Cara Jackson

Tuesday, 17 March 2015

Question 7:

For the preliminary task I had to work alongside my group members to become more comfortable working with all of the new equipment we would be using both as a group as well as individually. We soon discovered that all of this equipment was new to all of us which meant we were all literally starting from scratch together. Hence this was the perfect chance for us to get use to working with all of this technology as well as working together and discover each others as well as our own strengths and weaknesses and how this could benefit or having a knocking effect on our film.

For our official task we had to film a scene focusing mainly on the importance of our camera shots/angles rather than the dialogue or anything else. We were provided with a list of shots and angles we had to film from so to achieve the task. In doing so the aim was for us to have mastered filming from these different shots/angles so that we would be confident and able to film from them when it came to the filming of our thriller film opening sequence.

I found that this was a good task to par-take in prior to the filming of our thriller opening sequence as both myself and the members of my group found it to be a learning experience and were able to take aspects from this experience with us when filming our own thriller opening sequence. One of the things this task taught me was how simple it is to produce a shot reverse shot as well as how through the use of editing you are able to make a sequence run smoothly without awkward breaks etc as well as logically even if it wasn't film in that order or you changed your mind at the last minute. Hence this early experience with editing enabled me to be more familiar with it when it came to editing our final product naturally with this added experience making all of us better editors. I found that shot reverse shot was a technique I really liked as it allowed the audience to have a better focus on the character as they are speaking/reacting so the audience is able to have a better understanding for the and then going back to the other person enabling the audience to switch the two characters at the exact right time which can make them feel more involved with the on screen antics as they feel more involved. One thing I decided to make clear the importance to the group of how big an improvement we needed the steadiness of our camera to be when filming. Straight away if the audience sees the film as being shot badly they are likely to view the entire production as unprofessional and lose faith in it hence loosing interest. When using a hand held camera rather than using the tripod it can be tricky to keep the camera filming on a even level as the slightest body movement can result in the camera moving and therefore ruining the effect of the film making it a less realistic image and ruining the audiences experience.

I have learnt a lot about technologies via the process of constructing this product. My learning of these new forms of technology to me began when I done my preliminary task. When filming our preliminary task I soon discovered that Emma was unsure of how to film a close up as when it was time for that shot rather than simply zooming in she thrust the camera into my face. Not only was this an unprofessional way to film the shot when she could have just zoomed in but it also meant that they camera was unstable and she only had my cheek in the shot. Once we saw Emma doing this both myself and Harry got out of out sits we were filming from and told Emma to stop filming. We took the camera from her and found the zoom button then went through as a group how best to use this. Whether we wanted to use a fast zooming close up or a slow one whether we wanted the shot to began on a close up or whether we wanted the audience to follow the movement of the camera going in closer. These were all decisions we had to make so not to close out our options we decided to film the camera zooming into my face at a fairly average speed. This meant that we were able to either keep the zooming in our filming or cut it out in the editing stages as well as speeding up or slowing down the speed at which the camera zooms. I told Emma that it would be best for her to leave the camera on the tripod for this shot as it would mean that the camera would be more steady for filming. Something else I discovered whist completing this task was that the tripod was surprisingly hard to work. I found that the lever on the tripod which I later decided would be good to use when filming Carol laying dead on the floor with the antagonist standing over her was really stiff making it hard to pull either upwards or downwards without finding that it has stuck half way through or keeping it at a good pace. Unfortunately this still wasn't something I had managed the knack of until filming for our opening sequence however this early experience did make me more aware of the problem as well as ways in which it worked less well so this did help me in the final stages of filming. I also decided that any filming I done by myself would be done on a tripod if possible as I was aware throughout this task just how easy it is to accidentally make the camera move without even noticing until you watch it back to do your editing. If you are unaware of this mistake through watching it on the small screen on the side of your camera then it is likely that you will leave the shot as it is thinking that it is good enough for the editing stages meaning that you'll either have to work with what you've got or go back out and start filming again. Which can be very difficult considering you need to find the right time, if the locations outside the weather may need to fit in with other scenes, hope that costumes are still good for this particular filming, get everyone there who needs to be etc filming isn't just something you are able to wake up and decide you want to do it takes time and much preparation.

I found that I done many things differently when filming my thriller film opening sequence compared to the way I done them when par-taking in my preliminary task. For instance I found that I had much better communications when filming. For instance myself and my group members were in the middle of shooting a panning shot when I thought we had finished and turned around and shouted that I thought I had ruined the shout by slipping slightly watching the footage back I realised that it wasn't in fact my slight slip which ruined the footage as this went unnoticed but when I turned around out of character which ruined it. From this I was able to fully understand the importance of communications within filming, this provided that I was unaware of when I would be out of shoot which was something that I needed to know to make sure that I didn't come out of character before we had finished filming as this would have ruined the effect. Due to this when we began our filming for our thriller film opening sequence I made sure that we had all communicated with each other properly and that everyone was fully aware of where they were suppose to be and when so not to course any slip up which could ruin the effect of our film had they gone unnoticed on location as well as wasting valuable filming time and demotivating all those involved in the filming and production.

Question 2

Question 2:

My media product represents adolescents/young adults through the representation of character Brittany who I portrayed myself hence meaning that I had a hands on experience in making sure that she stayed as true to her age range as she possibly could. It is very stereotypical for thriller films to showcase this age group as they are generally viewed as having less experience of the world hence meaning that they have less knowledge making them more impressionable and vulnerable to the horrors of the world. Another reason this age group is often used is that this is the most popular age group for watching the thriller genre again this relates back to them being less mature than those older them and naturally younger children are unable to watch films of the thriller genre due to restrictions such as age certificates for films in the UK put in place by the bbfc. So if film makers want to make the film more relatable to the audience which they tend to as it means the audience are able to connect with it more then they would use this age group as this is the group which tends to watch thriller films the most. As I said earlier this was evident from research I took out both myself as well as with my group and having compared research we had gathered individually. As well as including results from both questionnaires as well as previous knowledge I already obtained from watching films of the genre prior to working on my media product. Results from my questionnaire also indicated that thriller watchers enjoyed to watch thrillers which they found to be more relatable providing us with yet another reason as to why it would be a good idea to have the main character/victim Brittany as a member of this age group. This makes the film scarier for the audience as they are able to picture themselves going through the motions on screen making the situation appear more real to them.

There are scenes of Brittany in her school uniform reminding the audience of her age and reinforcing the idea of how she was just a normal girl before all of this began highlighting the effect it must have had on her life. Reminding the audience of her age makes them even angry when considering the awful torment Steve is putting her through. We also see her sitting at home in her pajamas as she is rather covered up in her nightwear the audience is to see her as just as innocent as she has portrayed herself to be throughout. Often within the genre young girls are seen to be wearing very little clothing which has been known to annoy audience members seeing Brittany with long selves and long fluffy bottoms can help to make her more likable as she isn't doing things to aggravate the audience or to suggest to them that perhaps Brittany had in some way done something to Steve so to make him want to take out revenge.

Character Carol is a good representation of young adults just sort of coming into themselves and trying to do good within the world. We decided to have Carol as still fairly young as it is still fairly relate-able to the audience as this will be the age group that they will be approaching, they will be likely to have friends, older siblings as well as other people they may be looking up to of the age group hence they are able to relate the film to them also. Carol is dressed in rather sweet, comforting colours indicating that she is friendly and someone you can go to with your problems who is willing to help and look out for others. Carol displays hope within our thriller, the situation has nothing to do with her in fact she had no prior relationship with Brittany she just happened to be at the right place at the right time she could have left her there and it would have had no lasting effect on her life yet she didn't. Conveying how much of a nice person she really is saddening her death even further. The character of Carol was put into the film to add suspense and upset the audience further as well as display the great lengths Steve is willing to go through. Carols death indicates that Brittany isn't just imaging things that this really is happening to her. Carols death is set to upset the audience and course further emotion rather than just fear and suspense it is also set to be the cliff hanger between the opening of the film and the rest of it. It will create a variation of different questions for the audience for instance; what's the antagonists next move? Will he get caught? Is he willing to hurt Brittany? etc one of the most important elements to a thriller is to keep the audience guessing so to keep them interested hence it is important to have a cliff hanger between the opening and the main block of the film. I also suggested to the group that we have this as a cliff hanger as so much had already happened and been reveled within the opening sequence we needed to leave important parts of the story-line and key questions left for the main part of the film. If we reveled too much in the opening then the rest of the film may play out for some viewers to be to predictable or to be a long lead up to the end hence boring them and ruining their experience of the film.

Steve's purpose within the film is to play our antagonist meaning that he needs to lead up to the typical expectations of a antagonist within the genre. Having to set the tone of a frightening character with dark intentions, setting the fear in the audience of what his next move may be, without Steve the narrative would be completely different. Within films often a disequilibrium (a problem) is needed so that characters are able to over come it this is what Steve provides he is that disequilibrium with his actions stalking Brittany. The audience is set to watch Brittany's difficulty as she faces the troubles he brings her and hopes to watch her over come him. Antagonists such as Steve with a hidden identity tend to mostly be male as males as thought of as the stronger sex both mentally and physically. Meaning that putting him against a young innocent girl would put him at a frightening advantage hence coursing the audience to become angry as they view how unfair and unjust the situation is. Steve is set to be a rather unlikable character for the audience some may describe the relationship between the audience and antagonist as being one where they love to hate him. Steve is set to both anger and frustrate them as they watch him watch Brittany and hope that she is able to escape him.

Gender is represented rather stereo-typically throughout our film, often through our use of conventions such as Brittany being the typical female victim showing her and women alike to be weak and inferior to the stereotypical male antagonists of the world. Although some people are said to find stereotypes particularly annoying it is a common trend within the thriller genre as you can tell through the use of all the various different conventions throughout the genre. This is another reason why we decided to roll along with the stereotypes as appose to subversively having a male character as our victim. This would change what a lot of the audience are use to in their choice of thriller films and could go against what they had in mind of watching. Gender is also represented stereo-typically as we chose to have female character Carol to be our protagonist. Women are stereotyped to be much more in touch with their emotions and much better at expressing them as well as being better at connecting with others and being their for them. Hence it made sense for us to use a woman for this role rather than being subversive and using a male character as it would be easier for the audience to understand Carols intentions without having to be told too much taking up valuable time. If we were to use a male character audience members could be left to question his intentions, possibly seeing his kindness as a trap, even considering whether he was the antagonist without the disguise luring Brittany into his trap.

Saturday, 14 March 2015

Question 4

My thriller appeals to my target audience in a variety of different ways. For instance I decided it would be best to have my victim as the same age as my target audience (adolescents to young adults) thrust making it more relatable to them so that they were able to understand her more as well as being better able to picture themselves in her situation hence enabling them to have a better understanding for what my victim who I portrayed named Brittany is going through. All of this is important as it helps the audience to build a better relationship with the character of Brittany as they feel more emotions towards her and are therefore hoping for a better outcome. This creates further intensity for audience members as they watch with more interest hoping more deeply for a better outcome for her. Hence film makers wouldn't be able to achieve this if the audience felt a less strong bond with the character as well as feeling less sympathy for them as they naturally wouldn't care as much making the situation less intense for them meaning that the narrative wouldn't be as effective spoiling the effect of the film.