EVALUATION 1

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

We have taken inspiration for the following thriller films:

Clockwork Orange (1973, Kubrick)

Shutter Island (2010, Scorcese)

Physco (1960, Hitchcock)

Thriller is one of the most popular genre of films, they seem to provide a psychological experience as you watch itfollowing an exiting journey. With the characters they seem to put the character in and tense situations. In our film we have followed the conventions of thrillers by building up suspense. We do this with the music and dark shots and an extreme close up shot of the eye looking deranged. We try to put the character in a sense of danger.

Similar to Clockwork orange we have created a mystical enigmatic sense and making the character more mysterious and interesting we have done this with camera shots, with the close up of the face and eyes looking directly into the camera and then the slow zoom out gives a deranged sense of a mental person. This is similar to the opening scene from Clockwork Orange with the strange person with the deranged looking eyes. The person is also compounded by the surrounding being compacted in by the lockers and the back wall.

We have also done this with the editing. In the scene of the extreme close up of the eye shot we have added red saturation onto the eye through the imovie software. We also did this with our music creating a tense atmosphere and giving a strong feel about what is happening as it compliments the atmosphere already created. Prison scenes are part of most thriller films and this adds to the conventions and sense of enigma within the thriller.

Our Character creates a great power of suggestion of being dangerous as in the mise-on-scene he is wearing a straight jacket which is iconic in presenting the idea that he is a threat and has to be restrained in such a way. It also installs fear when he is unlocked and escapes making audience wonder what will happen now he is out and who let him out ?

EVALUATION 2

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

In our film the main character is a mental patient played by Joe, we depict the mental patient in a straight jacket. As he is restrained from movement with this iconic jacket it shows he may be a danger if he did not have it on. It represents immediately that the person is suffering from mental health issues.

It is also related to the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest, where someone tries to fake mental illness to get out of jail. As our mental patient is in an asylum it shows that he is locked up because it is potentially dangerous to people on the outside.

One scene in our film shows particularly represents a mental patient when we have a shot of an extreme close up of an eye with the pupil flickering around to show a sense of insanity by creating a fearful panicky mood. We also added in red to add to the enigma of the eye and the insanity.

Our film will ultimately represent mentally ill people as dangerous and as a threat as you see our main character being locked up but escaping giving all kinds of possibilities at what he can do. It seems to create a sense of threat.

EVALUATION 3

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

We have chosen Lionsgate to be our film distributor, we chose this because they do well in producing thriller films as they have produced such films as the SAW series, The Haunting in Connecticut and The last exorcism which are slightly similar to our film. Lionsgate is also a booming company with over a £1 Billion revenue.

On the official Lionsgate website it says "We develops, produces and distributes a broad range of motion picture, television and other film." We hope that as a british indie film being released in America will appeal to a large global audience because of the popularity with British film out there right now.

EVALUATION 4

Who would be your audience for your media product ?

For our Thriller film opening we hope to attract many kinds of audiences, we will aim to target views of a higher age range as our film will be rated 15. People who are superficial may like our film people who are not into films will like our film as it is for thrill seekers. Viewers who are into the horror type genre will also like our film as it is very realistic and disturbing in the kind of horror genre.

People who are 25-40 year olds and are more knowledgeable will also enjoy our film as it has hidden codes and conventions which portrays mentally ill in a clever and interesting way. We hope our film attracts a global audience going out to cinemas all around. As the film is so strange and original it will get people talking and spread it around well.

Films like ours include Clockwork Orange (1973) and Physco (1960). Two classic films from the past, people would enjoy our film if they like them. For a more modern version of films related to our we have Shutter Island (2010) a psychotic thriller directed by scorcese. People will like the similar types of thrills and excitement such as in these films.

EVALUATION 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

For our film Memento Mori we tried experimenting in new ways to try and attract audiences from all over to alert the audiences to viewing our film and raise awareness. We wanted to try and find a very vast range of publicizing our film and one was through social media.

We created a Facebook page for the film allowing people to comment on it and share their opinions on the film with one another offering feedback about it. Another way was also creating a twitter page for the film and updating status’ about it letting followers know all about it and also will be spread by people retweeting and replying with feedback from the viewer and audience of the film.

We did this after inspiration from the UK film council digital innovation fund, using these types of social media will increase online awareness of our film making it ever more publicized.

Another way to gain online awareness was by creating a film website and having all of our promotions linked on it such as Twitter and Facebook so people can find us easier and also making a homepage of the website very big and visual for the viewer to enjoy.

We hope to get slots 6 weeks in advance, with 30 second clips of our film on television or on radio or in the cinema will promote our film very well creating awareness. Then when the date of release comes closer we will introduce longer trailers of our film in cinemas in order to entice the viewers into watching our film.

We will also have print media with a film poster of our film being on displays on billboards, bus stops and outside the cinema. We will also have the poster published in magazines such as EMPIRE magazine where a lot of film lovers read this they will see out film and become interested by it and hopefully feel motivated enough to come to the cinema and see it. On our poster we will have an image of the mental patient

Also we aim to have our film done by Secret Cinema where subscribers are sent messages telling of where the film will be screened and it will be in a private mental asylum in order to match the themes of our film. People would come dressed as mental patients themselves and role-play and staff dressed as doctors to add to the excitement.

The aspects of the film opening which would hook the audience is the shot of the eye looking under threat and dangerous to imply the person is mental which would make the viewer wonder what is wrong with this person and what they are doing. The final shot would also entice the audience as we show the mental patient walking out of the asylum and to freedom which sparks questions about what will happen now he is free and who did it ?

EVALUATION 6

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

We have learnt many new technologies and new things within the course of making our film opening. For one thing we have been using cameras to shoot our footage then record it on a tape and upload it onto the mac. In order to edit we have been using iMovie where we have had some experience but not a lot. We have discovered how to cut bits of the clips out and detach audio in order to create good effects which really improve our thriller film opening.

We have also used GarageBand in order to create our music for the film, transferring the music file onto the film and then editing it to fit the pictures was made simple with Garageband. With this we can alter the volume and sound of the music for effect.

We have also discovered how to edit the footage already shot by increasing contrast, brightness, saturation and colour tones. We have used these effects to create the scene showing the mental patient and asylum by reducing the saturation therefore creating a sense of cold depression in the surroundings of the area to really give the impression of a mental asylum. We also used this with the shot of the eye by making it more red it creates a sense of danger and panic. It really shows the audience that this person really is potentially dangerous and mentally ill.

EVALUATION 7

Looking back at your prelimary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from its to the full production?

From our preliminary task we have vastly improved. We have improved in terms of camera shots and angles such as in the prelim the camera can sometimes shake and look unprofessional however we cut that out in our film opening and only use it fro effect. Also we have improved our story line with much more research and planning we have managed to create a much better plot.

We have also improved our editing from the prelim as we have added dramatic music into our film for effect which we did not have in our prelim, we have also made progression in terms of quality as our film opening looks very professional with a lot more editing of the shots being put into it as we have learned to do that on the imac.

We have also improved our setting of the filming as i feel it does not look very authentic where we filmed for our prelim as in our film opening we show light tunnels and really create an atmosphere to our insane asylum setting which we did not do in our prelim. We have also added in more transitions with no jump cuts such as in the prelim.

We have also learnt about new tecnologies betwen te making of our prlim videa and our film opening. We have learnt about editing on the imovie on the mac, we could then altar the picture and change the colors and make the picture look more professional, we also learnt about garage band and how we can add music in to make it more effective.

Here is our Prelim video:

FINAL FILM OPENING

MEMENTO MORI

STORYBOARD

Here is our first 2 shots showing our prodcuction company and our distributors

Here is the voiceover we plan to do and the shot of the security guard again resting.

Here is the shot of the hallway again and the security guard falling asleep.

Here is our final shots of the hallway going through and the shot of the security television.

EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2.How does your media product present particular social groups?
3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4.Who would be the audience for your media production?
5.How idd you attract/address your audience?
6.What have you learnt about technologies from constructing this product?
7. Looking back at your prelimary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from its to the full production?

FILM PRODUCTION COMP.

For our film we have chosen Lionsgate as our production company as there logo will appear at the start. We did this because we liked the films they have produced and because they relate to our own film opening such as the saw series and hostel.

These relate to our film opening as they both have a genre of thriller. They both include someone who is not mentally stable and can cause trouble such as in our film.

FILMING

In our project we have started our filming after completing the storyboard, we have all the shots prepared and know where we hope to do them and what we need for them. Now we have begun with the camera work already with shots of walking through the corridor and the security guards on film.

The shot we have filmed is one of two security guards who are busy occupied by reading a paper and with their feet up and not looking at the television monitor. This shot is to establish the fact that someone has intruded into the asylum as it cuts to the shot we also did of a camera walking down the corridor so it looks as though it is from the intruder's perspective. We want to create the intruder as a mysterious person so no one knows who he is for now.

In the coming week we will be doing more filming of shots of the mental patient in the straight jacket which has been ordered. Also we will be shooting out of school time at a location where we will be showing the escaped patient. After we have finished our filming which should be after a couple of weeks we will begin our editing on the imacs.

MUSIC EDITING

Here is me editing the music and audio for out project, in the lesson we created sounds for our film opening on imovie and garage band on the mac. We made them very suspenseful and interesting. We hope to fit these into our film opening well in certain scenes after filming.

LOCATIONS

Here are some pictures of the locations which we plan to film our opening scene to the film with the corridors and tunnel which the mental patient will run down.

Here is where we plan the opening scene where we plan to slowly zoom out through the hall
This is the mental asylums corridor
Here is another corridor which looks very creepy and can be used as a setting to the asylum

ART OF THE TITLE

In further research into film opening i have been looking at the "Art of the title" website which shows film openings and analysis' them. This one here is James Bond Quantum of Solace and it shows screen shots of title sequences which appear during the opening, We can take inspiration from this with credits at the beginning of ours.

Quantum of solace's opening shows an animated scene of James Bond. It shows Daniel Craig walking towards the camera looking very typical in a suit and holding a gun.

FILM PLANNING

This is our planning written down and scanned in, we have story boarded our original ideas and written what we plan to do in the near future including our voiceover and opening shot.

Also showing our drawings of the characters shot we plan to do with the close up of the face and then the slow zoom down the corridor and it will eventually show our story line.

On another piece we have written down our drafts for our voiceover at the very start of the film, with the white background.

TREATMENT

After 2 weeks of planning our film opening we have devised a story board and plot. Our first idea is having an opening shot of a white background with a voiceover and then cut to a shot of the eyes of a man staring straight down the camera in a crouching position. then we will do a slow zoom out to reveal the whole of the man with a shot down the corridor.

We will then add a shot of security guards asleep not paying attention then cut to another shot of the mental patient then to a door unlocking slowly to give the impression of him being released as we then show the mental patient slowly walk out and away.

While it slowly zooms out we will add titles to show while zooming out. Tomorrow on Thursday 27th January we hope to achieve the voiceover, white background shot and filming of the eyes and the slow zooming out. Then we hope to add titles on imovie afterwards.

Before on the 19th January we had discussed possible locations and went to go and check them out it was encouraging to see good locations and i was exited to get filming at them.

THRILLER FILMS

We also watched The Godfather, where the opening scene shows dialogue straight away between a desperate man and Don Corleone. You do not see Don Corleone face and it creates a mysterious and powerful figure of the man. It is also in a dark room creating a greater sense of enigma. This scene is an interesting start to the film and sets up what is going to happen throughout and makes you want to watch on which i feel is most important for an opening scene to a film, making it such a good film to watch.

We have been researching other thriller film openings for inspiration for our own opening. One film we have been looking at is 'Clockwork Orange' where it starts with a man looking up with a scary look on his face and eye make up. It then slowly zooms out to see he is in a strange room with others and drinking a glass of milk. This is a very good mysterious opener and we may take ideas of the slow zooming out shot and the eyes. This was particularly unsettling because of the striking eyes making a weird image to scare you.

127 HOURS

I recently went to see Danny Boyle's new film '127 Hours' It was a good film with lots of creative camera angles and shots. Also it had a great story line with the fact it was true making it more entertaining and realistic. At the start i liked the shots with the 3 different shots in one by splitting the screen into thirds. This was an innovative shot shows lots of things all at once. Sometimes the shots would then merge into one very creatively.

Danny Boyle did very well in the film to keep it exiting and on edge and creating a mood of time passing by and how lonely the man gets having to resort to cutting his own arm off. A very clever shot is of one inside the drinking tube showing water rising up through it into the mouth of the man, another was inside the arm of the man after he had stabbed himself showing the bone and muscle creating a good image of the pain he was in.

In all it was an enjoyable film with a good main role from the actor and good camera shots by the director, however what i feel makes the film unique is how it is all a true story making it different to most films and therefore more exiting and enjoyable.

THE KING'S SPEECH

We have recently been looking at Colin Firth's achievements since his Golden Globe the other night here is mine and Joe's poster on his winning performance in 'The King's Speech'.

FILM EMBLEM 2

Here is our second attempt at the film production emblem for our opening where it is more sophisticated and simplistic yet effective and works well.

FILM EMBLEM 1

This is our first attempt at a production emblem for our opening of our film, we just experimented for now and hope to work on from this idea soon.

ANALYSIS OF 'ZEN'

Zen is a crime thriller Tv series on BBC it is set in Italy, here is shows it is set in Italy clearly as it has the iconic cars all lined up on the street a very clever show it also has the Italian flag colours going across the scree red white and green.

Here in the opening sequence you cans see an eye which is bordered around by black lines blocking up the image, this is an interesting effect. The eye can represent DNA or test the crime detectives may use to find the culprit within the show.

In the opening here is shows a gun with other guns in red in the background showing also who wrote it. This is a clever way to immediately show that the show is to do with crime as represented b the gun and also the red can be representing blood.

THRILLER RESEARCH

Thriller is a genre of film and television that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as the main elements. Sub genres include mystery, crime. Key elements include fear, mystery and evil. It aims to entertain the audience by creating a great sense of suspense.

Common elements in psychological thrillers are mind games, psychological themes, stalking, confinement/deathtraps, horror-of-personality, and obsession. Elements such as conspiracy theories, false accusations, paranoia, and sometimes action are common in paranoid thrillers.

WORDLE

This is my wordle of thriller film genre research. It is made from the website where you type the words in to make it like it is below. More important words such in the genre such as "mystery" and "Enigma" appear larger than other words in order for people to know there importance within a thriller type film.