1) How does the product uses or challenge conventions?
We used Thinglink to annotate the scenes in our thriller opening in order to highlight the conventions we used or challenged.
3) How does your product engage with audiences?
Firstly we have to determine who our target audiences are, we did this by using Yougov profiling gathered all the information onto padlet as shown below. This also includes films that inspired our thriller and films that resembles the motif and themes we explored.
2) How does your opening represent social groups or issues?
Our annotated video
In the padlet below, I discussed the two chracters, the issues covered and also dream casting for our thriller
4) How would it be distributed as a real media text?
The film itself is a psychological /crime thriller and could attract a niche market with audiences that likes to watch crime series or medical series as it plays with many issues relating to this. The film may not be suitable for a family movie as it may cause distress to younger children due to their lack in understanding about these issues and could come across as quite scary to children. It may be rated 15+ as our main target audience is teenagers onwards to adults giving us a wider market. Teenagers, especially girls may be more attracted to this film as the protagonists are both women therefore may find it more relatable and interesting to watch. We will avoid distributing the film online or release it on platforms such as Netflix or putlocker because of the thrill factor of this film we want most audience to experience it on a cinematic screen. However later, The film will released on DVD to generate more revenue through distribution channels which will be discussed below. It is not a blockbuster film but rather more of an alternative style film and so to find distributors it could be screened at various film festivals. This can be used to our favour because the thriller is very ambiguous and abstract where a lot of the time, the scenes are open up to the audience interpretation, which will attract critics to write reviews about the film or people who have a passion for watching and analysing films.
We will go with how most films are distributed as we believe it is a safe, effective and also to a certain extent is financially rewarding to us in the end depending on the popularity. The ideal situation is to sign a distribution deal with a reputable film distributor who will then take care of all the possible distribution channels: theatrical distribution, television, DVDs, video on demand. The distributor will then pay us a decent advance and later split the revenues after the distributor has covered its costs. I chose this way to distribute the film as it has a strong advantage to ensure a level of success. As well as receiving the advance money another benefit is that this sort of deal really encourages the distributor to do its best with the film, because they paid you an upfront fee for it and are therefore highly motivated to generate some serious revenues. The film is not a family movie therefore releasing it in the summer will not be suitable. However it is the type of film which would be suitable for an award nomination due to its complexity and uniqueness so it should be released before awards season eg. Oscars in January or February.
5) How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
Visual effects - realising ideas using digital software, using credits in an interesting way
i rated myself a 3 for this category as I am unfamiliar with how visual effects work and how to create them in the softwares we used. However, over the course we had many lessons on how to create such effects including explosions, masking, using green screen etc. This is mostly done through premiere and affect fx which were difficult to use due to the complicated functions. Ultimately in our final thriller opening the main special effects we used was double exposure on the characters actions to play with the theme of identity.
Editing - making meaning through editing. Making the narrative sense for the audience
I had some past experience with editing in software such as Imovie but not in premiere i learnt to use it relatively quickly. I edited the sample for the action thriller where i learnt how to make the jump cuts smooth and also added in sounds and filters for the footage. However Phoebe was our main editor for the final opening scene where she did most of the work. However Saranya and I also had input in how we pictured the final outcome to be like.
sound and music - using and adding diegetic and non diegetic sounds
I did not have much knowledge about how sound and music can be added and used in film at the start. Throughout the course I learnt the terms diegetic/non diegetic and used it in my opening as well as in my writing. I also played around with editing sound where I took a clip from a film with no audio in and added diegetic sounds according to the actions to make it more realistic. Non diegetic sound played an important role in our actual opening where we used an ominous orchestra score to accompany the scenes. This took some research as we had to find a suitable music which would build and maintain the tension/suspense we created in the thriller, also not copyrighted.
Camera Work - confidence in building composition and using different shot types.
I rated myself a 4 at the beginning as i am quite confident in using camera work and the types of shots in making a film. The first one minute project i arranged the camera angles and also was the camera person in making the action thriller. I have learnt to use a variety of shots and techniques including close ups, panning, long shots, POV shots for examples. I improved in this by getting inspiration form interesting types of shots which I found in films or tv shows and then used it in the thriller.
6) How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?
5) How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
Below is a top trump card comparing my what i rate my production skills at the start of the project (October 2015) and at the end of the project (Feb 2016). In total I believed I improved in all areas but some more than others
Creative confidence - thinking of interesting ideas and making them happen.
I like to think that creativity and thinking outside the box are one of my strong qualities in this area therefore at the start I gave myself a 3 where i was able to brainstorm ideas for the thriller and had visions or images thats i wanted to film. Over the time when i had too many ideas it became more difficult to narrow down and decide on what to use in the actual opening. However through this process i was able to refine and develop some of the ideas and then as a team made it into the main themes an motifs of the thriller. An example of this is how first we want to include the use of steam but did not know how to incorporate it into the opening. Then after many discussions we decided to play on the element of steam and how it can evaporate relating to how the killer can disappear, steam representing the killer.
Planning and Organisation - ability to organise actors, locations, props for a efficient and effective film shoot. Ability to hit deadlines.
Since the beginning, as a team we were always organised and our work/planning were up to date which is why i rated a 4. We were able to delegate tasks effectively where each person had specific roles to do. For example, Saranya and I were actors as well as in charge of bringing in props and location hunting while Phoebe was the camera person and editor. There is evidence of this which is shown through our meetings documents and group discussions included in my previous blog posts.
Codes and Conventions - understanding of thriller conventions, credit structure and what to expect from a film opening.
At the beginning of the course I did not fully know what the term thriller means and what it includes. I was then introduced to the thriller sub genres which we studied in details and also explored some of the conventions for each ones. In terms of credit structure, at first I did not know the general order of credits and how it is used but after doing research and finding example of these i became familiar with the order as well as the titles. This progress/improvement is reflected in our final opening where we challenged and included many of the main themes including, identity, obsession and mental issues which are some of the conventions in a psychology thriller.
At the beginning of the course I did not fully know what the term thriller means and what it includes. I was then introduced to the thriller sub genres which we studied in details and also explored some of the conventions for each ones. In terms of credit structure, at first I did not know the general order of credits and how it is used but after doing research and finding example of these i became familiar with the order as well as the titles. This progress/improvement is reflected in our final opening where we challenged and included many of the main themes including, identity, obsession and mental issues which are some of the conventions in a psychology thriller.
Visual effects - realising ideas using digital software, using credits in an interesting way
i rated myself a 3 for this category as I am unfamiliar with how visual effects work and how to create them in the softwares we used. However, over the course we had many lessons on how to create such effects including explosions, masking, using green screen etc. This is mostly done through premiere and affect fx which were difficult to use due to the complicated functions. Ultimately in our final thriller opening the main special effects we used was double exposure on the characters actions to play with the theme of identity.
Editing - making meaning through editing. Making the narrative sense for the audience
I had some past experience with editing in software such as Imovie but not in premiere i learnt to use it relatively quickly. I edited the sample for the action thriller where i learnt how to make the jump cuts smooth and also added in sounds and filters for the footage. However Phoebe was our main editor for the final opening scene where she did most of the work. However Saranya and I also had input in how we pictured the final outcome to be like.
sound and music - using and adding diegetic and non diegetic sounds
I did not have much knowledge about how sound and music can be added and used in film at the start. Throughout the course I learnt the terms diegetic/non diegetic and used it in my opening as well as in my writing. I also played around with editing sound where I took a clip from a film with no audio in and added diegetic sounds according to the actions to make it more realistic. Non diegetic sound played an important role in our actual opening where we used an ominous orchestra score to accompany the scenes. This took some research as we had to find a suitable music which would build and maintain the tension/suspense we created in the thriller, also not copyrighted.
Camera Work - confidence in building composition and using different shot types.
I rated myself a 4 at the beginning as i am quite confident in using camera work and the types of shots in making a film. The first one minute project i arranged the camera angles and also was the camera person in making the action thriller. I have learnt to use a variety of shots and techniques including close ups, panning, long shots, POV shots for examples. I improved in this by getting inspiration form interesting types of shots which I found in films or tv shows and then used it in the thriller.
6) How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?
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