The plot of our thriller is as follows. The (unnamed) protagonist, who is Sam has a psychological issue in which every positive deed that he does, has to be met with a just-as negative deed in return to return the balance. However, he cannot help this, as when the time arrives, an alter ego takes over and he loses all recollection of what has been done, leaving him to clean up the mess and face up to the consequences. The murder takes place during a party in public toilets.
The name of the film is called Parity. Initially we had not thought of the thriller name during pre-production aswell as the production, but during the time Sam was editing the thriller opening he had a idea. Sam then e-mailed me a possible thriller name aswell as a possible plot, this was so I could give my approval. We therefore ended up with the name 'Parity' which also means 'balance'. This went well with the plot in which he has to do a negative deed to balance out with any positive deed which he has done. Proof of the e-mail is evident below.
The following image shows some of the comments which we received about our opening thriller scene. As you can see the majority of the feedback was very positive which reflected in the strength of our thriller scene. The feedback ranged from "really good sound and editing, quality cinematography." by bentomhume to ''really like some of the low angle camera shots too. Good work guys :-)''... ''doesn't have that amateur feel to it that some others do :)'' by deano4262 and larryinabox. This feedback ensured we had successfully achieved the sound, editing, cinematography and camera angles. However, not all the feedback was positive. As you can see the last comment by kasrkin45 states, '' if you look properly you can see his head moves randomly when you touch him xD'' this shows that maybe next time we film, we need to ensure we do not occur any slip ups to avoid comments such as this.Another person who gave us feedback was Mr. Silverwood, he expressed that it was very good, however we could of added a little bit extra to the scene, such as a different location. We decided to ignore his advice because we felt that we may lose the suspense and tension.
The final set of people who gave us feedback was our media class. After Mr. Silverwood showed the final product the class was asked to give us feedback. On the whole, the feedback was positive, most of the feedback related to the good cinematography, sound and editing. All of this feedback is fantastic, and the fact that 'Parity' now has nearly 300 views is a brilliant achievement.
Thriller Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our Thriller opening uses many forms and conventions of the thriller genre. In general the thriller genre is one of suspense and tension, if the film thrills it can be classed as a thriller. In our opening we have created suspense using a variety of different techniques.
Editing is also an important part of creating suspense. Using short cut clips are very effective at creating suspense. This is a technique we used alot when Sam is moving the dead body. We also used a flashback in the reflection of the mirror. This is also a very short scene with fast transition which helps to add to the suspense, also with the additional sound effects this scene in particular has a high amount of tension. Another important editing technique used was altering the ambient lighting. By making it darker, and adding a blue tint, makes the scene more gloomy and overall more eerie/scary, another characteristic of thrillers.
Camera Techniques are also used to create the tension required. For example as Sam moves the body he kicks the knife away. We then position the camera at ground level, with the knife in full view, as the main protagonist is about to leave. This helps to raise suspense as the viewer is starting to wonder whether he has forgotten about the knife, something which will effect the rest of the film. This is very similar to 'Psycho' as the viewer is thinking exactly the same as the main protagonist cleans up after a murder.
Mise-En-Scene is also used to create tension. This is also very similar to our inspiration of 'Psycho' as we did not show the main protagonist commiting the murder. Instead we showed the dead body and the clearing up. Our reasons for this were that we wanted to make a thriller opening rather than a horror opening. Also the clearing up of the murder can actually be more tense than the murder itself. This is because the viewer is wondering whether the character has forgotten anything. This is also less predictable than an actual murder.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The particular social class which we based our thriller on was the upper class. Our thriller represented the type of people who had a comfortable living and who also had sufficient amounts of disposable income. The mise-en-scene in the thriller shows the class, with the use of public toilets being hygienic and clean and the choice of dress. Both murderer and victim were dressed formal by wearing suits to show they were at a higher class party. The usual stereotype of lower class mainly murder is also questioned with the murderer in this scenario coming from a more upper class background. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
When creating our film we based a lot of our ideas on the film 'Psycho' (1960) such as the murderer cleaning up the blood with a mop. Universal studies and Paramount Pictures distributed this film, so we believe this media institution would be the ideal company to distribute ours because it is a globally known, therefore attracting a much larger audience and revenue. As our thriller contains strong violence, we would have to be careful when advertising. It would be inappropriate to advertise our product before 9pm or to advertise on children's television programmes. However, since our thriller is low budget, it makes it increasingly difficult to attract global distributors. An alternative would be to use a smaller studio such as, Filmfour, this is because they tend to show the latest independent british films, which also suits our thriller, but would lack the mainstream global success and audiences.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for our media product would be aimed at people who are aged 15 and above. The reason for this is stated by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). Our product would be given the rating 15+ by the BBFC, due to the reasons that the thriller would incorporate; Dangerous behaviour such as the murder with the use of a weapon which is the knife. Violence is also evident however, only for a short duration. The use of blood is also glamourised which gives the rating a 15+. Our film will be targeting both males and females, the reason for this is that the males may be able to relate to each of the characters. We also notice that the thriller genre is not everybodys cup of tea, therefore we have made the audience one who likes the thriller genre and who may also be intellectual so they can unravel the reasons behind why the killer is performing these hideous acts.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We would show advertisments on all of the major television channels who incorporate breaks, such as ITV, Channel 4 and Five. However, due to the age certificate, the advertisements would be shown after the 9pm watershed to avoid any stress which may occur on younger viewers. Also due to the targeted age range, social networking sites are very popular, facebook and twitter accounts would also be activated so fans will be able to keep updated on the latest news and events which are happening related to the film. As our film 'Parity' resembles balance we would make it clear to our audience that for every good deed he does the killer balances it out with a bad deed. By having frequent flashbacks tells the audience he has a very vague memory of what he has just done. Rather than having just dialogue, using a scripted narrators voice makes the film seem more eerie/scary, therefore making the audience wanting to see more.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
It is very important to have the correct technology to create a professional looking product. Although the camera we used had a small FOV and was not in HD, the final product still looking professional, simply down to the filming techniques used, and the editing. The film would not have been as good if not from the use of modern and professional editing software, such as Adobe After Effects and Sony Vegas, which contain many tools and features that would simply not be present in something less professional. We eventually came to use Sony Vegas because we did not suit using iMovie on the Apple iOS.
Technology has also made communication and showcasing much more effective and time saving. When not in class, we used e-mail and mobile phone messaging to stay in contact with each other and make decisions regarding the film, such as the naming of the title.
The use of the blogs has made showcasing our work much more effective, being able to put all of our work into one place has saved a lot of time. Viewers can see everything they need on the blogs, without having to switch between sites like YouTube, as it is possible to embed YouTube videos into the blog. YouTube has also assisted greatly with distributing our film to the widest possible audience. Through YouTube, we are able to track how many people have viewed our film, whether they like it or dislike it, and what feedback they have left in the form of comments. YouTube even has the option of looking into demographics, and showing us the "hot spots" of our video, where viewer attention was gained, or lost.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Our Preliminary Task was a short clip about our understanding of continuity. From this I have learnt a huge amount and feel that my skills have progressed dramatically. The first and main thing that I have learnt from my continuity piece was the small mistake that we made in this task. This mistake was where our actors swapped places at one point in the scene. However thanks to this mistake I have learnt the importance of continuity in order to make a successful film. I believe our final product as a result is stronger because of this mistake as we took extra care in making sure that we made no such slip up again.
The preliminary exercise also taught us the importance of planning thoroughly. We did plan our continuity piece but perhaps not in enough detail. As a result of this we planned for much longer and went into much more depth for the planning of our thriller. By conducting this planning it allowed us to set deadlines and keep track of what needed to be done. Also by extensive discussions with the whole group we managed to create a story line strong enough to make a quality thriller opening.
I believe without the continuity task our thriller opening would have not been up to the same standard that it is now. The preliminary task helped us gain valuable experience of filming and editing and these skills were then used in our final product.
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