Evaluation

My media product develops and challenges the form and conventions of real media products as my group and I have incorporated all the technical and visual aspects into our thriller that enables it to fit within this genre. My final thriller turned out to be a great success as it has received very positive feedback from peers, family and friends who think that it was professionally edited and captured to make it worthy of a successful thriller. My thriller challenges the forms and conventions of real media, typical thrillers that have not had much effort or thought put into them contain blood, guts and gory scenes that most people (including myself) think is the stereotype for thrillers. In fact, thrillers can be portrayed using many different methods, whether it is specialised camera shots, soundtrack or props that are being used to make a film fit into the thriller genre.

For my project I did not decide to go for the famous gut & gory approach to make thriller, instead my group and I decided to make our product differ from conventional thriller that are released. We have done this by making the thriller very suspenseful and nerve racking at the same time to encourage viewers to commit themselves to watching the duration of the film and enjoy what they have seen. My product consists of specialised cameras angles, props and stars to give it a simple, but most important effective insight into the plot of our film so that viewers will stay intrigued with the film trying to figure out how it is going to pan out and what twist we have incorporated into the film which makes it a thriller. The thriller starts of as a normal urban film, but as it progresses suspense begins to build up and different characters, props and view-points are shown to the audience who are then sitting their trying to work out the on on-screen situation in their mind. In a sense creating their own conclusion before the film has even come to a close, this way the audience has been seduced by the film and are willing to watch it to the end in order to find out if what they thought would happen is correct.

The documentary that I watched by Thomas Sutcliffe prior to starting my thriller project was a great help as it explained the concepts used within successful thrillers and the negatives that shouldn’t be used when making thrillers in order for them to be successful and fit into the genre. The short documentary showed the primary methods that need to be put into a thriller in order for to fit into that genre. These methods were things such as creating suspense with the soundtrack and diagetic sound, not creating instant arousal in the film and give clues of what is going to happen later in the film without giving away too much information. The thriller should engage the audience whilst introducing main characters into the film and their role. As Sutcliffe said in the documentary, “films need to seduce their audience into a long term commitment”.

My thriller represents a teenage social group as the stars fit into this category, with Corinne being 17 years of age and myself Jordane Bingham at 18 years of age. As both of the stars fit into very similar social backgrounds we decided to portray this in the film by using a custom soundtrack and using props that represent this social status, the two main stars are Black British, I live in north London and Corinne also lives in north London. As solely, my group conducted the film and we were able to represent this social group with great ease as we all fit into this category. Examples of when we have portrayed this social group in the thriller is during the opening scenes. Corinne is filmed getting out of bed, she is accompanied by the soundtrack which represents what she is hearing in her head as she gets up, with these shots we are portraying her as a typical teenage girl who has been partying late the night before and is still half asleep. Another example of when this social group is represented in the film is when I come into the shot carrying a knife that is intended to scare or cause harm to someone later on in the film. Both of these two examples are effective at representing this social group, as the target audience will immediately be able to figure out what we are portraying in the scenes as it relates to the stereotype that many people have of young teens living in London.

The type of media institution that may distribute my media product is a small independent UK firm, which would then play the film in specific cinemas/art houses. The reason for the thriller being released in the UK only is that it is a low budget film with amateur actors featured, specifically tailored to appeal to a UK audience who can relate to the film and understand the background and origin of the film. An international audience wouldn’t be able to understand or relate to the film in a sense that would make the film as enjoyable to them as it is to a home audience. Therefore, due to the concept and plot of the film it is best for the film to be premiered in the UK only where it can be given a greater chance at success and establish itself amongst other UK releases. By doing this, the film may receive impressive ratings such as the ones from Kidulthood & Adulthood directed by Noel Clarke who used a similar idea.

The intended audience for my thriller is people between the ages of 13 – 21, who are able to relate to the film and may have witnessed a similar situation of what is shown in the movie. The audience will be directed at people from a working class background preferably from London who are aware of the situations that arise in the film. The audience will be niche as it will cater to a UK audience the inspiration behind the film, a typical person that would fit into the intended audience is someone who has been brought up and lived in the City of London all of their life and has witnessed or experienced the situations shown in the film.

As the film is aimed primarily at the UK market, I have decided that in order to attract the target audience for this film it is best to take an approach that will appeal to the intended audience and grab their attention. I was thinking of marketing the film through conventional methods such as billboards, posters and television adverts, but also through social networking channels as the intended audience for this film tend to use these resources largely in the lives. This method of marketing the film will ensure that the target audience will have been made aware of the film and will hopefully be interested enough to go and view the film.
Another approach I am going to take in marketing the film is to appeal to the audience direct by promoting the film using educational channels also where people will go into schools/colleges etc and promote the film direct to people fit into the target audience.

I have learnt so much from the process of constructing this product, from learning how to use a camera properly – learning how to use Final Cut Pro. Before I started this course I never knew how to do most of the things that I am now able to do, I was even aware of programmes such as Final Cut Pro, Livetype and Soundtrack. Since I started this course I learnt how to use many different programmes and software and the capabilities and limitations of each package. I most enjoyed using Final Cut as this was the main programme I have used throughout the duration of the course so far, this programme enables you to log & capture footage from a video camera, edit and watch it back. Livetype I used to create credits and had a great experience experimenting with different fonts and styles that I came up with and Soundtrack although tricky at first was also good to use as I was able to muck about with it and create different sounds and sequences in order to create my desired effect which I would then use later on when creating the final soundtrack for my thriller. All these programmes have broadened my technological skills and opened new ideas and paths to me that I can incorporate into my work later on. The use of the internet was an immense asset during the project as it opens many doors and creates endless possibilities; my main use for the internet throughout the project was to conduct my blogging and gather research about the pros and cons of making thrillers. I also used the internet to upload my thriller to blogger and Youtube which enabled me to show it to a wider audience base and receive much more feedback that I would of obtained without the use of these sites.

From the whole project I feel that I have learnt a huge lesson in life, this lesson is that it is best to plan ahead and work as part of a team in order to get things done of schedule and as quickly as possible to a high standard. I have learnt that film making is not just about taking out a camera and filming the first thing you see, it is about planning and using technical aspects when capturing every shot in order for the shot to look professional give the intended effect when viewed. I learnt that filming cannot be rushed; time and effort must be put into every little detail as it makes a big difference to the final product created. In order for filming to be successful, planning and storyboarding need to take place in order for things to be in order and everything have a place in the film. Editing has made helped me realise just how much work and effort goes into making films, soaps, documentary’s etc in order to make them successful and look professional.