Evaluation - Question 7 - Sophie

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

From the transition from the preliminary task to the full project, one thing I feel I have better understanding of is the importance and effect of detailed pre-production planning. I found that our planning for the full project (probably due to me changing group) has been a lot more effective and have therefore made the filming and editing a lot smoother. 

 For example, this (left) is the blog post I wrote during the preliminary planning. This differs a lot from the detailed, longer explanation of the costume choices for the main task. Although we managed to find a costume just fine in the prelim, I found it was helpful for me to have to think deeper in the full project about the costumes in order to get a better understanding of the character and film.

Another example is the story boarding / shot listing. In the prelim task we made a very basic story board with not many annotations (right) and did not make a shot list. We found this made the filming quite difficult as we had little structure to go off of. In contrast, In the main task we made a detail story board, along side a specific shot list (including shot times, movements, what was in the frame, and music), with an overview of the rest of the film's plot (we did this so we could have a greater understanding for the opening of the film and the characters etc - and also to make sure the whole group understood the story). This made a massive difference in the speed of filming and editing, and also the whole groups understanding of the films plot, characters and story. In addition we made two animatics for our main task, this consisted of one with images of each shot with the exact times, and another with verbal commentary on each shot; talking through the shot size, content, sound etc. This, being something that I didn't do with my previous group for the prelim task, is something that helped with the pace of filming and editing process massively, especially where we forgot details of specific shots and could reference back to the animatics. In addition, It gave us all a greater understanding of the opening and our aims as a group before we began the filming process.

Camera work
I have definitely grown in my ability to use a camera. Techniques such as tracking, panning, tilting and forming an arc shot were all techniques I didn't have to use during the prelim task, which made it quite challenging at first. We definitely under estimated how hard some of the shots would be, for example; tracking the girl while she was running before coming to a halt behind her when she stopped, I found this difficult as we had to replicate the motion of someone who would have been following her however we couldn't make it to shaky, also we had to get the timing of her stopping and us stopping correct in order to achieve the effect we wanted. We took this shot at least 4/5 times, all of the group having a go, and we eventually got it. This was the same with certain panning shots, tilts and especially when we were panning a whole 360' around our actress, this became difficult as we had to hold the right distance from her, angle, height and speed. Overall, with regards to camera work, I feel like I have developed in my ability to film & create camera movements.

Visual Editing 
As how the group roles turned out, I ended up doing a large part of the visual editing, this was fine with me as editing is something that I enjoy and have done in the past. I had never used Final Cut Pro before this course, so my familiarity with Final Cut is definitely something that has developed through the course of this work. Specifically, I have definitely grown in my understanding of continuity when editing, with our main subject being a girl running through the woods, continuity was crucial with aspects of mise en scene like her location in the woods, her positioning in the frame, the weather at the time and also the use of techniques like match on action. 
One technique which we used which I hadn't done before was a graphic match (this was between the flash back of the mans shadowed face and the present still shot of the women by the stream). 
In addition, I have had to use effects such as transitions to create specific effect (hallucinations and feeling faint). This took me a few trials and errors however in the end, I created this effect by taking 2 second long, random POV shots of the character running through the woods and playing them straight after each other to create the effect of a hallucination. To finish this off I decided to add the transition 'fade to white' at the end of every clip, this creating a flashing light effect which replicated the feeling of passing out / feeling faint.

Evaluation, question 1, Amy Sharp

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

Our media product uses a range of conventions and techniques which show development from our research throughout the project. We used audience feedback to take our opening in certain directions to allow an understanding for our target audience as well as an understanding of the thriller genre. Our opening sequence is based on a female character whom experiences flashbacks on her daily run. The flashbacks show a disturbed atmosphere where the audience can assume she has been/was/is going to be abducted. We kept a mystery aspect in our opening to push the audiences attention towards finding out the answers and keep them intrigued which is what both classic and modern thrillers display. Creating enigmas throughout the opening was key and we researched a variety of thriller films to help guide and influence these. The enigmas and flashbacks disturb the equilibrium of the sequence early on to make the storyline more interesting to view, and ending the opening sequence with her almost returning to a state of equilibrium it is once again cut off by the following of the antagonist whom would be recognised by the audience from only his shoes, keeping his identity hidden.

From my research I was able to gain a full understanding of the thriller genre and their opening sequence, I look closely at the thriller film 'Se7en' and had the most influence from its opening sequence which was later developed into our own. Even though 'Se7en' has a different story line altogether as it is about 'Two homicide detectives' desperate hunt for a serial killer who justifies his crimes as absolution for the world's ignorance of the Seven Deadly Sins' and our film is about abduction the theme of disturbance is apparent in both.










Narration is not apparent in our product because we wanted to keep identities hidden and the main character relatable. Having no narration builds tension and raises questions, this is what we wanted to accomplish. In the sequences I researched I found little to no narration in the opening sequence therefore it was not at necessity in the thriller genre. 

In editing we mainly used cuts, cross-cuts and blurs to bring our sequence together. We used 'additive blurs' to create the off balanced distorted running shot more realistic in the eye of the protagonist, it was effective and would engage the audiences attention making it hard to lose focus on the sequence. We used this effect again when editing the flashbacks to merge the two settings together making it more exciting and visually interesting.

The antagonist was dressed in dark,black clothing in order to conceal their identity. Having the shoes as a focus point made sure the audience would link the two settings as well as the ring that is shown. The importance in a thriller film is to keep the audience guessing, making sure at least one identity is hidden but still makes an impact in the protagonists daily routine. The idea behind the costume for our main character was to be relatable and an everyday character, she reaches the target audience and has an innocent persona. We were able to create two characters that are convincing in a thriller film due to our research and mise en scene, having one identity bold and the other mysterious/anonymous works effectively.


The production of our film was a well known area to Sophie as it is close to her home along with her fathers machinery room he gave us permission to use, so we had a clear understanding of how our background and shots would look before we filmed. It was easier and quicker to use a well known area by at least one of us so that we could get to our locations effectively rather than filming in a unfamiliar setting. We had to request an extension for our filming as the time slot we had was not possible for the whole group to be present however having the extension allowed us to have a 4-5 hour time slot to completely film our sequence. It was the perfect amount of time and we were able to film back up shots in case a shot did not turn out as effective as we wanted. Our film production company logo was made up and produced on Photoshop, we used a simplistic name that has little to no meaning to make it as realistic as possible.

Evaluation, question 2, Amy Sharp

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

There is a large amount of social groups that our media product can represent, however majority of these groups have similar interest and connections. Our target audience is unisex 15-25 year olds because there are various aspects of our product that would attract and engage each gender. This age group allows us to produce a product that we find fitting to that specific age range because we are part of it, it introduces an upper hand and advantage for us to be sure we can attract our target audience.
Our main character, the protagonist, is female and in the age group of our target audience. She has a stereotypical attitude, appearance and story; being a young female in a thriller film with a threat of a stronger masculine figure. As a group we wanted to keep her innocent and relatable by placing her in an active situation and making sure she fits a realistic social group. This character would be most relatable to a active female audience, those who go to the gym, are athletes, who run occasionally or those who run for pleasure. They would be most effective as it puts them in a state of mind that it could happen to them and this is what we wanted to accomplish.

The antagonist would reach the male audience and a strong masculine social group; the character shows authority and power by having the female character on the ground hidden therefore placing himself looking down on her. Most males prefer to be the authority figure in situations with a female which is a theme that carries through many generations and past stereotypes. This can be seen as a bad stereotype/ representation of the male species however, it is one that is common in the thriller and horror genre.

Our thriller product can link to the mainstream in thriller films showing representations that are known and almost expected. Keeping our antagonists true identity hidden not only attracts the target audience but gives the sequence an extra mystery and edge against the confusion of the flashbacks, it gives the audience more and more to think about.

Evaluation, question 4, Amy Sharp

Who would be the audience for your media production?

Our target audience is both genders and for 15-24 year olds; our characters are in this age range, it is a popular audience for thriller films and our age certificate for our film is 15. Our film would have strong violence and the possiblity of strong and discriminating language so would fit comfortably into the 15 rating. We see our target audience enjoying thriller films such as "Gone Girl" directed by David Fincher and the film "Seven" directed by David Fincher as they are Thriller/Sub-Horror that contain the similarity of suspense and violence.The main character that the audience see in the opening thriller is in the age range leading to the audience having a connection with the character. This is a popular theme in thriller films to intrigue the audience into finding out more therefore drawing them into watching the film.

"Gone Girl" directed by David Fincher shows the darker and disturbing side to thriller in a subtle manner. It is a mystery that develops into a thriller as it continues until the very end. It continuously tricks the audience as every time the audience builds up a theory through the enigmas there is a plot twist or a new enigma that throws a thousand more questions into the audiences minds. This is what draws the target audience in and something that the director, David Fincher, produces exceptionally well. When concerning our film keeping mystery and having plot twist is key in order to achieve this effect.

 'A cinematic equivalent of a juicy page-turner, a gripping, sharp, blissfully entertaining thriller that pushes every hot-topic button you can think of to become the must-talk-about film of the year.'

'The impossibility of knowing those closest to us (not to mention the depiction of marriage as a bleak prison) is a prevalent theme in art house cinema. Here we get it at the centre of a mainstream, white-knuckle crowd-pleaser.'

'Stylish, twisted and daring, Gone Girl is a David Fincher date movie: dark, smart and dangerous. If it doesn’t deliver in its finale, its twist, turns and commitment to moral repugnance will leave you reeling.'

(source: http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=138307)

The film gained mixed reviews, mainly set on the ending, that is useful to know. Some critics believe the resolution was disapointing, this shows us that the ending is the most important part as it can make or break a film. If we were to make the whole film this is something that would need to be considered in detail.

http://www.pearlanddean.com/film/filmpage/gone-girl

"Seven" directed by David Fincher is a prime example that is popular with our target audience because it focus' on the disturbed aspect of the thriller genre. Its based on mystery and the audience are kept wondering about each detail until the very end, this is what we wanted to reflect in our sequence. The opening titles flicker from names to images and give the audience enigma to help build their own detective folder in their minds, it sets off an urge to know the plot before they are told it.

'A psychological trip through hell that leaves your head spinning, your heart pumping and your stomach crying out.'

'Creates an overwhelming sense of unease, presenting a world of irredeemable ugliness, a grim, melancholic, depressing, decaying society from which there is no escape.'

'The victims are never killed onscreen. Instead, we catch glimpses of the corpses at the crime scene, or in the morgue, or in the snatches of black-and-white police photographs that are flashed before us. Perhaps more disturbingly, you are mostly left to visualise in your mind the full extent of the killer's atrocities when they are discussed, matter-of-factly, by Pitt and Freeman.'

'You come away reeling, emotionally and mentally, shaken and most definitely stirred, muttering to yourself that they couldn't possibly have done that.' 

'source: http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?DVDID=6611)

From this review alone it is a film that truly draws you in and effects you throughout and after, it is captivating and controls all your emotions. The opening tells you about the film without you knowing it until the film is over which is key for a thriller as it always keeps the audience aware and concentrated on every detail. In order to have the audiences attention in this type of thriller 'seven' is like a guide book on how to achieve a strong, captivating and striking film.

Even though seven is classed as an 18 it still relates and fits with our audience. Having ours as a 15 enables a larger target audience and a wider range in what we can accomplish, it would contain a suitable amount of tension and disruption without limiting our target audience.

http://www.pearlanddean.com/film/filmpage/seven