Evaluation

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

Our finished film uses many of the conventions of a modern thriller genre, 'Thrillers are characterised by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains.' This is the classic description of a 'thriller', and our film uses that description to influence our project, however we were obviously unable to embody all of those traits in the opening 2 minutes of a film, so we tried to show what would lead into those characteristics for a film.

It is clear from these two screen shots, how we have stayed within the conventions, as these are very similar positions. It is a position you find someone in when they are scared, or confused and thus, they are often found in horror/thriller type films.

Again, these two shots are not similar in substance, however both characters are doing everyday things, and that is essential to the horror/thriller genre as it adds essential realism to the plot. Both women are doing mundane things, such as coming home, and working, and both are very near the beginning which shows how the audience are intended to create a link with these women before anything supernatural happens to them, so that when it does happen, it increases the involvement the audience feel with the film.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our film is quite singularly based on the main character for the first 2 minutes, and therefore is only able to represent the woman, the character to whom the voice in the voiceover belongs to, and the murderer.

The voice is female and direct, and the indication is that she is a doctor and of high education. Immediately this voice brings in an older target audience, due to the terminology and language she uses, which could be quite confusing.

For our main character, what we were looking to do, was to create an authorial figure who has fallen from an educated background, so that educated people could feel an affinity with her character. However it is intriguing to the less educated to see how; a woman of such high social standing is capable of getting herself into such a horrific mess. The woman is shown in various scenes, and her costume varies as does the setting with each change of scene.

The murderer, connotes the typical 'bad guy' in a film, you cannot see his face, he wears black and he is very mysterious, therefore, apart from representing criminals, he can not officially represent any kind of social group.

These are the 3 locations and costumes that the woman has, and in the first she wears a suit, and she is outside a house, this appeals to a varied audience, and the disorganisation of the side of the house could perhaps suggest more about this woman's character.

The costume of the second scene is a hoody, tracksuit bottoms and trainers, and the film is becoming less focused on being for, and about educated people. As variation sets in within costume and setting, the representation of social groups becomes difficult to decipher, as such a range of groups are being represented however, it does turns towards a more teenage audience due to costume, this is again, intriguing for a lesser educated audience as they see different aspects of this woman, and the ways in which she is mentally and socially changing. In the third shot, the woman wears pajamas, and the room she is in is quite dark and therefore shows very little about any sort of social class representation.

What kind of media institution might distribute you media product and why?

When choosing a distribution company for this film, I would be inclined to choose Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), our film is predominantly British, and so it would be a huge boost for the film to be supported by a successful American distribution company such as MGM, it would increase audience interest immediately, creating a great platform to intrigue them. The fact that our film is an Psychological Thriller, may attract MGM, because they have had some involvement with thrillers in their past, and it would increase their large repertoire. 'Asylum' (2008) is an example of the type of Horror/Thriller that MGM has produced, it proved successful and so would increase the interest of distributing another film in a similar genre, with a female as the leading character, as is in our own film; female leads have shown to be increasingly popular by audiences and so by taking another chance with this genre, it could be big. This is furthermore, due to the fact that the thriller genre is becoming hugely popular, as has been shown by the recent release of 'Shutter Island'. This film is therefore liable to attract a lot of people, despite being a small British made film.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our film is from teenagers to around 40 year olds, this was because an older audience are highly interested in psychological thrillers, as they like the challenge it produces, so by aiming at these audiences, we are able to produce maximum revenue, we therefore made it so our locations were somewhat tasteful and the overall mise-en-scene contributed to this audience. To begin with, the rating of 12A appealed to us the most, because it would allow a larger range to come and view the movie, therefore increasing its popularity and in turn, the Box Office totals. However, in order to achieve the psychotic twist we needed to keep the audience gripped,we felt the need to raise the rating.

Therefore, we chose the rating of 15, so that we could add the psychotic twists and the bloodlust to achieve the desired effect. Therefore this film would appeal to older teenagers and from then, ranging up to older audiences. There is no specific limit on the age limit of people who come to see this, as an older audience could be interested in this genre, however, the minimum age is 15 to view this film; all that matters is that the wide stream audience meant for this movie understand and enjoy the film, hence making it a success.

How did you attract/address your audience?

To begin with, we produced a questionnaire, here are 3 examples of the results we received:

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We received around 20 responses for our questionnaires, and have averaged out the response for those we received, and therefore adapted our final production on what the target audience is most interested in. We asked, 'What is your favourite movie genre?' The response rates were highest for thriller/horror, we also asked what an audience wanted to see in their film, with these results we collaberated and decided on doing a Thriller/Horror with a psychotic twist. We designed the film specifically so that the audience would be asking questions throughout and then revealing the answers slowly to involve the audience, so that they have the feeling that they can help solve the mystery.

If we were making a feature length film, we would produce trailers giving a quick insight into the film, but leaving the audience wanting more, television ads to provoke awareness of this new film, and posters placed strategically around to arouse audiences to come and see the film.

We also produced a quick poster:

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

Digital Video Camcorders

We were unable to gain access to a HD camcorder, and so we used a Canon MV930 for all of the shots we needed for our film. Unfortunately, it did not pick up a lot of detail and so the end result was not as professional as we would have like it to be, however, we did our best with what we had, and we were able to what we wanted to. We found that the camera had difficulty picking up images in darkness, which gave us a lot of useless extra footage, because after attempting to edit the brightness and gamma unsuccessfully, we went out and re-shot the footage in daylight. Although we did not have the most professional camera available, I believe what we had taught us all it could about using a camcorder and we have come to terms with using them very well.

Apple Macs

I am an Apple Mac user, however I had not come into contact with the editing programmes, Final Cut Express and LiveType. It was a really interesting experience learning how to edit our film and being able to change so much with the extensive tools Final Cut provides. We were able to add and remove audio as we so chose to do, and we were able to create music on Garage Band, which again was a learning curve as there is so much to learn, all of these programmes helped us achieve our final film.

We dragged all the clips from our film into Final Cut Express, and edited them to the extent that we could. We then used Garage Band to create a background music to intensify the film, we also used it to record a voiceover which plays throughout. LiveType was the programme we used to create the titles for the film, we were able to play around with fonts, colours, animations, and it was really exciting learning all these new things.

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

Our preliminary task taught us the basic skills of camera mobility, and film editing. We learned how to simply use the editing software at that stage, however in the time between the two films, we learned the importance of camera angles and lighting and how they affect the overall piece. We progressed from the simplistic beginnings of the editing software and learnt how to do many things such as changing the brightness, removing sound and so on. We learnt that planning is essential to filming, because if you don't plan then nothing really goes right, I really feel like I have progressed hugely since the beginning of the year because I have learnt so many new aspects to film making and the theory of film making.

Finished Film

Textual Analysis

For our film, 'Disturbance', we used 3 films for inspiration, 'Don't Say a Word' (2001), 'Psychosis' (2009), and 'Shutter Island' (2010).

We were influenced by 'Don't Say a Word' due to it's archetypal main character, who has a mental condition, and is thereby living in some sort of asylum for the mentally unstable.

Our predominant reason for choosing this film was the behavioural similarities between the patient in their film, and the patient in ours. Brittany Murphy, who played Elizabeth, the patient, presents a very believable performance as 'mentally unstable'. Therefore, we focused on some of the directional techniques, as well as theatrical methods they used to present the audience with this situation, and applied it to a small portion of our own filming.

This clip from the film, shows how the director has varied the camera movement to show the unstable state of mind this woman is in, the camera moves disjointedly and the focus changes however, the camera also moves very smoothly towards the woman, the juxtaposition depicts the idea of a person who is so confused and yet is also in the know, and the fear rules her life. It is a really interesting technique which we have considered for our own film as it has a very successful result.

Trailer:



'Psychosis'

'Psychosis' influenced our film because it is a film about a woman haunted by her own death, these visions gnaw away at her psyche so that no one believes in her, because it is all in her head. The visions are put into motion by her decision to write a book about a group of people, who go on to be mysteriously murdered, and in due course she is haunted by her own mind.

This approach to the thriller genre is typical, and it works in the conventions of a thriller with past events haunting people in the present, it convinced us to go by the standard thriller guidelines because of the success it shows and we also discovered how the versimilitude of a film really helps interaction with the audience as again, they can empathise with the characters, improving the overall success of the film.

'Psychosis' official trailer

The inventive use of light and the editing is really effective, for example the editors have changed a very small shot to black and white and then inverted the colour:

This effective flash of a changed colour scheme shows the fear the protagonist has, which induces the audiences fear for her, due to the bond that they have formed already from the ability the audience had to empathise with her character.

This particular film also uses iconography within the portrayal of the serial killer, which adds to the overall horror/thriller genre. It is increased with such editing because it escalates the fear the audience already have for these characters, again adding to the enjoyment the audience have when viewing the film.

Trailer:

'Shutter Island'

'Shutter Island' was our third influence, however it had not been released at the time of our filming, we were able to use pre-release information and trailers for research.

The thrilling plot line, persuaded us to base our film on mental illness, as the film is based on a prison for the criminally insane. The film has representation of both genders, however most of the characters are morally corrupted by this island and the job it carries out, showing perhaps a more realistic side to how people can be persuaded by material things such as money, and the darkness some hold in their souls.

We tried to reflect this darkness into our protagonist, for she is living in fear of her own death. In thrillers and horrors, visions usually connote insanity, and this is what we have taken into account, as again, 'Shutter Island' uses these connotations to their full extent, and it is wholly effective because of the disturbance behind the visions and the resultant response from the audience.

The protagonist in this film begins to doubt everything in this disturbing institution, he is wary of his own memory, his partner and is overly doubtful of his own sanity.

The costume, make up, expression and editing that has been applied to this one character is extensive, however not pointless at all, this shot of her singular character is hugely effective on the audience, as the finger to the lips motion tells them immediately that something happens in this place which will be kept quiet. Although we could not apply this kind of editing and costume to our own film, due to budget, the basis of our characters is a diluted version of such a person. The huge, piercing black eyes are powerful enough with no other indication of insanity, and the lack of hair again connotes some sort of lunacy. The addition of the handcuffs, and the clothing of an older woman, along with the skeletal features, gives a perturbing sense to this shot, and is gains an exceedingly effective result upon the audience.

Trailer:

Mise-en-Scene

Costume:

For our first scene, we had the woman wearing a suit, and immediately it contrasted with the voice over which is explaining that the character has psychosis. However it worked well, because of the juxtaposition and it emphasises the confusion behind the character. The attacker then enters, yet the audience can only see the bottom half of his legs, he is wearing black trousers and smart shoes, this portrays the idea that he is businesslike and is going to kill her almost instantaneously, which he does. The briefcase again shows that he is a business-like character and also implies that he has various tools in it, for his 'work'.
To show diversity, the second scene shows the same woman in jogging clothes, this is to show the variation of settings in which the woman could be killed. The clothing is emphasising a normal day, a day in which you shouldn't be scared for your life, and yet this woman lives in fear of everyday. Again, you barely see the attacker in this scene, just an off shot of his shoulder, however he is once more, smartly dressed, with a suit jacket on.
In our third scene, the woman is wearing pajamas, and for the first time in one of her visions, shows actual fear in it. the pajamas intimate safety, which again contrasts with the end of her vision. The attacker is briefly shown in this scene, face on, but he has his face covered with something to obscure his features, this enhances the mystery of his identity for the audience.

We have used the stereotype of a murderer, with the black clothes and a covered face, and the costume connotes murder films, as well as thriller films.

Location:

We chose random locations for our shots to show everyday situations which were unlikely to end in a death, and I think it was more effective because many murders do take place in the home, and places where you least expect it, so that aspect involved a small piece of realism, which is effective because then the audience feel they can relate with the story. For example, your bedroom is supposedly your sanctuary, so we set our final scene in the one place this woman feels safe, and infiltrated it with visions of her own murder, this increases her fear of death and hence she feels there is no safe place anymore. Which combines with the fact that all she sees is actually in her mind, which is no longer a safe place for her either.

Our filming schedules:

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The majority of the filming took place between two members of our groups homes, in Chorleywood and Beaconsfield. This was due to ease, accessibility and the locations we chose in the end, fit into the scenes we were creating. We also found that the we could oppose 1the denotation of the settings, such as a bedroom, which was turned into a place of fear, rather than the safe haven it should be.

Look and Feel:

We felt that the whole film should be in black and white, because it gives a better view of distorted reality. It also gives the visions a sense of authority, because they are in plain sight rather than getting mixed up in all the colours, you have the simplicity of two colours, black and white, and only the range of tones between them, rather than a colourful spectrum, which helps the audience concentrate more on the storyline. We felt that with a simplistic colour scheme, the film shows how the audience knows very little at the start and as the information bleeds in, so does the colour, it also shows a clear separation between reality and deluded fantasy.
The lack of continuity within the settings shows how disjointed the perspective from which we are viewing the whole scenario is, it also shows the heightened fear of everyday life the woman has.

Voice:

We chose not to have any dialogue for the characters on screen to again emphasise that it isn't real, however we als chose to do a voice over for it. The voice over describes the mental instability of the woman character, it shows how the doctors can not quite figure out what is wrong with their patient although they believe that her visions are linked to some sort of past event. The voice over is essential to our piece as it explains that what the audience is seeing is in fact the womans imagination, without this explaination, there would be utmost confusion regarding the swift change of scenes and the repetition of the same womans murder. The voice sounds professional, as it is supposedly a doctor analysing this patient, and the use of technical jargon adds to the overall feel of the piece.

Storyboard:

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Synopsis

At first we thought we would do a thriller/horror based on films such as 'The Happening' (a thriller) or 'The Village' (a psychological horror) both films were directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and neither were hugely successful, however they incorporated ideas that we had originally wanted to use. Ideas of blackouts and memory loss combined with increasingly suspicious circumstances; we soon found difficult to show on film, as well as making sense of a chronological order and a continuous story line. For these reasons, we decided to move in a slightly different direction, although trying to use our previous research and apply what we had already learnt into our current project.

Our film is a thriller with a psychotic twist, it is aimed at teenagers however can draw an older audience due to the depth of it's subject. The film takes place in unremarkable settings, however the juxtaposition between the subject matter and the surroundings gives the film a sense of mystery, as the audience never know where and when the next murder will take place. The film's key focus is of a mentally unstable young woman, and her 'murderer'.
This woman lives in fear, for she has recurring visions of her own death caused by a hooded figure, however due to her mental instability, the audience are left to decipher whether they are seeing into the future, and the discovery of the hooded figure must also be discovered before it is too late for our protagonist. the audience is kept in suspense, and tension fills the air as we discover whether the visions come true or if another story will unravel from this woman's dreams.
It is unique, as the past, present and future merge into one, and the line between reality and fantasy is never clear, and because it is from the point of a woman with psychosis, many details come to light, which may have otherwise been left unnoticed, and one woman is finally able to tell her story.

The Team

Julia Pendered

Becky Nagle

Robert Wells

Preliminary Task

Our first media task was to create a short preliminary film. The basic guidelines were to have shots of somebody entering and exiting a space with some simple dialogue.

My group filmed in an empty classroom and the film had a slightly confusing story, however we learned how to operate the camera properly and the correct way in which to use angles when filming. Overall, I was very pleased with the outcome for a first task. I learned a lot about using the right camera angles, camera movement, and the importance of continuity in a scene, which is essential, and shall be applied when shooting our final film.

I found the editing process quite enjoyable, although getting it precise enough could be quite frustrating, putting the footage together in Final Cut was a learning curve, as none of us had ever used this software before. I found that the role of film maker and editor were both difficult roles, as although the filming process must be carried out, and is obviously an essential part of the procedure however I had not realised that the editing was just as important.

Our Preliminary Storyboard:

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Here is our final preliminary: