Nico Turners Thriller: April 2009

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

In my final project for media I liked to stick to the forms and conventions of thrillers, this would allow me to re create the most realistic start to a thriller. Like many thrillers the protagonist is confused at the beginning of the film and is led by clues and signs for the hope that he may escape. I got this idea predominantly from the film series Saw(Darren Lynn Bousman, 2004-2009) where the main character is left to escape their death by follow precise instruction. I also use this idea because at any moment it feels as if the main character could be murdered, originally in my piece the screen blacked out on a gunshot but after some feedback I chose to remove the gun shot, this allowed for the suspense to heighten for the audience and they themselves don’t know what is going to happen next.
I also I show the antagonists use of confusion using props such as arrows and question marks which are supposed to direct the antagonist away from danger, but when he runs away from the arrows the audience knows something is going to go wrong. This is sticking to forms and conventions because I use props and also show the antagonist to have power over the protagonist; this iss the same in nearly all thriller films.

By using text with glimmering light showing through I feel I have expanded on the idea of text showing the emotions of the main character, this time the text shows how the main character is in risk and that at any moment the lights could go out. I also used a light being turned off right at the end to show that potentially all the lights have gone off. This is similar to an online film called White Red Panic(Ayz Waraich, 2008) It is also similar in the way that someone is running away from the protagonist.

I show identity by using close ups on the protagonists face and his costume, the most prominent of these is perhaps the eyes opening where we see the pupils go from small to very big as they suddenly take in the bright lights. As the 2 minutes runs through we see him being jumpy, nervous and anxious. This comes through when he runs through the door and it flies open because he suddenly finds himself in a very open space.
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How did you attract/address your audience?

I feel teenagers are represented in my piece as the main character is a teenager. This means the viewers can understand what he is feeling and can emphasize with him. His unrational thinking and nervous ways are typical of a teenager in (the given situation. I did this because after watching the film The Blair Witch Project(Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler, 1998) I felt it gave the viewer extra feeling towards the protagonist as they could see he was very scared.
From my questionnaire I found out that nearly all teenagers (41 out of 45) enjoy watching thrillers and that they like to watch exciting films where the protagonist was always trying to escape a much stronger antagonist therefore I made my main character a teenager and put him in a situation where he was weaker than the antagonist.
After watching and writing an analysis on the 2 films, Cloverfeild and I Am Legend I felt inspired to use much more upbeat editing styles. I felt that my introduction should be more action packed, this helped to attracts and address my audience because it shows them what the rest of the film is going to be like.

I feel that fast editing, musical crescendo, jump cuts, action packed, refer to I am legend and Clover Field. How have they inspired me? And how are they similar to my piece?

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How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social group represented in my film are today’s teenagers that really don’t want to do ordinary things in life. Teenagers who don’t agree with societies rules and feel that they are being pushed down a path, whether that be by their parents, school or their peers. So in the film the protagonist wakes up, and suddenly finds a sign telling him to run. This shows how they are forced through a system and follow a direct route. But in this case he decides not to follow the given path, by turning the opposite way to the arrow. As he runs and runs society questions him and this is shown through the use of question marks pinned up along the side of the road. When he gets to the top of the road we see the gate opening, this represents how he has almost found his own path through life and made his own future. This is when I decided to leave the intro sequence on a cliff-hanger. We hear a shotgun being cocked, this leaves the audience to decide what is to happen to the stray teen.

They can also associate with his clothing because they may wear the same kind of clothes.

(Picture of the clothing)
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What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I feel that Lions Gate could distribute my media product because they are perfect for my style of film. The most obvious reason why for this is because they were the ones who distributed the Saw(Darren Lynn Bousman, 2004-2009) series. And I feel the beginning of my thriller is very similar to a Saw(Darren Lynn Bousman, 2004-2009) film which means they would be happy working with a similar style of film.
They are a very secure in the distributing business with 8000 titles having been released so far. This means their reputation is un deniable. They have also released similar films such as The Final Cut(Omar Naim, 2004), a thriller orientated film where like my film, the main character is confused about his life. As well as this they are known for distributing daring films, this would work to my benefit because I am a first time director in the field of thrillers and id need someone willing to take the risk with me when distributing a film.
Film 4 would also be a good media institute that might distribute my media product because they have released similar action packed films and the biggest being the Quantum of Solace. Because Film 4 is a UK based company they are very insistent on supporting the UK Film industry, therefore any new directors with good work always have a fair chance with them. They have worked closely with EM Media in the past, this shows they don’t only work with big worldwide productions but also some closer to home films such as This is England(Shane Meadows, 2006) and Control.(Shane Meadows, 2007)

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Who would be the audience for your media product?

My own research – questionnaires, internet research, young people enjoy watching thrillers – proof + As mentioned in question x I believe that using a young actor would appeal to a young audience. I also feel fast paced up beat music appeals to the younger audience.
The audience for my piece would be teenagers, this is because looking at previous “teen thrillers” like Halloween (...1968) and Carries (...1966) where the protagonists are usually young college students who are hunted down and picked off one by one. My piece is like this because this is only the beginning of the film, for all we know as the audience there could be more teenagers trying to escape.
I also feel that the editing techniques I have used will capture this audience’s imagination. The use of fast passed cuts which interlink with upbeat music attracts a younger audience as it draws all their attention into watching the film.
My own research has also shown that teenagers enjoy watching thrillers. This is because out of the 45 teenagers I asked whether they watch and enjoyed thrillers 41 of them said they did.
“1. Do you often watch thrillers?
- Yes 5 (41)
- No 0 (4)
2. Do you enjoy watching thrillers?
- Yes 5 (41)
- No 0 (4)”
This shows my results.

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

While constructing this media product I have had to overcome several technological boundaries and increase my skills both during pre production and production. I now have a better understanding of my camera equipment and I understand how to use manual focus to my benefit much more.

I can use this to emphasize the important object on the screen, one example of this was when my protagonist walked directly across the screen, it took the camera to long to auto focus from the background to the character walking across the shot therefore I had to set the focus up before recording. It turned out very well with my main character being perfectly in focus.
I have learnt how to raise the shutter speed on my camera, this allows me to capture fast pasted movement at more frames therefore the image is clearer. Originally I shot in 24p film mode, which meant I was only shooting at 24 fps but when I turned it up to 100+ the footage could be seen much more clearly, and slow motion worked way smoother.
I have also learnt how to use aperture with more accuracy, when set to f2.6 I can make the foreground clearer whilst the background is nicely blurred. This was also helpful for close ups ect when filming.

I have also had the joy of working with some homemade filming equipment, me and my dad made a homemade track dolly system which features in my project. It allows me to get flowing tracking images that are raised from the ground. This meant that unlike a skateboard there weren’t limitations on which way the camera could face or how high it could go.

As you can see it is quite a basic system but it works well and has definitely increased my knowledge and practical use of this filming technique.

Something else this project has helped me with has been my editing, I have learnt how to colour correct to get the perfect atmosphere as well as learning how to mask out objects to play with the viewers head. Another technique I have really improved on has been editing to the sound. In my final piece I feel it is really brought to life by the use of sound effects and how they go with the image on the screen. A good example of this is right at the end where the text appears after the light flashes.

Finally I have learnt how to use a tripod accurately and smoothly. I can do panning and titling shots with ease and can hold a steady shot whenever it is needed. This proved very helpful in my project because without the steady shots the film wouldn’t have seemed very well produced at all.

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

Looking back on my preliminary task I feel I haven’t improved much, in all honesty I have done a lot of filming and editing before this course and in the small gap between the preliminary and final task I don’t think much in terms of filming and editing techniques were improved. But some organizational skills were definitely boosted.

For example my ability to draw clear storyboards and get them animated has definitely increased. Originally I thought storyboarding was a waste of time for such a short section of footage but as things progressed I realized the need to be more accurate in my planning. Therefore the planning stage was revisited several times during filming and everything eventually planned out perfectly.

I also found myself learning how to note down all the props, costumes and locations with more accuracy and more and more I would take photos of the items/locations that were going to be used in my final piece. This was very helpful when it came to filming as I still had a fresh image in my head of what each shot would look like.

I became better at some editing skills, such as using fades and quick cuts to build tention, for instance right at the begining the camera comes down and across scott, then fades out slowly. This creates tention and makes the audience want to see more of his surroundings.

Some of my editing has improved as well, i worked out how to get light rays to come through my text and how to use layers to create a flashing effect.