Q7

7)Looking back at your priliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the prgression from it to the product?

This video is our preliminary task and I feel that we have improved vastly since then as not only cinematographers but as creators as our storylines have improved since.



When looking at improvements one improvement would be the setting of our film. In the preliminary task we filmed in an empty classroom which is very dull looking, unrealistic and unprofessional. Whereas in our film the weeting was not only in and around a house, but also in an abandoned warehouse which gives the set a whole scary and sinister feel to it which made a massive improvement.

 

The next improvement i will mention is the higher standard of acting due to time limits. In our priliminary task we only had a short period of time to film for our task so we had enough time to edit the filming so we could only do a couple of takes for each scene. In our final film we had a much longer time to film and so we could have more takes of aone scene to ensure we got the best shots.

 

The next improvement would have to be our opening titles and credits. In our priliminary task we didn't really have alot of titles and where we did have them they were still and plain. The credits in our final film had a weird font to add to the whole genre of the filmwhich gave it a more interesting and scary feel which along with the flicker ,in the way a light switch would, would help the audience to assosiate the text with the warehouse and it's darkness. 

The shots and angles in the preliminary task were quite similar and dull compared to those of the final film which were more adventurous. We had used alot of normal mid-shots in our preliminary task with no angles, tilts or any of the higher standard camera work that you would expect from a top thriller. In the final film there were a variety of differents shots for example close ups, mid-shots and long shots. Also advanced shots were used such as pan and tilt shots in the final film which had vastly improved the cinematography of our film. The use of point of view shots was a great idea as it makes the audience more aware of how the charcater must be feeling, making our thriller a best view as the audience can connect with the film.

In our preliminary task we used no colour filters or fades which was very amateur and it showed in the quality of the film. The use of colour in our final film was a great improvement as it keeps the thriller intersting and helps to show the difference in time zones within the film. When showing the flashbacks of the party we used a black and white filter which made the viewer aware of what moment in time they were in. This added an extra spark which we feel gave it the film that special feel that our preliminary lacked.

The sound was a huge role in the atmosphere of the thriller. The sound in the preliminary task was dull as there was none only that of which was the dialogue and one sound effect that was used to make the characters seem shocked. In our final film there was a great variety of different music to compliment the shots the audience can see and which would set the scene for them, you could tell when a different part of the scene was introduced by the music used. There was also an added sound effect of someone's heart beating to make the audience hear how scared the main character seemed to be.

Q6

6)What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing thsi product?

Question 6

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Q5

5)How did we attract/address our audience?


We decided that we would do a survey to find out what sort of audience would be interested in our film, what age group, male or female just so we could base our thriller around the audience. We based our characters on teenagers and used many typical stereotypes about teenagers to get the characters right. The whole story line was thought up because it was the sort of film that we would go to see and buy on DVD. When we were thinking of where to film, we thought that we would show isolation of the kidnapped by filming in a warehouse. We got the isolation idea from the film 'No Country for Old Men' as we watched it and studied the techniques used in the film.

Q4

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

The audience for our media product would be young people like ourselves ranging from 15-21 year of age. This was set as the target audience as we feel that the film plot relates to them in many ways and they would be more intrigued by the film. For example people of the age 15-21 are mainly stereotyped to go to many parties and get into trouble, and in the opening of our thriller a teenager goes to a party and the drink gets spiked by a unknown person. 

If we could of made the whole of our film we would make sure that there wasn't too much violence, swearing or scenes of a sexual nature. Our reason for this would be because we want our film to be rated 15 so that the target audience would be able to view the film. A lot of our target audience would be cut out if the film was rated an 18,  this would majorly bring profits of the film down. 

We conducted a survey to see what our target audience was, how people would describe our film and to get general feedback on the standard of our thriller, here were our results.

These results show that the main majority of our target audience were 16-20 years of age. 

The feedback on the actual film was of a very high standard as most of the feedback was 5's, 4's and 3's.

This shows what words people could come up with to describe our film, we have created a Wordle to go with it.

Everyone responded as yes to watching the rest of our film if they had the chance to.

We gave everyone a chance to give feedback on their favourite part of our film, so we could see what parts we did well.

Q3

3)What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I would say a company like Paramount could possibly take our film as they were the company that produced The Manchurian Candidate (2004). I feel that the Manchurian Candidate mirrors our film in some ways as they are action packed paranoid thrillers. This mirrors our film because the plot of 'The Betrayal' is that a teenager gets kidnapped by one of his friends although he doesn't know it was them and is trying to piece together the story behind what happened the night before. This plot makes the film a paranoid thriller and the story line of someone getting kidnapped first thing in the film would suggest to the audience that it is action packed.

Our film could have been made on the 'Microwave Scheme' from the UK Film Council. This is when films are given a period of 18 days time to be made and funds are given to the film producers of £100,000. We as amateur producers could do this because we are young people that are living in London and that are passionate about making films. An example of a film made in the 'Microwave Scheme' was 'Shifty'. This film was one of the most sucessful films to come out of the 'microwave scheme' as it got nominated for the BAFTA film award.

Q2

2)How does the thriller represent particular social groups?

Our thriller shows the stereotypical thoughts of people and social groups in many ways. People in hooded tops are usually perceived as being trouble makers, scary people and the antagonist of the film. A group of young people can be perceived as the instigators of most criminal offenses too. Young people are thought to be always at crazy parties, binge drinking and getting into trouble. Our film does not stereotype against any group, race, sexuality or gender in any way.

The picture above is a still of the party scene in our thriller 'The Betrayal'. When we think of teenage parties we think of them being wild, crazed and out of control. In the thriller there is a party scene, the party scene looks manic and is very stereotypical of the age group that the characters are at the party, the whole storyline of a drink getting spiked at this party is also very stereotypical of teenagers. The reason for this is that it portrays them to be trouble makers and not thinking much of how what they do can cause consequences. 

The still that is below this also portrays people in dark colours such as black and hooded tops to be trouble as this is what the kidnapper is wearing. The dark red is associated with anger, evil and blood which we thought was a way of showing the evil and possible dark thoughts in the kidnapper. This stereotype is often made and is backed up by our film although we very much disagree with it.

Evaluation

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


Most thrillers always include things such as tension, cliff hangers and suspense. In our thriller we built up suspense in the parts of the film by using different camera shots and repeating frames getting quicker and quicker as they go on. Also the footsteps on the stairs make the film grow in suspense and keep the audience on the edge of their seat. Tension was built in our film by including suspicious events and happenings at the party. The audience should ask themselves why did the drink get spiked, why was he targeted and why the betrayal.


Suspence
Anxiety
MacGuffin
Red Herrings
Cliff Hangers

Sub genres
Justice vs. Injustice
The party scene shows Atmosphere of menice
The Characters were all thought out to add to the plot of the film
Enigmas
We showed how Society stereotypes teenagers and what the age group are like
Literary devices
Morally complex characters
Deadlines/chases/pursuits

Lighting
Low level was used as we filmed quite late at night and there was limited light sources around in most of the scenes
Limited view/shadows were used to add to the sinister nature of the film
Most films are Often at night/dark as this is when most people feel most vulnerable 
Dim colours/a lot of use of red - this was used as the ending of our film to show the evil in the kidnapper also the memory flashbacks were in grey colours so the audience know what is going on in the film

Settings
Isolated/deserted/exotic - the main character is being held in an isolated warehouse which shows the vulnerablity of the character in a very big place he is alone
Confined locations - lifts/phone booths
Claustrophobic spaces are a key.

Editing
Quick cuts are what we used to build the suspence in the spiking scene as we see the main characters drink being spiked and him siping on the drink
Fast pace is used alongside with the quick cuts as it shows the energy growing in the scene
Match Cuts
Jump cuts

Cinematography
Camera angles - we used high angle shots to make the main character look insignificant compared to everything else
Point of view shot is the shot we used when the boys are looking at the door waiting for the girl to open the door to the party
Establishing shot
Close ups are used when we see the boys actually ring the foor bell awaiting an answer
Frantic camera movement

Non-diegetic
Creaky doors, wind, tap running
Silence - this provokes people to think during films which makes them build suspence on their own count
Heavy breathing
Whispering

Characters
Criminal. assasins, dark pasts, etc.
Morally complex
Ambiguous roles
Leave audience guessing who is good and who is bad - this was used to confuse everyone watching the film as they dont know who did it and why they do it.

The Betrayal included many aspects of a classic thriller genre plus a few that aren't familier to conventional thrillers. We used the camera handheld to give the shakey effect needed as it is a point of view shot from the victim and he is still very groggy whilst waking up. We used many different shots such as close ups to see the victims face and his hands bound. This is typical cinematography in a thriller. Our main character is a male who is being kidnapped which shows the challenge to stereotype as it is usually a female being held captive as they are seen as vulnerable. An abandoned warehouse is a typical setting for a mystery and helds to add towards the suspence building for the audience. Very quick editing cuts like the ones used in The Betrayal aren't too common in big thrillers that would be made in Hollywood liek blockbusters but it added to the feel that we were trying to give the audience. Not knowing the way in which the film is going to end makes the audience want to see more just like in a typical thriller. Sound played a big part in the build of tension in the thriller as we used both diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Our diegetic sound included heartbeats, screaming and footsteps. Included in our non-diegetic sound was some music to compliment the picture of the screen, for example in the party scene there is some very fast beaty music and for teh victim waking up some slow deep sounding music. This is quite typical of conventional thrillers.


Pictures - how our thriller relates to others? The hostage scene, Severance and The Betrayal. It shows the style that we used in our thriller really well.