Final Product: In Her Scent

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

What was the preliminary task and what were its main aims?

The preliminary task consisted in shooting a sequence long 30 seconds using a variety of shots and movements. The aim of this task was to familirise ourselves with the members of group as well as our skills with the camera and also with the program Final Cut X Pro. While filming our product I learn how to shoot and edit a sequence while experimenting with different options available in Final Cut. I have never used this program before, thus I was not confident with the techniques and how to elaborate our shots. Therefore, the preliminary task encouraged and helped me to produce a professional opening thriller with the support of my members of group. 

My Preliminary Task:

From this preliminary task we learned to cooperate with each other, we also distribute our roles based on our skills. Therefore having a professional group to work with. 

I AM NOW MORE CONFIDENT IN:

Filming: I am now more confident on capturing different angles while filming. At first I was not aware of the spacing surrounded the character, therefore I needed someone to guide me while filming to record a proficient shot. Thus I asked a teacher for help, and after practicing I have developed new skills and how to shoot new angles professionally, in order to create a professional opening thriller.

Editing: I am now more confident in adding various filters to my shots to ensure they look thrilling and making the audience react fearfully. I have used various filters such as red to connote danger and to make the audience have a fearful response. Also I have used a negative filter to alert the audience of the identity crisis of the antagonist. These sinister filters also ensure my production reflects the thriller genre, as they foreshadow the eerie events to come.

Filming: Moreover, I am now more comfortable on handling the camera when filming. In my preliminary my hands were shaking and I could not film a steady footage. However now I am able to work with the tripod therefore when filming the footage, the sequence can be clear. 

Editing: It was the first time I used the Final Cut X Pro program to manipulate my footage, therefore when editing the preliminary task it was difficult to attaching the shots with the sound so the scene will have more effects. To improve, I gave more attention to my footage timing and analysed the shots in order to plan which sound will go to a frame, thus allowing me to create natural and professional product.

COMPARISON FROM MY PRELIMINARY TO MY FINAL PRODUCT:

Camera movements:

Preliminary Task

In Her Scent

My panning shot improved from my preliminary to my final production as they initially lacked professionalism and were at a high speed and the image was shaky. However, in my final product the panning shot was filmed with more care and less speed with the use of the tripod which created tension for the audience.

Framing:

In Her Scent

Preliminary Task

My framing during the preliminary task was unstable, preventing the characters from having equal space surrounding them and the characters had large amounts of irrelevant space around them. However, during the final production I ensured I positioned the camera effectively with the characters taking up most of the space, and I also ensured that the characters were filmed away from windows to inappropriate light sources from interfering.

Handling the camera:

Preliminary Task

In Her Scent

Lastly, in my preliminary task the camera handling was unstable and distorted. This is because during the preliminary task we did not use the tripod, therefore ending up with a unprofessional sequence. However, during the filming of our final product we planned our shots to a have clear idea of what were going to film. Also ensuring that the the shot sizes, angle and movements were not repeated, but using different frames. In addition we used the tripod to shoot some of our footage which also improved the quality of our sequence.

Reflection:

In conclusion, I think I've created a successful thriller and there is a clear progression from my preliminary task to the final product. I really enjoyed filming and editing the production as it involved various skills including leadership and IT skills. By completing the task I gained new experiences such as editing, filming and creating an original soundtrack which were essential for the production stage. This allowed every group member to participate and take responsibility. In addition, I believe that the planning and research tasks were crucial in order to create a proficient feature, however during the production stage we improved our teamwork and working at a fast speed in order to meet deadlines.

I have most enjoyed editing and filming the project throughout, where my group and I got to fully engage into the production and constantly debate about the best options for our product. It also allowed us to work together as a team and identify each individuals strengths and weaknesses. I found it interesting to work with programs such as Final Cut and Logic Pro because it allowed us to try out new ideas and assorted edits and sounds before making a final decision. I was really absorbed by the informations I have gained about the process because I enjoyed putting the product together to produce a successful, final production of high quality.

However, I could improve on spending more time on the soundtrack which accompanies my opening thriller. I think that the non-diegetic music could be developed  by making my soundtracks more eerie in order to make my thriller more conventional to the genre, also emphasise on the most significant moments of the opening and draw audience response. I also think that my edits could compliment the sound more precisely in order to cause a bigger effect on the audience. Overall, by making these improvements my thriller would be more of a success as it would reflect the thriller genre more effectively and create more tension for the audience.

In conclusion, from completing this production I have learnt how to create a thriller opening, including the stages thorough research and planning. I have also learned how to become more independent by taking  responsibility of being the producers, which enabled me to conduct the characters ensuring their acting was precise and realistic. Furthermore, during this task I was able to work with different technologies which enabled me to gain experience in using professional programs including, Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro making my thriller production more effective and professional. From this process I am now aware of how to create an opening and what is necessary to create a good product.

Evaluation: Question 1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions? - Mrs. Quinlan

Evaluation: Question 6) What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this media product? - Mrs. Quinlan

Evaluation: Question 5) How did you attract/address your target audience? - Miss Begum

Q5) HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ ADDRESS YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE?

The importance of doing secondary research into existing films:

Researching into existing thriller films was important because it allowed me to have a wider knowledge on how to create an opening thriller, following the codes and conventions professionally and creatively. This also helped my group and I to make important decisions before creating our final product, by asking opinions from our target audience and responses about their expectations when watching a thriller movie. We also asked how do they feel and how does the movie affect them, which was  useful as it made it easier for us to make right decisions when making our thriller opening. 

The target audience of thriller film?

The target audience of a thriller movie are typically targeted to teenagers of both genders with various ethnicity. They are usually aged about 15 above who are still in education and young adults aged 25 above, who are also in education and employment. Thriller movie are targeted to these type of audiences because the viewers enjoy the adrenaline and suspense the thriller movie conveys. Also because of the unique narrative and conventions the thriller imply in every movie. Furthermore, the hobbies that teenagers and young adults may have are: going to cinema with friends, going out with friends and watch a movie at nights to relax and have good times with them. These are the audience we wanted to target.

From my research into thrillers, I believe that the target audience that they appeal to consist of the following:

• Age: 15-45
• Gender: Unisex
• Ethnicity: General
• Occupation: Students, Casual Workers
• Hobbies and Interest: Going to Cinema, etc.

I suppose that from thriller films the target audience enjoy the element of suspense and surprise. This is because it makes them react into two ways which are psychologically and physiologically. Psychological is when a person fears to walk in a dark alleyway or sleep with the lights turn off, which can become a permanent brain damage or fear. Whereas, physiologically is when a person jumps from a scary scene or has goose bump on the arms, which is temporarily and happens involuntarily. Further to this, the audience's emotions are likely to experience thrill from a brutal scene as they may not see it before, thus making the viewers feel disgusted or perhaps excited. This was a good research as it meant that for my thriller I had to consider how to attract my target audience making them enjoying the movie as well as leaving them in fear. 

My target audience:

From my research, the target audience I wanted to attract for my thriller was:

• Age: 15-45
• Gender: Unisex
• Ethnicity: General
• Occupation: Students, Casual Workers
• Hobbies and Interest: Fashion lovers

Addressing my target audience:

I carried out a questionnaire for my target audience, because I wanted direct information on specific themes, characters, iconography I should include in my thriller opening to make it successful. The importance of my questionnaire, was that it gave me specific choices to make as it was reliable. Also it was the initial insight of my planning where I was able to start making decision on my initial product. Additionally, when I was placed in my group we evaluated our responses because we wanted to come up with an idea that will appeal to our target audience. Therefore, we had various ideas that helped us which were beneficial for our final product to attract our target audience.

Some key questions I asked to ensure I was attracting my target audience:

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Overall, the primary research was important because it gave me original and specific choice to make during my production stage, also it gave me different ideas to include and themes that I can portray in my thriller opening, which was beneficial for my knowledge about the audience expectations. This helped me attract and address my target audience because I followed their recommendations, therefore having an intended audience watching my thriller opening.  

Audience feedback:

After producing a rough cut of my thriller opening, I held a focus group of people from AS media and film studies class, asking them to view the production and give feedback about their views, as they are aware of the codes and conventions that a thriller movie should include. Thus giving me a clear insight into how  I met the target audience's expectations and how i didn't. 

Here are some criticism I received:

1) I received a negative feedback from Berfin, aged 16:

This criticism made feel conscious of my use of filters, however I think the different filters had a good effects of my opening thriller..



2) Moreover, I collected another negative criticism from Chankee, aged 18:

This feedback make me realize that me and my group have to improve our soundtrack and make it more sophisticated and conventional for our opening thriller.

3) Furthermore, I received a positive feedback from Amanda, aged 17:

This comment made me feel pleased as the audience were intrigued by our product, even though the character was revealed at the end.

4) Lastly, I collected another positive feedback from Natalia, aged 16:

   
This last feedback made me feel happy because the atmosphere we wanted to create was creepy and mysterious, which was designed for our spectators to feel threatened. 




Conclusion:

To conclude, this task was beneficial as it gave me an insight on what people wanted to see and how to improve my thriller opening even better. It also set an audience that we wanted to target, therefore addressing and attracting the spectators. By starting my research from my questionnaire I believe that me and my group made massive progress on attracting our audience around our thriller opening.

Evaluation: Question 2) How does your media product represent particular social groups? - Miss Begum

Evaluation: Question 3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? - Mrs. Quinlan