Production.

Red Snow Final Cut

Q6-What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product ?

From using various pieces of technology throughout filming and editing our final piece,I have learnt that it was a somewhat  harder than I anticipated. Firstly , It was vital to film in a well lit environment  due to the camera not being able to capture decent shots in the dark. This was very annoying, as we wanted to incorporated dark shots too connote mystery and claustrophobia.

Q5 How did you attract/address your audience ?

Attracting the audience of our thriller was somewhat dominated by the use of effects utilized whilst editing. Me and Lyndsey thought the diegetic  sound of the dragging dead body; to be continuously drowned through out the opening would create a poignant effect as well as a menacing one.We also exploited this effect with the use of a ringing phone, as this may  create a pitiful  reaction from the audience , as they know the girl (Tiffany) will never be able to answer the call.

Our production also has an element of heart break and connotes the fear of losing someone you love. Through out the production, Peter , played by Robin , is desperately concerned about the where a bouts of his loved one. However what makes the opening more appealing is the idea of Robin and the murderer being the same person. This is due to the quick cuts and fades between the two characters. This idea of schizophrenia and isolation was inspired by the film Fight Club. As the main character is controlled by an alter-ego , who he can physically see.

The idea of the zeitgeist in Great Britain may also have attracted our target audience. The social issues raised in our production is the negative portrayal of a social group known as 'hoodies'. These 'hoodies' all ready have a bad reputation in modern Britain. Highlighted  due to  the part they played in the summers London riot. 

Question 7-Looking back at your preliminary task ,what do you feel you have learnt in the progression to the full product

Since the preliminary task i have learnt a great deal,especially about editing software. I did not use any effects on my preliminary task , unlike my final cut 'Red Snow' which used a lot. I've also learnt that planning our thriller was a lot harder than I anticipated .Us as a group had many ideas,we eventually went on to shoot and complete a production, however it was not strong enough to gain a satisfactory grade. Therefore I learnt that a lot of planning and preparation  is vital.

Incorporating inter textual references from other films into our final production was very inspiring and there is an opportunity to exploit your own refreshing twist to classic iconic shots from legendary films , such as the worms eye view of Diniro in Once Upon a Time in America . We were inspired by this shot and incorporated into our production.

Continuity errors was a major let down in the preliminary task (change of attire), therefore I done my best not to let this happen in the final production and thankfully ,pulled it off. 

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

Our chosen target audience for our production is 16-24 year olds male and female.This due to casting young actors that the audience can relate to. This certainly works effectively in the Australian film 'Animal Kingdom' . The character Josh Cody is young man having to live with his criminal cousins and his emotions and angst are really felt by the audience due to his young age.



Our thriller reflects in my opinion the current zeitgeist in Britain , and this also will have an appeal/effect on a younger audience (16-24 year olds)  who feel they may be effected by isolation and troubled individuals , which is the portrayal in our production.

Our production would appeal to young males and females interested in independent low budget films that would be shown at institutions such as 'Cinema City'. This is due to the young unknown actors and the reflection of the zeitgeist , these elements are not often seen in American mainstream 'Block-busters' 

Question 3- What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why ?

Since our media product was low budget and individually made, a less mainstream cinema institutuin such as Cinema City would be interested in showing our thriller. Cinema City are interested in attracting alternative audiences and reaching out to as many different people from different backgrounds as much as possible. They appear to not be interested in showing big budget 'Hollywood Block-busters' which consist of special effects such as CGI, due to the fact that these effects are what are relied on to make the films 'appealing' not the acting and plots. However we as a group were inspired by the plot of  big budget film Fight Club and the idea of two people being one and we incorporated this into our production.

In terms of a production company that would be interested in distributing our film the most likely institution would have to bw WARP film. They are souly interested in promoting young acting talent and creating somewhat controversial plots to highligh the the current decline of morlaity in Great Britain, which is the arogorical message behind our production . Highlighted by the character choice of the protagonist.'Hoodies' are seen as having no conscience and no regard for feelings of others , This was seen in the summer London riots where the media refered to these yobs as 'hoodies'.

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

The representation of stereotypes in our thriller is somewhat rather stereotypical. The dead female character has sense of naivety due to her attire. Her red jacket gives her 'a red riding hood' appearance to her which suggests her naivety may have led to her death and that she was possibly easily led.

The protagonist in our production is based on a social group that is looked down upon a great deal in British society . The Council Housed And Violent individuals known as 'hoodies'. We chose this as it reflects the current zeitgeist in this country. 'Hoodies' are considered as having no conscience and this was highlighted in last years London riots. The media dehumanised these indivuals and coincedently has led to a stern prejudice towards them, which may lead to possibly worse crimes and outcomes commited by 'Hoodies'.   Bleakness and a dark future for Britain is what is portrayed in our production.

We also have an upper-class character in our thriller whose actions are enigmatic. It's unclear whether he is a loved one of the murdered female or schizophrenia sufferer who murdered the women himself. We got this idea from the 'Fight Club' movie. Where the main character has an alter ego which he can see in human form .

In what ways does your media product use,develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products ? Question1

 

Utilizing the weather at the time (snow) gave our thriller an interesting authentic setting very similar to that of Joel Coen's classic 'Fargo'. We were very lucky and acted quickly to get the best shots possible in the snow before it melted the following day.The snow also gave our production a brutallity and coldness and made it a lot easier for us in terms of conforming to the sophistication of creatring a thriller film.

Our costume choice  however was inspired by Terry Winsor's 'Essex Boys' , especially the protagonist of our production whos costume choice was based on that of Essex Boys' Jason. The black Jacket and smart black shoes gives our protagonist a sophistication which is also arguably a noir aspect.

In terms of certain shots in our thriller , many of them are somewhat very similar to that of various thrillers, us as a group have researched. The birds eye  shot of Robin Lubach in the confined toilet was chosen due to claustrophobic spaces being a classic generic thriller convention. The famous US thriller witness is where we got this idea from: the scene in which the small boy witnesses the murder taking place in the toilet of the train station.

The worms eye view shot of myself , whilst dragging the dead body was based on the iconic shot of Robert D'niro holding the gun in Once Upon a Time in America.




The props chosen for our thriller effect the final product enormously. The use of the phone ringing  gave our thriller a somewhat poignancy effect , as the female character will never be able to  answer. It also had a spooky eerie effect on the audience as the ringing of the phone doesn't actually stop ringing till the end. Th

Another prop we used was a bracelet. Which was very significant as it gave the audience a focus point and something to ponder over as it appears in multiple scenes. We got this idea from the horror film 'The Ring' where a ring is the main focus of the film.

The Third Man



Once Upon a time in America



The Third Man was released in 1949 and has been an inspiration to many film directors over the years.An example of this is the legendry gangster thriller Once Upon a Time in America.The costume choice is almost identicle whith the use of long dark jackets and Trilby hats . Since then this choice of costume has become iconic and seen as a generic thriller convention.



This image from The Third Man works beautifully at portraying the Austrian capital of Vienna after the horrors of world war two.It represnt Vienna as still broken and corrupt. The cracks in the ice reprents this effectively.The sunken ship represents the city as sinking and in depression and adds to the bleakness of the scene.There is also a floating human corpse which adds to the corruption of the city and is also utilised as an added clue to what may happen in the film.

This shot also represents Vienna as a corrupt city.It's showing the underground illegal act of the black market.



This is the introduction shot of the films key character Harry Lime.The shot has been cleverly crafted to show a darker and lighter side to his face.This represents a corrupted mysterious character who may have two sides to his personallity.The shot also makes him look very dominant with use of lighting.

This is stunning well crafted shot with so much background information and portrayal of future events that occur.Holly Martin is about to walk under a ladder which is considered as bad luck.This simple idea is so effective and has a significant influence on the audience who can instantly recognise that Holly will be in trouble later on in the film.Holly is to busy looking up at the apartments that doesn't even realise he is walking under a ladder.This portrays a sense of niavity and lack of attention that could lead to his future troubles.

Heavenly creatures

Heavenly creatures is film based on a true story about two young girls Pauline and Juliet , who both plan to murder Pauline's mother as she is trying to end their valued relationship.Throughout the final scenes there are a lot of close up scenes of watches and a clock to emphasize the importance of time and the intricate deatil of their plan.The use of time is exploited the feeling of suspense with clocks and watches. This a generic thriller convention.The close up of the clock also corresponds to the police investigation where he asks suspects where the girls were at the time of the murder.This notifies the audience that the crime is going to take place .

When the three women walk down the rural pathway , the audience notice the mother is inbetween the two girls.This exploits the thriller convention of claustrophobia and makes the audience feel uneasy as they fear the worst for the mother.It also connotes she is in the middle and intercepting their plan for the future.The centre of their problems.

Essex Boys analysis

Made in 2000 Essex Boys is based on the murdering of drug dealers in 1995.The whole of the opening scene is full of generic thriller conventions . Firstly the title screen is creates a quite eerie effect , the white lines trickle  down the screen like blood and this lends to the creation of suspense.

The first shot shows a young man (Billy) entering into a dark gloomy garage with an old car in it.Chiaroscuro lighting is used in this scene to create the feeling of suspense and nightmare. Chiaroscuro lighting is used in the same way in the very famous thriller The Third Man.The dingy old garage is rather small witch producers a somewhat claustrophobic effect witch adds to the grimness of the scene.The first bit of dialogue comes from Billy. This allows the audience to establish the Essex accent and learn a bit about him and start to relate to him. The Essex accent is also a cultural signifier .

This point of view shot of the notorious criminal Jason is fantastic at portraying his significance  and personality .   Jason is being looked at through a dirty car windscreen, this represents his distorted nature as the windscreen is unclear of dirt. The audience can also learn there is a sense of arrogance about Jason due to his attire. The vibrant shirt is rather similar to that of Bill from Kill Bill who also is a 'bad guy' who is arrogant. The use of the small light adds to the significance of Jason as it has the effect of a spotlight which makes him stick out in the shot.






The shot of the Dartford tunnel is a cultural signifier which creates the typical thriller convention of the vanishing point. It builds suspense as usually in thrillers the vanishing point leads to a significant event.This is seen in the 1985 film Witness, as the young boy heads to the public toilet where a murder consequently takes place. The tunnel also resembles a barrel of a gun , which links in with thriller genre. 'STAY IN LINE' painted on the road is a sign that Billy should take notice of as he's being influenced by criminal Jason.






This medium shot of Billy and Jason in the car together is cleverly crafted to appear that they are both in jail. The reflection of lights in the tunnel onto the windscreen makes lines that look incredibly  like prison cell bars,and the to characters are behind them. Jason appears to have his hands behind his head relaxing witch looks like he is relaxing in his cell. The also shows that Jason has been in prison before as he looks unfazed.

How do institutions target specific audiences in the film industry? essay

How do institutions target specific audiences in the film industry?

               

             Over recent years, competition in the film industry has increased enormously. Therefore various institutions have had to change their methods of targeting specific audiences. The way in which films are now distributed has changed massively. Institutions such as Love Film have benefited enormously due to the on-going partnership with StudioCanal. Love Film distributes films either, via post or streamed to Play Staion3 games consoles. This varied distribution of films is very effective as it is targeted at a younger and older generation. The older generation can have their selected films posted to them and the younger, have them streamed to their games consoles. Research shows that the age demographic of online streaming of films is 16-24.

             Marketing strategies have also enhanced the targeting of specific audiences. Animal Kingdom was an independently made Australian film, which had an astonishing marketing success. Firstly the film has a fantastic enticing trailor which sold everything about the movie in a few minutes. The plot of the film is also sold exceptionally well which is very useful at gaining the audiences interest .It also has a very famous soundtrack, Air Supply 'All out of love’. This is a very poignant song and it added to the drama of the trailor. Marketing Animal Kingdom was also helped by the use of social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. Campaigns and profiles were made up on these sites to inform people of the greatness of the film and its success of winning the 2010 Sun Dance award. On the other hand ,mainstream big budget film Battleships uses new technology such as CGI and computer generated images in the trailor of the film. This sort of marketing is created to appeal to a worldwide mainstream audience. The appearance of pop star Rihanna making her debut in acting is also very captivating to a mainstream audience as she is a mainstream ‘musician’ , and the A-list actor Liam Neeson is also sold in the trailor.

             The distribution of films has changed the way in which various institutions target specific audiences a great deal. Cinema companies such as VUE and Odeon focus on appealing worldwide with their choice of films to screen. Whereas smaller companies such as Cinema City focus on targeting local audiences. Hollywood block busters are not always shown at these smaller cinemas . Independently made films, foreign language films and locally made films are shown at these smaller more sophisticated cinemas. Which tend to offer more variety of elements to attract customers such as a greater choice of snacks than popcorn and hot dogs , mostly sold in the ‘mainstream’ cinemas . There is also films shown for the deaf at Cinema City , where someone will stand to the side of the screen performing sign language whilst the film plays.

Target audience of thriller (unfinished)

Due to the young age of our characters appearing in the thriller, our target audience is 16-24 year olds. This age demographic will be easy to appeal to because of the easy to understand plot and other conventions such as the costume choice, which is contemporary high street fashion.

Thriller locations

We chose an elevator to be a location of our thriller as they produce a feeling of confinement and vulnerability for the character.The confinement of an elevator is exploited in Fight Club directed by David Fincher.



This set of flats in Norwich is where we will be filming the thriller opening .We liked the idea of an ordinary urban setting to add a sense of realism . The flats aren't exactly glamorous which will add the brutallity of the chosen setting.This type of setting is seen in the film and series This is England.




The final loaction of our thriller shall be a corridor.This location will be useful at exploiting the thriller convention of a vanashing point . The corridor shall also be empty , which will create tension as the character shall be vulnerable to any unexpected occurances



Thriller costume ideas

Woman Character - Tiffany Wise



Contemporary high street fashion to add realism to the thriller and appeal to audience. Tiffany's naivety will also be exploited with this choice of outfit, as she is a victim in the thriller.



Skinny Jeans



This choice of jewellery is going to be extremely important in our thriller.It's going to be used as a signifier for Tiffany as she will be seen wearing it in the picture taken of her and ex boyfriend .She will also be wearing it when they confront each other at the end of our shoot.













Dark womens Jacket

The ccoice of a dark colour of clothing is to connote a sad solemn character, instead of happy and lively.









Vans trainers

Male character- Blake Haven

Also contemproary high street fashion.With leather jacket and vibrant shirt which is a representation of 'Jason' from Essex Boys.Like Jason of Essex Boys , Blakes attire is chosen to portray arrogance . Attire is used in this way also in Kill Bill. Bill also dresses to impress.











 Mens dark jeans



Rigger Boots

Leather Jacket

Vibrant T-shirt

Jackie Brown analysis

Made in 1997 by Quentin Tarentino , Jackie Brown instantly became recognisable due to its challenging of stereotype created by the main character, Jackie Brown.The title opening starts of with a tracking shot of Jackie , whilst she's on a people mover in an airport .The people mover makes Jackie appear to be gliding , this portrays to the audience a feeling of elegance towards Jackie ,Which couldn't be a more different word to describe her , as she is the deveiant woman of the film.Tarentino has done this for an irony effect.





The next shot shows Jackie walking through the airport.It's a slight low angle shot to show her power and domenance.Jackie is walking with her head held high and striding faster than the general public.This shows her independance and confidence which also challenges the stereotypical view of women in films at the time.Her quickness also portrays she's ahead of everyone in the scene and ahead of her time,which represents the films challenging of stereotypes.
The soudtrack of the film is called 'Across 110th street'.The song refrences life on the streets, which demonstrate  elments such as pimps and drug pushers, this forshadows and gives a subtle clue to what the film is about just in the opening scene.

Extra shots our group thought we could Incorporate into our thriller

-There could be a mirror shot where the camera just focuses on her reflection in the mirror, making the character seem more isolated and shows the intimacy's of being alone. It also allows the audience to see her emotions and get to know this character more.
- A point of view shot could also be used when the female character is hiding from the other leaving a tense atmosphere as your left unsure as to what will happen to this girl.
-When in the lift the girl may have dropped something that you see on her beforehand, for example a ring or a bracelet, she could be wearing a ring when she presses the button the lift but then suddenly after seeing the ambiguous figure the ring is on the floor in the cubicle which could be the last shot.

Shot list for thriller

Shot one- Over shoulder shot of Sarah looking at a photo of her and the male character who is called Jon. Diegetic sound of Sarah crying will be shown enabling the audience to feel for the character.

Shot two- Cuts to a close up shot of Sarah crying to establish a sense of drama.

Shot three-Cut to a close up shot of Sarah hand pressing the button on a lift, you see a distinctive bracelet round her wrist. Diegetic sound is played of the lift coming down.

Shot four- Cut to a close up shot of Sarah looking happier, however that happiness slowly deteriorates as the scene goes on.

Shot five- Cut to a long shot of the elevator doors opening and then Sarah walks out of the elevator.

Shot six- Cut to a long shot of Sarah opening a door to enter room.

Shot seven- Cut to a tracking shot of Sarah walking along a corridor in her house, and then she opens a door to the bathroom.

Shot eight-Cut to Sarah turning on a tap in the bath and then she sits down and gets the photo out that she was looking at at the start.

Shot nine- Cut to a point of view shot of Sarah looking at the original picture from earlier.

Shot ten-Cut to a point of view shot of Sarah holding the photo whilst the male character Jon is standing over her, however you only see his body, not his head.