films. for example 'Good Fellas', and 'Paranormal Activity'.

This is one higher than the classified 18, this content is only for licensed adult shops and specially licensed cinemas. It isn't very common to see this logo.

For a film to be classified as R18, it would have to contain extreme sexual content.

Alfred Hitchcock: Psycho

Examining 2 scenes from Alfred Hitchcock’s psycho and how he creates suspense.

Alfred Hitchcock, one of the greatest directors of all time. In 1960 he produced ‘psycho’ – the home to the most iconic scene of all time- the shower scene. It is so iconic that even if you haven’t seen the film yourself you would have probably heard about it.

But first I want to talk about a scene that happens earlier. From the point where Marion arrives at the the bates motel, straight away you can tell that the vibe isn't quite right. When Marion arrives, it is raining heavily, there are no other cars parked in the car park and no lights appear to be on in the rooms, indicating there is nobody occupying the rooms.

When Marion checks into the motel The scene begins with what appears to be an innocent invitation from Norman to Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), the unsuspecting guest at the Bates Motel, to come into "the parlour." The use of the word parlour--as in "'come into my parlour" said the spider to the fly--establishes the tenor of the scene. The significance of this brief line becomes all the more apparent at the end of the film when Norman's "mother", who has by now consumed Norman's mind and soul, looks directly into the camera and says that "she" would not "even hurt a fly."

Marion accepts the invitation to sit with him in his parlour. Hitchcock sets up the room so it looks barely big enough for two chairs, there is one source of light, the Tiffany lamp on the lamp table. this light is key to the scene. Hitchcock positions the characters to that Marion is seated behind the light so her- like the lamp are lit up with a warm glow, despite the fact she is not as innocent and she looks. However bates is harshly lit in the corner of the room- his face is dark and shadowed. I also noticed that behind Marion there is a round oval picture frame and behind Bates there are angular picture frames. Indicating that Bates' character is harsh and blunt whereas Marion's character is soft, innocent and gentle.

These are all prime examples of how Hitchcock creates suspense. The audience knows something isn't quite right. Even without a trained eye to notice the picture frames and the lighting, subconsciously this information will go into every single one of the audience's heads and build the suspense and tension for them.

Now i want to talk about the very famous and iconic scene, everybody knows about. Hitchcock creates suspense very well by the way he uses the camera position, angles, movement and shots and lighting when he wants to shock his audience or create suspense. He also uses suspense building music with lots of bowed string instruments for example violins and cellos, with sharp choppy high pitched notes to add to the shock of what the audience has just witnessed. He used music like this when Marion Crane got brutally murdered, when the murderer is sneaking up on her, it is silent, all that can be heard is the water from the shower and all that can be seen is an unaware Marion Crane and someone’s shadows behind the shower curtain, no music is played here because I think Hitchcock wanted the audience to build the suspense up themselves, to let their imagination run wild for what they should think is about to happen, due to Hitchcocks decisions earlier in the film. To make Norman bates look suspicious to make everything seem not quite right about the motel Marion is staying at.

Hitchcock, quite abruptly kills off the main character, that had never been done before. it would leave questions in the audiences heads, for example, how is the film going to carry on with know lead? This would create curiosity but tension and suspense at the same time. at the time when this film came out, viewers couldn't believe what had happened.

The scene runs for 3 minutes, includes 50 cuts and 77 camera angles. The fast cuts and dramatic close ups make the scene seem more violent and controlled than a wider shot would have done. The way that Hitchcock had the camera taking on almost a point of view shot in the killers perspective made the scene even more dramatic as it took all control away from the lead character that the audience has come to understand and sympathise with. the vulnerability of Marion is really emphasised here. throughout the film she has been the strong one, the lead, the powerful one and its just swapped to someone the audience barely knows in a matter of seconds.

To conclude, the way that Hitchcock creates suspense and tension is by using very clever fast cuts, carefully selected camera angles, music and scenery. however since 1960 technology has been brought on and improved, so if Hitchcock was to make this film again today, the murder would be a lot more convincing, although its not about the murder as such, what creates the shock and suspense is like I said everything else that helps build up to that point of the murder.

Taking Lives Essay

In what ways does ‘Taking Lives’ conform to or subvert what you consider to be the forms and conventions of the thriller genre?

Taking Lives conforms to what I consider to be the forms and conventions of a thriller genre by all the techniques used to play with the viewer’s mind without actually showing anything, just letting the imagination of the audience take over.
One of these techniques is creating suspense and tension by playing music which creates tension, like the ‘Jaws’ theme tune for example, when this tune is played the audience automatically start asking questions in their heads, what’s going to happen? What or who is following them? Who’s the murderer? Half the time nothing ever happens, but the human imagination is far too good to notice. Without Suspense and tension thriller movies are not possible, this is why playing music conforms to what I consider to be the forms and conventions of a thriller genre.
Twists can also play a big part in thriller genres; Taking Lives features a big twist which becomes apparent at the end of the film, to make this twist work, a protagonist is used, without one most twists wouldn’t work. By including a protagonist the audience becomes familiar with them, almost as if they know the person face to face, so when the twist is revealed the viewers are shocked. The character of the protagonist in Taking Lives is a normal working class man who lives a relatively normal life that the audience will be able to relate to, this is why he is a good character to be the protagonist to keep the audience guessing throughout the film, revealing little bits at a time.
You could say Angelina Jolie who plays the lead role of Illeana Scott, a top F.B.I agent, is a protagonist at the end of the film too. Although she is a genuine character all the way through the film, she fools the murderer by pretending to be pregnant with his baby however the audience don’t know any better either. She manages so stab the murderer after he stabs her ‘’pregnant’’ tummy, but as he is about to dye she pulls out a rubber pregnant tummy, so in this sense you could say she is a protagonist as well, to create even more of a twist. Without a protagonist of some sort the film would probably be too predictable, which is why twists conform to what I consider to be the forms and conventions of a thriller genre.
Action sequences can help a lot in a thriller genre. Going back to suspense and tension, with an action sequence tension will build in the audience because they won’t know the outcome. Say the action sequence is a fight, or a struggle between two people, or a car chase, if the protagonist is involved, the audience should hopefully, if the film is done well, be sat in their seats glued to the screen hoping that the unsuspecting character won’t get hurt. Action sequences conform to what I consider to be the forms and conventions of a thriller genre.
The whole film is full of puzzles, mysteries, twists and surprises. These help when keeping the audience guessing, as soon as they may think one thing, it immediately becomes apparent that that would be impossible.
About half an hour from the end, the audience finds out who the murderer is, the protagonist who is played by Ethan Hawke, after spending the entire film wondering who the murderer is, they then find out it is the least expecting character, this always has a big impact on thrillers because the suspense builds up in the viewers heads while they’re wondering how the film is going to end. After physically seeing the murderer in action it goes to seven months later which is part of a second twist, Agent Scott devised a plan of pretending to become pregnant, she knew he was watching her the whole time, it was just a case of waiting for him to make an appearance again, however again the audience didn’t know this was going on, they thought that she was genuinely pregnant as she had a one night with the murderer before she knew he was a psycho. This is another way of how taking lives conforms to what I consider to be the forms and conventions of a thriller genre.
To conclude the ways that ‘Taking Lives’ conform to or subvert to what I consider to be the forms and conventions of a thriller genre I would say that with suspense, tension, the use of protagonist’s on more than one occasion and the way that the audience can relate to them, the action sequences and the puzzles the mysteries the twists and surprises, this is what creates a thriller, the right use of each one of these in the right places makes a excellent film, which is exactly what D.J Caruso did in ‘Taking Lives’. He kept the audience guessing almost every step of the way, and revealed the whole story in a very clever manner to make a bigger impact on the audience, so when the film is over they think to themselves that they had no idea that’s how the film was going to end.

Media Studies First Continuity Piece, 2010 Jo and Emma :)

Media Studies.

First continuity piece. We had to include an exchange of dialogue between at least two people. We had to think of a storyline, and to use a range of camera angles and shots we'd learned about in lesson.