Evaluation Final - Chirs

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

• The themes and issues used the film came from: a selection of thriller films in which people are stalked and followed into their own home films like the first scream movie has some aspects we have used to create the opening to our film deception.



• The antagonist idea of our film is not seen or heard which is until the end where you see the side of their head which is similar to the opening to scream. An antagonist is a person or group of people who oppose a main character or main characters.
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• Mise en scene and the 11 areas species within them

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   low key lighting helps in which it helps the audience relate to the main character like she an iconic figure with the light on her face showing all of her facial expressions to  what is going on within the film.

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  the way her style of clothing goes with the film is that shes just come home from a day out and really cant be bothered so as of this she wears lose easily fitting clothes.the style of her house is nice and big as its spacious house and big enough for other people to enter her house and creep up on her,  also set in a  nice location in which  she lives in. (Setting/props/location) .

• the style of house that was used in the opening to scream was similar to  the one we used as of its style as a big white house making it look peaceful and non treating environment until things start to happen

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  also the style of clothing that the scream  character wears  is in fact wears an unless modern jumper to what our character was wearing as a black more modern jumper the screams character was waring a jumper but was a plain cream colour.

•  facial expressions is shown to what is happening in the film is put across to  the audience as a very shocked and confused person while all  the tricky within  her house is going on with the T.V and the phone ringing.

• Lighting used is used in a way which lights up the whole scene which adds to the effect off a thriller as it help adds to the suspense to the opening to the thriller in that its shows characters facial expressions in more detail than without the use of lighting which would show if the character is e.g scared.

• Camera shots used in the film where a wide variation of shots with the main and biggest shot at the beginning of the film with a panning big long shot of the car pulling up into the drive. As well their was a wide selection of shots used in the film with another great shot of when the protagonist is walking through her gate and into her front door which is a panning long shot which I like as it’s a straight and very clear shot which out of the whole film I think that’s the best shot . In our production we where going to  use a point of view shot of the killer/stalker but we didn't go through with it because it didn't really work well but used a shadow effect instead to create more suspense but the idea originally came from 28 day later in which there is a shot from the p.o.v shot of an infected individual.

• Protagonist idea from our film came across as a women coming back from shopping to an empty house the style she wares is a home relaxing outfit with the style of clothing that they where wearing this idea came from cloths warn in desperate housewives with the way that she walks to the style of her clothing.

• The music we have used changes when the feeling of the film changes like when the shadow appears the music changes to a more action thriller type which as the music changes the mood of the film changes with the audience.


• The sound effects used where mostly chosen on garage band but sounds like the cars clicking, breathing of the antagonist where recorded using a recording device which helps the film creates suspense in a way that suites our film much  better  with a variety of garageband used and our own recorded creations .
An example of Non-diegetic sound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VP5jEAP3K4&feature=related

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

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

The age rating that our film would have if it was distributed would be a 12a rating as it’s not a gory very scary thriller but is still a scary thriller suitable for people over 12 and would only be distributed in the UK as it’s a low budget made British thriller. the distribution company we would use would be the company that distributed films Milk and Tim Burtons 9 this company is called focus features in which  we would use this company to distribute our film on DVD.
 The representation of femininity in our production is that our character doesn't just do domestic jobs but she also is the working individual person in which  she lives alone with no children or husband to keep her company.

When we showed our film to people this is the feedback  we had of our film which they told use about they all agreed that our film is a thriller and that they likes a a varity of shots which include the most best one was with the shot of are cahracter looking in the fridae all our viewers liked that shot a llot but their is a down side as their was a few things that our viewers didnt like which  was that people said that i didnt make sesne in the way that they apparently jump from one to another , the one people didnt like was the scene where our character is running slowerly through the dinning room to  get to  the kitchen . but overall our feedback from our viwers was preety good from all people that viewed it.

• Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience that our film is aimed at is females as in the film the main character is female giving the film a strong female role. The age group this film would be aimed at is a female teenagers about the age off 15- 19 year old girls. 

Other films that have the same audiences are thriller films like teeth and scream which all have strong female roles and which these films are set at female teenagers . the clip below is the opening to  the first film  of the scream which  we had used some aspects into our own film production .

• How did you attract/address your audience ?

 Character is addressee to the audience in the way that she’s a late teenager all home alone watching T.V. like another teenager would do to relate which address the audience in things that they do.

 The reference of the thriller is that people can possibly relate to this from movies like scream or even past troubles viewers have had .




 The music used in the film to attract the audience is that is a creepy thriller use of music its creepy because of the slow and scary use of a keyboard which was mainly put in by the group and was mixed with another sound on garadgeband which was under a number of different things under violins which intrigues the audience into watching the rest of the film , but from the music the audience know something is going happen that the female character doesn’t know.

 Camera is used in different ways to keep the audience intrigued into watching it with a Verity of different interesting shots like one in which the shot is through the fridge and the perfect shot at the beginning to the film with a panning shot of the car pulling into the drive way.

 Mise en scene attracts the audience in which ways that the style of cloths and props used are of a modern and fashionable Verity in which the audience can relate to with the style of the film .

• what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

What i have learned about the technologies in which we used to create the film is that items we used to film the production is electronic equipment like a DV camera to help film the production with the help of a tripod for the camera to have a still movement and angle whilst filming. in which we learned about different angles and depth of field to get the best effect but overall not breaking the 180 rule in which  their is a line where the camera must not go over in the creation of our film with also shot reverse shot in our production was used in the very end of our production but from one point of view the killers.  

We took loads of footage of our film so  that we can have a variety of differnts shots whilst we where editing our film with it all stored on our labelled tape so  we didn't lose our footage.

The different programs we used while editing our film is Imovie in which we took the footage of the camera and picked bits  from  the untold number of different shots we had shot  and then we choose the right one we thought would be best in our final production.

Garadgeband (logo to the right)  was used for creating the unique music and sound effects which  could be added the film as we tried out different effects for our film,  which where added to the film after all the actual footage has been edited to its finished standard. But with this program we did have a few problems in which where finding the music track that would go with our film and in that it would make sense this is why to over come this problem we have used three different things in our music one is which we created our own music with the use of a keyboard and secondly and thirdly where all chosen  of the garageband lists in which  we added them together to get our final music creation for the film. 

but we also recorded some of our own sound effects which  we the locking of the car, the fridge door opening then shutting and finally a draw being opened which  we used in the final production of the film .

Finally the final program we used was final cut in which we did all final editing with adding titles and credits to the production in which  we had a huge number of variates in which  we could have our titles as but we went for  a white coloured text in the font of Arial and which  faded in  then slowery faded out again  to give a spooky different look to the opening credits to our production with then had  to then be finally burned to a disk which would be finally handed in.

Success as an individual is that i took charge of filming with the assistants of one other team member as well as lighting i took charge of but overall every team member contributed to every aspect of creating the film .

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

I think that my development of technical skills has grown into a more knowledge able with the use of the camera of using to its full potential and putting the camera in good places to get the best effect as from the preliminary task the quality has grown. With that we had good new ideas to  get the best shots possible like from  our preliminary task we didn't use a variety of different shots the different one we used is the one here of our character walking up the stairs which isn't as good as new shots from our new film like when where using the camera by putting into a fridge to get the best effect of a shot .

All the aspects of editing have improved with making our own sound effects to changing the film to fit the music/sound effect of that typical shot when ghislaine is walking into the house after getting out of the car  ,which has changed since the preliminary task as the sound we used we didn't create and which  was not made on garagband which did work but the preliminary task could of been much better if we had created our own music .

The construction of story and character – story has improved with bigger and better locations of filing since making the preliminary task  with the preliminary being shot and made in a classroom with not much movement but with the characters theirs is a change but their is still not a lot of talking which makes it look plain and simple. but in our final production their is a lot of change with all  different settings within different rooms of a house and drive way which makes the production much more interesting than the preliminary task but their still wasn't much  talking which i would if needed to be done again.

Evaluation- Ghislaine

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
   Within our thriller opening we incorporated many of the general conventions of real media productions such as;

• Enigma Codes - Part of the film that creates and raises questions within the audiences head. For example like in Transformers 2.
• Restricted narration - The characters and audience learn information about the story within the film at the same time. For example The Sixth Sense.
• Some of the elements of Mise en scene - setting (Location), props (objects used), lighting (low or high key lighting), colour design (Filters to create atmosphere and meaning) and positioning within the frame (Where the characters and objects are within the frame). For example The Matrix Reloaded these aspects are used to create tension.
• The use of a protagonist (the hero/heroine) and antagonist (the vilian).
• Binary opposition - Two opposites meet continuously, for example protagonist Vs antagonist.
• General camerawork, like in most films including our own Deception.
• General Sound, (foleys, soundtrack and ambience) like in most films including I Am Legend.

We created enigma in our opening through the elements within mise en scene;
Setting - We chose a normal, everyday setting of a house. However, because it is so normal and looks like a pleasant location. We created this by choosing an ordinary house and making sure it had the general qualities that a house would need so it seemed homely and welcoming, which helped to raise questions in the audiences mind as to what is going to happen in such a lovely location.

Props - The main prop used that would possibly add to the enigma in our thriller opening is that of a knife. This is because it appears in the shot within daily activity, and then the blade is raised just before the cake is cut. This would give the audience something to question as the knife is raised quite dramatically and there is a slight pause,  its importance as a main prop is also dramatised through the use of music as this gains in tension as the knife appears in the frame.
Lighting - The lighting within our mini film is generally high key and this creates the effect of an everyday scenario which will keep the audience guessing what will happening next, or what is going to happen. At one point low key lighting  is used to create a silhouette on a wall to build tension.
Colour design - All of our shots use a natural colour design but within the house, which is the main location of all the action everything is mainly blacks, whites and browns which represent a normal, pleasant house.

Positioning within the frame - At the end of our opening the antagonist is positioned to the right hand side of the frame with only a tiny bit of her showing this is used to create the questions of "Who's that?" and "What is going to happen?" within the audiences minds.


Binary Opposition - Throughout our thriller opening the use of binary opposition is mainly present, especially at the end where it shows the protagonist (the house wife) coming up against the antagonist (the psycho).

Camerawork - There are a few main elements that create camerawork these are; camera shots (extreme close up, big close up, close up, mid close up, medium shot, medium long shot, long shot, extreme long shot, 2 shot, point of view shot and over the shoulder shot.), camera angles (bird's eye view, very high angle shot, high angle shot, eye level shot, low angle shot, very low angle shot, worms eye view and tilted camera shot.), movement (panning, tracking, tilt, stedicam) and Depth of field (shallow and deep).

In our thriller opening we used a lot of slow panning shots to capture and dramatise the action that was taking place, these shots were mainly medium shots at a low angle. For the rest of the opening the main angle shot used was eye level and there were a lot of close ups to emphasise the strange things that were happening for example, the oven going off, the car alarm being set off, the gate being left ajar, the television breaking and the phone.

Sound - The main sound types are diegetic (music/sound that the character would be able to hear) and non-diegetic (sound/music that wouldn't be able to be heard by the character). All the sound, apart from the foleys, is non-diegetic this is because it is a soundtrack to increase the suspense within the opening. For example in the beginning the only music that is heard is that of strings and slowly as events start to unfold bass is added on top of this (shown at 1:00 in our film Deception). We decided to add our own foleys over the film because the ones that were heard on the original recording were particularly quiet, however in some of our feedback it was said to sound "fake" and that it "didn't fit", the main problems were that the "footsteps didn't fit with the walking as it was too loud" and the "key sound in the door didn't match the action".

The three-act structure

The set up ('Equilibrium) - This is at the beginning of a film when we (the audience) are first introduced to the story and are shown characters that have found themselves in an initial situation. This begins the story and is only used to get acquainted to the characters and their main traits. However, it could also contain some suggestions that something is going to go wrong, or that something isn't right with the situation.

The confrontation (Disruption) - This shows the audience something happening that disturbs the normal, initial situation of the characters. Normally this is an action of something or someone else that has affected the characters in some way, this may create the main characters to find a solution to the disruption. At this point in the film the binary opposition may come in to place.

Resolution - This is a closure or resolution to the disruption that occurred before hand. Generally this part of a film shows the characters resolving the problem that they had encountered, so that everything goes, relatively, back to normal. In some films life may not go back to normal as things may be left disrupted, for example at the end of The Day After Tomorrow where the world ends iced over and not like it was originally.

As our product 'Deception' is part of a full length film and is only the opening sequence at the moment is does not contain the conventional three act structure. However, if it was made in to a film the opening that we have done would be a part of the set up and a part of the disruption, the set up is shown as things start to go wrong which hints that something is up, for example the gate being unexpectedly left open. The disruption comes into our opening when the various alarms go off and there are technical problems, like the television going wrong. If 'Deception' was made in to a full length film it would use the typical issues of a thriller as there is a protagonist that is confronted by an antagonist. The rest of our film would be about the progression to this final event between these two characters.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
 This is the types of groups that the main characters belong to; male/female, age, social class, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
In our opening the main character is that of the protagonist, we have gone with the traditional approach that many thriller films go for and that is that the victim is a female, however, we have also opposed the traditional by having a woman killer as well. Neither woman is shown as being better than the other, the use of the point of view shot when they are both interacting shows that they are on the same level and are still very much involved with their femininity. There is nothing in particular about the use of props that represent their femininity, but it is clear (through costume) that the victim is fussing over her appearance as she is dressed up to lounge around the house. The use of women as both the antagonist and protagonist represent that they can be strong willed if they wish but it does reinforce the fact that they are emotional.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We decided that our film is a low budget thriller as we didn't have the same equipment and time of that in the Hollywood business, so if it was to be made it would be featured on Focus Features. It would also be possibly shown at Duke of Yorke (Art house cinema).

Who would be the audience for your media product?
We decided that our audience for this thriller, if it were made in to a full length film, would be a 12a, this means it is aimed at female teenagers and young adults. The main audience it attracts may be males and females between 12-18. This is because it is quite a gritty and complicated film to understand and would interest females because the main characters are female.

How did you attract/address your audience?
Click to read about audiences

Our film will attract the normal audience that are attracted to many films of the thriller genre. People that enjoy films with quite a strange storyline like One Hour Photo may enjoy our film as the storyline is slightly strange and a little twisted. For example, a friendship is ruined for a certain reason and so one of the ex-friends decides to stalk and possibly harm the other for what happened. Also teenage females would be attracted by this film because it's based on friendships being broken and the things that may lead people in to doing. We showed our opening to a group of teenagers that were within our certificate range and they seemed to enjoy it and thought it made a good thriller idea, and matched the conventional idea of a thriller.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Whilst filming and editing this opening we found new skills within new programmes and equipment.
The equipment we used was;

• DV camera
• Tripod
• Red head (artificial lighting)

The programmes we used to edit with and create our final product were;

• imovie - we used to edit together our final piece
• Final Cut Pro and LiveType - we used to add titles and credits
• Garageband - we used to add foleys and a soundtrack.
• idvd - we used this to place it on to a disc and add a dvd menu to it.

Through making this thriller opening i believe all of us have gained better skills at working with the equipment that was given to us, for example, even though our tripod was broken we managed to persevere and was able to use it to create smooth movement (for instance when we panned when the victim was running to the kitchen), and hold the camera steady proper to get shots that were relatively still. We also learnt how to use continuity editing properly this was so we could get smooth cuts between each shot that was taken. The use of Garageband was quite easy and fun, it was a very good piece of software to be able to get hold of as we could create any sound effects that were missing and add a soundtrack. Although i found this quite easy to use according to the feedback we got from an audience of 16-19 year old's some of the sound effects were a bit too loud which caused them to sound fake, this kind of spoilt some of the tension within our thriller. Also because of the dodgy tripod i believe a few of our shots aren't particularly straight and makes the film seem unprofessional.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Since the preliminary task 'The Detention' i think as a group we have all become better at the actual filming process and especially the editing. In the preliminary task our camera work wasn't the greatest because a lot of the shots weren't level or had a slight problem with the white balance. However, in 'Deception' i think it is much better, this is the same with the sound effects as in our thriller opening they sound realistic and match with the shots. I think that the story we constructed for this opening is far more exciting and interesting than the one we came up with for the preliminary task. Overall i think i have learnt how to create a convincing opening to a thriller and would have loved to have been able to create the whole film.

Evaluation Charlotte...

Watch 'Deception' (2010) Here

What is a thriller?



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

Our film product uses and develops conventions of a real media product as it contains the generic conventions for a thriller. There are many generic conventions of thriller genre film. This includes creating enigma (- the audience begin to ask questions), or being put on the edge of the seat. Thriller films are full of suspense, the plot usually involves a chase between the protagonist (possible victim) and antagonist.

Thriller films are normally shown from two or more characters' points of view, to create a build up of tension.

•  For example the protagonist - who the audience are made to create empathy for. An example of this is in the popular thriller 'Psycho' (1960) shown in this picture below, the character sees her murderer. 

• Or the antagonist - which can either lead to empathy for the villain or seeing why they have become the way they have (e.g. a flashback to the past). An example of this can also be shown in the thriller  'Psycho' (1960). This scene includes camerawork that switches between the antagonist's POV (point of view) and the victim's POV.

• The narrative can be shown through the POV (point of view) of an on-looker, which detaches the audience so that they can see the situation from an objective point of view. This is so the audience is omniscient - all knowing.

Directors who have focused on the thriller genre include 
 

- Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho 1960, Marnie 1964 & The Birds 1963) 
 (click here - how to master creating tension)

- Steven Spielberg (Duel 1971, Jaws 1975, Disturbia 2007)
(click here - for the jaws soundtrack) 
 

& - Christopher Nolan (Memento 2000, & Insomnia 2002)

click here - for clips from Memento)

This can be shown through elements of mise en scene, camerawork, editing and use of sound.

Mise En Scene

-Props, Decor & Location - for example where a film is located is very important as it can help raise enigma as the audience may discuss what kind of person the character is thorugh their living location. We used a key conventional prop - a knife. A typical setting for a conventional yet modern thriller would consist of an isolated location or a place that is familiar to the protagonist (e.g. a house, shown in such thrillers as 'Halloween (1978) and our film 'Deception', 2010)
Conventional props that are used in thrillers usually consist of objects that can appear as weapons (knives and...)
Various weapons are used in thrillers, they are used to create a sense of fear for the protagonist. 

• Knives (used in Psycho (1960) or Scream (1996) suggests a domestic killer because this weapon is commonly found in homes and so it is easy to get hold of. This can also display improvisation of innocent characters as they defend themselves in states of urgency.

-Make Up, Hair & Costume - The way a character is presented is vital as the audience will judge straight away about who the person is and what they do. Make Up can do anything from making eyes look hollow to making a face look washed out. Certain costumes used can create a greater sense of enigma (for example in 'Peeping Tom (1960) the first character you see (a woman standing outside a shop), is presented in bright clothes, a short skirt, and lots of make up,  in contrast to everybody else - it is later shown that she is a prostitute.) The costume used in any film can present characters differently, in contrast to others.



-Body Language & Facial Expressions - how the characters communicate and express themselves, for example if a victim (conventionally a woman) was scared the emotion of fear can be shown on her face mostly through her shocked eyes, for example in 'Psycho' (1960) when the victim is being attacked. This is shown in our film at the end of the clip where the victim meets the antagonist.





-Lighting & Colour are very important especially for films that have the genre of thriller, as certain types of atmosphere can be created, for example the use of low key lighting help communicate fear and anticipation. For example (to the left) in the comical thriller Shadows and Fog (1991), (even though it is in black and white) high key lighting must have been used to create the clear shadows. In our film 'Deception' (2010) we have used this technique to create the shadow of the antagonist to introduce fear for the protagonist. On our audience feedback we received, a couple of people commented that the 'making of the shadow was good', but an improvement could have been 'concentrating on the white balance'. 

• During the filming process we used artificial lighting, this video (tutorial) simplifies using the 3 point lighting technique.

Composition of the Shot - How objects and characters are placed.

• Such as elements of mise en scene that are commonly used in thrillers such as low key lighting. I believe that our product contains examples of these. We used low key lighting during most of the filming apart from the scenes which included creating shadows (for this we had to use high key lighting to make it effective, this included the use of artificial lighting ( a red head).

Camerawork 

• Camerawork includes Camera Shots, Camera Angles, Movement (such as panning and tracking) and Depth of Field (such as shallow or deep) 

• Shallow depth of field is sometimes used in thriller based films so that the audience focuses on one character or object. The shot to the right is from our film clip, it shows the protagonist getting something out of the fridge but being out of focus. It focuses on a food label - this is to show that the object she was opening was a fridge. The audience feedback we recieved on this shot commented on how 'the composition was good' but other people believed that we could have made it more obvious that it was in a fridge.

This could also include subjective camerawork (helps portray restricted narrative) and objective camerawork. Point of View (POV) shots are usually used for subjective camerawork to promote shock for the audience. 

• An example of subjective camera work would be in the beginning of 'Halloween' (1978) where the antagonist enters the house. The audience can see from Michael Myers' POV (point of view).

Sound plays a big part in a thriller based film. The use of non diegetic sound (usually music) is commonly used in thriller films to build up the tension of what is about to happen to the character. The use of silence is a characters worst enemy as the audience become aware that some bad is about to happen. 

• The soundtrack for a film can be extremely important and in the case of many films, make the film seem realistic and generally scarier. For example the film 'Jaws' (1975) uses the simplicity of two notes that still builds up tension for the audience and anybody who has or hasn't seen the film.

A traditional narrative for a thriller based film would include a 3 Act Structure.

• The Set Up - (also known as 'Equilibrium') this stage would usual introduce the main protagonist and antagonist(s) this then leads to the 'Confrontation stage'.

• The Confrontation Stage (also known as the 'disruption'). The confrontation stage is the largest part of the narrative as it presents the main problem/issue for the protagonist which is mainly from the antagonist. 

•  The final stage is the 'Resolution' which is where the narrative reaches closure, this usually results in the defeation of binary opposition as the antagonist is beaten. A narrative would usually conclude with the idea of a 'happy ending' even though there are many exceptions to this for example in UK version of the film 'The Descent' (2005) the resolution stage is mixed as nobody (protagonists) are seen to survive. Shown in the picture below is the main protagonist in 'The Descent' in one of the endings of the gory thriller.

        

I believe that our product 'Deception' uses this 3 act structure, as the set up would include the beginning until things start going wrong for the protagonists character as the tv starts going fuzzy and the phone rings and then nobody answers - many disruptions from the characters normality. The confrontation is shown at the end of our clip so that the audience is left shocked as well as the character. We have used subjective POV shots in the set up so that the audience know as much as the character so that the shock of the ending is effective.

• As the scenes shown in our film would be the beginning of a full length feature, the film does not contain a three act structure as it is part of it in the narrative. Our film would be part of the Set Up (as the narrative . Our product uses the conventions of a typical thriller and develops them, for example the first couple of scenes introduce the antagonist of the narrative. Binary Opposition is shown throughout our piece for example the antagonists character (the psycho) vs the protagonist character (the woman)

My conclusion from the previous research task is that the majority of the films I looked at started with the mood of the film being reasonably calm, but building to the disruption, for example in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Marnie' (1964) the establishing shot is a woman walking at a railway station. (shown as image on left - a woman walking away from the camera carrying a yellow clutch bag - establishing shot of the film 'Marnie, 1964)

•  The scene is simple yet complex as the audience can guess that something is not right. I believe that our product shares and develops the idea of having a calm mood and builds to an event, but in a way through using subjective camerawork from the point of view of the antagonsit. I believe that we were inspired to use this technique from the film '28 Days Later' (2002) as in the film the director chose to use the POV of one of the 'infected' (antagonist) to shock the audience.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Social Groups refers to the types of social groups the characters belongs to in the narrative. e.g. Gender, Ethnicity, Age, Sexual Orientation.

The protagonist (who has to outwit the antagonist) - Ghislaine. This character is the protagonist although who could have been a victim. As our film is a low budget British thriller we decided on going with the traditional role of having a female victim. Her character has been presented like this to make her look feminine as she is the victim yet strong - a modern yet tradional role for a woman. 

Representation Profile - Ghislaine

• Name - Ghislaine

• Gender - Female

• Age - Mid 30s

• Ethnicity - British

Portrayed as a strong independant housewife. This is shown through:

• Camerawork - Ghislaine's character was shot in a variety of shots, such as OTS (over the shoulder) as it makes her look small and inferior as if somebody was standing behind her watching. Although she is the main character in 'The Set Up', shallow depth of field is used when she is in the kitchen and opens the fridge to represent that she isn't the only character in the narrative and that she may not be alone in this scene.

• Mise En Scene: Her clothing suggests that she is a working female - she is wearing black - not a conventional feminine colour. Minimal make up is worn to show that her character isn't the 'girly girl' type of housewife, she is a strong woman who just happens to have bad history with the antagonist. Her location could suggest that she is British as there are no religious paintings or props associated with being a different religion, for example in the British film 'Bend it like Beckham' (2002) the family is of seek religion and Indian ethnicity. This is shown through the decor in their house and their costume worn throughout the film. The first picture shows a woman standing infront of a religious painting. The second shows the protagonist wearing a sari.

Ghislaine's character is a British female, mid 30s, middle class housewife. This will connect well with our audience as they may be able to connect with this characters or know somebody who can. She is represented as a normal person - not a person of power or daily importance just a housewife who has some bad history with the antagonist. This is shown through her clothing and decor of her house - she is no richer than an average person who would watch this film. We wanted the audience to either be able to connect with her (by having things in common with her) and to have empathy towards her. Ghislaine's femininity has evolved from the traditional expectation of a 'housewife' and she doesn't just participate in domestic jobs, she goes out and earns money for herself. She is not your average stereotypical 'housewife'

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

• Our film would be distributed by Focus Features as they have distributed many low budget (e.g. A Serious Man (2009) which had a budget of $7m) and British films (e.g. In Bruges, 2007)

• We have decided that our film would be distributed around the UK in arthouse cinemas for example 'The Duke of Yorks' in Brighton as they play low budget British made films.

 

• For example last year I was lucky enough to visit the Duke of Yorks for a Film conference and watched Matthew Thompson's (a British film-maker) 'Dummy' (2008) Starring Kick Ass' Aaron Johnson. The picture to the right shows a shot from a scene in the film 'Dummy' (2008).

Who would be the audience for your media product?

We have decided that the certificate for the film will be a 12a and therefore our product will be aimed at teenagers and adults, specifically for females between the ages of 12-18. Our audience may have also enjoyed such films as 'Donnie Darko' (2001 - Certificate 15) and 'Jaws' (1975 - Certificate PG). Our target audience may enjoy 'Flightplan' (2005) as it has a strong female character (protagonist/final girl archetype) at the centre of the film, and has a 12a certificate.



In the near future I think that older members of our audience will enjoy these upcoming films..

• The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2010)

as it is British low budget thriller.

&

• Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

a remake hybrid thriller film.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Our target audience would enjoy our product as the narrative isn't as complex as other thriller genre based films for example the film 'Memento' (2000) is enjoyed by many but has a very confusing storyline. Also the use of subjective camerawork of the antagonist might attract our audience as it adds mystery and sudden shock, whilst raising enigma. 

• I think that our film will attract an audience because we have used a range of camera shots (e.g. OTS, POV) and shallow depth of field. I also believe that the music that Cristina created was very 'thriller-esque' and went well with mood of the film. Also the film's plot would include a previous break down in relationship between the two characters. The target audience - teenagers may be able to relate to this realistic break down in communicate between the characters.

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

The technology used throughout the process of the production and editing stages ->

Equipment

• A DV Camera, Tripod, Artificial Lighting (Red-Head) & Sound Recorder

The programs we used whilst editing are -

• -'imovie' ; (to put together the final piece), 'Final Cut Pro' (to adjust titles and credits), 'Livetype'', 'Garageband' (for sound clips) & 'idvd' (for developing a menu for the disc)

• Whilst in the editing process we have discovered some technological techniques such as using short cuts when using such programs as 'final cut pro' and 'garageband'. This made the editing stage a lot easier and took less time to do simple tasks such as selecting and cutting a piece of footage or sound. 

• During the editing process it took us a while to finalise how we would like the titles - for example we discussed font, size and placement.  Originally we were going to have the text superimposed on the front of the house as the protagonist Ghislaine, walked underneath it. We agreed to have text appear at the beginning of the film instead of separating it throughout the sequence.

 Since the preliminary task, 'The Detention' (2009) I think as a group we have progressed and worked out that we work well together whilst using new techniques or programs. Specifically I think I have learned how to use the equipment well (e.g. the camera's white balance, the red head lighting) and hopefully on our next project we won't come across any problems such as faulty equipment and bad weather. During the preliminary task we didn't use the sound editing program - Garageband, we have evolved from not using it in the first task to using the program and even recording our own sounds such as keys opening a door and a fridge opening. I would have loved to make the whole film piece. The anonymous audience feedback for 'Deception' included positive comments for example 'I enjoyed the story and the music was good' and things to improve included 'one sound clip didn't match up'. Apart from the constructive criticism the audience feedback was positive.


Click Here - My Title and Credits Work

Click Here - Pictures Taking During The Production and Editing Process


Click Here - Anamatic of Storyboard


Click Here - My Research Task