Amani Choudhury - Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

In progression from our  preliminary task to our final product I feel that in terms of organisation, planning and editing skills we have improved a lot.

Organisation was improved from our preliminary task to the full product. This was because storyboarding was used more effectively therefore this enabled us organise our time and more importantly, arrange the structure of the product such as what shots and re-shoots were needed.

Time Management was more prompt in the making of our final product as our group had regular meetings and contact. This allowed us to observe the tasks which were completed and still needed to be finished, allowing us to manage and finish our product on time.

Editing skills were improved as we had more time to make our final product and structure our opening efficiently so there were less continuity issues as seen in our preliminary.

Communication skills were developed as our group contacted each other when planning to film or meet up for discussions which has benefitted the outcome of our final product as tasks set for each individual or as a group were met.

Amani Choudhury - Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From the process of constructing this product, an important aspect that I have learnt to use is After Effects CS3. This was the software I used to create the opening credits. However, at first it was difficult to use the software but by watching YouTube tutorials and through trial and error, I grasped the concept and eventually made the titles.










Blogger was mainly used in the process of making this product as I had to post regularly regarding updates of pre-production and post production. Blogger was useful as I could keep track of previous posts as well as the accessibility to our blog either through a phone or computer. However, it was hard to post efficiently because coming up to the production of our opening, other factors such as filming was prioritised.




In terms of hardware, the camcorders and Apple iMacs were essential in the making of our product as we learned how to film precisely and edit efficiently for our media product to look of a professional standard.


 

Amani Choudhury - Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

 As the target audience were aged 15-19 from our audience feedback, we decided to see what rating it could be by the BBFC and concluded that a 15 would be appropriate in terms of our storyline and content.
















The school setting one element which could address our target audience as their age of 15-19 indicates that they are still in education as well as having the experience meaning that they can identify with the character.

 

 

 

 

 

Another factor is that the main character is a female. This subversion of a typical serial killer allows us to attract our audience because they would be interested in how a role of a teenager and a killer correlate. Also by the audience preferring a independent film, this challenges the generic conventions so this allows us to use this to an advantage by using an uncommon character.





The shots of close ups of the blood and the tracking shots of the empty corridors allow us to grab the attention of our audience as these shots allow the audience to be drawn in as well as this highlights the apprehension and mood of the opening.
 

 

 

Amani Choudhury - Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

We constructed two forms of questionnaires; one on Survey Monkey and another was Video questionnaire:





The questionnaire was created enabling us to see what our audience preferred as well as their opinion on what should be included in an thriller opening. Open-ended questions were also produced in the questionnaire as the respondent could give their views on what they felt should be in a thriller. Close-ended questions were also available so we as a group could see what favoured by the majority.

The results indicated what our target audience generally preferred which was a psychological thriller but also their opinions on what is the most important aspect to a film. From these findings we were able to make clear decisions on what our opening should include in order  to appeal towards our audience.

Amani Choudhury - Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our media product can relate to a more independent audience as our opening consists of one central character which shows that she is the lead role and the plot revolves around her. This can attract an independent label to distribute our product as it is very niche because it is mainly set and based in a school environment, which can imply narrowing our audience to only students. Also from our audience research the feedback given allowed us to see what our potential target audience preferred which was an independent film.

 Momentum Pictures is suitable for distributing our media product as it is independent and very successful within the UK with films such as The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo. As this institution is independent but distributes films that can be for both mainstream and independent audiences, this is appropriate for our media product as ours has some mainstream elements one being a serial killer storyline.

Amani Choudhury - Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our opening is set in a school so teenagers are mainly represented but as our protagonist is also a serial killer as well this can show the secretiveness of teenagers that are usually personified throughout many media forms. As we have a typical storyline of a teenager with a 'hidden identity' this can appeal to a mainstream audience however with our characters and location being very minimal this can be more of an independent film.

Teenagers are represented in our opening but by the character being in 'SATURDAY DETENTION' this gives insight to the character's background as she is shown as a bad student. The importance of the character being in detention as well as covering up her own murder shows teenagers in a negative light by being secretive, violent and dismaying rules.

Females are shown in our media product by our main protagonist. The character portrays the rebellious side of females as they are generically presented as passive and innocent. Our subversion of a serial killer typically being a male shows that females have a sense of identity too by wanting to gain their independence and authority by 'getting even' with their enemies. This is also shown in Revenge (a thriller genre drama).


 Serial Killers are presented in our opening as our central character is a serial killer but instead of presenting our serial killer in a conventional way who is male and typically isolated from society, we challenged this stereotype type by making a school girl the killer. This representation of a serial killer aims to shock our audience as she is seen to lead a normal teenage life e.g. going to school but her true intentions are shown in the flashbacks of her murder (shown above).

Amani Choudhury - Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The opening of our thriller includes many conventional features and by our product research we have chosen specific aspects and have resembled this in our opening.

There are particular ways in which we have used conventions from real media products such as:

Lighting:

The use of dark lighting at the beginning of our opening suggests that the atmosphere of the school is quite nerving thus creating enigma amongst the audience. By presenting the school through low key lighting shows that there are dark and mysterious elements to a 'ordinary' school setting. This is also seen in the opening of Se7en as the antagonist is seen to be taking part in immoral activities however, their face is not revealed. This creates ambiguity as the audience are unaware of the character's identity as the lighting creates a sense of suspense because the audience are not fully informed of the antagonist but only of his corrupt behaviour. In our opening the central character is revealed and is shown towards the audience that she has committed a murder, however the use of natural bright lighting in the bathroom scene shows that she is 'covering' up her true self as we wanted the bright lighting to indicate her hiding her true self and putting on a facade of a 'normal' school girl. This is aslo shown in American Psycho as the main character is seen doing their morning routine however the voice over indicates that there is a mysterious and abnormal element to them.




Plot/Storyline:

The storyline of our opening is conventional as it is about a school girl with a 'split identity'. This is shown in many other films such as Jennifer's Body as a hidden aspect of a regular school girl seems to create interest amongst the audience.















Title and Typography:

The title of our opening has a double meaning which links to where the opening is set. 'Red Marks' can be associated with school and being a student as 'Marks' can refer to grades and tests however the red can be symbolic in terms of the storyline because the central character is a murderer so 'Red' therefore implicates blood.


The typography of our title is bold and has an eroded effect which is what we aimed for because it links to the thriller genre. My titles research post on the 'Art of the Title' video shows how the fonts and the typography link to the film's genre and plot so this helped us decided what fonts to choose from and what it suggests about the film. Our group used dafont.com to see what types of fonts we could use for our credits and titles and what were available and how it can be implemented in our opening. We decided to go for an eroded effect as the typography links with blood by the smears in the letters. The superimposition of the title over a clip of the drain highlights the use of blood because it is white font over a red background so this empathises the title and stands out against the blood. The contrast between red and white is used in many real media products such as 'Dexter' and 'Jennifer's Body' (shown above) as the white can symbolise purity of the character because of their age but the red also suggests a dark secretive side to them as she is also a killer.