Evaluation question 3

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

My film is a crime-thriller, in this type of movie there is usually a lot of action involved. These types of movies have large budgets as it is needed for the special effects. However as this is a first time movie I would not have one of the big conglomerate production companies to help me. For this film I would need have a independent production company like vertigo,  Film 4, and prism studios. Distribution is an extremly important part as this allows there adiance to watch the film when it is possible for them, This can be by uploding the film online on for example itunes and the google playstore. This allows the audiance to watch when it is convinent for them.

For my product I would use new technologies to promote the film, this is because by using social media and places like youtube while there advert is playing they can learn more about the film by clicking on the link, which could have a link to the full film. This makes distributing the film easier as physical copies do not have to be made. If people do by using itunes or google play they can watch the movie whenevre they want and if they use google play it will be added too their youtube acount so it is esier to access. By using facebook and twitter hashtags can be made about the movie and people can talk about that topic.

Having a simultanius lauch everywhere can make the film gain attention, but as not many people would know about the movie it makes more sense to release it in one country at a time so that people in the Uk start talking about it online and this gains attention causing people in other countries to wait for the release as they had been anticipating it becuase it is a popular topic in the online comunity. Also uploading the movie on amazon prime, netflix and lovefilm could mean more people will watch the film as these online retailers have a large amount of the public watching movies on their sites.

For my film to be distributed in this way I will need the aid of a well knows distribution campany for example Lionsgate as they released movies like the Hunger games and Divergent. Lionsgate is a company that was created in 1997 and since then they have been involved in over 200 movies most being thrillers. From the movies they have made, they have grossed nearly $7 billion. The use of Lionsgate can help the film be distributed to many more countries and as they have connections to major production companies, I would also be able to get aid from them.

EVALUATION QUESTION 5

How did you attract/ address your audience

My audience target audience is 12 and over, however most crime thrillers are rated 18. I have my target audience at 12 as my film will not have any scenes of sexual nature which is allowed in movies 15 and over. Having my target audience at 12 allows me to have a larger per cent of people who would like to see the film.

At 12 I am allowed to use strong language depending on the tone it is used in. My film is not aimed at a specific gender, My film contains a child, who would be relatable to younger viewers, the main protagonist has not been shown in my opening sequence, but the character would be male at around his late teens and early 20s. This would make the male viewers to relate to the character, to see through the characters eyes. As I am using a young male actor, female audience members might be attracted to him and therefore come to see the movie. This would increase the success of the movie.

As the movie is a crime thriller there is action which would catch the attention of male viewers, there is also new technology being used as well as cars. The use of new technology is because the audience will know how to use the equipment. The film contain scenes that are slow and calm but it can qickly change to an action packed scene making hearts pound and making the audiance excited. Action thriller are one of the most popular genre in the industry for my target audiance, this is beacuse there is action and also because the audiance can relate and understand the charecters.

For people to hear about my film I used social networks like facebook, twitter and google+ to destribute the film. Advertising it online means that more people willl be able to see this and might be intrested in watching the film. Usig social network for advertising is good as most poeple are now always on their phones or online where these adverts will apear this was done by first uploading on youtube and creating a link so people can watch it useing other social networks. The use of google plus means that the product can be seen on youtube which have a huge following and is a social network in its own way. I also sent the product to my friends vie google drive so they can view and also keep it on there device to show their friends.

Evaluation question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups ?

My film has male characters, there are three groups of people in my opening sequence. I have people of aged 26-35, 18-25 and also chilldren aged 6-10. We do not know much about the two kidnappers. One is dressed in a suit while the other in casual clothing. This difference in clothing show that there is a differance in age and authority between the charecters.

We do not know much about the second kidnapper, his face has been hidden in the extract untill the very end, therefore we can not see his characteristics. Im the media people of ages 18-25 are show to be criminals, " thugs", which in my opening I have incoperated, they are usually potrayed to be in gangs wear hoodies and create trouble which again in my extract I have kept to this stereotype as it is what society is used to, this choice could upset most people of this age group as the stereotype is not correct, most people of this age are not in gangs, always wear hoodies or cause problems. This charecter therfore does not represent people of his soical group as not everyone is a kidnapper.

The person in a suit looks like he is coming from work, he looks like he is aged 26-35. People of this social group does not usually have as much negative representaions in the media. They are shown to be hard working and does not have much spare time. This is true as most people of his age have got a lot of work to do for their job and this means they have little time to spend doing what they want, however in my opening it seems that this man is not very hard working as he has left during the middle of the day and this means he has time to do what he wants. Again this charecter  does not potray people in this social group as not many people ar ekidnappes.

Children are shown to be inoccent and very vulnerable in the media today, this is because of kidnappings that are taking place, children can not just playoutside, ride their bikes like they could have in previous generations. This forces them to stay indoors more, which is shown by the  charecter on his laptop. The vulnerableility is shown as he is being kidnapped and there is nothing he can do. This potrayes what goes on in real life when children are on their own, things like this can happen in our sociaty.

Evaluation question 4

Who would be the audiance for your media product ?

My media product is about the kidnapping of a child, who has a lot of knowledge on technology and is able to write software and is able to program with electrical devices such as mobile phones, music players and computers. My movie is similar to Taken which had an age bbfc rating of 15 and had a target audience of 17 and above as the female character is that age. There was also a audience for male audience members from their late 30s to early 40s as the father, the protagonist in the movie would be around that age. As my product does not have as much violance, blood or any scenes of sexual nature I believe my product can be a 12 rated film.

However in my film the protagonist is in his late teens and early 20s. This would attract males of this age range. I have done this because teenagers talk about movies they have seen, the target audience is usually the 19 year old male as he will spread awareness to his friends and the news of the movie will spread from that by word of mouth. I also have young male character which the audience might find cute and therefore have empathy toward him when he gets kidnapped. For these reasons I have a target audience from 12 to 34. This is because there are more 25 - 34 year old people that make a large amount of the film going audience. This is partially to do with the amount of time that they have as many 35+ people would have work and bellow 17 teens would have school as well as exams.

I am not targeting any specific gender as research shows that both genders watch crime thrillers as the male viewers are attracted by the content of the film and the female viewers are attracted by the male actors. However as I have more male characters in the film it would attract larger male audience as they would be able to connect with the characters. As my film could be rated 12 this increase the number of people that can watch the movie, whhich in turn increses the proffit. Action thrillers have had a huge impact on the industry from movies like taken and also skyfall, however because of the nutyre of these movies ther audiance was limited which is why i think that there is place in tyhe industry for films like mine which can cater to audiance members under 15 and may even be suitable for people under this age as children can learn from my movie from my movie that they should be carefull to who they talk to both online and in reality.

Evaluation question 6

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

During this project I have used a Nikon D3-100 DSLR camera and also the galaxy note 3. I learnt that when using the Nikon it is important to change the shutter speed to change the amount of light that is coming to the sensor. To compensate while taking photos yo have to increase the amount of light coming in to the sensor by adding lights or to increase the ISO level. However increasing the ISO level will increase the amount of noise in the picture. I learnt that while recording you should not track the camera from a place of low light to an area with a lot of light as the camera will need to refocus and this will ruin the shot as it takes around a second to refocus.

The editing softwere that we used was Final Cut, In this program I learnt how to colour correct as my shots had a yellow tint to it because of the lights I used. As i was filming i needed to use the steady cam but i was not able to keep it balanced so I used my Note 3 filimg 1080p at 60 fps to get a smooth shot which gave good results as well as good colour reproduction. If i had been able to use the stediecam i would have got footage which would be smooth like it was on a dolly.

To create my credits for the opening sequance I used Adobe After effects. In this program i was able to keyframe effects so they started and finished when i wanted the animation to do so. I was also able too add a source of light to the title of my film, this made an animation so that the title slowly appears then disapperas.

Evaluation Question 7

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

In the preliminary task, when planning the shot list, we used 8-12 shots, while in my final product, I used 19 shots.While filming I added shots to the list, which improved the final product and it also gave me more options to give me more options incase there where any issues with the shots I had planned.

The preliminary task had sound that I had borrowed from Youtube, which was one layer of the sound. For one of the shots with the door opening I extended the audio of the creaking door to make the scene feel more frightening. For my final product I recorded the sounds myself by using a microphone on my guitar and experimenting with other instruments to see what worked to give an ominous feeling to the audience. I added small sound effects at random times to intrigue the audience. For the sound aspect of the film I have learnt how to record music. I have done my own research on microphones, what type of microphone is needed to record acoustic instruments, to record voices and where microphones sound be places in respect of where the object you are recording is. I also learnt that adding layers of other sounds can enhance the listening experience and give the effect that is can be used to enhance what is on the screen. At first I had one layer of guitar, but after going through the edit I realised that more layers of sound was need so I added a keyboard layer and a different guitar part at the end of the opening.

I used a Nikon D3100 as the main camera in my filming. I learnt that white balancing before you start recording can help a lot with the editing process.This is because when I put the shots on to my time line all the shots looked very yellow. Also, while filming you should try to keep the amount of light coming in to the camera the same otherwise it could take the camera a while to focus and to change the exposure level. I also learnt that when filming you should shoot the same shot more than once so if there was a mistake you didn't see the other shots could fix this and this would help not needing to reshoot on a different day.

For my preliminary task I used livetype which is a simple program I used to create the credits. For my final product I learnt how to use Adobe After Effects. On this program I had access to more options for my credits such as when the animation started and to add a light source to give a good effect for my title.

In my editing in the preliminary task I had used a fade which I think was needed and the action that accrued in 8 cuts. while in my final product there were many more cuts.

evaluation question 1

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

My product is similar to a crime thriller, in thrillers the objective is to cause the audiance to anticipate what is about to happen. This causes suspence and tension for the audiance. My film is similar to Taken, I have used low lighting situations and close up shots which are usually used in thrillers.

In my opening in have not shown my protagonist, I have done this to so the audiance can ask who the protagonist is and keep them interested. The victim is usually a teenage girl in the thriller genre, so i have use a young male, so the audiance can empithise with the charecter, this also gives the character a vulnerable nature . The opening causes suspence when you see the shadow of someone in the house, and you see a car pulling up to the drive. This would get the audiabce asking is the child in danger ?, is the person in the house going to be caught by the person in the car ? How did this person get in, etc. To get these questions i have not shown the face of the person in the house untill the very end.

At the end i have used short clips to show movement and then it cuts to a black screen. I did this to cause tension within the audiance.

final product

Editing Process

 In final cut, i have been editing the footage that I have taken. I have used the shots i have and put the shots in a sequence that lets the scene to progress. there are some shot that i will have to reshoot as there are mistakes in them or the shot does not match the previous shot.

For my soundtrack I have used my guitar to create a few recording that i have been using in garage band to loop the sequence easier but for the actually eddying of the tracks i have been using Adobe Sound booth. At home i am play with a violin to get the type of sound that i need to use in the opening scene.

During the process of editing i have also colour corrected the clips so the look more natural and not so yellow as i did not white balance properlly when filming, and the lights I used were slightly yellow and not completely white.

Opening credits first attempt

Props and costumes and location

Costumes

In my opening scene for the thriller there is a small child. He will be wearing something normal and is expected to be worn by a small child, Jeans and T-shirt. The first character we will encounter will be wearing a black suit, this will show he is important and professional.
The second male character will be wearing jeans, T-shirt and hoodie to cover his face. The hair style of the male character in the suit will be neat and professional with his appearance. The little boy will have a clean hair style that suits the clothes he is wearing, the hair style could be a little messy.
The second character will have a hood over his head so we don't see his face.

Props

For the scene I will need a car for the opening shot. This will most likely be a BMW. The kid will be on a laptop so i will need to have a laptop, and headphones and books on the desk that a child of his age would be reading as well as school books. for the opening i will have a scene showing how the second character got into the house, i will need a broken door.                                            

Location:

I will be using my own house as it is convenient for filming and i have planed the movie to rotate around this setting, However i could also use the house of a friend that is slight larger for more space to film in and better for lighting.

                                                 

The soundtrack

The soundtrack for my thriller will include inspiration from these songs.

I will use the main chorus of the assassins creed soundtrack and adapt it to suit the thriller.
and the bass line of the James bond theme song.

Thriller Pitch

storyboard

Second shot list

Shot number	Shot type	Angle of shot	Movement of camera	Description
1	Close up	Eye level	None	A car is pulling up to the drive way
2	Close up	Eye level	Tilting up	A person in a suit gets out of the car
3	Mid shot	High angle	270 rotation around the character	A kid is on his laptop with his headphones on full volume.
4	Long shot	Low angle	None	The person in the suit is walking up to the door. Camera behind the person.
5	Mid shot	High angle	None	There is a shadow moving in the corridor
6	Over the shoulder	High angle	None	The person in the suit rings the door bell
7	Establishing	High angle	None	The door to the room opens slowly showing a shadow
8	Over the shoulder	Low angle	None	Person outside is knocking on the window.
9	POV	Eye level	Use the steady cam to shoot the man inside looking at the boy in the room	The boy takes off his headphones and hears the knocking on the door.
10	Mid shot	High angle	None	The Boy runs down the stairs.
11	Establishing	Eye level	Panning	From the boy walking down the stairs to the boy walking to the window
12	Mid shot	Low angle	None	The boy looks through the window
13	Establishing	Eye level	None	The Boy goes to open the door.
14	POV	High angle	Tilting up	As soon as the door opens and you see the boy, and behind him the man that was inside the house.
15	Close up	Low angle	None	The man uses chloroform on the boy and picks him up.
16	Long shot	Eye level	None	We see him take the boy into the car. The camera is behind them
17	Mid shot	Eye level	None	The boy is being taken into the car. The camera is at the front
18	Mid shot	Eye level	None	None person in suit walks towards the car takes a letter out and turns back to leave the letter by the door.
19	Close up	High angle	None	Close up of the letter, with it saying on the top “ We have your child, Ransom inside.”