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EvaluationAS Level Re-sit

Our AS level project was to create a 2 minutes opening to a thriller. The thriller openingmust encourage a target audience to watch the rest of the thriller, including conventions

of a thriller as well as the production name and sub-heading titles. We researched in tothrillers making sure our film opening was relevant to the thriller genre, looking intopopular narratives and generic signifiers.

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

The title and genre of the film is crucial to addressing and attracting the target audienceinto watching the film. The genre attracts teenagers, as well as the title Entity aiming tothe late teenagers and making the film more mature, therefore to the teenagers, moreappealing.

We used techniques when editing to show different places within the film. For example,

from the editing, the outside shots have a blur effectto show a blurry vision and the constant watchingfrom the murderer. We also have transitions used toshow the link form outside to inside the house, withthe shot from the outside of the door to the insidein the lounge. This is typical of thrillers to add tothe slow pace and the suspense of the narrative. Theslow transition builds tension, stretching thestoryline and action.Our thriller has continuous tension building. Thisrelates to the film, When a Stranger Calls (2006)

when linking to the phone calls. The phone calls and the door knocking create a linkbetween these two thrillers, presenting a mystery and secrecy to the film.Our film has the expectations of a thriller, tension building: the constant knocking at thedoor with no one being there, jumpy moments: the knocks, as well as the murderercoming in through the back door and including a reallife situation: being home alone. We also used a typicalthriller scenario, using the mystery character looking inand spying from the outside on their victim which isalso used in When a Stranger Calls (2006).

As our thriller comes more under the Drama andPsychological Thrillers, rather than the action thrillers,

the conventions are very similar and appropriate. Thepace of the opening is slower, showing indicating theprotagonist developing emotionally. Like other Dramaand psychological thrillers, the build up is slow,progressing to a fast paced ending. The opening of our thriller can result in a twist withinthe remaining film. It also develops the conventions of the female orientation, as theactresses and the real life situations aim towards a female orientated audience. We alsoused high level angles, panning and tracking shots to build tension. This fits in with otherthrillers, as it tracks a character showing a character stalking another, building tensionfrom the target audience.

We challenged the conventions by bringing a mini-climax of the psychological thriller

closer to the beginning. This differs from most thrillers, as the build up of tension is

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stretched to last along time before the first part of action. However, this can be left todevelop in to a twist and build up to another climax later in the thriller.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?We used the stereotypical girls, not focusing on race or gender though the main character

is a girl. The target audience age 16-19, with the typical situation for those of the socialgroup. It is a situation many girls can relate to.

We havent placed any emphasis on the race of the characters, however asking about thepizza boys attractiveness suggests they are heterosexual therefore representing theirsexuality. We cast stereotypical teenage girls as our protagoniststo relate to our target audience because it allows the audience torelate to the situation of being alone. We cast a male antagonistbecause females are scared of men, representing gender throughthe fear and contrast between the genders.

The story is being told from the point of view of the three girls,home alone, with knocks on the door from a stranger, then

following to who looks to be themurderer. This means the feelings and views are of thegirls. It is being told to teenagers who may be in the sameage range and may have been or in the future be, in thesame situation therefore representing age.It is aimed more at the middle class/lower class, groups Dand E audiences with a sense for mystery and real lifecircumstances as it shows real life situations for the class

and at the generation of teenagers. Our movie is filmed from a fly on the wall point ofview; therefore it has been made to look as though the audience is in the scene watchingas an onlooker.

What kind of media institute might distribute your media product and why?Our production would more likely to be distributed by the mainstream institute as thesituation can occur in a real life situation, it is familiar with masses, whether they haveexperienced the situation or not, they are still able to feel empathy and become involvedin the drama. These institutes are popular and well-known by audiences.Fox Movies could be an institute that distributes our film. It is distributed films such asHide & Seek (2005) and Shutter (2008) both films, along with our film share the thrillergenres success. If we were going to publish our film we would hope to release it on thesame sort of scale as these films.Fox movies would be a beneficial distributer as the films released already are very

popular and well known with audiences as well as relative to our thriller. With a goodbackground and solid audience, the thriller would be advertised well through social andpeer groups. With the success the previous thrillers have produced, Fox Movies, being amainstream institute, could afford to distribute another thriller, new to an audience, withthe knowledge of a high reputation. As well as this, it would be digitally and globallydistributed, increasing the viewings and profits of the film.Screen gems could be another institution that distributes our thriller. The institution hasalready distributed films such as When a Stranger Calls (2006), and The Step Father(2009), both similar thrillers to our opening. This institution would be good to distributeour thriller as it has digitally screened many other thrillers similar to ours which arepopular and well known.

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We could also distribute our film through an independent company. This could producebenefits of larger profits with the same advertisement, however, it would be cheaper todistribute.

Who would be the audience for your media product?My target audience would be late teenagers, young adults, the ages reflecting the girls andboys in the film. This would most appeal to males and females of around 15 to lateteenage years. This is because the girls that appear in the film are aged 15 17. With thisage group, it creates more tension in the film, and a more frightening experience for theaudience. It would be a female orientation reflected in most thrillers, appealing to a broadfemale audience, due to including real life situations and showing less gore and horror. I

would aim the thriller at an audience group D or E, showing a working class audience,one that can relate and enjoy the thriller.

With other thrillers a certain aspect or event in the film is most remembered and have an

effect on the audience, for example, Psycho (1960). Wee would hope to have this samereaction to our film with a sleepover or an event similar to the one in our movie.It is aimed at the middle class/lower class with a sense for mystery, tension and real lifesituations.It would be a class D or E, aiming at working class audiences, with a feminine emphasis.

This was due to the research on thrillers, showing a female orientation for thrilleraudiences, addressing the fear and anxiety from an easily frightened audience.From my feedback, I have achieved this target audience, as the audience viewers askedgave positive feedback on the enjoyment for the thriller. Aiming the thriller at a targetaudience with a similar age or working class to those in thefilm itself help to promote the thriller, by reflecting on real

life situations and fear of that particular age and femininity.However, the thriller is similarly aimed at males, producingfear and tension from a wider audience. This proves thethriller to be of an open target audience, appealing to workingclass males and females as well as females the same age as thecharacters in film itself. As well as this, it proves the classsocial groups to be accurate and beneficial to the film in our target audience. Theoutcome of 100% enjoyment of the opening is encouraging for the rest of the filmed tobe watched if it was produced.

The age certificate will be a 15. This follows the thriller certificates already produced.Psychologically thrillers are usually 15, although action thrillers such as Casino Royale

(2006), psychosocially have a different reaction on the audience, more fear and suspenserather than adrenalin.

How did you attract/ address your audience? We attracted our audience by using transitions and effects to enhance the genre ofthriller, and keep the tension throughout the opening of our film.

We attracted and addressed our audience by introducing the movie production, thedirectors and actors to include them in the opening and make them aware of thecharacters within the film. We also attracted our audience through Face book orMySpace as our main ways of advertising. This is due to our target audience and thesocial life of our target age group. We used radio and television adverts, or pre adverts on

the cinema to promote our movie, as well as simple billboards and posters.

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The attraction of blur from the outside view and transitions of zooming in and throughand object kept the audiences attention and the build up to the ending of the opening.Our use of a range of camera angles, shot reverse shot and 180 degree rule created a

variation of shots to attract the audience.We addressed our audience through the genre our film represented. The thriller genre

addressed the audience and there personality by suiting their culture or personality offilm. The use of the common themes in a genre, (a sleep over, knocking on the door, amysterious persona) is all included in our film to attract our target audience. It is more ofa life-like thriller, in which the target audience would relate to it, as what could be, arealistic situation being in the house on your own with mysterious knocks at the door. Itshows a moral to the audience through not handling the situation alone, when the girldecides to call her parents. This attracts people to watch it by watching what couldhappen in a real life situation when someone is alone. It therefore addresses the audienceresulting in a reaction of fear and alarm for the audience.In addition to this, we used generic signifiers of a thriller, attracting them through objectsand familiar occurrences in thrillers, for example the use of a knife, or being home alone.

As well as this the slow pace and darkness as a generic signifier attracts the audience,whilst addressing the slow paced thriller.From our feedback, we managed to be successful in attracting and addressing outaudience as they enjoyed the film and found positive aspects in the transitions and silenceat points (a common signifier in a thriller). This is found in the question referring tomusic.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing thisproduct?I have learnt about both Hardware and Software technologies. The construction includes

both the planning, filming, editing and presenting the project. During the planning andpresenting I used Google tools to research in to the genre of a thriller. I also learned howto use Scribd whilst presenting the planning and other documents on the blog. This blogis another aspect of technology I had never used before; however, it was simple and easyto use. We used it to produce who, in the group, had performed which task. It was easyto upload documents and embed films or YouTube clips. It helped by showing all of the

work we had produced either by using Keep and Share, or Scribd.During the filming of the project, we used hardware, including the computer itself as wellas one camera. This camera was used for both handheld filming as well as positioned ona tripod for stability. For the editing of the film footage, we used Adobe Premier 7. This

was useful software, enabling us to cut shots, adds music as well as adds transitions and

text. However, the computers struggled with the new software, making the editingprocess slow and time-consuming.Our editing produced a problem when finding and rearranging shots. The clips for ourfilm had to be changed into a different format to be able to use in the movie software we

were using. This meant, so some of our clips we needed to retrieve our shots from theback up folder in order to change the format before renaming the file.

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

learnt about planning and organising time, cameraangles to create effects and attract the audience, how

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the genre has a massive impact or the target audience and how common things in aspecific genre are expected to crop up. I learnt how effective shot movement andtransitions can be, such as panning, tracking, and zooming and the effect of the blur, canshow the audience to primary actor, action or setting. As well as this, from theprogression from my preliminary task, I was able to see the difference between the

handheld filming and tripod filming, each having a different effect on the audience. Thehandheld is effective when showing the film from the actors point of view, resulting inthe audience becoming that specific actor and viewing exactly what and how the actor isseeing it. The tripod produces stability for the camera, with a much clear and steady shot.In addition, I learnt the importance of Continuity, making sure the film still flows welleven thought the camera position had moved. This is important for my thriller film whenswitching between shots and switching rooms or closing doors in to the next room. It isimportant to make sure the action is fluent and fast paced in contrast to the slow pace ofthe tension building.I have also learnt how to combine the credits with a camera shot or part of the filming tocreate a thriller effect as well as combining both to save the timing of the opening. This is

used in many films, showing the director and main actors within the first few shots.I have also learnt how a group can be used to save time and move on with a task. Withina main task, there are sub-tasks all that need to be completed to produce the finalproduct. When in a group, these tasks can be done by different members of the group,saving time as well as building the Gantt chart tasks people have done.Organising actors was challenging. However, when filming during the Christmas holiday,our timing for the date was accurate and our actors were able to perform and be filmed.

Although we were short of members in our group, members in our group were able tofilm and act as well as the other directors in the group and the actors around the scene.

There were a numerous differences between our preliminary task and the full product,

including the transitions during the editing, the experimenting with the hand heldcamera, as well as the movement of the camera around a house and not in a stationaryspot for a long period of time. We also used more credits and the movement of creditsover a longer period of time, overlapping several shots at a time. This made the openingbetter as we could show the film at the same time as producing the scenes. In addition,

we were able to introduce the characters whilst setting the scene and producing panningshots before the characters were shown on scene. As well as this we used moretechnologies, for example we used two cameras to be able to film more shots as well asone shot from different angles. We also used more effects, the blur when outside which

was to great effect when presenting a stalking image of the antagonist from the outside.

Survey Results

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transitions could also be slowed down to match the pace of the storyline and buildtension.

In conclusion the project has proved to be successful through the feedback of our targetaudience. The Thriller 2 minute opening produced uses and develops the conventions of

a thriller, including specific generic signifiers as well as narratives and characters. Thetarget audience has been addressed and attracted to the film, as well as includes variouscamera angles and camera transitions.