Thriller film evaluationBy Joseph. Domenet

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

My media product uses and develops recognizable psychological thriller conventions by employing plot twists, suspense and character mind games. Furthermore, our main character Woody embodies the key features of a thriller protagonist. By being an innocent, lonely, vulnerable and shy victim, he evokes the audience’s sympathy. Our opening also has shots inspired by the film Paranormal Activity, particularly the time lapse where our ghostly character appears. Even though Paranormal Activity is more of a horror film, the way it created an eerie style and creepiness, is what we wanted to have in our opening.

The music we have chosen for our media product is very similar to the music in real thrillers. The sort of music that builds suspense and keeps the viewers glued to the screen is often music that uses a number of classical instruments, for example the harp, bass, cello, violin and oboe. We went for a similar soundscape using a number of musical loops on Final Cut Pro, as well as Kevin McCloud’s Incomputech royalty free music site. The piece we chose, Dragon and Toast, is dark, eerie, intense and unnerving.

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

Our media product represents a particular social group of unpopular vulnerable teenage boys. I felt this was a perfect social group for a character in a thriller to be in because it allowed me to write a film where the character is easy to mess with and play mind games with. Rather than having a popular and together teenage boy, fit to sort out it his problems or deal with certain things. I also thought that if I had the parents slightly irresponsible by leaving their son for a whole week on his own when he had barely anyone to talk to, this would automatically put the character in a vulnerable position, which is what we needed. This representation of a middle class, middle aged couple is not seen that often in feature films, as writers tend to favour a more dramatic story line with unstable or perhaps drug-infused parents. The other stereotype would be to have very kind loving parents. However, these neglectful parents do allow us feel sympathy for the character and they also create a void for the drama to happen.

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

Our media product would fit well with an independent film production company with a limited budget, we would have to seek out a distributor that would be willing to make a deal with us. This film would fit nicely at a film festival for new film makers. Also the film production company would be well known for their niche thriller films. A film production company much like ShoeBox Films who have produced a few recent films including the critically acclaimed film ‘Locke’ starring Tom Hardy is the kind of company we would be.

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

The audience to my media product would most likely be big thriller fans looking for something new in the media realm. The target audience would range from about 15 to 45, I know it seems like a wide spectrum but a lot of people like watching thriller films.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience by including a vulnerable teenager in the film that other people in that age group would be able to relate to. I also included the characters of irresponsible parents to deliver a wider message on how parents should/shouldn’t act when they have the responsibility of a child.

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

- How to use the camera and knowing what angles to use in specific scenes

- How to edit on final cut pro (using the blade tool, inserting or taking out audio, stabilization, cropping and getting lost in all the options and settings)

- I am able now to watch a film and see it from a perspective from behind the camera, I think about how the movie was filmed and the processes used (i.e staging, costumes, lighting, and special effects).

- The most important thing I’ve learnt that I feel like before this course I didn’t think the editing was as important than the actual filming but now I feel like the editing creates the film entirely and you could have quite bad footage but still make it look good by editing it well.

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

- The internet when looking for music, sound effects, fonts, and research

- Final cut pro for editing all the audio and footage togetherI have realised how important the editing software is when creating a film because its quality will be needed very much so when creating a good film. Also I think that the way a media product is filmed and edited takes a huge role on the style and originality of the film.

By Joe. Domenet