Evaluation

B. G. Production Evaluation

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

In order to challenge forms and conventions of real media products, we decided to change the typical conventions of the psychological thriller genre. An example of these changes was our choice of music throughout the film opening. Instead of the usual modern technologically created songs, we decided to use Ludovico Einaudi ‘I Giorni’. We felt the slow tempo piece of music would really challenge the forms and conventions as the music gives no indication of the thrill to come, thus leading the audience into a false sense of security, making the impact of the thrill much more exciting, which in turn clearly follows the conventions of a psychological thriller as we have confused and scared the audience.

 We also played around with the continuity of the film, as done in successful films and series such as Life on Mars and The Time Travellers Wife. We did this to create a product that was engaging to the audience. As although psychological thrillers are designed to confuse the audience they don’t have to not follow chronology, however, we felt this would challenge the conventions and make the film more appealing in a heavily competitive market where so much is on offer. We wanted to ensure that our film would stand the best chance once in the box office or independent cinema’s.  

One final way in which we attempted to challenge the typical conventions was to give the film many different genres’s again to lead the audience into a false sense of security allowing for greater impact on the moment of the thrill. We added the period drama genre to the film for numerous reasons, the first because of what I have just stated; secondly from research we became aware of the popularity of the genre with recent television series such as Downton Abby and Upstairs Downstairs. In playing with the chorology, deliberately choosing an unexpected piece of music and adding another genre we have created a hybrid, which most defiantly challenges forms and conventions of real media products as it is multiple products in one. We also feel that we have achieved our aim of making Emily’s surreal world appear as reality, by making such changes.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product represents our particular social groups, in our case A, B and C1’s, through the setting, central protagonist, and deliberate changes in continuity. Firstly the setting is a former manor house turned country hotel, the location was carefully decided, as we wanted to do the period drama genre justice with having a location that didn’t appear too commercial, which I believe we achieved. The deliberate changes in continuity, specifically where we removed items of clothing, jewellery and props that surrounded the character, required a higher level of thinking, and required the audience to real focus on the film as some were very subtle changes, that usually the higher socio economic groups A/B’s who are deemed more educated would pick up on.

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

The kind of media institution that we would expect to distribute our film would be independent art houses; this is due to many different reasons. One the social group that these smaller independent cinemas tend to attract are our target socio economic groups of A, B and C1’s. Obviously for our film to achieve maximum success we need to have our film placed where the majority of our core audience are based. Also these independent art houses are far easier for a small production company to get their films on the big screen. It would be hugely difficult for us to compete with the conglomerates in the multiplexes, who dominate that area of the market, with their subsidiaries that are able to promote their film. Our production company simply wouldn’t be able to afford the cost of the multiplex or the advertising that would be required, and with our target social group tending to stay away from large chain cinema’s it wouldn’t make economic sense for us to pursue the multiplex. However, if a conglomerate were to approach us like Universal did with Working Title, a small independent British film company, and formed a partnership with us giving us the funds and ability to enter the multiplex market. Then this would have to be something to consider as one of our film genres is thriller, which is a lower socio economic group genre, so the film could do well at the multiplex because of this. Not to mention the vast amounts of area we would cover by doing so, as we would only be able to afford 5 -6 independent art houses across the country. We would also look to take our film to the Cannes film festival where many small independent production companies are able to successfully sell their films, and gain vital recognition without having to compete with the conglomerates.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The core audience of our film would be 16-35 year old males of the A, B, C1 social group. We were able to find this vital information out through our extensive research of our genres. We sent out a questionnaires with questions designed to give us the information that we needed for our film, such as how often do people visit the cinema, what type of films do they go and see, and we compared this to their age and gender to give us our core audience. We also contacted Pearl and Dean, who were able to supply us with information of which social groups prefer which genres, which is how we were able to work out our target socio economic group. From all of this gathered and sourced information we were then able to work out our secondary audience, which would be older males and females, of similar social class, particularly for women due to the addition of the period drama genre, which is a predominantly female based genre.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The research stated that the core audience like to be scared, when they least expect it, that they dislike predictability. Thus we made the surreal seem like reality, and added the period drama genre to fool the audience into thinking they’re are safe and can predict what’s going to happen next, as it’s the unknown that scares an audience. The second reason for the period drama genre was because it would attract our secondary audience of

In order for us to attract our core audience we referred back to our research to find out what things our core audience and secondary audience look for in a film. The information told us that males aged 16-35 like to have an attractive female main character, therefore we acquired Bethany Hunt as our actress. they least expect it, that they dislike predictability. Thus we made the surreal seem like reality, and added the period drama genre to fool the audience into thinking they’re are safe and can predict what’s going to happen next, as it’s the unknown that scares an audience. The second reason for the period drama genre was because it would attract our secondary audience of females, however, we were very pleased to have the 16-20 year olds fall into our core audience because they are the age group that visits the cinema the most and have the most disposable income.

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

In terms of learning about new technology through our filming process, we have learnt how to use new software and equipment. The first new piece of technology we used was adobe after effects, we had to use this in order to produce our ident. It is very similar to the linear editing suite final cut express that we were already familiar with. In final cut express we also learned how to use the pen tool which allows us to change the tempo of music and add fades to shots. This was a very useful tool and one that we used often throughout our editing process.  We also learnt how to use the HDV 1080i/mini DV video camera. This was a much higher specification camera than we have been used to, so had to get to grips with its controls. The quality of the footage produced from the camera far exceeded anything that we have previously used so found that a real learning curve in making sure the sequence of edits that we put together did the footage justice.

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

From our preliminary task we have defiantly learnt a lot in terms of filming. We have learnt to be far more adventurous when on set, trying out different angles and not being afraid of filming shots that we think may not work. We have most defiantly become more adventurous and bold in our filming style taking opportunities to grab different shots when we see them. For example we had many high angle shots filmed by standing on a step ladder, to create vulnerability in our main character, we also had a frame within a frame shot, to ensure we have a real advanced variety of shots in our film opening the result of this is an excellent variety of shots in our film opening. We learned the 180 degree rule when filming two characters and its importance to make pleasant viewing for our audience, as the footage flows seamlessly. One issue that we had when filming our preliminary exercise was lighting, we found that the shots weren’t very clear when it came to editing which forced us to re-film. To stop us making the same mistakes we were very cautious on the lighting making sure we had as much natural light when possible, and ensured that in darker rooms we had plenty of artificial light set up to give a more natural effect. The task taught us a lot about planning and not to underestimate the amount of time it takes to film, which is why when on location we gave ourselves far more time than we actually needed, which allowed us to film some extra sequences that although not particularly used, where a good safety net to have.