Script

We did not have a complete and in depth script before we shot the thriller but of course we had a good idea of how we wanted it to go. Looking back, there were some changes we had to make after having been to the location and noticing there were things we could not do that were planned. For example, the pool wasn't clean or prepared for use so Emily could not get in.

Delivery boy bikes down the driveway
Sees the girl laying in the pool looking as though she is dead
Boy runs over but when he gets there the body is gone
The boy then makes his way to the house, on the way, he sees a girl in the top window
Knocks on the door and mentions to the man who answers the door that his daughter is awake and thought perhaps she should be in bed
The father then says that his daughter has been dead for 9 years
The camera then shows the girl behind her father

As you can see in the rough edit and the final edit there were a few differences but it still has the same outline and has the same and hopefully successful effect

Thriller Opening Shot List

The first shot was planned to be a low angle shot of the driveway which would then show me from behind as I cycle towards the house. We successfully incorporated this into our rough edit and final edit. I think it does well in establishing the location and it's size. Also, the camera is slightly faced towards the fence, this shows that as I cycle past, I am trapped in the location.

We then planned to do a point of view shot as I see the pool and the girl, this was done but not with Emily in the pool, instead, she was standing beside it and could be seen through the window. I don't think this alters the quality of the choice of shot. Then, differing with the plan, we done a wide shot showing me as I get off the bike and see something in the pool house. The transition then brings us to a wide shot showing me walk past and seeing the girl in the pool house. It then pans back and forth showing the window empty with the girl mysteriously gone.

Along with quite a few others, these are examples of how we differed our filming to the original storyboard. But we knew that this would be likely to happen, as shown at the top of the storyboard 'All shots subject to change.' Although, we have also used many shots that we planned to, for example, the over-the-shoulder shot  we planned to used during the conversation at the end, which we then reversed to use over both the characters shoulders to show the opposite view.

Shotlist
* D&F Productions
Home-video (many varying shots that quickly change, using shots that are difficult to recognise)
* In association with Warp Films
Very Wide Shot
Wide Shot-
Wide Shot
Wide Shot
Panning Shot
Panning Shot
Wide Shot
Panning Shot
Cutaway
Wide Shot
Wide Shot
Cutaway
Sideways Track
Close Up with Tracking Shot
Sideways Track
Wide Shot
Point-of-View Shot
Wide Shot
Tilt Shot
Close Up
Zoom In
Mid-Shot
Point-of-View Shot
Close Up with Tracking Shot
Over-the-Shoulder Shot
(Reverse Shot) Over-the-Shoulder
Medium Close Up

Thriller Opening- Location

Click here to see the location post on Jack's blog..

I think this location will be very good in creating suspense via many factors. For example, the long drive helps to give time for audience to imagine what may happen to this vulnerable character as they see the overwhelming building at the end of it. Also, there are many trees surrounding the house, many of them without leaves. This makes the place quite unapproachable with the sharp and ragged shapes of the trees with no friendly green covering them. Also, the fence that runs along the drive gives a feeling of confinement once somebody has entered. Also, the building has pillars at the front, these connote power and strength, suggesting the superiority of the character(s) living there over the boy.

An example of a similar location is in the film 'The Others', amongst other thrillers. Within this film the family the audience follows is trapped inside this building. The ventures they take outside into the misty gardens, that have similar features to ours, end up unsuccessful and there seems to be no way out. With stories like this surrounding locations such as this, some of the audience will expect something to be lurking inside the building in our thriller. This is helped with the sighting and flashes of the girl. So, with the story not surrounding the characters inside, instead following the pizza delivery boy, they are in suspense as they hope he does not go near or inside the house due to threats that they suspect.

Thriller Questionnaire

Click here to see the questionnaire on Emily's blog

By giving people this questionnaire and showing them our thriller opening rough edit, we hope to gain better understanding of our audience. So, Emily made one which we handed out at a viewing.

We have asked questions, amongst others, referring to their feelings during the film and whether certain bits should be altered. We hope the answers will help us to make effective improvements in our final edit. We were successful in gaining some constructive criticism from most of the audience who gave sensible answers. For example, the majority of the audience said that the bit where I see Emily standing in the window should be sped up; previously, we had quite a slow panning shot. Because of this feedback, we changed it in our final edit.

Audience Feedback

'?' means that the person did not answer that question.

This is our feedback to our questionnaire given to people at a viewing of our rough edit. The feedback was very useful in helping us to understand what changes could be made to it to improve it. For example, we were not sure about the bit at the swimming pool with the slow motion panning, the feedback told us that it should be sped up, which we did. Also, many people thought that the transitions could be improved. We have done this for the final edit through methods such as making them more consistent. Due to the feedback we have also made the effects more consistent, for example, when we see flashes of the girl, they are all the same colour.

Although we received constructive criticism, we also had positive comments about things already in the rough edit. Many people liked the use of the home video at the beginning, the colours used and the effects.

Thriller Opening Final Edit

Thriller Opening Effect Pt. 2

This is a picture showing how we added the effect 'Dream' on to the beginning clips of our opening. Click on to the clip then click on clip adjustments.

Then, using the video effect tool, choose 'Dream.

This screen-shot shows one of the clips but without the effect. As you can see there is quite a big difference. Although, there are other colour edits we done to make the red come out a bit more as it works well with 'Dream' and the red holds connotations of danger and blood.

Having the 'Dream' effect I think is useful in giving a sense of age to this part of the film, this is also why we chose to do it in a home video style.

Magazine Deconstruction

The magazine is called Radio Times. The colour is one of the things that calls for analysis first due to its three main bold contrasting colours. Due to the simplicity in the colour the audience may prefer things that are straight to the point but still aesthetically pleasing. The audience will be very interested in television and radio in that the magazine contains not only listings but news on the people involved in television and radio aswell. Conclusions can be drawn from the person used on the front. Gary Barlow is a very respectable and established artist, this suggests the audience take it may take it quite seriously and want to read about people higher up. The way Gary Barlow is dressed in the picture also implies the audience may take it seriously and want quality in the news in that he is dressed very smartly and respectably. These things are usually associated with older people.

Thriller Opening- Rough Edit

This is the first draft of our thriller made by me and Emily. There were many things that have changed since this whilst creating the final edit, these are due to comments made in the audience research and people in the class.

Thriller Opening Analysis- Law Abiding Citizen

Institutions:
Law Abiding Citizen was directed by F. Gary Gray. Production companies include The Film Department and Warp Film. It was shot in Pennsylvania, USA. In the UK it was released on the 27th November 2009, with a gross of £5,737,117 on the 27th December 2009. In the USA it was released on the 16th October 2009 with a gross of $73,343,413 on the 31st January 2010. The budget for the film was an estimated $40,000,000.

Audience:
I think looking at the story line and the violent scences (which are shown through the age rating), this film is not for very sensitive, feint hearted or squeamish. Adults with children may empathise with the main character in that he has lost his family and the viewers could understand his feelings through the tough situation. Although of course the audience may not go to such lengths for revenge if they were to go out for revenge at all. Many other adults may just enjoy the film for it's action and tension, helped by the actors of high calibur in Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. This film is quite unique in that this kind of story line and technique of violent character has not been seen before, for this, the film has had some good reviews, although still with some flaws. Here is a review from IMDB..

'This is a great idea. A technical genius who is somehow able to commit revenge murders from his jail cell. He doesn't hide the fact he's a killer; in fact he announces each murder just before it happens.

Technically everything was possible and the method very cleverly hidden so I was kept in suspense until the last 20 minutes when the cat was let out of the bag too early. The ending is a let down. It's true Hollywood: Technically improbable, illogical, and in my opinion it spoils all the character development made until that point and wastes the opportunity for a much darker ending with a more satisfying outcome.

All that said I really enjoyed it. I would recommend it to anyone not disturbed by moderate violence. Go see it!'


This review gives compliments towards the idea behind the film. Also the reviewer mentions that the film was successful in creating suspense for them, this shows that, at least from that aspect, it is a good film in fitting in to the thriller genre, as opposed to just providing non-stop action leaving nothing for the audience to work out. Despite its unique aspects, this reviewer suggests that it conforms to the typical 'Hollywood' film in that it is 'improbable' and 'illogical', I think this is true although this sometimes needs to happen to create a good film. Also, after there being so many films released over the years, it is difficult to match or better their quality with a film that is completely realistic with no shocking story lines. Taking into account all of this I think there are aspects of the film that hold realism, not all with regards to the story itself but definitely ideas behind it. For example, crime does leave people scarred and upset such as in the film, but to add effect to enable the film to be a hit, the makers needed to add emphasis on it and build on that idea. In addition, many people find the justice system very flawed and can be angered by it, this is shown in the main character of the film (Butler).


Here is another review from IMDB..
'This is a movie that's extremely fun to watch in the theaters because you get to hear and see everyone's reaction to each of his killings. The best one had people actually saying loudly "wow" and "oh my god!". What drew me to the movie was the fact that the hero isn't going around killing people with his bare hands or face to face. He was doing it with his mind, with careful planning, and deft precision. That was something refreshing to see. I can totally relate to his feelings of anger over the flaws in the justice system and his desire to take matters into his own hands - to make things right. The ending was disappointing but the rest of the film was not and I liked it overall.'

The effect of the film is shown very well in this review as they mention the reactions of the fellow audience. This review also expresses positive opinion as to the uniqueness of the film in the killing technique of the main character. It also reinforces the idea of the audience being able to relate to the emotions of the character after his upsetting experience, this shows that although the reaction to it was emphasised to create the film, it was not done to the extent that would forget the idea and focus on the action, this allows the audience to relate to the emotions of the character. This, along with other reviews suggests that the ending to the film was unsatisfactory, but, I think that it was potent in that it brings the audience back to why it has happened, and disputes a comment made in the first review saying that it was too 'Hollywood', it does not end with a fiery battle and chaos that does not let the provoke emotion in the audience or allow them to think.

Technology:
Being released in 2009, this film has had the opportunity to use modern technology in order to increase the audience's awareness of the film and access to it. Technology also helps to improve the film with regards to such things as CGI which show good effects for the audience. Although it is not used greatly in relation to other films, this helps add to the verisimilitude of the film in that some action does not seem too far fetched. This adds to the effect of the film on the audience in that the situation seems more believable that it would happen in reality, increasing the shock and suspense throughout.

Websites such as Youtube provide the opportunity for the audience to view clips and view comments about the film allowing them to decide upon watching it or to show the film to friends. IMDB is also useful in giving people in depth information about the film, it also has some pictures and clips. Films made before this technology was available will have found it much harder to raise awareness of the film.

Codes/forms and conventions of the thriller genre: The music/sound effects used over the logos of the production companies gives a warm and pleasant feeling. Mainly the first one (Overture Films), the sound effect for The Film Department reminds me of the old fashioned film with an audience sat by a projector, this sense suggests the characters/their situation at the beginning of the film is happy and innocent. Text is then used, chosen by the filmmakers, showing both the previous companies' names. The font is sharp edged and cracked. This implies the innocence and solidity of the situation is, or is going to be in danger of falling apart. This helps create suspense, the suspense aspect shows the film is utilising the common features of the thriller genre. The first image is of a box with various compartments filled with cubes covered in letters and colourful pictures. The box is pink and a hand is over the box which looks like a girls. This image reinforces the idea of normality and happiness in that it is a common hobby of young females to create things, in this case, we then find out in the next shot that she is creating a necklace. The idea of creation connotes ambition and possibly hope. This adds to the innocence and aspiration of this character that we have cleverly been told a lot about already. This impression we have of her allows us to sympathise with her and want her to be safe, adding to the suspense in that due to the change from the happy music to the rough and cracked font then to the picture of the girl enjoying herself, we have a suspicion something bad is going to happen.

We then see someone else making something. Due to the change from bright colours to dark, and the object in the characters hand, we can assume it is male and probably the girls father. Because they are both making something at the same time it shows their bond in that they indulge in similar things and enjoy each others company. Soon after we hear a knock at the door and the mother calling the father. A pleasant family scene is created here with normal things you would expect to see and hear. Although, the multiple knocks that interrupt the conversation of the father and daughter show a disturbance in their home, this suggests their normality and happiness is about to be made unstable.

As the father opens the door the over the shoulder shot changes to a point of view shot of the person looking in. This shows the good family life is being peered in to and vulnerable to these people. Also the music changes, sounding evil and dangerous. The camera shots once the house is breached are quick, this contrasts with the longer lasting shots before the knock on the door, this shows instability and the start of chaos.

When the mother comes through, her scream has been edited so it is echoed. This shows the life that has so quickly changed for them is drifting away, and the hope of both the characters and the audience for the family's wellbeing has nearly non-existent. Also, the picture is now darker, the dark connotes the evil that is now in control of this home. When one of the attackers is on top of the father, the camera is facing up at the attacker with a slight view of the fathers head, this shows the attacker to be in control. This contrasts with the previous shots when an over the shoulder shot of behind the father was used looking at the girl, this showed the father to be in control. This shows the life in this home has been turned upside down. This is very tense for the audience as they hope for the family to survive and are saddened by their sudden switch from a happy and controlled situation to being subordinated.

The sounds such as the sobbing, shouting and the music all fade down low as the camera focuses on the little girl who has just entered the room. She is standing very innocently and timidly, creating suspense for the audience as they know she is about to come to harm and feel sorry for her as her stance and facial expression show she is confused. A point of view shot is then used from the view of the father as one of the attackers walks towards the girl. This is done very well as the fathers view is gradually blocked by the dark figure of the attacker, showing that this sinister character is taking is daughter away from him. As the attacker takes her away, the camera then looks back at the father to help show his despair and desperation for his daughter.

The film, already in the opening, has shown many aspects commonly seen in thrillers, and has done so to good effect. For example, a common narrative amongst thrillers is death, this is shown here as the mother and daughter are killed. Also, linking into the narrative, common characters are victims and criminals, clearly shown in this opening. These things, with the good use of mise-en-scene, camera angles and sounds to create suspense, help to immediately establish the film as a thriller.

Representation:
I think that although it is not a major message of the film, it is implied that women may be weaker than men in that in the opening the man stays alive but the mother and daughter are killed. I think the idea that there is corruption within the justice system is a message trying to be put across with this film. By putting the audience in the fathers situation at the beginning of the film, we empathise with him throughout, because of this we see his point of view more than others and find ourselves agreeing with his idea that the justice system is corrupted. This makes the audience think about this in reality and question the decisions made in courts.

Thriller Opening- Editing

Have made some changes to the thriller opening after having looked at the audience feedback. For example, many people answered that they would like to see a certain part sped up which we had made quite slow. Because of this I made it slightly quicker.

Thriller Opening Analysis- Panic Room

Institutions:
The film is called 'Panic Room', it was directed by David Fincher. One of the production companies was Columbia Pictures Corporation. The film was made in  multiple locations within both New York and California. It was released in 2002. By the 9th June 2002 in the USA, the film had made $95,308,367 gross. In the UK, by the 16th June 2002, it had made £8,202,281 gross.

Audience:
I think with regards to gender this film has no specific target; the cast is not dominated by a gender and the film does not delve into aspects commonly associated with either males or females interests. Certain actors and actresses cast in the film may provide an incentive for both genders to watch the film, Jodie Foster is a very successful female actress and many of her characters come across as strong and assured women, therefore women may be persuaded to watch. Forest Whitaker is a very successful actor whom many males like in his films such as Platoon, which is a film mostly liked by males as it is violent and male dominated. Females may also be drawn to this film due to the main character (Foster) being trapped with her child, women are seen as the main carer for children and generally worry more about the safety of their child, so they can relate to the hardship of the character and be engaged by the film. Due to this, most women watching may be around 25+ as they will be of childbearing age. This is a quote from imdb which shows a users opinion of the film including compliments and criticisms.

David Fincher directs this cleverly conceived thriller about a mother and daughter trapped inside a panic room by three criminals. The film is well-paced and the camera work is slick. The film does well in exploring the confines of the house. Jodie Foster is effective and maintains a high intensity throughout. Kristen Stewart is decent as her daughter. Forest Whitaker plays a slightly sympathetic criminal and does well. Unfortunately, after an engrossing game of cat and mouse, the conclusion is weak. Staple clichés crop up and the film goes for a crowd-pleasing finale that doesn't quite feel right. Still watchable


Technology:
Being released in 2002 gave the film opportunity to gain good access due to the availability of technologies such as the internet. Like most other films released at the time and films since then, there is a website dedicated to the film created by Sony Pictures, giving the audience good insight and access into the film which would not have been available not long ago. By looking through this website, people can gain knowledge of the cast and crew and read reviews to find out (if they have not seen the film) whether they will like it or not. This is something that is very important in helping the film to gain viewers. People can easily see reviews which may help persuade them to see the film. The website does not contain clips of or the full film. But, other websites such as youtube give the audience opportunity to view the film. Also, people can communicate via email and send files with pictures, reviews or clips about the film, helping to gain access and knowledge of the film.

Codes/forms & conventions of the thriller genre:
Something very commonly found in thrillers is bars on windows, or something with the same effect giving an idea of entrapment/danger. This is seen in this opening sequence from the tall overpowering buildings that surround us as we get a low angle view of the buildings making the city seem powerful and possibly dangerous. Even the buildings themselves have features giving the effect of bars with their vast amounts of windows.

Joining with the buildings, the writing style used for the credits show them to be solid, secure and powerful. This could connote the strength of something within the film, possibly a character or even the seriousness of the storyline.

Another way in which the buildings and the city as a whole a shown to be powerful and superior is the camera movement, it is slow, steady and takes has no sudden changes. It shows the city, possibly certain inhabitants of it, to be assured and calm whilst having hold over something or someone. Also, the way in which the camera at certain points seems to peer round the corners of buildings gives the feeling of being followed, a common thriller narrative, it also shows there to be confined spaces, which connote danger, which engages the audience.

The non-diegetic sound helps to emphasise the power of the buildings in that as camera shows a building or looks up to the top of one the music heightens in intensity and adds to the enormity of the buildings. The fact that we can hear the diegetic sound of things such as cars even though we can hear music and are high up in the air suggests the chaos and danger of the city in that if it is that bad, when we are then taken to the middle of it all it must not be a nice place to be.

The narrative structure of the film is linear which I think is suitable and effective as it keeps the audience indulged in the situation rather than heightening the tension and then detracting to a things such as flashbacks which usually relax the audience and lose the effect of the storyline.

I think although the location is lit very well, and we can still see dark areas and quite hidden away places, it adds to the tension as we think that wherever you are, you are in danger. This adds to the power that the music and camera movement has given to the city and its buildings in that it has the inhabitants in a hold and can do something to anyone at any time. This is effective as the audience is made suspicious of a lot of the characters that appear which heightens the tension and suspense. This suspense helps the film become a thriller.

Representation:
I think in this film women are depicted as the main carer of the child, although they are trapped and cannot really help being together the makers of the film must have chosen to have the mother trapped with the child as opposed to the father for some reason. Due to the women being seen as the main carer for the child, as we watch them trapped together their bond is made stronger and the audience can feel it and it adds to the tension as we sympathise with the two characters and want them to get through the situation.

Addition after teacher's comment:
The colour in general seems to be grey, usually this is given out by the buildings. This colour suggests it is not a pleasant place to be and there is little hope for people who may be in danger. Also, working with the idea of the bars created by the tall stature of the surrounding buildings, the grey gives the feeling of a prison, making the inhabitants trapped in this area. 

I think this is done effectively and gives the audience the idea that something bad is going to happen within the confines of this city. Also, this prison-like feeling may make the audience feel trapped, increasing the tension of the film.

Thriller Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In the planning and construction of our thriller opening, we have taken inspiration from many of the thriller conventions relating to location, costume and characters.

The house used in the opening is at the end of a very long driveway, the establishing shot used at the beginning was aimed at the house showing the scale of it and the long journey towards the overwhelming building. I think it does well in introducing the audience to the location. It gives a sense of isolation and danger for the character involved, the pizza delivery boy. This helps to add suspense to the film immediately as we sense something may happen to the character, these things conform to typical thriller films in that there is suspense, isolation and possibly death. Something seen in thrillers quite often is the sense of confinement/entrapment leading to suspense, we have tried to show this through the camera work. For example, at the beginning we angle the camera slightly so as to make the fence significant, it seems as though as I cycle down the driveway I am being trapped inside. Also, the sign of the bare trees symbolises time passing and death, which are very significant in our film, as time has passed since the home video at the beginning and the girl has died. Moreover, running water is quite common amongst thriller films, we have incorporated this in a sense in using the swimming pool. But, instead of the usual running water, ours is still, so this slightly develops this convention of the thriller genre. It is seen just after the girl is seen so it suggests there is no longer a happy and energetic girl, her life came to a halt and she is a ghost of her former self. It could also connote the stillness and emptiness of her fathers life after she passed away.

As mentioned in another post, the location is quite similar to that of The Others, with a large building and large surrounding gardens. This location is daunting and adds to the suspense as the audience will see the location as mysterious and maybe evil.

The sinister character of the girl is quite a common character in thrillers and horrors, an example of a film including this character is REC. This is an unusual character in that  is the shell of a dead girl, with an evil and vengeful mind. There is commonly an evil character in thrillers, bringing about death and suffering. But, to make the film more tense and believable, a more relatable character had to be involved, the pizza delivery boy. This helps to add to the suspense and tension as he is seen as vulnerable and as the audience can relate to him, the sinister situation seems more scary and tense.

In the thriller genre, many scenes seem to be quite dark, adding to the tension. For example, the opening scene of Vacancy, the surrounding darkness of the car gives a sense of the unknown and suggests that something is lurking within it. We wanted to do this although the darkness in our opening is artificial, using an effect on iMovie to make it seem like night. I think this is good in that it makes the location seem more mysterious and sinister, it also makes the delivery boy seem more vulnerable.

In addition, a tool very commonly used in thrillers to help create tension and suspense is non-diegetic sound. We have incorporated this in our opening in the form of a soundtrack. I think this is very good in adding to the atmosphere and this is agreed to be successful in the audience feedback.

Finally, conforming to the features of many thriller films, we tried to include many polysemic objects/effects, to add to the atmosphere of the film. For example, in the home video at the beginning, we decided to increase the intensity of the red colour in the picture. This colour connotes warmth, stability, success and emotion, but it also holds connotations of blood, danger and death. This is effective because in this warm and happy time, it is suggested to the audience that dangers are lurking around this young girl, creating suspense.

Throughout the genre there are various modes of address used to communicate to the audience, for example, some have a narrator, usually one of the main characters. In our opening, although it probably would have changed as the film progressed, the main communication to the audience is through camera shots and effects,  very little dialogue is used. I think this adds to the tension in that it helps to create a sense of isolation whilst the boy is walking or cycling around the location on his own.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
One of the characters, the pizza delivery boys, is quite a normal character, around the age of 16. We have this character as the delivery person as the difference in height between I and Ed, the father, shows him to be vulnerable. But, also, it is quite usual to see young people in jobs such as these, simple jobs that gives them some income in order to buy products and services the youth are interested in. This is quite a current character, it does not referring to a social group seen in the past. This character is quite recognisable through the iconography around him, the bike and the bag. The character is quite common in the thriller genre, not necessarily with all these specific attributes, but with the same essential factors. Many thrillers have young characters that are established as quite innocent and vulnerable, as in ours. For example, the young girl at the beginning of Law Abiding Citizen. She is taking part in the usual activities of her social group, like the boy in our thriller. The audience can relate to her in that they will recognise the type of person she is. We have used this character for varying reasons, a main one was because he is around the same age as the bulk of our target audience, 16-18 year olds, therefore they can relate to him.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I do not think it would be released in cinemas as films released in this way are mostly new and exciting films, contributing to the film industry with features not commonly seen. On the other hand, our film very much conforms to the conventions of its genre with not really anything new to offer to the audience. So, being against the method immediate cinema release, I think it would be released onto DVD for the audience to purchase. Also, I think it would be shown on television, late at night to conform to its sinister nature, not suitable for young children therefore a certain classification would be needed. Older teenagers and adults interested in film would watch film channels that would show the film and be interested to see new releases, therefore watch our film.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
I think our target audience, with the help of our audience research, are people around the ages of 15-18, both male and female. The full production of our thriller, done well, would probably demand an age 15 restriction. I think many other people, older than this age range would also enjoy our film. The audience would need to be quite intelligent, but not greatly. As shown in our feedback to the rough edit, I think we have quite successfully created the beginning of a film that is enjoyable for this age range. They need to be able to think and understand the story which, already showing an abnormal twist, would show many complications demanding the audience to figure out what is happening. Our audience would enjoy thrillers/horrors with paranormal experiences. For example, Paranormal Activity, The Others and Inception.

Here is our audience feedback.

I think films demanding thought from the audience are generally more successful, especially with today's audiences as they want something different from basic storylines seen in the past. Psychological thriller is now a very popular sub-genre. An example of a recent film demanding careful thought and focus is Inception. Audiences today have a very big impact on the films produced due to their needs and demands, they express these through new media such as Youtube, on to which they can argue what should be made or even created something of their own. Gauntlett (2007) says that the boundary between producer and audience is eroded by new media to the extent that it is makes little sense to talk about media audiences anymore- 'Media Studies 2.0'.

Referring to data on imdb.com, people aged under 18 rated The Others 7.9. I chose this data as this film is reasonably similar to ours so this shows how this age demographic may respond to our media product. The response is quite successful and hopefully ours would attract similar attention. Although this shows data from all the ages below 18, it is likely that these people are no younger than about 15; people younger than this probably do not get involved in things like this.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?
We utilised many of the typical thriller conventions in the attempt to engage our target audience and comply with their preferences. For example, to increase the tension and suspense, we had very little dialogue, with eery music in the background as the delivery boy travels through the dark location. This suggests to the audience something is going to happen, danger is exciting for young audiences so hopefully it is successful in maintaining their attention as they wait to see what happens. Also, the delivery boy is around the same age as our target audience making him relatable and therefore the situation is more tense. Finally, to keep the audience interested and thinking, we included the flashes of the girl, these hopefully will have raised questions in their mind, 'Is the boy in danger?', 'Has something happened to the girl?' etc.

Features in the final edit were included, in some cases kept from the rough edit, as we knew they successful because of the audience feedback. We conducted a viewing with a group of our target audience and they filled out a questionnaire. For example, the effects we used were very popular amongst the audience. This, as well as many other things were successful in creating tension and invoking emotion in the audience, this is seen in the answers of the question 'What did you feel when watching it?'. 4 people said fear, 3 said intrigue and 2 said tense.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Before the project I had no experience with the use of camcorders or editing. But, as we used them throughout the preliminary and the final project, I felt a growing confidence with both and now have no problems with either. I can now record confidently and import videos on to computers with ease. My group used iMovie as our editing program so I am not familiar with Final Cut. To begin with, I was quite anxious to use iMovie with its various tools that I suspected I would find difficult to remember the location and purpose of, but with the help of others I became comfortable with it quite quickly. I can now confidently do things such as edit clip lengths, add effects, add text and add music. These techniques were very useful in improving the film and making it more effective, for example, adding the light to dark effect was very helpful; if it was left in daylight it would be no where near as tense as darkness is always much scarier as evil things can hide and wait to attack the character being watched by the audience.

Another new experience for me was the iMacs. I have used the windows operating system for as long as I can remember so it was quite strange using this new system. There were many very slightly problematic differences for me in the different layout of the keyboard, but that was quite quickly gone with help from other students and teachers with experience with them. Also, the use of the system itself on the computer took quite long to get used to with things such as the different location of saving tools confusing me slightly until I got used to it.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I think that although our preliminary task product turned out to be alright, our preparation could have been quite a lot better. For example, group discussion is vital, as I learnt through the lack of it in the preliminary and the success of it in the final project. By making the mistake of not having enough discussion in the preliminary, I tried to contribute as best I could and tried to encourage the group to discuss the project. Discussion is very helpful in many areas, not only in planning. For example, when editing there are many opinions which we didn't always express, especially me. So in the final project, I was sure to give my ideas in planning and construction.

Also, in the preliminary task, we put quite a lot of effort and people onto one task, instead of spreading the work and therefore getting more done. In the final product we learnt from that and it seemed more like a group effort. I now realise how important it is that you utilise the people you have and also make the most of thew time you have. In the preliminary, through the lack of the things mentioned above, quite a lot of work was left quite late, leaving the final push quite hard and stressful, well, it wasn't as stressful as it would have been in the final project, which is why we made changes in our method in the final project and we were far
calmer and more confident with our product.

We all had many different individual tasks. I created a post about the conventions we aimed to include in our opening and I also created a synopsis. And I made a shooting schedule. Also, I played the pizza delivery boy and brought in the costume, the bag and the bike, with Ed providing the pizza box we used. Ed created the plot for the rest of the film, and a characters post containing information on all the characters in our opening. Also he played the girls father, and brought in all the things needed for his character. Jack created a post on the location and he created the soundtrack on GarageBand. He filmed the opening and with some help from the rest of the group, made decisions on the shots used and what the characters done. Emily made a post about the costumes props and objects and she played the girl in the opening. She brought in all the things she needed for her character.

I also learnt how important it was for individuals in the group to share ideas and knowledge, I feel this was not done as well as possible in the preliminary but when done in the final project we seemed to be making good progress and coming up with more ideas, and supporting members when they done so. Because we contributed more, we had a larger variety of things to choose from to include in our product, giving it a better chance of success.

In the preliminary, with the advice from Ed, we recorded many shots multiple times so as to make sure we would have at least one that was satisfactory. This was a very successful method which proved to be worthwhile when editing so we carried it through to the final project.

Whilst editing the preliminary project, we realised how important the music was and to choose an appropriate soundtrack. After having looked for quite a long time, we found a successful song and felt that it had a huge impact on the film and its effect. So, in the final project I knew music would be important. With Jack's expertise he was confident enough to create it himself, so we had music specifically for film, so the effect was more likely to be successful in making the film more tense.

I think the audience feedback went quite well and we learnt many of the audiences thoughts towards our film. For me it was very helpful, as I expected. I thought there would be quite a lot of silly answers but there were very few. I felt the audience understood our films story and grasped its intentions for the rest of the film.

I think a strength of our opening is the effects that we used. I think it makes certain parts much better and helps to make it more tense. Including the effects of the flashes of the girl, the day to night effect, the effect used on the point of view shot from the girl and the effect used when we see the girl behind her father. A weakness of our production is the poor continuity at the end during the conversation, I think this makes it look poor and very amateur. Another strength I believe it has is the location. It is very compliant with our needs to make it conform to thriller conventions.

The most important thing that I have learnt in this process is how vital group cooperation and effort is. I had an idea that this would be needed but underestimated how important it is in successfully planning and constructing a film product. It is needed to get the multiple tasks done and compare and choose different ideas. Without doing this successfully, we probably would have turned up at the location (if we had decided on one) with barely anything to work from and not really know what we would film or how we would do it.