Feedback - Lorna

As a class we watched back all of our Thriller openings and wrote feedback for each of the groups based on the three questions in bold. This is what they thought of our opening sequence.
Does it look like a Thriller?

• All said yes.

Two things that worked well?

• Good use of manipulation of time (slow motion)
• Good sound effects, created suspense (voices)
• Nice titling with moving image in background. Neatly presented.
• Sound fitted well with the image (shot with mirror)
• Camera angles, and movements were good.
• Chase scene creates panic and use of props were good.
• Enigma codes ( the bracelet)
• Nice camera shots and editing.
• Vulnerability shown by characters isolation.
• No continuity errors.
• Reversed voices worked well.
• Eerie sound
• Slow zoom on camera worked well.
• Soundtrack.
• Point of view shots and slowed down running sequence.
• High camera angle by the mirrors.
• ~Camera movement - pan.
• Good over the shoulder and close up shots.
• The Flash back.

Two things that did not work well?

• Costume - actor wasn't dressed for the gym.
• Complex plot / narrative.
• Couldn't hear what was being said.
• Editing wasn't very neat in places.
• Sounds like a horror.
• Shots at the beginning were a little over used.
• Lack of sound in parts.
• Jumps to titling and locations very suddenly.
• Beginning was too slow.
• Costume, antagonist doesn't look scary.
• Titling sequence didn't fit, doesn't flow.
• Quite dark.
• Start not very clear.
• Soundtrack when characters are sitting at the table.
• Beginning went on for a long time.

Media Studies AS Level - Evaluation Amelia King.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The use of mise en scene creates suspense in thrillers, for example; an extreme low angle can be used on a particular character to give the impression of them being more powerful, and this character will usually be the antagonist.

Our group produced a thriller opening using unrestricted narrative, this keeps the audience up to date on everything that's happening and it means that they know more about the characters. At the beginning of our opening sequence we decided to use an enigma code to create more tension with the audience, I think that was good to use because in most thrillers you have scenes that leave you hanging on what's happening and it raises questions. We also used this technique at the end of our sequence as well; we did this so the viewers can wonder what happens to the protagonist.

The other techniques we used to add suspense to the opening was when the protagonist was being chased by the antagonist, we decided to use short, choppy and fast clips of her running past, this was to emphasise the mood and atmosphere of the two characters.

We thought it was a good idea if we kept the antagonists identity a secret until further on in the opening sequence. We did this by filming the characters legs and arms, to keep the audience interested we thought we would use a significant item to connect the two characters, this being a bracelet.

In my opinion the use of sound we had worked well with our scenes, we recorded bits of people's conversations in a noisy environment and then rewound it, this created quite an eery background noise.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our opening sequence fits in with the standard stereotypes because we chose to have a females as our protagonist and women are generally always seen as the victim in thrillers. However, we didn't want to stick to this stereotype to much as we wanted our opening to be unique, so we decided to have a female playing the antagonist as well.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
As a group we looked through a website that had a list of small distributors, as our opening sequence is a low budget film we were looking at distributors such as "artificial eye". However, there was a lot of films that we didnt recognise so we carried on looking and saw "focus features". We chose this because they had a range of similar thrillers.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
We thought that 12A would be a suitable rating for our opening sequence.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?
Our films storyline is complex yet realistic, i think the pace of our film at the beginning was good because it was snappy and it keeps the audience interested.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
We used; sound recorder, red head lights, DV camera and tripod, Imovie, final cut pro and garage band.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?
For our preliminary task we broke the 180 degree rule a few times, we made a big effort not to make these kind of mistakes again. Although, while we were paying attention to this, we didn't concentrate on using a variety of camera angles, I think we could have improved on this more.

Evaluation - Lorna Wilson

Media Studies AS Level, Foundation Portfolio

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

For our media product we chose to use an unrestricted narrative that shows the audience everything, providing more knowledge on the characters, essential to the sequence. The end of our opening sequence enforces an enigma code, as well as the opening close ups. We’ve done this to leave to possibilities open but mainly to suggest possible outcomes to the audience, raising questions; a popular convention in thrillers. This technique adds suspense to the plot. An example of this from our own work is in the last few shots where the antagonist is following the protagonist, the sequence ends before the audience can find out if she’s caught up with her.

The framing in the opening shots are tight and choppy, to increase tension by keeping the protagonists identity a secret. We also used this technique when shooting the antagonist as the audience could only recognise the character by the significant bracelet. This technique was something we continued with throughout our sequence. In a majority of the shots involving the antagonist, focus is kept on a significant bracelet (circled in red) . This was our idea to join the narrative together, as the antagonist turns out to know the protagonist.

Keeping with the thriller genre, we made our opening quite chaotic, by using a selection of short, choppy shots piled together amongst longer ones; this is used in both the beginning and end sequences, and helps to fasten the pace.

Mise en scene

• Sound - As well as shots to create a chaotic feel, we also used sound. We came across the idea of using conversations and background noise played in reverse whilst messing about with ideas in the editing suite. It reminded us of the opening titles in Se7en, and the type of fragmented music they used. We found the noises gave an eerie whilst realistic atmosphere, so continued to use this as our main non-diegetic soundtrack, alongside the sound effects.
• Lighting - We used a red head light to shoot in the Gym scenes. We positioned the light source at a high angle and lit the scene from above, to the side of the actor. This didn’t make too much difference to the initial look of the scene, but it provided more of a heightened atmosphere. For the rest of the sequence we remained with natural light.

• Camera work - We used a montage of ECU and CU at the beginning of our opening to disclose the protagonists identity and add a sense of chaos to the sequence, throwing the audience straight into action. Throughout the sequence we disclosed the antagonists face, in the conversation this was through high over the shoulder shots, that cut out her face. In the dance studio scenes we used fragmented point of view shots to reveal someone coming up behind the protagonist (unrestricted narration). Using the positioning of the camera and the mirror we created suspense by panning up to reveal the antagonists reflection, unbeknown to the protagonist.

• Editing - In the editing suit we played around with many of the special effects we speeded up and slowed down some of the choppy clips at the beginning of our opening to give a variation in feel. We also cut and paste most of the chase scene to again, give a chaotic climax, adding tension. The only transaction apart from cutting we used was a dissolve. We did this in the transaction into a flashback to signify the change in time.

• Titles - We used a simple 'music video' font to give details on the film such as "AS media production" situated in the bottom left of the screen. For the main title "The Betrayed" we experimented with quite a few styles before deciding on a black screen with the words used as a window to the moving image, which fades red. The colour choice was taken from Misery where red represents danger or blood.

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

For our opening sequence we tried to stray from too much stereotype. However we still uses the standard stereotype of women playing the victim; yet we changed the antagonist to a feminine character as too avoid too much stereotypes. Out media product both reinforces and challenges the presentation of popular gender conventions; by having both the protagonist and antagonist played by females.

• The narrative breaks traditional viewpoints and challenges them. We kept the traditional representation of femininity with the protagonist but then added a complex, modern representation with the antagonist also being female. This was partly for convenience however, we were also keen to stray from the traditional guidelines.
• The ideology of gender, particularly in the thriller genre conforms to the one idea of femininity playing the victim, the protagonist; masculinity being the stronger antagonist, a negative connotation.
• Mise en scene - The lighting in the opening scene casts light upon the protagonist giving an innocent, passive quality. The protagonists costume isn't particularity feminine, however the antagonist's is, shown especially by the significant bracelet.
• Camera work - The point of view shots that we use for the antagonist acts as an enigma code, and adds suspense as her identity remains a secret, a popular thriller convention normally used with masculinity.
• Setting - The first setting of the gym contradicts ideology of femininity as it isn't a domestic location and carries more masculine connotations.
• Sound -

Our antagonist is portrayed with entrapped masculinity something present in other thriller films such as Hard Candy where her body language shows power.Just as in our opening sequence where the antagonist stands over the protagonist from behind in the dance studio scene. Another example of femininity in the antagonist is Fatal Attraction.

• In our opening the female protagonist is portrayed as weak and vulnerable as she is a petite person alone in quite an open space, this is shown especially in the gym sequence. through framing. Her everyday costume suggest she's just going about everyday activities and as an audience we presume there's nothing unusual.
• The female antagonist is portrayed as independent, a role of masculinity despite being female. As an audience in the opening we don't fully meet the character, all we know is that herself and the protagonist had connections in the past, and as for appearance we only see snippets, as we mostly used point of view shots. However what we do see, is deceivingly feminine, show especially through choice of wardrobe and body language, a twist to traditional conventions of antagonists.

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

After a lesson concentrating on distribution, our group discussed possible methods of distribution available to best fit our media product.

• Independent art house vs mainstream.
  We decided our film would be classed as low budget and because of that would suit an art house rather than a mainstream cinema where more higher budget projects are shown.
• When browsing smaller distributors, we firstly looked at artificial eye. Although this was the right kind of distributor, most of the films they produced none of us had heard of and we were after something with a few more well known titles; so we carried on our search and found focus features. We browsed there film catalogue and found a range of known and unknown films, so decided upon this as our distributor.
• We also chose focus features because of similar themed films they'd distributed in the past. For example 21 Grams and Reservation Road which include complex narratives and similar themes.

• Who would be the audience for your media product?

As a group, we decided ours would be rated at 12A. I think both males and females could enjoy this film, however because of the focus on female gender in the characterisation of our film, it would be more aimed at females. The age group I think its most likely to appeal to would be late teens- 20+. This is largely because of the age of the actors used, modern locations such as the gym and the costumes worn.

• How did you attract/address your audience?

Narrative: Two female characters who used to be friends with each other, the protagonist is pursued by an anonymous antagonist after confrontation between the two, the antagonist is revealed to be the friend. The rest of the film would be about the events and conflict that lead to this evolving.

The narrative of our story is realistic, yet by using unrestricted narrative creates suspense and gives the audience more knowledge on the characters, an omniscient relationship. The use of camera in the opening varies from short and snappy to long shots, especially in the end chase scene. I think the pace, use of colour and ranges of angles help the audience to enjoy the film, as it keeps them in edge.

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

Within this project we used a range of technology to produce our main piece.

• DV Camera and Tripod - We used this to film our opening sequence.

• Red Head light - We used this in the Gym scenes to add extra shadowing to our actors face.

• I movie - We used this to edit our entire opening sequence.

• Final Cut Pro - We used I movie to edit our film, but had to use Final Cut Pro to put our soundtrack of voices taken on the sound recorder in reverse.

• Garage Band - We used Garage Band for our sound. Mainly we just altered the volumes and overlapped the soundtrack. We didn't need to add any sound effects as the camera had picked them up really well from filming.

• Sound Recorder - We used the sound recorder to record our soundtrack. We took it into the common room to pick up general background noise, and experimented by scratching different surfaces and making sounds into it.

• Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

I think we've made good progress from the preliminary task, and have evidently picked up on some of the criticism feedback and taken them into consideration. For our thriller opening we made a conscious effort to stick to the 180 degree rule, as this is what we had the most trouble with last time. Despite our opening not turning out completely how we wanted due to various problems, the biggest being unable to re-film the beginning gym scenes because of our actors. I personally feel we've improved greatly over all by being able to:

• Use more equipment and having a greater knowledge of the technology.
• Having the option and ability to use better, more inventive settings, rather than just sticking to college grounds as we had to for our preliminary task.

• Our preliminary task :

• Our Thriller opening sequence, the final product.

Evaluation- Emma Ingarfield

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

Cinematography

We chose to use both subjective and objective camerawork in our product, in order to create suspense rather than shock. We wanted to keep the Protagonists identity a secret so that the spectator would be kept on their toes, so used specifically tight framing to do so, whilst still making the audience aware of her presence.

We used a variety of different shot types in our piece. We used lots of Close-up's and Extreme Close-up's in the beginning of our sequence to create enigma codes, a common feature in thriller films.

We also used some subjective Over The Shoulder shots to keep the Antagonists identity a secret, another enigma code.


We used a high angle on our Protagonist in this shot, to make her appear vulnerable. We then used objective camerawork in our diagonal tilt up to reveal the Antagonist lurking, and creating suspense, a key theme in thrillers




Editing

The way we edited the chase scene in our sequence was with rapid cuts, to heighten the suspense and pace. Some inspiration for this came from the title sequence from Seven.


We used a dissolve as an ellipsis in one transition to signify a passage of time/flash back. We also wanted to show the connection between the two characters, that they know each other and are friends.




Narrative Features

We used Todorovs Three Act Structure/ Three stage Narrative in the planning of our product.

The Set-up
begins our piece as, our Protagonist is found in an ordinary situation, going to the gym, before things change.

The confrontation
begins when the Antagonist approaches the Protagonist whilst she's putting on her jacket, disrupting the initial situation. The further complications (as there is often more than one in thriller narratives) would occur later on in the film.

The Beginnings of a resolution stage
then occur when the flash forward starts. Our plan was to end the entire film in the same place, not giving closure and with the possibility of a sequel.




We also took inspiration from Seven for the resolution of our full length narrative. In seven, the Antagonists identity was not known until the end, however, he was seen before hand as a photographer. The idea for our narrative was for the Antagonist to be a close friend of the Protagonist, only to be revealed as the killer at the end.

We used enigma codes with all of the close-ups of our actress in the first few frames, so that the audience would question the nature of what she's doing and where she is. We also used it in the final scene where the Antagonist follows the Protagonist down the alley, again leaving the audience questioning.

Mise en Scene

• Make-up and Costume

We wanted both of our actresses dressed in casual, up to date clothes and not wearing too much make-up so that the audience could easily relate to them. We had our Antagonist wearing generally more fashionable clothes and an 'expensive' bracelet to establish her superiority to the Antagonist. We also wanted to appeal to a certain age group and therefore wanted to identify with them.

• Lighting and colour

We didn't use much extra lighting, other than in the gym, as we felt that the ambient light was enough. In the gym however, we used a Red Head to add some warm diffused light as to create a false sense of sectrity, another tool often found in thriller narratives.

Sound

Our Non-diagetic soundtrack is made up from conversations and background noise played backwards. Whilst in the editing suite we played around with some of our clips and found that playing our sound backwards created an interesting and eerie effect that we felt was suitable for our thriller.

In the beginning shots on the treadmill we decided to use our eerie soundtrack as contrapuntal sound to add a foreboding feeling. This is fitting with some classic thrillers such as Jaws, as on the beach, rather than jolly beach music the classic 'Dur Dur Dur Dur' sound is used.


2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The traditional stereotypical Antagonist would be male, and the Victim/Protagonist would be female. We decided to keep the female Antagonist and have her as a Final Girl character archetype (commonly found in both horrors and thrillers), however decided to shake things up a bit and have a female Antagonist as well.

We did this not only to avoid the stereotypical male hierarchy, but to add a sense of realism (another important aspect to thrillers) as sometimes rivalry and jealousy can cause serious issues between friends.

We chose our characters as a means to relate to our chosen audience, working class females aged 13-17. Our Protagonist fits this model perfectly. We wanted to address the issues that are raised by issues such as lying, cheating, back-stabbing and monetary issues, which would occur later on in our film.

Our Antagonist is dressed in nice, expensive looking clothes and wears an 'expensive' bracelet, showing her monetary position to be fairly well off, where as our Protagonist is dressed in fairly basic clothing, making her easier for the audience to relate to.

In the above image, we wanted to represent our Protagonist as weak and particulally feminine. We created a long shot with our actress off centre, mostly facing away from the camera. She begins to then gently unfold her coat and put it on, again empasising softness, domestic rituals and femininity. she is also neeling in quite a well mannered way, knees together and poised off the ground.


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

We decided that our piece was a low budget British Thriller, and therefore decided to release it to art house cinema's. We contemplated an internet release, full download for a small fee, or something a little more 'out there' like Spike Jonez 'I'm Here', colaborating and funded by Absolut Vodka, however decided to go down a more traditional road.

Whilst looking at some of the smaller distributors, we caught sight of 'Artificial Eye' and thought it may have been a good one for us.

However, after looking to see what else was out there, we decided that 'Focus Features' would be better for us as they had done a fair amount of thrillers, as well as other things linking with are narrative.


4. Who would be the audience for your media product?


females aged 13-17, living in Britain, although i would only give this film a certificate of 12A. This is because of the age of the actors used, an age the audience can easily identify with and relate to. Also, the up to date costume and modern settings, a gym and dance studio.


5. How did you attract/address this audience?

Our chosen audience would enjoy our film as it is easy to relate to as the costumes are up-to-date and fashionable, the characters are believable and everything is realistic, a nessecity for low budget thriller films. We used a variety of different shot types and angles to build suspicion, interesting and strange contrapuntal sounds to enforce intrigue, enigma codes to keep the audience guessing, choppy, fast paced editing for building anticipation and a Three Stage Narrative to hold it all together.


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

For the making of our product we used:

• DV Camera and Tripod
  



• Red Head Lights
  




• Sound Recorder
  
  




• Final Cut Pro
  



• Imovie




• GarageBand
  
  

We had to set the white balance on the camera and use a diffuser on the lights to create a warm atmosphere in the gym, without looking glaring.

We had to use Final Cut Pro to put our recorded soundtrack in reverse, as it is the only programme able to do that.

We used iMovie to edit our opening, as we know our way around the programme.

We used GarageBand to edit our sound.



7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you think you have learned from the progression from it to the full product?


I think we have progressed since the preliminary task in means of narrative structure, lighting 180 degree rule and organisation, however we were somewhat lacking in the variety of angles we used and would have been greatly improved had we been able to re-shoot. I also think that had we re-shot, we would have taken much more time and greater care in our choices of location, and edited in Final Cut Pro, as it has a wider variety of transitions and effects.

Titles and Credits Research- Emma Ingarfield

The purpose of an opening title sequence for a film is to establish the mood and visual character of a film, to introduce the viewer to all or some of the following elements:

Characters

Locations

Narrative/Plot

Themes

Visual style

Genre

The following sequences do all of this.

The titling in this sequence is faintly red, with a red offset shadow. This symbolises blood or danger, and creates a tangible sense of foreboding in the audience.

The font used is raw and edgy, as opposed to a neat and tidy one. This adds to the element of unease. The way that it is presented on a black background provides contrast.

When the mini narrative begins, a lot of depth of field is used, disguising the main character. The focus is instead on Close-up's of household objects, Matches, a cigarette, a wine glass and champagne bottle. This would usually suggest a celebration, but combined with the mystery figure makes the spectator uneasy.

The rest of the mini narrative makes it clear that there is a reason to celebrate, the finishing of the book. The Characters facial expression, coupled with the melancholy music, leads us to believe that all is not well.

A lot of close-up's are used in this sequence, emphasising the manuscript and the writers small, perhaps guilty pleasures. This may play a part in the rest of the narrative.

When the main title, 'Misery' comes on, it almost seems to disturb the peace of the landscape, again creating unease.



the rest of the sequence serves to show the isolation that the character has surrounded himself in. The point of view shot is particularly worrying as it induces a visceral response from the spectator feeling so close to the edge.

The change in pace of the shots let's the audience know that something isn't right, as he looses control of the car.

At the very beginning, the close-up of the match and cigarette faded into colour, suggesting that it was either a flash back or a flash forward. This is supported by the scene following the crash.

http://www.youtub e.com/watch?v=pz46qS38OgM

The first shot of the title sequence is an extreme close up on the bottom right hand quarter of a woman's face. This suggests that the woman may have something to hide, and adds mystery as the spectator does not know her identity.

The camera then pans across to her lips, and the first name is seen. Her identity is still kept a secret as the camera tilts up to her eyes. She shiftily looks from side to side, sugge sting that she's either feeling guilty or fearful.

After tracking in even closer to the womans right eye, the whole screen is washed with red. This symbolises anger and violence, along with love and lust, suggesting that this will be a passionate film.

The title 'Vertigo' comes straight out of the womans eye, which is unsuspected by the audience and adds shock, especially when what appears to be a black hole or similar.

Throught the rest of the titles the graphic spiral continues, looking at times like a demonic eye, giving the spectator some forsight to the rest of the film.

The music over the intire sequence was dark and intence, building suspence in the spectators.

There is a very specific mini narrative to this title sequence, and it serves to introduce you to a mystery charecter. it gives the spectator an insight to this charecters mind, something that plays great relevance later on in the film, although the footage is not repeated.

It begins with the turning of blank pages, apparently by the wind. This alone begins to create an eerie atmosphere, especially when coupled with the re-mastered track accompanying it.

We then cut to a black background with back-to-front, wonky text, suggesting abnormality. This is emphasised by the series of abnormal images shown in conjunction with the pace of the music. This draws the audience in, keeping time with the music, as well as the confusing flashing close-ups and cinimatic text.

The whole sequence draws the audience in, as it isn't clear what's going on and keeps them on their toes.

The precision of the movements gives away an important charecter trait, but also shows that he is smart, calculating and organised.

The opening titles to panic room mostly consist of long shots of an american city, starting at what appears by the ambient lighting to be dawn, and moves fluidly on to daylight. This may represent a change, or coming into ones own.

The buildings being shown are all in an upper class area giving the spectator an idea about the kind of lives the charecters may lead. The title font emphasises this as it looks expencive and three dimentional.

The slow pans across the city scape could be a metaphor for the clam before the storm, especially when coupled with the harsh shapes and edges of the skyscrapers.

All of the shots are either high angles or taken from a great height, signifying wealth or importance.

This sequence begins with a series of thin sharp lines stretching across the screen. this could be symbolic of blades, or looked at sideways, dripping blood.

The name 'Alfred Hitchcock' then apperars in three parts. The first part, on its own seems uninteligable, suggesting a puzzle or mystery which is reinforced by the second and third parts conjoining to make a whole.

The first title appears to almost chase the grey lines away, but they come back and slice the wording away. This could represent some of the plot, that the killer may appear defeated, but comes back for more.

If the name 'Psycho' isn't enough of a hint, the way it is shown is. The text appears the same way the previous title did, but rather than staying a solid word, it shifts around eerily creating a sense of unease and forbodeing. It suggests that the charecter is psychotic and abnormal.

the rest of the sequence plays out the same with the lines and trembling titles. The lines are sometimes split equally and others not, making it appear random. This may suggest that the killer is random or insane.

Update- Emma

Unfortunately our actress decided that she did not want to do any more filming, so we are limited to the footage that we already have. We have re-shuffled some of the opening sequence, and added some more titling. Although it is not what we really wanted, we have it completed.

Editing - Amelia and Lorna

We've started work on our titles and based the first around our re-shoot however we've had to change this because we've still been unable to re-film the gym footage. Despite the upcoming deadline we still hope to redo some of the scene although this may not be possible.
"Eight" - this was our original title idea and was going to be followed by footage linked to the name. Due to a change of plans this scene didn't occur so we've renamed it "The Betrayed", relevant to the plot.