Evaluation

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

My thriller film uses some conventions of the thriller genre, but I feel that it also challenges some conventions, therefore making it somewhat original. Arguably, the main convention of thrillers is that there is a crime of some sort, whether it be a murder or bank robbery and my film uses this convention as it builds up to the implied murder at the end. I felt that my film had to use this key convention as in almost every thriller I have seen, there has been a crime which is a major part of the plot and I suppose this is because audiences find crimes thrilling in a way as they are not part of everyday life for most people. Therefore, I felt it was necessary to include this convention in order for my film to be classed as a true thriller.

Another thriller convention that I used was the idea of extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations. I used this convention as the idea greatly appealed to me and I feel I have achieved it as the scenario of someone waking up and getting ready seems ordinary enough, before turning into something more sinister.

One convention which I deliberately chose not to use was a night-time setting. I decided to do this as it was much easier to shoot during daytime in terms of lighting and I also felt that if I shot at night, my film would become too generic and therefore I shot in the day so that it would break the mould somewhat.

Another convention which I sought to challenge was the common usage in thriller and horror films of a woman as the murder victim. I think that this has been an overused idea and would make my film look basic and standard and so I deliberately chose a male victim in order to go against this convention.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Both my characters are of similar social groups: white, male, young adult, middle-class. This means that my film effectively represents the same social group as both murderer and victim. I think that John is a good character as he does not immediately strike the audience as a murderer and looks very ordinary, similar to John Doe, the murderer in Se7en (David Fincher, 1995).

The social group of white middle-class male is generally used in thrillers as the protagonist - Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010), Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999), Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1995) - so I think that this social group being represented as first the eventual murderer and also the victim is a change. My thriller opening could be classed as both racially and sexually unfair as it features only white males, but if my film continued, I would intend for there to be both a mixture of gender and ethnic groups.

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

I think that Lionsgate might be the kind of institution that would distribute my media product. This is because they have distributed thrillers in the past - American Psycho (Mary Harron, 2000), Saw (James Wan, 2004). Both of these were relatively low budget, especially Saw, which had a budget of just over $1 million. This shows that Lionsgate have experience with low budget films and know how to market them well as Saw made over $100 million at the box office. They also have a dedicated sector that deals with the UK and they own some smaller organisations that deal with independent production companies.

Another possible distributor would be Momentum Pictures, as they deal exclusively with the UK and Ireland and distribute over 20 films a year. They also have experience with low-budget films such as Catfish (Henry Joost, 2010).

A third option would be to not use a film distributor at all, but instead release it over the internet on a video-sharing site such as Youtube or Dailymotion. A recent example of this happening was Girl Walks Into a Bar (Sebastian Gutierrez, 2011), a feature film made exclusively for Youtube. This approach would certainly be the easiest and whilst not guaranteeing any income, money could be earned from adverts on the video page.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I think that my audience would be mostly in their teens or 20s as this is close to the age of the actors. They would have to be 15 or over as that is the likely certificate of the film as there is a murder in the opening and I would intend for there to be violence and swearing in the remainder of the film. I do not think that the ideal audience would be older people as they are generally more offended by violence, whereas younger people have become desensitised to it in a way. Even though the opening sequence only features males, I do not think that this excludes women from the potential viewership of the film as I have female friends who enjoy male-dominated thrillers such as GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990). Besides, I would intend there to be at least one female central character in the remainder of the film.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I chose to film in a suburban setting in order to appeal to my audience as if they live there, the events will seem more real to them as they can imagine them happening. To link with this, I chose two actors who look fairly normal to continue the idea of the events happening to anyone. I chose a suitable piece of music in order to keep the audience entertained as a audience of young adults would surely become bored if they were shown just visuals with no accompanying music.

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

I have learnt a great deal about technologies during the making of my film, particularly the Adobe Premiere Pro software, which I had not used at all before the start of this course. The software is incredibly useful and I found it surprisingly easy to use. This made editing a thankfully uncomplicated task. I learnt how to perform actions such as slotting the clips together, shortening clips, and adjusting the sound level of audio clips. I have learnt how to use more complicated features as well, such as transitions to switch between audio clips and placing a fade at the end of my film. I have also learnt how to use a video camera more effectively, as I now know how to use the white balance tool on the camera and how to use a tripod in order to achieve a steady shot.

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

I feel that I have learnt quite a lot between the preliminary task and my final product and I think that it shows in my final product. One of the most important things I have learnt in terms of filming is to ensure that careful attention is paid to the mise-en-scene and any unnecessary elements are removed. This was something that I did not pay attention to during the preliminary task and it is evident as there are people in the background of shots who have nothing to do with the film. Also, during the filming for my draft edit, I didn't make sure the mise-en-scene was clear so I ended up with clutter in some of the shots. However, I had this error pointed out to me and I was able to improve by paying careful attention when I filmed again. Another thing that I think I have improved upon from the preliminary task is the use of lighting. When I filmed the preliminary task with Vicente, we did not have enough time to get the lighting right and we did not feel it was important. However, I realised that it was important for my final product and so I experimented with different forms of lighting so that my shots were well-lit when I needed them to be. I also mastered the use of the white balance tool on the video camera, which helped to prevent the shots becoming too washed-out or too yellow.

Final Edit

Re-Editing

For my re-editing, I integrated the re-filmed clips and the doorbell sound effect into my film. I also decided to change the music. However, I did not want to find another piece of music as I think the one I already had works well, and I think that two different pieces of music could possibly clash. Therefore, I experimented a bit with the music until eventually I slowed the music down by 50% for the first part. The music is now slower and sounds less dramatic whilst still keeping the mysterious tension that the original music had. I added in an audio transition which I think makes the transition to the original, fast-paced music at the end of the clip quite smooth and not too noticeable. I have also added a small fade-out at the very end of the clip. I think that this is better than just ending abruptly as it is more smooth and professional.

1 - I slowed down the speed of music by 50%. This makes it sound more moody and suspenseful and stops it sounding too fast-paced when it does not need to be.

2 - This is a small transition to switch between the two audio clips smoothly.

3 - This is the doorbell sound effect. As there are multiple audio tracks, it allows me to have both the sound effect and the music playing at the same time.

Re-Filming

To improve my project, certain scenes had to be re-filmed. These included:

• The doorbell scene - using a tripod so that the camera stayed steady


• The kitchen scene - shooting it from different angles so that there was greater shot variety


• The landing scene - clearing boxes out of the way so that the framing of the shot looked better

Unfortunately, Chris brought slightly different pyjamas so I also had to shoot the first scene and teeth-brushing scene again. This was not really a problem, as it allowed me to improve the lighting for these scenes.

Re-Editing - Doorbell Sound Effect

One criticism of my draft edit was that the doorbell was not audible, so I decided to find a doorbell sound effect to use instead. I found a suitable doorbell sound on freesfx.co.uk. After sourcing the sound effect, it was easy enough to place it into my film. With the addition of the sound effect, the film is now more realistic.

The exact page that I found the doorbell sound effect on can be found here - the fourth one down of the free sound effects.

Feedback on Draft Edit

I have received some feedback on my draft edit which was useful and will help me to improve it. Feedback included: The music is too dramatic for the first part of the film Some shots, particularly during the kitchen scene, go on for too long The indoor footage is slightly dark The title sounds too horror-like The doorbell sound needs to be more clearly audible Chris/John's costume is too incongruous Improvements I plan to make: Re-shoot hallway scene and clear clutter so the mise-en-scene looks tidier Re-shoot kitchen scene from different angles so I can cut between shots Increase the sound of the doorbell or use a sound effect Change the music somehow I am not going to change the title or Chris/John's costume as I do not think that the title sounds like a horror and the costume is meant to be incongruous so that the audience does not immediately think that John is a murderer.

Draft Edit

Editing

During editing, I decided to make some changes to my initial plans and storyboard. A major change was the title as I decided to change it from Friendly Neighbourhood Murderer to Suburban Nightmare. I felt that this adds more mystery to the film and doesn't immediately show John to be the murderer. I also decided to get rid of the wardrobe shot, as this looked extremely amateur. I have also altered the ending significantly, as mentioned previously.

Acquiring Music

Searching for music initially proved to be a problem as it was hard finding royalty-free music that had an appropriate tone of suspense. After a few hours of searching, I found an ideal piece that was suitable for my film. I was also successful in tweaking it so that it timed perfectly with my film. I am really pleased with the music I have found and I believe it definitely gives it a 'thriller' feel.

The piece of music I found is called 'Nerves' and can be found here.

Filming

Filming took place on 23rd February. As it was initially raining, I decided to shoot the interior shots first in the hope that it would stop raining later. Fortunately, the rain did stop and I was able to get the exterior shots done as well. I experienced very few problems throughout the filming. However, I did make some changes from the original storyboard, which were largely to do with the positioning of the camera. A major change that I made was to change the ending so that the murder was more implied than actually being shown. I did this by having John/Chris pull out the knife as before, but omitting the actual stabbing as I was afraid that this would look amateur and could also cause injuries. Instead, I filmed an exterior shot of John/Chris closing the door. I think that this is a more effective ending as it leaves what happens next to the reader's imagination and keeps the mysterious tone of the thriller. There were no incidents and I passed the camera and tripod on without any damages. The knife was handled carefully and on-one was injured. I believe I have enough footage to be able to edit well as I have over 2 minutes of raw footage and I have shot some scenes from multiple angles so I can cut between them.

Planning - Props

I am not giong to use many props, but the ones I will use are:

Knife - This is probably the most important prop, as it is the murder weapon. It will only be revealed at the end, when Guy/Martin opens the door. This means that John/Chris does not have to carry the knife whilst walking down the street as this could cause problems. I will use one of my kitchen knives for the knife. Of course, we will all need to be extremely careful when handling it to avoid injuries.

Toothbrush - The toothbrush is only shown briefly, in the shot when John/Chris brushes his teeth. For this, hopefully Chris will be able to bring his own toothbrush. Therefore it will be more hygienic. If this is not possible, I will purchase a cheap disposable toothbrush.

Glass of orange juice/water - This is needed when John has a drink before leaving the house. For this, I will use one of the glasses in my house and orange juice/water from my house.

Planning - Location

The primary location will be my house. This is a suitable location as the setting is meant to be an ordinary house. I am going to use my house for both John's house and Guy's house as it is the only house available to me on that day. This is a minor problem, but there are two possible solutions. I could make sure that when John/Chris leaves the house, I use a close-up or mid-shot so that the exterior of the house is not clearly visible. The other solution is that I use the back door of my house as the door which John/Chris leaves by. This would require a couple of extra shots of John/Chris walking down the alley at the side of my house in order to maintain continuity. This decision will likely come down to the day of the shoot, where I will try each solution and see which one works the best.

Planning - Costume

For the costume, I have asked both my actors to wear clothes they would normally wear. This is suitable for the characters as Guy is an ordinary person and John is meant to appear like an ordinary person. I have not been specific about exactly what clothes they wear, as this would require the knowledge of all the clothes they own and I think that would be too intrusive. For the first few shots of the sequence, when John is waking up/brushing his teeth, he will need to be wearing pyjamas to show that he has been sleeping. For this, I am going to ask Chris to bring a white t-shirt and pyjama bottoms or similar along to the shoot.

Planning - Risk Assessment

Risk: Injury from the knife
Risk Rating: Medium-High
Measures to be undertaken: I will make sure that no-one handles the knife that doesn't need to as the only people who need to handle it are Chris and myself, to show him what I want him to do. I will also make sure that it is only used for the shots that it is required for and then put it away.

Risk: Camera gets damaged
Risk Rating: Medium
Measures to be undertaken: The camera will not be used in rainy weather. I will make sure that I am the only one using the camera and I will be as careful as possible with it by not running or doing anything stupid whilst I am holding the camera or the camera is nearby.

Planning - Filming Schedule

I am planning to film on the 23rd February. I have chosen this date as it is when both the actors are free. I am hoping it will not rain on this date as the exterior scenes require it to be not raining and I do not want to damage the camera. If it does rain on this date, then the 28th February is another possible date.

Filming Date: 23rd February 1.00 - 4.00
Actors Required: Chris Gray, Martin Smith
Amount to be filmed: All
Equipment Needed: Knife, Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Glass, Orange juice

I am planning to shoot the film in the chronological order of the storyboard. However, I will adapt this to the weather, as if it is not raining initially, I will shoot the exterior shots in order to get them done in non-rainy weather.

Planning - Actors

Actors:

John (the murderer) - Chris Gray

I think that Chris is a good choice for the part as he is currently studying A Level Drama and therefore has some acting skill. He looks quite ordinary which is perfect as the murderer is meant to seem like an ordinary person. However, he is also quite physically intimidating which works well as it looks believable that he could be a murderer.

Guy (the murder victim) - Martin Smith

In my opinion, Martin is a good fit for the role of Guy as he is smaller in height than Chris and therefore it is believable that John would be able to get the better of Guy and kill him. Martin has had no proper acting experience, but his role is minor and I am sure that he will do a good job.

Planning - Storyboards

Planning - Brainstorming

Brainstorming proved to be a somewhat mixed bag. I initially came up with four ideas which I believed to be quite creative and which also fit into the thriller conventions. However, when I thought about these ideas further, each one had potential problems. In the end, I decided to go with the idea of a person going about their morning routine who is set up as being the protagonist. At the end of the sequence, this person is shown murdering someone and therefore is not the protagonist and instead the villain of the movie. I chose this idea because it will be quite easy to produce yet it also, in my opinion, has an interesting twist and is therefore fairly original. Out of the four ideas, I believe it is the one that will look the least amateur, as with the others, I was being perhaps too ambitious, and without the correct resources, they could end up looking poor. I also think that the sequence could be part of a larger movie as the remainder of the movie would show the detectives tracking down the serial killer.

Research - History of Thriller

Thriller films date back to the 1920s and 30s with films such as M (Fritz Lang, 1931) about a serial child killer. During the 1940s, film noir was a very popular genre, with the most notable being Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944), The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949) and The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941). Orson Welles was a prolific director during this time and his films Citizen Kane (1941) and Touch Of Evil (1958) are now considered classics. During the 1950s and 60s, the thriller genre was dominated by Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense. He was responsible for many classics, with Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963) just a few of his masterpieces. His films often featured an ordinary person put into a life-threatening situation. He also used techniques which were considered innovative at the time, including extreme zoom and cross-cutting. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, different variants of thrillers started to emerge. These included crime thrillers such as The French Connection (William Friedkin, 1971), and horror thrillers such as Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979) and its sequel, Aliens (James Cameron, 1986). In the 1990s, thrillers included action-orientated films such as Speed (Jan De Bont, 1994). Mind-bending stories and plot twists also became common, with The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995), Se7en (David Fincher, 1995) and The Sixth Sense (M Night Shyamalan, 1999). From the history of thriller, I have learnt that the genre has evolved and is still evolving as directors try to find a way to be creative and original. This has inspired me to try and add something creative to my own thriller opening. Note: I used Filmsite for the majority of my information.

Research - Thriller Genre

A thriller is generally classed as a film which 'thrills' the audience and keeps them on the edge of their seats, whether they are excited or nervous. Thrillers contain a lot of tension and suspense, which usually occurs when the main character is involved in a dramatic and usually life-threatening situation.


Thriller is possibly the most encompassing of all film genres, as there are many different variants and hybrids. These include: sci-fi thrillers, action thrillers, crime thrillers, mystery thrillers, film-noir and occasionally comedy thrillers. Horror also sometimes overlaps and is closely linked to the thriller genre as they both share the same purpose of creating tension.


Characters in thrillers can also be widely varied. The main character(s) is usually someone the audience is encouraged to empathise with. Many thrillers contain some version of a 'love interest', a member of the opposite sex who accompanies the main character throughout the film. Romance may or may not occur between them. Many thrillers also contain criminals, who are generally the villain of the film.


Note: I used filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html for the majority of my information

Thriller Analysis 2

The other thriller opening I have chosen to research is GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese, 1991).

GoodFellas Opening - YouTube

GoodFellas varies from Hitchcock slightly in that although the titles are still shown, the film also jumps straight into the action. The titles are the first thing to be shown, white font on a black background, accompanied by the ambient sounds of cars driving at high speed. The titles themselves whoosh onto screen as if they are cars, almost passing out of shot again before snapping back to the centre of the screen. The first shot proper is, as the small title sequence suggested, the back of a car travelling rapidly down a road. It is visibly night-time, as the surroundings are cast in darkness. This fulfils the convention of a thriller and also creates tension as the audience It then cuts to inside the car and three men are shown; the driver, the front-seat passenger who is asleep, and the back-seat passenger. All three men appear to be smartly dressed. This is intercut with more title screens including one saying 'New York, 1970' which makes the setting and time period clear to the audience. The sequence also fits into other thriller conventions as it has violence later on in the sequence. It is also heavily suggested throughout the opening 2 minutes that the characters are gangsters of some sort, as they use profanities and violence.

Thriller Analysis 1

One of the thriller openings I have chosen to research is Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)



Rear Window's opening is similar to many other Hitchcock films in that it immediately starts with the titles. The tone is set up as deceptively cheerful, as light-hearted music is used throughout. The titles are in a white font with an orange outline, which has quite a positive connotation. Simple fades are used to transition between the different titles. The location behind the titles remains the same throughout and is that of a window with the camera on the inside. Initially, the blinds are closed, but as the titles progress, each blind raises, revealing an alleyway/courtyard. This image of the window links directly to the plot of the film and also piques the audience's interest into what is happening in the room the camera is in. As the weather is sunny outside and there is no immediate threat, it is a classic example of showing ordinary life that will later be disrupted. After the titles finish, the camera zooms into one of the windowpanes and the shot changes, through a simple cut, to what is happening outside. A high angle shot is used as a cat walks up some steps. The camera pans to follow the cat walking before tilting upwards. A man and woman are seen briefly on a balcony (the first people shown so far in the extract) as the camera pans across, showing the apartment windows. At the moment, the setting still seems innocent and there is no sign of any threat. The camera then pans back to the apartment it started in. However, this time, a sleeping man's face is shown, who is visibly sweating. This is the first element that hints at a thriller, as it adds a hint of mystery and the audience is likely to be interested about who this man is and why he is sweating. This is the start of the narrative, and thus the ending of the opening sequence.

Rear Window's opening, as with many other Hitchcock films and thriller films of the time, is innocuous and not easily categorised as being a thriller opening. The high-key naturalistic lighting, ordinary setting and jaunty music all help to provide a (false) sense of security for the audience. The ideas that I can take from this is that an innocent opening could be a good one to choose as it makes the thriller elements more dramatic when they are introduced.

Preliminary Task - Editing and Finished Task

Editing, like both the planning and filming, has gone remarkably well. I had no prior experience with Adobe Premiere Pro but I found it relatively easy to use once I was shown the basics. After experimenting for a while with various transitions and effects, we got down to choosing the best sections from each take and linking them together. It was around this point that we saw that the footage could be changed to black and white, which we decided to use as this made the film seem more stylish and add a dark tone. It also helped solve aesthetic problems such as the exterior door we used being a bright red colour, which otherwise would have looked incongruous. I also discovered that the speed could be slowed down which we decided to use as we both agreed that it added a stylistic effect and made it seem more professional. Vicente managed to source some music in his spare time, which I think sounds great and really adds to the suspenseful, mysterious feel of the clip. Overall, I think that the whole process of the preliminary task has been a useful and rewarding one. It has enabled me to improve my skills in filming and editing and I now feel confident about the thriller task.

Below is the final edit of the Preliminary Task:

Preliminary Task - Filming

Filming went as expected. We focused on the exterior shots first, filming multiple takes in order to make it easier at the editing stage. Working from the storyboard, with Vicente as cameraman and both of us taking the director role, we managed to film quite quickly. Moving onto the interior shots, the decision was made to insert a shot that wasn't on the storyboard, a point-of-view shot of my feet walking as we thought that this would look quite creative. We particularly focused on gaining multiple shots of the opening and closing of the door as we understood that that segment would need to look smooth or it would look amateur and unrealistic. For the conversation, as we had only one camera, I came up with the idea of filming the conversation twice. The first take would focus on Oliver's face, the second take on my face. This allows us to switch easily between the shots when editing whilst the conversation still looking natural. Overall, I think that the filming process has run very smoothly as we have managed to finish in the time limit. I believe that we have a sufficient amount of footage to work with in editing, and as we have four hours for editing, I think that we will be able to complete it without any trouble.

Preliminary Task - Planning

The planning of the preliminary task went well. Initial brainstorming led to some very imaginative and creative ideas, such as a drug deal and two hitmen preparing for a kill. Eventually, due to the constraints of time and resources and the fact that the preliminary task is of relatively minor importance, we settled on a less ambitious idea: two 'agents' meeting for an exchange of a bag. Discussion then moved to location, actors and props. As filming was scheduled to take place in school, somewhere suitable would have to be found. However, there appeared to be a lack of free classrooms for the day of filming. This was not a major problem, as if required, we could use our classroom as it appeared the other groups were filming elsewhere. I volunteered to be one of the actors as I feel comfortable in that kind of role. As Vicente was confident with being the cameraman, we needed another actor. Luckily, Oliver from another group was willing to take the role. In terms of props, we decided that my school bag could be sufficiently used as the bag.
The next step was storyboarding. Vicente volunteered for this role as he is a skilled artist and felt confident doing it. Whilst he was working on that, I created the dialogue for the scene. I kept it fairly simple, opting for a serious tone to match the theme. My main concern is that the dialogue is slightly cliched, but this is not a major concern for the preliminary task.