Media Evaluation

2. We were given the task of creating a thriller opening, and had to research the genre and its hybrids in order to
gain a greater understanding of the medium and to decide the direction we wanted to develop our own
version.
To begin with we examined a physiological thriller - The Black Swan; a supernatural thriller - Woman in Black;
and a neo-noir thriller - Se7en, which all fell under the same sort of hybrid genre in which our group had in
mind, as well as highlighting the common objective, purpose and visual aesthetics that we were all aiming for
from the outset, before we were even put together as a group.
https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=OEq-4fua3lM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=5jaI1XOB-bs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lRe
emWmO5o
The purpose of our research was to gain a better understanding of the film genre in which we were
about to create our own version and how they appealed to our group.

3. We also looked at non-linear narratives, for example flashbacks, as used in the film Memento,
which plays with time in order to meet its objective of creating intrigue and suspense for the
viewer.
The film's flashes to the past give a deeper meaning to the screenplay and its central
character. In our thriller, the flash backs create more of a slow reveal and also produces a
greater understanding of the storyline and our main character, but in a more vague and eerie
way with the use of blurred and confused flash backs, helping the viewer to relate with the
confusion and dismay of the young girl in our thriller.
Stills of the flashbacks in
our thriller.

4. We decided on the name 'Remember Me' for our thriller, thinking long and hard about what would fit best and
what would make the most sense to our story line. The title is short yet catchy and creates a sort of suspense
which is what most thriller titles are attempting to create, drawing the viewers in just from the title and the way it
catches you're eye, wanting to find out more.
The use of camera angles played a big part in how the viewer sees our character and the thriller in itself. In the
thrillers we researched you can tell a lot about the style and mood that the film is aiming to set through camera
angles and lighting. For instance in the Se7en opening, the quick editing from shot to shot and unexplained eerie
close ups of objects sets the creepy and tense mood for the whole film.
In our opening, we matched the 'convention of certain camera angles that you would expect to see in a thriller. As
Cinematographer, I used the research from other films as a basis on how I wanted the camera to capture the
planned scenes in a creative and unique way. By doing this we did not copy, we adapted and developed our own
thriller based on our inspirations.

5. Another way our thriller is set apart
and made different to the usual
thriller opening is through the use
of audio. We attempted to challenge
the stereotypical use of
loud, unsettling music which tends to
'fit' well with the creepy
and startling images on the screen,
to slow classical music, contrasting
with the images therefore creating
an even more unsettling mood and
building up a tension,
due to suspense and confusion as to
how they are meant to be feeling or
what they should be expecting.
- Still from our thriller -
- where the girl turns on her CD player, triggering
the classical background music which persists in
the back until the end -

7. Teenagers were an integral part of our audience direction and, in turn, crucial to the social group
we set out to target as well as convey. For example the teenage girl shown in our media product,
Remember Me, illustrates the typical vulnerability of a teenage girl through a stereotypical
appearance of a teenage girl who seems to be alone and vulnerable to her surroundings, as
shown in the beginning scene, sitting on a park bench, alone, smoking a cigarette, which may also
indicate that she is troubled and is not only smoking for social acceptance, but is smoking for
some sort of relief.
We didn't decide on a set age for our main
character as we felt the way in which she
portrays herself by her teenage grunge attire,
her smoking, her attitude and her body
language in front of the camera, represents the
age group in which we wanted our character to
be (around 16-18.)
This came naturally to our chosen, actress, Lola, as she is a smoker and her fashion
sense is what we were looking for ascetically, meaning having her in her natural state
made our thriller a lot more realistic and relatable. This was heightened by our recognition
of these traits in Lola from the outset, and how we encouraged and adapted these traits
due to our directing skills, to create what we had originally visualized, and what the viewer
sees on screen.

8. Remember Me also represents an abusive mother through a supernatural, mysterious state-of-
mind re visitation.
(screen shots of the mothers re visitation)
The slow reveal of the broken family life is suggested from the the very first appearance of her
mother, automatically helping the viewer to make a judgment on her mental state and how she
may be alone with her thoughts, without any support, leading to the paranoia and anxious state
in which Lola presents herself. The corrupted family dynamics is a curtail part to our thriller, as it
is something that our targeted social group of teenage viewers may be able to relate to and can,
perhaps, empathize with.
As well as showing the family corruptions, we created a female orientated storyline portraying an
a typical mother and daughter relationship.

10. Remember me, was intended to be slightly difference from the usual thriller, we chose to mainly
focus on the cinematography and the artistic way in which it was filmed attracting a niche
audience. In turn, we would expect our thriller to be distributed by an independent British film
production company.
We would achieve this by working on a low budget, as per usual of
an independent film, yet having a high production value. The
showcase of Remember Me would be thorough small independent
film festivals, for example the annual British Film Festival, the
London Independent Film Festival, and the Cardiff Independent Film
Festival. The aim of these would be to garner interest as well as
showcasing, not only the 'best of British', but also the work of the
next generation of young filmmakers in Britain.
Ultimately, our aim would be
for distributors at these events
to sign Remember Me for
distribution at small
independent cinemas.
For example art house
theatres and the larger
PictureHouse screens,
part of Cineworld.

11. A big part in the marketing and distribution of our film would most likely be down to social media,
as we are targeting our audience towards the younger generations, the easiest way to get a hold
of our audience would be through the use of social media.
The social media sites above, include:
- Where some movie premiers sponsor to be broadcasted to all snap chat users.
– Where we could reach a wider variety of viewers due to its extreme popularity.
– Where they have just recently added sponsored adds.
– A huge social media platform which is used by celebrities, where we could easily get
publicity for our movie.
We would broadcast our trailer and movie adds in accessible places such as Facebook and other
social media sights, making the movie as easily reachable as possible. The more publicity we
would get from our marketing skills would help to bring in the funding for our next film. So as
explained, would be a large part in the progression of our work.

12. We would use below the line marketing, as used in the film, About Time, a small Independent
British film with a budget of $12 million, that I researched in the beginning stages of our work. We
would go along the same lines as they did in the sense of marketing budget and production budget
as our initial aim would be to keep it below the line and on a smaller scale to larger movies such as
star wars, with a sky high budget of $200 million.
We would aim to distribute our film through the British Film Institute (BFI) , Picture House Cinemas,
Curzon Cinema, Artificial Eye and use terrestrial television deals with channels such as BBC and
Film Four.
Our main aim and target would be to get our film to distributors looking for the newest generations
fresh and unique talent and movie making skills and for our film to marketed and distributed in the
way in which we had hoped for.

14. Our target audience for Remember Me would be aimed towards the younger generation, such as
teenagers and young adults, but could also be aimed at any age that may be attracted to this type
of thriller genre.
The main character in our film is a teenage girl who is clearly struggling with some deep rooted
psychological problems.
This would be ideal for a target audience of young adults and teenagers to want to watch someone
else of a similar age going through a tough time, on top of all the other stresses of growing up.
As well as the audiences' curiosity, they may also be more sympathetic toward the character and
feel they can relate which, in turn, makes the whole movie more realistic and a lot more intense for
the viewer.

15. Our intention would be once the film is finished, we would gain a greater
understanding of our niche audience through screening feedback from the age
groups involved, before taking it to be shown at the independent film festivals,
mentioned earlier. This information would also help in any marketing of the film
at a later date, and any industry promotional and marketing material to get the
attention of the art house cinemas to consider screening Remember Me.
Our primary target audience would be between the ages of 15 and 25 years old,
while our secondary audience would be from 26 to 35 years old. Our tertiary
audience being middle class English art film audiences who may only have
interest in the cinematography or a certain actor in our film. All of these fitting
under the category of a mainstream audience.

16. /

17. The audiences opinion plays a large part in the success of our film. In order to attract the audience
we had been planning to market our thriller to we used a few techniques to catch their eye & draw
them into the film.
We wanted to create our film more on the
visually artistic side.
To achieve this we used different editing
techniques. For example, layering two clips to
create a cross over faded effect, which in turn
created a whole new ascetic and put much
more of an eerie and contemporary edge onto
the opening.
We also used different filters to make the clips more
striking and bold.
We filmed the footage, keeping in mind we wanted it to
be as visually pleasing as possible. So we played around
by using extreme close ups quickly cutting to wide shots,
adding to the confusion and mystery of the film, not
giving the viewer time to fully adjust to the picture on the
screen. This effect creates more of a tense and
unsettling atmosphere for the viewer throughout the
opening.

18. After researching films mentioned earlier, like ‘Black Swan’ and ‘SEV7N’ at the
beginning of our planning, that is when we decided as a group we wanted to lean
more towards to visually artistic side of the film industry.
I feel our film represented our
ideas well, and due to the editing
and work we put in, to make it as
unique and eye catching as
possible, I feel the audience we
are targeting our thriller towards
would enjoy the film we have
produced.
The Mise-en-scene and the main protagonist in our opening also plays a large role
towards the audience’s engagement and attraction towards the film.

19. The main actress in our thriller
attracts a certain audience, as
mentioned in one of the earlier
questions. The girl is made out
to appeal to a specific group of
teenagers and young adults
who would be attracted to the
character and, in turn, the film
due to her clothes and the way
she presents herself which
was intended and thought out
before we set off to film, as
well as the thought process
within the marketing and
distribution of our film.

20. Our film was indented to have a certain indie
ascetic from the start, which again plays a roll
towards to type of audience that would
choose to watch our film.
The mysterious and eerie atmosphere we
tried to create with the settings and
backgrounds we placed our actor in is what
created the clear mise-en-scene within the
thriller.
In conclusion, the main attraction for our ideal audience would be down to their preferred
artistic genre. I feel young adults and teenagers with an eye for something a bit quirky
and unique, would be most attracted to our film. Especially due to the fact it has been
made by young and new film makers with an artistic eye in photography. All of which
being down to particular use of camera angles, editing, mise-en-scene and how we
captured the story line and our actress in a artistic and different way to which most, high
budget Hollywood films.
The mise–en–Scene, which we had tried to capture through mood boards before we
begun filming, was clearly set out to be more visually pleasing.

22. Whilst producing and creating our thriller opening, over the past couple of months, I
have learnt quite a bit about the technologies we used throughout the process of filming
and editing the final product.
As cinematographer, using two different types of cameras that I hadn't used before, I
quickly picked up how to use the filming equipment and begun to start playing around
with the cameras. I learnt how to use the angles and depth of field to capture a particular
mood, as well as using playing with focus on the camera to blur in and blur out whilst
filming to create a certain effect.
After testing both cameras and working out how they work, I decided to use the shoulder
mount hand held canon camera for the majority of the filming this was due to the
accessibility to a wider range of angles as well as being able to move the camera whilst
filming creating a more personal effect, using close ups of our actress from all angles.

23. Throughout the year and the filming process, we learnt a lot about camera angles and
the different ways you can capture a shot, such as;
- wide shot angles - - Close Ups - - Extreme Close Ups -
- Low Angles -- Birds Eye View -
Panning and so on. This
played a big part of the
process of filming our thriller,
as we were open to a more
extensive variety of ideas on
how to capture the perfect
atmosphere and set the
perfect mood for our
opening.

24. For the editing process, the program we used was Final Cut pro. I had used iMovie in
the past, which is a similar program, but this was the first time I had used final cut pro.
Whilst editing we progressed as the weeks went by, I seemed to pick how to work the
program quite quickly, and was then positioned as main editor for our group due to the
practice I had whilst using Imovie over the past year or so.
As a group, our skills developed and we discovered new effects, and digital techniques
in order to update and improve our film.
We started off the editing with a very basic technique due to the little practice we had
with the program, as the sessions for editing went by, we begun to add things such as
double exposure layering, which created an effect like this:

25. I feel through the process of filming and editing our thriller I have learnt a lot about how to make a
film look professional and visually appealing though the use of cameras, camera angles and editing
through programs such as final cut pro.
I personally feel the editing process is the most important part, due to the ways you can manipulate
an image and the way the viewer perceives it, by timing, colouring and different effects.
In conclusion, I have learnt a large amount about technologies in the process of constructing the
final product, learning and progressing from day one from the help of our teacher and the
experimenting we did within our group.
We also discovered techniques such as detaching audio from the video, which is how we created
the first few scenes with the birds in the background, using a short audio clip of the birds, then copy
and pasting it across the thriller. We also used many sound effects and used websites such as
Dafont, for the titles which appear on the screen. And kevin Mccloud for copyright free music to add
to our thriller.

27. Starting from the preliminary task, progressing to the full final product that is our thriller
opening, I feel, as an individual, I have progressed and learnt a lot in the process.
At the start, I had no clue as to how much work goes into a full media product, weather
that be a 5 minute film or a 2 hour film, the work behind the scenes was a lot more
dense than I had expected.
As I have never made something like this before the process leading up to it was really
interesting, we were put into our groups and were given a good few weeks to produce a
plan.
As a group we put our ideas together and produced, story boards, a whole film
treatment, opening treatment, mood boards, costumes, props, a production call sheet, a
planned location, actors and did a fair amount of research into the sub genre that we
were hoping to create.
We found that organization is key in order for the product to be produced as well and as
efficiently as possible.
We also learnt a lot about meeting deadlines and having to get everyone involved
together to plan and create.

28. As mentioned in the previous question I have learnt a lot about the technical side of
making a thriller opening. Filming, editing and working together as a group to make
sure we are all happy with the product in progress.
I feel the work we have put into our thriller has really paid off and the outcome is even
better than expected. Learning on the job from the very start, this project has given us
all just taste of what it would be like to be in the film industry and all the work that goes
into any sort of visual moving image, weather that be script writing, cinematography or
props, the amount of effort put in to produce the movies that you see on you're screens
is mind blowing.
All in all, I feel that as a team and as an individual we all worked really hard to create
our final product ‘ Remember me’.
And I am very excited to create something new and develop my skills even further.