Evaluation: Question 6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of construcing this media product?

Evaluation: Question 2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation: Question 5) How did you attract/address your target audience?

It is extremely important to do secondary research into existing films because it is reliable in gathering information. It gives new ideas and influences different perspectives which could help attract the right target audience.

From looking at secondary research it is evident that the target audience for thriller films are people between the ages of 15-35 including both genders. It is also evident that the target audience do not have a certain ethnicity or occupation. The target audience's hobbies or interests tend to be more adventurous rather than relaxed.

I felt that the thriller audience enjoyed the conventions such as tension building, scary music and villains as these factors contribute to a typical thriller film. Our group had to ensure that we followed these conventions in order to address a similar target audience and their expectations. This was done by planning out the conventions and including them when filming and editing together.

For my thriller, I wanted to attract a target audience aged 15-35 including both genders in order to stick to the conventions of a successful thriller. I also wanted all ethnicities and people with different hobbies to be interested in my thriller.

We decided to carry out a questionnaire as part of our primary research because this would ensure we followed the audiences preferences and what they wish to watch. The more information we got from the audience the more advantageous it was for our group as we could meet the needs of our target audience the best we could. The questionnaire also saved us a lot of time as we could pick up our results, that were reliable, quicker. This is my questionnaire...

4 key questions:

One of the key questions I asked which was a multiple question was "What scares you the most in thrillers?" with the options of "Ghosts, Zombies, Possessed Children, Extreme violence, Deaths." This helped us attract the right target audience as we were able to understand what the audience wanted to watch. This resulted in the majority of people in favour of "Deaths" which is why we chose to include it in our thriller.

Another key question that I asked which was open ended was "What attracts you to thrillers the most?" This question helped us attract the right target audience because it gave the audience a chance to write their opinion clearly which we could then use to base our thriller on. The majority of people answered in "Scary music, Death scenes and Violence" which also gave us a clear guidance when producing our thriller.

Another key question that I asked which was a multiple choice question was "Would you prefer to watch characters that are students or families?" This question resulted in the majority of people wanting to watch students which was extremely beneficial as we were able to base our characters on younger adults/teens. This ensured that my group attracted the right target audience.

Additionally, a key question that I asked which was open ended was "What setting would be suitable for a thriller in general?" This resulted in the majority of people stating "Dark places, houses, and forests" which was also beneficial as we could adjust our setting according to their opinions.

2 key quotes...

An open ended question I asked was  "Whats the best thriller you've seen based on realistic ideas?" which resulted in various quotes such as "Obsession, Seven, Psycho, Insidious, Sinister"
This helped me make key decisions in ensuring that I was attracting my target audience because I could use these successful films as influences to my thriller. The difficulty in relationships shown in my thriller links to the film "Obsession" whilst the anonymity of the antagonist links to the thriller "Seven".

Another open ended question I asked was "What ideas would you like to see in a new thriller film?" which resulted in various quotes such as "different methods of killings", "scarier music", "better tension building", "more silences to help build tension". This helped me make key decisions in ensuring that I was attracting my target audience because these answers gave me a clear guideline into how to make my film more thrilling for the audience.

Some results from my questionnaire...

Overall, I believe that primary research was extremely important as it is reliable and data you researched yourself. Also, it gives more of the opinions to the specific questions the researcher asked which could be difficult to find through secondary research. Due to this, I believe primary research helped me attract and address my audience.

Audience Feedback:

After creating my production, I held a focus group because I wanted to gain feedback from my target audience. The people that were asked to come and view the production were 15+ as this was my target age group and would help me gain the strengths and criticisms I needed. 

The focus group...

The feedback I got...

Stacey, 18 

This piece of feedback made me feel extremely proud as one of the audience recognised the typography and stated that it followed the conventions of a thriller. This means that I met the audiences expectations.



Nick, 19

This piece of feedback made me feel that I needed more improvements. This made me realise that I should have included and represented all three characters the same.



Hannah, 17 

This piece of feedback also made me feel proud as I knew that I kept my audience engaged by creating a clear narrative.


Sandro, 17

This piece of feedback made me realise that my victim was clear, however, not clear enough for my audience to engage with. The audience did not grasp enough of the representation of the victim which helps me for when I next create a production.

Evaluation: Question 3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Evaluation: Question 4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

Planning: Preliminary Task (Mr Smith)

Preliminary Task

Purpose of a preliminary task:
A preliminary task is designed to familiarise you with the camera and how to film a short sequence. It gives time to understand how to set up and use the camera before actually getting to the production. This benefits the group significantly as some may have not used a camera before which gives them an opportunity. This also benefits us when understanding techniques in editing.

This is our preliminary task...




The scenario: (screen shot)

 Our 30 second scenario starts of with Carlie walking round the corner into the study area. We decided to use the tri-pod in order to keep the filming stable and clear for the audience to see.

She sits opposite Emine and asks her if she is going to attend a party. We used shot reverse shot for this scene and over the shoulder shot. This gives the audience a clear understanding of the narrative as they can follow the conversation well. This shot was filmed with the tri-pod also to keep the camera stable during the conversation.

 Emine replies by saying she would go but does not have anything to wear. This is shot reverse shot being continued and another over the shoulder shot. This gives the audience a clear view of the other person in the conversation. This was also supported by the tri-pod to stabilise the scene.

Carlie then offers to lend a dress, however, Emine declines by saying they are not the same size. This is also a continuation of shot reverse shot to keep the flow of the scene.

Carlie takes offence and feels insulted. We decided to use a reaction shot to emphasise her response to Emine. We also used a close up for the audience to feel the emotion of the character. This was not filmed on a tri-pod and instead was hand held in order to get close enough to Carlie's face.

 

Emine immediately apologies for the misunderstanding and Carlie accepts. We decided to use a two-shot for this scene in order to show the audience the surroundings of the characters and stuck to the 180 rule in order to not confuse the audience. This shot was supported by a tri-pod in order to ensure the characters are the centre of attention even though the surroundings are being shown.

 

 

 

Emine then says she has a lesson and leaves the table, walking off. This shot was hand held in order for the camera operator to follow her as she walks.

Group roles:

In our preliminary task we decided that Emine and Carlie should be actresses in the production as they were the most confident and comfortable. We also decided that as they're going to be acting that they could take part in most of the editing. I was responsible for operating the camera and filmed the scenes needed for the task and also contributed to the editing alongside Carlie and Emine.

Difficulties you encountered whilst filming:

Difficulties we encountered whilst filming was the lack of continuity. Whilst filming in one shoot there was no chair in the scene however, in the next scene the chair appeared. This is an example of the lack of continuity in our production. Another difficulty we encountered whilst filming was sound as there was a very noisy background which interfered. Also, Emine was not speaking as loud as Carlie so the camera did not pick up her voice clearly.

In this scene, there is no chair placed between Carlie and Emine as they're having a conversation.

However, the scene after there was a chair placed between them which lacked continuity during the scene.

Difficulties you encountered whilst editing:

Difficulties we encountered whilst editing was that we had very basic knowledge when using Final Cut Pro. We had to learn and understand how to use the editing system before we could make significant changes to our scenes.

What have you learned?

During this process we learned how to operate the camera and tripod properly and also got used to the editing process. We have understood our difficulties and this gave us an opportunity to familiar ourselves with these factors before filming our thrillers. Its been beneficial as we are now ready to film without difficulty and complication and also saved us time.

Planning: Shot List (Miss Begum)

Camera Shot List

The camera shot list is created in order to show a clear list of every single shot size, angle and movement. This will benefit us once filming as we will know exactly what shot to take which will save time and planning on set. It will also make the production much more organised due to it already being set out. It will most importantly avoid confusion. 

This is our shot list...