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

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

Through out this process I have used numerous different technologies and equipment. During the production stage of my opening I used Final Cut to edit my footage. This was a relatively new software for me, the only other time I had used it was during my preliminary task, therefore my knowledge and understanding of how it all worked was fairly basic. To over come this I explored the software as often as I could and used youtube videos to help me when I my self couldn't find how to do what I wanted.

To create the sound track for our opening we used Garageband. This is a software I had used before so I found using it for my product was fairly simple. Not only this but it is generally a simple easy to use software.

I have also used other technologies such as Youtube, Padlet (Wallwisher), Bubbl, Voki, Prezzi and Spicy Nodes. Youtube was vital in helping me in the production of my media product and was very helpful. I used it to upload my product and to research guides on how to use other products.

When I used Padlet I had many issues with it, the main one was that it kept on deleting my work and/or crashing. This was not what I expected when I started using it and did make completing my work harder. Also I had trouble uploading pictures occasionally, I thought it may have been my internet connection but I was proved wrong as I tried uploading the pictures using different internet connections and still I had the same problem. However overall it is a good program to use for presenting. I personally found it frustrating how it kept crashing but if it wasn't for that it would be really quick and simple to use.

I found that Voki was a rather exciting program to use as it allowed me to be creative with the avatar and answer my question in a new interesting way. However a problem I did come across was I could only import a limited amount of text which meant in order to give my full response I had to make it into 4 parts. Voki is good for short messages and announcements due to the limited text you can import. It would perhaps be useful for someone giving and interactive presentation who wanted to change the way the information was being received by other (i.e receive it acoustically rather than visually)

I found that Bubbl and Spicy Nodes were very similar technologies that are fairly basic to use. These are good mind mapping programs that would have been useful to use in the planning stage of my product. I was able to use them for presenting my evaluation questions however I found it hard to fully express my self using them as they are more suited to note based responses.

I looked at using word it out and gliffy( a flow chart creator) but these didn't allow me to express my self fully enough to answer or present my questions in a way that I was happy with.

New technology has made media products and production more accessible for the general public. For example anyone with an internet connection is now able to stream products. This opened the gateway to VOD (video on demand) making it possible for the public to order and pay for films on-line and watch them through their pc or consoles using networks such a Love Film and Net Flix. This opens up the market for a lot of production companies but also gives independent producers a more of a chance to sell their product.

As I mentioned earlier I learnt to use all of the different technologies by simply exploring them as much as I could and playing around with the different parts of each program. When I did run into problems with them I turned to Youtube to show me how to do it.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Here Is the link to my response for this answer: https://bubbl.us/?h=1dd638/3d1973/19XP9zXeb0/t2
Or below is the imbedded copy of it

PART 4- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

PART 3- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

PART 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

PART 1- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

DRAFT: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my thriller opening the main character is a teenage girl therefore teenagers are being represented. This is important as they are part of my target audience (15-24yearolds) This also goes against the stereotypical conventions of thrillers where men are usually the main character.

I wanted to challenge the idea that men are dominant over women, I think I did this by making both the lead ‘good’ character and ‘bad’ character women in my product. 

This ‘bad’ character particularly challenges the stereotype of most thrillers as it is a woman taking control and coming back to take revenge on a man and his family, therefore making a man a victim where as often it is shown to be the other way round.

When you look at all the characters collectively the social groups that are represented in my thriller are a white middle class traditional nuclear family. However when you break it down you see that there is a representation of younger characters and this links to the target audience as I aimed to target 15-24 year olds. 

Because of this I thought if I used a younger cast, roughly between these ages, it would be easier for my target audience to relate to the characters. 

I was particularly trying to target more women than men as when I did my audience research I had a bigger response from women, this helped to influence my choice of having women as the main characters over a man. 

The older age groups from about 30+ are also represented by the characters of the mother and father.

The younger age group, around 11years, is also represented to some extent by the younger brother. This could attract a younger audience than I originally intended especially as my product has a content that could be seen as suitable for parental guidance as there is no gore or violence

How did you attract/ address your audience?

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

Genre:

My thriller has a subgenre of horror and this is conveyed by the use of a distorted nursery rhyme (play sound as I say the next sentence) as it takes away the innocence of the characters and adds to the fear and suspense by taking away the ‘natural order’ and expectations of nursery rhymes which normally connote a sense of safety and security.

Mise en Scene:

In the scenes of my thriller that are filmed in the living room (show still images of the scenes) the lighting is fairly dark. The darkness and shadows conform to the typical thriller conventions. It helps create a scene and a sense of suspense like you would find in a real media product (insert clip). Close up shots of characters faces (show stills) uses real media conventions as many thriller films use close ups to draw the audiences attention to key parts of the scene. An example of this is in the film ‘Body of Lies’, where close ups are shown of the important listening device and important characters, especially to show their emotion (show stills from Body of Lies). When I first started filming I intended to film at a time of day that meant the lighting would be naturally low, in the hope to create natural shadows that would add to the fear and isolation. However this didn’t workout because it was far too dark which disrupted the quality of the picture. Instead I filmed during daylight and used sound effects/ sound track (screen shots from garageband/ clip previews) that would create a greater sense of fear. 

Location:

When looking at real media products I found that a lot of thrillers were set in woods or areas with a lot of trees. Examples I looked at were ‘Cabin in the Woods’ (show stills), ‘The Blair Witch Project’ (stills) and ‘Eden Lake’(stills). These all used the woods to portray entrapment and isolation, which are typical of thriller conventions. These films also conveyed fear and used shadows to help do this (add a clip that shows this). 

When it came to making my thriller I took this into consideration. I decided to film the beginning in a wooded lake area (show stills), as I wanted to particularly convey isolation and therefore fear.

Narrative:

Typical thriller narratives are of death, being watched, being followed and deception. My thriller conveys all of these. In the beginning of my opening you get the feeling that Charlie is being followed/watched. At the end of the opening you are led to believe that the characters die and you are also left with the possibility to develop deception from the father to the rest of his family. 

Themes:

My thriller opening had themes of entrapment, isolation and being forced to step up and deal with extreme situations. These themes, especially isolation and entrapment, are quiet typical of a thriller an example of this is shutter island (insert shutter island poster). My thriller also has themes of revenge which is typical of the thriller genre 

Camera work and editing:

When creating my product I tried to use a variety of shots such as, mid shot, long shot, close up, tracking and panning, in order to convey to the forms and conventions of other media products. However not all of these shots made it into the final edit as there was not enough time or perhaps too much footage to fit into an opening. 

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

Created with Padlet

RE-DRAFT: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

There are many film companies that distribute media products, there are Hollywood companies such as:

New Line (producers of the thriller ‘Redition’), which was founded in 1967 and has more than four decades of experience and success in producing films for audiences around the world.

Paramount (Mission Impossible) founded in 1912 is the fifth oldest studio and has produced many films while working along side a wide range of producers.

Lionsgate (the lincoln lawyer) was founded in 1995 they have produced many films and TV programs that have become very successful. They continue to expand and develop their library of works.

There are also UK companies such as:

Working Title (producers of Rush) which was founded in 1983 and has produced many of Britain’s most successful films such as ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’, ‘Bridget Jones Diary’ and ‘Love Actually’. Working title has produced over 70 films and won a number of Baftas and Oscars and has been recognized for its contribution to the British film industry. Working Title also has a department for low budget films called, Working Title 2.

Vertgio Films (Escapist) in relation to the other film companies I have looked at is a new company, therefore not a big. It was founded in 2002 specifically to make ‘The Football Factory’ and ‘Its All Gone Pete Tong’. However it went on to make more films such as StreetDance and Escapist.

Shine Pictures (3 Seconds) is a British company that is ever growing and expanding its resources. In the past two years they have successfully developed the company and expanded its branches internationally to Shine Australia, Shine Germany, Shine France and Shine Iberia.

Peapie Pictures (The Debt) is another UK production company that has had a hand in producing a number of films.

I think New Line, Paramount, Lionsgate, Working Title and Vertigo Films are, out of the above list, the companies that would have the most success in distributing my product. I believe this because these all have a lot of money that could be put into the product, along with an experienced work force that have previously had lots of success.

The company that I would particularly like to distribute my product would be Working Title. This is because I my self, have particularly enjoyed the films they have produced and distributed, which also makes their work more memorable for me than other companies. Not only this but the different sections of Working Title makes me believe that my product would be in safe hands as there is a wide range of resources to call upon, for example. Working title has connections with big companies such as universal studios, so if they did run into problems this could possibly be a resource they could call upon for their expertise. Also the low budget section of Working Tittle, Working Title 2 reassures me that Working Title are successful at making a range of films. As my product is most likely to fall into this low budget category I would feel comfortable leaving it in the hands of a company that has had many successes with low budget projects.

If I were to release my product as a TV movie, which I think could be successful with some more development, then I would look at companies such as

Warp Films who have been developing their products in the TV industry and are currently in the process of making a show for Sky Atlantic. They have also distributed the drama ‘Southcliffe’ on Channel 4 along with the psychological thriller ‘Dead Man's Shoes’

Cowboy Films have produced TV films such as ‘How I Live Now’ and ‘The Last King of Scotland’. And Trademark Films who were established in 2000 have been responsible for films such as the adaptation of Dodie Smith’s novel ‘I Capture The Castle’, ‘Chasing Liberty’ and most recently ‘My Week With Marilyn”. I would choose one of these companies as they all have successful TV productions and continue to develop.

In its current stage of production I would release my product on the internet as it has had no money put into it, there are no special effects, the characters are played by volunteers who aren't professional actors and because of all this, I think the best place to distribute it would be on the internet on a site such as YouTube, as it would then be a free resource for other students who are looking for inspiration and to see how I may have overcome some filming/editing issues.

DRAFT: How did you attract/address your audience?

When conducting my primary research I found that 80% of respondents were female. 67% were aged 12-17 and 10% 18-24. As these were the age groups that I received the highest response rates for I decided to make the actual target audience of my thriller ages 15-24. This is because there is a lot more content that you can include for a film rated 15 compared to a film rated 12.

I also found from conducting my primary research that 73.68% of respondents said that they enjoyed watching movies because of the "story line". This was helpful as I could then focus on creating a griping storyline. This was followed by "sound track" that had 39.47% of respondents say that they enjoyed watching movies because of it. This again emphasized to me the importance of a soundtrack.

At the beginning of my thriller opening there is a point of view shot so the audience is being asked to put them selves in the shoes of the main character, Charlie. This was an attempt to help the audience connect with the character and pay more attention to her actions. This would be easier for the women I wanted to target, as they will find it easier to see them selves in the place of the female character. By making it seem like Charlie is isolated it creates fear and suspense, this impacts the opening and the audiences reaction because it makes them want to find out what happens to the character .

There is a part in the thriller where the ‘badie’ is looking through the window at the family, this could be quite scary for young children as the night vision and mask of the ‘badie’ do look quite scary. This is why I think the audience is between the ages of 15-24. I think there is enough suspense to keep people between these ages interested without scaring them.

It is important to attract a specific target audience as you will then be able to make all of your film content, including age of actors, costume, props, location mis un scene ect appropriate to that exact audience. This will make the product more appealing. It will also make it easier to market towards that audience along with saving you money on props etc that you may have brought in for a wider audience that aren’t actually needed for the specific audience. You will then also make money because you will be able to produce merchandise specifically aimed towards that audience whilst knowing also how to sell the tickets/who to sell them to in order to make the most money e.g the Twilight sega was targeted specifically towards teenagers so advertisements were placed in places teenagers would be or on channels/times they would watch on TV.

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

I think my thriller opening is more likely to be an internet only release as it has had no money put into it, there are no special effects, the characters are played by volunteers who aren't professional actors and because of all this, I think the best place to distribute it would be on the internet as it would then be free for people to watch which you would expect from a product that has had very little money put into it. 

I think there is a chance for my thriller opening to be produced by a major Hollywood studio such as Paramount (Mission Impossible), Lionsgate (hostel) and New line (Rush Hour 2) as there are lots of opportunities to change and run away with the plot, expanding and exploring different aspects. A Hollywood studio, such as one mentioned above, would have money to put into better actors, special effects and a more effective soundtrack. I think my thriller is similar to existing products like 'The Strangers" and therefore I see and opportunity for a big company to develop my product

My thriller opening could also be produced by British film companies such as Working Title, Vertgio Films, Shine Pictures, Peapie Pictures. They have produced successful films such as 'Contraband', 'Les Miserables', 'Rush', 'Streetdance', 'Streetdance 2', 'The Grey Man', 'Kick-Ass' and 'Stardust'. Therefore I think these companies would be able to target the specific audience to maximise the potential success of the product. If I were to release my product as a TV movie, which I think could be successful with some more development, then I would look at companies such as Warp Films, Cowboy Films and Trademark Films. These all have successful TV productions.

In its current stage of production I would release my product on the internet as a resource for other students who are looking for inspiration and to see how I may have overcome some filming/editing issues. If My product was to be completed by a company I would probably be most likely to chose a British film company such as Working Title.