Evaluation (Text)

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 
We challenged the typical conventions of a thriller film as we used both a female antagonist and protagonist, which is unusual within this genre. We made this choice in order to attract a wider female audience, in addition to trying to keep the interest of a general thriller audience. We also wanted to flip the stereotypes that are common in such films; for example that the male character has the most power, whereas any female characters are usually love interests or have smaller roles. 
Although breaking these conventions could be a risk, we decided to make sure we did include some typical thriller conventions; such as a dark setting for the attack scene, tense music to create suspense, fast cuts and a variety of shot sizes. We also used a particular font and choice of colours to establish the genre of the film from the very start. The titles were in lower case to make clear to the audience that this film is different to other thriller films they may have seen in that it focuses on smaller details about the characters life as well as on the overall 'action' plot.
This is shown in the fact that we chose to use a voiceover of the main character narrating some of the scenes, rather than open with just an action sequence. I think this immediately brings the audience closer to the main character as we can hear the fear in her voice.


How does your media product represent particular social groups? 
Our product mostly represents women or teenage girls as the character shown in the opening 2 minutes are all female, however over the course of the film we would have introduced some male characters. We realise that the audience for thrillers is predominantly male, however we wanted to portray strong and intelligent women who the audience can relate to, or empathise with regardless of gender. We have a variety of representations - from young women in party clothes having fun, to a female attacker, to a woman who protects herself from an attack. The style of clothes they wear also range from jeans and a t-shirt, a dark hoodie to a short, modern playsuit. This may also help us to capture the interest of a female audience, who often feel unrepresented by this genre of film.
We had to think about representations of ethnicity in our film very carefully, and were eager to avoid too many stereotypes. We realised the fact that the antagonist was played by a black actress may bring up these stereotypes, however the plot of the film would later make clear that she was forced to take these actions by somebody with power over her.  Our protagonist (main character) was played by an Asian actress, which is unusual for a thriller film. We tried to represent her as an independent, modern woman who was able to defend herself against the danger that faced her. Although her state as she came out of the party could be seen as a negative representation, we wanted a relatable character celebrating her birthday!
As far as age goes, most of our cast are between the ages of 16 and 20. We asked the cast to bring their own costumes in the hope that it would be a varied and accurate representation of young people today. Our characters wore various currently fashionable clothes, none of which I think would be a negative representation. Although we showed them at a club and some of them were drinking, which is somewhat stereotypical. Also, the fact that the main character seems unaware of the dangers walking alone at night, and the picture of a hooded teenage attacker play to stereotypes.  


What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 
After watching our film opening, and researching into our genre, we looked at various film distribution companies and wanted to find the one that was the best fit for our film. Eventually, we decided upon Columbia Pictures due to the fact that they are not only a well-known and respected company, but have released many successful films within this genre before.
They have released the hugely successful Da Vinci Code and Angels And Demons. These films combine mystery and thriller seamlessly, whilst including a psychological element to them. Also, Columbia have released quite a few of the main recent thriller films with female leads
Some examples of these would be The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a thriller released in 2011, Salt, an action / mystery thriller released in 2010 and Panic Room, a suspense thriller released in 2002. We also liked the representations of the female characters in these films, and this further encouraged use that they would be the right fit / interested in our film.


Who would be the audience for your media product? 
The audience for our film would be teenagers and adults from the age of 15 - 25. We decided that the film would be rated 15, as we think it would be inappropriate for younger ages to view the scenes of violence and drinking. Our film includes young characters, in a club and city based setting that would probably be familiar to this audience. The costume and choice of music would also appeal to this age range.
The violence in our film is not explicit, and we think an 18 rating would be too high because it would restrict the audience for our film too much. This is one of the reasons why we decided to use the flickering attack sequence instead of showing the entire attack, because we thought it would be just as scary, whilst leaving some of the details to the imagination of the viewer.
Our film targets those who are interested in psychological thriller films that mix elements of horror, thriller and drama such as Along Came A Spider, Panic Room and Se7en.


How did you attract/address your audience? 
The first thing we did to attract our audience was using actors and characters in the film that were the same age as them – teenagers and young adults. This would help the audience to relate to them and put themselves into their position more easily. We also attracted our audience through the use of props and costume to stylise the film as ‘young looking’. For example, in this shot our main character is wearing high heel shoes at a party, the attackers costume echoes current youth culture concerns and the party clothes could currently be seen in shops / in popular culture.
This would attract our target audience as most teenagers this age would wear heels like these and go out with friends to parties. Teenage parties are very popular in today’s society and our location therefore links to this.  The clothes being worn by our main character are also very trendy and fashionable. We intended to use social networking sites as our main marketing strategy, because we know that young people spend a lot of time on these sites, therefore allows us to attract a lot of people in this age range at once without spending a lot of money on advertising.
We would post trailers and a ransom style video on YouTube, make a Facebook fan page and use Twitter's trending topics. We would also make Facebook profiles for some of the characters to allow the audience to interact with them and relate to them further. It would also allow discussion of the film and help encourage people to go and see it that otherwise may not have, so that they can be part of this discussion


What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
We have learnt how to not only operate the lighting, but use it in a more creative way. For example, we placed it behind the character in a dark room to create a silhouette effect and used spotlights in the club scene to make it more realistic. 
We began filming with limited knowledge of how to use the cameras, however through the process, we learnt not only how to record, zoom and pan, but also how to use the camera with other equipment like a tripod and a dolly track to make the footage more smooth and professional. 
We also learnt how to use video editing software, such as iMovie and sound editing software, such as GarageBand. Within iMovie, we cut and edited clips, adjusted the colouring and experimented with placement of each scene. Then, after we had finished, we used Garageband to detach the audio, insert and replace sounds and mute some unwanted background noise. We also used audio bridging to help our scenes flow together.


Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product? 
When we look back at our preliminary task, we realise how much we've learnt throughout this process. One of the biggest things we learnt from our preliminary task was the importance of planning. Creation of a storyboard, drafts of the script and taking photographs of possible locations helped clarify our ideas for our film opening. Whereas in the preliminary task, we hadn't thought it through as carefully, and were unable to follow our plans that well. 
As the person who operated the camera, I definitely learnt how to better use the equipment available. In our preliminary task, we didn't use any extra lighting and weren't yet confident at using the tripod. This resulted in some parts of it not being smooth and a kind of dull look as far as colour goes.
In our final product we used drama students who had more experience with acting on camera. This meant we had more convincing performances and the characters more realistic. They were reliable and stuck to the shooting schedule as well as being easy to contact.


Strengths of film:
One of my favourite parts of the opening was the footage we shot in London and the composition of the shots. Also I thought the flickering attack scene added tension and worked well with the genre of the film.
We choose the right actors for the parts and I am glad we put a lot of thought into this as it made the scenes more convincing. They were very reliable to work with and dedicated to the filming. 
Within the club scene, we used a variety of angles and I think this worked really well along with the lighting to create atmosphere and realism. Also I like the voiceover in the attack scene as it brings the audience closer to the character.


What we disliked/could improve:   
The quality of the footage especially in the final scene was grainy and it would of looked better if we had used a HD camera like the one we used at the beginning in the quote scene. It would’ve looked more professional if the colouring had been even throughout the entire opening. 
I think we should have filmed the club exit scene at night with lighting to create more contrast and to make it more realistic. This would’ve allowed the audience to see the characters expression more clearly.
I think that in the final scene when the main character is kneeling down could have included more of a variety of angles and shot sizes to highlight her reaction to seeing these photos. When she is running away, we could have included a close up of her heels, or a shot of her from the front too.


by Lauren, Rebecca and Rana