Evaluation.

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

The thriller genre is presented in many ways and has many different subgenres within it. All of these use the codes and conventions that make up a thriller film. These codes and conventions can include props that are used within the setting, the setting itself, the music/theme tune to the movie and also the characters within the story line. Many thrillers are set away from the victim's home, often in a place that the character couldn't easily escape from. Like the opening sequence to "Silence of the Lambs" our production uses the convention of having the main setting deep in a woods which would be complicated to find the way out from. We also have the convention of having the victim as seeming vulnerable. Although we also went against some of the conventions by having her as more of a smart blond girl instead of the typical sweet, innocent, naive blond girl that can be seen in many thriller films. We looked at the opening sequence to "The Blair Witch Project" as a way of finding the effect given by using a hand held camera. We used this technique as a way of giving point of view shots when our lead character is running through the woods. We tried to play on common fears, like the typical thriller film does, by using a clown as the "bad guy" within the film. By thinking up a backstory for the clown ("Ferris") it was easier to present him in a way that would come across as being more intimidating in the eyes of the victim. This also applies to the convention of more modern thrillers using psychological elements to thrill the audience. We tried to use the quick cuts which can define a thriller and we also used long cuts that build tension. Similarly to "Scream", we used tracking as a means of building the tension because we were able to see the victim's face as she approachs the antagonist of the film. We used a cross fade in places so that the cuts were smooth, almost creating one long shot to build up tension. By having mainly diegetic sounds within our opening sequence (like in "Silence of the Lambs") we are able to hear the victim's breathing and the crackling twigs and stones beneath her feet as she is running. This means that the viewer is able to fully comprehend the feelings of the character and realte better to them. By having the narrative from the characters point of view we managed to follow conventions and also make it so that the audience can relate to the main character easily.

How does your media product represent particular social group?
Our media product would represent the young adult male who could be in college or sixth form. It would mainly appeal to this kind of social group because, from the research I have completed, it is said that this sex are more likely to go to see a thriller because it is seen that males are typically emotionally stronger than females and are brought up to enjoy the action and thrills that this kind of film gives. Susan Burgraff's "snuggle effect" theory could also come into play with the social group that our film represents because the thrills that the film would give is said to give a sense of sexual arousment and so many males of this age would want to go to see it with a female.

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
Our product is not the kind of film that a Hollywood studio would be interested in as it is a low budget film that has a cast of British, teen, unknown actors. Therefore the media instituion that would be most likely to distribute our product would be a Bristish independent company. They would be most interested because of the unique content within the product, this does not mean the story line of the film but the cast, low budget production and the niche audience. They would have to look around to see what films are currently released and see if there are any films around that are similar/would draw in a similar audience. This would mean that the insitution would be able to see if there is any buzz about this kind of film. This would also help with the marketing and advertising because once you know who the target audience is, you are able to home in on the kind of advertising techniques that would appeal to that audience. Because there is no star power within the film the distributor wouldn't be able to use that to their advantage and would have to sell the film from plot alone. Because of the target age of our product, the distributor would probably want to release the film during the school hoildays so that we would be able to bring in the biggest audience possible.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our target audience for our media product would mostly be male, young adults and our research told us that this is the typical audience for a "thriller" film and therefore they would be most likely to watch our production. With our research into people such as Susan Burgraff telling us the reasons behind why these films are most popular with a younger male audience, we were able to base our media product around the findings and use them to the best of our advantage.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From the construction of our media product, I have learnt a great deal about the technologies and processes that are used in the general construction of film. I have learnt about the different media institutions and how they distribute films according to what kind of institution they are. For example; a Hollywood company would use a big budget to advertise the film and to distribute it. While an independent British film company would use a small budget and would focus mainly on the niche audiences.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
I feel that I have learnt a great deal more about the film industry as a whole through doing this task. The processes that we went through to complete this product have made a lot more sense to me and I feel confident in what i'm doing. I feel that I have learnt a lot more about the pre-production and research that goes into a thriller film and how a specific genre of film is set out with codes and convention etc.