Evaluation Question 7

Q7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at my preliminary task I feel as though I have improved tremendously with regards to planning, filming and editing. At the beginning of the planning for my thriller opening, many different ideas formed that we carried out by using storyboards, shot lists and intertextual links to other thrillers to prepare for the shoot. Researching the thriller genre made it easier to recreate scenes and perform intertextual references between a variety of thriller films. I worked in a group of three where we created the characters and their personalities, costumes and props to define them and make them believable. As I was one of the characters, I was therefore responsible for my costume and chose specifically to wear a red scarf and gloves to display intertextual references to the film ‘Sin City’ (2005, directed by Frank Miller) because I learnt that audiences like to notice aspects of the thriller genre. From my preliminary task I have learnt the importance of planning, therefore developing more detailed storyboards and the complexities of certain shots. For example, I feel my greatest achievement has been the effect of certain camera angles and shots such as close ups and over the shoulder shots, which I had no experience of before the preliminary task. In particular, we made sure that background noises were kept under control as we had suffered this problem during our preliminary task. We searched different locations and went on a recce to decide whether the location we wanted to use would create the perfect image of cinematography for the final product. We decided on the different shot types and camera angles that were usually used in thriller films, such as close ups, low/high angle shots to display power or vulnerability and over the shoulder shots to create the sense of being watched. A great deal of effort was put in to make sure all the scenes were exactly how we wanted them and especially the importance of composition for the mise en scene.

I used the editing suite to a much greater extent when producing the full product. Before on my preliminary task, my editing was not as advanced or elegant as it is now. For example, most types of transitions and visual effects were used between clips and I used slow motion for Eve White’s head spin to create a sense of motion and fear. I edited with a member of my group which helped me to advance as we learnt different editing skills from each other. I was good at performing how to piece the clips together and he taught me how to use smooth transitions.

The audience feedback that I received from year 13 students (our target audience) praised my camerawork and editing skills. This shows the extent of my media progress and has made me more enthusiastic about the media industry giving me more confidence about the subject. I was extremely pleased with the positive feedback and have taken on board their suggestions for improvement that will help me with future projects. Personally, I think that the strengths of my product have been the editing because we spent a long time perfecting it. The weaknesses are that the image of the character Scarlet Fraser was not obvious enough to portray as a femme fatale, and the ending wasn’t a significant cliff-hanger as noted on the student feedback. Most were undecided if they would want to watch the rest of the film. However, saying this we changed our idea a number of times due to them being unrealistic and too weak to represent as a thriller.

Overall, I have enjoyed the experience of creating a film and fully researching the thriller genre, as I was uncertain of what a thriller film entailed before I started this course. The most important thing that I have learnt is recognising key aspects and how much time and effort goes into the making of a film.

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 6

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Evaluation Question 5

Q5) How did you attract/address your audience?

In the opening of my Thriller film, ‘Thief’, I have put in a high standard of mise-en-scene visuals, short camera shots and close-ups, together with an eerie soundtrack and a cliff-hanger ending in order to attract the audience.

I have sampled 8 students, aged 17 and 18, 2 females and 6 males. They were asked to rate the production on a number of aspects of the film and give an overall assessment. Their findings are shown in the following charts.

From the results of their questionnaires, everyone (that’s 100%) liked the camera work and editing of my film ‘Thief’. Such comments included ‘huge variety of shots’ and ‘nice close-ups of faces’. They all agreed the soundtrack to the film effectively enhanced the mood and action. However, some were confused by the sudden transition of day to night which, on reflection, could have been avoided by adding a title such as “Later that day…” appropriately. One participant found the characters (teenage hoodies) were stereotyped and would show teenagers in a bad light from the perspective of an older audience.


In conclusion, I received a favourable response to the film and am pleased the work perfected on camera angles/movement and editing techniques was highly appreciated.

Evaluation Question 4

Q4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

The primary target audience for my thriller opening ‘Thief’ would be people in the 16-24 age range. My film would appeal most to this particular audience because of the youth casting and the theme of crime. They would enjoy crime/gangster thrillers as youths are interested to see how other teenagers act in certain situations, as they have maybe been in one of these themselves or are curious as to what they would do if they were to find themselves in one. The contemporary settings of the city locations that I have used will entice a younger audience, as they could visualise themselves with these common settings and is therefore a realistic representation. Many teenagers and young adults are fearful of being mugged in the street - especially by someone younger than themselves - and would therefore feel embarrassed and demoralised so perhaps would not report it. Many of these crimes go unreported due to these reasons. Also, audiences of this age group can relate to the character’s attitudes, behaviour and opinions identifying with them about being unemployed. The characters are communicating to the audience about the major flaws in society and so they would understand the issues easily. Female audiences would also be able to empathise, especially with the character Eve White, whose vulnerability and naivety causes her to be a victim of an unprovoked attack from a teenage boy. This demonstrates how females are portrayed by the media to be the weaker sex (both mentally and physically) and have the qualities of Eve which can lead to sexism. However, the character Scarlet Fraser breaks the mould by appearing tough, intelligent and independent which is a positive representation of women that they will prefer to watch, as it creates a better image of females and by using a strong femme fatale creates the sense of power. On the other hand, the male demographic might be slightly annoyed as I have portrayed male behaviour in a controversial way, as Will Block is seen to be arrogant and focussed on getting what he wants without thinking about the consequences.

The film Kidulthood (2006, directed by Noel Clarke) is specifically aimed at teenagers, as the cast is made up of mostly teenagers and it conveys issues that are sometimes common with them such as bullying, suicide and mugging. This makes it successful because it portrays these issues to a wider audience and the film’s popularity has increased due to the performance of the young actors and concerns raised.



This is a trailer from the film "Kidulthood"

"Kidulthood explores the lives of teenagers in London in Huda's interesting and controversial 2006 British drama. The British media runs riot on any story they can get their hands on and exploit, and in recent years have developed various forms of stereotypes, none more so than the stereotypical "gangster teenager" who swears every other sentence, drinks, does drugs and has a violent motive towards others and this ideology is explored by Doctor Who star Noel Clarke. Clarke dives deep into the lives of numerous teenagers to bring out the personalities of the teenagers, and his character Sam is a stereotype of a teenager, the use of violence and swearing portray the villain of the narrative. I'm usually against stereotypes being used in films but in this case it is interesting to see how these stereotypes feel about being branded that way, when the teenagers walk into a shop and are accused of a crime they didn't commit just because of their image as this stereotype the media has created."

This is a quote about the film from a 24 year old member of the public.  

Evaluation Question 3

Q3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The main distributors for my thriller opening ‘Thief’ would probably be internet based, because it would attract my target audience. The internet is extremely popular within my target audience (16-25 year olds) because many of them use the internet daily and it has therefore become a common place within this age range. The YouTube website is especially popular amongst young adults as it specialises in video sharing and is free and easy to access popular videos/music videos online. Therefore this website would be ideal and a predominant way to distribute my thriller film. It can also be easily accessed through mobile phones such as smart phones (iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones). Youths can then view video clips such as my thriller easily and more importantly for free. The fact that YouTube shows free clips is a major benefit to young people who want to watch clips but without the hassle and expense, as not many of them would pay to watch a two minute clip. They can easily share this video clip amongst their friends via a quick share link. Social networking sites such as facebook and twitter might distribute our media product as they have the same target audience and it is free as well. If ‘Thief’ was shown on a social networking site, then many people from around the World will have the chance to view it and write comments about it, giving opinions on whether they liked it or not. This would then create a sensation surrounding ‘Thief’ depending on whether it is a successful hit or not.

This is a screen shot of my introduction to a thriller film 'Thief' on YouTube. It has been uploaded onto my personal channel so that different people can view it and comment.  

This is a screen shot from YouTube highlighting the simplicity of sharing or embeding a video onto social networking sites as it demonstrates at the bottom with the facebook and twitter logo.

My film is innovative as it challenges the role of women in society but stereotypes teenage boys to be dangerous. By using a skateboard and a young cast makes my thriller original because these are not common factors in thriller films and could therefore merit funding from Working Title or Warp films so it can then be developed as a feature film. It could then be distributed by Art House Media institutions such as Cinema City. Or another possibility is that it could go straight onto DVD as many independent films do because they might not have a budget big enough to pay cinemas to show their film. 

Short film competitions are a great opportunity and an important factor for young film makers such as myself. A popular competition is the ‘Virgin Media Shorts’ which looks for films that are just over 2 minutes long, which is how long my thriller opening is, so would be perfect to distribute my film. It also allows the 12 winning films to be shown in cinemas nationwide which would be vital publicity for young film makers. Short films are shown at Cinema City during the adverts before films. This provides students, particularly UEA students to show their films to a wider audience and demonstrate their talent as serious young film makers. If Cinema City distributed my opening to ‘Thief’ then it would be a great platform to launch a film making career.

This is a screen shot of the recommendations for the virgin media short film competition. 

Evaluation Question 2

Q2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product ‘Thief’ represents the specific social group of teenagers, as the characters are aged 17-18. The character Will Block portrays teens in a stereotypical light, that they are all dangerous thugs who target women in particular, to make them feel demoralised and vulnerable. He hasn’t got a job which an older audience would see this to be because of teenagers' laziness and antisocial behaviour. However, they may not understand the difficulties of obtaining a job at present especially during the recession, which a younger audience (the target audience) would empathise with. On the other hand, Eve White is represented as an innocent, hardworking member of society who is targeted because of her gender, which is a common factor amongst crimes such as rape, attacks and mugging.



This is a trailer from 'Taken' which demonstrates how young females are targeted because they are seen to be the weaker sex and that men can treat however they want. It highlights the still present issues in society of females being the weaker sex. However, my thriller ‘Thief’ displays the typical views in society through the character Eve White being a vulnerable female who is attacked. However, it then challenges this view with the character Scarlet Fraser who is tough and will fight for her rights.

As our cast is made up of only teenagers, it addresses some of the issues adults have with youths, that they are very intimidating because of their numbers. It emphasises the fear adults have against young adults and the intimidation they feel which then reinforces the typical teenager stereotype, that they will approach adults and attack them because of their violent demeanour. This is a highly unfair mindset that some adults have as many teenagers are law abiding and want to achieve to their full potential.

This is a photo of 'hoodies', which is how some adults view most teenagers to be like and to behave like.

In a daily mail extract a Labour MP called Emily Thornberry claimed that almost every teenager in her constituency in Islington, London has been mugged. She said: "It is a hidden crime. Kids are robbing other kids but you don't hear about it. It is extremely sad and very serious.”

This is the extract from The Daily Mail online.

Evaluation Question 1

Q1) In what ways does your media product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.

In the opening to my Thriller film, aspects of the genre are immediately introduced to the audience by the title ‘Thief’. This suggests that someone is targeting individuals to steal from them, which relates to the Crime Thriller ‘Snatch’ (2000, directed by Guy Ritchie). It reflects the content of the film, therefore reinforcing the Thriller convention. The locations that I have used were inspired by the urban, gritty locations of the film ‘Essex Boys’ (2000, directed by Terry Winsor). For example, at the beginning of ‘Essex Boys’ the characters ‘Billy Reynolds’ and ‘Jason Locke’ are in a rundown garage with cobwebs, which I recreated in the subway scene giving it a dystopian effect.



This is a screen shot from 'Essex Boys'



This is a screen shot from 'Thief'

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I have also used intertextual references from the film ‘The Third Man’ (1949, directed by Carol Reed) through the subway scene where Eve becomes confounded by where she should go, reflecting ‘The Third Man’s’ sewer scene where Harry Lime becomes trapped in a labyrinth of nightmares with no escape. Also, the confined space of the subway can be linked to the film ‘Kill Bill: Volume 2’ (2004, directed by Quentin Tarantino) where ‘The Bride’ is trapped in a coffin, emphasising the claustrophobic space and mirroring the low ceiling of the subway that I filmed in.


I have used specific lighting to create suspense and unease. For example the morose, grey lighting in ‘Essex Boys’ gives the film a sombre and dark undertone that has been reflected in the cashpoint scene in my Thriller ‘Thief’. The fact that ‘Jason’ severely beat up someone in broad daylight enforces fear onto the audience which I have used in the cashpoint scene where ‘Will Block’ blatantly stalks his victims. This makes the situation more frightening as identity theft and mugging is very common at present, making the Thriller ‘mood of moment’. The washed-out lighting also mirrors the blandness of the character ‘Eve’s’ personality and that her costume of a red scarf and gloves goes against the typical connotations that the colour red usually signifies. Normally this colour portrays that the character is dangerous, however I have used the aspects from ‘Sin City’ (2005, directed by Frank Miller) where the characters ‘Goldie’ and ‘The Customer’ both wear red dresses to give the effect of danger but are in fact victims. This indicates that not everything is as it seems subverting a traditional ideology, demonstrating an ambivalent attitude towards the character’s personality and whether they are good or evil. ‘Eve White’ can also be compared to the character ‘Eve’ from ‘Once Upon a Time in America’ (1984, directed by Sergio Leone) which is where we got the character’s name from. It signifies the evening (darkness) or a build up of something that is about to happen such as Christmas Eve. Even though ‘Eve’ is interrogated and threatened by the police she still doesn’t reveal any information, leading to her being murdered, which is like the subway scene where ‘Eve White’ tries to fight for her bag in ‘Thief’ but ends up with it being stolen. Also in ‘Once Upon a Time in America’, ‘Eve’ discovers an outline of bullets on her bed as a warning from the police and is a premonition that she will die there. In my Thriller ‘Thief’ there is an outline someone’s body in spray paint on the subway floor, indicating that something will happen to ‘Eve White’ which will end in her misery.

This is a screen shot from 'Once Upon a Time in America'

This is a screen shot from 'Thief'

However, this contrasts the character ‘Scarlet Fraser’ who is the second girl that ‘Will’ targets. ‘Scarlet’ is a femme fatale like ‘Lisbeth Salander’ in ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ because of her brooding demeanour and costume of a black leather jacket and hood. Also, her fringe is hiding her face like ‘Lisbeths’ and therefore hides her identity making her appear mysterious. She is a rebellion of the stereotypical femme fatale like ‘Gilda’ from the film with the same title (1946, directed by Charles Vidor) who is elegant unlike ‘Scarlet’ who is rough and edgy. Because the two girls in ‘Thief’ look so alike it gives an effect they are the same person and have a split personality. This compares to ‘Nina’ and ‘Lily’ from the Thriller ‘Black Swan’ (2010, directed by Darren Aronofsky), ‘Eve White’ being the ‘White Swan’ or good side whereas ‘Scarlet Fraser’ is the ‘Black Swan’ or bad side.



This is a trailer for the film which shows the battle that ‘Nina’ has with herself, and that ‘Lily’ is just a metaphor for her ‘bad side’.