Foundation Portfolio Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The ways in which my media product uses, develops or challenges forms and conventions of real media products is firstly, in terms historical and contemporary thrillers, I consider that my product fits into historical thrillers. I believe this because it is quite similar to the historical conventions used by for instance Alfred Hitchcock; where the camera is more static than kinetic and handheld. Hitchcock became known for his control of pace and suspense, and his films draw heavily on both fear and fantasy. In terms of technical aspects my first contemplation of where to place the camera should involve knowing what emotion I want the audience to experience at that particular time. Emotion (in the shape of fear, laughter, surprise, sadness, anger, boredom, etc.) is the crucial aim of each scene. Emotion comes directly from the actor's eyes. I can control the intensity of that emotion by placing the camera close or far away from those eyes. A close-up will fill the screen with emotion, and pulling away to a wide angle shot will squander that emotion. An unexpected cut from wide to close-up will give the audience a sudden surprise. Occasionally a strange angle above an actor will amplify the dramatic meaning. Hitchcock used this theory of proximity to plan out each scene. These variations are a way of controlling when the audience feels intensity, or relaxation.
The camera should take on human qualities and roam around playfully looking for something suspicious in a room. This allows the audience to feel like they are involved in uncovering the story. Scenes can often begin by panning a room showing close-ups of objects that explain plot elements; within my final scene this is done-panning of the room and the main character. Putting an idea into the mind of the character without explaining it in dialogue is done by using a point-of-view shot sequence. This shot is used in my sequence to intensify the anxiety of the main character and furthermore I amplified this intensity and adding tension by the use of a score. Mirrors and stairs are also conventions of thriller movies; which are both within my opening sequence.
From my prior study of the thriller genre I was aware that to produce a successful opening sequence there must be significant enigmas. This is mentioned in Roland Barthes’ theory on action and enigma codes. He thought that to generate suspense in narrative, there ought to be unanswered questions which will induce the viewer to anticipate action with a resolution. For my opening sequence I wanted to form a narrative structure that would persuade the viewer to carry on watching the remainder of the film and that would leave areas in which the film could expand. Of which this makes my opening sequence comply with usual conventions of a thriller.
Hitchcock had a style that was very unique. His films often portray innocent people caught up in circumstances beyond their control or understanding as seen in “Psycho”. Within my product, I believe that an innocent person is caught up in circumstances beyond their control or understanding. The main character; a female, by which having female protagonist, it challenges the convention that males uptake the leading roles. So, this challenges the traditional representations; my representation of the young female victim is very much a typical stereotypical one. This particular stereotype is notably recognisable, as female being presented as feeble and defenceless of which why it was used and that due to the audience pick up and identify on this very quickly, so that they are engaged in the immediately. In addition, the engagement of the audiences’ attention can be also link into the target audience of predominantly males as they are more attracted to psychological thrillers in comparison to females; in the age range of 15-25 year olds-where hopefully a gain in the proportion of females will be seen viewing who may influenced by their male counter parts to view it. The representation of the other students, well in terms of the students at the vending machine, is another stereotype as they are in a big group with very fearful and intimidating behaviour. From both boys and girls towards the lone stereotyped female victim, who becomes so depressed from the abuse she encounters. Also, she receives no acknowledgment at all from the students outside the school building, another demoralising aspect furthering her sad and lonely persona. The audience sympathises with the female because they know some background information on her (victim of bullying). Within “Psycho”, there is no customary male domination, Marion Cranes’ character is not passive (she steals money, runs away) but she is. Female representations 'femme fatale' character in Marion Crane- flawed criminal but strong characters (her sister is determined to find her) - she stole her bosses’ money. However she deviates from this stock character type at the end by trying to give up the money- the representations are more complicated. This representation of this character is very similar to the leading character in my own film, in terms of female being represented as weak and feeble.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think that without a doubt my film is an independent film; challenging storyline, unknown actors and the small budget contrasting to the big budget mainstream Hollywood films, which include well known actors. Psychological thrillers are frequently to some extent more challenging than other (relatively) mainstream movies. In part, this may be because they overturn, to some extent, the customary 'thriller' balance of plot and character. A typical thriller emphasises plot; psychological thrillers, understandably, emphasise character equally or more.Mainstream easily distributed due to their huge financial support whereas on the other hand small independent would be lucky to get a screening in a cinema. Independent films are usually shown in art houses or independent film houses, these establishments do not gain anywhere the amount cinemas do.
Then again there’s the possibility attracting distributors at film festivals such as Sundance; which specializes in independent films, but it can often be hard to get screening there as well.
Moreover, the option of uploading the product to the internet to a website such as “YouTube”, where it could accessed at any time, by anyone, which has the possibility mass and diverse audiences who could view the product on countless occasions. Also, links into the last point is by the means of convergence, in technology the mobile phone is a key example of convergence; a telecommunication device that is also mp3 player, camera and 3G internet. So, viewing of websites such as “Youtube” on a mobile phone. Finally, there’s cable and terrestrial television, cable TV most likely distribution location is the community channels which do not gain mass audiences whereas on the public service (terrestrial) such as the BBC and channel 4 are much more likely to have greater audiences and have greater commercial use. I think that the best distribution location for my product is a terrestrial TV channel such as channel 4, as it is held in high regard for its strong promotion of independent British film.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
I honestly believe that my product I have created is suitable for my target audience because I have met the regulatory concerns of the BBFC 15 rated certificate film. My initial regulatory concerns were to have limited use of swearing; there was actually no use of swearing, to have no inclusion of the use of drugs, strong violence or sex, all of which were followed. From my prior study of the thriller genre I was aware that to produce a successful opening sequence there must be significant enigmas. My target audience is mainly those in the age range of 15-25, predominantly males as they are more particularly interested in thrillers in comparison to females. As, they enjoy the tension and suspense notably more than females.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Also, from the audience feedback, I could recognise through the responses that I had received I could easily identify that my targeted audience were able to relate to characters and themes such as the bullying or stressful school life, which meant I knew I had targeted the right audience age range, as they could easily relate meant that they were more interested in the plotline.
This is mentioned in Roland Barthes’ theory on action and enigma codes. He thought that to generate suspense in narrative, there ought to be unanswered questions which will induce the viewer to anticipate action with a resolution. For my opening sequence I wanted to form a narrative structure that would persuade the viewer to carry on watching the remainder of the film and that would leave areas in which the film could expand. Of which this makes my opening sequence comply with usual conventions of a thriller.
In terms of what conventions I included to make my product appealing, the characters were students, so that most if not all of the target audience could easily relate to and conform with.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I’d used various technologies beginning from the research onwards. This began with making a blog on the internet at www.blogger.com , downloading copyright free music for the score and free sound FX. To film I had used a Digital Video (D.V.) camera which makes the film grittier and realistic this had fit into my film because I had noticed that this type of picture has been used in British TV dramas such as “Skins”, of which has a similar audience and has worked successfully. Of which includes characters of similar age range. Whereas in the mainstream Hollywood films; celluloid film is used which is a lot brighter and artificial. To the edit and finalise the film, I had used non-linear software; I-movie, in the editing suite. That meant that I could freely edit in any order without destroying clips, plus being able to make changes whilst editing so the film could develop from the original storyboard idea. When locating music for my product, I was limited to using copyright free sounds, this had made it a time consuming process but after trying numerous tracks and sound effects I eventually discovered sounds which suited he action onscreen.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The problems I encountered on the preliminary task was the open set; which limited locations to go to and it was a place where anyone could suddenly go across the scene unexpectedly and be noisy, over which I had no control of, whereas on the main task was a lot more controlled, because the location of where to shoot the scenes was researched, it could be set somewhere in a more controlled environment, especially in terms of lighting. This again another problem with preliminary task, where there was limited control. Organisation and timing was a lot more lax on the main task than preliminary task, which was limited to a short space of time.
The most unsatisfactory thing about my preliminary task was the limited time, because not enough camera angles, shots and movement were explored to provide greater insight into which ones to use in the main task. However, this was overcome in the main task by the greater amount of time available, so that numerous camera shots, angles and movements could be explored so that when it came to the stage of editing, I had greater choice of what I had to choose from to include in my final product.
At first it had not gone according due to the limited time, this was a problem particular points, such as the actions of the characters were planned and not always cue to the camera. This became obvious to the viewer as there was a pause before the character had begun acting. However, this mistake was noted and retified in the final task.
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