2. In what way does your media product use forms and conventions of real media products? Our piece uses the contrast of light and darkness to signify good/evil similarly to other media products. It also manipulates certain things which are used in other thrillers such as: Quiet secluded location for attacks A young, blonde victim; provoking the audience to assume that she is a virgin, innocent and naive, thus connecting with her on an emotional level. Serial killers; these are common in thrillers and in particular the psychological thriller that we were aiming for. The character of a killer generally has a personality complex and is never completely “revealed” to us- there is always a twist or something unexpected. The long shots we used were to show isolation and build tension through the prolonged uses of them with the man- to show him being an outcast from society. The breathing and heart beat sounds were used to build suspense as they are natural human processes- the fact that it is totally natural shows us how inevitable attacks like this are, which heightens the tension for the audience.
3. In what way does your media product challenge forms and conventions of real media products? As well as using conventions, we attempted to challenge them through the use of camera; instead of a constantly steady camera, or constantly handheld, we chose a mix to create an awkwardness and make the audience feel uneasy. The switch of the two gives our film an “independent” feel as well. Our film simply wouldn’t fit into a big Hollywood type anyway, so the effect that is has created works in our favour. The “rawness” of the end product draws in the audience through the narrative and characters rather than just the eye-candy. And it is the “real film fans” who appreciate the mentioned, that are our audience.
4. What type of media institution would distribute our media product and why? Definitely an independent film institution. Our film never planned on having giant explosions, A-List actors, perfect weather and lighting conditions. But it’s the rawness and close-up feel of it that makes it suit an independent film company. It’s the imperfect feel in our final piece which make it suit independent film institutions. I feel as though they would distribute it because it will have that up-close/personal feel and enigma within it that simply doesn’t exist within large-scale productions.
5. Who would be the audience for our media product? Generally C1 or B demographic- middle class/lower middle class. People below this would be fed too much of the same advertising through the media and would generally have the same Hollywood-type film interests. They would not be suited to our film, however “generally” because there are always exceptions and we are only considering the majority of film fans. People with developed beliefs and thoughts who have an interest with the mind/psychological mindsets. These types of people would want to develop their thoughts and interests much more by participating in this. 24-44 year olds. Films targeted at teenagers tend to be very materialistic and about glamour, fame, love, and generic themes whereas this is quite different and we doubt they would appreciate our type of film due to it’s lack of Hollywood features
6. What have you done to attract/address your audience We have included the appropriate themes to meet our target audience; choosing it to be a psychological thriller. This appeals to our target audience as it is a mature theme; one children or teens might not be as interested in compared to popular themes such as love, high school, fame and so on. We have also chosen the location to fit our target audience specifically; there are no well known sights or actors; this is because our audience see past, or want to know past the norm; they want to see the film for it’s narrative and meaning. This is what would make our film successful; the underlying message and story.
7. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? I have learnt a great deal; some points in particular are that digital media has really helped ease the process of film-making as a whole. It has been possible to make our film for free! (just borrowing equipment and people is all). It has also been so much easier to edit with, and create a successful film opening with because programs are so easily accessible and have so much capabilities that you can easily simulate a green screen, create explosions, cut, fade and mask clips. And best of all, any mistakes were un-done with a simple ctrl+z! Digital technology has made this possible, and without it, our piece would have been impossible to make, or it would have required a lot of money- which we students did not have a source of.
8. Looking back to “feed the fish”, what have you learnt from this, to the main task? We’ve learnt a lot as the group, from the titles, to the camera going off focus at the wrong/right times. We’ve learnt to film more footage so that we can have a play about with it when we get off set. And it’s been really effective in creating the perfect combination of clips without having to film than 3 times. We’ve also learnt to be more creative with the effects we use, though admittedly they were hugely different tasks and not much film effects were needed for the first one.
