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

Evaluation: Question 4) Who would be the audience for your media product? - Miss Begum

Q4) WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

Research: Editing - Miss Begum

What is editing? Why is it important?

Editing is the process of manipulating the shot images together to create meaning and understanding towards the audience by filming the movie scene. It is important to use editing in films in order for create a proper sequence and achieve a smooth flow narrative. This is important as it create sense in the movie and increase feelings such as sadness, joy and excitement depending on which edit techniques used. For example fast pace editing will create suspense and anxiety due the editing techniques, whereas slow pace editing will make the viewers feel comfortable and relaxed. Editing can be classified into two section which are Edits and Transition.

Edits are the way the shots are cut into another frame which include:

Straight cut: is when the image is fluently cut in a natural way into another which is unnoticeable to the audience's eye. In this scene 'Salt' different straight cut are used fluently to introduce the other frames and create a clear narrative which is not really effective on the audience because it's unnoticeable as it comes naturally for the eye.

Jump cut: is when the image has a visible and drastic movement which is visible to the audience. It can confuse the viewers but at the same time engage them in the movie. A jump cut is used in 'Seven', at 0.16 where we see someone's hands cutting their own fingerprints with a blade. It distort the scene to make the audience question the rapid movement that just happen. The jump cut can foreshadows the negative events that may happen further in the scene, or perhaps the jump cut are used to not make the audience feel bored as they know how the action will occur. 

Cross cut: is used to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations, which can suggest the simultaneity of these two movements but this is not always the case. However, in this scene from 'The Dark Knight' The cross cut is used when the antagonist is interrogated cross-cutting into a different room where people are listening to the interrogation.

This allow the audience to have different scenario to see, that complement the film narrative.

Reaction shot: is when the character respond to an action and the camera shows that with a medium close up or close up, so the audience will focus on it. For example, in 'We need to talk about Kevin' scene, we can see the protagonist's facial expression when she discover who is the murder. Her facial shows her disappointment and shocked feelings. This allow the audience connect with the character and feel the same emotion the protagonist is feeling.

Shot reverse shot: is when two character are having a conversation and the camera is over the shoulder to create understanding for the audience on who is speaking. In this thriller scene, 'The silence of the lambs' the shot reverse shot is used when the two character talk to each other. This makes the audience have a clear understanding and sees the reaction that the characters portrays. 

Slow pace editing: is when clips are put together with a normal pace. Slow editing is used in 'Skyfall' scene when the protagonist is having a conversation and exercising himself. The conversation is taking place with a normal pace and creates fluency throughout. The slow pace editing allow the audience make assumptions on the characters and their personalities, identifying whether they are the protagonist or antagonist. Also the normal pace editing determinate that nothing negative will happen, however the conversation may lead to problems and discussion.

Fast pace editing: is when clips are put together in a fast pace which are usually used in action scene to create excitement and anxiety to the audience. In this scene 'The Bourne Ultimatum' the fast pace editing is used when the protagonist runs through corridor and jump through windows, to reach the victim and protect her from the antagonist. Here the fast pace is complimented with the sound which build more excitement and adrenaline to the audience. Furthermore, the fast pace editing is used when the protagonist begin to fight the antagonist, which create more tension and builds suspense to the audience, which is conventional for a thriller movie.

Slow motion: is when the scene is slowed down, this is typically used to focus the reaction of the character which develop significance to the audience. For example, in this thriller movie, 'Resident Evil Apocalypse' when the protagonist shoots at the motorcycle, the bullets are slowed down to show her significant actions on how she manage to kill the antagonist. This allow the audience have more faith of her as she is agile and skillful which is conventional to the thriller genre. 

Montage: is when different shot are put together to demonstrate the compress time and conveys a lot of information in a relatively short period. From this scene, 'The grudge' we can see that montage has been used at 0.47 to recreate a background story of murders which makes the audience have a better understanding of the narrative of the movie. This can also confuse and scare the viewers as they cannot figure out the meaning of the sequence.

Transition is how the edit is changed and transformed into another frame with a filter which are:

Fade to black: is when a black filter is used between two shot to create a sense of darkness to the audience. It is usually used at the end of a movie or when someone dies to signify their end, as black connote death. However, this editing technique is also use in trailer movies to make the audience feel curious and not to spoiler too much about the movie. In 'The Ides of March' trailer the fade to black is repeatedly used to build curiosity and suspense.

Dissolve: is when an image disintegrate fluently into another which may build a sense of confusion to the audience. In the famous 'Psycho' scene a dissolve is used when the victim is dead and the shower hole dissolve into the victim's eye. This makes the audience suggest the emptiness of her quick life, which makes the audience feel sympathy for her. This is conventional to a thriller genre because the audience will feel sorry for the female victim.

180 rule: is when you imagine a straight line which divide the room and the camera must move only in one side, so the audience will not be confuse.

Wipe cut: is when the image slide into another to introduce a new shot. This type of editing is not very common in thriller movie because it doesn't look professional, but is mostly used in comedy series.

PUBLIC ENEMY SCENE EXTRA ANALYSIS:

 

In this following scene from the 'Public Enemy' movie, we can see that different edits are been used. The scene begin with slow pace editing which is complimented with a soundtrack. The slow pace editing alludes the audience that everything it's going to be alright, but the use of the eerie soundtrack foreshadows negative actions. Furthermore, we can see that different straight cut are used to introduce different characters which makes the spectators presume that the antihero is a criminal, as the people following him look like police men. As the scene proceed, we can see that a reaction shot is used at 0.40, when a mediocre character notice a man pointing a gun to the antihero's head. His facial expression is worried and shocked, which makes the audience feel thrilled as they assume that the shooter will kill the main character. Moreover, as the antihero continue to walk oblivious of the antagonist behind him, a slow motion is used to show his last seconds of living and make the audience feel in suspense as they are waiting for the actions that will occur eventually. Fast pace editing is used when the other characters run after the antihero, as he noticed the harm behind him that is portrayed which a reaction shot. He begin to panic and look for his gun in his pocket which makes the audience feel anxious. The antagonist is unable to shoot for an unknown reason, but as the antihero bumps into another person another antagonist is introduced killing the main character. The death of the antihero is demonstrated with the use of a slow motion and a reaction shot which allows the audience feel sympathy for him. The slow motion demonstrate the action taking place, making the viewers emphasis on the tragic death. The reaction shot help the spectators visualize the pain the antihero is feeling. The silence that take place after the death is sign of respect even though he was an antihero. This is because the audience had a connection with the the main character, which makes them harder to believe in his death. Lastly, the scene ends with the antihero whispering something to the character who shoot him. This create suspense and frustration among the audience because the last word the antihero has said are not revealed.

Conclusion:

 In conclusion as I analysed the editing techniques in detailed, I am more likely to make a professional opening thriller. For my thriller opening I would like to use different editing techniques. For example I will use slow motion in death scene to make the audience emphasis on the action taking place, whereas the fast pace editing will be used in fight scene to increase the level of action and excitement through the audience. I will use different reaction shot to make the viewers feel the same emotions the characters are feeling and shot reverse shot when the character are having a conversation. Lastly, I will use fade to black to end the scene to make the audience feel in suspense and make them understand that the opening has come to an end. 

Planning: Pre-production Paperwork - Miss Begum

What is pre-production paperwork? Why is it important?

Pre-production paperwork are the agreements and legal requirements that need to be completed when preparing for your final production stages which are:

• Clint Release form
• Location Release form
• Location Recce form
• Production Schedule
• Risk assessment

These paperwork are important to create because without them we will be in risk of getting in trouble by the authorities, especially if filming in a public area. These papers can help inform everyone about our actions as well as planning our idea. It's a requirements that will explain our work to the authorities and any other person who are concern.

Client release form:

This form was created to discuss the agreements necessary for filming for our actor. Here the actor must sign up the form before filming to make him aware  of what is expected of them as well as acknowledge them of the possible risk and the future use of the video. This form must be distributed to every member of the cast and make them sign up in order to start filming soon as possible.

Location Release Form:

This document inform the authorities of the different locations we plan to use as well as demand permission, discussing the terms and conditions that come with this product. This document also help to prove that our actions are save and approved by your supervisor. Thus, this document need to be distributed to the owners of your filming location and signed by them after they read the terms and conditions that come with this production.  

Location Recce form:

This form include the location that we are intended to use for our opening thriller. This should be distributed to every member of the film production, including the actors, in order to acknowledge them of the different locations that they need to be in. This will make us organized while filming. 

Production Schedule:

This document also works as a timetable for the filming crew as well as the actors. This also works as an outline of the production, including the times and dates of the filming with the needed equipment and actors, which makes everything less stressful and organized. 

Risk Assessment:

This form has information that provide the possible risks that could await the production while filming. It reminds everyone to take caution as well as explains how the accidents can be resolved or avoided. This will also assure others that you are ready to face the possible accidents when creating your footage and will be able to deal with the obstacles. Additionally the risk assessment allows you to calculate how likely is it for the risk to happen which yet again allows you to decide if your production is safe and take extra caution with some risks.

Advantages of creating pre-production paperwork:

• Allowed to make our production look legitimate
• Help to evaluate the risk that may occur
• Allow to prepare for these risk as well as how to deal with them
• Given us legal security
• Made us experience what is like creating a production in the industry 

Conclusion:

In closure, completing this task was beneficial because it allowed us to evaluate the possible risk that may occur and how to overcome them. Also it gave us legal security so none cannot discuss our decisions making.