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.
