Question two:

Question two)
How does your media product represent paticular social groups?

Question one: part two

Question one) part two

Question one: part one

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

Use of Garage Band:

Music Creation:
For our Thriller opening we thought it would be best to create our own music in order to make it more original, as well as add tension and create suspicion from the audience.

Whilst making the music we decided to layer up a variety of instruments in order to add to the overal panic that we wanted to express through the short clip. As a result to our Thriller opening being relitivly simple with no dialogue or little diegetic sound I also decided that the music also should be simple and shouldnt be extensivly over layered causing too much confusion to take place within the short clip. The music was made alongside the finished clip itself in order to ensure that the music increases in volume as well as the number of instruments exposed so that tesion will be created, as well as the pancic being experianced by the character at that specific moment increased. As the short clip progresses the tension and fear experianced by the young girl increases, providing reasoning for the increase with music volume and pace that we have choosen to use. It was important for us that the shaker was added at a low volume throughout the entirity of the short clip so that there is a sense of continuity and a constant is remained. The shaker almost adds a sinister feel to the thriller as it builds suspense and also represents the unsure emotions that are being experianced by the character herself. The marimba is also brought in at around 7 seconds in order to increase tension and express the importance of what happens at that particular moment and the fear that the young girl is experiancing. Overall music is used to highlight emotions during particualr shots, for example as the car almost hits the character and represent the impact of what might come. 

Editing:

Editing: final cut pro

For the editing of our short thriller opening 'Manor Way' we used final cut pro in order to add some simple effects and piece together the entirity of our thriller opening. Using final cut pro we were able to use some effective tools to enable our thriller opening to be as we wanted it and also add to the feel we wanted to create.

As shown in this screenshot from final cut pro during our editing we added text to our opening during the final stages stating '7 days before' as the film would continue into the storyline of the opening. While using final cut pro we changed the font and size of the text, we decided that it was neccesary to keep the text small and simple and to go along with the simplicity of the opening as a whole and keep the focus of the audience on the storyline and the emotions being experianced by the chararacter. We also added an effect to the movement of the leters so that each letter doesnt appear at the same time, this glitching effect represents the panic of the situation as well as the negitivity that would come later.  

     

There was also other texts added using final cut pro throughout the short clip that we also kept simple so that it fits in with the simplicity of the opening itself. We also added effects over the shots in order to control the colourings of the shots and keep them relitivly similar. The effects used are all dark, and mysterious in order to add to the eerie and unusaul aspects of the short clip. Transistions are used between the shots however, kept simple so that it isnt over confusing and fits in with the simplicity of whats happening. We tried overal to make the short clip effective in expressing the issues and emotions faced by the character whilst still being effective in the use of music and colour to create tension and cause the audience to feel slighly uncomfortable. A common transistion used is fade, in order to give the gradule and simple join between the shots.

After Effects:

After Effects:

We used after effects in order to create both our titles and also our production company logo, here is the logo that we created:

Using After Effects to create my production logo meant we were able to add transistions and movements in to the logo. We used the position and also opacity control buttons to cause the writing to fade in and out as well as move in to the screen slowly.

Feedback

Feedback:  

Here is some feedback that I received from a 15 year old girl who is also in the target audience of our thriller opening , after listening to her feedback of our rough cut I have realised some important aspects that should be changed in order to improve our final piece before being completed. I think it is important that music is added, therefore myself and my group are planning to make some music, this will be played throughout most of the short clip, however will be paused as the girl is revealed to create tension, as well as allow her heavy breathing to be heard enabling the audience to understand the fear she is experience and as a result to this creating empathy.

     

rough cut survey

survey: Here is a thriller survey for my rough cut, this is designed to give me further feedback on how I could improve the thriller opening. Create your own user feedback survey

Marketing

How would you market your thriller? 

If I was to market my thriller opening I would use a variety of techniques in order to ensure that my short opening is well known about previous to distribution. The main method of distribution I would use would be to publish my thriller opening on a large variety of different social media accounts, and also social media companies, for example instagram, and also facebook. By doing this my thriller opeming would hopefully become known, and therefore linked, and posted by a variety of different people. If this method works, it is a quick and simple method to make a film opening or trailer known about by its target audience. This is called viral marketting. I would also create posters, and a variety of leaflets that could be put up within public places where my target audience will usually be found such as a school. This method will mean that the thriller will quickly become known about, and therefore continue to spread through word of mouth. If i had a suitable budget for my thriller opening, I would also advertise my thriller movie throught social media adverts, for example on snapchat, as well as through tv. This is the most popular method of distribution as it quickly adverises a movie to a large audience of people in a very short amount of time. As a result to this I think that digital advertisment through TV's is the most succesful and also reliable.

evaluation of rough cut

Evaluation of rough cut:
It is important that we analyse our rough cut in order to ensure that the final is as good as possible. I will evaluate the use of camera angles, sound and also editing in ordert to gather a better understanding of how I should improve the thriller opening.



Within our rough cut we used a a variety of camera angles, in order to create effect and give an understanding of the emotions being experianced by the characters. We included a high angle/ birds eye view of the girls feet at the beginning. I think that this is useful for giving the audience the sense of how the individual herself its feeling, as it appears that we are the young girl, looking down at her feet. This therefore also adds to the realism of the thriller opening, causing enigmas to be created, and the audience to begin to want to find out what happens next. Further on in the short clip, a low angle shot was used as the characters face was revealed for the first time. The camera begun by her feet, and slowly panned up her body until her face was revealed. This created once again tension for the audience, creating that 'edge of the seat tension' expected within a thriller movie. I do however, think it would have been useful if a high angle, or birds eye shot was used to show the entire setting, and the surroundings, this would have enabled the audience to have a clearer understanding of where the young girl is, as well as understand the concept that she is very close to her home.


The lighing within the thriller opening, is relitivly good, as the darkness represnts the setting, and the hour of the story taking place whilst we are still able to see the individual clearly, as well as any ther neccesary aspects of the shot. The shadows that are created within the shots, are useful in order to create a sense of panic from the audience, and add to the eerie sense of the scene. I do however, think that in some cases, the light is slightly too bright, for example as the young girl begins to walk forward, causing a slight difference between the shot before, and the one that is being shown. Light was used effectivly as Rediola's face is revealed, as lighting from both directly infront of her face, and also slightly above from street lamps, creates slight shadows, whilst still allowing us to see small details for example the large brusises and dirt that is on her forehead and around her face.

Sound within the thriller opening although is not set finally, is of a good quality and emphasies the pace and issues that are taking place within the scene. The music progresses in both volume and pace as the short clip continues allowing tension to build, and suspicion to be created amongst the audience. In some places however, the non diegetic soung of music, is too loud resulting in the diegetic sound of footsteps, and also heavy breathing to be limited and unclear. This heavy breathing accentuates the idea of panic from the character, causing the audience to feel uneasy and add to the suspense that is being created.



Overall there are a few things that should be done in order to improve the opening scene. Firstly I think that the light should be altered slightly using editing to accentuate specific shadows, as well as highlight specific parts of the shot. By doing this, the opening will become more eerie, and therefore add to the overal plot of what is taking place. I also think that filters, and effects should be used on specific shots, in order to make a more natural flow between the shots. For example there is one shot of the girls feet, where the lighting has increased massivly from the scene before. In order to make this appear more natural and realistic, a filter should be applied to make it slightly darker, and match the lighting in the shots both before and after. I also think that the music within the thriller opening should decrease slightly in volume, in order to allow diegetic sound such as breathing, and the footsteps as the character is walking to become more apparant. In order to improve the thriller opening, we would also like to make our own music. This is becuase we would liek to ensure that the pace and volume increases at specific points within the opening in order to create tension, and emphasise the emotions of the character herself. Finally, I think that we should add some smoother transitions between the shots, this is in order to ensure it looks natural, and also realistic, and able to create tension between the audience. After these changes have been made, the opening scene should hopefully appear more realstic, and create suspense amongst the audience. It will hopefully look more professional and reduce any misunderstandings amongst the audience.

lighting technique

lighting technique:
Lighting is used within films, especially thriller movies, in order to create an emotion from the audience, foreshadow what might come, and set the tone of whats happening. Within our short thriller opening we used minimal lighting in order to create a realistic effect for the audience. Street lamps, provided most of our lighting, as the setting that we choose has regular and bright streetlamps all they way along the street. We also assured that filming started just before it was completely dark outside, so that it seemed more natural and less lighting was needed. We did however use a hand held light that was reflected from the other direction using a reflector. With some shots, as we moved further away from a street light, lighting would become minimal so torches would be held from a distance. There was also many cases where lighting was to bright from the street lights, so we used the black side of the reflector to reduce the glare very slightly. Although within our thriller opening lighting may often be minimal, this was done in order to create shadows, and highlight further the idea that this is during the middle of the night and therefore the girl hereself wouldnt be able to see. We wanted it to be easy for the audience to connect with the young girl, and feel her struggles as she attempts to escape.

Some examples from other thriller pictures or scenes are these:





The lighting within this picture is minimal, and similar to many of the shots within our short opening. Shadows and glares are created on the side of the characters face, almost representing her fear and worry, creating a sense of panic from the audience. It causes suspicion, and although all aspects of the shot are not clear, this is done in order to emphasise the characters emotions. we have used slightly more lighting as the characters face within our short clip is revealed, in order to accentuate the panic and fear on her face. Shadows however, are still created, to show the setting, and cause the audience to feel nervous for what could be around.









        
Similarly the lighting within this picture is minimal, yet the car beams create an almost errie effect. Within our short clip, we also done this, where a care headlights provide natural, yet almost spookie lighting. Ours however, are giving of more light, creating a possible sense of panic from the audience as well as accentuating the fear of the young girl in front of the car. The beams, create shadows of the girl, adding to the realism of the clip.