Individual Evaluation

Thriller Opening Sequence Evaluation

1)      Our media product has incorporated some generic conventions, for example the sound track which played throughout the whole sequence was made up of creepy sounds which are typically used in psychological thrillers to create a tense atmosphere. Another typical generic convention of psychological thrillers that is evident in our opening sequence is long shot duration which adds to the suspense, this was when the main character was walking along the path. It also had a number of enigmas for example where is she going? What has she just done? These were developed by the camera work and dialogue. This is also a common generic convention used in psychological thrillers. However our opening sequence does challenge the typical conventions of psychological thrillers, this is because it is located in a public place instead of a remote area.  Another way in which our opening sequence challenges these conventions is because of the main characters costume, her outfit was smart and sophisticated which isn’t normally associated with psychological thriller murderers. The use of most of these conventions makes the sub genre of the movie clear to the viewers, this is because of the slow pace which has been created by long shot duration and the use of slow motion during the editing process. The use of these conventions indicates that the film ‘The Shining’ influenced us during the production of our opening sequence. This is because ‘The Shining’ uses long shot duration for example during the scene where the protagonist is hiding from the antagonist this created a very tense atmosphere for the viewer. So we tried to create this effect. ‘The Shining’ also had creepy music through out most of the film, especially during the opening sequence when the antagonist’s car is driving down the road. The storyline also involves a psychologically disturbed murderer, similar to the one in our film. Another film that influenced us during the production of our opening sequence was ‘Shrooms’ this is because it contains a lot of high angle and low angle shots for example when the antagonist confronts the protagonist, the antagonist is portrayed as in control by the use of a low angle shot . Taking this into consideration we decided to use this in our opening sequence and as a result we used a number of high angle low angle shots to illustrate the main characters vulnerability.  

2)     

The particular social groups that our thriller opening sequence represents are gender and class. However in our sequence, not all of these groups conformed to there typical stereotype. This is because the main character was female and women are usually portrayed as passive and harmless, not as murderers. But at the end of the sequence it is clear that she is being controlled by a dominant antagonist which could be a male, so the sequence both conforms and challenges the gender stereotype. Our thriller opening sequence also challenges the social class stereotype as the main character was middle class and people from the middle class are usually looked up to by lower classes. They also aren’t associated with deviant crimes.  This links to our target audience which is mainly made up of females because they can relate to the gender of the main character.

3)      The kind of media institution that might distribute our product is Paramount Pictures this is because our thriller film is a mainstream movie. Paramount Pictures has also distributed many psychological thrillers which are similar to our product for example Shutter Island. The reasons for this similarity are because it has a similar target audience to our movie, however ours is mostly female and Shutter Island has a mainly male audience. The mise en scene that has been used in Shutter Island is also similar to the mise en scene used in our film this is because the characters are wearing sophisticated clothes and the lighting is very low key and dull which creates a dark, gloomy atmosphere. Our movie could be released as a TV film, broken down in to about 5 episodes this is because it contains a sequence of events that would leave the audience wondering what’s going to happen next. It would be released because psychological thrillers have recently become very popular and it would also offer great opportunities for merchandising, as extreme fans may want to purchase posters, badges, dolls of the main characters or buy the sound track off of itunes, this would dramatically increase the popularity of the film and the profit made.

  

4)      The target audience of our thriller opening sequence is older teenagers ranging from the ages of 16-19. Although national statistics state that males are the main target audience of psychological thrillers, our primary research indicates that our target audience is mainly female. This is because they enjoy watching psychological thrillers as it gives them a boost of adrenalin which they like. The majority of our target audience live in urban areas, our primary research revealed that most of them lived in the town centre, this would enable them to see adverts of the film because posters and other ways of advertising are more likely to be placed in urban areas instead or in rural areas. So they are more likely to want to watch the film or buy merchandise. There hobbies are also listening to music, shopping, swimming and reading. A similar film that may appeal to our target audience is Black Swan. The reason for this is because it is also a psychological thriller, with some gory scenes and has suspense through out the whole film.

5)       One of the ways we attracted our audience was by using micro areas that many psychological thrillers don’t have. For example during the editing process we made our opening sequence black and white to add a creepy atmosphere, this would attract viewers because they will think that it’s a scary film. This also made the lighting dim which creates the same effect. We also attracted our audience by using facebook this is because facebook is very popular with teenagers and is a good way to advertise a product. We could also attract potential viewers by producing adverts on the TV and radio. This is because one of our target audience’s main hobby was listening to music so it is very likely that they will hear the advert on the radio. Another reason is that stereotypically teenagers watch a lot of TV so they would also see the advert. There are some points in our film that would terrify children and younger teenagers especially girls. For example throughout the rest of the film there will be some gruesome scenes. But I think this would appeal to most teenage boys as they usually enjoy watching films from the same genre. Elderly people and sensitive adults may also find some elements of the film disturbing so it wouldn’t really appeal to them. The audience is asked to put themselves in the position of the main character which at the beginning of the film is seen as an antagonist but as the film progresses you will discover she is a protagonist. This is because she is being controlled by a psychologically disturbed man. With the use of point of view shots the audience can easily put themselves in her position as they are able to see what she is witnessing. Another camera technique used that allows the audience to put themselves in her position is the use of close ups. This is because it shows her facial expressions and the emotions that she is feeling. It also emphasizes the little details that she is experiencing. So it enables the viewer to be put in her position. The audience is being allowed to witness how devastated and distraught she feels when she is forced to kill a number of people. This would have a massive impact on the viewers because not only would they be anxious during the film from the creation of suspense they would feel emotionally attached and sorry for the main character. However this is not a common generic convention of a psychological thriller as the audience usually isn’t asked to put them selves in the position of the person who is doing the killings. But on the other hand in other psychological thrillers the audience typically puts themselves in the position of the vulnerable protagonist, so you could say that this is a common generic convention of psychological thrillers.

6)      Whilst making our opening sequence I learnt how to use lots of different, new technologies for example garage band when we created the sound track. Another technology that I learnt how to use was Final Cut Express. I learnt how to select the right clip, shorten it to the bit we wanted and how to add different types of transitions. Another new technology that I learnt how to use was Photoshop. I used this to produce the logo and I used a number of the tools on Photoshop such as the bulge and distortion tool. During the filming process there were a number of problems that we faced. These were making sure that pedestrians didn’t walk through a shot and if they did we had to make sure that they was there throughout the next couple of shots. Noise from aeroplanes, houses, cars and pedestrians was also an issue. But we overcome this by filming when aeroplanes weren’t flying over. We also changed the volume of most of the opening sequence and added a soundtrack to it. This made sure that some ambient sounds were still evident without effecting the overall quality of the sound. Another problem we faced was the weather this is because one of the days we filmed on was sunny and the other days were cloudy. But this problem was overcome by changing the colour of the sequence during the editing process. However the sunny weather also caused a couple of delays as in some shots we could see the shadow of the person filming but we filmed those shots again to make sure that this could no longer be seen. The strengths of the filming were that everyone got an equal opportunity to film and we were able to get the camera in the position that we wanted to, which allowed us to capture shots with the right feel that we was looking for. The weaknesses of filming were that one of the shots was filmed on a slope making it very awkward to get the camera straight. However we were eventually able to straighten the camera out by adjusting the tripod. The editing software that we used was final cut express. During the editing process we added a number of transitions for example dissolves, fade in and fade out to both the text and the scenes. This was a very useful effect as it made the opening sequence look more professional and made it flow a lot more smoothly. We also adjusted the speed in some parts of the opening sequence for example on the establishing shot and when the main character was walking along the path. This was also very useful as it added tension to scene as well as long shot duration which is a common generic convention of psychological thrillers as it creates suspense. To create the sound track we used garage band. This was also very useful as it had many sounds to choose from which allowed us to create a creepy sound track. However we wanted to put breathing or a heat beat during the point of view shots to add realism and to engage the audience even more.

7)      The preliminary task allowed us to practice different shot types and enabled use to perfect them. This was a very useful process as we were able to get used to using the camera and tripod. It also allowed us to practice editing on Final Cut Express and gave us some inspiring ideas on what editing techniques we could use in our final opening sequence. By researching psychological thrillers it made our task a lot easier as we knew what kind of effect and narrative we wanted our opening sequence to portray. During the research process we made a story board, test shots etc. This helped us because we knew what shots would work and what shots didn’t. This enabled us to improve the shot types we used. The story board helped us because we knew exactly what we were going to film. Overall I feel confident with our final product and I think that it was successful.