We wanted out film opening to be as similar to the thriller genre as we could realistically achieve. We've used several conventions that you'd expect to see in a thriller opening but in some cases have challeneged them. It is clear what our film genre is and our opening looks very similar to a real life thriller opening (but a low budget version), so i'm therefor proud of the finish product.
-The music we used was mainly infulenced by the film "Seven" we became really fond the soundtrack so decided to research other songs from the artist "Nine inch nails." We found several tracks that we thought would suit our opening but our favourite was "Closer," what appealed to us the most is the use of violent lyrics, this matched our physcotic theme well. We then combined "Closer" with some computer electronic sounds such as camera flickers to add to the realism and to give the impression that somebody is being followed. The track starts off with a hard beat, lyrics then start to come in, the music gets faster towards the end which creates dramatic tension. We thought this would be a suitable soundtrack to use because it matches the mood of the film.
-Suspense is also created through the use of diegetic and non diegetic sound. The non diegetic music chosen is very intense and sinister and creates a sense of danger gradually looking as the music builds to the climax. Music is an important aspect in thriller films, especially music that creates tension, which we have used.
-We have challenged the typical titling conventions, instead of having our credits over a black background we've used a very different approach. We captured a shot of the forest and put plain red text on top, instantly connoting danger, we also added a slight glow around the text adding to the sinister theme.
-Again we have used the conventions using shot types, we've showed a consistant use of close ups and also used varioud long shots. The use of close ups have been used to create suspense and to convey emotion. On the other hand our use of long shots have been used to introduce an important location or to simply show where the action will be happening.-In the beginning of thriller openings pan shots are often used to introduce important characters to the audience, we have used this technique many times.
-Narratives often centre around a crime. Our story-line is based on a young vulnerable girl being stalked by somebody. We leave the audience in suspense and don't reveal the identity of the stalker, a typical convention used in thriller openings.-Settings for thrillers tend to usually be in isolated areas, we have used an abandoned forest to try and create a similar effect.
-We have used a variety of different lighting throughout the production of our opening. At the beginning we used natural lighting to film the distribution setting, we edited this to create a really artificial effect. Several scenes were filmed in the dark room, we liked the red colour of lighting and thought it would reflect the theme of the film. We continuously used black and white clips.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In our opening only two social group are represented, I play the role of the main character In our opening and Alex plays the role of the unidentified stalker, which we barely see. The gender of the main character (me) is represented in a stereotypical way that is typical in thriller films. I play the role of the victim ("vulnerable female"-passive character in the plot) and represents a common convention in horror films (Me always being alone suggested to the audience that I'm a easy target for the killer). We thought this idea was suitable, because we would be able to film easily, without having to rely on others, it would make the whole production much easier.
Our group chose me as an the main actor because we thought I'd be the character that the audience can relate to the most, which promotes interest for the viewer. I wore fashionable but casual clothing, similar to what many other teenage girls wear, I also wore big earrings which can be a sign of rebellion. Our media product can be seen as representing teenage girls as careless and makes the audience want to know why she's is walking through woods alone and is there a reason she's being followed. What works well about our opening, is how we leave the viewer in suspense(this is often used in thriller films), we don't reveal the identity of the "Stalker," this is a common convention in thrillers.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I believe that if our media product was to be distributed it would be by Blumhouse productions or another mayjor Hollywood institution. Blumhouse productions have distributed some of the biggest thriller and horror films made, for example; Paranormal activity, Isidious and Area 51. Our opening follows a typical Hollywood storyline because it's fairly conventional having a female victim and probably other victims later on in the film. We aimed for our film to be realeased in big multiplex cinemas.
Who would be the audience for your media product ?
Similarly to other "Stalker" type films, our narrative is very male dominated therefor the overall look and feel would be very masculine but I feel that our opening has unique elements that would appeal to a wide range of people. Our opening would be suitable for both sexes although women may feel that they can relate to the female character more. It is a fact that horror films tend to usually appeal to younger audience so we will be targeting the younger generation. I think that the our opening would be suitable for both male and female, probably between the ages of 15 and 25. Here's a website that tells you some useful information about why people watch horror films.
How did you attract/address your audience?
For our opening we decided to use young actors (ages 17) this is because the target audience is 15-25. By using young actors we can reach our audience more efficiently and enable the audience to connect and relate to the protagonists. Our product is also modern, this would again appeal to young audiences. We targeted our audience in many different ways for example:
-We used bold red fonts, instantly capturing the audiences attention and preparing them for action that's about to take place
- We used a stalker storyline, without giving away too much of the plot keeping the audience intrigued
- The use of editing is stylish and snappy, it leaves the viewer wanting to watch more
- By using a "vulnerable female" as a main character, some people may feel they can relate to her
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Producing a film opening has taught me several new skills and improved my abilty to use new technologies. Having had little experience with filming equipment before constructing this product, my knowledge has improved vastly. We filmed on several occasions and oftenly re-filmed footage that we weren't satisfied with, so I was able to spend a lot of time with the camera and picked up new skills. When we first started to film my ability to to keep and shot steady was poor, I can now do this well along with several other shot types. What i'm most impressed about is how quickly my editing skills have grew (imovie); I started the course with no mac experience and now i'm very confident using the programme to it's full potential and can achieve many different effects. I feel that my strongest point in the subject was editing, this programme really allowed me to experiment and create many different effects. I've never used i-movie before so it was a whole new learning process to me, but I picked up the programme quickly. I enjoyed learning how to edit our footage, I can now change the levels of exposure and saturation, extend and shorten clips, use transition between shots and add text. I also produced a blog which is a programme I've never worked with before, this process was relatively simple but required a lot of time. I tried to be creative on "blogger" and use different types of formats such as; hyper-links, you tube videos, audio clips and images, these were all new learnt skills. The project has also enabled me to experiment with "Garage band" (music editing software), this was probably the weakest aspect in my project, I didn't use this often, so I'm still at an amateur level.
Garageband and I movie player
Look Back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at my preliminary task I feel I have Improved a lot in all aspects of media. I have learnt a great deal about how thrillers are constructed, I've now gained skills that allow to to successfully create tension and suspense. Analysing opening has also taught me some useful skills that would be beneficial in my exam, I can now confidently explain different types of sound, camera movement and camera editing. Through practise I gained skills with certain technologies such as camera work; but even though my editing skills have grew massively I still feel like there's room for improvement. Next year I hope to improve my skills on garage-band; a music editing programme alongside making sure there is more organisation within the project.
