Evaluation

For this task we had to film a two-minute thriller opening. We were given several weeks to make the film and edit it and at the end it was shown in the cinema.

The opening of a film must not answer all the questions and it must leave some doubt in the audience’s minds. Therefore we decided to make something quite enigmatic. It showed me walking inside a building but some of the shots we did were CCTV-style so that it looked more mysterious and stood out more. Straight away the audience would know that something was wrong. There were also many scenes showing electrical equipment and wires before the final shot where the audience sees somebody tied up, unable to move. This was how we ended our opening. For the editing we used Final Cut pro. We also wrote our own soundtrack.

Overall I feel that we succeeded in our task and the film turned out well and looked effective on the big screen.
When deciding what to do for our thriller we thought of real thriller films and their openings to give us an idea of what would work and what wouldn’t. We were also shown a documentary in class about the openings of films. We learned that the most important thing is to build up suspense and leave the audience wondering what will happen next. The documentary taught us that the opening is, arguably, the most important part of the film as it sets the mood and the tone for the rest of the film.

Our film does not challenge the forms and conventions of real media products in any way but instead it uses them. When making the film we used the conventions of a thriller as a guideline for us. The dramatic music and the kidnapping of an innocent victim are very common. Our camera shots were standard as was the way in which we started off with an establishing shot and then did not show the victim until the end of the opening in order to raise questions in the audience’s mind and keep them glued to their seats.

Before we made the real thriller we made two practice films. These were to get us used to working with cameras and introduce us to Final Cut pro. The first film we made was about a game of cards. For most people this was their first filming experience so it was very informative. The next preliminary task was to create a conversation between two people. As we had already had some experience with the equipment, we were now given the challenge of using match cuts and clever editing techniques. We learned that it is usually advisable to do many takes, as there might be a problem that you can’t see which becomes apparent during the editing process. If you watch the three films in order, it is interesting to see how much progress we have made each time.

There are only two actors in the opening scene of our thriller. Both are male so women have not been represented in this opening scene. The victim in the film which we shot is black. However, during the course of the film the murderer will have many different victims, both male and female, of various races and religions. The reason for this is so that our film can appeal to as many people as possible. We do not want to alienate a particular social group by leaving them out as this could lead to a loss of popularity and revenue for our film. The point of the film is not to represent a particular race, group or class but to be an enjoyable and thrilling experience for those who watch it.

We would be looking for a large media institution to distribute our film, such as Universal. We would hope that it could have success worldwide. The reason for thinking this is that there are elements of our film which we feel have followed the conventions of what gives a film commercial success. It features a lot of action and violence rather than focusing on emotional drama or feelings. It could potentially make a lot of money for the distributors if it is turned into a big Hollywood blockbuster rather than a small independent release or even a DVD release only. High concept films with lots of special effects tend to do very well at the box office. To include the special effects that we need we would require a big budget, meaning that a lot of money would have to be invested into the film. Therefore we would have to make a lot back.

The main target audience for our thriller film is middle class teenagers. It would probably appeal more to males than females. This is because it is usually a mainly teenage audience who watches this type of film. As there is a lot of violence it would probably be more attractive to boys than girls. The middle classes tend to go to the cinema a lot but people from any class might enjoy this film. As the film is following the conventions of successful mainstream thrillers we would expect our audience to be made up of mainstream viewers. A typical person who fits into our target audience is 16-year-old Fred. He is a student of media, English language and photography. He shops in Footlocker and loves going to the cinema with his friends. He enjoys thrillers and also horror films.

We are planning to address our audience and promote our film through the right use of advertising, marketing and promotion, as well as trying to appeal to fans of that genre. We would look to use a director working with stars who he has worked with before in films that have succeeded. This would attract fans who enjoyed their previous work together. The work they have done in the past would also be thrillers, so that we could appeal to our correct target audience.

For our advertising we would make trailers and billboards with posters on the sides of buses. The trailer could be shown at the cinema and on television. We would also invest a lot of time in an internet campaign. As our target audience is teenagers, we would know that they have high internet use. Therefore youtube videos and adverts linked to teen sites would be good for us.

From this filming I learned many things about technology which I didn’t previously know. Firstly, I had never used a camera before, so filming was at first a bit tricky. We had a tutorial from the technician which taught us about the cameras and tripods and after that I felt confident to try filming. One thing I learned was the importance of the tripod. Handheld shots tend to come out very blurred and shaky. After the filming we edited using Final Cut pro, which was another new experience for me. I had an idea of how editing was done before but it was very interesting to see it for myself. Another technological thing we used was the internet. We did so in many ways, firstly to record our progress on our blog. We also released our film on video so that others could watch it online. With it being on the internet, this means it could go on youtube and potentially be seen by millions of people.

After we had finished the film it was shown in the cinema to all the AS Media Studies students. This was very useful to us as it showed us the audience reaction. As our target audience were teenagers, this was particularly useful for showing us how successful we were. The comments were very positive and people were impressed with our editing but felt that the plot was a little unclear. Next time we should focus more on this. The main area of weakness was our plot lacking clarity but the main area of strength was our editing. There was one shot in particular where I touched two wires together and then the music changed simultaneously. This was enjoyed by the audience. The soundtrack we created was also effective, as it sounded interesting and upbeat and enabled us to keep the audience’s attention. Overall, I feel that I have learned a great deal from this filming experience.