In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I studied the forms and conventions of thriller, finding that the two main elements that should be present within a film of this genre is suspense and tension. We felt it was important to create and express these elements as well as we could through the technical codes.
First of all the mise-en-scene was took into consideration. Our film had two main characters the killer and the lonely boy victim. We wanted to create a contrast between their locations to express the characters roles further. It begins with the party looking fun with drinking and laughing between extras. The empty bottles and the cards on the table were placed to create the party atmosphere on screen. Then the film suddenly takes a dark twist, where the killer is shown putting on bizarre make-up in front of a shrine of the lonely boy character. The black bag covering the mirror, the pictures of the boys with red circles around the head and the candles al created an unsettling location for audiences to watch.
The sound I placed within the film played a major part in the creation of suspense and tension in the atmosphere. I used VideoCopilot's Pro Scores to create a tense score for the very beginning of the film and during the transition to the killers location. Similar to Shutter Island (2010), the score keeps audiences on the edge of their seat with a constant atmospheric sound, high pitch string on sudden actions on screen and crescendos to build up drama as the title appears. We challenged the conventions of thriller by using a more pleasant track The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen which was there to settle audiences into the party scene which gave me the opportunity to shock audiences as we make the sudden transition and the sound stops. I also thought the original sound of the party did not create the overpowering sound I wanted. I thought the boy would appear even more vulnerable if he is overpowered with noise. I got party ambience sound effects from pacdv.com which were free to use and worked great to give the ambience i was looking for. We also used the track On the nature of daylight from Scorsese's Shutter Island (2010). This track worked brilliantly in the film to express a sad feeling. Much like the film, I wanted the sequence to be an emotional roller coaster with many feelings being expressed.
The editing in the positioning of our shots was done to further express the madness of the narrative. We filmed lots of strange imagery including the faces and masks of our party extras and paintings around the house. I wanted these to be used in a short shot duration sequence to puzzle to the minds of our audience. This is similar to the film Se7en (1995) where strange imagery is using in the opening credits. This opens audiences connotations of the sub genre of horror present in the film.
Through camera we used very conventional angles within the genre to express power positions and to highlight certain features of characters. The buffalo bill preparation scene in Silence of the lambs (1991) has similar shots as we have close ups on our killer's costume highlighting his odd apparel and make-up.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our film represents a suburban lifestyle through setting and character costume. The house used in the film is of middle class shown through the furniture and décor. Also the people at the party are teenagers who are drinking and smoking which reflects the youth culture in suburban areas. The party represents a major element in the lifestyle of this social group. Also our killer's costume and behaviour of figure represents the people in youth culture who struggle to fit in and find friends, this potentially could drive the person insane much like our killer is.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our film has an independent feel to it. With the amateur performances and equipment used I think it would be wrong to picture our film being distributed by huge film production companies such as Sony Pictures entertainment or Paramount Studios. I picture the film being distributed by more independent British companies such as Film 4 Productions or Working Title Films as these companies are more likely to support a film with a smaller budget. I think the film would be shown in art house cinemas or a local film club as being a first time film by the group we would have greater support from these audiences than if it was shown in cinemas to mainstream audiences.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
In terms of age, I would say the film should be 15 years or over. Firstly because of the horror elements of the film including the large knife being shown. Also because of the language used in the shouting scene, which follows the guidline, "There may be frequent use of strong language". I also believe our films should be aimed at regular cinema goers with an understanding and experience with psychological thrillers. The film has a lot going on to begin with a narrative that would be understood by this audience but possibly not with more inexperienced viewers.
How did you attract/address your audience?
If we were to attracts audiences for the film if it were fully made would buy advertisements in strategically placed areas considering our target audience. For example, on websites such as IMDB.com or RottenTomatoes.com where regular cinema viewers would check on these websites about news on films. Also another trending marketing scheme is through viral advertising on the internet. For example, The last exorcism ad on chatroullete.com grabbed the attention of large audiences through its shocking marketing. To get feedback for our project however, we used our accounts on facebook to post our video to our friends and asked them to like or comment the video. We also showed our class the video and also another class from school.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
We were not experienced in film making although all members of the group have researched what technologies go into making a professional looking film. We wanted to our film to look as professional as possible so we used a HD camera, the Kodak ZX1. I have learnt that using HD cameras is not a necessity and we could even possibly get a better looking image using a standard DV camcorder and up-scaling on software such as Sony Vegas, Premier Pro or After Effects. Although I was happy with the finished product, the quality looked brilliant in outdoor conditions giving our picture a crisp look. Also we used a dolly which we have learned take patience to get the perfect shot. The dolly can be hard to handle depending on what surface the wheels are rolling on. It only works on completely flat surfaces but when used correctly, the tracking shots give the film an extremely professionally look. I learned that the editing of the film is a lengthy process and me being a perfectionist, it took much longer than I expected. Although I enjoyed doing it, it gave me a chance to express my creativity through the software premier pro, which has many effects to toy with. I learned that the sound mix in the editing was the hardest element to produce. The placing of certain sound effects and transitions between them must be split-second perfect to give the impact you were looking to express.
I also learned the powers of internet marketing for films. Websites such as youtube and vimeo allow users to share their videos and have them commented on through web 2.0. This made me realise how much opportunity our generation have to become a popular film maker and the less effort needed to grab audiences than before the internet was created or even before broadband was. Through the internet we are able to distribute our film to the widest possible audience, globally.
Youtube also allows users to discover it's videos demographic through google insight. This shows the primal location of viewers, age and gender and also how they got to the video. The use of blogging has also been a great tool, allowing me to store all of my work and embed videos and pictures to express my influences and opinions.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
To get to the final product it took a lot of planning and research to know exactly what we wanted before the shoot and then editing the footage. As we were specifically creating an opening in the thriller genre we had to study it's forms and conventions. Generally the genres main elements were the creation tension and suspense through all of the technical codes. I watched films such as Psycho (1960), The Birds (1963) and Rear Window (1954) to witness the work of Alfred Hitchcock AKA. the master of suspense. I also watched some more modern thrillers including Se7en (1995), Donnie Darko (2001) and Shutter Island (2010). This was to inspire ideas for our narrative and theme. This worked very well as it clearly shown that we have paid homage to these classic thrillers and they encouraged our creativity as a group.
I have also learnt the importance of planning ahead and getting a clear vision of our film. We talked through our plot and the shots on screen repetitively to each other to reach this vision. I have also learned the importance of modern technology and to take advantage of it. We used social networking sites, instant messaging and mobile phones to contact each other concerning the project. We discussed title names, narrative ideas, camera shots and shared photographs and videos. Communication is extremely easily and we used modern facilities as much as possible to interact. The preliminary task was essential to create the final film in the best possible quality in the time we had. It allowed us to organise a schedule and mange our extras and cast and crew positions efficiently.