Audience Feedback

These are some comments that people made on our thriller.

"It was thoughtful and enjoyed watching it, although I think that the paper scenes went on for a while" - Francesca Dowle

"I liked the contrast from it being serene to the climax at the end" - Danielle Pearce

"I thought it was really good, and the credits were good" - Oscar M-H

"The shots were good and the music fit in really well to set the mood" - Steph White

"I don't really like it because you can see that it is a dummy and the skyline looks unrealistic."

"It's good, i love the paper but the skyscrapers at the end are a bit weird"

"I thought it was really good, and the credits were good"

Editor from Pine Wood Studios, Humphrey Dixon "I thought the Editing was very professional and well put together, as the build up to the climax created the tension that was needed to make it a success".

I think that the overall feedback on our thriller was postitive, the feedback was from people aged 16-18, which was not our target audience but I feel that this is a good thing as it could attract people of all ages.

Task 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Preliminary Task:





Main Task:






I feel that I have learnt so much from when we did the preliminary task to now.
From looking at my preliminary last and looking at my thriller product now, they are completely different, everything from the lighting to the props.
For our prelim task there was next to no planning, we were just put into groups, given a script, told to go find actor and film the shots we were given on the sheet. For our main task we had been planning for months, from writing the film to organising shots and everything else that had to be done.

For the prelim task we were only given one key light and any other lights that we could find. This made the look of our sequence very harsh because this is a harsh light effect but, this was look we were going for, during this intense scene.

We were given shooting allocations for the prelim, whereas we had to sort out where to shoot for our main task weeks in advance. Compared to just a classroom for the prelim, we planning to shoot our main sequence at Hurtwood and Ewhurst but ended up shooting around just Hurtwood instead.
Our main task took much more organising for props as well, we had to around pieces of paper to be dropped, build a dummy, arrange for the same clothes to be worn on the dummy as the main actor, and fake blood. In our prelim task we were only given a gun which we placed in the centre of the table as a main focusing point.
The shots were also very different between the two sequences; in the prelim task they were just simple shots such as, over the shoulder, wide and close up. In our main sequence the shots became more complex with the use of tracking shots and point of view shots.
For the editing process we spent about 2 lessons just putting the shots into order and using diegetic sound. For our main task we have spend weeks editing; putting the shots into the correct order and cropping them, adding credits, non diegetic sound (Soundtrack Pro), fading and after effects to make the illusion of James falling real; which is much more complex in which we have spent much more time doing.
I think that the main task was much, much more complicated than the preliminary task. I have learnt much more from the beginning of the year, in terms of filming and editing.

Task 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from progress of contructing this product?

Task 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

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Task 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

For our media product our ideal target audience member would probably be a male/female young adult who is well educated. Being well educated is not essential but it helps to really understand the plot because at times it can be confusing. Although the film will have elements of horror in which this audience may not enjoy, in this case a late teen may like this product.

Task 3 – What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

We have gone with the distribute company Lionsgate. it is the most commercially successful independent film and television distribution company in North America. They have done films like the upcoming film ’precious’ and various thrillers such as ‘drag me to hell’. We thought that this would be a good distruster because we wanted our film an independent film.

Task 2 - How does your product represent particular social groups?

Our media product is represents a number of different social groups. It would probably attract more upper class people who are more into physiological thrillers. These two sets of groups are simply workaholic adults and college students (late teens), they are both well educated and have good knowledge.

Seven Evaluation Tasks

Task 1 . In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media product?

For our media product we have made our opening sequence realistic and believable. We have also made our sequence as much like an actual film as possible. We have used opening credits in a specific order, 1.production company, 2. a hannah winter film, 3,actors, 4. director of photography, 5. original score, 6. producer, 7. Director, 8. and title. We believed that this was an order that made sense and this is the type of order the credits are put into in a film. We wanted our sequence to come alive and make people want to watch more.

Post Production Evaluation

I found the editing process very difficult to begin with. I learnt how to use final cut server, methods such as fade in’s and other various techniques. We had to find shots that go together but have different positions, for example, during the series of paper shots, we had to fine a close up matched with a wide shot, to make them look like the same shot but in different positions.
Our aim for this sequence was to build suspense, therefore by doing this we started with clam and serene shots of paper falling with blue skies but we wanted to give an ‘on edge’ feeling therefore we added creepy music to the mix and had credits fade in and out slowly. We wanted to create the effect of the paper falling (a feeling of tranquillity) with the contrast of James jumping off the building at the end.

For the sound track we used a slow building tune with wind in the background. The wind symbolises that the paper is falling from high up. This is non diegetic sounds because it is sound to create a mood. As the sequence goes on the music begins to get more sinister to show the effect that there is a possibility that something bad is going to happen. When James jumps, there is a sudden crash thunder for the big climax and to make it more dramatic. For the titles sequence we began with the distributor and production company because we felt that this was an appropriate place to start the film and get the audience into the mood. After that there were the actors and then went on to the various rolls of people who put the film together, like the producer, cinematographer, director, and editor and finally the title of the film ‘the gordon experiment’.
The fade is and outs create mystery and tranquillity at the same time. For the final frame, James is shown jumping off a building, as he is falling a city scape appears in the background. This shows the effect of James falling for a long time and showing that he is very high up. We did this by getting a picture of a city scape off the internet and then pasting it into After effects. I thought that after affects was a bit confusing and took a while to get the hang of but I soon got use to it.
I feel that the editing task went well. Our group completed the mood that we were aiming for by using creepy sounds and slow moving credits and shots.

Shooting Day. The Dummy

This is me and the dummy on our shooting day. The dummy, (in which we named, Billy) took a few hours to make. To make the Billy we got a jumpsuit and stuffed it with crunched up news paper and stapled the arm and neck holes together. We then painted the styrofome head and staped it to the body and added the wig. We also dressed him to the same outfit as our main actor. Finally we staped the boots to his feet so that they were secure.

Account of Shooting Day

We began the shoots day filming outside. We were lucky with the weather seeing as it was a sunny day. We didn’t need to set up our set but we did need to get our prop ready, our dumby. Our dumby was a something our group had made, a few weeks before our shooting day. We made the dumby to look like our actor and made them wear the same clothes. We began the shoots day filming outside. We were lucky with the weather seeing as it was a sunny day. We made the dumby to look like our actor and made them wear the same clothes. We made the dumby heavy so the impact when it hit the floor would be greater and so that the sound could have more of an effect. We started shooting outside the theatre; our first shot was of James on a table to create the effect of him jumping to make it look realistic. We did other shots of him throwing paper, (tracking, close up, mid shots). We filmed a shot of James jumping over the camera, which worked very well because it made it look very realistic.
We did various shots of paper falling which included yet more close up and tracking shots. We also did two silhouette shots from behind filming the back of James and his jump. We did a few shots of the fall of the Dummy named 'Billy' by our group. We threw him about 6 times and tried out different things, like a bellyflop. It look a few throws the dumby to fall right. The costumes worked really well because they were simple but effective. They dumby and James were wearing basically the same thing (jacket and jeans) so that was not a problem. There was no extra lighting only natural sunlight as we were filming outside. Throughout the day the sky changed color which shows in some of the shots and therefore we must edit that.
All in all I think that it went very well and I am pleased with the outcome of our shooting day.

Target Audience

Reflecting on our media piece, my group thought it would be necessary to carve out a specific target audience in order to approach the conecpt of marketing and production in an appropriate way. Due to the deep and mature themes of our film , I believed it would be important to register our target audience as one of an older age group ((16-45) with a certificate of 15) who sustain professional occupations. In regards to gender persuasion, it becomes apparent through the themes that it isnt the gender that is most important but it is the social class. The film develops into highly physiological thriller, and therefore the target audience would have to have quite a developed educational standard to understand the plot and make the connection meaningful. Also the high budget nature of our production makes it clear that our film would have to appeal to a paying adult audience.

Basic Camera Shots

There is a convention in the video, film and television industries which assigns names and guidelines to common types of shots, framing and picture composition. The list below briefly describes the most common shot types. Note that the exact terminology may vary between production environments but the basic principles are the same.

EWS (Extreme Wide Shot)The view is so far from the subject that she isn't even visible. This is often used as an establishing shot.

VWS (Very Wide Shot)The subject is visible (barely), but the emphasis is still on placing her in her environment.

WS (Wide Shot)The subject takes up the full frame, or at least as much as possible. The same as a long shot

MS (Mid Shot)Shows some part of the subject in more detail whilst still giving an impression of the whole subject.

MCU (Medium Close Up)Half way between a MS and a CU.

CU (Close Up)A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame.

ECU (Extreme Close Up)The ECU gets right in and shows extreme detail.

CA (Cutaway)A shot of something other than the current action.
Cut-InShows some part of the subject in detail.

Two-ShotA comfortable shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.

(OSS) Over-the-Shoulder ShotLooking from behind a person at the subject.

Noddy ShotUsually refers to a shot of the interviewer listening and reacting to the subject, although noddies can be used in drama and other situations.

Point-of-View Shot (POV)Shows a view from the subject's perspective.

Weather ShotThe subject is the weather, usually the sky. Can be used for other purposes.

Storyboarding

One of the key aspects of Film-making is the ability to follow and interpret storyboards.

These help you to understand the Director's intentions as a camera operator (where to place the camera), as a Cinematographer (looking at lighting sources etc) and as a basic way of understanding what locations and shots are needed to get the desired effect.

This storyboard is one of our final ideas before we decided to cut the sequence down. It begins with the killer driving, with muffled screams, signifying to the audience that the driver is evil and has kidnapped someone. It then shows shots of various people being totrured in different ways (in cells etc).

In the second story board a mad man is shown banging on the door, in a cell. It then shows different cuts of him running through corridors and up stairs.

A car then pulls up at Ewhurst. It then goes to a cut of a man running up the ewhurst stairs and going to a girl who is tied up, he ripes off the tape around her mouth and takes her to a sign that reads 'mental illness home'. The audience then discover that the man is mentally ill. He then escapes from the home and shouts "you're not crazy now, but you will be". He then runs outside and jumps off the roof.

We cut this idea down because we needed much more screen time then we were given.

Final Plan

We began to tweak our idea and changed bits of it. We stuck with the main plot of a person being tortured and attempting to escape, but we added a part at the end where the main character escapes and throws himself off the roof.
We then began to think about it logically and realised that we had much more screen time then we were given. Therefore we needed to cut it down. We decided that the big climax was at the end where the man jumps off the roof, so we decided to make this our main subject.
We played with different ideas of asking why he would commit suicide.
Therefore the final outcome was to start off with pieces of paper floating down softly and calmly, and switch to close-ups of the main subject looking depressed and confused. This confuses the audience and draws them in. You then learn that he is throwing the paper (bank statements) off the roof but it confuses the audience at to why he is doing this; it may make the audience begin to think that he is a depressed business man. Once all the paper is gone he is left standing there, he then jumps off the roof. Whilst he is lying on the floor, there is a close up of his face and the camera then tracks to a sign labelled ‘home for the mentally ill.’ This is a good opening sequence to the film because it leaves the audience hanging and asking themselves questions that will be answered throughout the rest of the film. This was our aim, we wanted a sequence that will draw the audience in make them want to watch more.