Evaluation - Zoe Cameron-Waller

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

In order to achieve a realistic Thriller opening, the several conventions of a Thriller must be considered.

Thriller openings such as Splice, follow the conventions of a Thriller, by generating enigma and successfully portraying the Thriller genre.
At the beginning of the title sequence, we are shown a close up of an x-ray image of what seems to be a frog, and it suddenly merges into an institutional logo. The non-diegetic sounds include a buzzing/zapping sound which accompanies the merging effect, which suggests malfunction and broken technology. This creates an eerie atmosphere, and straight away generates enigma and intrigues the audience. The colours being black and a ghostly blue, create darkness and gloominess, which indicates the Thriller genre of the film, due to the way the audience are plunged into darkness within the first few seconds of the film starting. 
This merging effect continues for a few more seconds, as it introduces the other institutions with more close ups. Between each merge, the image flickers slightly, which creates a sinister feel to it. 

The Thriller opening for The Usual Suspects uses Restricted Narration in order to sustain enigma throughout.


We are introduced to the unknown character by a tilt up to a balcony where he appears to be urinating. This creates enigma and eagerness to know who they are, and the use of restricted narration causes the enigma to be sustained throughout.
The tilt down from the balcony to follow the journey of the unknown character going down the stairs, with the camera sustaining a long shot, makes it seem like we are spying on him, which boosts the enigma and increases the suspense. As the unknown character departs from the stairs, the camera begins to slightly zoom in on his feet walking, which suggests that he is about to do something bad, as the tension is increased. Shallow depth of field is also used to capture how important this unknown character is.

The camera also captures the lighter being brought out of his pocket, and then being put back in the pocket, but the unknown character's face remains absent and we don't actually see the cigarette being lit, which suggests the focus is specifically on the iconography of the  lighter, to emphasise that it's an important prop as it produces fire, which seems to be one of the main themes throughout this sequence.
The unknown male antagonist is wearing a black jacket, which is a stereotypical costume for the antagonist to wear, as it's considered to be menacing and mysterious.

Our own Thriller opening of 'Survior' has made sufficient use of Restricted Narration, as we have kept the identity of our male antagonist hidden, because we have witnessed how much it increases the enigma in The Usual Suspects.

We have also used many other techniques in order to generate enigma and to follow the conventions of a Thriller, such as a variety of non-diegetic music which dominates most of the opening. There are different types of non-diegetic music that have been chosen to best suit the different atmospheres created. When the male antagonist returns home, dismal and gloomy non-diegetic music begins to play which is used to emphasise the sad impact the male antagonist has on the female protagonist and it also highlights the change in atmosphere now that the male antagonist is present.
Different non-diegetic music is used to signify the turning point within the sequence, which is when the female protagonist drops the dinner on the floor. The music becomes sinister and mumbles in the background to build tension, and to prepare the audience for the next sequence of events.
The highest climax within our sequence is when the female protagonist breaks free from the male antagonist's grasp and runs up the stairs. The suspense is amplified by the fast paced non-diegetic music that portrays both the anger and the fear that's obtained by the two characters. It builds up to a crescendo and then comes to an abrupt end as the door is slammed, to intensify the scream.
After the scream, sorrowful non-diegetic music begins playing to generate the sadness of the situation.
In order to follow the conventions of a Thriller, we have considered the 11 aspects of Mise en Scene. The female protagonist's costume consisted of a turquoise lace dress to show her femininity, and to emphasise her innocence and purity. Also, turquoise has connotations of refreshment, naturalness, calmness, emotion and wisdom, which causes her portrayal to be positive. She deliberately didn't wear any makeup, to show how she hardly looks after herself properly. We only used makeup for her black eye, which was crucial to demonstrate the abuse she gets. Her hair was un-brushed and slightly rough, to again emphasise how she doesn't look after herself properly. The females facial expression remained fairly neutral throughout the start of the opening, this was done to amplify how unhappy and miserable she is living with him. The facial expression changed when the male begins to intimidate her after dropping the dinner on the floor, it goes from a neutral facial expression, to a terrified facial expression, which highlights the fear that she has for the male antagonist.
Her body language was quite stiff and her movements weren't very bold, she seemed quite restricted in the way she moved, which was to show how she felt uncomfortable in her own home, because of the males power over her.

The male antagonist's costume consists of a formal suit, which displays his power and authority over the female protagonist. Because of our use of restricted narration, the male antagonist's hair, makeup and facial expression remains hidden, in order to generate enigma. The emotions of the male is portrayed through his body language. When the female character drops the dinner on the floor, it cuts to a close up of the males clenched fist, which emphasises his irritation and anger. His movement as he gets up from the table is very stiff and clenched, which shows how he's trying to obtain his anger. The way in which he moves is quite slow and sinister, even when the female character runs up the stairs, this boosts the tension and increases the anxiety amongst the audience as they can see it's building up to something.

Lighting is also a key concept within a Thriller, therefore we used low-key lighting for when the male was in the frame, and we tried to use high-key lighting for when the female character was in the frame. This was done in order to demonstrate the evilness behind the male character, and the goodness behind the female character. It also allows us to see that the female is the victim, as innocence and vulnerability is portrayed by the brightness that accompanies her presence. Whereas with the male character, low-key is used to determine how he's the attacker in the situation.
We used a realistic setting, which is a normal looking house on a normal looking street, to demonstrate how ordinary these two people can appear. This allows the events that go on in the house to seem more horrific and shocking because of how ordinary the setting seems. We never see the female protagonist leave the house, which suggests that she's constantly cooped up in there, without any freedom.

We've challenged the usual Thriller conventions, by using wine, which usually has connotations of relaxation, romance and passion, we've reversed this, and we've used the wine as a disturbing juxtaposition against love and happiness, making the events during our sequence seem more horrifying.

The camera deliberately repeats the image of the smashed plate at the end of our opening, to establish how that prop was the turning point within our opening. Also at the end of our opening, we used a fade to black between the shot of the door, the smashed plate, the wine glass tipped over and the shot of the house from outside. This was to create a dramatic effect and to emphasise how sad and tragic the scenario is. The long shot of outside of the house right at the end of our opening, demonstrates how normal it seems from the outside. Another fade to black was used when the plate was smashed, this was done to make it seem dramatic and intense.

We've also gone against another Thriller convention, by not using any dialogue. The effect of not using any dialogue, allows the non-diegetic music to establish the mood and atmosphere without the use of dialogue. It also makes it more disturbing, and makes it seem like the female knows something will happen to her, suggesting that it's been going on for a long time. The only sound that comes from the female is a scream, which makes the scream seem more significant and terrifying.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The female character in our Thriller opening, 'Survivor', is stereotypically represented as feminine, her costume constructs this as it consists of a girly dress. It also makes her seem fairly young and vulnerable, especially with the dress being turquoise in colour. Turquoise has connotations of friendliness, femininity and rarity. It also radiates peace, calmness and tranquillity, which makes her seem like the stereotypical delicate and fragile female. It's also stereotypical because of how the female is the victim being overpowered by a man. This is established through the use of a high angle over the shoulder shot, when the male is standing over the female. It allows the audience to see how intimated she seems, and how she's belittled and becomes insignificant, due to his authority and power over her. This makes her seem like she belongs to a low status in the hierarchy, which was deliberately done, in order to generate empathy amongst the audience. This is a negative representation of women, because of how powerless and weak she seems. But it's also realistic, which makes it more directly appealing to our target audience being young women. However, she eventually fights back and manages to reverse the power between them when she escapes him, this is a traditional ending  in Thriller's, as it resolves the issue, and satisfies the audience because of how the representation of women suddenly becomes positive, due to the way she becomes stronger and gets away.
The Thriller called Lovely Bones also represents the female as the victim as she is victimised by her neighbour which is a male. She is also stereotypically presented as weak and innocent , and her costume constructs this, through the use of  a childish and vulnerable looking costume.

However, the male villain in the film isn't constructed stereotypically, as his costume doesn't suggest power, status or authority. He's presented as ordinary and innocent looking because of the way his costume constructs his age. His costume is always fairly old looking, and often involves quite earthy colours, such as different shades of brown and green. This is done to shock the audience because of how unexpected his actions are. The audience to expect him to be a threat, because of how innocently he's portrayed.

 

However, the male in our Thriller opening, 'Survivor', is represented as a stereotypical business man, this is constructed by his costume which consists of a formal suit. This has connotations of power, high status and authority.
The camera always puts him in a higher position compared to the female, which is to show the unbalanced power between them. This is established through the mid shot of the male standing in the doorway, over the female clearing up the pieces of the smashed plate. The height difference constructs his masculinity and provides him with power. This is also a negative representation of males, because of how he's presented as the villain that's using his masculinity to overpower the female. This portrayal is sustained throughout the rest of the film, meaning that the negative representation isn't altered to become positive in any way. We did this in order make the audience dislike him because of how menacing and nasty he's is.

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

 

Our film production company is called 'Hills Production Company', we decided on this name because it sounds professional and realistic.
We decided that showing it on film websites such as LOVEFiLM, and NETFLIX, because of how accessible they both are, and with the increasing interest growing in tablets and smart phones, most people will have these two websites on their device. You can also access these websites via games consoles, such as the PlayStation 3 and on XBOX live. The accessibility of these websites will allow the majority of our target audience to watch our film. Also, these two websites are very popular with our target audience, so this boosts our chance of getting our film to them.

 

Having produced a low budget Thriller, institutions such as Paramount pictures and Walt Disney would be completely unsuitable to distribute our Thriller.

Whereas, a company such as Icon would be suitable. Icon Film Distribution is a leading UK independent film distributor collaborating with local and international filmmakers on the very best of independent film. Icon have distributed other films such as 'Paranormal Activity' and 'Drive'.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product? 

Our target audience are young women, aged 17 - 24. This specific audience would be interested in films that have a women protagonist that encounters realistic problems that partly relate to them. This target audience are also interested in film plots that are resolved at the end, which is something our Thriller offers. They are interested in this because of the satisfaction that's behind problems eventually being solved.

According to the Pearl and Dean website, our target audience would also enjoy the Thriller 'The Silence of the Lambs' which also has a leading female protagonist.

   

Our target audience would also enjoy the Thriller 'The Hunger Games', which again has a leading female protagonist.

 

 

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

We attempted to attract our target audience by incorporating stereotypes into our film.

The female character is stereotypically feminine, which is communicated by her costume consisting of a turquoise lace dress. We deliberately chose a dress to conform to the feminine stereotype, making her appear as very girly and delicate. The turquoise colour has connotations of refreshment, naturalness, calmness, emotion and wisdom. These positive connotations allow her to be easily liked by the target audience, and it generates sympathy for her.

We also used the stereotypical male villain character, which attracts our audience because of how dislikeable we made him. His costume portrays power and authority, which is how he manipulates and abuses the female character. It consists of a typical business suit.

We also used restricted narrative, keeping the male antagonist's identity hidden. This makes him seem more menacing and dislikeable for the target audience, because everything is mainly focused on his brutal and nasty actions.
We also asked our target audiences opinion on what they thought, in order to get feedback on how to appeal to them in the best possible way.

 

The synopsis of the film also attracts our target audience because of our theme and plot. Our theme is domestic violence. The synopsis of the film is: When Alice's ex psycho boyfriend Ross is released from prison, he tracks her down and convinces her he has changed. But he soon reveals his true colours again and returns to his old ways of abusing her. Alice is made to cook and clean all day, and she's hardly ever allowed out, but when she does leave the house, she has to pretend she's fine because of the fear of what Ross would do to her. Throughout the film, we accompany Alice on her journey to try and escape the evil grasp of Ross. At the end of the film, Alice escapes him, when she finally opens up to one of her friends and tells the truth about what's been happening to her, but to avoid going back to prison and realising he's lost Alice, he commits suicide.
This synopsis is very relatable to young women due to the Domestic violence theme; Statistics and research show that domestic violence is gender specific. It is most commonly experienced by women and perpetrated by men, particularly when there is a pattern of repeated and serious physical assaults. or when it includes rape or sexual assault or results in injury or death.

Any woman can experience domestic violence regardless of race, ethnic or religious group, class, disability or lifestyle. Domestic violence can also take place in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender relationships. Abusers choose to behave violently to get what they want and gain control. Therefore, it's very relatable to young women, and very realistic.

 

Our location also relates to the target audience, as normally, a cosy looking house offers somewhere warm and welcoming to retire to, however, in our Thriller, it's the complete opposite due to the shocking events that take place inside. The realism of the location offers a more shocking impact and intrigues the target audience due to the tension and enigma.

 

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

 

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

In our preliminary task, we created a crime genre sequence that was made to generate enigma and tension in order to practise for our final task.

Since the preliminary, I feel like I have learnt a lot more about camera work and editing, I now know how to make a more fluent-running sequence that looks realistic. I've learnt how to add text and foley sound when editing, and how to create particular atmospheres and emotions by the use of lighting equipment. I have also gained a better understanding of where everything is in Final Cut Pro and how it works.