Jessica Champion

AS Media StudiesCandidate number: 4029 Centre number: 66504

Image of Clare and Dan: framing the shots

Close up on Dan

At the top of the screen, you can see images from our preliminary task.

By using a variety of shots, we were able to direct the audience into feeling a certain way about a character.

Cool shot

We used a close up on this character keeping to the conventions, adding more meaning and depth to the scene.

The preliminary task helped us in our framework for our final piece. Here is an example of one of the shots we used.

Looking back at the

preliminary task, what

did you learn?

Completing the preliminary task helped me to receive a better understanding of framing shots. Actively testing camera angles helps you to see that different angles can change the interpretation of a piece.

How did you attract/address

your target audience?

Here’s an image of A level students, who fit the age range of our intended target audience.

Vlog from some of the teens.

“I like the way it flashes backwards and forwards between the girl dreaming and the actual dream…the contrast between dark and light is really effective…I also like the pace as it’s like a rush…”

Before I started planning and coming up with ideas for the piece, I did some research into similar films. I watched the film Memento by Christopher Nolan, which is where some of my ideas surfaced from. In Memento, the main character suffers from amnesia. The film is in non-linear narrative. It is edited in a way where he almost has flash backs, that only the audience can see. This is where my inspiration came from for the dream sequence in our piece.Memento (age rating 15) also has a five star rating and the gross revenue for the film was $25,544,867 in the US.

Who could be your

audience for your media

product?

This image was taken from ukfilmcouncil.co.uk

The diagram above shows that, in 2007, 33% of people aged 15-24 were consuming newly released films; in 2008 it fell to 28%, but this is still significantly higher than other age groups.

This diagram also shows that, between 1997 and 2008, 15-24 year olds were the main consumers of film in cinemas.

When planning our opening sequence to a thriller, we planned to have our target audience as late teens to young adults. As you can see from the diagrams on the right, the statistics state that 15-24 year olds are the highest consumers of film, which means we are more likely to benefit financially by targeting this age range, allowing us, as a production company, to produce more films and become known to the media industry

This image was taken from ukfilmcouncil.co.uk

What kind of company

would distribute your

product? Why?

Logo of distribution company.

20th Century Fox have distributed over 2000 films between 1924 and 2010 and have films lined up for release up to 2014. The reason I have chosen 20th Century Fox to distribute my thriller, is because they have distributed films in the thriller genre themselves; one of them being The Crimson Key (1947). More thriller films are to be released later this year and in the following years; the majority of them being thrillers. Below are a few more examples of thriller films to be released in the future:

Another reason for my choice of distributor, is that they are a well established company, with years of experience in the media industry – especially where distribution is concerned.

Although these films are American, I like to think that if our production were to be made into a full feature length film, it would be successful in reaching, not only the UK, but America and other countries, too.

How did you attract or

address your audience?

Many teens enjoy going to the cinema to watch films and hang out with friends.

It can also be a form of escapism or relativism for teens (as well as other age ranges) which is why we decided to use actors/characters of the same age range as our intended audience.

Supporting my reasons for the choice of mise on scene and choice of character’s , is Erin Weaver, a student I asked to comment on how I attracted the target audience…

Image of Clare and Tim

In what ways does it use,

develop or challenge forms and

conventions of real media

products?

In our first ‘rough cut’, the pace was fast. This was challenging the normal conventions of a thriller. The effect we were trying to give through having a fast paced beginning, was to make it disorientating and confusing. As soon as the 2 minute opening finished, the aim was to slow the pace and go into the film. We were advised against this and told that we were giving too much away in the beginning, so we made everything slower, making it eerier and more atmospheric.

Here is the music we used in our final piece to add atmosphere and a new dimension.

It fits with the conventions of thriller films as it is very similar to the kind of music used in other thrillers.

The lonely mise en scene we used conforms to thriller conventions. An example of this could be Panic Room by David Fincher, where the mise en scene is lonely and isolated.

The lighting also conformed to thriller conventions and forms, as, usually, dark lighting is used, like in Seven also by David Fincher.

How does it represent

different social groups?

Our media piece shows that this kind of thing can happen to anyone. She’s a strong minded girl (which you would see if the piece were to be produced into a full length film) and even she cannot escape danger. It raises awareness of the dangers that are out there, but uses a supernatural element for the sole purpose of entertainment.

Stereotypically, we used dark coloured clothing for the antagonist, which uses the typical forms and conventions of real media products.

For the protagonist, we had her wearing a hoodie but in a lighter colour to show her as the victim.

By having both of the main characters wearing hoodys, it creates a balance between the stereotypes.

Click on ‘My comments’ below to hear my reasons for the target audience and the choice of character representation below…

Strengths (based on questionnaire)

Some people said:•There is a good contrast in the lighting of the two locations (e.g. dream and girl sleeping).

•The title sounds/is: “creepy”, “interesting”, “suitable” (words taken from questionnaire).

•Suitable choice of clothing.

•Believable characters.

•Suitable actors for the target audience as they can relate to it.

•Good story line.

Weaknesses (based on questionnaire)

Others said:•The pace could be slowed down a little as it’s a little fast and confusing.

•There was no music. Music would have made it look a lot better and add more tension.

•The dream [sequence] lighting could have been better. Beginning scene is hard to see.

•Rapid editing made the story line hard to follow and looked like more of a short film or a trailer.

What was the overall

view of the media

piece?

Taking this on board, after looking through the results from our questionnaire, we decided that slowing the pace from the original ‘rough cut’, could work just as well as the original.Because this was just our ‘rough cut’ no music had been added, but when we did start looking for music, we made sure that it was eerie and atmospheric.

After reviewing our work, we decided that we could create a slower pace, which in turn, would add more tension and suspense.

What have you learnt through

the process of constructing your

final piece?Through the process of researching,

planning and constructing my media piece, I have learnt many skills and lessons that I can apply to other media projects in the

future.

I have learnt that lighting can make a huge difference to the outcome of a product, and also that it looks completely different on camera than to the naked eye – which is why carrying out recee’s is vital in the planning process.

When going location scouting, I took a camera with me as I knew that the mise en scene would look completely different on camera. I also learnt that mise en scene is crucial when producing media. It can make or break a film. The first location, in the picture below where we were going to have the girl run to when she was running away, would not have given the same outcome and atmosphere as the location we used in our final piece as the space was too open. Location scouting is key.

Premier Pro 2.0 (the editing software we used) was of a professional standard. This was both a positive and negative. The positive being that the quality of editing was brilliant, but more practice and getting used to the software would have been a great benefit. When we did get stuck on how to create an effect we wanted, we searched on youtube for tutorials on how to create that specific effect. For example, we used youtube to guide us on how to create the flash between a couple of the scenes.

When filming Silhouette, we made the mistake of using night vision mode on the camera in only a couple of the shots. For this reason, we had go back to the location and re-shoot some shots as the continuity was disrupted through this one simple and easy mistake. From this error, I have learnt that checking the camera between each individual shot will save time and help with continuity.

What have you learnt through

the process of constructing your

final piece?

Once you eventually find your way around the software things become easier, which is why practice is essential and would have made things easier if we had had more experience before hand. A lot of getting around it, is trial and error. Some of our mistakes were sometimes perfect!

Through completing this media task, I have learnt and gained many skills that I could apply to future media productions I carry out.

If I were to do this differently, I would have done a recee shoot at the final choice of location, instead of just taking still images. This would improve my imagination of what the final result of the piece would be. I would also make sure that I manage my time more wisely, and create a strict schedule to stick to, making sure that the time frames for each section were realistic. This is because, after completing filming and editing, we ran a little short of time for finding music. Even though the end result worked well, we should have made sure that we had enough time to find the music, instead of rushing and having no contingency time to correct any errors.

What have you learnt through

the process of constructing your

final piece?

I think I would also carry out more research into films with similar genres. This would help me to understand more, the conventions and forms of that particular genre and give me a wider perspective and idea range for my own work. Watching and analysing more films and how they were constructed would have made me more aware of the ways in which I could have constructed my media piece.

There have been mistakes that I have made throughout this course, that I think are necessary for completing a similar task in the future. I feel that I can take a lot away from this course and piece of work, and feel that I am able to reflect on the mistakes I have made, keeping them in mind for future productions and, hopefully, a successful career.