Hitesh Hirji

Evaluation

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

Our sequence differs from a typical conventional thriller due to our sequence starting with flashbacks from the past, this shows we are deviating from an ordinary thriller film, the majority of thrillers start the film using the start of the story line. From undertaking detailed research, we found that a number of people that answered our questions said they are fed up with typical thriller; this is the reason why we had tried something new with our opening sequence.

Our opening sequence is based upon supernaturalism which is influenced by films such as Paranormal Activity and also The Ring including supernatural figures for example, characters becoming possessed. Our film is unique because it isn’t in chronological order compared to an ordinary thriller, we were aware that it may be a risk to produce a sequence that is not chronologically in order but we decided that it may be a good idea. The feedback received from viewers was also very positive and they commented on the fact that it was different. We developed our opening sequence to show it is following thriller conventions by using non-continuity editing, this creates more tension for the audience which will create an interest in the events taking place; this challenged the forms and conventions of real media products. The use of enigma code in our opening sequence develops the forms and conventions of real media products as when a character rubs another character off a black board, this is ambiguous for the audience.

Our use of camera was extremely effective in the audience’s opinion, we used a number of different shots such as close up shots that follow thriller codes and conventions, we had done this because our storyline was unique and if we used unusual shots which don’t match thrillers, and it wouldn’t attract the right type of audience. The first shot is a long shot which is of Emily running in the park, this is very effective because it ensures the audience are interested as they are curious and want to know what is taking place. Our sound follows forms and convention codes because we used typical music playing in the background which makes it scarier. We used diegetic sound as well as non-diegetic sound, for example the bang from the door when it slams in non-diegetic. In our opening sequence we made use of the different types of titles that were available, we used a specific one to ensure it matches the sequence as well as clearly stating the correct information needed.
Our sequence is influenced by many different thrillers which use similar techniques to have an effective reaction from the viewers; our opening sequence was compared to Paranormal Activity and also Sixth Sense.






Question 2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our thriller clearly indicates that the characters Emily and her twin Rose are both middle class, their parents are both wealthy and are grown up in the outskirts of London which therefore represents their class and social group. They are both represented to be very religious and this is shown when Emily holds a religious symbol.

In our sequence, gender of the twins is represented stereotypically. Emily’s room is decorated to show it’s a female’s room; it has a feminine style bed as well as very female type colours. This represents that the twins are represented stereotypically, from analysing other thriller films, we found that the majority of films do represent gender stereotypically, however Paranormal Activity is challenging stereotypes, this has been undertake due to the villain being a female instead of a male, the male is tortured and killed which obviously challenges stereotypes. A main stereotype in our sequence was the doctor which was played by a male, this is an obvious stereotype because the majority of doctors are males and the majority are white, comparing this to Paranormal Activity, the doctor helping the female character is also a male. Both our characters are protagonist and this shows that males don’t always have to be, this shows the doctor appearing to be dominant and in charge of the situation where as Emily (the patient) is very agitated and suffering.

Our opening sequence is based upon typical characteristics developing the forms and conventions of real media products, this is because both Emily and also Rose are typical young girls that are from a middle class background, on the other hand in some cases, our characters are atypical because Emily ends up taking Rose’s life which is very controversial and atypical as its not expected that a nine year old friendly child will end up taking Rose’s life. The fact that we included Emily killing Rose is very beneficial and also sets the climax of the sequence. In terms of the characters appearance, they are typical English females; this shows a sense of tradition as well as makes it easier to understand where the sequence is set. Sixth sense also have little children playing similar roles to ours, this shows that it is very common.

Our sequence was based upon twins that are nine years old, it would be difficult to talk about their sexuality, and I am presuming that they are straight because it’s usually common to be straight at that age. The ethnicity of the characters is English (white); we used white English characters to show London not being multi-cultural during this era. If we would have homosexual characters of that age, this sequence would be extremely controversial. Our sequence was based on the mid 90’s to show tradition and also the way of life then compared to now. The mother is a housewife and the father is usually away working. The characters are not disabled, they are both capable, and this shows the rareness of disabilities in filming. We didn’t try to represent real Londoners because the sequence was not filmed in Central London; it was filmed in the outskirts. People living in Harrow can relate to the way the characters and location have been represented.

3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product, and why?
From relevant research, I have gathered that our thriller is more likely to be distributed by a TV company. This is simply because the other major distributed companies in America would favour to fund American films compared to British films, our sequence was compared to Paranormal Activity, this is an American film which means it’s easier to fund because it’s almost certain that it will be successful compared to a British film, if we are funded by a British TV channel, it would mean the majority of viewers can relate to our thriller as its set in the UK.

Our thriller can be funded by Working Title, an example of a film funded by Working Title is Batman Returns, and they also funded Ali G in Da House, this shows they are for controversial story lines, this film was for British audience because others wouldn’t understand the humour. Our story line is very unique as well as controversial and this means it’s a lot harder to get it funded. If our storyline can relate to a lot of different countries, I believe it would be very easy to get it funded because it’s nearly certain it will be successful.

4) Who would be the audience for you media product?

We included a question in our questionnaire based upon our target audience profile, we decided that we would target 16-25 year olds because this is an appropriate age for our storyline, children wouldn’t be able to appreciate the controversy of the thriller and it would be too tense for them to watch. We do not have a specific gender that this would attract; I think it can attract a number of females because they can relate to the childhood of the twins.

Our British boards of film classification would be a certificate of 15 because age groups under this would find it too tense which may lead to becoming very scared. Our sequence does not include sex or strong language but it does include a very serious storyline. Paranormal Activity is also a 15 with strong language, if our thriller had strong language and also sex, it would be an 18.

5) How did you attract/address your particular audience?

There were a number of different elements used to appeal to our target audience, this thriller represents a primary group which shows family relationships, the twins are very close and the audience can relate to this as they once were very close to their siblings and it all suddenly changed. We attracted our particular audience by showing the agony Rose went through, a number of people can also relate to this. This was achieved with a close up shot of Emily talking about her feelings, this is an excellent way of ensuring the audience know how the characters are feeling, the from the research gathered from the audience who watched our thriller, the majority said they like the point of view and also a close up shot as they understood the story line clearly as well as relating to Emily.

Lastly we also used an extreme long shot in the park when Emily ran off from the swings with her teddy; this shows a view of the location and this also creates an unsettling image at a small child running in a park alone.

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

Using a Cannon XM2 camera can be difficult without experiencing and also practising how to use it, it’s extremely good for professional filming which means it included all the different features that are not in ordinary cameras. Using the camera outdoors was very difficult at times and we did have to re-shoot some parts of the thriller, this is an advantage because we knew where we had gone wrong and we would improve each time we would re-film. I did learn the new features when filming, one feature I wasn’t aware of was the white balance feature which balances the dull and bright colours to make the actual shot look extremely realistic. We used the portable mic at times, this was very effective for sound that needs to be emphasised such as the voice in the park, using the mic would cut out the noise from cars passing. The tripod was used to shoot in high angles, this was very beneficial for us as in the scene in the toilet, the tripod came very handy as we needed to film in awkward positions and the tripod stopped us from shaking the camera.

There were various drawbacks that took place during the filming process, one major problem was the filming in the park when the weather was terrible, it rained throughout the whole scene and this meant we had to cover the equipment with an umbrella, this meant we were not exposed to all different positions with using the camera.

Final Cut Pro was the software used to edit out filming, this was very effective and made our thriller as professional as it can get. At first we (the group) found it difficult to use the programme but after using it for two weeks were knew what to do as well as using the appropriate techniques, there were many shortcuts our teacher had taught us for this programme, for example on the keyboard. This meant we could work more effectively as well as efficiently. We used a technique which is extremely popular for thrillers called fade up, this was produced from using Final Cut Pro and this let our scenes flow.

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

Our preliminary task was planned very fast, this helped us to become familiar with the equipment, and it was really beneficial for all four of us because we had never used a professional camera as well as the equipment. This made us more efficient while filming our real thriller. We became aware of the shots that were good and the ones that were irrelevant which we then removed. However, we became more and more familiar with the equipment while filming our real sequence because we knew it was serious which therefore meant we had to try out best. While filming, we realised some shots were taken badly, for example we tried using a close up shot which we then realised it was bent.

As soon as we were told the dates of the deadlines, we knew what to do and when it had to be completed, the schedule was made by each members input in the group, the research document was very effective as we were aware of what people were looking for in thrillers as well as what had to be done from our point of view.

In conclusion, we received excellent feedback from our audience; this means we have made a very good end product and also met our deadlines so we would complete our filming and research in time, in my opinion I believe that our final end product could be improved as when filming in the park, we were very concerned about the welfare of the equipment in the rain which restricted us to show our full knowledge of using the equipment. I have learned that we should have used an appropriate shelter for the equipment instead of an umbrella as it would have let us show the different shots we can shoot instead of limiting this due to the weather conditions.

This is a link of the trailor of The Ring. (look at the comparisions)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5CvZGv8yNs

This is our video posted on YouTube.com