We chose an idea that wouldn’t be completely obvious to the viewer. The main idea was that we would make the woman in our piece very disorientated, vulnerable and a victim. Through this the audience would feel they were in the same position. The idea would then ensure that we got across the feel of it being a thriller due to the mystery. As well as having a woman victim in our piece, we needed a villain/antagonist to push forward the idea of a thriller once more. The original concept actually came from ‘Fargo 1996’ which only showed a car driving down a road and didn’t tell the viewer anything.
Another huge convention that we used to add to our ‘thriller’ was having the ‘crime’ at the core of the narrative. Having rape as the main subject in the film, the audience have something to concentrate on and their minds are glued to this idea.
By having so many quick and fast paced flashbacks it puts the audience’s mind in a state of confusion and they will want to know more. This can actually be seen in our project through the flashbacks and the long-winded walking. All of these things would set the atmosphere are dark and clustered.
All of these conventions add together and actually show extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations. It was just an ordinary girl at an ordinary college party, yet something terrible happened to her and her world was turned upside down. This is definitely shown in the opening sequence as seeing her walking home and slumping down when she gets there with her head down shows her psychological state is no-where near the norm. As well as this, right at the end of the sequence the woman victim is in danger. She answers the phone and has no idea who it is on the other end, therefore leaving her with a confused logic on how safe she really is.
Also some of the shots we used were definitely typical of a real media product. For example cutting from a close-up shot to a long shot, again, leaves the audience wondering what exactly is coming in the next shot. When we did a shot of our actress as long shot, we left the audience in suspense as they did not yet know why she was there, what she was wearing, or where she was.
The sound we used built up much suspense throughout the piece. Because we downloaded a drama packed sounds piece to go over our actress whilst she is walking, it makes it much more sinister and a lot darker. The music we used it also quite moody to set the opening sequence into a thriller mode, once again building the anticipation.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Due to the fact that we used just a woman and a man in our project, we didn’t particularly cover as many social groups as possible. The piece concentrated mainly on a woman as she walked through a field and had flashbacks of her night before. This could be seen as quite controversial. By using a woman as the main victim in our piece, it makes it seem as though we are trying to say that all women are vulnerable and defenceless. Yet, this is not the message we were trying to put across. Seeing as most thrillers these days are shown with women as the victims, we thought we would follow the trend. It seems that thrillers become more interesting when a helpless woman is in trouble at the start but then throughout the film they change and become a hero, or stronger.
This type of representation can be seen in the film Straw Dogs (1971). The woman in this film is a victim to rape. Yet, the third rape that she actually encounters, she turns round and actually enjoys it. This therefore makes her the bigger person and she is going against the terrible act that is being forced upon her.
What kind of media institute might distribute your media product and why?
I would distribute my film to Warp X. This is because Warp X as a distribution company makes sure that they help out the smaller producers rather than the huge films. They also work on a lower budget and as my team will not be well known film makers, it would be easier with this type of Distribution Company to get out film out into the world to make a bit of money and possible get quite popular. Also the fact that the company is set in Sheffield makes it a lot more simple to send over the piece as well as getting to if need be for such things as meetings or if something goes wrong. Also asking a distribution company to put a film of this genre out into the world could be quite controversial for them also. Yet, seeing as they are quite a small company and not as well known, this could be a good try out for the film.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for our media product would most likely be an older range of people. Because there is quite a lot of disturbed images and people within it, the certificate would have to be a 15. Therefore
The age group would be above 15, yet more likely towards the older teens to mid-twenties. The film probably is more presented towards creative, young, open-minded, digital and active members of society. Due to the film being quite disturbing and potentially upsetting for some audience members, it is more likely that the audience would be working-class people interested in film and more serious film types.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I tried to attract my audience by making sure that I was ambiguous and kept the suspense throughout the piece. By doing so the audience would watch the film wanting to know more and more with each scene they watched. I wanted to force the audience to ask questions about the film and then allow those questions to be unanswered until either the middle or the end of the film. We tried to achieve this by putting in clips of the night before which would make the audience wonder what had happened and the costume used would confuse the audience to the point of wanting to watch on and find out exactly what is happening.
Sam Willis – ‘Decent, just a little bit more editing needed doing. Otherwise I think it is an all-rounded good piece of work.’
Amie Pettitt – ‘Interesting story line and the music works well alongside it. Also a wide range of camera angles enhancing the performance of the film, quite good.’
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Due to never actually using technology to do with media before, the project was a big step with learning. Because we had to use Panasonic cameras throughout the project, I got used to using them and now actually know how to zoom, how to adjust colour and many other things. But basically, I just got an understanding of the way to use a camera and how to get the exact shots I wanted. Also as I have never used a tripod before it was another experience to get used to putting it to the right high and in the right stance throughout. As well as the filming equipment I also learnt a lot about the editing software, Adobe Premier, as this is what we were to use when edited our sequence. I now know how to use dissolves, black and white and many other things to do with the appearance of the piece, but also how to set the sound and how to make titles for a film.
I have also learnt how all of these technologies plus editing actually work together to construct meaning in visual text. The editing and semiotics really add to this meaning and allow myself to see how this small piece of film can bring across such a powerful message.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt quite a lot during the time from the preliminary task to the full edited version. I learnt that a good location is the key to making the piece of work interesting and higher in marks. By having an uninteresting background the audience will be bored and not attracted to watching the film. I also learnt that I must make sure the film is in widescreen before I start filming, this is because during our preliminary we didn’t actually think about making the screen wide or small and ended up with our video being too small to see. I also learnt more how to work with the editing software seeing as I did not really concentrate on the editing, but the filming and directing, of our preliminary task. I was director of our final edit but felt that I worked with the editor, Rob, a lot more. I also learnt that working in a four was probably a bit too much and next time I will realise this and work in a smaller group.
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