Final Piece Thriller Movie

This is the final video we had used for our thriller movie. This video contains all the different camera angles and transitions we had use whilst filming. Also, at the beginning we have added our production name which is 'VRHK Productions'. Next, this video also shows all the editing we had done and s you may be able to see, we have edited the lighting by making it slightly brighter so the audience would be able to see, we did this as the natural lighting was very low, and also it had started to get dark, however as we increased the contrast and brightness, it had made the movie better. Lastly, in this movie you can also hear our composition which we have included during the beginning of the film and towards the end. Our composition  goes very well as our film has very little speech. Also, we have used Diegetic & Non Diegetic sound throughout the film. 

Evaluation Q7 (Voice Recording)

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

From my preliminary task, I think I have learnt a lot as now I know how to film different camera angles and transitions, also after filming my preliminary task, I had noticed that the camera was very shaky, therefore we had invested in a tripod to keep all the filming scenes steady so they do not move. Next, I have learnt how to edit better so the scenes make sense, also, the editing skills I had adapted was that I learnt how to merge different scenes together so that they can make sense. Also, I had learnt how to take a successful over the shoulder shot and a medium long shot combined with a long shot, as we had used this when the villain is looking at his victim, and when the protagonist and antagonist leave the scene. I also learnt how to edit and create music which is effective and fits for my movie, and something which would attract my target audience, even though I had learnt more on how to create a composition, I had little knowledge before which helped me to extend my knowledge on editing and creating music. Also, at the beginning when I had started filming, I did not know how to use iMovie, then when I had created my preliminary task, I had gained some knowledge, to increase my knowledge even further, I had taken some recordings at home and tried to merge them together. Me doing this had helped me as I then knew how to merge and cut scenes to make them fit together well, and what editing techniques would make my film look good, and attract the audience.

Evaluation Q6 (Voice Recording)

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? 

I have learnt how to use a movie editing software since we started editing, I did not have a clue on how to cut and edit pieces and merge them together to make sense, therefore the preliminary task i had created increased my knowledge on how to edit slightly, then i had also taken some videos at home and tried to combine them on my mac to increase my knowledge even further so i could make my final piece good. Also i have learnt how to create my own composition to use in the film which would fit well, even though i had little knowledge on how to create a composition, creating my final piece composition to use in my movie had extended my knowledge even further. Also, the movie editing software we had used, was iMovie and i did not know how to use this at the beginning  but after i had used it to edit my Preliminary Task, I had gotten used to it as i had received feedback from the class, resulting in me having a better knowledge how to use different editing techniques. Also, i had invested in a Canon 600D which is a hd camera that my group had used to film, i now know how to use the camera when filming in different weather conditions as it consisted with different shooting modes which could help with the different weather conditions. 

Evaluation Q5 (Voice Recording)

How did you attract/address your audience?

 

We had attracted our audience as we had used our own music we had created from logic pro, and the composition we created, fit really well with the film. Also, we had filmed in the dark and used natural lighting with natural sounds as thriller movies are similar to this, as we did this, it made our audience want to carry on watching our film to find out what happened after the kidnapping of the victim, and what the father did after he returned to find that his daughter was no longer on the swings. Next, we had used different conventions of thriller to build the suspense, at one point in the film when the villain is walking to get his victim, that is the highest point of suspense. This is shown in our Sheldon Curve Structure. Also, one other way I had grabbed the audiences attention was by using different camera angles and transitions to make all the different scenes in our movie fit well and make sense. 

Next, we attracted our audience by asking people who were in our target group, and we asked them what they would expect to happen in our film, and we asked them question which were:
1) From looking at our storyboard what would you expect the genre of the film to be?
2) From looking at our storyboard what do you think will happen in the film?
3) What do you think will happen next?
4) What do you expect to see in a normal thriller movie?

After we had received the answers back from the questions, we bared this in mind and made our movie according to the focus group recording. This helped my group as we had now known how we could keep the audience entertained throughout our film, without them getting bored. Also, we had told our participants from our focus group recording, that our idea was replicated from "The Lovely Bones", and they said that was a good idea as that film was a good example of a thriller, and also as it was rated 6.6/10 on the www.imdb.com website.

Evaluation Q4 (Powerpoint)

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience that we had decided to use for our media product was aged from 18 and above, which meant that no one under the age of 18 would be able to watch our film due to unforeseen scenes. We did want to rate it from 15 and above, however we had researched and we found out that as our film includes a little girl getting kidnapped, therefore 15 year olds would not be aloud to watch this, resulting in us changing the age category to 18 and above. Also, we had researched what things are aloud and are suitable in a 18 rated film, and these are: 
- very strong violence
- frequent strong language (eg 'f***') and/or very strong language (eg ‘c***’)
- strong portrayals of sexual activity
- scenes of sexual violence
- strong horror
- strong blood and gore
- real sex (in some circumstances)
- discriminatory language and behaviour

Due to limited access for filming, we could not film in places such as in a studio, therefore we had to make use of what we had which was environments such as schools and parks, which we could've edited to make it look dangerous or frightening, however the only editing we did to the scene was that we made it brighter as the natural background lighting was very dark due to the season being winter, and as the daylight starts to dim after 4pm. To find out who our audience would be for our film, we thought we would conduct a questionnaire to find out what our target group would look for in our film, therefore we had asked them questions which were:

1) From looking at our storyboard what would you expect the genre of the film to be?
2) From looking at our storyboard what do you think will happen in the film?
3) What do you think will happen next?
4) What do you expect to see in a normal thriller movie?

After we had received the answers back from the questions, we bared this in mind and made our movie according to the focus group recording. This helped my group as we had now known how we could keep the audience entertained throughout our film, without them getting bored.

Evaluation Q3 (Powerpoint)

What kind of media institutions might describe your media product and why?

Our film we had made would be produced and made by DreamWorks. This is because they made a similar film which can be compared to ours called 'The Lovely Bones'. This film consists of a unusual villain who has a diary which he keeps under his floorboard in his room, consisting of different items from a little girls, such as hair, hair tie etc. We have replicated this idea and made our villain also have a diary which he keeps pictures of his victims, and it consists of a hair bow of a little girl. Also, we have included many different conventions of a thriller genre which DreamWorks would prefer. Also,  even though we have replicated the story from 'The Lovely Bones', we have a complete different storyline which the audience would enjoy to watch. DreamWorks would like our idea as it is replicated from a film they had worked with, however we have a complete unique story line, which has a thriller genre. 

However, as we were a new film company, we had a very low budget as our film was aged at mainly 18 year olds. we did not have enough money for the best equipment to use throughout our film, therefore we had used decent quality items when filming, and editing so we had to work at home or school. Secondly, we did not have any professional actors acting in our film to sell to the public, also as we were not well known, we could not advertise as much as we could, due to the low budget we had. Even though we did not have studios as the best equipment available, we had made us of what we had.

Evaluation Q2 (Blog)

How does your media product present particular social groups?


My media product is aimed at everyone aged 18 and above because many thriller movies are rated as 18, however, some are rated at pg.15 to. We had used this age as we had found out that as our film contains a kidnapping and it involves the kidnapping of a little girl aged 3, this resulted in us having to rate it 18+, which meant that no-one under 18 is allowed to see a 18 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘18’ rated DVD. 18 rated works are not suitable for children under 18 years of age. Also, we had made this decision as in cinemas around UK, thriller films are usually aged from 18 and above and also adult. I had researched into my local cinema which is Feltham Cineworld to analyse what social group watched thriller movies the most, and we found that it was teenagers, resulting in us making the age 18 and above. Also, I had visited the pg. (www.bbfc.com) website which tells you what is aloud in a pg15 film, and I had made sure that it fits into a pg18 category. I had also researched to find what kind things could be included in a 18 film and they were:

- very strong violence
- frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***') and/or very strong language (e.g. ‘c***’)
- strong portrayals of sexual activity
- scenes of sexual violence
- strong horror
- strong blood and gore
- real sex (in some circumstances)
- discriminatory language and behaviour