Jack's Evaluation

Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Whilst creating our opening Thriller scene we included many conventions, some of which we challenged and others, we developed. We new it was important to include Thriller conventions to pull together the scene and we also recognised the importance of going a bit further and altering the basics of the conventions.

Used

One convention we used in our opening Thriller scene was the Enigma Code. This is the idea where questions throughout are being raised. The opening scene should use mysterious elements to make the audience feel confused yet at the same time have a huge desire to know what is and will happen. It is a technique mainly to keep the audience intrigued and create build a puzzle of ideas as to what will happen next. An example of another thriller film that used this is Silence Of The Lambs. In Silence Of The Lambs, the enigma code is used well to raise questions for the audience, like why is she running, who's chasing her. Then the idea is flipped on its head, the audience thought she was being chased, when really she is just training. This is a great technique to build as many unanswered questions then flip the whole the whole scene to setback the audience. We used this by showing the main character being watched then later being chased. After looking round feeling watched, the men in suits caught up and instead of the normal capture, we made it so the men in suits were with, not against the main character. This works so well as it breaks the tension and throughs the audience after a build up of who's chasing him, why is he being chased, the scene if flipped on its head and the outcome is not at all what the audience where expecting.

A second idea that we used whilst creating our opening scene was the idea of 'Dreams'. We played on the classical psychological thriller theme of dreams. We used this idea of cannot escape dreams and dreams becoming reality because it plays on a huge fear with the audience. The thought of dreams and nightmares affecting an individual displays huge levels of no control. Dreams and nightmares are so associated with no control, they just happen, this takes a large effect on the audience as they can relate to the events yet fear the idea of 'no escape' from them. Another media title that is so successful with playing upon the unknown is Inception. Inception uses the idea of dreams and goes into detail about them. They display how dreams are reality and play on the idea of no escape between dreams and reality. We included the theme near the end of our opening scene when the main character wakes up after the scene of interrogation very disorientated and confused then hears a knock at the door. That one moment where there was a knock at the door raises multiple questions, creates a hugely intriguing effect for the audience and helps tie together the psychological elements of our opening Thriller scene.

Developed

We also developed some of the normal conventions of a Thriller opening sequence. One of these is music, we new the importance of good opening music, to not only build tension but create a sense of action in the scene. We chose Drum & Bass music to help increase the tempo and build suspense but we took it just that one step further and developed the music for the scene by linking it with the action on screen. Instead of the music just fading out for when the main character checks to see if he is being followed, we twinned it with the screenplay, as the main character takes out his headphones we faded out the music, then as he put the headphones back in and began to run we bought the music back in, this time much faster and harder. One other film that shows this technique well is the film Attack the block. They bring in music and instead of taking it out when the characters phones rings, they develop the music convention by combining it with the action on screen to help fade the music is a very unique way and at the same time create a nice effect. We new the importance of good music from our audience research, so we wanted to try and take it that step further and I believe the music link really helped the scene become more professional and at the same time helped the building of tension by establishing a clear link with the tempo of the music and the characters awareness of being followed.

A second element we developed is Mise En Scene. We took it upon ourselves to flip the normal conventions of clothing and surrounding by making the men in suits run through a forest. The normal chase of important men in suits with guns chasing a man dressed more casually is done without a doubt in a very industrial area, a city or town. We took this idea and turned it around and made the men in suits chase the main character as he runs through a forest. This was done in a effort to raise questions and build suspense and a sense of mystery to the men in suits. A film that displays men running in suits, chasing someone, in a very crowded area is Inception. Inception portrays the cliche chase of the main character being ran down by mysterious men dressed very formally in a very big, busy location. We however developed this idea of a cliche chase and flipped it. We did this to help raise questions about why are the dressed so formally in such a informal location and create and element of unexplained mystery for the audience towards men in suits. This helped develop our sequence into a more thriller associated opening scene.

Challenged

Aswel as developing some of the known thriller conventions, taking them just that step further, we challenged some. This meant we took the elements that are usually ensured in a thriller and went against them, we challenged the roots that make up very frequent conventions. One way we did this is we challenged the title credit. In almost all films the companies involved will be shown, then the title to the film, then the credits for actors, cast and crew. However we displayed all opening credits first, then introduced the title of the thriller after. Another film that does this is Jaws, they display their credits, then introduce the film title after a sequence of action to help link the thriller title more with the screenplay. It brings in the title much stronger and acts almost as a tension breaker after the build of suspense in the opening scene, we also incorporated this idea aswel. We challenged the normal opening credits by displaying all credits then as he wakes up from the dream and their is a knock at the door, we bring in the title credit with a much louder and fitting to the theme of the thriller font. This creates a great effect as the title is emphasised much more from what has just happened. It is shown in a way to the audience that will be much more attention grabbing and will lead to a effect that will create a link between the title and action as the tension that has just been broken, begins to fade.

A final way we challenged thriller conventions is we to the idea of a thriller and opened the scene as a action scene. This challenge is visioned as taking the idea of a normal opening thriller scene and playing upon it, bringing in more action. Another film that displays action with arguable elements of thriller in the opening scene is James Bond: Casino Royale. This film uses the action in the opening scene to instantly bring in fast speed, tension building shots, it leads to an effect that will catch the audience and drag them very quickly into the screenplay. The attention of the audience is dragged towards the action and sucks them right into the story. It makes them more involved and gives them the erge to find out what will happen. We did this in our chase scene. We displayed a lot more elements of action than psychological thriller and made the scene appear to be much more action filled, then is flipped to psychological when the main character awakes from the dream. We challenged the normal psychological thriller opening by displaying more action, then turning it on its head to let the audience see the action is only a part of the psychological side to the film. This works so well as the audiences attention is caught much earlier on but is then revealed to the fact it was all just a dream and the tension and suspense that has been built, is cut. This leads to an effect that involves the audience and puts ideas in their head, then flips all those thoughts and questions and reveals they are all just a part of bigger picture. This throughs the audience in a way that has almost instantly caught their attention and made them interested and intrigued to find out what will happen next.


Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

How does your media product represent particular social groups? (Jack) on Prezi

This prezi aims to display information on particular socials groups and how we used these details to create our final opening Thriller scene.

Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?


http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Andromeda


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

The ideal audience member for our opening Thriller scene is determined on many things like age, class, interests. This post will break down our ideal audience member.

Age

The age of our ideal audience member would be between the ages of 15-25. We originally targeted our opening scene at the younger generation because our Thriller opening is based on gangs and aggressive out of control people. This means the younger audience would in theory find it more interesting and intriguing because more older people would see the events as wrong and not enjoy the opening scene as much. This is why the age of our ideal audience would have to be in a much younger range, 15-25, they would find the events more interesting and could relate more to it, because they see and hear it happening around them.

Class

The social class for our ideal audience member is definitely middle/lower class. His age and class may bring him into situations such as benefit fraud, the following article is a Direct Gov article on benefit frauds in the UK, http://www.direct.gov.uk/benefit_fraud/. The reasons for this is because like previously mentioned, the opening scene is based upon 'gang warfare' and I think this would definitely appeal and be approved more so by the lower social classes. The reasons for this is that middle/lower class can relate a lot more to the actions, they see it happening much more than the higher social class. Whereas if our a much higher social class would be watching and not being able to view the story in the same way.

Gender


The gender of our ideal audience member is male. The reason for this is the story creates a 'boys film', very reckless and aggressive based on the story line of criminals. This would appeal in most cases more so to males than females.

Location


The location of where our ideal character is in the suburbs of London. He has grown up in London and has recently moved into an apartment in this city. This would be because London is renowned to be in places fairly aggressive and poor. This means someone living in these sorts of areas could relate very well to what is happening on-screen. They are aware of the 'gangs' in our opening scene as some places in London do undoubtedly have gangs of people. He was also effected quite badly by the riots in London, the following link is a article about the riots from The Atlantic, (http://www.theatlantic.com/riots).

Interests/Hobbies/Pass-times


He finds 'gang warfare' intriguing, maybe he are in a gang. Our ideal audience member is interested in how they can promote their image, interested in criminal and violent films. They also want to live up to what they see in the films, they are interested in violence and crime when he watches it on the news. Our ideal members hobbies include football, basketball. He listens to rap/hip-hop/grime/dubstep/drum & bass and is incredibly interested in cars and how to make his faster. Always going out with friends, getting drunk. Enjoys parties and will play PS3/X-Box 360 to pass time. Our ideal audience member is very interested in girls and often tries be with them to impress his friends.

Appearance


Our ideal audience member would be very wary of his clothes and how he looks. He shops at stores such as Nike (http://www.nike.com) and Lonsdale (http://www.lonsdale.com). He would wear chinos, dark hoodies and caps.

Beliefs


Our ideal audience member believes in respect to those who deserves it. He is an atheist and attempts to live his life to his own rules, he wants to be and do what he wants. He upholds a lot of respect for his family and closest friends.

Money


He tends to spend most of the money on his car, he always wants to make his car look better and run faster. He always enjoys browsing round Auto Trader (http://www.autotrader.co.uk). He also buys a lot of clothes, he is always aware of the way he looks and finds it important the way he is viewed by others.


Profile


Age - 18
Gender - Male
Siblings - Brother
Location - Apartment in London
Class - Middle/Lower
Interests - Cars, music, football
Hobbies - Football, running
Appearance - Relaxed
Ambition - Football coach

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


See annotations on the youtube video for this question





Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?


Through the process of creating our opening Thriller sequence I have learnt a lot more about both online and offline technologies.

One thing I have learnt to use is Final Cut Express. Before i had no real knowledge on how to navigate around the interface and use the software to create effective and entertaining film. I learnt many things when taught how Final Cut Express works, I learnt how to do things such as add in transitions. I had no previous knowledge on how to perform this task, but now, I know how to add in an appropriate transition to bring to sequences together instead of a straight cut, this has made the film flow much better. Another element in Final Cut Express I learnt to use it the audio editor. This is a way to bring the volume of specific parts in a clip up or down dependant on what you want. This was a feature in Final Cut Express that we used quite often to be sure the dialogue could be heard and unnecessary background sounds could be cut out. This helped us create the opening scene in a much better way as we had the ability to tweak the audio and make it much more pleasing to listen to when watching.

Another thing I learnt to use was blogger. I had never really been on the website and has no background knowledge on how to create a blog and successfully create good looking blog updates. I now know how to add pictures, embed video and link a specific phrase or word to a website. This is very helpful information to know and have the ability to use, especially as before I had almost no real background knowledge on how to navigate and operate throughout the website.

Another technology I learnt to use was Photoshop. I did have some previous knowledge on how to operate this application and use it. However this knowledge was limited, I can confirm now that I have a much greater knowledge on how to use the application. We used Photoshop to help create the opening logos for the production companies involved, this was very important and is crucial that we knew how to do it. I now do know how to perform the task and have a better idea of how to operate the application, Photoshop.

I also got to use Youtube a lot in our coursework. I already had huge amounts of background knowledge on this website. We had to upload our video multiple times and change the information to fit what cut it was. We also had to use annotations in our opening scene. We had to know how to fit the duration to the appropriate part of the clip and talk about what we had done well and what we could have done better. I already had background knowledge on how to do this, this knowledge on how to create specific annotations and make them fit in well with the screenplay was well used when trying to perform these tasks.

A final technology I learnt to use online was Prezi. Prezi is a great way to represent information in an intriguing and entertaining way. Prezi can be used to show information text in a much more animated an fun way. It can be used to embed videos/photos and can create link between arrows to jump from one selection of text to another selection that is linked. I had no previous knowledge on how to operate this website, however I now have learnt a lot about it and how to create fascinating presentations, why before I had no idea how to do.


Another website we used that came in very useful when planning the dates we would be going to film on and easy to keep in contact about any issues involving each other or our piece, Facebook. This worked to our advantage as we could almost always keep in contact with each other. This meant if one of us had to change the timings or couldn't bring a prop for the scene we needed to film, we could let each other in our group know so we can either solver or at least work around the problem. Our media group was set up very early in the stages of research and planning which I believe definitely did benefit the group as we could have many conversations, very direct, through all members of the group. I had already large knowledge on this website and I think it was a great advantage for our group to have the ability to speak, whilst not in lessons.

A website we used in the editing of our final piece is a website called FreePlayMusic. This website I had no background knowledge on how to navigate around and select and preview the music. I now have a much better idea on how to do this as the website was very easy to learn and simplistic enough to not have to have others help to work out how to use. I believe this website benefited our group very much as from our audience research we new that a good soundtrack is one thing our audience really wanted. After a long search we found the perfect piece of music to build tension and suspense for our chase scene and really helped the overall professionally of the opening thriller scene.

A final website that I learnt to use was Wikispaces. This website is designed to display information on a spreadsheet that can be layer out and formatted to what the user desires. We used this website in our evaluation to help display information about what our thriller entails and which companies would be involved. The website benefitted us as it gave us choice when dip laying information. I had no background knowledge on how to operate the website, however it was a very simple user interface so this changed quickly.

I also gained a lot more knowledge on how to use other technologies, that are not used online. One technology I had the chance to use was the iMac's. The iMac's were great to use as I did already have a large amount of background knowledge on the Mac OS X system and how to navigate around it and use it to its best ability. These skills came in very useful as I had a good idea how to perform a lot of tasks already which helped me do these tasks more quickly and efficiently and I could avoid problems that I encountered.

A final technology I got to use was the camera's and tripods. I had very, very basic background knowledge on how to operate cameras like these but didn't really have much useful information on how to use them to their full capability. The cameras were used are the Panasonic HDC-SD9's, these are great very mobile cameras that gave us the ability to film in HD. When we equipped the camera with a tripod it helped us really get a great feel of high class video, very professional stable shots. I really had very basic, near to no previous knowledge on the camera, but now I can say I know fully how to operate to take both picots and shoot video. I also am aware of how to connect it to the tripod and use the lever on tripod to help the camera film very stable panning/different angled shots. Finally I have learnt how to connect the camera to the iMac's and log and transfer specific shots of video in our editing program we used, Final Cut Express easily and efficiently, which I had almost no knowledge on before.


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

The preliminary task had annotations on it already of what we wanted to do in our final opening scene, also I did a post to evaluate the preliminary task, the link and first video below show the evaluation of the preliminary task and what we wanted to do better.

http://nfgsandromeda.blogspot.com/2012/01/evaluation-preliminary-task.html



The video below shows the progression from the preliminary task to the final piece, see annotations for question 7.