The document discusses the learning and skills developed by the author in creating a full media production project compared to an earlier preliminary task. In the full project, the author gained experience in professional camerawork, thorough planning, managing props, costumes and actors, and sound editing. The author also learned the importance of pre-production planning to ensure a smooth filming schedule and incorporation of key concepts like sound. Overall, the progression from preliminary task to full media product provided the author with valuable knowledge in planning, shooting and editing skills.

2. The Finished Product

3. Question 1
In what ways does your
media product use,
develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real
media products?

4.  Understanding the forms and conventions of real media
/thriller title sequences is important when creating the
final media product.
 This is because without them, it can be difficult to
understand what you need to make a thriller sequence.
 To make sure that I knew what the conventions were, I
researched thriller conventions and used that
knowledge when I looked at real thriller title and
opening sequences out there today.
 I looked at many different thriller title sequences, such
as Cape Fear, Psycho and Casino.

5.  After researching and analysing, I then knew what
conventions I could implement into the sequence.
 To place all my research together, I created a spider
diagram with the rest of the people in my team:

6. Frame 1 - Narrative

7.  For the very beginning of the film, I wanted to create
mystery and suspense, without giving away the
narrative and the plot.
 That way the audience would be left wondering what
will happen next.
 It also allowed me to set the scene of where the events
will take place using an establishing shot of a sign for
the school.

8. Frame 2- Camera
and Editing

9.  To make sure there is suspense and the title sequence
is thrilling and intriguing, I used a mix of shots.
 This was important to the narrative and allowed for the
emphasis on the tense nature of some parts of the
sequence.
 Editing allowed me to create tension and suspense.
This was achieved by using a jump cut between the
killer killing the victim and the victims blood dropping.

10. Frame 3 – Film
titles

11.  Titles are important in providing the audience with a
glimpse of what the narrative will be, with out giving it
all away.
 As well as the sequence, I also had to consider the font
for the titles. I had been looking at Noir films and the
font used in the RockStarTM game L.A Noire. Set in
late 1940’s/ early 1950’s Los Angeles, California,
U.S.A, whereby the user takes on the role of Detective
Cole Phelps of the LAPD.
 The motion of the font is designed so that the titles just
appear as jump cuts.

12. Frame 4- Character
Introductions

13.  The introduction of my main character (the Protagonist)
is not introduced till just after the final opening title.
 The first character we actually see first in the lower
mid-body shot of the Antagonist, and is dressed in dark
clothing, which is stereotypical.
 This was done so that actually the audience is left
questioning who is the main character?
 My main character was dressed how a Detective is
stereotypically portrayed, in a suit. This is very typical
of many Hollywood films and so my product is using
these expectations.

14. Frame 5 - Lighting
This is the cropped version of
the original frame, to indicate
that the lighting is the subject.

15.  I wanted to keep the natural light as I wanted to this to
be the case as I felt it would add a more real feeling to
the film.
 This challenges conventions of a thriller film as most
films of this genre have dark and dim lighting.
 It also challenges film noir lighting as films in this genre
also have low and dim lighting.

16. Frame 6 – Setting
and Location

17.  The setting for the opening sequence was set in a
school. Most of the filming was done up in the sixth
form.
 However the setting was not designed to immediately
give the audience a hint that this is where the crime will
take place.
 The shot of where the antagonist kills his victim, is
where the audience then get a glimpse of the crime
scene.
 This is then supported with the first shot after the final
title, whereby our protagonist (The Detective) and the
Medical Examiner (Coroner) walk towards the crime
scene tape that is visible in the foreground.

18. Frame 7 – Genre

19.  The frames I have chosen depict the crime-thriller
genre that my media product belongs to.
 This is because the shots of the antagonist and blood
dropping once he has shot the victim, can allow the
audience identify that the film belongs to this genre.
 The genre is further backed up with the shots of our
protagonist as he walks onto the scene. This indicates
that he is there to solve the mystery, which is what the
shot of the protagonist walking onto the scene.

20. Frame 8 – Special
Effects

21.  To do most of our editing and the creation of special
effects I used Adobe Premiere CS6, which allowed me
to create jump cuts between the antagonist and his
victim.
 The tracking shot of our antagonist, where he is
walking towards the office, but pure accident the actor
got close to the camera, which caused a blurred shot.
However this worked well as it made a effective
transition to the next shot.

22. Frame 9 – How
Suspense is created

23.  Low angle shots of the antagonist creates suspense as
the audience is left wondering what the identity of the
antagonist is.
 The use of music over the titles was done so that it
added to suspense because like the antagonist’s
victim, the audience can not hear the antagonist
coming along the corridor.
 This means that the audience will want to know if our
protagonist will catch the antagonist.

24. Question 2
How does your media
product represent
particular social groups?

25.  My product does represent social groups in many
different ways:
 Class
 Age
 Gender

26. Class
 I have targeted a wide variety of Income brackets and
their subsequent class.
 My protagonist is a middle class American, which is
different as most police officers and detectives are
usually lower middle class.
 The antagonist is at the working class end of the
American population class divide, as typically, janitors are
of this class.
 Going back to middle class, as the teachers are the
antagonist’s victims, teaching is still considered a middle
class role in society.

27.  This conforms with Laura Mulvey’s theory that :
 “The point of view that a camera holds is essentially
male and that there is a male gaze.”
 She also states that “Men can identify with male
characters and that Women sometimes have to change
sex in order to identify with characters.

28. Gender
 In the production although unintentional at the time of
filming and planning, only since going through the video
again have I seen, that actually it is a old-fashioned
view of men and women portrayed.
 The Protagonist is male as we naturally assume males
to be the Detective.
 The Antagonist is male, but his victim shown in this
production is female, this is a stereotypical view of how
the antagonist and their victim are portrayed.

29. Age
 As the age of people who will see the product, will be
aged 16+, my characters had to fit into a suitable age
range.
 My protagonist is aged around 24 as this about the age
that most Police Officers can make Detective. However
the Actor who plays this role (Me) is aged 18, however
using costumes and props allowed me to look older.
 My antagonist is aged at around late 40’s early 50’s as
this is the stereotypical view of Janitors.
 As the teacher that is shown in the film is quite high up in
the teaching rank system, we expect her to be old and
she is at 50 years of age. Luckily I found an actress of
that age to play the part.

30. Question 3
What kind of institution will
distribute your media
product and why?

31.  As my final product is a film, then the suitable
company to distribute my media product as it is a
film.
 I have decided that Fox Searchlight pictures, a
subsidiary of 21st Century Fox as they would be
useful in distributing my film in the USA.
 This is because there is a much bigger audience
and as the location is set in New York, then a lot of
the audience will be able to relate to it.
 This will then ultimately bring in more money to
increase the total box office.

32. Question 4
Who would be your
audience for your media
product?

33. It is important to conduct research into your target audience
for many reasons:
 They provide the primary source of feedback.
 A source of what they like and dislike.

34.  I interviewed different people from all ages and was
able to obtain their taste and would use this with the
production of my media product.
 After interviewing people from both genders and
getting feedback, I concluded that the target
audience for my film would be 16+ because they
would be able to understand the film.
 This then gave me a more accurate view of who
would come and see the film.

35. Question 5
How did attract/address
your audience?

36.  It was important that I could attract an audience to see
my final media product.
 I did this through a variety of ways:
 I used VoxPops as an audio means to give potential
audiences, the synopsis of what the film will be about.
As it was set in a school, I felt that it could relate to
people.
 Also as well, as our protagonist is a Detective with the
NYPD, audiences will be familiar with the Detective
type of character, from films such as Dirty Harry, Lethal
Weapon, Die Hard, The Black Dahlia, etc.

37. Question 6
What technologies have you
learnt about when creating the
final product?

38. I have learnt about a variety of
technologies whilst creating my final
product:
• Camera Equipment.
• Editing.
• Sound.

39. Camera Equipment
 We used high definition cameras, which was new
to me and I had to learn how to operate the
camera and use my knowledge of correct shot
types, that I have learnt in class.
 It helped me to understand the importance of how
the shot looks, so that it looks good and works
well.

40.  Using additional equipment such as tripods provided
stability when it came to shooting scenes and prevented
‘wobbly’ shots.
 Along with this , tracking shots had to be shot using
‘primitive’ methods, such as using a wheelchair or the
Janitors/Caretakers trolley.
 As I had advanced further than the class, I had access
to all the equipment that I needed.

41. Editing Technologies.
 We had access to AppleTM MacBook Pro laptops
as our main tool for editing.
 We learnt about Adobe Premiere CS6 to help with
improving our footage.
 In conjunction with this, we learnt how to upload to
YouTube and Vimeo.

42.  We learnt at the start of the course, how to remove
parts of footage, they we may not require, as well as
other functions as fading.
 Learning these different things helped with the
production and the editing of my final product, but also
helped me personally, understand how the storyboard
can often affect the accessibility of some of the shots
and their location.
 This helped as it improved improvisation.

43. Sound editing
 We learnt that music is an important part of thriller films.
 Although finding music was hard I managed to find some.
 I then had to import it into premier.
 Once imported I then manipulated it with other tracks I
had found and created an original soundtrack.

44. Question 7
 Looking back at your preliminary
task, what do you feel that you
have learnt in the progression
from it to the full product?

45.  I feel that overall, I have gained a wealth of
knowledge, from when I shot the preliminary
sequence and right up to the full product and I feel
that I was competent in both cases.
 The conversation between two characters in the
preliminary exercise demonstrated the 180 degree
rule we had been learning about.
 This would come in use for the final product,
where my protagonist was talking to other
characters.

46.  All of my camerawork, is much more professional and
stable.
 During the preliminary exercise, I had crossed the 180
degree rule. Therefore I was more cautious when
planning and producing the different shots.
 I knew that shooting correctly was essential as this
made sure the quality of the filming was at a very high
standard and would ultimately show my competence at
the workings of the camera.
 This was achieved by using equipment such as tripods
and requesting the use of the caretaker’s trolley to use
with tracking shots.

47.  One important thing that I had learnt when creating
the final product that was different from the
preliminary exercise, was the planning, which is what
takes up a lot of time before you can even start
filming.
 The need to make sure that you have all the
necessary storyboards, shot lists and other plans to
make sure things were as smooth as possible and
also to make sure everything is done on time.
 Planning also covered shooting, if props could not be
obtained or locations secured, I had to think on the
spot and plan around the inconvenience, so that I
could get the filming done.

48.  In conjunction with this, was making sure that all
props and actors were n the same place on each
shoot, to ensure continuity.
 I also learnt that costume and make-up are
important and can be the cause of delays if not
properly planned and implemented.

49.  A weather report was also important as it gave me
an indication of when I could shoot outside.
 I also learnt that it is important to have sound
planned as well. This is because the key concepts
of a thriller sequence are the sounds the audience
can hear.