Evaluation Question 7

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

My actual thriller opening is a lot better than the preliminary task we completed earlier in the year.


One improvement we made is the transitions of the shots. In our preliminary task we used no transitions because, quite simply, we did not know how to. However, fortunately we learned how to and used them in our actual thriller which improves it dramatically. For example we used cross dissolves between a lot of shots. Also we have used a lot more original and different shots in our thriller. 


Furthermore the camera work was much better second time around, this was because, with our preliminary task, it was the first time I had every used these types of cameras with a tripod. So when it come to filming our thriller, I was used to how to control the tripods to the way I wanted.  

Also our preliminary task does not include any titles. As the actual thriller was an opening, titles were required which improved our thriller significantly and shows a massive improvement from our preliminary task to our opening. Also when we done our preliminary, I didn't have a clue how to create and put in titles. However I then got used to using livetype and created all the titles for my thriller.


In addition, with the no offense meant towards Beth and Daniel, the acting in the preliminary task wasn't the greatest with lots of mistakes made:

However the star of our film, Christy, is currently undergoing a drama course at her college, and hopes to be able to use her acting skills and make a career out of it. Therefore I feel the quality of acting was much better with her involved, however I also think Beth and Daniel both did a great job. 

Finally, we made a huge mistake in our preliminary task which we only noticed after we made the film and posted it onto our blog and on youtube. Because we filmed it on two different days, Beth has obviously changed her clothes. 

Because of this mistake we made, we took extra care in our actual film to make sure silly mistakes like this were not involved in our film. Therefore we learnt from our mistakes. 

Evaluation Question 6

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

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?


I feel we attracted and kept our audience interested by building up tension and suspense throughout the beginning of the opening. The audience will want to know what the climax will be and what is going to happen. 


We created surveys and carried out interviews before we made our thriller, to see what our target audience would be, therefore in our film we could use the elements that some people said makes an effective thriller to be able to engage them and make them want to watch it in the first place.  


Also I posted my thriller on facebook and told people to watch it and leave their feedback .

After watching our thriller, I think people would want to watch on because the opening 3 minutes are fast paced and a lot of suspense is built, therefore it should only get better and carry on with the similar techniques and action. Also the viewer may be engaged because of the location. We used a warehouse, which is automatically linked with be very scary. It creates a mysterious atmosphere and because our character is alone, it gives the sense that she is helpless to whats about to happen. Lastly, not much is given away in terms of the storyline of the film in the opening, as of this, people would want to watch on the find out what is going. 

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?


I would say my thriller would appeal to the audience of young adults or teenagers. We created a survey on www.surveymonkey.com to see what our target audience would be and what is expected of a thriller. We managed to get 50 responses. When it come to finding out our target audience we found out this:

From this I can tell that our thriller would not appeal to a certain gender in particular but in terms of age, from about 16 - 24 years old would be our main audience. My thriller would appeal to this audience because, firstly, we have used a cast of a similar age of our target audience which could have some correlation. Furthermore we have used both male and female in our thriller, so both genders could relate to it.   

In the survey, we also asked what elements of a thriller audiences think are most important, here are what some people said below in the form of a worlde:

Me and my group used a number of these techniques in our thriller opening as we knew that it would appeal to the audience seeing as we done research previously. One example of this is sound; we used a number of sound effects which a number of people have mentioned to be a great feature in our film. Our thriller also has suspense, tension and is a bit of mystery as well as many other techniques used. 

Evaluation Question 3

What kinds of media institution's might distribute your media product and why?  


There are several film companies that could distribute our thriller, because they have created and distributed effective thrillers and successful films in the past. I have looked into a number of different film companies in the UK and in the USA, for example;


Universal Studios have created many thrillers, including:
- The Strangers
- The Last House on the Left
-The Unborn
- Drag Me to Hell

20th Century Fox have created many thrillers, including:
-X-Men
-Phone Booth
-Daredevil

Paramount Pictures have created many thrillers, including:
- Mission Impossible 
- Iron Man
- Shutter Island




These film companies all distribute thrillers, however the likeliness of them actually getting in touch with us is near impossible; it isn't going to happen basically. All the films they distribute are created by professionals, with real star actors and actresses, and millions of pounds have probably been spent on them. However there are examples of film distributors who would be more likely to release our films, for example:

'Metrodome Distributions' distributed the film 'Shifty'. 'Shifty' is a film made in 2008. It was made as part of the 'Microwave scheme' which gave an opportunity for young film makers in London who were only given a £100,000 budget to use for there film.

There are different ways that our film could be shown to the audience, such as in the cinema, on the tele, on its own website on the internet, or on Youtube.


Advertising is very important for films, because it enables the public to gain knowledge of its existence. By using different advertising methods, different, varied audiences can be informed of information about the film, for example the younger generation will most likely see the advertisement on the internet or on the TV. Ways of advertising include television adverts, billboards, posters, in cinemas, magazines and newspapers, or on the radio or internet. All genres of films and different institutions use these techniques. I made the following montage to demonstrate different methods on Microsoft power point, and print-screened it. 

Evaluation Question 2

How does our media product represent particular social groups?


In our thriller opening our cast is made up of two females and one male, in order to appeal to both genders. It could be said that Christy is a stereotypical 'dumb blonde' and comes across as weak and vulnerable. However it is countered by the fact that the powerful character is also female. Myself and Beth created this slideshow together: 

In our film there was little input from ethnic minority groups but we did not take this into consideration at the time. At no point in our thriller opening do we include any offensive or racist language or actions. We did not feel this was a relevant issue during the making of our film. The characters (other than the hooded figure) are shown quite positively, however because it is only the opening of a thriller, we do not know their backgrounds, or much about their personalities at this time. 

Also, we did not feel that sexuality was a relevant topic in our thriller opening and therefore no views or opinions about sexuality are expressed, however we were not offensive in any way throughout the film. The film is appropriate for viewing for a person of any sexuality. The characters are displayed in a way where their sexuality is unknown and unimportant. 

In reference to age, we would consider it to be to disturbing and scary for younger people, and believe it would be deemed inappropriate. 

When looking at the age of the characters in the thriller, we only used teenagers, because this was our target audience and we wanted them to feel as though they can relate to the characters. Looking back, we realise that we maybe should have varied the age of our characters to reach a wider audience. 

I think the film represents ordinary middle-working class people. by having our characters as ordinary people means that more of the target audience would be able to associate with the characters, making them feel more included in what is going on in the film. 

Evaluation Question 1

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


Most thrillers all use the same conventions and techniques and are generally expected in all to make it effective. This can include;

To create an effective Thriller we incorporated a number of these conventions. The thriller opening me and my group have made uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions in a number of ways. We have used very similar techniques to which are used in psychological thrillers. Included in this would be the element of mystery, as well as the usual forms of action and fear, which are typical for a thriller.  


One film that influenced us was 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'. As shown below, we attempted to recreate the scene with extreme close ups on the eyes of the characters in order to show their emotions such as Christy's fear. 

Another film that influenced us to make a good thriller was 'The Grudge'. We based Beth's costume and make-up on that of the grudge. We did this because we believe it to be scary and unnerving.   

Without referring particularly to a specific film, we used the idea of a stalker in our opening, which in used in a number of thrillers. The camera is set up in a way which suggests the character is being watched, for example:

When it came to the setting of our thriller our main inspiration was 'No Country For Old Men'. When watching the film earlier in the year in class, we discussed how having a deserted and isolated setting portrayed the idea of the character being alone and helpless. We used the warehouse and no other people are seen other than Christy which means if someone was to happen to her, no one would be around to help her.