Altima Kaisamba's evaluation: Question Seven

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

Our preliminary task taught us about the necessity of storyboarding shots in detail. We also learnt the importance of organisation and planning ahead of time. During the preliminary task, we encountered lighting problems, we hadn't used the correct filter setting in the camera. This was a vital lesson to learn and during the filming of our final product we avoided filming inside buildings. We were able to familiarise ourselves with using the camera and the tripod and we also became aware that some of the ideas we wanted to shoot during our final piece would be not be possible. The preliminary definitely put our planing and ideas into perspective.

Altima Kaisamba's evaluation: Question Six

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

During this production I have had to familiarise myself with using iMac. It took a few days to become comfortable with using the software as I only use Microsoft on a daily basis. We used iMovie to create our opening. Using iMovie to create our film proved how easy and accessible film making was for people. Although the software is complex and there is a lot to learn and remember, the film making process is a straight forward one. I learnt how to import filmed material, edit, cut and arrange filmed material. During the very time consuming editing process we encountered some problems with the dialogue during the gate scene. In order for the viewer to hear what the care taker was saying we had to re-record his voice outside, in order to match the atmospherics, and synchronize the audio with the video. This is shown below.

I was especially pleased with our filming. Due to careful storyboarding, the filming process was easier as we knew exactly what we wanted to shoot. Some of the shots were difficult to construct however, with careful positioning, sometimes awkward, we managed to shoot what we wanted.

As well as learning how to create the opening of our film with iMovie, I also learnt how to use Logic Pro. As we were not allowed to use copyrighted music, we had to compose our own music. I was kindly allowed to use my neighbours studio, and create a piece on Logic. It was a very complicated software to use, however, with some assistance I managed to create a short piece that matched our opening. Unfortunately, the rest of my group didn't like the music, so instead we looped an extract of a piece one of our classmates composed for us.

Finally, I learnt to export our finished product, convert the file and upload it onto YouTube. It was my first time uploading a video on to YouTube and it made me aware of how easy it is to share projects such as my own. Overall, I learnt a lot about using iMovie and operating apple software which enabled our group to produce a finished opening to the best of our ability.

Altima Kaisamba's evaluation: Question Five

How did you attract/address your audience?

In order to attract our target audience, we created a questionnaire and distributed twenty of them. Our audience research informed us of what to include in our opening that would appeal to our target audience. From our results, we were able to identify which type of music was prefferable and how to present and introduce our characters. The majority of people prefered classical music and an unclear understanding of the characters. We used this information and applied it to our opening.

We used simplistic shots and transitions to convey the realism in our opening. In order for our audience to relate to the characters, Mindy was represented as an average innocent character. By doing so our audience is enabled to understand the narrative and empathise with Mindy.

In order to recieve audience feedback, we posted our film on to YouTube and Facebook. We recieved positive feedback from our target audience, one person commented on facebook and said "It had in absorbing sinister twist to it, I liked it.If this was an opening to the film, it had me hooked." We had successfully targeted our audience due to the initial research.

Altima Kaisamba's evaluation: Question Four

Who would be the audience for your media product?

We aimed to target our thriller to people over the age of 15. In order to successfully attract our audience, we conducted some audience research which consisted of handing out approximately twenty questionnaires. With our feedback we were able to make informed decision as to what to include in our thriller that would satisfy our audiences expectations and preferences.

According to audience feedback, our target audience preferred to be introduced to the characters through enigmatic shots as well as having an innocent protagonist. As shown in the screen grabs, we used close-ups of the back of Stanley's head to create a sense of enigma. This is an example of the types of shots we used to introduce Stanley. On the left, only part of Stanley's face is revealed through the rear-view mirror, while this was a really difficult shot to compose, we felt it was important because it confuses the audience about the gender of the character. 

Altima Kaisamba's evaluation: Question Three

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

Our film would be distributed by a mainstream distribution company such as Paramount Pictures if it were to be made with a bigger budget. Paramount has distributed the classic Hitchcock thriller, Psycho and recent mainstream films such as Along Came A Spider, Primal Fear, Zodiac and Kiss The Girls. I believe that Paramount has the vital experience, derived from marketing and distributing previous thrillers, of when to release the film, where to distribute it and how to successfuly market our thriller.

Similar to the mainstream films Paramount produce, our product features most of the conventions of a Thriller, therefore it would not be distributed by an independent institution. Although independent films still feature conventions of thrillers, they would use them originally or try to subvert the conventions in some way. For example in Andrea Arnold's Red Road, there is little dialogue or other diegetic noise. The silence reflects the CCTV imagery and draws attention to the visual omniscience. The lack of sound restricts the viewer solely to what is seen and not heard and discreetly addresses some of the issues of the surveillance culture. The audience is also invited to criticise the protagonist for abusing her position and engaging in illegal voyeurism.

Our decision to aim our opening clip at a mainstream audience was a result of our audience research. We decided to adhere to the conventions they expected to see in a Thriller such as classical instrumentation of contrasting piano notes and repetitive violins to create tension, an innocent protagonist and an enigmatic presentation of the antagonist.

Altima Kaisamba's evaluation: Question Two

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Mindy, (Jessie Roberts), as shown above, is a naive young blond female. Through her sartorial codes we have lead the audience to believe that she is innocent, vulnerable and a victim. She is dressed in plain school uniform which indicates that she is a well behaved student. The commonly assumed stereotype of blond characters in Thrillers lead the audience to see Mindy as an innocent victim. Alfred Hitchcock features blond women as victims throughout many of his films. We have employed this representation to ensure our opening credits were conventional of Thrillers. The fact that Mindy is shown staying behind at school represents her as dedicated to her school work and a good student.
Our antagonist, Stanley (David Gibbs) is shown through enigmatic shots during the first half of the opening. The opening shots are enigmatic due to close ups and the fact that Stanley's face is not shown. This represents Stanley as a untrustworthy character. Scientists are represented through our opening as unsafe and mentally disturbed.
This is a mid-shot of a laboratory scene featured at the beginning of Anatomy. The bloody instruments suggest that they have recently been used which leads the audience to become suspicious of the situation. The medical environment plays on the fear of doctors within the audience. This is conventional of Thrillers we have studied and looked at, for example A Clockwork Orange and Gothika both portray medical scientists as unstable characters. In this way our film clip adheres to the conventional portrayal of scientists.

Altima Kaisamba's evaluation: Question One

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

Our production adheres to many of the conventions of Thrillers. Our protagonist, Mindy, is a blond-blued eyed female and is portrayed as a damsel in distress; we used this convention featured in films we have studied such as Alfred Hitchock's Birds, Rear Window and Psycho, Urban Legends and Scream. Our use of enigma is also typical of Thriller opening credits; we drew an examples from the opening credits of the film Se7en. The use of the enigmatic shots of the doctors laboratory confuse the audience. These shots create tension among the audience as it plays on the audiences fear of doctors and surgical appliances. In addition to this, the enigmatic shots also convey the gynaecologist as disturbed. The feature of a disturbed character is very typical of Thrillers; A ClockWork Orange, Gothika, Psycho, all feature a disturbed character at the centre of the narrative.

We used long shots to establish Mindy as being isolated, a technique commonly used in thrillers for that effect. As well as this, the use of this long shot establishes the setting. Through these shots, the audience become aware of the school which connotes the innocence, vulnerability and youthfulness of the protagonist.

According to our audience research, just under a half of people asked thought that classical music was the most effective genre of music for creating a tense atmosphere within the opening our thriller. Therefore, we did not challenge this convention and aimed to target our audiences preference. As a consequence the intense, repetitive music was typical of mainstream Thrillers.

Altogether, the intense music, the enigmatic shots of the disturbed character and the innocence and isolation of the protagonist, all hint at the narrative. Audience feedback shows that they had an understanding of the narrative, which indicates that we constructed the opening credits clearly. The hinting at the narrative to create tension is also a convention of a Thriller that we adhered to.