Media Evaluation

We had finally finished our thriller film as a group project. We had many conventions of thriller videos that we had used. As a class, we had watched clips from other thriller movies such as ‘Arlington Road’, ‘The Shinning’ and ‘28 days later’. From Arlington road we had took parts of the opening and had done a similar opening of ours. We choose the conventions of Arlington road because it seemed to look interesting and it had a good use of effects of lighting and negative. We took many ideas for example the blood from Arlington Road we had use that effect on ours were the bloods runs from the candle, this gives a thriller side of our thriller film.http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ojdso0nQ7Mw/ScVsqgR592I/AAAAAAAAAfk/mCipNNawOKY/s1600/Picture7.jpg

For our thriller we had chosen to do a thriller/horror film about a young girl who is summoning the devil. We decided to link this story with a true story of Elizabeth Bathory and so decided to name our film Bathory .As for our setting, we had chosen to film it in a church park. We thought it would be a good way to make our film more thrilling. During filming decided to use hand held camera to give it that shaky effect which was in ‘Arlington Road’ while the young boy was walking.
The sound track we used was suspense full and dramatic sound track. We think that it went well with our mis-on scene. In ‘The Shinning’ there is many thrilling sound tracks through out the whole film this created a lot of tension and suspense so we tired to do something similar to that making the audience feels thrilled.

Our particular social group that we tired to aim for was for mainly all types of ages. We think that mainly young teenagers would watch it as the certification is 15 but can be for older ages over 30. As the main character is a female the gender that most likely to watch it is females. I think that our film is for any ethnicity and any class it is mostly aim at anyone who enjoys watching thriller films. Most males tend to watch a more action than just thriller films.

The type of media product institution that might be able to distribute our media product would be an internet release. The reason why I do not think it would be able to make it to Hollywood Blockbusters is that our story broad is quite short and simple. Most Hollywood blockbusters films had cost a lot of money to make for special effects but ours is very simple and most likely to be disliked. Seen as though we had a low budget and most Hollywood films have a large amount of budgets.

Who would be the audience for your media product

To attract and address audience in films they always use famous actors to play the leading role, which would attract audiences to watch the film. For example, ‘The Sixth Sense’ casts Bruce Willis this genre was a drama, mystery and thriller film. The film was advertised on TV adverts mostly between soaps, which most people are most likely to sit down and watch TV. Billboards on the main roads had the poster up and able to watch the trailer on the internet e.g pop ups and campaigns. For our film we could advertise it on the internet as it the most easies way of getting the audience attention by showing our trailer. We could also put it up on billboards and put up our trailer on sites such as Bebo, Myspace and Facebook where people are mostly go on.

I have learnt a few things form using technologies from the process of constructing our film. I found it enjoyable when I had helped using the camera been able to film what we wanted and what we did not. Also being able to set up the camera on the tripod and setting it to the angle we wanted to use. For some scenes we did not use the tripod and used hand held to give a thriller effect but we a bit default when the camera went out of focus. I learnt how to use close up and extreme close ups which I found it was not that hard but just needed to be accurate. I had filmed a couple of times but I was mainly directing what looked good or did not for example the shots we had used and where it’s a good shot to film. We had used software called Final Cut Pro to edit all our shots and put it in order we wanted it to go in. It was difficult editing our film because we had to think if it looked good to other people. I suggested a few ideas in putting what effects we should use while they had edited. When we finished out film we had watched it on a big screen in the cinema it looked very professional. Our thrillers were posted on Vimeo, which was a site that we uploaded all the thriller films.

evaluation question 5,6 and 7

Question 5
Advertising through the genre would generate a huge audience as there are a lot of people who enjoy this genre and would like to come and experience a thrilling film with a different type of horror/thriller film.
I think if we start advertising through the internet first on social networking website with wallpapers and trailers coming up would interest the audience. Advertising on the social networking sites and instant messaging sites first would attract our target audience of 15-23 year old, both male and females because I believe they spend a lot of time on the internet. Advertising on other websites, which

 15-35 year old use, can also attract a potential audience.
Like the film “Cloverfield”, which used this method, mainly on MySpace and advertising on other sites, this gaine

d a lot

 of interest and was a successful hit in 

America and around the world.
http://www.myspace.com/cloverfield
If we get a good response through the internet campaign then we can put it on the TV and show the trailers on channels which attract our audience.
Examples: MTV network, other music channels C4, E4. The showing times of the trailers should be on breaks when there are shows which attract our age group for instance when Friends airs on channel 4 in the weekends or Skins in the weekdays.
I think we will use billboards w

hen it’s nearer the time of release, and also we can pick out key areas to advertise them on. Putting them in areas which our audience may go, for example there is a bill board outside our college we could put it up there, outside universities, on buses as most of this age group

 

use public transport, in shopping areas, and near cinemas too.
If there is a ‘star’ in our film we could have them go on shows for interviews like Jonathan Ross show, Sunday Night Project and on radio shows. When fans hear that this actor is going to do an interview it will attract them to hear about their new film and may just go watch the film because they ar

e a fan of the actor/actress. However I do not think we will have a star in our film because we want it to make it more realistic and believable because we wouldn’t want their previous character to over shadow this character.Above I have said how e could advertise the whole of the film I think we could use some aspects of marketing for the whole film to advertise for the opening. We could have it saying watch new trailer on social network sites and if they click it you can watch the opening of the film. After the person has watched the opening they may want to know what happens ne

xt.Advertisement on facebook:

Question 6

I enjoyed doing the cinematography while making this film

. Most of our shots are close up and extreme close ups because our props tell the story rather relying on a narrative. Using manual focusing I had to be sure that all CU and ECU were in focus and had to be sure what would be in each frame. I learnt from using these CU and ECU is that it is quite hard to use because sometimes the shots wouldn’t look very professional. It was hard to the close ups because we had to get the distance right so it wouldn’t go unfocussed after a while it got easier t

o do the close ups because I knew how to us the focussing and also how to frame each of them. I also learnt that not all of the shots could be close ups as some shots don’t look good and that is why we did have some long shots of the church trees, which are mainly the outdoor shots. As we used Intertextuality from the film “Arlington Road”, with the hand held cinematography, it was quite difficult in knowing how good a shot looked because we didn’t want shots to look

 uncontrolled but make it look like it flowed but in a handheld way. Using all of Final Cut Pro’s software was very enjoyabl

e but also was quite hard to use. In our previous practice films we didn’t use that many technical elements so when editing this film we didn’t know where many of the effects were. Us

ing Final Cut Pro made me realise how hard it is to edit a 2 minute clip and how much my own time has to go in both the filming and editing process.
Before I didn’t know 

where most of the effects where and how I could personalise them for our own taste but know I know how to do this which mak

es a process much faster. I also learnt that using the same effects on more than 1 or 2 can make the film look cheap and not professional enough, so we tweaked some so it would look different. I also can tell which effect will go well with a shot and a film.
Before we had to our pitch we were told that we were allowed to use copyright free music, using the website search eng

ine I found a website which allowed us to use copyright music. This allowed use more time on

 the editing and we didn’t need to worry about composing a piece of music ourselves. Using the blog helped us get feedback from our teachers on how we can improve on our blogs also what we have done well. We also used the blog to upload our previous work and from that we can see our improvement after each one. The use of various websites which let us to put our videos on the site and allows other to watch it and receive feedback from people we don’t know and hopefully they enjoy it and write critical criticisms. The internet also widens our potential audience. We can get different people to watch our film which they might not see. They can also link the video to other sites which gives the film free publicity.While doing the editing I have learnt that you need to spend a lot of time editing not only in the lesson times but also in your own time, you need to be

 patient when you are editing as it takes a considerable length of time, I also learnt that while editing you need to get different peoples point of view as you go along the process so they can say what they liked and what they didn’t s

o you can improve your work. In our match cut process we didn’t use any effects so when we did our actual thriller it was quite hard to find and choose which effect went well with which shot. Adding solarize effect in the tree.

Adding a blue colour tint

editing the music

Question 7Looking back to the original task we were set I have learnt a

 lot about the process of film making. When we did do an exercise on match cut I have learnt that you have to 

do a storyboard even though it is only a practise and camera work has to be accurate for match cuts.

By having a storyboard in place for our thriller we had a basic outline of what kind of shots we wanted and how we pictured the final outcome. The storyboard also allowed us to put different ideas for each shot. Planning the thriller I think was very important whilst making this film because we were able to put different ideas down, make sure that our narrative fitted in the genre and also had a stable narrative which we could film. Planning who bought what prop in enabled us to have responsibility over the props and mise-en-scene and knew if one person didn’t bring a prop in it is their fault. When we did our pitch, our plan was done from the storyboard, what the music is, the location and the props.

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Before we started filming we needed original props. As I knew where I could buy most of the props I put responsibility to making the book which is used, getting a voodoo doll, and a wig.
As I live in Camden it was easy for me to go to Camden lock and buy a unique and authentic looking book, which was then personalised for the character adding pen splurges, fake blood, using tea bags to discolour pictures of the church monument in the actual film, adding pictures of pentagrams. Writing then was added, with verses from satanic chants, how to summon demons and other information about the summoning. I also made the fake blood which was going to be used for the book and voodoo doll, I tested out different colours of red and thickness to get the right colour of it, and so it looked real in the film. Other members of the group were also told to bring items in which would help with the film. Lisa bought in verses which were written in the book, a fake newspaper cover headlining about demons with the date dating back to 1881, other images of the pentagram, chalk, candle, matches and Layla bought in candle and also she was able to fill in 2 of the other bottles which I bought in with paint.
When we started filming I think I found it much easier to use because I have used the camera beforehand, while filming I still had to get the views of Lisa and Layla so we knew that everyone was sure about the shot we were about to do. The main difficulty was when we were shooting the outside scene with an actor in it because we were outside it was much more difficult because of the wind and being very cold. The positive side to filming with an actor in the film is so that we don’t worry about how the acting has come out and don’t have re-shoot some of the scenes as we only had some shots it was much quicker to and on the back and some body parts were showing. We used mainly ECU and CU which was hard to get focus them because they were very close but eventually we had done it.

testing out the fake blood

In the last lesson relating to our thriller coursework the class watched each other’s thrillers and then gave back feedback on what they thought about our films:
· Wonderful shot of the candle with the blood
· Brilliant sound- good preparation, downloaded music
· Good use of close ups
· Not relying on narrative to tell the story but the shots create the story with the close ups
· Well planned
· Music matched with the shots
· Good use of skill with editing
· Really good quick shots
· Liked the effect used on the eye
· Liked the research props
· Wonderful pace
· If the shots were really good you wouldn’t have needed to much effects
· Some people said there was too much effects however some said it worked well with the story- good shot candle with out effects

evaluation question 3 and 4

The film would need to be a Hollywood blockbuster, shown in mainstream cinemas around the world. The budget would be too big, and would not be a British film, as they tend not to have such a huge budget. A bug budget will be needed because there will be a lot of computer effects, green screens, sets, extravagant costumes and make-up, to create the perfect scenes. I would release before the award ceremonies e.g. Oscars, golden globes, so in the autumn, winter times. As the film has such a different storyline it may pick up some awards and for these reason I think it should be a Hollywood release film, because we need to wealth investors/companies to invest in us. The more money we have the more places we can distribute it to and the more people we can aim the film to; as the story of Bathory can interest people.
I think we would use similar companies who distributed Se7ven and Arlington Road because our target audience is similar and also the film genre is the same; thriller/horror.

Distributors
Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony Picture Entertainment, distributor of Arlington Road. A major US company, not only involved in movie distributing but have synergy: Sony BMG (Music Company), electronics (MP3, Sony Ericsson mobile phones, cameras, TV’s etc). Other films they have distributed; Rachel Getting Married, Terminator Salvation (coming out soon), Angels & Demons (coming out soon).

Distributor of Se7ven is New Line Cinema which is under the umbrella of Time Warner Company, which is one of the major film companies. Other films they have done; Gone With The Wind, Big Girls Don't Cry...They Get Even, Pleasantville and Run, Fatboy, Run.

Production Companies

This is under the umbrella of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony was used in both distribution as well as production for Arlington road

Lakeshore Entertainment produced Arlington Road, this is an independent film production company which also produced Underworld: Evolution, The Exorcism Of Emily Rose and Bullet Proof Monk.
I don’t think we will have a massive Hollywood star because sometimes the audience would only perceive some actors in characters they have previously played or in their common roles. I think also if we don’t use a massive blockbuster star audience may expect too much coming from them, an unknown star will make the character and film seem more realistic.

4. Our target audience is 15- 35 male and female genders, from a working class to middle class background, any ethnicity. I think the audience may need to know some knowledge of who Elizabeth Bathory actually was, so they can get narrative of the film and also interested in demons and summoning or are just fascinated by historical villains/ murders like Jack the Ripper (Whitechapel 4 part series on ITV). On the other hand the audience need to be interested in the genre of this thriller as it is a thriller/horror and they should expect some conventions of a horror film.
Our audience may be from a niche background because not many people know who Elizabeth Bathory actually was. However they could be mainstream film person too, because they may find the title interesting, there is a wide audience who like films form the genre of thriller and also thriller/horror. Another reason is they may want to watch a film like this to get an adrenalin rush.
Typical person who would watch the film:-
· Name: Abby Whitehall
· Age: 18
· Social class: upper working class-lower middle class
· Interests: listening to indie/rock music, watching films like; The Ring, Clover field, Arlington Road, Se7ven and 28 Days Later, likes to do adventurous activities: rock climbing, abseiling and kayaking, enjoys surfing the internet, hanging out with her friends, going to the cinema when there is a good film out or if she has got enough money.
· Shops in Camden Lock, Top shop, loves Converses
· Various facial Piercings; eyebrows, upper lip, pop-indie, edgy, quirky style.
· Lives with her parents, older brother in central London
· Education: standard GCSE’s, A levels.
· Occupation: student

I think she would watch this because as she is watched Arlington Road and Se7ven she may also enjoy this because of the narrative as it is very different and is usual to a conventional thriller. I think she would also enjoy the theme of being a gothic inspired film, the unique props and visuals used in the filming. The quick editing of the film and the use of effects on the shots may interest her too.

evaluation question 2

In the opening of our thriller we only show one character. The character is a teenage white female. She is wearing a black corset, has black hair, pale skin and heavy dark make up. As you can see it’s a description of a stereotypical female “Goth”. We didn’t intend to have her as a Goth in our original idea however as she performing the summoning ceremony and is researching up on the devil, we thought her look would suit the narrative.

The girl is obsessed with Elizabeth Bathory, and isn’t an actual Satanist, she is only researching satanic rituals and ways which she can summon Demons. Obsessed with Bathory she is trying to recreate the tales of her torturing with the help of the devil and also remind people of Bathory.

When people think of summoning, devils they have a quick response to think of pale skin, dark hair and Goths. They don’t really know the difference between the actual Satanist and Goths. In the end we created a stereotypical Goth which people can response to when they first see her and make up their own judgements about her.

evaluation question 1

Evaluation

Bathory from 283goswell on Vimeo.
There are many subgenres of a thriller and our film is a thriller/horror, which was inspired from the opening sequence of Arlington Road and also Se7ven.



We watched a number of other thrillers which also helped us get inspiration for our own thriller idea; 28 Days Later, The Shining, Collateral, and What Lies Beneath.

Watching the above I realised what the conventions of thrillers are mainly to do with the music and the quick cut edits, the different angles of the camera can change the status/ perception of a character; low angle shot- someone with power; high angle shot- lonely victim. Eerie, strange and secluded settings are also conventions of a thriller. The use of mis-en-scene is a good way of creating suspense; this works because we don’t show the character and the audience would want to know who the girl is and why she is doing this, this creates suspense. I think the use of mis-en-scene creates suspense because it causes mystery to the audience, wanting to know about what this has to do with the film. The narrative affects a vast number of people, in a psychological and physical way.

“Bourne Ultimatum"-
“James Bond Quantum of Solace”-
“28 Days Later”-
By watching these clips I have realised that the main protagonist is a male in most thrillers, which goes against as ours is a female character. The stereotypes of men are seen as to be macho, strong and ruthless and would do anything to accomplish a task. Also that the music can make the pace of the film faster, also quick cuts create faster pace. From 28 Days Later I learnt that having no music and having silence can also create suspense because you don’t know what you are going to expect next.

However researching in my own time, I have seen that some thrillers have women as their main protagonist, “The Others” Nicole Kidman is the protagonist; “Alien” Sigourney Weaver and “Panic Room” Jodie Frost. This shows that women are equal to men, and also get the point of women. Women in conventional thrillers/ horror films are seen as victim, who is seen as venerable, damsel in distress who needs saving such as “The Shining”, “Panic Room” however Jodie Frost does not have these characteristic but is the protagonist yet is the victim. In Bathory the female character isn’t a typical female character in a thriller/horror but the complete opposite.

(Nicole Kidman) (Sigourney Weaver) (Jodie Frost)

We also watched “Watching Documentary”, watching this I have found out the opening of a thriller should give some idea of what the narrative is about, but not all of the narrative also the opening should always attract the audience and make them want to watch the rest of the film. This affected our own thriller because we didn’t want to give away too much information to the audience about what the narrative is about and I think we did achieve that in our opening, because we gave some ideas what the film is about with the CUs of the props. We used a close up of the pentagram in the book which gives an idea to the audience on what the film is about.

The two films we were mostly influenced by were Arlington Road and Se7ven, which I think are very different and unique styles of thrillers which follow some aspects of thriller convention but also in some parts don’t follow. We did follow some of the conventions of a thriller because we used music which I would describe as being spine chilling in the beginning and fastens at the end to fasten our pulse and get the audience at their edge of their seat. The music has tense beginning and a big fast paced end.

http://freeplaymusic.com/search/keyword_search.php music piece called lair.

We used quick cuts throughout the film to create suspense and also to fasten the pace of the film which is also helped by the music. This can also fasten the heartbeats of the audience and make them get ready for what is about to come next. I think also by using the handheld shots which gives a point of view of the character makes the audience be in the shoes of the character. I also think by using handheld also creates a more realistic shot because it is moving with a character or showing the sinister side of an object like the tree and the church in out film. The setting of half of our film is set in Old St Pancras Church, which is secluded and in many thrillers they use secluded settings.
However we also challenge the conventions of a thriller by using CUs and ECUs on our props because the props create the mood, atmosphere and also tell the narrative, rather than using conventional mid shots and long shot to create the narrative.

Images of the props

As our inspiration was both Arlington Road and Se7ven, we took some inspiration on how we could use similar shots and effects to them. Using intertextuality between “Bathory”, Arlington Road, and Se7ven created a more professional and different thriller.
page turning in Bathory (top), Se7ven (bottom 2)

quick shots Bathory (T)Se7ven (B)

negative effect in Bathory (T), Arlington Road (B)

panning used in Bathory (T), ArlingtonRoad (B)