Susuana - AS Media Studies Coursework Evaluation

The coursework for AS media studies was to create an opening of a Thriller film that was up to two minutes long and included titles. Music included in the film had to be from a copyright free source and to prepare for the final film at least one practice film had to be produced.
My Group, made up of, myself, Claudio, Daniel, and Nimrol, created an opening, to a Thriller film, which was eventually called, “Premonition”. “Premonition” is a film about a scientist who kills a person in an experiment and then starts to have disturbing premonitions. Therefore, he creates a machine that sends him back to the past so that he can change things. However every time he tries to change something he has even worse premonitions, but this doesn’t stop him from trying and eventually he kills himself before any of the things he see in his premonitions occurs.
Our “Premonition” develops the forms and conventions of real Thriller openings with the way it is edited. From the thriller openings that we watched as part of our research, and the documentary “Watching”, I saw that the majority were either based on tense tracking of the main character or characters, or a puzzling, or gruesome, thrilling event. For example, we watched “The Shining”, and its opening title sequence was mainly based on the camera tracking the family car up the mountains with haunting music, which set a tone that makes the audience thinks that something is going to happen. Even though there was not a big engaging event I though this sort of title sequence was very effective because it created an atmosphere, which engaged the audience.
“Premonition” uses conventions of a thriller opening because part of it is tracking main the character, it goes further by confusing with other shots which then confuse the audience of what they should be looking out for.
I think that “Premonition” would be made for TV, because it would more likely to come across as a short film with a market similar to “Doctor who” and “Primeval”, hence the fact that I do not think it is suitable for a Hollywood film distribution. Media institutions, which would distribute or film, would be on channels such as Sky Movie, Virgin 1 and Trouble. The film would also be marketed on the channels.
The audience for “Premonition” would be educated, people between the age of 16 and 24. The target audience would be a student at university, white male, lower or middle class and interested in science. The film is mainly dominated by males and therefore attracts males alike. Other people, who would like the film, are people that like intricate shot in film or photographers because most of the shot are complex and significant, and every shot matters. Therefore there would maybe come and watch it for inspiration.
The main character is a well-educated middle class white male, this being so, the audience is not expectant to see him as a killer or a bad person or some one has a difficult life. The victim in the film is a black male; witch on some terms is unconventional and irregular because black males are normally represented as the bad people. Therefore, I think this film is very unconventional.
I have learned a great deal about filming and editing from the process of constructing the film. I have learned how to use a camera, safely and effectively. I have learned how to log and capture, add effects, transitions and slow down and speed up thing on the apple final cut pro. I also learned how to export a soundtrack to a film project. Before this project I was only used Microsoft film maker and wasn’t really knowledgeable about any other film maker but I believe now I’ve almost got to full grips with final cut pro. Also before this project, I have never really known how to handle or work a camera or setup a tripod now its second nature.
I also liked using the blog to record the filming process because it was easy. I started blogging before the project so it was usual to me. When blogging not only could I write what I did so I can never forget it and you see your progress but I could also free express my views about our process and comment on other peoples.
The films were uploaded to Vimeo there anyone could watch it on the internet, which widens are potential audience because it can now be seen worldwide.
From the practice tasks, I learned the importance of the camera movement and angle. With each one we did, we got better and by the time, it came to the final film I knew what worked and what did not.
We knew to use specific shots to create certain meanings. For example, the shot when he walks past the puddle and we see his reflections along with the reflection of the building and the sky, gives the viewers some information but yet everything is not clear therefore creating a mysterious tone. Another shot that was very important was the end shot, because it was important how everything was composed in the shot. There is a similar shot at the beginning of the film, and when it appears at the end of the film, the audience know a little bit more about the character and they are then surprised to see when the camera is panned across, a hostage tied up in the background. When we went to the cinema and our film was shown it had this effect, ad the audience was surprised therefore I think it fulfilled its purpose.
From the practice tasks, I also developed my skills with the soundtrack program. We learned a about how sound is a fundamental factor in a thriller opening because it sets the tone for the rest of the film. The first time we created a sound track was in the second practice film; that soundtrack came together well so when it came to the soundtrack for the thriller it was not to heard. The only thing we found difficult was the timing, which I believe could have been better if we had a bit more time. We added electrical sounds and tried to merge it with the sound of a heartbeat to set a facts pace tone for the film and also introduce the theme of the thriller.
Overall, the whole project taught me a great amount about the conventions of film and the filming process.
If I was given the opportunity to do it again, I would plan very far ahead things like the story, and the location, which were things that we found to be difficult in our thriller, because they kept changing. However, I do not believe it did not show at all in the final piece due to camera work. Nevertheless, I would have liked to have had a concrete story to work on, that was contributed by the whole team.